Alberta Politics Thread v2

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by Weitz

In 2013 Energy industries were 25% of Alberta's GDP. For an extremely resource rich province like Alberta what do you think is a good % of GDP?

If that number is accurate that's pretty good. For comparison, oil and gas industry makes up about 40% of the economy of Texas.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Well this was kind of the case last time as well. Dirks was a high profile, well financed and well connected PC member, and Clark managed to win by enough to even beat out a PC/WR vote split



Now Clark has the incumbent advantage as well as being a guy people tend to like. If you have people still wanting to protest vote the UCP but not wanting to vote NDP, it's the perfect fit. Eremenko is pretty well connected in he riding but you might still have a bunch of NDP voters seeing the writing on the wall and vote Clark just to prevent a UCP win.



It will be a good riding to watch regardless.

Well if they are protest voting the former PC party as happened the last election, then they really cant vote AP either as they absorbed a bunch of former PC members.

Im not saying Clark cant win, he can and he might. I just believe that the public sentiment is anybody but NDP, (at least in this city), and if i want someone who can rep. me in the legislature and actually try to get things done i want...(Im not in the riding though my mother is, so i am speaking in general about how things "feel" in Calgary)

People learned a hard lesson last time about protest voting. It cost many many people in that very riding dearly.

Of course there is a long way until E-day and anything can, and probably will, happen.

[kermitology]

Seems natural given there's no UCP candidate in Calgary - Mountain View with Ford rage quitting, but there's a lot of NDP signs popping up.

I like how TOTF called Mountain View for UCP handily right after Ford quit.

[Ozy_Flame]

How did people voting for Greg Clark in his own riding cost many many people very dearly? That's a loaded comment.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

How did people voting for Greg Clark in his own riding cost many many people very dearly? That's a loaded comment.

Who said voting Clark cost them?

Never ever did i say Clark was a protest vote, only that THIS time around I can see people knowing there are only two horses in the race with a chance to win, can easily change their choice from last time. I can certainly see where people did indeed use Clark as a protest vote against the PC's instead of choosing the NDP, and that no longer exists...as i explained.

[Ozy_Flame]

"People learned a hard lesson last time about protest voting. It cost many many people in that very riding dearly."

Contextually it reads as Clark's riding.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

"People learned a hard lesson last time about protest voting. It cost many many people in that very riding dearly."

Contextually it reads as Clark's riding.

I will clean up sentence and paragraph structure moving forward so you can understand it then.

People province wide just experienced what protest voting can bring. I suspect that will weigh very heavily on them this time around. Greg Clark, i believe, received many of those very votes instead of the NDP. Therefore, in conclusion, he may have difficulty repeating that kind of showing again because he will have no chance of being anything but part of the opposition....no matter who sits there.

It also could play out that people of Elbow liked what he did in his time as both MLA and party leader enough that he gleans all those same votes and maybe more. However he also has all those voters who did lose jobs/homes/businesses over the last 4 years and believe the way out of that is to go with the only party that can defeat the sitting regime which would realistically cost him votes from last time, and he is no longer the leader which will matter to some.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Weitz

In 2013 Energy industries were 25% of Alberta's GDP. For an extremely resource rich province like Alberta what do you think is a good % of GDP?

I’m surprised at that low number. That’s pretty good if it’s accurate. Source?

[Flames0910]

Good summary of the NDP's climate plan's effects to date, and what's at stake if the UCP remove carbon pricing. Some eye opening numbers (and reasonable criticisms) in this Twitter thread:

https://twitter.com/jamesglave/statu...50679134142464

I know conservatives are outraged at the carbon tax, but it's a market solution that's just starting to pick up momentum. It's also filling some of the revenue gap from oil and gas royalties so we can invest back into Alberta. Slashing it now wouldn't just send a horrible message to the world, it's bad policy.

[Fuzz]

^
readable version:


https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...134142464.html


I hate twitter threads!

[Ozy_Flame]

To add to the Carbon Tax issue, both Suncor and Husky recently spoke in support of the carbon tax:

The governments of Alberta and Canada are close to getting it right on tackling carbon emissions, said Janet Annesley, a senior vice-president with Husky Energy, during one of Tuesday's panel discussions.

She began by pointing to the decision to accelerate the phaseout of coal-powered plants, which will reduce emissions for the country and for companies like Husky, which buys electricity off Alberta's power grid.

"We can see some lower carbon inputs to our business," said Annesley, who previously worked for Shell, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and in the office of former federal natural resources minister Jim Carr.

"Not only do we have the carbon tax that applies to large emitters like Husky in the oilsands, but frankly, the flip side is that the government is using some of those revenues to help industry reinvest in technology. The combination of both of those policies is particularly powerful," she told the panel's audience.

Specifically, the industry is using funds from the carbon tax to help research new technologies, such as methods to capture and sequester carbon.

"I don't want to be left behind," Annesley said. "We have a carbon challenge for sure, but there is an opportunity for us to find solutions."

She goes on to say the current policy isn't perfect, but the concept is the right one.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Seems natural given there's no UCP candidate in Calgary - Mountain View with Ford rage quitting, but there's a lot of NDP signs popping up.

I like how TOTF called Mountain View for UCP handily right after Ford quit.

There's a ton of NDP signs everywhere. They went up bare hours after the writ was dropped. Definitely a first mover advantage there.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

If that number is accurate that's pretty good. For comparison, oil and gas industry makes up about 40% of the economy of Texas.

40%? Could be, but I would be surprised. Texas is a huge economy.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...p-by-industry/

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

Good summary of the NDP's climate plan's effects to date, and what's at stake if the UCP remove carbon pricing. Some eye opening numbers (and reasonable criticisms) in this Twitter thread:

https://twitter.com/jamesglave/statu...50679134142464

I know conservatives are outraged at the carbon tax, but it's a market solution that's just starting to pick up momentum. It's also filling some of the revenue gap from oil and gas royalties so we can invest back into Alberta. Slashing it now wouldn't just send a horrible message to the world, it's bad policy.

Interesting read, thanks for posting. I'm honestly torn on the carbon tax, Notley worked with the major O&G companies here to craft it so it's at least somewhat agreeable to them and I like the extra income aspect. It basically serves as a PST which the NDP have already spent political capital implementing.

My overall problem with the carbon tax is that we implemented it on ourselves and got nothing out of it. It should be used as a chip against the Federal government to negotiate for pipelines. Also, that guy makes the mistake of conflating weather with climate. Trying to drum up support for a carbon tax that will have a negligible impact on global emissions by tying it to a weather event that caused a lot of destruction to this city is gross.

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

Good summary of the NDP's climate plan's effects to date, and what's at stake if the UCP remove carbon pricing. Some eye opening numbers (and reasonable criticisms) in this Twitter thread:

https://twitter.com/jamesglave/statu...50679134142464

I know conservatives are outraged at the carbon tax, but it's a market solution that's just starting to pick up momentum. It's also filling some of the revenue gap from oil and gas royalties so we can invest back into Alberta. Slashing it now wouldn't just send a horrible message to the world, it's bad policy.

I am all for a better planet to watch my children grow up in and I understand how happy go lucky this tweet and the outcome will make people feel.

What I don't agree with is:
The rest of Canada has no idea how bad our economic downturn has been. I speak to other real estate industry professionals across the country and they are all down on the market and can't believe how challenging it is right now. If only they knew that we in Alberta are not only facing times 10x as worse as them but we have been dealing with it for years.
Is now the right time to do this? Why not get back on our feet and as a way to prevent the huge swings of boom bust, use this climate plan as a way to prevent the boom once everyone is working again.

Secondly, and as stated many times, the numbers look beautiful but our efforts in climate change is like 1 golf ball on a driving range at the end of the day. Equal efforts in getting the world on board should be made. Wipe out all of Albertas carbon footprint and the world becomes more polluted.

He pumps the tires of creating 5k jobs through climate leadership programs at a cost of $700,000,000. I haven't done much research on this point but I have a hunch that amount of money could create a hell of a lot more than $5,000 jobs if applied elsewhere. Perhaps it could have been applied to getting us back on our feet and then with people working we could focus on climate plans and diversifying ABs economy.


I don't want this post being seen as party A vs party B. It is just my thoughts on the climate leadership plan. I believe one needs to walk before they can run. I would LOVE and Alberta that gets stuff done and sees the O&G industry thriving all while implementing much of the NDPs climate plan. In 10-15 years, we are still a O&G nation but also a leader in climate change and I believe both are very possible to coexist.

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

There's a ton of NDP signs everywhere. They went up bare hours after the writ was dropped. Definitely a first mover advantage there.

the UCP looked at how they could save some money and bought sleeves. They are just waiting for all the NDP signs to go up and will put the UCP sleeves over top and then use the remaining money for additional marketing

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Travis Munroe

the UCP looked at how they could save some money and bought sleeves. They are just waiting for all the NDP signs to go up and will put the UCP sleeves over top and then use the remaining money for additional marketing

Isn't that vandalism and more criminal behavior?

[Cole436]

A friend of mine shared this on Facebook

This will likely fall on deaf ears because I'm sure the algorithm has filtered me out of most people who need to hear this, but now that the election has been called, I think it needs to be said:

Jason Kenney is a piece of ####, and if you vote for him or the UCP, you are going to have a hard time convincing me you are not also a piece of ####.

Evidence that Jason Kenney is a huge piece of ####:

1. Jason Kenney is going to make huge cuts to public infrastructure. That means wait times for hospitals are going to go up, people are going to lose their government jobs, class sizes are going to get bigger, teachers are going to be stretched bone thin, AISH is going to get even more inaccessible and worse, seniors are going to lose services, basically your life is going to get worse in a lot of ways, and a lot of people who you care about are going to suffer from this as well.

2. Jason Kenney has built a career on the oppression of minorities, and sincerely does not care about human rights. Specifically, he has built his career on systemic oppression of POC, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, women, etc. There are literally infinite examples of this, a UCP politician was outed as a *god damn white supremacist* YESTERDAY. If you give even a tiny #### about equality and human rights, voting for the UCP is in direct opposition to that.

3. Jason Kenney is under investigation by the RCMP for illegal election meddling. I don’t know what else to say here other than that if you are chill with this, maybe you should have a long look in the mirror and have a conversation with yourself about how you feel about democracy and justice.

4. Jason Kenney does not give a #### about you, any other Albertan, or Alberta as a province. He has no interest in making the province a better place to live, he has no vision for the future of the province, and he has no interest in caring about or helping people. Jason Kenney does not give a #### about anyone but Jason Kenney, he only cares about consolidating money and power. Whatever your feelings on the deficit or pipelines or minimum wage are (PS Jason Kenney also would like to introduce a child labour wage), the fact that fundamentally Jason Kenney has absolutely zero interest in making your life better should trump all of that.

I don’t know how much plainer I can paint this picture. Do not vote for someone who doesn’t ####ing care about you or your friends or family and only has an interest in benefiting by hurting you, your friends, and your family. Do not vote for Jason Kenney.

https://www.facebook.com/560450176/p...935177?sfns=mo

[DiracSpike]

That's pretty sick that your friend is head of election strategy for the NDP.

[Red Slinger]

Your friend needs to stop stating assumptions and suppositions as facts. I loathe Kenney but a lot of that is hyperbole, at best.