Why for the first time in my life I won't vote PC next Provincial Election

[Kjesse]

OK,

So the Klein government screwed around for its last term, I said, fine, Klein's done his bit, let him retire quietly.

Nothing productive came from our government during Klein's final term, in my opinion.

Now with Stelmach, he's blazing trails for sure but he's alienating those who believe government should have a lesser role in our society.

So far, ideas they're pondering, some a fait accompli:

More traffic cameras
More government royalties
More police control
More price requirements for alcohol (ie. no cheap drinks)
More license plates (so those stupid cameras make more money)
More age requirements to get into the bar (19+)

Anyway, it seems we're in for a good bout of more government, more control over ordinary people in their daily lives.

Oddly, a lot of these things are a small deal, but the tipping point for me is the contemplated plan to reintroduce front plates again. Its just another annoyance, but it shows how this government plans to behave. I'm thinking the worst is yet to come.

This is just the beginning, I'm sure, of more garbage coming down the pipeline from Stelmach. For the first time since I've been 18 (1990), I guarantee I will not vote for the PC's provincially.

Now I have to consider a bunch of crappy secondary parties none of which have any appeal to me.

Sounds like I'm going to have no choice but to vote Liberal. Ty for listening to my rant, rant away!

[Option84]

Even though I agree that with Alberta's growing economy and population, steps need to be taken to settle things down somewhat, but some of these ideas are just plain asinine.

[Dan02]

I too will steadfastly refuse to vote for the PCs next election as long as special ed is at the helm.

[JD]

I'm in the same boat but unfortunately there really isn't a good alternative. The Liberals seem to want to do everything Stelmach is doing but twice as much!

[Resolute 14]

Vote Alberta Alliance then.

The left wing parties are just as dysfunctional as their federal counterparts are.

[LIP MAN]

Why is it issues like raising alchohol prices get so much press, whereas the lack of infrastructure for neccessities such as hospitals, patient care etc. get put on the backburner until it gets to the point of...gasp! we should privatize patient care in order to speed up wait time. How could we not see this coming! And issues like ending homelessness in 10 years while giving token pressure on Calgary's municipality to add, not take away affordable housing and rent control. It's a real joke. Landlords can only double rent once a year??? At some point I think if you have a government, at least have them step in on issues most people can agree everyone is entitled to, which is a roof over your head, food and health care.

I mean really, even my most ardently conservative friends do agree something needs to be done so everyone has access to these most basic of needs in our society, without having a massive corporation be the barrier because things such as this are privatized.

And the fact the Stelmach government has even less direction on these counts as well as concentrating on such "fly by night" ideas as mentioned above just show how this government has been in power wayyyy too long and had such a lack of focus and transparency since the Klein days. I hope we can all wake up and DEMAND something be done about the issues that affect most people. Not just some bar goers and cash cows for police forces to leech off of. It reminds me of a prison economy, we are getting closer to the Red States every day now.

[Table 5]

vote for someone with good environmental policies...that is something we can all benefit from.

[LIP MAN]

Actually that is one issue I never touched on, and unfortunately our province had an immense opportunity to be a balanced leader. Instead, we paddered to "Big Business" once again, to nobodies surprise. And Canada has once again lead the world in being a major contributor to waste per capita in first world countries.

[WesternCanadaKing]

They want to raise the drinking age to 19? COME ON, I'M SO FREAKIN CLOSE DON'T DO THIS TO ME STELMACH.

[guzzy]

Those stupid cameras are a great revenue generator. Consider them a user fee for stupid people.

New license plates - are you kidding me? You are complaining about this?>

If these are your biggest problems and you need to start a thread about it, I think there are a ton of people on this board that would like to step into your shoes for a while.

I think people just love to complain nowadays.

[LIP MAN]

I think you miss the point. The focus is on issues such as this, whether it be the government or the media. But in particular this government has had too much power and done little of signifigance to assist in our well being or focusing on Macro issues. At least that's what I got out of it. Can we get back to the intelligent discussion now, I was actually enjoying seeing good rationale by both sides...

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

Vote Alberta Alliance then.

The left wing parties are just as dysfunctional as their federal counterparts are.

And the right wing parties can't even agree and unify amongst themselves. What's that new RW party? Was there really a need for 2 (or is it really 5 by the time you put all the bit players in?)

Bring on the fiscally conservative, socially moderate alternative party. You've never had a better chance of winning....

[Thunderball]

I agree.

The PC Party has gone from a pragmatic centre-right party to some hillbilly psuedo-socialist catch-all with a more obvious bible wing than ever before. What good things has Farmer Ed done?

-Wants to raise drinking age to 19: Backwards and Regressive thinking... ask Europe
-Raise Royalty Rates during Market Correction: We'll see how smart that is when the layoffs start and that 2 Billion never appears
-Price Requirements for Alcohol: Backwards, regressive and reactionary thinking that will accomplish very little. Alcohol is not governed by a typical supply/demand slope.
-Record Spending with Minimal Results: Klein was a total moron with his slashing without thinking for the future mentality, and now Stelmach is making us pay for it through the nose. Expect a deficit in the next three years if Ed stays on.

Essentially, since Ed has taken over, the government has become less fiscally conservative and more socially conservative. The christian right is back in play and that is a bad thing.

I'm definitely looking at my options. No way I vote for Taft-led Liberals though.

[Sylvanfan]

Well considering none of the other party's can get their act together to defeat the PC's it's only fitting the PC's would go out and try to defeat themselves. Politics in general is just an apathetic mess these days. It's all about trying to be no worse than the other guy.

But seriously...if the drinking age is a big issue to you...maybe you shouldn't be voting. In the grand scheme of things it's about as unimportant as you can get. Anything else, yeah fine, and the most recent policies are sort of laughable. But the age requirement thing....Larf!!

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Well considering none of the other party's can get their act together to defeat the PC's it's only fitting the PC's would go out and try to defeat themselves. Politics in general is just an apathetic mess these days. It's all about trying to be no worse than the other guy.

But seriously...if the drinking age is a big issue to you...maybe you shouldn't be voting. In the grand scheme of things it's about as unimportant as you can get. Anything else, yeah fine, and the most recent policies are sort of laughable. But the age requirement thing....Larf!!

I'm 22, they can raise it as high as 21 before I start to really care... but its a foolish thing to do, and it sets the tone to the mentality of the party... which is to say regressive, reactionary and content to interfere in the lives of the average Albertan. Three things I am strongly opposed to. All a higher drinking age accomplishes is more underage drinking, less moderation and more ridiculous behavior with alcohol. Setting high ages puts booze on a pedestal where it surely does not belong.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

I'm 22, they can raise it as high as 21 before I start to really care... but its a foolish thing to do, and it sets the tone to the mentality of the party... which is to say regressive, reactionary and content to interfere in the lives of the average Albertan. Three things I am strongly opposed to. All a higher drinking age accomplishes is more underage drinking, less moderation and more ridiculous behavior with alcohol. Setting high ages puts booze on a pedestal where it surely does not belong.

Well I don't think they'd put it any higher than 19 which is what most of the rest of the country is. I've seen arguements both ways that I can accept, and in the end I do think raising the age is a waste of time and effort for what it will ultimately accomplish; NOTHING! Still, to me it's a pretty useless issue because it affects one year of the voting cohort, and maybe a few people who own bars. All the other boneheaded stuff they're doing is more than reason enough to look for an alternative party before I even consider this issue. Although I guess it does reinforce how they are starting to resort to useless legislation which may support the theory of them trying to enforce bible belt policies around here.

[Canada 02]

other than higher government royalties, everything you listed seems to fit with conservative ideology

[flamesfever]

On his royalty changes, I believe he should have had more input from Industry. I have no doubt that Alberta will lose a lot more than it gains from these changes.

As for cameras and licence plates, I believe something has to be done to slow the speeders down. It's getting darn dangerous out there.

I think he should also ban the use of cell phones while driving.

IMO, well thought out and meaningful legislation can be a good thing, however the people that end up making the laws are usually the least endowed with common sense. Those that are more capable are too busy making money to take the time to serve the public.

[LIP MAN]

Why is it that in Nunavut, operations for oil still exist, and companies see fit to invest back into the economy, and give every citizen a cheque for royalties from oil, yet nobody here wants to raise rates? Like it or not every citizen is considered an owner of that particular resource.

Should these companies be allowed to rake in record profits while taking a resource from a region while giving next to nothing back in terms of infrastructure/money back to the citizens of the region? Sure people will lose oilpatch jobs, and that sucks, but unfortunately they were already on the route to drilling themselves out of a job because royalty rates were low, and our provinces lack of vision when it comes to slowing the drilling processes down to a reasonable rate.

Just my two cents, I have to fly off to a meeting now. Disagree, agree whatever. Just discuss. Thanks.

[PowerPlayoffs06]

I dont see the big deal about front license plates. You get 2 from the registry anyway, it's not going to cost any more, and if it gets rid of any "Get In, Sit Down, Shut Up and Hold On" plates, I'm all for it.