Moaning about Ottawa has been hood politics for conservators since the Natural Resource Transfer Act of 1931. During the Mulroney years, all of Alberta’s federal seats were PC and part of the Mulroney gov’t. The Deputy PM was from Vegreville and still, Preston Manning and Reform were screaming the “West wants in”. The west was in. Conservatives were able to dump Mulroney and that strengthened Klein giving him a miracle on the prairies win. Reform gave Alberta Conservstives permission to moan about Ottawa (and Mulroney).
The next moment of peril came after 10 years of Harper. That is a long time for Alberta conservatives yo not main about Ottawa. The result, the NDP won government in Alberta.
Smith moans about equalization. She never mention it’s the Harper formula put in place by Federsl conservatives. It’s always portrayed as Ottawa liberals screwing Alberta.
Conservatives complaining about Ottawa is their schtick and it’s worked hit a long time.
Oliver goes not support the removal of the RCMP or CPP from Alberta. For a time the UCP will say nothing about it, unless Carney is elected. Then all of the grievances that Harper never fixed will be resurrected.
The "Harper" formula on equalization has been in place since 2009. At least 3 opportunities since them have arisen to amend the formula to reflect changes in the economy. The "Harper" formula used 2006 as its baseline, a point in time when the per capita gap between AB and other provinces was at a high. That gap has shrunk considerably yet equalization continues to grow. This is unjust.
Danielle Smith is a big baby. She has a hissy fit if she can't have her way. Word has it that Pierre Poilievre's chances of becoming PM are as thin as ice on an Alberta lake in late April, and this is being connected to Danielle Smith.
For Danielle Smith to obtain what she wants, which has staunch opposition, she will use deceit. We DO NOT want our mountains destroyed, and our water poisoned with toxins, such as selenium, from coal mines, but Danielle Smith is going ahead with this anyways. Our CPP is to be LEFT ALONE, but Danielle Smith still wants an APP.
Healthcare meddling, pension meddling, and MAGA type beliefs are what Danielle Smith wants. Pierre Poilievre doesn't say a thing about this. It will be his downfall.
Because Danielle Smith is fighting for her political life, because of the MHCare scandal, which is over half a billion in costs, and involves a lot of players, she is getting very antsy, and wants to point away from her many failures as premier of Alberta, including that. This is the stunts she is pulling. That will not succeed.
Smith is the most absent premier ever! Governance is really not her 'thing' yet attention definitely is. There are a number of 'questionable' Smith government influences being examined currently and no question throwing stones at the Feds (Liberal Feds) is a useful distraction. Her comfortable place seems to be podcast performances??
Kathleen: The Alberta Legislature was given a reduction in sessions by Stockwell Day in 1997, in a pathetic attempt to save Alberta money. Cut in half. Following Ralph Klein's bad lead on austerity.
In fact, in all of North America, the Alberta Legislature has the fewest amount of sessions of any other government. Danielle Smith really reduced them. She is chicken at getting caught speaking in an imprecise way.
Danielle Smith is good at acting, or reading the news, but when it comes to governing, she is lousy at it.
Smith must have a mandate from Albertans before she pfaffs around with any referendum. I say again that she needs to call an election ( does she have the guts?) now as an election win in 2023 is currently meaningless, especially in light of the last two years disastrous governing.
As for Presto Manning he is, and always has been, a silly old fool.
Be careful what you wish for. The polling has been disappointing.
I think if more Albertans actually knew what was happening in Edmonton, they would feel differently about her. But UCP voters are living in a totally different information environment. Increasingly, they are opting out of mainstream media. Centrists and progressives have no idea how to reach these audiences, perhaps because entering the places where they gather can be extremely uncomfortable.
My comment to Manning’s op-ed in the Globe was simply this: Call a referendum with a very clear yes-no question. Publish the results quickly and without any fooling around. Finally, abide by the results and then bury this topic until after I’m dead.
Don In YYC: The UCP rigs questionnaires and surveys they concoct. There is no yes or no answers on them. The APP survey was rigged that way. No survey results on that either.
Losing and cheating are two different things. I've been around the block long many times to see the difference in elections. In Alberta, the UCP have cheated to get into power in 2019, and were enabled to do it, and Postmedia played a role. There is too much evidence that shows they cheated.
In the provincial election of 2023, the UCP lied to obtain power, and the media was complacent and would not even question anything the UCP was doing wrong. That's the only reasons why the NDP lost the election.
Columnists, in particular those at Postmedia, are basically parrots for the UCP, and there is no fact checking of what they write, unless it is from academics, but even then these columnists don't care about what those academis say. What Licia Corbella (who has since retired), Lorne Gunter, Rick Bell, David Staples and others at Postmedia publish is pure rubbish. This is also the reward they gave the VPN premier of Alberta.
I am really hoping that Poilievre is in the same boat as the last two leaders the Conservatives had. Someone seen as a loser, weak and pitiful. I think Harper was the last one to actually win an election. And look what that did for all the Conservatives out west. It is a real chore not to PITY the Conservative Party of Canada, but not all that difficult to see their absolute lunacy.
Given that a likely majority of the UCPs most voracious supporters are rural agarian toilers, they likely all read the "Western Producer". I may be mistaken but I seem to recall that paper as being mainly about agriculture and ads for farm equipment. It was of course, conservative in editorial direction, as that was where their readership was. I receive their newletter, for some reason, and that contains basically what purports to be NEWs stories about how great Smith is, how wonderful Poilievre is and all manner of CPC propaganda. That simply helps the rural farmers and residents to swallow what the UCP-CPC-Maple MAGA are telling them. It is interesting to see their headlines about the same issues as other publications, like the CBC and independent writers. Some of the stories and headlines are laughable, if they were satire.
Speaking of "alternative realities," that's Presto Manning's specialty, a logical consequence of his particularly activist brand of "magical thinking." Not only do the majority of Albertans NOT want to separate from Canada, they also do NOT want a theocracy, but when never asked outright, the sleight of hand subterfuge that is UCP politics continues, dancing in the back door like they've done since the loathsome, ham-fisted Reform Party first brought us their "bozo eruptions" that have long ceased to be amusing. These guys are Project 2025 in waiting, ironically but enthusiastically led by a stupid woman who isn't even a "believer," just a tool for those clearly superior men like David Parker. A smokescreen for that "lake of fire" that still lurks awkwardly, as all religious doctrine increasingly does.
And the Jan. 6th insurrection makes Alberta's "Firewall Letter" look entirely quaint, but we go slower up here, remember, being a product of evolution instead of the American preference for revolution.
I totally understand your worry Lisa, we're like all the Americans who actually CHOSE Trump; SO tired of the embarrassment, but I also feel that the Emperor so obviously not having ANY clothes whatsoever is starting to eclipse all aspirants.
And on the topic here, losing with grace, conservatives count themselves out as totally incapable of that, have instead repeatedly shown themselves to be utterly graceless, EVEN in victory.
No wonder democracy is on the ropes because of them, and again, do recall that we never talk about a "conservative democracy."
Hence the Liberals as the "natural" governing party.
I'm making assumptions, but it's 'sad' and telling that the 'What Now' panel would be much more broadly composed, more methodologically rigourous and its findings most likely more nuanced and better received than any such effort by Dani, Presto and their coterie would produce.
So many of us in Alberta cannot stand Danielle Smith and her UCP party. I would love to see the end of them both! She’s not aware of just how much she’s hated due to her arrogance and refusal to look outside of her whack-a-do supporters. I really hope Albertans give her a viscous slap and elect several Liberal MPs.
So Preston Manning's response to American imperialism is to break up Canada? Just doesn't make a lot of sense. He needs to learn about loser's consent.
Moaning about Ottawa has been hood politics for conservators since the Natural Resource Transfer Act of 1931. During the Mulroney years, all of Alberta’s federal seats were PC and part of the Mulroney gov’t. The Deputy PM was from Vegreville and still, Preston Manning and Reform were screaming the “West wants in”. The west was in. Conservatives were able to dump Mulroney and that strengthened Klein giving him a miracle on the prairies win. Reform gave Alberta Conservstives permission to moan about Ottawa (and Mulroney).
The next moment of peril came after 10 years of Harper. That is a long time for Alberta conservatives yo not main about Ottawa. The result, the NDP won government in Alberta.
Smith moans about equalization. She never mention it’s the Harper formula put in place by Federsl conservatives. It’s always portrayed as Ottawa liberals screwing Alberta.
Conservatives complaining about Ottawa is their schtick and it’s worked hit a long time.
Oliver goes not support the removal of the RCMP or CPP from Alberta. For a time the UCP will say nothing about it, unless Carney is elected. Then all of the grievances that Harper never fixed will be resurrected.
The "Harper" formula on equalization has been in place since 2009. At least 3 opportunities since them have arisen to amend the formula to reflect changes in the economy. The "Harper" formula used 2006 as its baseline, a point in time when the per capita gap between AB and other provinces was at a high. That gap has shrunk considerably yet equalization continues to grow. This is unjust.
Danielle Smith is a big baby. She has a hissy fit if she can't have her way. Word has it that Pierre Poilievre's chances of becoming PM are as thin as ice on an Alberta lake in late April, and this is being connected to Danielle Smith.
For Danielle Smith to obtain what she wants, which has staunch opposition, she will use deceit. We DO NOT want our mountains destroyed, and our water poisoned with toxins, such as selenium, from coal mines, but Danielle Smith is going ahead with this anyways. Our CPP is to be LEFT ALONE, but Danielle Smith still wants an APP.
Healthcare meddling, pension meddling, and MAGA type beliefs are what Danielle Smith wants. Pierre Poilievre doesn't say a thing about this. It will be his downfall.
Because Danielle Smith is fighting for her political life, because of the MHCare scandal, which is over half a billion in costs, and involves a lot of players, she is getting very antsy, and wants to point away from her many failures as premier of Alberta, including that. This is the stunts she is pulling. That will not succeed.
Smith is the most absent premier ever! Governance is really not her 'thing' yet attention definitely is. There are a number of 'questionable' Smith government influences being examined currently and no question throwing stones at the Feds (Liberal Feds) is a useful distraction. Her comfortable place seems to be podcast performances??
Kathleen: The Alberta Legislature was given a reduction in sessions by Stockwell Day in 1997, in a pathetic attempt to save Alberta money. Cut in half. Following Ralph Klein's bad lead on austerity.
In fact, in all of North America, the Alberta Legislature has the fewest amount of sessions of any other government. Danielle Smith really reduced them. She is chicken at getting caught speaking in an imprecise way.
Danielle Smith is good at acting, or reading the news, but when it comes to governing, she is lousy at it.
The Texas legislature only sits in odd numbered years.
(I’m being careful to footnote. You never know when the National Post will take an interest!)
Brilliant!
You are always great, but this post is on fire 🔥 🔥 🔥
Smith must have a mandate from Albertans before she pfaffs around with any referendum. I say again that she needs to call an election ( does she have the guts?) now as an election win in 2023 is currently meaningless, especially in light of the last two years disastrous governing.
As for Presto Manning he is, and always has been, a silly old fool.
Be careful what you wish for. The polling has been disappointing.
I think if more Albertans actually knew what was happening in Edmonton, they would feel differently about her. But UCP voters are living in a totally different information environment. Increasingly, they are opting out of mainstream media. Centrists and progressives have no idea how to reach these audiences, perhaps because entering the places where they gather can be extremely uncomfortable.
But we have to do it, or we will lose.
My comment to Manning’s op-ed in the Globe was simply this: Call a referendum with a very clear yes-no question. Publish the results quickly and without any fooling around. Finally, abide by the results and then bury this topic until after I’m dead.
Don In YYC: The UCP rigs questionnaires and surveys they concoct. There is no yes or no answers on them. The APP survey was rigged that way. No survey results on that either.
More seriously, a perceptive analysis. Well done!
Another factor - if the Liberals win, how will the direct losers, the federal Conservatives, react? They can be a fractious bunch. Reform version 2?
Losing and cheating are two different things. I've been around the block long many times to see the difference in elections. In Alberta, the UCP have cheated to get into power in 2019, and were enabled to do it, and Postmedia played a role. There is too much evidence that shows they cheated.
In the provincial election of 2023, the UCP lied to obtain power, and the media was complacent and would not even question anything the UCP was doing wrong. That's the only reasons why the NDP lost the election.
Columnists, in particular those at Postmedia, are basically parrots for the UCP, and there is no fact checking of what they write, unless it is from academics, but even then these columnists don't care about what those academis say. What Licia Corbella (who has since retired), Lorne Gunter, Rick Bell, David Staples and others at Postmedia publish is pure rubbish. This is also the reward they gave the VPN premier of Alberta.
https://financialpost.com/news/jason-kenney-terrie-oleary-appointed-postmedia-board
I am really hoping that Poilievre is in the same boat as the last two leaders the Conservatives had. Someone seen as a loser, weak and pitiful. I think Harper was the last one to actually win an election. And look what that did for all the Conservatives out west. It is a real chore not to PITY the Conservative Party of Canada, but not all that difficult to see their absolute lunacy.
Given that a likely majority of the UCPs most voracious supporters are rural agarian toilers, they likely all read the "Western Producer". I may be mistaken but I seem to recall that paper as being mainly about agriculture and ads for farm equipment. It was of course, conservative in editorial direction, as that was where their readership was. I receive their newletter, for some reason, and that contains basically what purports to be NEWs stories about how great Smith is, how wonderful Poilievre is and all manner of CPC propaganda. That simply helps the rural farmers and residents to swallow what the UCP-CPC-Maple MAGA are telling them. It is interesting to see their headlines about the same issues as other publications, like the CBC and independent writers. Some of the stories and headlines are laughable, if they were satire.
As a retired clergyman, I must ask: will Par$on Manning’s quarter- million stipend be paid in U$D this time around?
Chin up. Back straight. Soldier on!
I am 70. It took until I was 65 to achieve my political "wins".
I now, for the first time in my life am represented by progressives at all three levels of government!
Blake Desjarlais, Janis Irwin, Ashley Salvador.
Never give up!
65 and same. My parents are third generation farmers, still on the farm and voting liberal. They voted ndp last round.
Losers consent cannot happen without acknowledging the choice of the electorate …
and accepting it.
Speaking of "alternative realities," that's Presto Manning's specialty, a logical consequence of his particularly activist brand of "magical thinking." Not only do the majority of Albertans NOT want to separate from Canada, they also do NOT want a theocracy, but when never asked outright, the sleight of hand subterfuge that is UCP politics continues, dancing in the back door like they've done since the loathsome, ham-fisted Reform Party first brought us their "bozo eruptions" that have long ceased to be amusing. These guys are Project 2025 in waiting, ironically but enthusiastically led by a stupid woman who isn't even a "believer," just a tool for those clearly superior men like David Parker. A smokescreen for that "lake of fire" that still lurks awkwardly, as all religious doctrine increasingly does.
And the Jan. 6th insurrection makes Alberta's "Firewall Letter" look entirely quaint, but we go slower up here, remember, being a product of evolution instead of the American preference for revolution.
I totally understand your worry Lisa, we're like all the Americans who actually CHOSE Trump; SO tired of the embarrassment, but I also feel that the Emperor so obviously not having ANY clothes whatsoever is starting to eclipse all aspirants.
And on the topic here, losing with grace, conservatives count themselves out as totally incapable of that, have instead repeatedly shown themselves to be utterly graceless, EVEN in victory.
No wonder democracy is on the ropes because of them, and again, do recall that we never talk about a "conservative democracy."
Hence the Liberals as the "natural" governing party.
I'm making assumptions, but it's 'sad' and telling that the 'What Now' panel would be much more broadly composed, more methodologically rigourous and its findings most likely more nuanced and better received than any such effort by Dani, Presto and their coterie would produce.
So many of us in Alberta cannot stand Danielle Smith and her UCP party. I would love to see the end of them both! She’s not aware of just how much she’s hated due to her arrogance and refusal to look outside of her whack-a-do supporters. I really hope Albertans give her a viscous slap and elect several Liberal MPs.
She is very aware. She and her buddies just don't care.
So Preston Manning's response to American imperialism is to break up Canada? Just doesn't make a lot of sense. He needs to learn about loser's consent.