This afternoon, I was minding my own business, puttering through some data for a research piece that tries to grapple with the question of whether, or in what way, Alberta is different from the rest of Canada politically.
Then the latest CBC piece landed with a bang. I’m not going to say much more, but I will recommend Evan Scrimshaw’s take.
And I’ll share a couple of bits of data I was looking at, all from the 2019 Canada Election Study.
I don’t love the question wording, but still think this is worth looking at:
Essentially, Albertans are more likely than other Canadians to strongly disagree with the statement “Journalists who work for the mainstream media never lie.” As I said, the wording isn’t great — “never” is a high bar. But this suggests there’s a pretty substantial level of distrust in mainstream media, and it’s even more intense in Alberta.
Of course, it’s not just about where you live. It’s political too. People who identify with the Liberal party (and the NDP, not shown) aren’t nearly as skeptical, while Conservatives are very skeptical.
Why am I sharing this right now? It shows one part of the context for the current situation. I’m inclined to be quite trusting of established journalists. They’re staking their professional credibility on getting the story right, and they have editors questioning them. They certainly don’t get together and invent things.
But my level of trust isn’t shared, especially in conservative circles. So as much as I think the Premier’s statement claiming the story is defamatory is absurd, there are many - particularly among her supporters - who believe her.
The truth won't fade away. That's a fact, and those words are mentioned in song lyrics by a well known British rock band, Procol Harum. The Truth Won't Fade Away is a song from them, from 1991. We lost Gary Brooker in February of 2022, from cancer, at age 76.
No matter what the UCP tries to say, the truth is out there, and they can't hide from it. The UCP can't cover it up. Danielle Smith is going to continue to lose credibility if she keeps on going down the path she is taking.