Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at a recent news conference (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr).

With the thoughts that you’ll be thinkin’
You could be another Lincoln
if you only had a brain.

—    Scarecrow, The Wizard of Oz
 
OTTAWA
 
Could Danielle Smith have handled introduction of her “Sovereignty Act” better?
 
Answer: Yes.
 
Like the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, though, this would have required that she only had a brain.
 
This is a way of asking, Could Alberta’s premier have handled the introduction of the Act technically known as the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act – hereinafter known as ASWAUCA, pronounced “ass-woke-uh” – any more badly?
 
This is not to say, of course, that Premier Smith actually lacks a brain. Indeed, I’m quite sure she has a very fine one.
 
It is only to say that she obviously didn’t use it.
 
This is probably because she listened to someone like Rob Anderson, who used to be her Wildrose Party deputy leader, was more recently chair of her successful United Conservative Party leadership campaign, and is now executive director of the Premier’s Office.
 
Mr. Anderson is one of the authors of the “Free Alberta Strategy,” which most recently articulated the concept of an Alberta sovereignty act.
 
The final version of the Sovereignty Act would have “a whole head of very sharp teeth,” Mr. Anderson vowed in October after the original concept of a provincial law to ignore federal laws was widely mocked and condemned as patently unconstitutional. “It will be very meaningful, and it will change the dynamic.”
 
He meant the dynamic with Ottawa, though, not with Alberta voters and UCP supporters.
 
Premier Smith and Mr. Anderson are well known in conservative political circles in Alberta to bring out the worst in each other. This probably explains why the premier didn’t use her head, or even her political lizard brain, in the introduction of ASWAUCA, and hence the growing troubles she has with it now.
 
Long before ASWAUCA was drafted, many of the independantiste ideas the legislation was supposed to deliver were found in Stephen Harper’s notorious 2001 manifesto, the so-called Firewall Letter.
 
Mr. Harper went on to be the Conservative prime minister of Canada for nearly a decade and never uttered another peep about the Firewall manifesto, which suggests the strategies laid out in the letter to Ralph Klein were principally intended to discomfit the Liberals in Ottawa and, secondarily, to drive Premier Ralph Klein’s Alberta government further to the right.
 
But then, unlike either Ms. Smith or Mr. Anderson, Mr. Harper was obviously a very stable genius, to borrow a phrase.
 
Mr. Klein, who may not have been very stable and certainly wasn’t a genius, nevertheless had excellent political instincts, and immediately threw the Firewall Letter into the shredder, where it belonged.
 
So what went wrong with the introduction of Ms. Smith’s Sovereignty Act – a key part of her success in her campaign to lead the UCP, which required her to court the far-right fringe of a party that has been sliding for a while into immoderation?
 
Answer: Mainly, she introduced it.
 
But, someone is sure to think, she had to! She’s promised it. And her most enthusiastic supporters would have demanded it.
 
However, just because she’d promised it and her fans thought it was a good idea doesn’t mean actually putting it in writing and introducing it to the Legislature was also an idea with merit.
 
In fact, this was the worst course of action she could have taken. It should have been obvious – indeed, it was obvious – that an Alberta sovereignty act in any form would have been an unpopular and destabilizing idea.
 
Now, I understand that some of Ms. Smith’s advisors appear to think a certain amount of destabilization is a good idea.
 
But when the Calgary Chamber of Commerce is screaming at you from the rafters about the uncertainty you’re introducing and the Opposition keeps rising in the polls, the instability you’ve coked up is probably not having the kind of effect you’d anticipated.
 
Moreover, no matter how cowed Ms. Smith’s UCP Caucus appears to be right now, rewriting the act into a Trojan horse for making the Legislature all but irrelevant by allowing the Cabinet to rewrite legislation at will without re-submitting it to MLAs for a vote has to be causing a certain amount of angst among government MLAs.
 
I mean, what politician has a goal of legislating themselves into irrelevance?
 
To those who say ASWAUCA doesn’t do what I say it does, I advise them to read Bill 1 itself, not the government’s press releases.
 
Of course, the bill could still be amended. But for the time being, ASWAUCA deserves the unease it has caused, and the growing discomfort with it on the right – which must be worrying, among other things, about what might happen if it remained on the books and fell into the hands of a more woke government, even for a moment.
 
So what should Ms. Smith have done?
 
The answer, as any student of politics surely understands, would have been to say she wasn’t going to introduce a sovereignty act just yet – but that, by gosh, she would the instant it was required.
 
That would have kept the threat on the agenda, the NDP Opposition on its back foot, and the government’s allies in business comfortable with continuing their financial and moral support.
 
It’s too late now. The government has left itself with the choice of eviscerating its own legislation by amendment and looking like it’s flip-flopping and running for the exits, or sticking with it, and quite possibly sealing its doom whenever the next election takes place.
 
Not a good choice.
 
In the end, Scarecrow turned out to be the wisest person in all of Oz.
 
Ms. Smith? Not so much, probably.

Join the Conversation

47 Comments

  1. As with my feelings toward Kenney’s failure to complete even one term as Premier (or even as MLA), my schadenfreude knows no bounds. I keep vacillating between assessments of Premier Straightjacket—intelligent sociopath or credulous idiot? I still see the potential for both.

  2. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that has been around the block a few times, and has seen plenty of political missteps. Danielle Smith lets her mouth go off, before her brain does. Her mouth seems to be an entity on its own, which is separate from her brain. This is what gets her into trouble, so frequently. Then she tries to make a retraction, but it’s too late at that point. Her Sovereignty Act is just a bunch of tough talking gibberish, which has no merit. It’s all bark and no bite. She can try and modify it all she wants, but that will be useless. Because something that is useless has to be thrown in the trash, simply because there is no value in keeping it. Danielle Smith still doesn’t realize this, and the limited support base she has doesn’t realize this either. Eventually, her small support base will see what a dud Danielle Smith is, and they will dump her. What they expected from her, and what she is actually able to accomplish, are two different things. For those of us who have been around the block a few times already, we could see Danielle Smith’s political demise coming. She will take the UCP down with her.

    1. No, whether you like Putin or hate Putin he is competent and politically astute. I do not think that these are adjectives one would apply to Premier Smith. The Doug Ford of the West?

    2. All you progs would do well to stifle your regurtiation of US propaganda talking points when analyzing the unbridled kookery of Smith and Co., or do you perhaps feel that Smith’s handlers and supporters are correct in their seemingly paranoid view of Alberta being under threat from wicked somebody-or-others? Because there is no question that Russia is under an enormous threat from the imperial Military-Industrial-Intelligence apparatus.
      “Despite these vulnerabilities and anxieties, Russia remains a powerful country that still manages to be a U.S. peer competitor in a few key domains. Recognizing that some level of competition with Russia is inevitable, RAND researchers conducted a qualitative assessment of “cost-imposing options” that could unbalance and overextend Russia.”
      This one’s a real knee-slapper:
      “Providing lethal aid to Ukraine would exploit Russia’s greatest point of external vulnerability. But any increase in U.S. military arms and advice to Ukraine would need to be carefully calibrated to increase the costs to Russia of sustaining its existing commitment without provoking a much wider conflict in which Russia, by reason of proximity, would have significant advantages.”
      “The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Army and conducted by the RAND Arroyo Center.”
      https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10014.html

  3. Lets see, would I rather support a party that wanted to find ways to get a better deal from Ottawa and Canada or a party which thinks you can act like a mat and sooner or later those stepping on you will decide they will use a vacuum rather than a carpet beater?

    It really is that simple and the population of Alberta already had a referendum on it.
    I guess Notley doesn’t like democracy.

    1. So you are saying Notley hates democracy because she opposes a bill that would entrench executive control at the expense of the legislative branch. 0% of the electorate voted for Smith to be premier. Call an election to settle this beef about what constitutes democracy. Smith’s far right wingnuts or Notley’s balanced approach to government which takes into account the wishes of ordinary Albertans.

      1. It’s a work in progress instead of done like dinner. You know like the provincial ndp, who currently is in power in Ottawa and ignoring the rights of its citizens.

    2. Tireless sycophant Bret, back again. Thinks pugilism is the best way to solve the problems that might exist between Alberta and the federal government. Smashing a system open isn’t always the best way to fix it…

    3. please remind us, when exactly was this referendum you speak of, what was the question, and what was the outcome?

      Also, too, in what respects, precisely, did the NDP government ever act like a doormat?

    4. Bret Larson: Rachel Notley wasn’t handed down any fines for breaking election laws. Those in the UCP party sure were. At least 200 K in total were levied to those in the UCP party. The previous leader of the UCP also has the R.C.M.P looking into his leadership. In the summer, a Calgary UCP MLA, Doug Schweitzer had resigned. Danielle Smith still isn’t providing thr people who had him as their MLA a by-election, so they can elect a new MLA. Furthermore, Danielle Smith’s policies for her MLAs make it so it’s like a dictatorship. The party that doesn’t like democracy is the UCP.

    5. So that’s what this is about. A ” Deal ” or as some say including yourself ” a better deal ” Like Trump would always say and had someone write a book in his name ” The Art of the Deal”. A better deal is certainly better than a ” Raw Deal ” or a ” Bum Deal ” which is what Alberta has supposedly been getting this whole time according to some but isn’t the ” Deal ” Alberta getting pretty much the same ” Deal” as everyone else.
      I think Albertan’s are entitled to ” a better deal ” than the ” deals’ ” the other province’s are getting, this much is plain to see. If we don’t get a “better deal ” than someone has to take the blame. This is where Rachel Notley comes in. She is obviously preventing Alberta from getting a “better deal” . Her and Trudeau are to blame. I’m getting this right aren’t I ? Danielle Smith is trying to get Alberta a ” better deal ” than everyone else because we are special and Notley is trying to get us a ” Bum Deal “. Got it.

    6. Nice try Bret: It is always diverting to blame someone else for one’s own failures. Where the Cons and the UCP flip over to outright stupid is when they start blaming Ottawa for things like the world price of oil crashing or the physical reality that our nearest market access is through seven of the world’s more difficult mountain ranges to the west coast or across several thousand miles of land in any other direction. Not collecting Lougheed-level or better oil and gas Royalties which Ottawa can never touch, is plain dumb. Not thanking the Trudeau administration for spending $24 billion to expand the Trans-Mountain Pipeline is just churlish.
      The Cons and the UCP have blown a multi-generational opportunity and all the pandering in the world to her base from Premier Smith cannot change that. But what it does do is make Albertans look like fools on the world stage.

    7. Bret, so exactly which party is it that you are supporting? Danielle Smith ‘s Wild Rose, I mean P.Conservative, I mean UCP…with more cabinet than any previous Alberta gov….so much for your “this is the reason that smaller government equals better government “. And just as a point of issue, Albertans have not yet had a “referendum” on Danielle,
      never mind the so called “Sovereignty Act “, if they did, we wouldn’t be talking about it. And no, being Premier by default does not mean she has support of the majority of Albertans ,especially for her dictatorial ideas/ideals…..
      and FWIW, are you still going to vote for DS, when she crosses the floor to join the NDP, because their polling numbers are so much higher? Not possible you say ? going by Danielle Fickle, wouldn’t surprise me if she tried *
      But then you think that “then the doctors can negotiate with their clients(?) and compete with other doctors for their jobs ” …shows which way that shovel is leaning.
      (clients ?… Hmm, I always thought doctors dealt with their patients )

      *Rachel: ? umm, NFL *

  4. The Sovereignty Act is the cornerstone of the Free Alberta Strategy, in the words of its authors. Other components are the Alberta police force and the Alberta Pension Plan, among others, which Kenney had already set in motion. But he seems to have balked at the Sovereignty Act, and he was overthrown. I think the current group of which Smith is the front person is aware of the risk, but they’re going for broke. It’s now or never for them. They know they will never have another opportunity like this. They may lose, or not. This is a very dangerous time.

  5. I feel you are being unnecessarily generous in your comparison to The Scarecrow – brains of straw may exceed the capacity needed to become a Minister in the UCP government at this time. The Deputy Premier Duo have a slight grasp of the furor – well, maybe one has – the other hasn’t made time to read the proposed act. The Minister of Justice can’t be bothered to follow the statements of his colleagues on The Twitter. Who knows how well informed the rest of the cabinet are – Brains of Chaff may be more accurate. Be patient. This, too, will pass. Meanwhile, shackle Kenney to something large, heavy and solid before he waltzes across the provincial boundary into refuge.

    https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-deputy-premier-says-sovereignty-act-not-a-power-grab-eyes-changes-to-bill-1.6177095

    1. t’rump had Rudy, so it seems apropos that Dani has Keith, still haven’t heard if the “Goodwill ” was the intended location…???

  6. IF there is an election this May,
    and if the NDP win,
    I really hope theur first act is to use the “Ass-woke-a” powers to unilaterally disembowel the act itself.

    I would laugh and laugh and laugh and then…

    expect the new government to formally revoke it with their own Bill 1.

  7. A better analysis and look at this incredible undemocratic bill won’t be written. Never realized it was so easy to create a provincial dictatorship. Mind writing off our UCP MLAs may be a bonus

  8. Even the right-leaning “The Line” has nothing positive to say about ASWAUSA (DJC, the pronunciation guide was hilariously appropriate!). Here’s Jen Gerson’s take in an opinion piece:
    https://theline.substack.com/p/jen-gerson-the-sovereignty-act-zen

    Gerson treats it more like a joke than a serious attempt to usurp legislative power. Still, she’s right that it would be funny–except Smith, Anderson & Cooper (a.k.a. Chaos Alberta Unchained, and if they aren’t they should be) are dead serious.

    This sorry excuse for legislation might even pass into law; remember, Jason Kenney’s “Keep Off Public Property, You Eco-Freaks” Act is on the books. Promulgated or not, unconstitutional or not, it’s there waiting to be used. The instant it IS used, there’ll be a slew of court challenges; sadly, they’ll take years to reach the Supreme Court. Once there, it’ll be struck down. In the meantime, it’s still a threat to non-Freedom Convoy protestors.

    So it may go with Smith’s “I’m the Queen of Qberduh” Act. All will depend on how complaisant UCP back-benchers are; then how quickly the Queen tries to exercise her new powers of royalty-wannabe prerogative; and THEN on how fast the NDP and various civil-rights organizations can drag the Queen into court.

    They’ve got about 3 weeks, if they push it, before Christmas. Then another (say) three months to pass as much legislation (or something) as possible. Then the election, assuming the Queen doesn’t declare the fixed-election act null and void.

    We’ll see how the Utter Chaos Party handles this one. Meanwhile, I have to find my list of election slogans for UCP 2023; with Lord Jason out and Queen Dannie the Worst taking over, they’ll need some revisions….

    1. “remember, Jason Kenney’s “Keep Off Public Property, You Eco-Freaks” Act is on the books. Promulgated or not, unconstitutional or not, it’s there waiting to be used.” I’m sure you noticed, though, that when the Coutts border crossing was blockaded by convoy nutters and armed Diagolon rebels last February, there was no mention of the “Critical Infrastructure Defence Act” … which only goes to show in the starkest of terms how inherently racist it was in its conception and application.

      1. The convoy insurrection got many of Canada’s institutions to reveal the obvious white supremacists double standard that permeates Canada’s society, institutions and legal system. I’m still pretty sure many of them have no idea how many of the quiet parts they said out loud.

    2. Mike, I believe with all my heart that Lt. Governor Lakhani will terminate this misbegotten act, should the trained seals of the clown party actually pass it. The only question is in what way.
      I think the possibility of government dismissal, triggering a slightly earlier election, has just increased significantly.

  9. Danielle Smith is what I call an enthusiastic politico. Like some partisan youth, she is all energy but little in the way of brains. She’s always ready to misbehave, but has no notion of discipline or self-control, let alone self awareness. The problem is that while young politicos eventually do grow up and realize that they behaved badly, Smith seems to have no awareness of her bad behavior. If anything, she encourages others to reinforces her notions about how the world works, and rewards them handsomely when they deliver on her fantasies. This makes for a poisonous environment.

    Given all the hotheaded reaction to the ASWAUCA, one wonders what PMJT will do in response to this blistering assault from Alberta. Likely, do nothing. I mean why should Trudeau anything? If Smith and the crazy wing of the UCP want to throw tantrums all day, let them. They only ones they are going harm is Alberta and themselves, of course.

    And if the hotheads among the sovereigntists get whipped up into a frenzy, let them. With all the rage farming, the only ones they are going to hurt in the end is Skippy Pollivere, who is being awfully quiet these days. I mean really quiet, as in the he’s not home type of quiet.

    1. just me— he is/was not at home, he was just in Terrace, BC Nov 30, “speaking LNG, Pipelines, the emergencies act inquiry” …..considering that it was one of the staging points of the convoy group, with truckers rolling thru Jan 29th, ….one could get funny ideas as to what he’s up to, besides taking it on the chin for his latest comments on his Twitter about the Bank of Canada, again….but I don’t suppose he reads the posts, just looks to see how many people tweeted, and saying– see how much they like me. ta da !!
      and considering he was just in Vancouver recently, the high inflation and no money in taxpayer’s pockets hasn’t stopped him from frequent flier miles, but hey, he’s doing this for ALL Canadians, right?

    2. “Enthusiastic politico”? Just Me, you’re too kind. I’d call Smith a dangerously ignorant dabbler with a whim of iron.

  10. The ‘Firewall Letter’ written by some Calgary area political wannabes, resulted in Ralph Klein establishing a group of MLAs to consider the letter and consult with Albertans. The result, after many town hall meetings across the province a report was made, ‘Strengthening Alberta’s Role In Confederation’. Every single notion in the firewall letter was shown to be unworkable posturing that if done would cost Albertans dearly just to poke the feds with a sharp stick. The same bunch of losers are at it again. We need to vote them out at the next election.

  11. Yes, the devil is usually in the details, so now that the bill has been put forward everyone can go through it and find the problems. Unfortunately, for Smith and the UCP, there are several apparent but the answers are not so clear.

    There seems to be a certain amount of backtracking going on now about the part that allows the government to ignore the Alberta Legislature as well as the Feds. So perhaps Smith and the UCP will take their lumps and try to fix that. Of course, it is hard to say for sure whether that will happen and if so how even effective it will be. It is possible Smith may be more flexible than Kenney who was quite stubborn and not one for ever turning. Also, an impending election with bad polling numbers might prompt more flexibility.

    However, even if this problem is fixed, there are other important holes and leaks that remain. The main one being more fundamental in how it forces those funded by the Alberta government to disobey Federal law. This makes both not for profits and businesses very nervous and with good reason given how Smith has already tried to strong arm both on issues related to vaccine requirements.

    Smith probably does not want or need businesses to put investment on hold until this conflict with the Feds is sorted out, but this might be what she will get. For the most recent month Alberta unemployment has just gone up and of course oil prices have been drifting lower now for a number of months. The economy may not be so great when we get to the election, whether it be on the stated date of May 30 or a delayed one, if Smith feels she can not win on the stated date.

    Conservatives often talk about business confidence. Smith should realize it can be a tricky and fickle thing and her ASWAUCA is not helping it. Prentice had the misfortune to have an election just as the economy was turning negative. Smith might face a similar problem. She might get ASWAUCA’d.

  12. The Preamble to Bill 1 is designed to make the case for why a sovereignty act is necessary. The first Whereas says that “Albertans possess a unique culture and shared identity within Canada,” a questionable assertion to say the least. Another Whereas says that the Canadian Parliament and federal government have infringed the charter rights and freedoms of Albertans, a statement made with no evidence to back it up. The entire bill is an exercise in misdirection and lunacy.

  13. “With the thoughts that you’ll be thinkin’ You could be another Lincoln.” Yeah, well, My pappy said, “Son, you’re gonna’ drive me to drinkin’ If you don’t stop drivin’ that UCP Hot Rod Lincoln.”

    Continually having to both appeal to and appease the “Conservative” base fringe minority means that populism, perpetual victimhood, and conspiracy theories are all very de rigueur in “Conservative” political circles. [Further regarding the “Conservative” ‘populist’ pandering to conspiracy theorists:
    “He knows better, but he is clearly pandering to a segment of the population that distrusts institutions and falls for conspiracy theories,” Paris, of the University of Ottawa, said of Poilievre.”

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/truth-tracker-analyzing-the-world-economic-forum-great-reset-conspiracy-theory-1.5922314 ]

    So, it could be asked:

    Q: “What are Albertans like?”
    A: “We Albertans are oppressed by Ottawa.”
    Q: “But what are your strengths?”
    A: “We Albertans are focused and strong in our fight against Ottawa.”
    Q: “Understood. What are your weaknesses?”
    A: “We Albertans have been and continue to be made weak by Ottawa.”

    Understanding that the further ‘hidden’ [one, of course, has to have ‘special’ insight in order to divine these machinations] implication is one where the [‘Communist’] State represented by Ottawa controls [or wishes to control] all aspects of economic production, and provides citizens with their basic necessities, including food, housing, medical care and education.

    This is all very interesting [ https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x36rw5p ] even as it is contrary to the reality of what actually is. For example:

    “The Government of Alberta controls education and healthcare; it controls labour laws that cover the majority of employees in the province; it is free to develop its own version of social programs while still receiving transfers from the federal government; it controls its post-secondary institutions—and the list goes on.”

    “The province has been able to develop its natural resources (with considerable public investment) and reap the benefits through royalties for decades, thereby funding its outstanding public services while maintaining low taxes. Ironically, this combination of resource revenues and low taxes has nurtured the Albertan myth of “small government”: we have enjoyed big government at small government prices, and we have told ourselves stories about how this is a result of free enterprise, not a combination of state investment and sheer geographic good fortune.”

    “Focusing our current discontent and anxiety on the federal government is a way to avoid confronting our pressing problems. How will we navigate a global economy that is rapidly shifting away from carbon? How will we clean up the oil and gas sites we have developed, and how will we do better in the future? How will we ensure that we continue to prosper? How will we build an inclusive community? There is an urgent need for Albertans to let go of their sense of historical grievance and focus their attention away from the past toward a future that is arriving faster than any of us had imagined.” – -Lisa Young, Professor of Political Science University of Calgary.

    And again,

    “In Alberta alone, the federal government also spent nearly $12 billion in business subsidies, while nearly 1.1 million Albertans received Canada emergency response benefit (CERB) payments.”

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/government-canada-alberta-tax-revenue-covid-1.6243591

    Yet, according to Ted Morton, a modern day Don Quixote, “Alberta has never received anything from Ottawa by asking politely.” Meet the new windmills, same as the old windmills. And just about as interesting, as noted above.

    1. What else is a system in which billions of people are subject to the whims of a dominant class that has enriched itself without intererruption for half a millennium and the subjugated have been conditioned to support and perpetuate this system? In the last fifty years in the developed countries the political economy has moved so far to the right that what was a centrist position in 1972 is now considered “far-left”. Do you think this shift in thinking occurred without a program of inculcation? The mainstream claims they’re reasonable centrists in an era when the entirety of institutions in our society constitute the apparatus of what could have only been a corporatist dream in the first twenty-five years after the Second World War. Or was it just the way the cookie crumbled that produced a US society in which seven annual sick days for rail workers is a left-wing looney proposition? Apparently one hundred and fifty years of corporate exploitation by the likes of Dupont and Exxon and Goldman Sachs and Pfizer has simply ended and rule by the newly benevloent plutocrats is the sensible approach for all of us. Who knew the dominance hierarchy in late-stage finance capitalism had reformed itself so much?

  14. You’re sure the Act’s abbreviation isn’t asswacker ? Any way, I see the Alberta NDP has called for an economic review of this Ass Wacky legislation and its economic impact. I find that to be a sensible approach. Possibly if that is done and it predicts deleterious effects, then the United Crazy Party might reconsider. Or the few, if any, sensible Crazies might vote against their own party’s whip. God help Alburda, just when you think it cannot get worse.

  15. I envision a head of iceberg lettuce with very sharp teeth. The iceberg shark is sitting on the counter. The clock is ticking.

  16. “To those who say ASWAUCA doesn’t do what I say it does, I advise them to read Bill 1 itself, not the government’s press releases.”

    Agreed. If passed, it will ultimately up to the courts to determine what the act does and does not allow. The courts will not read press releases.

  17. In addition to the general silliness of the bill, there is also the serious issue of it giving cabinet authority to unilaterally change legislation, which doesn’t really seem necessary to do what the bill purports to want to do. This leaves me very suspicious that the government wanted to sneak that in while we were all distracted by Ms. Smith’s courageous ‘stand up to Ottawa’ bill. If passed, it seems like it could be a really sneaky way to change legislation so it favours corporate interests, in a way that would be embarrassing to the government.

    Ms. Smith has encouraged the NDP to work collaboratively with them to make the bill better. Understandably, the opposition has no interest in doing so, presumably because they don’t want to be seen legitimizing this silliness, and I totally support that thinking. That said, I do wonder how tenaciously the UCP would cling to the cabinet fiat provision of the bill if the opposition urged them to drop it.

  18. ass-woke-a ….love it…
    or giving it a west coast flavor
    ass- wacka-a ! (with 6 more months of” side eye action with the Robert De Niro facial impressions “) * appropriated from the Tyee— but which answered my question about- what is that look ?? and fits in with the rump/ godfather attitude we’ve been seeing.

  19. “…coked up…”
    Well, possibly. The UCP does generally act as though it was in the grip of some powerful narcotic.

  20. Now she’s done it. The Queen of Mean is kicking children out of respite care. My guess is that the fired CEO and the fired board of AHS would have spoken out against this. But children don’t vote, and all those people were fired. Happy holidays, everyone, unless you had to cancel because of no respite care!

    https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/ahs-halts-respite-care-at-rotary-flames-house-to-address-alberta-children-s-hospital-struggle-1.6179016

    If you think you should trust Danielle Smith instead of reading the #1 A$$-woke-uh, this is your wake-up call. Do you want to trust her now?

  21. The upcoming protest against ASWAUCA could give Danielle Smith and her UCP loonies the fear to back off from this extraordinary piece of legislative idiocy. Of course, the worry is that if Smith does decide that ASWAUCA is not her hill to die on, it’s very likely she pay get a pass on whatever crazy she comes up with.

    Albertans are the stupidest people alive. That there is no doubt about.

  22. No doubt she’ll exercise the same mature reflection and careful deliberation when she reorganizes AHS.

  23. Well, She pushed it through with some changes or amendments.
    Question is, how will it help her chances of winning 2023 provincial election?
    If she can’t get the moderate voters to vote for her, then consider the UCP done.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.