A protester waves a sign for a a few seconds at the United Conservative Party’s news conference yesterday while Premier Danielle Smith stands calmly nearby, obviously in no danger (Photo: Screenshot of Global News clip).

So, let me see if I’ve got this straight … 

Trucks block the streets of Ottawa in February 2022 (Photo: Maksim Sokolov/Creative Commons).

The people who vociferously supported the occupation of downtown Ottawa by truckers and others blasting air horns 24/7 and spewing filth on the streets of the nation’s capital for 32 hellish days …

Who thought it was OK for the Ottawa occupiers to threaten local citizens going about their business because they had the temerity to wear paper medical masks to protect themselves from COVID-19 …

Who called for the overthrow of our democratically government because they don’t like the fact the prime minister used to be a drama teacher

Who threatened and insulted health care workers throughout the pandemic for their role in public health measures to control the spread of a deadly virus …

Who encouraged the border with the United States to be blocked for 17 days at the cost of $220 million to the Alberta economy because they were mad that the U.S. required truckers crossing the border to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and they wanted to own the Libs … 

Some of the weapons and military equipment seized at Coutts by the RCMP (Photo: Twitter/RCMP).

Who acted like the men who stockpiled weapons at Coutts, plotted to murder police officers, and dreamed of turning the border into Canada’s Alamo were heroes …

Who have a meltdown and threaten violence every time they hear about a drag queen reading a story to a kid in a public library … 

Who habitually insult women in politics on social media in the most degrading terms imaginable … 

Who spit “woke” at anyone they disagree with … 

And who say the only way to deal with a democratically elected government they disagree with is to shoot their way out of it …

Yeah, those people. 

So, have I got it right that those people are now in a full-blown swivet because three protesters showed up at one of Danielle Smith’s news conferences about nothing yesterday for about one minute, held up amateurishly scrawled signs, and shouted “hospitals are not for sale” a couple of times?

If you share the view that this is a major assault on democracy, you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t take you seriously. 

If you’re one of Premier Smith’s ministers or United Conservative Party Caucus members and you think melting down about this is a great way to get voters to forget about the folly that spews forth daily from Ms. Smith’s mouth, you’ll pardon me while I do a facepalm. 

If you’re one of the so-called “journalists” from right-wing websites that get the nod to toss softball questions to the premier, it’s not the big own you think it is to discover one of the protesters is a union member. 

And if you’re a regular reader of this blog, I hope you can forgive me for the occasional rant like this. 

I mean, seriously, you just can’t make this stuff up. And, since this is Alberta, you never have to. 

Smith promises to cut camping fees for the elderly; reconsiders plan to privatize hospitals

The topic of the yesterday’s briefly interrupted newser in Calgary, by the way, was Ms. Smith’s meaningless promise to “make life more affordable for seniors in Alberta” by … wait for it … knocking 25 per cent off their camping fees, registry service fees, and medical driving exams. (But you’ll have to pay full price for the cab home from the doctor’s office, presumably, if you fail the exam.)

Lethbridge-East UCP MLA and Deputy Premier Nathan Neudorf (Photo: Linked-In).

Well, even without yesterday’s tiny protest, that wasn’t likely to distract from the burgeoning unease about Ms. Smith’s recently resurfaced big idea of letting private bidders contract to run public hospitals, which she also promised yesterday not to keep.

“You should judge me based on what I do,” Ms. Smith said – not what she said she would do, or could do, or should do a short time ago. In other words: Trust me …

Speaking of recent embarrassing clips, there was another one of Deputy Premier Nathan Neudorf saying that Albertans should have to pay a fee to visit an Emergency Ward. 

“Maybe if someone had to pay for that, they’d think twice about going to the emergency for something that is not an emergency,” said the MLA from Lethbridge-East at a candidates’ forum in his riding on May 8. 

NDP raises another $1 million in first 10 days of campaign

Meanwhile, the NDP reported yesterday it had raised an additional $1 million since the Alberta election was called on May 1. 

NDP Opposition Leader and former Alberta premier Rachel Notley on the campaign trail last week (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).

As of May 10, the party had raised another $1,030,166 from 12,563 donors since the election call, the party said in a short statement to media. There were 5,430 new donors in the first 10 days, 4,567 of them from the Calgary area, the NDP said. 

“With our health care and our pensions at stake, Albertans know how important this election is,” said NDP leader and former premier Rachel Notley. 

NDP achieves gender balance in candidate slate

The NDP also said yesterday it has now nominated candidates in all 87 Alberta ridings, 44 women and 43 men. “Of the slate of candidates, 24 are racialized,” the party said in an email. “This reflects the true diversity of a modern day Alberta.”

“Our party believes that for the government to reflect the diversity of our province, it must intentionally seek to build and run a balanced slate of candidates,” Ms. Notley said. “This has always been core to our beliefs, and experience shows it leads to better decisions around the Cabinet table.”

The UCP has also nominated 87 candidates, only 19 of them women.

Join the Conversation

44 Comments

  1. I am not at all surprised by this protest at the UCP event. There is a great deal of frustration out there.

    In the past the mainstream media might have brought some of this forward, but they don’t seem to want to stand up directly too much to one question only Smith.

    So, as much as Smith would like to just dismiss and ignore some of the stupid things she has said in the recent past, Albertans are not going to let her just slip away and move on. Lets just say, we have a lot of unresolved concerns.

    The UCP strategy seems to have been to try campaign in a bubble and have Smith say as little as possible for the next few weeks. Well today, that bubble has been burst.

    Yes, it is a little disruptive and maybe not comfortable for politicians, but democracy can be like that at times, particularly when leaders are out of step with voters or taking them for fools.

    Of course Alberta’s conservative inclinations are quite entrenched, so I wouldn’t say for sure yet this little protest is a sign of bigger things. However, when even real conservatives start to grumble quite loudly in mainstream media about Smith’s populist clap trap, you have to wonder if something is happening.

    1. The mainstream media is right wing, and part of their job is to neutralize anything that is even perceived to be bad news.

  2. While there is some controversy over how the protestors managed to find out the location of the UCP’s presser event, there is an even more pressing controversy that needs to be addressed …

    Who did the UCP have watching the door?

    I mean, according to some UCP hacks, this was an “attack” on Premier Smith. I mean this was an “assault” on the level of, say, something like the 2021 Occupation of Ottawa … wait, can’t use that one, because you can’t call that an “occupation” to the UCP base.

    How about … the Jan. 6th Attack on the US Capitol Building … wait, can’t use that one either, because that wasn’t an attack. More like a guided tour gone bad.

    9/11. Yeah, that’s the better fit. NDP protestors wrecking Smith’s event was just like flying into a building and causing decades of mayhem, war, carnage, economic collapse … you name it.

    Surely, the Premier’s Office could have arranged better security, or even bothered with having security. I smell an inside job.

    Mo’ popcorn please.

    1. By your comment I would assume if the UCP spent money on security at this event or amped up the security. You would have your opinion on them spending tax dollars on this dingdong of a person. Either way do the people win electing either of these one of these parties?

  3. Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words….whisked off by security (1-?), to stand 20′ away? Wow, that’s quite “the storming”.
    Quelle Horore`, tabernac ,c’est les union miserables— les traviste’……**
    So Rajan & (?) are pate’…..If I was either of those 2, I’d be having 2nd thoughts about attending an other pressers with the boss lady.
    **my apologies, it was the “storming of ” that triggered my lapse into high school French, along with recent events in not so ‘gay Paree’.

    Anyway, DJ the rant needs no apologies , though I couldn’t picture you in smoke filled alleys, I was having flashbacks to RM.

    As for DPNN, ‘a visit’ to emergency, yes well, I have nothing better to do tonight, “so I’ll just pop down to the local, have a ‘lil chitchat with the gals, and see if they cain’t find somethin to makes me feel better, heck, don’t cost nuffin— not like there’s any of them thur Dokters for everyone, they keep talkin’ bout…..dis be the place us poor sods, gets to hang out.”

    “What I do, is a measure of what I’m going to do as Premier ” ……is it just me, or is this not Danielle confirming all the past videos, podcasts, interviews etc. ? If they tell you who they are, something, something?

    As I said to my B-in-law, 25% discount for camping, time to dust off that tent that’s been sitting out in the garage for 20 some odd years. How you pay for gas to get there, is on you .

    ala:Daveberta.ca / Artur Pawlowski has 38 candidates,interesting!!

  4. I was in an emergency room late one night when an elderly man came in with a case of hiccups. The man explained that he’d had persistent hiccups before a stroke in the past. Yes, hiccups and stroke are a thing. He was escorted immediately to an exam room.

    Nathan Neudorf might see that man as nothing more than a pest who should pull out his credit card. People are cash cows to the UCP, nothing more. They intend to milk us dry and let us die.

    1. Nathan Neudorf: Another well-heeled Tory who has no idea of what it is like to live on the income from a government assistance program and has no notion of how ordinary people end up becoming dependent on such programs.

  5. As I type there are no comments yet published to David’s work. And we know our host moderates these same comments, screening us from many of the most inappropriate.

    So even though we won’t see them, thank you David for braving the bile of too many angry fools to say what needs to be said – pointing out the hypocrisy more kindly than I am able.

    1. PJP: Interestingly, it’s a well-established pattern on this blog for the worst comments to come in late, the rational ones first. DJC

  6. Here is a disturbing thought to make people choke on their morning coffee. Sorry its off topic, but it popped into my head the other day, and I really wanted to share it.

    What if David Parker, leader of Smith-backing Take Back Alberta, decides he wants to install himself in the premier’s chair?

    Parker has already built a strong following, installed his minions in many local UCP boards, and has taken over half the board positions in the provincial UCP executive. He has also announced plans to takeover the other half of the board at the next AGM, when the positions come up for a vote. Mr. Parker has also declared several times that he will make sure Danielle Smith will be out if she does not meet Take Back Alberta’s expectations.

    If the UCP win the election later this month, the stage could be set for Parker’s coup. All he needs to do is come up with a somewhat believable reason that Danielle Smith has to go. The election is expected to be close, so an unsatisfactory performance on election day could be all the reason he needs. With TBA followers convinced of Smith’s unworthiness, Parker works his magic and Danielle Smith is turfed just like Jason Kenney was. David Parker then announces his candidacy for new leader, and follows the same path that Danielle Smith took, only with Parker we would be stuck with him as premier a lot longer than we tolerated Danielle Smith.

    1. What a coincidence! I conjured a similar scenario but set it aside as as ignoble and somewhat fanciful – the main difference was my imagination saw the re-animation of Hop-Along Manning … to the rescue. Thanks for the reinforcement. I do wonder who is paying Parker’s expenses, though. Unless he’s thriving on dry cow-patties and charred pine cones, there is a valid reason to reveal this.

    2. Had the same waking nightmare. Wasn’t the first time. And it is possible just as you describe. A convicted felon and twice impeached gameshow host could be the next “leader of the free world”. Little PP could be the next PM. Late Capitalism. 2023 feeling spookily like 1933. If I’m not paranoid delusional you and a lot of other people are probably not either.

    3. And that reason is obvious… because Smith is NOT A LEADER. She announces policies, then has to back off of them within a week. She’s forced to go back and change her mind on anything she says, usually within a week. Even her first ever presser as Premier led to apologies within a few days. She changes her direction more than a weathervane in a Calgary chinook.

  7. Thank you Dave. It is a really whiney look they are going for. If you can dish it out, you need to be ready to take it. Yesterday’s protest was a pretty mild demo; she could have rolled with it and looked better. (Mind you, I put some value in last year’s honking protests in Ottawa, too. I am quite the malcontent.)
    Tiny typo:
    ‘…25 per cent off …’
    cheers,
    DB

  8. The UCP will finish the job of making a big mess of the public healthcare system in Alberta, which their hero Ralph Klein had already started to do. They cannot be trusted to do what is right. Given the chance, they will privatize it. It still has damages from Ralph Klein’s harmful cuts, where nurses lost their jobs, and had to relocate, or take early retirement, hospitals were neglected, or were demolished, and people’s lives were put at risk, from all of this. Anyone who supports this, would be very foolish.

    1. The damage that Kenney perpetrated in 2019, just before the pandemic, will be years in the mending. There is no trust between physicians and the UCP government, because the first thing they did was flip the bargaining table and say, “your input does not matter.” Shandro’s bullying exacerbated the problem. Primary care is in serious trouble and this was directly targeted by their actions, speaking of the “when someone shows you who they are/judge me by my actions” tropes.
      Some specialties were really only indirectly hit by their policies, but they primed people to walk when the opportunity presented itself. COVID came right after and the UCP did not immediately back down and say, “hm, maybe a public health emergency isn’t a good time to keep up an ideological war with the health care system,” but kept up their efforts. And I think it made people re-evaluate their priorities. Maybe being closer to family back in another province is more important than any supposed “Alberta Advantage.”

  9. I would give the news conference interrupters a C minus for flair and dramatic effect but an A plus for being polite in typical Canadian fashion. If you feel that strongly about something at least throw a couple of eggs. The mother of all press conference interruptions below.

    https://youtu.be/OM3Z_Kskl_U

  10. As an old university English professor of mine used to say “Write with passion”. It is obvious that the reaction to the ‘disruption’ hit a nerve with DJC. I do appreciate you presenting your rebuttal so that it can be easily converted to a bullet point format when providing counterpoints to right wing zealots.

    While all points are meaningful, one that really sticks out to me is the right wing denigration of women in politics (and strong, educated women in general). While not a member of that gender, I can’t rationalize the support by women for individuals and policies that are outright harmful to them (see TBA). While this is AB Politics, this goes doubly so for our neighbours to the south. Is it a religion thing, traditional marriage, paternalistic family upbringing, Stockholm syndrome?

    1. David Parker of TBA has foreshadowed in his little speech what he’ll do to women who defer childbearing. The premier herself pursued a career instead of meeting Parker’s baby production quota. Is she aware of this veiled threat?

      “Is it a religion thing, traditional marriage, paternalistic family upbringing, Stockholm syndrome?”

      Yes, yes, yes, probably. A mother of daughters in my circle has views that do not reflect the path her well-educated, worldly, adult girl children have taken. She grew up in a small rural, religious community. She does not believe in gender equality. Her daughters have accomplished much because of it and are contributing their knowledge and skills for the betterment of society. One is a married, childless career professional. Ironically, the mother worked in a STEM field and deferred childbearing herself, albeit without the degrees her daughters have earned. Some Albertans don’t use logic or common sense. It’s about control of those uppity wimmin folk who want what men have. Won a Nobel Prize? That’s a blue job. Why aren’t you married with children?

      1. Hi Abs. Your comment about Albertans, logic and common sense reminded me of a quote. I’m sure it’s from Robert Heinlein (that magnificent writer and life-long libertarian; nobody’s perfect). I couldn’t find it in “Time Enough for Love,” where I was certain I’d first read it.

        “Most people can’t think, most of the rest won’t think, and the ones who do think, mostly don’t do it very well. The few who think clearly, logically and consistently, we call geniuses.”

        It’s a sad comment that many commenters who criticize non-UCP writers feel they have to make personal attacks, insults and threats. Case in point: the guy who, in our host’s post “Unhinged” on 9 May, CUSSED US ALL OUT IN CAPS BECAUSE HE COULDN’T THINK OF A DECENT ARGUMENT.

        These are the people backing Danielle Smith and David Parker. I shudder to think what will happen in Alberta if their ilk get power on 29 May. Add to anger and hatred a vindictive mean streak, and voila, we’re all toast. Welcome to Alabama North.

  11. “Smith. . . reconsiders plan to privatize hospitals”

    Briefly . . . . . . . . . .

    . . . . . . . . . . “Danielle Smith is playing a game. She is playing at not playing a game. Everyone is supposed to play her game, of both not seeing and not understanding the game that is being played.”

    So what have we here? Apparently it is a manipulative deceiver that believes that the public has no right to the truth in the larger world of ‘noble lies’. It is the presentation of an individual lost in a pseudo reality of her own alibis and a world in which she is never the person that she has previously clearly, consistently, and unequivocally stated that she is [was]. Perhaps it is an extreme example of double think, or perhaps it is simply a case of “a goal oriented pathological liar that is manipulative, cunning, and focused on getting her way, as instructed [in this case a near certainty]. One that keeps changing her story and holding no value for the truth because she is lying to gain something.” Maybe all of the foregoing in combination.

    Much has been stated about the virtues of European healthcare privatization [along with the virtues of “populism” as a core “value”] as a superficial public relations campaign seeking new profit maximization ventures. That is for example, “A new briefing paper of Corporate Europe on the Creeping Privatisation of Health Care in the European Union provides detailed insight in the political and market mechanisms that increase health inequalities and lead to privatization of basic care. It analysis the political lobby of insurance companies and the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP). It explores how Services and private health lobbies seek to include the opening of health care in trade agreements such as CETA and TISA. The sole aim is to have larger market shares and for the companies to win more profits.” A simple “GOOGLE” search allows for further analysis.

    For example, “European healthcare—a golden opportunity for private equity”, or

    https://corporateeurope.org/en/power-lobbies/2017/06/creeping-privatisation-healthcare

    https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/october-2021/canada-has-a-health-care-investment-problem/

    Regarding the deliberate selling of “populism” to a soft headed public, it is described both fairly and accurately as, “Populism is demolatry. Populism is ventriloquism. Through acts of concealed representation, it incites and excites Big Leaders who are above the common herd, The Ones who attract a coterie of lesser, loyal people, citizens who are encouraged to follow because they are offered spoils, calculated gifts designed to produce followership from leadership. . . . the drive to build followers by big boss leaders fuels their hostility to institutions that stand in their way. Populists have little or no taste for institutional give-and-take politics. Unchecked ambition is their thing; so is tactical maneuvering to deconstruct and simplify organizations and their rules. Populism loves monism. Gripped by an inner urge to destroy checks, balances and mechanisms for publicly scrutinizing and restraining power, populist leaders and parties reveal their true colors in action. It’s a myth that election to office slakes their thirst for power.”

  12. I watched the relevant portion of the video several times. I was struck by how Smith smiled knowingly when the noise of the protesters was first heard, and showed zero concern about what happened. She was escorted out of the way by someone, but only a few steps away from the action. That could just be incompetence by her security staff, but if you ask me the whole thing had a whiff of set-up about it. Within seconds, the UCP mob on Twitter were screaming about an NDP plot. But if you think about who benefits from this nonsense, the NDP isn’t the obvious beneficiary. If anyone cooked up this stunt to benefit a political party, it had to be the UCP.

  13. Alkyl–“perhaps it is simply a case of a goal oriented pathological liar that is manipulative cunning and focused on getting ‘his’ way. One that keeps changing ‘his’ story and holding no value for truth because ‘he’s’ lying to gain something. Maybe (definitely-imho) all of the foregoing in combination.
    What a perfect description of PP. …..and I personally don’t think that’s it’s any coincidence that the two of them are using the same playbook.

    “populism is demorality “, and that is the goal . Demoralize the public, leave them feeling hopeless, and here we are, we will “save you “. That’s why they are so outraged over anyone actually speaking out. Though personally I have to agree with a previous poster about an inside job, especially given the DS supporters onT, and the ads she’s running about RN and the unions.
    “See this is what the union people do, bad, bad,people.”
    It’s always been a favorite, over used d’rump ploy, and unfortunately it works with the base.
    Case in point— PP , who hasn’t stopped jetting around Canada from end to end at least twice since Jan, and yet he’s stoking his base with “JT needs to park his private jet , yada yada, inflation, common sense, bring it home, yada, yada. And don’t get me started on the erasing our history from the passports .
    Yet his followers/bots are all gnashing over this.
    It’s illogical that people are falling for this, but as you said , playing the game, it’s just that the ‘common people’ aren’t supposed to know the rules, if they did they would start questioning and the support would be gone. It’s no coincidence that they use words like sheeple, that’s the end goal.
    Yeesh, I think I’ll need an espresso to get through today, Sigh !!!

  14. “But you’ll have to pay full price for the cab home form the doctor’s office…”
    Tyop, I believe.
    Keep up the good work, David.

  15. David’s lede is a ten paragraph synopsis of nasty and sometimes unlawful events of the pandemic wars. You Albertans are lucky to have such a brave individual. It’s not a rant, Mr. Blogger, it’s fair reporting.

  16. So Danielle wants us to judge her on her actions. OK. Let’s start with how she and a fellow-traveller caused so much chaos and animosity on a Calgary school board that the government of the day—the Old Tories—kicked out the entire board and appointed one replacement. As leader of the Wildrose opposition party, Smith fulfilled her intended purpose: a plausible (ha!) threat to replace Ed Stelmach if he didn’t back off from making oil companies pay higher royalties. But Smith overstepped badly when she accepted Jim Prentice’s offer to join the Last Old Tory government. In one move, Smith destroyed not one, but TWO conservative parties.

    Smith want us to judge her by what she does. Most of what she does is blab foolish ideas, then “apologize” or claim she didn’t say what she said. Much of what she says is excuses for people who hate it when the guv’mint tells ‘em what to do. (Why, I wonder, do so many Albertans have a such a problem with authority figures?)

    And then there’s Nathan Neudorf. Make people pay for non-emergency visits to the emergency ward, huh? OK. First let’s ask why these folks didn’t see their family doctor. “Oh, you don’t have a family doctor. Why not?… Oh, he left the province when we tore up the doctors’ contract…. Well, why don’t you get another doctor?… Oh, the ones who are left won’t accept new patients. What’s that?… And no new doctors want to work in Alberta. But why? Alberta loves doctors…. Oh, its’ because we tore up the doctors’ contract. Well….”

    I’m actually surprised Smith and Neudorf have stopped bragging about how they “fixed” the Alberta Health Service, and in record time, too. Could it be their Band-Aid has fallen off AHS’s wounds?

    Oh, and that gender ratio comparison. 19 out of 87 UCP candidates are female, or 22 per cent. Is that because the UCP can’t be bothered to recruit female candidates? Or is it because most women don’t want any part of the UCP?

  17. This may be a bit off topic. I had a conversation with a UCP supporter to-day who said that the video of Danielle Smith talking about health care and privatizing hospitals is “mudslinging” by the NDP. I emailed the link to the website and one to this speech which DJC discussed on May 10. It’s a video of Danielle Smith herself talking. How can that be mudslinging by the NDP?? It boggles the mind.

  18. Here is some possible delicious irony for readers of Albertapolitics.ca to anticipate:

    As of yesterday, residents of Drayton Valley have been out of their homes for 8 days, and a press release yesterday said they will be out for at least another week. Apparently a significant part of the rationale for the continued evacuation order is the municipal infrastructure is not ready to resume service. As a result, to the residents who were allowed a brief return to their home a few days ago, their superficial observations make it look like everything is fine.

    You have to wonder, then, how long it will be before we start to ‘anti-evacers’ defying public officials and returning to their homes, no doubt chanting ‘freedom’ as they do? The irony, of course, is the image of Danielle Smith holding press conferences insisting people follow the evacuation orders.

    Finally, Danielle Smith would have us believe that her body encases two different people – premier Danielle and radio host Danielle. If we give her that, what would radio host Danielle be saying about the evacuation orders?

  19. It’s funny that Nathan Neudorf should suggest a fee to visit an emergency department when in Lethbridge there are tens of thousands of people who do not have a family doctor and need to go to emergency to get prescriptions filled. Obviously this MLA either has been asleep in the Legislature when the other Lethbridge MLA has been grilling the Health Minister about the shortage of family doctors in Lethbridge, or he is just as dumb as the rest of that gang. Even though the UCP and Premier Smith keep denying the privatization of healthcare, the leaks at every corner make it very clear what they have in mind.

  20. Over the years I have known about a dozen doctors and nurses who have told me their kids followed in their footsteps but refused to work in Alberta because of the way they saw our doctors, nurses and teachers treated by these reformers including their parents. Lethbridge is in a horrible mess with 43,000 people not having a family doctor. Gee I wonder why after watching how these most important people in our lives are treated by these fools. I have know several of their ignorant supporters who after supporting them lost their lives when they couldn’t get proper medical help when they needed it. Two died in the back of ambulances waiting outside hospitals because of the massive shortage of beds, doctors and nurses Klein created. He almost killed my father with his bed shortage in Calgary. Their families told me it wasn’t Klein’s fault it was the fault of the doctors and nurses. Apparently they wanted a huge increase in wages and when Klein wouldn’t give it to them they left. That’s how they convinced themselves that Klein had nothing to do with it. Of course the fact that Klein closed three hospitals, closed 1,500 beds and cut 5,000 nursing positions had nothing to do with it, that’s how stupid they were. Yet the 9 doctors and about two dozen nurses I helped relocate out of the province not one wanted to go. They all had families here, and Klein gave them no choice if they wanted to save their careers. But as we all know many Albertans have a reputation for being really stupid and are constantly proving it.

  21. Dear AB neighbours:

    Please don’t take this wrong way, but much as I can understand why many (but perhaps not enough) of you will be working hard to un-elect the nutters, this BCer is underwhelmed by the prospect of having NDP pipeline-pushers next door take over from UCP pipeline-pushers next door.

    It’s a combination of seeing how much of a dud the NDP here has been on the energy/climate front, combined with memories of Rachel’s belligerence last time. Yes, yes – I know that’s what the AB political universe requires, and Rachel was just performing what she had to do as part of her successful re-election strategy in 2019.

    Oh, wait …

    Neighbourly yours etc.

  22. This is also the same government that brought in the Sovereignty Act in the name of independence yet is on their knees asking Trudeau for help to fight fires in Alberta. What happened to all the UCP rhetoric of “Strong and Free”?

  23. And then she called NDP supporters “travellers”. Wow, shades of McCarthy and show trials.

  24. Since the conspiracy mills are running full-tilt now, I want to throw in another nugget …

    They say the NDP started the wildfires. I say it was UCP/TBA goons.

    What better time make Danielle Smith look like leader than to create a crisis? It’s wildfire season, so the timing is perfect. This thing smells of an inside job.

  25. Fee for going to emergency? Luxury! The ndp exacts a fee to heat your home go to work and be productive. The overhead of government they want to apply will mean you will never get ahead. David have you addressed the communist ndp MLA yet? Maybe you should worry about him?

    Not quite sure how you sleep at night.

    1. Gosh you are an angry little man! When was this allegedly communist MLA actually a member of the Communist Party? He did march in a parade organized by a communist group, apparently, and was part of a rap group whose songs included “communist lyrics.” So says the far-right trash media known for making shit up, anyway. Personally, I’m willing to forgive people for dumb stuff they do and say when they’re young people. Even right wingers. But literally half the board of the UCP right now are actual christo-fascists with a cult leader and the garbage Danielle Smith says was as recent as a few days before she became premier. It’s pretty obvious who’s a threat around here.

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