Yesterday morning, Internet sleuths noticed the notorious High River railcar restaurant owned by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her hubby has been put on the market following a conveniently timed Postmedia fluffer story.
Whatever can it mean, wondered a multitude of Albertans? Is the seller motivated? If so, why?
Yesterday afternoon, we learned that Ms. Smith – famous for banning virtually anyone* who disagrees with her from her social media accounts – has herself been banned from Facebook for offenses as yet unspecified.
Could there be two more quintessential Alberta political stories? How does one even choose which one to cover? And from what are we being distracted?
Let’s just look at them in chronological order.
“Fun fact,” Ms. Smith tweeted Sunday, “my husband and I still own a restaurant.”
“This weekend the dishwasher broke down, so I went in for a shift,” she added.
This prompted hoots of derision on social media, naturally, especially as Ms. Smith appeared in the photo accompanying her tweet wearing open-toed shoes and not exactly breaking into a sweat at her supposed workstation.** The general consensus: Naw, ya didn’t. You were just using your political status to plug your restaurant.
The next day, the ubiquitous and obsequious scribbler known as “National Post Staff” published a fawning review of the restaurant and sycophantic profile of the politician/restaurateur briefly spotted at the dishwashing station.
“The Dining Car at High River, which mainly serves diner food, is rated 4.5 out of 5 according to user-submitted reviews on Google,” panted the anonymous author, adding an enthusiastic description of the decor and the lovely herb garden out back.
“When Danielle Smith is not busy being the premier of Alberta, she also has a business to run,” the advertorial-style story began.
Not so quick there! All of a sudden it sounds as if the premier and husband David Moretta don’t intend to run it for long.
According to a listing on Realtor.ca, the “beautiful, fully restored rail car” comes with “a ‘platform’ patio and a fresh herb garden for the creative chef! The purchase price includes the rail car and it has a very reasonable land lease with a total term of 20 years. Ideal for a chef or husband and wife team.” (Emphasis added.)
Asking price: $350,000 … less the price of a new dishwasher, presumably.
Whatever can it mean? Are the rumours of a quick flight to Panama true after all? Or what?
Meanwhile, fast forward to mid-afternoon and Ms. Smith was complaining on the same Twitter account about how “big tech and government censorship is becoming a danger to free speech around the world.”
“My Facebook account has been banned from posting content for a ‘few days’,” she lamented. “As the Premier of a province of 4.6 million Albertans – if they can prevent me from communicating with you, imagine what they can do to any one of us.
“Regardless of our political leanings, we must all stand against censorship.”
This too prompted hilarity from the Twittersphere, where the premier’s propensity for banning anyone who responds to her posts and tweets with criticism, even when expressed politely, was widely noted, often with commenters’ personal stories about what got them cancelled.
In other words, Ms. Smith herself is responsible for her inability to communicate with large numbers of Albertans who, unlike her, don’t have the ability to send out a press release if they have something urgent to say.
When respected Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt commented on the irony of the premier’s self-righteous posturing in a Global News story about the ban, the premier’s office manager and one-man strategic brain trust, former Wildrose Party House leader Rob Anderson, responded with abuse.
“I find that an interesting parallel,” observed professor Bratt, “where she’s complaining about being banned from Facebook while she has blocked so many Albertans from Twitter. The whole thing is quite curious.”
“It sounds like we’re drifting in towards American-style culture wars,” he added.
Culture warrior Anderson barked back: “NDP partisan & alleged political scientist @DuaneBratt equates Facebook banning the Premier’s account w/ blocking a few disrespectful Twitter users – which virtually every politician of every party does …”
Dr. Bratt, of course, is not an NDP partisan and there’s nothing alleged about his PhD, but whatever. Mr. Anderson and Ms. Smith are known to be a bad combination, bringing out the worst in one another, so the professor and the rest of us will likely just have to brace ourselves for more of the same.
None of Ms. Smith, Mr. Anderson, or the Premier’s Office indicated why they think Ms. Smith was banned.
Since asking might get you banned, it’s probably best just to wait and see.
Meanwhile, also in Alberta, former UCP Justice Minister Tyler Shandro’s Law Society hearing into allegations he broke the profession’s code of conduct while in office has been adjourned until Sept. 5. Mr. Shandro lost his political job in the May 29 provincial election.
*This includes the author of this blog, for a spell, although I was mysteriously unblocked a few hours later.
** As a former professional dishwasher in a large hotel kitchen, your blogger knows a thing or two about this. It’s hard, hot work, and sandals are not exactly considered Occupational Safety and Health best practice.
That dining car looks very nice from the outside, but in pictures of the inside I’ve seen it seems rather cramped. I’m sure there is a good metaphor here about politics, image and substance, particularly as we now have a supposed communications expert as Premier.
I’m also wondering about that husband and wife potential purchasers comment. Of course that is a very 1950’s way of looking at things and even High River is no longer stuck in that era. So what would happen say if a husband and husband or a wife and wife couple showed up with a good amount of cold hard cash to try pursue their dreams? Just wondering.
In any event, our multitasking dish washing Premier seems a bit of a jack of all trades. I am guessing her dish washing days, however long they ever really were, are over now and she is on to a bigger and more lucrative gig.
That mysterious Facebook ban has me wondering what our sometimes over talkative Premier has said or done now. I suspect it will come out sooner or later. I also wonder if it will end up again with a non apology and a vague statement about being imprecise, that seems to be a recurring pattern for her.
For all the talk about censorship, its sure not good for the Premier or her staff to be so heavy handed in dealing with critics. No doubt the irony of this, or whatever it is, remains lost on them.
Dave: You have raised a good point. People who open restaurants in abandoned railcars, trucks, airplanes and ships smaller than ocean liners are often shocked to realize just how cramped they are. One of my mother’s brothers was involved in the group who hauled that Lancaster bomber to Nanton. He told me the original plan was to turn it into a roadside cafe, and it was only when they got it there that they realized how small the fuselage was and that it would have been literally impossible to serve customers coffees and slices of pie in there. The kitchen in the High River rail car is probably too small to properly prepare food – other than “diner food,” anyway. Here’s my advice to anyone thinking of starting a restaurant that seats customers: Put it in a normal building. DJC
You covered so much here in one blog. I’ll begin from the top with my comments. It should be clear that premier Danielle Smith is involved with a conflict of interest, by having a restaurant that she and her husband own promoted in newspapers, which are Postmedia owned, and are in full allegiance to the conservative parties. This is not supposed to be allowed. But since it’s Danielle Smith, she has her own mindset as to what the rules are. Postmedia was clearly advertising for Danielle Smith here. In one article, they showed her working there. The attire she had on, is not acceptable for being a dishwasher. I know that from experience, long ago. If a bus pan, or tray, full of dishes, cups, and cutlery slipped from her grasp, that would be very bad. The floor in the restaurant kitchen is wet, and there appears to be no anti slip mats there. The improper footwear she is wearing would make things worse. If a buspan, or a tray full of cups, glassware, plates and cutlery fell on her feet, or hit someone else, it would be very nasty. Danielle Smith also has no apron, and no hair net on. Despite this, columnists, such as Lorne Gunter and David Staples were praising Danielle Smith for what she was doing. Shortly thereafter, Postmedia, has another article, which shows the restaurant that Danielle Smith and her husband own, is up for sale. It would also appear that we are paying premier Danielle Smith to advertise a business that she and her husband still own, until it is sold. At the same time Danielle Smith was at her restaurant, Alberta was still dealing with raging wildfires, and people were evacuating their homes. That wasn’t a concern to Danielle Smith, but her business interest was. If Danielle Smith was banned from Facebook, even for a brief time, maybe it shows that they won’t put up with her nonsense, like others do. In Postmedia newspapers, the comment forums are full of people who defend Danielle Smith and the UCP, as well as the other conservative parties, and they put down anyone else who doesn’t support these phony conservatives and Reformers, and they get called nasty names. The Tyler Shandro hearings are being delayed until the fall. I wonder what the results of this will be. What were Albertans thinking when they re-elected the UCP. I don’t see things improving.
OMG, surely she could have used another picture when trying to appear as if she is just like the rest of the population.
Anyhow now that she has a full term in front of her, hubby doesn’t need to work. The $350K will elevate her life style a tad. Perhaps she is going to have taxes in the resturant business increased and she wants out before that happens. Perhaps she knows the Alberta economy is going to tank and people won’t have money to go out to diners. Perhaps she is planning changes in Alberta which might cause the general public to pelt her business with eggs, tomatoes, and shoes. Best to sell it before that happens.
I’ll keep reading to look for updates.
The most likely scenario is they bought it as an “investment” and it’s been losing money this whole time, because they don’t know how to run a restaurant, it’s not the easiest thing in the world.
small typo
see graf “inability to communication”.
thank you David, for your prodigious work covering AB politics
Thank you, Mairi. It’s been fixed. As I often say, my readers are my editors, and I am grateful. DJC
Should Ms. Smith also have been wearing a hair net?
Bob: Probably yes, although I’m not sure what the current regulations are. That said, as long as she sticks to dish-washing and doesn’t get involved in food prep, she’s probably OK. When I worked in a hotel kitchen, nobody had to wear a hairnet. DJC
Not wearing a hairnet could allow your premier to dish wash and hair wash all at once.
There are a few ridiculous things in the picture. No long rubber gloves – all that water drys the skin, and the water is hot. No slip mats-really dangerous. Open toed shoes?? Not safety shoes anti-slip, can’t see those protecting the feet in the event of dropping pots, pans, chinaware, sharp knives. If one is doing a propaganda pix at least try for something above North Korea quality.
FA: I’m sure North Korean propaganda pix are of better quality. At least, almost everyone in them will be wearing boots. DJC
It may vary by province but in Ontario those shoes are not acceptable and she would need a hairnet or hat. That applies in food-prep and dish/pot washing areas.
Thanks! DJC
The irony of being blocked on Facebook doesn’t come close to the shame of Alberta’s FOIP history. Talk about hiding information, frustrating the public’s right to know and just plain creating doubt about the truthfulness of supposedly neutral public servants.
“The boss is going crazy”? She’s been “off the rails” for decades, hasn’t she?
Andy: I don’t entirely agree. I suppose it comes down to how one defines “off the rails.” I believe Ms. Smith has always been an ideological neoliberal, although not personally a social conservative, who believes against all evidence in the magical powers of The Market. There is nothing unique about this, of course. But I do think she went off the rails during the pandemic and began to believe a number of dangerous conspiracy theories associated with the Q Movement in the United States. So this is the point that I would identify as when she went off the rails. She clearly no longer believes in normal political calculations either, which she once did. This worked against the UCP in this election, and will again in future if the party sticks with her. As for “the boss is going crazy,” I am, of course, satirizing a kind of advertisement we used to see for discount businesses back in the Golden Age of Newspapers. The UCP, of course, has become a kind of discount ideology party. DJC
“The prices are insane!”
https://youtu.be/I6EgwCoiPKM
It is bizarre how a kooky internet rumor about her having sold her home and put her restaurant up for sale in preparation for flying the coop to warmer climes comes to this! Now we need to know if the rest of this rumor is true. Can we call her La Jefa in the meantime? Digging out my straw hat in celebration.
and so the saga continues….
According to the article in the Star …..Meta says she isn’t banned, but 1 of 5 registered to her account was ?? So by Rob’s reaction, I’m guessing he might be one, since he regularly posts her tweets and awhile back “censored ” his account, so you can’t comment unless you’ve been given his stamp of approval, hmmm, that sounds familiar…
so who are the 5 ,is the real question…….
We’re stuck with her, but her heart belongs to daddy! After “Dani does dishes”? Merde! https://youtu.be/IEJKZAApbf0?t=70
I just would like her to take down the website albertaiscalling.ca and stop all advertising in Eastern Canada that you can sell your house there and come to alberta and buy 2 or 3 houses, the prices of houses in AB are going up and renters like me are suffering with higher rents being pushed on us.
Apparently one of Smith’s five Facebook administrators was temporarily banned for having 300 other accounts (see Griwkowsky and Gerson). I have questions.
Is the Facebook account a government account which is paid for by Albertans? Are the administrators government employees? Are Albertans paying for a troll farm which insults Albertans every day?
If it is a UCP account, is the UCP paying for a troll farm which insults Albertans every day?
Does the troll farm include people like Slapinski? Or Bexte?
Is the Facebook story possibly connected to this disturbing story of someone threatening to ruin lives?
https://twitter.com/TheBreakdownAB/status/1669391650802790403
Well? I’ll buy the rail car, and leave Dani a song she’ll like! https://youtu.be/sxR-1mZem8Q?t=11
Premier Danielle Smith ain’t my boss.
She was elected to work for the people of Alberta.
We, the people of Alberta, are her boss.
Consider the eternal financial dire straits that Postmedia finds themselves, to the point where they survive only by financial transfers from Trudeau’s government, one wonders what they thought when they can this fluff piece on Danielle Smith being a dishwasher in the railcar restaurant she’s a partner in? Maybe they are getting a promo fee from the Alberta government? If that’s the case, expect to see Rik McIver’s next garage sale ad receive the frontpage treatment.
Apart from the near endless violation of OHS guidelines that were noted in the one photo alone, it’s pretty clear that governance in Alberta has reached the lower rung of small town. The premier/mayor is selling her restaurant — get that story about it on the frontpage, or heads will roll! Seriously, with all the chaos and assorted nonsense affecting every part of Alberta, the UCP is governing at the level of the mayor of Melonville, Tommy Shanks. What other stupid shite is coming for gosh sakes?
And today Smith repeats again that she is pro-choice on female reproductive rights. But don’t worry, TBA, about abortion on demand actually becoming a thing in Alberta. The way things are headed in the delivery of public healthcare, maternity services are going to get even more complicated, now that there are fewer OB-GYNs and maternity wards working in the province. Babies being delivered in pickup trucks by their mothers during the long road trip to the hospital? We’re nearly there, folks.
For further context, see Marc Edge’s opinion piece in the Globe about the sinking ship that is PostMedia: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-postmedia-is-in-a-crash-dive-ottawa-should-let-it-decline/?intcmp=gift_share
Titled “Postmedia is in a crash dive – Ottawa should let it decline” the piece begins: “Postmedia is in a crash dive, having posted operating income of only $13-million last year while receiving $9.9-million in [federal] government aid. That was nowhere near enough to cover its more than $30-million a year in debt payments….”
We may see similar pieces about Ms. Smith if oil drops below $70 for a while.
In related news, when most senior leaders have an unexpected something happen on a computer or system they stay calm and direct their team to get to the bottom of it before reacting. Our Premier’s team member gets a strange message from Facebook and she immediately hits the culture wars panic button and goes public with unfounded outrage! Very reassuring that such a calm and steady hand is on the wheel, steering our province into the future.
Mike: She? Methinks it might have been a he. DJC
There’s a Pony show? Why wasn’t I invited? I mean a dog would make a great addition to a Pony show!
An old railcar, unwanted by a railway company, with a worn interior and weathered exterior incurring upkeep and maintenance costs. Three hundred and fifty grand for a formerly mobile grease pit – um, sorry diner?
The Mirror Whistle stop cafe’s owner’s indignation over now defunct Covid related regulations does not seemed to hurt his business. Could Dani’s place be a potential second location? Just think of the potential folks – a chain of freedom cafes. I’ll be getting me a pickup an FJT flag and heading on down.
Are we nuts? We must be, to vote for this! Ah the Dani Party! What song to play for you? Maybe a little CanCon? Why not! https://youtu.be/zGQ7JCqLe3g?t=17
It is contaminated site.
Hi e.a.f.,.
Crony capitalism, anyone?
I’m also curious why “hubby doesn’t need to work” at the diner anymore.
I can’t help thinking that, notwithstanding his unimpressive work resume, hubby has been elevated by his wife’s cronies into a much more lucrative position of his own .
I hope some investigative journalists will dig into this question.
Hermes…..along the same thought wave, I had thought earlier that my long shot bet that my sister laughingly agreed to cover, is that since conflicts of interest are in the eyes of the beholder in Alberta these days, I said I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sun wasn’t on the horizon…..the man on the moon stayed hidden to let the star shine, but it’s been a number of cycles and don’t forget it’s supposed to be a El Nino year.
“Fun fact”….just in passing, out of all the countries that Canada has extradition treaties with, interestingly enough, Belize is -not – one of them. I will let our music guru find the appropriate song for rumors…..if we have to listen to ‘alternative facts ‘ ala Dani & the misfits…..along with the Skippy, Slap&Skam show ,…..something, something tears??
DJC, just out of curiosity, do you happen to know if the diner is sitting on a defunct rail line, or did it go off the tracks.? asking for a friend…
Randi-lee: I think it’s on an unused siding. The real estate listing says the deal comes with a 20-year lease on the siding. Rather short time frame if you ask me. DJC
Has Randi called for a Tuba Skinny? Good Lord! I cannot hesitate! This a partisan good time! https://youtu.be/OnGBJAnYA9E?t=9 I dare any of the UCP to come close!
I was hoping Ms.Smith would give her take on the resilience of High River floods ,considering the anniversary great to see all the tributes and history given and the resilience demonstrated ,I love the “where are they now” ? Follow ups
Leaders leading in their communities is important particularly resilience