Well, it looks as if the United Conservatives’ extremist Take Back Alberta faction now controls all the seats on the party’s board.
Some guy named Rob Smith who you’ve likely never heard of if you don’t happen to live in Olds or Didsbury is now the party president.
Rick Orman, who was rumoured to be Premier Danielle Smith’s choice for the job and who had a long history in Alberta Conservative politics, is not.
Last night, David Parker, TBA’s founder, chief ideologist and chief executive, tweeted from the party’s AGM in Calgary, “Veni, vidi, vici.” That takes a lot of Gaul, if readers will forgive me.
Actually, when Julius Caesar famously made that observation, he was talking about some place in Turkey. But seriously, who cares? If he did say it as he claimed, in 67 BCE,* it would have sounded like this: “Weenie, Weedy, Weakie.”
Somehow, this seems appropriate.
It suggests that what isn’t really a very significant victory has gone to Mr. Parker’s head.
Well, it’s a long time till the Ides of March, but at least Mr. Parker has moved on from his Napoleon complex. I wonder if he whistles Hail to the Chief whenever he walks into a room?
I’m here to tell you this isn’t as big an accomplishment as I am sure Mr. Parker would like us to think.
Not because the party board doesn’t really control the UCP Caucus in the Legislature, although that’s true too. If the TBA cadres who now run the board try to push elected MLAs around, there is sure to be friction, and some of it may set off some entertaining sparks.
“This weekend begins a new age in Alberta,” Mr. Parker blustered on social media Thursday. “After this AGM, the grassroots of the UCP will be in charge. Those who do not listen to the grassroots or attempt to thwart their involvement in the decision making process, will be removed from power.”
I frankly doubt there’s anyone in the UCP Caucus who has the intestinal fortitude to stand up against such thuggery. So some really nightmarish policies may indeed become law, hurting many Albertans as intended, but also weakening the political strength of the UCP-TBA.
Still, sitting MLAs may prove harder for Mr. Parker to purge than some of his former friends and allies in TBA.
UCP MLAs are sure to be saying the same thing I am – the caucus knows its own hive-mind, party policy resolutions are just suggestions, yadda-yadda. Just like they told voters in Calgary, when it looked like the NDP’s attacks on Ms. Smith’s screwball pronouncements had given the Opposition party a fighting chance to win last May’s election, not to worry, that as soon as the election was over Ms. Smith would be gone.
No, I mean that it’s not much of an accomplishment because the UCP is already so debased from the days of the Progressive Conservative Party in Alberta that it wasn’t a very steep hill for the conservative movement’s MAGA fringe to climb.
Mr. Parker had made it clear his choice for party president was Mr. Smith, although TBA cautiously didn’t officially endorse any candidates – just in case, I guess.
But face it, while it may be taking a while to sink in with rural voters, the UCP had already gone pretty well full MAGA by the time Jason Kenney was done with it.
Mr. Kenney couldn’t control the demons he let out of the bottle and they devoured him as well. (There’s plenty of historical precedent for that phenomenon, isn’t there? I give you Maximilien Robespierre! Thump.)
But by the time Mr. Parker and his big ego came along and Ms. Smith was chosen to replace Mr. Kenney, the UCP had already gone down the rabbit hole. Old style Conservatives had mostly been run out of the party. The few that remained were having their doubts.
So election of nine party executive officers last night was low-hanging fruit for a group like TBA.
Poor Mr. Orman – well, he’s anything but poor, but you know what I mean – called his slate the “Unite the Right Movement.”
What he forgot was that Mr. Parker and his ilk don’t want to unite the right, they want to purge it – of people like him. Too PC, as it were.
There were a couple of other candidates for the party presidency, as well, but they’re already forgotten too.
A full list of the board’s members is found here. Trust me, though, you’ll never hear from most of them again.
Naturally, we look forward to Mr. Parker’s reply churlish, in which he will explain why last night’s TBA victory, and he, are very significant indeed.
*Someone’s bound to say BCE is the woke version of BC. Maybe so, but that’s just tough, innit? Learn to live with it. Also, if you’ve ever read Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, you’ll know that the man was a self-publicist on a scale that makes Donald Trump look like a piker. And with no social media! Say what you will, though, bone spurs wouldn’t have kept him out of the army.
So, Premier’s Smith main task today was to convince a kooky bunch that she was kooky enough for them, to ensure party unity. It wasn’t difficult.
More moderate conservatives have long since either left the building, mostly quietly, or have contented themselves with sitting quietly at the back of the bus while Smith drives and Take Back Alberta acts as god’s co pilot. The battle between the moderates and the kooks ended a while ago. The first victory for the latter was when Kenney was ousted. Well, he wasn’t really that moderate, but his life long career in politics did give him at least some grounding in reality, apparently too much so for their liking. Their second victory was when the party leadership race turned out to be a battle between several candidates, most who could manage to at least sound moderate and reasonable for an extended period of time, and Smith. Well, Smith won that one.
So, this is now Smith, Anderson and Parker’s triumvirate. I suspect any remaining moderate conservatives who don’t like it can either suck it up or leave.
It is certainly interesting times we are living in, here in Alberta. We as a province are regressing backwards. There is someone with an overinflated ego, who hasn’t been elected to public office, thinking he can call the shots for the government. Very cultish, or dictator like, indeed. David Parker’s beliefs mirror that of the Social Credit Party, which Peter Lougheed fought so tirelessly to defeat, all those years ago. Peter Lougheed would certainly be disgusted with this, if he were still around today. Anyone who knew Peter Lougheed, and any of his MLAs, would certainly agree. It will be a very rough four years.
Just occurred to me – does David Parker have a real job to support himself? Or is he independently wealthy? Or is he a kept man supported by his wife and W. Brett Wilson and others of our friend Brett’s ilk? I suspect the last is the most likely.
Brett Wilson was a Kenney supporter (like myself). Not sure why he’s being dragged in here.
Sorry to hear you are such a sore looser David. Better get used to it, Alberta’s grassroots crowd is much larger and stronger than you think. We’re just done with the Marxist peons seeping into the legislature. We’re un-woke and awake… step aside NDP plants.
C: are you released to C Beaulieu? DJC
yea, mispelled the name first time…
ladies and gentlemen, I give you the conservative party of Canada.
this hoser wouldn’t know a Marxist at his own show trial
C Beaulieu: Where are the Marxists in power in Alberta? That’s right, we never had any. This Social Credit regressive nonsense belongs in the trash heap. Peter Lougheed got rid of it, and for good reasons.
Yo Anonymous (afraid to show your face? Like antifa?), we almost had that “marxism”, but thankfully we got rid of the NDP.
Mr./Ms./Dr. Beaulieu: Given the tone of some of your comments earlier today, which I deleted because they were abusive, potentially defamatory, off topic, or just nonsense – for example, suggesting the NDP has a Marxist bone in its body politic – I am not sure that you are a real person. Several times in the past I have had anonymous trolls use the names of other people, who would be embarrassed by their comments, to express offensive opinions. I’ve been fooled, but when I cotton on, those commenters are banned. The validating email you have provided is neither enlightening nor reassuring. While I am committed to a wide range of discussion on this blog, including critical comments about my observations, I do personally monitor all comments, particularly with regard to defamation. Since your activities follow the usual pattern I associate with far-right trolling, you’re raising red flags. Stick to the topic, be polite, and don’t respond to every single comment and I’ll continue to post your observations. As an aside, it’s hard for Antifa to show its face when it basically doesn’t exist. DJC
No, they are not. There were people in attendance who disagreed with the topics discussed at the AGM. Some were there ti here about the CPP exit plan. That never occurred, apparently. It was all about the social agenda.
The silent majority is going to show up at the polls next election. Be ready for the UCP to lose more seats.
Ooooh, WELL DONE !!!
I want to play…..
dingus, doofus, doorkus ??
— Alliteration …
1936 song– “These foolish things (remind me of you)”, or a more modern version “It’s all about me”– Chelsea Kane……
Most definitely a page out of the d’rump playbook. Which page? ,you ask, the one that gives a description of an apple, followed by the meaning of a narcissist. and then a description of a pot.
Kenny was a ”petty little tyrant ” ? Bwahahaha!!
Now that’s a funny !!
Thanks for the update and info, David. One question: on what basis
do you assert that Latin spoken more than two thousand years ago
was pronounced in a manner that is so different from Italian, Spanish, Portuguese etc. today? The “W” bit and other aberrations are relatively recent conceits introduced by academia to distinguish
“Our”Latin from Ecclesiastical Latin.
Cheers.
relatively recent conceits
Joe: Let’s just say that “‘Our” Latin (is) from Ecclesiastical Latin” is a debatable proposition. Indeed, it has been debated. I like the academic approach in this case, of course, because in English, Weenie, Weedy, Weaky is hilarious. DJC
College Latin is woke Latin. Church Latin is Freedom Latin. Alberta should defund any university that teaches students to use wussy woke Latin!
Hello DJC,
Too funny, a lot of “Gaul”. Having studied Latin for 5 years in high school, I like your play on words. We had a fabulous teacher. I think that everyone, whether they took Latin or not, thought she was great, and no one ever missed her class.
Unfortunately, these people now have total control of the party’s board. They seem to think that they can impose their ideas on the entire population of Alberta. I think that is an arrogant stance. The Ides cannot arrive quickly enough.
More Shakespearean drama ahead. Et tu, Brute?
Zero significance, pay no attention to Take Back Alberta, we have accomplished nothing and never will. You just keep marching along believing that.
Ha-ha! I knew Mr. Parker couldn’t resist taking a shot. We shall see what the future holds. DJC
Keep up the good work DJC! The fact that DP had one of his minions reply says a lot about the influence you are having around the province! The uneducated (home school indoctrination) is no match for true intelligence, experience and knowledge. Maybe he’s a bit sore that you played a major role in having him dumped by the Ditchley Park crowd. They aren’t his type after all.
Don’t flatter yourself, Roger… I’d like to see you hold up in debate against DP… and better yet, I’d like to see a debate between DP and DJC. I’ll bring my own popcorn, thanks.
It’s not hard to hold up to someone in a debate whose peddling social reforms from the 1850’s.
How would you expect a government to support its economy if they took your theory about keeping women from entering the workforce and staying home to raise a family errrrrr slave around the house ?
I’m really starting to warm up to the values you espouse Mr Parker! So much so, that I will send you a copy of a must read book, that I’m sure you’ll want to socialize with your closest confidants! https://stradnieki.org/the-cheaper-the-crook-the-gaudier-the-patter
Let me see . You have completed you goal to take down the UPC party , I am an independent and find this upsetting. She has stood up to the corrupt world of Trudeau unlike her counterparts in Alberta. That’s very important to me. Your views are not that of a neutral party , shame on you .
Rick: In case you missed it, sir, this is a commentary blog, the purpose of which is to express the author’s opinion. I am right, as it happens, but I am under no obligation to express my views neutrally as if TBA was a reasonable group. Good day. DJC
Sensei? What does the English colloquialism “sod off” mean? May I use it here when encountering hopeless people?
Rick. I think you are mixed up. It’s David Parker that has
“taken down” the UCP. Of course Danielle Smith has, and is, contributing her bit as well.
Rick Dolan: If Danielle couldn’t, and still can’t stand up for Albertans, she isn’t going to stand up to anyone else. Any other positions she has been in, including being a politician, she got canned. She was sacked as a radio talk show host, because she was spewing utter garbage over the airwaves, that could have resulted in the radio station being in hot water. As a public school trustee, her inability to get along with others, and her flawed views on public education got her dismissed. Open pit coal mining, the hockey arena for Calgary, the DynaLife antics, 300 + kids infected with E-Coli at daycares, RStar, which will set us back $20 billion, an impractical provincial pension plan, and so much more, aren’t going to win Danielle Smith anymore support. Danielle Smith never capable of being honest, and sticks her foot in her mouth. The clock is ticking. As the UCP leader, Danielle Smith will not complete a full term. She’s a liability.
She has made an enemy of not only Ottawa (for very little reason seeing as it’s obvious we won’t have reoccurring power outages), but other provinces too. Check the national comment threads and you’ll read how she’s pissed off a lot of people in other provinces with her incessant “we are poor and want more money” bs. Think Canadians aren’t smart enough to know what poor looks and feels like? Maybe move to the Maritimes to understand why it’s important to offer them a little slice of our pie. They live with FAR less than Albertans do and they get by without the incessantly whining. Albertans are a spoiled, privileged bunch of whiners.
Having fled Alberta for BC last month, I’m watching the province’s death spiral with both horror and a sense of personal relief that I am no longer there. (And for anyone wondering, no, I could not “afford” to move to BC, in the sense that I took a 5-figure paycut and am priced out of the housing market here. But I actually think it was less risky for me personally to go rather than stay.)
David, I appreciate your perspective that the UCP has been full MAGA for some time, but I am not sure most Albertans grasp the danger of normalizing and empowering this off-the-wall, conspiracy-laden discourse. Your comparison of Kenney to Robespierre is an apt one, I think (although Robespierre was significantly more principled and intelligent than Kenney, of course). So what’s next? My fear, to be frank, is that Parker is playing a long game that will end up with him being “PM for Life” or Emperor or whatever title he thinks most fitting, and I do not think this is beyond the bounds of possibility (not in a Canada that appears to be taking someone like PP seriously as a contender for the role of PM). How do we (in the sense of Canadians who care about democracy) prevent this from happening?
Anon: Personally, I think a harsher fate awaits Mr. Parker than the one you forecast, although not as harsh, I sincerely hope, as the one that befell M. Robespierre. DJC
How many Albertans will be at risk of losing their entire life savings with one illness once the UCP-is-TBA sells off public health care? Add in the cost of losing the CPP. The cost of staying will be significant.
Welcome to B.C., Anonymous. Yes, housing cost in the O.K., Greater Vancouver/Victoria are expensive and its true 5 figures doesn’t cut it. However, do have a look at Nanaimo and area. Its less expensive, close to golf courses, skiing, just a hope on the passenger ferry and you’re in downtown Vancouver. The health care isn’t bad here and the hospital is decent, airport will get you to Calgary quickly, life is good.
Yes, some are moving from B.C. to Alberta because of the lower cost of housing. they can sell their homes here, move to Alberta,, buy a condo, go to Arizona in the winter and put money in the bank. Of course health care might be a problem in the future, but they can always come back to B.C.
So, will David Parker and his (Yes, his) UCP go full Gilead? That maybe an amazing move of crazy, but it’s closer to reality now than ever.
Skippy Pollivere has, in a surprising move, challenged Danielle Smith’s a crazy-hill-to-die-on proposal for an exit from the CPP, which caused a minor uproar among the provinces, much to Smith’s delight. It’s apparent that even Pollivere finds the shenanigans going on in Alberta distasteful, as well as a potentially endless supply of ammunition for PMJT. But what is he going to do about TBA’s takeover of UCP and Parker much larger platform to squawk from?
I’m sure there have already been considerable calls to Parker begging him to tone it down, but why should he? His ego and ambitions are so big, maybe he shot back to Danielle Smith the retort, “How much longer would you like to remain premier?” As for Pollivere, “So, you want to be PM, huh?”
There is no talking or reasoning with Parker. He’s firmly in the power seat, and he can’t seem to stop winning. I suspect that there is an obscene demonstration of his power coming, like the ousting of a sitting UCP MLA, just to show everyone he can do it. Ric McIver, anyone? Anyone? He’s a relic of the old PCs, so a nice trophy to bag. I suspect even Stephen Harper might try to reason with Parker, but he might just get a nice “Hey Stephen, you loser!” shot from Parker.
Much like in that famous scene from the Godfather II, Parker intends to be like Michael Corleone, sitting in a nice plush leather chair, and receive all those who wish to kiss his hand, and weed out those who will not.
Mo’ popcorn.
David,
Your Roman references in this cunning commentary are particularly timely and apt. Several factions of the U.S. “intellectuals” who provide the philosophical underpinnings for Trumpism refer back to Caesar, hailing him as the dictator who restored order from the chaos of the late Republic. There are multiple references to this trend in Damon Linker’s excellent exegesis of the MAGA bestiary in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/04/opinion/sunday/conservative-intellectuals-republicans.html
Advocates of the “Red Caesar” (referring to GOP MAGA colours) seem to overlook the fact that Julius’s rule only last a year before his assassination. Anyway, let’s just hope that future historians and playwrights don’t get to cast Danielle as the Cleopatra of this allegory, though she certainly has enough schemers and plotters around her to fill out the cast of characters.
Robert: I recommend Michael Parenti’s The Assassination of Julius Caesar, a People’s History of Ancient Rome for insight into just how red Julius Caesar was. DJC
On his biography UCP President Rob Smith includes his involvement with something called “Hurricane Hydrocarbons” in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. If he chose the company name, I would like to give him credit for having a sense of humour, apparently devoid of irony around human caused climate change.
Being further north, an appropriate name for an Alberta oil company might be “Forest Firestorm Hydrocarbons.”
Given the UCP’s focus on pronouns, will the good Mr. Smith need the permission of Mr. Parker to use the “royal” we? As in, “we are not amused” when he speaks for the UCP Board?
Inquiring minds want to know.
You’ll have to be careful when you quote a Smith as in “Smith said that cancer patients should buck up.” You’ll have to clarify which Smith.
OR you could just get lazy and refer to movie/TV show that never dies, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which assassins try to kill each other! How àpropos.
Another nice pun DJC.
Lefty: As noted to another commenter, there are just too many Smiths. I guess I’ll have to start using their first names more than on introduction. Everything would be easier if the premier’s name was Notley. DJC
I assume it is Mr. Parker’s error to write veni, VEDI, vici, instead of VIDI, but you have the wrong battle of Zela, David. Caesar’s was in 47 BCE, not 67. Mithridates of Pontus actually won the one in 67 BCE.
Michael: Nope, my typo, I’m afraid. Mr. Parker is guilty of many things, but he can type accurately. I’ve never seen a typo in one of his tweets. Perhaps he has his wife – a journalist trained at the same institution where I studied – proofread them for him. DJC
Veni, vidi, vici? Perhaps Mr. Parker should think twice before quoting big Julie. Beware the Ides of March, 44 BC/BCE
Sorry to hear you are such a sore looser David. Better get used to it, Alberta’s grassroots crowd is much larger and stronger than you think. We’re just done with the Marxist peons seeping into the legislature. We’re un-woke and awake… step aside NDP plants.
C: LOL. DJC
So you’re such a “sore looser,” David. Did you lace up your sneakers too tight?
How is anyone outside of the UCP a sore “loser”?? The UCP “eat their own” as one member at the AGM put it. This will be no different, but it actually benefits the NDP and those of us who see through the UCP as a uneducated, misleading bunch of clowns.
Hail hail Denial Smith. Parker said or himself, party members who don’t tow the line will be removed. I give Denial 17 months and then you shall see the Ides of March. Et tu, Parker? Et tu?
Hello Dave.
Agree with you; this weeny victory was not that challenging, but it does open a door to some interesting purge & counter-purge action.
I forgive your Gaul, as always.
Happy Gauy Fawkes Day!
Doug: There are just too many Smiths! Yes, tonight’s the night. Mr. Fawkes is said to have been the last person to enter Parliament with honest intentions. DJC
I do believe there are way more “Conservative” conservatives than the TBA/MAGA bunch currently running the party. Even within Smith’s utterly underwhelming & pathetically unprincipled caucus. The question is, (and I think you allude to this), how far can Parker & TBA push them around before Conservatives inside & outside caucus finally decide to grow a spine, stand in their hind legs and send Parker et al back to the swamp they crawled out of?
“Conservatives inside & outside caucus finally decide to grow a spine,…” you do mean the ones that are NDP sympathizers, right?
No. He means the ones who fall in between the two parties.
You’re getting boring. C.B. You’re not competitive with some of the others.
I’m not that entertaining and at times I’m boring, however, I’m not try to be anything other than who I am: just an aged baby boomer………
I have heard people, notably many progressive academics, complain about BCE, saying it just conceals the Christian origins of BC. They won’t use it because they want its Christian origins made visible, and see BCE and CE as a dishonest subterfuge. My counter argument is that our current use of it may originate with Christianity, but it survives not because of Christianity but because the world genuinely needs a common system of dating; it spread because of the dominance of Christianity within the colonial powers of the nineteenth and twentieth century world, but it persists because a common system is needed, and BC and AD were available. Indeed East Asian languages already eliminated the religious meaning well before BCE and CE became popular in English – in Mandarin it is gongyuan 公元 – common era – in Japanese seiki 西紀 or Western era, and in Korean (at least in the South) the same as Japanese but with different pronunciation, seogi 西紀 /서기. So, I agree with your use here!
Thanks, Adam. As the delightfully poetic French Revolutionary Calendar proves, it’s incredibly difficult to reform the measurement of time. Written this day, 15 Brumaire 232. And it was misty this morning in St. Albert. DJC
I could quibble that there are of course successful new calendrical systems, including in East Asia: In Taiwan the official calendar begins with the founding of the Republic of China, in North Korea from the birth of Kim Ilsung. No longer official in South Korea, but with some official support, is dating from the reign of the legendary Tan’gun. Conversely, Japan still uses imperial era names. But to counter my quibble: All share the problem that you note – the calendars need to be converted so that people outside your country know what you are talking about, and BC and AD are there – useful not because they are Christian or Western (even though that is its historic use) but because it is the one calendar that is common! Even if France kept using the French Revolutionary calendar, we would have the same problem.
I first encountered this usage reading James Michener’s epic 1965 novel, ‘The Source’, when one character explained to another that the more traditional ‘BC’ and ‘AD’ were insensitive to the non-Christian religions. As explained in the book, ‘CE’ stood for ‘Christian Era’ or ‘Common Era’, and ‘BCE’ for ‘before’ each alternative rendering. This is consistent with the Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era.
While I’m on the subject, there are a lot of literary and historical references here, both in our host’s original post and in many of the comments. This is a testament to the value of a broad-based education in the humanities — a concept that many modern conservatives feel should be jettisoned from our education system in favour of focusing exclusively on those skills that clearly prepare graduates for future employment.
So some day, if the UCP and its fellow travellers in other provinces get their way, even people with university degrees will not be able to understand these references. They won’t know any history, won’t have studied Latin or Shakespeare, and won’t get any of these. And our society’s discourse will be all the poorer for it.
Jerry: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, or close the wall up with our liberal dead! DJC
The only question remaining is, how long will it take for thick-headed Albertans to realize the UCP is TBA? All this was so predictable to anyone with half a brain, yet stupid rural voters still supported Smith. I doubt she will finish her term as Premier. She will be replaced by the browshirts (aka TBA), of that I have no doubt.
CKUA used to have a weekly provincial politics roundup, back in the 1990s before the Klein PCs cut the station’s funding, and Rick Orman was the Conservative talking head. He seemed reasonable then, someone you could disagree with without rancour. How the politician that I thought that I saw then could entertain the possibility of surviving in the unbreathable atmosphere generated by TBA baffles me.
Glad to see that you mentioned Jason Kenney’s role in the MAGA-ization of the UCP, David. It’s his legacy to us, and we shouldn’t be allowed to forget it.
I recall Orman from those discussions somewhat differently. He was more polite than your average Squidberta grifter-yokel, but nothing remotely reasonable came out of his mouth.
Lars: I remember that show. It was very good.
Jason Kenney is famously alleged to have said, the inmates have taken over the asylum. But it was he who handed over the keys to the locked wards.
A number of things come to mind. My Military History professor told us that the Roman Emperors had clowns follow them to remind them of their fallible nature. Perhaps a clown for Mr. Parker is appropriate, given his pretensions.
In any event, I cannot see wacky Danni and her caucus allowing the party machine to be taken over by a load of terrorists opposed to what the parliamentary party policy, and leadership policy is. Expect a battle, and there can only be one winner. Also remember that a political party’s raison d’etre is to win power and enact policies. I’m not sure David Parker grasps this, as his policies don’t seem to have mass appeal.
Is this the beginning of an internal implosion of the UPC, as it becomes more extremist? Would it therefore become less electable? Pass the popcorn and watch out for the ghost of Bible Bill Aberhart.
Given that the UCP now constitutes a tremendous ongoing harlequinade, it would be difficult to distinguish any clowns with a duty of reminding the leadership that they are mortal from the deafening ambient background clownitude.
Time to start channeling some indomitable Gauls…
https://labibleurbaine.com/litterature/la-bande-dessinee-le-papyrus-de-cesar-dasterix-de-jean-yves-ferri-et-didier-conrad/
David I think you are on the right track with “So some really nightmarish policies may indeed become law, hurting many Albertans as intended”, except that we can count on it becoming law rather than just may indeed. Some of the greasy tricks are already in play, for example; Bill 5 talks about making sure non-union staff are adequately compensated, but it does throw in the ability of the minister to adjust union and non-union salaries to fit into their fiscal restraint program. This will one of those things where employees with a negotiated deal can be overridden by the Minister, if they see that you appear to be making too much money. This is just the newest tactic to break the backs of unions or justify privatizing everything.
You are nuts! What a negative sourpus
Too bad that you are threatened so when we members of our party act in line with Democracy and freely vote in members to our party’s board! Furthermore, your continued attempted fearmongering of MAGA proponents makes me realize TRUMP takes up a lot of your head space—RENT FREE! Well, he was a big real estate guy!
LOL
kerry: TBA was never elected by Albertans at the polling stations. The UCP doesn’t follow democracy. If they did, why were members of this party given fines for being disobedient to the election laws? The last head honcho of the UCP has the R.C.M.P looking into his leadership race, and how it came about. Controversial issues, such as wanting open pit coal mining, are put forward before a long weekend, with the belief that Albertans wouldn’t be aware. Very risky ideas, such as the provincial pension plan, weren’t included on the last election agenda. By-elections were refused in ridings which lacked an MLA. Danielle Smith doesn’t answer questions about Albertan’s concerns. The Legislature hardly has any sessions. This is the farthest thing from democracy.
Is this character, Parker, a Svengali or a Rasputin? Either way, he hopes to have an inordinate amount of influence within a (chamber)pot of regressive flunkies who will forever complain about their lot within a united Canada.
I find it highly offensive the rhetoric here about “stupid rural voters” & “thick-headed Albertan’s”. The rudeness in the comments is overwhelming & few have the fortitude to put their real name to their comments. If it wasn’t for these “stupid rural voters” urban folk would go hungry.
It has been my understanding that governments were suppose to be working for the people – not the other way around. If people actually investigated instead of conjuring “facts”, they would know that many of the resolutions TBA recommended voting against, still passed.
To the person who left Alberta for BC, many people are moving to Alberta from other provinces because of our current premier. And all I heard at this agm was that Ms. Smith has the full support of her party to take on PM Trudeau.
Call it what you want but most Albertan’s are tired of being financially raped by politicians.
Yuk. You don’t like Albertans who voted for Smith and the UCP being insulted as thick headed etc., and you characterize your disagreement with federal taxation as being “financially raped”?
Anyway, policies such as equalization are often criticized by the UCP as unfair to Albertans, but the main problem there is that Canadians living in Alberta pay a lot of income tax, a good problem to have. Alberta doesn’t get equalization because there’s nothing to equalize.
Incidentally, I agree that rural Albertans shouldn’t be insulted. After living more than 40 years in rural Alberta, I well knew that the Conservative Party, the UCP, whatever, lied to voters. I feel bad for my friends and neighbours at the long list of shoddy policies inflicted on them.
Trudy N: Rural folks helping to feed people isn’t the point, and people who come from a rural background, also comment on this blog. It’s their mindset of supporting pseudo Conservatives and Reformers who destroy jobs, cut funding to important services so badly, that the damage lasts for years, rob us out of our oil and tax wealth, do very pricey shenanigans, that cost us billions of dollars, cause utility costs to spike, leave the elderly and the less fortunate struggling to get by, and let the environment take a beating. People are coming to Alberta in spite of Danielle Smith, not because of her. What will these people coming to Alberta have to look forward to, other than very high costs of things, such as rent, insurance and utilities, and a problematic healthcare system, caused by the UCP’s messing with it? What are they going to do when the economy spirals in a downwards direction? Justin Trudeau isn’t responsible for oil prices. We didn’t see this foolishness under Peter Lougheed.
Trudy N: The UCP aren’t working for the people, because whatever they are doing, isn’t working. Their policies and very pricey shenanigans aren’t helping. Utility costs are going through the roof, Tylenot medication, E-Coli that has hit daycares, making many children sick, corporate tax cuts, that deprived us of $10 billion, without a single job gain in sight, healthcare problems, Covid-19 policies that make more people sick, so much wasted money on one very pricey shenanigan after another, weak regulations for protecting the environment, increased opioid deaths, poverty levels that are rising, and on and on. Democracy is also a joke to the UCP, and they point the blame at others for problems that they have created.
This was an interesting read! Learnt a bit about calenders, Latin, Gaul, and Roman emperors.
At one time people frequently referred to Alberta as “Texas North”, well there was all that oil, money cattle, cowboy hats………..
These day’s the title may be appropriate once again, when it comes to policies various parts of the right wing crowd aspire to implement. Pronouns, changing health care, removing themselves from CPP. Don’t know where we would place the suggested train from Calgary to Banff, Edmonton.
Slowly but surely the maga crowd thinking is moving into Canada. Of course it will be a tad more difficult because the federal government of Canada still has some power to decide what goes on in Canada.
In the meantime Premier Smith, Parker, and anyone else can make promises.
Life will not be boring in Alberta. Isn’t there some sort of “curse”, May you live in interesting times?
To D.C., thank you for the post. It provided some interesting information, we in B.C. don’t always get to read.
If some one who is not the MLA wants to direct policy for the party and how MLAs vote, they maybe in for a surprise. If voters decide UPC does not represent their values they do have an alternative to vote for.
Voters can become tired of a party. Back in the 1970s, B.C. got tired of their Socred government. Some in the Socred party said, “we’ll be back”, of course they were, under another name and then the NDP was re elected for the second time, and then the third time and now the former Socreds are named, B.C. United and prior to that B.C. Lieberals.
Alberta has followed a similar path and have gone from Socred to P.C. to UPC and the NDP has been elected once. It could happen again. It just takes a few rural voters to not get the health care they were promised to change voting patterns. Some may consider rural voters different than the urban voters, but regardless of where people live, when their kids can’t get health care, voting patterns change.
e.a.f.: I have always argued that Texas North is a misrepresentation of what we have here in Alberta. We’re more like Oklahoma North. DJC
DJC– Oklahoma Crude??
Poem of Quotes —https://www.poemofquotes.com>o
Faye Dunaway: “I’d rather be the third kind”………
LOL ..
Randi-lee: I once rode in an elevator in the Empress Hotel with Ms. Dunaway and two bodyguards (hers, not mine, who were off that night). She seemed nice. She smiled at me. DJC
DJC, good on you, I always thought of her as one of the classy ladies!!
I see a little NDP or Liberal seeping through some comments or transplanted Alberta’s. There can never be enough grassroots thinking especially with this Country has become.
Al Ureczky— the problem with the UCP/ TBA “grassroots” thinking, is that it is the end product of the grazing ideology. You don’t have to be NDP or Liberal to be able to differentiate between truth and ‘eau de farm’ ; trust me, having been born and raised on a farm in Alberta with ‘Progressive Conservative ‘ values, which imo, have nothing to do with the current Alberta government.