Who’s writing Danielle Smith’s unhinged jeremiads?
Whoever it is, as an Alberta taxpayer I sincerely hope we’re not paying them by the word, because their screeds are definitely getting longer!
Regardless of what it sounds like, we know it’s not some guy with a long beard and a dirty robe scratching his observations on a piece of stone out in the badlands east of Drumheller – that would take too long. There’s definitely a word-processing computer application somewhere in the mix.
Less than a week after the last one, there was another on the Government of Alberta’s official web page yesterday, this time ranting about federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s plan for new rules to help phase out sales of cars and trucks powered only by gasoline by 2035.
Don’t panic, in the unlikely event Mr. Guilbeault’s new rules are actually implemented as described, gasoline-and-electric-powered hybrid vehicles would still be permitted for those who live too many kilometres away from a charging station.
But judging from the news coverage, the idea sounds overly complicated, unable to pass muster with voters in many parts of Canada – even places inclined to vote for federal Liberals – and not likely to have their advertised impact on the supply of electric vehicles if consumer demand for the machines continues to rise.
In other words, just like a lot of the stuff the UCP does, the Guilbeault Plan sounds highly performative – possibly in this case to counter Conservative attacks on federal subsidies intended to ensure that electric vehicle manufacturing capacity gets built in Canada.
Be that as it may, there’s something about Mr. Guilbeault that makes the UCP in general and Ms. Smith in particular just go nuts, right off their collective rocker, completely over the edge – virtually diagnosable, if you know what I mean.
In other words, Mr. Guilbeault has become the new Tzeporah Berman, who always struck me as a basically reasonable person but one who had a similar ability to drive Jason Kenney, the previous UCP premier, up the proverbial wall.
Or maybe he’s the new David Suzuki, another public figure who seemed able to push Mr. Kenney over the edge by just saying stuff, although to give the unhappy former premier his due, he never went completely bonkers, he just did dumb angry things that did more harm than good to his personal and political ambitions.
Well, forget him. He’s history now. Literally, as a matter of fact. Eventually he’ll probably end up in the same book as his musical grandad Mart!
So, here’s Danielle Smith – or perhaps I should say, “Danielle Smith” – on Minister Guilbeault’s plan to get us all behind the wheel of a Tesla or equivalent: “In another show of total disregard for the well-being of Canadians, the federal government has unilaterally imposed an unconstitutional edict with a bizarrely impossible timeline that will result in massive increases in the cost of vehicles and utility bills, vehicle rationing and wait lists, increased costs to businesses and elevated difficulty and safety risk for hundreds of thousands of Albertans and Canadians just trying to get to work and family activities in our unpredictable, and often cold, climate.”
(Take a breath! And don’t worry about that cold climate, Ms. Smith, it’s definitely getting warmer around here … and please stop shouting!)
That’s just the start. It goes on … “no legal or moral authority to tell Albertans what vehicles they can and cannot buy “… “sheer hypocrisy” … “disaster” … “trying to force increased demands on the electricity grid while simultaneously weakening Alberta’s” … “delusional timelines” … “freezing with their families in -30 C on the side of a rural road is not an option” … “destructive virtue-signalling” … blah-blah-blah.
The screed concludes with a screechy sounding vow to launch yet another constitutional challenge.
Ms. Smith is certainly not being truthful when she claims in the statement that she supports Albertans who wish to drive lower-emission vehicles.
And she’s just trying to stall meaningful climate action when she talks about hydrogen-powered vehicles having the potential to rival electric vehicles. That dog won’t hunt.
But she does have a point when she says the federal plan isn’t a formula for success if there’s no buy-in from car and truck users and auto manufacturers.
But the thing that really gets up her nose, I strongly suspect, is that there is considerable demand for EVs and a lot of car makers that are gearing up to meet it.
With or without Mr. Guilbeault’s new rules, that’s going to have an impact on Alberta’s one-note economy if we continue to refuse to face up to reality – as Ms. Smith and the UCP clearly think we should.
In the meantime, I don’t know about you, but I’m sure getting tired of this hysterical nonsense. I expect a lot of people are starting to tune Ms. Smith out as a result.
As for who’s writing this drivel, I don’t suppose it really matters. I just hope for their sake they have a good union job in the public service in case Mr. Guilbeault up and leaves politics for one reason or another.
I don’t believe there has been a more chaotic and half-arsed roll-out of any policy in recent memory. While the EV strategy is laudable, it may never see the light of day, let alone be anywhere near close to being a viable strategy.
Now, there is a country that has implemented a similar EV strategy, and has done so successfully. In Norway, they introduced a similar strategy several years ago and it has been very successful. Of course, there are considerable differences between Canada and Norway. Norway actually has real national ownership and control of their vast fossil fuel resources. And to take things that much further, Norway operates as a unitary state — no provincial governments! Further still, Norway boasts considerable hydroelectric power resources, geothermal assets, and an up-and-coming tidal power generation infrastructure. And of course, there’s that sovereign wealth fund of close to $1 trillion USD. Norway made it easy for everyone to get on board. They subsidized heavily, covering half of the cost of a new EV vehicle (VAT-free) as well as substantial investments in charging infrastructure, nation-wide. And to make the incentives even more impressive, there were electrical utility charges discounts for EV owners (30%) as well as other incentives, free home charging stations, free-parking for EVs, free use of toll roads and ferries, as well as a massive basket of other incentives. And the program has been an enormous success. As for Canada, I’m going to call this a nice try, but the whole program is sure to fall on its face.
Already, industry watchers have noted that the only region that is truly ready for the strategy is Quebec, and they’ve been planning for this for a decade. As for the rest of Canada, the various electrical grids require enormous upgrades and investments that are decades away from implementation. While the 2035 target date sounds not unreasonable, it’ll require a Herculean effort just to make even modest progress by that year, in terms of investments, incentives, and massive cultural change. And then there’s the small matter of will this even matter if it looks like that the Liberals are going to be decimated at the polls?
So your answer to the problem is ‘aim low’? Yes indeed, that will get us to the finish line. Or maybe more accurately, that will finish Alberta so far as entering a new energy era WITH the pack. While the world is pursuing electrification and every form of renewable energy that they can think of as appropriate to their jurisdiction, we live in a province whose premier is hotly pursuing how to shut every effort down. And that, in spite of the fact that it’s been determined by financial experts, that peak oil use is on its way. Alberta’s oil market (the USA) is a prime example of that, as they reached peak new ICE vehicle registrations happened in 2017 and peak gas sales the following year. We’re on the downhill now and if we start out ‘aiming low’, then fat chance that we’ll be leaders of anything in the coming economy.
Two points: we do not have to replace fossil energy on a one to one basis with renewables. Two-thirds of fossil energy is wasted as heat, while electric drives are about 80% efficient. So in absolute terms, we do not need as much renewable generation as some fear.
Second point: Here is some data from Alberta’s Electrical System Operator which I have used to compare internal electric use in Alberta this afternoon with the same day ten years ago. The amazing part is that in spite of all the population growth, new tar sands and petrochemical plants, Alberta’s need for electricity has not substantially increased at all. Ten years ago internal load was 10,008 megawatts. This afternoon at exactly the same time, it is 10,656 MW. Ten years ago half the electricity came from coal. Today 70% comes from gas and half of that is from co-gens that recycle heat from other processes like petrochemical and building heating plants. Frequency and voltage stability are now mostly provided by 190 MW of grid scale battery storage instead of gas turbines on standby.
So, the grid can change in fairly short order and the trends look like most of it will be renewable sooner rather than later in spite of the UCP trying to hold back the tide.
I don’t think that the transition will be as difficult (herculean efforts indeed) as you think it will. Consider that B.C. already has an adoption rate of 25%, with more than 30% in the Lower Mainland. I live in the so-called North (it’s really central B.C.) and have driven a small EV for five years and 170,000 km without any problems. Charging infrastructure is terrible to the North but ample in the South.
As energy use shifts from burning fossil fuels to electricity, it’s important to consider that total energy use will go down (all else remaining equal). It takes about one quarter of the energy to move a vehicle on electricity compared to gas. It takes one third to a quarter of the energy to heat a space with a heat pump as opposed to burning gas.
Having said that, electric generation capacity must increase significantly to allow that shift. And here B.C. and Alberta do essentially the same thing. We laugh and shake our heads about Alberta simply shutting down renewables. BC Hydro, without making any noise, does exactly the same thing: they will not allow independent generators on the grid. That is why you don’t see utility size solar and wind farms in B.C. Alberta, on the other hand, has quite a few of those. Mr. Climenhaga, please read Arno Kopecki’s series on that issue in the Tyee and write about it.
Yes with Suzuki now retired, the UCP needs to find a new whipping boy/scapegoat for all their problems and to channel their seemingly endless outrage against.
If the energy from all that outrage could be harnessed we probably wouldn’t need solar or wind power or fossil fuels. However it will most likely be wasted in trying to prop up a provincial government Albertans never really warmed to and whose slight post election honeymoon seems to already be flagging.
On a more positive note for Federal Conservatives, perhaps all this effort might help them win one or two more seats in Alberta. Most likely it will help them more with fundraising, if angrier people are motivated to give more.
I don’t think Guilbault cares or worries much about what Smith and the UCP says about him. But heaven help any Alberta post secondary institution foolish enough to invite him to speak. Good things will not happen to their funding and they will soon discover the limits of free speech in Alberta.
Rather than call what Smith practices politically populism, perhaps it should be called denialism instead. She does appeal to some who feel their future is threatened but she does little to better position Alberta for it.
Once again, Danielle is blowing hot air, and using any detractors she can to try and turn people’s attention away from her abysmal time as premier, and the major very big failures of the UCP, as a whole. Her Sovereignty Act is useless, and can’t be implemented, and Danielle Smith knows this, because she inadvertently admitted it to reporters at a press conference, not long ago. It’s doubtful that Danielle Smith will complete a full term as premier, regardless of how much newspaper columnists, such as Lorne Gunter, David Staples, and Licia Corbella, continue to prop her up. Postmedia still is exhortating Danielle Smith, and people foolishly go along with it.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/alberta-premier-danielle-smith-year-end-interview
Here are two issues relating to power and fuel for vehicles. One is sodium batteries. It may be promising. The other is biofuels. With biofuels, the issues are land use, which is needed for growing crops, for food, and taking up water, that is needed to create the product, which is getting scarce, due to worsening droughts. Biofuels are a bad gamble, and should be avoided.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Sodium-Ion-A-Game-Changer-in-the-Global-Battery-Market.html
https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/biofuels-comeback-will-give-west-rare-energy-win-2023-12-20/
“with the power to make Alberta’s premier go nuts!” ummmm
How can you tell the difference?
She gets even noisier.
Hello DJC and fellow commenters,
The writer of the screed that DJC mentions is fond of adverbs and adjectives. The message could be conveyed much more clearly and powerfully in a succinct and incisive post.
It is difficult to discern whether the purpose of the screed is to elucidate ideas or to demonstrate the writer’s vocabulary. In short, the screed is so poorly written that that most editors would decline to publish it. One would expect that items published on an official provincial government website would, at the least, be well written. Does this indicate an inability to think and write logically and coherently?
Hi Christina. To answer your closing question: “Yes.”
Sadly, logic and coherence are not the goals. The rant is pure agitprop. It’s intended to make Smith’s fanboys and Alberta climate-denialists angry. That’s the main purpose.
Oh, as Jaundiced Eye points out below, it’s also a guaranteed fundraiser for the UCP/TBA coalition.
Personally I think it shows fear of consequences for editing Danielle’s writing.
Bob: Well, the simplest explanation usually really is the right one. DJC
It is passing strange to me, always has been, that a person who has all the resources available to them as a Premier does, does not avail of themselves a plan for the future. Even a future as mundane as next year, to say nothing of further out.
It is stereotypical of your dumb-ass dirt farmer who doesn’t or won’t recognise times are changing – always. It’s just dumb. And self-defeating.
So what is it in the conservative makeup that makes them so resistant to recognising what’s happening all round and to prepare for it.
It is truly bewildering.
And dumb.
Hi PR, “…does not avail of themselves a plan for the future” “stereotypical of your dumb-ass dirt farmer who doesn’t or won’t recognise times are changing…”
Pretty harsh words there city-slicker, and some of us wonder why there is such an urban-rural divide? So tell us Ranger, what smart-ass occupation do you work at which makes you so good at recognizing what’s happening all round, and qualified to tell dumb-ass farmers how to plan for the future? Social media consultant, marketing manager, life coach?
Your first paragraph makes sense but the rest of it is just spouting BS and adds nothing to the conversation.
To add extra punch to the screed IT SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS
I like phrases interspersed in all caps myself. So 2016 LOL. It emphasizes the intelligence of the writer.
I suspect Danielle Smith doesn’t care one bit about people “freezing with their families in -30 C on the side of a rural road” because of course, rural. City folks freezing is fine. This is the same Danielle Smith who sent black cube vans to Ottawa, warning that people would freeze in their homes in -30°C. Look at the billboard with a photo of a child wearing a headlamp to do homework when the power goes out in -30°C., as if the only thing occupying his parents’ minds would be homework, instead of huddling under sleeping bags for survival, as the homeless in Edmonton encampments are wont to do. So much concern for people freezing, but hey, let’s freeze out the homeless by removing their makeshift shelters and blankets. Fun fact: did you know people can freeze to death outdoors in weather above -30°C.?
Some of us think that Danielle Smith wasn’t warning us so much as threatening us, but those eastern Bs won’t be the ones freezing in the dark. Dani doesn’t control their grid and she isn’t Canada’s supreme ruler. It’ll be us prairie chickens. Don’t give up that gas fireplace yet, folks.
Have I mentioned the EV charging station beside a traditional gas bar in the shopping complex near my home, and how it is sometimes full on a weekday? Freedom of choice in one handy location! Mind, it’s less full since some bad guys shot up a restaurant and some vehicles nearby in yet another “not a gang, public not at risk” incident. Perhaps the focus should be on keeping the not-gangs (gangs are only in encampments) away.
“Destructive virtue-signalling…” It’s tedious. The “Save the Straws” campaign is tedious. The UCP is tedious and also irrelevant as the real world problems pile up.
These UCP types really need to pay attention to the stage four drought, instead of this obsession with -30°C. Communities in southern Alberta won’t have drinking water come spring. Hoping for snow and rain is like hoping to turn the power off in -30°C.: just another UCP pipe dream. When/if these two things happen, the people of Alberta will serve them with a big dish of reality. All the psychobabble and immature finger-pointing will come home to roost. The do-nothing, blame-everyone toddlers can have all the tantrums. Even they can’t fool everyone all the time.
“Destructive virtue signalling” is a perfect description of Smith’s entire rant.
Such misogyny from you; the ‘hysterical’ lady is probably quite capable of concocting the jingoism all by herself! I am in a conundrum though. I sold my ICE in 2004 and it’s been shank’s mare and the two wheeled steed for me ever since. Should I run out and buy a horseless carriage quick before they turn into pumpkins? My great great great (blind) grandfather declared bicycles the ‘work of the devil’ when he heard of them. Wonder what he would have made of Elon Musk?
Emily: And where is it suggested in my screed that the author of the premier’s is of one gender or another? I’m sure she is as capable as you say, but I’m equally certain someone else is paid to string it all into 79-word sentences. That said, my own personal opinion is that the most likely suspect is Rob Anderson. I’ve known them both for years, and it sounds like Rob’s work to me. DJC
I was going to joke that Smith had hired Rex Murphy to do it, but maybe Rob Anderson is a Rex fan?
My apologies, you’re right. It was the words ‘screechy’ and ‘hysterical’ that had me all riled up and thinking a neurotic female was doing the ‘riting. However, in our enlightened age (and here I am not being facetious) the bearers of a uterus are happily far more openly diverse than in the olden days. Not to imply that Rob Anderson is one of them.
Emily: I don’t mind. It is worth being reminded that some pejorative words tend to be associated with one gender or the other, and to bear it in mind when writing. That said, nobody is more screechy and hysterical, in my experience, than a right-wing male under the age of 30. DJC
Yeah, that was one hell of a run-on sentence. Oops, I meant run-on rant!
No doubt, each time Smith flies into a spittle flecked rage, a request goes out to any and all bumpkins, chawbacons, hayseeds, hicks and yokels the UCP has on file, asking for money. These jeremiads must be turning into real money makers for Smith as any behavior that is positively reinforced will be repeated.
JE: This is a very good point and almost certainly true. DJC
SG’s proposal does not include ATVs, Sea-Doos and snowmobiles so many Albertans will not be inconvenienced on their daily commute to the battery factory. In fact, other federal proposals will offer carbon credits (aka lumps of coal) and loyalty points for Albertans who develop successful hot air vehicles. Dani will approve.
Lefty: Dani herself, it can be reasonably argued, is a successful hot air vehicle. DJC
Just think, we could solve the intermittent-energy problem by putting a microphone in front of Danielle Smith–with a wind turbine just beyond it.
Thank you, David, for the biggest giggle I’ve had in months. Coffee all over the desk!
Merry Christmas, by the way. Peace.
I do not believe that I have ever seen a seventy-nine words long sentence before. It was, um, something.
Gosh, Mimi, I’m sure that I personally have written sentences longer than that, probably on this blog. DJC
Good heavens, David, I read your column and my head literally exploded.
Not really, of course. I was awake in my high school English class long enough to learn that if my head literally exploded it would have truly blown up. That said, however, the meaning of the word ‘literal’ does seem to be evolving toward a meaningless word used to add emphasis.
I think the same phenomenon is happening with Danielle Smith’s use of the word ‘unconstitutional’. Its meaning seems to have evolved into something to use to express how adamantly you dislike something.
Bob: Just in case this is a shot at my use of the word “literally” in this column, it was a considered decision. Mr. Kenney has literally entered history now – insofar as one can literally enter a thing that is by definition not literal. (One can, but this is a philosophical discussion that, I am sure, neither of us has time to enter into at the present moment.) Suffice it to say that I have recently made literal (and literary) contributions specifically about Mr. Kenney to two literal books on the history of the UCP. So Mr. Kenney’s entry into history is literally literal. DJC
If only someone would do colonics on the screed’s colons.
Simple, petulant and bratty with an excess of playing the victim. No Ms. Smith I, like many Albertans am not a malcontent looking daily for something to point an angry finger eastwards. Real leaders show vision and earn respect.
Red herrings while provincial health, education and the environment are trashed.
Albertans are going to look really stupid if they continue to believe the lies these Reformers feed them and don’t start getting prepared for the electric vehicles era when that’s all you can buy aren’t they ? B.C. is far a head of us and from what I’ve seen in Europe we are so far behind it’s a joke how stupid we are. A man from Sweden told me in April 2022 that Albertans need to wake up and get with the rest of the world. In 2019 I was in Ireland and the taxi drivers in Dublin and Belfast had bought up all the gas fired Taxis from London England because they had switched to electricity. In other words they were already 4 years ahead of us.
Seat belts in vehicles.
Remember all the protest?
Fast forward, decades.
Everyone now wears a seat belt.
Without thinking about it.
And no one gives a s*it about the anti seat belt protests.
Are you quite sure he is history David? A few days ago, I found JK the great bloviator and lecturer giving a reporter from The Telegraph in London, England a very strange account of Canada’s core historical political philosophy – in an interview on YouTube. We do know the fellow is a very odd Anglophile of course, but . . .
His history of Canada’s political philosophy bore little resemblance to what I learned in political science and history courses at the U of A of it. In any event, is he trying to keep a pudgy hand in?
Interesting also that he referred to Pierre Polievre only as his legislative intern too, no acknowledgement of the fact he is national PC leader. Perhaps Jason is finding it uncomfortable living at home with mommy. His political body might be in rigour mortis but maybe Jason doesent understand his political end is here.
Or, it’s ‘not just outrageous, it’s idiotic’
With a ‘flattering’ (??) picture of the outrageous idiot itself.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/danielle-smith-globe-and-mail-vaccines-adriana-lagrange-1.7067051
Where certain like minded birds continue to be ‘bamboozled by science, as opposed or contrasted to being merely ‘blinded by science’ one assumes.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/former-british-prime-minister-boris-johnson-bamboozled-by-science-covid-19-inquiry-told-1.6652483
The premier’s office is always posting PR writing jobs. That’s got to be the easiest gig around: Whatever the topic, just blame Justin Trudeau and be shrill about it.
Sure, Ottawa bungled the announcement and reporting has made it worse. They are allowing car companies to sell PHEVs (plug in hybrids that use gas and are, really, the best of both worlds – local driving mostly on battery and far better fuel economy when using gas) everywhere in Canada. So the headlines should read “EVs or hybrids.”
Ottawa’s previous zero-emissions vehicle recommendations/targets (before the mandate) have always included PHEVs.
So, no, nobody will be forced into driving a battery-electric car. And, yes, Premier Smith, Ottawa can indeed decide on what sorts of new vehicles will be on sale to Albertans (and everyone else in Canada). Gasp, what’s next, forcing Albertans to buy cars with seatbelts?
Has the comment section of the Calgary Herald filled up with rabid-redneck rants that claim that the Libtards are gonna take away all our half-tons?
Also: the new mandate includes hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles (and Toyota and Hyundai each make one now). There’s just not much of a market for them aa passenger vehicles because there’s only a handful of stations in the entire country.
Speaking of JK and history, he’s this week’s interview guest on former federal and Ontario Liberal strategist David Herle’s politics podcasts, “The Herle Burly”. One might be sorely tempted to give it a hard pass, but it might be useful to listen to, if only to adhere to Sun Tzu’s famous dictum,“know thine enemy”.
Besides, we often decry the “echo chamber” that is social media. Listening to an interview of someone with whom you so wholeheartedly disagree would be a way to counter that tendency. So I plan to listen to it.
Dear Madam Hot Dog Premier,
I stick one Ivermectin up my filler pipe and my Hybrid works great. Thanks for the tip.