In a spasm of Trump-like rancour in the wake of the Liberal victory in Monday’s federal election, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith doubled down yesterday on her pre-election threats to national unity with a graceless and resentful response to the vote result.
Supposedly commencing with a note of congratulation to Prime Minister Mark Carney for his party’s election victory, the churlish official statement published on the Government of Alberta website insulted the federal Liberals and NDP and offered up a rambling paean to election night’s biggest loser, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Ms. Smith’s tendentious commentary illustrates how her commitment to democracy and that of her United Conservative Party is about a kilometre wide but only a centimetre deep.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Mark Carney on his minority government election victory last night,” she commenced, obviously insincerely. (Emphasis added.)
“I also want to sincerely thank Pierre Poilievre for his powerful and principled advocacy against the last decade’s punitive taxation and anti-resource policies that have made our country weaker, more divided and overly-dependent (sic) on the United States,” she rambled on, disingenuously.
“Mr. Poilievre’s vision for a safer, more affordable, united and prosperous Canada drove the policy debate in this country for the last several years and has inspired millions to see the unique potential of our nation,” the statement continues.
“While Liberals and New Democrats demeaned and demonized Albertans, our values and our industries for political gain,” she added falsely, “Mr. Poilievre made empowering Albertans and our energy sector a cornerstone of his campaign. His respect and admiration for Albertans could not have been clearer.” (Eyerolls all ’round!)
“He is and continues to be a true friend of Alberta,” she concluded what may be her obit for the committed MAGAnaut’s political career.
Not just a true friend, but a newly unemployed and probably soon-to-be unhoused one, too!
At least, if the knives are truly out at CPC HQ for pissing away a 25-point lead in the polls with his misguided determination to stick to imported MAGA dogma in the face of the economic attack on Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump, I suppose he’ll soon be turning up here in Wild Rose Country in some sort of generously compensated advisory capacity like Preston Manning.
Really, as a career politician, Mr. Poilievre should have known better! And, arguably, he should also have picked a more competent campaign team – although, at this point we outsiders don’t really have the full details on who was making the grave strategic mistakes that dogged the Conservative campaign.
Most of the hyperbole in Ms. Smith’s screed, not to put too fine a point on it, is utter bullshit, and pretty rich coming from the leader of the most divisive provincial jurisdiction in the country right now, and the one with the least justification for it.
Well, perhaps it’s a way of diverting attention from the obvious fact that by brownnosing at Mara-a-Lago and refusing to join other premiers in a common front against Mr. Trump’s threatened economic depredations, Ms. Smith herself contributed mightily to Mr. Poilievre’s bitter setback, which may very well turn into his political demise.
After that, Ms. Smith’s statement continued with more lies (“the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years”), threats (“Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward”), and a dash of MAGA megalomania (“as Premier, I will not permit the status quo to continue).
This statement seemingly set off a round of yapping by the attack chihuahuas employed by Postmedia, the U.S.-owned network of clickbait websites branded as formerly great Canadian newspapers. “Alberta separatism lurks in the wings,” one online headline breathlessly warned.
Also yesterday, mysteriously financed bots were active on social media, talking up the wonders of Alberta and Western Canadian separatism. One hopes the guardians of Canada’s state security are taking note, and puzzling out the sources of these malicious emanations.
“Our government will be holding a special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further,” Ms. Smith grimly ended her statement. “I will have more to say after that meeting is concluded.”
No doubt a press release or another statement like yesterday’s will follow on the weekend, along with more annoying barking from the Postmedia peanut gallery.
Say what you will about the results of Monday’s election – which as I noted in this space yesterday includes something to disappoint almost everybody – it can no longer be denied that the Liberal Party of Canada remains the country’s Natural Governing Party, capable of quickly regenerating itself to confront a changing political reality.
Of course, in 2025, the leaders of both the Conservative and New Democratic parties worked hard to make that easy for the Liberals. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has already accepted this and voluntarily paid the Darwinian tariff with a certain amount of dignity.
On a positive note, no one from the NDP seems yet to have congratulated Mr. Singh on a great “moral victory,” although given the history of the party one supposes this is bound to happen sooner or later.
Mr. Poilievre, who surely deserves the same fate for what well-known conservative strategist Kory Teneycke called “campaign malpractice at the highest level,” has indicated his determination to stick around and presumably double down again on his tiresome Canada-is-Broken campaign.
Despite Liberals understandably praying for him to survive to fight and lose again another day, surely the rest of us, regardless of political stripe, can be forgiven for wishing Mr. Poilievre a speedy and safe departure.
UCP to reintroduce big money to election financing
Also yesterday, Ms. Smith announced legislation that will reintroduce big corporate donations and dark money to campaign financing, and eliminate vote-anywhere measures that make it easier to vote in provincial elections.
This will significantly reduce the ability of troublesome university and college students to vote in by-elections that the premier has carefully scheduled when they are likely to be out of town.
Bill 54, the Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, will also eliminate vouching at polling stations, another measure that will make it easier to suppress the vote.
The legislation also appears to be intended to make it easier for the government to advance its separatist agenda quickly through a “citizen initiative” ginned up with covert government support.
None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the actions of the United Conservative Party in office, especially under the leadership of Ms. Smith.
Para. 2 and 3 were such a lovely start to this post. Cheered me up no end.
Smith thinks she can take Alberta out of Canada, how about this, Alberta takes her out of politics. If Alberta thinks it can carry on outside of Canada as things are currently, not so much. Alberta is not Quebec, by a long shot. They’re still part of Canada but have carved out a space which benefits their province. Alberta is not a “distinct society” or anything close to it.
Mom used to refer to Albertans as “dumb stubble jumpers” . Don’t know how she came to that determination, but was way back in the 1960s. Smith and her party aren’t the brightest politicians in Canada nor do they appear to be all that keen on Canada. My take on it is, she wants to be seperate because she thinks she then can do what she pleases such as making Alberta not just Texas North and Florida North. She is probably looking at trump and all the money he is making selling coins, dinner with him in the White House, talk about a huckster. Doubt if Smith could be charged with treason is she keeps up with the I’m out of here routine, but it would be fun to watch that show. Perhaps she and hers along with PP might go looking for some land in Florida. She hasn’t figured out yet Trump doesn’t have friends. He has victims and sources of money. What would be funny to watch is both of them being convicted of a crime in their own countries.
Thank you again for the post
It’s a free country and talking about secession cannot by itself constitute treason. Even organizing referenda to secede is not by itself treasonous (except to Preston Manning and Ralph Klein who wrote their meal-tickets on francophobic bigotry)—if it was, several million Quebecois and somewhat less than a million Albertans, tops, would be liable.
Unlike the USA, Canada has addressed secession with the Clarity Act and a SCoC reference opinion. Neither make secession easy : in the SCoC’s opinion—which is neither binding nor a legally precedent-setting court decision— a federate (a province, but not a non-confederated northern Territory) may seceded if it is so ratified by the remaining federates and the federal government in their respective parliaments, a bar set much higher than the Amending Formula of the Constitution (ratification by 7 of 10 provinces representing at least 50%of the national population, as well as by the federal government), national unity being highest priority. But at least a proper way to secede is possible, if not likely.
Understandably, the US has no mechanism for secession, the last attempt costing more US casualties than all other US wars combined. Yet in White v State of Texas, 1890, on a side note in his decision (about honouring government bonds issued by Confederate Texas which matured after it rejoined the Union federation), the judge wrote that ratification by all federates (States, but not Territories) plus by the federal government is required for a State to secede. That situation that has never arisen since the end of the US Civil War in 1865.
What, then, would constitute a charge of treason against Canada? Some might say that unilateral declaration of independence in collusion with a foreign government would do it—but does that include Danielle Smith appearing to collude with US officials concerning exclusively Canadian concerns? Foreign affairs is unequivocally federal jurisdiction over which Smith has zero authority. But although she might be projecting her desire to preside over such an authority herself, she hasn’t tried to hide what she did in seeking a separate deal for Alberta with the USA. There’s no evidence that she broached US annexation of Canada during her goofy grovelling. This is all bluster, a very tRumpy characteristic (which Smith might be deploying to flatter the US presidunce).
Substantive evidence is needed to bring such a heavy charge as treason. Smith hasn’t aided or abetted any such thing, although she might have offended rules of diplomacy, decorum, and protocol. Alberta statutes of dubious constitutionality have not yet been tested in courts of law, and none of them are about assisting a treasonous act.
As this 2025 election—and, I expect, how US midterms will show—we’re nowhere near treason trials. Smith and tRump might look like they know what they’re doing, certainly want people to think they look like that, but in fact both are hopelessly gormless in any political or patriotic capacity whatsoever, most people see that, and there is no reason to think the democratic process will fail to footnote both of them.
In the same way, tRump’s threats are in no way a formal declaration of war and, in fact, there is no legal way in American, Canadian, and International law for the US to annex Canada or any part of it, or assist in any part of it to secede.
We are still doing war —trade war, rhetorical war—by political means, as incompetently as some anti-politicians wield it. They are still subject to the electorate’s approval and, as severely as that’s been tested on Jan6 and Feb2022, and as difficult the Congressional Committee investigating Jan6 and the Judicial Inquiry into imposition of Canada’s Emergencies Act have been, they are processes still underway, if occasionally stalled or politically interfered with.
Alberta can go to be a 51st state but remember you ha e to ki e by American rules and pay for your own health care, you can’t have Canada helping yous if your not Canadians, leave your pensions behind as well. Cpp, and old age pension are not for American people only Canadians. Some Alberta cronies said that they will be able to use Canada health care and pension with them. So for those uneducated Trumper fans that were targeted by Trump, it will never happen so get over it and leave already.
Tammy: It’s not clear what would happen to our CPP pensions. You’re probably be right that they would be gone, but CPP does pay out to Canadians living abroad. For sure we would NOT get U.S. pensions or social security. We would lose public health care and our passports. We would lose our constitutional right to travel where we plese – at “home” and abroad. And let’s not kid ourselves, we would never be allowed to become full U.S. citizens. We might even lose our bank accounts – they would certainly be disadvantageously converted to U.S., currency, just before it went into free-fall thanks to China and the BRICS and the end of dollar dominance. Personally, I don’t aspire to living in a freezing cold version of Puerto Rico. DJC
The USA can’t come to grips with the fact we’re bigger than they are nor that we have better resources and aren’t running about yelling “FREEDUM” individualists who are mass shooting each other, daily.
Snide aside, they would never make any part of Canada a state, they want us a a territory—in other words, no rights, just a piggy bank for their multi-national corporations. If some Albertans are too stupid to see that, I don’t know what else we can tell them. They may be mad at Canada and have some valid points, occasionally but it would be nice if they actually educated themselves on the facts, first.
The CPP would likely be put into some kind of trust for them—partially, anyway. The rest—well that’s FAFO because they can’t demand anything else. Frankly, I’d like to see us charge them billions–to leave.
Smith is arrogant. She actually believes she so smart she can outmanoeuvre the American Empire and get a good deal for Alberta. It’s hubris of the highest order. If not, she’s just beating the rest of us over the head with that for a club and I wish she’d just shut up because she’s giving the rest of the nation a migraine.
Go ahead, Dani. It’d be like joining Rome right before the Vandals sacked it.
B: The relevant lesson of the Vandals’ sack of Rome in 455, if you ask me, is that it’s foolish to break agreements and treaties with your allies. Just sayin’. DJC
Don’t be fooled, Albertans are not benefitting, oil companies are! They take resources for free and pay the politicians to invent chaos. This is the death cry of a raps and pillage economy! 50% of Albertans voted red and orange, end though the blue won! Many of us sat in front of our tvs hoping that the blues would awaken from the apathy they have been in. When many of our parents were raising us the climate threat was not prevalent except for a few idealistic indigenous and romantic hippies! The rest saw that you could take resources and there would be enough for the population (not the billions we see today). As a tax paying off reserve indigenous person (proud of my heritage and ancestry, Kaiansi) I have hope for our young educated and fellow homo sapien earth dweller in this territory to be responsible and respectful.
Unions should join together run a party, here’s the plan campaign.
Christina: Didn’t they used to have one of those? DJC
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Didn’t that used to be called, “The NDP”?
Marlaina is such a bitter little quisling with so much contempt for democracy. She just couldn’t take one day off from her deranged whining about Ottawa to show a bit of class and try to start things off with the Prime Minister in a civil, adult manner. Instead, she encourages the MAGA nutjobs.
David, I hope you didn’t give her any ideas about showering PP with taxpayer money a la Manning. Hasn’t PP already hoovered up enough taxpayer dollars? He can retire with his outlandishly lavish pension and never have to “work” another day in his life. He may have to in any case since he has no private sector work experience. Or, more likely, a huge law firm will give him a comfortable well-paid sinecure like Kenney.
One can only hope that Albertans will tire of Stormy Danielle’s incompetence and lies like the voters of Carleton did with PP.
I just wanna know *how* Dixie Dani thinks she’s going to leave when Aboriginal leaders have said time and again–they have no desire to join the USA. Because unlike the profiteering, entitled and self-centred conservatives of that province, they’re well aware of what happens to Native and other economically disadvantaged groups, south of the border. It will make the Oka crisis look tame.
The short-sightedness is breathtaking. Right now we’re subsidizing their oil pipelines AND the mess those oil companies left behind with their dirty deals made with the Alberta government.
She is catering to exactly what America wants. Cheap resources their huge corporations can profiteer from to run their war machine and the bodies they can throw in it. Any Albertan too blind to see this–well read some history of the American Empire and see if that suits you. Because the second you secede your working class wages will be cut in half, your housing stock will be bought up by dark money and you’ll live like the working class lives there (and we are fast approaching if we don’t get off this neo-liberal train)–three jobs, no healthcare, millions sleeping in their vehicles or tents with 80% having less than $500 in their bank accounts with little chance of ever collecting a pension. Seniors “vanning it”, sleeping in parking lots like teenagers because they can’t afford to live anywhere. Your farmland and forests won’t be considered if some corporate carpet bagger wants to drill or mine, somewhere. And it’s getting progressively worse by the day.
I listened to Zello and the Americans are the ones driving that train. While I’m no fan of censorship, I *am* a huge fan of investigative reporting into where this American influence is coming from. Cui bono? That’s the question we need to be asking.
Hey, large Canuck media–could ya get on this and use those profiteering budgets for something more useful that who’s stalking Justin Beiber? Thanks.
Enough of the Smith’s tantrums about running away from home because there’s house rules for her behaviour. The whole family doesn’t want to move. She’s trying to drag the rest of us, with her.
Call her bluff. Demand a referendum. If Danielle wants to join the USA she’s welcome to go there. I’m sure a lot of us will volunteer to help her–at least ’til she gets to the border.
Lol I can’t remember whom the AFN grand chief was and the Quebec premier was, but the gist of the chief’s statement was “if Quebec separates from Canada, we’ll separate from you, and take Churchill Falls with us.” Net result, the premier was gasping like a gaffed fish. Makes me wonder if oilsands are the Alberta analogue.
Gerald, I believe that might have been Matthew Coon Come who made the hydro-electric deal happen.
He was pretty quippy.
Gerald, while that referendum was going on I bought a t-shirt when I was working at a powwow that showed how much of Quebec was unceded territory.
The graphic was over a foot across and a foot down and the amount that was unceded was no bigger than a quarter 😀
So let’s get our maps out and check just how much Dani can legally take with her and her chucklehead brigade.
An interesting point was made yesterday on CBC’s Alberta at Noon, when they were discussing Pierre Poilievre’s political future, if he decides (and is allowed) to continue to lead the CPC. Mr. Poilievre would, of course have to ask a just elected MP to step aside to let him run in a byelection.
The question was then raised, where would Poilievre run? Given that he grew up in Calgary, and there are lots of safe seats here, Alberta seems a logical choice. It was then pointed out that by running in Alberta Poilievre would be tainted by all the Alberta wackiness (a word loved by PP) in central Canada.
For the good of the CPC Pierre Poilievre needs to accept the judgement of the people of Carleton.
Parachuting into a safe seat in alberta certainly isn’t going to solve the CPCs rather massive problem of being unelectable in Quebec.
You’re on a roll this morning, DJC! “…is utter bullshit, …” and …”yapping by the attack chihuahuas…”, “… U.S.-owned network of clickbait websites…”! You forgot “welfare bums”. Great article, made my day!
First off let’s ignore “The Dinger” Rick Bell. He has to write this garbage or he is out of a job. Even Bell knows no one would hire him if he lost that job.
As for Smith, she is such an ass. Does she seem like someone that the Prime Minister could have a reasonable discussion or negotiation? She will never be satisfied. She has to be dealt with by carrot and stick. Would Smith make it illegal for someone to aid people in making it easier to vote or obtain the documentation required to vote? She probably would as did the Republicans in the U.S.
Does anyone out there know the rules to begin a citizen initiative? These sound like something where we could have a lot of fun. Remember Rick Mercer starting the petition to have Stockwell Day change his name to Doris Day! What’s good for the goose.
“Does anyone out there know the rules to begin a citizen initiative? These sound like something where we could have a lot of fun. Remember Rick Mercer starting the petition to have Stockwell Day change his name to Doris Day! What’s good for the goose.”
What would be better is for the first use of the referendum to be to call for a judicial inquiry into the corrupt care scandal. Wouldn’t that be a nice present for Ms. Smith?
Jaundiced eye— check out Naheed Nenshi’s posts on X or Facebook….he’s started a petition….
And slightly off topic, but I’m waiting for the Federal Con’s to ramp up about the PM not calling a by-election if they decide to stay with the muzzled chihuahua and a great comeback would be “well look how long it took for Marlaina to call one for Naheed Nenshi.
Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith must have gotten together to prepare their speeches. Both “congratulated” Prime Minister Mark Carney on his “minority government”. What a pair of mean girls.
Poilievre then had the sense to let his X account go silent (still!), unlike Danielle Smith, who doesn’t know the meaning of “Exit, stage left!”
“Alberta separatism lurks in the wings”…of the bats in Danielle Smith’s belfry. Now she’s off to take apart Canada in the name of the saviour Donald Trump. JD Vance’s emissary and MP Jamil Jivani will never tell her to stick to her knitting, that’s for sure.
A propos of nothing, how are those Alberta strike votes coming along?
Abs: Stage right, shurely! DJC
Hic!
GSBC update #20: We need a strong Strike Vote – help spread the news
Government of Alberta members are encouraged to post the Alberta Labour Relations Board Strike Vote Notice poster at their worksite union boards.
Apr 29, 2025
AUPE members who work for the Government of Alberta will hold a strike vote from May 8 – May 12.
This is a Call to Action. We need all GOA members to help spread the word!
The government will take our demands more seriously – and maybe offer something better at the bargaining table – if we show them we are not afraid to strike. We need a strong strike mandate, and that means we need as many AUPE members as possible to vote.
Vote details
Voting begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 8, and ends at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 12.
Members are encouraged to vote online. To vote online, please log in to your MyAUPE account during the voting period.
You will need to create a MyAUPE account if you do not have one already. Your MyAUPE account is also your ticket to receive strike pay quickly. All members are strongly encouraged to create an account and use it to participate in the strike vote.
Members can also vote at Headquarters in Edmonton or any one of AUPE’s regional offices from 8:30 am to 4:30pm from May 8 – 12 (including on the weekend).
I don’t think there was a minute when Smith wanted Poilievre to win and I’m sure she couldn’t be happier right now. Without more pipeline capacity and more markets, Alberta can’t produce much more oil than it does now, and Poilievre can’t make markets or pipelines magically appear, despite his bald promises. This way, when Alberta doesn’t magically become the land of oil and honey again, she can blame Ottawa and Laurentian Elites and World Economic Forum and whatever else for her policy failures and bad budgets. Poilievre in power would lay bare all of her many failures to Alberta voters.
Just wait until she figures out it’s 2025 now, not 1970 and that the entire world is moving to hydro electric. Let’s watch her head explode when Wab Kinew’s province is richer than hers–without pizzing off the rest of the country.
Manitoba best be digging out their wheat and corn seeds, soon.
Another component of Bill 54 that I find really annoying is that it bans the use of electronic vote counting, apparently as a nod to the UCP’s MAGA base who are convinced the abuse of technology is how the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ from Donald Trump.
I don’t know what kind of technology the Americans used in their 2020 election, but the ballot counters Edmonton used in our municipal elections use the same technology schools used in the 1970s to mark multiple choice exams, and that the province still uses to score their provincial achievement exams. (To be consistent, the province should also require PATs to be hand scored.) As a result, if a losing candidate does not trust the technology, there are paper ballots to hand count in a recount.
As a result of banning electronic vote counters, municipalities will have to pay considerably more to run their elections, without any kind of compensation from the UCP. This is not the only financial burden the UCP has imposed on municipalities (they could also consider paying their property taxes, for example). It would never happen, but I would love cities to put a ‘UCP deficiency’ line on our property tax notice that highlights how much extra we have to pay on our municipal taxes because of ‘efficiencies’ from the UCP.
I noticed that too, and it was detailed yesterday in a CBC interview with Drew Westwater, a former Alberta deputy chief elections officer.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-17-edmonton-am/clip/16143277-alberta-government-planning-change-rules-around-people-province
And yet in this mornings interview with the Justice Minster he inferred that the use of the tabulation machines eliminated the paper ballots, which is not the case at all. These are tabulators, not voting machines, but he is playing the trump card to suggest to his base that there has been cheating in elections.
When asked if the tabulators had caused any problems in the 30 odd years they have been used he cited an interruption once in a Calgary riding that delayed the total count by several hours (quelle horror)! No mention that without the tabulators the count will require more people, more supervision, be open to more errors, be more expensive, and take about another DAY to complete.
His interview isn’t available yet at the Edmonton AM site, but boy did he lay it on thick that that the UCP was making things better for Albertans by eliminating ways to vote and making the system less efficent.
Oh, and there is such a pressing need to make instant demands to change the Constitution without any province wide referendums because the Legislature might not be in session when the UCP decides to attack Ottawa. Like the Constitution and Bill of Rights are regulations that change every day without due consideration.
In other news, really sad to see Blake Dejarlais defeated and Kerry (“keep the socialists out of parliament by interfering in municipal and school board elections”) Deiotte back.
Our Premier is stupid and she is evil. All said. She vindictively continues to attack the poorest (AISH), and the sickest (AHS) Albertans. Her attack on our Canada augers to core of the Greatest Generation. What else what you expect from puppet dangling from the cords of Presto and Harpo? She is best at flipping burgers at her failing hamburger stand. She has no substance that is not toxic.
Apologies to Booker T. Jones, but under the UCP, “If it weren’t for bad government, we wouldn’t have no government at all.”
Seriously, is there some annual equivalent to Daylight Savings Time, whereby we might advance to the 2027 provincial election a bit more quickly?
Wow, the fiasco that is the UCP just won’t end will it? It will only end if the UCP get voted out of office. However, the truth is that most citizens of Alberta do not agree with the shenanigans; they just need to organize before the next election and let their voices be heard. Which brings me to our opposition party the NDP. The reason that the conservatives have had a stranglehold on elections, to their advantage, is because they are efficient and organized. Conservatives ensure that their courted voters shoe up to vote! The NDP? Not in your life. No, organizing voters is akin to controlling the people in the little mind of an NDP election organizer. It is only fair to let the people feel free to come out and vote as they please – this mindset has resulted in loss after loss for the NDP, but they keep on doing the same thing over and over and then wonder why they do not get voted into provincial office. Can the NDP ever learn? Conservatives have a yearly barbecue thing that they do every summer. Those who want to be elected for the conservatives show up at plenty of barbecues to make sure that their name and face is remembered by their constituents. The NDP? They go on holidays. Heaven forbid that anyone should be working during the short summer months! There you have some of the reasons why the Conservatives get elected in time after time. To my dismay, however, the plurality of Albertans are simply not interested in politics and they do not vote and they are disconnected from any government initiatives. To the disengaged, perhaps voting in Alberta is just a waste of time? Indeed, Alberta is ensconced in conservatism, culturally speaking, so the UCP brand fits into the way in which many Albertans function. The idea that we could have a progressive society in Alberta is preposterous given the current cultural reality of Alberta. The NDP are up against the way in which Albertans think, say and do. It would take what to change Alberta conservative culture?
Smith and company can do anything they want and they know it. The fact that they are screwing over Albertans is nothing new. Any criticism of conservatives is laughed off because they are smug and know that nothing is going to change in this province until it does. Well, history shows that nothing regarding the will of the people will change here in Alberta.
Should we have a ridiculous vote to determine whether Alberta will separate from Canada, the seriousness of the results of such a vote should not be underestimated given the fact that conservatives are a vote getting juggernaught. Those who want to remain in Canada had better vote en mass to let their voices be heard. Given what has occurred during the last federal election, whereby Alberta voters chose almost entirely Conservative candidates, Alberta will undoubtedly go down the path of sovereignty – whether the UCP and their supporters make this a reality or not remains to be seen.
Must be a Manitoba, thing. Only people who showed up at my door electioneering (Ontario) have been the NDP. And the volunteers even walked up 6 floors last election cuz the elevator was broken. The NDP has shown up here for our fight with the landlord, several times.
Never seen hide nor hair of a conservative although once in the last decade, the libs showed up.
I once found a conservative candidate (young fella) electioneering outside the grocery store with his mother. Told him I wasn’t voting con but I appreciated his effort.
Hmmmm, DS was never asked to campaign with PP. PP obviously did not want to be associated with a traitorous DS.
Nothing succeeds like success, nothing fails like failure. The Cons will get rid of PP. DS will throw her hat into the ring to replace PP.
She’ll claim her experience running a big Province, her relationship with Trump, her US speaking engagements and her APPEARANCES on FOX News as qualifications.
Totally agree. Her megalomania won’t let her pass up such a golden opportunity to destroy all of Canada’s health care instead of just Alberta’s and to be the queen of the country, with dreams of remaking Canada in her own image, just as she’s doing with Alberta. Once before, she got too big for her britches and got knocked flat politically. It’ll happen again if she sets her greedy eyes on the federal PC leadership. Good riddance to her, and may it happen long before 2027.
Bill C. —- PP’S caucus members have been appearing on Fox ‘news’ since the convoy occupation of Ottawa. Led by Skippy’s deputy minister Melissa Lantsman, all railing about PMJT, that’s why Marlaina was so comfortable inviting Tucker to Alberta; she had a sounding board to go along with the ” if it’s from the US it’s not foreign interference???”
IMHO , that was one of the most glaring omissions by the media here then, and because of it, it’s become ‘normalized’ to the point of no return, as witnessed by Cruella’s latest Bill 54. She learned her lessons from the boss’s omnibus bills, that Skippy was just itching to put into practice if he had been elected. What was the line…”campaign promises don’t count” as something the party is actually going to do, it’s just what they tell/sell the electorate to get into power.
” I promise I won’t touch your pensions “…… ” I’m cutting OAS so I can balance the budget”
Some of us have long memories!
DC, thank you for the election coverage and commentary. I know a few people are wondering (Heather McPherson was asked on CBC this morning) if the NDP caucus (The Seven Samurai? The Magnificent Seven? The Seven Cardinal Virtues?) is likely to provide support for the Liberals. My hunch is the Liberals, just needing to save three lost souls for a majority, will do their proselytizing among the 40 MPs who represent BQ and Conservative ridings East of Ontario. Ontario and Western Tories may be too dyed in the wool to consider; Quebec and Maritime politics may be a little more permeable. The Liberals have a lot to offer (four years as at least a parliamentary secretary, with only a distant day of reckoning). The three lucky switchers will of course claim that they’re doing it for the good of the Country, with no immediate price to pay.
DJC, another impressive jeremiad (was going to go with screed, but that implies tediousness, and your columns are anything but, however I digress), I only wish this got the exposure that the dribble churned out by the Postmedia lackeys does.
I too noticed the ‘minority’ government comment. For the Cons, they never miss an opportunity to take the low road. Also, similar to their MAGA cousins to the south in their shamelessness, I await the howls of indignation should a few NDPers or BQers cross the floor (something Ms. Smith is no stranger to herself) to join the governing party (they only need three at this point), or should the soon to be unhoused loser of the Carleton riding force a MP resignation from a safe seat. Rural Alberta comes to mind, but not too rural, as PP has likely grown accustomed to the finer things in life after his time in Stornoway. Perhaps Sherwood Park Park-Fort Saskatchewan (Garnett Genuis is a loyal foot soldier, and would gladly sacrifice his secure gig to support his leader, with a well paying party position to thank him for his sacrifice) vs. say Peace River-Westlock, which might require him to wear boots not suits. Should this come about, and PM Carney take his time scheduling a by-election, the screeching from Ms. Smith and other Con types would need to be very loud to drown out their hypocrisy as Mr. Nenshi asks to have a word.
Should the unthinkable happen, and PP be forced to resign, Ms. Smith will have a conundrum. Who is picked to lead the latest (well compensated) grievance panel with its already predetermined outcomes? Mr. Poilievre, Mr. Manning, or a dark horse Mr. Harper? Those left out would undoubtedly be “Deeply Frustrated!!!!!”.
Dave: There is no need in the Westminster system for an MP even to visit the riding he or she represents. Indeed, none other than John A. Macdonald, our founding Conservative prime minister, represented Victoria from 1878 to 1882 without ever visiting the place to take in the sights, let alone to campaign. DJC
If PP parachutes into alberta the CPC becomes the party of western alienation and will take decades to find its way out of the wilderness. We’ll see; but I don’t think his handlers are quite that stupid.
Good point. In his time as a federal MP and cabinet minister, Jason (mother’s basement dweller in a residence built on a concrete pad) Kenney didn’t spend much or any time in his Calgary riding. He even purchased a condo in Ottawa.
Indeed. I had the privilege of voting against Jason Kenney in frequent elections in Calgary and “invisible” for him would be appropriate.
Danielle Smith is a sore loser who hates democracy. Simple as that.
While I’m thinking of it, it was so nice to have silence for a few days while the premier was off cavorting in “Costco Japan” as she called it. It was too bad it had to end.
I would be happy to keep the now deadbeat CPC leader as far from Trash Can Dan(i) as Japan is from Alberta. We have enough idiots in Edmonton suffering from Dome Disease (for those who attribute this to Klein, from whom it came, it is a phrase that has come to mean a/the government’s dismissive attitude toward legislative accountability).
When it comes to Skippy sticking around and the Liberals being happy about it, Carleton winner Bruce Fanjoy (who had a real job and career, much like most of us) had an interesting observation while canvassing in Carleton. (Source: Ottawa Citizen April 17)
Fanjoy calls Poilievre a “dream opponent,” noting that, even on his home turf, the Conservative leader is “uniquely unlikeable…”
The unemployed Mr. Peepers for the first time in his professional life could expand his work resume by seeking a job in the private sector. The family of Brian Jean, Alberta’s Minister of Energy and Minerals owns a car wash in Fort Mac and can always use a man of his talents. Peeps could hose down cars at the end of the wash line, reminding him of the hosing he took at the hands of Carleton voters.
I saw yesterday Naheed Nenshi basically called out Dingy Smith by saying something like: Call a separation referendum to see what Albertans want and when you lose, leave politics forever. Her blathering about how Alberta has been hard done by is total garbage, Stephan Harper and Jason Kenney were at the table and gave everything away, and PC’s have been whining ever since. The NDP created a novel site: separatistsmith.ca. where you can sign up to tell Smith where she can go with the separation idea.
Referendums on her plans are something Danielle has gone out of her way to avoid. And now, if this new Bill passes, she will never have to be troubled by them again.
If that doesn’t indicate how much she cares about the opinions of the Albertans she is supposed to represent (ie, not in the least), nothing will.
Haven’t we seen this movie before? Hold a referendum on a contentious issue or two coinciding with the municipal elections in October? My guess is the UCP brain trust wants a ‘citizen led’ referendum on separation on the ballot this October in order to encourage their far right base to show up to vote for UCP aligned mayors, councillors and school trustees. After all, David Parker of Take Back Alberta fame has made it his mission to get rid of progressive municipal politicians. Last time, the UCP tried this gimmick was in 2021. A referendum on the federal Equalization program. A second vote on Daylight Savings Time. Plus ca change.
At some point it must be acknowledged that if Queen Danielle did what she was supposed to do and STFU, Skippy would be PM by now. For the time being, he has no seat, no pay package, and no place to live. Seems he’s become one of the homeless and jobless. Maybe he should join a tent city?
I don’t feel Smith’s petulant behaviour will help Alberta’s interests at a time when the rest of Canada and the Liberals finally seems fairly willing to entertain the idea of more energy infrastructure projects.
Perhaps double down Dani is at it again and it is all or nothing, or this is not really about Alberta’s interests. Smith may feel continuing conflict with the Feds helps distract from all her local problems, such as the low price of oil and tight budgets, or that persistent health care scandal which refuses to go away.
Maybe Smith is a closet separatist who doesn’t believe in Canada and all those trips to the US were to try lay the groundwork for something else.
If we should have learned anything in recent times it is to be skeptical when politicians, particularly conservative ones, claim to be fighting for us. Often there are other more hidden interests involved.
Another excellent blog post DJC with some memorable quotes, “yapping by the attack chihuahuas” gets special mention.
“Our government will be holding a special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further,” says Ms. Smith. It should be noted although maybe not understood by Ms. Smith that her and the UCP are not the government, they are only the governing political party. This highlights their sense of self-importance and lack of respect for anyone else.
Dani smith is full of shite…….always was always will be……More conjobcon lies…..29Billion Taxpayers dollars funded the O&G welfare industry in 2024…..who the fk does she think shes talking too…..her ditch billy FOLLOWERS???? Learn to tell the truth for once and wipe the Postmedia drool from your mouth……..its all BS….the transfer of public institution monies from CON cutbacks to the Bay Street brass is strong with this one…..