Despite the presence of members of the United Conservative Party’s MAGA base primed to cheer and boo in all the right places, it sure sounded as if Premier Danielle Smith’s separatist Alberta Next dog-and-pony show in Edmonton last night had gone off the rails.
In spite of moderator Bruce McAllister cutting off the mic when members of the public ignored the “town hall’s” carefully curated Alberta-Good-Canada-Bad agenda to say what they thought about what’s bugging them – for example, COVID vaccine rationing – the impression on the small screen sure wasn’t of a separatist love fest.
You’d almost think a lot of folks in Alberta’s capital don’t really want to wake up tomorrow living in a brand new Wild Rose petro-paradise policed by Ms. Smith’s answer to Donald Trump’s masked and brown-shirted ICEmen.
There were just too many folks shouting stuff like, “I’m a Canadian first!”
“I’ve been to Cuba and Vietnam,” said a member of the public, “and this propaganda puts their propaganda to shame!” (After that one, by the way, nobody shouted back, “Viva Danielle por siempre!” Not even the Alberta Prosperity Project types salted through the room.)
Maybe you can make it sound as if Albertans would love to give up their Canada Pension Plan for a Bitcoin-based petro-pension in Red Deer. Not in Edmonton, it would seem.
Asked early in the event if she would sign the Canada Forever referendum petition, Ms. Smith rambled for a while, but never answered the question.
Watching Mr. McAllister trying to get the rowdier elements of the crowd to siddown and shaddup, or Premier Smith trying to explain why charging Albertans for COVID-19 vaccines is a good idea and entirely the federal government’s fault, one could almost smell the flop sweat seeping through the screen.
Leastways, cries of “Knock it off!” and “Don’t be a jerk!” from the moderator don’t exactly give the impression that resistance is futile.
“The more barriers you put between people and their doctor, the more people will die,” said an emotional cancer survivor, to audience cheers. “My question for this administration is this: Why do you believe that you know better than every health care expert in this province and this country? Why do you think we should have to fight tooth and nail for our right to health care?”
That was the moment, if you ask me, that the Alberta Next locomotive left the track.
“I don’t want people yelling about health care and saying I’m not answering,” said the premier, shouting herself and ignoring her moderator’s effort to get the meeting back on the rails.
“When I got elected as leader in February of 2023 I signed an agreement with the federal government for a long-term, 10-year funding agreement, which committed to the principles of the Canada Health Act, which says no one can pay out of pocket for medically necessary care, which means doctor’s visits and surgical visits,” the premier continued in that carefully enunciated, shouty voice she uses when she’s really angry. It’s a tell.
“So we have a 10-year agreement, that is ironclad, with the federal government. That’s what I signed on to. That’s what we have committed to.”
You can’t hear it on the YouTube video recording, but just about then someone must’ve shouted about the UCP’s dangerous pay-if-we’ll-let-you COVID-19 vaccine rationing policy.
“The COVID shots were de-listed,” the premier retorted. “They were de-funded by the federal government! They were de-funded by the federal government. The federal government was paying for them for the last three years then they defunded them. And that’s why we have to make a choice about how to best provide those services to those who need them the most, without wasting $234-million, which is the amount of COVID shots so we’ve thrown away over the past three years. …”
Crowd: Disorder, inaudible shouting.
Premier Smith: “It’s not! It’s not bullshit!”
Crowd: More shouting.
Premier Smith: “It’s true!”
Crowd: Shouting.
Premier Smith: “It’s absolutely true!”
Crowd: Shouting.
Premier Smith: “We have made RSV shots available to those who need them. Others have to pay out of pocket $300. Shingles shots are paid out of pocket. Yellow Fever shots are paid out of pocket. There are lots of different types of vaccines that are paid for out of pocket. We’ve got the right balance! Now that we have to pay for it. Because the federal government defunded it. Contact the federal government! If they wanted to continue funding it, then they wouldn’t have saddled us with an additional $134 million. So that’s, that’s one of the things that we’re adjusting to. And I will also say 87 per cent of Albertans chose not to get the COVID shot last year!”
Crowd: Mixed boos and cheers.
That’s enough of that nonsense. You can watch last night’s gong show for yourselves if you’ve got the patience. Just remember, as the premier didn’t: If you’re explaining, you’re losing.
UCP EV endorsement proves short-lived
Sounds like Premier Smith has reconsidered her apparent call on Ottawa Tuesday to end those tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles if that’s what it takes to resume canola shipments to China.
Whoops! Must’ve upset somebody in the UCP’s influential MAGA pickup truck crowd. Or maybe Pierre Poilievre. Remember: ICE also stands for Internal Combustion Engine!
At any rate, yesterday, so-called Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz got crackin’ and published a statement saying Alberta wasn’t going to accept no stinkin’ federal EV mandate.
“The federal government must face the inevitable and abandon the unrealistic, ineffective and unwanted EV mandate before it kicks in next year,” yadda-yadda, Ms. Schulz proclaimed.
Ottawa needs to listen to Albertans, she concluded. Even when they’re saying contradictory things at the same time.
HSAA and AHS reach tentative agreement
Meanwhile, also yesterday, “Alberta Health Services and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta have reached a negotiated settlement for a new collective agreement,” said Finance Minister Nate Horner in a statement of his own. “The partnership between the two parties is a testament to the importance of these health care professionals and the services they provide to Albertans, and our health system,” he enthused. Readers are advised, however, to wait to see if the health care union’s members vote to ratify the tentative agreement.
Judge OKs court review of separation question
No one should be surprised that Mr. Justice Colin Feasby of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench has said he will permit the province’s Chief Electoral Officer to get the court to rule on whether a separatist group’s referendum question violates the constitution.
Despite the UCP’s opposition to the judicial review going ahead, it was pretty obvious from the wording of the government’s own “citizen initiative” legislation that Gordon McClure was on solid ground. Here is respected arbitrator Andrew Sims’ commentary on the decision.
The CBC reported that Justice Feasby said the next hearing will be on Nov. 15, with a ruling expected before the end of 2025.
I think Ditzy Danielle’s non-answer/waffle-gab to the Q. about signing the Forever Canada petition is indeed an answer. In fact, she got asked twice by people at the floor mikes, and refused to give any real answer on both occasions. So Alberta, I rather think it’s a good possibility the Premier is a traitor to her country. Is that treason? Seems pretty close to it.
Anyway, I managed to watch to the point of the Covid Vaccine hissy fit and a bit beyond. Bruce and Danni could do with distemper shots I think. The fellow from the Fraser Institute really was a complete bag of fertilizer. A really heavy metal event altogether. Time to play a bit of Black Sabbath, maybe Crazy Train?
Hello DJC and fellow commenters,
thanks for the summary. Unfortunately, I don’t have time at the moment to watch the whole thing, so your commentary is very much appreciated. Yeah, those in attendance seem to have sent a clear message. Unfortunately, Danielle Smith may well not listen.
Christina, I watched the entire 2+ hours. Take some Tums before watching. Bruce McAllister, the “Moderator” was a complete tool. Yes, the people at the floor mikes were assertive to sometimes aggressive, but they had to be to avoid the town hall’s predetermined conclusions. As one person from the floor said, this is the best and most disgusting propaganda presentation outside of North Korea. That wasn’t much of an exaggeration. To watch this will only offer illumination on how utterly unfit for purpose this government is, and how supremely duplicitous it is. But if you have the stomach . . .
I was there, the mic didn’t pick up half of it. The women the police were eventually called on was rude, obnoxious, disruptive, disrespectful and should have been removed in the first 5 minutes! Her behavior was NOT required one iota! She could have easily asked questions without hurling obscenities. She could have stopped yelling to hear or ket us hear the responses. But she wasn’t interested in answers, just in self promotion and disruption. Most disrespectful display of human behavior in a public setting I’ve ever seem. Disgraceful
Sounds like you’re talking about Premier Schmidt. If that was the case then I completely agree lol
Seems like Smith’s authoritarian libertarian act is not going over so well anymore, at least not in Edmonton. Many people there seem unconvinced she has their best interests at heart.
Turns out even Smith admits now we only got COVID vaccines and public health care because of Ottawa’s funding and 10 year agreements. So what do you think health care in a separate Alberta would be like?
No doubt the UCP will try to dismiss this as just ongoing discontent of the capital, but let’s not forget her recent “coal mines in the Rockies are good” rural southern Alberta town hall tour did not go over well either.
Smith does normally have fairly strong communication skills, but she also seems to have controversial and unpopular visions she is trying to sell about Alberta’s future. The UCP may be making a mistake if it thinks these town halls are a way for her to try sell these ideas to Albertans.
It seems to be becoming more clear this is a not listening tour. I suppose this is also what happens when Smith’s carefully crafted world of alternate reality meets reality and is challenged. She can’t just present it unchallenged, as she generally does under her normally carefully controlled settings.
I suspect just like the US MAGA Republicans there will be fewer town halls in Smith and the UCPs future.
Dave: “What do you think health care in a separate Alberta would be like?” Now that is an excellent question. There is a lesson for the Opposition leader, Mr. Nenshi, in last night’s event as well. A sharp rebuke will knock Ms. Smith right out of glib smugness and derail her gaslighting. Alberta needs more Marquess of Queensbury and less Roberts Rules of Order. Thank you for your attention. DJC
Thank you for your newsletter. Always worth reading and passing on.
PREMIER DANIELLE SMITH…
WE THE PEOPLE OF ALBERTA, WHO PAY YOUR SALARY, WHICH YOU HAVE NEVER THANKED US FOR, ARE NO LONGER PUTTING UP WITH YOUR BULLSH*T ABOUT A SOVEREIGN ALBERTA IN CANADA. WE ARE KEEPING THE LINES OF THE MAP AS THEY ARE. WE DO NOT WANT TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FOR MEDICAL CARE, THAT YOU GET FOR FREE BECAUSE OF “US” PAYING ‘YOUR’ SALARY. THIS IS A REMINDER THAT YOU WORK FOR ALL ALBERTANS AND THAT IT IS YOUR JOB TO LISTEN TO ALL OF US, NOT YOUR LOBBYISTS. IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU CAN’T DO THE JOB— YOU— ARE FREE TO LEAVE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!
Nicely done!
Thank you to the good people of Edmonton who took the time to call out Marlaina’s blatant lies even though it meant braving a hostile, hand-picked crowd of partisan thugs. It is heartening to know that not all Albertans are falling for the UCP propaganda no matter how much taxpayer money they spend attempting to convince us that Covid is just a Lib thing, that they know more than scientists, that Alberta pays more taxes than other provinces, and on and on and on until one can no longer keep track of their lies (which is probably part of their MAGA craziness).
It was a good start to the day to read that Marlaina was finally backed into a corner by her own lies, blatant ideological rantings and incompetence.
One slight error I noticed, “rowdier elements if the crowd to siddown” the if should perhaps be of.
When we were in line to sign the Forever-Canada petition the other day, we noticed quite a few folks in the line were very thankful of Thomas for starting and running that campaign, so appears from that and last nights dog and pony show, the anti Dingy sentiment is running real strong here in Edmonton. I think Albertans have made it very clear they do not want to separate, do not want an Alberta Pension Plan or a provincial police. Sadly the Dingy Smith simply will not listen to all of this and continues to charge ahead,
It is the Court of King’s Bench since the Queen passed away.
Ernest: Thanks. As I said to another reader who noticed the same mistake: This is what happens when you’re still working on a blog post after 1 a.m. In truth, I spotted it myself sitting outside a bank branch this morning waiting for an appointment. I uttered a foul word worthy of Bruce McAllister. All I can say in my own defence is old habits die hard. I lived through the entire reign of Elizabeth II – the previous king died six days before I was born – and for the most part I liked it. As reigns go, it was an excellent one. Part of me would like to hang on. DJC
What a shitshow of a province. And it’s getting worse.
Great reporting!
The calliope music isn’t loud enough to drown out this circus of monkeys and clowns.
If things go as the cliche does, the big top could be burning down soon.
Thank you DC for this whole column. I love this line: Premier Smith: “It’s not! It’s not bullshit!”
I’m with Simon, grateful for DJC, but I am tiptoeing through rural Alberta deep in the UCP bullshit. It is another world, deep in the AB Hinterland, I keep my mouth sealed and who I really am concealed for fear. Your work and your words David allow to come up for oxygen!
What? Danielle Smith flip-flopping about canola/EVs? Did Doug Ford get on the blower, or was it the UAW? It’s never wise to tick off the potential next leader of the CPC if you are the whiniest premier of Canada’s whiniest province. Karma comes around and goes around, and it might not be riding the Poilievre horse.
Dearest Dani has weird ideas about choice. She restricted who could get a Covid vaccine. I know of people who wanted one but were refused at the pharmacy because they were under 65. Danielle Smith is happy to destroy unused vaccines but refuses to let them be used by people who want them. That is not a “choice”, but it brings us to the matter of “delisting”. When the UCP leader starts using “choice” and “delisting”, how long can it be before she delists abortion services and other women’s health services?
As for comparing the yellow fever vaccine to the Covid vaccine, give me a break! Is she trying to say yellow fever vaccines were once covered, then delisted? Nonsense! Yellow fever is considered a travel vaccine, for people taking trips to places where yellow fever is endemic. Canada is not on the WHO list of countries at risk. (https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/travel-and-health/countries-with-risk-of-yellow-fever-transmission.pdf?sfvrsn=bf42ac59_4&download=true)
Remember cholera? No you don’t, because it was eliminated in Canada. Leave it to Alberta to make amoebic dysentery great again. If we try hard enough, maybe we can bring back all the old-timey diseases and add some new ones spread by arthropods. Malaria has a certain cachet.
BTW, there is a good case to be made for expanding the age categories for free RSV vaccines and providing free shingles vaccines. Did you know that getting the shingles vaccine might reduce your chances of getting dementia? This is possible even after you’ve had shingles. Think of the potential savings to the health system from that vaccine alone.
This brings us back to the Premier Pennywise, who loves throwing away $80M+ of unused Tylenot, and throwing away vaccines instead of letting people chose to use them. It all goes back to her fondness for school board trash cans. As the moderator said, “Gotcha!”
Kindly advise when some wit on the internet creates the Danielle Smith “It’s not bullshit!” meme. TY.
It is the Court of King’s Bench, not Court of “Queen’s”Bench.
Thank you, Lyle. This is what happens when you’re still working on a blog post after 1 a.m. Old habits die hard. It’s been fixed. DJC
I have watched as much of this Alberta Next gong show as I can stand. It needed a giant hook and an unknown comic with a paper bag over his head, and that would have been for the moderator alone. Dear Lord, or should I say “Jesus”, because that’s what the moderator said? Apparently Alberta’s citizens are “toddlers in a grocery store”. Mommy Dearest knows best, so the toddlers of this province will be dealt with as mommy would deal with any tantrum. Spank us, mommy! The province will be run by straw polls, so definitely do attend one of the Forever Canadian petition signing sessions in your area ASAP.
When a premier and her staff infantilize the citizens, we are in grave danger of rule by a totalitarian regime. Believe what you saw at this session. You have been warned.
“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
As a senior past 80 and seeing what this great country has been through with our CROWN demanding TAX ON TAX ON TAX and people supporting this old regime am fed up as our country would be better off to become the 51st State. Since 1867 we’ve slowly declined to a 3rd world stage with inept leadership as the world has changed drastically with First Nations bleeding us along with many different cultures brought over for votes as refugees are fed, clothed, free rent and voila,, even buy LOTTO MAX to become rich as many win. However Daniel is Canada’s last kick at the can to become American with lower taxes , free speech and protection,, I AM CANADIAN doesn’t cut it anymore. Some will agree and others won’t but this is my opinion as others have theirs.
You are being sarcastic, yes?
Well, Roger, there’s an easy way to address your apparent disdain for Canada: pack your bags and go to where the MAGATs
roam. Good riddance!
Not everyone in Canada longs for the good old days of amoebic dysentery and E. coli, but Alberta has both on offer right now in 2025. It’s the 1867 of your dreams, Roger. Why would you ever want to leave?
Oh Roger, just enjoy what’s left of your golden years at The Villages in Florida. They’ve got a golf cart all gased up for you.
Or charged up, anyway. DJC
Along with the Trump Wheelchair Chorus warbling America the Beautiful off-key.
Hey Roger if you want to be an American apply for a visa and see how that goes. As far as the rest of your ridiculous diatribe goes, I note that you declare “First Nations” are “bleeding us dry” how would that ever be the case, when we’ve already taken most of what they own? I guess you’re ignorant of basic Canadian history, a pity that you’ve wasted more than 80 years on nonsense.
Lucky for us this is a democratic country and we aren’t subject to the whims of fossils yelling at clouds.
Still in the G8 last time I checked so, no, we aren’t a third world country and it’s actually laughable and ridiculous to say so, probably should have been reading a few more books in your eight decades. but no we aren’t going to let you bully us simply because you have yet to shed this mortal coil.
America sucks, get the net.
You sound like every Conservative I have met in Alberta. Gaslit into obedience and subservience by U.S. oil and U.S. owned media. The only folks that seem to worry about TAX are the very rich…odd eh? At 80 plus years shouldn’t you be playing with your grandkids?…get off the “tube” and try enjoying the time you have left.
You have your be beliefs but would you not feel better just moving to the US and letting the real Albertans stay in CANADA
Roger, I forgive you, too many have no idea of what it takes to survive and live in Alberta @80! I will let your marks stand because they are without a doubt representative of how you have seen things all of adult life. As I am near your age, I recognize that the world is revolving around another generation. Sadly, even AI would have never provided you with sufficient empathy and enlightening during your journey. But you should be buoyed by the UCP masses who see things as you do, so you will never be alone. One caveat: beware of Alberta ’s floundering health care it will likely be the end of you (and me).
The marked comedy in the latest edition of Queen Danielle’s travelling shite show is that the thin skinned moderator was not moderate in his obvious distaste for the members of the audience who had no interest in serving Smith’s TBA agenda. The whole evening proved to be a disaster as the local attendees clashed with the roaming band of out-of-towners over pretty anything.
I brought popcorn, but it didn’t share any of it. This is my party.
@djc
Excellent & accurate summation, it was indeed a full scale derailment, and I was proud to be part of it. I was watching Smith’s face during the floor questions. She stopped smiling early in the evening.
I was continually looking around, trying to gauge how many of her Kool Aid drinkers were present. While there certainly was a clown party sheeple contingent present, they were basically out shouted. More importantly, there weren’t enough of them getting to the microphones to lob softball questions parroting the party line. That’s why the derailment happened, despite the moderator’s best efforts.
As for Mr. McAllister … , frankly he was condescending & patronizing to the gentleman who precipitated the derailment, and should be apologizing to him. But then again, has not our darling medically knowledgeable Premier already stated that cancer patients are mostly responsible for their ailment?
Yep, and the Ukraine has Nukes, and the USA has no bauxite to mine for Aluminum. The list goes on Oh, peak demand for oil is fer sure, fer sure 2050. Sigh, this last is a prediction everyone.
Great summary. This province is going to hell in a hand basket.
Very disgusting behaviour from Dannielle Smith all vaccines should always be free not out of pocket she hates the Canada health act and the universal public healthcare system she should be locked up for Life she is destroying Alberta and not standing with and respecting our Prime Minister and she is a Liar everything she says are all Lies
I do not want to separate from Canada. I do want the covid vaccine available and paid for through my tax dollars. I do not want my taxes used to fund well cleanup. I want a complete audit of the ucp members involved in the eastern slopes coal debacle. This is the most criminally incompetent government I have seen in Canada.
You may be right………they may be crazy……..just a band of lunatics thus so far……..
It’s been said that one should never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence. But what we’re living through here in Oilbertastan goes far beyond simple incompetence, to a truly malicious, malign strategy.
To use another common trope, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
My question to Danielle would be this:
The federal govt may not be funding COVID shots anymore, but please explain to me why we are the only province charging for them?
Is it that the rest of Canada sees protecting their citizens health and supporting already overburdened medical systems first?
In the meantime my children are asking me if there is going to be school in the fall. What a crap fest we are in.
As for the canola EV debate. We have the Chinese on one side squeezing us and the great Charlie Brown pumpkin on the other.
Thanks for the laughs! Next time I see Danielle (or her hubby) hanging out in this part of Alberta, I’ll be sure to yell – It’s not bullshit! Not that we’ve been graced by their presence lately. There are rumours floating around that she ‘don’t live here anymore.’ Hmmmmm. You have to think that if the Alberta Next panel was meant to divert attention away from the various scandals and incompetencies of the UCP government, it’s been a massive failure. And if greasing the way for the Alberta Prosperity Project to bring about a separation referendum was meant to keep idle hands busy (and not focused on the next UCP AGM), it might actually result in an unintended consequence. Like minded folk coming together to sign the Forever Canada petition – talking about how much they dislike the current government and want it gone. Getting to know each other. Having coffee. Building a community. Shouting their opposition at town halls. “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this any more!” Network, 1976.
Highwood Hippie: Perhaps her legal abode is now in Panama, which, contrary to conventional wisdom in some circles, does in fact have an extradition treaty with Canada and all the other British Dominions Beyond the Seas. https://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/text-texte.aspx?id=101302 DJC
We are watching a live episode of Poker Face, wherein Natasha Lyonne as the truth-detecting Charlie Cale cries out “Bullshit!” to this week’s guest, who has told a lie.
“It’s not bullshit!” The camera pans out and we see Danielle Smith.
Abs– or as per usual, she’s copying her hero d’rump when he was asked a question about his “cleaning up crime in DC” — the fake news and numbers etc.; he’s been using the word as a foil lately, to questions he doesn’t like, so of course if it’s good enough for him to use….
It’s a ‘tell’ when they start using the same rhetoric in a combative manner.
When someone gives you some cockamamie story, you can just say that bullsh*t. When they yell it back at you, it’s defensive.
No doubt, the UCP brain trust(I know, oxymoron) are meeting this morning trying to figure out how to avoid any semblance of democracy for their next dog and pony shows, especially when it arrives in Calgary. When the show hits Calgary I am guessing there will be more lecturing, a dictatorial moderator, mic questions for loyalists only and better vetting for a Daniel Smith ingratiating crowd. The great fear for UCP management is future crowds becoming more emboldened at these events in which case the remaining shows will be cancelled.
There are rails? I thought they just wandered wherever they thought ‘the base’ was headed.
Minor typo
Watching Mr. McAllister trying to get the rowdier elements [of] the crowd to siddown and shaddup
Thanks, Martin. I have fixed this typo. DJC
Someone I don’t want to name here live-tweeted this town hall and had done so at an earlier one and apparently had no problem getting in again. I wonder how many separatists have come to more than one town hall? How much have the UCP stacked the audience?
It seems the anti-UCP people were noisier at this town hall, but when there were hand votes the majority supported the UCP policies. So how did that happen?
Just ask Bonnie Critchley about bused-in supporters. She attended an all-candidates’ forum in BRC and more than half the seats in the hall were occupied by Poilièvre supporters, most of whom by their own admission were not eligible to vote in today’s byelection.
This is a time-dishonoured conservative tactic that dates all the way back to Brian Mulroney’s federal PC leadership campaigns (remember, he ran twice).
Val, I attended the gong show. The straw polls were a “tell” of who was likely a clown party plant. They were almost all front & centre. The videos don’t show the full crowd during the voting – the camera platform was behind me (center left), and they simply couldn’t pan fast enough to cover the entire audience. Less than half of the people present actually voted. The people on the right & far right rarely raised their hands, and of the rest of the room, total response never exceeded 2/3’s.
The moderator took notice of this once – he asked for yes, no, and then maybe, and even then, less than 50% of the attendees voted. The question was about an Alberta police force, and the no/maybe were the majority. Was the only time he asked for maybe.
The really interesting thing I noticed was the correlation between who voted yea for the government bullshite and what the same people jeered or cheered. On the CPP, constitutional (ie seperation) & police questions, most of the clown party sheeple did NOT follow the party line. This tracks with independent polls.
The other interesting thing was speakers who did get to the microphones. Approximately 80% were anti-ucp, and most of them were truly pissed off.
Once again we see these Reformers blaming it all on Ottawa deliberately ignoring the fact that they are responsible for creating the loss of $1.2 Trillion by destroying Lougheed’s oil and corporate tax wealth, proving how stupid they are.
Alan Spiller: Well said. Quite frankly, the UCP and Danielle Smith are beating Ralph Klein’s PCs for being the worst provincial government in Alberta’s history. The Social Credit Party was quite bad, then Peter Lougheed replaced them with a sensible and true Conservative government, which Ralph Klein wrecked. The UCP are even worse.
So I did something very attpical: while paying for groceries, I read the Saturday Edmonton Urinal (NOT a typo!) above the fold headline “Alberta Next Turns Testy” and bought the rag.
Much to my own and my wife’s surprise (we both attended the gong show), Steven Sandor actually wrote a reasonably accurate & unbiased report of the event. Makes me wonder why PostMedia even published it, definitely not the norm for them.
Val— The “CONservative’s” playbook is flout the rules: by misinformation/disinformation
ie: lies, by hook or by crook, make the crowds ‘bigly’ for TV/media photo ops, and when the fire Marshall says if you claim that number of attendees is true, then we will have to issue you a ticket….back track and hope that people are already onto the next…..squirrel!!!
Besides, the fact that Skippy bussed in people to BR-C from Fort Saskatchewan for the debate so locals couldn’t get in, maybe ,we shouldn’t be surprised that Marlaina is literally stacking the deck.
The question is, are these ‘paid’ supporters and if so what are the incentives? Gift cards, bingo at the end of the trip (or before for the seniors), another reason they are hiding the expense accounts ??. Asking for a friend. She did say that the MLA’s and their entourage didn’t want the public to know which hotels they frequented on “expensed” trips.
Which to my way of thinking, just added a ‘W-5’ to that statement.
And maybe, the so called “long” list of supporters isn’t that long of a list after all.
Even Jeffrey Rat(h) is complaining on social media that his numbers have suddenly dropped off sharply. Sad!! But cheer up Jeff, you still have John Carpay and Keith Wilson on your side**. (Canada’s version of Rudy G , imo), because isn’t Mr Wilson still on Marlaina’s payroll as an ‘adviser, legal adviser or some such?
No conflict of interest here at all folks, now let’s move along.
**though I have to say that the YouTube headlines are so over the top glaring, one would almost think that you were reading the old Enquirer/David Pecker specials.
They should have added some chem trails to the backgrounds and maybe a tube of Ivermectin, that way the followers wouldn’t confuse them for leftist ideology propaganda.
The sooner the UCP are gone, the better. However, it will take years to try and undo the horrific mess the UCP have created in Alberta. We still haven’t gotten over the horrific mess left over from when Ralph Klein was premier.