When will the knives come out for Naheed Nenshi?
The NDP is not the Conservatives, even the united ones out here in Alberta, and historically New Democrats have been more tolerant of their leaders’ failings than Conservatives have been of theirs. Still, there’s a point at which something’s gotta give.
It’s easy to be forgiving when it’s a foregone conclusion that the only victory you’re likely to achieve come election night is a moral one. You’d think the fact the NDP forms the Opposition with sufficient seats to be a credible “government in waiting,” as Opposition parties are supposed to be, would change that calculation, at least a bit.
The poll for the CBC released by Janet Brown Opinion Research yesterday certainly suggests that, as has been said in this space on numerous occasions before, whatever else you can say about the predicament in which the NDP finds itself, its leader is simply not connecting with Alberta’s public.
The poll shows the United Conservative Party led by Danielle Smith continuing to hold its popularity with Alberta supporters, and the NDP under Mr. Nenshi slipping badly. Worse from the NDP’s perspective, the CBC’s Jennifer Keiller wrote, the new poll “suggests the UCP would likely win an even stronger majority than it boasts now, if an election were to be held today.”
Ms. Brown has a reputation as being the pollster with the best handle on what happens in Alberta – and whether or not that’s fully deserved, she certainly has a good track record of calling these things right. So it would be extremely foolish to deny that her conclusions are probably right this time too. Indeed, they ring true to anyone who has been observing the NDP flounder, and that includes a lot of NDP supporters.
Sooner or later someone other than this blog has to ask if Mr. Nenshi is the person best suited for his job, given the policy disaster Ms. Smith’s government is wreaking on Alberta, especially in health care – which other polling suggests Alberta voters don’t approve of.
As I wrote on April 14, “if Albertans don’t like what the UCP is doing but still favour Ms. Smith over Mr. Nenshi by a significant margin, the obvious conclusion is that the biggest problem faced by the NDP right now is its leader.”
That seems even more obvious now in light of these poll results. Given the plans the UCP has for Alberta – up to and including the possibility of separation from Canada – you have to think they’ll call an early election as fast as they can while they’re still on a roll and sufficient numbers of Albertans are still fooled by Ms. Smith’s sovereign-Alberta-in-a-united-Canada schtick.
If you want more evidence, the CBC story goes on to say, “perhaps more remarkably, the most popular political leader in the province appears to be a Liberal.” To wit: Prime Minister Mark Carney.
There’s nothing remarkable about this, of course. Plenty of Albertans want to support an effective Canadian leader and, say what you will about his very conservative policy preferences, Mr. Carney is that. No one can credibly claim that Mr. Carney’s policy inclination is likely to be bad for the fossil fuel industry, although some Alberta politicians will surely try.
A lot of Albertans have obviously concluded that Mr. Carney is strong enough a leader that we get along with a dose of Rouge à Ottawa, Bleu à Québec out here in Wild Rose Country.
This may be a dangerous assumption, but it’s clear that Mr. Nenshi is absolutely failing to deliver the message that it might be – probably because for some reason he’s not even trying.
As some Alberta Einstein has surely realized, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Mr. Nenshi obviously isn’t going to change. Maybe the Opposition needs to. It would be interesting to know what Rakhi Pancholi, the NDP’s deputy leader, is thinking about these days.
Update: An explanation, of sorts, from Rick Wilson’s ministry
Unsurprisingly, Mental Health and Addiction Minister Rick Wilson wasn’t available yesterday to explain his claim about the Albertans using supervised drug consumption sites that “I’ve actually seen them collapse and die right in front of me.”
This was disappointing. Inquiring minds wanted to know how Mr. Wilson had managed to see something with his own eyes that has never happened in Alberta or anywhere else in Canada.
Now we have an explanation of a sort in a statement pried out of the minister’s office by journalist Sean Amato. “To clarify the Minister’s comments,” said the statement he received, “drug consumption sites keep people trapped in addiction. When people are injecting and then collapsing, it appears as though they are dying. Severe addiction is robbing people of a meaningful life. Recovery-oriented services are helping people find hope and a better life.”
Putting aside the obvious claims about the effectiveness of the UCP’s heavily promoted “Alberta recovery model,” which is the subject of intense debate in expert circles, does this mean Mr. Wilson observed someone collapsing and concluded they were dying?
Did this actually happen? The minister still needs to find the courage to step up to the microphone and explain what he actually saw on his site visit, and why he concluded someone had actually died.
Sorry, not sorry for saying this, but these election polls need to be banned. It doesn’t doesn’t matter who is doing these polls, because they are clearly bogus, and or skewed. A case in point is the numerous bad things the UCP and Danielle Smith are doing, which affects individuals, and the future of Alberta.
ADAP is being forced upon those on AISH (Assured Income For The Severely Handicapped) is going to cause these people on that program more stress and more financial problems. Coal mining is going to happen on the Eastern Slopes. The landscape will be turned into an ugly looking state, and the water will be poisoned with harmful toxins. Seniors have extra expenses, which the UCP put on them. The public education system is being harmed, in favour of private education. Teachers who speak out about how the UCP mistreats them, and doesn’t address their concerns, are reprimanded by the UCP. The public healthcare system is being compromised, so the UCP can have it privatized. CPP of Albertans is being put at risk with a provincial pension plan. The most priciest boondoogles are happening, that can have costs of billions of dollars. Ethics are treated like a joke by the UCP and Danielle Smith. Numerous games are being played by the UCP to destroy democracy, and even rig the provincial election outcome in the favour of the UCP. The separatists are given unwarranted attention and support from the UCP and Danielle Smith. So many other problems are happening.
How could a poll come to a conclusion that if a provincial election were held today, that the UCP would win, given those things I had said? A compliant media, who will hardly ever question the UCP and Danielle Smith, while continuing to lie about the Alberta NDP, and not even acknowledge the NDP and Naheed Nenshi, will look at a poll like that, and will continue to believe the UCP and Danielle Smith are doing nothing wrong, and will glorify the UCP further. There are people who don’t research their candidates, or the political parties, and will foolishly support the UCP and Danielle Smith, based on election polls like this. These election polling companies are contributing to the problem, and aren’t helping democracy and the well being of Albertans. The media is the other part of the problem, because most reporters and columnists in the media outlets still continues to ignore the Alberta NDP, and lie about them. There are also people who believe the lies these reporters and columnists say about the Alberta NDP, and this is of no benefit to Albertans. We already saw columnists do that prior to the last provincial election in Alberta, three years ago, and that’s why the Alberta NDP and Rachel Notley were defeated to the UCP and Danielle Smith.
Another person living in denial. Nenshi will be the death of the party, and Danni will be dancing all night long. He must go. He is a nice man with an inflated ego. There are several powerful alternatives -especially at least one woman. He must stand down or take us all down.
TENET: As I have said, the problem isn’t Naheed Nenshi, and it isn’t the Alberta NDP. It’s a media who doesn’t properly acknowledge the Alberta NDP, and they lie about them, while supporting the UCP and Danielle Smith on a regular basis. Danielle Smith also would have delayed the by-election for Edmonton Strathcona, no matter who was replacing Rachel Notley as the leader of the Alberta NDP, and Danielle Smith still would have made the Alberta Legislature have very limited amounts of sessions. Prior to the provincial election in Alberta, three years ago, the media didn’t take the UCP and Danielle Smith to task for their epic missteps and very pricey boondoogles, and columnists were even publishing lies about Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP. That’s why the NDP were defeated to the UCP. What alternatives do the Alberta NDP have for a leader? If the media still will not properly acknowledge the Alberta NDP, while glorifying the UCP and Danielle Smith, while she would continue to keep the Alberta Legislature sessions to a very low amount, what good is that? The UCP and Danielle Smith want a one party state, and the media is compliant with them.
TENET: I should have included these things beforehand. There is no denial with me. This is what has been transpiring.
Copy editors checking facts? That’s thing of the past at Postmedia, apparently, as election column illustrates – Alberta Politics https://share.google/qAiIWI2FEFXfW3Rkz
Lorne Gunter: UCP projected budget deficit better than anything NDP delivered | Edmonton Journal https://share.google/Ld02fe1EuZuH6TGKE
Bell: Danielle Smith and UCP mock NDP Nenshi, the so-called rock star | Calgary Herald https://share.google/CfCcAh7gxsgFxLEIp
People waiting for the NDP getting a fair shake in our foreign owned press need to get real. They’re not going to do it. It’s not happening, if the NDP can’t form government without a compliant press corps, they’re not going to form government, period.
A Little Bird: Very rarely does the conventional media acknowledge the Alberta NDP and Naheed Nenshi. What press corps? Anything the Alberta NDP and Naheed Nenshi propose will likely be shot down by the media, or it will be voted down by the UCP and Danielle Smith in the Alberta Legislature. The Alberta NDP and Naheed Nenshi do have good policy ideas, but watch the mocking of it happening. Communism, or whatever inappropriate things people will come up with. Here is something rare in the conventional media, but the idea will be deadpanned, because it’s the Alberta NDP and Naheed Nenshi.
Alberta NDP looks to bulk up consumer protections laws | Calgary Herald https://share.google/3u54VNWg75BBOOKro
It is beyond revolting that Brown’s poll clearly shows potential positive election results for the UCP. Where is the world do you run a criminal organization under the guise of government and get away with it? In an anti democratic kleptocracy. One seriously has to wonder about the moral fabric of Albertans who vote UCP. I guess they like the fact that the government runs roughshod over the people. These Albertans are sadists. Albertans constantly vote in people who are wholly incompetent – look at the Norway/Alberta comparison – still Albertans vote conservative. It is not enough to say that UCP supporting Albertans are the stupidest people on the planet. These Albertans are deranged, morally bankrupt, fanatics who are given to political violence. Well, not all Albertans, but the many who are defined by the aforementioned make Alberta the laughing stock of the world, except those despots who Smith associates with. Orwell’s 1984 is an understatement when it comes to Alberta. People watch in horror what is taking place in the USA only to vote in a group of malcontents who are emulating Trump. This is beyond revolting. The NDP is like herding cats, I have tried, as have many people, to get them to organize so that they can be an effective opposition, but they prefer to flounder – and I guess they love to be defeated because they are experts at it. So, what are we progressive people left with? More erosion of democratic principles, more vitriol, more lawsuits, more chaos, and more entrenchment of MAGA. For MAGA it is a proud thing to be mentioned in the Epstein files. And there you have it, you can be a convicted felon and still attain great wealth and support. Alberta under the UCP is the epitome of ugly and constantly demonstrates utter madness, that is, the insanity of one party rule in a democracy.
Goethe was right: The Alberta NDP aren’t floundering. The media doesn’t properly acknowledge them, and does garbage polls like this. Danielle Smith then delayed the by-election for Edmonton Strathcona, on purpose, until the very last moment, to avoid having Naheed Nenshi scruitize her, and she limited the number of Alberta Legislature sessions to hardly anything, to avoid facing more scrutiny. No matter what good policy ideas the Alberta NDP purposes (they already have done that), the UCP will vote it down, when the Alberta Legislature does have sessions, or the media will mock the idea.
Or . . .
“Politics is a continuation of the cola wars by other means” . . .
“Coca-Cola is trouncing Pepsi. Can the underdog turn things around?”
Oh my . . . what to do?
Well of course, it must be time for another reformulation and repackaging, another sales and marketing event with new slogans, and then another consumer ‘taste test’ sideshow.
Rinse and repeat the charade as required.
Rural Western Canada, which in Alberta includes every city and town not named either Calgary or Edmonton, votes with metronomic reliability for conservative parties at both provincial and federal levels. I’ve never seen any credible, in-depth political science analysis of why that is — why more progressive parties and candidates are so seemingly repellent to rural westerners.
I have my own theory — that progressives dominate in larger population centres where the economy and the labour force are dominated by knowledge work, such as government writ large and academia, while conservatives dominate in smaller population centres and rural areas where the economy and labour force are dominated by extractive industries and agriculture.
By this logic, New Democrats and Liberals are seen, rightly or wrongly, as being hostile to the livelihoods of people living in those smaller population centres and rural communities. Conversely, since conservatives have less electoral traction among more educated voters, they are less successful in the bigger cities.
But I’m not a political scientist, and my theory could just be a load of hooey. If anyone with those qualifications has any better explanation, I’m all ears.
But if my theory is correct, it fully explains why Edmonton has bucked the provincial trend of domination by conservatives since forever — such as when the capital elected Liberals so regularly it was nicknamed “Redmonton”. Calgary, despite being the largest city, was fully dominated by those self-same “extractive industries and agriculture”, and so until fairly recently was as conservative as any small town. That’s is changing, but the electoral dice are still loaded in favour of the UCP even without their current gerrymander project.
So, New Democrats face an uphill battle in Alberta that is going to be very difficult to win.
By the way, I capitalized Liberal and New Democrat, but not conservative, intentionally, because there are conservative parties in western Canada that don’t have the word Conservative in their names: the Saskatchewan Party comes immediately to mind.
Albertans are a lost cause politically. If the aren’t awake now they never will be.
In a CBC interview Ms. Brown pointed out that the hard core separatist support came from wealthy people who were having trouble managing their money. Perhaps the NDP leadership and its supporters are simply too comfortable and have the innocent belief, like too many UCP supporters that none of these ill thought out UCP policies and the obvious cronyism will ever touch them.
But of course they will, as this BC doctor points out:
https://www.instagram.com/streetdrjill/reel/DXE45Qnghdt/
I’m not sure what that doctors wants the BC government to do. They’re on an electoral tightrope, and if they were to persist with the increasingly unpopular harm reduction approach to the seemingly intractable public disorder issues that accompany the toxic street drug crisis, they’d inevitably be booted out of office and replaced by the neanderthal BC Conservatives.
Yes, safe supply and such is recommended by the experts in this field. But the voters don’t seem interested in the opinions of experts, because they don’t want to see people shooting up in the streets anymore. The electorate has basically lost its compassion, and wants this problem out of sight and out of mind, right effing now. It’s not right, but it’s true.
This is too funny, maybe even a little creepy. These rugged individual freedom loving Albertans that vote UCP are deep down yearning for a stern mommy or daddy figure to dominate their lives.
Even if the next ANDP leader could walk on water the post media headline would read how the leader doesn’t know how to swim.
“drug consumption sites keep people trapped in addiction. When people are injecting and then collapsing, *it appears as though they are dying*.”
^^^THIS^^^ THIS^^^THIS^^^ is why this clownshow needs confronting when they spew rhetoric instead of facts. There’s a world of difference between, “I saw this thing happen and it upset me” to “I iz da expert cuz it really really happened and it was really really horrifying”. As King Charles told Trump’s lapdogs yesterday (Trump was busy somewhere, tweeting) “Words matter.”
___
Onto, Nenshi:
He’s the wrong leader at the wrong time. Given what’s going on in the world, the risks involved for Canada as well as Alberta and certainly, the risks faced by First Nation Peoples, he is not the man for the hour. He has neither the support, the backbone nor the will to fight this fight. The NDP done fooked up this one.
I can’t believe I’m going to say this but if there’s a shred of a Liberal party left there…they might want to pop their heads up now and start fighting. Maybe, just maybe, enough of Carney’s Red Tory conservatism and popularity will rub off on someone charismatic enough to squeak in there to create a minority government before Smith’s 5th column utterly destroys what’s left of Albertastan. Someone with enough sense to realize that the Canadian mainstream media is bought and owned by American Oligarchs and manoeuvres their way through the less-proscribed internet spaces with some savvy.
If they win a minority, I’ll quietly cheer and claim I never said this. Politics is weird right now.
I think that Naheed Nenshi is a smart man and in a different time he would make an excellent leader. I feel that in this particular time, he has the makings of a great Deputy leader and Rakhi Pancholi would the best leader for NDP. She, in my mind, would connect better with Albertans and she would definitely give Smith a run for her money. She could become the next Premier of Alberta.
Jones: It doesn’t matter who the Alberta NDP would have as a leader. The media will continue to lie about them, and won’t properly acknowledge them. Danielle Smith would have held off the by-election for Edmonton Strathcona, just the same, and she would have also limited the number of Alberta Legislature sessions, just the same. Any good policy ideas that the Alberta NDP has, would be voted down by the UCP in the Alberta Legislature, when it does have sessions, and it would be mocked by the media.
Heartily agree! As a long time reader of this blog, I have noted Mr. Klimenhaga’s and readers’ criticisms that Nenshi is “not doing enough”, “not left enough”, just plain “not enough”. However, as an interested observer, I know about Youtube videos he posts, his speeches in the Leg, invitations to his talks, visits to rural communities, the new NDP anti-separation initiative, the truck in Edmonton calling out Smith’s gerrymandering, the NDP Energy Plan released in March. I also receive invitations to constituency meetings and almost weekly emails about NDP news (and donation requests). I am aware that the NDP have hired one of the PR people who was involved in Mamdani’s victory in New York. I have noted the failure of mainstream media and blogs like Alberta Politics to point out these actions. Therefore, I am confused by the “not enough” critics. What do you suggest he do? Organize NDP community coffee klatches in rural communities where NDP supporters are afraid to make their preferences known? Burn his “bra” on the steps of the Leg building? Go on TV interviews and oppose O&G development? Announce his Leg speeches with a trumpet call? Raise an NDP flag above the Leg? I am sure Nenshi would appreciate any concrete suggestions the “not enoughers” have to offer!!
Anonymous: I went to the bar tonight and as usual, the talk turned to politics. When Nenshi was mentioned, the typical rhetoric was mention, but one comment, to which others agreed caught me by surprise. Nenshi is untrust worthy, because when he’s talking, he closes his eyes. it’s silly, but it’s a perception.
For NDP members who’ve been voting for a social democratic alternative to neoliberalism and conservatism for decades, its sometimes what Nenshi shouldn’t do. Jumping up a minute after Avi Lewis finished his acceptance speech to distance himself from the federal party ( I turned him off almost immediately, offended by the arrogance and insecurity of his need to shoot down the federal winner) was a dumb move.
Many long term NDP supporters see Nenshi as a good man, but a liberal. He needs to be all in if he wants to lead our party….federal wings and provincial ones often disagree or have different priorities. But Nenshi is a newbie in our movement.
He needs to win a lot of people over, some of whom have been NDP decades longer than him…..so far, it often feels like he doesn’t disagree that radically with the UCP, he just thinks he’d do the job better……..more ethically, but still from a centrist position.
After being a staunch New Democrat in Alberta for more than 50 years I could not agree with you more.
Before the 2024 NDP leadership convention, I was afraid Nenshi would lead the AB NDP even further to the right.
Seems I got that wrong.
Nenshi is leading the AB NDP precisely nowhere.
I read the CBC article yesterday about this latest Janet Brown poll and it was disheartening to say the least. Yet, other polls have clearly shown that most Albertans want Alberta to remain in Canada (its current status as a non-sovereign entity notwithstanding), reject the concept of an Alberta Pension Plan and an Alberta Police Force, and support strong public education and health care. If these are indeed the prevailing sentiments in the province, the only way I can understand the results of this poll that shows 49% voter support for the UCP, whose ideology requires that they be directly and sometimes viciously opposed to majority public opinion unless it is to their own benefit, is that most voters don’t see another viable choice as to where to cast their vote. Simply put, the NDP has failed to gain the trust and confidence of voters and the responsibility for this lies with its leader Naheed Nenshi.
There is another CBC article this morning regarding more polling by Janet Brown that supports this.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cbc-news-poll-alberta-affordability-9.7180193
The results show that 60% of all Albertans are struggling to pay their bills, as are 63% of UCP supporters. Historically, numbers like this would signal that a change in government is imminent but the UCP is now apparently seeing greatly increased support from decided voters. That’s how far the NDP has fallen in the eyes of the voting public.
At this point it seems to me that the best hope for the NDP is to make a sudden late-in-the-game move to replace its leader and hope that the change provides a spark within the party and revives voter belief that there is a positive alternative to our current MAGA-minded premier. The federal Liberals did it and Mark Carney is now recognized, almost unbelievably, as the most popular politician in the province. Alberta needs lightning to strike twice. The NDP must choose wisely.
Guy: The Alberta NDP isn’t going anywhere, because the media lies about them, and doesn’t properly acknowledge them. Danielle Smith added to the problems by delaying the by-election for Edmonton Strathcona, and by greatly reducing the number of Alberta Legislature sessions. The Alberta NDP could get any leader they want to, and the outcome would still be the same. Prior to the provincial election in Alberta, three years ago, the media didn’t take the UCP and Danielle Smith to task for their major missteps, and epic boondoogles, while lying about Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP. That’s why the NDP were defeated to the UCP. Regardless of this, the UCP are still going to sink, because there is major corruption that they are involved with, that they cannot get away with.
Anonymous: You seem to want to blame the media, and now pollsters as well, for all of the problems that exist for the NDP. That’s ridiculous. Yes, the media in Alberta is biased in favour of the UCP, so there, I’ve said it and acknowledged it. We can move on. But keep in mind that the NDP does not exist in a vacuum. If they make enough noise some of it will escape and reach the ears of voters who are fed up with the UCP and are desperate for leadership that they can relate to and are willing to support. More press conferences like the one delivered by Rakhi Pancholi during Naheed Nenshi’s absence would be a great start. The passion, anger and outrage that Ms. Pancholi displayed are what many voters are seeking in a leader because these emotions are exactly what they are feeling themselves. They will rally behind a consistent delivery of messaging like this, especially if it is combined with a party platform that stresses national unity and support for public health care and education.
In your original comment above you wrote: “There are people who don’t research their candidates, or the political parties, and will foolishly support the UCP and Danielle Smith, based on election polls like this.” I agree, except that where you choose to blame the pollster for publishing the results I blame the person who consumes poll results or any other media content blindly without applying any critical thought. It’s important for each of us to compare the things that we are told to our own lived reality to determine how much truth we believe there is in what we are being told. Also, it seems that you are confusing a poll like this one, commissioned by the CBC and published by a pollster with solid reputation, with an obvious farce like Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next Traveling Road Show which had no purpose except to manufacture consent for policies that the government knows are not popular with most Albertans. They are not the same thing at all.
Regarding your comments about the media costing the NDP the last election, I strongly disagree. I believe that the last election campaign was when the NDP first showed signs of losing its way. That election was very winnable for the NDP after Albertans witnessed Jason Kenney’s bumbling and stumbling performance throughout the pandemic and were open to making a change. Yet somehow the NDP ran what I would call an uninspiring campaign that failed to engage with people and left many undecided voters either still undecided or reverting to their past pattern of voting Blue. I watched the leadership debate thinking that some votes would be cast based on how that played out and when it was over I was very concerned for the election results. My impression was that Danielle Smith came across as being confident, self-assured and decisive. Rachel Notley seemed uncertain, off-balance and poorly prepared. I firmly believe that the NDP turned a potential victory in the last election into a narrow loss because of a tepid campaign capped by a weak debate performance.
I would love to buy in to your assertion that the UCP will fail as a result of the investigation into the health care scandal but I’m old enough to remember the *ahem* investigation into Jason Kenney’s actions during the UCP leadership race that dragged on silently for five years or so before the public were told that there was nothing to see and we should move on. Regarding the current investigation, so far I feel like I’ve seen this movie before but I would be thrilled to be proved wrong.
For the record, my comments about Naheed Nenshi are not based in animosity, they are based in disappointment. I was one of the many who were excited that he joined the leadership race because I thought he had the skills to confront the UCP and win enough public support to defeat them. After almost two years my opinion has changed and I believe a new leader who can do a better job of rallying voter support is necessary. If you seriously believe that a new leader can not make a difference to an election outcome then I would suggest that there are one or two federal parties that would probably disagree with you.
“Oh lord, please let there be another oil boom and I promise not to piss it away this time.” How many times have I seen this bumper sticker over the years and how many times have they pissed it all away. New boats, big diesel trucks, pulling massive holiday trailers, the list goes on. These people need to realize, that Smith isn’t going to save them. This 60%-63% have to come to the realization that they screwed up. It’s their fault and the only ones that are going save them, is themselves.
To paraphrase George Carlin: ‘Everybody thinks politicians suck … but maybe its the people who suck…’
Yes, in this case, maybe it is the people of Alberta who suck. According to this poll, close to half of Albertans would vote UCP if an election was held today. If I remember to numbers right something like 34% of Albertans strongly approve of the job Danielle Smith is doing.
How can this be? How can it be that there is widespread support for a leader who has proven herself to be a liar, a traitor, a hypocrite and a power-hungry authoritarian, not to mention spectacularly incompetent? There are several possibilities, none of which are flattering to the Alberta voter. Is it purely because of self-interest? Are people simply not paying attention? Or, despite Albertans’ alleged love of freedom, are they actually quite fond of dictatorship? It may be all of the above.
There is no doubt. Danielle Smith is a malignancy – a foul, fast-growing, suppurating tumour rapidly consuming the social fabric of Alberta, to which entirely too many Albertans say, ‘Let it grow!’
Nenshi’s performance thus far may be less than spectacular but I don’t hold him responsible for the stubborn ignorance of the ‘average’ Alberta voter.
Agreed. Nenshi is doing and saying the right things. Critical when needs be…and boy…needs be! Offering solutions in areas where they would change the way things are run. Tons of press releases and question/answer sessions etc.
Personally, I think those that are continuing to suggest Nenshi needs to go are just grasping at straws because they have no idea why the UCP would still be this popular so…get rid of the coach so to speak.
I think it’s a generational phenom after decades of propaganda and a huge rural/urban divide that goes beyond logic but tribalism. See the US as a great example of where we are heading.
Maybe it is the people, or the prevailing ethos. The guy who has presided over one of the largest farms in Canada resides in Airdrie, Alberta. He has a degree in Ag Economics.
This article from the Western Producer is a good summary.
https://www.producer.com/crops/monette-farms-intense-growth-rapid-downfall/
“Monette Farms: intense growth, rapid downfall
Court documents show what happened as one of the largest privately held farms in North America enters court protection”
By Karen Briere
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Published: 14 hours ago
Most people do not pay attention to politics. They’re aware of who the leaders are maybe, but they only really care about gas and grocery prices. I keep saying this but I don’t think anyone is really listening to me. The average albertan doesn’t know anything about MHCMedical, Tylenot, etc/ whatever. Hate to break it to you this way but they don’t care, they’re not going to start caring either. You can’t form a government based on inside baseball, you need people to BELIEVE in your party and your leadership. The poll wasn’t do you like the NDP more than the UCP it was about NENSHI specifically. He’s not an inspiring leader, it’s pretty clear to me he is WELL out of his depth, and I don’t think he knows what to do to change it either. He was the mayor of the largest city in the province, but that was pre- trump, pre covid, pre everything that has everyone acting insane right now, and to me it looks like he’s Preeeeeeeetty outgunned by the current premier, a character so odious and unlikeable I can’t even believe we are talking about this. Rakhis got the goods, let’s get her the keys to the party maybe.
Rufus T:
I completely agree with your comment. Alberta reminds me of a quote from David Cochrane (CBC) regarding Trump:
“America isn’t the way it is because [Trump is] president. He’s president because America is the way it is.”
Swap out the American references with Albertan ones, and there you have it. It’s mindboggling.
If the poll indicates that Alberta voters would choose Marlaina and the Grift-o-Kons over the Neoliberal Deception Program under Nenshi, what is it about Nenshi that causes this? It seems incongruous that the people don’t like the Kon policies but would vote for them nonetheless because they prefer Marlaina Drumpf to Nenshi. The Safe Injection sites are a scam just as the Grift-o-Kon recovery tripe is a scam. If the homeless junkies are going to have their junk-shooting accommodated, then have medical-grade drugs administered to them by medical professionals. The City of Calgary now has two departments with multiple crews dedicated to cleaning up after the homeless junkies.
Many homeless are junkies, but most junkies are not homeless. BC Conservative leader John Rustad included a similar gritty tale of seeing, he said, with his own eyes, people overdosing and dying–almost everywhere you look, he claimed on campaign in late 2024. Pressed, he had to admit that there was no evidence of illegally-made fentanyl death(s) where and when he cassandraed. Still, NDP Premier David Eby was scared into rescinding the decriminalization of personal amounts of the deadly synthetic opioid (indeed, the NDP won the barest of majorities). Still, you can’t say he didn’t try, nor can you say that the objective was to get Junkies dreaming that they were therefore allowed to openly use along blocks and blocks of Hastings Street in East Van to feel better about seeking addiction treatment. The politic thing to do was get them outta sight, outta mind. There is insufficient (to put it mildly) addiction treatment facilities anyway.
Politicians of all stripes stick their toes into this ocean of misery and find it too chilly for their liking. It is impolitic to do the difficult things that need doing. A parsimony of tokenism is indeed cheapskate. The parallel in BC where hardly any First Nation has a treaty is the willies BC Liberal premier Campbell tried to gin with his odious 2002 Referendum on BC Treaty Negotiations, a reactionary freakout following the 1997 SCoC “Delgamuukw” decision which overturned 127 years of BC policy that all indigenous sovereign claims were extinguished by the act confederation–meaning all BC FNs without negotiated treaty are owed one. The NDP government settled the Nisga’a Treaty forthwith in 2000–just before being reduced to two seats in 2001). Half of Campbell’s mail-in ballots were burned in protest in front of the BC Legislature. Campbell was abjectly forced to publicly apologize. Things settled back into the status quo–into the unfair and unjust.
Again, a day after the Tsihlqot’in Nation succeeded in defeating a mining application proposing the poisoning of Tensin Biny (Fish Lake), Campbell’s successor Christy Clark pulled the pin on the BC Treaty Commission in a rage of snit, effectively wasting 20 years of negotiations which would have to be started from scratch. Reactionaries react.
Again, when the BC Court recently agreed that the acknowledged traditional territory of the Cowichan Tribes Nation should, on the basis of evidence admitted to trial, include several hundred acres of land near the Mainland City of Richmond–subtracting it from the acknowledged traditional territory of the nearby Musqueam Nation–the mayor of Richmond raised false alarm on FB that the ruling meant fee simple tenures, or “private property”, were thus nullified. The ensuing freakout was so massive one had to wonder if it was ulteriorly motivated (a BCC MLA commented on the MoCo Radio that the right to own private property should be “enshrined in the Constitution,” which at least admitted that such rights do not currently exist –and, if 960 years of Common Law precedent is anything to go by, they never will, the near impossibility of achieve it a constitutional amendment notwithstanding). But the mayor’s incendiary rhetoric insisted that such rights (that don’t exist) were being unjustly infringed to the detriment of all that’s holy.
Has there ever been a time when so much is owed to so few? Has there ever been a time when the slightest reconciliation between indigenous nations and Canadian governments, the most extreme parsimony and cruel neglect, didn’t spark a freakout among non-indigenous Canadians because they thought it was too generous?
The same can be said about the illegally-made fentanyl overdose epidemic which in BC has killed up to 2,000 citizens every year for the past decade (do the math…) Safe injection sites were set up to stem the epidemic when it was still a crisis; the HarperCons tries to shut them down, the courts refused on humanitarian bases. But politicians froze with fear, conveniently forgetting that safe-injections sites (which have prevented thousands of fatal overdoses in the past decade) were intended to be the stopgap between nothing and something better.
But it’s like reconciling indigenous nations with Canadian governments: acquiesce to the tiniest concession and non-indigenous/non-addicted people get whipped into a frenzy of fear. Campbell even tried to overturn the 2000 Nisga’a Treaty –the first treaty settlement since BC’s 1871 confederation. It set a bad precedent, he said, that would haunt resource investment for decades to come.
Yet although Chief Joe Gosnell, 2nd generation Nisga’a advocate and first recognized leader of the Nisga’a Nation’s self government, has passed on and a quarter century has passed by, nothing bad has happened. Indeed, all BC FNs have proved patient, prudent, and civil negotiators faced with sometimes blatant racist bigotry which blames the victims and absolves the culprits.
Safe-injection sites were hard-won through the courts–much to many politicians’ relief that they don’t have too wear it (like Eby has to wear decriminalization even though he rescinded it after admitting it wasn’t working). Nevertheless a political vacuum remains that’s filled safe-injection sites where users buy tainted dope from street pushers, and with compassion clubs (the VPD looks the other way because such clubs actually prevent overdoses) where street drugs are tested for potency and composition. However, the kill rate remains about the same.
BC allowed for some safe-supply pilot programs, typically a year long and offered to a very select few. So far the data show that prescribing clinical opioids is effective, in many cases astoundingly so. But because compassion clubs have to exist, it’s easy for politicians to short the safe-supply approach. Safe supply, viciously condemned by the partisan right, needs the full compliment of services wrapped around it for it to succeed the way society wants it to. Housing, medical, dental, education, job training. In many cases the shortage of these social services have been instrumental is creating more addicts.
Two cleanup crews in Calgary betrays the city’s outta-sight-outta-mind approach. The UCP is toying (just like BC’s NDP government) with involuntary treatment facilities–predicated on the notion that junkies just want to get high and sponge off of society. Yet by almost every account, most users want to get clean and would volunteer for treatment that has a hope of succeeding. Detox then back on the street on one’s own surveillance is still going down the dark ladder.
@Murphy,
That’s the model used by Sweden, Holland and Portugal…well similarly, anyway.
At one point, Sweden had to build a retirement home for pensioner heroin users left over from the 70’s because as it turns out, if people have access to medical-grade pharmaceuticals, safe injection, food, medical care and housing, they wander off to find a job because they aren’t spending all day scoring, thus are easily bored and they don’t live that much less time than the rest of us.
It’s still going to be cheaper (heroin is cheap) in the long haul than prisons, shelter shuffling, detox/rehab cycles, cleaning up, unemployment etc etc.
Why in the name of all that’s sensible we aren’t using methadone programs as the first line of defence for chronic oxy users followed by legal medical injection if that does not work, I simply cannot fathom.
But I guess that would put a huge dent in the Sackler’s yearly stock portfolio who are behind flooding the market with opiates they knew were addictive and creating this crisis and we can’t kick them in the profit margins now, can we?
@Murphy, can we please not use stigma-loaded terms like “junkies” to refer to human beings living with addiction? And @Scotty, can we please not reinforce that language by repeating it? Addiction is a serious mental and neurological health issue related to interactions between childhood trauma and brain chemicals, and is one of the most important health issues of our times.
I’m also surprised our host allowed this hateful terminology to be posted. I would have expected him to moderate it out.
Jerry. You mean censor it out, right?
The poll is reflective of the wide divide in the US between rural and urban populations. One which Smith is trying to widen with respect to boundaries.
Nenshi and the NDP are doing, saying all the right things imo. I think it comes down to style, or perhaps other intangibles.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it is purely due to decades of conservative propaganda. When a majority of voters are saying things are worse off but would still keep the same party it goes beyond messaging.
Saw on Jesperson recently that congress in the US has a 10% favorability rating but the members are voted back in 95% of the time…..thatswhere I thing we are heading and it many ways already there.
Just a thought. If the NDP and Naheed Nenshi campaigned like Zohran Mamdami in New York, and promised free quality child care, rent freezes on housing, free transit, and a doubling of the minimum wage to $30 per hour (paid for by increasing corporate taxes), they might have a chance of forming the next government.
In other words, if they promise to work towards giving people what they actually want and need rather than playing whack-a-mole with whatever hare-brained scheme the UCP announces daily, I believe most Albertans would pay attention. The current “grip and grin” photos are not working.
If they do get elected, and can’t immediately fulfill all the promises, well, Albertans should be used to “all lies all the time,” after seven years of the UCP.
Of all the comments here, this is the only one that makes sense, IMO. Real politics, making life better for real people, is what’s needed. Those who blame Albertans for these poll results ought to look in the mirror. It is the lamentable lack of political understanding of Alberta “progressives” that is the real problem.
‘lamentable lack of political understanding of Alberta “progressives”’
100% I experienced this so much before I moved back to Canada.
We might do well to listen to Brian…he might know a thing or two about the ABNDP and progressives hereabouts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Mason
Well said, Brian! The NDP is willing to talk ABOUT rural Albertans endlessly, and occasionally TO rural Albertans, but rarely WITH rural Albertans. RAs are real people too and not just a “basket of deplorables” (to quote the unfortunate Ms. Clinton). No one likes to be disrespected.
It makes one wonder if the NDs don’t simply prefer occupying their idea of “the moral high ground” to actually making real change!
IMHO Nenshi should gracefully step “for personal reasons” but the problem is larger than him.
GMG: The problem isn’t the Alberta NDP, Naheed Nenshi, or any other leader they would have. It’s a complacent and compliant media, that endorses the UCP, regardless of how corrupt they are, while not properly giving attention to the Alberta NDP. Danielle Smith has contributed to the problems by holding off the by-election for Edmonton Strathcona on purpose, and reducing the number of Alberta Legislature sessions to not much. The Alberta NDP has brought forward good policy ideas, and they were shot down by the UCP in the Alberta Legislature, or it would be criticized by the media. This blog is excellent, but when it mentions things that the conventional media will not, in relation to the UCP, there is a big problem. Columnists used to be great. The vast majority of them these days are script writers for the UCP. There is plenty of things to scrutinize the UCP and Danielle Smith for, but they aren’t doing that.
GMG, exactly.
Know what else candidates like Mamdami do? They go around the mainstream media and use alternative media until the mainstream curiosity comes a-knocking from FOMO. They inspire thousands of volunteers to work with them and bang on doors, wander down the street talking to regular people, show up at protest events and generally *earn* the votes of the general populace not just be offering them an alternative vision–but by *showing* them that they are out there burning boot rubber in support of their constituent’s causes. They’re out there, standing for selfies and taking the time to campaign on your average Joe and Mary’s home videos to everybody and anybody. They go out there and listen to the grievances of the average voter and provide solutions when they can and if not, promise to find a way to address them.
Are Nenshi & Co doing *any* of this?
Jack Layton and Ed Broadbent did all this and more. Is Nenshi so uninterested in winning he can’t even be bothered?
Even Avi Lewis is already popping up in my feeds talking about the ridiculous gas tax clawback and explaining what’s wrong with Carney’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and how it could be better.
Zohran Mandani defines himself as a democratic socialist. Nenshi does the exact opposite.
Those would all help. But public auto insurance, which 3 other NDP governments have implemented, would win even more votes. A study by Ernst & Young for ICBC a few years ago showed that a couple in their thirties driving the same cars as a couple in Saskatoon would be paying almost $5000 a year more in auto insurance. Getting rid of the free market in electricity and going back to a fully regulated rate, like most provinces have, would save that same household another $1500 ro so. And then there’s groceries: some control over the price of basics plus perhaps copying the American military and having some stores that have only the basics and are run as non-profits would make a huge difference. The UCP is “flooding the zone” with shitty legislation. So people say: well, at least we have a government is doing stuff. The NDP has to flood the zone with its own stuff rather than simply making predictable, though correct, statements about what the UCP is doing. At the moment the NDP is a reasonable Official Opposition. What it needs to become is a clear alternative to the UCP with policies that will make life easier for folks who are up against it and not worried that the UCP are fascists. 60 percent of Albertans say their ability to pay for basic stuff has fallen over the past few years and a full 30 percent of Albertans are food insecure. The NDP has to show it is on their side not with vague comments about the UCP’s “incompetence” but with concrete policies that they push every day and keep rolling out so that the media can’t ignore them. But even if they do, our party is not broke. It can reach Albertans with its promises. Right now all it has to say is “UCP bad; NDP good.”
Thanks, Alvin. This says succinctly what I have been trying to say for years, in this blog and in personal conversations. Why WON’T the NDP advocate public auto insurance and regulated insurance? Both would undoubtedly be popular. Both are within their power. The answer, I believe, is because they have become just another neoliberal party, albeit a slightly kinder, gentler one. DJC
And just a tad self-righteous and elitist.
It pains me to say it David, but I agree.
Alberta’s motto: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
And so Albertans will vote for a separatist who enables separatists at every opportunity while claiming not to be doing what she’s doing (enabling separatists), even though the majority of the people in this province oppose separatism.
Albertans know that the premier will likely ignore the results of a separatism referendum, based on what she has done in past weeks. Case in point: Danielle Smith pushed ahead with permanent MDT, even though the citizens voted against it in a referendum. She even wants to rename the thing for the whole world.
Some 400,000+ citizens signed the Forever Canadian petition supporting Canada remaining in Confederation. That will not likely appear on any referendum in this post-democracy province, although is is supposed to under the premier’s own rules.
Albertans are willing to let this premier do anything she wants, no matter how much it harms them and their families. Referendum ignored. No problem. No referendum? Also no problem. No one cares. We’re compliant.
Voting the way great-grandpappy voted back in the Great Depression? That’s the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That is the Alberta way. What happened somewhere in Europe during the Great Depression when people were compliant?
Voting to take away access to medical care and schooling for people who don’t look like the folks at the Stay Free Alberta booths? Also the Alberta way. It’s democracy if it’s on a referendum, even though voting to oppress minorities is not at all democratic. Elected officials ignoring referendum results is also the Alberta way. That is also not democratic. But who in Alberta cares? Not the majority of people who bother to vote.
The problem is us. We would vote for Viktor Orbán if we could. We like not having to think or do anything. We do what we’re told. Coercive control is easy here.
Hello DJC and fellow commenters,
I think that part of the problem is that many voters are not well-informed. And, unfortunately, many of them don’t have the interest or time to become well-informed. As I have mentioned, in an ordinary middle class neighbourhood in Calgary with a mix of housing types, citizens are poorly informed. For example, one neighbour who is a homeowner, had not heard of the TMX pipeline that was bought and subsequently twinned, was all paid for by the federal government which was, and still is, Liberal.
In addition, the press here pretty well parrots UCP propaganda and continually publishes numerous opinion pieces denigrating the Liberals. It barely mentions the NDP and, when it does, it untruthfully portrays them as spendthrifts who are poor economic managers. This press is not operated for the benefit of most Albertans, it supports the interests of oil and gas industry and other corporations and the interests of the well-off. It spinns policies that are beneficial only to the wealthier class in a way that suggests that these policies will benefit the ordinary citizen and, conversely, criticizes policies that will benefit the ordinary working person as detrimental.
Even during the recent hearings on repeal of blanket rezoning, those who advocated for lower rents could see only market-based solutions, and did not suggest social government-developed solutions. This suggests to me that the continuous propaganda favouring the free market/capitalist system is so ingrained that even those most disadvantaged by it are unable to conceive of better, more socially-oriented, solutions.
I have a radical idea. Move the NDP to the centre, turf Nenshi ( who I once backed and voted for as Mayor) merge with the Alberta party then get Peter Guthrie to run the show.
It is a shame Nenshi isn’t gaining more popularity. Remember that Dingy Smith is tearing Alberta apart. As they often say, 5 million people in Alberta and the best we could do is Smith? While Nenshi is far from perfect he is far better than the dipstick we have as Premier.
We, the people of Alberta, own roughly 82%* of all the oil and gas under the surface of the land we live on. The rest of the oil and gas is mostly owned federally and first nations.
In 1930, the federal government passed a law called the Alberta Natural Resources Transfer Act, 1930.
The province of Alberta is currently in for a gigantic boatload windfall of dollars, as in money. Because of all our oil, owned by all of us.
Alberta elected governments used our oil wealth to fund our schools, roads, hospitals, water systems, etc. back in the day.
What do they do with all that money now?
Fair question for any politician of any political stripe. It’s our money.
Yes, climate change is scientifically real.
Someone should tell that to the two biggest oil consuming countries in the world, China and the United States of America. This is not the job of a provincial premier, tasked with matters pertaining to the province.
Oh wait, Alberta is a province in the country Canada.
The job of the provincial government is to serve the people of the province of Alberta.
Not scare us, piss us off, distract us or suck up to us.
*the 82% comes from a class I took at U. of Calgary, faculty of management, 3rd yr. b.comm.
Nenshi can’t campaign like Zohran Mamdami because he doesn’t think like Zohran Mamdami. The mayor of New York is not a former McKinsey employee.
@David, that’s the first comment here that made any sense to me as to why Nenshi is such an abysmal party leader.
Thus one of my earlier assertions. No more NDP leaders who do not have a background in union/activism organizing and they can’t use a media team who are stuck in the 60’s. People that have to network and talk to actual citizens and people who won’t necessarily agree with them, and convince them–are people who can bring together a disparate party and country to move with a forward-looking policy.
The endless whinging that corporate media is “unfair” is annoying beyond belief. Nobody watches that crap any more and haven’t for decades. If I don’t see a candidate on numerous YouTube or Rumble long-form interviews or podcasts and New Media news sites then I have zero pity for them losing because calling a few newspapers to show up for a press conference is just plain lazy.
And if they’re lazy about getting on alternative media they have proved to me, that like Dog Frod, they will be lazy while in office. If they can’t convince some lefty podcaster why their policy is good–they sure don’t have the skills to convince anyone who might oppose them.
They also have not learned a basic life lesson. If you cannot move the mountain, at least have the good sense to go around it.
B: I agree with you that this can’t all be blamed on media, as bad as media is in Alberta. After working in the labour movement for half my career, I’m not confident that experience in union organizing is either an asset or a liability in retail politics. The plain fact is that some people have it and most people don’t, and “it” is hard to define. It’s a combination of energy, memory, the ability to sound credible, undefinable charisma, and luck. It is not fairly or evenly distributed among the population. Both Mr. Nenshi and his predecessor Ms. Notley are cautious politicians, and the current moment with an extremist premier who speaks well, sounds credible and is unquestionably a change leader even though the changes she is introducing are harmful, do not call for an opposition leader who is both lazy and does not want to commit himself to policies that might be criticized. Perhaps circumstances will change, but I doubt it. DJC
@DJC
While we may not be able to put our finger on the exact “it” factor I can say there are a few indications. The three C’s come to mind. Charisma, Courage and Conviction.
Nobody who effectively sways the general public to their way of thinking can be without those. The first one can, to some extent be learned. Or at the very least, be worn like a public overcoat and many people who are notoriously introverted have been known to cultivate it. The second two, cannot.
Therein lies the clutch. Nenshi never convinces me that he is actually committed to what he’s saying. He might be…but he certainly doesn’t come across like that.
And on my other point. Today I stumbled across Avi Lewis on some low-rent YouTube channel that I’ve never even heard of. At this point, it has a bit over a thousand views. But he’s out there doing it. That’s more eyeballs than he had, yesterday.
I see Dixie Dani every time I open a feed, whether I want to, or not. I see PP and I rarely even click on them and why the mainstream is spending so much time dancing with the opposition leader, especially one that is so clearly unlikeable, is unfathomable. Lord knows they barely covered Singh who was at least personable, unless it was to excoriate the guy. I see Wab Kinew every once in awhile when he says/does something memorable.
Nenshi? He’s like the invisible man. Someone tell him that there’s zoom now and he’s not stuck in the Alberta media hellscape and it’s a big wide world out there. If he’s at all personable, many of them are starved for interview content.
I wish I could upvote this
Mr Nenshi was wildly popular when he was new on the scene in Calgary’s mayoralty, relatively unknown, consistently cheerful, and non-partisan.
Today he is none of those things. Everybody ages. Everyone develops a history and reputation. Many tend to get grumpier with age. And being a leader of an established political party requires partisanship. Plus the bounds and limits of being the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Westminster governing model weigh heavy on anyone of any party.
Many comments on this post could be taken verbatim from any number of federal Conservative blogs regarding Poilievre’s current travails (“Media’s biased!” “Low-info voters suck!”)
Sometimes the leader succeeds (Layton, Notley), sometimes they fail (Singh, Pannu). Maybe it is that simple.
Nenshi presenting himself as a Progressive Conservative, with vision of the next government which is going to behave a lot like PC governments in the past. In other words it will be hardly social-democratic and beholden to the O&G lobby. The biggest failing of Rachel Notley, apart from being terminally timid, was the complete disregard for social democracy. Social democracy, ethical government, and a vision toward a sustainable and just future wins every time. It also has to be recognized that CON voters vote blue because it’s blue. They have complete ignorance of anything beyond their team colour, and what their Sky Daddy wants. In other words, they really are subhuman troglodytes. But the rational voter, regrettably, is always applying their purity test to assure that they are voting for perfection. As it turns out, perfection really is the enemy of the good. But try telling this nugget of wisdom to the rational voter.
In the meantime, Nenshi needs to hit the road. Or come clean about his health, because he looks terrible.
I’m beginning to wonder if the position of being opposition leader in Alberta is cursed. There is a long list of presumably previously succesful and capable people who came into the position with promise and ended in disappointment. I can’t think of many over the last century who actually had much success. Of course lately, Premiers haven’t done that much better either. Particularly conservative ones were pushed out by their own party, which is probably one reason why Smith tries so hard to keep her more extreme supporters happy.
Also I’m not sure it appreciated how much advantage it gives the UCP to have an almost lock on rural support and seats. Something it seems hard for a former big city mayor to overcome.
Perhaps the long honeymoon for Smith will finally come to an end soon. There are some big dark clouds on the horizon, but so far they haven’t seemed to hurt her popularity that much.
Nenshi joined the leadership race at the last moment, after criticizing the Alberta NDP during the 2023 campaign, certainly not endorsing or campaigning for the party. He was voted in by a number of people who had no interest in the party. He had the political support of federal Liberals, and was conspicuously non-committal about anything to do with the oil industry. His one interest from the beginning was to dissociate from Canada’s NDP. He seems incapable of doing anything beyond making sarcastic comments in question period and on Tiktok, and flipping pancakes. Bur he will not give up the leadership before the next election.
“ Plenty of Albertans want to support an effective Canadian leader and, say what you will about his very conservative policy preferences, Mr. Carney is that. “. The Carny Banker is a fascist and he is doing his level-best to support the US in their hegemonic kamikaze strategy. The principal aspect of this strategy consists of depriving China of sufficient hydrocarbons as it moves to the point of no return as an electric economy. Another aspect entails replacing virtually all hydrocarbon sources with US products, particularly LNG. Further, it entails breaking Russia along ethnic and religious lines in order to eliminate Russian energy supplies and to keep Europe as a market for overpriced U.S. LNG and as a battering ram against Russia. The end game is the final war with China. The Carny Banker is fully enmeshing Canada into the European war machine while maintaining its fealty to the US monstrosity. “Canada continues to work to establish the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) – a new, multilateral financial institution that will bring together likeminded partners to mobilise and deploy private capital and support collective security.” https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/03/26/prime-minister-carney-announces-canada-has-achieved-nato-2-defence
Well Mr. Nenshi has been handed a significant club to fight with –
David Parker’s Centurion Project has been illegally given an election voter’s list containing sensitive private information about every voter in Alberta. Who could have done that I wonder? Elections Alberta knows exactly who let the separatists have this list so we should soon know. What will the NDP do with that gift?
Actually it’s no gift at all. The people who are outraged about David Parker and company are already NDP voters. So are the people on AISH, trans people, and other groups that the UCP openly bashes. To form government we need the votes of people who don’t care much about human rights issues as such and are cynical about politics and don’t follow it much. They only ask: what can you do for ME? And why shouldn’t they ask that? Most of the NDP’s guaranteed vote comes from government workers and people dependent on social transfers, and is self-interested even though it has an important social component to it. The 60 percent of Albertans who say they can barely get by are not mainly worried whether their name, address and phone number are being spread around. They are worried about whether they will be able to continue to have an address and a phone plus put food on the table. If the NDP has nothing to say to such people as opposed to the 2 percent who belong to political parties and the perhaps 20 percent who follow politics somewhat closely, it can’t form government in a province where people are comfortable with conservative governments that do nothing for them and need to be persuaded that there’s something concrete for them that will likely happen if they elect the NDP.