This Week in AB
Calgary Mayor draws ire from supporters of Israel
It was a simple addition to posters advertising the annual menorah lighting ceremony at Calgary City Hall: “supporting Israel”. Conservatives rushed to attend in person after the Mayor released her statement.
“Jewish people need to see support from their leaders here,” some said. Support… for Israel? If anything, it proved the point.
A number of people pointed out that the Mayor didn’t actually need to offer such a detailed explanation, saying she could have simply said “whoops, scheduling conflict” and few would have concerned themselves.
Instead, the Mayor offered a detailed explanation of why she was not attending, offering those in disagreement a treasure trove of statements on which to pounce. In fairness, if other politicians would be so generous, it would make oppo-research so much easier.
Unfortunately, the Israeli-Palestine conflict has always been a political juggernaut but, for obvious reasons, it is more of an issue today.
Canada is home to people from countries with political and cultural strife that we have been (mostly) lucky enough to avoid. It doesn’t change the fact that many residents and citizens are personally affected by issues abroad.
In the matter of inclusion, it’s not always an easy path for political leaders.
While it appears that the lighting ceremony was not actually politicized in any way, perhaps the Mayor didn’t want to find her smiling face in front of an Israeli flag splashed all over social media like St. Albert-Edmonton MP Michael Cooper, who had his image cropped out of an interview he did during the convoy occupation in Ottawa in 2022 where someone was carrying a Nazi flag in the background.
While such a potential outcome might not be an issue for some, not everyone enjoys such privilege.
“What do you call ‘alternative healthcare’ that works? ‘Healthcare’.”
The United Conservative government in Alberta is planning to add almost healthcare to the list of insured public “health” services. Yes, we should probably get used to putting that in quotations.
Amidst a now-unsurprising number of overwhelmed hospitals and emergency rooms (we know we can mitigate this), and more delayed treatments and surgeries, funding for anything but was both unexpected and completely predictable, especially when your non-medical professional yet highly opinionated premier believes conditions like cancer are basically a choice.
While most (actual) medical experts agree that prevention is a much more reliable predictor of health outcomes than treatment, we have access to the best educated professionals already without seeking “alternatives”.
“Treating ailments with natural remedies and traditional medicine has been around for thousands of years!” Proponents claim.
Sure, that’s true; yet life expectancy for the public at large didn’t increase until medicine advanced far beyond that in the last century. So, I suppose it just depends on which outcome you’re after.
Alberta Pension Plan blues
For this topic, I have to remind readers that those who are most intent on getting their hands on our Canadian Pension Plan dollars don’t like to acknowledge that some things are not as simple as wishing really hard for things to be simple.
Removing Alberta from the CPP requires an amendment to the Pension Act, which is only accessible with the confidence of 2/3 of — seven of 10 — provinces.
Edit: as pointed out by a couple of faithful readers, the above Global News piece contains an error in the exit plan legislation. There is no requirement to amend the Pension Act. A more accurate — and thorough — description of what would have to happen can be found here. My thanks to them.
Even though proponents have been crowing about Albertans being entitled to more than half of the fund’s assets, voters remain largely unconvinced. Whether they are unconvinced of the reality of that figure or if they should trust people willing to hand over their money to corporate interests without question is debatable.
Being that the UCP thinks it should have access to any money contributed to the CPP by any person who has ever worked for an Alberta-based business, regardless of their province of residence, and that only current Alberta residents deserve to vote on the matter, and that the conservative saviour at the federal level has already stated he would not support the move, the UCP is not in a strong position.
Ideologues they might be, but they’re not entirely without awareness of personal consequences.
Smith and her cohorts shied away from talking about the Alberta Pension Plan during the election because they knew they did not have Albertan’s trust on the matter.
Despite that, Minister of Finance Nate Horner noted during question period last week that “there was a little straw poll done (on an Alberta Pension Plan) in the spring — it was called an election”.
The UCP also rejected amendments to their CPP exit plan legislation, including the opposition’s amendment to make a referendum on the exit binding.
Former Premier Jason Kenney used to say “you’ll never agree with a political party 100 per cent”.
He just didn’t highlight the fact that you’ll still get 100 per cent of the things you disagree with if you elect them.
Canada
Emissions cap: Naughty or nice?
When the federal Environment Minister announced an emissions cap coming to heavy polluters, Alberta politicians (oh so predictably) stuck their heads in the (oil) sand.
The federal cap calls for a reduction in emissions to 20 per cent below 2019 levels. While the provincial government is jumping up and down, it’s not always easy to see what’s going on behind them — but it’s far more interesting.
Pathways Alliance, a group of five of the largest oil producers, has basically shrugged at the federal legislation (and Danielle Smith’s threat to use the Sovereignty Act to “protect” their interests) because they’re already moving far faster in this direction than the UCP risks giving them credit for — between five and 20 per cent faster.
Truthfully, though, it must be exhausting having to pander to the willfully ignorant on a daily basis. I imagine these politicians rolling their eyes and muttering “better go feed the rubes” before they pack each press availability with BS.
And that’s quote number 152,861 ensuring I’ll never run for office.
I have to agree with Gondek's decision if the Lighting of the Menorah was politicized. The attack on Israeli's was horrific and Hamas should be condemned for the atrocity. Never forget this conflict extends further than the recent Hamas attack and both sides have decades of blood on their hands. There are several groups where Israeli and Palestinians are working together to bring peace in the middle East. Only to be undone by today's confrontational politics.
If there is a shortage of nuts this year, you'll probably find more than you need in the AHS bureaucracy.
"Personal foul, under review offense number 4 Horner lied by omission. Five yard penalty, second down repeat.
I'm still amazed there are so many Albertans' who don't believe Smith could spin wind turbines on calm days.