Finally an article that explains that the UCP in not the former Progressive Party of Canada. Your insight is so refreshing and right on point in my opinion.
Also note worthy: "I discovered that they are at best three dudes in a trench coat making all the decisions ..." and for some reason, my mind went straight to the issues managers, fresh grads of young conservatives clubs from various Alberta Christian universities.
Lots of knobby little white knees in that trench coat.
Bryans? Mattses? (Though The Matt is more prolific than the junior dorks I'm talking about.) I am trying to remember the name of one of the worst ones but it is eluding me rn.
Scott Sinclair's speech to the MLAs certainly spoke to me. He mentioned everything that upsets me the most about Smith, her Minister's, her caucus and her voters who are pulling her separation strings. None of them are true, traditional Conservatives like the days of old. They are something other.. like fascists. One would think 2 of her MLAs leaving to sit as Independents have Smith reconsidering her choices since being elected, but Smith nothing if not stupid, single-minded and stubborn. How many more will have to cross the floor and become Independents before she gets the message that she has done Allberta, Canada and all Canadians a huge disservice. Her Trump love, American style politics and hate for all that is Liberal federal government has emboldened the worst of extremists and separatists in Alberta. For that I can never forgive her.
You're right on the money with political parties being bad. And it's probably why people are so resistant to having them in municipal politics here. So much for that, I guess.
Gee, I like the political party I joined and worked toward electing. The people there genuinely care about Albertans, not just the Fossil Fuel Folks (but them too.) They share my values including honesty, critical thinking, and compassion. And, though not perfect, seemed to do a pretty good, straight-forward job during their brief stint in power.
At the same time I must admit to some Schadenfreude every time the Honourable Member from Airdre-Cochrane rises to his hind legs in the Assembly, starts turning the stone in front of him and hauls out his axe.
It wasn’t all rosy over there either, remember. Robyn Luff, Karen McPherson, Stephanie McLean… parties wield power and I doubt it’s ever just with the voter in mind.
As I said, not perfect, but, for the most part, better. I realize this is not your intent, but when people paint all politicians and parties with the same brush, I believe it undermines people’s trust in liberal democracy. The kind of nihilism thus engendered undermines what can be a very effective system for good. So much so that I, a staunch social democrat, can agree with Churchill when he said, ‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’
They were 10 ahead + poop cookie, they brought back poop cookie and lost two decent people, so nine. Plus NDP is down Rachel and Loyola right now, so there’s plenty of space between them yet
We just saw the same trend federally, where the CPC under Polievre was unrecognizable and not very palatable to many. I found the speech in this piece refreshing and necessary to hear. It's good to hear from the 'other side' which from everything I've seen, seems to be the majority of Albertans.
I hear you but parties won't matter as much when it's a question of a referendum. I took that as the main issue here. Of course, it's far from the only one.
BTW Quebec, which actually had a distinct culture to fight for, lost their referendum by a hair.
Oh — yeah, having those conservative voices on the other side will help, for sure.
I wish I knew better what to expect from the province. I’m writing out and fact checking the recent event the separatists held and they speak directly to the myths that underlie their reasons for voting CPC; anti-Trudeau, “everyone” hates AB… I definitely think there’s a lot more room for them to grow if they get the campaign right, which is very scary.
Thank you. As a Canadian, watching from outside of Alberta, this gives me hope. I don't think any Canadian, who lives outside the politic of Alberta, wants the drama or the threatened erosion of our Federation or its unity.
Those are excellent comments by Sinclair and Guthrie. I’m not a conservative, but I believe Canada needs strong, principled conservative parties at both the federal and provincial levels. I don’t live in Alberta, so I really don’t know anything about Sinclair and Guthrie other than what I’ve read here, but I hope there is a place in the future for them and others like them. I hope they do not become relegated to the margins because our political parties are sadly following the path set down by leaders like Trudeau and Poilievre.
Finally an article that explains that the UCP in not the former Progressive Party of Canada. Your insight is so refreshing and right on point in my opinion.
Ahem, "a septic tank of Wildrose/Christian Heritage," is so much more concise than every other description I've put together. Noice.
I edited multiple things around it but not that; it was perfect.
Also note worthy: "I discovered that they are at best three dudes in a trench coat making all the decisions ..." and for some reason, my mind went straight to the issues managers, fresh grads of young conservatives clubs from various Alberta Christian universities.
Lots of knobby little white knees in that trench coat.
It came from a friend of mine, when she was telling me about it, called it “three Brendan’s in a trench coat” — that might be more meaningful to you 😇
Or was it “Bradens”? One of those.
Bryans? Mattses? (Though The Matt is more prolific than the junior dorks I'm talking about.) I am trying to remember the name of one of the worst ones but it is eluding me rn.
Go to the bad place :)
Scott Sinclair's speech to the MLAs certainly spoke to me. He mentioned everything that upsets me the most about Smith, her Minister's, her caucus and her voters who are pulling her separation strings. None of them are true, traditional Conservatives like the days of old. They are something other.. like fascists. One would think 2 of her MLAs leaving to sit as Independents have Smith reconsidering her choices since being elected, but Smith nothing if not stupid, single-minded and stubborn. How many more will have to cross the floor and become Independents before she gets the message that she has done Allberta, Canada and all Canadians a huge disservice. Her Trump love, American style politics and hate for all that is Liberal federal government has emboldened the worst of extremists and separatists in Alberta. For that I can never forgive her.
You're right on the money with political parties being bad. And it's probably why people are so resistant to having them in municipal politics here. So much for that, I guess.
Omg… I was originally planning to take it there! That line from Smith caught my eye and I ended up filling in the middle and completely forgot!
Fodder for another column!
Always the next one :)
Gee, I like the political party I joined and worked toward electing. The people there genuinely care about Albertans, not just the Fossil Fuel Folks (but them too.) They share my values including honesty, critical thinking, and compassion. And, though not perfect, seemed to do a pretty good, straight-forward job during their brief stint in power.
At the same time I must admit to some Schadenfreude every time the Honourable Member from Airdre-Cochrane rises to his hind legs in the Assembly, starts turning the stone in front of him and hauls out his axe.
It wasn’t all rosy over there either, remember. Robyn Luff, Karen McPherson, Stephanie McLean… parties wield power and I doubt it’s ever just with the voter in mind.
As I said, not perfect, but, for the most part, better. I realize this is not your intent, but when people paint all politicians and parties with the same brush, I believe it undermines people’s trust in liberal democracy. The kind of nihilism thus engendered undermines what can be a very effective system for good. So much so that I, a staunch social democrat, can agree with Churchill when he said, ‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’
Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947
Thanks for posting this, particularly the text of Sinclair's statement. Too bad most of Alberta will never see it.
I ended up putting it on a number of socials and it’s moved quite everywhere (to my slight surprise).
Oh good! I'll check and repost. This is the sort of thing my conservative friends just never see.
Hey Deirdre, Do you know offhand what the UCP is at for seat count? Should they be starting to get worried?
They were 10 ahead + poop cookie, they brought back poop cookie and lost two decent people, so nine. Plus NDP is down Rachel and Loyola right now, so there’s plenty of space between them yet
Thanks for the bad news. Appreciate it.
We just saw the same trend federally, where the CPC under Polievre was unrecognizable and not very palatable to many. I found the speech in this piece refreshing and necessary to hear. It's good to hear from the 'other side' which from everything I've seen, seems to be the majority of Albertans.
It is but that majority is really into voting conservative — even though they prefer liberal policies. The identity crisis is real…
I hear you but parties won't matter as much when it's a question of a referendum. I took that as the main issue here. Of course, it's far from the only one.
BTW Quebec, which actually had a distinct culture to fight for, lost their referendum by a hair.
Oh — yeah, having those conservative voices on the other side will help, for sure.
I wish I knew better what to expect from the province. I’m writing out and fact checking the recent event the separatists held and they speak directly to the myths that underlie their reasons for voting CPC; anti-Trudeau, “everyone” hates AB… I definitely think there’s a lot more room for them to grow if they get the campaign right, which is very scary.
Thank you. As a Canadian, watching from outside of Alberta, this gives me hope. I don't think any Canadian, who lives outside the politic of Alberta, wants the drama or the threatened erosion of our Federation or its unity.
❤️❤️
Those are excellent comments by Sinclair and Guthrie. I’m not a conservative, but I believe Canada needs strong, principled conservative parties at both the federal and provincial levels. I don’t live in Alberta, so I really don’t know anything about Sinclair and Guthrie other than what I’ve read here, but I hope there is a place in the future for them and others like them. I hope they do not become relegated to the margins because our political parties are sadly following the path set down by leaders like Trudeau and Poilievre.
More Albert-hate from people that want Alberta to remain a tribute-paying colony of Canada.