Women of ABpoli Hot Flashes: Just the way you are
This Week in AB
UCP Leadership has six official candidates
July 20 was the deadline for candidate applications, after which came the flurry of official candidate announcements. Travis Toews received his nod on July 5, followed by Danielle Smith on July 18, Brian Jean on July 19, Rajan Sawhney on July 21, and Todd Loewen and Leela Aheer on July 22.
Raj Sherman apparently met the deadline for his first installment and signatures as well; now we wait and see what, if anything, comes from that.
July 27th is the first candidate debate, held in Medicine Hat, from 5:00-7:00. The event will also be live-streamed on the Party's website, and live-tweeted (maybe with GIFs).
The deadline for Albertans to buy memberships and vote for the next leader of the UCP, who will be sworn in as Alberta's 19th Premier in October, is August 12.
Speaking of the UCP leadership race...
“Describe Danielle Smith's campaign in four words. I'll go first: Everyone else is wrong.”
Many, including me, scoffed at the potential success of Danielle Smith's UCP leadership bid.
Why?
Because the woman was persona non-grata after the floor-crossing debacle that, some said, set the stage for the fall of the PC dynasty and saw the NDP form government.
Yet... she's filling community halls while other candidates are struggling to fill living rooms.
The headlines are full of her. Last week, I'd noticed that Smith had appeared in a legacy media headline three or four times within seven days and the others hadn't seen a headline since their campaign launch, sometimes two weeks prior.
Sure, most of us know that she's seeing these headlines because of the illegitimacy of the Alberta Sovereignty Act -- as noted by Jason Nixon -- and also Travis Toews (which I'm sure he was thrilled about), or her commitment to ignore the government's role in public health.
Anyone familiar with social media usage, however, knows that few people seem to read beyond the headline, so the details aren't likely getting in the way of seeing her name over, and over, and over again.
Recent provincial polling (not the same as membership polling) puts Danielle Smith and Brian Jean tied for the top spot at 22 and 20 per cent respectively, with former Finance Minister Travis Toews in third at 15 per cent.
I still say name recognition is doing the heavy lifting there but polling is rumoured to have a sway -- as is media coverage -- and both of those are contributing well to Smith's favour.
I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy some political chaos -- it keeps me busy. Smith will undoubtedly continue to deliver that if she manages to win the leadership, which I think she looks able to do, quite handily, at this time.
That perception also leaves me with the image of a smug-looking Jason Kenney saying "I told you it could worse than me. I told you the kooks were going to take over."
And once again, I will make my plea to those who don't want to hand our province over to a conspiracy theorist, and to those who would rather see Jason Kenney slink away into oblivion rather than make his own headlines for the next ten months saying "I told you so"... buy a membership and vote.
Kenney asks for investigation after fuel tax "holiday" ends
“Conservatives acting surprised when corporations don't act in the public interest since 1867.”
Although Alberta usually has the lowest fuel prices in the country anyway, Kenney's government also reduced the price at the pump by removing the provincial tax, $0.13/L, in April.
Despite the usual advantage at the pumps, and that "tax holiday", Ontario boasted lower fuel rates than Alberta over the last week, causing an inter-provincial incident.
In a letter to the Competition Bureau, soon to be former Premier Jason Kenney asked for an investigation into "price fixing".
On gasoline.
That rate, often showcased on a big sign -- the one that doesn't change as you drive through a city, no matter which company is selling it -- that price?
The one that simultaneously increases, across all retailers, right before every long weekend or popular holiday whence families gather?
The same price that started to drop, across the province, right after Kenney publicized his intent?
Yeah, what a conundrum, that.
Canada
Hockey Canada on thin ice
The Globe and Mail released the alarming results of its investigation into a not-well-publicized fund for, among other legal issues, out-of-court settlements following sexual assault/harassment allegations against its players and/or staff.
The investment fund, which exceeded $15 million in 2016, has earned as much as $1 million annually, and was padded by player registration fees.
The fund's use came into question after a single incident in 2018 where eight unidentified players were accused of sexual abuse and assault, that, upon learning of the incident the next day, Hockey Canada made no public statements, then settled the claim in May 2022 within a three-week period of its receipt.
During a committee hearing in Ottawa a month later, MPs learned that current executives couldn't (or wouldn't) answer questions about the 2018 incident, investigation, who was involved, or whether consequences were faced by the accused.
I went to Hockey Canada's website looking for the statement they made about the fund and was surprised to find first, from May 2022, a "we will not be commenting further" about the 2018 incident (that prompted the parliamentary committee interview in June), followed by a "we are disturbed about this other 'group incident' from 2003", that was then followed by the Open Letter which states in part that "(c)hanges to policies and procedures can occur with the stroke of a pen. Those changes are meaningless, however, without an equal commitment to addressing the toxic behaviour that exists in many corners of the game."
However, Hockey Canada has made that "commitment" before.
"The cases of racism, homophobia, abuse, assault, and hazing we have seen in this sport have not gone away, even though training and programs have been implemented in order to eradicate or limit them.
If Hockey Canada believed their programs were effective why would they have a slush fund for potential victims?" Asked Brock McGillis, who is the first openly gay men’s professional hockey player, as well as a leading LGBTQ+ activist.
I feel for these parents who try to raise decent people and provide them with an advantage in competitive sport only to find out that the environment they've entrusted their children to is sheltering behaviour that leads to, and inflicts, real harm.
I doubt that's what most parents sign their kids up for.
Covid (still) isn't over
We bloody well did it until 6 month ago, and we can certainly do it again."
If you're still masking when you go to the grocery store, you know you're in a quickly dissipating minority.
We know masking prevents spread. We know preventing spread is key to preventing strain on our healthcare system.
It's such a little thing with such a big impact.
Sigh.
CPC announces third debate, Poilievre says he's too busy
Poilievre has nothing to gain and everything to lose by attending a third debate but the man-child's temperament was on full display in his response the announcement that some 25,000 of the Party's membership had requested a final chance to see the candidates together.
That number is less than 10 per cent of the number of memberships Poilievre's campaign claims to have sold.
"It was not the campaign's fault that the Party's Edmonton debate was widely recognized as an embarrassment," the statement reads.
"The Party chose a Laurentian elite liberal media personality to moderate the Edmonton debate."
"The first two debates were scheduled in the middle of the membership sales period, when candidates were travelling the country to recruit new members for the Party."
"The Party's proposed third debate is smack dab in the middle of the get out the vote period. The sole objective of the campaign now is to get new members and existing members to fill out their ballots and submit them before the September deadline. Pierre will be on the road again, without interruption, to help make that happen."
"Thousands and thousands of Canadians have come to our campaign events. Our largest event had 7,000 people attend. Jean Charest has had a hard tie getting even a couple dozen people to his campaign events. That is why he wants another debate -- to use Pierre's popularity with the members to bring out an audience he can't get on his own. No one is interested in a scandal plagued, tax and spend, carbon tax-loving, defeated Liberal Premier."
Or, as I said, Pierre has nothing to gain by joining a third debate. He knows another look at his teenage pomp will only challenge his image as potential leadership material when compared with the adults on the stage.
Besides, I'm sure he has an extra $50,000 lying around to pay the fine for missing the debate, as all "men of the people" who definitely aren't part of the elite classes do.
Final thoughts:
“2016: Will America vote for a female president? 2022: Should women have healthcare?”