Women of ABpoli Hot Flashes: Lights, Camera, (fringe) Faction!
This Week in AB
Welcome to hell.
Smith has been making headlines here, nationally, and in the U.S., which makes me think she's trying to get enough attention to become the next Republican idol.
It's hugely problematic that when faced with the question of "what can we expect from a Danielle Smith-led government", the answer, that she's unpredictable, is not because we don't know who she is.
Back in 2014, one of the people who influenced Smith's decision was none other than Reform Party founder Preston Manning, who was a proponent of uniting Alberta's parties much like Harper had done with the federal conservatives.
Except he forgot about the "publicly stating your intentions" part.
None of this should be a surprise but let's consider what Smith actually did in 2014; just for a moment.
The Leader of the Official Opposition, a woman who was almost elected Premier of Alberta barely two years earlier, said "great idea; I totally should cross the floor in an attempt to kill my party -- this is a winning strategy!"
Danielle Smith is not a stupid person but the facts she's presented with are twisted and almost unrecognizable by the time she processes and spits them out again. It's like if the waste treatment plant worked backwards; it goes in clean and comes out complete shit.
I've long been fascinated by this particular quality of hers but the reality is that this is a terrifying quality in a government leader.
As someone else put it; "she's dangerously malleable".
So, when Smith gave her speech -- directly after being sworn in on Tuesday -- and claimed the unvaccinated were the most discriminated against group she had ever seen in her lifetime, the only surprising part was that she, a former current affairs talk show host who has to have been aware of the existence of both covert and overt discrimination in her lifetime, said it out loud.
After acknowledging that some people may have had it worse than being asked to help prevent the collapse of our healthcare system, Smith clarified that sure, some people had it worse, but this is Canada and most of us are pretty damned pampered so, it's like, totes as bad that we tried to protect the healthcare system for people who didn't choose to have other health issues.
“Danielle Smith is a national embarrassment.”
Since being sworn in as Premier just fifteen days ago, Danielle Smith has found her list of offensive and astoundingly incorrect comments dragging her pyrrhic victory celebration down.
On her seventh day as Premier, Smith told media to stop making such a big deal about her penchant for conspiracy theories, and on the eight day, she issued an apology for defending her "ill-informed" opinions.
"Prior to re-entering politics earlier this year, I made some ill-informed comments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine," the Premier said in a public release on the 19th before adding that she has since learned more and changed her mind.
Unfortunately, when someone goes out of their way to get information from people who have no expertise in the area they are trying to inform themselves about, they literally only have "ill-informed" opinions to make. That's the problem.
Justin Ling, a journalist and subscriber to Smith's Locals group, has taken the time to curate an astonishing list of just how many of Smith's opinions are outrageously "ill-informed".
Even so, Smith has committed her government to those who are also ill-informed and seems neither willing nor able to back down now. As such, decisions like adding COVID vaccination status to the list of protected classes in Alberta's Human Rights Act, will continue to damage the reputation of a province seeking to build itself up as a hub for forward-thinking ingenuity.
Lessons in Cabinet building
On Friday, October 21, the Premier announced her new Cabinet, which showcased her previously stated intention to maintain enough rural seats to require a bare minimum amount of support in Calgary and retain a majority government in 2023.
The new Cabinet is heavily rural, as expected, but also promoted the lone Edmonton MLA, disgraced former Justice Minister Kaycee Madu, to Deputy Premier.
Smith, whose proclivity for championing deeply unpopular opinions should be obvious, is -- as her predecessor was -- also a staunch defender against "cancel culture", or what the rest of us refer to as "consequences".
To be clear, I believe people can make mistakes they feel genuine remorse for; I've done it myself enough to have some empathy for the experience.
Kaycee Madu, however, after losing his role for unsuccessfully trying to circumvent the administration of justice by abusing his position, has consistently defended his actions and refused to accept responsibility for his obscene lack of judgement and integrity.
His appointment is a slap in the face to every Albertan who understands the difference.
Aside from that grossly misguided decision, the expanded 27-member Cabinet, in addition to the Parliamentary Secretary roles, are likely going to have the effect Smith intends: allowing rural representatives the spotlight in the lead up to the general election.
Another politically advantageous move was keeping the most controversial Cabinet roles with some Calgary MLAs Smith can afford to lose; Tyler Shandro in Justice, Jason Copping in Health, Sonya Savage (moved from Energy) in Environment, and Nicholas Milliken in Addictions and Mental Health.
The coveted Calgary-centric role of Energy went to Pete Guthrie, MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane.
Smith also completed Kenney's demotion of the Ministry of Status of Women by deleting it from the portfolio title entirely.
When asked about the decision Smith said anyone who was concerned about the representation of women could simply look to her Cabinet as evidence to the contrary. Smith appointed four women to ministerial roles, which, including herself as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, is 19 per cent.
Let's just say that ratio is acceptable within a particular segment of the population who will be more likely to continue lending their support to Smith and her party.
UCP AGM
As most people recall, the UCP was formed out of a merger between two legacy parties, the PCs and the Wildrose. There is another element that was, I believe, much less organized even if politically active prior to Jason Kenney's takeover of the PC party; I'll refer to them as Christian Heritage.
The third group fits within both the legacy parties but mostly because they can't form government on their own.
Take Back Alberta, a special interest group formed out of the latter, successfully took all nine executive positions available on the UCP board.
The convention numbers were down again this year from their peak of 2200 in 2018 by about half; on par with the number of attendees in 2021.
We'll have a debrief with with myself and an attendee at the NDP AGM on Women of ABpoli this week.
Canada
Law; what is it good for?
The basis of the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act is basically that: what is it good for?
Highly contradictory testimony and documentation are being accepted and reviewed in what can only be deemed an ongoing version of Vantage Point.
Testimony comes from impressively dichotomous interpretations about what is actually true, whose responsibility it was to intervene, and whether enough was being done to end the occupation.
The entire episode pits competing priorities and responsibilities against one another in a way that I hope is accurately taken into account in the end.
It will be a fascinating read but it may also be a catalyst to further division.
From Alberta, currently under new management, the outcome is a bit more worrying over here.
Final thoughts
After two weeks of Danielle Smith, it's apparent that one update per week will not be enough. I'll be moving to at least two issues each week in an attempt to keep it shorter.
“Smith’s cabinet has as many women as Kenney’s cabinet had Jasons.”
cover photo credit: mine