Women of ABpoli Hot Flashes: Shake it off
This Week in AB
Former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith captures UCP leadership
D-Day, October 6, 2022, has come and gone.
You can't say people weren't paying attention when Jason Kenney annihilated the opposition in the 2017 Progressive Conservative takeover.
Danielle Smith, backed by a handful of freedom worriers province-wide, deftly held onto the front spot in the UCP leadership race until the final ballot; and then began the tried-and-true back-peddling on stupid promises.
In response to some questions of why run off votes from rather vocal "not-Danielle Smith" candidates went to Danielle Smith, it's likely justified by a sentiment of "if you don't want the best, you deserve the worst".
I did this in 2017 with the CPC leadership, myself. I've since come to the realization that trying to burn down a legacy party that can form government might not be the wisest option; you know, just in case they end up forming government.
It's an opinion, yes, but prove me wrong.
Note the very thin lines moving from Aheer and Sawhney to Smith, while a much larger proportion went from Schulz to Smith. Brian Jean was the final choice for the most people, and the largest share of Jean voters went to Toews. It wasn't enough, however, to beat out the anti-government coalition.
If it needs to be said again, I don't regret trying to get a better premier than what we had-- it was actually the point; now, we move on to the next crisis in Alberta politics: by-elections.
Three birds
Neither the UCP nor Danielle Smith want to face Calgary-Elbow before a general election; she's no "new blue" conservative.
They need a safe space for an old Wildroser, preferably in a region that is solidly against the NDP, and if they can sink the Alberta Party's battleship ahead of 2023, they will be in a much stronger position to face the general electorate.
Frey, who held the role of MLA in Brooks-Medicine Hat right up until the UCP's new leader was chosen, announced last week that she would not be seeking re-election in 2023 so she could focus on starting a family; and who can really blame her for wanting to get started a few months early?
Politically, however, it's a wickedly happy coincidence in an arena where there are far fewer coincidences than calculated moves to benefit one party over another (take or leave the pun).
Smith has said there will be only one by-election called before the general and it will be in a space where she actually has a chance to win.
Optics matter.
The UCP (and Smith) need a decisive win in a by-election; think Devin Dreeshen in 2018 where 8,029 votes out of 9,831 went to the UCP. 81 per cent.
If that doesn't prompt chants of "who's your daddy?", I don't know what will.
Not only is it a big deal to the newly-crowned UCP leader, it's also a hugely important race for the Alberta Party; Alberta Party leader Barry Morishita will have to run if the by-election is held in his home riding.
There is a convention that allows for a leader to run without much contest in order to get into the Legislature or House of Commons, but that certainly wouldn't apply when one unelected party leader chooses to run outside of their home riding -- though not in a riding that's already vacant -- opting instead for a seat in the home riding of another unelected party leader.
The UCP would obviously be hoping for a shellacking a la Dreeshen but they could end up with a dead heat like the 2014 by-election in then-Alberta Party leader Greg Clark's home riding saw Clark lose by seven points, only to take the seat by 12 points in the 2015 general.
Morishita has represented Brooks municipally as both council-member (first elected in 1998) and Mayor (2016-2021).
All parties will be aiming to send a message ahead of the 2023 election and they will be looking for volunteers.
Contact the local candidates or party headquarters if you can spare some time and/or money to help whomever you feel is the best candidate -- you might not be able to vote but there are other ways to support the candidate of your choice.
Speaking of donations :)
Janice Makokis and Red Thunder Woman gave us some time for an episode of Women of ABpoli last year and I learned an incredibly important aspect about Treaty: it was not an agreement made with a group of people and the Queen; it was an agreement made between two sovereign nations.
As such, I fully support the challenge led by Anita Cardinal, Janice Makokis, and Rachel Snow and put my money where my mouth is.
Say my name
“Well this is a colossal waste of money for no reason whatsoever. #ableg”
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro announced on October 3 that Alberta provincial courts are to be renamed "Alberta Court of Justice" -- in case anyone was confused about what goes on there.
Canada
Building the Canadian "manosphere"
Hashtags aren't just window dressing; they lay bare the topics your desired audience is interested in following.
All of that is important.
For my newsletter, for example, I'm not going to tag "gardening". While I'm open to the possibility that gardening enthusiasts may be interested in politics, anyone searching through a hashtag on the topic may wonder why I bothered.
So, when it was discovered that CPC leader Pierre Poilievre's videos about wood (I mean actual wood -- the guy really likes to talk about wood) came with a tag that is known to be used by individuals looking for misogynistic (read: anti-women) content, some people thought that was worth questioning.
It's been suggested that those who say things shouldn't be responsible for those who hear something that wasn't explicitly said. However, if you can hide a come-hither in your posts, it should be obvious that you're intentionally seeking people with those interests.
The unanswered question, of course, is why you think they'd be interested in the first place.
Final thoughts
“Too many Christmas rom-coms, not nearly enough Halloween rom-coms”