Alberta Election (2015)

[Jarnhamar]

You're in good hands Alberta

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/06/deborah-drever-ndp-photos_n_7227972.html

 

[KJK]

Few would mistake me for an NDP apologist but:

On the subject of royalties didn't Ms. Notley say something to the effect that she was going to empower a People's Commission to review the royalty structure and determine if Albertans were getting value for money.  I believe that could be seen as the NDPs version of kicking the subject into the long grass.  (If they were Tories it would be a Royal Commission ....hmm ....Prediction: 2 years of deliberations by well paid party faithful followed by a recommendation to change "royalties" to "peopleties".)

The problem with this is, the longer the oil companies don't know what will happen the longer their wallets will remain closed. They certainly won't trust what she says in closed door meeting, not when you look at the NDP's record in other province. If oil were to go to $90 or higher they might start spending but with no support from her on pipelines and low oil prices why bother? Another thought: We are already short of power here yet she wants to close coal fired power stations. What will happen to electricity prices?

 

[George Wallace]

I don't think Mr. O'Leary's comments are too far off the mark. Look what happened when Stelmach did his royalty reviews. Oil company spending stopped cold. These major projects take many years from concept to completion. Why would you attempt to build one when the taxes and royalties could change every year. Especially when BC and SK have stable royalties and more business friendly governments. Add to this mess a glut of oil in North America......

A more interesting question for me anyway is: If Notley and her SJW destroy the economy of AB who is going to be a 'Have" province in Canada? Who is going to be generating the money to send to these provinces who are addicted to AB's oil revenue? If I were a Premier of one of these provinces I would be very concerned. Who knows, maybe 1-2 of them may become 'Have' provinces and end up paying rather than receiving.

An even more interesting question would be: Can we see a swing in the Oil Patch, where the oil wells in Saskatchewan are uncapped and those in Alberta are in turn capped?  Could the Oil companies move out of Calgary and into a more favourable location?  Is it time for the Saskatchewan Government to open their arms and welcome 'Big Oil' with incentives?

 

[Kirkhill]

George, about the only thing that would have to move would be the PO Box.  Brad Walls has pretty much uncapped all the oil wells in Saskatchewan (just like that F'ing hypocrite in BC has - she'll sell gas and coal and flood valleys for exportable hydro and buy "dirty" electricity from Alberta). 

If you drive down Highway 4 from Rosetown to Swift Current - as you get to Swift Current the country side is awash in pumpjacks and storage batteries have sprung up like mushrooms.

Saskatoon is a nice place to live and do business - Regina is Edmonton but with a stronger socialist cadre.

 

[George Wallace]

Saskatoon is a nice place to live and do business - Regina is Edmonton but with a stronger socialist cadre.

Having lived in Saskatoon, I found it was a clean, beautiful city comparable to Ottawa.  Regina is a 'Dust Bowl'.  Last time I was in Saskatoon, about five years ago, the city was attracting hundreds of new jobs and business, showing quite a bit of promise; getting away from being only a quiet 'University Town' and relying on the Potash industry.

 

[George Wallace]

You're in good hands Alberta

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/06/deborah-drever-ndp-photos_n_7227972.html

Failed FB 101. 

Hopefully not to be appointed to any position of authority, relegated to the Back Benches until such time that her constituents clue in and depose her.

Is that asking too much?

 

[ModlrMike]

To those who say lay off... I can accept that she's mugging for the camera in the first picture; some youthful exuberance if you will. For the second picture... There's no situation where showing such disrespect is acceptable. Freedom of speech notwithstanding, there's still no excuse.

But, you get the government you deserve!

 

[Kirkhill]

The "wanker" line for me was - "That wasn't my finger". 

No. Maybe. But definitely your page and your posting.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Meanwhile, in Edmonton

 

[RedcapCrusader]

Drever is an interesting character:

Her's another gem:
http://www.genuinewitty.com/2015/05/06/breaking-alberta-ndp-gets-their-weasel-on-deletes-candidate-biographies-from-website/
They've scrubbed their website, kinda sketchy if you ask me; BUT you can still give them money. Hmmmm.

Also, Drever continues to set an interesting pattern

Hating "sense of entitlement" isn't that primarily a Conservative platform? Yet she's now part of the Government under a party that wants to basically increase entitlements and the sense that follows. Raising minimum wage to $15, increasing taxes and social services.

 

[Brad Sallows]

>He ran for MLA, he won. So doing the job he was elected to do is beneath him?

Yes, yes.  Each candidate runs for "MLA".  The elected body has the power to choose its own leader.  Etc. Etc.

Back in the real world: Prentice came out of private life to be Premier, or not.

This relates to the occasional lamentation that not enough good people come forward to serve in (elected) public life.  Our political system is structured to support it in theory (nothing prohibits mixed party cabinet appointments), but not in practice.  There are some people willing to put a term in on the backbenches or in opposition, and some who expect to be put to productive use immediately, or they will leave.  All that whining about Prentice's abrupt departure will do is discourage everyone not interested in marking time in politics.  That will leave us with the party stalwarts and time servers.

 

[Alberta Bound]

Ahhh, Prentice was too good for the little work. Our bad we should have recognized his greatness.

Reminds me of a recruit we had once. Had many academic post nominals after his name. Put them all on his card. He couldn't understand why he wasn't made an Inspector immediately. Couldn't we recognize how great he was.

I am going to walk away from this now. Even though it is entertaining. Possibly you should also walk away. From the cool aid. 

 

[ModlrMike]

A well reasoned piece from a longtime Alberta conservative:

Rachel Notley: The Accidental Premier

 

[Alberta Bound]

MM

That article was right on the money!

 

[jollyjacktar]

Same thing happened when Bob Rae found himself in the driver's seat.  Everyone had the same, brain fart, protest vote.  And bingo, hell froze over.  Good article.

 

[Edward Campbell]

A well reasoned piece from a longtime Alberta conservative:

Rachel Notley: The Accidental Premier

And Danielle Smith made a similar point in an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail. But, I think Mr Rathgerber's 3rd point is the key and it has two aspects:

    1. The PC Party's record, which, as both Brent Rathgerner and Danielle Smith pointed out, has been somewhat less than conservative since Ralph Klein retired; and

    2. Premier Prentice's budget was unpopular ~ that doesn't mean it was a bad budget, in many respects, in my opinion, it was a good and necessary budget ~ plus it was badly managed. Premier Prentice should have,
        on behalf of his party, taken responsibility for the bad economic decisions that go back to Peter Lougheed, 40 years ago, who did not (adequately) safeguard the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund from raids by
        irresponsible PC premiers like Stelmach and Redford. Plus, of course, Premier Prentice gratuitously insulted Albertans ("look in the mirror") for having elected PC government after PC government.


Edit: added one word to correct the grammar  :-[

 

[Underway]

... Premier Prentice gratuitously insulted Albertans ("look in the mirror") for elected PC government after PC government.

On this site I thought we appreciated people who say it like it is  ?  Was it insulting?  Perhaps.  Was it honest and true?  Yes.  Most people don't like it when you point out that their situation is self inflicted.  Like an earlier poster said you get the government that you deserve.  I thought the days of King Ralph were an embarrassment, and that the PC party was done the moment they started handing out $400 cheques vice actually saving for the future.  And now Albertans have no savings and a big deficit... look in the mirror indeed.

Many of my friends in Alberta are freaking out, and my response is, "well someone had to vote for the NDP, they got 40%+ of the popular vote", only to be met by silence (meaning they probably voted NDP).  This is EXACTLY the same response that happened after the NDP win in Ontario.  No one would confess to voting NDP when 4 out of 10 people did.  I suspect those complaining the loudest are trying to cover their tracks...

That being said the Alberta NDP party is not leftist, its left of centre, more akin to the Liberals in Ontario or NS, just like the PC party is not right wing, its right of centre.  Its not like the Bob Rae NDP which were actually socialists.

And for who is going to pay the bills in transfer payments... don't worry, after a 5 years of essentially breaking even Ontario is back.

 

[dapaterson]

So, how will the NDP make Alberta more of a socialist paradise?  Alberta already has more public workers per capita and pays them more and spends more on public service per capita than that rabid hotbed of socialists, Ontario.

In other words, Wynne has presided over a more fiscally conservative government than Prentice did.  >

 

[Kat Stevens]

On this site I thought we appreciated people who say it like it is  ?  Was it insulting?  Perhaps.  Was it honest and true?  Yes.  Most people don't like it when you point out that their situation is self inflicted.  Like an earlier poster said you get the government that you deserve.  I thought the days of King Ralph were an embarrassment, and that the PC party was done the moment they started handing out $400 cheques vice actually saving for the future.  And now Albertans have no savings and a big deficit... look in the mirror indeed.

It was a stupid and arrogant statement, and that's why it bit him on the ass.  Just to be clear, you'd be okay if you hired someone to do a job with a very handsome pay and benefits package, entrusted them to steer the ship, and then when they run the company up on the rocks, be told "your fault dude, you hired me"?

 

[Edward Campbell]

On this site I thought we appreciated people who say it like it is  ?  Was it insulting?  Perhaps.  Was it honest and true?  Yes.  Most people don't like it when you point out that their situation is self inflicted.  Like an earlier poster said you get the government that you deserve.  I thought the days of King Ralph were an embarrassment, and that the PC party was done the moment they started handing out $400 cheques vice actually saving for the future.  And now Albertans have no savings and a big deficit... look in the mirror indeed.

Many of my friends in Alberta are freaking out, and my response is, "well someone had to vote for the NDP, they got 40%+ of the popular vote", only to be met by silence (meaning they probably voted NDP).  This is EXACTLY the same response that happened after the NDP win in Ontario.  No one would confess to voting NDP when 4 out of 10 people did.  I suspect those complaining the loudest are trying to cover their tracks...

That being said the Alberta NDP party is not leftist, its left of centre, more akin to the Liberals in Ontario or NS, just like the PC party is not right wing, its right of centre.  Its not like the Bob Rae NDP which were actually socialists.

And for who is going to pay the bills in transfer payments... don't worry, after a 5 years of essentially breaking even Ontario is back.

I'm not suggesting he was wrong, in fact I believe he was right: we do, usually, get the governments were deserve and governments do, usually, do what we ask. But the blame shouldn't rest with Albertans for asking; the blame should rest with successive PC governments for doing as the people asked when doing defied economic good sense.