"One should doubtless keep an open mind...though open at both ends, like the food pipe, and have a capacity for excretion as well as intake." -- Northrop Frye, 'The Great Code'
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Alberta's radical new premier's radical new chief of staff hates Alberta energy
Just frickin' lovely! Here's Ezra Levant with Brian Topp's resumé:
Can things get any worse for Alberta and Canada? You bet they can.
To be honest it amazes me that anyone would have expected anything different from an NDP government. While I well understand that Alberta voters were disgusted with the PCs and wanted them out, electing an NDP government was cutting off your nose to spite your face. The damage that will be inflicted on the province during the next four years will be very difficult if not impossible to reverse. The result will be turning Alberta into another Ontario.
If Alberta turns into another Ontario (as it probably will) where will the money come from for equalization payments to the have-not provinces. When every province except Saskatchewan is a have-not province, then we will all be equal, so no payments needed - or will Saskatchewan be expected to carry all of us?
Anonymous #2 - BC is still a have province so it would be BC and Saskatchewan. I agree Brian Topp is a horrible choice, but I wonder if the NDP are there for a good time or a long time (in reference to Dave Barrett's win in 1972). If for the former, but very scared as they will try to push as many left wing policies as they can knowing they will be a one term wonder and hope their replacement will only undo some as was the case with Barrett in 1972. If the latter, it will be okay. Roy Romanow and Gary Doer did a decent job as premiers of their respective provinces and while I would have not voted for either, they were disasters like in BC and Ontario. Likewise across the pond, Britain has had mixed results under Labour with some like James Callaghan and Harold Wilson being disasters, but Tony Blair who was more centrist was quite successful (and part of the reason Brown and Millbrand lost as they moved back to Old Labour as opposed to the more centrist New Labour).
It baffles me too, Alain. Granted that Wild Rose had recently been badly damaged by Danielle Smith's mind-boggling betrayal, but the Party was still much stronger than the NDP going into the election. One would have thought that the logical and far less risky option for supposedly conservative Albertans would have been Wild Rose. What they did was just weird.
JR - Abacus actually did an exit poll and I think the reason the Wildrose couldn't win is Alberta is fairly urban and also quite a young population. Amongst older Albertans, they overwhelmingly voted for parties on the right while younger ones voted for an outright NDP. I hate to say this but the generational gap in voting patterns is much larger in the Western provinces than Eastern provinces whereby parties on the right do really well amongst older voters thus why they dominate the West, but do poorly amongst younger voters thus indicating trouble down the road.
True many of the millennials have been spoiled and seem to want things without having to work hard and lack the work ethic of earlier generations, but that doesn't change the fact its an issue parties on the right are going to have to address if they want to keep the West a Conservative stronghold. The only good news is maybe one NDP government will wake up the millennials much like one NDP government in Ontario woke up everyone over 50 today on the dangers of the NDP.
These leftist clowns are gonna hurt Alberta reeeeal bad. Should be a lesson for the rest of the country, too.
ReplyDeleteAl in Cranbrook
To be honest it amazes me that anyone would have expected anything different from an NDP government. While I well understand that Alberta voters were disgusted with the PCs and wanted them out, electing an NDP government was cutting off your nose to spite your face. The damage that will be inflicted on the province during the next four years will be very difficult if not impossible to reverse. The result will be turning Alberta into another Ontario.
ReplyDeleteIf Alberta turns into another Ontario (as it probably will) where will the money come from for equalization payments to the have-not provinces. When every province except Saskatchewan is a have-not province, then we will all be equal, so no payments needed - or will Saskatchewan be expected to carry all of us?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #2 - BC is still a have province so it would be BC and Saskatchewan. I agree Brian Topp is a horrible choice, but I wonder if the NDP are there for a good time or a long time (in reference to Dave Barrett's win in 1972). If for the former, but very scared as they will try to push as many left wing policies as they can knowing they will be a one term wonder and hope their replacement will only undo some as was the case with Barrett in 1972. If the latter, it will be okay. Roy Romanow and Gary Doer did a decent job as premiers of their respective provinces and while I would have not voted for either, they were disasters like in BC and Ontario. Likewise across the pond, Britain has had mixed results under Labour with some like James Callaghan and Harold Wilson being disasters, but Tony Blair who was more centrist was quite successful (and part of the reason Brown and Millbrand lost as they moved back to Old Labour as opposed to the more centrist New Labour).
ReplyDeleteIt baffles me too, Alain. Granted that Wild Rose had recently been badly damaged by Danielle Smith's mind-boggling betrayal, but the Party was still much stronger than the NDP going into the election. One would have thought that the logical and far less risky option for supposedly conservative Albertans would have been Wild Rose. What they did was just weird.
ReplyDeleteJR - Abacus actually did an exit poll and I think the reason the Wildrose couldn't win is Alberta is fairly urban and also quite a young population. Amongst older Albertans, they overwhelmingly voted for parties on the right while younger ones voted for an outright NDP. I hate to say this but the generational gap in voting patterns is much larger in the Western provinces than Eastern provinces whereby parties on the right do really well amongst older voters thus why they dominate the West, but do poorly amongst younger voters thus indicating trouble down the road.
ReplyDeleteTrue many of the millennials have been spoiled and seem to want things without having to work hard and lack the work ethic of earlier generations, but that doesn't change the fact its an issue parties on the right are going to have to address if they want to keep the West a Conservative stronghold. The only good news is maybe one NDP government will wake up the millennials much like one NDP government in Ontario woke up everyone over 50 today on the dangers of the NDP.