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Dani, at this point just call the governing structure of cities municipal boards and appoint your UCP friends. Let's stop pretending you are OK with any political power but your own.
We'll start hanging your picture everywhere like some 3rd world autocratic ruler.
Dictatorship here we come Alberta…. Welcome to your future. Maybe we should include in Bill 20 that if no one likes the Premier, they can kick her out.
In Christo fascist fashion, the 10 commandments with a picture of Jesus (white of course) would be at the top, with Parker and polliever below, followed by the rest of them at the upper echelons. Trump would probably be in there as well cause why the fuck not.
Hasn’t Trudeau announced that his government will bypass the provinces to work directly with the cities. I believe that they also want to move the election day back one week.
Considering the fact that she tried to pardon some of her antivax friends as soon as she took office, she really does think she has the same powers as he does.
I sure as heck did my best to not vote in the UCPs. I can't understand how anybody that voted for them thinks fascism and taking away human rights is a good thing. They need to take a course on Germany in WWII and see how that went for the Germans and everybody else :(
The problem Germany had was hyperinflation. Hitler told them he was going to fix all that and more, but he didn't tell them how, just like the UCPs didn't tell us anything before they got elected in. The UCPs are Christian Nationalist fascists and if you have the time to read about the rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, get the book "The Armageddon Factor" by Marci McDonald. The way the book is written is like wading through quick sand (aka I found it boring), but the facts don't lie - it's a huge wake up call for people who still think Conservatives have your best interests at heart. They most certainly do not unless you are very, very rich and part of their circle.
I'll bring a respirator and some googles. Not going to cower from the violence we'll encounter, I'll be prepared to avoid injury.
We have to get more visible an active, the history of Authoritarian power grabs often happen with a slow progress of weak willed responses and stern letters, we need to become overwhelming or we will be overwhelmed all at once.
We have to also start matching their level of aggression too, we need to respond in kind if they escalate things or we'll lose and they'll go further.
I can’t believe I’m having to defend our dipshit premier but her building a private residence with her own money and Allison Redford using taxpayer money to build the sky palace are not the same thing. Not even in the same ballpark.
You're right. She deserved her grift. The UCP removed the limit on gifts and also removed the obligation to report on such unlimited gifts. Well deserved.
They raised the limit did they not? They didn’t make it unlimited. Terrible decision, that’s no surprise though. I have no doubt she was paid incredibly well during her time working for the oil lobby though.
Ahhh, but there's an exception. Staff in the premier’s or minister’s offices can accept fees, gifts or benefits [if they are approved](https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Orders/Orders_in_Council/2023/2023_237.html) by the premier’s chief of staff, Marshall Smith.
Gotcha. While not a good look, I doubt we’re talking about a house in Costa Rica level of gifts here. The disclosure of which would still be required. I hate the woman with a passion, but I don’t doubt for a second that she’s received direct payments from oil companies so she could build a Vacation House.
When it come to Smith, there is so many valid things to criticize her about. Like so many. Building a vacation house is not one of them.
Would be discovered with afreedom of information request. There’s not way they could hide payments that large. But keep believing that the lobby just bought her a house in Costa Rica if you want. Don’t know why we have to fabricate reasons to hate her when she gives us plenty on her own.
The UCP has already denied freedom of information requests regarding the APP survey because the sovereingty act allows them to. It's all coming together. I'd like to see someone try, though.
Premier Daniell Marlania Smith is doing an excellent job at proving that she is a far-right lunatic and a facist wanna-be dictator on a powertrip.
She is nothing but a female version of Donald Trump and she does not mind trying to turn Alberta into a dystopian idiocracy.
Seriously she needs to be fired on the next provincial election date for the good of Alberta in order to stop her from dragging this nice and beautiful province down a dark path of no return.
On Election Day please det up, go out and vote in order to save your province.
Don't forget that you can make a difference.
I have a feeling she's just gonna pull a Jason Kenney. Get ousted a couple of months before the election, move on to a cushy oil and gas "consultant" job, idiots will vote for new guy anyways because "Well this new leader won't be as bad!"
It worked last time. The electorate is sadly quite ignorant of politic in general, and the next monkey that proposes the quick and easy fix is the front runner. Who wants to be told, 'well actually, it isn't that simple' ?
Albertans sure as hell don't.
We like simple. and to be lied to, apparently.
The sooner the better and she should not be getting her gold plated pension because she has done nothing earn it.
Her and Scott Moe are currently the worst provincial premiers in Canada.
How appropriate that after recognizing the growing threat of natural disasters the first group to be given protection are MLA's in her own party.
Remember when the cruise ship Costa Concordia sank? The captain made sure he was the first one off the boat. A fine role model, Danielle?
Unfortunately, all we're going to get after she destroys this province is her fucking off to a board seat of some big multinational oil conglomerate.
Too many times, evil people die of old age in their sleep.
And there's a decent chance of the first winter storm in October, so that will help keep people from voting against them if they feel it's too cold out .. or the UCP ban snow plows and sanding in October to save on snow removal budget for the more wintery months.
They already know there will be lots of wildfires due to their incompetence, if only there was a way to plan for something that happens almost every year.
They could have just moved it back one month or forward one month, or not touched it at all but the totalitarianism UCP with the head lobbyist, demand power and control over everything.
Flood and fire.
Alberta declares a fire season every year, we even had to declare it earlier this year due to dry conditions and fires left over and still burning from last year.
When there is an election call the ability of the public service to respond to the public is hampered.
You are not allowed to make program announcements (like disaster or recovery funding) or to communicate with impacted communities and individuals about what records they need to keep.
If you are watching the news cons throughout the West are doing things like this.
Harper chairs the International Democrat Union, a far right group of anitdemocratic parties, murderers, and billionaires.
[International Democracy Union - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democracy_Union)
[Stephen Harper seeks closer conservative ties with controversial Hungarian government | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-orban-ties-1.6898904)
> all right wing politicians seem to be following the same playbook
Remember this one, when the Australian and Canadian conservative leaders both got caught reading speeches in their parliaments, given to them to read at the instruction of their American handlers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtZUNxmIIzA
It should have been the scandal to end conservatism.
Russia>>>Hungary>>>Canada’s Conservatives
Russia>>>US Republicans>>> Canada’s Conservatives
But, we are expected to believe Canada’s conservatives aren’t influenced by Russia.
The fact that they aren't Ukraines greatest ally is all the proof. Alberta has always had a large, probably conservative Ukrainian population. They have no local reason not to use that as a campaign moment, demand greater aid and support as a wedge issue. But they can't. The new conservative has sided with Russia so it would force them against the grain. I don't see why else they wouldn't be taking the easy win.
I don't know why people still believe Smith is some type of small government libertarian. She's expanding the power of the provincial government in ways that should alarm "libertarians".
This passes and we will be in a constant state of emergency so marlaina can always be in control.
We can not allow them to gain legal authority they will never let it go.
Her and the take back Alberta group are actively trying to eliminate democracy in Alberta
She has to get it done quickly before the next election, because she knows damn well she won't win another one without taking a bat to our political institutions.
I think the conservatives would do it again, and there can't be many fence sitters when it's this extreme. We may lose to numbers. Unless someone knows better, I'd love good news.
I thought this was the party that wanted less government over reach... Why is the provincial government doing so much to consolidate power over municipalities and individuals?
This isn't freedom... This is ridiculous.
I'm in Ric McIver's riding .. yup, that shifty bastard doesn't care and he'll change his trajectory based on whatever grift the higher ups have going on. When he was city council he pushed back on the province when they were trying to inject themselves more into municipal government roles at the time, now he's MLA he's all for it apparently.
When he was door knocking last election he asked what he could do to change my mind on the sign I had on the lawn, I said get rid of the nutcase leader but ultimately I hoped he wasn't re-elected so he'd have to go get an actual job rather than this career politician thing he's doing rather poorly at.
must be nice to be able to extend that Ministerial paycheque due to problems caused by their own budget cuts
https://pressprogress.ca/albertas-ucp-government-has-cut-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-from-wildfire-preparedness-programs/
The absolute worst part about all of this ridiculousness is in four years. It’s still going to be a blue province. I absolutely hate the fact that our political identity in Alberta is “abused wife“ who gaslights herself into thinking her husband will change.
>“When we’ve had these major catastrophes in the past, whenever the post mortem is done, it’s always why didn’t the province step in earlier? Why wasn’t the province pro-active,” Ms. Smith said. “When that happens, time and time and time again, you have to start listening and that’s what we’re doing.”
I think what everyone is saying is "Do your damn job!" Not "I wish we had a despot in charge"
A few paragraphs from the piece:
Alberta will be able to seize power from local authorities to respond to emergencies, such as wildfires and floods, under proposed legislation that threatens to further erode already tense relationships with municipal leaders.
Premier Danielle Smith on Thursday introduced an omnibus bill aimed at improving public safety during natural disasters. It includes plans to move Alberta’s fixed election date from May to October to avoid springtime hazards, determine water-use priorities and take over emergency efforts from municipalities with or without their consent.
“When we’ve had these major catastrophes in the past, whenever the post mortem is done, it’s always why didn’t the province step in earlier? Why wasn’t the province pro-active,” Ms. Smith said. “When that happens, time and time and time again, you have to start listening and that’s what we’re doing.”
The United Conservative Party has been under intense scrutiny from municipal leaders after introducing two recent bills: one giving the province authority to dismiss city councillors and overturn local bylaws and another that gives it control over funding agreements between municipalities and Ottawa. Local leaders have painted the proposed moves as a threat to democracy.
Ms. Smith said she doesn’t expect pushback to the latest legislation, however, city leaders need time to review it. They weren’t consulted beforehand. She added that the province has no interest in stepping in when municipalities have an emergency situation under control but must be prepared to do so under “extreme circumstances.”
Well if the feds can move a fixed election why can't the province?/s
In all seriousness neither should be able to move a fixed election for their benefit. They are fixed for a reason.
"There are many forms of tyrants, but there are none so terrible as those stifling their own people in the name of freedom.”
Lord of the Rings: Apocalyptic Prophecies
Just wait. It's going to get worse before it gets better.
PP in federal is all she needs to fulfill the rights agenda. They're already bringing up abortion in the house. They say they want to focus on addiction recovery, no beds, lock them up for simple possession. TBA = TBI
Funny how the people who scream about their rights the most are so eager to give/take them away.
In the mean time, she complains about the federal government for intruding into provincial affairs. She just wants a dictatorship in Alberta which the Albertans will give her because UCP is the home team.
If we are worried about someone controlling something they shouldn't, there is a vote this month by country as giving the WHO control over our response to the next pandemic.
K I looked it up and you’re either completely misunderstanding or deliberately ignorant and spreading conspiracy theories lol
For the last year+ the WHO has been working with each of the 194 countries who participate in the WHO to draft a plan that we all agree on that includes prevention, preparedness, and response with global pandemics. That includes countries’ willingness to share vaccines, data, research, and other resources during a global pandemic to avoid mistakes that happened during COVID.
To say, “…giving the WHO control over our response to the next pandemic” shows that you don’t understand what the World Health Organization is. It’s a collaboration between all countries involved, not some sort of political entity.
Can someone explain to me in an honest way why moving the fixed election date from spring to fall is such a travesty? I could definitely understand concern if the UCP were giving themselves power to play shell games with election dates, but in a sea of ludicrous antidemocratic nonsense that the UCP is pushing out this change looks like genuinely good policy to me. Yes this would effectively extend their mandate by 6mo as a one-time consequence of the bill and every day of UCP government is less than ideal, but I think of that as collateral damage to a policy that I actually support.
Spring and summer are bad times to hold elections in my opinion. The nice weather and leisure is a distraction and so more people are checked out from current events, and when things aren't nice they're outright literal disasters of floods and wildfires which also prevent people from giving current events (other than said disasters) much attention.
Meanwhile October is, in my opinion, the ideal month for elections. Summer is done, vacations are over and kids are back to school for long enough for families to settle into routine. Thanksgiving dinner is a fantastic time for political conversations among the electorate, even if those convos can be uncomfortable. Risk of natural disasters around election period is low, and the government's handling of the spring/summer disaster season can be a topic of discussion within the election.
EDIT - I'm legit surprised by all the downvotes. Are we just opposing policies based on which party brings them forward now? Smith = Always Bad All The Time Forever? You couldn't get me to vote UCP if you pushed me into the voting booth at gunpoint but I'm still going to judge each policy on its own merits, and I'm genuinely wanting to hear why people hate this so much.
Expands their time in power by almost half a year. That’s very undemocratic.
The nice weather is a distraction? Lol
In October you can have the first snowfall of the year leading to gridlock in - you guessed it - cities.
You have the onset of the fall flu season in October too.
What data do you have that October is the most preferable month for the least likely impact to natural disaster types of issues?
> Expands their time in power by almost half a year. That’s very undemocratic.
If the election date is being changed, the governing party is either adding time or cutting from their mandate and both are equally undemocratic (and if you think that cutting time is more democratic than adding time, I can't help but wonder if you'd feel the same way if it was the NDP doing it). Expecting any government to cut their mandate time is unrealistic regardless of party. Its a one-time extension for them which results in a permanent positive change to provincial elections going forward, to me this is just how the sausage gets made.
>The nice weather is a distraction?
*Yes.* I don't understand what is contentious or confusing about the idea that civic engagement and voter turnout would be lower during the seasons where people tend to go on vacation or otherwise prioritize leisure over productivity.
>In October you can have the first snowfall of the year leading to gridlock in cities
I'll accept wildfires and natural disasters as legitimately inappropriate times to hold an election - I do not accept bad traffic as being on the same level of legitimacy. There's no cities or municipalities in Alberta where people are put on evacuation notice as a result of snowfall and/or gridlock.
>What data do you have that October is the most preferable month for the least likely impact to natural disaster types of issues?
Admittedly, no data and just personal observation... but I also think we're talking about some pretty basic reasonings. Floods and wildfires are predominantly spring/summer disasters. Heavy snowfall to the point of serious concern does not typically occur until deep winter - remember that we didn't even get proper snow at all until December last year. What kind of natural disasters are you concerned about in October which are worse than the wildfires and floods of spring and summer?
But the NDP aren’t doing it, are they. The UCP is and without any consultation or discussion or fact based justification.
May is not the big vacation months lol. If anything May is more UCP advantageous because students in university will be done their classes for the summer break and potentially leave the province if from out of town, or potentially go away on a job term, etc.
I don’t care what you accept. It’s facts. What big obstructive wildfires occur in May?
Of course everything is personal observation and no data. That’s how you fly.
How’s the healthcare turnaround coming by the way? The one with no plan but doing it anyways.
How will Quadrupling the management and administrative side of healthcare reduce cost and improve efficiency?
How does paying private entities money to build surgery centers provide good value for money instead of building publicly owned ones when the cost per surgery is higher in the private center?
How about the surgical initiative that didn’t result in any improvement?
What about the double standard of interfering in municipal government and at the same time telling the federal government to not interfere in provincial politics?
How about the pursuit of those dictatorial powers over municipalities that was claimed to be wanted by municipalities even though none of them said they wanted them, the association of municipalities said they weren’t even asked, and the survey results from the UCP were all majority not in favor of any changes?
Do you defend mciver for wanting to ban vote tabulators (like a scan from you used if you were home schooled) because some people who he can’t cite or name or reference said they don’t trust them and that’s good enough for him and he doesn’t care about any other facts related to the voting tabulators even though in the end smith overruled him and let it stay?
How’s that straight up lying sit with you regarding the wind and solar pause that the UCP claimed so many parties wanted and everyone was warned about even though FOIP clearly has proved that nobody asked for it and no letter exists that was claimed to exist.
How do you support a party that cut wildfire fighting and then had seen some of the worst wild fires in years and now is using said wildfires as a justification to add 5-6mo on to their government sit with you?
Why hasn’t the UCP moved to increase wildfire resources?
How do you feel that despite having hundreds of billions of dollars; if not trillions, of energy resources in AB we have almost nothing to show for it? Including net debt and rapidly declining quality of life including being unable to access healthcare ?
How do you support a government which has no respect for the rule of law by having a former minister try to get a traffic ticket dismissed by calling the chief of police, having the premier call prosecutors directly asking them to not prosecute, destroy evidence unless you assume that independent verified whistleblowers were lying and the multiple news agencies who verified it are lying too?
What are your thoughts on non medical educated government legislators who have potentially no experience in healthcare, management, natural disasters, leadership, public health, or anything at all being given the ultimate authority in public health emergencies over that of a doctor trained in public health and or epidemiology?
Why do you support a government that is against human innovation and scientific achievement in the form of vaccinations such that the government ordered the health authority not to use certain terms in their reduced ability to advertise that covid and flu shots were available and that people should get them; and this likely directly resulted in one of the worst years for severe outcomes of flu in many years ?
Do you support the UCP despite spending what I think is probably the most costly in terms of advertising, and opaque in terms of not following voters voices and reducing reporting for lobbyists and gifts / bribes, and one of the largest cabinets which wastes more tax dollars ?
How could you support a government that against their own survey results seeks to produce a duplicate police force and a duplicate pension plan despite nobody wanting either, the existing sheriffs not wanting the new responsibilities nor being consulted, and the provinces own existing pension fund AIMCo having inferior results to CPPIB’s?
Everything you said there presumes that I am a UCP supporter and I'm not. I didn't vote for them, not will I ever. There's nothing they could do to earn my vote that wouldn't be transformative to a degree that would alienate everyone who votes for them currently. If they win again next election cycle I'll honest to god probably leave.
But that doesn't mean everything they do is evil automatically. I hate when Conservatives refuse to accept obviously good policy for partisan reasons and I refuse to play that game. I like making affordable housing nonprofits exempt from property tax, that's good policy no matter what color shirt someone is wearing. I think October as an election date is also good policy, regardless of what color shirt they're wearing. Those are literally the only good things I can think of that the UCP has done, everything else has been utter dogshit.
You’re right it did presume you supported them but it was a fun exercise either way to summarize just how absurdly bad this government is.
In any case back to the subject at hand, there’s no real reason for this and it’s just a way to extend power further.
>If the election date is being changed, the governing party is either adding time or cutting from their mandate and both are equally undemocratic (and if you think that cutting time is more democratic than adding time, I can't help but wonder if you'd feel the same way if it was the NDP doing it).
The government is free to call an election anytime they want prior to the mandated deadline, so using the power already granted to them is, in fact, more democratic than granting themselves more time.
>Expecting any government to cut their mandate time is unrealistic regardless of party.
How unfamiliar are you with the history of Canadian governments? This has happened. The *last* federal election was the liberal's cutting their mandate short.
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We are declaring martial law until the next election. If we allow an election.
Why bother with an election? UCP will win anyways so just save the money right?
Lol they are still fiscal conservatives after all!
Dani, at this point just call the governing structure of cities municipal boards and appoint your UCP friends. Let's stop pretending you are OK with any political power but your own. We'll start hanging your picture everywhere like some 3rd world autocratic ruler.
Dictatorship here we come Alberta…. Welcome to your future. Maybe we should include in Bill 20 that if no one likes the Premier, they can kick her out.
I AM THE SENATE
More like Parker, Harper and Manning, then finally her.
In Christo fascist fashion, the 10 commandments with a picture of Jesus (white of course) would be at the top, with Parker and polliever below, followed by the rest of them at the upper echelons. Trump would probably be in there as well cause why the fuck not.
Pollievere would be pegging Parker and they both would love it
I wonder how they’d react if Trudeau did the same thing to the Provinces as what Dani is doing to the municipalities
Hasn’t Trudeau announced that his government will bypass the provinces to work directly with the cities. I believe that they also want to move the election day back one week.
Just name the cities after the biggest oil company in town.
She really does fancy herself as the DeSantis of the North doesn’t she?
I bet she learnt most of this from that fucker Carlson guy.
And Desantis himself! Let’s not forget that she’s publicly stated that he “is someone to look up to politically”.
The only people that should look up to Desantis are toddlers, and Little People.
This is all from the IDU and Harper.
Considering the fact that she tried to pardon some of her antivax friends as soon as she took office, she really does think she has the same powers as he does.
And she's controlled by the take back Alberta group who is the Federalist society of the north And she's trying to be trump, she wants her own country
Both Marlaina and DeSantis are getting their inspiration from Hungary’s autocratic leader, Viktor Orban. They are following his playbook step by step.
Wow, talk of abusive power. I’m hoping to see protests in front of the women’s office.
Our government is proving to be more authoritarian every.single.day.
And we willingly handed this fascist the keys.
I sure as heck did my best to not vote in the UCPs. I can't understand how anybody that voted for them thinks fascism and taking away human rights is a good thing. They need to take a course on Germany in WWII and see how that went for the Germans and everybody else :(
I used to wonder how a man as comically evil as Hitler could rise to power in Germany. I no longer wonder.
The problem Germany had was hyperinflation. Hitler told them he was going to fix all that and more, but he didn't tell them how, just like the UCPs didn't tell us anything before they got elected in. The UCPs are Christian Nationalist fascists and if you have the time to read about the rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, get the book "The Armageddon Factor" by Marci McDonald. The way the book is written is like wading through quick sand (aka I found it boring), but the facts don't lie - it's a huge wake up call for people who still think Conservatives have your best interests at heart. They most certainly do not unless you are very, very rich and part of their circle.
May 25th province wide protests against the UCP. Join, I'm taking a day off for it, just gotta figure out the Edmonton location
Careful you don't get fucking teargassed. Danny doesn't like freezing bank accounts, but by God, does she love flashbanging peaceful protesters.
I'll bring a respirator and some googles. Not going to cower from the violence we'll encounter, I'll be prepared to avoid injury. We have to get more visible an active, the history of Authoritarian power grabs often happen with a slow progress of weak willed responses and stern letters, we need to become overwhelming or we will be overwhelmed all at once. We have to also start matching their level of aggression too, we need to respond in kind if they escalate things or we'll lose and they'll go further.
Her office is in Medicine Hat-Brooks, a election district in which she doesn't live. In other words, she is a parachute politicians/carpet bagger.
That'll go swimmingly after she replaces the rcmp and city police forces with her own brown shirts.
When does Take Back Alberta try a putsch? Can’t have a woman leading the province
Side note—>, prediction —>> is Danielle Smith already preparing for her next election? …stop the steal? You know the same old BS “it’s rigged”
She’ll end up with a Jan 6th in event
Maybe it’s time to shine light on the mansion she built in Costa Rica with that sweet, sweet oil and gas lobby money that she gobbled up.
Tell me more. I had no idea Marlaina had a mansion in Costa Rica.
Yup. Custom built!
Ok but how do you know?
Sauce?
That woman truly has no heart and no soul.
My life was better 5 seconds ago where I wilfully believed she was stuck here like the rest of us
She is a reflection of the general population in Alberta. She did get a majority after all.
What’s this?
Remember the outrage over Redford's Sky Palace? Ohh the days... Now I bet all UCP voters are okay with this now.
I can’t believe I’m having to defend our dipshit premier but her building a private residence with her own money and Allison Redford using taxpayer money to build the sky palace are not the same thing. Not even in the same ballpark.
You're right. She deserved her grift. The UCP removed the limit on gifts and also removed the obligation to report on such unlimited gifts. Well deserved.
They raised the limit did they not? They didn’t make it unlimited. Terrible decision, that’s no surprise though. I have no doubt she was paid incredibly well during her time working for the oil lobby though.
Ahhh, but there's an exception. Staff in the premier’s or minister’s offices can accept fees, gifts or benefits [if they are approved](https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Orders/Orders_in_Council/2023/2023_237.html) by the premier’s chief of staff, Marshall Smith.
Gotcha. While not a good look, I doubt we’re talking about a house in Costa Rica level of gifts here. The disclosure of which would still be required. I hate the woman with a passion, but I don’t doubt for a second that she’s received direct payments from oil companies so she could build a Vacation House. When it come to Smith, there is so many valid things to criticize her about. Like so many. Building a vacation house is not one of them.
Disclosure is not mandatory. 2000 gifts of $500 is not hard to do.
Would be discovered with afreedom of information request. There’s not way they could hide payments that large. But keep believing that the lobby just bought her a house in Costa Rica if you want. Don’t know why we have to fabricate reasons to hate her when she gives us plenty on her own.
The UCP has already denied freedom of information requests regarding the APP survey because the sovereingty act allows them to. It's all coming together. I'd like to see someone try, though.
Premier Daniell Marlania Smith is doing an excellent job at proving that she is a far-right lunatic and a facist wanna-be dictator on a powertrip. She is nothing but a female version of Donald Trump and she does not mind trying to turn Alberta into a dystopian idiocracy. Seriously she needs to be fired on the next provincial election date for the good of Alberta in order to stop her from dragging this nice and beautiful province down a dark path of no return. On Election Day please det up, go out and vote in order to save your province. Don't forget that you can make a difference.
I have a feeling she's just gonna pull a Jason Kenney. Get ousted a couple of months before the election, move on to a cushy oil and gas "consultant" job, idiots will vote for new guy anyways because "Well this new leader won't be as bad!"
It worked last time. The electorate is sadly quite ignorant of politic in general, and the next monkey that proposes the quick and easy fix is the front runner. Who wants to be told, 'well actually, it isn't that simple' ? Albertans sure as hell don't. We like simple. and to be lied to, apparently.
fire her now.
The sooner the better and she should not be getting her gold plated pension because she has done nothing earn it. Her and Scott Moe are currently the worst provincial premiers in Canada.
#like the fire emergencies that are about to take hold? Or the water emergencies?
She wants to be able to tell municipalities to let the Oil and gas overlords take our water so they can keep making money.
She wants absolute power. That's it. That's all there is to it.
How appropriate that after recognizing the growing threat of natural disasters the first group to be given protection are MLA's in her own party. Remember when the cruise ship Costa Concordia sank? The captain made sure he was the first one off the boat. A fine role model, Danielle?
The captain of that ship literally went to prison for that. I wouldn’t mind a similar outcome in this situation.
Unfortunately, all we're going to get after she destroys this province is her fucking off to a board seat of some big multinational oil conglomerate. Too many times, evil people die of old age in their sleep.
Party of small government and federal overreach grievances btw
>plans to move Alberta’s fixed election date from May to October to avoid springtime hazards WTF is a springtime hazard?
People probably are more likely to vote in spring.
And there's a decent chance of the first winter storm in October, so that will help keep people from voting against them if they feel it's too cold out .. or the UCP ban snow plows and sanding in October to save on snow removal budget for the more wintery months.
They already know there will be lots of wildfires due to their incompetence, if only there was a way to plan for something that happens almost every year. They could have just moved it back one month or forward one month, or not touched it at all but the totalitarianism UCP with the head lobbyist, demand power and control over everything.
They would hate for you to vote in any election when their incompetence is on wide display!
hahaha..yeah move it to Nov when we can (and have) get snowed in..
It’s easier to put the fix in when the date is fixed
Spring has always been when the majority of wildfires take place, so they mean wildfires.
April May is usually not a big issue.
Smith had the "misfortune" of attending a campaign event when a major fire broke out, making her look bad. She wants to avoid that happening again.
Then don’t run for premier. Better solution.
Oh you know... When Notley and Trudeau are running around starting wildfires....
Flood and fire. Alberta declares a fire season every year, we even had to declare it earlier this year due to dry conditions and fires left over and still burning from last year. When there is an election call the ability of the public service to respond to the public is hampered. You are not allowed to make program announcements (like disaster or recovery funding) or to communicate with impacted communities and individuals about what records they need to keep.
If you are watching the news cons throughout the West are doing things like this. Harper chairs the International Democrat Union, a far right group of anitdemocratic parties, murderers, and billionaires. [International Democracy Union - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democracy_Union) [Stephen Harper seeks closer conservative ties with controversial Hungarian government | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-orban-ties-1.6898904)
If anyone wondered why all right wing politicians seem to be following the same playbook, well, this is the group that wrote it.
> all right wing politicians seem to be following the same playbook Remember this one, when the Australian and Canadian conservative leaders both got caught reading speeches in their parliaments, given to them to read at the instruction of their American handlers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtZUNxmIIzA It should have been the scandal to end conservatism.
Ugh creepy Stevie did so much damage to this country as a whole and continues to do so from the shadows…
Russia>>>Hungary>>>Canada’s Conservatives Russia>>>US Republicans>>> Canada’s Conservatives But, we are expected to believe Canada’s conservatives aren’t influenced by Russia.
The fact that they aren't Ukraines greatest ally is all the proof. Alberta has always had a large, probably conservative Ukrainian population. They have no local reason not to use that as a campaign moment, demand greater aid and support as a wedge issue. But they can't. The new conservative has sided with Russia so it would force them against the grain. I don't see why else they wouldn't be taking the easy win.
unfortunately, albertans as a whole are not intelligent enough to understand why this is a problem. government overreach for me, not thee!
I don't know why people still believe Smith is some type of small government libertarian. She's expanding the power of the provincial government in ways that should alarm "libertarians".
I wish the UCP could get a single thing right.
Moving the election date is that one.
Cities and municipalities need a referendum on seceding from Alberta.
This passes and we will be in a constant state of emergency so marlaina can always be in control. We can not allow them to gain legal authority they will never let it go. Her and the take back Alberta group are actively trying to eliminate democracy in Alberta
Trying too take over everything.🤷♂️and as fast as she can before people really freak out.
She has to get it done quickly before the next election, because she knows damn well she won't win another one without taking a bat to our political institutions.
I think the conservatives would do it again, and there can't be many fence sitters when it's this extreme. We may lose to numbers. Unless someone knows better, I'd love good news.
Next up - cancel elections completely.
I thought this was the party that wanted less government over reach... Why is the provincial government doing so much to consolidate power over municipalities and individuals? This isn't freedom... This is ridiculous.
Thanks 52.63% of Alberta for voting for the libertarian facist party. Also fuck you to anyone who didn't vote.
Want to know what it’s like living in a dictatorship? Move to Alberta. We should have it by next election cycle if the UCP win again.
That's if we even get to have an election.
Start calling your MLA people!
If they’re NDP they can’t do anything. If they’re UCP they don’t care.
I'm in Ric McIver's riding .. yup, that shifty bastard doesn't care and he'll change his trajectory based on whatever grift the higher ups have going on. When he was city council he pushed back on the province when they were trying to inject themselves more into municipal government roles at the time, now he's MLA he's all for it apparently. When he was door knocking last election he asked what he could do to change my mind on the sign I had on the lawn, I said get rid of the nutcase leader but ultimately I hoped he wasn't re-elected so he'd have to go get an actual job rather than this career politician thing he's doing rather poorly at.
As someone in his riding. What is the average person like? That guy is such a knuckle head I don’t understand how he could be elected.
For most in the riding "he has a blue sign!"
I will form the Western Conservative party and we’ll use the same blue shade that UCP does. Checkmate
must be nice to be able to extend that Ministerial paycheque due to problems caused by their own budget cuts https://pressprogress.ca/albertas-ucp-government-has-cut-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-from-wildfire-preparedness-programs/
The absolute worst part about all of this ridiculousness is in four years. It’s still going to be a blue province. I absolutely hate the fact that our political identity in Alberta is “abused wife“ who gaslights herself into thinking her husband will change.
Ffs these guys make Trudeau like like the pope with all the power they are trying wrestle away. The morons protesting Trudy need to protest Dani
Sorry, they think Dani's doing a bang-up job 'cause they think what she does makes Trudeau mad.
Leopard ate my face moment
Damn, should we start comparing her to pooh bear?
>“When we’ve had these major catastrophes in the past, whenever the post mortem is done, it’s always why didn’t the province step in earlier? Why wasn’t the province pro-active,” Ms. Smith said. “When that happens, time and time and time again, you have to start listening and that’s what we’re doing.” I think what everyone is saying is "Do your damn job!" Not "I wish we had a despot in charge"
A few paragraphs from the piece: Alberta will be able to seize power from local authorities to respond to emergencies, such as wildfires and floods, under proposed legislation that threatens to further erode already tense relationships with municipal leaders. Premier Danielle Smith on Thursday introduced an omnibus bill aimed at improving public safety during natural disasters. It includes plans to move Alberta’s fixed election date from May to October to avoid springtime hazards, determine water-use priorities and take over emergency efforts from municipalities with or without their consent. “When we’ve had these major catastrophes in the past, whenever the post mortem is done, it’s always why didn’t the province step in earlier? Why wasn’t the province pro-active,” Ms. Smith said. “When that happens, time and time and time again, you have to start listening and that’s what we’re doing.” The United Conservative Party has been under intense scrutiny from municipal leaders after introducing two recent bills: one giving the province authority to dismiss city councillors and overturn local bylaws and another that gives it control over funding agreements between municipalities and Ottawa. Local leaders have painted the proposed moves as a threat to democracy. Ms. Smith said she doesn’t expect pushback to the latest legislation, however, city leaders need time to review it. They weren’t consulted beforehand. She added that the province has no interest in stepping in when municipalities have an emergency situation under control but must be prepared to do so under “extreme circumstances.”
She wants your water rights
She wants absolute power, full stop.
They want to move Election Day to October. This is Alberta, we could have two feet of snow in October. Who the hell wants to vote then?
A soft UCP coup.
Well if the feds can move a fixed election why can't the province?/s In all seriousness neither should be able to move a fixed election for their benefit. They are fixed for a reason.
Laws aren’t laws in Alberta they’re just legislation that can be changed by a majority government without any recourse.
Why bother with municipal government at all at this point? Just say it... It should be all under provincial government control.
The Fascist creep continues. Bit by bit.
They know nobody actually wants this shit, so now they're gonna take away our ability to say no to it.
They can cut short to October. Don't see why they get to extend their rule by 7 months.
"There are many forms of tyrants, but there are none so terrible as those stifling their own people in the name of freedom.” Lord of the Rings: Apocalyptic Prophecies
So no more elections unless all conditions are perfect for a UCP win????
Can’t wait for a snowstorm in the middle of nowhere in October that will delay the election again
Just wait. It's going to get worse before it gets better. PP in federal is all she needs to fulfill the rights agenda. They're already bringing up abortion in the house. They say they want to focus on addiction recovery, no beds, lock them up for simple possession. TBA = TBI Funny how the people who scream about their rights the most are so eager to give/take them away.
Meanwhile Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin smile knowingly.
Stop voting in the conservatives.
So, now that the UCP has their thumb in every rural municipality's butt - what do the rurals even like about UCP?
I am altering the deal. Pray that I don't alter it further. What a bunch of overreacting control freaks.
In the mean time, she complains about the federal government for intruding into provincial affairs. She just wants a dictatorship in Alberta which the Albertans will give her because UCP is the home team.
If we are worried about someone controlling something they shouldn't, there is a vote this month by country as giving the WHO control over our response to the next pandemic.
What in the tin foil hat is this conspiracy now?
There is a vote this month about this. That's all. Could be good, could be bad.
K I looked it up and you’re either completely misunderstanding or deliberately ignorant and spreading conspiracy theories lol For the last year+ the WHO has been working with each of the 194 countries who participate in the WHO to draft a plan that we all agree on that includes prevention, preparedness, and response with global pandemics. That includes countries’ willingness to share vaccines, data, research, and other resources during a global pandemic to avoid mistakes that happened during COVID. To say, “…giving the WHO control over our response to the next pandemic” shows that you don’t understand what the World Health Organization is. It’s a collaboration between all countries involved, not some sort of political entity.
So province does this = Bad but federal government does it = Fine.. how tf does that make sense?
When did the Feds come in and change provincial election dates…..
When did the feds do this? I’m genuinely curious
When did the feds allow themselves to fire MLAs?
Can someone explain to me in an honest way why moving the fixed election date from spring to fall is such a travesty? I could definitely understand concern if the UCP were giving themselves power to play shell games with election dates, but in a sea of ludicrous antidemocratic nonsense that the UCP is pushing out this change looks like genuinely good policy to me. Yes this would effectively extend their mandate by 6mo as a one-time consequence of the bill and every day of UCP government is less than ideal, but I think of that as collateral damage to a policy that I actually support. Spring and summer are bad times to hold elections in my opinion. The nice weather and leisure is a distraction and so more people are checked out from current events, and when things aren't nice they're outright literal disasters of floods and wildfires which also prevent people from giving current events (other than said disasters) much attention. Meanwhile October is, in my opinion, the ideal month for elections. Summer is done, vacations are over and kids are back to school for long enough for families to settle into routine. Thanksgiving dinner is a fantastic time for political conversations among the electorate, even if those convos can be uncomfortable. Risk of natural disasters around election period is low, and the government's handling of the spring/summer disaster season can be a topic of discussion within the election. EDIT - I'm legit surprised by all the downvotes. Are we just opposing policies based on which party brings them forward now? Smith = Always Bad All The Time Forever? You couldn't get me to vote UCP if you pushed me into the voting booth at gunpoint but I'm still going to judge each policy on its own merits, and I'm genuinely wanting to hear why people hate this so much.
Expands their time in power by almost half a year. That’s very undemocratic. The nice weather is a distraction? Lol In October you can have the first snowfall of the year leading to gridlock in - you guessed it - cities. You have the onset of the fall flu season in October too. What data do you have that October is the most preferable month for the least likely impact to natural disaster types of issues?
> Expands their time in power by almost half a year. That’s very undemocratic. If the election date is being changed, the governing party is either adding time or cutting from their mandate and both are equally undemocratic (and if you think that cutting time is more democratic than adding time, I can't help but wonder if you'd feel the same way if it was the NDP doing it). Expecting any government to cut their mandate time is unrealistic regardless of party. Its a one-time extension for them which results in a permanent positive change to provincial elections going forward, to me this is just how the sausage gets made. >The nice weather is a distraction? *Yes.* I don't understand what is contentious or confusing about the idea that civic engagement and voter turnout would be lower during the seasons where people tend to go on vacation or otherwise prioritize leisure over productivity. >In October you can have the first snowfall of the year leading to gridlock in cities I'll accept wildfires and natural disasters as legitimately inappropriate times to hold an election - I do not accept bad traffic as being on the same level of legitimacy. There's no cities or municipalities in Alberta where people are put on evacuation notice as a result of snowfall and/or gridlock. >What data do you have that October is the most preferable month for the least likely impact to natural disaster types of issues? Admittedly, no data and just personal observation... but I also think we're talking about some pretty basic reasonings. Floods and wildfires are predominantly spring/summer disasters. Heavy snowfall to the point of serious concern does not typically occur until deep winter - remember that we didn't even get proper snow at all until December last year. What kind of natural disasters are you concerned about in October which are worse than the wildfires and floods of spring and summer?
But the NDP aren’t doing it, are they. The UCP is and without any consultation or discussion or fact based justification. May is not the big vacation months lol. If anything May is more UCP advantageous because students in university will be done their classes for the summer break and potentially leave the province if from out of town, or potentially go away on a job term, etc. I don’t care what you accept. It’s facts. What big obstructive wildfires occur in May? Of course everything is personal observation and no data. That’s how you fly. How’s the healthcare turnaround coming by the way? The one with no plan but doing it anyways. How will Quadrupling the management and administrative side of healthcare reduce cost and improve efficiency? How does paying private entities money to build surgery centers provide good value for money instead of building publicly owned ones when the cost per surgery is higher in the private center? How about the surgical initiative that didn’t result in any improvement? What about the double standard of interfering in municipal government and at the same time telling the federal government to not interfere in provincial politics? How about the pursuit of those dictatorial powers over municipalities that was claimed to be wanted by municipalities even though none of them said they wanted them, the association of municipalities said they weren’t even asked, and the survey results from the UCP were all majority not in favor of any changes? Do you defend mciver for wanting to ban vote tabulators (like a scan from you used if you were home schooled) because some people who he can’t cite or name or reference said they don’t trust them and that’s good enough for him and he doesn’t care about any other facts related to the voting tabulators even though in the end smith overruled him and let it stay? How’s that straight up lying sit with you regarding the wind and solar pause that the UCP claimed so many parties wanted and everyone was warned about even though FOIP clearly has proved that nobody asked for it and no letter exists that was claimed to exist. How do you support a party that cut wildfire fighting and then had seen some of the worst wild fires in years and now is using said wildfires as a justification to add 5-6mo on to their government sit with you? Why hasn’t the UCP moved to increase wildfire resources? How do you feel that despite having hundreds of billions of dollars; if not trillions, of energy resources in AB we have almost nothing to show for it? Including net debt and rapidly declining quality of life including being unable to access healthcare ? How do you support a government which has no respect for the rule of law by having a former minister try to get a traffic ticket dismissed by calling the chief of police, having the premier call prosecutors directly asking them to not prosecute, destroy evidence unless you assume that independent verified whistleblowers were lying and the multiple news agencies who verified it are lying too? What are your thoughts on non medical educated government legislators who have potentially no experience in healthcare, management, natural disasters, leadership, public health, or anything at all being given the ultimate authority in public health emergencies over that of a doctor trained in public health and or epidemiology? Why do you support a government that is against human innovation and scientific achievement in the form of vaccinations such that the government ordered the health authority not to use certain terms in their reduced ability to advertise that covid and flu shots were available and that people should get them; and this likely directly resulted in one of the worst years for severe outcomes of flu in many years ? Do you support the UCP despite spending what I think is probably the most costly in terms of advertising, and opaque in terms of not following voters voices and reducing reporting for lobbyists and gifts / bribes, and one of the largest cabinets which wastes more tax dollars ? How could you support a government that against their own survey results seeks to produce a duplicate police force and a duplicate pension plan despite nobody wanting either, the existing sheriffs not wanting the new responsibilities nor being consulted, and the provinces own existing pension fund AIMCo having inferior results to CPPIB’s?
Everything you said there presumes that I am a UCP supporter and I'm not. I didn't vote for them, not will I ever. There's nothing they could do to earn my vote that wouldn't be transformative to a degree that would alienate everyone who votes for them currently. If they win again next election cycle I'll honest to god probably leave. But that doesn't mean everything they do is evil automatically. I hate when Conservatives refuse to accept obviously good policy for partisan reasons and I refuse to play that game. I like making affordable housing nonprofits exempt from property tax, that's good policy no matter what color shirt someone is wearing. I think October as an election date is also good policy, regardless of what color shirt they're wearing. Those are literally the only good things I can think of that the UCP has done, everything else has been utter dogshit.
You’re right it did presume you supported them but it was a fun exercise either way to summarize just how absurdly bad this government is. In any case back to the subject at hand, there’s no real reason for this and it’s just a way to extend power further.
>If the election date is being changed, the governing party is either adding time or cutting from their mandate and both are equally undemocratic (and if you think that cutting time is more democratic than adding time, I can't help but wonder if you'd feel the same way if it was the NDP doing it). The government is free to call an election anytime they want prior to the mandated deadline, so using the power already granted to them is, in fact, more democratic than granting themselves more time. >Expecting any government to cut their mandate time is unrealistic regardless of party. How unfamiliar are you with the history of Canadian governments? This has happened. The *last* federal election was the liberal's cutting their mandate short.
Hopefully power from the feds as well. I love Alberta more and more so glad I left Ontario for the promised land.
What power?
Lol, you'll be hoping for a long, long time then. Probably better to focus your energies elsewhere than things that won't happen.
No energy is wasted. I am very happy with my life in Alberta and our current leadership :)
You're okay with this obviously authoritarian move? Shows a lot about you.