Posturing is over… time to decide Alberta’s fate

BY JOHN MATHER

The Race is On and it Looks like Heartaches

And the winner loses all.

Well the race is on in Alberta and I’m going to be really curious about how this one plays out.

This is one election where I think voter turnout is going to be the most important aspect of the race.

We have the two main parties, the UCP and NDP firing salvos of mud at each other while at the same time patronizing us with big gobs of our own money being spent on building pet projects or advancing social programs.

There are a couple of lesser parties in this provincial slugfest, but I haven’t really seen them doing any serious sort of campaigning.

We have two female leaders both making serious comeback attempts to win the hearts and minds of Albertans.

Danielle Smith of the UCP, led the Wildrose a decade ago. She failed to win the government and crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservatives subsequently losing her seat not to mention a lot of political credibility.

But she came back from the ashes and put together a winning leadership campaign last fall after UCP's original leader, Jason Kenney was eaten by his own party.

Notley won the province for the NDP when the Jim Prentice Progressive Conservatives imploded in vote splitting with the Wildrose Party, allowing the NDP to come up the middle..

Her disastrous term led to Jason Kenney removing himself from an Ottawa perch to become the self proclaimed saviour of Alberta, merging the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives into the United Conservative Party.

Kenney promptly thrashed the Notley NDP, who had done nothing to endear themselves to Albertans during their term in office.

They did care about the urban centres but really irritated rural farmers as they tried to force unions on farm labourers, often family members.

So now Smith and Notley are vying for the ultimate comeback. I expect this election will be the end of the political road for one of them.

Can Smith expect to survive a palace coup if she doesn’t form the government? The UCP is a fractious lot and only a convincing win will help keep the various factions in line.

Can Notley survive the wrath of her union cronies if she doesn’t form the government? She has led the provincial socialists for quite a few years and no doubt some of her union buddies such as Gil McGowan would quickly pull out a knife and put it in her back if she doesn’t form the government. And realistically she must be getting tired of promoting ideas and theories which, while honourable on paper, really won’t hold water when put into real action.

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Letter: What have we come to?

I once believed that Canada was a Country of Freedom, a country where one felt safe, a country in which our Constitution, and Laws of the Land protected us. I believed it was a land where we could age relatively comfortably, and feel confident in that safety.

Recently, (Feb 2023), I was walking my small 15 lb dog, Bear, in a park in the small community of Bruderheim, one hour east of Edmonton, Alta. Bear was happy and anxious to be leashed so he could experience his usual stroll, sniff the fresh air, the grass, and enjoy all the little pet scents he normally explored. I am 76 years of age, and am awaiting knee surgery, so this excursion is also important and vitalizing for me.

As Bear and I strolled along one of the paths in the park, I noticed a person with two large dogs walking toward us. Bear barked,

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A debate between the two will be quite entertaining because both are very comfortable before the cameras and both are gifted speakers.

But the urban media is opposed to Smith. They like to slam her for talking to a “street preacher” who was involved with the convoy blockades near Coutts last winter. Smith should have known better, but the media just doesn’t want to let this go. And Danielle has been known to veer off script on occasion.

Notley is loved by the urban media. Her party has a stranglehold on Edmonton, yet many still don’t realize Notley will follow any directions against Alberta coming from the Trudeau Liberals, because her party leader Jagmeet Singh is keeping the Liberals in power.

And yes, the Alberta NDP is answerable to the Federal NDP.

Will she go against Jagmeet and his policies? Not likely. But then again I really doubt Singh will get an invite to visit Alberta during this campaign period.

As this election plays out both parties will introduce policies and spend more of and suddenly one of the dogs pulled the leash out of the owner’s hand and raced toward us.

Instinctively, I reached down and picked Bear up, holding him against my shoulder. The large dog jumped up on me, grabbed Bear by the leg with his teeth, knocking us over onto the ground.

Bear was screaming as the dog violated his little body, struggling to escape the terrifying, menacing onslaught of those deadly vicious jaws. I struggled up and attempted to protect us, also becoming the recipient of the terrorizing attack. Finally, the owner gained a semblance of control over the dog, and I was free to pick up the pieces from the vicious assault which had just been imposed upon us.

Continued on Page 22 our money if we vote for them.

This is an important election for Albertans… possibly one of the most important in our history as a province.

The UCP will stand up to Ottawa and will use steadfast conservative principles to guide our economy forward.

The NDP will roll over to Ottawa directives while promoting unnecessary social directives and green initiatives at the expense of our oil and gas industry.

In this election Albertans have to take a stand.

There may be some other parties to vote for but they haven’t been doing anything to make any headway against the two main parties. Should the vote be split and maybe usher in a minority government for the first time in the province’s history? Would a third party with absolutely no experience in governing be a strong fit to hold the balance of power?

This could be a good thing. Many very good pieces of legislation have come about because of consensus building forced on legislators by a minority government - but never in Alberta.

But this also an election that should show the great divide between urban and rural dwellers in this province.

Albertans need to get out and vote in this election.

It is no time to just sit around the campfire and talk politics.

It’s time to listen carefully to what’s being said. Separate the wheat from the chaff, because as we all know politicians do have a propensity for blowing smoke.

Once a decision has been arrived at, make sure you get to your voting station and exercise your basic right.

The race is on… and Alberta doesn’t deserve to usher in a government that will ruin it. Social media misinformation is running full speed ahead as we head into this vote. Don’t buy the PAC bulls#it.

This province has to stand strong and join with its western partners Saskatchewan and Manitoba to protect it from the eastern elite and green fanatics who want to wipe out our economies.

We need to elect a government that will do this for us.

What is the fate of Alberta?

Come late May 29, we’ll know. It’s now up to all of us.