A court said no. The petition got messy. The data leak raised eyebrows. And suddenly Alberta’s political drama is starting to feel less like democracy... and more like a constitutional stress test.
As usual you have nailed it exactly. The comparison to Brexit has been in my mind for a long time. And it’s usually the loudest people that vote. The others think it will never happen so why bother. Danielle Smiths use of the notwithstanding clause is frightening. The UCP just change the laws to fit their needs. I am extremely concerned about this whole situation. And the data breach needs to be taken very seriously. And I can’t see how that can be undone. The information is out there on the dark web to be used for unimaginable damage. I guess we wait and hope that Prime Minister Carney explained The Clarity Act to her when he was here. And hopefully stronger measures will prevail. Until then you can feel the divide in Alberta, at least I can.
Interesting how these things go. The real power in Quebec was positioned to take advantage of the Parti Quebecois' demands and it almost backfired. Now Alberta says this worked for Quebec, they got what they wanted, it should work for us.
Alberta wants more than a seat at the table; they want to sit at the head of the table. The premise is that they pay the bills, so they should get the same preferential treatment as Quebec. Quebec being a founding nation is old news.
Now BC is saying and will say further, if we are forced to acquiesce to a pipeline, we have 35 shovel ready projects ready to go, and we want them all to move ahead. If they get that, people will forget their angst over the pipeline.
Carney the chess master says we'll do the 35, do the pipeline, build in Quebec and move ahead on several other projects. You guys infight all you want, just keep demanding so we can keep developing. They can all feel they're special as long as they keep building.
Honestly it wasn’t until the judge shot down the Separatists that I finally understood the relationship between Smith and the Take Back Alberta movement which is to say it’s a twisted relationship of Opportunism
On one hand you have The Take Back Alberta crowd who will never admit outright that they need the power of the UCP in order to make their separatist dreams a reality and Smith is just the happy puppet willing to oblige them so long as she gets her own pound of flesh out of the deal
Now this is where we get to Smith herself and I know I’m gonna get some pushback with what I’m about to say but I do NOT believe she’s inherently a separatist herself but she is something worse which is a Right Wing Populist; Wether she believes in Separatism or not is oddly a moot point so long as Take Back and David Parker help her with her true Goal: Declaring War on the Courts
That more than Separatism itself has been Smith’s big ticket item since entering politics, she hates the restrictions the Canadian court system has put on conservative politics and wants the same kind of Political freedom the Republicans in the US have
This especially became apparent to me the more I thought back on that photo with her, Trump and O’Leary, I think more than selling separatism she was taking notes of how to emulate those kind of political culture fights in Alberta
Smith is above all else a opportunist. She’ll take any deal that gets her what she wants, which is power.
If we look at the two groups who signed petitions about Alberta’s place in Canada I think we already have our answer 400,000+ verified signatures for staying in Canada vs a claim of 300,000 unverified questionably collected signatures to maybe separate.
The problem isn’t Albertans it’s the Smith government who refuses to accept what Albertans actually want.
How do we go about getting rid of these lying politicians without waiting for an election.
I am frankly sick of these separatists. Sure Canada has problems! Who doesn't in this world. A person close to me stated that this was all my fault-meaning my generation of baby boomers. I never voted for Trudeau and the Liberal party until Carney showed up. I could see he has the experience and vision for Canada. But we all have to work together. Not blaming or thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. As a retired person who has worked all my life, I am willing to do with a little less to help my Grandchildren have a chance to experience a good life.
As usual you have nailed it exactly. The comparison to Brexit has been in my mind for a long time. And it’s usually the loudest people that vote. The others think it will never happen so why bother. Danielle Smiths use of the notwithstanding clause is frightening. The UCP just change the laws to fit their needs. I am extremely concerned about this whole situation. And the data breach needs to be taken very seriously. And I can’t see how that can be undone. The information is out there on the dark web to be used for unimaginable damage. I guess we wait and hope that Prime Minister Carney explained The Clarity Act to her when he was here. And hopefully stronger measures will prevail. Until then you can feel the divide in Alberta, at least I can.
“Brexit with snow tires” keeps creeping into people’s minds for a reason.
Once trust in the rules starts wobbling, people get uneasy fast.
I think a lot of Albertans are feeling that tension right now...
even those who don’t usually talk politics.
The stupidity and ignorance of some people will forever be beyond comprehension for most of us. Where do they breed?
Sometimes I think outrage breeds faster than facts online Ron. 😏
But yeah… a lot of this feels less like disagreement these days and more like people living in completely different information worlds.
Hard to solve problems when everyone’s arguing from a different reality.
It might be in our best interest to allow a vote, confident that the loud minority will be shown as just that. This might be Smith's motive as well.
Could be Jim.
A clear loss might take the air out of it for a while.
The gamble is that referendums have a funny habit of becoming emotional storms once they start...
and politics doesn’t always stay rational once people pick sides.
Interesting how these things go. The real power in Quebec was positioned to take advantage of the Parti Quebecois' demands and it almost backfired. Now Alberta says this worked for Quebec, they got what they wanted, it should work for us.
Alberta wants more than a seat at the table; they want to sit at the head of the table. The premise is that they pay the bills, so they should get the same preferential treatment as Quebec. Quebec being a founding nation is old news.
Now BC is saying and will say further, if we are forced to acquiesce to a pipeline, we have 35 shovel ready projects ready to go, and we want them all to move ahead. If they get that, people will forget their angst over the pipeline.
Carney the chess master says we'll do the 35, do the pipeline, build in Quebec and move ahead on several other projects. You guys infight all you want, just keep demanding so we can keep developing. They can all feel they're special as long as they keep building.
Interesting read on the politics of leverage Jim.
Canada has always been a bit of a federation of competing regional pressures...
Quebec, Alberta, BC, Atlantic Canada… everybody shows up with a wishlist.
Carney’s challenge may be turning all that tension into actual building instead of permanent grievance politics.
If everyone leaves the table feeling heard and projects move, that’s probably the closest thing to a Canadian win.
Honestly it wasn’t until the judge shot down the Separatists that I finally understood the relationship between Smith and the Take Back Alberta movement which is to say it’s a twisted relationship of Opportunism
On one hand you have The Take Back Alberta crowd who will never admit outright that they need the power of the UCP in order to make their separatist dreams a reality and Smith is just the happy puppet willing to oblige them so long as she gets her own pound of flesh out of the deal
Now this is where we get to Smith herself and I know I’m gonna get some pushback with what I’m about to say but I do NOT believe she’s inherently a separatist herself but she is something worse which is a Right Wing Populist; Wether she believes in Separatism or not is oddly a moot point so long as Take Back and David Parker help her with her true Goal: Declaring War on the Courts
That more than Separatism itself has been Smith’s big ticket item since entering politics, she hates the restrictions the Canadian court system has put on conservative politics and wants the same kind of Political freedom the Republicans in the US have
This especially became apparent to me the more I thought back on that photo with her, Trump and O’Leary, I think more than selling separatism she was taking notes of how to emulate those kind of political culture fights in Alberta
Smith is above all else a opportunist. She’ll take any deal that gets her what she wants, which is power.
If we look at the two groups who signed petitions about Alberta’s place in Canada I think we already have our answer 400,000+ verified signatures for staying in Canada vs a claim of 300,000 unverified questionably collected signatures to maybe separate.
The problem isn’t Albertans it’s the Smith government who refuses to accept what Albertans actually want.
How do we go about getting rid of these lying politicians without waiting for an election.
I am frankly sick of these separatists. Sure Canada has problems! Who doesn't in this world. A person close to me stated that this was all my fault-meaning my generation of baby boomers. I never voted for Trudeau and the Liberal party until Carney showed up. I could see he has the experience and vision for Canada. But we all have to work together. Not blaming or thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. As a retired person who has worked all my life, I am willing to do with a little less to help my Grandchildren have a chance to experience a good life.