Playing catch-up: this week in AB
First, a quick note on some UCP outrage that managed to go “in one ear and out the other” a couple of weeks ago; the Prime Minister announced two Alberta senate appointments that were not bestowed upon those who put their name up for election as Conservative Party of Canada candidates in a “senate race” back in 2021, that isn’t a real thing in Canada because we do not elect senators here.
The entire thing was basically that meme from Mean Girls that reads “quit trying to make ‘fetch’ happen,” but may have been good for a few dollars from those highly dedicated independent-minded folks who really want the provincial government’s fever dreams to supersede federal jurisdiction.
The Calgary Herald returned focus to some random UCP members who have chosen a super cool name for themselves — "the black hats” — and the new rules they wish to post on the entrance to their treehouse.
While silly, and mostly irrelevant, it might be worthy of mentioning briefly since Alberta’s conservative government has seriously considered other plagiarized material from the “failing nation” below us in the past. In addition to last week’s notation on anti-healthcare language proposals, these self-styled philosopher kings also wish to include a rendition of that nation’s second amendment, allowing everyone to have unrestricted access to firearms, in the Alberta Bill of Rights.
Club rules*.
*Not applicable in Canada, let alone Alberta, and, like senate elections, unenforceable at the federal level where relevant legislation is actually created and exists.
I recommend Lisa Young’s response instead.
The UCP took credit for reigning in Alberta’s volatile electricity prices last week, claiming new policies, announced in March of 2024, were providing Albertans with the relief they desperately sought after almost three years of wild price swings.
At the end of the same year the UCP flattened the “free” market of energy production in the province, the coming price reductions were on their way — well before the government’s new “policy” was in place.
As anyone who has ever contemplated a large purchase knows, delaying it further should adequately address the continuously rising costs.
Not reneging on the funding, though, would have been a missed opportunity for the governing party to play politics with residents of a city still seen as a battleground for provincial parties, even three years out from the next election.
What other choice would responsible adults with real jobs who claimed they could be trusted with making decisions in the best interests of Albertans have?
While I recognize that governments can promise all sorts of things and change their minds once they see the cost (it’s the main reason I put so little stock in their budget theatrics), it looks less like a grown up decision when you can’t help yourself from pointing fingers at the city’s former Mayor, who also happens to be the current Opposition Leader.
The private handout/public rug-ripping relationship the UCP seems to want with Calgary isn’t likely by accident as there are some very important voting opportunities on the horizon; Danielle Smith’s leadership review in November, and municipal elections in 2025.
While it’s not yet known if her promises to legislate against parents supporting their kids with access to gender-affirming care, restrict children from expressing their autonomy as individuals at school, introducing biological bars for sport, and potentially considering the crayon-scrawled treehouse rules will be enough to secure her term as Premier with the walking contradictions that comprise her party’s convention-going membership, Smith is trying to throw them enough bones that they will either want to show how grateful they are, or take one and look the other way while she robs the place.
With municipal elections coming, the UCP might be priming Calgarians to vote for the conservative “party”. When they saw a way to benefit from Calgary before the provincial election, they threw $300 million to the owners of the local hockey team. The decision to withdraw funding for public transportation could help the electoral chances of whomever claims they will be able to “work with” the governing UCP, wink wink.
Canada and beyond
Desperately seeking Singh
Conservatives are really good at manipulating voters by playing politics. Everyone else… not so much.
The Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) — that never should have been a formal agreement from the NDP’s position in the first place — was “torn up” by the federal NDP leader as some sort of show of breaking ties with the Liberal government, ahead of more federal by-elections in the coming weeks.
This came after CPC leader Pierre Poilievre’s triple dare to Singh to actually do it, which just proves my earlier point.
Singh has since tried to stake out his position as “for the people”, in contrast with the Conservatives and Liberals, who he’s declared are “for CEOs”.
Polling shows the Liberals are still weak in comparison to Poilievre’s conservatives, so there is some potential benefit to going off on one’s own, aside from the fact that unless Singh actually helps bring down the governing party by siding with the conservatives in a non-confidence vote, he’s going to look like a fool.
His best bet, if he isn’t ready for an election in a few months, is to make some public declarations of “free votes” for NDP members in the House of Commons, side with conservatives personally, along with a few others whose re-election bids may be in jeopardy, while ensuring enough votes are available in support of the government.
Singh has now decided he’s also going to be against carbon pricing, bolstering the CPC’s desire to have yet a third “carbon tax election” since the federal carbon pricing plan was introduced.
Politics aside, prices will not come down if the feds scrap the tax because grocery prices never come down, especially not five or six years after people have adjusted to paying higher prices. They’re businesses, not charities. They will use the difference to pad their bottom lines because their job is to make more profit, not ease affordability issues.
Finally, the bottom of the barrel: America
Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris faced off in their first, and potentially only, public debate this week. It was probably the most interesting debate I’ve seen in many years; not only in sound bites and memorable one-liners, but also that it seemed to fly by.
The split screen captured everything Harris didn’t bother interrupting him to say, and drew ire from many male republicans who did not appreciate the reminder that their candidate is a ridiculous person who either lies constantly, or is gullible enough to be taken in by made up stories on the internet.
Remembering the man’s previous fondness for FOX’s 24-hour entertainment channel, I’m not convinced it isn’t the latter. As one version of a well-positioned comment went, “FOX did to our parents what they worried video games would do to us.”
After the debate, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper if she thought anything about Trump had “changed” since she worked with him last, offering her an opening to let Republicans down easy, which she accepted, saying he is “diminishing”.
Had she claimed instead that Trump is the same gullible person whose daddy didn’t give him any attention who will suck up to anyone in power who offers him the barest hint of approval, his supporters from Russia would have dug in their heels online and led the rest of the herd around by their noses until the election.
Instead, Trump was left to flounder while the bot farms and conservative influencers tried to settle on a single, palatable story that could effectively spin his poor performance.
Not that it might make that much of a difference with those who are willing to spend thousands on “collectible” Trump cards on the internet — they’re like character skins that kids are maxing out their parent’s credit cards for, except targeted at feeble-minded adults instead — but the sharp contrast between him and Vice President Harris was more than some could handle.
It could be enough that some can’t justify their vote for Trump and stay home. And it’s not like he actually wants to be President — he just likes that the position is referred to as “the most powerful” in the world.
Make him up a trophy and send him on his way.
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Love your breakdowns as always ❤️