"I know what is wrong with the UCP. What are YOU going to do to make it better?"
We are a year and a half away (max) from the election. We KNOW what the issues are. It's time to focus on those with real alternatives.
Sure, it's still important to challenge SmithCo & point out her government's corruption, mismanagement, authoritarian, anti-democratic, Christo-Fascist, separatist support, but voters want answersl
It is an accurate assessment to say that Poilievre is waiting for the current Federal Government led by Mark Carney to make a mistake ... but is that not also a great part of his problem? PP undermines efforts of the governing party while they attempt to benefit Canada. Why? Because a failure or weakness on the part of the governing party is a benefit to Poilievre, while at the same time a detriment to the rest of Canadians. His primary concern appears to me to be himself, not all Canadians.
I recently watched a video of a significant portion of an address given by Poilievre to a group of scientists, engineers and business people in Germany. It would have been embarrassing to Canada had this individual been there in some formal capacity. Gladly, he was not, so he embarrassed only himself. There was laughter in response to some of the things he said, and it was well-deserved, though he was being very serious.
You are correct in the assertion that if Lewis is coronated by the federal party that the NDP will continue to lack traction in Alberta.
Rachel wasn't perfect but was more prudent and responsible, from a policy, fiscal and pragmatic perspective, than both who have followed and as you note would likely be our Premier now if Jagmeet hadn't killed her chances.
Naheed needs to be seen on EVERY news cast outlining what the NDP would do to fix Danielle's tire fire.
I think people are frustrated that the NDP doesn’t seem to be making the leaps and bounds they feel should be happening. It’s fair, but as Jared Wesley once said “eventually you have to be willing to find out why.”
Rachel Notley is a generational political talent, so comparing her to either Lewis or Nenshi isn't particularly fair.
That being said, both Lewis and Nenshi are underwhelming.
Lewis has great appeal within the current base of the federal NDP — university educated progressives who insist on keeping their party ideologically pure, and unwilling to expand their party tent by a single peg even if they have to sacrifice any and all political influence in order to do so — but will be a disaster in terms of electability.
Nenshi seems disinterested in either getting his message out to Albertans or turning the Alberta NDP into a government in waiting. I'm sure he'd like to do both, and is putting in real effort to do so but his results create the image of someone half-assing it.
Keeping the base happy is how we got Smith and Poilievre. People need to get over a political party being anything more than a vehicle to get them into government.
But if you were voting for either Smith or Poilievre's leadership campaigns then at least you were voting for someone with the potential to achieve electoral success and therefore gain the political power to pass the abhorrent legislation you would want passed (as a hypothetical supporter of modern conservatism).
Supporting Lewis and the base he represents comes with knowing he will negatively impact not only the issues you support nationally, but will make things harder for the people who support the issues you care about provincially as well.
(And to be clear this is a hypothetical "you", not you Deirdre).
The opposition has the potential to become your govt. I don’t think enough of any political party to pledge my allegiance to them, so I’m perfectly okay with buying a membership to vote for the future of my province/country.
It seems as though everyone is searching for a reason to not vote against a monumentally incompetent government that is failing on all the major files.
The opposition offers a competent, ethical alternative to the current tire fire. For now that's what I need to hear, when an election is called I expect to hear fully fleshed out platforms.
The frustration with the opposition? The frustration with the government? The frustration with an electorate genetically predisposed to vote conservative no matter what? The frustration that everything that's just so...*waves hands in air* ?
The UCP has been very successful at deflecting blame away from themselves and onto the Feds for the mismanagement of Alberta.
Yes, we need solid policy answers from the NDP if they are going to make any headway in a province where too many people have no idea of what responsibilities actually belong to the provincial government, but we also need to see the NDP educating Albertans about jurisdictional responsibilities along the way. Perhaps the NDP can use jurisdictional responsibilities as a framework for advancing their provincial policies and solutions.
If what the polls tell us about voter intention in Alberta are accurate, the NDP better act quickly to reach the number of voters they need to win the election..
Electing the UCP again will complete their re-making of Alberta into a clone of Trump’s America.
For sure it will. And there’s still lots of moving parts. If the separatists throw a tantrum over not getting their signatures or Smith rewriting their question for them, they might gain popularity in rural and eat into UCP safe seats. The Tories might pull from them in Calgary.
There’s a lot of pressure on the NDs now but maybe they’ll get some help soon.
Thank you wish more political Writers would bring these points up instead of just Criticizing Nenshi. Like you said the problem is with the NDP brand and that starts at the top…… Max and Dave both need to read this….
I was criticizing the NDP before Nenshi showed up. I liked Rachel Notley, too, but I think they’ve made poor decisions as a party and many of the things I was criticizing then haven’t changed, unfortunately.
Great write up, Deirdre. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there.
Imho, this exposes a great overlap that so many cannot or do not want to see.
You cannot lambast and shame your way to the top. You cannot mountain every molehill and expect to be taken seriously. You cannot win an election waiting for the other guy to screw up.
When one looks at this with any objectivity it’s plain to see that both the CPC and ABNDP cannot be satisfied, and are reactive rather than proactive.
Spend a decade complaining about carbon taxes, EV mandates, and social justice lenses on every policy yet when the consumer carbon tax gets scrapped, the EV mandate is cancelled, and social justice hits the back burner there is no celebration. Just a simple pivot to “Well that’s great, but what about the industrial carbon tax? What about the tanker ban!? What about pipelines??”
Little different than the ABNDP.
Spend ten years complaining about underfunding of hospitals, schools, and social programs yet when healthcare gets a raise and spending, when education sees historic funding ($300 million on “complexity” alone this calendar year) it’s the same “Well that’s great, but there is so much more to do! This is minimal effort!”
Both ignore the fact that those who win get to set the agenda and govern, and their job is to make the legislation stronger by getting concessions with strong arguments instead of hyperbole, rhetoric, and unanimous votes against everything.
They seemingly don’t want to put in the hard work of breaking it to people that real change is often boring and incremental and takes team work rather than what they’re doing now because it shatters the façade and leaves them looking useless.
Appreciate your voice, and opinion. Thanks again. :)
Opposition for opposition sake is tiring. Though as Poilievre found out, the govt has all the cards when they want to take the opposition up on a proposal.
Avi Lewis will be a disaster for the Alberta NDP’s chances of ever forming government. Though MacPherson isn’t the same disaster potential, I don’t see her as being any more helpful to the Alberta NDP than Singh was. Unless we want the UCP forever (which seems to be the UCP’s plans) then Nenshi better be drawing up divorce papers as we speak.
Opposition is not enough.
Voters want to hear policies. Solutions.
"I know what is wrong with the UCP. What are YOU going to do to make it better?"
We are a year and a half away (max) from the election. We KNOW what the issues are. It's time to focus on those with real alternatives.
Sure, it's still important to challenge SmithCo & point out her government's corruption, mismanagement, authoritarian, anti-democratic, Christo-Fascist, separatist support, but voters want answersl
answers.
It's time!
And now apply that principle country wide.
It is an accurate assessment to say that Poilievre is waiting for the current Federal Government led by Mark Carney to make a mistake ... but is that not also a great part of his problem? PP undermines efforts of the governing party while they attempt to benefit Canada. Why? Because a failure or weakness on the part of the governing party is a benefit to Poilievre, while at the same time a detriment to the rest of Canadians. His primary concern appears to me to be himself, not all Canadians.
Well put.
I recently watched a video of a significant portion of an address given by Poilievre to a group of scientists, engineers and business people in Germany. It would have been embarrassing to Canada had this individual been there in some formal capacity. Gladly, he was not, so he embarrassed only himself. There was laughter in response to some of the things he said, and it was well-deserved, though he was being very serious.
You are correct in the assertion that if Lewis is coronated by the federal party that the NDP will continue to lack traction in Alberta.
Rachel wasn't perfect but was more prudent and responsible, from a policy, fiscal and pragmatic perspective, than both who have followed and as you note would likely be our Premier now if Jagmeet hadn't killed her chances.
Naheed needs to be seen on EVERY news cast outlining what the NDP would do to fix Danielle's tire fire.
I think people are frustrated that the NDP doesn’t seem to be making the leaps and bounds they feel should be happening. It’s fair, but as Jared Wesley once said “eventually you have to be willing to find out why.”
Rachel Notley is a generational political talent, so comparing her to either Lewis or Nenshi isn't particularly fair.
That being said, both Lewis and Nenshi are underwhelming.
Lewis has great appeal within the current base of the federal NDP — university educated progressives who insist on keeping their party ideologically pure, and unwilling to expand their party tent by a single peg even if they have to sacrifice any and all political influence in order to do so — but will be a disaster in terms of electability.
Nenshi seems disinterested in either getting his message out to Albertans or turning the Alberta NDP into a government in waiting. I'm sure he'd like to do both, and is putting in real effort to do so but his results create the image of someone half-assing it.
Keeping the base happy is how we got Smith and Poilievre. People need to get over a political party being anything more than a vehicle to get them into government.
But if you were voting for either Smith or Poilievre's leadership campaigns then at least you were voting for someone with the potential to achieve electoral success and therefore gain the political power to pass the abhorrent legislation you would want passed (as a hypothetical supporter of modern conservatism).
Supporting Lewis and the base he represents comes with knowing he will negatively impact not only the issues you support nationally, but will make things harder for the people who support the issues you care about provincially as well.
(And to be clear this is a hypothetical "you", not you Deirdre).
The opposition has the potential to become your govt. I don’t think enough of any political party to pledge my allegiance to them, so I’m perfectly okay with buying a membership to vote for the future of my province/country.
Rachel certainly is a generational high mark that hopefully Naheed can successfully aspire to?
It seems as though everyone is searching for a reason to not vote against a monumentally incompetent government that is failing on all the major files.
The opposition offers a competent, ethical alternative to the current tire fire. For now that's what I need to hear, when an election is called I expect to hear fully fleshed out platforms.
Yet they’re polling behind the UCP— still. Campaigns matter and all, but the frustration is real.
The frustration with the opposition? The frustration with the government? The frustration with an electorate genetically predisposed to vote conservative no matter what? The frustration that everything that's just so...*waves hands in air* ?
They wiped out the competition. It’s up to them to figure out how to win.
Are you speaking to Federal or Provincial politics?
The UCP has been very successful at deflecting blame away from themselves and onto the Feds for the mismanagement of Alberta.
Yes, we need solid policy answers from the NDP if they are going to make any headway in a province where too many people have no idea of what responsibilities actually belong to the provincial government, but we also need to see the NDP educating Albertans about jurisdictional responsibilities along the way. Perhaps the NDP can use jurisdictional responsibilities as a framework for advancing their provincial policies and solutions.
If what the polls tell us about voter intention in Alberta are accurate, the NDP better act quickly to reach the number of voters they need to win the election..
Electing the UCP again will complete their re-making of Alberta into a clone of Trump’s America.
For sure it will. And there’s still lots of moving parts. If the separatists throw a tantrum over not getting their signatures or Smith rewriting their question for them, they might gain popularity in rural and eat into UCP safe seats. The Tories might pull from them in Calgary.
There’s a lot of pressure on the NDs now but maybe they’ll get some help soon.
Thank you wish more political Writers would bring these points up instead of just Criticizing Nenshi. Like you said the problem is with the NDP brand and that starts at the top…… Max and Dave both need to read this….
I was criticizing the NDP before Nenshi showed up. I liked Rachel Notley, too, but I think they’ve made poor decisions as a party and many of the things I was criticizing then haven’t changed, unfortunately.
Great write up, Deirdre. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there.
Imho, this exposes a great overlap that so many cannot or do not want to see.
You cannot lambast and shame your way to the top. You cannot mountain every molehill and expect to be taken seriously. You cannot win an election waiting for the other guy to screw up.
When one looks at this with any objectivity it’s plain to see that both the CPC and ABNDP cannot be satisfied, and are reactive rather than proactive.
Spend a decade complaining about carbon taxes, EV mandates, and social justice lenses on every policy yet when the consumer carbon tax gets scrapped, the EV mandate is cancelled, and social justice hits the back burner there is no celebration. Just a simple pivot to “Well that’s great, but what about the industrial carbon tax? What about the tanker ban!? What about pipelines??”
Little different than the ABNDP.
Spend ten years complaining about underfunding of hospitals, schools, and social programs yet when healthcare gets a raise and spending, when education sees historic funding ($300 million on “complexity” alone this calendar year) it’s the same “Well that’s great, but there is so much more to do! This is minimal effort!”
Both ignore the fact that those who win get to set the agenda and govern, and their job is to make the legislation stronger by getting concessions with strong arguments instead of hyperbole, rhetoric, and unanimous votes against everything.
They seemingly don’t want to put in the hard work of breaking it to people that real change is often boring and incremental and takes team work rather than what they’re doing now because it shatters the façade and leaves them looking useless.
Appreciate your voice, and opinion. Thanks again. :)
Many thanks 🙏
Opposition for opposition sake is tiring. Though as Poilievre found out, the govt has all the cards when they want to take the opposition up on a proposal.
Avi Lewis will be a disaster for the Alberta NDP’s chances of ever forming government. Though MacPherson isn’t the same disaster potential, I don’t see her as being any more helpful to the Alberta NDP than Singh was. Unless we want the UCP forever (which seems to be the UCP’s plans) then Nenshi better be drawing up divorce papers as we speak.
Because the base is so out of touch with the mainstream and it’s not just a left-wing problem.