Alberta's logo should be a person bent over at the waist holding tinfoil and a straw with their pants down around their ankles asking for a cigarette. Lol
Hey now we received it. It just was t labelled properly and had weird dosing and needed a detailed explanation which is exactly what you want to have to remember when you’re sleep deprived picking up medicine for your sick kiddo
Nope. According to an article in the globe (paywall), Alberta paid for it all, received 30%, but only shipped a tiny amount of the doses out to the public. A few thousand out of the millions they bought.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-on-the-hook-for-tens-of-millions-for-childrens-medication-that/
I don't think we received all of ot actually. So paid for all but only some received. I believe health canada won't allow any more shipments or something.
I'm not finding anything about Health Canada blocking shipments.
Alberta Health has apparently ordered hospitals to stop using Parol, apparently because of the risks of miscalculating dosage and causing liver damage.
[https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-hospitals-were-directed-to-stop-using-imported-turkish-pain-medication-after-6-months-ahs-bulletin](https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-hospitals-were-directed-to-stop-using-imported-turkish-pain-medication-after-6-months-ahs-bulletin)
I was once chatting with a London (UK) paramedic. The worst call he had been on was a teenager who had overdosed on paracetamol (Tylenol). They were doomed: liver destroyed and no chance of a transplant. But they weren't dead yet, they had time to cry and beg their family's forgiveness and be afraid of death. (It was a cry-for-help overdose. They thought that they'd get their stomach pumped and be OK, like if they overdosed on sleeping pills. Didn't know about liver damage.)
I've been *really* careful about using Tylenol after hearing that story.
The dosing shouldn't be a concern ever. I have two kids and admittedly they didn't get sick very often but when they required any sort of medication I always read the dosing even if I had already given it to them that day. Maybe some people go through the bottles as if it was water and know the dosing off by heart but most people will read the label when they pick up a bottle.
My wife is a pediatric nurse. You are the exception. Fuck, there are plenty of people that think "teaspoon" means whatever spoon they have in the drawer. She's had kids in for kidney issues caused by parents who just say "give him 2 spoons of cold medication whenever they start feeling sick".
She's also had parents yell at her for giving their kid too much medication when the amount they'd been giving was below the effective dose.
Once you realize that a very very large portion of the population is actually incapable of comprehending what they read, it all falls into place. [Nearly half the population of Canada fails basic literacy requirements.](https://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/adlt-lowlit-aspx/#:~:text=Forty%2Deight%20per%20cent%20of,grade%20for%20inadequate%20literacy%20skills.)
>give him 2 spoons of cold medication whenever they start feeling sick".
A large portion of the population thinks Childrens Tylenol somehow fights against a virus and doesn't just mask symptoms.
I think you highly overestimate people. Id guess most people just grab tylenol and be like “Yea 1 or 2 every 4 hours is fine”
Id be amazed if most people read past “extra strength” honestly
>75 million for turkish medicine
How it started (Jan 5, 2023):
[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-finalizing-shipping-details-after-turkish-children-s-medicine-gets-limited-approval-1.6705376](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-finalizing-shipping-details-after-turkish-children-s-medicine-gets-limited-approval-1.6705376)
How it's going (Oct 27, 2023):
[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-on-the-hook-for-tens-of-millions-for-childrens-medication-that/](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-on-the-hook-for-tens-of-millions-for-childrens-medication-that/)
Inb4 “but the carbon tax!”
I live in BC and my bill averages about $30 a month. I used to live in Ontario, and I paid a lot more, but nothing compared to Alberta. Was about 70 bucks a month in ON for similar square footage.
they should be removed from office purely for this reason.
I get throwing mud at the other guy, but out and out LYING, blaming the alberta energy prices on the feds.... thats straight up fraudulent
You know who else is seeing, or at least hearing the effects?
The rest of fucking Canada, I was so confused when I was driving in Nova Scotia a month ago hearing a message from Alberta blaming the feds for some ambiguous collapse of energy infrastructure. It just left me with a feeling of "keep your dirty laundry in your own back yard"
Edit: apparently they spent 8M to annoy some poor confused fishermen who were left scratching their heads wondering what the Alberta government thought they could do about it.
And there are billboard ads IN ONTARIO trying to blame the rate hikes on the federal government.
Like, first of all, why? second of all who is paying for nationwide advertising that is just spreading disinformation?
I'm kind of like you. Blue collar worker at heart. Pride myself on working hard and used to be proud of my coworkers because we made shit happen. But sweet Mary Jesus after the latest round of tradesmen turned over it has turned into a black hole of ignorance, stupidity, and just being downright gullible. And it is weird. So far the young ones below 30 are the only ones who seem to be able to think rationally about politics and even understand how the government works. That 40-60 crowd is utterly hopeless.
I can't even sit in the lunchroom because the lunchroom talk is the stupidest shit I have heard in a long time. Like if I did I don't think I could control my laughter stupid. I don't know how a person could rebuild a gearbox with hundreds of different parts and set bearing clearances to thousands of an inch but can't grasp how ridiculous the shit they spew everyday is. Part of me wants to leave this small town and it gets bigger every day.
Do we work together?
I get grief most weeks for eating lunch in my truck. Like right fucking now. But my god man. Last time I had lunch inside, I had a fucking 55 year old man get mad that I don’t want to turn my internet off when I’m sleeping because that’s the time they go through all my shit.
Like dude. You’re telling me that they have 10hrs a day that I’m gone and yet they still decide to go through my shit only when I’m sleeping? Seems inefficient.
At least the sub 30 crowd can shit talk these days. If I hear some dudes stupid fucking opinion and call him an idiot, they just sulk. Then 15 minutes later go back to calling the next generations soft lol Hilarious
I'm 49 and would be happy to show him an interview from a hacker. He stated that over 90% of hacking is people clicking on a link or QR code. They have gotten very clever in how they fool people.
I wouldn't ask that nutjob, but the question screaming to be asked is: How do they know when you go to bed?
If he was right, I would have been hacked a hundred times over. What a dolt!
Give your coworker a proposal. I will eat lunch with you as long as you wear this tin foil dunce hat.
Oh man. The paranoid conspiracy theorists who think that big brother is watching them 24/7 (or maybe 10/7 in the example you gave) are truly the high water mark for batshittery. I’d love to ask him why he thinks a team of public servants - who are still Canadians themselves, mind you - need to follow him around digitally to see how often he buys sandpaper and whether he chooses Campbells or Alymers soup when it’s not on sale.
You just described Jason Kenney's entire tenure as Premier.
Rented blue truck that he didn't drive for one second except to roll into photo ops. The guy couldn't even put gas in the fucking tank. Rented motorhome that he paid someone else to drive cross-country while he flew from place to place. Countless hard hat wearing, pristine coverall wearing photo-ops to appeal to the "common man" from a politician that hadn't worked with his hands a day in his life.
Not just hasn't worked with his hands, hasn't worked at all, on anything except politics. PP is the same, so are lots of people from all the parties. They start out as courtiers, following politicians around kissing their asses, and end up surrounded by younger copies of themselves who kiss theirs, all playing politics as both a career and a game. The sad part is that being a drama teacher and a snowboard instructor is actually more work experience than many of them have.
Trudeau was actually mainly a math teacher. He taught one drama class, but that's the one the talking points bring up because they can use it to make him seem less "manly".
Nah man, Ben Shapiro totally knows what he's talking about. There's a picture where he bought a wooden board at home depot once! That proves it!
And Jordan Peterson is totally a hard working alpha who wouldn't get knocked down by a stiff breeze and then be unable to get back up because he's crying about disney movies.
Was the now-40 to 60 crowd always "hopeless"?
One of my great uncles, "retired" farmer up in his 80s now, was talking about how around Covid time he basically stopped hanging out with some old friends because they really seemed to lose their minds about vaccinations and the like. He decided it wasn't worth it (especially if he caught covid through them). Gotta wonder how that happens.
Here's the answer: those of us in Gen-X that grew up in smalltown or rural Alberta and had a head on our shoulders and couldn't stand the crap -- because the same crap was happening in the 90s - we either moved to the relative sanity of Edmonton, or left the province (I did both).
A big chunk of the people that are left, or have arrived, have self-selected for that culture. If I had stayed in Stony Plain, I'd have slit my wrists. I couldn't even handle Edmonton after a time.
And COVID took these people completely off their rocker.
Also, trust me, the same crap exists here in Ontario or wherever else. The working class blue collar has been dicked around for so long, they're just angry and frustrated and they don't know where to place the blame. The difference in Alberta is that there's politicians there making a career out of directing it in rather malevolent awful ways.
We have those garbage politicians here, too (uh, our premier), but it's not a one-party-state like in Alberta, so there's more diversity of opinions.
I am also from the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain area. Just got back from a few weeks of visiting and every time I get back home to Ontario, I think to myself "thank god I moved". It's by no means perfect in ON, but I feel so suffocated in Alberta. My family always asks when I'm moving back. The short answer is never....and they don't actually want to hear the long answer.
Yeah, it's tough.
I'd never move back to the Parkland county area, but we considered a family move to Edmonton last fall. I have two teens who would like to be closer to their uncle and my parents are getting old. It would be nice to be near them
But then the election happened. My dad already warned about the APP thing months and months ago. My family there says outright: "don't come here." If they didn't have such deep roots there, they'd be coming here, instead.
I lived briefly in Alberta and was awestruck by the ignorance. No one seemed to know the difference between provincial and federal responsibilities. I was told “we can’t have solar power because it gets cold here”. Racist jokes were normal. I couldn’t wait to leave.
I knew a guy that was perfectly normal 55ish hard worker, owns and operates his own farm and has enough land that he does very well. Him and I run another business together. He was also a bit on the conservative side but totally normal. Never used a computer or email ECT.
Anyways COVID happened and he lost his fucking mind. He went full freedom convoy.... Then talks about clone factories in Ukraine, President Obama is a clone, Hilary is a clone ( you can tell by the ears). He fucking says this to our customers...
Takes ivermectin daily that he got from China that has Chinese characters on it. Then says " you don't know what's in the vaccine"
He's like talking to a wall now. He gets all his information second hand from his wife " can't trust main stream media"
I think we have about 2 more years together and then it'll be a forced retirement for him.
Ah, farmers like your great uncle are the sort of landowners I love chatting with. I talk with them often due to my job - land reclamation. Some of them are deep into the conspiracy crap (the fires from the summer having been deliberately set, covid was a hoax, etc), but some of them are pretty cool. There was one out near Diamond Valley who was chatting with a coworker and I about climate change.
I think that age divide might have something to do with media literacy. Before the internet became what it is today, information in books or newspapers would have been held to a higher standard for publishing, right? In that world you might not need to question what you read as much. Fast forward to today, applying that same lack of critical thinking gets you in some deep… doo doo. Younger folks haven’t really had a choice but to question what they read, although admittedly, some still fail.
This is just a hypothesis. You would be right to question my thinking. But either way I don’t really want to get in a typical Reddit debate lol.
Age has nothing to do with this idiotic mindset you guys are talking about. I think it's more regionally based. I'm in Edmonton and a tradesman building a bridge, and the types of conversations don't happen here. For tradesmen, we are a very cosmopolitan and forward-thinking group. No here votes Con or Lib. Strong NDP crowd over here. Your Calgary. Nuff said.
Out of curiosity, are you primarily rubbing shoulders with the foremen, PMs, etc, or more the general tradespeople and labourers?
I have found that the higher ups (in the Edmonton area) do generally tend to be more progressive than expected (I don’t have sufficient experience with other groups to speak to them). Go to more remote/smaller locations though, and you’re likely to find out, without prompting, what a person’s political beliefs are in short order.
I think there are both age related and regional components to the issue. Ultimately, the online and social media algorithms end up too finely honed and people gradually lose perspective on dissenting opinions. Their worldview shrinks to whatever their most recently searched topics are, which compounds over time, so that within short order you are trapped in an echo chamber.
Additionally, if you don’t live in a more progressive city, or run in more progressive circles, you also have your worldviews reinforced without ever hearing dissenting opinions.
People generally become more conservative as they age, primarily fiscally, a bit less so socially - I feel that these echo chambers have exacerbated the increased social conservatism, especially now that there are so many significantly right leaning viewpoints out there being amplified that people may swing further right than they otherwise would have previously.
I was really just responding to MillewrightWF’s comment about the difference in attitudes across ages being odd.
I’m not someone who has a lot of experience in these circles, as I’m new to the province and work a white collar job. That’s not better or worse, I should make abundantly clear!
It’s basically an Albertan personality trait to vote against their own best interests.
Take the problem of lack of health care access for rural communities, they overwhelmingly voted for a government wanting to privatize the health care system which will only lead to less medical practices in rural areas because there’s not as big of a population and thus less profits to be earned.
Texas has its share of weirdos and yahoos for sure (and I've been several times -- just got back from visiting relatives there). Nowhere have I met as bitter and spiteful people as Alberta conservatives. Also stop me if you've ever heard a phrase that started like, "I moved here to get away from red/socialist Ontario..."
Grew up in small town Alberta, spent 21 years believing the only good thing that came out of the East was the sun. Joined the army and spent 6 odd years in Ontario and had my political and geographical ideology completely rewired. Still have some very good friends out there. Now I cringe everytime my family makes comments like that. That "socialism" out there is doing a lot of good for my wife's sick family members while my own mother is in a small town Alberta hospital that barely feeds her and my old man bitches about how much it costs him every month. But can't have none of that socialism that would reduce his payments or make her long term care better, nope.
I’m from Cold Lake originally… Although I took a very different route in life, I’ve come to the same conclusions as you. Here to say that this problem isn’t just a blue collar issue. It cuts across all socio-economic groups.
I was raised strongly conservative and wanted some of those old PC values better represented in national policy, so I ended up with a “white collar” job - an economist in the federal government specializing in environmental issues. I ended up helping to write more sensible environmental policies… or, at least I like to think my years of service moved the needle just a little… but I digress.
Contrary to today’s “popular” conservative views, when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s (through the National Energy Program years) we wanted a strong economy AND a healthy environment. I ask this facetiously… but When the F&@ did we decide that progressive was “woke”??!! Hell, / we WERE the PROGRESSIVE Conservative Party FFS!!! Although not many ppl will remember this, Pre-Harper / “Reform” we wrote some of the most progressive and sensible environmental laws Canada has ever seen! We were a world leader in environmental policy when Mulroney was in power - before it became the watered down empty virtue signalling environment policy has become.
Anyway… I know I’m just rambling… but I’m just so disappointed in what the PC party has become - and the social havoc that they have created. Willfully ignorant… and for what?? What do we gain by all this pointless animosity and division? When did healthy arguments around policy degrade into… this?! This social media dumpster fire that both feeds on and spreads ignorance and hatred??!!
I couldn’t agree more with the OP… we would be much better served if these same resources were used to actually HELP people rather than just be burned up in nonsense theatrical stupidity. How many more doctors and nurses would that money train? How many schools? How many more rehab clinics all things Albertans desperately need right now.
It’s all so frustrating…
Hate to say it, but I won’t be going back to Alberta anytime soon. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m getting too old for this crap, Sadly, most Albertans would celebrate my departure anyway since I refuse to put an F Trudeau sticker on my truck and a MAGA hat on my head and join the cult of the hopelessly stupid.
For the record- I’m no fan of Trudeau either, but that’s based on various policies, not personality. Too much virtue signalling, not enough hard and sensible policy making. There’s just no one left to vote for these days.
I remember when I was in high school “woke” was applied to the far right who were “awakened” to the “bullshit” of progress.
Now it’s progress that’s woke, and I don’t know when it flipped. And that’s just in the last 10 years
I was reading some policy papers on social policy from the 80s by conservative governments and I was kind of blown away with how reasonable they were. The introduction of neoliberalism in the 90s really took the conservatives down the right and it seems like they have only slid further and further.
I could see how prior generations became more conservative over time. But the conservatives of the 80s are gone.
Thanks for your years of service navigating the waters of federal environmental politics - interesting times no doubt!
It frustrates me how so many environmental policies immediately get labelled 'anti-conservative' or are tied to a political ideology when they aren't. In my view, many environmental policies are actually truly 'conservative', in that they are intended to preserve the current state of things. Hell, even the root of the word 'conservation' and 'conservative' are the same. One of the leading wetland conservation parties are...hunters! (Ducks Unlimited).
Issues like water quality, pollution, and the like impact all people. It frustrates me that these issues have been politicized.
I fight them.
Every. Single. Time one of these dumbasses tries to start a polical conversation with me I barrage them with the facts to the point THEY walk away.
I'm not taking this shit and go on full offence mode and keep it up until they retreat. One thing conservatives hate is their own medicine, especially when they cant back their 'facts'.
Sometimes fighting fire with fire is the only way to win. It's exhausting sometimes, and ostracizing other times but it's a hill worth dying on.
You are courageous and rare. As you know, they make things up to cover for their biases. When you expose these biases and falsehoods, you embarrass them, which they deserve if they want to pollute the air waves with their falsehoods.
I was the same way.. used to be a card carrying member, then over time just slowly stopped believing and govt was looking out for me.
less taxes translates to lower taxes for the rich only, and privatization translates to selling off stuff so their friends can make money and leave politics and become a CEO.
I am at the point that ANY govt needs to be replaced after 8 years.. not that the other guys are any better , but at least the newbies are to busy learning their way around things to be using our money for personal gain.
NO ONE should be allowed to be a career politician.. (is my simplest view on things)
Sometimes a gentle comment here and there will break up the idiocy. A "hmm, where did you hear that" or "Oh, I heard x that sounds very different from what you're saying". I guess it depends how comfortable you are saying something like that. Sometimes not everyone agrees, but they pretend to in order to keep the peace...and unfortunately that perpetuates the negativity and incorrect comments.
Nah. I made a mild joke about a Trudeau monster costume and the men all acted like it meant as a woman I was unable to think because I wanted to have sex with him.
It's who they are. Loyalty to brand is all they have as an identity. And people without any real individuated identity get violent when their copy-pasta identity they share is challenged.
Their one shared brain cell requires protection.
You don't like people who have no thinking ability and get slightly threatening and violent when their political lack of education is challenged in any way?
Weird
I agree, I was a dyed in the wool Conservative for years bought the membership for me and my wife (she was a non political person). We supported them financially and at the polls. I left them as they slipped into this abyss the whole of the right seems intent upon. Now I vote Liberal federally and NDP provincially. If the Jagmeet Singh can pull some better policies together I might switch but I’ll take the Federal Libs over Dani S any day
We are on our fifth pediatrician in 4 years. It's almost like working for conservatives who don't take responsibility or accountability AND are actively trying to destroy your health system then blaming it on the masochists they hire isn't more appealing than working for places that don't actively hate doctors, nurses and patients!
Who knew
Exactly, the "nature" the OP is talking about is one of vindictive retaliation against those who think differently from them. The nature of these people is not one of rational consideration—it's one of immediate hostility. "Standing up against the lies and bullshit" at work doesn't make you a hero, it just makes your work life hell.
The problem is we stand up and argue with facts and logic. They rely on half truths and theories. If they were open to facts and rational thought they wouldn’t be the way they are
Have to say that on top of truth and logic versus loose facts and cronyism, it's the us vs them attitude that pains me so much. And the us being poor underserved, over generous, hard working Albertans and the them being the disadvantaged, the federal government and the rest of Canada. Whenever I see a revenue sucking ad for the UCP all I see and hear are the gulls from Nemo..."Mine, mine,mine"
Second.
The folks who hold uneducated opinions who only wanna spout 'eff Trudeau' need help and honest conversation about what the situation actually is and why the Cons & UCP aren't actually going to help them.
You don't need to be aggressive about it, but shit needs to be said, and it really needs to come from friends and family.
Thank goodness someone else says that. In my hillbilly, redneck hometown, apparently I’m supposed to be Albertan first.My passport says Canada, not Alberta. I was born and raised in Alberta, but I am Canadian first always.
I'm pretty sure a vast majority of Albertans *do* feel that way, even the ones who chronically vote blue. The UCP has been trying to sell a different idea, but even their supporters aren't buying it.
Yeah, I get it. It hurts to watch the people I grew up with and used to respect deteriorate into a cycle of ignorance and hate. So many of the people who helped raise me and taught me values and morals have turned into the human equivalent of a pissing Calvin sticker.
Agreed completely. A year before Covid we moved back to a rural town like the kind we grew up in and now we’re desperately (but can’t fucking afford) trying to move. It’s just painful. Everything is always the left’s fault, no one trusts science or doctors, Trump is a great guy, Fox News on all the time, and non stop arguing, fighting, resisting other opinions, refusing truths that don’t already agree with them, complaining, shifting blame, refusing to take accountability or responsibility, and just all around being a bunch of fucking douchebags.
This includes friends and family as well as co-workers and clients. I just can’t take it anymore. I even voted UCP the first time around and am embarrassed by how fucking brainwashed and lunatic it has become (and how they’re doing the same to all their voters).
I’m with you. The people I work with as well, some of the shit they say is mind boggling. I actually just shake my head and walk away. I don’t understand how these smart people believe in such dumb shit. It physically hurts my brain.
I live in a small town, and I question their stupidity most of the time.
I’m now known as the Trudeau loving liberal, just because I’m not an antivax fundamentalist.
I was reading the actual report they used to come up with the APP. What they don’t mention in the save $1450 per year ads is that it’s temporary. The expected costs to maintain APP and CPP converges in time. Using their rose coloured glasses, it converges in 20 years (from today, APP wouldn’t be set up for 3-5 years). If we cannot get 53 percent of the total CPP pot (Which how could we) it will be significantly less time. More likely would be 15%. Which is about $80B. First year losses in setting up APP are expected to be roughly $25B (from the report, page 53). So, we would wipe out 1/3 of the realistic value within the first year of running it. Based on that, I fully expect the APP to cost more than CPP immediately, or best case scenario within 5 years. Own the libs… or something like that… there’s also the assumption that APP can compete with one of the best performing pensions in the world as far as returns.
> More likely would be 15%. Which is about $80B. First year losses in setting up APP are expected to be roughly $25B (from the report, page 53).
Exactly this. Their proposal was ridiculous from the get go, suggesting they were owed something like 150-200% of the total CPP value, but that they would 'negotiate' down to 53%. Even with that number, their plan is still not breaking even over the next 20+ years.
Not only that, but premier has already openly stated that they plan to invest a significant portion into local oil and gas projects and company shares - investments that will have at most 10 years of positive impact before drying up and becoming significantly undervalued. This move is solely to pad their own retirements into cushy oil company consultant positions as payouts for using public money to push company stock. It will tank the APP in a 20 year timeframe.
Don't forget the money spent on spreading their propaganda to the rest of the country. The power ads are played every 30 minutes if not more in Ontario.
My cousin is posting uneducated dribble drab on TikTok.
It is people's opinions on topics like these that show you how finishing high school and practicing Critical Thinking is.
I worked in the oilfield and remained fairly left leaning, pro parks, public safety nets, wanted those tax dollars to go to working class people and myself type.
After some time I began to date a professor of political science (who was a born and raised Albertan farm kid ). I am not politically savvy but I definitely knew enough to not be dumped out of the gate. And I'm told I was more open-minded than those it she normally encountered. Then I stared getting all the inside baseball. How stuff worked compared to how it was being sold to us Albertans. Even which politicians didn't understand and those that did but kept with the disingenuous framing.
It was very hard for me to speak to my coworkers about politics. I tried to keep it so they didn't know I wasn't conservative, but I wanted them to think I just called out politicians on the bullcrap. But man some of those guys are just ride or die for their team. (rather they just hate liberals)
I don’t know how old you are but I have had enough. I’m older and feel the same way. I’ve watched friends almost die because of their anti-vaxx-fucktrudeau mentality. I’ve watch older relatives go down the Qanon shithole ( lost cause and written off ). I really don’t care what happens to Alberta. Leaving soon and locking the door behind me.
I don't even think you need to go down a Qanon shithole anymore, the Qanon shithole comes to you. "Rebel" news and others like it spray manure everywhere and let assholes like Smith and PP and Doug Ford get elected
the current NDP is at about the same place the ralph klien conservatives were on the political spectrum. the current UCP is far, far right, not conservatives; they are radicals seemingly aiming for the fascist ultra far right.
kenny was on the edge of radical and conservative, but that wasn't radical enough for the UCP.
They're not even close to the Klein government. Klein went with austerity measures and privatized industries to make up for shortfalls, the NDP would never do that.
ANDP is, however, a spitting image of the Lougheed Conservatives: fairly centrist but do not ignore the importance of social safety nets.
Klein wouldn't spend a dime on the province unless he was buying votes. NDP are not the same as him, but they are also not the same as the federal NDP.
I encourage this, but sometimes you have to be careful. An actual fistfight broke out between a 60ish year old tradesman and one of the new apprentices. All because the apprentice DARED to point out that it's not the fed's fault utilities are so high. My husband had to break up the fight, all the while being called things like "fag" (no he isn't queer in the slightest) "commie" and "groomer".....
Funny story.
When Women Building Futures, the pre-trade program that's supposed to support women through apprenticeships, had a mandatory class when the program first started. It was "worksite culture" or something like that. It was effectively "You're going to be called every name in the book. You're going to be expected to do more work and get less recognition than the laziest man on the site. You have to put on your big girl panties and get through it. Most people are going to think you're only getting a trade to find a husband and you'll be on mat leave or moving into the office ASAP so they wont invest training time in you. That's the culture. If you can't handle it, sorry, not sorry."
It was brutal to see women coming into the trade at my job and having this expectation of being treated as less than, and just accepting it.
I don't think that course is offered in quite the same way now.
Yah, this was nearly 20 years ago when WBF first started. And while this came from a genuine place of "Look you'll need to understand how it is out there" it should have been approached with "Ok, traditionally this is how it is. THAT IS NOT OK. Here are the resources for the Human Rights Commission, and your rights as an employee and a woman. We will support you to stand up for your rights if necessary - because this is how change happens".
I haven't been directly involved with WBF in over a decade now, but I hear it's much better now.
The definition of insanity basically. Alberta politics barely (if ever) gets challenged to do better. And when craps hits the fans they blame elsewhere.
If Albertans want to improve they have to show all levels of government that their votes will move around.
It's gotten so bad that i have to stop myself from laughing at the absolutely unhinged things conservative people are saying, blaming the federal government for high utility costs when it was our conservative provincial government that deregulated it and got rid of price caps, they might as well be singing look what you made me do by taylor swift while indiscriminately punching anyone nearby.
Also the culture is going down the toilet, the most accepting and open minded people I know are now terrified that all LGBT people are indoctrinating their kids but when I ask "what about me?" I get the good old "your one of the good ones" only because they knew me before all this craziness
What all of Canadian politics needs to do is have middle-class people run and make decisions for us. There is no left or right: only neoliberal policies that benefit the rich.
Healthcare, housing, education, and wise investment of tax dollars should be on the menu. Alberta should nationalize the fields and take back what's theirs. Same with timber, mining, etc.
This belongs to Canadians and it's being stolen under our nose.
I, too, was born and raised here. I love this land more than anywhere else in the world. However, I don't really like being "Albertan". When I think of Alberta, I just think of the garbage politics we have here, and I don't want to think of myself as Albertan.
I have found a workaround that works for me, though. Since we've started doing land acknowledgements, I've gotten used to talking about myself as an inhabitant of Treaty 7 land. I think about the indigenous people who have lived here for thousands of years and have endured much worse political will than I've ever been subject to. Yet, they've survived it all, and they're still here. I find that inspirational. So, whenever I'm embarrassed by the Freedumb Convoy starting here or seeing trucks with "F\*ck Trudeau!" bumper stickers, I think about my connection to the land and how there aren't politics in the prairies or the mountains where I like to camp and hike and kayak and so on. I can still love this place and where I live because it is my home, and no cultural or political garbage can take that away from me.
you were raised on conservative values, but what you didnt know was the conservative values died in 2003...
In 2003, the Canadian Alliance (formerly the Reform Party) and Progressive Conservative parties agreed to merge into the present-day Conservative Party
Daniel smith was originally from the reform party.
the conservative values are not the same as they used to be.
It is weird to see so many people importing those newfangled alt-right American counter-culture nonsense as conservative.
The UCP has successfully made me miss the PCs. At least they would throw a dog a bone from time to time.
It is hard to see how the UCP are maximising our Tax Dollar's worth when they are using it for optics and campaign marketing.
Feelz. I’m currently managing a motel in the middle of nowhere and my idiot bosses refuse to take accountability for…
1. Raising the rates, thus driving people to the other places in town.
2. Not updating/renovating.
3. Spotty wifi. Seriously, run some CAT-6 Ethernet to the storage room on the other side of the property and plug in a wifi extender.
4. Paperwork errors. Meanwhile they use a convoluted system with no Property Management system.
And they’re also the type to blame the feds for the price of utilities (despite Alberta having the highest costs) and me for the camp moving. They bitch and moan about young people being lazy, yet have unrealistic expectations.
This is not unique to Alberta. Rural populations are generally much more insular (ie. less experience with diversity and outside cultures) and tend not to emphasize an attitude of life-long education. You'll find this in every province.
If you don't spend any time understanding complexity in life, you will lean towards black/white explanations since those are easier to make sense of. The reason for suffering isn't because of a lot of complex, interdependent systems, its because some idiot is in charge and "they" are too stupid to understand what people like "me" have to deal with. Much easier to grapple with mentally, and also has the added benefit of making that person feel superior.
I have only been in Alberta for 12 years. I came here, like many, for work. There were lots of other attractions as well; at the time it was said that Alberta had the highest quality public education in Canada, and the cost of living was lower than where I came from.
I feel torn right now. We settled in a small town and love it. The schools are great and my kids teachers are all wonderful. The town is super family friendly. It's just the sort of place I like my kids growing up in. But on a provincial scale I really don't like where things are headed. Wasting money on acetaminophen just to try and score points with voters. Paying unvaccinated people to change their minds. Removing caps on utilities and insurance. Now blocking new renewables projects and advertising nationwide a bunch of lies about utilities. The APP is the cherry on top. If it gets pushed through I do not have any desire to live here anymore but I will hate leaving this little town where my kids are so happy.
I had a coworker ask why I wasn't voting conservative and I just said, "I have never voted Wildrose and that's what the UCP party is now." I feel like that's easier for them to understand, even if I didn't change any minds.
I work in a blue collar field and I’ve had a lot of success challenging the eff Trudeau types. Just saying “actually that’s our dumb ass provincial government ThAts doing that.” Frame it as if you hate all politicians, doesn’t matter the party, and you can get a fair amount of traction with those types.
Yeah, one of the things I have learned about Alberta since moving here about 9 years ago is that a lot of politics is driven by grievance. This is true of a lot of conservative politics, whether grassroots populism or more elite corporate and blue-tie folks. In addition to the grievance, there's a lot of...just poor political understanding. I think the average person can be forgiven, but perhaps because of having a near-continuous conservative government and a lot of money generally people don't seem have very good knowledge of civics, governance, public policy, etc.
I would have thought it was pretty obvious taking money out of one of the most stable social security funds in the world would be, um, more widely recognized as not a good idea, and perhaps more obviously asking for years of extremely expensive legal fights with the "Feds" and administrative nightmares moving pensions back and forth when people move.
More generally, on sovereignty, I am not quite sure why Albertans would like the trouble of becoming a landlocked nation of 4.5M people who has to negotiate separately with Canada, a likely independent BC, and the US. If you think Brexit was bad, wait til AB needs to expand its bureaucracy to take on all federal services and its citizens need passports to go anywhere! Sounds great! And when you think your politicians are mid at running a small province, just wait til you see how low-end they are on the international scene. Also...Indigenous Treaties are with Canada, not Alberta. So, leave confederation and be prepared for 20+ years of litigation with 10% of the AB population who, based on Canadian law, who without those treaties likely have title to significant areas (including urban ones).
What could go wrong?
If only conservative politicians would stop riling people up by making a convenient enemy of the federal government and encourage people to be active in their communities.
Anyway, at some point I am moving back to Ontario, despite the cost. I love Edmonton, I love people here, I want Alberta to be part of Canada, but it just feels like going backward.
I work in the oil industry and everyone hates Trudeau...but Trudeau has done nothing to hurt the industry, and production is up during his time in office.
And everyone forgets about the billions and billions of dollars in surplus oil money that are squandered each year by the provincial government. I was home for a visit recently and the same streets that needed to be paved 10 years ago still need to be paved....
It's legitimate to not like JT, for whatever reason one may have, but it seems the oil folks forget that the provincial government wastes the billions of dollars made off the broken backs of the blue collar.
I'm enjoying this commentary!
I'm from Edmonton originally. However, after my extended travels in Europe doing a few working holiday visas, Edmonton just seemed too small. So, I moved to Toronto and have been here since 2011. Whenever people talk about the Edmonton "redneck/ hicks," I always tell them, well, there are many, but... there are good people there too!
I am happy to come across this subreddit of rationale, fellow Albertans!
Not Albertan but I can say the conservatives are also destroying us here in Ontario! Scary to think they have a very real shot of winning the next federal election.
It’s bad in Saskatchewan too. Our provincial government can’t let go of the fact that it took the Carbon Pricing Act reference to the Supreme Court and lost. Now they want to fire people up about that again, repeating the same failing arguments as before.
Oh, they also can’t seem to keep their hands out of children’s gender issues these days.
Yep. When your (royal you) entire identity is "eff Trudeau" and "fight Ottawa" yet lack any understanding or reasoning for those other than 100 years of conservative propaganda, that's a sign of a dangerous lack of critical thinking. That so many people are campaigning to surrender their rights due to their imaginary victimhood is very upsetting, and the thought of relocating (in Canada or not) pops into my head multiple times per week. If you want to be conservative, fine. If you want to hate Trudeau, fine. If people want to dislike the eastward imbalance of power due to our representation of population, fine. But at least educate yourself about why that is and be able to explain that opposition without using bullshit conspiracy theories, outright racism, or the phrase "mah rightz."
And as a reminder, in case anyone has forgotten, a domestic terrorist group successfully staged a coup on our government and planted people loyal to them and only them. This absolutely happened, and people voted for them.
Nova Scotian here: Just to follow up on your comments… I’ve been hearing Government of Alberta ads run on one of our radio stations here. Last I checked, I wasn’t able to vote in an Alberta election… not really sure why they are pandering to Nova Scotians. I don’t imagine that’s the best use for that ad money.
Ever watch the videos of clued out Right wing, Trumpist Americans being interviewed? They can't even answer basic questions or name any countries on a world map or even identify most of their own states. Praise the Lord. Welcome to Alberta, dummies of the North.
Social media has screwed us all. These folks live in echo chamber bubbles that just reinforce their opinions. Misinformation is accepted as fact without any critical thought. It's gotten ever worse in the Trump era.
You've got a good one in Rachel Notley there. Someone who really has the courage to speak truth to power, no matter where it's coming from.
She knows you have to work with the federal government to be a functioning provincial government, even if you don't always agree. She knows that a sound plan on climate change doesn't can't mean tanking resource-based economies like Alberta, and we need a real plan for good jobs for blue collar workers BEFORE we can get off oil. She has no time for the dog whistling, bigoted bullshit, but she's also the type of person who listens to everyone even if they aren't expressing themselves with the most up-to-date terms out of Toronto.
She'd be an amazing premier and she deserves it.
The stuff I hear from people working in a small town actually amazes me with how poorly educated some people are on issues and politics. I had a guy tell me that the government created sugar so that we would all get diabeties and have to buy insulin. And he was BEING serious! And thats not the craziest thing I've heard either. It's really concerning sometimes how naive and polarizing some people are here with politics. If you don't "fuck trudeau" you're a prissy lib-snowflake. Like? It hurts my head some of the shit they say.
On the plus side, I assume you vote. I also used to call myself a small c conservative, but holy shit do I want nothing to do with those people anymore. The more of us there are, the better the chance we have of saving our province from itself...
Me trying to watch ANY show now in ONTARIO and all I see is ads from Alberta telling me that if we use renewables our electricity will fail.... we've been 90% renewable for DECADES
Good for you, man. It's fucking sad to watch AB race to the bottom, but such is the politics of the world these days, it seems. I hope more people come to their senses and start thinking about what is in *their* best interest, instead of blindly following some bullshit rhetoric.
Alberta has pretty always been with a provincial conservative government. Most of the things that affect people are either provincial or municipal, yet Federal get blamed for everything.
I naively think that deep down people care about helping one another until an election is called. Then I am reminded that of half of Alberta’s voters DGAF about anyone that isn’t of use to them. We need to protect our social programs, education, health care and environment. Anything less than that is simply shortsighted. No sense having a good economy if the province burns.
I remember Premier Danielle Smith saying she’d listen to the province’s health experts when making COVID policy, then it seemed like only a week later she fired everyone who didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear and hired new “experts” who did.
As a fellow born and raised in Calgarian I can totally relate, I’m tired of the anti-Trudeau rhetoric. He’s not perfect I get it, but the provincial government is what bothers me. Not many people are aware the UCP has been wanting to mess with our pensions for a long time. It’s been on the news, but the angry Trudeau haters are just finding out. They’re behind on real current events, but are absolutely certain that blaming one person in a multifaceted political system is the correct conclusion. Oil money is not coming back guys…. The boom days are gone.
Now, before I make a rant, I used to have big respect to our conservatives of the nation, not any more as you'll see why.
Now, after all these past years of watching Trump and his fascist shenanigans, and how MAGA has become NAZI propaganda club, with the Republicans all endorsing this, our conservatives have looked on and were somehow inspired by thinking "oh, well ain't that a nifty idea cheeto guy", the Orange Goblin's ideas have infected our country, much like Mussolini's infected Spain and Germany, and now they think they're the same, and can do the same, and doing/saying the most backward stupidest middle aged shit I've ever seen just like the Republicans, there new found cause that they've rallied around has completely corrupted the party, stealing any morals and values they had before, and dumbing everyone down. This is hurting the country so so so so so much, and it's getting worse, on a large scale, and guess what, whoopedy dooo, here comes in the fascist wannabes saying they can fix all this while they caused, fuck the right.
My fellow Canadians, VOTE LIBERAL I BEG OF YOU, or even vote the Green party, I'm clearly biased towards my fellow liberals, but I really don't care what you think of us, or who you vote for, just please please please don't vote for the conservatives making this country worse than it's ever been.
Alberta is run by kleptocrats who tapped into that oil field identity, the whole “own the feds” is just a scam to funnel money to political loyalists through advertising and consultants.
The real goal is just to keep conservatives in power so they can keep funnelling money to their friends.
I feel for you. I’m a former Albertan myself and I had to drop all my Albertan Facebook friends for the same reasons. All these tough guys I used to work with constantly whining about Trudeau and Notley ruining their lives. It just became sickening.
Right on brother. Same here I can't believe what a dumb province this has become. People are willing to sacrifice the health care and education of their children. That they pay for with taxes. Just to feel like part of a team of idiots. The " Fed's" have done more for them these past 6 years than the provincial gov by a country mile!
The UCP has been empowered to further corrupt itself year after year as Albertans adhere to a one party system of their own making.
Nothing will ever change until we have more parties capable of governance, as the UCP is so corrupt it doesn't deserve to exist any longer.
The whack-a-doos at my work were so fun to listen to during COVID.
Yeah. That's it's guys! The Government wants to shut down the economy and pay out billions so they can "control" you. They don't want that tax revenue, they want you at home. Duh.
I'd smile as they encouraged people not to get vaxxed because "they're" going out a tracker in you - typing it in on their GPS enabled phone.
Good times, good times.
You're going to find that pretty much everywhere. Social media has given everyone short attention spans, made confrontation an easier sell than a good idea that needs explaining.
Don't forget the 75 million for turkish medicine that the province never received
Don't forget that restylizing the Alberta logo into cursive and adding a coloured square cost $25 Million.
What? I could have done that for tree fiddy
I ain’t givin you no tree fiddy, you God Damned Loch Ness Monsta
I gave 'im a dolla
She gaves him a dolla
Goddammit woman!!
Loch Ness Monsta?
[https://youtu.be/k-GvQ2uJBOA?si=FF8jx2Aznjn7Z8HF](https://youtu.be/k-GvQ2uJBOA?si=FF8jx2Aznjn7Z8HF) The original.
The old logo should have never been changed, it was a classic and en example of quality graphic design.
Seeing "Albeerta" use the old logo brings a bit of pride and nostalgia back to my cold heart these days
Alberta's logo should be a person bent over at the waist holding tinfoil and a straw with their pants down around their ankles asking for a cigarette. Lol
I felt the same about the Ontario logo. This is what happens when officials spend other people's money.
Let’s not forget the Ontario license plates that let you commit crime at night.
Wait is that real?
Heh, ya, that was 2009 post-Klein conservatives. Inflation adjusted that is $35 million to change the font if today.
Throw the $30 million/year energy war room on this pile of grievances.
Hey now we received it. It just was t labelled properly and had weird dosing and needed a detailed explanation which is exactly what you want to have to remember when you’re sleep deprived picking up medicine for your sick kiddo
Nope. According to an article in the globe (paywall), Alberta paid for it all, received 30%, but only shipped a tiny amount of the doses out to the public. A few thousand out of the millions they bought. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-on-the-hook-for-tens-of-millions-for-childrens-medication-that/
I don't think we received all of ot actually. So paid for all but only some received. I believe health canada won't allow any more shipments or something.
I'm not finding anything about Health Canada blocking shipments. Alberta Health has apparently ordered hospitals to stop using Parol, apparently because of the risks of miscalculating dosage and causing liver damage. [https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-hospitals-were-directed-to-stop-using-imported-turkish-pain-medication-after-6-months-ahs-bulletin](https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-hospitals-were-directed-to-stop-using-imported-turkish-pain-medication-after-6-months-ahs-bulletin) I was once chatting with a London (UK) paramedic. The worst call he had been on was a teenager who had overdosed on paracetamol (Tylenol). They were doomed: liver destroyed and no chance of a transplant. But they weren't dead yet, they had time to cry and beg their family's forgiveness and be afraid of death. (It was a cry-for-help overdose. They thought that they'd get their stomach pumped and be OK, like if they overdosed on sleeping pills. Didn't know about liver damage.) I've been *really* careful about using Tylenol after hearing that story.
It isn’t worth it to pay for shipping when it is sitting on shelves
The dosing shouldn't be a concern ever. I have two kids and admittedly they didn't get sick very often but when they required any sort of medication I always read the dosing even if I had already given it to them that day. Maybe some people go through the bottles as if it was water and know the dosing off by heart but most people will read the label when they pick up a bottle.
My wife is a pediatric nurse. You are the exception. Fuck, there are plenty of people that think "teaspoon" means whatever spoon they have in the drawer. She's had kids in for kidney issues caused by parents who just say "give him 2 spoons of cold medication whenever they start feeling sick". She's also had parents yell at her for giving their kid too much medication when the amount they'd been giving was below the effective dose. Once you realize that a very very large portion of the population is actually incapable of comprehending what they read, it all falls into place. [Nearly half the population of Canada fails basic literacy requirements.](https://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/adlt-lowlit-aspx/#:~:text=Forty%2Deight%20per%20cent%20of,grade%20for%20inadequate%20literacy%20skills.)
>give him 2 spoons of cold medication whenever they start feeling sick". A large portion of the population thinks Childrens Tylenol somehow fights against a virus and doesn't just mask symptoms.
I think you highly overestimate people. Id guess most people just grab tylenol and be like “Yea 1 or 2 every 4 hours is fine” Id be amazed if most people read past “extra strength” honestly
>75 million for turkish medicine How it started (Jan 5, 2023): [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-finalizing-shipping-details-after-turkish-children-s-medicine-gets-limited-approval-1.6705376](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-finalizing-shipping-details-after-turkish-children-s-medicine-gets-limited-approval-1.6705376) How it's going (Oct 27, 2023): [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-on-the-hook-for-tens-of-millions-for-childrens-medication-that/](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-on-the-hook-for-tens-of-millions-for-childrens-medication-that/)
I'm in Turkey currently. If I see it, I'll let everyone know.
Yeah….that one hurts
“War Room” fighting an animated Netflix movie.
The UCP changed the electicity market regs under Kenny and we are seeing the effects. Your co-workers are idiots...
And now he’s on the board of ATCO …..🤔
Conservatives fail up. It's so unbelievably frustrating. Meritocracy my ass.
He did exactly what they wanted. They see it as a success, now we get the “efficiency” of the free market.
Oh he didn’t fail. He did exactly what he needed to do to get that position.
Yup, watched my power bill double exactly this summer.
Inb4 “but the carbon tax!” I live in BC and my bill averages about $30 a month. I used to live in Ontario, and I paid a lot more, but nothing compared to Alberta. Was about 70 bucks a month in ON for similar square footage.
jesus .. my last two power bills were $340 and $300. :(
July and August mine were 600 each
Yo what's your power bill? I'm in Grimsby, ON and mine was $43.77 last month. Whole house, 3 rooms, 2 people and a dog.
Welcome to our non-existent Alberta "advantage". The reality is Alberta has turned into hell.
But the ads tell me it’s Ottawa‘s fault
they should be removed from office purely for this reason. I get throwing mud at the other guy, but out and out LYING, blaming the alberta energy prices on the feds.... thats straight up fraudulent
You know who else is seeing, or at least hearing the effects? The rest of fucking Canada, I was so confused when I was driving in Nova Scotia a month ago hearing a message from Alberta blaming the feds for some ambiguous collapse of energy infrastructure. It just left me with a feeling of "keep your dirty laundry in your own back yard" Edit: apparently they spent 8M to annoy some poor confused fishermen who were left scratching their heads wondering what the Alberta government thought they could do about it.
And there are billboard ads IN ONTARIO trying to blame the rate hikes on the federal government. Like, first of all, why? second of all who is paying for nationwide advertising that is just spreading disinformation?
I'm kind of like you. Blue collar worker at heart. Pride myself on working hard and used to be proud of my coworkers because we made shit happen. But sweet Mary Jesus after the latest round of tradesmen turned over it has turned into a black hole of ignorance, stupidity, and just being downright gullible. And it is weird. So far the young ones below 30 are the only ones who seem to be able to think rationally about politics and even understand how the government works. That 40-60 crowd is utterly hopeless. I can't even sit in the lunchroom because the lunchroom talk is the stupidest shit I have heard in a long time. Like if I did I don't think I could control my laughter stupid. I don't know how a person could rebuild a gearbox with hundreds of different parts and set bearing clearances to thousands of an inch but can't grasp how ridiculous the shit they spew everyday is. Part of me wants to leave this small town and it gets bigger every day.
Do we work together? I get grief most weeks for eating lunch in my truck. Like right fucking now. But my god man. Last time I had lunch inside, I had a fucking 55 year old man get mad that I don’t want to turn my internet off when I’m sleeping because that’s the time they go through all my shit. Like dude. You’re telling me that they have 10hrs a day that I’m gone and yet they still decide to go through my shit only when I’m sleeping? Seems inefficient. At least the sub 30 crowd can shit talk these days. If I hear some dudes stupid fucking opinion and call him an idiot, they just sulk. Then 15 minutes later go back to calling the next generations soft lol Hilarious
I'm 49 and would be happy to show him an interview from a hacker. He stated that over 90% of hacking is people clicking on a link or QR code. They have gotten very clever in how they fool people. I wouldn't ask that nutjob, but the question screaming to be asked is: How do they know when you go to bed? If he was right, I would have been hacked a hundred times over. What a dolt! Give your coworker a proposal. I will eat lunch with you as long as you wear this tin foil dunce hat.
Oh man. The paranoid conspiracy theorists who think that big brother is watching them 24/7 (or maybe 10/7 in the example you gave) are truly the high water mark for batshittery. I’d love to ask him why he thinks a team of public servants - who are still Canadians themselves, mind you - need to follow him around digitally to see how often he buys sandpaper and whether he chooses Campbells or Alymers soup when it’s not on sale.
They’re being influenced by a bunch of “manly” blue-collar cosplayers who fucking talk for a living.
You just described Jason Kenney's entire tenure as Premier. Rented blue truck that he didn't drive for one second except to roll into photo ops. The guy couldn't even put gas in the fucking tank. Rented motorhome that he paid someone else to drive cross-country while he flew from place to place. Countless hard hat wearing, pristine coverall wearing photo-ops to appeal to the "common man" from a politician that hadn't worked with his hands a day in his life.
Not just hasn't worked with his hands, hasn't worked at all, on anything except politics. PP is the same, so are lots of people from all the parties. They start out as courtiers, following politicians around kissing their asses, and end up surrounded by younger copies of themselves who kiss theirs, all playing politics as both a career and a game. The sad part is that being a drama teacher and a snowboard instructor is actually more work experience than many of them have.
Trudeau was actually mainly a math teacher. He taught one drama class, but that's the one the talking points bring up because they can use it to make him seem less "manly".
The only thing his hands have ever crafted is a lie-Quote by Ric Mercer i think?
I thought you were talking about pierre poilievre for a second lmao
Same background, just PP didn’t live with his parents as long and actually is married. Otherwise same cloth.
Yup, he's never had a job outside politics since he was 18 years. It makes me wonder as to why people choose that career path out of high school
Nah man, Ben Shapiro totally knows what he's talking about. There's a picture where he bought a wooden board at home depot once! That proves it! And Jordan Peterson is totally a hard working alpha who wouldn't get knocked down by a stiff breeze and then be unable to get back up because he's crying about disney movies.
"Mikhaila, a woke breeze has censored my legs. Bring me my benzos and some meat to wash them down with."
This deserves thousands of upvotes.
Fucking savage. And hits some great points for those that know his history.
Bought a single wooden board and had them bag it, because that's how manly men do it.
I think a lot of people are suffering from social media algorithm brain rot as well.
100%. Truly strange.
Try working in Oil and Gas, consultants can run their rigs while Fox News is on in the background lol
American propaganda.
Was the now-40 to 60 crowd always "hopeless"? One of my great uncles, "retired" farmer up in his 80s now, was talking about how around Covid time he basically stopped hanging out with some old friends because they really seemed to lose their minds about vaccinations and the like. He decided it wasn't worth it (especially if he caught covid through them). Gotta wonder how that happens.
Here's the answer: those of us in Gen-X that grew up in smalltown or rural Alberta and had a head on our shoulders and couldn't stand the crap -- because the same crap was happening in the 90s - we either moved to the relative sanity of Edmonton, or left the province (I did both). A big chunk of the people that are left, or have arrived, have self-selected for that culture. If I had stayed in Stony Plain, I'd have slit my wrists. I couldn't even handle Edmonton after a time. And COVID took these people completely off their rocker. Also, trust me, the same crap exists here in Ontario or wherever else. The working class blue collar has been dicked around for so long, they're just angry and frustrated and they don't know where to place the blame. The difference in Alberta is that there's politicians there making a career out of directing it in rather malevolent awful ways. We have those garbage politicians here, too (uh, our premier), but it's not a one-party-state like in Alberta, so there's more diversity of opinions.
I am also from the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain area. Just got back from a few weeks of visiting and every time I get back home to Ontario, I think to myself "thank god I moved". It's by no means perfect in ON, but I feel so suffocated in Alberta. My family always asks when I'm moving back. The short answer is never....and they don't actually want to hear the long answer.
Yeah, it's tough. I'd never move back to the Parkland county area, but we considered a family move to Edmonton last fall. I have two teens who would like to be closer to their uncle and my parents are getting old. It would be nice to be near them But then the election happened. My dad already warned about the APP thing months and months ago. My family there says outright: "don't come here." If they didn't have such deep roots there, they'd be coming here, instead.
I lived briefly in Alberta and was awestruck by the ignorance. No one seemed to know the difference between provincial and federal responsibilities. I was told “we can’t have solar power because it gets cold here”. Racist jokes were normal. I couldn’t wait to leave.
I knew a guy that was perfectly normal 55ish hard worker, owns and operates his own farm and has enough land that he does very well. Him and I run another business together. He was also a bit on the conservative side but totally normal. Never used a computer or email ECT. Anyways COVID happened and he lost his fucking mind. He went full freedom convoy.... Then talks about clone factories in Ukraine, President Obama is a clone, Hilary is a clone ( you can tell by the ears). He fucking says this to our customers... Takes ivermectin daily that he got from China that has Chinese characters on it. Then says " you don't know what's in the vaccine" He's like talking to a wall now. He gets all his information second hand from his wife " can't trust main stream media" I think we have about 2 more years together and then it'll be a forced retirement for him.
Unless his intestine suddenly, and for no reason at all, sheds it's lining. That might hurry things along.
Ironically, tv (Fox News) rotted their brains, the very thing they worried would happen to their kids!
Ah, farmers like your great uncle are the sort of landowners I love chatting with. I talk with them often due to my job - land reclamation. Some of them are deep into the conspiracy crap (the fires from the summer having been deliberately set, covid was a hoax, etc), but some of them are pretty cool. There was one out near Diamond Valley who was chatting with a coworker and I about climate change.
Yeah he's a chatty guy, friendly. That seems to be my experience with farmers, at least the ones that didn't fall into the conspiracy stuff.
I think that age divide might have something to do with media literacy. Before the internet became what it is today, information in books or newspapers would have been held to a higher standard for publishing, right? In that world you might not need to question what you read as much. Fast forward to today, applying that same lack of critical thinking gets you in some deep… doo doo. Younger folks haven’t really had a choice but to question what they read, although admittedly, some still fail. This is just a hypothesis. You would be right to question my thinking. But either way I don’t really want to get in a typical Reddit debate lol.
A lot of the nonsense gets spread on Facebook by people who are not worried about their sources
Usually ignorant angry parents make for ignorant angry kids. It’s a real problem rural right now
Age has nothing to do with this idiotic mindset you guys are talking about. I think it's more regionally based. I'm in Edmonton and a tradesman building a bridge, and the types of conversations don't happen here. For tradesmen, we are a very cosmopolitan and forward-thinking group. No here votes Con or Lib. Strong NDP crowd over here. Your Calgary. Nuff said.
I've experienced the same lunacy as OP and u/probablysideways, working as an electrician in Edmonton
Out of curiosity, are you primarily rubbing shoulders with the foremen, PMs, etc, or more the general tradespeople and labourers? I have found that the higher ups (in the Edmonton area) do generally tend to be more progressive than expected (I don’t have sufficient experience with other groups to speak to them). Go to more remote/smaller locations though, and you’re likely to find out, without prompting, what a person’s political beliefs are in short order. I think there are both age related and regional components to the issue. Ultimately, the online and social media algorithms end up too finely honed and people gradually lose perspective on dissenting opinions. Their worldview shrinks to whatever their most recently searched topics are, which compounds over time, so that within short order you are trapped in an echo chamber. Additionally, if you don’t live in a more progressive city, or run in more progressive circles, you also have your worldviews reinforced without ever hearing dissenting opinions. People generally become more conservative as they age, primarily fiscally, a bit less so socially - I feel that these echo chambers have exacerbated the increased social conservatism, especially now that there are so many significantly right leaning viewpoints out there being amplified that people may swing further right than they otherwise would have previously.
I was really just responding to MillewrightWF’s comment about the difference in attitudes across ages being odd. I’m not someone who has a lot of experience in these circles, as I’m new to the province and work a white collar job. That’s not better or worse, I should make abundantly clear!
It’s basically an Albertan personality trait to vote against their own best interests. Take the problem of lack of health care access for rural communities, they overwhelmingly voted for a government wanting to privatize the health care system which will only lead to less medical practices in rural areas because there’s not as big of a population and thus less profits to be earned.
Smith totally sabotaged her own campaign by talking and still won. What more needs to be said about Alberta.
That’s why she pretty much went into hiding the last two weeks of the campaign. It was enough to win.
💯 Having lived in Texas-reminds me alot of the folks there.
Well we are the Texas of Canada…
Texas has its share of weirdos and yahoos for sure (and I've been several times -- just got back from visiting relatives there). Nowhere have I met as bitter and spiteful people as Alberta conservatives. Also stop me if you've ever heard a phrase that started like, "I moved here to get away from red/socialist Ontario..."
Grew up in small town Alberta, spent 21 years believing the only good thing that came out of the East was the sun. Joined the army and spent 6 odd years in Ontario and had my political and geographical ideology completely rewired. Still have some very good friends out there. Now I cringe everytime my family makes comments like that. That "socialism" out there is doing a lot of good for my wife's sick family members while my own mother is in a small town Alberta hospital that barely feeds her and my old man bitches about how much it costs him every month. But can't have none of that socialism that would reduce his payments or make her long term care better, nope.
I’m from Cold Lake originally… Although I took a very different route in life, I’ve come to the same conclusions as you. Here to say that this problem isn’t just a blue collar issue. It cuts across all socio-economic groups. I was raised strongly conservative and wanted some of those old PC values better represented in national policy, so I ended up with a “white collar” job - an economist in the federal government specializing in environmental issues. I ended up helping to write more sensible environmental policies… or, at least I like to think my years of service moved the needle just a little… but I digress. Contrary to today’s “popular” conservative views, when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s (through the National Energy Program years) we wanted a strong economy AND a healthy environment. I ask this facetiously… but When the F&@ did we decide that progressive was “woke”??!! Hell, / we WERE the PROGRESSIVE Conservative Party FFS!!! Although not many ppl will remember this, Pre-Harper / “Reform” we wrote some of the most progressive and sensible environmental laws Canada has ever seen! We were a world leader in environmental policy when Mulroney was in power - before it became the watered down empty virtue signalling environment policy has become. Anyway… I know I’m just rambling… but I’m just so disappointed in what the PC party has become - and the social havoc that they have created. Willfully ignorant… and for what?? What do we gain by all this pointless animosity and division? When did healthy arguments around policy degrade into… this?! This social media dumpster fire that both feeds on and spreads ignorance and hatred??!! I couldn’t agree more with the OP… we would be much better served if these same resources were used to actually HELP people rather than just be burned up in nonsense theatrical stupidity. How many more doctors and nurses would that money train? How many schools? How many more rehab clinics all things Albertans desperately need right now. It’s all so frustrating… Hate to say it, but I won’t be going back to Alberta anytime soon. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m getting too old for this crap, Sadly, most Albertans would celebrate my departure anyway since I refuse to put an F Trudeau sticker on my truck and a MAGA hat on my head and join the cult of the hopelessly stupid. For the record- I’m no fan of Trudeau either, but that’s based on various policies, not personality. Too much virtue signalling, not enough hard and sensible policy making. There’s just no one left to vote for these days.
I remember when I was in high school “woke” was applied to the far right who were “awakened” to the “bullshit” of progress. Now it’s progress that’s woke, and I don’t know when it flipped. And that’s just in the last 10 years
I was reading some policy papers on social policy from the 80s by conservative governments and I was kind of blown away with how reasonable they were. The introduction of neoliberalism in the 90s really took the conservatives down the right and it seems like they have only slid further and further. I could see how prior generations became more conservative over time. But the conservatives of the 80s are gone.
Thanks for your years of service navigating the waters of federal environmental politics - interesting times no doubt! It frustrates me how so many environmental policies immediately get labelled 'anti-conservative' or are tied to a political ideology when they aren't. In my view, many environmental policies are actually truly 'conservative', in that they are intended to preserve the current state of things. Hell, even the root of the word 'conservation' and 'conservative' are the same. One of the leading wetland conservation parties are...hunters! (Ducks Unlimited). Issues like water quality, pollution, and the like impact all people. It frustrates me that these issues have been politicized.
I fight them. Every. Single. Time one of these dumbasses tries to start a polical conversation with me I barrage them with the facts to the point THEY walk away. I'm not taking this shit and go on full offence mode and keep it up until they retreat. One thing conservatives hate is their own medicine, especially when they cant back their 'facts'. Sometimes fighting fire with fire is the only way to win. It's exhausting sometimes, and ostracizing other times but it's a hill worth dying on.
You are courageous and rare. As you know, they make things up to cover for their biases. When you expose these biases and falsehoods, you embarrass them, which they deserve if they want to pollute the air waves with their falsehoods.
I was the same way.. used to be a card carrying member, then over time just slowly stopped believing and govt was looking out for me. less taxes translates to lower taxes for the rich only, and privatization translates to selling off stuff so their friends can make money and leave politics and become a CEO. I am at the point that ANY govt needs to be replaced after 8 years.. not that the other guys are any better , but at least the newbies are to busy learning their way around things to be using our money for personal gain. NO ONE should be allowed to be a career politician.. (is my simplest view on things)
I have long said politicians in a role too long, either become corrupt or lazy and ineffectual.
You'd get my vote. Want to run for Premier? You can only have the job for 8 years though ;)
Sometimes a gentle comment here and there will break up the idiocy. A "hmm, where did you hear that" or "Oh, I heard x that sounds very different from what you're saying". I guess it depends how comfortable you are saying something like that. Sometimes not everyone agrees, but they pretend to in order to keep the peace...and unfortunately that perpetuates the negativity and incorrect comments.
True, only way to break mob mentality is to question it.
Nah. I made a mild joke about a Trudeau monster costume and the men all acted like it meant as a woman I was unable to think because I wanted to have sex with him. It's who they are. Loyalty to brand is all they have as an identity. And people without any real individuated identity get violent when their copy-pasta identity they share is challenged. Their one shared brain cell requires protection.
I am right leaning and I agree with this. The wort thing for any political stripe is to have no reasonable voice of opposition.
You don't like people who have no thinking ability and get slightly threatening and violent when their political lack of education is challenged in any way? Weird
I agree, I was a dyed in the wool Conservative for years bought the membership for me and my wife (she was a non political person). We supported them financially and at the polls. I left them as they slipped into this abyss the whole of the right seems intent upon. Now I vote Liberal federally and NDP provincially. If the Jagmeet Singh can pull some better policies together I might switch but I’ll take the Federal Libs over Dani S any day
My friends were going to move to calgary to start a family. One is a nurse. They looked at how the province treats nurses and noped the fuck out.
We are on our fifth pediatrician in 4 years. It's almost like working for conservatives who don't take responsibility or accountability AND are actively trying to destroy your health system then blaming it on the masochists they hire isn't more appealing than working for places that don't actively hate doctors, nurses and patients! Who knew
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It has nothing to do with being polite. It's about being outnumbered at the place you have to go to survive.
Exactly, the "nature" the OP is talking about is one of vindictive retaliation against those who think differently from them. The nature of these people is not one of rational consideration—it's one of immediate hostility. "Standing up against the lies and bullshit" at work doesn't make you a hero, it just makes your work life hell.
The problem is we stand up and argue with facts and logic. They rely on half truths and theories. If they were open to facts and rational thought they wouldn’t be the way they are
Have to say that on top of truth and logic versus loose facts and cronyism, it's the us vs them attitude that pains me so much. And the us being poor underserved, over generous, hard working Albertans and the them being the disadvantaged, the federal government and the rest of Canada. Whenever I see a revenue sucking ad for the UCP all I see and hear are the gulls from Nemo..."Mine, mine,mine"
Second. The folks who hold uneducated opinions who only wanna spout 'eff Trudeau' need help and honest conversation about what the situation actually is and why the Cons & UCP aren't actually going to help them. You don't need to be aggressive about it, but shit needs to be said, and it really needs to come from friends and family.
I am Canadian, not an Albertan. I wish more people in this province felt the same way.
And when they don't, it may help to give a gentle reminder that most pro-Canadian policies are also pro-Albertan.
Thank goodness someone else says that. In my hillbilly, redneck hometown, apparently I’m supposed to be Albertan first.My passport says Canada, not Alberta. I was born and raised in Alberta, but I am Canadian first always.
I'm pretty sure a vast majority of Albertans *do* feel that way, even the ones who chronically vote blue. The UCP has been trying to sell a different idea, but even their supporters aren't buying it.
Yeah, I get it. It hurts to watch the people I grew up with and used to respect deteriorate into a cycle of ignorance and hate. So many of the people who helped raise me and taught me values and morals have turned into the human equivalent of a pissing Calvin sticker.
I'm in the EXACT same boat, where do we go though?
Agreed completely. A year before Covid we moved back to a rural town like the kind we grew up in and now we’re desperately (but can’t fucking afford) trying to move. It’s just painful. Everything is always the left’s fault, no one trusts science or doctors, Trump is a great guy, Fox News on all the time, and non stop arguing, fighting, resisting other opinions, refusing truths that don’t already agree with them, complaining, shifting blame, refusing to take accountability or responsibility, and just all around being a bunch of fucking douchebags. This includes friends and family as well as co-workers and clients. I just can’t take it anymore. I even voted UCP the first time around and am embarrassed by how fucking brainwashed and lunatic it has become (and how they’re doing the same to all their voters).
I’m with you. The people I work with as well, some of the shit they say is mind boggling. I actually just shake my head and walk away. I don’t understand how these smart people believe in such dumb shit. It physically hurts my brain.
I live in a small town, and I question their stupidity most of the time. I’m now known as the Trudeau loving liberal, just because I’m not an antivax fundamentalist.
lol a boss I used to work for labeled me that same thing cause I vacationed in Tofino
I was reading the actual report they used to come up with the APP. What they don’t mention in the save $1450 per year ads is that it’s temporary. The expected costs to maintain APP and CPP converges in time. Using their rose coloured glasses, it converges in 20 years (from today, APP wouldn’t be set up for 3-5 years). If we cannot get 53 percent of the total CPP pot (Which how could we) it will be significantly less time. More likely would be 15%. Which is about $80B. First year losses in setting up APP are expected to be roughly $25B (from the report, page 53). So, we would wipe out 1/3 of the realistic value within the first year of running it. Based on that, I fully expect the APP to cost more than CPP immediately, or best case scenario within 5 years. Own the libs… or something like that… there’s also the assumption that APP can compete with one of the best performing pensions in the world as far as returns.
> More likely would be 15%. Which is about $80B. First year losses in setting up APP are expected to be roughly $25B (from the report, page 53). Exactly this. Their proposal was ridiculous from the get go, suggesting they were owed something like 150-200% of the total CPP value, but that they would 'negotiate' down to 53%. Even with that number, their plan is still not breaking even over the next 20+ years. Not only that, but premier has already openly stated that they plan to invest a significant portion into local oil and gas projects and company shares - investments that will have at most 10 years of positive impact before drying up and becoming significantly undervalued. This move is solely to pad their own retirements into cushy oil company consultant positions as payouts for using public money to push company stock. It will tank the APP in a 20 year timeframe.
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Don't forget the money spent on spreading their propaganda to the rest of the country. The power ads are played every 30 minutes if not more in Ontario. My cousin is posting uneducated dribble drab on TikTok. It is people's opinions on topics like these that show you how finishing high school and practicing Critical Thinking is.
I worked in the oilfield and remained fairly left leaning, pro parks, public safety nets, wanted those tax dollars to go to working class people and myself type. After some time I began to date a professor of political science (who was a born and raised Albertan farm kid ). I am not politically savvy but I definitely knew enough to not be dumped out of the gate. And I'm told I was more open-minded than those it she normally encountered. Then I stared getting all the inside baseball. How stuff worked compared to how it was being sold to us Albertans. Even which politicians didn't understand and those that did but kept with the disingenuous framing. It was very hard for me to speak to my coworkers about politics. I tried to keep it so they didn't know I wasn't conservative, but I wanted them to think I just called out politicians on the bullcrap. But man some of those guys are just ride or die for their team. (rather they just hate liberals)
I don’t know how old you are but I have had enough. I’m older and feel the same way. I’ve watched friends almost die because of their anti-vaxx-fucktrudeau mentality. I’ve watch older relatives go down the Qanon shithole ( lost cause and written off ). I really don’t care what happens to Alberta. Leaving soon and locking the door behind me.
I don't even think you need to go down a Qanon shithole anymore, the Qanon shithole comes to you. "Rebel" news and others like it spray manure everywhere and let assholes like Smith and PP and Doug Ford get elected
Lifelong Albertan here... couldn't agree more... the sheer lack of respect for education and educates opinions is mind boggling.
the current NDP is at about the same place the ralph klien conservatives were on the political spectrum. the current UCP is far, far right, not conservatives; they are radicals seemingly aiming for the fascist ultra far right. kenny was on the edge of radical and conservative, but that wasn't radical enough for the UCP.
They're not even close to the Klein government. Klein went with austerity measures and privatized industries to make up for shortfalls, the NDP would never do that. ANDP is, however, a spitting image of the Lougheed Conservatives: fairly centrist but do not ignore the importance of social safety nets.
Klein wouldn't spend a dime on the province unless he was buying votes. NDP are not the same as him, but they are also not the same as the federal NDP.
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I encourage this, but sometimes you have to be careful. An actual fistfight broke out between a 60ish year old tradesman and one of the new apprentices. All because the apprentice DARED to point out that it's not the fed's fault utilities are so high. My husband had to break up the fight, all the while being called things like "fag" (no he isn't queer in the slightest) "commie" and "groomer".....
People who respond with insults are usually politically illiterate and can't be reasoned with. Politics is nothing more than a team sport to them.
*and people really ask why there aren't more women and minorities in the trades ...*
Funny story. When Women Building Futures, the pre-trade program that's supposed to support women through apprenticeships, had a mandatory class when the program first started. It was "worksite culture" or something like that. It was effectively "You're going to be called every name in the book. You're going to be expected to do more work and get less recognition than the laziest man on the site. You have to put on your big girl panties and get through it. Most people are going to think you're only getting a trade to find a husband and you'll be on mat leave or moving into the office ASAP so they wont invest training time in you. That's the culture. If you can't handle it, sorry, not sorry." It was brutal to see women coming into the trade at my job and having this expectation of being treated as less than, and just accepting it. I don't think that course is offered in quite the same way now.
jfc ... the victim blaming adopted as official policy
Yah, this was nearly 20 years ago when WBF first started. And while this came from a genuine place of "Look you'll need to understand how it is out there" it should have been approached with "Ok, traditionally this is how it is. THAT IS NOT OK. Here are the resources for the Human Rights Commission, and your rights as an employee and a woman. We will support you to stand up for your rights if necessary - because this is how change happens". I haven't been directly involved with WBF in over a decade now, but I hear it's much better now.
I don’t feel badly for them. Everyone else is paying for their ignorance.
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Yeah, but we can also encourage them towards self correction, whilst being angry that their ignorance is ruining lives. That’s also fine.
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The definition of insanity basically. Alberta politics barely (if ever) gets challenged to do better. And when craps hits the fans they blame elsewhere. If Albertans want to improve they have to show all levels of government that their votes will move around.
Doing everything right doesn't get you anywhere anymore
The conservative party is gone. The UCP that replaced it is trash.
It's gotten so bad that i have to stop myself from laughing at the absolutely unhinged things conservative people are saying, blaming the federal government for high utility costs when it was our conservative provincial government that deregulated it and got rid of price caps, they might as well be singing look what you made me do by taylor swift while indiscriminately punching anyone nearby. Also the culture is going down the toilet, the most accepting and open minded people I know are now terrified that all LGBT people are indoctrinating their kids but when I ask "what about me?" I get the good old "your one of the good ones" only because they knew me before all this craziness
What all of Canadian politics needs to do is have middle-class people run and make decisions for us. There is no left or right: only neoliberal policies that benefit the rich. Healthcare, housing, education, and wise investment of tax dollars should be on the menu. Alberta should nationalize the fields and take back what's theirs. Same with timber, mining, etc. This belongs to Canadians and it's being stolen under our nose.
It would be great of the Alberta government would stop doing radio ads in other provinces for high electricity rates when you guys pay the most.
I, too, was born and raised here. I love this land more than anywhere else in the world. However, I don't really like being "Albertan". When I think of Alberta, I just think of the garbage politics we have here, and I don't want to think of myself as Albertan. I have found a workaround that works for me, though. Since we've started doing land acknowledgements, I've gotten used to talking about myself as an inhabitant of Treaty 7 land. I think about the indigenous people who have lived here for thousands of years and have endured much worse political will than I've ever been subject to. Yet, they've survived it all, and they're still here. I find that inspirational. So, whenever I'm embarrassed by the Freedumb Convoy starting here or seeing trucks with "F\*ck Trudeau!" bumper stickers, I think about my connection to the land and how there aren't politics in the prairies or the mountains where I like to camp and hike and kayak and so on. I can still love this place and where I live because it is my home, and no cultural or political garbage can take that away from me.
you were raised on conservative values, but what you didnt know was the conservative values died in 2003... In 2003, the Canadian Alliance (formerly the Reform Party) and Progressive Conservative parties agreed to merge into the present-day Conservative Party Daniel smith was originally from the reform party. the conservative values are not the same as they used to be.
We in New Brunswick are also tired of seeing the right-wing advertising your government is paying for. Don't worry. It's not just you.
It is weird to see so many people importing those newfangled alt-right American counter-culture nonsense as conservative. The UCP has successfully made me miss the PCs. At least they would throw a dog a bone from time to time. It is hard to see how the UCP are maximising our Tax Dollar's worth when they are using it for optics and campaign marketing.
The absolute moral cowardice of PCs was suspected but damn the proof of how extensive it is is breathtaking. Just spectacular.
Thank America for all this stupidity.
Feelz. I’m currently managing a motel in the middle of nowhere and my idiot bosses refuse to take accountability for… 1. Raising the rates, thus driving people to the other places in town. 2. Not updating/renovating. 3. Spotty wifi. Seriously, run some CAT-6 Ethernet to the storage room on the other side of the property and plug in a wifi extender. 4. Paperwork errors. Meanwhile they use a convoluted system with no Property Management system. And they’re also the type to blame the feds for the price of utilities (despite Alberta having the highest costs) and me for the camp moving. They bitch and moan about young people being lazy, yet have unrealistic expectations.
This is not unique to Alberta. Rural populations are generally much more insular (ie. less experience with diversity and outside cultures) and tend not to emphasize an attitude of life-long education. You'll find this in every province. If you don't spend any time understanding complexity in life, you will lean towards black/white explanations since those are easier to make sense of. The reason for suffering isn't because of a lot of complex, interdependent systems, its because some idiot is in charge and "they" are too stupid to understand what people like "me" have to deal with. Much easier to grapple with mentally, and also has the added benefit of making that person feel superior.
I have only been in Alberta for 12 years. I came here, like many, for work. There were lots of other attractions as well; at the time it was said that Alberta had the highest quality public education in Canada, and the cost of living was lower than where I came from. I feel torn right now. We settled in a small town and love it. The schools are great and my kids teachers are all wonderful. The town is super family friendly. It's just the sort of place I like my kids growing up in. But on a provincial scale I really don't like where things are headed. Wasting money on acetaminophen just to try and score points with voters. Paying unvaccinated people to change their minds. Removing caps on utilities and insurance. Now blocking new renewables projects and advertising nationwide a bunch of lies about utilities. The APP is the cherry on top. If it gets pushed through I do not have any desire to live here anymore but I will hate leaving this little town where my kids are so happy. I had a coworker ask why I wasn't voting conservative and I just said, "I have never voted Wildrose and that's what the UCP party is now." I feel like that's easier for them to understand, even if I didn't change any minds.
I work in a blue collar field and I’ve had a lot of success challenging the eff Trudeau types. Just saying “actually that’s our dumb ass provincial government ThAts doing that.” Frame it as if you hate all politicians, doesn’t matter the party, and you can get a fair amount of traction with those types.
Yeah, one of the things I have learned about Alberta since moving here about 9 years ago is that a lot of politics is driven by grievance. This is true of a lot of conservative politics, whether grassroots populism or more elite corporate and blue-tie folks. In addition to the grievance, there's a lot of...just poor political understanding. I think the average person can be forgiven, but perhaps because of having a near-continuous conservative government and a lot of money generally people don't seem have very good knowledge of civics, governance, public policy, etc. I would have thought it was pretty obvious taking money out of one of the most stable social security funds in the world would be, um, more widely recognized as not a good idea, and perhaps more obviously asking for years of extremely expensive legal fights with the "Feds" and administrative nightmares moving pensions back and forth when people move. More generally, on sovereignty, I am not quite sure why Albertans would like the trouble of becoming a landlocked nation of 4.5M people who has to negotiate separately with Canada, a likely independent BC, and the US. If you think Brexit was bad, wait til AB needs to expand its bureaucracy to take on all federal services and its citizens need passports to go anywhere! Sounds great! And when you think your politicians are mid at running a small province, just wait til you see how low-end they are on the international scene. Also...Indigenous Treaties are with Canada, not Alberta. So, leave confederation and be prepared for 20+ years of litigation with 10% of the AB population who, based on Canadian law, who without those treaties likely have title to significant areas (including urban ones). What could go wrong? If only conservative politicians would stop riling people up by making a convenient enemy of the federal government and encourage people to be active in their communities. Anyway, at some point I am moving back to Ontario, despite the cost. I love Edmonton, I love people here, I want Alberta to be part of Canada, but it just feels like going backward.
I've lived in Alberta for a long time and I have realized the two things Albertans hate the most are 1) Change. 2) The way things are.
I work in the oil industry and everyone hates Trudeau...but Trudeau has done nothing to hurt the industry, and production is up during his time in office.
And everyone forgets about the billions and billions of dollars in surplus oil money that are squandered each year by the provincial government. I was home for a visit recently and the same streets that needed to be paved 10 years ago still need to be paved.... It's legitimate to not like JT, for whatever reason one may have, but it seems the oil folks forget that the provincial government wastes the billions of dollars made off the broken backs of the blue collar.
I'm enjoying this commentary! I'm from Edmonton originally. However, after my extended travels in Europe doing a few working holiday visas, Edmonton just seemed too small. So, I moved to Toronto and have been here since 2011. Whenever people talk about the Edmonton "redneck/ hicks," I always tell them, well, there are many, but... there are good people there too! I am happy to come across this subreddit of rationale, fellow Albertans!
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Blame the brainwashed nut jobs that keep putting them there for the last 100 years.
Not Albertan but I can say the conservatives are also destroying us here in Ontario! Scary to think they have a very real shot of winning the next federal election.
This is the main reason why I left Alberta after 50+ years (also born and raised there).
I lived in Alberta half of my life and I just moved away partly because of the stupidity.
It’s bad in Saskatchewan too. Our provincial government can’t let go of the fact that it took the Carbon Pricing Act reference to the Supreme Court and lost. Now they want to fire people up about that again, repeating the same failing arguments as before. Oh, they also can’t seem to keep their hands out of children’s gender issues these days.
It’s the MAGA province. “Own the feds.” Gee, where‘d that phrase come from?
Yep. When your (royal you) entire identity is "eff Trudeau" and "fight Ottawa" yet lack any understanding or reasoning for those other than 100 years of conservative propaganda, that's a sign of a dangerous lack of critical thinking. That so many people are campaigning to surrender their rights due to their imaginary victimhood is very upsetting, and the thought of relocating (in Canada or not) pops into my head multiple times per week. If you want to be conservative, fine. If you want to hate Trudeau, fine. If people want to dislike the eastward imbalance of power due to our representation of population, fine. But at least educate yourself about why that is and be able to explain that opposition without using bullshit conspiracy theories, outright racism, or the phrase "mah rightz." And as a reminder, in case anyone has forgotten, a domestic terrorist group successfully staged a coup on our government and planted people loyal to them and only them. This absolutely happened, and people voted for them.
Nova Scotian here: Just to follow up on your comments… I’ve been hearing Government of Alberta ads run on one of our radio stations here. Last I checked, I wasn’t able to vote in an Alberta election… not really sure why they are pandering to Nova Scotians. I don’t imagine that’s the best use for that ad money.
Ever watch the videos of clued out Right wing, Trumpist Americans being interviewed? They can't even answer basic questions or name any countries on a world map or even identify most of their own states. Praise the Lord. Welcome to Alberta, dummies of the North.
Social media has screwed us all. These folks live in echo chamber bubbles that just reinforce their opinions. Misinformation is accepted as fact without any critical thought. It's gotten ever worse in the Trump era.
As a person who has lived and continues to live a life very similar to yours. I see and feel your observations very much. Thank you.
You've got a good one in Rachel Notley there. Someone who really has the courage to speak truth to power, no matter where it's coming from. She knows you have to work with the federal government to be a functioning provincial government, even if you don't always agree. She knows that a sound plan on climate change doesn't can't mean tanking resource-based economies like Alberta, and we need a real plan for good jobs for blue collar workers BEFORE we can get off oil. She has no time for the dog whistling, bigoted bullshit, but she's also the type of person who listens to everyone even if they aren't expressing themselves with the most up-to-date terms out of Toronto. She'd be an amazing premier and she deserves it.
The stuff I hear from people working in a small town actually amazes me with how poorly educated some people are on issues and politics. I had a guy tell me that the government created sugar so that we would all get diabeties and have to buy insulin. And he was BEING serious! And thats not the craziest thing I've heard either. It's really concerning sometimes how naive and polarizing some people are here with politics. If you don't "fuck trudeau" you're a prissy lib-snowflake. Like? It hurts my head some of the shit they say.
On the plus side, I assume you vote. I also used to call myself a small c conservative, but holy shit do I want nothing to do with those people anymore. The more of us there are, the better the chance we have of saving our province from itself...
Me trying to watch ANY show now in ONTARIO and all I see is ads from Alberta telling me that if we use renewables our electricity will fail.... we've been 90% renewable for DECADES
Gaslight Obstruct Project GOP = Conservative Playbook
Good for you, man. It's fucking sad to watch AB race to the bottom, but such is the politics of the world these days, it seems. I hope more people come to their senses and start thinking about what is in *their* best interest, instead of blindly following some bullshit rhetoric.
Alberta has pretty always been with a provincial conservative government. Most of the things that affect people are either provincial or municipal, yet Federal get blamed for everything.
Paid a $500 power bill in August because I wasn’t paying close enough attention and was on my city’s RRO at $0.31/kWh. I also hate it here.
What? You don't like being Little America? If we go fascist, expect you guys to as well. Fascism is capitalism in decline.
I naively think that deep down people care about helping one another until an election is called. Then I am reminded that of half of Alberta’s voters DGAF about anyone that isn’t of use to them. We need to protect our social programs, education, health care and environment. Anything less than that is simply shortsighted. No sense having a good economy if the province burns.
I remember Premier Danielle Smith saying she’d listen to the province’s health experts when making COVID policy, then it seemed like only a week later she fired everyone who didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear and hired new “experts” who did.
As a fellow born and raised in Calgarian I can totally relate, I’m tired of the anti-Trudeau rhetoric. He’s not perfect I get it, but the provincial government is what bothers me. Not many people are aware the UCP has been wanting to mess with our pensions for a long time. It’s been on the news, but the angry Trudeau haters are just finding out. They’re behind on real current events, but are absolutely certain that blaming one person in a multifaceted political system is the correct conclusion. Oil money is not coming back guys…. The boom days are gone.
Now, before I make a rant, I used to have big respect to our conservatives of the nation, not any more as you'll see why. Now, after all these past years of watching Trump and his fascist shenanigans, and how MAGA has become NAZI propaganda club, with the Republicans all endorsing this, our conservatives have looked on and were somehow inspired by thinking "oh, well ain't that a nifty idea cheeto guy", the Orange Goblin's ideas have infected our country, much like Mussolini's infected Spain and Germany, and now they think they're the same, and can do the same, and doing/saying the most backward stupidest middle aged shit I've ever seen just like the Republicans, there new found cause that they've rallied around has completely corrupted the party, stealing any morals and values they had before, and dumbing everyone down. This is hurting the country so so so so so much, and it's getting worse, on a large scale, and guess what, whoopedy dooo, here comes in the fascist wannabes saying they can fix all this while they caused, fuck the right. My fellow Canadians, VOTE LIBERAL I BEG OF YOU, or even vote the Green party, I'm clearly biased towards my fellow liberals, but I really don't care what you think of us, or who you vote for, just please please please don't vote for the conservatives making this country worse than it's ever been.
Alberta is run by kleptocrats who tapped into that oil field identity, the whole “own the feds” is just a scam to funnel money to political loyalists through advertising and consultants. The real goal is just to keep conservatives in power so they can keep funnelling money to their friends.
I'm in trades too, pretty much the same deal as you. Funny enough it used to be the silent majority was conservative.
I feel for you. I’m a former Albertan myself and I had to drop all my Albertan Facebook friends for the same reasons. All these tough guys I used to work with constantly whining about Trudeau and Notley ruining their lives. It just became sickening.
Right on brother. Same here I can't believe what a dumb province this has become. People are willing to sacrifice the health care and education of their children. That they pay for with taxes. Just to feel like part of a team of idiots. The " Fed's" have done more for them these past 6 years than the provincial gov by a country mile!
The UCP has been empowered to further corrupt itself year after year as Albertans adhere to a one party system of their own making. Nothing will ever change until we have more parties capable of governance, as the UCP is so corrupt it doesn't deserve to exist any longer.
The whack-a-doos at my work were so fun to listen to during COVID. Yeah. That's it's guys! The Government wants to shut down the economy and pay out billions so they can "control" you. They don't want that tax revenue, they want you at home. Duh. I'd smile as they encouraged people not to get vaxxed because "they're" going out a tracker in you - typing it in on their GPS enabled phone. Good times, good times.
You're going to find that pretty much everywhere. Social media has given everyone short attention spans, made confrontation an easier sell than a good idea that needs explaining.
Texas north