As a born-and-bred Albertan who has lived in Ontario for a while now, I am astounded at the inability or unwillingness of Smith and her UCP followers to understand that Ontario (and the rest of Canada) really hates the whining of wealthy Alberta.
They hate it in normal times, and they hate it even more now as we suffer the US economic squeeze.
AB gets all the sympathy of a spoiled child who wants to leave home when the family is under threat.
I know that all of Edmonton and most of Calgary did not vote for the UCP.
And most of these urban Albertans are embarrassed and ashamed of Smith's extreme and threatening rhetoric.
But such nuance is not appreciated by the rest of Canada.
The only silver lining is that Smith's loud mouth is dragging down her federal cousins in this election and exposing the widening schism in the Conservative party.
Keep talking, Danielle!
I can only hope that a plurality of Albertan voters make their voice louder in Edmonton and Calgary on April 28, and in the AB election later.
As a province, we’re that guy who has a great job, but bought a too expensive truck and takes big vacations every couple months, so we beg our coworkers to buy us lunch because we’re “broke”
Alberta is explicitly asking for money from Ottawa. Beyond the equalization complaints, Alberta has been by far the loudest voice in asking for additional health funding.
We’re also the loudest voice in complaining that Ottawa refuses to let us treat service specific funding as general revenue
Alberta is asking for it's own money that it earned and was taxed by Ottawa back. There is a big difference between that and asking for money you didn't earn.
Maggie Bear: What wealth? These pseudo Conservatives and Reformers robbed us blind in Alberta from getting abysmal oil royalty rates and corporate tax rates, while doing the most priciest shenanigans. Peter Lougheed's rainy day fund is gone.
We have the fourth largest population, and either the third or fourth largest economy, depending on how you measure it. We get roughly the amount of attention that we proportionately deserve. Possibly just a bit less because we’re extremely bad at actually cutting deals
But we refuse to fund our own services, then complain it’s someone else’s responsibility. It’s not. At some point we either need to decide if we want to be functional or if we like our grievances
I think we need to talk more about how grievance underlies their entire structure. They are completely unprepared at govern or take accountability on any issue. Everything is someone else’s responsibility. If they accept accountability on anything, the whole thing falls apart
As a long-time Albertan, I appreciate your insights, Jared. Grievance politics is a sickness in our country. I tell many of my fellow Albertans it is time to grow up and truly act as though they are part of a great nation. We need unity now more than ever and those who resort to threats of separation are undermining our efforts to stand firm against the unjustified Trump tariffs and threats of annexation. "Traitor" is a strong word but I ask those perpetual gripers to ask themselves whose interests they are serving. Not Canada's. And not even Alberta's.
Great article - my perspective as well as a life-long Albertan. The performative grievance mongering is stomach turning and never ending - save for four brief years of the Notley NDP, it’s been a monolith of RW dumb Alberta me-first whining for 88 years! Groan!
She won’t succeed in her separatist ideals, nor will she be re-elected. If Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor would do her job and call a public inquiry into the massive $600 million healthcare scandal, that would end her aspirations, but…crickets.
It is not a power the Lt. Governor has.She represents the Crown which in our system must remain a-political. It is the one chaeck and balance that the US does not have to avoid the catastophy they put into action. The GG, Lt. G and even the Monarch must at the most accept the advice of the Government. It would be unconstitutional for the Lt. G to
“The West Wants In”… wasn’t that the rallying cry? Harper won three elections, finally getting a majority on his last try. And then Canadians firmly rejected THAT vision in 2015.
In the two subsequent elections, two “blessed by Harper” CPC leaders have lost and were tossed from their positions. Scheer was most clearly a Harper clone, but O’Toole was cast aside for having the temerity to introduce the beginnings of a plan to address climate change.
And now Poilievre… easily the least qualified of the three by his resume, but a Harper loyalist to the core. What unites Trump, Harper, and Poilievre is that they all promote the fossil fuel industry to the point that anyone proposing a policy that would damage in the least the prospects for fossil fuels is automatically the villain.
You can’t build a Canadian consensus around the promotion of the fossil fuel industries based in Alberta.
The thing is, trust hasn't been earned, either by Central Canada or Alberta to assume the benefit of the doubt.
Central Canada thinks it is entitled to the trust of Albertans, and that is just not the case. That Canadians think that "elbows up" is enough to rally Albertans around the flag is sad.
I'll note that 338 shows that the UCP would win another majority as of today, so Danielle Smith isn't being hurt electorally with her actions, ones she has an explicit mandate for.
I live in Alberta and I am appalled by the UCP & Danielle Smith… I am aware of the right-wing, maga, t-Rump idolatry in Alberta, which is disgusting. I will stand against this darkness in our beautiful province! I will stand for the world, Canadians, immigrants, First Nations, freedom, justice and human dignity! I am CANADIAN! 🇨🇦
Smith and Manning both like to tread out this Alberta exceptionalism and drag out their whiny grievance while enjoying the highest per capita income in North America. Further, they fail to acknowledge that the oil wealth now enjoyed ( some would say plundered) would not have happened without major contributions from the Federal government when it comes to the tar sands. The entitlement attitude is nauseating even for an Albertan like me.
Add to that the 17 Billion plus for the pipeline west.
The government in Alberta has long been captive of the industry. This open hostility to the rest of the country while pandering to the hard right maga crowd and influencers in the states is a bad look for Smith and betrays her willingness to drag the rest of her province down the rabbit hole with her. Enough already- I am a proud Canadian first, Albertan second and always will be.
Dani is an expert in navigating the pro-conservative media system. Recent appearances for PragerU are extensions of this knowledge of how to keep the conservative/extreme right talking points at the top of the story pile. A lot of moderate or progressive voices are frustrated by the conservative eco-system in the prairie provinces and bewildered at the continued success of these parties especially when they hurt the whole province. We need to take a serious look at our media in this country - especially the landscape in SK & AB. Post Media owns both the Calgary Herald & the Edmonton Journal. The Sun was always the preference of the “blue collar” folks and Post Media owns them too. They also own a multitude of small newspapers in rural communities. Dani is the darling of all of them - you rarely have a critical word said on any given day and they all amplify the grievances against the rest of Canada from the same song sheet. We also have the Western Standard revived by Derek Fildebrandt in 2019 that has a lot of reach in rural communities & has a love/hate/mostly love relationship with Dani. Yes the media landscape is shifting online but these original sources are still powerful & Dani, Moe and the increasingly concerning alt-right voices dominate them. Dani has been born out of the Talk Radio landscape & she understands how keeping your face & voice out there are essential to keeping your audience engaged even if you sound like a lunatic one day and a statesman the next. Anyone who wants to defeat this needs to play it at her level (which is very hard) or figure out how to take away some of her attention and shift it elsewhere. Wab Kinew and Charlie Angus are showing politicians alternatives right now but we need more from the moderate & progressive side to jump in.
Can we not say Western Canada anymore? BC is actually west of Alberta, UCP (didn’t win here, close, but did not). So can Canadian media please quit calling
Alberta “Western Canada”. Alberta is east of BC they are Eastern Canada to us. I was born in AB, but I haven’t lived there for decades and speaking for myself, BC is truly Western Canada, not Alberta (I do know Interior BC has words for me, I’m sure).
I find it striking the extent to which those feeling most aggrieved are also those least likely to admit that climate change is a threat to humanity, let alone Canada or even western Canada. Their denial underlies the presumption that the wealth will still flow if the federal Liberals would just get out of the way, and that there could possibly be a motive for the federal government’s actions beyond just constraining the endless exploitation of the region’s non-renewable resource endowment.
As much as the Conservatives won’t get my vote, has never had my vote and will never get it, we have to remember that our democracy depends on a party system. And here in the true north, we have several choices of parties, thank Heaven. So at this divisive time, somehow we have to be respectful of those who choose to vote for the Conservative Party. We have to keep talking and find common ground.
I am not very good at this, however and need this community to help me find ways to do this! So please keep the comments coming.
As a born-and-bred Albertan who has lived in Ontario for a while now, I am astounded at the inability or unwillingness of Smith and her UCP followers to understand that Ontario (and the rest of Canada) really hates the whining of wealthy Alberta.
They hate it in normal times, and they hate it even more now as we suffer the US economic squeeze.
AB gets all the sympathy of a spoiled child who wants to leave home when the family is under threat.
I know that all of Edmonton and most of Calgary did not vote for the UCP.
And most of these urban Albertans are embarrassed and ashamed of Smith's extreme and threatening rhetoric.
But such nuance is not appreciated by the rest of Canada.
The only silver lining is that Smith's loud mouth is dragging down her federal cousins in this election and exposing the widening schism in the Conservative party.
Keep talking, Danielle!
I can only hope that a plurality of Albertan voters make their voice louder in Edmonton and Calgary on April 28, and in the AB election later.
As a province, we’re that guy who has a great job, but bought a too expensive truck and takes big vacations every couple months, so we beg our coworkers to buy us lunch because we’re “broke”
That makes no sense. Alberta isn't asking for money from Ottawa.
Alberta is explicitly asking for money from Ottawa. Beyond the equalization complaints, Alberta has been by far the loudest voice in asking for additional health funding.
We’re also the loudest voice in complaining that Ottawa refuses to let us treat service specific funding as general revenue
Alberta is asking for it's own money that it earned and was taxed by Ottawa back. There is a big difference between that and asking for money you didn't earn.
Hey Milo,
Next time, try being educated rather than just opinionated.
Here's a primer on Equalization. Hope it helps.
https://calgarychamber.com/equalization101
More money is collected by Ottawa in Alberta than comes back to Alberta from Ottawa. Your link only confirms that.
Maggie Bear: What wealth? These pseudo Conservatives and Reformers robbed us blind in Alberta from getting abysmal oil royalty rates and corporate tax rates, while doing the most priciest shenanigans. Peter Lougheed's rainy day fund is gone.
If the rest of Canada doesn't like Alberta then cut Alberta loose. We dare them. But we know the truth, they need up to make Canada work.
Perhaps Albertans are frustrated at being taken for granted?
We have the fourth largest population, and either the third or fourth largest economy, depending on how you measure it. We get roughly the amount of attention that we proportionately deserve. Possibly just a bit less because we’re extremely bad at actually cutting deals
But we refuse to fund our own services, then complain it’s someone else’s responsibility. It’s not. At some point we either need to decide if we want to be functional or if we like our grievances
Ryan: Oil prices are collapsing. Federal Liberal bashing isn't going to fly.
I think we need to talk more about how grievance underlies their entire structure. They are completely unprepared at govern or take accountability on any issue. Everything is someone else’s responsibility. If they accept accountability on anything, the whole thing falls apart
Yes, the MAGA approach, or should I say the GOP approach for over 50 years (“I am not a crook!”).
As a long-time Albertan, I appreciate your insights, Jared. Grievance politics is a sickness in our country. I tell many of my fellow Albertans it is time to grow up and truly act as though they are part of a great nation. We need unity now more than ever and those who resort to threats of separation are undermining our efforts to stand firm against the unjustified Trump tariffs and threats of annexation. "Traitor" is a strong word but I ask those perpetual gripers to ask themselves whose interests they are serving. Not Canada's. And not even Alberta's.
Why? What's in it for Alberta? "Elbows Up?"
Alberta have been taken for granted for decades already.
What's in it for Alberta? Good feelings?
Great article - my perspective as well as a life-long Albertan. The performative grievance mongering is stomach turning and never ending - save for four brief years of the Notley NDP, it’s been a monolith of RW dumb Alberta me-first whining for 88 years! Groan!
She won’t succeed in her separatist ideals, nor will she be re-elected. If Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor would do her job and call a public inquiry into the massive $600 million healthcare scandal, that would end her aspirations, but…crickets.
It is not a power the Lt. Governor has.She represents the Crown which in our system must remain a-political. It is the one chaeck and balance that the US does not have to avoid the catastophy they put into action. The GG, Lt. G and even the Monarch must at the most accept the advice of the Government. It would be unconstitutional for the Lt. G to
make such a political move.
That’s why the RCMP needs to get involved.
It’s not “the west” or “western provinces” - it’s Alberta and Saskatchewan. Stop grouping BC in with these nuts, they are the Midwest at best.
Sure. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bc-conservative-mla-criticized-for-western-separatist-post
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-premier-us-immigrants-1.7501375 I’ll take Premier Eby over a criticized-into-deleting his post opposition MLA.
100% spot on.
“The West Wants In”… wasn’t that the rallying cry? Harper won three elections, finally getting a majority on his last try. And then Canadians firmly rejected THAT vision in 2015.
In the two subsequent elections, two “blessed by Harper” CPC leaders have lost and were tossed from their positions. Scheer was most clearly a Harper clone, but O’Toole was cast aside for having the temerity to introduce the beginnings of a plan to address climate change.
And now Poilievre… easily the least qualified of the three by his resume, but a Harper loyalist to the core. What unites Trump, Harper, and Poilievre is that they all promote the fossil fuel industry to the point that anyone proposing a policy that would damage in the least the prospects for fossil fuels is automatically the villain.
You can’t build a Canadian consensus around the promotion of the fossil fuel industries based in Alberta.
The thing is, trust hasn't been earned, either by Central Canada or Alberta to assume the benefit of the doubt.
Central Canada thinks it is entitled to the trust of Albertans, and that is just not the case. That Canadians think that "elbows up" is enough to rally Albertans around the flag is sad.
I'll note that 338 shows that the UCP would win another majority as of today, so Danielle Smith isn't being hurt electorally with her actions, ones she has an explicit mandate for.
I live in Alberta and I am appalled by the UCP & Danielle Smith… I am aware of the right-wing, maga, t-Rump idolatry in Alberta, which is disgusting. I will stand against this darkness in our beautiful province! I will stand for the world, Canadians, immigrants, First Nations, freedom, justice and human dignity! I am CANADIAN! 🇨🇦
Smith and Manning both like to tread out this Alberta exceptionalism and drag out their whiny grievance while enjoying the highest per capita income in North America. Further, they fail to acknowledge that the oil wealth now enjoyed ( some would say plundered) would not have happened without major contributions from the Federal government when it comes to the tar sands. The entitlement attitude is nauseating even for an Albertan like me.
Add to that the 17 Billion plus for the pipeline west.
The government in Alberta has long been captive of the industry. This open hostility to the rest of the country while pandering to the hard right maga crowd and influencers in the states is a bad look for Smith and betrays her willingness to drag the rest of her province down the rabbit hole with her. Enough already- I am a proud Canadian first, Albertan second and always will be.
Dani is an expert in navigating the pro-conservative media system. Recent appearances for PragerU are extensions of this knowledge of how to keep the conservative/extreme right talking points at the top of the story pile. A lot of moderate or progressive voices are frustrated by the conservative eco-system in the prairie provinces and bewildered at the continued success of these parties especially when they hurt the whole province. We need to take a serious look at our media in this country - especially the landscape in SK & AB. Post Media owns both the Calgary Herald & the Edmonton Journal. The Sun was always the preference of the “blue collar” folks and Post Media owns them too. They also own a multitude of small newspapers in rural communities. Dani is the darling of all of them - you rarely have a critical word said on any given day and they all amplify the grievances against the rest of Canada from the same song sheet. We also have the Western Standard revived by Derek Fildebrandt in 2019 that has a lot of reach in rural communities & has a love/hate/mostly love relationship with Dani. Yes the media landscape is shifting online but these original sources are still powerful & Dani, Moe and the increasingly concerning alt-right voices dominate them. Dani has been born out of the Talk Radio landscape & she understands how keeping your face & voice out there are essential to keeping your audience engaged even if you sound like a lunatic one day and a statesman the next. Anyone who wants to defeat this needs to play it at her level (which is very hard) or figure out how to take away some of her attention and shift it elsewhere. Wab Kinew and Charlie Angus are showing politicians alternatives right now but we need more from the moderate & progressive side to jump in.
Can we not say Western Canada anymore? BC is actually west of Alberta, UCP (didn’t win here, close, but did not). So can Canadian media please quit calling
Alberta “Western Canada”. Alberta is east of BC they are Eastern Canada to us. I was born in AB, but I haven’t lived there for decades and speaking for myself, BC is truly Western Canada, not Alberta (I do know Interior BC has words for me, I’m sure).
Tired of Paying for the rest of Canada, to Suck Liebral Teat.
I find it striking the extent to which those feeling most aggrieved are also those least likely to admit that climate change is a threat to humanity, let alone Canada or even western Canada. Their denial underlies the presumption that the wealth will still flow if the federal Liberals would just get out of the way, and that there could possibly be a motive for the federal government’s actions beyond just constraining the endless exploitation of the region’s non-renewable resource endowment.
As much as the Conservatives won’t get my vote, has never had my vote and will never get it, we have to remember that our democracy depends on a party system. And here in the true north, we have several choices of parties, thank Heaven. So at this divisive time, somehow we have to be respectful of those who choose to vote for the Conservative Party. We have to keep talking and find common ground.
I am not very good at this, however and need this community to help me find ways to do this! So please keep the comments coming.