Smith doesn’t speak for the majority
By Lethbridge Herald on May 14, 2025.
Editor,
I am feeling anxious about Premier Smith’s well-being. My concern is that she may be suffering from a peptic condition. The reason I say this is because every time she opens her mouth there seems to be nothing other than a spume of acrid bile coming out.
At the very least I think a trip to the nearest sawbones, or maybe vet, might be in order. Apparently they have some quite good ones down in Panama – or maybe south Florida.
The other possibility is that these symptoms might be precursors to a debilitating onset of Retrogressive Apoplectic Tourette’s Syndrome (RATS), a rare and acute condition typically characterized by a build-up of dangerous internal pressures which inevitably are explosively released in hot torrents of tics, expletives, rage and unreasoned paranoia. It’s altogether worrisome.
The most recent manifestation of this erstwhile affliction is the Premier’s unsettlingly malignant response to the federal election. It is already the case for her that whenever there is the slightest ripple upon the federal waters, it is taken as a towering tsunami of perfidy and lies propagated from the distant bowels of the nation’s capital.
But now, with the unseemly demise, albeit likely temporary, of the smug and insolent, squirrel-cheeked Mr. Poilievre, and the astonishing, zombie-like return of the dreaded Grits risen from their political grave, she has taken on a quasi-religious fervour of messianic proportions.
“I say unto thee – we of the Holy Alberta are the PERSECUTED!!”
Oh dear. It could be that an intervention is in order. Or maybe an exorcism. “Out, spirit!!”
But okay—let’s get real. Danielle Smith barely squeaked into the leadership of the UCP on about the umpteenth ballot; not exactly a soaring affirmation.
And this following a sordid history of treachery and opportunism left behind in the wake of her flipping the bird at the Wildrose when she crossed the floor to schmooze with the late Jim Prentice and the PCs. When that all went for a bust she retreated to her talk show while the newly-formed UCP went about its grimy, internecine business of knifing Jason Kenney.
Once that ugly process had been finished, who should reappear as innocent as a schoolgirl but the wily Danielle. But first she had to relegate the otherwise reasonably honourable and ethical Brian Jean, who had tried to maintain the Wildrose project following her carpet-bombing their presence in the legislature, by slime-balling him into retreat during the run for new UCP leader.
And then. . . she squeaked, yet again, through a provincial election which she only won by a few Calgary seats owing almost entirely to the abominably stupid campaign run by Rachel Notley’s high-paid but inept handlers.
So her “mandate” is based on luck, subterfuge, ruthlessness and reptilian cunning. She did not “earn” her lofty position in any credible sense of the word. She is, like Trump, a grifter and a wielder of the forked tongue. She saw a chance to inflame the base instincts of a gullible and volatile electorate and went about the project with focus and beady-eyed purpose.
Yes, “get thee behind me, Satan” indeed—unless you’ve got some good intel on how to spike the other guy’s Kool-aid. And now she maintains the foment of outrage through an incessant expression of dime-store anger, conjured persecution, and a grating and constant litany of whiny, petulant threat. A pox, I say.
As to the blue Alberta electoral map—let’s get real again. Anybody who pays attention to such things recognizes the appalling failures of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system.
For indeed, that electoral map is rather more purplish in nature than the handy graphics would otherwise indicate, inasmuch as fully 30 per cent of the popular vote in this election went to the Liberals and/or NDP – an inconvenient truth hastily swept under the back seat of the UCP jalopy by the crowing Premier.
Yes, in any sensible, proportional representative arrangement, fully one third of the MPs going to Ottawa would be other than Conservative. Or, to put it another way, Danielle Smith is quick to noisily decry the purported lack of attention paid to western Conservative voters in the federal parliament, yet never does she shed even a crocodile tear for the persistent minority of non-Conservative voters typically given short shrift in her own legislative assembly.
But that’s an old broken record, perhaps someday to be rectified. Let us simply say, what’s good for the goose is apparently not really so for the gander. Honk.
Of course, it is not just a matter of quantity either. There is a long-recognized problem here in Alberta in the matter of candidate quality and genetically “blue” voting habits. This is where the voter scratches an ‘x’ on the ballot for the ‘conservative’ candidate with about as much thought as scratching their keester.
Unfortunately, what gets lost in the miasma of governmental propaganda is the fact that through the King Ralph years and on down the line, PC/UCP governments have increasingly come to favour the corporatist agenda and so sequentially more and more burdened individual taxpayers and municipalities with the responsibilities of keeping lives and communities afloat.
But sadly, this is why they say that all you have to do come election time in much of Alberta is prop up a blue fence post with a swatch of hair nailed on top and there’s your next MLA.
The trouble with this is that quality control is too often tossed out the door. This is too often disturbingly reflected in what ends up being the UCP caucus, and especially the astonishingly inept cabinet. Since Vic Toews bailed out of that dog-pile, you’d be hard-pressed to find an actual “conservative” in the pack—mostly now just poodles and ideologues whose primary task is to curry favour with the whip-crackingpremier.
Case in point to the quality issue—in the 2019 election that ousted Rachel Notley, the NDP in my ultra-blue constituency of Livingstone/Macleod put forward Cam Gardner as candidate. Here was a man who was reeve of Ranchland County, a fourth generation rancher, a successful businessman, an expert in matters pertaining to native fescue grassland preservation and carbon sequestration, a forward thinker, an adherent to sustainable economic and agricultural practices which could give life and succour to generations on down the line, and a Minister of Agriculture in waiting who would have provided a real-rather-than-lip-service voice for the broader agricultural community.
The UCP, for their part, put forward a donut vendor from Nanton whose view of the world and our place in it appeared to have about the breadth and depth of a Timbit. Spoiler alert – the Donut Man won. Wudderya gonna do?
But getting back to my original concern – our premier’s well-being. There she sits in her big sandbox tossing things around willy-nilly and daring any intruders to muscle in.
Sometimes I do wonder just what she’s looking for in there, but I can offer a word of cautionary advice from a concerned citizen. That Tootsie Roll seemingly left by some phantom Santa you think you may have uncovered, Madam Premier, is just as likely to have been deposited by a passing tomcat in the night. Life is not at all a box of Cracker Jacks.
And as to the peptic condition, I can only say to my fellow Albertans—the next time you see the premier coming your way with that wild glint in her eye and wisps of smoke curling up from out of her ears, you might want to reach for the umbrella.
For surely the toxic rain of bilious retribution may otherwise tumble down upon your sorry head.
You can say you heard it here first.
Phil Burpee
Pincher Creek
32-31
It’s ok Phil, the sun will come up tomorrow and you will be able to turn the lights on and make your coffee courtesy of the resource industry.
it is not the use of resources that is the pressing concern – but the likes of those who live entirely with their wants ever needing asap fulfillment; they will not let go of making it an all or nothing choice, whereby either we use resources to the max, or we will have to not use them at all, and freeze in the dark. does one not see the silliness in that false choice?
as the writer does well to share, it is about being realistic; that is to say, the sun will come up again, but that which it sheds light upon is further imperiled by freakshow politics that prioritises greed, self service, and a to-hell-with stewardship approach.
might one come to see that the use of resources is not the issue: it is their use simply to enrich a very few at the cost of an awful lot.
” … to inflame the base instincts of a gullible and volatile electorate …”
Teehee. I think he means you and Harold, buckster.
The sun will come up, but not on solar panels because the UCP banned investment. You can hump the oil barrel all day, but it will never love you back.
An absolutely brilliant letter Phil. It’s exactly what many of our fellow Conservatives think about these Reformers, it’s always someone else’s fault is their only mandate. While Smith whines about how Ottawa is stealing all our money it’s her party that’s doing it as the oilmen and former conservative MLAs point out. It’s no secret that by slashing Lougheed’s oil royalties and corporate taxes we have lost $1.2 trillion.
Yet many of our fellow seniors continue to believe every lie they feed them and ignore the massive damage they have done to our children and grandchildren showing them absolutely no respect for what their future holds.
You certainly have it right. Peter Guthrie has spoken out against Danielle Smith. He reminds me of the Conservatives we used to have. The UCP are not a Conservative government at all.
I think until we start holding these fake conservatives financially responsible for this horrific financial mess they have created as lawyers suggest we can’t stop this stupidity because the idiots outnumber us two to one. They just don’t care what happens to our children or their own children that’s how stupid they are, isn’t it?
Far from questioning the mental state of the premier, one would more likely question the mental stability of the writer. I am surprised that the Lethbridge Herald would even publish such a diatribe.. One could, at least, be civil.
I found it beautifully written and well thought out.
Why be civil to traitors trying to destroy the fabric of our country?
It’s our children and grandchildren that we are concerned about while they don’t give a damn that’s how stupid they are, isn’t it?
There are some very bad, very silly, and very whiny reasons to separate, but no smart ones, no good ones, and none that justify the harm that these traitors and cowards are creating.
Preston Manning is an out of touch coot without any clue what real normal people want. He is a far-right dishonest extremist who won’t live long enough to see the horrors of climate change and disorder that will result if his views prevail.
There is a 100 year history of Alberta government whining and moaning and passing unconstitutional legislation because they lack the leadership, the intelligence, and the courage to govern on their own without blaming everything on the feds. Smith, Manning, and the far-right UCP extremists are right in this tradition, stuck a hundred years in the past.
An excellent letter. Well written and factual. Does the UCP care? No.