Danielle Smith can’t be trusted to lead Alberta
By Lethbridge Herald on May 8, 2024.
Editor:
An article in the Lethbridge Herald (April 26, 2024) states that Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP government has introduced a bill that will grant the provincial government sweeping powers over municipalities. This would include the right to fire councillors and overturn bylaws. It would also allow political parties to run in municipal elections.
This is a classic case of “Do as I say, not as I do” hypocrisy. Danielle Smith wants the federal government to totally stay out of Alberta politics but it is fine for her provincial government to enact draconian measures against Alberta municipalities, almost all of whom are opposed to the above measures. Danielle Smith is not to be trusted!
Also in the same paper, it appears that the UCP government is appealing the court ordered release of documents on coal mining in the Rockies.
Our premier obviously wants to press ahead, along with her Energy Minister Brian Jean, with the opening of a coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass which has been rejected multiple times in the recent past. Besides causing dangerous pollution, any mine will use vast amounts of water in an already drought stricken region.
Danielle Smith is not to be trusted! Further more, does anyone really think the unwanted (check the polls) Alberta Pension Plan (APP) proposal is really dead?
Read David Carpenter’s guest opinion in the Lethbridge Herald (April 17, 2024). In his article, he talks about the Alberta Pension Protection Act (2023) which states that although a referendum must be held regarding the APP, the premier can decide if it is to be binding.
If not binding, the premier can and would most likely move ahead with the already publicly rejected APP. Why else would the clause be there?
Other examples of Danielle Smith’s duplicitous nature abound. The UCP government has introduced legislation that could see a new police service to “assist” existing police services. This is most likely her back door attempt to replace the RCMP in Alberta, an unwanted initiative even in rural areas.
The hobbling of the renewable energy sector to the great benefit of the fossil fuel industry. The appointment of a controversial leader of a review of COVID pandemic-era health data.
How does the UCP Lethbridge East MLA, Nathan Neudorf, feel about these issues, especially the introduced bill designed to interfere in municipal politics? He is always there to be seen when the government occasionally does something worthwhile such as drought preparation and the rural physician training program at the University of Lethbridge.
However, on most contentious issues, he just seems to be a party hack towing the party line.
Robert King-Brown
Lethbridge
15-14
Agreed! The authoritarian Smith/Parker UCP/TBA is one big increasing problem. Re: Bill 20, this is an interesting take:
“Another little flaw with Bill 20: It’s not just bad law, it’ll make life hell for UCP backbenchers. The Pottery Barn Rule is about to come to Alberta politics – Here’s how….”
http://www.albertapolitics.ca/2024/05/another-little-flaw-with-bill-20-its-not-just-bad-law-itll-probably-make-life-hell-for-ucp-backbenchers/
Danielle Smith, the Premier that Alberta never knew they needed! “Rome was not built in a day” it will take some time to realize the positive effect(s) of Danielle’s progressive, responsible and fiscal disciplined UCP government.
Already:
1- Our “Heritage Fund” has grown.
2- The Provincial debt created by Rachael Notley’s reckless spending has been addressed.
3- Massive changes and positive solutions to addictions and homelessness. (As opposed to the Rachael Notley – enabling “supervised consumption site(s)” that did not address the issue(s) of addictions rather encouraged them!)
4- 33 new family Drs. coming right here to Lethbridge.
5- standing up to a “Wacco” Prime Minister bent on “killing us softly with his song” of carbon taxes, uncontrolled spending, unrealistic immigration etc!
And on and on and on!
Danielle Smith, truly, the Premier, Alberta never knew we needed!
Spending has increased consistently across PC, NDP, and UCP governments. The 2024 budget projects $73.2 billion in spending – compared to the NDPs final budget of $60.1 billion in 2018 ($72.2 billion in 2024 dollars). Danielle Smith hasn’t dramatically increased our spending, but she certainly hasn’t addressed Rachel Notley’s “reckless spending”, and is, in fact, spending more than Notley did.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/578911/provincial-government-revenue-and-expenditure-alberta/
Drug poisoning deaths have exploded since 2020 from 18.7 per 100,000 person years in 2018 to 40.4 last year. I don’t think it’s reasonable to blame this solely on the UCP, but their policies certainly aren’t improving the situation.
Like I said, “Rome was not built in a day” patience and support is what it takes for these difficult situations to be addressed entirely.
Your message listed those as things that have happened “already”. That is not the case.
(1) So while Norway has $1.2 trillion in their savings, and Alaska $77 billion in theirs and Alberta a pathetic $20 billion and in Alaska every man, woman and child has received $50,000. in total annual oil dividend cheques since 1982 yet Alberta produces twice as much oil as the other two combined and Albertans have received $1,000. Are you going to ignore economist Trevor Tombe,s study that proved Albertans have been screwed out of $575 billion in oil royalties since Lougheed’s oil and tax structures were destroyed by Ralph Klein using Reform Party policies? Not only do oilmen agree with him they state that he didn’t include lost Natural Gas Royalties and you can likely add another $200 billion to that figure. Then Accountants point out if you add up the Corporate Taxes we have lost by slashing taxes from a progressive high of 16% to 8% you can likely add another at least $200 billion for a total of at least $975 billion that Albertans have lost and the figures of Norway and Alaska prove it.
(2) Can you provide a list of where Notley wasted all this money when those of us from the world of financing have seen financial statements that proved otherwise like former Conservative MLAs have praised her for doing.
(3) Are 33 new doctors going to be able to handle the thousands of people who don’t have a family doctor?
(4) Are you going to ignore how Reformer Pierre Poilievre praised the Criminal Convoy Truckers, showed the citizens of Ottawa no respect, or the police officers involved? Does allowing them to run up a $65 million debt sound like a true conservative to you? While he criticized Trudeau for the way he handled it our police officer friends praised him for putting an end to it so it didn’t waste more of taxpayers money, wouldn’t you? Are you going to ignore the financial mess that COVID has created for most countries and the fact that Trudeau has poured around $30 billion into Alberta to help our citizens, municipalities and oil industry survive with a new pipeline while your Reform Party friends continue to screw Albertans out of their oil and tax wealth?
All in all the true Conservatives in my world aren’t as gullible as you and know the difference between a conservative and reformers trying to pretend the are conservatives. Ignoring the proven facts like you do doesn’t make you look very smart does it?
How much are you going to be willing to pay into the orphan well clean up mess that Klein created? When I was involved with it for 8 years under the Lougheed and Getty governments they made the oil industry pay for it, now it’s our children’s mess and apparently you don’t care proving there is nothing conservative about you either. Can you prove I’m wrong?
Dear Fedup Conservative, “prove you wrong” no need to prove anything, your ignorance speaks volumes that in itself displays how “wrong you really are”!
Let’s cut to the chase:
In a mere 4 years the Rachael Notley NDP racked up Alberta debt from 13 Billion dollars to an unimaginable 108 Billion dollars! Notley began pilfering the Alberta Heritage Saving Fund ( remember her loan to Calfrac and her interference with AIMCo) this was only the beginning to her intentions to depleat, entirely , the Heritage fund established by former Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed in 1976.
Health care, and 33 new doctors to Lethbridge…… you claim NDP propaganda figures of “thousands of patients without a Doctor” Your indication of that and the NDP would want us to beieve that thousands of patients receive NO MEDICAL CARE! Things are changing in the health care world dear Fedup Conservative… today, we have clinics that address patient care, although you may not have (or need) your own doctor, we do have care, individual personal health records are stored and immediately accessible through Net Health so when we need to see a Dr. Regardless of who he/she/pronoun is, they can access immediately your health records, charts, graphs, medications, lab tests etc. This is actually a great thing as one medical Practitioner may find or share diagnosis through Net Health thus analyzing patient care more effectively and efficiently. Fedup Conserative, gone are the days when Doc Halliday would knock on your door with his med-kit in hand and treat you in your home bedroom! Regardless, you seem to assert that 33 new doctors to Lethbridge is a bad thing?
Do you also disagree that UCP Premier Danielle Smith added to the Heritage Trust Fund increasing to a record level?
“Prove you wrong”… no need, you do well enough on your own, good day.
Perhaps this is a bit much to ask, but please try to use data when making your claims. I realize these are the Lethbridge Herald comments, not a peer reviewed research paper, but we all benefit from hard data and context.
The Heritage Fund is currently valued at $21.2 billion, compared to $18.2 billion in the 2018-2019 fiscal year (adjusted for inflation that is $21.48 billion). Danielle Smith has only increased it to a record level ignoring inflation during a period of record inflation – in real dollars we are worse off than at the end of the NDP term (although just barely).
https://open.alberta.ca/publications/0702-9721
Debt reduction is almost entirely due to the price of oil – as I mentioned earlier spending under the UCP has actually increased, even in real dollars. The only difference is revenue has increased, due to the oil prices. During the NDP term the price of oil ranged from $27 to $74/barrel, Danielle Smith has had a price ranging from $67 to $90/barrel. Her entire term has been budgeting on easy mode.
https://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart
There’s no data supporting claims of reckless spending by the NDP, or that they pilfered the Heritage Fund. Similarly there’s no data suggesting that Danielle Smith has done a poor job regarding fiscal management, but she also hasn’t had any particularly noteworthy wins given the beneficial oil prices she’s working with.
You deny that the NDP moved our debt from 13 Billion Dollars to 108 Billion Dollars in Notley’s 4 year term??????? Really???
Please read my comment again.
I didn’t comment on specific debt numbers at all. The NDP did increase our debt – which is the fiscally responsible thing to do during an oil bust. I think we can all agree that firing all our professionals and slashing our services, and then attempting to rebuild them every 5 years based on oil prices is no way to run a province.
https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/9c81a5a7-cdf1-49ad-a923-d1ecb42944e4/resource/bdda9ccd-6900-41e2-a70b-2b35a5c99590/download/2021-22-final-results-year-end-report.pdf
Page 13 there gives a good historical summary of our debts. I’m unsure where you got the number $108B from. Feel free to draw your own conclusions from the actual data.
$108 Billion debt you question? Simply look at the Government of Alberta financial statements! There it is, in “black and white” but in reality, “RED” how shameful… thankfully the pilfering of the Heritage fund was stopped by the UCP dismissing Rachael Notely from her “thrown”. There is no question that Rachael dipped her greedy fingers into the HF! Just take a look as to where Calfrac got their funding from!
In your case Keilan, my suggestion is for you to fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride, the ride to making Alberta Great Again!
Would you mind sharing the GoA financial statement you’re referring to? The number isn’t backed up by what I can see on the Alberta government site but debt is a slippery thing, and I’m always interested in new data sources, especially on topics that governments like to obfuscate.
But you fail to point out that part of it was the fact she built 60 news schools, approved a Super Lab for Edmonton along with a new hospital that’s desperately needed, yet you ignore the facts and believe the lies these Reformers feed you, why? As our retired lawyer friends point out you Reformers would look really stupid if someone challenged you in court to prove without a doubt the lies you have been fed are true when the facts prove otherwise, could you do it?
Danielle Smith is the consummate compulsive liar… perhaps bordering on pathological given her habit serves no social good ? Her lack of any trace of regret for her lies aligns with her self-absorbed narcissistic character. It is alarming how many of her caucus and cabinet duplicate her attitudes to this lack of ethics. It is just as alarming that so many people simply overlook these traits as they defend the UCP corruption and autocratic governance. Yikes !!!
So where is your proof that Notley wasted all this money when the former Conservative MLAs I knew from Lougheed’s energy minister Bill Dickie being a brother in-law of one my uncles had nothing but praise for what she was doing? Can you explain why the surplus in oil revenues , you brag about, was about a third of what it would have been had Lougheed been in charge and figures from Norway and Alaska prove it? Are you going to call former Lougheed MLA Allan Warrack a liar when he states in his letter “ Rachael Notley Led like Lougheed?
Can explain how you Reformers expected her to fix in only 4 years what these Reformers created in 25?
“On and on and on”. Indeed HP – Describing you to a tee.
Smith is a very dangerous politician. She is pushing for all types of legislation to further her and her party’s causes while not giving a damn about what the people have to say.
It seems every week there is another project she has in mind to weaken her opposition. The latest is the voter ID scam they are trying to pull off by making it harder to vote for those who would tend to vote NDP.
She seems hell-bent on turning the Province into her own little fiefdom.
Isn’t it sad that ignorant Albertans weren’t smart enough to understand what the true conservatives were trying to tell them about how dangerous Smith is? There is absolutely nothing Conservative about her or Pierre Poilievre yet look who gets the votes. Neither are any smarter than Donald Trump and he’s the one they are following. Like many Conservative Albertans my American relatives are sick and tired of what their Republican Party has become especially when it comes to gun control, they have none and show no concern who gets killed, just like these Reformers who didn’t care who lost their lives due to COVID. Smith compared those of us who got vaccinated to save our lives to Nazis and the fools who supported her didn’t care, did they?
Danielle Smith and the UCP: “We are going to cause chaos; create a problem, but trust us we have a solution.” And their solution always has and always will cost Alberta taxpayers money.
She governs like a lying, drunken sailor on shore leave.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-renewables-pause-moratorium-aeso-foip-1.7196943
“CBC News” great that you follow/quote such a non-partisan, reliable and professional media outlet!
You do know of course the CBC was created by Conservatives to create jobs and give remote areas of Canada a voice with the outside world when others refused to. It’s still needed today so why should it be scrapped along with 7,960 jobs? As the conservatives in my world have always pointed out Conservatives create jobs, Reformers destroy them and that’s exactly what we have seen them do. I will never forget the nurses bawling their eyes out in my office when Klein destroyed their careers. I helped 9 doctors and at least two dozen nurses relocate out of this province and not one wanted to go. Their families were here, why would they, Klein gave them no choice.