UCP spending money in bid to sway voters
By Letter to the Editor on July 22, 2020.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why the UCP has suddenly become so interested in southern Alberta, and especially Lethbridge? Just today, July 10, I read that the UCP has announced a $20-million grant to the University of Lethbridge to upgrade its heating and cooling centre. Good for them! We must keep our university staff and students cool and comfortable, in view of other cuts that have been made to the university budget!
Earlier in the week there was another announcement about twinning the highway to Medicine Hat! I believe earlier governments began discussions on that project earlier, but were unable to implement anything.
What suddenly made the current government so generous? I have a theory. I believe the UCP is concerned that there is a radical element in the south that they want to eliminate! There was a time when all (two) seats in the constituency were not Conservative ones. In the last election, half of them were lost to the dreaded socialist (dare I say “communist” element as others have labelled them?).
Now, in an attempt to lure the voters away from that horrid group, the current government (as is wont with most governments in the last half of their term) suddenly has found money to spread around in this area to ensure that we the voters know how to cast our ballots in the next election! They are obviously concerned about the popularity of Shannon Phillips, who might not let the entire south become totally Conservative again!
Well, I know I have difficulty supporting a government that intends to replace our current health system (which, by the way, is functioning satisfactorily for most of us) with a privatized form which will eliminate much of rural Alberta! I also have a problem with the cutting of budgets to the education system in favour of giving lower tax rates to corporations who have not shown any job increases as envisioned by the government when those tax measures were implemented!
Now, if you add in the dictatorial way in which they handled the contract with the medical profession, I really have a problem in supporting such draconian (dare I say the “c” word?) system of government to run this province. Now for a dream: I wonder how things would be if Peter Lougheed were in charge!
Eugene Balay
Lethbridge
10-9
And all along I thought that Justin was buying votes by throwing billions of dollars at us.
Ever hear of Job Creation during a Pandemic? If the UCP was NOT spending money here I am sure you would write the opposite article, so not sure what your point is other than to declare you are NDP?
i am not certain spending money in our region, on things that appear to be useful, is the best basis upon which to slam the ucp. govt spending on projects that address need – ie fixing/improving infrastructure – create jobs for people or keep people employed, and therefore help keep the economy alive. what better use for public money than to use it to uplift the public?
however, the writer and fed up have each hit on some important concerns with the ucp.
it is one thing to use public money for public need; it is quite another to use it to line pockets of an in group. such is the case with kenney and the war room, the massive tax break which equates to a gift for buddy corps, and so too with what amounts to the theft of public pension plans.
as citi brings up trudeau over an over, even though he has nothing to do with this letter, the cerb and wage subsidy programs have been a lifeline for very many. those stipends have helped keep the economy alive, people in their homes, and have put food on the table: that is a great example of using public money for the public good. in contrast, trudeau, and the snaky morneau, handing over 900 million to WE is more an example of pocket lining. alas, with trudeau we have what appears to be a classic case of a sociopath, and with morneau, what seems a classic case of sleaze and entitlement…also sociopathy.
another seeming sociopath: ralph klein, who also appeared to suffer from a myriad of other stifling mental health issues that likely underwrote his abysmal leadership here. and, if one still thinks klein was good for alberta, then one is hopeless when it comes to assessing politics.
the lesson, folks, is to stop pretending that one party is always bad, and another is always good. take a real look at each of the cons and libs federally: each has run up debt ALWAYS since at least the 1970s, and each has lined the pockets of their favourites. each has been corrupt, and no one pays a price, except for the public who is significantly shorted of their taxed money. in alberta, it was cons since that oversaw the waste and graft and destruction of alberta, even though alberta was well served under another con, lougheed. and yet, the cons only ignorant fool (same can be said for any party only thinking)- clearly lacks a basic understanding of democracy: you can actually switch teams.
of course, that brings us to the problem of our electoral system, which really is no longer a democracy. please wake up to this: it is long overdue we put an end to the graft, to privilege, and to a corrupted electoral system that does not represent the voter. at the very least we deserve to have our vote count as a whole vote, not the partial vote it is reduced to in our first past the post system. an easy way to begin the process is to scar your ballot next election, and do so until we get a democracy.
…..makes one wonder about the Kenney UCP starting to worry about votes. When that happens, the goodies are usually trotted out, although there have been thoughts expressed re: emulating AB NDP ‘good ideas’ with these promised infrastructure ‘projects.’
Here’s some more about Kenney’s recent little RV promotion trip in southern Alberta….:) If it wasn’t entirely humourous, it certainly would be somewhat pathetic.
“Little sister is watching: Was Jason Kenney’s southern Alberta RV tour fake news?”
http://www.albertapolitics.ca
it is how kenney likes it, it seems: “… groups of well-fed men (not quite so many women)…” and the video is funny – too bad it was not meant to be. love the kenney and phallic symbol segment, where he bangs the gong…er the bell, at our very japanese garden. and what an unhumanly strong man he is: often no mask needed! invincible!!
A group of us former long term conservative supporters have been meeting in an Edmonton park each Wednesday . We bring a lunch and enjoy each other’s company. Today we talked about Kenney’s plan to kick out the RCMP .Some pointed
out that Quebec and Ontario have their own police forces and it seems to work for them, however the costs at this stage to switch over would be huge. Not only would the training costs be a massive burden to taxpayers changing vehicles would be another one and none of us trust Kenney to not dump all the costs onto our backs pushing our property taxes through the roof.