A person just has to love Alberta politics

By Lethbridge Herald on January 19, 2022.

Editor:

Now, I’m quite content to let the professionals analyze the psyscho-sexual impulses that lead a fellow to spend his spare time down in his basement polishing his Glock. 

I’m more interested in the socio-political reasoning which leads the premier to pick handguns for another of his trademark bush wars against the Feds. 

Our boy Jason’s lined up foursquare behind the gun fetishists on this one and, while I suppose that’s safer than lining up beside them or, God forbid, getting out in front of them, it does raise the question: “Why this? Why now?”

After all, the gun lobby, vociferous as it can be, is a shrinking minority in this country.

Urban voters, and even here in Alberta, the majority of the population lives in the five largest cities, come out in favour of more restrictions on the possession of firearms time after time.

Secondly, in a broad but defensible generalization, gun owners and particularly that subset of gun owners for whom handgun ownership is a hill to die on, are already firmly on the right politically.

They make up a part of the UCP base. This is a base which is beginning to crack along the joins where the myriad squabbling factions that flew off of the old Alberta PCs were jammed back together in the UCP.

And that, I would suggest, is precisely why here, and why now.

Given the premier’s personal popularity he can’t even afford to look ahead to the next provincial election. He’s got to get past that leadership review in the spring and he’s going to have to pull every string, push every button and call in every debt just to get out of that one with the keys to that blue pickup.

So the single interest voting blocs are going to be assiduously courted.

“See.” says Jason. “See. I’m one of you all.” as he takes careful aim at the one toe he hasn’t already shot off.

Sohe hope he goes on as he’d begun. Shot up but still in power and limping towards his own personal new Jerusalem.

Politics. Don’t ya just love it?

Ken Sears

Lethbridge