Whatever happened to the Conservatives of old in this country?
By Lethbridge Herald on October 21, 2023.
Editor:
Our Lethbridge Herald recorded the presence of MP Thomas at the ceremonies for the new president of Lethbridge university. Apparently, she had nothing to say about southern Albertan’s concerns on coal mines in our water, or protecting our CPPfrom the local nominal Conservatives.
The Conservative mindset on spending of our tax dollars focuses only on “Mr. Trudeau’s excessive spending” as if she can ignore where the money went. MP Thomas and Conservatives ignore the money that helped us through COVID, with food, housing, and employment assistance. We hear little about day care, dental plan, even the billion-dollar aid for abandoned oil wells. To say nothing about the billions in annual subsidies to their foreign shareholder friends in corporate oil and gas.
Conservative MLA Mr. Dreeshan and MP father, helped Harper hand over the farmer’s Wheat Board to American corporate grain handlers.
These are the new Conservatives, different from the old Conservatives of Lougheed days. Mr. Lougheed was known for working for the betterment of Alberta people, not the agenda for a New World Order of global free trade.
Albertans named a park after Mr. Lougheed because he very particularly set about protecting our eastern slopes from industrial development, and was a careful listener to the wants and needs of Albertans.
Where are the old Conservatives of Alberta? The people of the party that worked to build a solid dependable lifestyle for students of excellent schools and self-sufficient local business.
What happened to country people who worked at community and neighbourhood, rather than jobs for international shareholders committed to global business dominance, “anything for a buck.”
Don Ryane
Lethbridge
11-10
….wholeheartedly agree! Sadly, it appears that the difference between the good, fiscal, progressive conservative politics of yore and the now, libertarian, populist conservatism, and far-right style of politics, is not well understood, or perhaps, even sadder yet is the possible/probable acceptance of this disturbing style of politics. One would wonder what would be the tipping point of realization….how much worse would it have to get?
The answer is simple as former conservative MLAs from the Lougheed era taught me. They are no longer Conservatives they are Reformers and are only interested in looking after themselves and the rich in an effort to buy votes.
We estimate that by slashing Lougheed’s oil royalties and taxes Albertans have been cheated out of at least $975 billion and dumping another $260 billion in an orphan well cleanup mess onto the backs of the people, that I was involved in for 8 years when Lougheed and Getty were making the industry pay for the cleanup is just pure stupidity. The fact that Norway and Alaska have created massive savings from their oil wealth proves that we are right. While Albertans have basically received nothing from their oil wealth every, man, woman, and child has received in Alaska has received a total of $50,0000.in total annual oil dividend cheques since 1982.
Yet as oilmen have pointed out for years Alberta produces twice as much oil as Alaska and Norway combined so why isn’t out Heritage Trust Fund a lot larger?
Norway did, exactly, what Lougheed wanted for Alberta, and, none of this non-credible defaulting to, “Norway is a country and Alberta is not.”
Norway did not collect royalties, but they charged a fair tax on oil and gas sector profits, thus, to the benefit of the citizens who own the resource, and, allowing the sector to thrive. Smart, now that their Sovereign Fund is worth more than $1 trillion….money, always talks.
Norway now, takes their capitalist wealth and does awesome wealth distribution in the form of social programs, health care, education, infrastructure….for the benefit of all, Norwegian citizens, while still, allowing for individual wealth. There is also, the defaulting that taxes are high in Norway, but Norwegians feel, and state, that they get excellent return on their taxes/money, one of the reasons why they have one of the, if not the, happiest societies in the world.