I received the following e-mail from an uncle of mine well connected in the Conservative Party of Canada. The linked speech is well worth a read:
Ms. Danielle Smith’s address about the Alberta story to Quebec conservatives should be necessary reading for all members of the Canadian Parliament and the U.S. Congress; especially those who fail to understand the importance of the Oil Sands.
An important note: After the oil and gas stocks are depleted, Alberta. BC and Saskatchewan are sitting on top of a 1000 year supply of coal.
Danielle Smith may very well be Alberta’s premier after the next general election. Her speech to the Quebec conservatives is one of the best written, representing the positive history about the Alberta story; not the “misinformation and smear” the Liberals have used over the years. Alberta is fortunate to have a person like Danielle as Leader for the Wild Rose Party.
Premier Ralph Klein would often remark — “the only thing I fear is a Conservative party passing me on the RIGHT ! !”. Danielle Smith and her Wild Rose Alliance is that party. Ralph was a bleeding heart Liberal before he joined the Alberta PC party.
Here’s the speech!
Where is the “like” button for this?
I haven’t read her speech, but I already think she’ll be a great next premier. I like her.
Oh, great another white trash snow bunny going on about personal responsibility, free-enterprise and small government.
Caribou Barbie of Alberta!!
///I just wanted say this before Heather Mallick writes it in her op-ed at The Star.
This speech was in the globe and mail during the federal election, which surprised me. Usually opposition leaders in western provinces are ignored. She sure isn’t scared to be blunt and honest about her opinions and, for a politician, Smith uses very few weasel words. Any chance she’ll win in Alberta?
Hope she made 100 copies so that every Quebec conservative could have their own.
I think there’s a very good chance she’ll win… Stelmach has been a lame duck Premier, and the provincial Conservatives don’t really have any strong candidates to replace him.
If she keeps making speeches like this she’ll have my vote!
In fact Danielle made the speech at the Reseau Liberte Qyebec event ( Quebec Freedom network) . It is a group that I and 5 friends founded in Quebec. It is a group that wants to encourage conservative libertarian values in Quebec! It is not formally linked to the Tories. The event was on April 16!
http://torydrroy.blogspot.com/2011/03/reseau-liberte-quebec-april-16-2011-in.html
In fact Danielle made the speech at the Reseau Liberte Qyebec event ( Quebec Freedom network) . It is a group that I and 5 friends founded in Quebec. It is a group that wants to encourage conservative libertarian values in Quebec! It is not formally linked to the Tories. The event was on April 16!
http://torydrroy.blogspot.com/2011/03/reseau-liberte-quebec-april-16-2011-in.html
The Q&A was also interesting.
When asked about transfer payments she commented that Alberta was sending billions of dollars to Quebec, who was spending it on cheap education and subsidized day-care. Things that Albertans did NOT have…
LC Bennett, while I read it I was thinking about the ’08 RNC convention and the first time I heard Palin speak.
Mallick, shmallick.
Robert… you have connections to the Conservative Party of Canada? I’m speechless…
Thanks for the link, her running Alberta along with Wall here would be great.
The West is finally taking it’s rightful place.
At this pace we will finally abolish the law making it illegal to manufacturer horse drawn farm equipment West of the Lake of the Woods!
Here is the globe and mail version:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/wildrose-plea-to-quebec-get-off-your-dependence/article2006012/
As usual the comments are as interesting as the column.
LC Bennett:
What is this “Heather Mallick” and “The Star” you speak of?
LC Bennett:
I just Google Imaged “Heather Mallick” and almost threw up on my computer key board. I’m not taking a chance on the The Star.
Red Ed’s esignation is taking forever as he feverishly tries to impliment his green socialist policies. The ex Conservatives know they have gone so far left they have left Albertans fuming.
She’s a firecracker who actually believes in the Province & its peoples. Unlike the crooks now running the carbon con show.
She will make one of the best leaders we ever had.
JMO
You should have waited, John, I was going to warn you that reading Mallick introduces you to the dark side of professional journalism. As you now know it is not appropriate for those with weak stomachs or delicate constitutions.
Daniel Smith and the WRA are contenders going into the next Alberta election cycle…keep that caliber of game on and she will take the keys from Eddy.
So refreshing to read such plain, straight talk from a leader. Dare I say, she has more balls than most politicians today, of either gender. If I lived in Alberta, she would have my vote!
Tim Hudak:
Are you listening?
are the coal deposits anywhere near Slave Lake?
we could be in store for a 1,000 year underground coal fire. heh heh.
I wonder what it would take to get this fine LEADER to move to ottawa?
I got into an edit war on wikipedia over her entry last January (as Howel_T) because I questioned why a citation was needed in her bio WRT Cherokee heritage but not for any other biographical information. I of course lost the war but managed to bloody them some.
She’s a cool chick and hopefully the next premier!
Danielle Smith is welcome to be premier of BC until she gets elected in Alberta. Does the Wild Rose party have any interest in running candidates in BC? We really need them to balance out BC politics. Also, it would be nice to have someone to vote for instead of spoiling my ballot in the next provincial election.
GYM muses:
I wonder what it would take to get this fine LEADER to move to ottawa?
Hopefully that will never happen. There’s something in the Ottawa environment that seems to rot politicians brains and turn them into mindless statists. Danielle Smith should stay in Alberta where she can be most effective.
How utterly refreshing to hear/read comments such as those. A Politician with a clear understanding of what the leftardfs since Pearson have done to our country and a clear vision of how to rectify said gross dysfunction.
It is long overdue to end the Liberal entitilement mentality in this country…from public service/unions to equalization it’s time to pay the piper. This couldn’t have come at a better time.!
I have no qualms about voting for her at all.
As others have noted and I have said in e-mail to WR..keep true to that message, say it often and LOUDLY, Albertans and Canadians will respond favourably.
Add 3 to the basket Danielle.
Coincidentally I’m in a bit of a um discussion with someone on Warren kinsellas blog about the sweet deal that que gets and here’s a sample of what he has posted to respond to this claim:
“Would you care to expand on “massively unequitable deal that Quebec gets” or are you just spouting hyperbole? Oh, care to explain why ALBERTA insisted on the NOT WITHSTANDING clause?”
“What do you mean by “unequitable deal” in Quebec’s favour exactly? The other have-not provinces have the same “deal” don’t they? Why are you singling out Quebec?”
“This is the first time that I’ve seen Quebec singled out as the main beneficiary of supply management. You speak as if the objective of the CWB is to benefit Quebec. Or the NEP (of which Ontario, Manitoba the Atlantic provinces and BC may also have been beneficiaries…no?). That really is a novel take.”
I asked him:
“But please cite an example of federal legislation in the last forty years where Quebec wasn’t one of – if not the key – beneficiaries at the expense of other or all other provinces.”
He never responded.
The Restaurant Critic is outdated…kinda like a purple dinosaur.
Thanks for the GM link, LC. Reynolds pretty much had her speech accurately, but the headline editor distorted it a bit. What Smith was really doing here was saying that Alberta is fed up with a system that has already ruined Ontario. In her proposal for a committee of the ‘have’ provinces, there was a clear threat that a WR government will be fighting redistribution tooth and nail. Compounding matters, Quebeckers voted in droves for the federal party leader most loathed in Alberta.
Loki, the single most distorting thing that happens in Ottawa is that everything is measured by “how will it play in Quebec”. That’s been the critical issue in every decision large and small since the union of Upper and Lower Canada.
Interesting times.
Gord, of course he didn’t respond. Warren is a political tactician. His thinking is usually limited to what’s happening in the next seven days. As soon as it comes to policy he’s out of his depth on just about everything. For him a good policy is how well it sells to voters. Whether it works and how it works is irrelevant.
I have several friends in Quebec, Gord. All are smart people but none remotely understand that Quebec gets much more money from the other provinces than they send out. It’s pointless to try to use logic & facts to explain your case. 🙁
Smith bears watching, but she disappoints sometimes. I find her very soft on university funding (she wants more!) and I don’t think she will actually cut back the size of government. Her condemnation of the Supreme Court’s eminently reasonable decision to decriminalize soliciting a prostitute was shocking and horrific given her being on the record as a social libertarian. She needs to decide if she really stands for freedom like a libertarian or is just more conservative mush.
Cgh: it wasn’t Warren it was a fellow commenter. Sorry for the confusion.
Robert:
Quebecers and others are under the misapprehension (that’s the polite way to put it) that Quebec isn’t getting special treatment. This is a great tragedy. I’m sure that this person cited above is genuinely misinformed and he is not happy to have his comfortable ignorance disturbed.
Danielle smith is doing something that is long overdue – disturbing that comfortable ignorance. This – as Danny Williams demonstrated – is also very good politics for the home province audience. Were I premier of AB I’d be buying full page ads in torstar and the Mtl gazette and Le devoir outlining this issue – once a month for at least a year.
Wow! That speech was great. I wish I could for for her. She is a great person. Finally, a politician with some you know whats to tell it like it is.
Hopefully Wild Rose beats the pseudo-liberal Alberta “Progressive” Conservatives.
Derek, if Wall thinks like Danielle it is yet quite covert, as in my mind he is still catering to those that would dictate almost every aspect of our personal lives and other than improving the investment climate has not done much to restore liberty.
Yup – I’m one of the lucky ones that gets a chance to give her a shot!
Goodbye Eddy, you forgot who you work for and where you live. Hint: This ain’t TO.
So now you can sit back and watch how it’s done.
I have had the honour of meeting and speaking with Danielle several times. She is a great Lady and a class act. She has an iron will and a superb intellect rare today in men or women in political life. As to her political instincts and abilities she is a street fighter. She won’t just use her claws and pull hair like you would expect from a girl. It’s Hudsons Bay Rules, no gouging a man needs his eyes, everything else is fair game.
If she gets elected that would make two ‘right’ premiers. Hudak could possibly be the third but he would have to get Ontario out of the WCI agreement. That then leaves BC to sort things out.
That becomes the consortium of transfer payment providers and then they can insure that Ottawa does the right things for confederation.
I lived in Quebec, but I’m no expert.
My take:
There’s not a lot of entrepreneurial spirit there.Except strippers, dealing dope.
People look for jobs, then ways to draw EI. Corruption is not frowned upon. Any angle to get ahead.
And they’re jealous. First of Ontario, when THEY were the economic engine.
Now they hate Alberta. And believe every word of the anti oil propaganda. A bananna state in every sense.
If the feds didn’t prop Bombardier, they’d be in Alabama, or Kentucky.
A lost cause, in need of real medicine.
“Alberta and Quebec are like two houses on the same street.”
Well it looks like Quebecers took Danielle Smith’s advice and elected MPs from a real Federal party instead of Blocheads this time.
Too bad those MPs were Dippers.
I hope Danielle got the message and won’t be wasting any time pretending that Quebecers are just another house on the same street any more because I am definately voting Wild Rose next year.
I hope Danielle is playing heads-up-hockey by that time and not pretending Quebecers are like Albertans in any way.
We need that fire wall, Danielle.
Give us the same protection from the Ottawankers that Quebec has and demand respect from those parasites in the East because they won’t just give it to us here in Alberta no matter how many times or how often we ask nicely for it.
p.s. that Hydro Dam the Quebecers are so proud of was built with stolen Alberta petro dollars.
Oz >
“I hope Danielle got the message and won’t be wasting any time pretending that Quebecers are just another house on the same street”
I don’t get that out of her speech, I’m reading into some potentially shrewd politics/ manoeuvring . The message I got was getting the power out of the federation and back in the hands of the provinces. I’m up with that!
What better way to pull in an ally to the provincial cause than the self-entitled Quebecois? “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
Getting whiny Quebecers to back off the newly rising WRP ass is a great place to start. IMO.
“Getting whiny Quebecers to back off the newly rising WRP ass is a great place to start.”
Yeah, good intentions on her part.
Didn’t seem to work though, did it.
The thing is, Quebecers have built their dreams on the destruction of our dreams and they didn’t need us as allies to do it yesterday any more than they do tomorrow.
They don’t want to be allies as long as the can get Ottawa to steal from US to give to THEM.
And in case you haven’t heard, Quebec conservatives are as interested in Quebec Nationalism as the Parti Quebecois.
In fact the Bloc Quebecois was created by people who were MPs in Brian Mulroney’s government, some of them even in the Mulroney’s cabinet.
They aren’t interested in Canada, only what they can squeeze out of it and that means squeezing Alberta.
JMO
Oz >
I’m with you and understand. I have no fondness for Quebec either. I’m not even advocating making them friends, if they wanted another referendum for separation, I’d vote with them on it. Simply no alimony like they wanted the first go around.
I’m just saying, there may be another way to skin a cat, and at the end of the day getting more provincial power for Alberta along with its resources is a good way to start. We’ve been on the downhill side of that battle for a long time, maybe a fresh look at the problem may turn things around.
I think the equalization payments from Alberta to Quebec is utter and complete BS!
Yet a friend of mine reminded me that until we change the system completely that without the payments :
“imagine how many of them we’d have sitting on our doorsteps in Edmonton & Calgary every morning”.
In other words we are paying them to keep off our friggen lawn. Short of an Israeli style border fence it’s seems like it’s the only bloodless way to keep them out for now.
That was a great speech. You are lucky to have Mrs. Smith and if you want to get rid of her, feel free to send her south of the 49th.
Great speech. I’m just curious how the tolerant and intellectual progressives are going to attack her – on her looks, her religion, or how many children she has.
As one who was raised in Alberta and living in Quebec for the last 40 years I shouted Hallelujah after reading her speech.
Smith and Wall as premiers, what a combination of visionaries and power representing the core of western Canadian economics.
Canada will forever be changed for the positive when Smith is elected along with a re-elected Wall and a Harper majority. Warm and tingly all over.
Cheers
“What is this “Heather Mallick” and “The Star” you speak of?
Posted by: John at May 17, 2011 10:06 PM”
. . . things you find in an Outhouse.
Good stuff.
My number 1 priority in Canadian politics has always been the establishment of the EEE Senate. This would make Confederation fair. For me, the benefit of the Harper Majority is first and foremost the ability to change the political infrastructure in our favor to buffer Canada from the next Loony Left government. Consecutive majority governments will give Harper time to move the country to the Right via the Supreme Court, the Senate and the Federal Employees. 8 yrs of Conservative majority governments will be “checkmate” and the end of the Progressive’s gravy train. The “Fire Wall” is my first and foremost objective as a Canadian and a western Canadian. Other than that, it’s time to GTFO.
The speech reminds me of the barnburners that Preston Manning would give during the creation of the Reform Party. Straight talk….like it or not.
I thought it was a great speech too.
Conservative seat count went from 10 Quebec seats in the 2008 to 5 seats in 2011.
Ponder that and then read the speech again.
I think Danielle Smith should be our next Alberta Premier.
I hope she reassesses the character of Quebecers.
Fantastic speech, as a life long Albertan & life long worker in the oil patch, I can safely say I would dearly love to see Danielle and the WRA forming the next Government of Alberta.