“Our members have now seen that some of our policies were rejected by Albertans, quite frankly. We will be revisiting some of those. You can’t run a government if you don’t get sanction from the people…There may also be a stronger statement to make about climate change and our policy around greenhouse gas emissions.”
h/t Davenport
EBD;
The “story” of this election – that Wildrose failed, and that the PCs’ leftward-drifting policies have been validated and vindicated — is based entirely on false and inflated expectations created by a few highly anomalous and transitory poll results. It’s disappointing, and a bit disheartening, that Danielle Smith would overreact to the mistaken perception that Wildrose’s historic breakthrough is a rejection by wrenching the bone from the mouth of her supporters and tossing it to her detractors who have absolutely no interest in it.
It had to have been a stressful campaign; maybe she should get off the hamster wheel for a week or two and look at the larger picture, and try to re-understand what side her bread is buttered on. The lions share of the 2008 Liberal vote, which went from 26 percent to less than 10 percent, obviously went to the PCs, yet the PCs still received the lowest percentage of the popular vote since 1967. In other words, the PCs *clearly* lost a huge number of conservative-minded voters to Wildrose (who went from 7 percent four years ago to 35 percent), and made their gains on the prog-left. The Wildrose party is now the de facto conservative option in a traditionally conservative province, and they didn’t achieve his breakthrough by courting progressives and public sector unions and warmists, or by being too conservative by the standards of the prog media like the Edmonton Journal’s Graham Thompson, who wrote: “And then there was Smith’s own bozo eruption when she insisted the jury was still out on the science of human-induced climate change. That got her loudly booed from the audience at a leaders’ debate hosted by CBC and no doubt had Albertans imagining with some alarm the prospect of a Wildrose premier embarrassing the province on the world stage by denying global warming.”, or the Journal’s editorialists: “We can look forward to a government less prone to circling the wagons against outsiders with talk of firewalls, and one much better able to defend our resource industry by being willing to speak the same scientific language as the rest of the world.”
If Danielle Smith thinks that such twee, left-leaning urbanite media are the spokespeople for her swelling constituency she’s making a serious mistake. I was talking to some of my neighbours yesterday (I live in a traditionally very conservative, rural area), all of whom voted PC. Small sample, obviously, and anecdotal, but in each case their choice had absolutely *nothing* — nada, zip – to do with global warming, or conscience rights, or scary, homophobic Christians, or anything else the media’s post-mortem, which Smith seems to have taken to heart, has focused on. Instead, they were simply unsure about Wildrose – not unsure in the active sense of being distrustful for any particular reason, they just didn’t know a single thing about the local candidate.
It’s good to have a likeable and smart party leader, but in a province chock full of multi-term incumbents from the dynastic juggernaut party, the upstart party HAS to give people a reason to vote for the local candidate; a brief website bio saying that he’s a husband and father who has bought and sold five businesses just doesn’t cut it.
In Alberta, the center is right wing by progressive standards. Wildrose needs to stay the course by chipping away at — courting — this right-leaning center rather than trying to curry favour with the prog/warmist left.
Why doesn’t everyone take oh I don’t know maybe 6 months off last I checked the next election is a ways off. Plus anyone who truly supports wrs is not going anywhere after the crap we went through over the last few weeks.
Redford’s Alberta PC Party has veered left.
Stay the course Danielle Smith!
Do not go wobbly now.
At least you have a MSM ally, SUN TV!!
Something that never existed in early federal REFORM Part times.
LAS said: “I’ve learned that defeating the enemy by becoming him is no victory at the federal level (Harper) and doubly so at the provincial level (Hudak, Tory).”
LAS, do you know who’s having a really bad year this year? Federal bureaucrats. There’s plenty of them out of work and plenty more worried they are going to be.
You give up too quick. By small steps is the journey made.
Politics is perception. You say any unpopular words about AGW, and the indoctrinated have you labeled as an “anti-science” cretin. The AGW scare has been going at full volume for 10-15 years now, don’t expect people to just suddenly wake up.
I love that Ms. Smith ran the campaign in what I would call an exceptionally principled manner. I loved Preston Manning for that too. Preston never really got anywhere past the lobby. Neither will Ron Paul who has no trouble speaking his opinion openly and honestly.
Harper probably has the same views on AGW as Smith. He is just more adept at mumbling some platitudes to the microphones as he tears up the Kyoto accord.
Politics is a dirty game, the gotcha media is watching for anything to make that days deadline a little easier to meet. What do you expect?
RaughKee
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.”
Danielle won 16 seats. Good for new party.
Wait till UN ambassador Redfraud is done with Alberta.
Greenhouse gas, more useless social programs and sales tax…
The WR will be a shoo-in to repair the damage.
The AGW point was a by-the-way policy Statement in a debate, dumb shit… she failed to fire that Bullet every day from day one..
Mitt will also lose to Obama if he plays the AWG cards stuck on stupid. He needs to make AGW the number one reason Obama’s (& his Communist czar Van Jones)financial policy is destroying JOBS
Carbon Credits = Food Stamps
Mitt needs to make the Connection at every opportunity.. Making no doubt were he stands.
It’s the AGW folks that are stuck on stupid.
Very disappointed to hear Smith’s suddenly showing a jello spine.
I listened to her interview with Rutherford.
As LAS mentioned earlier, Smith needs some “spine” letters, I’m starting to write one.
WR backers should sponsor Lord Monckton to visit Alberta. I would like him to publicly challenge Raj and Brian to a debate on the science. And the nutjob prof. at the U of C who had his laughs about the flat earth.
People need to calm down.
The ball is in Redford’s court.
I suspect she’ll take this win as a ticket to push her leftists ideology across the board.
The Roses just need to drop a few gimmicky policies (the $300 cheques, replacing the RCMP…etc), get better candidates next time (I heard them described as “a bunch of Randy’s”) and then….wait.
Does anyone think Redford will succeed? I doubt it.
(And if she does do a good job, then so be it. I’m a citizen with an interest…the Wildrose party just happens to be me team.)
@ MND 12:13 PM
Having come to the conclusion that all the parties are progressive I didn’t follow the election closely.
@LAS 12:36 PM
I’ve learned that defeating the enemy by becoming him is no victory at the federal level (Harper) and doubly so at the provincial level (Hudak, Tory).
@TJ 12:36 PM
the battle is not at the polling station, but in the classroom where kids are being indoctrinated daily
very astute observations
That was too quick. She must be in shock. I think it was Knight commenting here that clarified the ‘win’ for WRA demonstrated in number of votes for WRA, and lost seats for PC and Libs.
Danielle…I hope you or your policy wonks are reading SDA!
Trudeau nearly achieved a people’s republic in his last term (1980-4). The charter was the first step “a free and democratic society” defined by guess who? Fidel’s friend and Stalin’s acolyte, Pierre. Redford’s out of the same stable. If Danielle’s anything like Joe Clark she’ll curl up like a burnt feather.
LAS, do you know who’s having a really bad year this year? Federal bureaucrats.
If I could get that severance package, I wish I were having a ‘bad year’. BTW spending only continues to increase at the federal level there are no cuts.
If you are going to write ‘spine letters’, be sure to point out that there’s no evidence that these position she’s going soft on were the problem. Point out that a new party may just not be able to go straight to power regardless of the platform. Scapegoat Leech and other weaksauce candidates if you want.
Well, I’m going to take a “wait and see” attitude. Consider the original source. MSM, right? Of course they never make mistakes or spin quotes, do they?
There was no spin this time, she repeated this all in her own words pretty much to the letter on Dave Rutherford live this am.
The Wet One >
I don’t give you anything, you obviously don’t have the bones to stand for yourself and spend time worrying about what others think of you.
Albertan or not, you sound like a weak and dependant personality.
I’m not at all bitter or angry; I’ve seen the world in depth and simply don’t like what it has to offer us, so I fight to keep it out.
Your welcome to do whatever you want, but we know that really means what everyone else you perceive as “cool’ wants. In the end you fight for a dependant lifestyle, one most of us here reject.
Cheers
Nurse REDford and her sycophants are about to unleash unbelievable havoc on Albertans, all in the name of her vision of “Alberta by Design”. The damage will take years to repair – if ever.
If Danielle Smith listens to her rag-tag base her leadership will mean nothing and only ensure the PC’s tenure.
Well she said “quite frankly”, which is generally a sign that you are about to hear some wool spinning.
// Under particular scrutiny will be the party’s proposal to create a provincial police force and Wildrose’s endorsement of conscience rights, which would allow a marriage commissioner refusing to perform a same-sex marriage, or a Catholic doctor to decline writing a prescription for birth control.
Such ideas were touted by a group of conservative thinkers in a famous letter written a decade ago that called for Alberta to build a “firewall” — a term that was used by the PCs to attack Wildrose during the campaign.
“There may also be a stronger statement to make about climate change and our policy around greenhouse gas emissions,” she said //
The firewall version of Harper wouldn’t have won either. And he had to deep-six a few people on the way. [By the way, has Brad Wall decided to drop the RCMP?]
The climate change thing was simply poor optics. She obviously hasn’t spent two minutes thinking about it, even to construct a bit of spin. She wasn’t asked until she was in Edmonton & the immediate boos from the crowd made the thing news.
As someone here implied “talk action & do nothing” is the currently preferred procedure; she just sounded like the George Bush of 10 years ago.
Most of those Wildrosers who were elected won because of Smith’s early identification with Property Rights [that short-lived Fraser Institute spin-off she headed]. She will probably be forced to make that her main point of attack.
If the PCs can bring themselves to rein in the resource industry’s free-range activities in the country, then Wildrose will have accomplished something. [but the PC’s might get the credit]
“The people have spoken, goddamn them!” Mo Udall
And so the dominoes start to fall:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/taking-a-lesson-from-alberta-clark-edges-back-to-the-centre/article2413225/
(Typical global and mail, they don’t even know what the “centre” is, but that’s beside the point)
I’ll say again what I said earlier: if we want to have any hope at all of turning back the rising tide of so-called “progressive” thinking, we have to start with the brainwashing that goes on in public schools. If that problem is not solved then we are finished.
A few years ago a new party was conceived it was born April 23, 2012 and like all birth it was load and messy.. There are core policies that define us to be unique to other parties. What has to be done is to go forward with pout changing the core will be done. The best approach to climate idiots is to do what both kretchian and Harper do talk the talk but do not walk the walk.
This is actually good the media had attention span of a nat. This a great way to change the conversation from the lake of fire to there favorite religion globlal warming. After fighting it out in edmonton south west this is trivial at best.
Shorter Danielle Smith: “When in doubt, sell out.”
Shit!
The people who voted for her were also social conservatives if she wants to lose 17 seats by all means mewl the liberal doctorine to appease people and a media that will never vote for you.
Ms. Smith,
AGW is a hoax. You know it. Everyone does. Nobody with the sense to know better takes it seriously any more. Certainly not enough to pay taxes to finance parasites and bomb factories back east, which for many defeats the purpose of moving to Alberta.
If there was anything wrong with the message you wouldn’t have led in every poll. Here is the awful truth—you were robbed of a majority by the Islamists who have taken over the City of Calgary, with the collaboration of eastern traitors who have allowed them to flood into Alberta and the rest of Canada unchecked. The Muslim mayor of Calgary saw to it that his brothers and sisters turned out in droves to keep loyal Canadians out of the Legislative Assembly. End of story, no AGW red herrings necessary.
Rest assured that the Queen’s enemies will be richly rewarded by the Tories. If this is the best you can think to do about such obvious treachery, Alberta is lost. On the face of it, the Wildrose Alliance was the best hope for the restoration of British liberty Alberta had seen since 1935.
Of course, it’s possible too that you were always a collaborator, ordered to emasculate the Wildrose Alliance from within, and promised a job looking pretty playing the “official” opposition for your services while the powers that be got on with the job of normalizing Alberta.
I hope not—for your sake. One day Wildrose voters will figure out that not showing up to riot is a failed conservative policy. On the day loyal Albertans decide to spend Christmas in Bucharest you won’t want to be in Edmonton.
But if so, all I have to say is: I tell you solemnly, you have had your reward.
“I’ll say again what I said earlier: if we want to have any hope at all of turning back the rising tide of so-called ‘progressive’ thinking, we have to start with the brainwashing that goes on in public schools. If that problem is not solved then we are finished.
Posted by: TJ at April 25, 2012 2:41 PM”
Exactly. The teachers’ unions are POWERFUL and their agenda seems to be to blur the genders and take responsibility for kids away from parents. Homeschooling is on the rise but community groups can attempt to indoctrinate kids, too. (The “it takes a global village” concept.) One of the Earth Initiative chapters is located in the Cowichan Valley, which is one reason I would not move there. http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/invent/images/uploads/Chapter%201.pdf
Even small villages can be targeted and taken over by these earth zealots, who run for public positions and then start moving up the ladder to power and policy implementation. For eg., Cumberland.
Danielle should stick to her guns. The Climate Change ‘agenda’ is a SCAM. Follow the money. Follow the slime trail of its proponents and propagandists. This is GLARING.
The problem with her original statement on the CBC was that she was speaking to a hand-picked socialist audience in the CBC studio. As one of Kate’s motto’s here referred to conservatives ‘not showing up to the riot”, this is something those of us on the right must correct.
Adopt the tactics of the left: TV debate? Get your supporters to overwhelm the audience seats; Drown out lefties comments, and so on. Hold your nose and become active in your Union(if in one) and change the Union. Confront teachers who are brainwashing your kids. Is it dirty? You bet it is! But it must be done if we want to prevent the socialists and their media cronies from destryoing our way of life any more than they have.
The “story” of this election – that Wildrose failed, and that the PCs’ leftward-drifting policies have been validated and vindicated — is based entirely on false and inflated expectations created by a few highly anomalous and transitory poll results. It’s disappointing, and a bit disheartening, that Danielle Smith would overreact to the mistaken perception that Wildrose’s historic breakthrough is a rejection by wrenching the bone from the mouth of her supporters and tossing it to her detractors who have absolutely no interest in it.
It had to have been a stressful campaign; maybe she should get off the hamster wheel for a week or two and look at the larger picture, and try to re-understand what side her bread is buttered on. The lions share of the 2008 Liberal vote, which went from 26 percent to less than 10 percent, obviously went to the PCs, yet the PCs still received the lowest percentage of the popular vote since 1967. In other words, the PCs *clearly* lost a huge number of conservative-minded voters to Wildrose (who went from 7 percent four years ago to 35 percent), and made their gains on the prog-left. The Wildrose party is now the de facto conservative option in a traditionally conservative province, and they didn’t achieve his breakthrough by courting progressives and public sector unions and warmists, or by being too conservative by the standards of the prog media like the Edmonton Journal’s Graham Thompson, who wrote: “And then there was Smith’s own bozo eruption when she insisted the jury was still out on the science of human-induced climate change. That got her loudly booed from the audience at a leaders’ debate hosted by CBC and no doubt had Albertans imagining with some alarm the prospect of a Wildrose premier embarrassing the province on the world stage by denying global warming.“, or the Journal’s editorialists: “We can look forward to a government less prone to circling the wagons against outsiders with talk of firewalls, and one much better able to defend our resource industry by being willing to speak the same scientific language as the rest of the world.”
If Danielle Smith thinks that such twee, left-leaning urbanite media are the spokespeople for her swelling constituency she’s making a serious mistake. I was talking to some of my neighbours yesterday (I live in a traditionally very conservative, rural area), all of whom voted PC. Small sample, obviously, and anecdotal, but in each case their choice had absolutely *nothing* — nada, zip – to do with global warming, or conscience rights, or scary, homophobic Christians, or anything else the media’s post-mortem, which Smith seems to have taken to heart, has focused on. Instead, they were simply unsure about Wildrose – not unsure in the active sense of being distrustful for any particular reason, they just didn’t know a single thing about the local candidate.
It’s good to have a likeable and smart party leader, but in a province chock full of multi-term incumbents from the dynastic juggernaut party, the upstart party HAS to give people a reason to vote for the local candidate; a brief website bio saying that he’s a husband and father who has bought and sold five businesses just doesn’t cut it.
In Alberta, the center is right wing by progressive standards. Wildrose needs to stay the course by chipping away at — courting — this right-leaning center rather than trying to curry favour with the prog/warmist left.
Good commentary EBD. I agree with you.
Standing up and staying principled is one of the hardest things to do.
In life.
In politics.
In Faith.
The left and those of faith in everything but God will always demand and intimidate to cause one to compromise our standards and beliefs. Period.
“There is nothing new under the sun” and this election is proving that statement to be true at such a profound level.
Justice, upright values, peace, and love are desired by every human being because they are universal principles.
Humanists want them achieved their way, which always is the slippery slope downhill in every society. Always has, always will.
The WR had better stay on the side of principled values on the side of truth, as Truth will always win.
Stop listening to the sucking sounds of the LEFT.
Well spoken Dick Slater @ 3:18. Every WR supporter should read this post 3 or 4 times. All WR reps should have it framed and on the wall of their offices.
Don’t steal our Dream for restoration of Liberty, Danielle!
If Wildrose agrees with the warmers, I’m walking. If they start enforcing religious discipline on members, ditto. If Wildrose wants to become reborn as Progressive Conservatives, I’ll save them the trouble and just vote PC.
you were robbed of a majority by the Islamists who have taken over the City of Calgary, with the collaboration of eastern traitors who have allowed them to flood into Alberta and the rest of Canada unchecked. The Muslim mayor of Calgary saw to it that his brothers and sisters turned out in droves to keep loyal Canadians out of the Legislative Assembly.
Muslims constitute merely 1.7 % of Alberta’s population.
Smith has to stand firm and not let the media dictate party policy. There really are very few people who still believe in AGW.
The disappointment over Smith’s comments are well take. What EBD said also makes a lot of sense.
The appropriate conservative reaction to Smith’s misstep is not to quit the party, but become even more deeply involved, because it is the grassroots workers who ultimately control any political party.
Rizwan >
“Muslims constitute merely 1.7 % of Alberta’s population.”
Meaning we are almost half way there to festive car-B-que seasons and street prayer blockages.
Scar >
There’s a difference with agreeing with the “warmers” and publicly toning down your position on it until either they see the light, or WRP has the floor.
Unfortunately the “warmers” have had a big lead on the propaganda front, the WRP needs to be politically astute until the worm turns and manage to not compromise their core values.
That is one take. Another is Albertans are just as stupid and vapid as the rest of us Canadians and really didn’t do their research. Good luck with that NDP party you just voted in.
Sorry people, but Danielle tried principled conservatism argued with energy and conviction, and it was like trying to feed fillet mignon to swine. The people chose to stay with corn husks. What else could she do. Albertan rejected small government conservatism.
Dippers and PC members love Redford because she is one of those “nice” human rights lawyers. Gag.
I hope Ezra keeps tearing her apart.
Sadly the WRA may just go the way of the ADQ.
I’m going to write off Smith’s wishy-washy comments as neophilia jitters. I sincerely hope the Rose get their act together and present a responsible alternative when in opposition. Maybe then they can earn some respect as a party of conservative principles. I seem to recall an upstart party that couldn’t get anyone to take them seriously for a long time. I believe they called themselves Reform.
Oh, by the way, I recall Ralph Bucks and they were not a gimmick. It was a real sign that after all Alberta’s bills were paid and something put into savings that there was something left for you. And it was there in your very hands. It was also real stimulus money to boot and not your tax dollar being given back (as Bambam and his shovel-ready crap).
You don’t change your policies, you convince voters that your policies are correct.
Alberta is finished as a producing Province now. Nothing but tumbleweeds in 10 years. That with so many taxes all business will have run away. Except the usual Progressive welfare Businesses the Tories have always supported with public monies. Monopolies half owned by them. Free enterprise is now a dead letter Here. If I was from Saskatchewan I would be heading home now.
Albertans sold their birthright for a tin of gruel.
Nice try, Rizwan. Of course they had help, from Elections Alberta, just for starters. If you can’t get brothers running the polling stations in Calgary, the staff can be persuaded in any of a number of ways to pretend not to notice the Muslim men who keep returning to the station with a different name on their IDs every couple of hours.
Play the “small persecuted minority” game back at the CBC website. Here we’re on to you and on to how well organized and influential you are. If loyal Canadians were half as well organized we’d still have our liberties—and precious few of the likes of you.
Tell us the truth. How many times did you vote PC on Monday night in how many ridings?
You got to elect a Carter in order to get a Reagan seems appropriate here.
We don’t need to over react. This will all go to the convention this fall. I will be there with many others. I do think we need to shrink the policy book to the key things we want. The more that is in policy the more likely it is for the loony left media to use it as they did this election. Redfraud is now woring on a national energy strategy that was never discussed because the media and Progessive Corupt party kept the focus on a couple of non issues.
EBD @ 4:09
Bang on EBD, well said!
If not for the inflated polls this was a nice victory for the WRP and a loss for the PC’s.
Today the Alberta legislator is more “right wing” represented than it was last week – how is this possibly a victory for the left? They lost seats and power to the right.
I’m surprised so many don’t seem to see this reality.
Instead, they were simply unsure about Wildrose – not unsure in the active sense of being distrustful for any particular reason, they just didn’t know a single thing about the local candidate.
In other words, it is true what they say about Alberta. It is full of stupid ignorant rednecks.
Danielle Smith is wasting her time trying to rationalize my mental retardation, apathy and recklessness.
EBD I hope you copy-paste your spiel and send it to Daniel and your WRA candidate. It is an excellent synopsis.
the Muslim men who keep returning to the station with a different name on their IDs every couple of hours.
I’d ask for proof, but why bother?
Sorry, Mr. Knight, but I can’t be so sanguine. The PCs lost seats, but they didn’t lose a scrap of power.
Obviously everybody wants to claim credit for this; I don’t doubt that the Globe and Mail honestly believes that their endorsement made all the difference. I’m dead certain the broadsheet papers and the TV stations are convinced that they won it by smearing the WRs in an orgy of racist and anti-Christian bigotry, and the racists and bigots all want to believe that. It’s all wishful thinking. As the more thoughtful posters here have noted, WR’s performance was about what you’d expect from an untried party with a lack of experienced candidates going up against an entrenched dynasty. The campaign really didn’t have much to with it.
But the problem is that, because of that campaign, the vilest and lowest in our history, the PCs are now convinced that they have a mandate to destroy freedom of speech and freedom of thought, to persecute Christians for their faith and whites for the colour of their skin, and to loot the province’s wealth for their own benefit. The social contract in Alberta has been rewritten: the bigots and racists have agreed with the criminals to put them in power and let them steal, so long as they abuse the authority of the state to beat up on people with the wrong colour and the wrong faith.
I’m sure the voters of Alberta meant this vote as a rebuke and a caution, but it will be taken as a license to steal, brutalise and oppress. How long before Danielle Smith is hauled before the Human Rights Commission to be lynched? Before criticism of the government is treated as hate speech? Because as far as Redford can see, the people just told her to do exactly that.
I’m not looking forward to the next four years.
Sorry people, but Danielle tried principled conservatism argued with energy and conviction, and it was like trying to feed fillet mignon to swine.
Exactly.