49 Replies to “I Amuse Myself”

  2. I think this polling company has the most accurate numbers. But it is hardly foolproof.
    That said the ndp vote is very very concentrated in EDM and also has the least dedicated voters.
    What is consistent is the huge desire to have a change in government.
    That is tempered somewhat by the fear on the Center and right voters of vote splitting that lets the ndp have a majority. And polls like this will drive some WR support to the PCs as well as liberal and ab party support to the PCs.
    I predict a very even split between the ndp/pc/wr. The key will be who wins the most of those three and will they cut a deal with one of the other two.

  3. It’s all going just like Ernest Manning predicted.
    http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Opinion+Ernest+Manning+prophecy+government+coming+true/11001960/story.html
    In the final weeks of Alberta’s 1971 election, when the Social Credit government realized public support was slipping to the Progressive Conservatives, Premier Harry Strom enlisted the services of Ernest Manning, his predecessor. Manning toured the province, warning, “Elect the Conservatives now and you’ll have the NDP next!

  4. NDP Edmonton no surprise, PC’s Calgary, Wildrose rural.
    PC or Wildrose in a minority government.
    Remember the polls in the last BC election were giving the NDP a majority too.

  6. Gord,
    Robo-calling land and cell phones seems a bit of an iffy methodology. Someone should do a study correlating political leanings of those who routinely pick up unknown numbers with political leanings. The dips at 73% in Redmonton is a bit suspect. Although it highlights the fact that the dips will score a lot of redundant hyper-majorities up there.
    The rest of your post I agree with fully. Those Albertans so interested can navigate to ThreeHundredEight dot com and scroll down to the riding by riding to determine the non Marxist candidate in the best position. (Cities=PC? Rural=WR?)
    If anyone has better info please post. I don’t like the PC’s but having lived under NDP in two provinces I can emphatically suggest that some Albertans need to employ some rational thinking here. Imagine the most ignorant, annoying, and opinionated people you know running your province.

  8. I pity this country that Canada has become. The Easterners have moved West and didn’t learn a thing from the good old ‘Rae’ days. Socialists, whether they be hard left (NDP) or soft left (Liberals) have spread the virus that caused the demise of Quebec, Ontariowe, and the Maritimes, and now they are hell-bent on destroying the last bastion of common sense. The senior socialists, Mulcair and Trudeau have made their intentions clear, tax, tax, tax. Tax the rich, tax the corporations, tax energy, tax damn near everything that they can squeeze money out of and do it in the name of helping you. The LIV’s don’t have enough intelligence to realize what they are buying, even after untold universal examples abound. Saskabushers finally realized how socialism worked and decided they had had enough. When are we going to wake up as a nation and realize that we have to make it or break it on our own. A socialist government can only spread the misery, whether provincially or federally, socialist leaders do not want an independent electorate. If the examples in Europe aren’t enough to convince you look at the mess in the States and the coming mess in Ontariowe.

  9. Gord, I generally agree with your analysis, but we have such a destructive media that are so horny fo NDPee, and if I’m not mistaken the “Piss Off Vashys” had the last election won on their land use lies and a 400 dollar giveaway. Albertans are not stupid in general, we have allowed far to many stupid Toronto malcontents to have podiums like Dave Taylor and the rest of the left wing hosts in that sorry Chorus radios hog barn, who might sway a few morons but over all Albertans are about business doing business and creating businesses, and to choose a grinning idiot who has likely never even ran a lemonade stand, over a man who ran the CIBC would be a business suicide move thatI am hoping will not happen. Everyone can bitch and moan about all the terrible things about Alberta but we have nice roads nice hospitals/ schools, and we still sent 22 billion to the rest of Canada last year and if we kept that at home there would be no deficit. Just wait till the pathetic media jackals have their way and Alberta is a have not province under this grinning twit Notley, won’t that help our real estate prices.

  10. I guess the conservatives have not blown enough of the provinces wealth. the people now think they should bring in the A team of government wastrels and wasters. socialism, a disaster every time it is tried.

  11. Reminds me of the last BC provincial election. Of course the difference is that the Alberta “Progressive” Conservatives have become just another flavour in the range of leftist ice cream varieties. When the choice is double chocolate fudge ripple vs. chocolate fudge ripple then making your choice pretty much depends on the mindset that one will get more for less.

  12. Painful to watch this, but I guess if you govern arrogantly and incomptently, and forget where your power comes from, you will eventually be removed, no matter the advantages you have electorally.
    The Liberals learned that when Harper came to power. And now the PCs are learning that in Alberta.
    Sad.

  13. Don’t mean to rain on your parade, but the PC’s have only been conservative for 6 years of my 53 years here. They are liberal not conservative. Our debt will be 31 billion by 2017.

  14. Rather than allow the NDP to form the government and wreak real destruction on Alberta, I’m hoping that the PC’s, Wild Rose and Liberal parties can come together to form a coalition – all this of course is in the event the NDP does not achieve a majority.

  15. NDP campaign slogan: ‘Say Hello to the NDP; Say Goodbye to your Family.”
    Those they don’t drive out will be dealt with by the NDP Policy of Death: Euthanasia for the elderly non-unionized (40 years and older) and post-birth abortion for youthful non-unionized. Alberta, the new communist utopia(50 years and younger). We’ll know the fully evolved by their Union Card!
    Kate, no doubt if the NDP get a majority your tweet will be prophetic.
    NDP Unions Forever!

  16. Oops, I don’t want to misquote their platform, my post should have read:
    NDP campaign slogan: ‘Say Hello to the NDP; Say Goodbye to your Family.”
    Those they don’t drive out will be dealt with by the NDP Policy of Death: Euthanasia for the elderly non-unionized (40 years and older) and post-birth abortion for youthful non-unionized (50 years and younger). Alberta, the new communist utopia. We’ll know the fully evolved by their Union Card!
    Kate, no doubt if the NDP get a majority your tweet will be prophetic.
    NDP Unions Forever!

  17. Well, they do call themselves “Progressive (code word for communist) Conservatives”, so…

  18. Hate to break it you brother, but Canadian socialism was borne out of the prairies. So it could be said Alberta going back to its roots.

  19. Doom Doom Doom.
    Except who respond to polls?
    People with time on their hands and an exaggerated sense of their own importance .
    Stats Canada estimates the Canadian Underground economy at $42 billion for 2012.
    Taxpayers Federation estimated cost of government over regulation and senseless interference to taxpayers at cost of $30 billion same year.
    Federal deficit 2012 $28 billion.
    Since then we have seen the Wynning of Ontario, further slumping in the East and now the oil contraction.
    Sure math is hard, especially if you suffer from liberal statism a progressive mental disorder.
    Face it. It does not matter who wins, they are all kleptocrats of the first order, all will continue to perpetuate their class of parasites whose cost is more than civil society can carry.
    So slow decline, the conservatives consolidate at Wildrose, medium decline they mush at the PC middle or rapid they embrace the NDP.
    Does it matter?
    Dry goods, Medicines and ammo.
    When the fools and bandits mange to destroy public trust in civilization, we will revert to tribal systems.
    So know your neighbours and recruit the useful.

  20. I sensed a disturbance in Alberta’s political narrative when I received my first issue of a gift subscription to “AlbertaViews”.
    Here’s a copy of the cancellation missive I sent them:
    Please note that I have no intention whatsoever of renewing my gift subscription to your publication.
    As a political agnostic (actually a plumb-line Libertarian) with eclectic interests I make a habit of reading most anything of a political nature, whether it be left or right, socialist/progressive or conservative. More often than not to affirm my personal non-confirmatory bias.
    I eagerly read my first subscription issue cover-to-cover and immediately threw it out in disgust. All subsequent issues went straight to the blue bin unopened to prevent the odour of bovine excrement from permeating my home or polluting the thinking of visitors.
    Alas, your magazine is nothing more than a vacuous compilation of urban-centric leftist and watermelon socialist tripe. Throughout history those of your ilk have emerged from the periphery only after all the heavy lifting has been done.
    IMHO your audience is a group of delusional people who imagine themselves as members of the new elitist class – an obsequious cadre of politicians, bureaucrats, unionists and journalists – all living cheek-by-jowl in sprawling suburubia’s grotesque McMansions and rushing to and from the city’s core like lemmings, only to be trapped in sludge-like slow rivers of traffic. And all the while enslaved by the latest gadgetry that falsely promises shimmering green fields of leisure.
    To paraphrase Stephen Leacock – “I’m sitting in the smallest room of my house with your material in front of me. Very soon it will be behind me.”
    I suspect Rachel Notley is an avid reader of yours…
    Kindly include me out from your mailing list.

  21. The NDP will win this election with a small majority, and during their rain of terror what is left of the PC’s and WR will coalesce and become “The Conservative Party of Alberta”. Just like what happened federally. They will then slaughter the NDP next election and all will be right with the world once again.

  22. I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m no expert on Alberta politics, but won’t the NDP have to win a majority (or a least a very large plurality) to govern, given they can’t (better not!!!) count on support for the Wildrose or PC? Who cares if they win the most seats, it won’t give them government. How ironic, the NDP done in by a “coalition.”
    As long as the PCs can hold their own they will be asked to govern first, and can do so with the support of the Wildrose in minority. That’s the worst case scenario.
    Polls lately have been breathtaking inaccurate, where a random program could produce just an accurate a result (iow not accurate). There remains a strong incumbency effect in voting patterns and this will show itself. If I’m wrong I’ll eat crow but anticipate a good laugh at the expense of pollsters this Tuesday evening.
    I understand fear is being used to staunch new NDP support, but everybody needs to stop worrying.

  23. Bob – the idea of a coalition of losers throwing out an Alberta NDP minority and installing themselves into power is the type of Banana Republic governance that the media is currently promoting at the federal level should the federal Conservatives be held to a minority.
    If the losing parties defeat the NDP minority and send Albertans back to the polls that would be fine. The electorate must decide. Simply assuming power is as I said Banana Republic stuff.
    Which brings up another interesting point. The national media has been mainstreaming the idea of a Lib/NDP coalition to get the Canadian public softened up for what would essentially be a coup (circumventing the electorate) should the Harper Conservatives be held to a minority. There is no precedence for such a move. You have to really bastardize the King/Byng affair to even come close to justifying a sedition coalition.
    But the national media is setting the table for such a play on behalf of the Libs/NDP. If the federal Conservatives are held to a minority this will happen, guaranteed.
    Now back to Alberta. I have yet to see any of the same national media types who are advocating the overthrow of a duly elected minority federal government, advocate the same thing for Alberta. But that would mean their wet dream of a pure socialist government (as opposed to the slightly less socialist PCs) in Alberta would be in jeopardy.
    There is actually some precedent for this sort of thing provincially, because its exactly what the left did in Ontario in 1985. The Petersen Rae coalition of losers kicked out the PCs and installed themselves into power. Should never have been allowed by the Lt Governor of Ontario at that time John Black Aird.
    My broad point is its another great example of how thoroughly corrupt and in the pocket of the left the national media is.

  24. If the NDP finishes first there are but 2 choices for premier, the NDP’s Notley or 2nd or 3rd or 4th place Prentice. If Wildrose’s Jean finishes 2nd he cannot be premier as the Lieutenant Governor is obligated to ask the leader of the largest party first unless the current premier chooses not to resign. Prentice can try to come up with a deal with Jean to stay in power and maintain confidence of the legislature. I suspect cutting a billion or two from the deficit might grease the wheels.

  25. Galen weston jr. Look for profit. In any cost caused today he. Got $2 billion law sued for criminal neglegnce. for death of 1000 bangladishi factory of joe clothing. His. Wealth was $2 billion in 1999 now 20 billlion in 2014. His changing 5 president get their ideas then legally fired them , firing 1000 employees high salary of nofrill. When Mohamad Ibrahim sunni black employee of nofril today working in sobeys said all line of hala food run by shia iraninan and saudi king of sunni. Become mad he ordered by his jews lawyer. Who loved israel hated iran swittch products from shia to sunni today. Stamp HMA to his no name brand steal so many small business too. In additional to criminal compettition he also stole Amanda House ice cream so many others in 2009. later in 2011 he met td bank x manger target small business account iranian asset home taken illegally by fraud. Then he join kisinger under closed embasy of iran. Sold steve haun jewshi anti shia iranian who worked for aslafa hala sold pakstani.

  26. Disclaimer about my own political leanings: I’m a small-c conservative/libertarian, and have nothing but disdain for socialist people (I’m fine with social programs, so long as they deliver value for money, and those receiving are making the effort to contribute; no free riders).
    If the NDP win a majority, it’ll be a one-term mandate unless they clamp down on their own bozo backbench and govern from the center.
    This is not a vote for a socialist agenda, it’s about “F*** YOU PC PARTY, AND THE HORSE JIM PRENTICE RODE IN ON”. Albertans are not going to put up with sweetheart deals to the NDP union cronies (no more so than sweetheart deals to the PCs corporate cronies), environmental luddism that threatens the economy, or SJW quackery being shoved down our throats.
    Assuming we end up with a minority government situation…
    I’d caution the Wildrose to think very carefully about forming a coalition with the PCs. Loot at Prentice. He came in, untainted by the PC’s legacy, started rocking the trough. We were almost ready to believe they’d changed, and then he faltered. Now he’s inextricably part and parcel of the PC’s shenanigans.
    If the Wildrose win a minority, I think we could tolerate a couple PC floor-crossers to put them over the top. But if they go for a full merger, the Wildrose will be assuming all of the PC’s soiled baggage. For all intents and purposes, the PCs will have retained power, and nothing will have changed. Voters will not be impressed.
    If the NDP win a minority, and the Wildrose and PC form a coalition of the losers, it’s the same as above, with the added bonus of perverting the voters’ intent. If the NDP take the most seats and aren’t part of the government, it smacks of a stolen election. Don’t lecture me about the particulars of our election laws. It may not be against the letter, but it offends the spirit. I think most of us objected to the idea of a Liberal/NDP/Bloc frankenstein seizing power federally several years back, that goes both ways.
    In either case, a WR/PC coalition may allow them to seize/retain power THIS time, but it will probably cost them more NEXT time.

  27. It appears that Alberta is in the likely minority situation. The question to be answered is likely: who will have the plurality? Whether NDP, Wildrose, or, PC that party will be asked to gain the confidence of the Legislature.
    I could see a very limited case where the Wildrose or NDP is supported by the other party to hold a very short session that includes very specific democratic reforms and commissions into PC corruption. This will be followed by the party with plurality bringing forth their budget and probably being defeated leading to another election in a year or two.
    The PCs may also gain the plurality of seats and they could conceivably gain the confidence of the House, at least for a brief period, with the support of one of the other parties for specific concessions. Ideally, this would be a PC — Wildrose coalition.
    There is a precedent in Canada for the second and third parties forming the government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Miller_%28politician%29#Minority_government_and_defeat. Frank Miller, the 19th Premier of Ontario was defeated through Bob Rae’s non-confidence motion that allowed David Peterson lead Liberals (2nd place finishers in the 1985 Ontario election) to form the government with the support of the Bob Rae lead NDP (3rd place finishers). But, the Miller lead PCs were allowed to try and gain the confidence of the Ontario legislature first and only upon their defeat did the Ontario LG allow the 2nd place Liberals to gain the confidence of the Legislature. It was all quite in keeping with the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy that we follow.
    Likely Minority!

  29. Ok Ward, you mean a banana republic like France or Israel who routinely have coalition governments. Same thing happened in Saskatchewan when the NDP brought in two lone Liberals to govern with a one seat majority. You refer to a “duly elected minority government”. Welcome to the Parliamentary system of government. A duly elected minority government can be, without another election, replaced by a ‘duly elected coalition government’. The only thing that keeps a ‘minority’ alive is enough support from other parties in parliament – a coalition of ‘losers’ as you refer to them.
    You mention the Peterson / Rae coalition and how the Lt, Gov of the day should never have allowed that. Again – Parliamentary system. Why would the LT Gov not allow it? Maybe you have a good reason for your opinion on that. Enlighten me.
    BTW – Banana republics rarely have elections and when they do – they are rarely honest and open.

  30. Thank you Antenor for your very observant comments. As a ‘Saskabusher’ while we still have lots of brain dead lefties here I think the long term damage that they caused to my province will guarantee that we re-elect the Saskatchewan Party for at least another decade. By then even Albertans will have realized that real Socialists cause far greater damage then even the pseudo PC socialists are preparing to do.

  31. For those not from Alberta, the NDP have been in power since Ed Stelmach. Special Ed moved the PCs waaaaaaaaaayyyyy to the left. They were to the left of the Liberals and even the NDP on some issues. They eroded property values, attacked oil and gas, and pissed away Alberta’s wealth to the public sector unions. The PCs are beholden to Big Labor, but make sure not to drop the “Conservative” from their name in order to keep the LIV vote.
    The wake-up call to robotic PC voters might be to have the NDP win and notice no change. If the NDP introduce a sales tax or PST, they are simply doing what Prentice would have done anyhow. The only difference is that Prentice would do a better job of lying as to why he did it.

  32. Thank you Redford and Smith.
    You’ve done your jobs well! You’ve succeeded in destroying conservatism in Alberta. Bravo! /sarc
    Don’t be too surprised if you see either of them resurface as “evolved” leftists after the vote.

  33. Canadian socialism may have originated in the Prairies out of shear necessity for the many new immigrants arriving from Europe that required all of their energy combined to survive. But the later generations learned that socialism only works on a small scale, neighbours helping neighbours, when recipients can be held to account. Provincially and federally it fails because the enablers want to keep their government jobs and pensions and never hold the recipients to account. Albertans were always out in front of the pack, whether cutting herd or riding rigs, they didn’t wait for some egghead from Ottawa to tell them how to do things. I can only hope that attitude will bring them through this next election, otherwise as I’ve said before we’ve lost the last bastion of common sense.

  34. the most notable thing about recent poli discussions in here is the absence of OntarIowe bashing…Hahaha

  35. “I can only hope that attitude will bring them through this next election”
    I’m quite sure that it will. Now I’m no political scientist but I just cannot see where these poll results are coming from. In the last election, the NDP won a total of 4 seats. 4!! And that was with less than 10% of the popular vote, even less than the Liberals. Take away the 4 Edmonton ridings where the NDP were winners and the popular vote is miniscule. Take away a couple of Lethbridge ridings and the 4 Edmonton ridings and the popular vote drops out of sight. Out of 87 constituencies, the NDP finished 3rd in 36, 4th in 43 and 5th in 1. Hardly an indication of an upset in the making. A fringe party at best.
    It is highly improbable that the Alberta electorate would swing that far left that quickly. All indications are that Albertans are upset with the PC’s for drifting too far to the left. It is inconceivable that anyone would think a vote for the socialists would rectify that situation.

  36. Here are the results of the polls vs the actual results of the 2012 Alberta elections.
    Estimate by polls:
    Wild Rose:39.2%
    P Cons. :32.2%
    Election results:
    Wild Rose:34.3%
    P Cons. : 44.0%
    Difference vote –
    poll:
    Wild Rose:-4.9%
    P Cons. :+11.8%

  37. If the ndp firm the government get ready for a sales tax. If they have a majority it will be one of their first acts.

  38. John robson what privince / city do you live in ? wanna meet? i am of the same opinion. read the book called Patriots by James wesley rawles …i would really like to form a group like that. if interested let me know .

  40. Bob
    There is a big difference to the winner of a plurality of the votes taking power and being supported by another party to form a coalition government, and the two losing parties simply saying they will not support the duly elected minority government and forming government.
    Why has a minority government ever existed anywhere, when the two (or more) losing parties can simply decide that they do not recognize the will of the electorate and simply install themselves into power?
    If the losing parties to not want to support the winning minority govt, it is their choice to defeat the government on a confidence motion – usually budget – at which point we should head back to the polls.
    The reason it is important to go back to the polls is that the electorate having expressed its desire for a minority, may fundamentally disagree with the opposition defeating the government, and may well express that displeasure at the polls by re-electing the minority to a majority.
    There is a built in risk for the opposition if they have to face the electorate for their act of voting non confidence. That is the check that must be in place. Otherwise the opposition is simply awarding themselves the keys to the treasury.
    The only two cases I have been able to find with a duly elected minority not assuming government is the King/Byng affair (which is bastardized on a regular basis by the media) and the Petersen Rae sedition coalition in Ont in 1985.
    What should have happened in Ontario, was an election should have been triggered. Very good chance that the PC’s of the day would have been returned to power with a majority as a result. Bastardizing the parliamentary system was the only way the left was going to get power in Ontario and that’s is why they staged their coup.
    There was no reason for the Lt Gov to simply let the Libs/NDP simply install themselves into power other than he was part of that coup. There was no precedent for it. The left stole power in Ontario because they were not about to win it with a plurality.
    There have been about a dozen federal minority governments since confederation. The only one where the duly elected party did not assume power and govern was the King Byng affair, which was Liberals again cheating as usual.
    Interestingly the longest serving minority governments were the two Harper Conservative minorities. So there is no reason for the left to say that they need to replace a federal conservative minority. History- and Harper- have proven that he can manage a minority (the will of the electorate) just fine. In fact he actually played the left like a fiddle in them.
    The only reason for two (or more) parties to install themselves into power is that they do not believe they have the ability or the votes to win.
    And I would suggest that the media is staging a very successful campaign to convince Canadians that this sort of nonsense is normal course business here in Canada when it is anything but.

  42. If Albertans think their taxes are high now, just wait till the NDP are done. Here in Manitoba, MB Hydro is on the verge of bankruptcy as they borrow billions for hydro projects to produce power for no one, and the government raids any profits they make to blow on more government workers.

  43. Okay,i re read. My point is that people call them conservative which they are not IMO. From ’93-98 while Klien (a lieral) made some needed cuts and payed off our provincial debt. That was the only period of conservatism I’ve witnessed.
    I get your point, I am just pointing out calling get them “conservative “is technically incorrect. No offense meant.

  44. It could be that the poll is used for the so-called “band wagon effect”. Undecided voters thinking they would like to go with the tide, could be stampeded into voting with the flow.

    Once used over thirty years ago in a Newfoundland vote.

  45. I just got a Robocall from the PCs saying how they were the only hope to stop the NDP, and that the NDP will destroy jobs in every sector, and that plagues of fire floods frogs and locusts will descend upon us if we don’t vote PC.
    Came across as really desperate and probably will do more harm than good to them with the swing voters.
    I still think Wildrose and NDP will do better than the polls suggest, because hard-core PC supporters are so disgusted they will simply stay home and not vote at all.

  46. If Albertans a stupid enough to turn it over to the NDP the damage done during the next five years will never be repaired.

  47. This is something never brought up enough.The reason Norway has a trillion in their fund and alberta 10 billion is because Norway does,nt send 20 billion a year in transfer payments out.

  48. Another thing shawn, if a pissed off kid with a 22 can waste 75 Norwegians just wait and see the devastation old Vlad will reap on those lefties when he wants that trillion dollars. Norway is a soverign country and can save that much if they want, their taxes are so high nobody wants to work, Alberta is a province in a federation, better to carry some debt and build infrastructure than let the loony Toronto/Quebec thieves have it all.

  49. The PCs need to be flushed, their management and policies have ruined Alberta. The NDP will create a beautiful “have not” province and maybe then a true conservative party will emerge from the rumble. Sorry Eastern Canada, it has to be done, no more transfer payments and no oil in pipelines till we sort this crap out. Start cutting fire wood and closing your subsidized day cares.

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