2 PC MLA's defect to Wildrose Alliance

[wyly]

Actually, I'm hearing quite the opposite. It would seem that there are a lot of people are pissed at Special Ed's inability to reign in spending. The health care spending issue has been put forth by opposition as currently at 20% increase year over year (completely unsustainable), and wiping out the $1 billion dollar shortfall in Alberta Health Services has raised the question of how did the "superboard" manage to get into such a mess in the first place and what guarantee is there that they will not simply go there again. Special Ed couldn't even get it right on the news tonight, claiming the 6% and 4.5% increases were stable (but got the number of years of each wrong). The man is nothing more than a bobblehead (watch him sometime).

Even the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation came out both barrels blazing against Ed, and their opinion is rather well respected in a province that cut-cut-cut and went through the pain of paying down what they owed and balancing everything in the 90's.

Ted Morton was brought in only to re-attract the right wing in this province, but I highly doubt it will have much effect since there is a better alternative for those voters in the WRA. I believe there will be a major shift in Alberta politics in the very near future that will see the PC's get hammered from both the left and right. This province is not known for being "centrist". The WRA will take the votes on the right, and the Lib's will take the left. The NDP has never been a threat to anything other than the phone booth on the corner where they hold their caucus meetings.

And I strongly believe that there are more right-leaning voters in this province than left.

have the conservatives starting with Klein messed up the healthcare system, absolutely...will the populace let a WRA government cut funding dismantle it further? never...Smith vowed not to touch the healthcare when she won the leadership but her vocal disdain for the funding it gained in the budget showed her true feelings, this women will sabotage it the first opportunity she's given...she will deliberately screw it up so she can introduce her preferred private care, those with the most money go first...

the conservative following in Alberta is misleading, you're confusing self interest with political ideology, people vote conservative to protect the oil patch economy not because they're right wing loyalists...

if either conservative party threaten public healthcare and you'll find out how much of a socialist bent Albertans have, the WRA and Conservatives will find themselves in opposition benches......

all people are the same basic needs overrule politcal loyalty; jobs, healthcare and education mess with those and any politcal party risks extinction...

[Hydraboss]

Klein got things in order. Sometimes in stupid, painful ways...but he did it. Good for him and good for us.

I highly doubt the WRA would cut spending to healthcare, but I could see them reigning in the spending increases. Good for him and good for us.

Would she bring in private health care? Doubt it, but I do believe we'll see more P3's in the near future. And just for the record...those that can afford better and faster care should get it. Don't really give a shit about the rest of you. Wait in line to die. (that's what I'm supposed to say, right?) Those with enough money already are in a position to go first (see Danny Williams), they just go to the States.

As for the general political leaning in Alberta, open your eyes. This is probably the only province that could mount an assault of union busting and disband the teacher's union and that would actually get the party elected! There is very, very little socialist bent in Alberta. If there was such a great amount, the NDP would have more than two seats. That's right. 2.

ALL politics (from the individual's standpoint) is self-serving. Self-protectionist. If it weren't, there wouldn't be a single "socialist" with a computer or a car because everything they have would have been shared with the less fortunate. Bunch of hypocrites.

[Smallc]

. Oh nevermind. You don't care anyway.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Smallc

[Hydraboss]

. Oh nevermind. You don't care anyway.

Hell of a comment. Really go me thinking.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

Alberta is a conservative province. That is not a partisan cant but a peoples disposition. We are not all big PC members or even little WRAP members, just truly conservative to the core. WE like the idea of less government instead of more. We sort of gravitate to the right, especially in terms of social policies. We allow unions but don't like them very much. We have social assistance but don't like that either. We don't like being told what to do.

Alberta is a very different place when it comes to attitudes compared to the rest of the nation. The Tories will eventually depart the political arena and suffer the same fate as the Socreds. We will look back at another failed attempt at governance and move forward. That is what we always do, keep going forward. We are not marred by our political mistakes to the same degree as other provinces and tend to put them behind us as lessons learned. We actually do something different when we replace a government. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

[Smallc]

WE like the idea of less government instead of more.

I call bs. Alberta probably has the largest government per capita in Canada, and people seem to overwhelmingly support things like public health care. Albertans often talk conservative, but they don't always work that way.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

I call bs. Alberta probably has the largest government per capita in Canada, and people seem to overwhelmingly support things like public health care. Albertans often talk conservative, but they don't always work that way.

You can call whatever you want, whatever you want. Come out here and ask whether Albertans want more or less government. The big government party is the PC's! They have built a dynasty of bureaucracy over the last four decades to reward their supporters. That is part of our problem right now. That is one of the reasons the government is under fire, because of their spending habits and right now the public is not exactly behind the party and the government. Albertans want the government to clean up its act. I have not talked to a single person that is in favour of the budget deficit. What are Albertans telling you?

[Smallc]

You can call whatever you want, whatever you want. Come out here and ask whether Albertans want more or less government.

More talk again. I still haven't seen any walk. Maybe in the next election, but we aren't there right now, are we?

[Jerry J. Fortin]

More talk again. I still haven't seen any walk. Maybe in the next election, but we aren't there right now, are we?

You missed the two MLA's walking out on the PC's? Not to mention any of the party workers or aids and assistants. There is a lot of walking to go hand in hand with the talking here right now. The next election will be as long from now as the government can make it, because they know that that will be their end.

[Smallc]

There is a lot of walking to go hand in hand with the talking here right now.

It's all small potatoes. We'll see if Albertans actually carry through on their threats to the PCs. I'm not convinced that they will as long at the government is able to return to the black.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

It's all small potatoes. We'll see if Albertans actually carry through on their threats to the PCs. I'm not convinced that they will as long at the government is able to return to the black.

It is a wait and see game of that there is no doubt. The PC brand is deep and it will take the entire remaining mandate to finally weed them out. Have an eye on a couple of things though, one is the return of higher energy prices. That will turn the economy around here, but more importantly the royalty framework has not been finished. There are a lot of irons in the fire right now from infrastructure spending to revamping social institutions. The PC's have lots in mind to rebuild their image, they will not succeed but they will try.

[Hydraboss]

Another thing to consider in this province is that when energy prices return (and they are), the province will once again be flush with cash. No big surprise. But Albertans know that and don't give the "government" credit for it. They are, however, held accountable for what they DO with the money, and that's where the PC's are going to falter heavily. Times got tough recently and everyone knows it; it's also the reason Alberta had a $17 billion "rainy day fund". This fund is now being squandered to support otherwise unsustainable spending. THAT will burn their asses at the polls.

As has often been said, a monkey could run the province when the money's pouring in. When things get a little thin, Albertans want tight fiscal management and the Tories are just not that. EVERYTHING (education, health care, infrastructure) falls to the back when people lose their jobs. People want stability for their families and spending $17 million on the Alberta Art Gallery or 6% raises for teachers (an additional $40 million this year alone), huge raises for the Premier and MLA's and other stupid spending has threatened that stability.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

Another thing to consider in this province is that when energy prices return (and they are), the province will once again be flush with cash. No big surprise. But Albertans know that and don't give the "government" credit for it. They are, however, held accountable for what they DO with the money, and that's where the PC's are going to falter heavily. Times got tough recently and everyone knows it; it's also the reason Alberta had a $17 billion "rainy day fund". This fund is now being squandered to support otherwise unsustainable spending. THAT will burn their asses at the polls.

As has often been said, a monkey could run the province when the money's pouring in. When things get a little thin, Albertans want tight fiscal management and the Tories are just not that. EVERYTHING (education, health care, infrastructure) falls to the back when people lose their jobs. People want stability for their families and spending $17 million on the Alberta Art Gallery or 6% raises for teachers (an additional $40 million this year alone), huge raises for the Premier and MLA's and other stupid spending has threatened that stability.

The province will return to the black this year. Our big problem is that the government spins economic information for political reasons. Lots of government and lots of expenses to cover for, that is why they do it. Everyone else does too, so that is not news. What is news is that Albertans are starting to pay attention. They see the boom and bust cycles and they have both profited and lost from them. They are starting to ask questions like why does this keep happening and why doesn't the government do something about it. Stability is not an easy achievement from a resource based economy subject to an international marketplace. In steps the younger and more educated group that starts talking about diversification and value added development plans. Factor in the tree hugging folks and you begin to see just how diverse our own citizens are. Add it all up and you get a population that is conservative by nature and liberal by forced design. We know that changes are needed its just that we are not big on changes because they usually end up costing us money. So we change tyo meet the needs of our society and pay the bill.

It is possible that the WRAP folks have a few answers for us. They want accountable MLA's, representatives that actually represent their constituents instead of the party. They offer considerations and alternatives for doing things a little differently in order to enhance existing services while reducing the expense of delivery. WRAP supports public education and public health care so they are not that far to the right. Many of my fellow citizens in rural northern Alberta favour less taxes, less public servants, less bias toward business and more focus on the citizens. Yet they are no where near supporting the NDP or the Liberals. Strange but true.

Alberta has potential, but that is all it has until such time as the politicians realize that they need us and corporations to realize our dreams.

[wyly]

More talk again. I still haven't seen any walk. Maybe in the next election, but we aren't there right now, are we?

there are hard core conservatives who believe everyone thinks as they do and vote as they do for the same reasons, they don't...many albertans are socialists at heart as most Canadians are but still not surprisingly look after themselves first and that means job security...they'll vote for anyone who protects their job and in alberta that's the oil patch...as long as they have their jobs and oil/gas royalties are pouring in a dozen drunken monkeys can mismanage the government and they don't care as long as they have their jobs...

the diehard conservatives are living in a delusional world let the WRA or Conservatives threathen our socialist healthcare system and they'll find out how shallow the support for the conservative brand is...

[Oleg Bach]

Only fraudsters cross the floor. If you are elected as a right - you can not cross to the left - because the people sent you to represent the right..not the left- Crossing the floor should be made illegal-- Its like someone signing a contract to pay you in full then they rob you in full.

[wyly]

Only fraudsters cross the floor. If you are elected as a right - you can not cross to the left - because the people sent you to represent the right..not the left- Crossing the floor should be made illegal-- Its like someone signing a contract to pay you in full then they rob you in full.

they should at least sit as independents, if they want to join another party they should resign and run again in a by election....