Shorts, no shirt, roof panels off the Jeep. 21 and sunny, which for me is perfect.
Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
Guess what I just did? Oh well, at least it’s easier now than back when we had to sit down with a stone tablet and a chisel.
NDP win in Alberta? It looks inevitable.
Has the world gone mad?
Hooray! A toast to all of my evil Albertan relatives: religious conservatives who don’t vote because the Watchtower Society tells them not to. Ha ha!
Every so often, I hear a noise coming from outside. I figure it’s just somebody’s head exploding. 
I’m glad I left if that is the case. But then I haven’t been keeping up on the politics there since then, either. Wildrose win that election a while back?
Holy crap! I’m watching the fall of the wall and can’t believe it.
No. Alberta’s been Tory blue for 10 million years.
Maybe a bit?
Here is a Tweet that’s making the rounds which sums up how momentous this occasion is.
Or a PC party member throwing him/herself off the bridge in a fit of grief?
Interestingly, the NDP ran a surprisingly centrist campaign. Now the question becomes whether or not they can manage the province based on absolutely no experience and also whether or not they can stay the course and avoid the fiscal pitfalls other NDP regimes around Canada have fallen into.
One of those may have been mine. Hope they don’t mess up.
Judging from the number of people in Alberta who could be bothered to show up and vote PC, it does not appear all that many people are upset about it.
I remember when the Big Blue Machine in Ontario finally lost an election. Every political dynasty is three bad months from the end.
I found a pic that sums up the Alberta election pretty well. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Could Jim Prentice have looked any more like a sore loser? “I quit! I’m taking my ball and going home…” If he wants to know why the PCs lost he should look in a mirror.
Harper will appoint Prentice to the Senate.
I usually avoid posting anything even remotely related to politics on this board, to stay out of arguments/fighting/disagreements. But let’s just say that I’m not unhappy with the results of the Alberta election. Though I’m not sure if or how much it’ll affect me, living here in Montreal.
In other news, Quebec’s smoking laws may be about to get tougher. They’re thinking of treating e-cigarettes like real cigarettes (meaning they’ll be banned where real cigarettes are banned) and smoking won’t be allowed on terrasses.
Maybe I’m ignorant, but I’m not sure what a terrasse is called outside Quebec. A patio? It’s an outdoor portion of a restaurant where people can sit outside. Also, I’m wondering if people elsewhere in Canada are familiar with the word “terrasse.”
terasse terrace
I think Prentice’s only sin was misreading public opinion and calling the election too early. He can’t really be faulted for the sins of the Redford government.
I’m not happy with the results of the election. I think people were fed up with the PC’s and wanted to send a message. Unfortunately, that message meant electing a whole passel of people with little political experience, and many with very little life experience.
To be fair, that was far from his ONLY sin. He badly misread the public when he blamed them for the economic situation of the province after the drop in oil prices. His “look in the mirror” statement to the people seemed designed to absolve the 43 years that the PC’s had to diversify the economy, or maybe put more money aside for the inevitable bad times.
His budget was basically a finger in the eye to everyone who earns a salary. Tax increases for you, but the same preferential treatment to corporations. It just smelled like “same old, same old”
His leaders debate was atrocious. He managed to come across as condescending - just that and nothing more. He looked like someone from Toronto who had been parachuted in to take over and tell everyone what to do.
The fact that it was evident that Postmedia dictated an editorial (from the corporate boardroom in Toronto) to every major paper in the province did not sit well. Albertans do not like to be told what to do by people from Toronto.
The last minute fear campaign went over like a lead balloon. Especially egregious were the CEO’s from Edmonton who threatened to stop donating to a children’s hospital. Classy guys. And the head of PCL Construction also told his employees how to vote. I don’t know about you, but when if boss told me how to vote, I would tend to get a little pissed.
I think many people will be happy to have an MLA to represent them, rather than someone who represents multinational oil companies. Someone who is learning the job, rather than someone who knows VERY WELL how to tender a sole source contract in exchange for “favours”. Someone who is new, rather than a person with deep connections to the oil industry, who owes them favours for “contributions received”
Yeah, refusing a seat he just won in an election looks very spiteful (directly to the people who elected him). I know the guy had hopes for staying premier, but you still do the job you ran for. Quitting on day 1 for greener pastures is a classy move Jim.
Oh well, another by-election for the other parties to win.
To be fair, these were his choices:
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Stay on, be thrown out as leader of the PC’s , and spend the next 4 years in the corner seat in the far back row in the legislature while the 22 year old NDP candidates point at you and ask “who is that again?”
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Go back to your 7 figure job at CIBC with a corner office where you go to meetings, travel, and people call you sir.
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Get appointed to the Senate. (Thanks Steve!)
The Stollery Children’s Hospital was appreciative of the donations that that little stunt caused, judging from what I read (sorry, can’t find a link at the moment). I don’t normally donate to them (I have other favourite charities), but I gave them $50 because of that.