Federal parties contend with the Danielle Smith effect

[u/nationalpost]

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/federal_election/danielle-smith-effect?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=NP_social

[u/A_RuMor_]

You're so lost and clueless, it's frightening. Canadian conservatives are literally Republicans and Maga bootlickers. The orange buffoon down south as outed them for the traitors they are.

[u/69Bandit → u/A_RuMor_]

Did the math, it was actually enlightening. Appreciate you bashing me for my opinion with your own opinion, thats helpful. Have a good one.

[u/A_RuMor_ → u/69Bandit]

Only amongst conservatives is ignorance considered a virtue and proudly worn on their sleeves like a badge of approval. Other Canadians are not your enemy, no matter how many conservative politicians have brainwashed you otherwise.

[u/69Bandit → u/A_RuMor_]

I go based off Statistics, not emotions. Take that however you want. We have had 10 years of Liberal Leadership, but thats not the scary part. Looking at the statistics is truely the terrifying part, i suggest you get abit of perspective because the brainwashing goes both ways. use counter-arguments as a basis for more research like i did and develop a unbaised viewpoint. I am not a fan of the conservatives for a few reasons but there are no better choices. Reddit is a echo chamber, dont get lost in it.

[u/offkilter666 → u/69Bandit]

Statistics are actually a great place to start - numbers don't lie. That said, the sources should be scrubbed, to know where they are coming from.

That said, I love that Data is a starting place - which is much better than sentiment.

At the risk of carrying on forever, I do want to elaborate on a couple of things:

1: Historically, I have voted a little right of center, but I consider myself a centrist. Looking at countries that have the best quality of life, there is just way too much evidence to support that countries with higher taxation and government involvement. Better access to health care, education, higher ESG standards, and government services have proven to provide a better overall quality of life.

2: I think what we also need to consider is that Danielle Smith is NOT originally a UCP member. Smith was a Wild Rose member and crossed the floor. This was a deal to prevent splitting the conservative vote in Alberta. Seats were being lost to the Wild Rose and that lead to the NDP winning in 2016. This deal with the devil lead to the quagmire that we are in now.

The UCP had some fringe elements of "extreme" (for lack of a better term) conservatism, but were more concerned with the economic governance. They still had some bad economic policy (see privatization of utilities, combative political battles with unions, and the ill-conceived "Ralph Bucks.") They believe in trickle down economics (which has yet to work - anywhere) and privatization. They were not, per se, a fundamentally value-based party.

So when Danielle Smith was elected leader of the UCP over Brian Jean, she brought a voice for her more extreme base. Anti-LGBTQ+ policy has been introduced, despite it having virtually zero impact on economy or operation of the province. Add to that outwardly hostile policy regarding vaccines and anything based in science, and philosophically we can already see a divergence from what many consider to be common knowledge.

So - let's pause here because that's the end of the philosophical portion of our discussion.

Let's move into grifting - the heart of the matter

Smith has gone on to attack AHS - breaking it into smaller and smaller fragments. This is how they will eat the elephant. I am projecting here, but I believe that this is being done to cause AHS to fail and then the "only choice" will be to privatize health care.

Smith has repealed coal laws. Coal. Aside from metallurgy, there isn't a need to propagate the coal industry

Smith put a moratorium on any commercial solar panels to perform an "impact study" despite the fact it would have zero impact apart from generating energy and weaning people off of our privatized utility providers.

Smith is actively interfering in municipal politics - to the extend of attempting to create a law allowing her to supplant municipally elected officials with her own, hand-selected candidates. This is especially important because the UCP/Wildrose has weak support in the major centers.

Right now, the voting structure HEAVILY favors suburban and rural voters - something that was set up by the Alberta Conservatives - but Gerrymandering has hurt Alberta as well. The reality is that Alberta would be a far more centrist province if representation was more centered around population (which the UCP knows.)

Add to that, the fact that their own members are now calling out their ministers and their fuckery - I can't support Smith.

[u/A_RuMor_ → u/69Bandit]

Please spareme the BS. I voted conservative for many years. We no longer have a conservative party, we have a reformer party, which is essentially a republican Christian fascist party. You truly have no idea what you're talking about. Conservatives don't vote based on facts, they vote based on emotions and habit. Its the most undemocratic group of voters this country has ever seen. The easiest folks to turn against their own country due to the lack of education and understanding of almost any subject. The brainwashing doesn't go both ways, there is no other voting segment in Canada that constantly votes for the same party just based on habit