The bloom is off the Wildrose
December 19, 2014 9:06 AM Subscribe
In what will no doubt live on as one of the most stunning political moves in Canadian political history, Alberta Wildrose Party (and official opposition leader) Danielle Smith, along with 8 other Wildrose MLAs, crossed the floor of the legislature to join the ruling Progressive Conservatives, under the leadership of Premier Jim Prentice. She also proposed that the Wildrose party formally merge with the PCs, which the Wildrose administration and members reject. While floor-crossings are not uncommon in Canadian politics, there has never before been a complete capitulation of an official opposition party to the governing party before.
NDP leader Rachel Notley is calling the floor-crossing a fraud, noting that the PCs (under former leader Alison Redford) successfully frightened progressive and centrist Albertans into supporting them out of fear of a socially conservative, populist Wildrose government.
While results in recent by-elections were not terrific, the Wildrose was easily the most successful opposition in recent memory in Alberta, shedding light on numerous long-term scandals and arguably are responsible for the undoing the Redford administration.
Smith is now claiming a social conservative push to reject a party policy motion for equality of all, including sexual minorities, is what drove her away. However, she wasn't present herself to vote on that motion.
The Wildrose staffers have been laid off without severance and a funding page has been started to provide them with transition money. Donations have come in from across the political spectrum, including from former Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason.
CBC has a timeline of the Wildrose party.
Previously
NDP leader Rachel Notley is calling the floor-crossing a fraud, noting that the PCs (under former leader Alison Redford) successfully frightened progressive and centrist Albertans into supporting them out of fear of a socially conservative, populist Wildrose government.
While results in recent by-elections were not terrific, the Wildrose was easily the most successful opposition in recent memory in Alberta, shedding light on numerous long-term scandals and arguably are responsible for the undoing the Redford administration.
Smith is now claiming a social conservative push to reject a party policy motion for equality of all, including sexual minorities, is what drove her away. However, she wasn't present herself to vote on that motion.
The Wildrose staffers have been laid off without severance and a funding page has been started to provide them with transition money. Donations have come in from across the political spectrum, including from former Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason.
CBC has a timeline of the Wildrose party.
Previously
Alberta’s political culture has always preferred a non-partisan, business government. Business governments are primarily interested in making policy through consensus inside a party, rather than having it emerge from a fight between rivals. In other words, business governments do not want the Legislative Assembly to be the factory where you see the sausages made, but the supermarket where you buy them in a nicely packaged tray.Democracy in Alberta is about management, not ideology (Paul Fairie, Globe and Mail)
posted by mazola at 9:25 AM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
This has been one of the more bizarre weeks to be a political watcher in this province; I was no fan of the Wildrose but I'm still utterly stunned by these developments. They were the best opposition party we've seen since Decore's Liberals, and they weren't all that great.
I can look at it and say that it's a split between the strong social conservatives and the fiscally conservative, socially moderate sides of Wildrose; but the whole thing feels like cheap opportunism, frankly. Prentice will need to be a little bit careful with this, because if long serving Tories feel that the Wildrose defectors are getting preferential treatment, a few more scandals might just leak out on him.
Still trying to figure this whole thing out.
A couple of decent editorials on the subject.
posted by nubs at 9:26 AM on December 19, 2014
I can look at it and say that it's a split between the strong social conservatives and the fiscally conservative, socially moderate sides of Wildrose; but the whole thing feels like cheap opportunism, frankly. Prentice will need to be a little bit careful with this, because if long serving Tories feel that the Wildrose defectors are getting preferential treatment, a few more scandals might just leak out on him.
Still trying to figure this whole thing out.
A couple of decent editorials on the subject.
posted by nubs at 9:26 AM on December 19, 2014
I'm still trying to digest this too. Thanks for posting.
posted by kitcat at 9:27 AM on December 19, 2014
posted by kitcat at 9:27 AM on December 19, 2014
What I find personally delightful is the contrast between the Danielle Smith of November, when Kerry Towle and Ian Donovan ditched her and crossed the floor, and the Danielle Smith of today. Back then crossing the floor was cowardly, and staying with the Wildrose was standing for principle (or something)...
And yeah, it is unfortunate that we are losing the only really effective opposition party we've had in a long time. Under the wildrose things that festered for a long time and should have been scandals, actually became scandals. I hope we aren't going back to the old ways of Alberta politics.
posted by selenized at 9:33 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
And yeah, it is unfortunate that we are losing the only really effective opposition party we've had in a long time. Under the wildrose things that festered for a long time and should have been scandals, actually became scandals. I hope we aren't going back to the old ways of Alberta politics.
posted by selenized at 9:33 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Goodbye Wildrose, and good riddance. Alberta will be better off without you.
Well, we'll be better off if your remaining MLAs are marginalized and ignored by the PC party, as floor crossers usually are. If the Conservatives become even more conservative thanks to your influence, we could be in trouble.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:36 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Well, we'll be better off if your remaining MLAs are marginalized and ignored by the PC party, as floor crossers usually are. If the Conservatives become even more conservative thanks to your influence, we could be in trouble.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:36 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Some of the better memes to emerge:
Challenge accepted
Send the PCs a message
posted by nubs at 9:37 AM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
Challenge accepted
Send the PCs a message
posted by nubs at 9:37 AM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
If the Conservatives become even more conservative thanks to your influence, we could be in trouble.
It looks to me like a lot of what Prentice did to make this happen was to adopt a lot of the Wildrose platform, as mentioned in this article.
posted by nubs at 9:41 AM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
It looks to me like a lot of what Prentice did to make this happen was to adopt a lot of the Wildrose platform, as mentioned in this article.
posted by nubs at 9:41 AM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
The Wildrose were also pretty hardworking at exposing scandals: FOIP requests from elected officials to the provincial government and local public bodies - mostly for reams of financial records to comb through looking for improper mixing of government and party money - went up 400% between 10-11 and 11-12. But the problem with that, is that as a strategy it had diminishing returns. You get the biggest bombshells out of the way, people are outraged, but then you might keep finding small improprieties but it has less shock value because, well, we knew this about them right?
If the Wildrose played it right though, the successive financial blunders should have chipped away at the PCs reputation as good mangers that mazola's link refers to. They aren't actually good managers at all. However, by only bringing up the bad stuff in the PCs, and having little coherence or governance of their own, the Wildrose were great as opposition, but failed to present an alternative that make them acceptable as government.
posted by Kurichina at 9:49 AM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
If the Wildrose played it right though, the successive financial blunders should have chipped away at the PCs reputation as good mangers that mazola's link refers to. They aren't actually good managers at all. However, by only bringing up the bad stuff in the PCs, and having little coherence or governance of their own, the Wildrose were great as opposition, but failed to present an alternative that make them acceptable as government.
posted by Kurichina at 9:49 AM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Democracy in Alberta is about management, not ideology
That certainly sounds like an ideology.
posted by Artw at 9:53 AM on December 19, 2014 [13 favorites]
That certainly sounds like an ideology.
posted by Artw at 9:53 AM on December 19, 2014 [13 favorites]
You can see where Prentice is coming from in this. Apart from the obvious short-term political gain, he was a big part of the unite-the-right push for the federal PC party to merge with the Reform/Alliance. Presumably that colors his thinking on right-of-center political mergers (which this technically isn't, but still), even if the political topography is way different in Alberta in 2014 without a massively powerful Liberal party to try to overcome.
But it's really hard to ascribe charitable motives to Smith or any of her fellow floorcrossers. I can't read it as anything other than cynical opportunism.
I'm also not sure how beneficial it actually is to the PCs in the long term. If the WR does completely collapse then they're not likely to be unseated from government any time soon, but the WR definitely had a large grassroots support base, and that base won't just disappear. It may redirect itself to other parties or reform around a new one, but it's probably not going to universally decide to start voting Tory. On the left, Redford managed to beat expectations in the last election partly with the votes of people terrified of the WR running the province. I'm not sure the PCs will hang on to that support when Smith is saying how happy she is with the strong conservative policies and ideology of the Prentice government. In short, this makes things really complicated and I don't know if anyone can say what things will look like by the time of the next election.
Of course, Prentice may push for an election in early 2015 to try and capitalize on the confusion.
posted by figurant at 9:54 AM on December 19, 2014
But it's really hard to ascribe charitable motives to Smith or any of her fellow floorcrossers. I can't read it as anything other than cynical opportunism.
I'm also not sure how beneficial it actually is to the PCs in the long term. If the WR does completely collapse then they're not likely to be unseated from government any time soon, but the WR definitely had a large grassroots support base, and that base won't just disappear. It may redirect itself to other parties or reform around a new one, but it's probably not going to universally decide to start voting Tory. On the left, Redford managed to beat expectations in the last election partly with the votes of people terrified of the WR running the province. I'm not sure the PCs will hang on to that support when Smith is saying how happy she is with the strong conservative policies and ideology of the Prentice government. In short, this makes things really complicated and I don't know if anyone can say what things will look like by the time of the next election.
Of course, Prentice may push for an election in early 2015 to try and capitalize on the confusion.
posted by figurant at 9:54 AM on December 19, 2014
Oh, and my favourite memes:
The wheels are off the bus
Dangerous Crossings
posted by Kurichina at 9:55 AM on December 19, 2014
The wheels are off the bus
Dangerous Crossings
posted by Kurichina at 9:55 AM on December 19, 2014
It looks to me like a lot of what Prentice did to make this happen was to adopt a lot of the Wildrose platform...
Yeah, in the fifth link up top Rachel Notley makes some very disturbing allegations:
posted by Kevin Street at 10:00 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah, in the fifth link up top Rachel Notley makes some very disturbing allegations:
In the 2012 provincial election, Albertans opposed the Wildrose party’s right-wing agenda and voted instead for Alison Redford’s progressive Tory platform, which included pledges to eliminate child poverty, protect public health care and treat all Albertans equally, she said.But I'm so out of touch with local politics I'm not even sure what she means. What has Prentice done specifically to betray those promises? With the Conservatives it's often a game of talking tough (We must balance the budget at all costs!) but then backtracking and governing somewhat reasonably later.
But newly elected Progressive Conservative leader Jim Prentice “has been running a Wildrose government” since September, a bait-and-switch move that has triggered the proposed merger of two small-c conservative parties.
posted by Kevin Street at 10:00 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Wait, Peter MacKay is Wildrose MPP?
At any rate I don't see how this is that far off from the merger of the federal Reform and PC parties all those years ago. It's just political calculus.
posted by GuyZero at 10:04 AM on December 19, 2014
At any rate I don't see how this is that far off from the merger of the federal Reform and PC parties all those years ago. It's just political calculus.
posted by GuyZero at 10:04 AM on December 19, 2014
As others have mentioned, one major difference is that the old Progressive Conservatives were entirely consumed and digested by the Reform/Alliance party. In this case the Wildrose Party is still alive, but leaderless and in disarray. They could possibly recover from this, and continue to split the right wing vote.
posted by Kevin Street at 10:10 AM on December 19, 2014
posted by Kevin Street at 10:10 AM on December 19, 2014
At any rate I don't see how this is that far off from the merger of the federal Reform and PC parties all those years ago. It's just political calculus.
Well, the big difference as I see it:
Smith spent the last several months and weeks slamming the PCs for conducting "business as usual", their entitlements, lack of transparency, and so forth. And three weeks ago she condemned two member of the Wildrose for crossing the floor, going on about power versus principles. We now know that at the same time, she's part of secret negotiations to cross the floor herself and potentially merge the two parties - without any of the membership of her own party involved or aware of those discussions. She continues to act as leader of the opposition during this time - and while I disagree with her when she says that the opposition must want the government to fail (I view the role of the opposition as being a check on the governing party, a means of keeping them honest and engaged and crafting policy in the public interest, not just in their own) I see a huge problem with being the leader of the opposition while secretly negotiating to join the government. On her way out the door, she tells the Wildrose party that they should just vote for merger. So she's gutted the Wildrose by taking most of their sitting MLAs with her - and the party will likely lose official opposition status in the New Year when one of their remaining sitting members plans to resign/retire - she's also sandbagged it by questioning the reason for it existing any longer, which is quite the move for the (hours previously) leader of the party to pull.
It's political calculus, yes, but one that has a breathtaking cynicism and betrayal to it - one that should see Smith's words over the past few months thrown in her face for years to come, one that showed no loyalty or honour to the party and its volunteers that made her career, and one that sadly has left a lot of people in this province questioning why they bothered to get involved or vote at all.
posted by nubs at 10:22 AM on December 19, 2014 [6 favorites]
I faintly remember Wild Rose as a Canadian porn star---one of the first amateur porn stars on the internet. Which makes this all read verrrrry differently.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 10:25 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 10:25 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
That does make "crossing the floor" have a different context, alright.
posted by nubs at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2014
posted by nubs at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2014
mazola: Democracy in Alberta is about management, not ideology (Paul Fairie, Globe and Mail)
It's interesting how much Alberta politics changed after oil. Before oil, it was one of the most experimental polities in the Empire. In the 1920s, it was run by the United Farmers of Alberta, which "was a believer in the co-operative movement and supported women's suffrage". After the Depression hit, the Socreds were elected with plans for guaranteed income funny money and socialization of the banks.
But as oil took over more and more of the economy, the creativity was gradually drained out.
posted by clawsoon at 10:52 AM on December 19, 2014 [6 favorites]
It's interesting how much Alberta politics changed after oil. Before oil, it was one of the most experimental polities in the Empire. In the 1920s, it was run by the United Farmers of Alberta, which "was a believer in the co-operative movement and supported women's suffrage". After the Depression hit, the Socreds were elected with plans for guaranteed income funny money and socialization of the banks.
But as oil took over more and more of the economy, the creativity was gradually drained out.
posted by clawsoon at 10:52 AM on December 19, 2014 [6 favorites]
...and one that sadly has left a lot of people in this province questioning why they bothered to get involved or vote at all.
This has been the case on the left for as long as I've been alive. But some people like Notley keep trying, and for that I admire them.
The biggest problem with the Wildrose is it gave yet another megaphone to the hard right rural population that has always been well served by the political system in this province, and it brought us even further down into the muck, endlessly debating scandals that enraged Sun readers but that had no connection with questions of policy. Stelmach raised oil company royalties a tiny amount and suddenly the Wildrose Party sprung into existence like Athena from Zeus's forehead - then we spent the next ten years debating excessive spending on Premier's expense accounts. Do you think we should be getting a better return on our legacy of fossil fuels that can never be replaced? Are the oil comanies even capable of fixing all the damage they caused? Is it right that the governments from Klein to today have unloaded health care costs on our most vulnerable people like the elderly? Who cares, we're not having those kind of conversations. Redford took too many foreign trips!
posted by Kevin Street at 10:52 AM on December 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
This has been the case on the left for as long as I've been alive. But some people like Notley keep trying, and for that I admire them.
The biggest problem with the Wildrose is it gave yet another megaphone to the hard right rural population that has always been well served by the political system in this province, and it brought us even further down into the muck, endlessly debating scandals that enraged Sun readers but that had no connection with questions of policy. Stelmach raised oil company royalties a tiny amount and suddenly the Wildrose Party sprung into existence like Athena from Zeus's forehead - then we spent the next ten years debating excessive spending on Premier's expense accounts. Do you think we should be getting a better return on our legacy of fossil fuels that can never be replaced? Are the oil comanies even capable of fixing all the damage they caused? Is it right that the governments from Klein to today have unloaded health care costs on our most vulnerable people like the elderly? Who cares, we're not having those kind of conversations. Redford took too many foreign trips!
posted by Kevin Street at 10:52 AM on December 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
Well, at least Belinda Stronach no longer holds the title for most cynical floor-crossing in Canadian politics.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:06 AM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:06 AM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
The biggest problem with the Wildrose is it gave yet another megaphone to the hard right rural population that has always been well served by the political system in this province, and it brought us even further down into the muck, endlessly debating scandals that enraged Sun readers but that had no connection with questions of policy.
Exactly correct - for those who are not observant of the Alberta political scene, it's important to know that the substantive question that the legislature has spent the last month debating is whether and under what rules high school kids can form a club. This is what the politicians, governing a province with 4 million people and whose economy may be on the brink of collapse given the current global oil glut, are arguing about.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:57 AM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
Exactly correct - for those who are not observant of the Alberta political scene, it's important to know that the substantive question that the legislature has spent the last month debating is whether and under what rules high school kids can form a club. This is what the politicians, governing a province with 4 million people and whose economy may be on the brink of collapse given the current global oil glut, are arguing about.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:57 AM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
So basically this is not Lib Dems in the UK, this is Tea Party in the US?
posted by Artw at 12:00 PM on December 19, 2014
posted by Artw at 12:00 PM on December 19, 2014
This has been the case on the left for as long as I've been alive. But some people like Notley keep trying, and for that I admire them.
Maybe having a bunch of diasffection on the right too will do something. I don't know. I'm more cynical now than I was, but also feeling that it's more important than ever to be involved.
Who cares, we're not having those kind of conversations. Redford took too many foreign trips!
To be fair, it doesn't seem to me like the general public wants to have those conversations. It would be nice to have actual informed discussion about policy and implications and outcomes, but we aren't getting those at any level of government. The media and the people want their soundbites, and I find that there's a discouraging lack of appetite for anything more.
posted by nubs at 12:01 PM on December 19, 2014
Maybe having a bunch of diasffection on the right too will do something. I don't know. I'm more cynical now than I was, but also feeling that it's more important than ever to be involved.
Who cares, we're not having those kind of conversations. Redford took too many foreign trips!
To be fair, it doesn't seem to me like the general public wants to have those conversations. It would be nice to have actual informed discussion about policy and implications and outcomes, but we aren't getting those at any level of government. The media and the people want their soundbites, and I find that there's a discouraging lack of appetite for anything more.
posted by nubs at 12:01 PM on December 19, 2014
Wait, Peter MacKay is Wildrose MPP?
At any rate I don't see how this is that far off from the merger of the federal Reform and PC parties all those years ago. It's just political calculus.
Exactly. This is a calculated move. The cynicism of Canada's right-wing establishment was nowhere more evident when they put their support and machinery behind Rob Ford, when a bean-counter determined that he was electable.
This WR move might be in vain however. If the price of oil stays low, Alberta's provincial government will become the most ardent nationalists outside of Ottawa.
posted by Artful Codger at 12:33 PM on December 19, 2014
At any rate I don't see how this is that far off from the merger of the federal Reform and PC parties all those years ago. It's just political calculus.
Exactly. This is a calculated move. The cynicism of Canada's right-wing establishment was nowhere more evident when they put their support and machinery behind Rob Ford, when a bean-counter determined that he was electable.
This WR move might be in vain however. If the price of oil stays low, Alberta's provincial government will become the most ardent nationalists outside of Ottawa.
posted by Artful Codger at 12:33 PM on December 19, 2014
Harper stayed out of the Conservative-vs.-Wildrose electoral confrontation in the province he represents in the Commons. But he has explicitly endorsed the Conservative at every Ontario election since he became Prime Minister.
Stephen Harper, a son—and antagonist—of Ontario
Harper has always felt it his place to meddle in Ontario provincial and even municipal politics. He's never done so in other provinces, including in his literal backyard. Manning has been integral to this whole affair, and shamed-backroom boy Flanagan has been bloviating as usual, but Harper, who ousted both, has been very, very quiet.
posted by bonehead at 1:46 PM on December 19, 2014
Stephen Harper, a son—and antagonist—of Ontario
Harper has always felt it his place to meddle in Ontario provincial and even municipal politics. He's never done so in other provinces, including in his literal backyard. Manning has been integral to this whole affair, and shamed-backroom boy Flanagan has been bloviating as usual, but Harper, who ousted both, has been very, very quiet.
posted by bonehead at 1:46 PM on December 19, 2014
It's also interesting to note here that Harper booted Prentice from cabinet, as Prentice had the audacity to suggest that the department of the Environment might want to look at mild regulations on the oil patch and the new pipeline proposals. He was gone in months.
Prentice was also, at the time, gaining momentum within the Tory caucus as an effective and (somewhat) charismatic leader. Harper prefers his people in short pants and on short leashes.
I don't think he's a particular friend of Harper's either.
posted by bonehead at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Prentice was also, at the time, gaining momentum within the Tory caucus as an effective and (somewhat) charismatic leader. Harper prefers his people in short pants and on short leashes.
I don't think he's a particular friend of Harper's either.
posted by bonehead at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
So, I see that Preston Manning may be responsible for this.
posted by Kurichina at 1:59 PM on December 19, 2014
posted by Kurichina at 1:59 PM on December 19, 2014
When will we wipe off the stain that odious man has left all over our politics?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:04 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:04 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
For those non-Canadians wondering about the political culture of Alberta (in the context of the rest of Canada), a little anecdote:
In grad school (in Ontario) I had a classmate who tended to be on the conservative side of most discussions; never unpleasantly so. But she and I debated a few times. When we graduated, she moved out to Calgary. When we saw each other for commencement a few months later, the following exchange took place:
Her: It's crazy. I'm the raging liberal out there!
Me: So, it's a lot like Texas, huh? (oil, cowboys, more politically conservative)
Her: No. More like Mississippi.
posted by dry white toast at 2:16 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
In grad school (in Ontario) I had a classmate who tended to be on the conservative side of most discussions; never unpleasantly so. But she and I debated a few times. When we graduated, she moved out to Calgary. When we saw each other for commencement a few months later, the following exchange took place:
Her: It's crazy. I'm the raging liberal out there!
Me: So, it's a lot like Texas, huh? (oil, cowboys, more politically conservative)
Her: No. More like Mississippi.
posted by dry white toast at 2:16 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Wait, Peter MacKay is Wildrose MPP?
No, because we don't have MPPs in Alberta. We have MLAs. We don't have milk in bags either. We also invented the Caesar.
The whole country isn't Ontario- shocking, but true.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 2:25 PM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
No, because we don't have MPPs in Alberta. We have MLAs. We don't have milk in bags either. We also invented the Caesar.
The whole country isn't Ontario- shocking, but true.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 2:25 PM on December 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
No, because we don't have MPPs in Alberta. We have MLAs. We don't have milk in bags either. We also invented the Caesar.
We also don't hug.
posted by clawsoon at 2:28 PM on December 19, 2014
We also don't hug.
posted by clawsoon at 2:28 PM on December 19, 2014
Her: No. More like Mississippi.
Yeah, between the largest city having a muslim mayor, the conservative party leader walking in the gay pride parade, and the universal health care, it's almost exactly like Mississippi. Or maybe it was our hot, sweltering weather she was referring to.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 2:35 PM on December 19, 2014 [8 favorites]
Yeah, between the largest city having a muslim mayor, the conservative party leader walking in the gay pride parade, and the universal health care, it's almost exactly like Mississippi. Or maybe it was our hot, sweltering weather she was referring to.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 2:35 PM on December 19, 2014 [8 favorites]
If the NDP decided to run on a platform that included turfing Oilers management they'd have half the province in a heartbeat.
posted by mazola at 2:57 PM on December 19, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by mazola at 2:57 PM on December 19, 2014 [6 favorites]
Wait, Peter MacKay is Wildrose MPP?
No, because we don't have MPPs in Alberta. We have MLAs. We don't have milk in bags either. We also invented the Caesar.
The whole country isn't Ontario- shocking, but true.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 16:25 on December 19
[3 favorites +] [!]
Hahahahah. Yeah. Apparently we're forgotten again. Shocking no one.
He's from Nova Scotia. We have bags of milk and MLAs. And drink Clamato in beer.
posted by hydrobatidae at 3:46 PM on December 19, 2014
No, because we don't have MPPs in Alberta. We have MLAs. We don't have milk in bags either. We also invented the Caesar.
The whole country isn't Ontario- shocking, but true.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 16:25 on December 19
[3 favorites +] [!]
Hahahahah. Yeah. Apparently we're forgotten again. Shocking no one.
He's from Nova Scotia. We have bags of milk and MLAs. And drink Clamato in beer.
posted by hydrobatidae at 3:46 PM on December 19, 2014
So basically the Figleaf Fake Carbon Taxes and Begrudging Tolerance of the Homosexual Party has peeled off the tarsands uber alles caucus of the Burn Everything for Sticky Goo and Kill the Faggots Party. I'm guessing that after initially choosing a name that abbreviates to ACWRAP, and weeks of being referred to on Twitter as AWCRAP, they will settle on the official moniker of Oil at $120 Soon, Please Don't Hit Me, and Mayor Nenshi Hurt my Fee-fees Party
posted by [expletive deleted] at 4:27 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by [expletive deleted] at 4:27 PM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
This isn't Mississippi. (And it's kind of hurtful to hear you say that.) The province is extremely diverse, and growing more so every day. We have Liberals and NDPers and a much larger group that aren't really conservative but don't take any interest in politics. The problem is that many people who might vote center-left in Alberta don't bother voting at all. Nothing ever changes, right? So they stop caring.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:38 PM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 4:38 PM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Preston Manning apologies for role in Wildrose defections
posted by nubs at 6:17 PM on December 22, 2014
posted by nubs at 6:17 PM on December 22, 2014
If he thinks now that he should have reminded the nine MLAs to follow proper democratic procedures, what does that say about them?
posted by Kevin Street at 2:54 PM on December 23, 2014
posted by Kevin Street at 2:54 PM on December 23, 2014
One Party to Rule them all, One Party to find them
One Party to bring them all and in the backrooms bind them
In the Land of Prentice where the Oilsands lie
posted by nubs at 3:33 PM on December 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
One Party to bring them all and in the backrooms bind them
In the Land of Prentice where the Oilsands lie
posted by nubs at 3:33 PM on December 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
« Older Chasing Paper | 1964 Chevy Malibu Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by mazola at 9:21 AM on December 19, 2014 [2 favorites]