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Michelle Bradshaw's avatar

For the CPC being so strong in Alberta and Saskatchewan I offer my pontifications.

Before Poilievre, Harper was famously media invisible. He is also who Poilievre, as a junior staffer, honed his natural political skills. Poilievre is the only leadership candidate Harper has ever endorsed.

Now for the ‘this CPC’ I promised.

Today’s CPC isn’t the party of your parents.

It’s an amalgamation of some very right wing, even alt-right, Christian, pro Alberta (read oil and gas) and

public money-private for profit service providers modeled after the US, throw in a few of the defectors from the bigot party, the People’s Party of Canada which has the same values as previously noted with a healthy helping of white nationalist thrown in. Now add the remnants of your parents CPC and you have todays Reform/Alliance/PPC masquerading as the CPC.

The Reform Party of Canada grew out of a coalition of Western Canadian interest groups. It began in 1986 as an attempt to voice western concerns federally. In May 1987, the Reform created a broad based party to voice western economic concerns (read oil, gas and agriculture) and its treatment within the constitution. Its major preoccupations, however, were decentralizing and reducing the size, scope and cost of the federal government within Alberta —primarily through cuts to social welfare and cultural programs (including bilingualism and multiculturalism).

The Canadian Alliance party was created from the Reform Party of Canada in January of 2000 to present a united right wing front against the Liberal party. Its priorities were mandated balanced budgets and debt repayment, and support for the conservative creeds of "free enterprise,""strong families" and "safer streets and secure borders." Stockwell Day beat out Reform leader to lead the party. Day passed leadership to Harper after provincial legal issues and political missteps. The CPC resignation of Joe Clark saw the Alliance permanently join with the decimated party thus forming the modern day Conservative Party of Canada.

Today we have a CPC that is Alberta centric, faith based, pro everything US because that’s who makes up the party base. It’s also why party unity is a constant irritant for its leaders. It’s Alberta members know they can go it on their own, they’ve done it before, also there’s another pro Alberta party, the Rebublican Party of Alberta. No. I am not making this up.

All the above, combined with rural populations scattered across the provinces where ridings are far apart resulting an in echo chamber effect with very little challenging your beliefs.

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Heidi's avatar

Excellent article. The liberals really need to promote PPs anti Ukraine rhetoric all over Alberta. As you said there is a huge Ukrainian population in AB that has been here for many generations, and it is disheartening how many people in AB still support Danielle even though she is ruining our province and focusing on profit over people. I do not think the people realize how impt it is to overthrow lady Trump before it is too late. Unfortunately a lot of maga maple in AB and we need to flood the misinformation online with truth.

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Marionwpg@yahoo.com's avatar

Good assessment on the current state of our parties at election season.

It must be said, any leader who cannot or refuses to qualify for a security clearance is not a serious candidate! It says a lot about- and is not a minor consideration for any serious voter either. It is like saying, I can drive a car and I don’t need a driver’s license.

And the public saying tis a minor detail! Seriously a leader should be disqualified right at the door.

On another vein Canadians need not be completely wrapped up in Trump land. Who we are and what we are much more than this.

My standard for serious party leaders is which one can raise our happiness index to the top 10 nations of the world. This is not an impossible achievement. Minimum income guarantees, looking after the most vulnerable citizens, we are a caring society, we care that our hospitals, farmers, businesses do well and our environment is respected. We can take care of all our society members and pull our weight for rule of law and peace in the world.

Again, having a security clearance is a little test but says a lot on who might lead us to a higher levels of happiness.

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Ang Traders's avatar

I hope Carney understands that money isn’t real. Parliament creates Canadian dollars when it spends them into existence.

Dollars are the way we release REAL resources like labour and materials. Taxes don’t pay for anything. They are what induces (forces) us to participate in the market economy.

We need a GREAT NEW DEAL!

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Kouros's avatar

Yes, we don't like Pollievre, he's a schmuck.

However, the Ukrainian train and their narative, is going to a dead end. The Venice Commission has found in 2019 that Ukraine is mistreating its minorities. Just recently an European COurt has found that Ukraine was guilty for the Odessa massacre in 2014, when about 40 people were burned alive.

One cannot make a nation by promoting hate on others as the main directive, and making enemies of Russia, neighbour, as the main reason.

As for the Holodomor, a higher percentage of Russians in Kazakhstan died compared to Ukraine. It was famine all right, not a drive to kill Ukrainians... And the majority of "Ukrainians" that have come to Canada, have arived ~1900s, when there was no ukraine and no talk of Ukraine, they were all Rutens or Rusyns from Austo-Hungarian Galicia. One in ten "Ukrainians" came from Russian controlled territories.

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Dougald Lamont's avatar

What an utter pile of shit.

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Kouros's avatar

What exactly Mister Lamont? The fact that Ukraine was found to not respect the rights of minorities? Like Hungarians and Romanians (nevermind Russians)? That a massacre was perpetrated in 2014? That most of Ukrainian (Rusyn, Rutens) origin Canadians actually came from Austro-Hungary? That proportionally there were more deaths in Kazakhstan than in Ukraine during that famine (yes, there were Ukrainian Bolsheviks coordinating the things in Ukraine, not Russians). This is all very verifiable.

I thought you prefer facts, what happened?

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Marionwpg@yahoo.com's avatar

These are facts from an alternative fictional universe to spread misinformation.

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Kouros's avatar

https://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.law.cam.ac.uk/files/images/www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/ukraine/henrard_language_and_minority_rights.pdf

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/top-european-court-finds-ukraine-guilty-for-odessa-massacre

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/ukrainian-canadian-history

"Starting in 1896, a federal program sought to settle the Prairies with Eastern European farmers by promoting Canada as the “Last Best West.” Immigration skyrocketed, primarily from the Austro-Hungarian provinces of Bukovyna and Galicia."

And the Brits have a major area of study dedicated to the famine in USSR in 1930s. But less so about the Irish famine: https://exiledonline.com/war-nerd-newsletter-100-amateurs-talk-cancel-pros-talk-silence/

And why should the Brits be believed and not Russian archives?

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29391949

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Steve Shortt's avatar

Ain’t that the truth.

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