Has Jason Kenney lost the moral authority to lead Alberta?

[Toews]

@Ryan Strome What's wrong with Brian Jean?

[RonMexico]

I don't think it will matter. About a month after the NDP won, voters were already expressing remorse.

[Jester13]

I blame Rachel Notley. 

[Wilbur]

1 hour ago, Warhippy said:

We did.  Back in the 81 PET wanted to shove the NEP down people's throats.  There were some constitutional issues with it but Mulroney and Lougheed essentially told him to stuff it.  His plan wanted to have a nationally owned series of pipelines, refineries and workforce that would have seen pipelines by his plan running east to west and south with a minimum of 2 refineries per province 

 

Instead Mulroney then spent 8 years working on NAFTA and selling the assets PET had created for pennies.  The idea of selling to those eastern bastards was so repugnant to the west that they decided selling to America, completely opening up for development outside of the country and selling to them for even less than we'd have sold to the rest of Canada for and buying ti back at an inflated cost was a better idea.

 

In hindsight the NEP was effectively the Canadian answer to the Norwegian model but partisan BS killed it.

Pfft, why set your citizens up when you can make corporations wealthy.  They'll be there to provide jobs through thick and thin, right?....right?

[JM_]

2 hours ago, MikeBossy said:

Well I am a transplanted BC born and bred guy who has been an Albertan since 2010 (I consider myself in exile from my beloved home province until I convince my Albertan born girlfriend to move back to BC)

 

I always felt the NDP victory here in the last election was a protest vote and no matter what Notley does she will be destroyed in this next election. Albertans love their conservatives and I think Kenney fits that to a T. I personally think he could come into most Albertans homes - take a dump on their floor and blame it on Notley and they would believe him. I am not nor have I ever been a Conservative - I honestly don't understand the appeal of right wing politics but I truly feel for Brian jean as he seems like a very sincere guy and would probably be the best option for Premier here in Alberta.

 

What confounds me here is the fact they go through these cycles of downturn over and over yet all most Albertans do is b&tch and moan about the rest of the country not caring when I look at it and think "Of course they don't care - you've had all this revenue ever since oil was first discovered yet with the exception of Lougheed your leaders have basically pissed it away. The leaders here seem to be like most Albertans I have met here - they have this believe system that the revenue will always be there and they spend like there is no tomorrow. Again I am an outsider looking in but having lived 40 of my last 49 years in BC I watched us take hit after hit in the lumber sector and at least we clued in to diversify the economy through different means and not be so reliant on one revenue stream. AND as much as Prairie folks hate it sales tax generates revenue for governments. 

 

So I could be wrong but that's why other provinces don't care as much as about Alberta as Albertans want them to - could be wrong. Point is they need a new vision and I don't see Kenney being that guy - Cons solution has always been cut services and privatize - thing is they are out of things to sell.

 

There's my 2 cents Mr McGill

thanks for that, it aligns with my 'outsider' view of AB as well. I haven't lived there, worked briefly in Calgary from time to time tho. 

 

I would think that it cuts into the idea of Kenney being a moral leader and should cause some conservatives to want a new leader? 

 

[Gnarcore]

When I think of Alberta the last thing I think of is moral high ground...

[Ronaldoescobar]

Could Kenney Make Alberta Great Again? I think that is the main question for voters. 

[JM_]

1 hour ago, nuckin_futz said:

Is there really a lot of outrage over SNC? Do scandals even matter anymore? Case in point, look to our neighbors to the south. They have 2-3 real scandals appearing each week and it simply does not matter. President Trump's approval ratings while low, are rock solid and do not drop. They just travel within a narrow band. Evidence that no one cares.

 

I'll make a little prediction for our upcoming election. JT and his Liberals will win more seats than they did last time. They'll do it for 3 simple reasons.

 

1) Practically no one gives a rat's arse about SNC. And it will be a memory by October.

2) Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are going to lose further support. This will be the last election where Singh will be leader. Some of those people who voted NDP last time will either stay home (not likely) or vote Liberal. They're not voting Conservative.

3) Andrew Scheer is a 39 year old nobody. If you stopped 100 people on the street and held up a picture of him I'd be shocked if more than 20% could identify him. No name recognition, no face recognition, no one knows what his policies are apart from "the other guy is bad". The Conservatives have made the same mistake the Liberals did for years running Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff. Both were unelectable and neither got elected.

 

On Wall Street they toss around the acronym "TINA" a lot. It stands for "There Is No Alternative" (to equities). Same thing applies to Canadian politics at the moment. Like him or not, there is no viable alternative to JT at the moment. The Conservatives seem like they want to stumble around for years with their versions of Dion and Ignatieff.

 

As for Kenney, he's a walking/talking colostomy bag. The sooner he's retired from politics the better it is for humanity.

 

 

I think the Lib's would be fortunate to win a minority at this point, but we'll see. 

 

I do think the SNC thing has been overblown and Trudeau does have the "I was trying to save jobs" argument that will resonate. What I'd like to know is, how is Kenney going to spin this? In Trudeau's case he can at least claim he was a trying to save jobs and pension funds, in Kenneys case he was just trying to save his own arse.

 

@Ryan Strome would be very interested in your take on this. 

 

 

[ForsbergTheGreat]

2 hours ago, Toews said:

@Ryan Strome What's wrong with Brian Jean?

Nothing. I really liked him and he always seemed like a real genuine guy. He was right there helping with the fires in fort Mac and was also there helping with the floods in Calgary.  He seemed like a guy who really cared about the people and there interest. As an individual Kenny is in it for himself but his views align with most. So he’ll likely be in by default. 

[ForsbergTheGreat]

3 hours ago, Warhippy said:

You're bang on man.  Honestly it's kind of sad.

 

This is the first time since Lougheeds era that Alberta has come through a recession without oil.  Yes the NDP is spending a fortune but that's in large part due to the lack of spending for almost 16 years before them.

 

Kenney is literally the worst possible choice.  He's been caught cheating in the leadership, caught lying about his expenses, caught saying some pretty horrible things AND to top it all off is the furthest possible thing from an Albertan and has never held a real job in his life.

 

Notley's not perfect but she's fought tooth and nail for Alberta, Kenney has fought tooth and nail against Notley.  There's a very VERY fundamental difference there

Hip I’ve tried to explain this to you before but notley has been down right terrible. Her policies along have cost albertans well over 2 billion in investments. I personally know over 100 million that have either pulled out due to her and/or that haven’t invested. I know of another 100 million that are waiting for the next election to make there decision.  Try being a portfolio manager in Alberta energy right now. It’s not good. 

 

But I agree with you on Kenny he’s a bit of a douche, sort of like prentice who I also got to know fairly well (rip)

[thejazz97]

2 hours ago, Gnarcore said:

When I think of Alberta the last thing I think of is moral high ground...

Do any of the provinces have moral high ground? PEI, maybe?

 

[thejazz97]

26 minutes ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

Hip I’ve tried to explain this to you before but notley has been down right terrible. Her policies along have cost albertans well over 2 billion in investments. I personally know over 100 million that have either pulled out due to her and/or that haven’t invested. I know of another 100 million that are waiting for the next election to make there decision.  Try being a portfolio manager in Alberta energy right now. It’s not good. 

 

But I agree with you on Kenny he’s a bit of a douche, sort of like prentice who I also got to know fairly well (rip)

This is also due to Alberta adopting a policy of instant gratification towards the oil industry as opposed to preparing for a life without it (see: Norway). And I won't blame only the Conservative governments of the last however many years, as Notley can take some of the blame as well. She's Albertan as anyone.

 

But there's no going back to the good ol' days - Kenney won't solve the underlying problems.

[JM_]

1 hour ago, thejazz97 said:

Do any of the provinces have moral high ground? PEI, maybe?

 

I'm sure there's a potato scandal in there somewhere. 

[JM_]

A 25 point lead in the polls is in all likelihood insurmountable, but Notley has something to work with on this:

 

But Premier Rachel Notley said Monday morning the scandal enveloping the UCP leader has seriously undermined his integrity.

“At its very best, it amounts to very dark, back-room politics focused on thwarting democracy. At its worst, it is criminal in nature,” she said.

Notley said the scandal demonstrates that for the last 18 months, Kenney has been focused solely on making life better for himself — not Albertans.

“More to the point, he hasn’t been honest with people about that. People will continue to look at what comes out, because I don’t think we’re done yet,” she said.

“The larger picture is, who can you trust?”

 

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/ucp-leader-jason-kenney-dismisses-new-details-in-emerging-kamikaze-scandal

[xereau]

6 hours ago, Jimmy McGill said:

maybe they met at that exclusive back woods retreat that the cons like to go on. 

 

I know I'd be very po'd if Trudeau had done a back room collusion deal like this to beat Garneau. So far the UCP is saying this is all fine and within the rules, but I don't see how you can't feel played if you are a UCP member who was unsure which way to vote. 

They met when Harper was the head of the Young Conservatives of Canada.  Saw a documentary about it years ago, when that meant something.

 

Goes to show you that most everything you see is scripted, political leaders are selected, not elected.

 

And Kenny does look like Randy Bobandy.

[JM_]

16 minutes ago, xereau said:

They met when Harper was the head of the Young Conservatives of Canada.  Saw a documentary about it years ago, when that meant something.

 

Goes to show you that most everything you see is scripted, political leaders are selected, not elected.

 

And Kenny does look like Randy Bobandy.

thats true a lot of the time. Doesn't explain Jagmeet Singh tho... 

[VanGnome]

Kenny is just as bad as Scheer as far as "conservative" politicians go. Both are conservative in name only, Scheer rigged the leadership race between he and Bernier, only Scheer didn't get caught. Kenney is just a moron, but Notley isn't much better. IMO all of the provincial and federal "incumbent" parties are corrupt and untrustworthy.

 

Bernier and the PPC have my support only for the fact that Bernier seems to be direct and straight forward with the issues he stands for, seems to back up his words. He made some ripples when he was part of the Harper cabinet as minister of Industry, pushing for CRTC reform as well as ending supply management, so much so to the point where he irked Harper who effectively back benched him.

Bernier also doesn't like to focus on special interest groups which Canada has done far too much of in recent memory, so it's good to see someone federally take up that banner. It just sucks that the PPC are so new, he should be commended for doing what he's done to date as a new party, registering EDAs in all 338 ridings and ramping up his promise to have candidates in all of those ridings. I think there just isn't enough time for him to gain enough of the public's trust.

The single issue voters in this country are going to split the left between the new kid on the block (Singh, NDP) and Trudeau which is a good thing, and most conservatives I feel are going to stick with Scheer because its the "conservative" party. Voters are creatures of habit, and it takes a lot for them on average to change their minds. I feel like we're going to see a minority government, especially if Trudeau calls for a snap election, but then I've been out of the loop for the past week as I've been moving my family.

[xereau]

1 minute ago, VanGnome said:

Bernier and the PPC have my support only for the fact that Bernier seems to be direct and straight forward with the issues he stands for, seems to back up his words. He made some ripples when he was part of the Harper cabinet as minister of Industry, pushing for CRTC reform as well as ending supply management, so much so to the point where he irked Harper who effectively back benched him.

Bernier also doesn't like to focus on special interest groups which Canada has done far too much of in recent memory, so it's good to see someone federally take up that banner. It just sucks that the PPC are so new, he should be commended for doing what he's done to date as a new party, registering EDAs in all 338 ridings and ramping up his promise to have candidates in all of those ridings. I think there just isn't enough time for him to gain enough of the public's trust.

Bernier is not taking any money from corporations, PACs, or unions.  Only private individuals.  Somewhat refreshing.  Still, don't trust the guy.  Just another con artist liar.

[otherwise]

 

2 hours ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

Hip I’ve tried to explain this to you before but notley has been down right terrible. Her policies along have cost albertans well over 2 billion in investments. I personally know over 100 million that have either pulled out due to her and/or that haven’t invested. I know of another 100 million that are waiting for the next election to make there decision.  Try being a portfolio manager in Alberta energy right now. It’s not good. 

 

But I agree with you on Kenny he’s a bit of a douche, sort of like prentice who I also got to know fairly well (rip)

can you explain what specific policy(ies) were so horrible that people chose not to invest? I've heard claims like this several times but no one has been able to point to what it could be other than hating the NDP/ low price of oil (which was already low when she was elected)

 

[VanGnome]

1 minute ago, xereau said:

Bernier is not taking any money from corporations, PACs, or unions.  Only private individuals.  Somewhat refreshing.  Still, don't trust the guy.  Just another con artist liar.

Remains to be seen, but we at some point have to have faith in the system we have since it's all we have. I've been following Bernier closely since the formation of the PPC and he's been remarkably consistent, so until he gives me a reason to distrust, I will be cautiously optimistic that we do still have a glimmer of hope politically before the entire system is consumed by the bureaucracy and corruption that follows.