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"I wager that what Albertans need more than anything right now is good, boring government. "

And Canada, too.

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Kennedy could have chosen to uphold Albertans' Charter rights and been Canada's Ron DeSantis - popular, vindicated, and looked at for national office.

But instead he caved to media and central Canadian Covidians, and now he is doomed. His few attempts to backpedal are obviously insincere. Serves him right.

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Thanks Ken. Agree on all fronts. It’s incredible how unlikeable Kenney is, and how many people vehemently hate him and his arrogance, antics, and corruption. I can’t see how the UCP holds it together after how much destruction and division Kenney has created. Exciting or boring, hard to imagine anyone could do worse. For the sake of health care alone I pray Kenney gets kicked out and we can work on repairing the massive damage he has caused.

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Alberta mimicked a certain US president in its handling of COVID with predictable results.

5 years ago, Notley wanted to ship Alberta oil by rail. How many thousand barrels shipped by train would now be bringing dollars into the province if that idea hadn't been cancelled by Kenney?

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The party was founded in a sleazy fashion and has maintained that culture. What a surprise!

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The problem isn't the UCP or NDP, the problem is Kenney. The guy just won't leave a party he isn't welcome in anymore. It's weird and has the stench of the pathetic.

It's been obvious the last three years that Kenney sees Albertans as a problem to be managed, from his Ottawa heavy staff to his frequent forays and opportune extended trips. I honestly don't think Kenney likes Albertans much, left or right. We are just another stepping stone and tool for him.

Alberta is fundamentally a conservative province and it's people are self reliant go-getter sorts. An undivided right with an acceptable leader who can bridge groups (hello Toews and Schweitzer!) will win every time.

Kenney isn't trusted either, especially by insiders within the party, so this isn't going to be pretty. The best thing for Alberta would be if he just walked away, but he won't do that.

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The current moment in Alberta politics seems to rhyme with the early '90s - Alberta's a decade away from the end of a long economic boom, an incumbent government is trying various measures to recapture former glory and getting buffeted by a variety of crises, and there's infighting between blue and red conservatives. Meanwhile, the main opposition party is led by a popular Edmonton leader who looks set to scoop up the red conservatives if the conservative leadership battle goes the wrong way. What I don't see is a Ralph Klein figure in the wings who can yank the rural conservatives into line and win the urban vote.

I haven't lived in Alberta for 20 years, so it's become an increasingly foreign place to me. However, I see an increasing chasm between the political outlook of my urban friends and relatives in Edmonton and the rural ones from the vicinity of Red Deer and Lethbridge. What they've got in common is a tendency to overestimate the strength and popularity of their own positions because of the bubbles they live in. Alberta's been moving towards an increasingly urban population, though - I think an NDP with a strong base among urban voters is going to have the upper hand over a UCP where an increasingly dissonant rural faction can only act as spoilers.

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Just to be annoying, I will dub them the "Konvoy Kooks", since Jason has OK'd the word.

If Notley has any political savvy at all, she'll be reminding people that they had a stated objective to "overthrow the government". Then asking all the contenders - certainly Mr. Jean - whether they abjure the Kooks and will cast them into the outer darkness of the party.

If she fails to tie the convoy and every embarrassing thing anybody in it ever said, tightly to the UPC, she deserves to lose. They've handed her a self-own, when I really thought that in Alberta, of all places, the NDP hadn't a prayer.

Albertans blamed the UCP for an oil price drop caused by Saudi and Russia (and frackers, of course), then blamed Notley for the same price drop that happened before she was elected, which takes some real blaming skills. By the same token, the UCP will be *credited*, with the price-rise caused, again, by Russia, so they definitely have a chance.

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Kenny has had a flood of criticism from the start. Climate change folks have been lined up against him, and unions were prepared to blast him from the start. Having to try and balance a budget left him exposed to criticisms about social services which always suffer during cut backs and the medical system is aligned against him because the doctors don't like lower incomes and the nurses are essentially unionized and are therefore aligned with the NDP. Add to this the problems with an immature cabinet and it is like a turkey shoot for the opposition.

The only advantage to sticking Brian Jean in instead is that he has not taken fire so far and has therefore not been wounded in action. The opposition is still going to blame the party rather than the person. Whoever goes into the next election better have their talking points down.

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I remember vividly the time Kenney passed off a photo of a graduation at a girl's school in Kenya as a sex-slave auction conducted by ISIS. How can anybody trust a cynical character like that?

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Apr 20, 2022·edited Apr 20, 2022

Kenney failed Albertan's and the UCP. He did not move forward on any of the fronts to try and secure some independence from the Trudeau Liberal/NDP Coalition, as it now stands. The one promise kept was the referendum against equalization that went flat and we never heard more about it after the vote was taken. His talk of forcing the Federal Government and fellow Provincial leaders to the table was but wishful thinking.

Kenney is a Federal Politician and was running the UCP as such but politics in Alberta does not work that way as everyone is allowed input. By denigrating and pushing members out due to them not following his dictate caused further problems. Most was over our Charter Rights which Kenney said he would stand up for.

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Thanks Ken. Loved the links. I have heard about the kooks but it is much better to listen to him. Danielle Smith, she of the picture on the bus? Jean was interesting. Is he for real? One comment on the political prisioner on Twitter and everyone is disabusing him of being a lawyer, criminal or otherwise. But then on FB they are all crying a river for poor Lich (about a bail hearing) sheesh. Long posts on FB work best for Brian Jean.

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Alberta is coming into a sweet spot. High energy prices, high commodity prices ( let’s hope for bountiful crops), potential for young, energetic, English speaking immigrants to fill job vacancies. No whining and “woe are us” please.

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Removed (Banned)Apr 21, 2022·edited Apr 21, 2022
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