Helsing posted:

quote:

Premier Wynne denies there was any specific job offered to Mr. Olivier, who was the Liberal party's candidate in the June election, losing by less than 1,000 votes.

Math You posted:

I've been there.

We stopped by at random after checking out calabogie as a potential wedding venue. Been meaning to go back since.

Gleri posted:

I don't know why people are posting that map like it's scientific or something. It's an impressive piece of work but I know it's inaccurate for Newfoundland and the Atlantic Provinces so I assume that it's inaccurate for the rest of the country.

Off the top of my head, two examples of fairly clear Ontario accents--to my ears--would be Chris Hadfield and Michael Hogan (of Battlestar Galactica fame). Michael Hogan in particular always throws me out of whatever he's performing in because it's such a clear accent and he does nothing to hide it in anything he appears in. The Ford brothers, Doug and Rob, have pretty clear Toronto accents though there are others in the GTA. I just can't think of good examples right now.

Everyone has an accent because everyone speaks one way and not another. It may be that you can't hear it if you're from Toronto and have lived there your whole life. I couldn't hear a St. John's accent at all until I moved away, came back and realised all my family were Newfies.

a primate posted:

I heard Wildrose described as a centrist party this morning on CBC. Am I just naive or is that extremely inaccurate? I guess right wing is the new centre.

Canuckistan posted:

I spent a week in Calabogie. Lovely area.

I also love the idea of that small venue. Way back when I went to a Moxy Fruvous concert (Jian ) with only about 100 people there. The guys got off the stage and did part of their set like they used to busk, with Jian drumming on an accordion case. Very personal and intimate.

a primate posted:

I heard Wildrose described as a centrist party this morning on CBC. Am I just naive or is that extremely inaccurate? I guess right wing is the new centre.

a primate posted:

I heard Wildrose described as a centrist party this morning on CBC. Am I just naive or is that extremely inaccurate? I guess right wing is the new centre.

w00tmonger posted:

Yeah I heard that too. It was weird as poo poo. Frankly I'm confused at the long game behind all this if it happens. Who becomes their main opponent? Is there ever a chance of a non-pc government at this point?

w00tmonger posted:

Yeah I heard that too. It was weird as poo poo. Frankly I'm confused at the long game behind all this if it happens. Who becomes their main opponent? Is there ever a chance of a non-pc government at this point?

PT6A posted:

As far as I can tell, no. It's almost like with the PCs and their anti-GSA bullshit, the whackjobs in the WR supporters' camp finally decided that the PCs hate gays enough that they can support them. Frankly, I just don't know any more. Prentice is an idiot fucker who's dumber than a bowl of soup, and probably also a horrible bigot. The idea that this is the man who will unite the province just beggars loving belief.

Our local pack of imbeciles (city council) also managed to get their head jammed slightly further up their cavernous asses yesterday, deciding that implementing a streamlined process for approving secondary suites (the current one involves going before council itself, apparently). I can't tell where the opposition is, either: business loves it (easier to attract employees if housing is available, safe and less expensive), anti-homelessness groups love it, everyone seems to be on board, yet these fucksticks can't actually get it done, tacitly acknowledging that they'd prefer to leave thousands of people in possibly unsafe condition with no recourse against their landlords if disputes arise.

Did someone spike our water supply with stupid pills?

Helsing posted:

Can you quantify this? I mean, somehow Alberta has a flat tax, underfunded services, a seeming lack of effective environmental regulations (or else a lack of political will to enforce the regulations on the books) and some incredible sweetheart deals for oil companies. That seems extremely right wing to me. You're telling me that all started with Klein?

I know a lot of people claim that this thread, or D&D is general, skews heavily left, but for the sake of perspective our overall country has moved massively to the right compared to thirty years ago. So I'm comfortable saying that by a mid to late 20th century standard it seems like Alberta's political establishment has always been pretty damned right wing. I admit I don't have as strong a grasp of Alberta's history as I should, though, so if there's something here that I'm missing please fill me in.

w00tmonger posted:

Yeah I heard that too. It was weird as poo poo. Frankly I'm confused at the long game behind all this if it happens. Who becomes their main opponent? Is there ever a chance of a non-pc government at this point?

quote:

It is in my hand. Hard to believe.

It is called a Reunification Agreement.

It is then called a reunion.

And it is all coming down the pike Tuesday.

Yes, it looks like the Wildrosers are going over. They’re really going over.

They’re really going back to Toryland.

Then again there is news some Wildrose MLAs are resisting.

But here’s what these papers coming from a Wildrose source in the dead of night say.

All Wildrose MLAs will be briefed prior to Tuesday’s caucus meeting.

That’s where the decision will be made on joining up with the Progressive Conservatives.

An announcement and a “union of the caucuses” will occur Wednesday.

A letter will be sent to the Wildrose party executive and members inviting them to “formalize the union.”

The Wildrose and PC mucky-mucks will “roll out multiple endorsements for reunion from several senior statesmen from both parties.”

The party will hold a spring vote on the “reunion resolution.”

As for what is known in PR as “overall messaging” they will speak of “the reunion of the conservative family under Premier Prentice.”

Prentice, says the messaging, “has shown himself to be a man of integrity and an exceptionally competent leader at a time of great economic uncertainty.”

Prentice, continues the Wildrose PR, has “adopted the vast majority of Wildrose policies and principles.”

The premier wants each Wildrose MLA “to take up meaningful roles in his government to continue this work.”

Then there’s this line.

“There is no point fighting against an administration committed to implementing virtually all of our core initiatives and policies.”

And this one, playing the low oil price card.

“In this time of declining oil prices and economic uncertainty it is imperative we come together as conservatives.”

Prentice and Wildrose leader Danielle Smith will send letters to the Wildrose exec and members inviting Wildrosers to “formally recognize this reunion by resolution to be voted on by the Wildrose membership.”

As for policies, the agreement outlines the following.

Full MLA-driven review of all Stelmach and Redford property rights bills.

A public list of priorities for major construction projects and maintenance.

Free votes for private member bills and motions and government bills on issues of conscience.

Increasing patient choice in health care within the Canada Health Act.

A plan to make health care financially sustainable.

Addressing the school shortage and maintenance backlog.

A commitment to the 3Rs in the provincial curriculum.

Ensuring each school board uses a grading system that’s easy for parents to understand and objectively grades a student’s skills and knowledge of the provincial curriculum.

An ongoing commitment to protecting the rights of parents in making informed choices about their child’s education.

Don’t forget the budget.

A multi-year plan to balance the budget, including capital costs, put an end to debt financing and paying back the debt.

A plan to grow the Heritage Fund.

Limit operating cost increases to the rate of inflation plus population.

No sales tax and keeping Alberta’s taxes the lowest in Canada.

The stuff on environment and energy is motherhood and apple pie.

You know, be as clean as possible, monitor the air, water and land quality, expand access to markets for oilpatch product and don’t hike those royalties.

For local governments the PCs with Wildrose floorcrossers promise to “develop a stable and predictable municipal funding model.”

Then there are the Wildrose MLAs wanting to keep their seats.

Prentice will publicly endorse Wildrose MLAs as his preferred candidate for their riding “in the name of reconciliation.”

He will also urge PC boards to welcome Wildrosers on to those boards.

Any Wildrose member will be given a PC membership for free.

There will be a motion from the PC executive to all PC members endorsing the contents of the premier’s endorsement letter.

This one is a gem.

“The assurance that if an individual does decide to challenge an MLA despite the premier’s endorsement there will be a call reminding them of the premier’s endorsement.”

It is hard to believe this is real.

Some tell me Smith no longer has fire in the belly.

The byelection losses and the two Wildrosers joining the PCs seemed to have taken its toll on the party.

Gorau posted:

They're terrified of offending certain communities. For example, while signal hill and area are very unlikely to have secondary suites installed (unless it's servants quarters!) other areas like Brentwood are terrified that landlords will convert their properties en masse to having secondary suites meaning that they'll now how to fight for parking with those dirty renters.

Albino Squirrel posted:

Sure. Lougheed's tenure coincided with a huge expansion in public services, infrastructure construction, and arts funding. All of that was rolled back during the Klein years. Lougheed also founded the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, which was intended to be a Norway-style sovereign wealth fund to continue funding the province after the oil ran out. This was funded with higher royalties on resource extraction; those were rolled back in subsequent governments which is when we stopped growing the Fund. The flat tax has been there as long as I've been aware of taxes, but it was somehow less of an issue when we were actually collecting royalties on hydrocarbons.

I'm less clear on Lougheed's environmental legacy; I know he founded a number of provincial parks in the southern half of the province, but I think there was less of a concern of Northern Alberta looking like Mordor at that point, if only because the oil sands were mostly pilot projects at that point, and because the north was (especially at that point) considered a remote wasteland.

Lougheed was the classic Red Tory - I'd say he's largely centrist by 'most of Canada' standards, but - especially in the early 70s - he was incredibly progressive for Alberta. But don't take my word for it, here's a piece from noted Conservative mouthpiece, The Tyee.

As for Redford, she explicitly positioned herself as a Red Tory and the spiritual successor to Lougheed. She didn't really have enough time to make a lasting mark, however, before her ego caught up with her.

(Please note that none of this hagiography constitutes an endorsement of the Progressive Conservative Party; my personal views run similar to the Alberta NDP and I've rather proudly never voted Tory in my life.)

PT6A posted:

So? They can go eat a dick. I don't get free on-street parking, and I in fact must pay property tax on my parking spot. If you want to have a spot to park your car that's yours and belongs to you, build a fuckin' garage, you cheap assholes. Besides, secondary suites are no different in that regard than roommates, which is a situation that's completely unregulated as it is.

Gorau posted:

I completely agree! You just asked where the opposition was.

Gorau posted:

They're terrified of offending certain communities. For example, while signal hill and area are very unlikely to have secondary suites installed (unless it's servants quarters!) other areas like Brentwood are terrified that landlords will convert their properties en masse to having secondary suites meaning that they'll now how to fight for parking with those dirty renters.

quote:

The election of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1971 after decades of Social Credit government was a turning point in ushering the rights revolution to Alberta. The period following the election has been dubbed by one historian as ‘Alberta’s Quiet Revolution’ (Marsh 2006).

The Conservatives introduced 243 bills within two years (and 94 bills on average between 1971 and 1985) on a range of issues from daylight savings time to drinking regulations, the colour of margarine and establishing the Heritage Fund. The first two bills were the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Individual Rights Protection Act. Alberta’s legislation was similar in design to other human rights laws in Canada. Despite the proliferation of equality commissions in Europe and the United States by this time (Yalden 2009: 143), few of these models incorporated all the strengths of the Alberta/Canadian model, which included professional human rights investigators, public education, research and lobbying for legal reform, representing complainants before formal inquiries, jurisdiction over the public and private sectors, a focus on conciliation over litigation, independence from the government, and an adjudication process independent of the courts (Clément 2008). And Alberta was one of the first jurisdictions to make its human rights law paramount over other provincial laws. Considering the lack of any effective statutory recognition of human rights before 1966 in Alberta, these new laws were truly transformational.

lonelywurm posted:

The passage above is from a great paper I found, and anyone with an interest (including all Albertans) should read it: http://www.historyofrights.com/PDF/article_BJCS.PDF

Daynab posted:

Trudeau has an accent when speaking in French too, and it's not an accent from anywhere in Quebec.

sbaldrick posted:

He has an accent that's only found among a very small segment of Quebec society, the Upper-Class french of Mount Royal.

pokeyman posted:

That was a pro read, thank you for linking it.

quote:

Effective Jan 6th (One day after the price increase):
Shaw 100mbps becomes Shaw 60mbps
Shaw 50mbps becomes Shaw 30mbps
Shaw 25mbps becomes Shaw 15mbps
Shaw 10mbps becomes Shaw 5mbps
All for the same increased price of their originating packages.

Rime posted:

Shaw is lowering their broadband speeds by 40%, while hiking monthly rates.

MaterialConceptual posted:

The Tories do unquestionably have right-wing policies, but it's also the case that they are a big-tent party, which is not surprising considering most dominant parties in effectively one-party states are. Based on my personal conversations I'd say that politically minded middle-class Albertans are generally of the belief that there is a "progressive" wing of the PCs, and that "working inside the system" by becoming party members and voting for the "progressives" is a better way to go than voting for the Liberals or NDP. Much of the PC support in the last election was also based on "progressive" sentiment (voting against the Wild Rose rather than for the PCs). Of course this is all a load of crap and the people who choose to "work inside the system" are the useful idiots the oil corporate elite love, but it's difficult to overstate the extent to which the PCs have insinuated themselves into the political common sense and civil society institutions of Alberta. The Alberta electorate generally seems to have low expectations of their politicians, and are experienced with being disappointed.

However, there are a lot of Albertan men I ran into who really did love Ralph Klein and see today's PCs as a pale shadow of his glory days. When I was working for the NDP going door to door we had an informal agreement to never actually contest Klein's popularity with voters because he is basically unassailable in the eyes of those who loved him.

EDIT: Interestingly, their political isolation has meant that the Alberta NDP is one of the most left-wing sections of the party. They haven't really gone through their "New Labour" period of wholesale acceptance of neoliberal doctrines.

Albino Squirrel posted:

Sure. Lougheed's tenure coincided with a huge expansion in public services, infrastructure construction, and arts funding. All of that was rolled back during the Klein years. Lougheed also founded the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, which was intended to be a Norway-style sovereign wealth fund to continue funding the province after the oil ran out. This was funded with higher royalties on resource extraction; those were rolled back in subsequent governments which is when we stopped growing the Fund. The flat tax has been there as long as I've been aware of taxes, but it was somehow less of an issue when we were actually collecting royalties on hydrocarbons.

I'm less clear on Lougheed's environmental legacy; I know he founded a number of provincial parks in the southern half of the province, but I think there was less of a concern of Northern Alberta looking like Mordor at that point, if only because the oil sands were mostly pilot projects at that point, and because the north was (especially at that point) considered a remote wasteland.

Lougheed was the classic Red Tory - I'd say he's largely centrist by 'most of Canada' standards, but - especially in the early 70s - he was incredibly progressive for Alberta. But don't take my word for it, here's a piece from noted Conservative mouthpiece, The Tyee.

As for Redford, she explicitly positioned herself as a Red Tory and the spiritual successor to Lougheed. She didn't really have enough time to make a lasting mark, however, before her ego caught up with her.

(Please note that none of this hagiography constitutes an endorsement of the Progressive Conservative Party; my personal views run similar to the Alberta NDP and I've rather proudly never voted Tory in my life.)

Ikantski posted:

No 2000 word analysis on this? Here's mine. Ontario NDP are hosed, federal NDP MPs are looking for work and the provincial Liberals are leaning more towards corrupt than incompetent this week.

quote:

OOooooh, okay then, it's alright as long as you didn't promise him a specific position. Kathleen Wynne makes Stephen Harper look like Mr Rogers.

Rime posted:

Shaw is lowering their broadband speeds by 40%, while hiking monthly rates.

Helsing posted:

No disagreements on the Liberals being corrupt and the ONDP might as well be a chicken with its head cut off under Horwath's leadership, but what does the federal NDP have to do with this? Or did you just slip into conservative-stream-of-consciousness ranting?

Pinterest Mom posted:

The candidate the seat was being held for is NDP MP Glenn Thibeault, who is changing levels and parties.

quote:

The dramatic decline in oil prices will cost Ottawa about $5 billion in lost revenue and provincial economies a little more than that, one of Canada's biggest banks suggested today.

That's one of the main takeaways from a CIBC report that attempts to quantify the impact of plunging oil prices on many aspects of Canada's economy.

"The recent dive in crude oil prices is an unprecedented development for the Canadian economy," the report by CIBC economists Avery Shenfeld, Peter Buchanan and Warren Lovely says.

quote:

Stephen Harper insists his government will post a surplus next year even with dramatically lower oil prices, a strong expression of confidence from the Prime Minister that comes as private sector economists express growing doubt that Ottawa will climb out of deficit next year.

Speaking at a Quebec City event in which he announced $35.7-million for heritage sites, Mr. Harper said he is certain the federal government will return to surplus next year.

“You should be under no doubt that the government will balance its budget next year. We are well within that range, even with dramatically lower oil prices, we will balance the budget,” he said.

Mr. Harper’s government is currently projecting a $1.6-billion surplus for 2015-16, a figure that is based on assumption that the price for North American crude will average around $81 (U.S.). The price of oil has since dropped significantly, trading around $56 this week.

Still, the Prime Minister acknowledged the lower oil prices will affect the government’s “flexibility.” While he did not specify what that means, the Conservatives are planning a 2015 pre-election budget and this could limit the amount of new spending or tax cuts that the government could announce.

quote:

According to @DonMartinYEG Smith, Anderson, Bikman, Stierman, Peterson, Hale and Wilson have crossed the floor. #wrp #pcaa #abpoli #ableg

quote:

Dave Nelson ‏@DaveNelsonn 15m15 minutes ago
Wish I could have had the chance to vote @ElectDanielle out as leader at this years #wrp AGM #sad #grassroots #highriver #turncoats #ByeBye

Rime posted:

Shaw is lowering their broadband speeds by 40%, while hiking monthly rates.

quote:

B.C. has approved the $8.5-billion Site C dam — a massive hydroelectric project that would flood a large area of the Peace River Valley in northeastern B.C.

In making the announcement, Premier Christy Clark said the Site C Clean Energy Project will provide B.C. residents with a reliable source of power for the next 100 years for the least cost to the taxpayer.

“Affordable, reliable, clean electricity is the backbone of British Columbia’s economy,” said Clark. “Site C will support our quality of life for decades to come and will enable continued investment and a growing economy.”

Energy Minister Bill Bennett said B.C.’s electricity rates are the third lowest in North America and the fourth lowest for commercial and industrial users.

But he said B.C.’s population is expected to increase by more than one million people and the province's electricity demand will grow by 40 per cent over the next 20 years

Even though Site C itself will only generate eight per cent of B.C.’s total electricity needs, Bennett said it is a vital part of the overall electricity plan.

He said no one knows what the cost of coal or natural gas will be over the next 20 years and hydroelectric power has the advantage of being relatively clean.

First Nations opposed

Treaty 8 First Nations, many of whom were severely affected by the W.A.C Bennett dam when it was built, say they will fight construction of the Site C project.

The $8.5-billion hydroelectric project would dramatically alter a large area of northeastern B.C. by putting it under water.

West Moberly First Nation Chief Roland Willson said his band is not opposed to resource development, but his people don't want to see the flooding of this land, which has many sacred sites on it.

"We said no to the destruction of that valley … it's the last chunk of valley that we have and it's vitally important," he said. "We have to make a decision here that will have implications for many, many decades."

Located seven kilometres southwest of Fort St. John, B.C., Site C would flood more than 5,500 hectares of land over an 83-kilometre stretch of valley. BC Hydro said Site C would generate an estimated 1,100 megawatts of capacity, or enough to power the equivalent of 450,000 homes a year.

Last May, a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment panel made no clear recommendation for or against the project.

In October the federal and provincial governments both granted environmental approval for the project.

But First Nations and environmental groups say they will fight the proposal in the courts and through public protests.

"They have no respect for the treaty and they have no respect for the First Nations," Willson said. "All they care about is their bottom dollar."

The project is also being challenged by landowners in the courts.

Rime posted:

Yessss. Now that we've nearly completed covering the most productive farmland in the province with condo towers, let us take the second most productive and utterly obliterate it with reservoir silt. Our lack of food security will never come back to bite us in the rear end!