I don't know when Alberta first became the vile hate mongering place it is today. Maybe it was before my time.
Or maybe ten years of the greasy oil pimp Stephen Harper made it think that it was better than all the other provinces put together.
A little bit of ugly America in Canada.
But what nobody can deny is that it is a hate mongering place.
And these are just the latest examples.
An Alberta NDP minister, who should know better, whipping up the anti Trudeau mob, by accusing the Prime Minister of ignoring the province.
If the Alberta oil sector was any other industry, the federal government would be rushing to help.
Instead, Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci said the Liberals have been proving again and again that they just don’t understand the crisis facing the province’s oil industry and are doing exactly the opposite of what they would be doing if the sector were the auto industry.
And by so doing, encouraging this kind of toxic Trudeau hate...
Which is so widespread in that province it contaminated the Grey Cup festivities...
With even Jason Kenney, the cowardly Con who could be Alberta's next Premier, cheerleading for violence...
And all this despite the fact that Trudeau has bent backwards, and bravely sacrificed all kinds of political capital, to please those reactionary rednecks.
Even buying them a pipeline to try to stop them from threatening to separate.
And even though, as Andrew Nikiforuk points out, Albertas's problem isn't pipelines, it's bad policy decisions.
The Alberta government has known for more than a decade that its oilsands policies were setting the stage for today’s price crisis.
Which makes it hard to take the current government seriously when it tries to blame everyone from environmentalists to other provinces for what is a self-inflicted economic problem.
They were warned that they needed to encourage companies to upgrade their tarry sludge by refining it into gasoline or diesel products, if they were to avoid disaster when prices plunged.
But they didn't heed those warnings.
Instead, the government has kept royalties — the amount the public gets for the resource — low and encouraged rapid oilsands development, producing a market glut.
With North American pipelines largely full, U.S. oil production surging and U.S. refineries working at full capacity, Alberta has wounded itself with bad policy choices, say experts.
And are now drowning in their own muck in the place where their oily messiah led them...
So as Gary Mason points out, the oil patch's attempts to make Justin Trudeau the fall guy couldn't be more absurd.
If I’m not mistaken, it was Mr. Trudeau who spent $4.5-billion to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline and the rights to the expansion of it. If it gets built, Ottawa will deserve some credit for rescuing the project when its original proponent, Kinder Morgan, decided it wanted no part of it. I mean, that has to count for something.
Mounting misery is no excuse.
I have enormous sympathy for those whose livelihoods are being severely impacted by the oil slump. There are thousands of jobs at stake. The province’s finances are reeling. But the fact remains there is no easy fix, despite all the pleas from Albertans looking for exactly that.
People can point the finger at Justin Trudeau all they want for what is taking place. But remember when you point the finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at you.
And as I have repeatedly warned, whether this diseased Trudeau hate comes from Kenney, or Michelle Rempel, or the redneck mob, or the dirty old Parksville Pervert...
Who wants Trudeau to be raped in jail.
It's all bad, its cumulative effect threatens the life of the Prime Minister.
And unless those cowardly, and very un Canadian hate mongers are brought to heel, exposed, shunned by all decent people, and in some cases jailed.
They will lead this country to a very bad place...
Some Con harpie was on Twitter insinuating (without an explicit say-so) that Trudeau may have had a fling with Hayley Wickenheiser and that's why he went to Calgary, to meet up with his... flame. Others went even lower into Pizzagate/QAnon territory and suggested it had something to do with the fact that there were little girls at the event. Just when you thought they couldn't get any worse, the Kenney Kult Klowns say hold my beer. They don't want a valid debate about diversification of Canada's energy sector. As one of those "low class oil trash" demonstrators proved with her detestable protest sign, they only want juvenile, crass bully attacks speculating on where Justin Trudeau lays his pipeline at night.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the outpouring of hatred doesn't bother him -- a photo on Adam Scotti's feed saw Justin looking quite fatigued -- but at least there's a very good chance he keeps in mind his father's words, in response to Richard Nixon calling him an asshole: "I've been called worse things by better people."
Hi Jackie... Yes the Kenney Kult Klowns really are disgusting. All Cons are disgusting but they are special. And of course most of them live in Alberta, where reality sinks in slowly. The way I see it is that although they won't admit it, they instinctively know they are heading for extinction, and are bellowing in the darkness like hairy mammoths. But unlike the mammoths nobody will miss them...
DeleteEver since Alberta became a petro province it has been a sewer of bigotry. The birthplace of the Reformcons, the spiritual home of The Rebel. They really believe they are better than the feast of us, and that they are God’s chosen people. I thought things were improving but obviously they’re not.
ReplyDeleteHi anon...I too thought that Alberta might be turning into a better place, with more young people from all over Canada, and the election of Rachel Notley. But although I'm sure there are good people in that province, the picture that emerges is a depressing one...
DeleteWe don't really blame Trudeau for anything; we just hate him. We don't know why, but we won't forgo any opportunity to express that hatred. You've got to have someone to hate, don't you, especially when things aren't going your way. Trudeau's a good choice, I'd think. It seems to me, from what I've been told, that his dad and his Moslem pals were the guys who engineered the oil glut back in the '80s. I think Castro might have had something to do with it too. Anyway, this time those commies in the NDP are to blame.
ReplyDelete"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"
DeleteRichard Rodgers, composer
from the musical South Pacific
You've got to be taught to hate and fear
You've got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught
Hi John...it is a blind irrational hate, the worst kind of hate, the kind that on a mass scale leads to genocide. And what bothers me above all is that it is poisoning our Canada. Once hatred is allowed to run wild it undermines a nation's immune system, and we could end up living in a third-rate version of Trump's Amerika, instead of in one of the best countries in the world...
DeleteHi Jackie...South Pacific is one of my favourite musicals of all time. Those swaying palm trees and all those sailors entrance me, and I am known for climbing to the top of a mast and singing (or shouting) Bali Hai!!! But now I have even more respect for Richard Rodgers , because those are excellent lyrics, and so true. Hatred is taught, it poisons the young, and for that alone is unforgivable...
DeleteWho is the Parksville pervert, and did he really say that Justin Trudeau should be raped in jail? These days I’ll believe anything, but whoever he is shouldn’t he be in some kind of trouble? What kind of country are we becoming?
ReplyDeleteAnd let's not forget the time they encouraged that violent homophobe to go after you.
DeleteHi anon...I cobbled together that graphic to represent a ghastly old Trudeau hater the Disaffected Lib who hates Trudeau with a passion that borders on the homicidal, and who when I was a younger blogger bombarded me with foul anti-gay messages. But I am now using that character to represent all the old Trudeau haters in this country who hate our decent prime minister for reasons that have nothing to do with pipelines or whatever, but because he fights so strongly for the rights of women, LGBT Canadians, and other oppressed people in this country. Unfortunately there is not much we can do to legally silence those hate mongers. But since I never forgive those who have attacked me, unless they apologize, I will come after them until the day they die...
DeleteHi anon @7:40 AM...yes ,one of the Parksville pervert's good buddies, an arselicker known as Polly Wolly was responsible for that, and has yet to apologize or pay for his crimes. But he he will. As I said, I don't forgive those who trespass against me. And whether it takes two months, or two years, or twenty, they will live to regret what they have done...☠
DeleteI don't think the people of Alberta are any more hateful than any other group of Canadians. Alberta has a population of a little over 4 million. With that number of people you can always find haters. Throw in the Grey Cup and all that booze, yes you will get what we got. However, I don't take it seriously. The majority of people in Alberta are law biding, caring individuals. Lets remember how well they did when
ReplyDeleteFort McMurray was burning and how oil companies opened camps for those fleeing the fires and the work the people of Edmonton did.
When Calgary flooded a few years ago thousands came out to help their neighbours one way or another.
The position the NDP MLA took has to be taken in context of an election coming in Spring 2019. If the NDP doesn't say some of the things they are currently saying do you thing they will get re elected or do you want Kenny to be the new premier of the province. The game is called politics. I haven't heard of any NDP politician calling for the head of Trudeau, so lets not get too over wrought by the political verbge/garbage.
Yes, some of the things said were truly awful and so were the sweat shirts but you can find that in any part of the country, if people are upset. Yes, Trudeau bought Alberta a pipeline, but it hasn't put money into the average unemployed worker's pocket.
You'd be surprised how many people have left
alberta to find work. In Nanaimo, B.C. on any given day you can see at least 4 vehicles driving around with Alberta plates on and no they're not trying to avoid our ICBC rates. Walk through the parking lots and you'll see many of those vehicles were purchased in Alberta. All the trades people who were laid off in Alberta, well a lot of them have come to Nanaimo to find work and have.
Back in the day and that goes into the 1970s Alberta was already called Texas North. Alberta was different from other provinces in Canada, but then most provinces have their own attitudes and values.
IF you think this attitude towards trudeau is concentrated in alberta, well I'm pretty sure I could arrange similar rallies in B.C. if I went to the right ridings. so lets not tar all of Alberta with the same brush. It won't help and it will certainly make them feel even more put upon. A lot of these people went from having a great life to trying to figure out how they are going to make the mortgage payment next month. Just wait until Ford ramps up his hate towards Trudeau because G.M. is closing its Oshawa plant.
I agree that the people of Alberta aren't likely any more hateful than any other group of people from any other place on the planet. Most of the people either living or visiting in the vicinity of the party stayed away from it. I'm just referencing the hatred that my fellow haters across the country, including but not limited to Alberta and for whatever their reasons, have resolved to bear toward Trudeau. These guys and gals from Alberta, drunk or sober as would be the case, are just providing a recent and very illustrative expression of that hatred.
DeleteThanks.
Hi e.a.f...I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you. I'm not saying that there aren't good people in that province, and if you recall I praised the people who fought to save Fort Mac and declared them and those who helped during the flood to be model Canadians. But the province has been as long as I can remember the home of some of the worst bigots in Canada, and a veritable nexus of hatred. Every province has its share of bigots, but Alberta has most of the worst, and that needs to be denounced by all decent Canadians...
DeleteThere is something about the exploitation of natural resources that coincides with a Con mentality. Does one come before the other, is it a product of a boom bust cycle, fighting against nature and other elements, or the evolution of a monolithic social structure with the prize resource at the center? What ever it seems an easy target for unscrupulous politicians and selfish business interests. During the 1970's Alberta started a heritage fund to buffer its citizens from a rainy day. Norway an oil producer of similar size thought it was a good idea and copied it. Today the Alberta one is essentially broke at $4,000 per person while the one in Norway has approximately $235,000 per person at their disposal. More recently the Alberta government had the option of setting royalty levels that encouraged investment in value added upgrading facilities instead of a rampant dig and ship tar mentality that has contributed to the dire downturn in prices. But instead of learning from the mayhem and moving to more value added sales while reducing the amount of exploitation and environmental impact, its dig like there is no tomorrow and off with Trudeau's head. A first class ship of fools!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/09/19/norway-s-oil-fund-hits-1-trillion-meanwhile-in-alberta_a_23215451/
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2018/11/23/Alberta-Policy-Problems/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium
RT
Thank you, RT.......Man's Greed causing problems once again!
DeleteHi RT...Only Cons can put human greed before the future, because they only care about themselves and have no sense of responsibility. The Norway comparison is a good one, and Scotland also puts our oil pimps to shame. It has oil, but has just about reached a point where it can power its electrical grid with wind power and other forms of non polluting energy. Meanwhile in Alberta, the province collects more money from its lottery company, than it does in royalties from big oil. So if they're crying poor now, and threatening other provinces, they can go jump into one of their tarry pools. Like so many of their wells, my patience is exhausted....
Deleteonly the Cons.,,,,,,believe me, you weren't in B.C. in the 1980s and the forest industry was in free fall. There were those, at the B.C. Federation of Labour convention, yes full of NDPers also and the debate was around clear cutting to maximize jobs and keep people working vs. those who believed we had to plan for the future because the jobs would end anyhow, so we might as well save a few trees along the way.
DeleteGreed, in my opinion needs to be divided into categories. There is the corporate greed and that is only so the CEO can hang on to their stock options and high salary and thus ensures his shareholders' dividends. There will never be enough money for some of them.
Then there is the other category, those who work for a living and are trying to keep their homes, cars, etc. Do we classify that as greed or do we classify that as trying to keep your family feed and watered.
What is expected in
today's world as necessities and what was a necessity back in the 1950s to 1970s are very different. Most of the aging baby boomers grew up in families of 2 to 6 kids with one bathroom. Today those same ones and the younger generations want 2 bathrooms in a 1 bedroom. Parents can't stand to share a bathroom with their kids. Now is that greed or living the dream of consumerism. It sure isn't environmentally friendly. then we have the millennials who'd just like a roof over their heads if they live in Greater Vancouver. Many of them are living lives not unlike baby boomers parents and grand parents who went through the depression. however, in a society today, which is swimming in money, its income inequity.
The people of Norway decided after WW II they never wanted to be that poor again, nor did they want the high mortality rate for babies. Thus began the first step of every baby being born in Norway receiving a baby box. Baby could sleep in it and it contained the basics for baby. thus the nation had taken the first step. Those babies benefited and people saw those benefits so they were interested in buying into a more socialized society.
Perhaps it is because European countries are smaller, they are more interested in keeping a civilized society. There isn't anywhere to run. In North America, a city fails, they move on.
Alberta, in my opinion had more of a frontier attitude. when I first went there I noticed roads in rural areas had signs up saying they were maintained by "whomever". Never saw them in B.C., back in the day. A friend told me, back in their day, farmers needed roads but the government could afford to maintain them if they built them. They told the government, you build them, we'll maintain them. That is such a different attitude than what prevailed in B.C., back in the day. Of course we had more money back in the day and a highway's minister know as Flying Phil, for all the speeding tickets he acquired on our highways.
My take on the difference between Norway and Alberta is, Norway like many in Europe take the long view, in North America, its the next day because they don't always think tomorrow will be there. However, now that we know better, we ought to get our collective acts together and take a more European approach because we are running out of room to run. It is my impression Trudeau would like this country to take the long view because that is what will be required for all of us to get through this together. The environmentalist and thus the Greens seem to have a better handle on this than say the Conservatives because they are all about how much can I get into my pockets in the next 5 minutes. not all, but the majority, because Red Tories have disappeared.
JT has done more for Alberta in 3 years than Harper could do in 10 and this is the thanks he gets for it? Where were these inconsiderate assholes when JT was getting aid to Ft. McMurray, or extending EI and removing the 2 week waiting period for it for the laid off, or getting approval for Keystone XL as well as buying the trans mountain line? We didn't hear a peep did we?
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to have a scapegoat to blame for all your misfortunes but that in itself is the biggest failing of all. How can one learn from mistakes of the past if you cant even acknowledge them?
40 years of Con governance in Alberta has resulted in what we see today. Supposed leaders tweeting out cartoons of our PM about to be physically attacked by Albertans under the guise of "it's only a joke, wink, wink". Where's your solutions Jason?
If Albertans think Kenney and or Scheer is the answer to their problems then they've obviously been inhaling the tar sands fumes a little too long. If the NDP's Ceci thinks comparing apples to oranges will help matters then I say go ahead and throw your own money at the already deep pocketed oil and gas industries to help them through these tough times. We'd hate to see an oil exec. go without their bonuses right?
As ironic as it seems, these lines from one of my favorite songs pretty well sums up what is wrong with Alberta these days.
"Is it getting better? Or do you feel the same? Will it make it easier on you now? You got someone to blame." One, U2
JD
Hi JD...well said. Despite all the hatred and all the death threats Juustin Trudeau has tried to reach out to the cowboy province like few prime ministers before him. And that even though he knows that most people in Alberta will never vote for him because they still hate his father so much. Whether they like it or not, Alberta needs to prepare for a greener future, Trudeau is trying to get them onboard with that idea but their hate blinds them. And as your song suggests, their hate will get them nowhere...
Deletewith the likes of Jason Kenny stocking the fires of hate, its hard to have a civilized conversation Many who live in Alberta today, weren't there when Trudeau Sr. implemented their policies, so its learned behaviour.
DeleteThere is a real sense of entitlement to all of this also. In the 1970s B.C. was in a depression and some towns had a 15% unemployment rate. No one in the country was giving us any attention. It was then that the first food banks were established. WE did get through it.
What some times surprises me is given the boom and bust nature of Alberta's economy is that people don't plan for the busts. it might be fiscally prudent if they had and did. Many of then could have. it is not like they all needed every thing on 4 wheels.