Previous  1 ... 15  16  17  18  19

Surprisingly low turnout in an election that wasn't just same old same old. Wonder of WR supportes stayed home in the end?

   

Oh, to be so naive because if other center-left governments in the rest of Canada are any indication, then Alberta's prospects in the near future are very grim indeed. Do I need to bring up the gross incompetence of Dalton "Premier Dad" McGuinty whose policies deficits helped make the once-proud engine of Canada in a have not province. Or how about Quebec where I heard Jean "Needs a Snappy Nickname" Charest's government is under fire for corruption and attempting to balance that province's books would be the thirteenth labor of Hercules. Hell, the students currently on strike are too shortsighted to realize that their educations are not free. The taxpayer covers the cost.

Sometimes I contemplate whether this is a symptom of the malaise that is prevalent in the middle class these days. We all want nice things, and thanks to poor impulse control, we pull out our credit cards without recognizing that the credit card company EXPECTS the customer to pay later. Allison Redford is promising to build so many nice things and wrack up huge deficits (while slipping her hand in the cookie jar AKA the Heritage Fund to pay off the teacher's union), I have serious doubts whether she has the capacity to make the hard decisions when the situation calls for true leadership.

But you know what? I am too tired to care anymore right now, I'm just sit back and watch this little bonfire. You get what you pay--or vote--for.

   

I'm all for balanced budgets, but not at any cost. To me, the Wildrose cuts were way too much, and their firewall ideas (Alberta Pension Plan and provincial police force) looked to cost us far more than anything Redford promised.

Frankly I find it ironic that many conservatives here seem to have no problem with Harper running massive deficits (over $20 billion this year), yet a relatively small $1 billion deficit - covered by a the Sustainability Fund with no borrowing - here in Alberta is called "fiscal mismangement".

I think Stelmach and now Redford made a good decision to continue spending at pre-recession levels. The choice to maintain infrastructure funding was especially good IMHO, as they're getting way more bang for their buck than they did during the boom.

To me, the Wildrose plan to cut infrastructure spending was one of the wrost platform ideas out there (second only to Raj's tax hikes) - the reason spending in that area is so high is because we drastically cut spending on that while Klein was running the province and now we have a massive infrastructure deficit.

Tack on the fact that the number of seniors has almost doubled since Klein was elected (1993 - 250,000; 2012 - 425000), means health care is going to cost more too - 80% of all health care spending is spent during the last 20 years of a person's life.

   

Well, Harper's economic policies makes me slam my head into the desk to be quite honest. It is a small miracle I have ANY cognitive function.

Methinks the rest of your post applies to my rant as well so I'll concede those points despite my reservations and I'll just let the issue lie.

   

You think Alberta PCs are centre-left??? And comparable to McGuinty and Charest???

What drugs are you on??

   

You want a list?

   

If you look at the overall political spectrum in Alberta, then yes. The uneducated are always comparing Haper and co. to fascists, yet they are mostly to left of American Democrats, who are usually labelled as left leaning in the US....anbd for those seem to get wood slamming the Albertan oil workers for bein' unedjeekatud, please keep in mind that most of them came from east of the Lakehead.

   

Really. I would say the Alberta PC's are Center-right probably the most right wing Provincial government in Canada.

McGuinty - Centerist, only creeps left far enough to distinguish himself from the Ontario PC's. Fears getting lost in the NDP clouds.

Charest. Don't really know. Have coceptual problems dealing with Quebec politics.

   

I got the impression that he was a Red Tory but in his Ottawa days.

   

Agreed. But I don't know how you make the shift between that and Quebec politics. English media in Ontario barely cover the Quebec scene anyway.

   

I know a magical platypus that tells me things, or it could be the drugs I'm taking.

   

Previous  1 ... 15  16  17  18  19