It was a long time ago, that as a teenage member of the Canadian Air Force, I drove from North Bay, Ontario to Cold Lake, Alberta. It was part of my right of passage to adulthood. While as an adult, I spent more time in Calgary and Edmonton, I have never forgotten those early days at the base at Cold Lake. That was when I met the native Canadian and the early settlers of that part of Canada. And it is balancing that knowledge with the acquaintances in the cities that helps you understand the cross talk of the politicians.
And you have to admit that Alberta has suffered some unusual politicians over the years. In the land of ‘Bible Bill’ Aberhart, the demagogues come and go. The most unusual of these politicians is not the departing Jason Kenney but the distaff side in the person of Danielle Smith. When all the talking heads in Alberta politics, thought the woman had gone to watch the grass grow in Southern Alberta, they are starting to realize, she might just be the winning combination in the current race to replace Kenney.
For someone who might replace Kenney, Smith is likely to cause far more trouble than Kenney ever did. And for a party that calls itself the United Conservative Party you wonder why when it has all those libertarian members. Quite frankly both Smith and former Wildrose leader Brian Jean are better described as libertarians than conservatives.
And they really do call a spade, a spade in Alberta. An Edmonton writer the other day reported that Danielle Smith is running her campaign—not just as “anti-establishment but anti-science, anti-vax, anti-law and overall anti-reality.” Her promise to support the screwball “Alberta Sovereignty Act” to override federal law, should be enough to preclude her being assigned to run anything more complex than a lady’s washroom.
Just like the way Calgary-born Pierre Poilievre is dominating the current federal race for the conservative leadership by pitching to the angry, foolish and juvenile, we have a similar situation in Alberta. I thought two years of pandemic was nature’s way of remonstrating us for mistreating the environment.
-30-
Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to: