It appears to be a race to the bottom. It is amateur Ontario premier Doug Ford against amateur Alberta premier Danielle Smith. Neither has the experience or competence to be premier. As an Ontario resident, I would gladly trade Ford for Smith any day. Alberta voters might not know what to make of a dingbat but they sure know what to do with someone who wants to spend their money foolishly.
Both provinces are in serious trouble over their healthcare. It was Ford who took our Ontario hospitals downhill during the pandemic. He thinks he is fixing the problem by privatizing some of the hospital’s business. What he has never adequately explained is where the medical staff are coming from for these privatized clinics. He is passing a law authorizing these clinics into existence which is not fully thought through. He has not planned for suitable regulators or inspectors.
But then Smith passes laws that constitutional experts are puzzling over. It seems that if the federal government passes a federal law, she wants to take her time to decide if she wants to obey it.
The main difference between the two premiers is that she is a professional communicator and he seems to prefer to use bombast. What she communicates might be ditzy but she is a good communicator. She has shown that she can switch scripts when forced. She also has a convenient memory. She has been known to talk to people about their cases that are before the courts and that has got a lot of judges, lawyers and opponents talking about her inappropriate behaviour.
At least there is some professionalism to her Sunday show on Corus Radio in Alberta. She has been refusing to talk to those nosy reporters about her oopsies but that has not stopped her from telling her radio audience. The late Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto, tried to teach brother Doug how to do a regular radio show but the lessons did not seem to take. He has been having a hard enough time trying to learn how to use a teleprompter without being so obviously reading.
I am sorry to hear that Ms. Smith is facing some really annoyed voters at the beginning of May. And Happy May Day to you too.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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