There is no yellow brick road to the legislature in Edmonton but if Calgary votes right (far right), they get a new arena. And the witch gets to keep her job as premier.
Bribery is a time-honoured tradition in Canadian politics. There is many an ancient story from the 19th century of voting for the five-dollar bill or the mickey of rye. And isn’t it amazing what inflation can do. Now we are expecting new hockey arenas worth $1.22 billion. And it is happening this month in Calgary. That is sure a long way from $5 per vote.
But if you got it, flaunt it. The wicked witch of the west has tar sands product to reap. Have you noted the price of gasoline lately? Every nickel the cost of gas goes up means more money for the tar sands exploiters, And the more the tar sands people make, the more money that lands in the provincial coffers of Alberta. This is not rainy-day money, this just encourages the government of Alberta to spend, spend, spend.
Some very smart premiers in the past have told Albertans that money earned from non-renewable resources are a gift that should be spent carefully on the future needs of the province. As usual, they are to be ignored.
But nobody counted on the wicked witch of the west in the person of Danielle Smith. The premier that nobody but the Wildrose survivors wanted is sure feeling her oats.
She makes the NDP’s Rachel Notley sound like a piker. That lady, when she was last premier, had a lot of common sense to sell and we sure hope enough people in the province are listening today.
The problem that the province is facing in this provincial election is the impact that it will have on the rest of Canada. With the current premier being the wicked witch of the west, Canadians across Canada will write off Alberta as Looney-Tunes country if Danielle Smith continues as premier.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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