Alberta Election - Week 1

Smoky Lake Signal Article No. 215 (April 4, 2012)

Whispering in the Wind

Alberta Election Campaign – Week 1
Albertans are now observing the second week of a four week election campaign and the hope for having any reasonable political debate or discussion on important issues facing Alberta has narrowed and in week one, virtually non-existent. Actually the political landscape has become quite volatile because of personal attacks and innuendos with the political dialogue moving from being nasty and personal to a discourse amongst the two main political leaders that is silly, and at times ridiculous. To recap week one of the campaign:

Wildrose’s Boob Tube: Really not worth mentioning but there was a misstep on the part of the Wildrose Campaign Team that did get some national and international TV attention – the Wildrose’s official campaign bus rolled onto the campaign tarmac with a misplaced picture of leader Danielle Smith, in a somewhat revealing position. Danielle Smith laughed the boob with no harm done and the bus got repainted – at the most it does show that mistakes and missteps can occur – at the very least, the Wildrose supervisor of bus painting should be retrained for a more senior position in advertising and public relations.

Unfounded Accusations: Last week Danielle Smith of the Wildrose party accused Alison Redford of not liking Alberta when she opined: “I think Ms. Redford doesn’t like Alberta all that much … She doesn’t like who we are, she doesn’t like our character, she wants to change [Alberta]….” In my view Danielle Smith and the Wildrose machine have gone over the top again with extreme, unfounded personal attacks – Danielle Smith should apologize to Alison Redford directly and publicly retract statements that are so extreme and actually offensive – to my knowledge Danielle has not recanted any of her statements.

Personal Affronts: An Alberta Tory aide resigned last week for making an offensive remark in cyberspace regarding Danielle Smith not having any children. Once informed of the inappropriate tweet, Alison Redford dismissed the aide and immediately telephoned Danielle Smith and asked for a private talk. In my view it is important to note that the aide who sent the tweet worked for the Wildrose party (from the fall of 2010 to the spring of 2011).

“Culture of Corruption”: I continue to read on the internet that the Wildrose party is labeling the Alberta PC as a “Culture of Corruption”, a label that I find inappropriate and without any clear evidence of corruption, offensive. Have I made myself clear, I feel that the labeling of the Alberta PCs as a “Culture of Corruption” is inappropriate extremism and for those who are progressive conservatives, offensive.

Buying Your Vote: On Monday Albertans have been offered some cash goodies and in some cases without any tax increases. Liberal leader Raj Sherman promised that by 2025 tuition fees would be eliminated for Albertans – it will require some creative accounting and tax increases for any and all making over $100,000 a year – the Liberal leader actually feels that it can be done? Also on Monday, Wildrose leader Danielle Smith announced an “energy dividend” for Albertans by the year 2015, if elected premier. Danielle Smith also indicated that she would balance the budget by 2015 and do it without tax increases. Danielle Smith is also offering tax credits and hundreds of millions of dollars added to the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. Alison Redford quite rightly discounts the Smith “energy dividend” promise by saying: “It’s another daily announcement that just doesn’t add up … [Albertans will] end up losing on education, on healthcare, or infrastructure.” Alison Redford and the Alberta PC party are standing by the budget passed in the Legislature a week and a half ago, without any tax increases. Finally Albertans are starting to hear about issues that matter.