Weekly Politics Thread

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[u/Brilliant_Gift1917]

Not been in the loop outside of the gun politics - is it still looking like there may be a Spring election? All this crap could be (at least temporarily) ended if we got one, and the Conservatives could even remove the OIC if they got into power.

[u/Haybinger949 → u/Brilliant_Gift1917]

Absolutely no chance the Liberals would launch an election until the results for the AB provincial election are in. That election is on May 29th this year, it will probably be used as a substantial bellwether for the Liberal's odds in a snap federal election.

The media has pretty much unanimously been against Smith since before she was even elected leader, and she has been getting panned almost weekly for even the most innocuous things, sometimes things that never even happened. Despite this, she realistically still has a very high chance of winning the election - the 2015 NDP win was largely due to the Conservative base being split between two separate parties. Much like the 2019 election, there really is no viable second option for anyone that doesn't support the NDP, so the only way to lose will be either poor voter turnout or if the amount of interprovincial transplants from the past 4 years is too biased to the left.

Of course if the NDP win the Alberta election this year, Saskatchewan will be pretty much the last bastion standing before Canadian oblivion.

[u/floydsmoot → u/Haybinger949]

Saskatchewan will be pretty much the last bastion standing before Canadian oblivion.

Actually AB and SK are about the only hope I see for guns in this country because because the GTA and Montreal region pretty much decide what's "good" for the rest of us.

[u/Haybinger949 → u/floydsmoot]

Yes, unless what I said in the first half of my statement happens:

Of course if the NDP win the Alberta election this year

AB will not be able to hold the front on guns for very long under another NDP tenure. Even if they only make it for a 4 year term and get ousted again, we will not be in any position to pick up the pieces of whatever is left.

[u/[deleted] → u/Haybinger949]

What is the best avenue of approach if AB loses to the NDP? Slow descent into Minecraft? I genuinely don't know /can't think of any solution other than for a federal conservative government to ram property rights into law before they are voted out.

[u/Haybinger949 → u/[deleted]]

If I voice my honest opinions on this, I will probably get banned. All I will say is that a lot of good people left the province between 2015 and 2019, many of us who didn't have since planned some level of contingency on how we will should a "next time" occur. Some of course are "stuck" here, as for them I don't have a lot of constructive advice that can be utilized with this short of a notice period. The time to plan was 8 years ago, the time to act will be at the drop of a hat by the end of May.

[u/[deleted] → u/Haybinger949]

You already said enough. I figured that was the case

[u/Q-Ball7 → u/floydsmoot]

Actually AB and SK are about the only hope I see for good in this country

Yeah, it's unfortunate.

[u/Apples_and_Overtones → u/Haybinger949]

I could never vote for Smith. I consider her off the deep-end. I tend to be more right-wing politically but I think what the party has become, especially with this leader is too far for me and I can say I am definitely not the only one with that opinion. I would certainly not say a potential NDP win is the result of "too many transplants."

That said, not particularly keen on NDP this time around either if firearm rights are to be considered, since they're A-OK with provincial/municipal level bans.

Kinda sucks. Not interested in voting this time around tbh.

[u/discostu55 → u/Apples_and_Overtones]

damned if you do damned if you dont, i dont like smith eithier but notely played her "weapons" card to soon

[u/Haybinger949 → u/Apples_and_Overtones]

I could never vote for Smith. ...and I can say I am definitely not the only one with that opinion.

Yes, like I said they could likely be hurt a lot by people just not voting at all causing a general poor turnout.

I tend to be more right-wing politically but I think what the party has become, especially with this leader is too far for me

I have pretty much only seen this opinion online or from people who still watch the 6 o'clock like it's 1986. Other than the media surrounding them, almost none of the bills have been any different than those put forwards by the past 20 years of AB Conservative governments. Bill 1 is obviously the exception to this, but it has barely been used other than as tokenism so far. It's still the same party, with almost the exact same cabinet Kenney had.

Smith wasn't my first choice on the ballot, but my MLA still stands for what I voted by and still has my support to continue their mandate. Your thoughts may differ of course and I can respect that.

Kinda sucks. Not interested in voting this time around tbh.

Rather than abstaining, I suggest you still go to the polls, but reject your ballot. Don't spoil it, if you do that it just goes in the trash. Instead, return it to the officer as a "rejection" (I don't know the exact term for it, check the election handbook when it's published). This way it goes down as recorded that you explicitly chose to not vote for any of the available choices.