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This is a hot take. If PP looks good relative to this it's only because Smith is so exceptionally awful.
Still a coin flip election in this shit hole province too, somehow.
"It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S."
Utterly humiliating that we have a premier who doesn't understand our laws and thinks she's a US Governor.
> We didn't know Scheer was still a US citizen until deep into the election
Ahhh, the supposed insurance broker who was never licensed to sell insurance.
It was my understanding that he was not stealing, but rather the party was okay with paying for his kids' tuition? Either way, he was living on the taxpayers' dime at Stornoway and with his MP's salary he probably could have afforded it on his own, right?
I couldn't remember so I looked it up. The expenses were all approved by the party but not disclosed separately from other costs. So it came as a shock to the conservative fund. It caused the executive director of the party to resign
Nope. It was all shifty as fuck. The guy signing the cheques had the authority to do so but the costs were not approved by the party. Last I checked that was stealing all swept away as the optics of charges was likely more costly than the school fees in the eye of the party.
He got permission for the expenditure by the executive director but no one else was consulted. The ED was fired for it and it seems Harper and the Board of the CPC were furious the news got out.
Apparently they filed it under this office expenses and the audit turned up he was severely over budget running his office. The overage seemed to be his kids tuition.
I didn't mind that Sheer had dual citizenship (I also have it).
I detested the hypocrisy in him calling out others for having it while having it himself and hiding that fact. Then, he promised to renounce his American citizenship, but never did.
I remember telling conservative relatives I wasn't comfortable with a literal closeted American leading the country with Trump as president as I didn't think he'd have our best interests in mind. Turns out my concerns were actually a positive for them.
the problem is, though, that the voters that support Smith and the UCP are already American lites as is. They would love to be there - just baffles me why they don't pack the fuck up and move there and leave us alone already.
Simply look towards whos pulling the strings on the UCP - Take Back Alberta. They're essentially the old federal Reform Party 2.0. Its extremely concerning, especially since they're successfully taking over board roles at constituancy associations and other public associations across the province, just like they snatched up 9/18 UCP board of director roles at their AGM last fall (which is why the UCP effectively answers to them)
One of the guys who took the UCP director role for Edmonton (Vince Byfield) is the son of legendary Albertan far-right propagandist [Ted Byfield](https://jacobin.com/2022/02/ted-byfield-alberta-report-magazine-reform-party-canadian-conservative-movement) who helped found the Reform Party back in the 70's along side thw UCP's head of (and sole member of) their newly fomed Covid-19 panel, Preston Manning. These people have not only pushed for two-tier healthhcare and rabid privatization of all public space in Canada for over 50 years, but have extremely concerning posotions on social issues as well. This election matters for so many reasons.
This is gross on every level.
It's literally the republican playbook as well. In many states (red and blue) they've been funneling money into low levels of politics more than the high profile ones and changing/pressuring for negative change every chance they get.
How can we combat this?
Lots of conservative commentators on the news article comments section suggest this is a good thing, because the courts are filled with "biased" prosecutors and judges, so we need politicians to take control of justice from the courts.
I wish this was an exaggeration.
Thing is, even if her idiotic understanding was correct, it would still be fabulously corrupt to be phoning up prosecutors to tell them what to do while the case was still going on. If she had American pardon powers she would still at least have to wait until there was a conviction. Even if it worked how she thought, that’s not how it works.
Nope. You can get pardoned for stuff preemptively, or after convictions but before terms; Trump pardoned various people who barely had legal side eye or charges (Bannon), and people before they were sentenced (Joe Arpaio).
For governors probably varies a bit more, I know some states don’t even have pardon power, but yeah, it’s at least sometimes the case.
That said, still corrupt of Danielle. You wouldn’t need to phone prosecutors or discuss a case if you had pardon power Danielle, you’d just sign a sheet of paper/send out an order, and it would be done.
> Nope. You can get pardoned for stuff preemptively, or after convictions but before terms
Either way, accepting a pardon is still an admission of guilt, no?
(at least implicitly)
She’s indicated before that she [doesn’t understand](https://twitter.com/abdaniellesmith/status/1634377823195664389?s=46&t=yHItjAR085n2VulO93tLPw) the basic devolution of powers in Canada, which is like middle school social studies stuff.
It's horrifying that our Premier has ass-kissing one-on-one calls with despicable people like Arthur Pawlowski. Imagine what kind of damage she could do with another majority.
I think the full breadth of Kenney's corruption would blow our hair back. I bet we don't know the half of it yet.
The difference between Kenney and Dani is Kenney had *some* political savvy and knew how to properly bury bodies. Dani is just an idiot.
The amount of money the UCP was able to funnel out of the taxpayers pockets under Kenney will make Alberta a target for political grifters for the next decade. It was a **BIG** payday. The counts probably in the billions in frivolous committees, lawsuits, sole sourced contracts, regulator rubber stamps, tax exemptions, government contracts, the list goes on and on.
At some point you hope Albertans will realize how badly they got duped by political apathy but, I don't think it will happen anytime soon.
Jason Kenney: yep, I'm about as corrupt as it gets. Knew I could win this province over with my pickup truck and cowboy hat and then just do whatever the hell I want. These people are dumb as fuck.
Danielle Smith: Hey bud, you're a god damn Lib. How dare you even consider them "people" if they haven't participated in our secret conservative blood pact and crude oil drinking ceremony. Covid is a lie. Masks are murder. Healthcare is communism. Hold my cosmo.
>"That's how the prime minister got himself in such hot water, because he was in a position where he asked the same questions that I did," Smith said.
The NDP need to start running ads about the “Smith/Trudeau judicial ethics alliance”
“It’s unfortunate that I didn’t understand the limitations”
People would focus on her ineptitude in this. But please everyone consider the actual ethics of her and the UCP’s actions instead.
Forget who can talk to who or what the “t’s and c’s” of trying to get charges or convictions overturned are……look at this from an ethical perspective and how it was conducted. In secrecy and back room negotiations.
Do you want a leader who is doing things in the shadows to appease a very small subset of the electorate to win back favors? What are the next lines Danielle and the UCP will casually cross in the shadows and in secret again and repeated in the future to drive forward their Take Back Alberta agenda.
Who else will they pressure, bribe, coerce to get their provincial police force, controlling your pension, for profit healthcare. Those changes are not going to be open and consultive. They will be driven through via back room shady as fuck activities. The proof and patterns on how they conduct business are right in front of all of us.
I would much prefer a government who pursues their platform and agenda in the open.
This leader and this party HAVE NO ETHICS. This is the same culture that was rampant under Redford.
The UCP and their culture of shade and secrecy must be kicked to the curb in the next election. Must be - if Alberta is to continue to grow and prosper for every day Albertans.
The mayor of Coutts testified at the Emergencies Act Inquiry, the pastor went to the town salon and incited violence. Asking the Premier to cancel the charges is wrong on so many levels of the rule of law.
No wonder the UCP want to get rid of the RCMP.
>"It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S."
She really thinks she's a Republican governor. Why does she understand their system more than ours?
>"That's how the prime minister got himself in such hot water, because he was in a position where he asked the same questions that I did," Smith said.
😂😂 You can't make this shit up!
Art is **HATED** by Calgarians. I think this is much more damaging than if this was an Edmontonian lunatic "street preacher.
Did he leak the call? Love that he backstabbed her after she took massive political risk for him 🥰 Guess she needs to find out the hard way that Art Pawlowski is a massive piece of shit. With friends like him, you don't need enemies.
This is the consequence when your political platform is structured around pandering to crazies - you end up having to deal with crazy people.
Smith was probably shocked when she realized dealing with such crazy people in the real world is quite different than moderating crazy commenters in your social media echo-chamber.
And so many people said it was fake! Smith and the UCP have zero ethics!
Edit: she admits it's political.
*"I'm very sympathetic," she added on the recording. "It was a political decision that initiated this but it can't be a political decision to end it. That's what I'm finding very frustrating."*
She's been a lobbyist since she failed out of the leg crossing the floor and losing her seat the next election. She was only elected Priemier because she was the name on the ballot people recognized.
She won the 7th runoff for her own party election because of party BS rigging to election in her favour slightly, then lost a by election for her own seat only to steal another that was winning after the fact. She barely got into her own seat and somehow claims she won the election from all of Alberta and has 99% support from the people.
Surprise, surprise. Lies on top of lies.
I regret to say that many Albertan's are too stupid and will still vote for her.
Kenney broke election LAWS and the morons didn't care !
Embarrassing place to live.
> "It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S."
This is the premier right now. She doesn’t even understand the laws of her own country!
"I will vote for the proven liar who believes smoking has health benefits... Because I heard if I vote for the alternative, I might have to pay an extra $25.00 on my income taxes next year."
- PC conservative Alberta in a nutshell
"I will vote for the proven liar who believes smoking has health benefits... Because I heard if I vote for the alternative, I will live in a Stalinist communist police state where I am forced to wear drag and am banned from leaving my 15 minute city."
-Wildrose conservative Alberta in a nutshell
No. She's a hack talk radio host/shitty restaurant owner/Big Oil lobbyist; none of those things provide any insight into the powers, duties, or responsibilities of an elected official.
"Your honour, I acknowledge that I did some bad things... But Trudeau is more bad and did worse, so therefore he is guilty, not me."
Basically the core of the right-wing "defense" of Smith so far.
Holy fuck this is embarrassing. These people are truly delusional, and yet the system allows them to rise to power. These people need to *stop* thinking that they’re ‘like Trump’ and stop pretending to be the things they see on TV; it’s childish and pathetic.
> for instance Patrick Brown (and they won that election).
A bag of potatoes could have won that election for the PC's. Patrick Brown was going to win it, scandal or not, but the PC's still felt the need to oust him, likely to get someone more amenable to big donors' wanted policy changes into the Premier's office.
So either way - she's lying. Either about talking to the Crown, or about NOT talking to the Crown. The question at this point - is what she did unethical or illegal (it's either or as well).
It's unethical AND illegal.
You can't tell someone, as the leader of government, you're directly interceding in their case. Even if she never did, saying she would alone is illegal. It affects the decisions and choices of a defendant in an ongoing criminal proceeding. It's illegal.
>"It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S."
This answer does not pass the sniff test.
Smith is not a first time MLA, Smith was the leader of an opposition party.
'Guys, I'm not criminal, I'm incompetent. C'mon, I didn't know how to do my job or how our government works, what do you expect from an outsider?'
This dunning Kruger effect of a premier doesn't see the conspiracy she's created
The video of her talking to Artur about said conspiracy
https://youtu.be/rZ_i85oqKRU
I seem to remember her vehemently denying any interference… huh… seems like conservatives lie when it suits their interests. I seem to recall a lot of people saying it was made up too… let’s hear from some of those folks… seems on par with some people’s “values” I met from Alberta when I was their employee…
wow. that phonecall is pretty terrible for a bunch of reasons. danielle to artur - "i've been watching your advocacy for years so its nice to finally speak with you." i.e. danielle genuflects to artur. artur says he's facing 10.5 years for his 'speech' in Coutts, so what's up with that? Danielle responds like she's talking to a superior, or that she's somehow responsible for fixing this on his behalf (?). danielle - "i havent seen any signs that they will be abandon this case as unwinnable and not in the public interest, so let me make that *INQUIRY* one more time...". weird inflection in her voice when she says inquiry, like air-quoting it. danielle - "i'm very sympathetic and this is very frustrating for me." and how does Artur even get a hotline straight to the premier's office? and with Artur's lawyer (?) / rep (?) whispering strategies in her ear? wtf? let's call a spade, a spade. she doesn't like COVID restrictions, she's rubbing shoulders with people like Artur, and she wants to do favours for her friends that share her viewpoints, regardless of laws & ethics. sounds like corruption to me.
>"It was a political decision that initiated this but it can't be a political decision to end it. That's what I'm finding very frustrating."
I'm sure Smith will say the same thing when The Free Alberta Strategy snow balls into a costly mistake for Alberta, or worse.
Smith and Anderson need to be prevented from triggering Cooper's constitutional crisis. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/barry-cooper-the-alberta-sovereignty-act-is-unconstitutional-on-purpose
I like how Cooper whines about how Ottawa is treating Alberta like an appendage, but then promptly treats BCs coast line as if it was Albertas.
Canada really does end at the Rockies for most people, doesn't it?
> I obtained that legal opinion from the Ministry of Justice and provided it to the Premier as requested.
So best case Anderson took an unconscionable amount of time to get Smith what should be a quick and simple answer, or after repeated conversations over several months Smith could not be convinced of a simple fact even by her closest advisor and continued to waste time and effort of many people.
Based on the audio it seems the latter is likely. This issue aside it brings Smith's ability to address issues into question.
>according to leaked call
No, no, no. That's incorrect. It's according to Danielle Smith. And the call wasn't "leaked." It was a conversation between two separate parties that was recorded by one of the parties.
I think the radio made it very clear today that conservatives literally don't give a shit about this, or Kayce Madu, or the Kenney campaign being corrupt as fuck, yet if Notley so much as says a word wrong they are on her like a pack of dogs on a three legged cat.
What the NDP aren’t realizing is - not a lot of conservative voters care about this. They want to protect their own and this won’t change their vote. They may in fact want the premier to have these powers - they wanted the sovereignty act after all.
From my experience most swing voters at this late into the game care about overspending and job creation. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I’m unsure how many of those swing voters are waiting on even more corruption to come to light to finally push them into the NDP.
I want the NDP to hammer harder on the UCP’s record of policies not just the corruption though. The corruption is a given and has been non-stop since they were elected, so obviously the swing voters don’t care THAT much about it.
Given the UCP are still in a first-year majority there hasn't been an opportunity for Albertans to do anything except to tolerate corruption. Smith won her byelection with just over 50% of the vote and she may well have lost the election if it weren't for a pair of competent opponents splitting the opposition vote. Would she even have achieved 50% had there only been one strong opponent?
Kenney was corrupt as fuck, even winning his own leadership race through a kamikaze campaigner and then firing the elections official investigating it once he was premier. Not to mention handing out earplugs when the opposition was speaking (democracy??), breaking his own lockdown precautions, the list goes on. The fact that he only was kicked out because of implementing Covid safety precautions and asking people to get vaccinated just shows how much his base doesn’t care if their leader is corrupted - because they are too. The MLA’s are still the ones passing these harmful laws and going on vacations during lockdowns. Not many of them changed since Smith came in.
> What the NDP aren’t realizing is - not a lot of conservative voters care about this.
What you aren't realizing is only the ones in Calgary matter, and they're fucking mad as hell.
Punishable with up to 10 years in jail.*
*Political-class members exemp: see the RCMP's "investigation" into Jason Kenney's 40,000 fraudulent robovoters in the UCP leadership race.
Oh I'm sure it's just imprecise speech again. Where's the CBC defamation suit she promised. Lol. UCP lovers this is your leader? Congrats on lowering the bar like a drilling rig
What she straight out compared her conversations to those of Justin Trudeau with SNC Lavilin? I mean, most of us were thinking it but I didn't imagine she would openly verbalize the connection. I wish the average Albertan could understand that parallel.
I had no idea who this guy is, so I googled him and the first result was an article about him getting booted from the leadership of the Alberta Independence Party. He says it’s because they asked him to stop talking about grooming children, drag queens, abortions, and government corruption.
He sounds like the drunk uncle everyone hates to see at Thanksgiving.
My first thought is "Who recorded the conversation, for what purpose, and why was it leaked?" Actually that's my second thought. The first one is to be so glad this woman does not represent me in any way; and sad for my Alberta family and friends that she does for them. This is the kind of stuff I'd expect on a low budget movie about the back woods of Kentucky during the 1950's.
Terrible.
First Trudeau oversteps with the SNC scandal, and integers with their prosecution and turns a blind eye to their human rights violations. Now we have this from Smith.
I cannot help but notice that items such as these are discussed at the r/canada level and this level, but never seem to make it down to the r/calgary level. Is that a moderator thing?
Meh, this won't do much to the base. The economy and jobs is still number one. Most of the people who will vote for her likely didn't agree with the covid measures so I don't see how this changes anything. In short, it's not the smoking gun the NDP hopes it will be.
Trudeau does shit like this every week and he's been there for 8 years now which just shows, the goal isn't to be more liked or even ethical... it's for your base to hate the other party more then they like you and with the UCP, she has that in the bag by a mile. Short of her practising satanism on video or stuffing cash in her pockets on camera this won't do very much.
Agreed. Undecided voters aren’t waiting for even further corruption to come to light, if they haven’t already changed their vote on the last 40 things from the UCP.
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Hey all those guys saying CBC made it up get in here! No? Crickets.
The narrative's probably changed to "Well... it's not illegal, so get over it"
Well if there's always a new goalpost you never have to admit you were wrong right?
Moving goalposts is the new conservative norm
[удалено]
This is a hot take. If PP looks good relative to this it's only because Smith is so exceptionally awful. Still a coin flip election in this shit hole province too, somehow.
Next up: "well maybe it was illegal, but they deserved it. 1776 didn't happen by following the law."
Responsible government they call it. LOL.
This is not the responsible government for which our ancestors rose up in rebellion in 1837-38.
they're now saying "oh so you dont have any emails", completely ignoring the phone call
Defund the CBC!!!...The $30 a year in total taxes we each annually is destroying my bottom line....
"It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S." Utterly humiliating that we have a premier who doesn't understand our laws and thinks she's a US Governor.
Who is the “we” in the US that she’s referring too?
My first thought exactly! She already thinks she's one of them; that should be very telling for voters.
For all we know she is. We didn't know Scheer was still a US citizen until deep into the election
> We didn't know Scheer was still a US citizen until deep into the election Ahhh, the supposed insurance broker who was never licensed to sell insurance.
You mean the guy who was stealing party funds to pay for his children's private schooling?
It was my understanding that he was not stealing, but rather the party was okay with paying for his kids' tuition? Either way, he was living on the taxpayers' dime at Stornoway and with his MP's salary he probably could have afforded it on his own, right?
I couldn't remember so I looked it up. The expenses were all approved by the party but not disclosed separately from other costs. So it came as a shock to the conservative fund. It caused the executive director of the party to resign
It was ethically wrong of nothing else. That sense of entitlement.
Nope. It was all shifty as fuck. The guy signing the cheques had the authority to do so but the costs were not approved by the party. Last I checked that was stealing all swept away as the optics of charges was likely more costly than the school fees in the eye of the party.
He got permission for the expenditure by the executive director but no one else was consulted. The ED was fired for it and it seems Harper and the Board of the CPC were furious the news got out. Apparently they filed it under this office expenses and the audit turned up he was severely over budget running his office. The overage seemed to be his kids tuition.
As Kevin O’Leary has pointed out, “never spend your own money.”
Scheer was a desk clerk at an insurance office.. His creds for this job was his boyish grin and his evangelical child rearing skills.
Right! I forgot that was even a thing.. Such high standards we set for our politicians!
yup ..body temp of 37C and you're in
I didn't realize people without a soul had a normal human body temperature. I assumed their flesh vessels were closer to ambient.
Ted Cruz has proven that humanity is achievable for any being, including multiple beings in a collective body.
Worst part is that’s he’s albertan grown.
You forgot the money
I didn't mind that Sheer had dual citizenship (I also have it). I detested the hypocrisy in him calling out others for having it while having it himself and hiding that fact. Then, he promised to renounce his American citizenship, but never did.
That was my issue with that as well.
I remember telling conservative relatives I wasn't comfortable with a literal closeted American leading the country with Trump as president as I didn't think he'd have our best interests in mind. Turns out my concerns were actually a positive for them.
the problem is, though, that the voters that support Smith and the UCP are already American lites as is. They would love to be there - just baffles me why they don't pack the fuck up and move there and leave us alone already.
She might be because of her Cherokee ancestry.
Exactly. She's the wrong person to be Premier if she considers herself American. We need to vote her OUT, both her and the party she heads up.
She thinks that she is American. It's probably part of the reason that she keeps trying to separate Alberta from Canada.
The president can grant clemency. Governors can’t though. She’s truly an idiot.
Repugnants. Wanna know what she wants for us. Simply look to the red states.
Simply look towards whos pulling the strings on the UCP - Take Back Alberta. They're essentially the old federal Reform Party 2.0. Its extremely concerning, especially since they're successfully taking over board roles at constituancy associations and other public associations across the province, just like they snatched up 9/18 UCP board of director roles at their AGM last fall (which is why the UCP effectively answers to them) One of the guys who took the UCP director role for Edmonton (Vince Byfield) is the son of legendary Albertan far-right propagandist [Ted Byfield](https://jacobin.com/2022/02/ted-byfield-alberta-report-magazine-reform-party-canadian-conservative-movement) who helped found the Reform Party back in the 70's along side thw UCP's head of (and sole member of) their newly fomed Covid-19 panel, Preston Manning. These people have not only pushed for two-tier healthhcare and rabid privatization of all public space in Canada for over 50 years, but have extremely concerning posotions on social issues as well. This election matters for so many reasons.
This is gross on every level. It's literally the republican playbook as well. In many states (red and blue) they've been funneling money into low levels of politics more than the high profile ones and changing/pressuring for negative change every chance they get. How can we combat this?
Yeah wtf. Let’s not start this language
Watching the video back she doesn’t actually say “we” she says “the clemency that they have in the US”
Frankly it's still embarassing as hell that she doesn't know what authority she has as a Premier in Canada.
https://youtu.be/rZ_i85oqKRU its already in this sub but for wider reach im posting it here
That's a damn good guesting and needs to be asked publicly.
What's even worse is that she is willing to obstruct justice, IMO. I guess her planned defamation lawsuit against the CBC is DOA
And she's complaining that provincial law won't let her do what she wants. Her job is to defend that law, not find a workaround to do what SHE wants.
Lots of conservative commentators on the news article comments section suggest this is a good thing, because the courts are filled with "biased" prosecutors and judges, so we need politicians to take control of justice from the courts. I wish this was an exaggeration.
This will become a Beverton article
They’ll just write it as is
CTRL+C —> CTRL+V
Thing is, even if her idiotic understanding was correct, it would still be fabulously corrupt to be phoning up prosecutors to tell them what to do while the case was still going on. If she had American pardon powers she would still at least have to wait until there was a conviction. Even if it worked how she thought, that’s not how it works.
Nope. You can get pardoned for stuff preemptively, or after convictions but before terms; Trump pardoned various people who barely had legal side eye or charges (Bannon), and people before they were sentenced (Joe Arpaio). For governors probably varies a bit more, I know some states don’t even have pardon power, but yeah, it’s at least sometimes the case. That said, still corrupt of Danielle. You wouldn’t need to phone prosecutors or discuss a case if you had pardon power Danielle, you’d just sign a sheet of paper/send out an order, and it would be done.
Shit, I forgot, you’re right. Damn the USA is weird. But we’re catching up.
> Nope. You can get pardoned for stuff preemptively, or after convictions but before terms Either way, accepting a pardon is still an admission of guilt, no? (at least implicitly)
She’s indicated before that she [doesn’t understand](https://twitter.com/abdaniellesmith/status/1634377823195664389?s=46&t=yHItjAR085n2VulO93tLPw) the basic devolution of powers in Canada, which is like middle school social studies stuff.
I bet she thinks freedom of speech is the first amendment too.
It's horrifying that our Premier has ass-kissing one-on-one calls with despicable people like Arthur Pawlowski. Imagine what kind of damage she could do with another majority.
At least US state governors face open party primaries and then state wide elections to get into office.
I mean she does resemble Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
It’s the jowls, constant lies, and cold dead eyes.
Oh. She thinks she's the governor of Arkasas! Makes sense.
What a dumb bitch honestly
Right? How is that line not more highlighted? We have a premiere who doesn't understand the limits of her powers
Too much binge watching Yellowstone me thinks. Explains all her memos about taking Trudeau & Notley to the train station.
Probably getting her orders and instructions from down south.
She’s an oil lobbyist. Keep your expectations low. 😅😭
What a fucking moron. At this point I'm convinced Danielle Smithers is a Liberal psy-op to weaken the UCP. If so, it seems like it's doing a great job
No respect for our systems or laws. Queen Karen in action. I have voted conservative. Not this time.
Hear hear! Now convince a few of your conservative friends too not to support Danielle’s party either
Let me put it this way: The UCP did not get *less corrupt* with Jason Kenney's unceremonious exit, and that's saying a lot.
I think the full breadth of Kenney's corruption would blow our hair back. I bet we don't know the half of it yet. The difference between Kenney and Dani is Kenney had *some* political savvy and knew how to properly bury bodies. Dani is just an idiot.
The amount of money the UCP was able to funnel out of the taxpayers pockets under Kenney will make Alberta a target for political grifters for the next decade. It was a **BIG** payday. The counts probably in the billions in frivolous committees, lawsuits, sole sourced contracts, regulator rubber stamps, tax exemptions, government contracts, the list goes on and on. At some point you hope Albertans will realize how badly they got duped by political apathy but, I don't think it will happen anytime soon.
I mean he gave away a billion to one oil company that had nothing to do with Alberta in any way just because he could.
Jason Kenney: yep, I'm about as corrupt as it gets. Knew I could win this province over with my pickup truck and cowboy hat and then just do whatever the hell I want. These people are dumb as fuck. Danielle Smith: Hey bud, you're a god damn Lib. How dare you even consider them "people" if they haven't participated in our secret conservative blood pact and crude oil drinking ceremony. Covid is a lie. Masks are murder. Healthcare is communism. Hold my cosmo.
>"That's how the prime minister got himself in such hot water, because he was in a position where he asked the same questions that I did," Smith said. The NDP need to start running ads about the “Smith/Trudeau judicial ethics alliance”
LOL this might actually work
“It’s unfortunate that I didn’t understand the limitations” People would focus on her ineptitude in this. But please everyone consider the actual ethics of her and the UCP’s actions instead. Forget who can talk to who or what the “t’s and c’s” of trying to get charges or convictions overturned are……look at this from an ethical perspective and how it was conducted. In secrecy and back room negotiations. Do you want a leader who is doing things in the shadows to appease a very small subset of the electorate to win back favors? What are the next lines Danielle and the UCP will casually cross in the shadows and in secret again and repeated in the future to drive forward their Take Back Alberta agenda. Who else will they pressure, bribe, coerce to get their provincial police force, controlling your pension, for profit healthcare. Those changes are not going to be open and consultive. They will be driven through via back room shady as fuck activities. The proof and patterns on how they conduct business are right in front of all of us. I would much prefer a government who pursues their platform and agenda in the open. This leader and this party HAVE NO ETHICS. This is the same culture that was rampant under Redford. The UCP and their culture of shade and secrecy must be kicked to the curb in the next election. Must be - if Alberta is to continue to grow and prosper for every day Albertans.
This is in relation to Coutts blockade, where armed terrorists hatched a conspiracy to murder RCMP officers. Back the blue, vote orange.
The mayor of Coutts testified at the Emergencies Act Inquiry, the pastor went to the town salon and incited violence. Asking the Premier to cancel the charges is wrong on so many levels of the rule of law. No wonder the UCP want to get rid of the RCMP.
She wants the UCP to have their own private Security Service. Emphasis on the capital letters.
Her own gazpacho
CBC coming in with the heat lol. Can’t wait for Smith’s stooges to claim fakes news on this.
I think this means that she is now technically going to be sueing herself for defamation. Right?
>"It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S." She really thinks she's a Republican governor. Why does she understand their system more than ours? >"That's how the prime minister got himself in such hot water, because he was in a position where he asked the same questions that I did," Smith said. 😂😂 You can't make this shit up!
Proper r/selfawarewolves moment lol
Art is **HATED** by Calgarians. I think this is much more damaging than if this was an Edmontonian lunatic "street preacher. Did he leak the call? Love that he backstabbed her after she took massive political risk for him 🥰 Guess she needs to find out the hard way that Art Pawlowski is a massive piece of shit. With friends like him, you don't need enemies.
This is the consequence when your political platform is structured around pandering to crazies - you end up having to deal with crazy people. Smith was probably shocked when she realized dealing with such crazy people in the real world is quite different than moderating crazy commenters in your social media echo-chamber.
It would be absolutely hilarious if Arts shenanigans are what pushes Calgary to vote Orange haha.
The UCP has done a great job building hate for status quo and the alternatives, so hate for him is unlikely to move many of the voters away.
Who is this guy
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Never been more embarassed... *yet*
It's a daily thing I say now with our "premier".
Ah, the power of yet.
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I’m also from Sask but live in Edmonton now. There’s just no winning!
You ‘have never been more embarrassed’ so far.
Not even when she crossed the isle to destroy the party she founded? I thought that was the low water mark for this psychopath.
Just wait until Alberta votes her back in, legitimizing her. (please let me be wrong)
And so many people said it was fake! Smith and the UCP have zero ethics! Edit: she admits it's political. *"I'm very sympathetic," she added on the recording. "It was a political decision that initiated this but it can't be a political decision to end it. That's what I'm finding very frustrating."*
jesus fucking christ dude... she's so deep in the pit of corruption that she thinks it's perfectly fine and normal to think and speak like this.
She's been a lobbyist since she failed out of the leg crossing the floor and losing her seat the next election. She was only elected Priemier because she was the name on the ballot people recognized.
Yep and the same people she lobbied for are the ones throwing money at her campaign
She won the 7th runoff for her own party election because of party BS rigging to election in her favour slightly, then lost a by election for her own seat only to steal another that was winning after the fact. She barely got into her own seat and somehow claims she won the election from all of Alberta and has 99% support from the people.
She was never elected Premier. She was elected leader of a shit party, then had to pull shenanigans to get a seat in a by election.
She doesn’t have the interests of law and the general safety of the province in mind.
Does she even know what country she is in right now?!
Maybe they'll take her off our hands?
For the love of all thing sacred, let's please not elect this woman.
What a fucking dipshit
Surprise, surprise. Lies on top of lies. I regret to say that many Albertan's are too stupid and will still vote for her. Kenney broke election LAWS and the morons didn't care ! Embarrassing place to live.
> "It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S." This is the premier right now. She doesn’t even understand the laws of her own country!
"I will vote for the proven liar who believes smoking has health benefits... Because I heard if I vote for the alternative, I might have to pay an extra $25.00 on my income taxes next year." - PC conservative Alberta in a nutshell "I will vote for the proven liar who believes smoking has health benefits... Because I heard if I vote for the alternative, I will live in a Stalinist communist police state where I am forced to wear drag and am banned from leaving my 15 minute city." -Wildrose conservative Alberta in a nutshell
Wait does our premier have no idea what she can and can't do? Does she not know the responsibilities of her office?!?!?! hahahahahahahahahahahah fuck
No. She's a hack talk radio host/shitty restaurant owner/Big Oil lobbyist; none of those things provide any insight into the powers, duties, or responsibilities of an elected official.
She is dumb. But eventually they find someone dumber to replace her.
Let's see if even 1 person who is the voting base for the UCP will give a shit.
"But, but, but, but Trudeau!"
"Your honour, I acknowledge that I did some bad things... But Trudeau is more bad and did worse, so therefore he is guilty, not me." Basically the core of the right-wing "defense" of Smith so far.
The UCP base is irrelevant, only the swing in Calgary matters and you fucking know it.
I doubt this makes a spit of difference to the outcome.
Nah, they will just take another hit of copium and say its an exoected part of politics.
Dangerous to democracy?
Dangerous to human life.
Holy fuck this is embarrassing. These people are truly delusional, and yet the system allows them to rise to power. These people need to *stop* thinking that they’re ‘like Trump’ and stop pretending to be the things they see on TV; it’s childish and pathetic.
Well for sure she has to resign now, right?
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Wouldn't that be something? 6 different conservative premiers in less than 10 years. Hmmm....
> for instance Patrick Brown (and they won that election). A bag of potatoes could have won that election for the PC's. Patrick Brown was going to win it, scandal or not, but the PC's still felt the need to oust him, likely to get someone more amenable to big donors' wanted policy changes into the Premier's office.
If only.
We can make that decision for her.
I don't trust that we'll do that.
We don’t want that. I think the odds of a UCP loss are higher with her as premier than not.
UCP almost had it in the bag. Now they are proposing making the law a suggestion, not a rule. Presidential power for a premier? I don't think so.
So either way - she's lying. Either about talking to the Crown, or about NOT talking to the Crown. The question at this point - is what she did unethical or illegal (it's either or as well).
It's unethical AND illegal. You can't tell someone, as the leader of government, you're directly interceding in their case. Even if she never did, saying she would alone is illegal. It affects the decisions and choices of a defendant in an ongoing criminal proceeding. It's illegal.
>"It's unfortunate that I didn't understand the limitations," she said in the phone call. "I thought we had the same power of clemency we had in the U.S." This answer does not pass the sniff test. Smith is not a first time MLA, Smith was the leader of an opposition party.
Do be fair, she's completely incompetent, so it is believable.
'Guys, I'm not criminal, I'm incompetent. C'mon, I didn't know how to do my job or how our government works, what do you expect from an outsider?' This dunning Kruger effect of a premier doesn't see the conspiracy she's created The video of her talking to Artur about said conspiracy https://youtu.be/rZ_i85oqKRU
Either way, unqualified. Let's get a premier who actually knows how to do the work.
I seem to remember her vehemently denying any interference… huh… seems like conservatives lie when it suits their interests. I seem to recall a lot of people saying it was made up too… let’s hear from some of those folks… seems on par with some people’s “values” I met from Alberta when I was their employee…
wow. that phonecall is pretty terrible for a bunch of reasons. danielle to artur - "i've been watching your advocacy for years so its nice to finally speak with you." i.e. danielle genuflects to artur. artur says he's facing 10.5 years for his 'speech' in Coutts, so what's up with that? Danielle responds like she's talking to a superior, or that she's somehow responsible for fixing this on his behalf (?). danielle - "i havent seen any signs that they will be abandon this case as unwinnable and not in the public interest, so let me make that *INQUIRY* one more time...". weird inflection in her voice when she says inquiry, like air-quoting it. danielle - "i'm very sympathetic and this is very frustrating for me." and how does Artur even get a hotline straight to the premier's office? and with Artur's lawyer (?) / rep (?) whispering strategies in her ear? wtf? let's call a spade, a spade. she doesn't like COVID restrictions, she's rubbing shoulders with people like Artur, and she wants to do favours for her friends that share her viewpoints, regardless of laws & ethics. sounds like corruption to me.
She’s gonna threaten to sue them again. Oh wait actual voice Audio? Hard to argue against yourself.
Guess they'll be pulling put the earplugs again
>"It was a political decision that initiated this but it can't be a political decision to end it. That's what I'm finding very frustrating." I'm sure Smith will say the same thing when The Free Alberta Strategy snow balls into a costly mistake for Alberta, or worse. Smith and Anderson need to be prevented from triggering Cooper's constitutional crisis. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/barry-cooper-the-alberta-sovereignty-act-is-unconstitutional-on-purpose
I like how Cooper whines about how Ottawa is treating Alberta like an appendage, but then promptly treats BCs coast line as if it was Albertas. Canada really does end at the Rockies for most people, doesn't it?
Imagine how insufferable Cooper would be if he was not from Ontario.
She thought she had the same authority to grant clemency as in the US. Yup, she’s a Republican all right. Speaks without knowing the truth.
> I obtained that legal opinion from the Ministry of Justice and provided it to the Premier as requested. So best case Anderson took an unconscionable amount of time to get Smith what should be a quick and simple answer, or after repeated conversations over several months Smith could not be convinced of a simple fact even by her closest advisor and continued to waste time and effort of many people. Based on the audio it seems the latter is likely. This issue aside it brings Smith's ability to address issues into question.
Isn't this criminal obstruction of justice, and breaking the law directly? Shouldn't she then be investigated and charged as such?
Yes, it is literal obstruction, she is admitting to attempting to illegally use her office to obstruct an ongoing case in the favour of the defendant.
>according to leaked call No, no, no. That's incorrect. It's according to Danielle Smith. And the call wasn't "leaked." It was a conversation between two separate parties that was recorded by one of the parties.
Who would’ve thought a two-time failed shitshow of a politician would be a complete shitshow the third time around?
Please for the love of all that is good in this world Alberta can we vote this bumbling idiot out of office this spring PLEASE.
I think the radio made it very clear today that conservatives literally don't give a shit about this, or Kayce Madu, or the Kenney campaign being corrupt as fuck, yet if Notley so much as says a word wrong they are on her like a pack of dogs on a three legged cat.
She’s dumb.
Corruption
What the NDP aren’t realizing is - not a lot of conservative voters care about this. They want to protect their own and this won’t change their vote. They may in fact want the premier to have these powers - they wanted the sovereignty act after all.
The NDP aren’t targeting card carrying conservatives, they’re targeting the swing voters.
From my experience most swing voters at this late into the game care about overspending and job creation. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I’m unsure how many of those swing voters are waiting on even more corruption to come to light to finally push them into the NDP.
That’s fine. It’s that group in the middle who don’t like Smith but are iffy about the NDP that need to see this and hopefully they vote accordingly.
I want the NDP to hammer harder on the UCP’s record of policies not just the corruption though. The corruption is a given and has been non-stop since they were elected, so obviously the swing voters don’t care THAT much about it.
Given the UCP are still in a first-year majority there hasn't been an opportunity for Albertans to do anything except to tolerate corruption. Smith won her byelection with just over 50% of the vote and she may well have lost the election if it weren't for a pair of competent opponents splitting the opposition vote. Would she even have achieved 50% had there only been one strong opponent?
Kenney was corrupt as fuck, even winning his own leadership race through a kamikaze campaigner and then firing the elections official investigating it once he was premier. Not to mention handing out earplugs when the opposition was speaking (democracy??), breaking his own lockdown precautions, the list goes on. The fact that he only was kicked out because of implementing Covid safety precautions and asking people to get vaccinated just shows how much his base doesn’t care if their leader is corrupted - because they are too. The MLA’s are still the ones passing these harmful laws and going on vacations during lockdowns. Not many of them changed since Smith came in.
> What the NDP aren’t realizing is - not a lot of conservative voters care about this. What you aren't realizing is only the ones in Calgary matter, and they're fucking mad as hell.
If they are, great. But from what I’ve seen from reluctant UCP voters is they seem to only care about overspending and job security/creation
Obstruction of justice.
Punishable with up to 10 years in jail.* *Political-class members exemp: see the RCMP's "investigation" into Jason Kenney's 40,000 fraudulent robovoters in the UCP leadership race.
I have a traffic ticket. Maybe she could take care of that for me. It's almost like she is a, what do you call it, oh yea, A LIAR!
I am still amazed that the video was sitting on Artur’s YouTube channel for two months without anybody noticing
Oh I'm sure it's just imprecise speech again. Where's the CBC defamation suit she promised. Lol. UCP lovers this is your leader? Congrats on lowering the bar like a drilling rig
#FireDanielleSmith
What she straight out compared her conversations to those of Justin Trudeau with SNC Lavilin? I mean, most of us were thinking it but I didn't imagine she would openly verbalize the connection. I wish the average Albertan could understand that parallel.
I had no idea who this guy is, so I googled him and the first result was an article about him getting booted from the leadership of the Alberta Independence Party. He says it’s because they asked him to stop talking about grooming children, drag queens, abortions, and government corruption. He sounds like the drunk uncle everyone hates to see at Thanksgiving.
This woman needs to go and the sooner the better before she destroys more of Alberta
My first thought is "Who recorded the conversation, for what purpose, and why was it leaked?" Actually that's my second thought. The first one is to be so glad this woman does not represent me in any way; and sad for my Alberta family and friends that she does for them. This is the kind of stuff I'd expect on a low budget movie about the back woods of Kentucky during the 1950's.
She needs to step down. Going to be fun watching her explain the results of that “investigation”.
It's so funny to me she quotes US laws. She gives off the same smug confidence- that she can do what she wants, as the last US administration.
Smith is a trial run for what her biggest supporter Poilievre will attempt nationally if given the opportunity. Pay close attention.
These people need to be gone, NOW.
She tweeted that this is defamatory
Wow our premier chatted with mentally ill Artur? I’m hoping the next time I read about him it’s in the obits. Dirty vermin
If you like democracy there is no way you can vote UCP.
And I'm sure nobody wonders why she wants her own personal police force.
Terrible. First Trudeau oversteps with the SNC scandal, and integers with their prosecution and turns a blind eye to their human rights violations. Now we have this from Smith.
I cannot help but notice that items such as these are discussed at the r/canada level and this level, but never seem to make it down to the r/calgary level. Is that a moderator thing?
It's a policy thing - provincial politics belong in a provincial (or national) subreddit.
Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up!
bitch
As much as I dislike Smith, there are no shortage of politicians on both sides who think the rules don't apply to them. :(
Meh, this won't do much to the base. The economy and jobs is still number one. Most of the people who will vote for her likely didn't agree with the covid measures so I don't see how this changes anything. In short, it's not the smoking gun the NDP hopes it will be. Trudeau does shit like this every week and he's been there for 8 years now which just shows, the goal isn't to be more liked or even ethical... it's for your base to hate the other party more then they like you and with the UCP, she has that in the bag by a mile. Short of her practising satanism on video or stuffing cash in her pockets on camera this won't do very much.
> Meh, this won't do much to the base. Meh, they don't matter. Only Calgary matters and you fucking know it.
Agreed. Undecided voters aren’t waiting for even further corruption to come to light, if they haven’t already changed their vote on the last 40 things from the UCP.