[DrCaleb]

Thanos Thanos:

No. Go out and vote. And select the options that Kenney and the UCP are against. Put another massive checkmark in his Loss column to send him and that ratfucker party of his a loud and clear message.

Those votes will be counted as votes.

If you return the ballot in protest, it will be counted differently. I for one object to being forced to vote for Senators without knowing anything about the people. They didn't campaign, last time there was no information about them beforehand. We didn't even know we were voting for Senators. I want to be an informed voter, and not be forced to check a box beside a name based soley on what I think of that name.

If you vote for them, then you voted. If you return the ballot in protest, it sends the message that this is an undemocratic election.

[bootlegga]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

$1:

Ousted Alberta MLA Pat Rehn invited back into UCP fold

Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pat Rehn has been invited back into Alberta's United Conservative Party caucus five months after he was kicked out for being absent from his constituency.

Caucus chair Nathan Neudorf announced the decision in a press release Wednesday.

"Since his removal from caucus, Rehn has worked tirelessly to rebuild trust with local families, businesses, elected officials and Indigenous leaders," Neudorf said in the release.

"[Rehn] has been doing an incredible amount of work to rebuild trust and get things done in his constituency."

Neudorf said the UCP received letters from several municipalities and the Lesser Slave Lake Constituency Association, requesting Rehn be allowed to rejoin caucus.

When CBC News asked for the letters, UCP caucus spokesperson Tim Gerwing sent a list of individuals who supported the decision.

The list includes reeves, councillors and local businesspeople but no municipalities as a whole.

Slave Lake Mayor Tyler Warman said neither he nor his council was consulted about the decision. They did not send a letter of endorsement.

"We found out just the same time as everybody else did," Warman said. "And so, a little bit of shock for sure, a little bit of puzzlement."

Warman had called for Rehn's resignation in January, saying Rehn was absent for meetings with local leaders and UCP cabinet ministers about important regional issues.

Rehn has been sitting as an independent MLA since Premier Jason Kenney kicked him out of caucus in January for frequently being absent from his constituency.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.6103088



But the trip to Mexico during lockdown . . . we won't mention that.

Rumour has it that Rehn was also talking with Loewen and Barnes, and if all three switched to WIP or something else, they would be only one MLA from official party status, which the UCP cannot allow.

[bootlegga]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Thanos Thanos:

No. Go out and vote. And select the options that Kenney and the UCP are against. Put another massive checkmark in his Loss column to send him and that ratfucker party of his a loud and clear message.

Those votes will be counted as votes.

If you return the ballot in protest, it will be counted differently. I for one object to being forced to vote for Senators without knowing anything about the people. They didn't campaign, last time there was no information about them beforehand. We didn't even know we were voting for Senators. I want to be an informed voter, and not be forced to check a box beside a name based soley on what I think of that name.

If you vote for them, then you voted. If you return the ballot in protest, it sends the message that this is an undemocratic election.

I have to admit I'm torn on which path to take, spoiling the ballot or voting against everything the UCP wants.

[DrCaleb]

bootlegga bootlegga:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Thanos Thanos:

No. Go out and vote. And select the options that Kenney and the UCP are against. Put another massive checkmark in his Loss column to send him and that ratfucker party of his a loud and clear message.

Those votes will be counted as votes.

If you return the ballot in protest, it will be counted differently. I for one object to being forced to vote for Senators without knowing anything about the people. They didn't campaign, last time there was no information about them beforehand. We didn't even know we were voting for Senators. I want to be an informed voter, and not be forced to check a box beside a name based soley on what I think of that name.

If you vote for them, then you voted. If you return the ballot in protest, it sends the message that this is an undemocratic election.

I have to admit I'm torn on which path to take, spoiling the ballot or voting against everything the UCP wants.

Just to clarify - a protested ballot is not 'spoiled'.

$1:

Declining to vote 107.1(1) If a person returns the person’s ballot indicating that the person does not wish to mark the ballot, the deputy returning officer shall immediately write the word “declined” on the ballot and place it in the required envelope to be sent to the returning officer. (2) A person who returns a ballot under subsection (1) (a) forfeits the right to vote in the election, and (b) shall forthwith leave the polling place. (3) If a person declines to vote, the poll clerk shall annotate the poll book accordingly.

https://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/E01.pdf

[fifeboy]

I’ve said this before, but now I say it again. NONE OF THE ABOVE should be an option on every ballot in every election. If NOTA is first past the post than there should be a by election in that Riding. With all new candidates!

[DrCaleb]

With the rate at which people vote, I bet NOTA always wins if they showed up.

[Thanos]

See, I love referendum voting. I figure it's the best way to fuck over the existing government, given that the MLAs/MPs all turn out to be a bunch of quiffs who won't say boo to the boss even if their lives depended on it. Giving the government a big FU in the form of a referendum vote going against what they want sends a huge message to them. Let that equalization vote be approved by some paltry margin like 51-49 and Kenney can hardly run amok with his "the people have spoken!" bullshit routine. He couldn't, not when a vote like that would show that half the voting population is deadset against what he wants and obviously really mad at him in general.

For a political animal Kenney's turned out to be a real dope. The smart play would have been to wait until next year for any referendum because he conceivably would do much better with COVID at least one year in the rearview mirror. Doing it this fall is just foolish, especially when the summer super-spreader events like Stampede and the too-early lifting of restrictions are just going to turn Alberta into an embarrassment by September, just like Florida. Seriously, for a guy who's been doing this as his only career in his entire weasel-like life Kenney sure seems able at doing the wrong thing at the worst moment possible. That collection of alt-right little shits with their communications and poli-sci degrees whom he surrounds himself with are hardly worth the salaries the sucker Alberta taxpayers pay them if this is the sort of advice they fill his fan-boy little noggin with.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Alberta towns, cities feel squeeze from plunging provincial grants

The mayor of Hanna, Alta., doesn't mince words when asked to describe the impact of the UCP government's funding cuts on towns and cities across Alberta.

"It's the arrogance of it," said Mayor Chris Warwick.

"The biggest thing is everybody needs to pay their fair share."

Warwick says his community of 2,600 people will lose $38,000 this year after the province's full 50 per cent cut to the amount of money it pays in lieu of property taxes on provincial buildings kicks in.

It may not sound like much, but Hanna's total operating budget is just $6 million. So losing nearly $40,000 will be felt.

The impact of the cuts to the Grants in Place of Taxes (GiPOT) program adds up to $30 million a year for approximately 170 communities. The cuts were announced in the UCP government's first budget, in 2019. The reduction was phased in, but the full impact is now being felt.

Calgary alone stands to lose $2.5 million this year — and another $900,000 next year.

Municipalities can't run deficits, so they face tough choices: cut services, increase taxes or both.

In Hanna, about 200 kilometres northeast of Calgary, the municipality will defer some maintenance and infrastructure projects by a couple of years.

"You really start picking and choosing the worst project... the infrastructure with the most amount of wear and tear, and try to repair that stuff instead of actually fixing it the way it should be," Warwick said.

The payment is meant to cover the costs of services that municipalities provide to provincial buildings and facilities, which are exempt from property tax.

There are approximately 6,600 Crown properties in 170 communities in Alberta. Calgary is home to 107 of those facilities.

The UCP government slashed funding in the first year by 24 per cent and another 32 per cent in the 2020-21 fiscal year, according to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA).

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.6105843


Alberta Municipalities want a 'Fair Deal'.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Alberta government brings back 8 curriculum advisers to work on higher grades

Eight advisers who helped craft Alberta's controversial new elementary school curriculum drafts are back to work on the higher grades, CBC News has learned.

The provincial government initially refused to disclose which "subject matter experts" were contracted to provide advice on the development of a new junior high and high school curriculum.

A list, obtained by a freedom of information request, shows eight prior elementary curriculum advisers were hired for work on the upper grades as of March 29 — the day the elementary drafts were publicly released.

Each will do a maximum of 40 days work on the curriculum until Aug. 31, and be paid $400 a day for their efforts, according to the information released.

None are yet identified as providing expertise from Indigenous or Black perspectives.

"The current list of subject matter experts is not final, and more areas of expertise will of course be added as the work progresses," said Eliza Snider, acting press secretary to Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, in an email.

She would not say whether the government has hired additional advisers since May, when the freedom of information request was filed.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.6106701



Let's keep doing the same thing, and hoping for a different outcome.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Public health experts concerned by Alberta premier's claim that pandemic is over

'This idea that the pandemic is over … it's just wrong, scientifically,' says one expert

A maskless Premier Jason Kenney shakes hands, embraces Calgary Stampede visitors and stands shoulder-to-shoulder for photo-ops in a video posted to his social media pages on Sunday.

"Such a joy to connect with Albertans during Canada's first major event after the pandemic," the caption reads.

His choice of phrasing — "after the pandemic" — worries health experts who say it falsely implies the coronavirus is no longer a cause for concern.

"I'm worried about the degree to which this video really invites a complete return to normal … this idea that the pandemic is over, it's gone away, we don't have to worry about anything is just wrong. It's just wrong scientifically," said Timothy Caulfield, the Canada Research Chair in health, law and policy at the University of Alberta.

In recent weeks, Alberta's COVID-19 R-value and positivity rate have risen. On Thursday, the province reported an increase in active cases for the first time since May.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.6108920

[llama66]

Don't worry, Kenney assured Albertans that everything is fine. Surely the Pandemic won't reappear just because we had the Stampede.

[DrCaleb]

Alberta urged to reconsider cutting off hundreds of young adults from financial support

[Thanos]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Alberta urged to reconsider cutting off hundreds of young adults from financial support

"An opportunity to hurt someone? Oh boy, count me in!" - every single member of the UCP.

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Alberta urged to reconsider cutting off hundreds of young adults from financial support

Those young adults won't vote for him, whether they get the support or not. So screw them, right?

[Thanos]

Pretty much. It's good messaging to his base too, like the rural areas that wouldn't survive without farm subsidies and government-paid crop insurance, that MOOCHERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!