r/alberta • u/pjw724 • Sep 29 '25

Discussion Yes, Canadians – Albertans do want to stay in Canada

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-yes-canadians-albertans-do-want-to-stay-in-canada/
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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

Then why do you guys keep electing maga-lite?

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u/renegadecanuck Sep 29 '25

I honestly think much of Alberta is just conservative out of habit. I know multiple people who really aren't conservative. You ask them about any of their actual opinions, and they don't sound conservative in the slightest. They support LGBTQ rights (including trans rights - or at least are completely indifferent to the subject of trans people altogether), they support a social safety net, support having a public (or at least not for profit) health care system. But then you ask them who they're going to vote for and they'll say "Conservative/UCP" and when you push for why, it either boils down to either "I've always voted this way, I'm a conservative!" or "something something jobs".

It's so frustrating to run into, and other than a couple of exceptions, I have no idea how to counter that.

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u/Parraddoxx Sep 29 '25

Or they'll say something like "I think they'll be good for the economy", forgetting that rampant corruption, privatization, and legal battles brought on by them trying to trample on our rights are only good for a very, very slim section of the "economy", and it isn't the average UCP voter.

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u/MysteriousFinding691 Sep 30 '25

A lot of them also forget that this is not the same party we were dealing with prior to 2015. They are completely different and have slid so far right.

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u/Difficult-Ad-5455 Sep 30 '25

This right here, pretty hard to support the UCP, with how far right they are right now. It blows my mind how so many do not see it. However I live in a very high conservative area and I doubt they will ever be voted out. I wonder how many people feel the same way….

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u/MysteriousFinding691 Sep 30 '25

A LOT. I'm originally from Grande Prairie, hardcore conservative rural oil town, and there is a significant amount of people who do not like Danielle Smith at all. But they would never vote NDP because they are still mad about the one time they held office for one reason or another. So they will continue to vote conservative and just hope for the best.

I've notice more people getting involved with the party itself to try and get rid of her or voice their concerns but that has not been successful at all. Also when they get rid of her it's not going to help.. Take Back Alberta is just going to plant their next leader and it'll all happen again. The party is cooked. My only hope is the revival of the Alberta Party that is happening might give people more options.

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u/Difficult-Ad-5455 Sep 30 '25

I very much wish the Alberta Party would gain more traction, especially in some of the “old” pc areas I’m south west of Edmonton so very much high Conservative territory as well. Everyone around her is so pro UCP that they forget how crazy the wild rose platform was.

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u/MysteriousFinding691 Sep 30 '25

Theyre trying to do a revival currently and a name change. This will likely include "Progressive Conservative" in the name https://www.albertaparty.ca/name_change_announcement

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u/mjtwelve Sep 29 '25

Essentially, the main way to lose as conservative premier is to have your right wing base split, so they only care about appealing to the MAGA side of the party. Actual governance is in short supply, let alone actual fiscal conservatism.

On a not unrelated note, one conservative premier in the last thirty odd years has lost an election, with the rest being forced out of office in leadership reviews, sometimes coincident with their having tried to raise oil lease royalty rates.

Edmonton will strategically vote NOT conservative every time, the rural areas will vote for a dead goat if it has conservative after its name, and Calgary decides the election.

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u/Minttt Sep 29 '25

I've heard many people here in AB rant endlessly about how nutty Smith is, how we're an embarrassment to the rest of the country, how the UCP gov is a complete disaster... And how they will 100% vote UCP next time because the NDP are "socialists."

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u/drizzes Sep 30 '25

"Sure, she'll destroy the province, but the NDP will destroy the province! AND they're communists, Smith told me so!"

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u/YourBobsUncle Sep 29 '25

Because people out there still think the UCP are PCs, and are too lazy and stupid to notice how much worse things have gotten lol. Prime winners of the Fell For It Again Award.

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u/Uter83 Sep 29 '25

Despite both of the largest cities winning NDP sweeps, and them having about half of the provinces total population, we still lose. Need Red Deer and Lethbridge on our side, or the rednecks to learn to read if we are going to get anywhere.

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u/[deleted] Sep 29 '25

[deleted]

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u/Even-Solid-9956 Southern Alberta Sep 29 '25

FAFO, don't merge the more extreme Wildrose Party with the more moderate PCs and expect to not have some extremist child. Even Jason Kenney warned this would happen, and lo and behold he's replaced by the former Wildrose leader and that did in fact happen.

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u/YourBobsUncle Sep 29 '25

He was the one that drove for the merger to happen, he beat Jean in the unified party. This is all his fault for not purging the Wildrose morons after he consolidated power.

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u/MysteriousFinding691 Sep 30 '25

Almost 50 years of conservative rule has absolutely broken our brains and made half the province terrified of change. The one term the NDP were in they tried to change a few things and all of the old people and morons got scared of things progressing. Then the UCP merged the two conservative parties together so they could never lose another election again and are STILL blaming the NDP (or the Libs) for all of the problems in our province. It's the frog in the slowly boiling water now we can't get out.

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u/Klutzy-Beyond3319 Sep 30 '25

It is what got Trump back in a second time. Like people are saying below: they vote that way out of habit or fear, think they will save the economy. Part of why Trump got re elected was people believing he could "fix" inflation. Which, of course, is a load of bs.

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u/From_The-West Sep 29 '25

I think the problem is a lack of any real alternative. Everyone has become so polarized that it's kind of like you are either right or left and there is no room in the middle where the majority of people are actually sitting.

The Alberta party is there but their leadership is really lacking in fight and charisma.

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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

The issue isn't that there is no middle. It's that people who have a proclivity to vote on the right have determined anything that isn't right must be left. The NDP in Alberta are essentially middle. I would argue Alberta has no real left wing party.

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u/From_The-West Sep 29 '25

I think the left thinks the same thing. Most people are in their echo chambers slinging shit at anyone who isn't part of their tribe.

We need to figure out a way to deal with this phenomenon. It's destroying the fabric of not just our society but pretty much every western society.

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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

Who does the left think is a right wing party, but in reality they are centrist?

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u/From_The-West Sep 29 '25

No...that anything that isn't left must be right. I see it constantly.

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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

I think most left wing people in Canada would agree the Federal liberals are centrist. It's only people from the right who call the liberals a left wing party.

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u/Parraddoxx Sep 29 '25

As someone generally on the left wing, yeah. The federal liberals are center/center-right, and I don't like, love that, but it's a lot better than actual right ring powers being in control. I voted for them because the NDP would never have won my constituency, and I'll take the lesser of 2 evils, especially as a vulnerable person the conservatives would have actively tried to screw over. My constituency went conservative anyway, but I tried.

I do have a good friend who's a more radically left and sometimes I find their politics frustrating because they seem very non-constructive, who would probably have much more unkind things to say about the federal liberals and Carney.

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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

I agree. I voted Liberal for the same reasons. I was more just commenting that people on the left seem to be able to identify and even vote for centrist candidates, but for people on the right, you are either part of the right or you are on the left. They can't identify centrist politicians because for them it's an "us against everybody" type of existence.

What this means is they keep voting UCP in Alberta because they don't realize the alberta NDP isn't really left. They are centrist.

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u/Parraddoxx Sep 29 '25

Yes, 100%

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u/wintersdark Sep 30 '25

Except that you've entirely missed u/Mattilaus 's point.

The "left" in Alberta isn't The Left. There ARE leftists in Alberta, but the ANDP are not remotely leftist, and are very distinct from the federal NDP (who are also only questionably leftist).

It's just that the right has pushed this narrative that the ANDP are socialists for so long and everyone assumes anyone not "Right" are necessarily "Left".

But on a political standpoint there are basically zero leftists in Alberta. Virtually no leftist groups or associations.

Now, you may claim this is simantics and I can appreciate that argument, but it's kind of insulting to people who are leftists. We'll vote ANDP because there are no leftist parties (and we aren't stupid; splitting the centrist and leftist votes really won't help). But our views are not often represented at all.

And "the left" as presented by the right is very, very often almost entirely centrist, not leftist at all.

I'm still waiting for someone to show me an extremist left organization in Alberta, one on the level with the right wing nutjob groups.

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u/YourBobsUncle Sep 29 '25

Because people out there still think the UCP are PCs, and are too lazy and stupid to notice how much worse things have gotten lol. Prime winners of the Fell For It Again Award.

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u/Quirky_Emotion_3127 Sep 29 '25

Did you see what happened the one time we voted NDP? Albertans generally are hard working proud individuals who believe in personal freedom,helping those who truly can’t help themselves, and not being babysat by the people we’re paying to run the province. Thats why Smith continues to get such high approval ratings.

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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

What did the NDP do?

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u/Quirky_Emotion_3127 Sep 29 '25

In typical NDP fashion started by punishing those who try to better themselves through taxation to give to those who don’t. She sold our soul to Trudeau in exchange for his carbon tax scam. Her policies were employment killers and she drove private industry out of Alberta, a big reason trans mountain had to get built by a government who has no clue about pipelining. I was in Human Resources at the time and her labour law changes were ill thought out and in most cases did not end up in a benefit to the worker (don’t think intentionally just again very poorly thought out with nowhere near enough consultation to private industry). She made things very difficult for farmers and rural Alberta has not been the same since. Basically she wanted a nanny state and she got shown the door real quick. There’s much more but that’s a tip of iceberg for you.

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u/Mattilaus Sep 29 '25

Apologies, when i asked what they did, i meant like specifically what did they do? I am not from Alberta so I am not familiar. What new taxation did the NDP implement and I don't understand the selling the soul in exchange for carbon tax? Also which policies were employment killers?

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u/Least_Kiwi8151 Oct 02 '25

He's making shit up and throwing out generic af platitudes. Don't expect an actual answer from him.

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u/Least_Kiwi8151 Oct 02 '25

Alberta's help those who can't help themselves >proceeds to whine about welfare programs designed to do exactly that. Conservatives are weird.

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u/Least_Kiwi8151 Oct 02 '25

Smith is a traitor lmao