SAINTS PRESERVE US

Madam Premier, Stifle!

Alberta’s legislature is closed for the summer. The damage wrought during its last session, Bill 1, the Sovereign Alberta Within a United Canada Act aside, has been surprisingly minor. This because a provincial election is mandated for May 29. Of equal note is the governing United Conservative Party (UCP) is still getting its feet-in-mouth wet with recently selected Premier Danielle Smith’s leadership style.

The party over the weekend announced that from now until the formation of Alberta’s next government Premier Smith will only answer single questions from reporters at news conferences. So, no secondary queries for clarification or coherency. One and done and that’s it for the rest of the premier’s media availability. But wait! There’s more! The cone of silence doesn’t just apply to individual reporters; it also blankets the news organizations they work for. So, a newspaper’s beat reporter will stifle her newsroom colleague, the political columnist, or vice versa. The party’s rationale for these restrictions is that more time will be allowed for Madam Premier to answer more questions from more people.

My premier, the Banshee of Invermectin, is a twice-failed political opportunist (the UCP is her third party) who believes democracy is being eroded by a mysterious deep state of progressive elites. Transparency is paramount! No more questions, please. My premier’s comprehension of Canadian law is based on her understanding of the Constitution of the United States of America as interpreted by Fox News and network legal dramas shot in Burbank, CA. No more questions, please. My premier believes that since Alberta joined the Canadian federation in 1905, most Albertans, especially anti-vaxxers, have been treated no better than Red Indians by Ottawa. No more questions, please. My premier obfuscates and admits to habitually using “imprecise language” because she doesn’t know what she’s on about half the time. No more questions, please.

“Please, God, stifle, please!” This is the mantra of the Banshee’s rainmakers as Alberta grinds into an election cycle. This could be an inadvertently suicidal strategy. The gaffes will come because they already have with alarming regularity; it’s too late to stop now. But now no respectful, diligent reporter will have the opportunity to ask this crucial follow-up: “Madam Premier, just to confirm what you’ve just said…”

This year’s election is going to be close. There are two campaign dynamics at play. One is a hangover from different days, rural Alberta versus urban Alberta. The province’s major cities are demographically youthful and vibrant places complete with the morass of social problems that accompany rapid population growth. Sparsely populated rural ridings now punch above their weight. Novelist Mordecai Richler, always acerbic, memorably described Edmonton as “Canada’s boiler room.” This is the second dynamic, blue collar “Redmonton” versus pinstripe Calgary. Once the Banshee drops the writ and hits the hustings, she knows she won’t have to stump the lunatic fringe, they’re out there in the weeds and in the bag. The question is whether corporate Calgary will decide if leaving an unsophisticated populist in charge is good for business.

Current polling and commentary suggests the election outcome will hinge on Calgary. Calgarians have noted that two of the UCP’s moderate voices have chosen to stand down from reelection. Travis Toews has overseen Alberta’s finances since the UCP’s first day in power. Sonya Savage has headed both the energy and environment portfolios. Savage also served temporarily as attorney general and minister of justice after her predecessor Kaycee Madu tried to fix a traffic ticket – as you do. Madu, who found the infamous Freedom Convoy movement all rather liberating, is the Banshee’s deputy premier.

This Just In

I wrote this blog entry yesterday (Tuesday) morning. Generally, I let the prose percolate overnight before posting. It’s said 24 hours is an eternity in politics. Man, things can waffle in a hurry.

The CBC ran this Canadian Press headline yesterday evening: “Alberta premier rolls back part of government’s media question restriction policy.”

A quote from Smith’s office I lifted from the story: “To be clear, individual journalists, not outlets, are welcome to ask the premier one question so she is able to respond to as many journalists as possible in the allotted time.”

To be clear, this sort of backtracking, this gaffe gold, is typical of the Banshee of Invermectin and her amateurish administration.  

meGeoff has been your most unreliable, unbalanced and inaccurate alternative source political punditry since 2013. The novella Of Course You Did is my latest book. Visit www.megeoff.com for links to purchase it in your preferred format from various retailers.