Sunday, July 19, 2009

Alberta Needs To Wake Up!

We are sleeping through a recession, and no one seems to care. My husband has taken a 5% decrease in wages and he now works only 4 days a week. Our provincial government is doing nothing to help Albertans. They are so out of touch with us they think they are Liberals, and can lie to get us to vote for them again.

Wake up Alberta, your government is out of control. BC and Saskatchewan are doing great, meanwhile Alberta is swamped by their own deficit. Where's Ralph? The stupid backstreet boys thought it was time for Ralph to go and look what we got....StewedMack. How is our province doing? Deficits you say?? How could that happen? Fine, oil prices were down for a bit, but they were up to $140 and yet we are in a deficit?? I am tired of these fake Conservatives running our province into debt because they think we are going to keep electing them.

If you dare stand up for your constituents, watch out, you might get booted.

An Alberta Tory MLA and former provincial cabinet minister has been kicked out of the government caucus after he criticized funding delays for a long-term care facility in his constituency.

Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo member Guy Boutilier was asked to leave Friday evening after a meeting with Premier Ed Stelmach over his public complaints, said the premier's spokesman.

"It was clear to the premier that the MLA is not prepared to support government policy," Paul Stanway said yesterday.

"(Boutilier has) been removed from the Treasury Board and he's been told he's no longer welcome in the government caucus."

Last week, Boutilier spoke out against a government decision to delay building a long-term care facility in the oilsands boomtown of Fort McMurray that was approved 18 months ago. Health Minister Ron Liepert said the construction would be put off for four years.

These guys are idiots and they have gotten too sure of their reelection. It is time to move our votes towards another right wing party.


I will never vote Liberal, Green or NDP, that leaves Wildrose Alliance. So far I am not impressed with them either. Get a recognized leader, like Preston or Ezra, then you might have a chance. Persuade Boutilier to join Wildrose, that would be a huge boost to your cause. He might be a good leader. Get some ads going, get recognized, get some good people to run in the next election. I might support Wildrose, but not with the current leadership candidates.

Right now Alberta needs a strong leader, and no party has one.

22 comments:

Southern Quebec said...

If he went from working 5 days a week to 4, wouldn't that be a 20% decrease?

West Coast Teddi said...

Haven't followed Wildrose very much but there was an interesting news article during Stampede about all the WR supporters showing up at the Harper BBQ and Eddie staying away. They sure seem to be generating some interest.

Who are the leadership candidates and is there going to be a "convention" soon?

Anonymous said...

SQ - it's a 20% decrease in time worked. The pay rate may have been adjusted. Why do you always have to be so annoying?

Hunter - if you want to block this person, I don't think anybody would mind.

Anonymous said...

Hunter - It must be such a come-down to go from Klein to Stelmach. Love him or hate him, Klein was no slouch but Stelmach is such a Milquetoast.

Robert McClelland said...

Our provincial government is doing nothing to help Albertans.

Isn't that conservatism in action?

The Mound of Sound said...

Your Old Man should see if he can swing the same deal for the other four days - no work, 75% salary. Sweet deal. Why settle for 95% pay and mandatory 3-day weekends? Who would want that?

Too bad you folks didn't listen to Peter Lougheed. Klein pissed your oil wealth away and Special Ed kept that tradition alive. Lougheed was telling anyone who would listen what Alberta needed - and he was right.

Southern Quebec said...

"My husband has taken a 5% decrease in wages and he now works only 4 days a week."

East: If some goes from 5 to 4 days a week, with only a 5% decrease in wages, this is the deal of the century! Working 20% less hours but only a 5% decrease in salary -- not possible.

Anyway, aren't the Conservatives always saying that there are a lot of jobs out there if people Just.Want.To.Work! Go look Mr. Hunter!

hunter said...

SQ, 5% reduction AND now works only 4 days a week. The company has just qualified for work sharing, so he will get some EI benefits. Funny how the offices in Quebec and BC qualified much quicker (May) for the work sharing than the Alberta offices (July).

Yes Mr. Hunter could look for another job, but he has been with this company for 15 years and likes what he does. Luckily I work and so we can handle this reduction in income.

Gayle said...

East - I am not sure why you are so impressed with Klein. It is not like he put the oil in the ground. He did seem to enjoy the perks of being premier, including tax payer funded private jet excursions to private fishing lodges.

Anyway, this is an interesting article. Lougheed certainly does not seem to think much of the way Klein handled our economy:

"But memories are short. The long, laissez-faire rule of Ralph Klein has obscured the Lougheed record: Lougheed led a version of the Conservative party that embraced state planning of the economy. Indeed, the oil sands were seeded by the Lougheed government's 50% investment in the Syncrude project. It is no accident that Lougheed started speaking up as the Klein era appeared to be coming to an end. He went public with his concerns, he says, "because I felt and still feel strongly that the public policy of Alberta is wrong, and that they're trying to do too much, too quickly," he says.

Ever polite, Lougheed tries not to blame Ralph Klein for everything that he sees amiss in Alberta. But ask him indirectly--via a question about Klein's successor, Ed Stelmach, and his government--and his unedited feelings come out: "They really inherited a lot of messes," he says bluntly.

Lougheed's key recommendation is that Alberta should put the brakes on oil sands development. "We should have more orderly development," he says. "That means, do one plant, finish it and build another plant, finish it, do another plant--instead of having four of them go on at the same time.""

http://www.stockhouse.com/Blogs/ViewDetailedPost.aspx?p=82677

George said...

Isn't that conservatism in action?

No, it's Nanny State, Big Government and Socialism -- the Stelmach government isn't a conservative government, as Albertans keep saying more and more often (including in letters to local newspapers).

KEvron said...

"No, it's Nanny State, Big Government and Socialism"

i belive that's what our host is counting on.

KEvron

Archie said...

Hunter how is BC doing great, it's lumber industry is in a shambles, the tourist industry is down. BC is hurting just as bad as Alberta's if not worse. Also BC has been trimming their health care to the bone the last couple of years and it would be a bad exaqmple to compare them to ours.
Also Hunter how many hours is your husband working a week. Could it be he went from working 5X8hours to 4X10hours per week.
I'm not a big fan of Stelmach, but it sounds like Guy Boutilier is another Garth Turner and he was warned and he got what he deserved.

percyq said...

The company has just qualified for work sharing, so he will get some EI benefits

So Mr. Hunter is sponging off the EI system, just like the East Coast fish plant workers. Hunter's only concern is that others get to the trough ahead of hubby.
Egregious hypocrisy, blogging toryism in action.

hunter said...

Lefties are just so funny! A guy working 15 years for the same company stays with them even though he takes a reduction in salary, and he's now sponging off the EI system? For one day a week??? Snort, funny lefties, obviously haven't been getting enough sun. Get out of your Mother's basement boys!

The reason why Mr. Hunter left PEI was because he didn't want to sit around on EI without a job all his life.

maryT said...

When the teachers and others took a 5% wage reduction it worked out to their benefit. Think of the income taxes he is not paying on that decrease. Assuming he is not getting miminum wage, he has probably reached, or soon will, reach the max for paying into EI and CPP. Those deductions will show up in takehome pay. Look at his next paystub, compare it to the previous one without a cut. Notice the difference in deductions. Doesn't show up as much/paycheque, but come April, the difference will show up. Also, re EI, make sure he will not be subject to repayment of said sum later on. Sometimes it is not worth the effort to get EI for a %age of one days work.
Let me know next April how things work out.
Isn't it funny, whenever anyone tells a true story, someone is ready to pounce and assume one is a leech.

Anonymous said...

What line of work is your husband emplyed in, Hunter?

Aeneas the Younger said...

How exactly is BC doing well?

I am in management with a Large Corporation that does extensive and diverse amounts of business across Canada. I also have an advanced degree in Economics.

I can tell you this: the BC economy is in shambles. Some of our worst year-over-year declines are in British Columbia. Worse than Ontario in fact.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba are handling the recession best so far - and Manitoba has an NDP government.

The reality is however, that both Saskatchewan and Manitoba exported their excess labour to Alberta over the last 5-6 years.

I would ask you to get a grip on reality, but that would appear to be beyond your capabilities.

percyq said...

The reason why Mr. Hunter left PEI was because he didn't want to sit around on EI without a job all his life.

So now he sits around in Alberta with a part time/EI subsidized lifestyle. Sweet deal. And perfectly fine.... unless you're gonna preach the Conservative line about small gov't and individual responsibility. Funny how those right-wing "principles" fly out the window the moment one gets a ticket to ride the gravy train.

Archie said...

Hunter I forgot to mention, if this was Ralph, he would of shot Guy Boutilier, then pissed on him, then kicked him out of caucus, and then he would of sat down and drank a case of beer.

percyq said...

BTW, Hunter, sponging is sponging. One day a week is 7 weeks a year, not a trifling amount.

percyq said...

Whoops, one day a week is actually TEN!!! work weeks. That is some serious sponging.

West Coast Teddi said...

My company and I (and fellow employees/workers) fund EI - NOT the GOVERNMENT. They set the rules and administer the plan and THEN they, the government, STEALS the surplus. It never will be a government of the people ...

Liberals Bad ... Me good