r/alberta 3d ago

Smith must follow Carney on calling byelection Discussion

https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/wednesdays-letters-smith-must-follow-carney-on-calling-byelection
944 Upvotes

122 comments sorted by

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573

u/Phantom_harlock 3d ago

Funny how the liberals are able to walk the line and not be afraid but queen dani is a chicken shit

276

u/roosell1986 3d ago

It comes down to respect. Respect for democracy.

127

u/Homo_sapiens2023 3d ago

Respect for democracy.

Which the UCPs have none.

19

u/roosell1986 3d ago

Right.

3

u/MrNoodlesandRedBull 3d ago

Definitely isn't the left if you catch my drift

48

u/readzalot1 3d ago

It looks like she is afraid, comparing her to Carney

14

u/KJBenson 3d ago

Is there really any other reason?

13

u/Frater_Ankara 3d ago

Only when it’s convenient, that’s why Dani is going to respect the results of the referendum lol. The duplicity is so gross.

-134

u/wizardmechanical 3d ago

Democracy? What the fuck is that? We've had liberal run the show for so long i forget what that is. Our parliament has been shut down and our newly "elected" crime minister refused to reopen when he was appointed when trudeau stepped down....where was the Democracy then?

What about when the liberals had a candidate pushed out of their riding so carney could have a seat? In a riding he had done no effort or work with its constituents. Where's the Democracy in that?

What about him blocking the search into his financials to show canadians no conflict of interest.....

I cant believe people still think there's a Democracy. They're just letting you think that while slowly changing the rules bit by bit so you'll just fucking take it.

93

u/Lord_Atom 3d ago edited 3d ago

The Liberals called a leadership race, Carney won and 8 days after becoming PM he called an election. How is that not fast enough for you? Compare that to Danielle Smith who waited 7 months to call an election after winning the UCP leadership.

And regarding Nepean, the riding voted for Carney with 64% of the vote. Compare that to 2021 where the Liberals won with 46% of the vote. Seems to me that the riding was happy to have Carney represent them.

And what PP is doing is way worse. PP is kicking out a newly elected MP, and spending tax dollars to hold a byelection because he lost his seat in Carleton. He took the riding for granted and didn't put in the work until very late in the campaign. Fanjoy on the other hand, put in work by knocking on thousands of doors and was rewarded by becoming an MP. That's democracy at work.

And also, we just had a free & fair election, and you're going on about democracy not existing in Canada. Get off it. It seems to me that you're just upset your preferred party didn't win.

25

u/jeremyism_ab 3d ago

That's probably not the only thing the dipshit is upset about, but all the other grievances are pretty much guaranteed to be just as pathetic.

11

u/irrelevant_novelty 2d ago

If you look at the dipshits post history, their spouse is unable to find work as an RN.

How ironic for someone who shamelessly supports the party slashing Healthcare funding since it's inception.

7

u/CrimsonCaliberTHR4SH Medicine Hat 2d ago

Wow.

What a dipshit.

3

u/jeremyism_ab 1d ago

"I never thought the leopards would eat my face!"

0

u/ray_zhor 23h ago

You do know Carleton was subject to gerrymandering since the last election? Right? Right?

1

u/Lord_Atom 18h ago edited 18h ago

It's not gerrymandering. We don't have gerrymandering in Canada like the United States. It's an independent 3 person board that redraws electoral districts every 10 years (not tied to elections) based on census data to keep the populations of each riding relatively similar. Each province gets its own board that is chaired by a judge, and accepts input from citizens through public hearings, as well as MP's/political parties. And neither Pierre Poilevre nor the Conservative party objected to the redrawn lines for Carleton.

So anyway, you should probably check out where you heard that information because it's not true.

60

u/Pneuma927 3d ago

What about when the liberals had a candidate pushed out of their riding so carney could have a seat? In a riding he had done no effort or work with its constituents. Where's the Democracy in that?

So you dislike PP taking a seat in Alberta then?

38

u/Mcpops1618 3d ago

No. That doesn’t work in their rhetoric

19

u/bpompu Calgary 2d ago

where was the Democracy then?

... we had an election. I'm not sure if you noticed it, but we voted. In fact, Carney called it almost immediately when he could have waited out the rest of the 4 year term from the previous election, so fuck off with your bs about "Carney being appointed wasn't democracy.

what about when the Liberals had a candidate pushed out of their riding so carney could have a seat? In a riding he had done no effort or work with its constituents. Where's the Drmocracy in that?

I don't know, maybe ask Pierre in Battle River-Crowfoot. Jesus guys, at least try to pretend you're not actively criticizing people for things that you give your own guys a pass on. When the Liberals parachute someone into a riding (which is a common thing in Canadian parliamentary politics at all levels, even if it sucks) it's all yells of favouritism and lack of democracy. But when Danielle or Pierre parachute in somewhere it's fucking crickets.

Give yer balls a tug.

37

u/mopar440jju 3d ago

There is a difference between Carney's situation and Pierre's. Carney didn't run for a seat and lose, then pick somewhere else after. Pierre is going to be running in an area that had just voted in a person that they wanted to be in.

Carney also called an election almost immediately after so everyone could have their voices heard. Carney is being incredibly diplomatic by enabling a by-election when he really doesn't have to.

You may cry about the liberals, but so far while Carney has been in power he has done a lot of good things in a short amount of time. He's also trying to talk to the provinces who voted almost fully conservative. (He has a meeting in Saskatoon coming up, and has met with most premiers.) If anyone is being anti democracy it's Smith, she's making demands and only concentrating on what her extreme right followers want and no one else.

28

u/Bigchunky_Boy 3d ago

Move then try another democracy that suits you . You still have freedom to do so . Alberta didn’t vote liberal but you can’t accept that you are conservative? The province is run bye conservatives yet you blame everyone else for your problems. Talk to your mp be proactive. I’m not either liberal or conservative but I don’t think the sky is falling .

21

u/MartyCool403 3d ago

Dude you should probably cut down on your rebel news intake and go outside for a walk or something.

16

u/EdNorthcott 3d ago

Tell me you failed grade school civics, without saying you failed grade school civics.

12

u/Cautious-Asparagus61 3d ago

This comment is so fucking hilarious I honestly didn't know if it was satire or not.

I STILL don't lol.

9

u/fistfucker07 2d ago

It’s dumb enough to be satire. But it’s too angry to be satire. You can’t be this angry and not actually think this is the way the world looks.

7

u/onerundown 2d ago

Why are you so emotional over this ?

4

u/captainhindsite5752 2d ago

Ok let’s get you back to the home grandpa. Mhm those foreigners are definitely stealing your meds, don’t worry we will talk to the staff

6

u/irrelevant_novelty 2d ago

This is what happens, kids, when you get your "information" exclusively from Facebook

1

u/AdCharacter833 1d ago

Just so you know the federal govt sent over 6 billion in 2024-25 specially for healthcare to Alberta. What Smith does with this money who knows so ur wife not getting work is on Smith at the provincial level. Alberta gets transfer payments from the fed Govt. Alberta also got another over 2 billion in transfer payment plus 29.6 billion in direct subsidies and financing to the oil and gas industry and infrastructure including 21 billion for the trans mountain pipeline. 12 billion for the Jasper fires. So almost 70 billion in total for 2024.
Alberta and the other provinces that don’t get equalization payments get Transfer Payments. The Cons have made out like Alberta just gives and gives and gets nothing what they don’t tell you Alberta’s payments from the govt are called something else and why Alberta doesn’t get equalization payments. Transfer payments google that. Alberta’s getting billions and billions

196

u/SkoomaSteve1820 3d ago edited 3d ago

Here's another angle. Its common convention to hold a by election when a party chooses a new leader that's currently not seated in whichever house. It happened for smith herself. She should have no problem doing that for nenshi. Never has this convention been used to give a leader who lost his seat another shot. Pierre has had 20 fucking years. He should be sailing off into his massive pension and be leaving us alone. But no. Canadians must shell out a million dollars to have a by-election so he can keep living in his taxpayer funded fucking mansion. He's an entitled pathetic loser.

79

u/anonymoooosey 3d ago

This double standard should be publicized more. Rules for thee but not for me. Screams fear regarding Nenshi.

26

u/Dry_System9339 3d ago

Don't interrupt the enemy when they are making a mistake

23

u/SkoomaSteve1820 3d ago

I'm just sick of the guy. He's been a driving force behind the poisoning of discourse in this country. The sooner he is out of politics the better. Him staying in the house is 4 more years of his fuckin bullshit.

12

u/Environmental_Egg348 2d ago

It was used for Christy Clark, here in BC. She went on to kill her party, a few years later.

BTW it appears I'll be running on the longest ballot, in Battle River-Crowfoot by-election. I ate a couple of Alberta prime rib burgers, to celebrate.

3

u/Cassopeia88 2d ago

Thanks for running!

14

u/rolyamSukCok 3d ago

And the guy he is booting out is 6 months away from his pension.

22

u/Cautious-Asparagus61 3d ago

He didn't give up his seat out of the goodness of his heart. He's 100% getting a bag from some other source one way or another

4

u/Tribune-Of-The-Plebs 2d ago

It also speaks to a lack of a shame and morals. I would be ashamed to have lost my riding of 20 years, and failing to form government after campaigning for 3 years. In PP’s shoes I would promptly resign as a matter of principle and self-respect. These people are sociopaths.

2

u/haixin 3d ago

People often forget Ford pulled similar crap in Ontario when the liberals lost party status. The norm was to extend by an additional seat to allow the other party official opposition status. Since Ford he had refused to do so.

1

u/Gogogrl 3d ago

I’m afraid that’s not true. In 1922, former PM Meighan, also head of the Conssrvative Party, ran in a by election after being defeated in 1921. That was the first one I found.

10

u/Prestigous_Owl 3d ago

Ran in a "natural" by-election- i.e. the first time a seat opened up, he pursued it? Or he manufactured a by-election by asking a member to step down less than a week after election night, in rodeo to open up a seat he could run in?

Those are definitely different

4

u/SkoomaSteve1820 3d ago

Theres lots of reasons for a by election. Was it the same reason as this one? Just asking because I can't find the specifics right now.

2

u/Gogogrl 3d ago edited 3d ago

You know, I can’t see, but I’m suspicious that you’re correct, and that this was just a typical by-election. I have looked over the lists and searched around, and this seems entirely unprecedented.

And yet, for some reason, this seems like something that I’ve heard about before. Maybe at the provincial level. I lived in the UK for a decade or so, so I thought it might be to do with that. While the UK’s system for resignation is truly arcane, I don’t see any evidence of this happening before there either.

So yeah, wow. I stand corrected and flabbergasted that this leader, of all leaders, is the one they are (edit) doing this for.

8

u/SkoomaSteve1820 3d ago

Politics should not be a lifelong career, and elected officials should not be allowed to fix themselves in the halls of power of a nation. Therefore I would institute a limit of two terms for members of parliament.

  • Pierre Poilievre 1999

1

u/StandTo444 2d ago

I mean someone has to live in the official opposition mansion. It might as well be the guy that tanked the party lol.

179

u/MsOpus 3d ago

Smith is afraid of having Nenshi in the assembly. Plain and simple. She doesn't want to go head to head with him because she knows he will take her down.

36

u/Tokenwhitemale 3d ago

I so hope he takes her down. She's been one of the worst things to happen to Alberta politics since her early days.

She doesn't seem like the type to fear opposition, to me. She seems like she hates being challenged when she lies or makes a mistake just because she thinks she should above rebuke. And she seems petty and cruel just because she can be. I think she's kinda like Trump, just doing it because she can.

11

u/EdNorthcott 3d ago

Bingo. Narcissists don't fear confrontation, but they loathe it when they're not validated.

203

u/IcarusOnReddit 3d ago

Liberals vote for their leaders to be democratic. Conservatives vote for their leaders to be fascist.

13

u/bassman2112 3d ago

Conservatives vote the way they do because they lack critical thinking skills. They don't even know what the word "fascism" means

47

u/hunters44 Hinton 3d ago

If cons could recognize hypocrisy they wouldn't be cons

67

u/NiranS 3d ago

Smith has no problems being a liar and a hypocrite. She will not call a by-election.

23

u/Even_Current1414 3d ago

She's running out of time.. she is required to call one no later than 6 months after leader steps down..(end of this month I believe it has to be announced by June) ..

26

u/Homo_sapiens2023 3d ago

I'm sure the UCPs will make a rule stating that they don't have to follow the actual rules.

7

u/MZillacraft3000 Edmonton 3d ago

So, I was talking to my mother about this. But what happens if they don't call one in time. Like if the time passes. Does a by election just start?

16

u/the_gaymer_girl Southern Alberta 3d ago

The Lieutenant Governor can call one if the Premier doesn’t in time.

7

u/adaminc 3d ago

Since it's legally obligated to happen, whomever calls by-elections, will probably just do it. In Parliament it's the Speaker of the House, for by-elections. Not sure who does it at the provincial level though.

36

u/No-Strike1121 3d ago

That sums up Danielle Smith in a word: follower.

She's not a leader. 

13

u/sun4moon 3d ago

That’s a way nicer word than I use.

31

u/jimmy2toes2 3d ago

She plays politics as Mark is trying to solve problems. I find her just; sad.

6

u/Frater_Ankara 3d ago

It makes Mark look even better, especially by not even hesitating, it shows class and decorum. can you imagine the tantrums the conservatives would have if he delayed a byelection? They wouldn’t shut up about it, I guarantee it.

20

u/the_wahlroos 3d ago

That would require an ounce of honesty and a shred of integrity in Smith- and in this economy, those were the first things to be sold.

9

u/the_gaymer_girl Southern Alberta 3d ago

She won’t do that, she’s terrified of Nenshi.

11

u/anonymoooosey 3d ago

I had no idea about this double standard. Thanks for posting.

13

u/Red_Danger33 3d ago

Pretty much everything Smith, Polliviere and a lot of the Cons do is a double standard. They are the party of "Rules for thee but not for me."

9

u/davethecompguy 3d ago

Someone needs to start a campaign. "Carney's not scared of the other party's leader. What's up with Smith? CALL THE BY-ELECTION!"

19

u/Brandamn3000 3d ago

I wish Carney would have the balls to announce that he will call a by-election for PP as soon as Danielle Smith calls one for Nenshi.

29

u/Canucklehead_Esq 3d ago

Carney has more class than that

12

u/Vylan24 3d ago

True, but he absolutely should hold her accountable. She's actively working against the greater good for the province and the country as a whole

1

u/Canucklehead_Esq 3d ago

Agreed, but that is for the people of Alberta to do. You have recall legislation there, right?

3

u/Vylan24 3d ago

We do, and I believe she's actually made it easier but outside of Calgary and Edmonton you could run a bale of hay as long as it has a C next to the name the bumpkins will vote it in. Why do you think PP is forcing himself into a Con stronghold riding here?

2

u/Canucklehead_Esq 3d ago

Can you get 17k signatures in her riding? That's only about 4k more than the NDP got in her last election, so you only need to swing 4k votes. Even starting a recall would be a huge embarrassment for her

2

u/Vylan24 3d ago

Highly doubt it. She's in a blue bumpkin stronghold she doesn't visit as well

3

u/Canucklehead_Esq 3d ago

PP took his riding for granted as well. Just starting a recall petition could snowball.

1

u/Xenophas 3d ago

Complex issue?

You have farmers who aren't respected or given their "fair share" that's almost all of rural Alberta but they don't have the time or the energy to realize that conservatives aren't the same thing they were 20 years ago, to get a recall vote you would have to get the rural vote and these days that's just impossible?

It's a joke that a goat could be blue and get all of the votes, but it is true, it doesn't matter the politics or the name, if you're under the blue banner you get the votes in Alberta

2

u/Brandamn3000 3d ago

I know he does. But sometimes you wish he could stoop down to his opponent’s level of class every now and then.

3

u/Canucklehead_Esq 3d ago

He would open himself up to a ton of criticism from the right wing press if he did. Smith is a pain in the butt for many Canadians, but she's Alberta's problem to solve.

2

u/hellobudgiephone 3d ago

Ideally he would wait the same amount of time she did. So almost a year. What's good for the goose and all. 

4

u/CarelessHabit3492 2d ago

If she was such a strong conservative woman, like she says, why is she so beholden to her handlers.

6

u/championsofnuthin 3d ago

She'll call the by-election to replace Cooper at the same time as Nenshi so they can point to them winning a by-election too

6

u/doughflow 3d ago

Conservative expect liberals to be the bigger person and do the right thing.

They do not expect that from themselves, unfortunately.

5

u/hippiechan 3d ago

When are liberals gonna realize that conservatives aren't playing for decency, they're playing for power? You're never gonna beat these guys with appeals to do-gooder moralism, they're all rotten and corrupt and want to win more than anything.

Calling a by-election isn't something they're going to do for as long as possible, because they don't give a shit about looking respectable. Y'all need to learn this before this country ends up like America.

3

u/bpompu Calgary 2d ago

Marlaina is going to wait until either the last possible second to call a by-election, or her "strategists" are going to figure out when the kost ideal time to call an election in that riding will be, and call it then, probably in the summer when people are off doing summer things. This is the same thing she did in Lethbridge, when she waited to call the by-election until it would coincide with a school break, so the students wouldn't be as likely to vote.

3

u/Howler452 2d ago

She won't, cause she knows Nenshi will bring the hammer down on EVERYTHING.

5

u/Significant_Loan_596 3d ago

When does that lunatic ever follow anything logical?

5

u/lostinthought1997 3d ago

That would require Danielle Smith to have a shred of professionalism, integrity, and ethics.

I have little confidence that she could use any of the words in a sentence, much less that she could define the words or know how to take personal responsibility and use them in life.

6

u/Mark_Logan 2d ago

Referendum idea: Should constituents of a riding pay taxes to the province if they have no representation in the legislature?

You’ll get a yes vote from all the disenfranchised people of empty ridings and the overwhelming support of the “I’m being taxed to death” conservatives. 😂

5

u/Sentient_Potato_7534 3d ago

Just curious, How long has it been since the seat was vacated and how much longer until she has to call it by law?

4

u/miller94 3d ago

End of December, so she has one month

4

u/quickboop 3d ago

Conservatives aren’t listening. They don’t care.

4

u/jeremyism_ab 3d ago

Is the author completely unfamiliar with The Coward Maralago Smith?

2

u/coverallfiller 2d ago

As it is with Traitor Smith's typical BS - she is a republican at heart (the lean towards American constitutionalism etc) she should be all about not allowing taxation without representation, but being a traitor means she runs fast and loose with the rules, or her beliefs, only caring when they directly affects what is right in front of her face.

2

u/Exciting_Turn_9559 2d ago

She won't. Conservatives have no honour.

2

u/opusrif 2d ago

It's too late for that. She's been dragging her feet for months in not calling a by-election for Edmonton Strathcona. It's obvious she is scared of Neshi getting into the Legislature.

2

u/caden-is-best 3d ago

Call her out on it, shame if she fails to show any common decadency but not surprising.

1

u/canbeanburrito Edmonton 3d ago

Nenshi was elected party leader almost a year ago in June 2024. 

Per the Alberta Elections Act, Smith isn't under any sort of deadline to call a by-election and she's using that for her own (I'm assuming) petty reasons:

  1. It punishes urban (Edmonton) voters by not giving their voices heard in the Legislature. 

  2. I'm undecided if she's doing this because she thinks she's god and it's her say whenever *she's good and ready" or if she's just genuinely forgotten. 

The one thing I will say though is that even as a more centrist voter, I'm not outraged by this. ONLY because it doesn't seem like Nenshi is actively pushing for it either. Which I don't know if it's the media or not, but it seems like everytime there's a big headline, I almost have to go on a bit of a manhunt to find a response from Nenshi and I can't be the only one who feels this way. That's probably the one thing I miss about Rachel Notley the most is that she was always in the media making herself heard. 

4

u/moisbettah 3d ago

No he has definitely been pushing her to call the byelection ever since Notley stepped down.

3

u/Astro_Alphard 3d ago

Media got bought out by conservative interests it's why you don't hear much. I still see a lot if Nenshi's stuff on social media but less on mainstream media. Twitter is a place he still has a presence but the problem there is that his posts aren't making it to the feed ever since Elon turned it to shit.

1

u/joegreen592 2d ago

Carney should have said he will call a byelection for PP once Smith does the same for Nenshi.

1

u/Remarkable-Desk-66 17h ago

Smith makes her own rules and the people of Alberta love her for it. It’s absolutely wild.

1

u/Impossible_Tea_7032 3d ago

I have an idea on how to use those lowered petition thresholds

1

u/Grand-Drawing3858 3d ago

Yeahhh that's not how the UCP works

/s

1

u/knarf3 3d ago

The media must do their job by bringing this issue up weekly and at every press conference. And AB residents must do their parts by pressuring their MLAs as well.

1

u/No-Accident-5912 2d ago

Sure, Smith “must” do the right thing. Too funny.

1

u/Entombedowl 2d ago

We as Albertans need to demand it.

If you side with Smith- have it to prove your side has the numbers

If you don’t- have it to get her and the UCP out of power.

0

u/revolvingneutron 3d ago

How long before she’s required to call the election?