The Little Parties in the #AlbertaElection2023 race...
Episode Stats
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187.73329
Summary
Corey and Nigel discuss the upcoming Alberta election, and why the Greens are the third party in the province, and what it means for the future of the party and its chances of winning the election. They also discuss the impact of the Green Party on the current political landscape, and whether or not they should be considered a serious contender.
Transcript
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Shockingly, at least by number of candidates, the Greens are the third party in Alberta.
00:00:10.760
Now, they're likely, actually, I'd say, to come in third in the popular vote because,
00:00:16.320
say you prefer the Alberta party or Wild Rose Independence Party or the Liberals or whatever it is,
00:00:21.080
if there's no candidate you're running, you can't vote for them.
00:00:23.820
So the Greens have the most candidates available to vote for.
00:00:28.260
So I'd say bold prediction, even though the Greens don't rate any heartbeat in Alberta in the polls,
00:00:34.980
they'll probably come in third in the popular vote.
00:00:38.240
I guess the conventional wisdom, Nigel, is that the Greens being on the ballot will be favorable to the UCP
00:00:44.620
because Green votes, I think smart money says, would otherwise be more likely to go to the NDP.
00:00:53.360
No, it's a party that owes a lot of its electoral success federally as well as provincially
00:01:08.660
I certainly wouldn't ever want to vote for these.
00:01:21.320
You know, it's, again, here's a party that wants to run on a just transition.
00:01:26.840
And that's basically a way to turn good paying jobs into bad paying jobs, not a vote winner.
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So, Corey, try to put yourself in the shoes of a pretty hardcore greeny voter in Alberta.
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I mean, you got, you know, Rachel Notley, as hardcore as she is on some of this stuff,
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by the standards of New Democrats nationally, a lot of national New Democrats, say West Coast
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New Democrats and Ontario New Democrats, consider her a sellout to big oil.
00:02:03.360
I mean, that's baffling to many here in Alberta.
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But outside of Alberta, the fact that she doesn't believe in shutting down the industry
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tomorrow night, that she supported the Trans Mountain expansion.
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She opposed the construction of other Alberta pipelines, but there was at least one that she
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Would you vote green, which is like, I'm sending a message that I'm really concerned about the
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environment, or are you going to say, okay, Rachel Notley is a bit weak sauce for my green
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credentials, but I mean, it's Alberta, for God's sakes, and she gave us a carbon tax.
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Well, if somebody's that ideologically driven, the true, absolute, you know, shut in the...
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I'm not saying somebody who's like, off the, you know, living in the woods like...
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They're usually living in Kensington in a nice house that they inherited, but they still
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somehow feel we can shut down the oil field and close those things in.
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I think they would park their vote with the greens, so just on principle, and rather, knowing
00:03:01.800
that they're not going to win, but they're registering their message and their thoughts
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So, as well as Nigel said, they're a safe place just to make your mark, you know, make
00:03:12.960
So, they'll grab that bet, and as you said, they've got 41 candidates, so yeah, they'll
00:03:18.020
That might give them the shell to start filling that void.
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The liberals in the Alberta Party just can't seem to find out there.
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Maybe the greens will carve a little corner, but it'll always be a little one.
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You know, I can think of a lot of places where the NDP is the default choice, and I can think
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of a lot of places where the UCP is the default choice.
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I can't think of a single place where I say, oh, you know, the greens, that just fits that
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Okay, well, the next four parties, we're going to deal with kind of together.
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It's the constellation of the, call it the dissident right, and, you know, some of us
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got a soft spot for it, but it's, I think it's not too controversial to say it's not
00:04:04.540
We've got the Wild Rose Independence Party, and boy, that has busted from, say, a year
00:04:11.240
A year and a half ago, the Wild Rose Independence Party was running about 15% in the polls, with
00:04:19.220
With his resignation and Daniel Smith coming in, that support evaporated.
00:04:26.140
The party had massive internal turmoil, as small parties full of very individualist people
00:04:35.840
And then, I think, post-Sovereignty Act, I think a lot of their, speaking of a lot of
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their own senior activists, they more or less said, okay, that's not our time.
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Let's see how Danielle Smith does, if she can win the election, and if she follows through
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So, they're more or less sitting out the election.
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And I think they're running in areas where they're intentionally could have no risk of
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But, Paul Hinman, he's, well, as I mentioned, he was kicked out.
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Now, he was the first leader of the original Wild Rose Party, who was succeeded by Daniel
00:05:14.560
But he, after being kicked out of the Wild Rose Independence Party, started the Wild Rose
00:05:20.500
No, that is not a points rewards card for when you buy something at Walmart.
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I think he promised to run 50 odd candidates or so.
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He's running 16, I think, that are getting on the ballot.
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It's changed its name a bunch of times, variations of the same thing.
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And they put the in front of their name, I think, to distinguish that they are the Independence
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Party, not these Wild Rose Independence Party interlopers.
00:06:00.340
After the Alberta Party, they by far ran the most number of candidates.
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I think they've had something between four and six leaders since the last election.
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But they've been very hardcore that they are the sole legitimate voice of sovereignty, and
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everyone else is an interloper and should join them.
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And he is channeling his inner Polish anti-communist by founding the Solidarity Movement of Alberta.
00:07:04.520
So, um, orangeCool based off the potential of the San Meltzer for�� star.
00:07:07.240
So, um, as well, as well, as well as I was a nation.
00:07:08.060
We'll get back to thisление of the United Kingdom for人民 and I personally is at 1827.
00:07:09.960
So, and that's a, and that's a big intention for the success of which you are missing out.
00:07:11.780
So there's, I mean, that we can only get back to mind.