Wildrose

[edmonton daily photo]

I'm not so sure.. Danielle has become a liability.

I am going to buy a membership just so I can vote for the most RIGHT wing extremist candidate during the next leadership race.

I love democracy!

[overoceans]

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

I'm not so sure.. Danielle has become a liability.

Well, for the most part, she's become a liability for not doing enough to rein in the wingnuts in her party.

The problem is, though, if she goes, does one of the wingnuts take over? Because those guys were the ones who presented Danielle with the problem in the first place.

I don't know much about the Wildrose caucus. Do they have anyone who's more marketable to liberal and urban Alberta than she was?

[Sonic Death Monkey]

I don't think they have anyone better than Smith. She won the leadership of the Wildrose because she's pretty, comes from a journalism/media background, and she's gone on record as having socially liberal views (for gay marriage, pro-choice, etc). If anything, she's more liable to cross the floor and join the PCs.

[edmonton daily photo]

^ lol.. that would never happen..

She is also on the record for saying that people should be kicked out of university for sins committed as per the bible.

She will say anything to get power.

We will buy the Edmonton CC Airport was a classic example.

Our 10/10 city funding formula... what does that mean?! Where are the numbers... how do you equalize that between Edm and Calgary...

Everything she says is to appeal to what their party feels is populist. They are politically juvenile and naive.

[Gord Lacey]

I find it hilarious that Smith comes from a media background. The way she handled so many of those questions you'd think she had never spoken to a reporter or knew how the media worked at all.

[overoceans]

Serious question. Has Smith gotten around to commenting on Bickman's remarks?

[Gord Lacey]

Not that I've seen. Hasn't she been in hiding since the election?

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by Gord Lacey

Not that I've seen. Hasn't she been in hiding since the election?

Since she has to be in Edmonton in her new position if leader of the official opposition and that fact her party recieved no seats in the capital she is probably undercover.....LOL.

I remember seeing on the news she has family in town soooooo i'm going to guess she is hiding in their basement....

[Rebar]

I hope she doesn't rein in the wingnuts! They helped her
lose the election. It's better we know who and where they
are, rather than to have them go underground. Danielle, herself,
is purported to be bad-tempered and foul-mouthed, and has a few
cockamamy ideas of her own that will no doubt surface in the long
term!

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by Rebar

I hope she doesn't rein in the wingnuts! They helped her
lose the election. It's better we know who and where they
are, rather than to have them go undergound. Danielle, herself,
is purported to be bad-tempered and foul-mouthed, and has a few
cockamamy ideas of her own that will no doubt surface in the long
term!

Her first cockamamy idea was trying to run for Premier with no political experience and persuade Albertans that she knows in which way to rule this province.

[Rebar]

Unfortunately, she was able to persuade over 37% of Albertans who voted.

[jagators63]

Danille Smith didn't see what coming on the eve of election.

Calgary-Elbow is a hotbed for PC because of Ralph Klein and now it is Redford's place there that cause PC to win election.

I believe that Wildrose made some mistakes on 2 candiates that make controversial comments that hurt Wildrose's credibility

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/al...215/story.html

[240GLT]

Wildrose MP: Rural voters have more "common sense" than urban voters

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...514/story.html

[Replacement]

Originally Posted by Rebar

Unfortunately, she was able to persuade over 37% of Albertans who voted.

It ws 34%. Lets not give her too much credit. Plus it was only 18% in Edmonton area. Well behind the NDP.

The WR got the extremist vote, the rebellion vote, and the want change at any cost vote. For instance 2K Edmontonians managed to somehow vote for Hunsperger. Really I'd love to hear from some of those people as I haven't heard of one person from that riding being in support of Hunsperger's statements.

When you see some of the patterns you see that some people, for whatever reason, were willing to vote WR come hell or high water or pools of fire.

But imagine in 4 yrs time far less of those people will get sucked in. Maybe they'll understand the issues better by then..

[North Guy66]

Interesting. According to the manager of the PC campaign, they had more ammunition of bozo remarks by Wildrose candidates. Since they knew they were going to win the election, they held back from revealing more damaging comments by the Wildrose folks.

Ms. Smith also defended Ron Leech who argued he could better represent constituents in his ethnic riding because he is white.

The controversies percolated all week. PCs had other issues in our back pocket, but when your opponent is shooting herself in the foot, there is no need to interfere.

Wildrose announced a “major” news conference for Friday morning before the vote. We expected Ms. Smith to fire Mr. Hunsperger but keep Mr. Leech – or fire both (in which case we would confront her with startling comments collected from several other WR candidates).

Astonishingly, she did neither. She simply said Wildrose would not tolerate discrimination. She failed to appreciate that defending powerfully discriminatory declarations is, in fact, tolerating discrimination.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2422953/

[JamesL]

I guess they knew what they were doing, though it didn't really look like it during the campaign.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

http://www.630ched.com/Channels/Reg/...spx?ID=1699749

Smith pitches changes in letter to Redford
12:25pm
Click here to email Brenton Driedger
5/7/2012

Alberta's new opposition leader is congratulating the Premier on her election win and says she's hoping to work together with Alison Redford to work toward transparency and accountability in the legislature.

In the letter to the premier, Wildrose leader Danielle Smith is asking for a number of changes to the way things have traditionally been done -- she's asking for 12 questions for the opposition in question period, given the opposition's larger size. She's also asking for more office space for the opposition.

Smith says she shares the premier's goal of improving decorum in the legislature, and is asking for a meeting with Redford before the House resumes. (bd)

She wants more office space for opposition...and yet she slammed the Federal Building redevelopment which will achieve this purpose?

[NielCole]

Will this woman stop slamming Edmonton projects! She should move south and run for president in Argentina, Perhaps if she tried to reclaim the Isla Malvinas (Falklands) she would come across to someone else in a more positive manner.

I suppose next she will be whining about the toilet paper that is used in the legislature.

[jagators63]

you know what?? wildrose is finished 2 nd in the election, so no need to worry about danielle smith till 2016

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by jagators63

you know what?? wildrose is finished 2 nd in the election, so no need to worry about danielle smith till 2016

But being in opposition she will still try to stop/endlessly delay things here in the capital. She needs to get a grip since she did not win a single seat here in Edmonton due to her negativity in regards to life in this city and the northern end of the province (One seat in the N.E). Every advancement that Edmonton is signing up for (ie arena, airport lands and now the former Federal building and Centennial Square she spews things about costs and other non-issues)

Next she will probably protest the completion of Anthony Henday Drive because it ups Calgary that is only halfway there with their Stony Trail.

I'm going to guess she probably does not want highway 63 to Fort McMurray completely twinned because it is in the northern part of the province rather than highay 3 between Lethbridge and Medicine Hat which is only a 2 lane most of the way too..Regardless of how many people have lost thier lives on 63.

As I said she really should run for the President of Argentina as she comes across almost the same as the present beyatch that runs that country.

[edmonton daily photo]

Normally Darrell I find you are pretty sensible but not today. Danielle fully understands that she needs to find a way to bridge to the more moderates in this province and she knows she needs to win, if not partially, in the urban centers.

I'm fairly certain that she is about power over ideologies... And if I'm wrong and she isn't... Then she will be nothing more than a protest party. The far rig has never been able to form a govt outside of Alberta, not on it's own. And the days of the so cress is long past. Alberta is too young and urban to accept these backward social views that clearly come from a generation of old white men

[jagators63]

Darrell...

Don't worry about CCA because city owns the land and will develop the land after 2014 , it will become difficult for wildrose to reverse that and city will win in court, if Wildrose try that one, if they win in 2016.

Danielle Smith cannot do anything with Stony trail because this area belong to indian reserve and they will never ever let Provincial gov't to finish ring hwy on their land.

Hwy 3 is way too low priority for gov't to twinning the hwy there.

as of now, Edmonton is in good hands because of Redford gov't.

[Dialog]

She came so close to power that she could taste it. She's going to spend the next four years figuring out how to somehow contain the Bozo Eruptions while keeping the base happy. The ideology will be shifted just enough to gain power.

[edmonton daily photo]

I'm not so sure dialog.. I think we need to give the voters a bit more credit than that... And it's debatable if "power" was ever really in her grasp. Polls have been constantly off time and time again for the last decade.

I personally think we saw over zealous media more than anything... And a sore looser.

Danielle isn't selling the kind of change most people want... I grew up in rural Alberta a party that speaks to them does not have broad appeal in modern day society.

[North Guy66]

Smith does have point about allowing more questions for the opposition in Question Period.

Liberal House Leader Laurie Blakeman agreed that too few questions and the restricted ability to table legislation frustrates opposition MLAs and contributes to heckling and bad behaviour in the house.

“It’s a daily frustration. Every day you sit there and you have to watch the government using backbenchers as a propaganda machine,” Blakeman said, referring to questions asked by Conservative backbenchers.

“Those questions are pre-written by the ministries and the answers are pre-written, and it’s usually a propaganda piece that allows the government to expand on a news release or it’s damage control.”
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...787/story.html

But at the same time, she's suggesting the official opposition party (Wildrose) to have more floor time than the other opposition parties, compared to the current legislature rules.

Under the previous government, Alberta’s 14 opposition MLAs were allowed to ask a maximum of 13 questions, with nine of those going to the Liberals, which were the Official Opposition. That designation is now held by the Wildrose.

There are now 25 opposition MLAs. Smith wants a total of 16 questions, with 12 going to the Wildrose.

So according to Smith its ok to grant the opposition party more questions as long as the other smaller parties get less.

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

Normally Darrell I find you are pretty sensible but not today. Danielle fully understands that she needs to find a way to bridge to the more moderates in this province and she knows she needs to win, if not partially, in the urban centers.

I'm fairly certain that she is about power over ideologies... And if I'm wrong and she isn't... Then she will be nothing more than a protest party. The far rig has never been able to form a govt outside of Alberta, not on it's own. And the days of the so cress is long past. Alberta is too young and urban to accept these backward social views that clearly come from a generation of old white men

Perhaps I blasted a tad too much, but something about her creeps me out as much as our "beloved" PM in Ottawa. Her "actions/issues" will speak louder than words over time. But the fact that it was mentioned in post by SDM that she doesn't like the upcoming federal building, probably because she wants her office in the legislature herself instead of what seems to be her impressions that she will be exiled into a totally refurbished government building.

She really does need to learn that Alberta is a province dominated by 2 large cities and that Edmonton and northern Alberta is just as important as Calgary and southern Alberta.

With her "perceived issues" in regards to what's positive/negative to ourselves up here just astounds me in some ways. Again she comes across (to me) too much like Klein when he worked constantly it seemed to diminish Edmonton's role as the provincial capital.

It worked in certain ways. Once citizens in a "certain" city in this province got to run a certain part of the government they always seemed to win.

Take Alberta Tourism heading south in the Klein years as an example. How many ads do you see on the channels promoting basically nothing except Calgary, Banff, Drumheller and perhaps Jasper attractions.

I get to watch both ours and Calgarys channels and the only "local destination of ours" type ads I have seen on any of the Calgary channels are ones put out by WEM. Alberta Tourism ignores Edmonton and Northern Alberta almost all the time.

Smith just strikes me as the same, It just seems to be bred into politicians down south that they need to be still jeolous that Edmonton got both the capital and the UofA even though it has been over a century in the past.

Perhaps she will balance out and work harder to address our goals and future within the province. I could be wrong but I suspect she will do her best to keep her support strong in the ridings at the opposite end of Alberta (both geographic and social) at the expense of the urban ridings and all but one rural riding in this half of the province that did not support or agree with her issues.

I love following politics in Alberta, Ottawa, The UK (Scotland) and the good old republic to the south due to my family backrounds from all 3 countries.

I'm descended from John Adams and John Quincy Adams on my moms side, With Scots and Canucks blood on the other. so its genetic I guess. LOL.

Danielle Smith, Mitt Romney, Alex Salmond (Scotland) and Sinister Harper would be really interesting to watch them play "cards" together because they all seem to be the same type of persons seemingly all with a "hidden agenda" LOL.

But most politicians are I guess Again time will tell.

[edmonton daily photo]

I really feel that Smith will be a liability in the long run. I personally think that that she will not be leader of the party 5-6 years down the road. Especially if she doen't drop the protest party attitude and gets with the times.

[jagators63]

Originally Posted by darrellinyvr

Perhaps I blasted a tad too much, but something about her creeps me out as much as our "beloved" PM in Ottawa. Her "actions/issues" will speak louder than words over time. But the fact that it was mentioned in post by SDM that she doesn't like the upcoming federal building, probably because she wants her office in the legislature herself instead of what seems to be her impressions that she will be exiled into a totally refurbished government building.

She really does need to learn that Alberta is a province dominated by 2 large cities and that Edmonton and northern Alberta is just as important as Calgary and southern Alberta.

With her "perceived issues" in regards to what's positive/negative to ourselves up here just astounds me in some ways. Again she comes across (to me) too much like Klein when he worked constantly it seemed to diminish Edmonton's role as the provincial capital.

It worked in certain ways. Once citizens in a "certain" city in this province got to run a certain part of the government they always seemed to win.

Take Alberta Tourism heading south in the Klein years as an example. How many ads do you see on the channels promoting basically nothing except Calgary, Banff, Drumheller and perhaps Jasper attractions.

I get to watch both ours and Calgarys channels and the only "local destination of ours" type ads I have seen on any of the Calgary channels are ones put out by WEM. Alberta Tourism ignores Edmonton and Northern Alberta almost all the time.

Smith just strikes me as the same, It just seems to be bred into politicians down south that they need to be still jeolous that Edmonton got both the capital and the UofA even though it has been over a century in the past.

Perhaps she will balance out and work harder to address our goals and future within the province. I could be wrong but I suspect she will do her best to keep her support strong in the ridings at the opposite end of Alberta (both geographic and social) at the expense of the urban ridings and all but one rural riding in this half of the province that did not support or agree with her issues.

I love following politics in Alberta, Ottawa, The UK (Scotland) and the good old republic to the south due to my family backrounds from all 3 countries.

I'm descended from John Adams and John Quincy Adams on my moms side, With Scots and Canucks blood on the other. so its genetic I guess. LOL.

Danielle Smith, Mitt Romney, Alex Salmond (Scotland) and Sinister Harper would be really interesting to watch them play "cards" together because they all seem to be the same type of persons seemingly all with a "hidden agenda" LOL.

But most politicians are I guess Again time will tell.

also calgary is jealous of Edmonton when it comes to pro sports, Oilers won 5 stanley cup and Calgary 1

CFL... Edmonton got 13 grey cups winners and Calgary got 6

[NielCole]

Yeah in that respect Cowtowners will always have "peepee" envy...

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

I really feel that Smith will be a liability in the long run. I personally think that that she will not be leader of the party 5-6 years down the road. Especially if she doen't drop the protest party attitude and gets with the times.

I will be suprised if she actually lasts that long. They will either wise up and get a leader more in focus with the entire province to get more support.

Or they will slide even further to the right and lose it all together.

[howie]

Agreed. They seem to have a vindictive streak running through them and I've no doubt edges are being honed even as we speak.

[24karat]

Originally Posted by darrellinyvr

I'm descended from John Adams and John Quincy Adams on my moms side

WOW!! May I have your autograph?

[Blueline]

so no cabinet comments from dani ?

[edmonton daily photo]

She released her shadow ahead of time... which was weird.. cause how can you shadow what you don't know....

Anyways...

on twitter she said her gov't would have been smaller.

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by 24karat

WOW!! May I have your autograph?

Don't be a smart *** or I will have family invade and wipe you out! LOL. They all carry guns remember.......

[psiebold1]

Originally Posted by darrellinyvr

Don't be a smart *** or I will have family invade and wipe you out! LOL. They all carry guns remember.......

Well I'm descended from the Harrison Family, if you know what I mean.

[Dialog]

Oooh are we going to see one of those clan-downs like they have in the Nova Scotia backwoods???

[psiebold1]

Originally Posted by Dialog

Oooh are we going to see one of those clan-downs like they have in the Nova Scotia backwoods???

You bet your britches.

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by psiebold1

You bet your britches.

LOL Sorry I don't just let anyone play my pipes.....LOL.

[psiebold1]

Your pipes taste like bog-water. Amazing that.

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by psiebold1

Your pipes taste like bog-water. Amazing that.

Funny that you should know what that tastes like Beyatch.

[psiebold1]

Well it helps that I slept with your cousin Marnie at the town dance years back. Had I known that she slept in the outhouse. . .

[NielCole]

Originally Posted by psiebold1

Well it helps that I slept with your cousin Marnie at the town dance years back. Had I known that she slept in the outhouse. . .

Your jokes are getting tired and stale much like your love life is sounding like. Obviously you need to start dating one of your hands again.

[North Guy66]

Danielle is better off not opening her mouth. She still doesn't get it.

Wildrose leader attends Pride event, won’t apologize for former candidate’s fiery comment

At a Pride Week event Tuesday, Smith said she doesn’t agree with Hunsperger and any apology will have to come from him.

“I think it’s important for us to have the conversation about religious freedom, freedom of speech and equality rights, because I think that’s really what this comes down to,” Smith said outside the Edmonton Police Chief’s Pride reception.

“Mr. Hunsperger’s views are not my views, they’re not the views of my party and they’re not the views of my caucus. If he wants to seek an apology, he should seek it from Mr. Hunsperger.”

Smith has come under heavy fire from Alberta’s community of sexual minorities both for Hunsperger’s comments and her objection to the province’s decision to reinstate funding for gender reassignment surgery.
She is looking to build bridges with the community and spoke with several people at the Pride event, listening intently even as one woman wagged a finger in her face.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...374/story.html

[The_Cat]

Would attending this event make Danielle Smith gay?

[MrOilers]

She still hasn't learned that when the member of a party says something offensive, it reflects negatively on the entire party.

And she is still childishly choosing to turn a blind eye to it - not a good move. The PCs will probably be busy digging up more dirt on Wildrose members for the next 4 years to use at election time, because they know Danielle won't apologize for any of it

[Marcel Petrin]

It's not that she's turning a blind eye to it. It's that she falls back on the "freedom of expression/religion" defense, which in strictly philosophical terms is all fine and dandy. But in terms of presenting the Wildrose as a modern party that can appeal to a broad spectrum of voters, not so much.

If a Wildrose candidate came out and said "I think all black people are violent" or "I think all Jews own banks and control the media" or "all East Indians are cheap" you could be sure that her reaction would be a wee bit different. But none of those statements fall afoul of freedom of expression, despite their obvious stupidity.

It's a terrible defense.

[Gemini]

“Mr. Hunsperger’s views are not my views, they’re not the views of my party and they’re not the views of my caucus. If he wants to seek an apology, he should seek it from Mr. Hunsperger.”

I don't know what else Ms. Smith can say in regards to Hunsperger's remarks. She says they are not her views nor the parties views. How can she apologies for him?. Realy, when you apologies for someone else it's not the same. Hunsperger is not going to apologies as he feels he has done nothing wrong. Sure, she could have lambasted him more to the public but the guy seems so thick skinned and ignorant it would not have done any good.

[lat]

Originally Posted by Gemini

“Mr. Hunsperger’s views are not my views, they’re not the views of my party and they’re not the views of my caucus. If he wants to seek an apology, he should seek it from Mr. Hunsperger.”

I don't know what else Ms. Smith can say in regards to Hunsperger's remarks. She says they are not her views nor the parties views. How can she apologies for him?. Realy, when you apologies for someone else it's not the same. Hunsperger is not going to apologies as he feels he has done nothing wrong. Sure, she could have lambasted him more to the public but the guy seems so thick skinned and ignorant it would not have done any good.

She should have dumped him. She didn't. So, as a result, the party is complicit in his statements.

[Gemini]

^She could have ditched him but as she said, his views were not her views or her parties but she believes in freedom of speech. Hunsperger made a public statement about his private views, his religious convictions. Smith's take on it was that he was free to do so. She stood up for gay rights but also stood up for freedom of speech. It was a bit of a catch 22 if you ask me. By the way, I did not vote Wildrose.

[Gord Lacey]

Except if she had ditched the guy it would have been a little blip that the party would have survived. Because she didn't (thankfully), it was a major story, and drew a lot of focus. Knowing what to do, and when, is an important thing, and something she clearly failed at.

[lat]

Originally Posted by Gemini

^She could have ditched him but as she said, his views were not her views or her parties but she believes in freedom of speech. Hunsperger made a public statement about his private views, his religious convictions. Smith's take on it was that he was free to do so. She stood up for gay rights but also stood up for freedom of speech. It was a bit of a catch 22 if you ask me. By the way, I did not vote Wildrose.

yeah, and that worked out real well for her party... very, very poor leadership.

[Marcel Petrin]

Originally Posted by Gord Lacey

Except if she had ditched the guy it would have been a little blip that the party would have survived. Because she didn't (thankfully), it was a major story, and drew a lot of focus. Knowing what to do, and when, is an important thing, and something she clearly failed at.

She's trying to play both sides of the issue by not offending the people who don't have a problem with homosexuals while also not turning off the people who do. As usual, neither side is likely to be happy.

[Gemini]

[QUOTE=lat;447621]

Originally Posted by Gemini

^She could have ditched him but as she said, his views were not her views or her parties but she believes in freedom of speech. Hunsperger made a public statement about his private views, his religious convictions. Smith's take on it was that he was free to do so. She stood up for gay rights but also stood up for freedom of speech. It was a bit of a catch 22 if you ask me. By the way, I did not vote Wildrose.

yeah, and that worked out real well for her party... very, very poor leadership.[/QUOTE

Some say poor leadership others will say being diplomatic.

[lat]

[QUOTE=Gemini;447630]

Originally Posted by lat

yeah, and that worked out real well for her party... very, very poor leadership.[/QUOTE

Some say poor leadership others will say being diplomatic.

It clearly shows that she is more concerned about gaining power than showing voters where they stand on basic issues.

This issue is so polarizing that she should have either agreed with Hunsperger and supported him, or disagreed with him and dropped him.

By disagreeing with him but still supporting him, she ends up looking like the political opportunist that she is. Which, in the end, I am very glad she did.

[Spill]

Originally Posted by Marcel Petrin

She's trying to play both sides of the issue by not offending the people who don't have a problem with homosexuals while also not turning off the people who do. As usual, neither side is likely to be happy.

The appropriate action for a party leader in my opinion - and I suspect the opinion of the majority - is to clearly state that such views have no place with those who intend to hold public office. As noted, Smith fell far short in this regard, thus indicting her party.

I expect there would have been far fewer disgruntled voters had she made a denunciation in context of candidacy while still supporting one's liberty of thought. Continued failure to do so will, I hope, leave the Wild Rose relegated to marginal political power.

[North Guy66]

Don't forget Hunsperger’s "lake of fire" comment was directed at the Edmonton public school board's anti-bullying policy (ie. protect minorities and gays against bullying).

When the opinion polls were predicting a Wildrose majority, then later a minority, people were probably thinking...."Do we want members in a government with such extreme views to make decisions on education and healthcare???".

Even Stephen Harper finally figured it out two federal elections ago when he put a muzzle on all of his Conservative candidates so there wouldn't be any bozo outbursts.

Danielle, not so much. She should of handled it better since the Wildrose campaign team were made up of former Reform/Harperites. Then again maybe that's why they no longer work for Harper.

[North Guy66]

Lorne Gunter had a column earlier this week after interviewing a Wildrose campaign strategist about what went wrong:

“But Hunsperger was much, much harder to explain away.”

For one thing, his phraseology was archaic. Not even many Pentecostal and Evangelical preachers use such fire-and-brimstone language anymore. So Hunsperger ended up looking both intolerant and outdated — not good for a party trying to sell itself as a change from the Tories’ tired, old ways.

Having to explain how Wildrose had room for both Hunsperger’s Inquisition-age rhetoric and her own libertarian, to-each-his-own tolerance was simply too great a task for Smith (or any other leader) to pull off in the last seven days of a campaign.

“In hindsight, it was also a mistake for us to put all our eggs in the Danielle basket,” according to the Wildroser. “When everything was going well during the first three weeks, having Danielle’s happy, engaging face as the party’s face was smart. But when the troubles began, because voters knew no one else in the party, they began to wonder whether maybe beyond (Smith) all the other candidates were like (Hunsperger and Leech).”

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/06/0...paign-derailed

[overoceans]

Originally Posted by North Guy66

Don't forget Hunsperger’s "lake of fire" comment was directed at the Edmonton public school board's anti-bullying policy (ie. protect minorities and gays against bullying).

When the opinion polls were predicting a Wildrose majority, then later a minority, people were probably thinking...."Do we want members in a government with such extreme views to make decisions on education and healthcare???".

Yes. Contrary to the Wildrose spin, Hunsperger wasn't just expressing personal religious views. He called the public education system "godless". This in a day and age when running a public education system is considered to be one of the main obligations of government.

[ScottieA]

Originally Posted by North Guy66

Even Stephen Harper finally figured it out two federal elections ago when he put a muzzle on all of his Conservative candidates so there wouldn't be any bozo outbursts.

Danielle, not so much. She should of handled it better since the Wildrose campaign team were made up of former Reform/Harperites. Then again maybe that's why they no longer work for Harper.

With the CPC, not so much muzzling their conservative candidates as much as the candidates that they weren't able to weed out in the nomination process that have views that would damage the image of the party in Canadians' eyes (even though those views don't represent those of the party's).

As for the WRP campaign team being made up of Reform/Harperites: they were there because a lot of them viewed the PCs as not being conservative enough, and because some of them did not want to put in their time within the PC party in order to earn clout and power, not because they were cast out of the federal party. Heck, there were LOTS of CPC staffers that came to Alberta to help out the WRP. Some of them had never even been to Alberta before!

It was an attempted palace coup, no more.

[edmonton daily photo]

Harper will get Northern Gateway approved and started then he will leave.

His approval is in the toilet and he has but one focus.

[overoceans]

Originally Posted by jommy

this is old news.... does anyone actually care?

Apparently, the VOTERS didn't care, because that staffer was none other than Stephen Carter, who soon afterwards switched sides and went on to lead the Tories to victory against the supposed racist rednecks in Wildrose.

[Medwards]

Originally Posted by jommy

this is old news.... does anyone actually care?

You're quoting a post from 2009. Of course its old news...

[MylesC]

Originally Posted by Medwards

You're quoting a post from 2009. Of course its old news...

Indeed.

Quote of the Year award goes to.....

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Danielle Smith says tainted XL beef should have been given to the hungry. Only after getting slammed on twitter, Smith posted that she was going to do more research on the issue.

Read more: http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-p...#ixzz29zCARCOB

[moahunter]

^lol, maybe she could suggest offering them cash to sterilize them as well?

[jagators63]

Originally Posted by Sonic Death Monkey

Danielle Smith says tainted XL beef should have been given to the hungry. Only after getting slammed on twitter, Smith posted that she was going to do more research on the issue.

Read more: http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-p...#ixzz29zCARCOB

she is wrong about it and any tainted beef must be completely destroyed.

[Chmilz]

Originally Posted by Sonic Death Monkey

Danielle Smith says tainted XL beef should have been given to the hungry. Only after getting slammed on twitter, Smith posted that she was going to do more research on the issue.

Read more: http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-p...#ixzz29zCARCOB

The tainted meat is only remotely harmful if it's not properly cooked. It's still a bit of a dumb idea considering there's risk involved, but at the same time if the preparation was monitored this stuff could feed a lot of people instead of going to the landfill. I'd also suggest that tainted meat is likely safer than a lot of the things these people put in their bodies.

It would be easy to grind it all down, precook it, then cook it again into a chili or something. Would be totally safe to eat.

[kkozoriz]

Rather than offer it to the poor why doesn't Wildrose buy it and eat it themselves? Make XL an offer. Come on. Put your money where your mouth is.

[edmonton daily photo]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

The tainted meat is only remotely harmful if it's not properly cooked. It's still a bit of a dumb idea considering there's risk involved, but at the same time if the preparation was monitored this stuff could feed a lot of people instead of going to the landfill. I'd also suggest that tainted meat is likely safer than a lot of the things these people put in their bodies.

It would be easy to grind it all down, precook it, then cook it again into a chili or something. Would be totally safe to eat.

But lots of this was recalled... you can't know how it was stored.. and some was also siezed, what was done to it... and it was also renderings and things they use to make processed goods like hotdogs...

Daniel's mission is to try to get infront of everything.... She really needs to lear how to be an opposition party and remind her the election is over she can stop campaigning for a a few years yet.

[Perspective]

reminds me of this scene:

[Dialog]

Originally Posted by kkozoriz

Rather than offer it to the poor why doesn't Wildrose buy it and eat it themselves? Make XL an offer. Come on. Put your money where your mouth is.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!

[Chmilz]

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

But lots of this was recalled... you can't know how it was stored.. and some was also siezed, what was done to it... and it was also renderings and things they use to make processed goods like hotdogs...

Daniel's mission is to try to get infront of everything.... She really needs to lear how to be an opposition party and remind her the election is over she can stop campaigning for a a few years yet.

Obviously you can't use anything that's been compromised. E. Coli is present in all beef, it just happens to be on this meat in a higher quantity. If the meat was frozen from production to now, as long as it's cooked properly it'll be more than safe to eat. It doesn't matter whether there's 1 microbe or 1 billion, they die just the same when heat is applied.

[edmonton daily photo]

^ thats if.. you can't know what was done with it..... this is recalled meat. What did Sally and Joe do with it after they bought it.. did they freeze it, did they let it sit out overnight cause they new it was garbage..

I'm in insurance so I ssure you XL's risk manager would NEVER allow it to be given away.. cause you make be able to give the meat away but you can't give away the risk or liability exposure. Not to mention the exposure the food bank would take on in accepting product of this nature.

Now it could have been processed and turned into dog food!

thats my 2 cents

[kkozoriz]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

Obviously you can't use anything that's been compromised. E. Coli is present in all beef, it just happens to be on this meat in a higher quantity. If the meat was frozen from production to now, as long as it's cooked properly it'll be more than safe to eat. It doesn't matter whether there's 1 microbe or 1 billion, they die just the same when heat is applied.

OK, let's allow our various fine dining establishments to purchase the beef as long as they agree to only serve it well done. You want to buy it for your steakhouse and would you advertise the fact that you're using recalled beef?

[GranaryMan]

Rather than throw it away into a landfill, they could compost this beef....

[GranaryMan]

Originally Posted by NielCole

But being in opposition she will still try to stop/endlessly delay things here in the capital. She needs to get a grip since she did not win a single seat here in Edmonton due to her negativity in regards to life in this city and the northern end of the province (One seat in the N.E). Every advancement that Edmonton is signing up for (ie arena, airport lands and now the former Federal building and Centennial Square she spews things about costs and other non-issues)

Next she will probably protest the completion of Anthony Henday Drive because it ups Calgary that is only halfway there with their Stony Trail.

I'm going to guess she probably does not want highway 63 to Fort McMurray completely twinned because it is in the northern part of the province rather than highay 3 between Lethbridge and Medicine Hat which is only a 2 lane most of the way too..Regardless of how many people have lost thier lives on 63.

As I said she really should run for the President of Argentina as she comes across almost the same as the present beyatch that runs that country.

She would follow in a long line of Alberta priemers (IF she ever got elected) and ignore the needs of Edmonton and Northern Alberta and focus on Calgary and exploiting the rest of the provinces resources to make Calgarians rich.

[Dialog]

Originally Posted by GranaryMan

Rather than throw it away into a landfill, they could compost this beef....

How does one compost beef?

[hello lady]

Originally Posted by Dialog

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!

If you have hamburger and you cook the bleep out of it, ts fine to eat.This was a waste, I think the hope mission could have used it and yes I would have eaten it. I had meat all through this recall

[Chmilz]

Originally Posted by kkozoriz

OK, let's allow our various fine dining establishments to purchase the beef as long as they agree to only serve it well done. You want to buy it for your steakhouse and would you advertise the fact that you're using recalled beef?

Whatever, I was simply pointing out the fact that there's sound science that tells us we can eat meat with high E. Coli counts as long as it's cooked. Use that information any way you choose. I personally believe there was a massive amount of meat sent to large customers that was properly stored until the recall, and a quick program to collect, prepare safely, and use that meat for a good cause instead of throwing it away would be prudent.

Besides, if you're that concerned with contaminated food, I really think you need to avoid eating out anywhere other than McDonald's, and chances most folks fail to implement basic food safety principles in their own houses. A little more bacteria on your beef won't kill you, but bad handling and preparation can.

[hello lady]

I was simply pointing out the fact that there's sound science that tells us we can eat meat with high E. Coli counts as long as it's cooked. Use that information any way you choose. I personally believe there was a massive amount of meat sent to large customers that was properly stored until the recall, and a quick program to collect, prepare safely, and use that meat for a good cause instead of throwing it away would be prudent

I couldn't agree more.This story reminded me of the bird flu

[Sonic Death Monkey]

I think the bigger issue is, if the meat isn't good enough for Susie Soccermom for consumption, why is it good enough for the poor?

[Chmilz]

Originally Posted by Sonic Death Monkey

I think the bigger issue is, if the meat isn't good enough for Susie Soccermom for consumption, why is it good enough for the poor?

It IS good enough for Susie Soccermom. But Mr. Media Scare Tactics get folks into a frenzy as if just looking at the package will kick your dog, give your kids cancer, and burn your house down.

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

The tainted meat is only remotely harmful if it's not properly cooked. It's still a bit of a dumb idea considering there's risk involved, but at the same time if the preparation was monitored this stuff could feed a lot of people instead of going to the landfill. I'd also suggest that tainted meat is likely safer than a lot of the things these people put in their bodies.

It would be easy to grind it all down, precook it, then cook it again into a chili or something. Would be totally safe to eat.

"... tainted meat is likely safer than a lot of the things these people put in their bodies."

"...these people..."???????

it would seem you live either a very sheltered life or one completely lacking in empathy and understanding.

[moahunter]

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

^ Now it could have been processed and turned into dog food!

Are there that many dogs? I expect dogs and cats take most of the waste cuts anyway, this would glut the market (not sure).

[Chmilz]

^^Eh? I'm advocating serving them food. Food that, outside of some media hysteria, is perfectly good to eat.

By "these people", I was referring to a very small subset of street people that do heroin with dirty needles or huff toxic chemicals for cheap highs. In those special cases, a good meal is undoubtedly better than that.

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

^^Eh? I'm advocating serving them food. Food that, outside of some media hysteria, is perfectly good to eat.

By "these people", I was referring to a very small subset of street people that do heroin with dirty needles or huff toxic chemicals for cheap highs. In those special cases, a good meal is undoubtedly better than that.

???????

so you're only advocating serving "them" food? how upstanding of you...

we're talking give or take about a million pounds of meat or meat products.

assuming a four ounce serving, that's four million meals for which that meat still needs to be kept and distributed throughout the province and prepared and served. or are you suggesting that we also give "them" bus tickets and send them all off to brooks to pick up their portions? after all, they're "just" street people and noone will miss them while they take the trip there and back. of course, without street refrigerators and street ovens to keep their portions safe prior to cooking and allowing them to cook it until it's fit for consumption - even by street people - that wouldn't really work either would it?

i also notice you're now rationalizing your initial post by calling for it to be served only to "a very small subset of street people that do heroin with dirty needles or huff toxic chemicals for cheap highs" because after all it's "perfectly good to eat". well, if you're that confident it's all perfectly good to eat, maybe you should pick it up for yourself or call for it to be the staple of a compulsory school lunch program for your kids. after all, outside of some media hysteria, there is no real concern is there?

[Chmilz]

Dude, I didn't mean serve it only to them. Serve it to anyone and everyone. It's food. If cooked, it's good food. Did you see the post I was responding to? It wasn't some kind of "shovel rotten crap down poor people's throats" suggestion like you're making it out to be.

Go back... waaaaaay back, and read my post and what I was responding to. You're taking this whole thing the wrong way.

[kkozoriz]

So, if you're saying it perfectly fine to eat why bother with a recall? Why even test for e-coli? Let's just tell people that they have to cook all beef to a certain temperature and if they don't and they get sick it's their own fault. We can even stop testing for e-coli.

Sound like a plan?

[edmonton daily photo]

Originally Posted by moahunter

Are there that many dogs? I expect dogs and cats take most of the waste cuts anyway, this would glut the market (not sure).

At least it's not going to waist and Animal shelters are constantly after food..

It's something..and who can hate on somone for wanting to help puppies.

[Gemini]

It's too bad the meat from XL is going to be destroyed. Most of us know how we cook or own foods so we can safely say what we are eating has been cooked right through. Anyone eating meat that is semi-raw (rare, medium rare) should know the risks they could be taking. While I agree it is unfortunate the meat is going to be ditched I also think it is a good idea that we err on the side of caution. Anyone could be at a mass barbecue next year and if tainted hamburgers are given out who is to say they all have been thoroughly cooked. It would not be very pleasant to see a lot of people get sick because of something like that. Who would want to risk getting kidney failure or worse if meat is tainted. It's not worth the risk getting served meat that has not been cooked thoroughly. That's why, unfortunately, we should err on the side of caution.

[edmonton daily photo]

Its too bad we force feed our cows corn based feed (I am talking in a large north america sence and not regional) as cows were never meant to eat corn.

It's unfortunate that prepare our animals for slaughter by making them live knee deep in their own waist..

It's unfortunate that some very extramly powerful and large corporations now control food processing and food distribution.

It's unfortunate that companies can call things like cheeze whiz and soda food....

It'S unfortunate that when we buy ground beef it doesn't come from one cow but its bits of thousands

It's unfortunate our meat has to go through ammonia baths and radiation to make it safe.



When I was a kid we had a REAL butcher in the grocery store... I remember the sides of beef hanging in the cooler. The band saw used to cut it up... and the butcher's name... Doug.

I think its time to find a local small butcher again.

[Chmilz]

Originally Posted by kkozoriz

So, if you're saying it perfectly fine to eat why bother with a recall? Why even test for e-coli? Let's just tell people that they have to cook all beef to a certain temperature and if they don't and they get sick it's their own fault. We can even stop testing for e-coli.

Sound like a plan?

Absolutely not. Food safety is incredibly important.

However when we run into recalls like this (and should, since the meat is dangerous when not cooked properly), a risk assessment of the product should be done, and if still useable (in my professional opinion, it very much is), make use of it in a way that negates the danger.

It wouldn't be easy, and a very strict plan would have to be hashed out and closely monitored, but whatever the cost of that plan would be, I can absolutely guarantee would be less than the cost of throwing all this meat out.

[MrOilers]

This meat is heavily contaminated by an incredibly dangerous strain of bacteria. Yes, it's a shame that such a large amount of it got contaminated, but it has to be disposed of, as it is unfit for human consumption. Live and learn.

[Gemini]

I love puppies..............


They taste like chicken.................

[kkozoriz]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

Absolutely not. Food safety is incredibly important.

However when we run into recalls like this (and should, since the meat is dangerous when not cooked properly), a risk assessment of the product should be done, and if still useable (in my professional opinion, it very much is), make use of it in a way that negates the danger.

It wouldn't be easy, and a very strict plan would have to be hashed out and closely monitored, but whatever the cost of that plan would be, I can absolutely guarantee would be less than the cost of throwing all this meat out.

Perhaps now XL Foods and the federal inspectors will take their jobs more seriously instead of trying to protect the companies bottom line. When you give oversight directly to the producers they end up with a conflict of interests. Having the food companies call for the federal inspectors when they discover a problem instead of having federal inspectors doing the testing means that the company is the one deciding what is the proper time to decide a situation is dangerous to the public. That translates into a financial incentive to keep producing product that may be contaminated. If the line had been shut down earlier the recall would not have been as big as it was.

Finding a way to serve meat that may have been contaminated or improperly stored after it was pulled and returned is just rewarding those people that caused the problem in the first place. Of course, the workers are the ones at tXL that are paying the price. Management continues to draw their salaries which are much larger than the average workers wage. It was managements job to ensure that the product they were shipping was safe, They failed.

[Chmilz]

^I agree about 95%. Training is a major issue at these plants. I have a source that confirms there's at least a few dozen languages being used on the plant floor every day. I can't imagine it's easy to train people with that many different backgrounds. Some of the folks working there have virtually no education and even if they understood perfect English still probably wouldn't have any concept of germ theory.

There was definitely some managerial oversight, but I don't envy the positions many of them were in to maintain a functioning plant in a tight labour market.

[MrOilers]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

I can't imagine it's easy to train people with that many different backgrounds. Some of the folks working there have virtually no education and even if they understood perfect English still probably wouldn't have any concept of germ theory.

This is becoming more of a problem in our continuing care and assisted living sector as well.

What's particularly frightening, is that managers (in all places of employment) usually assume that a worker's difficulty is due to a language barrier, but often the underlying problem is illiteracy, which is hidden under their English barrier.

[armin]

Isn't XL now selling some of their stuff to a US company as a result?

I'd really like to get away from these massive companies and go back to buying local products that supports local farmers.

[Dialog]

There was footage of one worker saying "the water isn't hot enough to wash the poop off the cows"... intensive cold-water feces removal training perhaps?