Keep up the good work! :lol:
Wildrose attack on Wynne backfires
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne found herself at the centre of a major political explosion in Alberta last week that left her unscathed but delivered a serious wound to Alberta’s official opposition.
Ontario premiers have a way of setting off volatile sparks among certain Albertans who have been holding a grudge ever since Ontario supported the long-gone and much-despised National Energy Program (NEP).
Alberta premier Rachel Notley is convinced that holding grudges isn’t very productive especially when Alberta needs powerful provinces like Ontario to sign on to Alberta’s interprovincial pipeline projects. And there’s no doubt Premier Kathleen Wynne would be a formidable ally.
So Notley invited Wynne to Alberta to highlight the two province’s common causes: fighting climate change while at the same time benefitting from oilsands development. According to Wynne there are 1,100 businesses in Ontario that depend on it.
Notley was beaming with delight as she held a joint news conference with Wynne.
She was still beaming when she introduced Wynne in the Legislature. But the official opposition — the Wildrose Party — was not impressed. Their leader, Brian Jean, and half of the Wildrosers remained in their seats as MLAs from all parties rose to their feet to welcome Wynne.
Then things got even nastier. Derek Fildebrandt, the Wildrose finance critic, used Question Period to deliver three screeching rants against Wynne’s government as the premier sat in the gallery and watched.
At one point Fildebrandt taunted Notley by suggesting that Alberta was mistakenly following Ontario’s lead into a green economy even though “Ontario had the largest debt on the planet” and was now “receiving equalization payments.”
The attack by the Wildrose left the NDP MLAs seething. But it also appalled other prominent Albertans.
The next day when Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi met with Wynne he offered her a public apology. Leaders of the Alberta Liberals and the Alberta Party denounced Wildrose’s antics. The president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce said “what happened in the Legislature yesterday is not my Alberta.”
Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid called the Wildrose welcome an embarrassing “Trumpism.”
Soon after a Wildrose spokesman issued a statement expressing “regret” for the “tone” of Fildebrandt’s remarks but not for their substance.
When asked to respond at a news conference Wynne said the attack was nothing new for her: she was used to dealing with “climate change deniers” in the Ontario Legislature.
That could have been the end of the story. A two-day tempest in a teapot that fizzled out on Friday afternoon.
But later that day one of Fildebrandt’s constituents posted a supportive comment on his Facebook page that included: “the truth about Mr. Wynne or whatever the hell she identifies as needs to be put out there for everyone to see…”
Fildebrandt quickly posted a reply: “Proud of having constituents like you!”
He subsequently apologized on Twitter by explaining he hadn’t read the whole post before responding.
But it was too late.
Around midnight, Wildrose leader Brian Jean issued a statement in which he announced that Fildebrandt had been suspended from the Wildrose caucus because his comments on social media did not reflect the party’s values.
Jean was no doubt shocked into action by the memory of a Wildrose candidate in the 2012 election who asserted that homosexuals will be condemned to a “lake of fire” after they die and was one of the key reasons Albertans decided Wildrose wasn’t ready to govern.
Jean also happened to be attending the Conservative Party convention in Vancouver which was about to reverse its opposition to gay marriage.
The impetuous Hildebrandt was a Wildrose star. He is only 31-years-old and was seen by many party stalwarts as an eventual successor to Brian Jean. He was a prominent operative for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation before becoming a Wildrose MLA. Now he will have trouble being heard at all.
It’s a safe bet that Rachel Notley never anticipated that chumming up to Kathleen Wynne and Ontario would lead to the crippling of her fiercest opposition.
But that is indeed what happened and the Wildrose Party has no one to blame but itself.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/com...ldrose-attack-on-wynne-backfires-steward.html
Wildrose attack on Wynne backfires
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne found herself at the centre of a major political explosion in Alberta last week that left her unscathed but delivered a serious wound to Alberta’s official opposition.
Ontario premiers have a way of setting off volatile sparks among certain Albertans who have been holding a grudge ever since Ontario supported the long-gone and much-despised National Energy Program (NEP).
Alberta premier Rachel Notley is convinced that holding grudges isn’t very productive especially when Alberta needs powerful provinces like Ontario to sign on to Alberta’s interprovincial pipeline projects. And there’s no doubt Premier Kathleen Wynne would be a formidable ally.
So Notley invited Wynne to Alberta to highlight the two province’s common causes: fighting climate change while at the same time benefitting from oilsands development. According to Wynne there are 1,100 businesses in Ontario that depend on it.
Notley was beaming with delight as she held a joint news conference with Wynne.
She was still beaming when she introduced Wynne in the Legislature. But the official opposition — the Wildrose Party — was not impressed. Their leader, Brian Jean, and half of the Wildrosers remained in their seats as MLAs from all parties rose to their feet to welcome Wynne.
Then things got even nastier. Derek Fildebrandt, the Wildrose finance critic, used Question Period to deliver three screeching rants against Wynne’s government as the premier sat in the gallery and watched.
At one point Fildebrandt taunted Notley by suggesting that Alberta was mistakenly following Ontario’s lead into a green economy even though “Ontario had the largest debt on the planet” and was now “receiving equalization payments.”
The attack by the Wildrose left the NDP MLAs seething. But it also appalled other prominent Albertans.
The next day when Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi met with Wynne he offered her a public apology. Leaders of the Alberta Liberals and the Alberta Party denounced Wildrose’s antics. The president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce said “what happened in the Legislature yesterday is not my Alberta.”
Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid called the Wildrose welcome an embarrassing “Trumpism.”
Soon after a Wildrose spokesman issued a statement expressing “regret” for the “tone” of Fildebrandt’s remarks but not for their substance.
When asked to respond at a news conference Wynne said the attack was nothing new for her: she was used to dealing with “climate change deniers” in the Ontario Legislature.
That could have been the end of the story. A two-day tempest in a teapot that fizzled out on Friday afternoon.
But later that day one of Fildebrandt’s constituents posted a supportive comment on his Facebook page that included: “the truth about Mr. Wynne or whatever the hell she identifies as needs to be put out there for everyone to see…”
Fildebrandt quickly posted a reply: “Proud of having constituents like you!”
He subsequently apologized on Twitter by explaining he hadn’t read the whole post before responding.
But it was too late.
Around midnight, Wildrose leader Brian Jean issued a statement in which he announced that Fildebrandt had been suspended from the Wildrose caucus because his comments on social media did not reflect the party’s values.
Jean was no doubt shocked into action by the memory of a Wildrose candidate in the 2012 election who asserted that homosexuals will be condemned to a “lake of fire” after they die and was one of the key reasons Albertans decided Wildrose wasn’t ready to govern.
Jean also happened to be attending the Conservative Party convention in Vancouver which was about to reverse its opposition to gay marriage.
The impetuous Hildebrandt was a Wildrose star. He is only 31-years-old and was seen by many party stalwarts as an eventual successor to Brian Jean. He was a prominent operative for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation before becoming a Wildrose MLA. Now he will have trouble being heard at all.
It’s a safe bet that Rachel Notley never anticipated that chumming up to Kathleen Wynne and Ontario would lead to the crippling of her fiercest opposition.
But that is indeed what happened and the Wildrose Party has no one to blame but itself.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/com...ldrose-attack-on-wynne-backfires-steward.html
