Things We Didn't Ask For

Lorne Fitch consolidates a few ideas in a simple paragraph...sort of.

Photo by Andy T on Unsplash

Things Albertans Never Asked For (And Would Never Ask For)

Lorne Fitch, P. Biol.

When Albertans have said:

We don’t want to lose the Canadian Pension Plan, don’t want a provincial police force, don’t want to harm gender diverse kids, don’t want to see books banned, don’t want to separate from Canada, don’t want private health care, don’t want the public health care system dismantled, don’t want to use the notwithstanding clause to ram through legislation, don’t want corporations to strongarm land use planning, don’t want taxpayers to pay for the petroleum industry’s pollution cleanup, don’t want the education curriculum set by corporations and ideological entities, don’t want erosion of public education, don’t want university funding cut to satisfy some twisted ideological pursuit, don’t want to see standards for professionals diminished, don’t want the role of rural and urban municipalities usurped, don’t want development of green energy sources stymied, don’t want our parks and protected areas stripped of legislative protection, don’t want the forests of the Eastern Slopes turned into sawdust and sediment, don’t want to see funds cut for recipients of social assistance, don’t want private hunt farms for wealthy gunners, don’t want the commercialisation of wildlife, don’t want coal mines in the Eastern Slopes, don’t want lobbyists and insiders profiting at the expense of Albertans, don’t want our limited water used by AI data centres, don’t want regulators handcuffed by political intervention, don’t want to pay foreign coal companies vast amounts of money that could have been settled within existing legislation, don’t want coal exploration footprints left for the public to restore, don’t want a MAGA-styled government, don’t want a government that responds only to a minority of right wing voices, don’t want forums, surveys, and polls with preconceived answers, don’t want to see immunity granted for bad political decisions, don’t want democracy threatened by criticisms of the judicial system, don’t want politics guided by ideology instead of evidence, don’t want endless political chaos… what has the UCP done?

The UCP has done exactly the opposite in all cases. Begs the question—in whose interest are they operating? We never asked for and likely would never have approved of these decisions. Maybe we should ask for a government that provides what most Albertans want. It’s a thought worth pursuing.