News:
SMF - Just Installed!
- Welcome to THeBlueCashew.
Posted by Herman
- May 17, 2025, 08:45:04 PMAn interesting analogy from Alberta's Premier. She's probably not far off.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dDHDRmfOy2E
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dDHDRmfOy2E
Posted by Herman
- May 15, 2025, 03:54:26 PMLet's face it, as Ottawa holds back the country, only Alberta shines
'Busy as a beaver, no more. Thanks to ruinous Liberal economic policies, Canada is stagnating. Instead of all the anxiety about the dreadful economic fate facing Alberta should it leave Canada, perhaps Canadians should imagine the fate of Canada without Alberta.
By Western Standard Guest columnist
There are reasons why Alberta going it alone could be a walk down a potentially dangerous path. But thinking we'd be turning our backs on an economic powerhouse isn't among them.
That's because Canada is stagnating. But the rot rate grew deepest during the debacle of Justin Trudeau's decade of national governance. Years from now it'll be remembered the way the Dirty Thirties still are across the prairies.
But already a majority of Canadians know this in their bones. They feel it on every visit to the grocery store, or while wondering if they'll ever afford a new vehicle again.
It's toughest on our young people, who look at today's property market with something approaching horror. Unless they have especially rich and generous parents, any hope of eventually affording a home of their own looks increasingly forlorn.
It's only those fortunate older Canadians who feel any sense of security: those who've amassed a big chunk of home equity or paid off the mortgage entirely. They can relax and watch that assessed value ratchet ever upwards, although those annual big rate increases, courtesy of greedy civic governments, might curdle their Cheshire grins a tad.
Those same lucky folk were in their working prime when Canadian companies were much more competitive and could therefore offer defined benefit pension plans to employees. Nowadays such plans only exist for cossetted public sector workers and hens with teeth.
This age gap in wealth, security and future aspirations is why younger Canadians, along with recent immigrants, switched their votes to the Conservatives in the recent election. Those two demographic groups were once the Liberals' bread and butter, but when the future doesn't look as golden as promised, you act accordingly when marking a ballot.
However, those Canadians happy enough with the status quo and hoping to ride such security through a cosy retirement were left shell-shocked by the recent bullying tactics and ceaseless bombast of US President Donald Trump.
So, they turned tail on the Conservatives, while totally abandoning the NDP with its annoying blathering that only resonates when times are so good we can accept such moral indulgences. Thus the oldies voted Liberal.
Yep, they picked that most unlikely Captain Canada: global banking superstar, Mark Carney. (Superheroes don't usually have two additional passports in their back pocket in case things don't work out.)
As a result, Alberta's at the crossroads and a vote on separation seems inevitable by 2026. And no, it's not just some wild-eyed fringe players that support such a move.
According to a recent Angus Reid poll 36 per cent of Albertans either want to leave Canada, or are leaning that way. And those startling numbers come while Carney's still paying lip service about kick-starting industrial development across this country.
Of course he won't. Not when push comes to shove. There are too many noses in the national trough to allow diversion from our dreary economic route ahead. The debilitating status quo will continue.
Imagine the reaction among those Albertans still optimistic about the future, once it becomes painfully obvious the Grits' won't follow through on their pre-election chatter. And if those separation intentions subsequently hit the 40 per cent mark things will get mighty interesting in one hell of a hurry, as talk of this being nothing but a fringe movement unravels.
So, just how weak is Canada's economic performance? How about 'dreadful?' It was sickly even before Trudeau arrived, but he took mismanagement to a whole new level of absurdity: far more concerned with personal pronouns than productivity.
For example, between 2014 and 2023, our national per capita GDP grew by a miserly 1.9 per cent in real terms, by far the worst performer among the G7 group of countries.
Meanwhile the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates by the end of this decade Canada will suffer the lowest GDP growth of the leading 32 global economies.
Yet the Liberals want to curtail our energy industry, which is easily the best performing sector of the economy. Imagine how woeful those stats would read if oil and gas exports were removed from the GDP ledger.
Maybe today's fear merchants, endlessly screeching about the dreadful economic fate facing Alberta outside of Canada, should instead imagine the fate of Canada without Alberta. Ouch.
'Busy as a beaver, no more. Thanks to ruinous Liberal economic policies, Canada is stagnating. Instead of all the anxiety about the dreadful economic fate facing Alberta should it leave Canada, perhaps Canadians should imagine the fate of Canada without Alberta.
By Western Standard Guest columnist
There are reasons why Alberta going it alone could be a walk down a potentially dangerous path. But thinking we'd be turning our backs on an economic powerhouse isn't among them.
That's because Canada is stagnating. But the rot rate grew deepest during the debacle of Justin Trudeau's decade of national governance. Years from now it'll be remembered the way the Dirty Thirties still are across the prairies.
But already a majority of Canadians know this in their bones. They feel it on every visit to the grocery store, or while wondering if they'll ever afford a new vehicle again.
It's toughest on our young people, who look at today's property market with something approaching horror. Unless they have especially rich and generous parents, any hope of eventually affording a home of their own looks increasingly forlorn.
It's only those fortunate older Canadians who feel any sense of security: those who've amassed a big chunk of home equity or paid off the mortgage entirely. They can relax and watch that assessed value ratchet ever upwards, although those annual big rate increases, courtesy of greedy civic governments, might curdle their Cheshire grins a tad.
Those same lucky folk were in their working prime when Canadian companies were much more competitive and could therefore offer defined benefit pension plans to employees. Nowadays such plans only exist for cossetted public sector workers and hens with teeth.
This age gap in wealth, security and future aspirations is why younger Canadians, along with recent immigrants, switched their votes to the Conservatives in the recent election. Those two demographic groups were once the Liberals' bread and butter, but when the future doesn't look as golden as promised, you act accordingly when marking a ballot.
However, those Canadians happy enough with the status quo and hoping to ride such security through a cosy retirement were left shell-shocked by the recent bullying tactics and ceaseless bombast of US President Donald Trump.
So, they turned tail on the Conservatives, while totally abandoning the NDP with its annoying blathering that only resonates when times are so good we can accept such moral indulgences. Thus the oldies voted Liberal.
Yep, they picked that most unlikely Captain Canada: global banking superstar, Mark Carney. (Superheroes don't usually have two additional passports in their back pocket in case things don't work out.)
As a result, Alberta's at the crossroads and a vote on separation seems inevitable by 2026. And no, it's not just some wild-eyed fringe players that support such a move.
According to a recent Angus Reid poll 36 per cent of Albertans either want to leave Canada, or are leaning that way. And those startling numbers come while Carney's still paying lip service about kick-starting industrial development across this country.
Of course he won't. Not when push comes to shove. There are too many noses in the national trough to allow diversion from our dreary economic route ahead. The debilitating status quo will continue.
Imagine the reaction among those Albertans still optimistic about the future, once it becomes painfully obvious the Grits' won't follow through on their pre-election chatter. And if those separation intentions subsequently hit the 40 per cent mark things will get mighty interesting in one hell of a hurry, as talk of this being nothing but a fringe movement unravels.
So, just how weak is Canada's economic performance? How about 'dreadful?' It was sickly even before Trudeau arrived, but he took mismanagement to a whole new level of absurdity: far more concerned with personal pronouns than productivity.
For example, between 2014 and 2023, our national per capita GDP grew by a miserly 1.9 per cent in real terms, by far the worst performer among the G7 group of countries.
Meanwhile the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates by the end of this decade Canada will suffer the lowest GDP growth of the leading 32 global economies.
Yet the Liberals want to curtail our energy industry, which is easily the best performing sector of the economy. Imagine how woeful those stats would read if oil and gas exports were removed from the GDP ledger.
Maybe today's fear merchants, endlessly screeching about the dreadful economic fate facing Alberta outside of Canada, should instead imagine the fate of Canada without Alberta. Ouch.
Posted by Herman
- May 15, 2025, 03:50:04 PMThe sooner we leave Canada the better off we prairie folks will be.
Posted by Herman
- May 15, 2025, 03:28:34 PMQuote from: DKG on May 14, 2025, 07:13:09 PMEven if you do get representation from your province in cabinet, it will be some sycophant who supports Bills C-48 and C-69 which prevent the prarie provinces from reaching their potential.I know that. They will bring Conman Carney's views to the prairies instead of the other way around.
Posted by DKG
- May 14, 2025, 07:13:09 PMQuote from: Herman on May 14, 2025, 04:00:08 PMBrampton has more representation in Conman Carney's cabinet that Alberta and Saskatchewan combined.Even if you do get representation from your province in cabinet, it will be some sycophant who supports Bills C-48 and C-69 which prevent the prarie provinces from reaching their potential.
Posted by Herman
- May 14, 2025, 04:00:08 PMBrampton has more representation in Conman Carney's cabinet that Alberta and Saskatchewan combined.
Posted by Herman
- May 13, 2025, 07:54:47 PMEastern Canadian prog power and money are going to lie and defame us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hHLOJyFaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hHLOJyFaE
Posted by Herman
- May 13, 2025, 07:27:01 PMLook at how the Canadian government is ignoring the Chinese tariffs affecting the Canola farmers in Saskatchewan and giving so much attention to the American tariffs affecting the auto workers in Ontario.
Posted by Shen Li
- May 12, 2025, 10:34:26 PMA Nanos Research poll points to a generational divide. Younger Albertans are less likely than their parents or grandparents to believe being part of Canada would be better for Alberta's economy. Alberta is a young province, the youngest in Canada
Posted by Shen Li
- May 12, 2025, 10:13:35 PMQuote from: Herman on May 12, 2025, 07:12:05 PMEzra Levant said it well on X today:There is so much fucking hypocrisy in Canada. Your federal election did a lot more harm to Canadian prosperity than tariffs on aluminum and dairy products ffs.
I've been in Toronto for a while, but I'm still Albertan enough to think I understand what's going on. Let me translate for my fellow Easterners.
Remember how you felt when Donald Trump put tariffs on your prestige industries in a manner that seemed unfair and irrational? And rational or not, it hurt your economy and cost you jobs? And how do you feel, knowing that Trump is still vowing to move Canada's car and steel industries to the U.S.?
Remember how you felt that your own political autonomy and sovereignty was being challenged by the proposal to become a 51st state? That it felt like an "indecent proposal"? And even if it was just an empty taunt, it showed disrespect -- like if a stranger made a marriage proposal to someone who was already married?
Well, Ottawa has been doing that to Alberta for generations. And it's been rewarded election after election by Ontario and Quebec voters. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can count on the support of Paul.
Donald Trump has an excuse: his job is America First. Nothing else matters. What's Mark Carney's excuse? What's Canada's excuse?
Trump imposed tariffs on us, typically 10% or 25%. Ottawa blocked Alberta and Saskatchewan pipelines, banned tankers, required a "gender analysis" on new industrial projects, imposed a production cap and threatened to "transition" the industry (i.e., shut it down).
That's like a 100% tariff -- it's a veto.
Alberta and Saskatchewan voted for a grand total of three Liberal MPs. But Alberta and Saskatchewan are not the deciders. They're just the people who keep paying the bills for the whole country.
You're about to see something very interesting. In the last Quebec referendum, the entire Canadian establishment sent a message: we love you, please come back, we'll work it out within Canada. Quebec received countless political, economic and constitutional favours -- plus a lot of cash.
You might even say that Quebec separatism has been a sham for decades: it's just a good cop/bad cop way of fleecing Alberta. It's not serious. It's the permanent revolution. It's theatrical. What is more revealing than Bloc Québécois MPs collecting their Parliamentary pensions?
But watch for the opposite towards Alberta. There's a genuine hatred towards Alberta, and Alberta-ness. The only Albertans respected by the CBC are underminers, like Naheed Nenshi and Rachel Notley, who promised to destroy the industry from the inside. Albertans with Alberta-ness are shunned, demonized, mocked, attacked. Look at how the CBC has tried to destroy Danielle Smith. She was the only female premier in Canada for years; normally she'd be a CBC favourite on DEI grounds alone. But she's the "wrong" kind of woman, she's too Albertan, so they hate her and lie about her daily.
But buckle up now. Every national media company, every national corporation, every bank, every NGO, every "community activist" will be deployed to denigrate and smear Albertans who are just tired of Ottawa's war on the west.
Again, if you're from Toronto or Montreal and need help imagining things, picture Trump-style taxes, tariffs, and other economic warfare for 40 years -- going back to the National Energy Program of the 1980s, and even earlier.
All from your own country.
Albertan's aren't even angry. They're just done.
Friendly tip: if you're a politician or journalist using the same language you did with the trucker convoy ("you're racist"; "you're a fringe minority with unacceptable views"; "you're a crackpot"), you're not trying to persuade, you're demonstrating that you hate Alberta, or at least Alberta-ness, too.
It's an interesting Venn diagram: the people who called for a "Team Canada" approach and who promised to end internal trade barriers are the same ones denigrating Albertans who are asking for an end to Ottawa's sanctions. (And what is a pipeline ban, other than a non-tariff barrier?)
The Canadian establishment demonized Trump as a bully, an economic illiterate and an unreliable friend and ally. They are all of those things and worse towards Albertans. At least Trump kept telling Canada he "cherished" us, as he shook us down. Carney, Trudeau, Guilbeault -- they genuinely hate Alberta, and it shows.
Posted by Herman
- May 12, 2025, 08:48:17 PMThe former leader of the opposition said it. Conman Carney will be the last prime minister of Canada.
Preston Manning made it clear that the biggest threat to Canada is not President Trump, it's Western dissatisfaction with Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUpfmcliD3g
Preston Manning made it clear that the biggest threat to Canada is not President Trump, it's Western dissatisfaction with Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUpfmcliD3g
Posted by Herman
- May 12, 2025, 07:12:05 PMEzra Levant said it well on X today:
I've been in Toronto for a while, but I'm still Albertan enough to think I understand what's going on. Let me translate for my fellow Easterners.
Remember how you felt when Donald Trump put tariffs on your prestige industries in a manner that seemed unfair and irrational? And rational or not, it hurt your economy and cost you jobs? And how do you feel, knowing that Trump is still vowing to move Canada's car and steel industries to the U.S.?
Remember how you felt that your own political autonomy and sovereignty was being challenged by the proposal to become a 51st state? That it felt like an "indecent proposal"? And even if it was just an empty taunt, it showed disrespect -- like if a stranger made a marriage proposal to someone who was already married?
Well, Ottawa has been doing that to Alberta for generations. And it's been rewarded election after election by Ontario and Quebec voters. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can count on the support of Paul.
Donald Trump has an excuse: his job is America First. Nothing else matters. What's Mark Carney's excuse? What's Canada's excuse?
Trump imposed tariffs on us, typically 10% or 25%. Ottawa blocked Alberta and Saskatchewan pipelines, banned tankers, required a "gender analysis" on new industrial projects, imposed a production cap and threatened to "transition" the industry (i.e., shut it down).
That's like a 100% tariff -- it's a veto.
Alberta and Saskatchewan voted for a grand total of three Liberal MPs. But Alberta and Saskatchewan are not the deciders. They're just the people who keep paying the bills for the whole country.
You're about to see something very interesting. In the last Quebec referendum, the entire Canadian establishment sent a message: we love you, please come back, we'll work it out within Canada. Quebec received countless political, economic and constitutional favours -- plus a lot of cash.
You might even say that Quebec separatism has been a sham for decades: it's just a good cop/bad cop way of fleecing Alberta. It's not serious. It's the permanent revolution. It's theatrical. What is more revealing than Bloc Québécois MPs collecting their Parliamentary pensions?
But watch for the opposite towards Alberta. There's a genuine hatred towards Alberta, and Alberta-ness. The only Albertans respected by the CBC are underminers, like Naheed Nenshi and Rachel Notley, who promised to destroy the industry from the inside. Albertans with Alberta-ness are shunned, demonized, mocked, attacked. Look at how the CBC has tried to destroy Danielle Smith. She was the only female premier in Canada for years; normally she'd be a CBC favourite on DEI grounds alone. But she's the "wrong" kind of woman, she's too Albertan, so they hate her and lie about her daily.
But buckle up now. Every national media company, every national corporation, every bank, every NGO, every "community activist" will be deployed to denigrate and smear Albertans who are just tired of Ottawa's war on the west.
Again, if you're from Toronto or Montreal and need help imagining things, picture Trump-style taxes, tariffs, and other economic warfare for 40 years -- going back to the National Energy Program of the 1980s, and even earlier.
All from your own country.
Albertan's aren't even angry. They're just done.
Friendly tip: if you're a politician or journalist using the same language you did with the trucker convoy ("you're racist"; "you're a fringe minority with unacceptable views"; "you're a crackpot"), you're not trying to persuade, you're demonstrating that you hate Alberta, or at least Alberta-ness, too.
It's an interesting Venn diagram: the people who called for a "Team Canada" approach and who promised to end internal trade barriers are the same ones denigrating Albertans who are asking for an end to Ottawa's sanctions. (And what is a pipeline ban, other than a non-tariff barrier?)
The Canadian establishment demonized Trump as a bully, an economic illiterate and an unreliable friend and ally. They are all of those things and worse towards Albertans. At least Trump kept telling Canada he "cherished" us, as he shook us down. Carney, Trudeau, Guilbeault -- they genuinely hate Alberta, and it shows.
I've been in Toronto for a while, but I'm still Albertan enough to think I understand what's going on. Let me translate for my fellow Easterners.
Remember how you felt when Donald Trump put tariffs on your prestige industries in a manner that seemed unfair and irrational? And rational or not, it hurt your economy and cost you jobs? And how do you feel, knowing that Trump is still vowing to move Canada's car and steel industries to the U.S.?
Remember how you felt that your own political autonomy and sovereignty was being challenged by the proposal to become a 51st state? That it felt like an "indecent proposal"? And even if it was just an empty taunt, it showed disrespect -- like if a stranger made a marriage proposal to someone who was already married?
Well, Ottawa has been doing that to Alberta for generations. And it's been rewarded election after election by Ontario and Quebec voters. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can count on the support of Paul.
Donald Trump has an excuse: his job is America First. Nothing else matters. What's Mark Carney's excuse? What's Canada's excuse?
Trump imposed tariffs on us, typically 10% or 25%. Ottawa blocked Alberta and Saskatchewan pipelines, banned tankers, required a "gender analysis" on new industrial projects, imposed a production cap and threatened to "transition" the industry (i.e., shut it down).
That's like a 100% tariff -- it's a veto.
Alberta and Saskatchewan voted for a grand total of three Liberal MPs. But Alberta and Saskatchewan are not the deciders. They're just the people who keep paying the bills for the whole country.
You're about to see something very interesting. In the last Quebec referendum, the entire Canadian establishment sent a message: we love you, please come back, we'll work it out within Canada. Quebec received countless political, economic and constitutional favours -- plus a lot of cash.
You might even say that Quebec separatism has been a sham for decades: it's just a good cop/bad cop way of fleecing Alberta. It's not serious. It's the permanent revolution. It's theatrical. What is more revealing than Bloc Québécois MPs collecting their Parliamentary pensions?
But watch for the opposite towards Alberta. There's a genuine hatred towards Alberta, and Alberta-ness. The only Albertans respected by the CBC are underminers, like Naheed Nenshi and Rachel Notley, who promised to destroy the industry from the inside. Albertans with Alberta-ness are shunned, demonized, mocked, attacked. Look at how the CBC has tried to destroy Danielle Smith. She was the only female premier in Canada for years; normally she'd be a CBC favourite on DEI grounds alone. But she's the "wrong" kind of woman, she's too Albertan, so they hate her and lie about her daily.
But buckle up now. Every national media company, every national corporation, every bank, every NGO, every "community activist" will be deployed to denigrate and smear Albertans who are just tired of Ottawa's war on the west.
Again, if you're from Toronto or Montreal and need help imagining things, picture Trump-style taxes, tariffs, and other economic warfare for 40 years -- going back to the National Energy Program of the 1980s, and even earlier.
All from your own country.
Albertan's aren't even angry. They're just done.
Friendly tip: if you're a politician or journalist using the same language you did with the trucker convoy ("you're racist"; "you're a fringe minority with unacceptable views"; "you're a crackpot"), you're not trying to persuade, you're demonstrating that you hate Alberta, or at least Alberta-ness, too.
It's an interesting Venn diagram: the people who called for a "Team Canada" approach and who promised to end internal trade barriers are the same ones denigrating Albertans who are asking for an end to Ottawa's sanctions. (And what is a pipeline ban, other than a non-tariff barrier?)
The Canadian establishment demonized Trump as a bully, an economic illiterate and an unreliable friend and ally. They are all of those things and worse towards Albertans. At least Trump kept telling Canada he "cherished" us, as he shook us down. Carney, Trudeau, Guilbeault -- they genuinely hate Alberta, and it shows.
Posted by Herman
- May 12, 2025, 07:00:07 PMFirst Scott Moe and now Danielle Smith.
Posted by JOE
- May 12, 2025, 11:07:20 AMQuote from: Herman on May 11, 2025, 10:51:00 PMLet's talk about Justine's impact on Alberta's economy:
• He praised the cancellation of Keystone XL.
Trudeau may have been incompetent on many issues, but he didn't praise the cancellation of Keystone XL hey Herman
Herm.That was entirely Biden's doing:
https://youtu.be/IXZ6ml0j5gY?si=en8xMvZ1wcv4JCWq
Trudeau wanted it but the left leaning Democrats in the US told Biden to cancel it.
Posted by DKG
- May 12, 2025, 09:25:10 AMQuote from: Shen Li on May 12, 2025, 12:00:00 AMThe US doesn't rob from Peter to buy Paul's votes like Canada does. You don't see resource rich states getting fucked in the ass like Alberta and Saskatchewan do even when the Democrats are in power.Equalization didn't change even when Harper was in power. To end it would be political suicide.
In the US, it doesn't matter which party is in the White House or congress. They do not throw smaller states under the bus wheels to secure votes in bigger ones as blatantly as Canada does.
It is insanity and a recipe for breaking up a country.