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Tom Monto

Premier Smith called for gentler language against right-wing politicians, evoking charges of hypocrisy

In wake of assassination attempt against U.S. presidential candidate Trump, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith placed the blame on those who use harsh language in describing right-wing politicians.


Edmonton Journal writer David Staples pointed out the hypocrisy, presenting an instance where Smith said to right-wing media hack Tucker Carlson "I wish you would put [federal Environment Minister] Steven Guilbeault in your crosshairs."


Staples went on to pretty much ignore the call for gentler language, saying free speech is messy but is the basis of democratic process.

"it is tiresome and no fun to be defamed as a Nazi but it's a small price to for having the right to freely speak in the hope of improving our world." he said.

(Recently David Staples used slanted messaging when he answered the question he posed in a headline for his column "Could PM and Singh Scheme Their Way to Win in 2025?"

He said Trudeau and Singh (leader of the NDP) may "scheme" to steal the election by combining their candidates or somehow limiting the cross-party competition between their two parties. This should not be seen as an underhanded scheme if it means the majority of voters see their choice elected. In fact single-winner winner-take-all First-past-the-post has the appearance of being an underhanded scheme if it means the Conservatives federally will take govenrment with only a minority of the vote, while the Liberals and NDP - holding a combined majority of voters - is held out of power.

Which scheme in fact is the underhanded one?

And as Jadzia Auschrat (LTE, EJ July 17, 2024) pointed out, the United Conservative Party (the UCP that holds power in Alberta today) was produced by a merger of two parties with the sole intent to win the 2019 election and since went to win the 2023 election. What is good for the goose is good for the gander...

it is only the FPTP system we use that forces that kind of awkward and unfair-looking sort of mergers.

If Alberta had proportional rerpresentation -- whatever type of PR they are all the same in that each voter has one vote and multiple members are chosen -- there would be room for two, three, four or more parties to be represented in each district, so no need for such artificial-looking electoral mergers.

But apparently Staples would rather see Conservatives elected than the majority of voters represented.)


While Smith calls for restraint on those who call her a danger to Alberta, it is easy to see how at least one Alberta politician appointed to high position by Smith had used almost exactly that same langauge against Trudeau.


Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Communities and Social Services, said Prime Minister Trudeau was a threat to Canada.


The Calgary Sun applauded him, saying "the man stomps the prime minister and he doesn't take back one word."

The right-wing oil city newspaper had Nixon saying the people of Nixon's electoral district - Sundre, Rocky Mountain House and Rimbey were unhappy with Trudeau.

" They feel abused by the prime minister.

His attacks on Alberta, his attacks on the oilpatch. They are well past fed up.

Nixon doesn’t hold back, slamming Trudeau for treating different parts of the country differently.

'The biggest threat to Confederation isn’t Albertans. We’re patriotic Canadians. It’s Justin Trudeau. He is the threat to Confederation. He wants to break it up. He is a threat to Canada, not Alberta,' says Nixon."


Reference to a dictionary shows me that the phrase "threat to something" is very similar to being "a danger to something." exactly the kind of language that Smith says incite violence and incited the assassination attempt on Trump..


Despite Smith's call for gentler language, Nixon still holds a prominent position in the provincial government.


Nixon is quoted as preempting any positive move by Trudeau.

“People I represent recognize bullies sometimes act nice to make it look like they’re not bullying people,” says Nixon.


Now any positive move by the federal government will be seen as mere window-dressing to cover bullying ...


But, like Smith's call for restraint, Nixon's statement can produce a jaundiced view of behaviour of the Alberta government.


I notice that the Alberta government recently announced it was allocating an additional $123M to Alberta Education. It is reported that there are as many as 60 children in some classrooms, due to accumulated shortfall in funding for Education under Smith's leadership.



David Staples column Edmonton Journal July 17, 2024 -- "Free Speech can be downright unpleasant but curtailing it ony damages our society"

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