#United Conservative Party

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A right-wing media personality from Alberta went viral this weekend for all the wrong reasons after posting a video on social media from inside a public washroom at the Ottawa International Airport.

Derek Fildebrandt, the Publisher of the right-wing Western Standard media outlet, recorded himself exploring a public washroom before boarding a flight home to Calgary after this weekend’s conservative Canada Strong and Free Network conference.

Six different people are visible in the background of the video — half of whose faces are identifiable — while Fildebrandt criticizes the presence of a menstrual product dispenser in a men’s washroom.

At one point, one washroom user can also briefly be seen using a urinal. [...]

Fildebrandt, a former MLA with Alberta’s United Conservative Party, says he has no regrets despite creating obvious privacy issues for other washroom users. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @abpoli, @vague-humanoid

[lizbean99]

PROTECT TRANS KIDS

I live in Alberta, Canada, which you may have heard is the latest province to introduce their version of "parental rights" legislation.

Here are some of the things our premier, Danielle Smith, promised to do on Wednesday;

mandate teachers report to parents (and ask permission if the child is younger than 16) if a child wants to use a different name/different pronouns in class

mandate permission forms anytime a teacher wants to mention gender or sexual orientation

ban children under the age of 16 from accessing hormones or puberty blockers

ban top & bottom surgery for anyone under the age of 18 (bottom, surgery is already illegal for anyone under 18 in Canada)

ban transgender women from competing in womens sports

These laws have been called "draconian" and were not drafted with consideration from medical, pediatric, or LGBT organizations. Danielle Smith is pandering to the social conservative wing of her party and putting queer kids in danger because of it.

"Parental Rights" are a sham that ignores the lived reality of queer kids.

I've spent the past few days feeling angry and heartbroken, and I wanted to spread awareness and share with my American followers because I haven't seen many news outlets outside of Canada covering this.

[fireladybuckley]

I don’t usually get too political on this blog, but…

If you’re from Alberta, for the love of all that is good in humanity, please go and VOTE.

Danielle Smith wants to privatize healthcare, remove funding from programs that actively help people, blames late stage cancer diagnosis patients for not noticing their condition sooner, among numerous other terrible things. And true to the usual UCP bull, she cares more about money and oil and trades more than the actual people of the province.

She is a huge admirer of Ron DeSantis and thinks he’s doing a great job, which I’m sure anyone from the US and especially Florida can tell you is NOT a good thing!!

Please… if you want a premier that at least cares about people and not just money, vote NDP.

Rachel Notley is far from perfect, but she is a hell of a lot better than the alternative. She at least actually cares about people, and cares about the marginalized in our society. She may not balance the budget, but she will fund education, healthcare and other important things, rather than funnelling everything into a dying economy and ignoring the citizens struggling.

If you don’t want hate and cold disregard to rule our province for the next 4 years, vote NDP. Liberal, Green and any other party don’t stand a chance. This is UCP vs NDP, period.

Vote orange if you care about the people around you.

Thanks for listening. Let’s all cross our fingers that tonight’s vote isn’t the start of rights being taken away. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[terriwriting]

Talk-radio host noted for her ignorance of how Canadian government works and for using social media to spread conspiracy theories is shocked to discover that her supporters are a bunch of ignorant conspiracy theorists.

[canadianabroadvery]

[destielmemenews]

source 1

source 2

source 3

[ngdrb]

What has happened to the Republican Party? Why have they abandoned all their principles and beliefs and become so extreme? 

In recent years, the Republican Party has undergone a significant transformation, veering away from its traditional principles and embracing a more extreme ideology. This shift has left many questioning the party's direction and has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

The Abandonment of Traditional Republican Values

Historically, the Republican Party has been known for its commitment to fiscal responsibility, limited government, and a strong emphasis on individual liberties. However, in recent times, the party has seemingly abandoned these core tenets in favor of a more divisive and polarizing agenda.

Fiscal Responsibility

Once a hallmark of the Republican Party, fiscal responsibility has taken a backseat to other priorities. The party's stance on deficit reduction and responsible spending has become increasingly inconsistent, with many Republicans supporting policies that contribute to growing national debt.

Limited Government

The principle of limited government, which advocates for restraining the size and scope of the federal government, has been overshadowed by an expansionist approach to executive power and centralized authority.

Individual Liberties

The party's traditional commitment to individual liberties, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy, has been called into question by some of the party's more extreme positions on issues like immigration and civil liberties.

The Rise of Extremism

The Republican Party's shift towards extremism can be attributed to several factors, including the growing influence of fringe groups, the polarization of political discourse, and the party's embrace of populist rhetoric.

Influence of Fringe Groups

Fringe groups with extreme ideologies have gained a stronger foothold within the Republican Party, shaping its policies and rhetoric. This influence has contributed to the party's move away from its traditional values and towards more extreme positions.

Polarization of Political Discourse

The increasingly polarized nature of political discourse in the United States has played a role in the Republican Party's shift toward extremism. As the divide between the two major parties has widened, the Republican Party has become more ideologically entrenched and less willing to compromise.

Embrace of Populist Rhetoric

The party's adoption of populist rhetoric, which often focuses on creating divisions and appealing to emotions rather than facts, has further fueled the trend toward extremism.

Conclusion

The Republican Party's transformation has left many questioning its future direction and its ability to appeal to a broad range of voters. As the party continues to grapple with internal divisions and external pressures, it remains to be seen whether it will return to its traditional values or continue down the path of extremism.

[queerism1969]

[political-times]

[unitedfrontvarietyhour]

American politics are now just WWE.

[neiljohnsonphotography]

A mural of Rishi Sunak has appeared in Edinburgh.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A Plains Cree physician who practices family medicine in Alberta says it’s shameful that Conservative Premier Danielle Smith is playing politics with transgender issues.

“It’s really important to know that people don’t do this [gender affirmation] lightly,” said Dr. James Makokis, who identifies as Two-Spirit and works directly with trans patients. “It is something that they’ve known their entire life.

“And clinicians do thorough assessments of ensuring that people when they say they’re trans, they’re trans and we just ensure that there’s not medical contra-indications to doing so and there is a thorough assessment process of that.”

On Wednesday, Smith announced a number of policy changes on social media that will restrict medical access to those seeking gender affirmation therapy – especially transgender youth.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[lizbean99]

"Puberty blockers can't be started at 18 when youth have already developed: experts"

YEAH NO SHIT

THEYRE PUBERTY BLOCKERS, NOT ADULTHOOD BLOCKERS

[awkward-teabag]

Love (cannot emphasis how much sarcasm there is in that word) that an official Canadian government response to high cellphone rates is to switch carriers.

Switch it to what? We basically have three companies since one was allowed to eat the forth (with the government saying it wasn't anti-competition and the company eating the other pinky promising they wouldn't jack rates up). Even the smaller companies have to rent infrastructure from the Big Three so there's only so much they can do if that rent costs an arm and a leg.

And that's not touching on how many "small companies" are actually just subsidiaries of the Big Three. You may save $5 but you're still with Telus/Rogers/Bell.

Or that the actual small companies tend to have shit coverage because they don't have the infrastructure available to them and are prevented from getting it. Or their traffic is throttled in favour of the Big Three's customers. Or both.

Or that they're extremely regional thus aren't an option for a huge chunk of Canada's population.

We have no true options and the government has shown time and again that they're fine with monopolies, in multiple industries, and don't care when said monopolies jack up prices to make shareholders and the c-suite more money at the expense of everyone else. At most there will be a verbal slap on the wrist and a giftcard for $25 that people have to register for, for a decade and a half of price gouging.

It's not talked a whole lot about outside the country from what I've seen and heard but Canada is a country of monopolies. A handful of companies own nearly everything, every province has a family or two that owns a hell of a lot (Nova Scotia is basically owned by one family at this point), and our government ignores it. Even the branch that is supposed to be against monopolies is fine with mergers and takeovers in most cases.

Because, you know, the company said it totally wouldn't use consumers' lack of options to increase prices.

[terriwriting]

Said to be worth about US$4 billion when it went public in 2021, Babylon Health is presumably now worth nothing more than what its constituent parts can fetch to pay off its creditors.

It turns out that its founders and bosses wildly exaggerated the capabilities of its chatbot program, which was described as using artificial intelligence, raising the hope here in Wild Rose Country that it could all but make family physicians obsolete.

Alert readers will recall that in 2020, then-premier Jason Kenney’s minister of health, Tyler Shandro, was engaged in an effort to cut physicians’ incomes that came to be known as the UCP’s “war on doctors,” and from which Alberta is yet to recover.

[crynwr-drwg]

Tories die