Hey Alberta! Had Enough of Steve Harper Yet?

In the last Federal election I was interviewed by Mark Kelley for a piece on CBC's The National about Alberta politics.  One of my points was a key strategy for Harper was there were two groups of Canadians he could ignore - and did ignore.  There are those who would never vote for his authoritarian totalitarian type of governing and those who vote Conservative no matter what.  Albertans have fallen into the latter category with minor but notable exceptions like Liberal and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and NDP Environment expert Linda Duncan.

With the most recent and obvious indifference and disdain for Alberta, and Edmonton in particular, the Harper Conmen have  rejected the Expo 2017 bid and for no reasons of substance.  The political machinations of the power hungry Stephen Harper are a constant calculation for personal political advantage and never a thought is given to doing the right thing for the right reason.   The only time you you will see Prime Minister Harper and the words Integrity, Honestly, Transparency and Accountability in the same sentence is to note he lacks all of these characteristics.

The fabricated reason for rejecting the Edmonton 2017 Expo bid is the high cost of security.  The Harper Conmen ran up the security costs of the G20 into a police-state bacchanal of excessive "security" and phony arrests of citizens engaged in legitimate peaceful protest.  If you are going to intimidate people with police force - well that takes money - lots of borrowed money.    Harper was happy to oblige that propensity to provide a false sense of "protection" to show off just how mush he is in CONTROL.

The sad irony is that self induced excess and abuse of security is now touted as the reason the Edmonton Expo bid can't be "afforded" right now...even though the event in 7 years away.  Alberta, and Edmonton in particular, is being punished for it electoral loyalty to the Harper Conmen.  The politics aside, and they stink, it is time to restore democracy to Alberta federal politics.  We need to not only send a message to the presumptive arrogance of the Harper Conmen that the jig is up over taking Alberta voter support for granted.

We have research results that shows Albertans are not at all impressed with our MPs when it comes to protecting Alberta's interest in Ottawa.  This reflection of Edmonton's aspiration to use Expo 2017 as a central event to celebrate 150 years of Confederation is just another indication of the indifference inherent in the Harper Conmen as they take our votes for granted.  These guys are no longer about ensuring that the West is In...the battle cry that got them elected.  When it comes to assuring us how the West is In, the "in" they provide is an attitude that is indifferent, insouciant and inept when it comes to promoting Alberta's best interests.

Has Alberta had enough of Harper yet?  Other than Harper himself, the Social Conservative Jason Kenny and the soon to be departed Jim Prentice - can you name three more of your faceless and feckless Alberta based Conmen MPs?  They are an unimpressive and a nondescript lot.  Hardly the kind of characters that can articulate and express the new aspirations and the new narrative that is forming about the next Alberta. Alberta deserves better and we can do better with a change in whom we grant our consent to govern us.