Thread by @JoeMcFarland

It's been a while since I've written an #ABleg 🧵. To be honest, I've just grown tired of it all. After a while, it starts to feel like yelling into the abyss. Realistically, it's all noise in what's become a really noisy space, where nuance & reason are foreign ideas. #Alberta

That being said, I did wanna put pen to paper on something that I've been thinking a lot about lately. I hate that we've reached the point where it feels like we're cheering against ourselves. Even when good news comes, it feels like it's bad. And that's not healthy. #ABleg

This has been going on for a while. I remember how Alison Redford could say the sky was blue & Danielle Smith would hold a news conference to say the sky was red. That's how ridiculous the divide in this province seemed to be. It continued with the NDP & now continues with UCP.

Don't get me wrong: every government needs to be held accountable. Every government needs to be questioned. But do we need to be divided on absolutely everything? Is there zero room for compromise? Can we not celebrate little victories or do we have to poke holes in everything?

I know this sounds a lot like "can't we all just get along" & maybe that's a part of it. But the bigger issue is I expect more out of leadership. When did it become okay for a premier to single out private citizens on social media (among other things)? #ABleg #Alberta

We heard so much about raising decorum in this province & how we need to make things "less political", yet we see no leadership on that front. None. As a result, it signals to the electorate that they are allowed to be awful to one another. There's a fundamental problem w/ this.

Having grown up in & still have strong roots in rural #Alberta but spending most of my adult life in urban centers, I truly believe there is more than unites us than what divides us. People here just want to have the opportunity to provide for their families. #ABleg

They care about their neighbours. They serve their communities. They want to be involved. But all this negativity has them thinking twice about it. They don't have a political "home" because they aren't ardent supporters of the NDP or UCP nor are they defined by how they vote.

I try to remind myself that social media is a lot like driving to work. You get cut off & all you see is bad drivers. You fail to see all the other drivers who are minding their business, just trying to get home safe. The problem is: the bad drivers are the politicians. #ABleg

They're the ones with the megaphones, making us believe that all drivers (Albertans) are just as bad as they are. Reminder: they're not. This province is full of amazing people doing amazing things every single day. We need to remember that come election day in 2023. #ABleg

We need to hold these parties to account. Who truly wants to unite us? Who wants to bring out the best in us? And who wants to continue to divide? Who is content on saying "vote for us because we're not the other party"? We need to demand more of our politicians. #ABleg

We need them to give us their vision for this province. We need strong advocates for their communities, not a bunch of MLAs who are advocates for their party in the communities. We need them to stand FOR something, not AGAINST. #ABleg #Alberta

I'll end this lengthy thread on this note: the VAST majority of Albertans are good people. They are amazing people. They are taking care of their families, friends & communities. They have risen above the noise. And they deserve a lot better than what they're getting. #Alberta 🧵