Thread by @MargTokar

An open letter to Danielle Smith and the UCP Ministers and Caucus:

My name is Marg Tokar. I was a lifelong Conservative.
I started AB Resistance over 20 months ago. My initial intent as to bring like minded Albertans together no matter their party affiliation. /1

Albertans who were concerned about the trajectory this government was on.
People who were concerned about the state of our Public HC, seniors who were concerned about holding on to their CPP, and the failure of their MLA’s to address their concerns. Even back then. /2

This government’s election promises have no semblance to the reality of their actions.
“You will never have to pay for HC”…only if you need access to it in a timely way.
“I am not campaigning on a new police force”, no, because you knew it would be rejected. /3

“No one is touching your CPP”, and yet you never cease trying. Albertans continue to pay for surveys to repeatedly tell you all NO. You don’t listen. You don’t care to, because you want Albertan’s CPP. Period. /4

ABR members have repeatedly contacted their MLAs, over and over again, expressing their concerns, letting their MLAs know that they did not vote for these policies, and their MLAs are supposed to represent them. They didn’t listen. /5

One member forwarded a response suggesting the office would simply put her on a “I don’t agree with any of your policies list”. I’m sure they thought that would save them both time. One was thrown out of her MLAs office and told never to come back…and on and on. /6

Most heard nothing or got rote responses. Not once has a constituent felt heard. Minister Lagrange’s office rarely had anyone to answer her phone and never returned calls. Recently Minister Nicolaides’s office was sending callers to Nate Horner’s office. /7

Another had an appointment this week cancelled and was told that a directive was given that no member speak to any constituent about education. Perfect. Implement the Notwithstanding Clause and run off to Saudi Arabia. Leadership. /8

This government has misrepresented its intention from the start. There is zero transparency or accountability. Any government innocent of wrong doing in the CorruptCare scandal would have called a Public Enquiry by now. You haven’t. /9

You have systematically underfunded our Public Education, & demonized teachers. Your focus runs to meaningless ideologies rather than focusing on what Alberta needs. We need a functioning Public HC system, which we had, & a fully funded Public Ed system. /10

ABR has a fantastic Research Department, so please spare me the semantics and the outright lies. We have the numbers. We have the stats. You have failed Albertans. All of you.
This is not the Conservative Party that I grew up with. /11

I started ABR by taking registrations in my DMs of what was still Twitter. A truly grassroots movement. When there was nowhere left to turn, Albertans turned to your own legislation, what is now Bill 54, the Recall Act. It is not, as you say, performative”. /12

Nor is it “misguided”. These MLAs have broken trust and been derelict in their duties. Full Stop. They have not served their constituents. They have repeatedly supported legislation and policies their constituents did not vote for, and were never consulted on. /13

You had your own “consultants”, ones Albertans paid for, who deigned to bite the hand that feeds them, and keeps feeding them. None of you listened. Ever. /14

To hear phrases like “left-wing activist group” and “well funded”…sorry, I’m laughing. We have members from every party in Alberta. Our mandate was to inform with sourced, factual information, and base judgements on legislation & policies. /15

And funding? Not one corporate donation, not one union donation. Our members have paid for our town halls, workshops, flyers etc. To invoke the big bad boogeymen of the NDP and AFL is simply trying to point elsewhere for your failures & divide us. /16

Perhaps now corporations, unions, will look to assist individual recalls now. It’s legal, right? Your party raised half a million in a few months from corporations. But corporations, parties, unions have never been the impetus driving Albertans Your failure to listen has. /17

To threaten Albertans with not funding EA to process recalls to completion, or to intimate that successful recalls will be nullified, are the actions of cowards, who will go to any lengths to avoid accountability. /18

In this moment, what is needed is a humble government who listens, accepts accountability, and focuses on what Albertans want. They want accountability. Albertans have the mic now and no matter what, refuse to be silenced. One way or another you WILL hear us.