Steve Ricketts Profile picture
husband, father, student of photography, lover of music. caught in the complexity of the political centre; not a fan of rigid ideology of the right or left
Gisrah Profile picture 1 subscribed
Oct 31, 2023 9 tweets 2 min read
a 🧵

govts grow long in the tooth, get lazy and sloppy, run out of ideas

the LPC govt has done many good things but has also seen many controversies and scandals

also, voters blame the govt when they're hurting, be it inflation, high interest rates... whether it's fair or not 2/
all these ponts suggest that the CPC is likely to form the next govt, and possible a majority govt

not because they're deserving of it but mostly because voters are tired of PM Trudeau and the LPC govt
May 22, 2023 18 tweets 5 min read
1/ 🧵
Take Back Alberta has a weekly Zoom call on “How to Encourage Individuals to Vote Conservative”. I attended last evening's call.

It was led by David Parker (Executive Director TBA) and Benita Pedersen (Edmonton Regional Leader) and it went pretty much as one might expect Image 2/
BTW, they encourage people to attend these calls, so if you're bored next Sunday evening…
Oct 8, 2022 23 tweets 4 min read
i attended today's Take Back Alberta Zoom call so you didn't have to :)

intro: re why it’s imp. reminders from a year ago.. to not invite loved ones to thanksgiving dinner, the unvaxxed shouldn't be allowed in hospitals 2/
Dr Daniel Nagase fired for prescribing ivermectin even tho his patients all got better (?)

this caused a divide for Albertans. politicians silent while these things going on. the system allowed it
Aug 23, 2021 16 tweets 4 min read
Yes, yet-another (and unnecessary?!) federal election. Over the next while, I'll share thoughts about Garnett Genuis, my current MP for Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan

(Full disclosure: I’m volunteering for Tanya Holm, the Liberal candidate in Sherwood Park-Fort Sask)

#Elxn44 2/
Sherwood Park has been represented by a conservative MP for, well, forever. I understand the general support for the CPC in AB but I think we all need to consider the candidate too. Is Garnett the best choice to represent Sherwood Park-Fort Sask in Ottawa? I’ll let you decide
Aug 22, 2021 10 tweets 3 min read
a thread...

AB's referendum on equalization this fall will result in a lot of debate and misinformation being pushed.

let's face it: it's a meaningless referendum designed to redirect Albertans' anger from our inept UCP govt to those dastardly feds in Ottawa. and Quebec. 1/
various politicians and organizations will pontificate on the equalization program (EP), and take advantage of people's general lack of knowledge of why it exists and how it works.

TL;DR... it'll be a sh*tstorm
Sep 18, 2020 5 tweets 1 min read
this is embarrassing.

Kenney knows why the equalization program exists and hows it works. he also knows that his base does not, so he invents a term ("reverse equalization") and concocts a bizarre story re why AB deserves $6.5B.

and his Sun bootlicker dutifully writes about it AB doesn't pay into the federal equalization program. no province does.

if there were to be an equalization rebate, it should flow to the Albertans and businesses that fund the program via their taxes, not the prov govt
Mar 7, 2020 11 tweets 3 min read
"We are frustrated by Canada enjoying the more than $20 billion we contribute to equalization annually.."

@BrianJeanAB's column is a hot mess of bizarre statements and unworkable demands; e.g. the entire equalization fund is less than $20B.

edmontonjournal.com/opinion/column… to expand on my "hot mess" comment...

1. "Canada is broken"

no, it's not. we do a lot of things very well. we're in the top tier of countries for education, longevity, happiness, freedom, etc.

we have challenges (western alienation, FNs reconciliation) but we are tackling them
Sep 22, 2019 11 tweets 3 min read
it's useful for all Canadians to see what CPC candidates, particularly those in AB, are saying to voters. check out my MP's (@GarnettGenuis) website... #cdnpoli #elxn43 #strathco #shpk

garnettgenuis.ca "particularly through the tax on everything, the carbon tax."

Whatever one thinks of the carbon tax, it's clearly not a tax on everything
Jun 15, 2019 13 tweets 3 min read
A thread on something that’s been bothering me for a while…

bear with me. :)

#ableg 1/ Vivian Krause (@FairQuestions) has been getting a lot of attention for her research into foreign funding against AB oil sands. She’s made some pretty bold allegations about foreign money flooding into Canada and aimed at landlocking AB oil.
Apr 22, 2019 8 tweets 2 min read
"Inside Jason Kenney's plan to kickstart Alberta's economy — and heal the province's divisions"

fascinating insight into Kenney's campaign approach and plans for AB.

edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/…

#ableg "It may seem eccentric to stake the farm on a massive corporate tax cut... but Kenney believed he had an ace up his sleeve: The party’s internal polling on the issue was absolutely off the charts."

it's worrisome that this decision was based on popular opinion more than wisdom.
Mar 19, 2019 10 tweets 3 min read
the Canadian Freedom Institute (@CanFreedomInst) Twitter account has been jumping into my conversations to challenge my views on Alberta's carbon tax and my criticisms of the #UCP.

it's a registered charity, so i looked into it...
#ableg here's a link to its listing in the CRA charitable database. its most recent filing dates back to Dec 2017.

apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch…
Dec 14, 2018 14 tweets 4 min read
Thread: Markham Hislop (@politicalham) of Energi News made a presentation at an Alberta Party-Sherwood Park fundraiser last evening. He touched on several topics. Many are laid out in detail in his “Alberta carbon tax deep dive” article energi.news/quarterly-seri… @abparty #ableg 2/ Here are some of his key remarks, as jotted down during his talk. Presented as quotes, although they’re paraphrases.
Aug 30, 2018 20 tweets 4 min read
Warning: long thread about energy matters, focussing on how they affect AB. Thanks & credit to @politicalham (of @energi_news) who gave a talk in Sherwood Park last evening, organized by @CarlaHowatt and @fionabeland. Thanks to @suepeac and Grace Wong whose notes I’ve used And I’m going to endeavour to make these comments as non-partisan as I can, because this issue is imp and needs to transcend political boundaries