@kimmy
https://www.canadalandshow.com/podcast/47-is-scheer-done/
Western Alienation discussed on OPPO. I'm interested in your take on Jen Gersten's points. Also - skip the begging for money at the top start at 28:37 or so.
I listened, and found myself completely in agreement with Jen Gerson. Aside from articulating the emotion behind it, she is also on point in saying that not coming to Alberta with any sort of positive vision for the future was a big failure on the Liberals' part.
The Scheer/Kenney plan for the future is "we'll keep doing what we used to do and hope that business picks up". Things might never go back to the way they used to be, but people are clinging to hope.
Singh and May's plan for what happens to Albertans after the fossil fuel industry is closed down? "Retraining." Retraining isn't a promise, it's a threat. Retraining is what happens to you when your life falls apart and you have no choice but to start over from square one. You're going to get retraining, you're going to sell your house at a huge loss, you're going to move to Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver where most of these new green jobs are going to happen, and you're going to compete for those new green jobs against kids just out of college with degrees and fresh skills. That's terrifying. Telling people you're going to shut down the industry that provides their livelihood is like telling them you're going to cut off their arm but you'll make sure they get really good medical care afterward. It's a terrifying message for voters.
People have been talking about "diversification" since the 1980s, but nobody ever really has a plan to make it happen. Coming to Alberta with a credible plan for diversification would give people an alternative to "keep what we're doing and hope things change".
The podcast was more whining on Alberta’s behalf... myths about how the feds are against them... and a strange admission that it may not be a rational viewpoint.
Their viewpoint was schizophrenic and/or Albertan nationalism.
She was trying to explain the feeling and perception. This isn't a rational issue, it's largely driven by emotion and resentment that goes back decades. If everything was done rationally, Brexit wouldn't have happened. Quebec separatism isn't rational, but it's real. As she mentioned, there is a history that goes back decades. Before Trudeau the second, before Trudeau the first, before oil was an industry. Trying to explain the long-held feeling of mistrust and cynicism to outsiders is probably pointless. People aren't rational. If you're interested in trying to understand why the Liberal (and Green and NDP) messaging fails so badly in Alberta, listening to Jen Gerson might help.
Nonetheless, she made some key points about trying to bridge the gap. Appointing a replacement Amarjeet Sohi to represent Albertans in cabinet isn't going to help. Appointing a senator or a mayor as some sort of token won't win peoples' trust. Nobody in Alberta was ever under the impression that Amarjeet Sohi was an advocate for them. The idea that Sohi was in cabinet didn't make people sleep easier at night. If the Liberals appoint somebody to cabinet on behalf of Alberta, that person is just going to be perceived as a token, a diversity hire, an affirmative action quota, a meaningless gesture, and a lapdog. Not a genuine advocate for Alberta. People in Alberta won't respect that at all. The Liberals are going to have to deal with Jason Kenney, because at the moment he's the person who Albertans have chosen to advocate on their behalf.
-k