The Alberta PC Party.. dancin' with the gal what brung me.

Well.

We're having some interesting discussion here lately - mostly people angry with me for dismissing the Wild Rose Alliance, and, more pointedly I suppose, angry with the PC Government in Alberta and expressing that through their disagreement with me.

But.


Not one single comment on a policy suggestion on the part of the WRA that is distinct from the current government.

Which is fine, I guess.

Everyone is entitled to vote for whoever they want to, for what ever reason.. I mean, maybe they just like the name better, maybe they are just tired of everything being ok, and think that, maybe, things could be even better (Aardvark?) with a change.

I just saw what happened Federally, with the Conservative split, and if it happens Provincially, I suppose I'll get by, the world won't come to an end for me, but it would be a shame. 

I'll admit, I tend to be "conservative" in the sense that when I think things are ok, I'm not in a hurry to change course to see if they could be "better".

But - back in the day, while I was in University days I voted Liberal.

And when I started working and realized about just how much tax was being paid, and saw, as a lawyer, what a lack of personal responsibility did to people, I decided that being conservative was a better choice.

And when Bryan Mulroney tried to jam Meech Lake down our throats, I stopped that and voted Reform.

No one "deserves" my vote.

If I felt that the PC party was fundamentally broken, or if they took even one course of action that I found indefensible, I wouldn't support them - but I would have to have at least modest faith that who I was going to vote for would do things better.
 
And things would have to be bad enough that I was willing to take the risk of bringing in a Liberal government.
 
So.
 
I'm not suggesting that people vote PC because "I say so".  Who the hell am I to tell you what to do?
 
I just watch how people vote and why they vote the way they do, and I guess all I hope is that when people park a vote where ever they do, it's with some forethought.
 
That they've asked themselves why they don't support the current government - not based upon some media-induced soundbites, not because of some emotional response to a down turn in the economy, but because of something they have seriously thought about and looked into with enough depth to assure that they aren't "selling the cow for a handful of beans".
 
And, if after some consideration, they DO feel the need for a change - they then take a good hard look at the alternatives, and ask "what are they actually offering me?"
 
Maybe one day I'll get on the Wild Rose bandwagon, but, for me, it's going to take more than some unsettled sense that we "need a change", and I'm going to have to be offered something more than "Vote for us, we'll figure it out as we go."  And right now, at this time, the Wild Rose isn't offering me anything of substance.
 
And, color me stupid if you like, but I like Ed Stelmach.  Of all the politicians I have had the opportunity to talk to, to meet, I have never met a man whom I felt was more genuine and more committed to do his best for his constituents.
 
I moved from Vancouver back to Alberta in 1985.
 
I started my own business about 7 years later.
 
And in that time, I have never looked at any other Province with envy.  I have always considered myself fortunate to live in Alberta, and to have a Conservative government.
 
And for me, personally, they've never done me wrong.  Yes, as I posted, there are things they do that I disagree with, that I argue with at policy meetings and so forth, but, in the big picture, I feel I've been treated pretty well by my government.
 
So.  Win or lose, for now I'm dancin' with the gal who brung me.  Danielle may be a pretty one, but the lady who has been there for me is the PC Party of Alberta.