IGrowOld 🇨🇦

It looks like they have the name & phone numbers of their contacts too?
Creepy AF.

"We work with all kinds of creators — including artists, filmmakers, designers, and cultural partners — giving them early access to our tools and ultimately, giving them the freedom to show us what’s creatively possible with AI"

So a product looking for a purpose fr people it threatens to replace.

Were bank accounts frozen during the pandemic?
I was out of country at the time. I do remember some accounts frozen during the "convoy" (2022). But those were restricted to people who continued to give financial support after the occupation was deemed very disruptive.

Does this mean the UCP expects to lose the next election?

Every time Danielle Smith makes one of these demands, it feels like Alberta is being held hostage by its own premier.
It's absolutely shameful that the UCP caucus is cooperating with Smith in degrading Alberta for the sake of "party unity".

In addition. The UCP membership seems to have been taken over by hard core far right & separatist interests when Smith ran. If you're often at the Leg, you notice their rallies every time Smith is in trouble. They're very motivated. That doesn't mean they're the majority of Conservative voters.

He got 51.4% of the UCP membership vote when he resigned in 2022. The total UCP membership is less than 150 thousand out of nearly 3 million eligible voters in Alberta. So, yes - what he says might still matter. What's impt. is for Conservatives to point out that separation is abnormal & damaging.

2nd clip I've seen of her today. What's so jarring abt them is that - she talks like a terrible amateur actor. Bondi is like - an Amy Poehler or Rachel Dratch SNL character where they pretend to be someone who can't act with dead eyes, just sitting there & reciting a script with no emotion.

He doesn't have to change the minds of the hard-core 8%, I doubt they can be reasoned with anyway.
But he, and others like him - can appeal to a good chunk of the separation curious 21%.

Apparently Danielle Smith floated the idea in a 2021 op-ed in the Calgary Herald.

bsky.app/profile/agra...

Exactly what I was thinking! Ottawa can divert infrastructure investments from Ab to the NWT. And to match the separatist fantasy: Canada can build a rail line from Saskatchewan - S NWT - N BC.

...and "April is the cruellest month"
So, what are people saying about March?

I like this poem of loss and detail by Jennifer Wong from her @ninearchespress.bsky.social collection Light Year. ‘A life so loved and rented…’

It makes me wonder - what is it that they think the UCP has done right? How have their lives improved? This is the meanest, most entitled group of politicians I'd ever seen. They're very successful in making changes for the worse. I don't want to have cruelty normalized in Alberta.

And the Conservatives keep getting angry when we try to get out of said relationship.

Just when I think I have a handle on what's happening in the US, something like this happens. I mean, the Nazis rooted for their athletes in 1936. Is fascism in the US actually motivated by self-loathing? Is it just a bunch of people punishing Americans & the world because they hate themselves?

And how will the US, with a failing economy & its priority to fund its military approve a $500B "loan"? We don't even know how long this level of US deficit + bad policies is will last.

There's no real "independence" when you're dependent on one entity for your survival.

Exactly. Have they seen how the US negotiates? We have recent examples of what they're doing in Ukraine. That "loan" means US control of Alberta resources, including water.
Why would they expect US states to be keen on pipelines? Who will build it, where will the $$ come from?

As an Albertan, I agree.

No secret that the UCP whip people up against the Feds - it's their identity. But recently, an MLA sat as an independent bec of low funding levels for smaller towns. A bit conspiratorial but - I wonder if UCP deliberately underfunds low info supporters to keep them angry.

Despite the repercussions to Albertans resulting fr the province withdrawing funding, it's good to hear that judicial independence will be maintained.
I was worried that Smith will be given concessions, which will essentially let Ab function as a dependent territory. I prefer to be 100% Canadian.

Now I know that the constant US threats has gotten to me, because my first thought was that the "CIA activities" refer to something being done to US allies... worse than the 2013 NSA eavesdropping.

Thanks for sharing. That's... disturbing.
She complains that other prov don't care abt Alberta. Fast-forward to Ministers' meeting 2025: her attending remotely, publicly disagreeing with the joint statement on tariffs, Ford saying that Smith doesn't care bec the threats don't affect Alberta.

Stephen Harper calls for Liberals, Conservatives to come together in the face of Trump, separatist threats | CBC News Former prime minister Stephen Harper urged the Liberal and Conservative parties to take on the challenges of our time together as the country stares down potentially two existential threats to its sov...

This is a nice reminder of how politics used to be, with a link to the Chretien-Harper fireside chat.

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

The distinction is especially important given her comments that separatists have "legitimate grievances" & that criticizing separatism is vilifying people.

influenced by whether we think the Premier is using the government to support separatism without having to run on that platform. The level of support for using separatism as an expression of grievance might differ if people think Smith will only use it as leverage vs. separatism as an end goal.

like one. That + given the absence of her making efforts to calm separatists & correct misinformation, I think it's fair to label her a separatist.

And if intent is important - the narrative against separatism & perceived legitimacy of a citizen initiative for a referendum - might be

leading a province in a country threatened by its neighbour - would behave. So, scrutiny of the two bills & comments that benefit separatists is all the more important. Instead of looking for subtle signs that she's not a separatist, we should be asking why her words & actions are making her seem

in assuming that a "separatist Conservative" is an oxymoron. The default expectation that she's not a separatist results in excusing pro-separatist tendencies; characterizing her as a victim of political happenstance. Yes, we don't know how - a separatist AB premier, who ran as a Conservative, who's

government shouldn't be treated the same as a regular voter. They should be held to stricter standards because they have power and influence.

Although there are risks in over committing, there are equal risks to misinterpreting Smith's words & actions. There is danger

Excuse the length.
People can be more than one thing. Smith can be an opportunist-separatist-idiot.

Re: my original post:
The quoted opinion piece is on the interpretation of the lack of leadership fr Smith. So, while I agree that untangling voter intent is important; MLAs, especially those in