We need to have an adult conversation, people will die, and this is no time to be polite
The Colossally Irrational election result in Alberta, June 2023
My Scottish/Irish ancestors arrived on the east coast of Turtle Island in the late 1700’s or early 1800’s and were part of several waves of genocidal colonization of the Indigenous people who were already here. I know I have benefited as a result, and I find this deeply troubling. I like to start every new post by explaining my family’s history and keeping this foremost in my mind (and my writing) at all times. I moved west with my family in the 1970’s and am grateful to be here, producing this newsletter in Moh’kinsstis, and the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. This territory is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. I recognize that the land I now work and live on was stolen from these nations (truth) and I support giving the land back as an act of reconciliation.
Warning: This newsletter post includes a photo (digitally altered) depicting a person who died.
A man died in a parking lot in my neighbourhood yesterday afternoon.
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team tried unsuccessfully to revive him, performing CPR, as other emergency responders looked on.
After the failed attempt, EMS quietly placed a yellow tarp over the dark haired, shirtless man and began gathering up their medical supplies and equipment. The firefighters who had stood by and watched, returned to their fire truck and left.
I’m not sure of the events leading up to this scene, but the parking lot and nearby alley way are only steps away from the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre.
The man was lying on the gravel by a fence next to the First Calgary Baptist Church (FCBC) property, which includes a large paved parking lot encircled by a number of sizeable trees providing shade from the sun. The church is an historic building that was built in 1911.
This building has no doubt seen a lot of change in Calgary over the last 112 years, but I can’t help but wonder if it has ever seen a housing and drug crisis like we are seeing now.
The other side of the fence
The FCBC congregation employs private security guards 24/7 to keep unhoused people off the property, so they gather regularly on the other side of the fence.
Ironically, the main part of the church they are kept away from is known as the “sanctuary.”
The alley way is lined with concrete blocks and is next to a privately-owned gravel parking lot where a very old house once stood. The house was torn down before the pandemic. A large residential highrise is scheduled to go up on this lot soon. The units will number in the hundreds and will likely be expensive to either rent or own.
For now, there is some shelter from the sun under the tree canopy and some respite from the church security guards who regularly appear and hustle people off the property.
The casual cruelty of this situation is striking. Well-heeled church-goers arrive in their vehicles for regular services, while people in pain sit or lie against the other side of the fence, often self-medicating, just trying to survive their personal circumstances, which are clearly tragic.
This is a place where both the housing and the drug crisis afflicting the city are played out on a daily basis.
The man under the tarp
As the EMS team rifled through the man’s backpack and searched the ground around him for evidence of what happened, there was no indication they felt the death was a mystery or an investigation was needed.
The police arrived about 30 minutes later but did not secure the scene, which tells me they thought no one else was involved in the man’s death.
CPS officers stayed in their vehicle with the air conditioning on as the man’s body lay on the ground with a heavy pink blanket added to weigh down the yellow tarp that did not fully cover him. Many people walked by on the sidewalk, some likely jarred by the sight of the man’s feet sticking out from the end of the tarp and others seemingly oblivious to what had happened.
Eventually, someone, probably from the medical examiner’s office, arrived to photograph and record the death before the man was finally hoisted onto a gurney and taken away in the back of an unmarked white SUV.
This scene reminded me of the provincial election and how upset I have been about it. It is also related to what I had been meaning to say about the resulting conversations since the election. It’s a reminder of what is at stake, what is really important in this moment.
Let me explain
Ever since the election on May 30, the Alberta NDP have tried to put a positive spin on their disappointing loss. Fans of Rachel Notley have defended her performance, and the political pundits have weighed in with their detached strategic analysis. Some people have started downplaying the influence of the right wing group “Take Back Alberta.”
This is just nuts.
In fact, Take Back Alberta is your worst nightmare. This band of convoy-loving, fascist, anti-choice, trans and homophobic Christian nationalists are gunning to take over the UCP’s governing board in October. This would give them the power to call for a vote of party members at any time to remove the premier. They can then appoint a new interim leader, or choose a new one and that person doesn’t have to be elected by voters at large, only within the party.
This is totally something to be alarmed (and angry) about.
Yet, when a number of progressive, more left-leaning commentators vented their frustration with the NDP, their voices were mostly drowned out by those who would rather sing the praises of the campaign.
Given how important this election was, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND why more people are not furious with this outcome.
This is terrible in so many ways
Not only did the Alberta NDP fail to win a majority, they failed to secure enough seats to even force the UCP into a minority government. For all of the seats they gained back in Calgary, the real story remains how poorly they did.
Notley ran against an opponent who said people vaccinated against Covid-19 were no better than Germans who fell under the sway of Hitler’s tyranny. This statement alone should absolutely disqualify a person from leading any party, let alone become the elected leader of an entire province.
Not only was Danielle Smith a terrible candidate – she wasn’t even liked by her own party – she is planning to do terrible things to this province.
People are going to suffer immeasurably under this government.
People are going to die needlessly under this government.
This is no time for polite deference to politicians who have failed us.
Apparently, we don’t even care any longer who the party leader is, or how awful they’ve performed. We’re told, don’t worry, Smith will be gone before long.
The idea being floated already is that the UCP will kick her out if need be…and the reins of this party could very well soon be held by Take Back Alberta. That comforts no one.
A terrible cabinet and programs to match
This election result is devastating. People are dying in our back alleys, exposed to a toxic drug supply, inhaling hazardous wildfire smoke, and suffering without shelter in the blistering heat.
Adriana LaGrange, the heartless idealogue who led the deeply unpopular rewriting of the K-12 school curriculum has been appointed Health Minister. Her qualifications seem to be that she has shown she doesn’t care what people think and will not listen to Albertans, no matter how loudly we object. Not exactly comforting news for our future health care system.
The UCP’s so-called “Alberta Model” is to forcibly confine people addicted to drugs and torture them with a Christian-based total abstinence treatment method that simply doesn’t work.
And how dare they name this backwards, violent, colonial way of treating people after our province? No. Just no. This is not an Alberta model, let it be known as the Smith Model. Or just call it out for the harmful religious sham that it is.
Rebecca Schulz is the new Minister of Environment and Protected Areas. Schulz is a former senior communications officer at SaskEnergy. She has worked exclusively in communications and PR, mostly in government, not the real world. That tells us a lot about how this government will approach the climate crisis. It will not be based in reality.
Neither party offered much in the way of a plan to tackle climate change but Smith only recently even acknowledged that climate change was human-caused.
The newly-elected government has already shown it has a “don’t say climate change” policy. The message has been “we don’t need to reduce production” of fossil fuels, we just need to reduce emissions. This is the new “ethical oil” narrative. Like that gem of a message, this one also probably came directly from the fossil fuel lobby. It’s going to be a fecking disaster.
Sound the alarm
So, everyone, please just stop wasting your breath defending the NDP strategy. And when someone does get angry or upset about the outcome, listen to what they have to say.
Over a million Alberta voters, more than the total number of voters for either of the two main parties, did not even vote.
This was an eight point drop in voter turnout from the 2019 election. We went from 67.5 per cent to 59.5 per cent voting. It’s alarming and we should be talking more about why people are giving up completely on government.
This next few years is going to be an absolute sh*t show.
Enough Pollyanna nonsense. Let’s get serious and have actual adult conversations about what we can do so people don’t continue to die in back alleys without shelter or proper support.