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Oh! A smooth ride ahead for the citizens of Alberta. Now the Deregulated Powah!
Alberta, Alberta, Alberta… The home of batshite crazy capitalist thinking and tomfoolery in general when it comes to fiscal policy (among many other things).
It is amazing to me that we are in such a mad rush to get back to the good ole’ days of being gouged by private utilities for what should be a public corporation. The Alberta Government has changed the rate structure in an attempt to scare and intimidate Albertans into signing long term contracts with private power companies, whose rates, of course, are higher than the current regulated rate.
I just laugh now when people start to whinge and complain about how unresponsive their government is to their demands. To make thinks perfectly clear, we do not have a democracy in Alberta, but rather a hepped up redneck Failarchy that believes, honest to god and jebus, that the only policies that are worth doing come solely from the right end of the political spectrum. And we (F’n) LOVE it here in Alberta as we continue to vote them in again and again.
The Calgary Herald has some interesting information about the power rates in Alberta:
“The concern stems from the regulated rate option changing in July to be fully based on short-term market prices, rather than a mix of short-and long-term contracts.”
Essentially, lets add instability into the price of power and see how many people we can scare into signing up with the private power companies. People should be up in arms, marching in the street, righteously pissed off with this sort of over-the-top pandering to the business class. But no, past a few irate letters to the local paper the Alberta sheep bleat on, blissfully happy with their Tory Kleptocracy.
Please notice the wonderful phrasing of what in short stands for “Bend Over Here Comes the Spiny Shaft of Capitalism.
“The intent that we expressed with this change is that this would give consumers a clearer picture of the market price of electricity,” Cummings said. “It gives them a clearer understanding of the cost of electricity so they can adjust their usage, and understand better when prices are high and can adjust accordingly.”
Boo! Aaaaaah! Quick run (don’t even think about walking you seniors and low income families) to the private sector to pay them more money for the same power you were getting before! Did you ever wonder who the Government of Alberta represents? If you are not incorporated Buck-O, it ain’t fracking you.
However there is a bit of bright side to the naked ratbaggery that is going on here.
“Consumers choosing to remain on the regulated rate could see more fluctuations in monthly bills, but, historically, electricity rates in Alberta have ranged between six cents and eight cents per kilowatt hour, Wachowich noted. And spikes in price are generally short-lived.”
So those who have more than two neurons to rub together and decide to stay on the regulated rate will be fine, but need to plan ahead accordingly for the minor fluctuations ahead. Crisis put on hold until the insipid clowns politicians that lead us decide we need to more directly fund the corporate elite become more competitive.
Bill 44 reminds me of why I love living in Alberta darn so much. Bill 44 is about parental choice:
Alberta’s controversial legislation that gives parents the option of pulling their children out of sexual education or religion classes they deem inappropriate or offensive will not affect how Catholic schools are run, board officials say.
Oh hey, fantastic. Having the option to be excluded from religious nuttery 101 is a good thing. The problem is that somehow in the topsy-turvey world of educational policy Science Education has been given the same status as Religious Studies. Parents who do not ‘believe’ in Evolution can have their children withdrawn from class using this same polished gem of legislation.
Set ignorance to 11!
Just to state the obvious Science and Religion are most certainly not the same thing. The critical thinking and skepticism that can be learned in science class are vital in shaping the minds of today’s youth. We do not need less critical thinking in the curriculum, but heaps more.
The short sighted nature of educational policy in Alberta aggravates me. This legislation is giving the delusional a means to further inoculate their children against Science and the rest of the modern world.
The Parkland institute reports:
Just add a few Oil Barons to make this Alberta specific.
EDMONTON— A new fact sheet released this morning by the University of Alberta’s Parkland Institute says that the “flat tax,” introduced by Ralph Klein in 2001, is costing the province in excess of $5 billion a year. Given the projected deficit of $4.3 billion this year, simply returning to the progressive tax structure that existed in 1999 would be more than enough to move the province from a deficit budget to a surplus budget.
Holy cow, not rocket science. Progressive taxation is a good thing.
Alberta’s lowest tax bracket, for example, is taxed at a higher rate than that of six other provinces. And an Alberta family earning $75,000 per year in Alberta pays more tax than the same family in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, the Yukon, the NWT, and Nunavut.
The fact sheet also points out that returning to a progressive tax structure in Alberta would also serve an important economic stimulus function.
What? Tax-breaks for the poor will stimulate the economy? Enough of this crazy talk, we all know that only cutting taxes on the rich creates economic stimulus (see chicanery).
People are stupid. We hear the matra over and over again the Alberta has the lowest taxes in Canada. What utter horse-pucky. We have the lowest taxes, if and only if, you happen to be rich. Welcome to Alberta where we cater to the rich and special interests 24/7, 365 days a frakking year.
It is always nice to see the patriarchy at work. Devaluing half the population is just peachy keen here in good ‘ole Alberta.
The Parkland Institute reports:
“A new fact sheet, entitled “Women’s equality a long way off in Alberta” shows a persistent wage gap between women and men, despite the 2002-2007 oilsands boom. Alberta is also the only province/territory without any government ministry or advisory council on the status of women.
Alberta women who work full-year, full-time earn just 66% of what men earn. The Canadian average earnings gap is 72%.”
It gets even more fantastic if you read the executive summary! Our heroic Premier is a little busy licking the spittle off the lips of the oil and gas industry he really does care about the woman-folk, honest.
I am not sure what possesses people to make the abrupt switch from summer to winter clothing. Well actually I do, the weather in Alberta has been getting steadily colder as we progress toward the icy cold death we know as winter. My point is that I think our response is a little out oof context for the situation we have live in, here in Alberta.
We usually have 6 months of really inhospitable frigid winter weather. Snow/ice/windchill… badness in general. Our bodies are fully covered and rightly so, no questions asked.
However, when the temperature is still well above zero, and there is no snow on the ground. Is dress like this justified?
With footwear like this?
Come on people. We are in a cold weather climate, 3-10 degrees centigrade is *not* cold weather.
I am currently wearing these along with shorts and a t-shirt/shirt combo and am not freezing solid.
Let’s not overreact to the cool weather and embrace what little snow free time we have left.
Hurrah! for Rocky Mountain House: (snipped from the edmonton journal)
Rocky Mountain House mayor not surprised by plebiscite’s results
Residents of Rocky Mountain House voted over whelmingly against reversing a 12-year ban on video lottery terminals on Monday.
Town citizens voted to remove VLTs from local bars and lounges in 1997. Monday’s plebiscite was held to determine if town council should ask the province to return the lottery machines to the community, located about 80 kilometres west of Red Deer.
Rocky Mountain House Mayor Jim Bague said 874 people voted against bringing VLTs to the town, while 274 voted in favour of the move.
The outcome of the plebiscite didn’t surprise him, he said.
“It’s the same people talking now as in 1997,” Bague said. “I think it’s important for the public to speak. It’s been 12 years and we’ve now let the public speak again.”
The town’s decision to uphold the ban on VLTs will continue to hurt bars in the community, because customers are going to the next town to play VLTs, said Duffers Pub manager Jim Pogson
“I’m very disappointed … We may have to lay off some girls and cut back shifts. With other businesses, it could be the end of them,” Pogson said.
The controversial plebiscite has largely seen local drinking establishments pitted against churches.
“They definitely have opinions, those in favour or opposed. They’re both figuring that it’s an important issue,” Bague said.
Six bar owners forced the plebiscite by collecting enough names — 10 per cent of the town’s 7,100 residents — on a petition. The bar owners say they are losing money to customers who go to the next town to play VLTs.
In 2009-10, the Alberta Lottery Fund expects to collect $1.5 billion in gaming revenues, including $616 million from VLTs.
The fund supports thousands of charitable, not-for-profit, public and community-based initiatives each year.
Bars reap 15-per-cent commissions from VLTs’ gross profits.
The province caps the number of machines at 6,000 and all of them are in use.
VLT’s or Video Lottery Terminals are a government cash cow to the tune of about $828.2 million a year. We as province really dig our gambling. VLT’s are addictive unecessary additions to pubs and bars accross the province. Rocky Mountain House just held a plebicite reaffirming the populations wishes to remain a VLT free community, much to the chargin of local business. This example needs to be replicated across our province as VLT’s do much to aggravate the social ill of gambling.
The CBC article sounds innocuous enough; full marks for making the pillaging of public good sound palatable.
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Privatization, as always, is still on the move in Alberta. As usual, it will be a wild success, for the private investors at the cost of the public good.
This is being marketed as a way to increase capital so Epcor can continue to expand its operations across North America. In reality though this is just another move toward privatizing a public good for the benefit of the business class.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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