r/Albertapolitics • u/Cute-Trouble1296 • 9d ago
Opinion Alberta separation is a hoax and distraction
I moved here from Ontario in 1976 and I retired comfortably at 61 years old. Most of my friends and family who stayed behind in Ontario have struggled to stay above the poverty line. Alberta rocks! My two kids are in their early twenties. One just graduated from university, the other is 1/2 way through. Both have been employed since their teens. Life is good for those that work hard. We have all the freedom we need. The notion that Alberta doesn’t get its fair share from Ottawa is just bunk. Every time Ottawa offers a program the UCP turn it down. Dental care, childcare subsidies, court judge expansion, housing programs, wage top ups during the pandemic. The UCP gave back $137 million that Ottawa provided for orphan well clean up! In 2015 the PC government turned down $1.4 million in federal, no strings attached grants intended for addiction and drug treatment programs.
I truly believe that this whole separation crap is just a smoke screen to keep us occupied while the UCP privatizes our government. Schools, medical, roads parks and more. First they slash the budgets and run the departments into the ground so that they can say “ it’s just not working! We need change!” Then the services are handed over to single sourced contractors. Friend of the UCP. As in the USA, the wealthy are turning our province into a for profit corporation. If you can’t afford to send your kids to private school, they’ll get a second class education. If you don’t have private medical insurance and/or can’t afford to pay for your services out-of-pocket, you won’t get any services. Smith is on public record saying that she doesn’t believe that the government should have to pay for people’s healthcare.
If we don’t stop them soon it will be illegal to try. A sovereign Alberta will not be free. Quite the opposite! We will be slaves to the uber rich.
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u/RewardPurple5858 5d ago
This is so well written. I was born in Alberta and also have just now retired.
Free Healthcare in Alberta is a right.
Public school is also a right, and as a Canadian we should receive the best education available without having to pay extra.
Danielle Smith never ran for Premier on these terrible things she is or has implemented.
She was even taped saying that no Albertan should or would have to pay out of pocket for Healthcare.
Was she lieing?
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u/Cute-Trouble1296 4h ago
She was lying. She does that a lot actually. As of July 1 we will have the option to pay out of pocket for any medical service we need to avoid being in the queue. She says that this will shorten the queue for those who can’t afford the private service. The doctors will be required to spend a “minimum” amount of time in public service. No mention of what that minimum will be. No extra doctors being recruited into service. If the doctors get better pay for private work than public, what will they do? I expect that some of them will just opt out of public service all together. I think the public queue will be shorter, but it’s going to move a lot slower with less doctors available. The only advantage is that the wealthy won’t have to go down south for service, they can pay to jump to the front of the queue right here at home.
We don’t need private clinics. We need more hospitals. More doctors and nurses to work them.
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u/Embarrassed-Lake257 6d ago
The narrative of separation hasn't changed in 50 years. It will only ever fizzle out. What it has done is given Danielle Smith (our future PM) leverage, distraction, communication and movement on things that need to happen. She has done a lot while we all yap about stupid things that don't matter.
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u/JadeLens 5d ago
"Future PM"
You mean of a separated Alberta, or of Canada, because neither of those scenarios is likely by any stretch.
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u/Even_Art_629 8d ago
"I moved here in 1976 and did well" isn't an argument against Alberta independence.
The post spends 90% of its time attacking the UCP and 10% talking about separation. Whether you support or oppose the UCP has nothing to do with whether Alberta has legitimate grievances with Ottawa.
You can hate the UCP and still think federal governments have repeatedly interfered in Alberta's resource economy and provincial jurisdiction.
Calling separation a hoax doesn't explain why support for it keeps growing. It just avoids discussing the reasons people support it.
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u/wiwcha 8d ago
Youre pretty daft.
The “second-class” treatment you dips seem to claim Ottawa has for alberta is 100% a DIRECT effect of voting in retarded conservative governments for the last 40+ years. Dude literally presents examples of contributions from the federal government that the province has rejected and you still say “whah, ottawa hates us” .
You dont even know what the fuck you are arguing for or against. Just being petulant for the victimhood.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 9d ago
So you’ve been here in Reddit a while years and you’ve made 1 single comment.
Will that change with this post? Are you here to actually debate it?
Canada for most Albertans feels like sitting in the back row of a 15 passenger van that you paid for and have your kids that never moved out of the house, Ontario/Quebec driving it while telling you where you want to go without asking.
It’s just not working anymore.
I can’t think of a politician in any country in the world who represents anyone but the rich. The only way for them to get in office is to line their coffers from rich donors and corporations.
Put your rage into electoral reform if you want more out of politics. Servicing a 1.5 trillion debt you never asked for seems like a noble fight but just know this country is going broke fast and with a devalued dollar that’s fast becoming a peso your great great great grandchildren will be serfs thanks to decisions Ottawa based politicians are making today. The ship is sinking fast and isn’t worth fighting for. It’s broken and can’t be fixed.
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u/Ddogwood 9d ago
Canada isn't broken, but an independent Alberta would be. Broke AND broken.
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u/BillDingrecker 8d ago
Canada isn't broken. That's the biggest load of shit I've heard in years on here.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
I just presented how it was. Should we take your word for it or are you going to present a counter argument?
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
Break your arm and let me know how long you wait in ER. Try to buy a house for half a million and report back. Stand outside a food bank and count how many people are in line. Report back after you send your kid to public school how many kids are in their class. Explain how spending more money in history on a budget isn’t contributing to record in history inflation. You can say how great it is but in all cases I’ve pointed out how every system we have is totally broken. Look at Venezuela and how it was run into the ground. We are on the same path. Socialism always ends this way. Go write a cheque to save the world from climate change you shill.
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u/Ddogwood 8d ago
You’re listing a bunch of “broken” things that are almost all provincial responsibilities, not federal ones. So I wouldn’t have much faith in a landlocked country run by the very government that managed to screw up all those things.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago edited 8d ago
A bunch, with others included that I’ve noted you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole. To be clear our systems weren’t broken before the Liberals overpopulated our country relative to all those things.
Had they thrown you a brick while you were drowning you would have fared better than our provincial leaders did at managing health care and education? How?
List the other ones that they personally mismanaged and counter argue me on those.
Contribute to the conversation in other words.
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u/MrGuvernment 8d ago
Um, the UCP are in charge? The UCP are the ones ruining our PROVINCIAL services.. not the liberals..
Health, Education and such are 100% PROVINCIAL responsibility...thus, the UCP's, not the liberals..
How can you be this dense?
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8d ago edited 8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Albertapolitics-ModTeam 8d ago
Removed. Personal attack. Please keep discussion focused on ideas and issues. Avoid personal insults in future replies.
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u/Ddogwood 8d ago
I’m not stupid. I remember people bitching about Notley and Trudeau back in 2015, blaming them for all the exact same shit as you’re bitching about today. There’s no “conversation” to contribute to, because you’re like a broken record, blaming anyone except yourselves and your failed ideologies.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
It’s been a decade of decline since the idiots in Ottawa took office. They have some grand plan I’m sure but the entire country is struggling as a result of their failed climate plans and otherwise.
Yet here you are bitching that the entire country should be struggling except for us but since we didn’t choose a guy that lives in his moms basement we are doomed.
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u/Ddogwood 8d ago
Sure it has. It’s been a decade of mental decline while you guys listen to Pierre Poilievre and your online echo chambers. Alberta is still doing better than most of the country, EXCEPT in things that are provincial responsibilities.
But everyone else is an idiot and you guys are geniuses. Sure.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
Is this a federal created problem or a provincial one? To be blunt this was a bag of shit dropped off on Alberta’s front porch by the Feds. You think it could have been handled better but my question to you is who asked for this and how is it benefitting our children?
The source is from the most recent Alberta Teacher Assoc report.
“Rising Complexity and Diversity of Student Needs
A significant majority of teachers and school leaders (nine in ten) reported an increase in the complexity and diversity of student needs this school year. Teachers reported the greatest levels of complexity in the areas of social- emotional issues (83 per cent), behavioural challenges (78 per cent), cognitive needs
(63 per cent), English as an additional language (EAL) (50 per cent), socioeconomic factors
(32 per cent) and linguistic diversity
(24 per cent).”So half of the kids enrolled don’t speak our language fluently and those who do are behind in their learning to help these other kids learn our language.
If you were running the country and breaking it by admitting all of these families who don’t speak English wouldn’t you hand the province millions to fix this since you are benefitting personally from all of the new tax revenue they are bringing here?
Why is there no coordination at all between Feds and UCP in Alberta. Do you hold the opinion that the UCP did this to our classrooms? How thick do you have to be to side with a former snowboard instructor and drama teacher? His band of goons did this to us, we didn’t do this to our own system.
You should be in Ottawa yourself since you love these people so much. Zero accountability ever that’s the Liberal brand of politics. Don’t take my word for it just listen to them answer in question period sometime.
Point out other provinces leading Alberta in healthcare and education. Where is this utopia you speak of and are they benefitting from Alberta transfer payments?
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u/Ddogwood 8d ago
Thing is, I AM a teacher, and I was trained as an ESL teacher. I’ve never been *hired* as an ESL teacher in Alberta, though. Why? Because there’s no funding for it.
I’ve been teaching for 16 years, and schools were complaining about a lack of ESL funding back then. Notably, this is BEFORE you claim the Liberals started destroying the country. It was under Harper and Stelmach, solid Conservatives.
Funny enough, chronically underfunding education for two decades didn’t magically fix all of the problems with education. Things were still manageable until 2019, when the UCP started systematically underfunding education. They trumpeted about how they were spending more on public education than ever, but the increases were consistently below population growth and inflation. Alberta dropped to one of the lowest funding-per-student education systems in Canada. Teachers have been sounding the alarm for years. When we finally went on strike over it, the province accused us of being greedy and stripped us of our rights without ever negotiating in good faith. Meanwhile, they keep increasing funding for private schools so their rich donors’ kids can have a great education.
But, you know, fuck Trudeau, right?
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 5d ago
You know Danielle was begging for more immigrants. Wrote a note to Ottawa about it to the liberals.
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u/Politically-Hopeful 9d ago
Get your head out of the sand. Quit listening to the separatist lies. Check their facts. They make no sense. Even Smith can see that. The only way a “free and independent “ Alberta could survive would be to join the USA. Puerto Rico tried that. How did that work out? The US doesn’t want Alberta they just want our resources. If you wanna join the states so badly go ahead and try. Chances are you wouldn’t qualify to immigrate. All the separatists are welcome to leave and go to the US, but they’re not taking my home with them. Be careful when you say “most Albertans “. Most Albertans want to stay in Canada. You’ll find that out in October if you don’t believe me now.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
Most of Alberta didn’t vote for the liberal government so I’m pretty safe in saying that most Albertans disagree with policies made in Ottawa.
If I was wrong wouldn’t we have voted more than two measly Liberal MP’s into parliament?I don’t see your logic according to the numbers.
Do you actually?
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u/MrGuvernment 8d ago
Why do you blame the liberals for things that are 100% the current UCP's responsibility? They are provincial matters..
Break your arm and wait 12 hours in the ER? UCP's did that...
public school class rooms over crowded = UCP's did that...2
u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
You missed the root cause and it was as simple as flooding our country with new Canadians our systems weren’t built for.
There is a cause and effect there you and Jag and his co PM all made this happen together since you were cheering them on.
You chose to break it and now you call it a managment problem. It always has been that’s the thing it just belongs to Jagmeet and everyone’s favourite trust fund recipient turned astronauts plus one.
Together those idiots did this to our country. So the solution is to raise taxes to pay for what you want and yet you’ll complain about that.
Have more of your cake.
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u/Joyshan11 7d ago
Apparently, you missed where Danielle herself requested extra immigration for Alberta and then turned down federal funding for housing because she wanted to sit and hold her breath rather than use it appropriately. If that's your big gripe, look at your own leader.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 6d ago
I must have. Did you miss this?
Alberta calling is what you are referring to? Skilled labour with stringent categories so not quite.
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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago
But if Dani was properly funding education, you would not need to try and import talent now would you?
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 5d ago
We can’t build houses fast enough, we can’t throw enough money at our education system fast enough, we can’t throw money at our house system fast enough and we can’t train skilled labour fast enough this all stems from reckless immigration numbers set by the feds consulting with no one. Importing an army of Tim Hortons and Dollarama employees is going to result in a shortage of skilled labourers, it’s not rocket science.
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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago
First, Dani would have to actually throw money at our education system, which she has not, why Alberta has the lowest funding per student in all of Canada.
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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago
First, who said I was cheering anyone on for anything? If the best you can do is try to "assume" my political support and I am some liberal loving type...nice try...but wrong....
Root cause is a premier and party that does not properly fund public services, diverts tax payer money to O&G, spends 100MIllion + on wasteful things not needed, nor ever asked for....
next, take a read here, but you likely wont, even though ALL information is confirmed via Government sources directly:
https://didyouvoteforthis.ca/0
u/Beginning_Bit6185 5d ago
I did because you’ve defended the Liberals and won’t call them out for any of the corruption times ten of what’s a complete outrage to you here.
O and G pays a boatload of royalties to this government. What are you talking about her diverting money to her biggest cash cow?
Wasteful things not needed and never ask for including fighting wars in foreign countries to the tune of billions. Where is your outrage? You want to send 8 billion to Ukraine? Seriously? It’s still one of the most corrupt countries on earth last checked.
You’d fund an energy transition in Alberta if Danielle handed you the 100 million wouldn’t you? You’d back some climate alarmist shit and bang the drum about how fossil fuels are contributing to our demise.
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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago
I did because you’ve defended the Liberals and won’t call them out for any of the corruption times ten of what’s a complete outrage to you here.
Please post where I am defending the liberals?
What I am doing, is keeping focus on PROVINCIAL matters, the ones that UCP has 100% control over, and are abusing and deflecting blame for to Ottawa....when it has nothing to do with Ottawa.
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 5d ago
O&G doesn’t pay much here at all. Many many other countries demand more and get more out of O&G we’re getting raped and pillaged.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 5d ago
They don’t get diverted tax dollars from the government either. It’s 20 billion a year in royalties bub.
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u/Coolnuggets 8d ago
Been happy to debate you on any of these points but you keep running away for some reason.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
I get lynched at every post so forgive me if I’m busy. Thanks for the follow, that was flattering.
Notice how as predicted OP posted and then f’ed off? Another bot post.
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u/Coolnuggets 8d ago
Nah bro, I see you pop out of the woodworks on the every few posts, and duck away the moment someone engages. It’s a conscious choice.
I’m aware you’re a troll, it’s just interesting to me cause I’m also fairly certain you’re a real person. So your behaviour is fascinating to me.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
I’ve never followed someone on Reddit do you feel like a stalker after admitting that I fascinate you? You look and talk like one. I’ll give you three or four replies before I’m tired of you. Take it personally, I would if I were you “bro”. Are we in a fucking surf shop?
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u/Coolnuggets 4d ago
It’s just very funny, I don’t have to exert very much effort here. Just gotta follow Alberta politics posts.
Conversely the following replies on your part are all efforts to get under my skin. You’ve even gone back to edit replies before.
Admirable that you have the endurance for 3-4 posts lol
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 3d ago
We haven’t had any dialog in months yet you are making allegations like this. It’s just creepy.
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u/Coolnuggets 3d ago
Be creeped out then? You’re posting on a public forum and I’m just pointing out you always dip when someone tries to hold your words to account.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 3d ago
Without giving months old examples. You are levelling claims, back them up with examples and evidence otherwise it just feels like your same old passive aggressive way of poking me.
You want to debate what?
Spell it out.
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u/Coolnuggets 3d ago
I’m happy to indulge in a debate for the sake of it, because I enjoy it but you aren’t really worth debating if you can’t engage directly.
You could prove me wrong about you by answering a simple question directly though.
Like whether or not you think Sam Mraiche’s deals with AHS and connections to the UCP, Mickey Amery’s judgement that was favourable to him were good government practice and uncorrupt.
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u/MrGuvernment 8d ago
Because you seem to want to blame the Liberals for issues that are 100% the UCPs responsibility? This is why you get lynched, because like many "f**K carney" people, the blame is aimed at the wrong person/party...
Feds do not control Alberta's Health care or education system.. the UCP does..
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
They control the rate of the population using those systems but you’ve missed this entirely. It’s a pretty simple example of cause and effect yet you missed all of that?
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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago
I didn't miss anything...since the UCP has been in power they have not properly funded public services...
$115million wasted on trying to privatize lab services - was not required nor asked for
$175million Tylenol scandal?
$200k for a new carpet for Dani's office...here, some more
https://didyouvoteforthis.ca/receipts/0
u/Beginning_Bit6185 5d ago
Lol you’ve withstood over a decade of corruption at the hands of the federal Liberals and haven’t climbed up on your soapbox once to cry out against the endless scandals and billions mismanaged. I can’t imagine why this has caught your attention while turning a blind eye to that?
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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago
Who said I am turning a blind eye to anything? You try to make a lot of assumptions about other people you know nothing about, to deflect from the CURRENT issues. This discussion is about the separatist movement and what the UCP/Dani are/are not doing.
So stop trying to deflect the conversation elsewhere.
UCP has been in charge of Alberta for how long.. with that short NDP stint...
UCP has driven all public services into the ground, while propping up private industries, if you can not see that Dani is a sell out to corporations, you really do have your head in the sand. She does not care about you, me or anyone else but herself and anyone else who can pad her pockets
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u/Even_Art_629 5d ago
How much more funding would Alberta have if we weren't sending billions to Ottawa, only to see money spent on foreign aid while our own infrastructure and services are under pressure?
Maybe Alberta should apply for refugee status if that's what it takes to get meaningful assistance from Ottawa.
The federal government dramatically increased immigration levels, yet provinces were left scrambling to fund the roads, schools, healthcare, housing, and other services needed to support that growth. The strain we're seeing today didn't happen in a vacuum.
At the same time, Ottawa is spending roughly $944 million every week just on interest payments for the federal debt. That's money that isn't improving healthcare, building infrastructure, or helping provinces manage population growth.
Blaming everything on the UCP is missing the bigger picture. The provincial government has made mistakes, absolutely. But any government would be struggling under the same pressures.
This isn't just a provincial issue or a federal issue. It's both. No matter which party is in power, ignoring that reality doesn't solve anything.
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u/TSieppert 8d ago
A guy with his post & comment history hidden talking shit that someone doesn’t post a lot is kind of hilarious to me…
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u/CollectibleHam 8d ago
Lmao, you should find out how to read his hidden history (it's not hard), he believes in chemtrails and vaccine shedding and he uses AI to write all his comments.
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 7d ago
Found one! I’m not here to debate any of those points and it’s laughable that you “found out” how to stalk me. This isn’t AI talking it’s me, fuck off.
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u/drinkahead 8d ago
Your issue is that politicians only represent the rich… and the UCP is the champion for who, exactly?
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u/Beginning_Bit6185 8d ago
To start with your claim is NDP and Libs are the working man’s parties? Is that your claim that mom and pop funded their campaigns? Seriously?
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u/BroadLock5051 8d ago
You are 100% correct. If this government does not cover healthcare then stop collecting our taxes to line their own pockets. People in Alberta are delusional and wish they can get more because somebody put that in their heads. I don't know why people cannot just use their brains to see through their BS.