Wildrose supporter Richard Evans

Evans is a Calgary resident who has made failed runs for municipal office in Calgary.  More recently, he has been a participant at Wildrose conventions, and is very active in their campaign, principally online.  Here is what I know (so far) about his history:

I am hoping to write about the extent of Evans’ involvement with Wildrose.  Anyone with additional cited information is welcome to post in comments, below.


Danielle Smith’s “conscience” – in her own words


The Wildrose leader says doctors, nurses, marriage officials and other public officials should be able to make decisions according to their own conscience. So, what does Danielle Smith’s own “conscience” have to say about important issues like reproductive freedom, equal marriage, health care, personal behaviour and the Charter of Rights?

Here she is, in her own words:

  • On abortion: “…abortions are a horrific practice… Any politician who challenges the status quo gets pilloried by the media, abortion-rights groups and opposing politicians…the taxpayer should not be on the hook to pay for it.” Windsor Star, December 4, 2000
  • On university behaviour codes: “It is perfectly reasonable [to] expect its students to refrain from practices that are biblically condemned, and sign a pledge not to get drunk, swear, harass, lie, cheat, steal, have an abortion, practise the occult, or engage in sexual sins such as premarital sex, adultery, homosexual behaviour and viewing of pornography.” Calgary Herald May 21, 2001
  • On two-tier health care: “Bring it on.” Calgary Herald, June 1, 2003
  • On queue jumping: “We already do have this two-tier system, so why not allow people to pay for private services?” Global TV, June 1, 2003
  • On democracy: “Democracy is pure theatre.” Calgary Herald, August 3, 2003
  • On the courts: “The courts are out of control [because they have been] striking down the abortion law, the change in the traditional definition of marriage, the legalization of swingers’ clubs.” Calgary Herald January 14, 2006
  • On overriding Charter rights: “There are ways around the [notwithstanding] clause.” Calgary Herald January 14, 2006
…and on what she really thinks of the leader she now claims is a friend?
  • On Stephen Harper: “He’s blown his moderate credentials, he got some of his facts wrong and he has come across as a kooky conspiracy theorist.” Calgary Herald, September 14, 2003

Whose “conscience”?

If it’s Wildrose’s “conscience,” get ready for social chaos:

Then there’s “conscience rights.” The Wildrose policy book says government should “implement legislation protecting the ‘conscience rights’ of health care professionals.” The policy doesn’t spell out what that means, but when party delegates voted for the policy they put it in the context of a health-care worker – who is against birth control – being allowed to refuse to fill a prescription for the morning-after pill.

And Smith, it seems, wants to take conscience rights one step further to include marriage commissioners.

In August, responding to a questionnaire from the Rocky Mountain Civil Liberties Association, she wrote “the Wildrose will ensure conscience rights for marriage commissioners and health professionals. This would ensure the protection of personal expression for individuals, while also ensuring that personal beliefs are respected for all Albertans.”

Again, Smith was vague, not specifying what conscience rights would mean for marriage commissioners, but when used in the past the term has referred to allowing marriage commissioners to refuse to perform civil ceremonies for same-sex couples. It smacks of state-sanctioned discrimination and a Saskatchewan court has deemed the idea unconstitutional.


In today’s Sun: fraud isn’t a “value”

For North American conservatives, there are two victories prized most: George W. Bush’s win over Al Gore in 2000, and Stephen Harper’s trouncing of Michael Ignatieff in 2011.

In the fights between conservatives and liberals, those are the two that the Right cherish. Against all odds, conservatives humiliated liberals (in the latter), or seized ultimate power from them (in the former). For conservatives, 2000 and 2011 were historic.
The Bush and Harper election conquests are alike in another way, of course: Both remain tainted by allegations of election fraud.

In 2000, Bush “won” the presidential race with 271 electoral college votes to vice-president Al Gore’s 266. But Bush didn’t really win at all. In raw vote, Gore, with just under 51 million votes, received half a million more votes than Bush. Bush ended up “winning” because seven conservative jurists on the U.S. Supreme Court halted a crucial recount of ballots cast in Florida, thereby ensuring that all of the state’s 25 electoral college votes would be awarded to Bush, not Gore.

More Americans wanted Gore as their president, but that didn’t matter to the seven judges, who stopped the recount that non-partisan experts say would have won Gore the presidency.


Where’s Warren

This pic was taken by a Postmedia photog (I think) during Dwight Duncan’s budget speech. The Ontario PCs decided to vote against it before they read it; the Ontario NDP have said they’ll vote against it, and are acting like they haven’t read any of it either.

We don’t want an election, but we’ll sure as Hell be ready for it if and when it comes.

In the meantime, who can spot Your Humble Narrator?

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