WEBVTT
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Hello, fine people of the internet.
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Welcome back to the Doodle Apocalypse.
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This is your host, Todd.
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And you have joined us on the podcast where we will discuss some of the more ridiculous facets of living in this, whatever we want to call it, end stage, capitalist post-modern, post-truth.
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It's all post.
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There's nothing pre.
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There's no hopeful ways to define our current state of being.
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But specifically at the moment, what we are discussing is the upcoming provincial referendum in the province of Alberta, the questions that are being asked, the insanity of those questions, uh, spoiler alert, the blatant racism of those questions, and what it is uh your government, if you're an Albertan, is trying to force you into, trying to get your your implicit agreement to.
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Um, and if you're not from Alberta, what your government could be coming to next, uh, as you know, our government is not smart enough to be inventing this, and probably neither is yours.
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Everyone just keeps playing off the old songbook.
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So join us as we talk about these questions as we get into uh yeah, some of the problems that the United Conservative Party is claiming that we have here in the province of Alberta and their potential solutions and how you can better inform yourself so that you can better inform your neighbors and make sure we don't end up walking down this particular path.
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So without any more delay, uh let's get into question two.
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Okay, so question number two of the October 19th Alberta referendum.
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Uh should you be lucky enough to be in this jurisdiction to vote for will read as follows.
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Do you support the government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and individuals with an Alberta approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially funded programs such as health care, education, and other social services?
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Once again, just like question one, all of this broken down to yes or no.
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So after the first episode and the first question, we can see the UCP strategy again at play here.
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If Danielle Smith et al were to just ask the question they want to ask, it would go as follows.
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Are you all good with if we only offer social services to the good kinds of immigrants?
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And if they were being really fully honest, they would finish with, because we are only going to have social services for a few more weeks anyway, so why get all worked up about it?
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But that would be too easy.
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The sad part is, even if they worded it that way, you know, 20% of the population would probably be pulled along and just still vote yes.
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But since they didn't do that, they have tried to make something more persuasive.
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Once again, not actually to get an answer to govern by, but to get you, the citizen, to read their question and internalize their motives.
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So if they're gonna shovel this down our throats, we best learn from it what we can.
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First things first, why is the governing party asking if they can pass a law?
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This is literally their job.
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The whole point is that the majority of the electorate in the last election said, go enact laws for us.
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Now, once again, don't get me wrong, my answer is a no.
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Screamed from the rooftops.
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If you're gonna ask, that's my answer.
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I wish this vote actually required us all to go elementary school style and stand in a gym, put our hands up for what we want.
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Um, I want to know who votes yes and no.
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I I want to see who my neighbors are and what they support.
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I think that's um that is the one good thing that could come of this.
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But I also I think this is, you know, it's just an insulting waste of time and money.
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And and the reason that I wanted to kind of put this in a podcast, get some thoughts out there is not actually just to rail at Danny and her hillbully caucus.
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It was to talk about all talk about all the populists promoting so-called direct democracy, how flawed the very idea is and the actual reasons we're going through these ridiculous shreds.
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The the poorly acted plays at a family Christmas party that they actually are.
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We all know if if the big Daniel Smith wants to do this, she just will.
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She'll spin a 75% rejection into a mandate from her base and just make it happen.
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We we are wasting 37 million dollars, at least.
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Some estimates are well over, uh, but the the base estimate that I could find for the cost of this nonsense is 37 million dollars that we're spending to ask a question that we don't actually need to give her an answer to.
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Um, like I said, I don't want her to do it.
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I don't think she should, but as I talked about in the last episode, do it so the electorate can decide.
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Doing the silly dance at the cost of 37 million dollars is just such an epic waste of time and resources, and is so weak as a governing party, it's just ridiculous.
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But let that, you know, think about it.
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Think about wherever your you know, where how wherever your bottom line is these days, wherever cost of living has got you, and let it sink in that thirty-seven million dollars is what the government is spending on this during a trade war.
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We got cost of living in crisis going on.
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Um but no no, let's not worry about any of that.
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Let's play this ridiculous political game of chicken to ask questions they don't need or care about the answer to for$37 million.
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So why is she doing this?
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Well, I mean, first of all, she c she could just be an idiot.
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That's entirely possible.
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Nothing she has ever said or done makes me think that she's a political or sociological genius who understands how people work and is secretly pulling strings behind the scenes.
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No, that's not Daniel Smith.
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She's pretty much all right out there scowling at us in public.
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That is what she's doing.
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Um, so it is entirely possible she just doesn't understand how government works.
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And since her background is as an AM radio talk show host and her government's proven to be a nept at every conceivable portfolio it's been given, this is possible.
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We shouldn't discount it.
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The second possibility is she she actually doesn't want to do any of this, but she feels completely powerless to stop her base without the referendum results.
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And I I, you know, I genuinely wish there was credibility to this.
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I wish I could give her that much support.
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But even if I did, frankly, like fuck her.
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Fuck her and her and her entire caucus, even harder than if this wasn't the case.
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Because they opened this can of worms.
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They took power, they were so thirsty for and made a deal with the the populist devil, and I have no pity for them.
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Now they want the majority of hopefully reasonable Albertans to bail them out against the monster they've created.
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Not for$37 million.
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You don't get away, get to get away from that.
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Scot free, call a referendum, get a vote that you can hang your hat on and walk away.
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You started this, you should have to hold the bag for it.
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Third answer is she, third possibility she's just using this whole mess as a distraction from her growing ineptitude.
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You know, something to spin her base on while she learns the fiddle for the big party at the end of Alberta.
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Fourth reason, possibly, she's going full disaster capitalist.
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We talked a little bit about Naomi Klein uh last time, and and she's just here trying to break my home, theoretically her home, but I think she just sees it as a resource pool, uh, into an economic, serviceless hellscape.
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Blame it all on immigrants, and use that as an excuse to sell our province in bigger and bigger chunks to private capital that she's already in bed with.
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This is probably my leading candidate for the truth, as I sort of hinted at last time.
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I I think that's uh I think that's about as as deep as she's getting.
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Um, that she's, you know, she she's just at the cusp of literism required to have read Milton Friedman and not any of the history that has come out of it since, and how catastrophically poorly those ideas have gone, how they've literally torn countries and economy to the ground.
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But she read them and thinks he's a genius because this is the this is how we get free market economy uh cooking everywhere.
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Um I also, you know, I think she's evil enough to think that she can just sell us all to MAGA and then head to Mar-a-Lago as a devoted or stained concubine.
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Uh, but you know, maybe not, hopefully not.
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But I I do think there's that solid possibility.
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She's fully bought in, disaster capitalist, break Alberta down.
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Uh maybe in her head she is actually drunk enough Kool-Aid that she thinks that long term that'll be good for everyone.
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Um but I do think that's a very strong possibility.
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The last possibility I can think of as to why she's doing getting us into this whole mess, why she's spending$37 million of our money uh to to go through this ridiculous exercise, is that she is power hungry enough to realize that these policies that she's listing against immigrants and the Constitution and separating from the rest of Canada, um, while important to the salivating hordes of rural rural Albertans, would be might actually be big enough to make her only the second conservative premier to lose an election in Alberta.
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So she is again wasting$37 million to pit her base against the rest of the province.
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She wants to have an ironclad strategic reason why she can't do these crazy hate-filled things that buys her enough favor with the majority for having, listened, look, I my base wanted to do this, but I just couldn't.
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And so I wanted to retain, I sorry, she wasn't going to tell us she wants to retain power, but I put it out there in front of you guys.
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You said no, so I'm following along with you.
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And to her base, she can say, look, we tried, but if we do, we would lose horribly, uh, and whatever power we had would be gone.
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Yeah, uh, the last premier of this province, the last leader of her party, you know, famously said, Well, after having been out ousted, um, that the new leaders had had now allowed the inmates to take over the asylum.
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And there is a chance that Jason Kenny was right and she's just realizing it, but unwilling to do anything to lessen her own power, which she has shown time and time again, is probably the only thing, just money and power.
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I mean, that's all that motivates this woman.
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I've I've seen nothing to tell me that Daniel Smith or the party that she is at the head of is motivated by motivated by anything but retaining power and making money for themselves, and that is it.
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But after all that, and uh all these possible reasons, you know, make most no mistake, her base, the actual base of the United Conservative Party, now, whatever that may be, um, you know, she won the leadership of her party and therefore the premiership of Alberta with something like 30,000 people voted for her.
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That's who actually likes, that's who she would consider her base.
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That is what she needs from the United Conservative Party to keep her in power, from the actual card-carrying members of the of the party.
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30,000 of those people.
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There's about five million people in this province, but there's 30,000 of them that she considers her base that she needs to keep happy because she knows the rest she'll get at least enough votes to keep the UCP in power because it's bloody Alberta.
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And it's very hard to oust a conservative government here.
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Um, if you're from the states and you happen to be listening to this, it would very much like be like getting the Republicans out of charge in Texas or Florida, for that matter.
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Just probably isn't going to happen.
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So she knows the party will be in charge and that to keep a leadership of that party, she needs about 30,000 card-carrying, died-in-the-wool, hardcore party, card-carrying party members to keep her in power.
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Um, and that's who this is about.
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And they want all of this.
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They want restriction on immigration, they want the changes to the Constitution, they potentially want separatism set to be separate from the rest of Canada.
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So this whole, this whole referendum really stems from the ridiculous sideshow of last year called the Alberta Next panel, where the UCP party whips traveled around trying to stump up support to their most extreme ideas amongst their most extreme fans.
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Um, if you don't remember, they basically locked, they they called these public panels public town halls, but if you weren't UCP and you weren't a supporter and you dared even look like you were coming in to share a dissenting opinion, you were locked out, you were removed, you were mocked, you were shunned and silenced.
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Um they were not open forums.
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Once again, this was their the this is direct democracy in action.
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If we have gone to extreme lengths to make sure we only hear from the side that we agreed with.
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There will, as I said, once all this is said and done, hopefully there will be enough of a lull to just talk about the ridiculousness and historic ridiculousness of attempts at direct democracy.
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And that's one of the biggest flaws with it in is actually getting representation.
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But yeah, so they took their answers from this.
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Not everyone was actually heard.
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Most people couldn't even get in.
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Most of the affected demographics by these questions, you know, they were never even going to have the time to wait in line uh to get into these events, uh, these town halls, Alberta first town halls.
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But the proponents would step back afterwards and say, look, everyone had their chance, it was free, it was fair, it was open, anyone could have showed up, which we know just isn't in fact true.
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Like I said, we'll get into all this in detail a little later on.
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But right now, just to pull you know some of the news stories about just go back yourself.
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I I'm not gonna hammer on it too much here.
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Uh go back yourself, look up the Alberta next panels, and try and tell yourself that any of the information they could have gleaned was representative of the actual entire population of the province of Alberta.
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Yeah, once again, like this whole referendum, it was never anything more than a very, very expensive marketing campaign for their most unpalatable to the mainstream ideas.
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Those panels put in a report then, at the end, that included the following suggestion to the government.
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The government should put a referendum question to Albertans on the topic of the government exercising more control over immigration for the purpose of ensuring more sustainable population growth, attracting primarily economic migrants, and limiting s limiting eligibility for social services to citizens, permanent residents, and individuals with an immigration permit granted or otherwise recognized by the Alberta government.
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And then they claim that this suggestion had 79% support from all Albertans.
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And that is Trump level bullshit right there.
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If you think that even most conservative people in this province, if you put them ten of them together, could you get eight of them to agree on anything?
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Uh but the fact that it could be the entire province is is just nonsense.
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However, the idea that it could even be close to real, partly real, that it could even show up in a statistical analysis is frankly why I'm here babbling into a microphone in my home office about it, and why you are hate listening to it while you walk the dog or do the dishes.
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So we're going to try and spill a little bit of tea about the actual problem at the base of this question.
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What does immigration into Alberta actually look like in the present day, and whether or not that could possibly be causing a problem for that base to the UCP right after the break?
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So now that we have seen once again that this is a question that doesn't need asking, structurally or topically, uh our mission is to get into, you know, is there any chance immigration's actually an issue?
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Let's let's say that.
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Like maybe, maybe I'm being naive.
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Maybe I'm the one who's not seeing the forest for the trees, and immigration is actually at the core of all the cost of living, housing, and education crises which are are currently plaguing my my home province.
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Um there's always a chance I'm not seeing it, you know, in my daily commutes through the city that we're we're being out overwhelmed by an influx of immigration that as my my governing party seems so desperate to make me believe.
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Um, because if that's true, well, maybe some of this is worthwhile and and the whole dog and pony show that's going on isn't just uh smoke and mirror nonsense.
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Um like question one, the second question has been formatted with a small actual question going first, and then following it by some subversive propaganda that's been put out there in such a way as to try and make it seem reasonable to everyone reading the questions.
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Uh so in the last episode, we went through a quick refresher on the types of immigration pathways into Canada.
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Um, and that becomes even more important now.
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So just remembering that most of the time what we're talking about is people getting permanent resident status, not citizenship.
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Citizenship is effectively you're either born with it or it becomes an effective if you've been a permanent resident long enough, stayed out of trouble, paid your taxes, filed the right paperwork, you will become a citizen.
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Now, once again, because the informative part of this question starts by talking about who the government is good with and who they aren't, this is always a promising sign for any government that the question they ask you is going to be totally fair and reasonable when they're talking about which groups we should all be okay with and which ones are forbidden.
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I mean, forboten.
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I mean, sorry, forbidden.
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Uh sorry, uh Freudian slip, I guess.
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So they do start with Canadian citizens.
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You know, once again, doesn't it this is one of those things.
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Doesn't it feel a little strange and telling that they feel the need to start us, start by reassuring us that, hey, no, no, don't worry.
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Canadian citizens will be all unaffected by this.
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They'll have full access to everything.
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You know, I put this up there with the idea that good people don't have to go around telling you they're a good people.
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Governments with no intention to limit the rights of their citizens don't actually have to go around reassuring everyone all the time that they aren't going to take their rights away.
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Just as a rule of thumb.
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Um, if someone's constantly telling you, don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you, they're gonna hurt you.
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They're just waiting for the right time.
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So then after they talk about citizens, uh, they're graciously gonna give a pass to permanent residents.
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Lucky them.
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You know, if you remember from the last episode, this group are essentially a checklist away from citizenship anyway.
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And almost all of all of them are some form of economic migrant or in some way being supported by an employer or community.
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So going after such a large group would be political and likely economic suicide, and almost impossible to um divide in between the different groups without blatantly violating the terms of the charter by discriminating against different areas.
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What then be is interesting and disturbing is then we get into this Alberta approved immigration status, not something that doesn't currently exist.
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No explanation, no talk about what an Alberta approved immigrant is going to be, other than obviously it's going to be their government's decision.
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We just drop it in there.
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Like we're all just gonna, you know, password over it.
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Don't worry about it.
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Trust us.
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Trust us, your super effective government that hasn't screwed up everything uh that we've tried to do over the last few years.
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We can totally decide and give it an approved status to people who are coming to this province.
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Um now, if you know, if this were to actually be an approval based on the Alberta that I experience every day, where we have intelligent people from diverse backgrounds and considerate human beings, you know, that I'm privileged to call family and friends and coworkers, I wouldn't be so worried about this.
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But even though that's fairly representative, I think, of the population, we know that isn't Daniel Smith's Alberta.
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Before I go into what Daniel Smith's Alberta actually is, I because I talked a little bit about it last time, I do want to clarify and offer some apologies.
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Um, you know, I'm 75% first and second generation Canadian Albertan.
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Uh, my father immigrated here when he was a child.
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Uh, he first stopped in Ontario before his entire family came west in the early 70s.
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Uh my mom's mom came over in the 50s uh from Great Britain and never left.
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Uh, but my mother was born here, and her father's family and different branches can trace their roots in Canada back to the first calls for settlers to come west.
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Um I have family and friends who live and work in small towns and farms in southern Alberta.
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And and I know they're not all bad people when I talk about ranchers and farmers and the people who make up Danielle Smith's base.
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Uh the problem is that enough of them are that we're now teetering on the brink of calamity because of their worldview.
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I don't speak nev negatively about them because I want to, uh, because it's fun or because it's easy.
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I do so because I genuinely believe that if we don't all speak out against those harmful views cooked in small towns uh, you know, a hundred miles from an immigrant, they will win.
00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:34.160
These ideas will become the legally ensconced norms in this province, which, as I said above, is actually a much more diverse and colorful and intelligent place than these ideas give it credit for.
00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:41.680
If you are a farmer or a small town, Alberton, who also wishes that Daniel Smith would just pack up her nonsense and go, I feel for you.
00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:44.880
And to be quite honest, we need you more than anything else.
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:55.200
So if you need support, feel free, reach out to me through the through the show, uh, my socials or or through the contact uh uh buttons, it's links, whatever that come with the show.
00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.839
And let's find ways to make it clear that not everyone in those areas is part of Danny's Alberta.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.640
But a lot of them are.
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.119
And that's really where it's coming from.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:10.319
You know, make no mistake, that's who the she thinks is worth the fight.
00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:15.039
She has a great deal of disdain that she's shown over and over again for the cities of this province.
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:25.279
Despite the bulk of the population that actually live in Edmonton and Calgary, and when she sees Alberta, she sees empty prairies and empty foothills and empty rivers with single owners.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:35.920
You know, a single owner, usually a man, oddly enough, I'm sure in her vision, in a cowboy hat ready to both profit from and protect that piece of wilderness at their sole discretion.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:47.359
And of course, more people means less empty and less wide open land for those statuesque men in cowboy hats to profit from and defend.
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.680
Alberta improved approved immigration.
00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:55.119
It's just a repugnant turn of phrase to begin with.
00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:03.920
And it's not going to be an approval given by the brightest and best economists, sociologists, or other experts.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:08.400
It won't be by community leaders representing the entire fabric of our province.
00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:13.759
It will be the most financially successfully mem successful members of her base.
00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:23.839
The farmers, the ranchers, the oil rights owners, the wealthy small towners who have been most vocal about the need to limit the flow of people.
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:25.599
And who are they even going to limit?
00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.039
The only area she has left to her from her own words is the temporary residents.
00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:34.319
Those won't mean foreign workers and their taxes and students of their tuition or tourists wealthy enough to pay for a visa.
00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.799
No, it'll be that group number four.
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.200
It will be the asylum seekers.
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:41.359
Why asylum seekers?
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:42.640
We touched on this last time.
00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:43.759
We all know the answer.
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:53.599
In recent days, one of the hardliners of the separatist movement and part of what became known as the Black Hat Gang, which, by the way, stupidest name ever for the stupidest looking group of pumpkins.
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:55.279
Like, you give yourselves that name.
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:59.440
When you're when pictures are taken of you, you better look badass.
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:04.160
You better look like the hardest group of cowboys that ever fell out of a John Wayne movie.
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:11.039
You better be ready to be like Quentin Tarantino levels of hard bloody cowboy.
00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:27.279
Um, not a bunch of like chubby, wealthy, upper middle class landowners from small town Alberta who were s who were cool enough to head to whatever your local tax store was and buy yourself a black cowboy hat and then think you're bad.
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.119
Give me a break.
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:51.039
But one of these leaders, Ian Parkinson, who demonstrably has the premier's ear, has made it clear what all this is about by speaking about use his language here, but basically saying that the laws of Alberta shouldn't be delivered to you by some minority police officer.
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.440
You can look it up for yourself.
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:59.839
But for the sake of argument, pretending they hadn't put it out on the table that blatantly, let's flesh it out a little bit.
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:06.559
As we mentioned last time, where immigrants go, especially asylum seekers, is not entirely of their own choice.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:12.640
They're divided up amongst the province based on intergovernmental agreements that we discussed in the first episode.
00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:18.880
And when they are assigned, they get additional funding from the federal government to cover their social services.
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.799
And we're going to talk about that more in the next episode.
00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:28.720
I'm not going to get into this idea of provincially funded social services and what that is in this one, but we will talk next time when she talks about it.
00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:32.640
Spoiler alert, most of the time it's actually not provincial money.
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:40.799
It's money that's given to the province either by municipal taxation or federal and then distributed by the provincial government.
00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:44.000
It is not the provincial government's money.
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:52.720
But if you listen to the UCP, Danny, or any of the separatists, you'd think there's this crushing wave of asylum seekers coming into the province, let alone the country.
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:54.880
So what are some of the real numbers?
00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:02.000
Well, first of all, all of these come either from uh Stats Canada or from the province of Alberta's websites.
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:04.799
Um if you want them, I can give them to you.
00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:06.000
You can look them up yourself.
00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.720
They all came from government sites, all official.
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:16.000
Um but asylum claims, first of all, are down 68% since the most recent peak in 2024.
00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:23.039
This is partly because of world politics, but it's also politics at home, as the federal government got more conservative without changing parties.
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:28.079
The demographic data is open for anyone to look at, but I'll summarize a few more points below.
00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:39.920
First of all, in the first six months of 2026, 26,365 new asylum seekers have entered Canada and been recognized by the government and placed in the country.
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:46.319
Of those, Alberta accepted 2,250, or 9% of the total.
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:57.759
In contrast, Ontario accepted 1,400 sorry, 14,835, or 56% of those asylum seekers.
00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.720
And Quebec took in the next highest at 7,650, or 29%.
00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:08.880
So the instant response to that as an Albertan is, well, they have larger populations to absorb the numbers.
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.079
That's only right that Ontario and Quebec.
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:25.200
It's always funny how we're willing to respect, you know, the size and uh population buying power of those two provinces when it's in our favor, uh, but when when it isn't, is oh, they're unjustly taking resources.
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:31.519
But anyway, that that's the instant response from that from a uh right-leaning Albertan as far as why they should.
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.920
Um and that that's not untrue, but not in the way it seems.
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:44.480
So Alberta has a population equivalent to 12% of the national number, whereas uh Ontario is only 39% and Quebec is 29%.
00:27:45.119 --> 00:28:03.920
Which means that despite all of the high-minded virtuosity of the supposed religious highlanders in rural Alberta, that when it comes to actually helping the poor and needy, this province is not only being is not being unfairly dumped on by the rest of Confederation.
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.400
In fact, we are shirking the load.
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:14.160
We are handing off some of our burden to Ontario and Quebec, letting them dramatically pick up the slack.
00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:15.839
And this proportion isn't new.
00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:23.920
It's baked into that 2007 agreement that the great Stephen Harper set up and is consistent month to month, year to year, the proportions are the same.
00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:35.119
We are that kid in the school group assignment that complains endlessly about how much work they have to do while actually letting everyone else and everyone else's mom carry their water for them.
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:47.279
So if we aren't actually being overwhelmed with the numbers, and if we're not taking an unfair burden compared to the other provinces or cost, and once again we'll talk more about that in the next episode, why do the UCP hate them?
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:50.000
Where do they come from?
00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:51.440
That's the question to ask ourselves.
00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:52.079
Where do they come from?
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:58.400
Because remember we talked about last time when they were Ukrainian immigrants, Ukrainian Ukrainian refugees.
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:01.200
Danny and the UCP were all over that.
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:04.160
Let's get them more tickets, let's get them permanent residency here.
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:05.039
Damn straight.
00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:08.240
We want all of those folks in our in our province.
00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:14.079
So who are they now that are causing them to be much less excited just two years later?
00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:27.039
Well, the end of uh Q1 in 2026, in total, in Canada, there were two hundred and ninety-four thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine asylum clean asylum claims waiting to be assessed across Canada.
00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:32.640
There are people from an amazing variety of nations all around the world hoping to make a better life in Canada.
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:44.480
And we could get into why so many and and the politics of you know which countries we will even take asylum claims from, um, and the the first safe haven laws, all of those things that are supposed to make it more fair.
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.920
Um and maybe we will if it comes up.
00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:57.759
But right now, if we look at the top five of that, just shy of 300,000 people, hoping to make a better life here, hoping to flee.
00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:02.160
Physical, political, economic persecution.
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:04.640
Who are the top five countries?
00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:12.640
At sixteen percent, we have Indian India is their home country, uh, Indian asylum seekers.
00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:24.400
10%, number two, Haiti, 8%, number 3, Mexico, and then number four and five are the same at 7% with Nigeria and Bangladesh.
00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:29.119
This represents a massively broad expanse of the world.
00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.680
Completely different countries, completely different religions, completely different societies and cultures and political systems they're coming from.
00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.200
But it what it doesn't represent is white folks.
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:41.119
We all know this instinctively.
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:46.880
As soon as you see these questions, as soon as you see what she's trying to do, we all know this.
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:47.839
We can see it.
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:54.400
It's i it's what the conservative movement right across North America hates about asylum seekers.
00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:05.920
It's no more complicated than the color of their skin, the accent on their lips, and maybe it might go so deep as what's on the outside of their houses of worship.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:08.319
But to be honest, I don't think it even matters.
00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.359
Mexican immigrants are going to be mostly Christian.
00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:18.559
We've also got um, you know, Muslims and Sikhs, but no, they're they're coming from all sorts of different backgrounds.
00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.519
The one big common thing is they're not white.
00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:24.720
They're not European, they don't fit that mold.
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:28.880
That Ukrainian mold where Daniel Smith was so willing to take more.
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.599
They look different, they sound different, but they don't want them.
00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:36.880
I don't I don't want to make this claim wildly.
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:43.519
I'm not just throwing it out there to blindly accuse the UCP, Daniel Smith, and her cronies of being racist.
00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:45.359
That's why we've taken that walk to get here.
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:49.680
You know, it's it's quite clear on the sur right on the very surface.
00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:53.680
You don't even have to dig that deep, but let's, you know, want to make sure we backed it up with the numbers.
00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:58.160
It's just it's just plain old-fashioned racism.
00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:18.240
Now I you know, I'm not trying to speak about the individual heart of each individual conservative, but but if there are those out there from that camp saying, no, no, no, that's not me, then I do hope to speak to their heart, or I hope you listening right now can speak to theirs and say, what are you really angry against?
00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:21.279
What what is it that's making you so mad?
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.920
Because this is what's making the party so mad.
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:26.079
This is what they're trying to get rid of.
00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:38.319
Whatever you may have been told, whatever smoke has been blown to cover your eyes, in 2024, when the asylum claimants were white Eastern Europeans, Danielle Smith begged the federal government to let the province of Alberta have more.
00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:54.799
And now that they're black and brown, now they don't match her vision of our province, she's willing to spend$37 million, 37 million of your dollars to try and trick you into saying that you hate them as much as she and her friends do.
00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:07.519
You know, when it is viewed through the lens of history, there is nothing that can be gained from collectively answering yes to this question that will have been worth the cost to our province's soul.
00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:20.240
Okay, there you have it, episode two of the doodle apocalypse and this particular series on the October 2026 Alberta referendum questions.
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:32.079
Um, we'll be back in just a couple of days, and by we, I mean myself and my fabulous golden doodle, Kiva, who is here on the floor next to me as I put the finishing touches on this episode.
00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:34.319
But we will be back in just a couple of days.
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:37.359
And what we're gonna talk about at that time is the cost of all this.
00:33:37.519 --> 00:34:00.960
So the actual costs of immigration, particularly refugees and asylum seekers, since they seem to be the target predominantly of all this nonsense, uh, as well as the full cost or the full estimated cost anyway, uh of this whole referendum nonsense, what it is really costing each and every one of us to ask these questions that the majority of us never wanted in the first place.
00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:02.640
Thank you for joining me.
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:05.759
This is, as always, an entirely human-made endeavor.
00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:12.639
Uh, so if you're just supporting it for that reason alone to fight back against the waves of AI, slop out there.
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:14.559
Um, we're happy to have you.
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:22.079
And if you learn a little bit about Alberta and Canada and what's going on in the world, just more's the better.
00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:24.559
Um, but yeah, happy to have you either way.
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:32.159
If you are looking for other human-made content and you don't mind the sound of this voice, well, there's another podcast out there called Gen Z vs.
00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:42.400
Friends, which also happens to be me talking about things that are somewhat less serious than uh than the political crisis uh going on in the world right now.
00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:44.480
Uh, you can find that anywhere.
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:48.480
Well, wherever you found this podcast, you can also find that podcast, Gen Z vs Friends.
00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:50.400
And just it's exactly what it sounds like.
00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:57.679
Uh millennial response to Gen Z criticisms of what at the time was everybody's favorite sitcom in the 90s.
00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:03.840
Uh, is it really as bad as your nephews, nieces, and kids tell you it is?
00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:05.440
Uh so join us for that.
00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:10.000
Uh, or if not, we look forward to talking to you again in a couple days' time.
00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:14.000
Uh, until then, scritch your doodle, pet your cat, whatever you need to do.
00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:16.559
Um, to have an amazing day.
00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.000
Hello, fine people of the internet.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.399
Welcome back to the Doodle Apocalypse.
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:21.679
This is your host, Todd.
00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:33.280
And you have joined us on the podcast where we will discuss some of the more ridiculous facets of living in this, whatever we want to call it, end stage, capitalist post-modern, post-truth.
00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:34.880
It's all post.
00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:36.320
There's nothing pre.
00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:40.640
There's no hopeful ways to define our current state of being.
00:00:40.960 --> 00:01:09.040
But specifically at the moment, what we are discussing is the upcoming provincial referendum in the province of Alberta, the questions that are being asked, the insanity of those questions, uh, spoiler alert, the blatant racism of those questions, and what it is uh your government, if you're an Albertan, is trying to force you into, trying to get your your implicit agreement to.
00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:20.159
Um, and if you're not from Alberta, what your government could be coming to next, uh, as you know, our government is not smart enough to be inventing this, and probably neither is yours.
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.400
Everyone just keeps playing off the old songbook.
00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:42.480
So join us as we talk about these questions as we get into uh yeah, some of the problems that the United Conservative Party is claiming that we have here in the province of Alberta and their potential solutions and how you can better inform yourself so that you can better inform your neighbors and make sure we don't end up walking down this particular path.
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:47.920
So without any more delay, uh let's get into question two.
00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:03.680
Okay, so question number two of the October 19th Alberta referendum.
00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:09.199
Uh should you be lucky enough to be in this jurisdiction to vote for will read as follows.
00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:26.960
Do you support the government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and individuals with an Alberta approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially funded programs such as health care, education, and other social services?
00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:32.560
Once again, just like question one, all of this broken down to yes or no.
00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:38.960
So after the first episode and the first question, we can see the UCP strategy again at play here.
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.759
If Danielle Smith et al were to just ask the question they want to ask, it would go as follows.
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.759
Are you all good with if we only offer social services to the good kinds of immigrants?
00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:58.719
And if they were being really fully honest, they would finish with, because we are only going to have social services for a few more weeks anyway, so why get all worked up about it?
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:00.080
But that would be too easy.
00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:07.759
The sad part is, even if they worded it that way, you know, 20% of the population would probably be pulled along and just still vote yes.
00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:12.159
But since they didn't do that, they have tried to make something more persuasive.
00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:21.840
Once again, not actually to get an answer to govern by, but to get you, the citizen, to read their question and internalize their motives.
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.319
So if they're gonna shovel this down our throats, we best learn from it what we can.
00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.520
First things first, why is the governing party asking if they can pass a law?
00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.199
This is literally their job.
00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:38.080
The whole point is that the majority of the electorate in the last election said, go enact laws for us.
00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.439
Now, once again, don't get me wrong, my answer is a no.
00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:42.800
Screamed from the rooftops.
00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:44.800
If you're gonna ask, that's my answer.
00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:52.639
I wish this vote actually required us all to go elementary school style and stand in a gym, put our hands up for what we want.
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:55.120
Um, I want to know who votes yes and no.
00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:57.840
I I want to see who my neighbors are and what they support.
00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:01.039
I think that's um that is the one good thing that could come of this.
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.960
But I also I think this is, you know, it's just an insulting waste of time and money.
00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:16.240
And and the reason that I wanted to kind of put this in a podcast, get some thoughts out there is not actually just to rail at Danny and her hillbully caucus.
00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:26.480
It was to talk about all talk about all the populists promoting so-called direct democracy, how flawed the very idea is and the actual reasons we're going through these ridiculous shreds.
00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:33.439
The the poorly acted plays at a family Christmas party that they actually are.
00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:38.079
We all know if if the big Daniel Smith wants to do this, she just will.
00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:43.279
She'll spin a 75% rejection into a mandate from her base and just make it happen.
00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:47.839
We we are wasting 37 million dollars, at least.
00:04:48.240 --> 00:05:02.800
Some estimates are well over, uh, but the the base estimate that I could find for the cost of this nonsense is 37 million dollars that we're spending to ask a question that we don't actually need to give her an answer to.
00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.279
Um, like I said, I don't want her to do it.
00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:11.120
I don't think she should, but as I talked about in the last episode, do it so the electorate can decide.
00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:22.959
Doing the silly dance at the cost of 37 million dollars is just such an epic waste of time and resources, and is so weak as a governing party, it's just ridiculous.
00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:24.800
But let that, you know, think about it.
00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:38.879
Think about wherever your you know, where how wherever your bottom line is these days, wherever cost of living has got you, and let it sink in that thirty-seven million dollars is what the government is spending on this during a trade war.
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.079
We got cost of living in crisis going on.
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.079
Um but no no, let's not worry about any of that.
00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:54.160
Let's play this ridiculous political game of chicken to ask questions they don't need or care about the answer to for$37 million.
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:56.720
So why is she doing this?
00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:01.120
Well, I mean, first of all, she c she could just be an idiot.
00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:02.319
That's entirely possible.
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:12.000
Nothing she has ever said or done makes me think that she's a political or sociological genius who understands how people work and is secretly pulling strings behind the scenes.
00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:13.600
No, that's not Daniel Smith.
00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.480
She's pretty much all right out there scowling at us in public.
00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:17.759
That is what she's doing.
00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.680
Um, so it is entirely possible she just doesn't understand how government works.
00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:30.560
And since her background is as an AM radio talk show host and her government's proven to be a nept at every conceivable portfolio it's been given, this is possible.
00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.240
We shouldn't discount it.
00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:41.680
The second possibility is she she actually doesn't want to do any of this, but she feels completely powerless to stop her base without the referendum results.
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.199
And I I, you know, I genuinely wish there was credibility to this.
00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.759
I wish I could give her that much support.
00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.480
But even if I did, frankly, like fuck her.
00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:55.680
Fuck her and her and her entire caucus, even harder than if this wasn't the case.
00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.160
Because they opened this can of worms.
00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:07.279
They took power, they were so thirsty for and made a deal with the the populist devil, and I have no pity for them.
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:14.160
Now they want the majority of hopefully reasonable Albertans to bail them out against the monster they've created.
00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:15.839
Not for$37 million.
00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:17.839
You don't get away, get to get away from that.
00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:23.199
Scot free, call a referendum, get a vote that you can hang your hat on and walk away.
00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:27.199
You started this, you should have to hold the bag for it.
00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:34.879
Third answer is she, third possibility she's just using this whole mess as a distraction from her growing ineptitude.
00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:40.879
You know, something to spin her base on while she learns the fiddle for the big party at the end of Alberta.
00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:45.839
Fourth reason, possibly, she's going full disaster capitalist.
00:07:45.920 --> 00:08:01.120
We talked a little bit about Naomi Klein uh last time, and and she's just here trying to break my home, theoretically her home, but I think she just sees it as a resource pool, uh, into an economic, serviceless hellscape.
00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:09.279
Blame it all on immigrants, and use that as an excuse to sell our province in bigger and bigger chunks to private capital that she's already in bed with.
00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:14.240
This is probably my leading candidate for the truth, as I sort of hinted at last time.
00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:19.199
I I think that's uh I think that's about as as deep as she's getting.
00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:38.399
Um, that she's, you know, she she's just at the cusp of literism required to have read Milton Friedman and not any of the history that has come out of it since, and how catastrophically poorly those ideas have gone, how they've literally torn countries and economy to the ground.
00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:45.679
But she read them and thinks he's a genius because this is the this is how we get free market economy uh cooking everywhere.
00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:57.440
Um I also, you know, I think she's evil enough to think that she can just sell us all to MAGA and then head to Mar-a-Lago as a devoted or stained concubine.
00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.879
Uh, but you know, maybe not, hopefully not.
00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:03.039
But I I do think there's that solid possibility.
00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:06.960
She's fully bought in, disaster capitalist, break Alberta down.
00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:12.480
Uh maybe in her head she is actually drunk enough Kool-Aid that she thinks that long term that'll be good for everyone.
00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:16.399
Um but I do think that's a very strong possibility.
00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:51.279
The last possibility I can think of as to why she's doing getting us into this whole mess, why she's spending$37 million of our money uh to to go through this ridiculous exercise, is that she is power hungry enough to realize that these policies that she's listing against immigrants and the Constitution and separating from the rest of Canada, um, while important to the salivating hordes of rural rural Albertans, would be might actually be big enough to make her only the second conservative premier to lose an election in Alberta.
00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:59.519
So she is again wasting$37 million to pit her base against the rest of the province.
00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:12.240
She wants to have an ironclad strategic reason why she can't do these crazy hate-filled things that buys her enough favor with the majority for having, listened, look, I my base wanted to do this, but I just couldn't.
00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:17.840
And so I wanted to retain, I sorry, she wasn't going to tell us she wants to retain power, but I put it out there in front of you guys.
00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:19.840
You said no, so I'm following along with you.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:28.559
And to her base, she can say, look, we tried, but if we do, we would lose horribly, uh, and whatever power we had would be gone.
00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:42.240
Yeah, uh, the last premier of this province, the last leader of her party, you know, famously said, Well, after having been out ousted, um, that the new leaders had had now allowed the inmates to take over the asylum.
00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:54.240
And there is a chance that Jason Kenny was right and she's just realizing it, but unwilling to do anything to lessen her own power, which she has shown time and time again, is probably the only thing, just money and power.
00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:55.759
I mean, that's all that motivates this woman.
00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:08.000
I've I've seen nothing to tell me that Daniel Smith or the party that she is at the head of is motivated by motivated by anything but retaining power and making money for themselves, and that is it.
00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:26.080
But after all that, and uh all these possible reasons, you know, make most no mistake, her base, the actual base of the United Conservative Party, now, whatever that may be, um, you know, she won the leadership of her party and therefore the premiership of Alberta with something like 30,000 people voted for her.
00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.799
That's who actually likes, that's who she would consider her base.
00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:36.240
That is what she needs from the United Conservative Party to keep her in power, from the actual card-carrying members of the of the party.
00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.159
30,000 of those people.
00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:50.720
There's about five million people in this province, but there's 30,000 of them that she considers her base that she needs to keep happy because she knows the rest she'll get at least enough votes to keep the UCP in power because it's bloody Alberta.
00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:53.759
And it's very hard to oust a conservative government here.
00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:03.120
Um, if you're from the states and you happen to be listening to this, it would very much like be like getting the Republicans out of charge in Texas or Florida, for that matter.
00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:04.559
Just probably isn't going to happen.
00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:16.480
So she knows the party will be in charge and that to keep a leadership of that party, she needs about 30,000 card-carrying, died-in-the-wool, hardcore party, card-carrying party members to keep her in power.
00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:18.240
Um, and that's who this is about.
00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.960
And they want all of this.
00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:29.519
They want restriction on immigration, they want the changes to the Constitution, they potentially want separatism set to be separate from the rest of Canada.
00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:43.840
So this whole, this whole referendum really stems from the ridiculous sideshow of last year called the Alberta Next panel, where the UCP party whips traveled around trying to stump up support to their most extreme ideas amongst their most extreme fans.
00:12:44.000 --> 00:13:00.799
Um, if you don't remember, they basically locked, they they called these public panels public town halls, but if you weren't UCP and you weren't a supporter and you dared even look like you were coming in to share a dissenting opinion, you were locked out, you were removed, you were mocked, you were shunned and silenced.
00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.200
Um they were not open forums.
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.360
Once again, this was their the this is direct democracy in action.
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:12.480
If we have gone to extreme lengths to make sure we only hear from the side that we agreed with.
00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:24.559
There will, as I said, once all this is said and done, hopefully there will be enough of a lull to just talk about the ridiculousness and historic ridiculousness of attempts at direct democracy.
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:29.279
And that's one of the biggest flaws with it in is actually getting representation.
00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.519
But yeah, so they took their answers from this.
00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:32.879
Not everyone was actually heard.
00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.399
Most people couldn't even get in.
00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:46.480
Most of the affected demographics by these questions, you know, they were never even going to have the time to wait in line uh to get into these events, uh, these town halls, Alberta first town halls.
00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:53.679
But the proponents would step back afterwards and say, look, everyone had their chance, it was free, it was fair, it was open, anyone could have showed up, which we know just isn't in fact true.
00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.639
Like I said, we'll get into all this in detail a little later on.
00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.720
But right now, just to pull you know some of the news stories about just go back yourself.
00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:02.879
I I'm not gonna hammer on it too much here.
00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:12.639
Uh go back yourself, look up the Alberta next panels, and try and tell yourself that any of the information they could have gleaned was representative of the actual entire population of the province of Alberta.
00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:22.799
Yeah, once again, like this whole referendum, it was never anything more than a very, very expensive marketing campaign for their most unpalatable to the mainstream ideas.
00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:29.360
Those panels put in a report then, at the end, that included the following suggestion to the government.
00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:53.840
The government should put a referendum question to Albertans on the topic of the government exercising more control over immigration for the purpose of ensuring more sustainable population growth, attracting primarily economic migrants, and limiting s limiting eligibility for social services to citizens, permanent residents, and individuals with an immigration permit granted or otherwise recognized by the Alberta government.
00:14:55.039 --> 00:15:01.919
And then they claim that this suggestion had 79% support from all Albertans.
00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.799
And that is Trump level bullshit right there.
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:13.120
If you think that even most conservative people in this province, if you put them ten of them together, could you get eight of them to agree on anything?
00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:17.759
Uh but the fact that it could be the entire province is is just nonsense.
00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:33.039
However, the idea that it could even be close to real, partly real, that it could even show up in a statistical analysis is frankly why I'm here babbling into a microphone in my home office about it, and why you are hate listening to it while you walk the dog or do the dishes.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:38.480
So we're going to try and spill a little bit of tea about the actual problem at the base of this question.
00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:51.600
What does immigration into Alberta actually look like in the present day, and whether or not that could possibly be causing a problem for that base to the UCP right after the break?
00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:12.960
So now that we have seen once again that this is a question that doesn't need asking, structurally or topically, uh our mission is to get into, you know, is there any chance immigration's actually an issue?
00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:14.080
Let's let's say that.
00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.320
Like maybe, maybe I'm being naive.
00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:28.720
Maybe I'm the one who's not seeing the forest for the trees, and immigration is actually at the core of all the cost of living, housing, and education crises which are are currently plaguing my my home province.
00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:42.080
Um there's always a chance I'm not seeing it, you know, in my daily commutes through the city that we're we're being out overwhelmed by an influx of immigration that as my my governing party seems so desperate to make me believe.
00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:50.799
Um, because if that's true, well, maybe some of this is worthwhile and and the whole dog and pony show that's going on isn't just uh smoke and mirror nonsense.
00:16:50.960 --> 00:17:06.319
Um like question one, the second question has been formatted with a small actual question going first, and then following it by some subversive propaganda that's been put out there in such a way as to try and make it seem reasonable to everyone reading the questions.
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:11.599
Uh so in the last episode, we went through a quick refresher on the types of immigration pathways into Canada.
00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:13.920
Um, and that becomes even more important now.
00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:20.640
So just remembering that most of the time what we're talking about is people getting permanent resident status, not citizenship.
00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:31.839
Citizenship is effectively you're either born with it or it becomes an effective if you've been a permanent resident long enough, stayed out of trouble, paid your taxes, filed the right paperwork, you will become a citizen.
00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:49.279
Now, once again, because the informative part of this question starts by talking about who the government is good with and who they aren't, this is always a promising sign for any government that the question they ask you is going to be totally fair and reasonable when they're talking about which groups we should all be okay with and which ones are forbidden.
00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:50.240
I mean, forboten.
00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:51.599
I mean, sorry, forbidden.
00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.640
Uh sorry, uh Freudian slip, I guess.
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:56.480
So they do start with Canadian citizens.
00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.759
You know, once again, doesn't it this is one of those things.
00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:06.799
Doesn't it feel a little strange and telling that they feel the need to start us, start by reassuring us that, hey, no, no, don't worry.
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.119
Canadian citizens will be all unaffected by this.
00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.720
They'll have full access to everything.
00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:15.279
You know, I put this up there with the idea that good people don't have to go around telling you they're a good people.
00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:24.480
Governments with no intention to limit the rights of their citizens don't actually have to go around reassuring everyone all the time that they aren't going to take their rights away.
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:26.480
Just as a rule of thumb.
00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:31.200
Um, if someone's constantly telling you, don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you, they're gonna hurt you.
00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.279
They're just waiting for the right time.
00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:39.119
So then after they talk about citizens, uh, they're graciously gonna give a pass to permanent residents.
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.079
Lucky them.
00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:46.079
You know, if you remember from the last episode, this group are essentially a checklist away from citizenship anyway.
00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:51.680
And almost all of all of them are some form of economic migrant or in some way being supported by an employer or community.
00:18:51.839 --> 00:19:06.160
So going after such a large group would be political and likely economic suicide, and almost impossible to um divide in between the different groups without blatantly violating the terms of the charter by discriminating against different areas.
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:15.440
What then be is interesting and disturbing is then we get into this Alberta approved immigration status, not something that doesn't currently exist.
00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:23.039
No explanation, no talk about what an Alberta approved immigrant is going to be, other than obviously it's going to be their government's decision.
00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.119
We just drop it in there.
00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:27.599
Like we're all just gonna, you know, password over it.
00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:28.400
Don't worry about it.
00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:29.279
Trust us.
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:35.839
Trust us, your super effective government that hasn't screwed up everything uh that we've tried to do over the last few years.
00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:43.359
We can totally decide and give it an approved status to people who are coming to this province.
00:19:43.599 --> 00:20:01.759
Um now, if you know, if this were to actually be an approval based on the Alberta that I experience every day, where we have intelligent people from diverse backgrounds and considerate human beings, you know, that I'm privileged to call family and friends and coworkers, I wouldn't be so worried about this.
00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:08.960
But even though that's fairly representative, I think, of the population, we know that isn't Daniel Smith's Alberta.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:17.200
Before I go into what Daniel Smith's Alberta actually is, I because I talked a little bit about it last time, I do want to clarify and offer some apologies.
00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:22.160
Um, you know, I'm 75% first and second generation Canadian Albertan.
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.720
Uh, my father immigrated here when he was a child.
00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:29.440
Uh, he first stopped in Ontario before his entire family came west in the early 70s.
00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:34.319
Uh my mom's mom came over in the 50s uh from Great Britain and never left.
00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:42.160
Uh, but my mother was born here, and her father's family and different branches can trace their roots in Canada back to the first calls for settlers to come west.
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:48.640
Um I have family and friends who live and work in small towns and farms in southern Alberta.
00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:55.200
And and I know they're not all bad people when I talk about ranchers and farmers and the people who make up Danielle Smith's base.
00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:02.799
Uh the problem is that enough of them are that we're now teetering on the brink of calamity because of their worldview.
00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:08.960
I don't speak nev negatively about them because I want to, uh, because it's fun or because it's easy.
00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:20.720
I do so because I genuinely believe that if we don't all speak out against those harmful views cooked in small towns uh, you know, a hundred miles from an immigrant, they will win.
00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:34.160
These ideas will become the legally ensconced norms in this province, which, as I said above, is actually a much more diverse and colorful and intelligent place than these ideas give it credit for.
00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:41.680
If you are a farmer or a small town, Alberton, who also wishes that Daniel Smith would just pack up her nonsense and go, I feel for you.
00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:44.880
And to be quite honest, we need you more than anything else.
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:55.200
So if you need support, feel free, reach out to me through the through the show, uh, my socials or or through the contact uh uh buttons, it's links, whatever that come with the show.
00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.839
And let's find ways to make it clear that not everyone in those areas is part of Danny's Alberta.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.640
But a lot of them are.
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.119
And that's really where it's coming from.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:10.319
You know, make no mistake, that's who the she thinks is worth the fight.
00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:15.039
She has a great deal of disdain that she's shown over and over again for the cities of this province.
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:25.279
Despite the bulk of the population that actually live in Edmonton and Calgary, and when she sees Alberta, she sees empty prairies and empty foothills and empty rivers with single owners.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:35.920
You know, a single owner, usually a man, oddly enough, I'm sure in her vision, in a cowboy hat ready to both profit from and protect that piece of wilderness at their sole discretion.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:47.359
And of course, more people means less empty and less wide open land for those statuesque men in cowboy hats to profit from and defend.
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.680
Alberta improved approved immigration.
00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:55.119
It's just a repugnant turn of phrase to begin with.
00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:03.920
And it's not going to be an approval given by the brightest and best economists, sociologists, or other experts.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:08.400
It won't be by community leaders representing the entire fabric of our province.
00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:13.759
It will be the most financially successfully mem successful members of her base.
00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:23.839
The farmers, the ranchers, the oil rights owners, the wealthy small towners who have been most vocal about the need to limit the flow of people.
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:25.599
And who are they even going to limit?
00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.039
The only area she has left to her from her own words is the temporary residents.
00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:34.319
Those won't mean foreign workers and their taxes and students of their tuition or tourists wealthy enough to pay for a visa.
00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.799
No, it'll be that group number four.
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.200
It will be the asylum seekers.
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:41.359
Why asylum seekers?
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:42.640
We touched on this last time.
00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:43.759
We all know the answer.
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:53.599
In recent days, one of the hardliners of the separatist movement and part of what became known as the Black Hat Gang, which, by the way, stupidest name ever for the stupidest looking group of pumpkins.
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:55.279
Like, you give yourselves that name.
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:59.440
When you're when pictures are taken of you, you better look badass.
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:04.160
You better look like the hardest group of cowboys that ever fell out of a John Wayne movie.
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:11.039
You better be ready to be like Quentin Tarantino levels of hard bloody cowboy.
00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:27.279
Um, not a bunch of like chubby, wealthy, upper middle class landowners from small town Alberta who were s who were cool enough to head to whatever your local tax store was and buy yourself a black cowboy hat and then think you're bad.
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.119
Give me a break.
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:51.039
But one of these leaders, Ian Parkinson, who demonstrably has the premier's ear, has made it clear what all this is about by speaking about use his language here, but basically saying that the laws of Alberta shouldn't be delivered to you by some minority police officer.
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.440
You can look it up for yourself.
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:59.839
But for the sake of argument, pretending they hadn't put it out on the table that blatantly, let's flesh it out a little bit.
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:06.559
As we mentioned last time, where immigrants go, especially asylum seekers, is not entirely of their own choice.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:12.640
They're divided up amongst the province based on intergovernmental agreements that we discussed in the first episode.
00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:18.880
And when they are assigned, they get additional funding from the federal government to cover their social services.
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.799
And we're going to talk about that more in the next episode.
00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:28.720
I'm not going to get into this idea of provincially funded social services and what that is in this one, but we will talk next time when she talks about it.
00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:32.640
Spoiler alert, most of the time it's actually not provincial money.
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:40.799
It's money that's given to the province either by municipal taxation or federal and then distributed by the provincial government.
00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:44.000
It is not the provincial government's money.
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:52.720
But if you listen to the UCP, Danny, or any of the separatists, you'd think there's this crushing wave of asylum seekers coming into the province, let alone the country.
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:54.880
So what are some of the real numbers?
00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:02.000
Well, first of all, all of these come either from uh Stats Canada or from the province of Alberta's websites.
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:04.799
Um if you want them, I can give them to you.
00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:06.000
You can look them up yourself.
00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.720
They all came from government sites, all official.
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:16.000
Um but asylum claims, first of all, are down 68% since the most recent peak in 2024.
00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:23.039
This is partly because of world politics, but it's also politics at home, as the federal government got more conservative without changing parties.
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:28.079
The demographic data is open for anyone to look at, but I'll summarize a few more points below.
00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:39.920
First of all, in the first six months of 2026, 26,365 new asylum seekers have entered Canada and been recognized by the government and placed in the country.
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:46.319
Of those, Alberta accepted 2,250, or 9% of the total.
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:57.759
In contrast, Ontario accepted 1,400 sorry, 14,835, or 56% of those asylum seekers.
00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.720
And Quebec took in the next highest at 7,650, or 29%.
00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:08.880
So the instant response to that as an Albertan is, well, they have larger populations to absorb the numbers.
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.079
That's only right that Ontario and Quebec.
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:25.200
It's always funny how we're willing to respect, you know, the size and uh population buying power of those two provinces when it's in our favor, uh, but when when it isn't, is oh, they're unjustly taking resources.
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:31.519
But anyway, that that's the instant response from that from a uh right-leaning Albertan as far as why they should.
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.920
Um and that that's not untrue, but not in the way it seems.
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:44.480
So Alberta has a population equivalent to 12% of the national number, whereas uh Ontario is only 39% and Quebec is 29%.
00:27:45.119 --> 00:28:03.920
Which means that despite all of the high-minded virtuosity of the supposed religious highlanders in rural Alberta, that when it comes to actually helping the poor and needy, this province is not only being is not being unfairly dumped on by the rest of Confederation.
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.400
In fact, we are shirking the load.
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:14.160
We are handing off some of our burden to Ontario and Quebec, letting them dramatically pick up the slack.
00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:15.839
And this proportion isn't new.
00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:23.920
It's baked into that 2007 agreement that the great Stephen Harper set up and is consistent month to month, year to year, the proportions are the same.
00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:35.119
We are that kid in the school group assignment that complains endlessly about how much work they have to do while actually letting everyone else and everyone else's mom carry their water for them.
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:47.279
So if we aren't actually being overwhelmed with the numbers, and if we're not taking an unfair burden compared to the other provinces or cost, and once again we'll talk more about that in the next episode, why do the UCP hate them?
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:50.000
Where do they come from?
00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:51.440
That's the question to ask ourselves.
00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:52.079
Where do they come from?
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:58.400
Because remember we talked about last time when they were Ukrainian immigrants, Ukrainian Ukrainian refugees.
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:01.200
Danny and the UCP were all over that.
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:04.160
Let's get them more tickets, let's get them permanent residency here.
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:05.039
Damn straight.
00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:08.240
We want all of those folks in our in our province.
00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:14.079
So who are they now that are causing them to be much less excited just two years later?
00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:27.039
Well, the end of uh Q1 in 2026, in total, in Canada, there were two hundred and ninety-four thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine asylum clean asylum claims waiting to be assessed across Canada.
00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:32.640
There are people from an amazing variety of nations all around the world hoping to make a better life in Canada.
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:44.480
And we could get into why so many and and the politics of you know which countries we will even take asylum claims from, um, and the the first safe haven laws, all of those things that are supposed to make it more fair.
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.920
Um and maybe we will if it comes up.
00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:57.759
But right now, if we look at the top five of that, just shy of 300,000 people, hoping to make a better life here, hoping to flee.
00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:02.160
Physical, political, economic persecution.
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:04.640
Who are the top five countries?
00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:12.640
At sixteen percent, we have Indian India is their home country, uh, Indian asylum seekers.
00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:24.400
10%, number two, Haiti, 8%, number 3, Mexico, and then number four and five are the same at 7% with Nigeria and Bangladesh.
00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:29.119
This represents a massively broad expanse of the world.
00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.680
Completely different countries, completely different religions, completely different societies and cultures and political systems they're coming from.
00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.200
But it what it doesn't represent is white folks.
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:41.119
We all know this instinctively.
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:46.880
As soon as you see these questions, as soon as you see what she's trying to do, we all know this.
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:47.839
We can see it.
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:54.400
It's i it's what the conservative movement right across North America hates about asylum seekers.
00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:05.920
It's no more complicated than the color of their skin, the accent on their lips, and maybe it might go so deep as what's on the outside of their houses of worship.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:08.319
But to be honest, I don't think it even matters.
00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.359
Mexican immigrants are going to be mostly Christian.
00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:18.559
We've also got um, you know, Muslims and Sikhs, but no, they're they're coming from all sorts of different backgrounds.
00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.519
The one big common thing is they're not white.
00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:24.720
They're not European, they don't fit that mold.
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:28.880
That Ukrainian mold where Daniel Smith was so willing to take more.
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.599
They look different, they sound different, but they don't want them.
00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:36.880
I don't I don't want to make this claim wildly.
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:43.519
I'm not just throwing it out there to blindly accuse the UCP, Daniel Smith, and her cronies of being racist.
00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:45.359
That's why we've taken that walk to get here.
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:49.680
You know, it's it's quite clear on the sur right on the very surface.
00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:53.680
You don't even have to dig that deep, but let's, you know, want to make sure we backed it up with the numbers.
00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:58.160
It's just it's just plain old-fashioned racism.
00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:18.240
Now I you know, I'm not trying to speak about the individual heart of each individual conservative, but but if there are those out there from that camp saying, no, no, no, that's not me, then I do hope to speak to their heart, or I hope you listening right now can speak to theirs and say, what are you really angry against?
00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:21.279
What what is it that's making you so mad?
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.920
Because this is what's making the party so mad.
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:26.079
This is what they're trying to get rid of.
00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:38.319
Whatever you may have been told, whatever smoke has been blown to cover your eyes, in 2024, when the asylum claimants were white Eastern Europeans, Danielle Smith begged the federal government to let the province of Alberta have more.
00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:54.799
And now that they're black and brown, now they don't match her vision of our province, she's willing to spend$37 million, 37 million of your dollars to try and trick you into saying that you hate them as much as she and her friends do.
00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:07.519
You know, when it is viewed through the lens of history, there is nothing that can be gained from collectively answering yes to this question that will have been worth the cost to our province's soul.
00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:20.240
Okay, there you have it, episode two of the doodle apocalypse and this particular series on the October 2026 Alberta referendum questions.
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:32.079
Um, we'll be back in just a couple of days, and by we, I mean myself and my fabulous golden doodle, Kiva, who is here on the floor next to me as I put the finishing touches on this episode.
00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:34.319
But we will be back in just a couple of days.
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:37.359
And what we're gonna talk about at that time is the cost of all this.
00:33:37.519 --> 00:34:00.960
So the actual costs of immigration, particularly refugees and asylum seekers, since they seem to be the target predominantly of all this nonsense, uh, as well as the full cost or the full estimated cost anyway, uh of this whole referendum nonsense, what it is really costing each and every one of us to ask these questions that the majority of us never wanted in the first place.
00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:02.640
Thank you for joining me.
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:05.759
This is, as always, an entirely human-made endeavor.
00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:12.639
Uh, so if you're just supporting it for that reason alone to fight back against the waves of AI, slop out there.
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:14.559
Um, we're happy to have you.
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:22.079
And if you learn a little bit about Alberta and Canada and what's going on in the world, just more's the better.
00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:24.559
Um, but yeah, happy to have you either way.
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:32.159
If you are looking for other human-made content and you don't mind the sound of this voice, well, there's another podcast out there called Gen Z vs.
00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:42.400
Friends, which also happens to be me talking about things that are somewhat less serious than uh than the political crisis uh going on in the world right now.
00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:44.480
Uh, you can find that anywhere.
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:48.480
Well, wherever you found this podcast, you can also find that podcast, Gen Z vs Friends.
00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:50.400
And just it's exactly what it sounds like.
00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:57.679
Uh millennial response to Gen Z criticisms of what at the time was everybody's favorite sitcom in the 90s.
00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:03.840
Uh, is it really as bad as your nephews, nieces, and kids tell you it is?
00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:05.440
Uh so join us for that.
00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:10.000
Uh, or if not, we look forward to talking to you again in a couple days' time.
00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:14.000
Uh, until then, scritch your doodle, pet your cat, whatever you need to do.
00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:16.559
Um, to have an amazing day.
