Letter: The evil we know better than the evil we had

By Letter to the Editor on July 13, 2022.

Dear editor,

Auf Wiedersehen is often used as ‘goodbye’, the more literal German meaning is ‘on seeing (one/you) again.”

Here we are again with another election in the not so distant future. Clowns of all political stripes are maneuvering to take the stage soon.

Herr Mueller advocates for a socialist NDP victory, but I am less enamoured. The orange wave washed over us accomplishing little for structural change and left Albertans with a mountain of debt.

The NDP government sidelined their longtime supporters and pursued an agenda of social re-engineering. Gender politics and fringe activist initiatives took precedent over fiscal management, affordable housing or meaningful labour reform.

Their collective bargaining held most public sector workers to a multi-year wage freeze while boosting minimum wages by almost 50 percent. All while staggering around like drunken spendthrifts or sailors on shore leave.

One can not overlook the backroom dealing and morally corrupt UCP. The lineage of a party governing for almost 45 years had ample time and political clout to enhance Albertans’ lives far more than achieved.

Who has forgotten the document shredding prior to the NDP takeover? They seem more like a dysfunctional family concerned with image and staying in power than taking care of Albertans’ interests.

It is unfortunate a ballot could not have a space for “none of the above.”

With a majority of votes; the slate could be wiped clean and a new round of potentials contemplated. Impractical and too expensive.

Alternate to ‘first past the post” could be a proportional percentage-based Legislative Assembly, a political theory espoused by some. A concept more representative of all voters where co-operation is emphasized without the deep polarization we currently have in many jurisdictions.

In practicality, dreams of a grand amalgamation would probably descend into a do-nothing coalition or have the lifespan of an Italian parliament. For some, the faint hope of ‘on seeing again’ an NDP resurrection might be like imagining no countries or possessions.

It is demoralizing our system and the selection of contenders is the best we can get. As disastrous as some might view it; the UCP may just be the lesser of two evils.

Marty Malmgren

Medicine Hat

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