The Human Condition: Byelection

By Daniel Schnee on October 12, 2022.

After several days of rather interesting provincial politics we Hatters are now faced with the following: the sudden departure of Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Frey, the calling of a byelection, and the announcement that premier-designate Danielle Smith will run to replace her.

Smith has decided this is in our best interests, as during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Albertans in rural and small urban communities felt left out of the conversation. By running in Brooks-Medicine Hat, I will assure them that forgotten corners of the province will not be forgotten and they will continue to have a strong voice at the table,” said Smith.

She also stated she wanted to run in a rural riding such as ours because we allegedly need more representation in higher levels of government, saying, “I know that our rural ridings didn’t feel like they had the strongest voice at the table during the last years of the COVID pandemic,” and “I hope this sends a signal not only to the residents of Brooks-Medicine Hat, but to the residents of all rural Alberta, that their voice will be heard, it will be prominent and it will be respected.”

This is out and out politicking, as Tamara Lich is from this area, and she and her peers were instrumental in the various trucker and COVID protests across the nation. She represents a minority from this area yet held the nation’s attention for what seemed like an eternity. The people to whom Smith refers, those who had no voice, were those of us who opposed people like Lich and Smith.

Smith herself won the UCP leadership election with under 54 percent of the vote, on the sixth ballot. This is hardly a decisive victory, and the message of her campaign is certainly not a mandate from the party or the public.

She is trying to drum up support for a vision of Alberta few in this province (and only half of her own party) stand behind, though the constant media attention may make it seem otherwise.

Smith was born and raised in Calgary, yet won’t call a byelection for her own people: the Calgary-Elbow riding, a seat vacated by Doug Schweitzer in early September.

She has also stated in the past she needed to be more tolerant of those with whom she disagrees, yet plans to openly break any law she does not like, if it comes from Ottawa. What if the provincial legislature itself creates a law she doesn’t like? She is showing signs she would break such laws too, if they displeased her. What about the rest of us? Sovereign minorities evolving within a sovereign province, i.e. complete anarchy.

Smith says she will listen to us, yet plans to ignore Trudeau when it suits her; selective tolerance is not tolerance at all. She’ll stand up for the “voiceless” who made Ottawa a sonic nightmare, but merely “listen” to the rest of us. Her plans are clear: she is ready to serve a few among us, “her” few, if the rest of us serve as she so desires.

Fortunately though this is a community of farmers and ranchers. We know what manure looks like, and Smith is selling a mountain of it.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is an anthropologist and jazz/rock drummer

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