Gee, Ed Stelmach has been caught flatfooted about something. Are there any headlines about Special Ed where he is not confused? Has Ed accurately foreseen anything yet? It appears not. Unintended consequences and excuses are all this Progressive Conservative government seems to be able to generate.
The latest confusion from Stelmach is regarding the massive job losses in Alberta. Yup, Unsteady Eddie is astounded that Alberta has exploding unemployment.
Some apologists for the PC government (a dwindling number) claim that nobody could have seen our current circumstances coming. These excuse-generators say that people critical of Stelmach’s fiscal incompetence are simply practicing hindsight. Well PC loyalists, I must call bullshit on you.
Most of what is happening today was predicted years ago by the Wildrose Alliance Party and groups such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Stelmach was told repeatedly that kicking the energy industry in the collective knackers would castrate Alberta’s competitive edge in a world market. Ed ignored that advice and Alberta’s employment numbers are staggering because of it. Certainly Alberta would be seeing a downturn today due to low commodity prices whether Ed meddled in the business or not. It is rather critical now that we continue development and employment in Alberta. Gathering scarce investment dollars is nearly impossible in Alberta today due to Ed’s almost monthly changes to the royalty structure. Here is a hint Ed: Business and investment are drawn to stability!!!! It may be a decade before Stelmach’s damage is undone. Trust takes a long time to regain and that trust is impossible to gain when we have an increasingly unapologetic and confused premier at our provincial helm.
Ed does seem to be determined to borrow us into prosperity. Almost monthly we are seeing the profound incompetence of our provincial government as they are forced to escalate the projections of the massive deficit being accumulated. Even at the height of the boom the WAP and other groups were telling the PCs that the rate of spending increases were unsustainable. Ed’s deaf ears clearly missed that sage advice however and our grandchildren will be forced to pay for Ed’s excess. Within less than a year we have seen the projections change from a huge government surplus to a record government deficit. Were this a private business the entire management team would be fired. Alas it is rather tougher to get rid of the fools at the helm of our provincial government.
Every day the future of Alberta looks more bleak while Ed looks more confused. The next chance to replace the Progressive Conservative government is still unfortunately years away. Lets hope they don’t totally bankrupt the province in the meantime.
No hindsight here. This is an “I told you so.” situation. It would have been nice to be wrong in this circumstance.
I shudder to think what will surprise Ed Stelmach next.
