Eight Million Dollars, phewf.
Many of us would (figuratively) kill for that kind of money.
It’s a life-changing number with the potential to do tremendous good.
With that money, our politicians could help create new food subsidies, support farmers, create anti-addiction programs, and hire more health workers!
Or…make an already bumbling former art teacher look bad?
Good Money After Bad?
If anyone should get into indie film production, it’s Danielle Smith.
She seems to love spending insane amounts of money on nonsensical plot twists to keep us all on our toes… or at least shaking our heads.
Her “Tell The Feds” project is a whopping $8 million ad campaign using our hard-earned tax dollars to make Trudeau look… dumb.
And it’s not even primarily Albertans Premier Smith is paying to reach. Half the money is being targeted at people in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The campaign won’t actually move Canada’s clean electricity energy targets from 2035 to 2050, as Smith’s ad suggests. So it’s obviously a ploy to get people across the country mad at the feds – Trudeau.
But that is already happening – the Angus Reid Trudeau Tracker shows a long, slow decline in the popularity of the PM over time.
So Justin is doing a fine job of making himself look bad without needing help or spending from Premier Smith.
The Toronto Star recently published a spate of polling data to demonstrate the extent of the problem, quoting Abacus Data CEO David Coletto’s framing of just how unpopular Trudeau is right now:
“After eight years in office, too many people are just finished with him. He’s a big part of the problem, and there’s little faith he can get focused on the things they care about.”
You’d think with those kinds of political indicators, spending our hard-earned taxpayer dollars on making an already ridiculed politician look worse would seem senseless and unneeded.
But rather than put Albertans first, Smith just won’t step away from the drama – and she’s dragging us all along with her.
So, since she’s clearly forgotten the value of our money, here’s a quick list of valuable missions she could have accomplished with our $8 million.
Hopefully, she will read this and take notes.
Hired Over 100 Nurses:
At an average salary of $72,818 annually, eight million could have put 110 new nurses to work in Alberta for a year. This would have given a much-needed boost to our taxed health care system.
There is a growing trend of nurses leaving their positions for private practice, which pays more. Taking $8 million to pay nurses more could have eased the burden on existing nurses or provided money to hire new nurses.
Less waiting for treatment saves lives – that’s valuable.
Housed 380 vulnerable people:
A case study that followed the process of housing and supporting 72 people with complex needs in Calgary showed that this investment would help people and save us a ton of money.
Participants went from being homeless in shelters using services costing taxpayers $55,000 per year to being fully housed and supported at a cost of only $21,000 per person!
So, according to their calculations, if Smith had spent the $8 million on housing people – she would have saved the province nearly 13 million in the process.
Sheesh!
Can she expect that kind of return on her “Tell the Feds” campaign? We doubt it.
Provided 80 farmers with massive grants or 800 businesses with large grants
$100,000 each or $10,000 each – Whatever way you want to slice it, supporting farmers or small businesses is good for Albertans and our economy.
And maybe if we provided more help to farmers struggling to make ends meet despite the ongoing drought, fires and smoke, Alberta wouldn’t be dealing with the highest number of abuses towards foreign workers in Canada.
The real challenges facing people are getting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads, not picking fights with the feds – facepalm, sigh.
The Point
These are just three examples of the impact that could be made with $8 Million.
There are countless sports programs, art programs, indigenous programs, grassroots organizations, and genuinely struggling families this money could have helped.
If anyone should be familiar with the financial struggles that many Albertans face daily – and the thousands of requests for monetary support the provincial government receives each year, it’s Danielle Smith.
But instead of funding literally anything else, our money is being spent on badmouthing the feds – when we can all do that for free! After all, Albertans have had plenty of practice at that!
The old homage holds true: What Susie says about Sally says more about Susie than about Sally.
It seems like ‘Susie Smith’ needs to mind her own business. She constantly thumbs her nose at the feds despite the fact that research shows that two out of every Albertans, including a supermajority of UCP voters, want to see more cooperation between the province and Ottawa.
