Liberal Blunders Raise Ghost of N.E.P.

The most repeated phrase to emanate from the Liberal Damage Control Central hasn’t been the media’s oft-used ‘it was two years ago’ when playing defense for their next Golden Boy, Justin Trudeau.  That was quickly abandoned after the mirror called ‘the Firewall letter’ was held up.

 

The natural reaction from Albertans and Western Canadians in general to the federal Liberal’s recent bout of crapping their own beds, specifically Ontario M.P. David McGuinty’s suggestion that Alberta’s Conservative M.P.’s should ‘go home’, and leadership candidate/Second Coming Justin Trudeau’s uncovered anti-Alberta rant on a French Quebec television interview in which he blames the ‘problems’ in Canada on the idea there are ‘too many Albertan’s’ controlling things, is to hearken back to the National Energy Program.

 

The N.E.P. was the most economically devastating era in provincial history, and its repercussions on everything from national unity to provincial/federal relations to regional voting patterns are still experienced today.

 

So when the ‘two year’ blurb failed to take hold, and no doubt anticipating the inevitable rise of the ghost of the N.E.P., apologists moved ahead to the triple-pronged campaign we see now.

 

First, the media downplays it by having a range of people from ‘recognized political experts’ like a political science professor from the University of Toronto, to the CTV’s resident liberal – and Trudeau Sr.’s canoe buddy – Craig Oliver repeat the ‘the whole thing has been overblown’ chant.

 

Then in the battleground of the Calgary-Centre by-election which was rumored to be a tight race between Liberal Harvey Lock and the Conservatives Joan Crockett, parade a list of well known Liberal faces past the camera, one-by-one, do denounce/devalue/deflect/blame Harper.

 

Finally, in the ever-growing online front, condition your progressive legion to copy and paste a flippant and offensive ‘get over it’ in auto-response to any mention of the N.E.P.

 

Typical liberal fare, actually.

 

And while I can only call out the MSM (again) over their blatant massaging of any issue that would make J. Trudeau look bad, even to go so far as to purposefully downplay an event that still rings raw in the hearts of many Albertans, it certainly isn’t surprising.

 

The voters of Calgary-Centre will have to decide if they wish to vote in a member of a party that has inadvertently turned a spotlight on itself and revealed the truth: the deep-seated, anti-Alberta hatred that we were told had long been exorcised from the federal Liberal soul does still exist.  It still infects the Eastern-based pseudo-elitist Liberal party to the core.

 

Regarding that ‘get over it’ idea?

 

Here in 2012, we have just witnessed multiple public examples of outright bigotry towards Alberta and its citizens.  These statements held Albertans in contempt, carried the tone of condescension, and reinforced what many of us still held to be true all these decades later.

 

Canada’s progressives, primarily in the federal Liberal party, are inherently prejudiced against Alberta.  They reject as being equal our culture and lifestyle.  As opposed to people in any other region, mocking Albertans or our people has become culturally acceptable in sitcoms and ‘investigative news’ programs.  (‘Newfie’ jokes today would get you tarred and feathered.)

 

Those who attempt to whitewash the National Energy Program today are, to a great degree, people who were not alive during the early 1980’s, or didn’t live in the province.  They didn’t experience first-hand the effects of Pierre Trudeau’s federal rape of Alberta’s economy.  They didn’t live through their hard-working father building refineries one day, then looking for work for the next two years.

 

They didn’t know the kids at school whose families were rocked by the rise of alcoholism, drug use, domestic assaults, abandoned children, and suicides that were just some of the social effects.

 

I remember.  Born-and-raised Albertans have long memories and we hold grudges.  We also learn from history and tend to do our damnedest not to have to repeat the bad parts.

 

When we see recent Liberal election platforms that include ‘Green Shifts’ and other new N.E.P. programs painted in the colours environmentalism, or hear talk of ‘cap and trade’ – N.E.P., or hear Liberal party hopefuls reject vital oilsands pipelines like the Keystone XL, it’s only natural that we start to wonder if today’s Liberals are too far removed from their P.E.T./Marc Lalonde DNA.

 

When we hear a prog maladroit like David McGuinty and a party leader wannabe – named Trudeau – spew out discriminatory anti-Alberta drivel, then our suspicions have been confirmed.

 

Get over it?  No. Never.

 

No true Albertan ever will.