dailynewsnblog
Danielle Smith is demonizing Canada again
Alberta premier Danielle Smith is desperate to rev up the Alberta Federal Grievance Industry again, in spite of Carney actually doing a lot of what Alberta says it wants. And she is grasping at any excuse to blame someone else for Alberta’s likely-huge deficit.
So where did these “problems” come from?
Just two years ago Smith was complaining to Trudeau that Alberta needed thousands more spaces in the Provincial Nomination Program, especially for Ukrainian refugees.
Now, all of a sudden, immigration is a Big Problem that Alberta should be Big Mad about.
…Many pundits and observers have clearly stated that Smith wants, and maybe even needs a campaign. She’s at her best when she’s meeting with people directly, not in the legislature.
A polarizing referendum gives her the opportunity to control with certainty what she wouldn’t be able to control in an early election, the election question.
And with a referendum, she gets complete control over what the questions are, how they are framed, where she gets to place herself, and perhaps most importantly, where she gets to place her opponents.
The referendum she announced tonight has two major themes.
The first is immigration.
Even Smith acknowledged that because she is attempting to alter the social fabric of the province so drastically, she needs a mandate to do so.
How does she intend to alter it?
On October 19, 2026, Smith will be asking Albertans for a mandate to…
-Giving Alberta greater control over immigration in order to decrease it and prioritizing Albertan jobs to Albertans first.
-Introducing a law to limit access to services to only Canadian citizens, permanent residents or people that Alberta approves of.
-Introducing a low requiring 12 months of residency in Alberta before accessing Alberta social programs.
-Charging fees for non-citizens or non-permanent residents to access healthcare and education.
-Requiring proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card to vote in provincial elections.
So while many Americans are preparing for midterms that many expect will be the first major repudiation of MAGA, Danielle SMith is embracing some of their core principles.
But that’s not all…
Smith is also bringing forward 4 questions on constitutional changes.
Despite the requirements for constitutional change being outside of the reach of a single province, Smith will be asking Albertans if they…
-Believe that provincial governments should appoint all judges at all levels.
-Believe that the senate should be abolished.
-Believe that provinces should be allowed to opt out of federal programs “intruding on provincial jurisdiction such as health, education, and social services, without losing any of the associated federal funding” for use in their own provincial social programs.
-Believe that provincial laws should be given supremacy when they are in conflict with federal laws.
It is the last two that Albertans should be paying closest attention to in this bunch.
Smith has framed the relationship between the provinces and the federal government as one being locked in eternal conflict and is creating a de facto state of administrative separation instead of a literal one that separatists are advocating for across the province (albeit in smaller numbers than they would like to admit).
Again, any of these constitutional changes are outside of the reach of a single province to enact and if Alberta’s last referendum on equalization is any kind of barometer on the direct weight and consequence of what these questions can accomplish, they are likely of little concern in that context.
But that’s far from the real point, or the real risks.
Canada is under attack economically and under threat geographically from it’s former best friend. Donald Trump and his ilk have repeatedly made threats of taking over Canada and making it the 51st state.
At perhaps one of the most important times in Canada’s history for national unity to be a priority, Smith is seeking a mandate to drive a wedge directly into the heart of Confederation.
Make no mistake, with this last batch of questions, the subtext of all of these questions is, “Are you an Albertan first or a Canadian first?”There’s no room in this referendum for those identities to be equally weighted.
And that fact alone shows a fundamental failure to meet the demands of the moment on behalf of the people she has been elected to represent.
Now Alberta has to spend the next six months talking about all this stuff, and I saw a number of posts from pissed-off Albertans:
Buckle up Alberta. We like to hold on to the belief that the majority of Albertan’s aren’t racist bigots. That those are only the small minority. Rose coloured glasses and all.
We’re going to get a rude awakening come October.[image or embed]
— Kim O 🇨🇦 (@toolcutie.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Who’s ass did she pull that 600,000 immigrant number out of?
Get ready folks, the referendum questions are all based on lies. Every single one of them.
#ABPoli #ABleg
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— killerwhaletank 🍁 (@shaner38.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 8:54 PM
She will blame anyone than their own handicapping pairs with incredible incompetence here…
Fun fact… a significant portion of “new doctors” to Alberta since this c**t has been in power? Immigrants… they are creating capacity you lying fuck
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— HMV Guy ‘97-99 🇨🇦🍁 (@zerocool6687.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 9:20 PM
I would think Smith also wants to head off holding competing referendums on staying or leaving Canada, but we’ll see if that works.
More comments on Poilievre’s failed leadership
Here’s an interesting observation about Jeneroux crossing the floor:
When Trudeau was PM, I got the impression that the Liberal MPs and Cabinet Ministers had been told to hold back from insulting Poilievre and the Conservatives the way they deserved – you know, that naive “they go low; we go high” stuff? Well, if so, I think now Carney has let everyone loose:
Epstein Scalp-watch
I’m starting a new headline that I am calling “Epstein Scalp-watch” because just about every day now we are seeing the rich and powerful taken down by their involvement with the Epstein files.
Today it shocked the world when the Andrew formerly known as Prince was arrested. And on his birthday.
I thought this was an interesting comment from Ken Klippenstein:
…Activism is the reason for Epstein justice and the federal withdrawal in Minnesota. People demanded the files and that ICE and company leave—again and again and again. It is an unlikely coalition that cannot be reduced to one political tendency, right or left, team red or team blue, united in their demand for accountability.
Public pressure works—even in ways deemed impossible. Zohran Mamdani’s victory last year flew in the face of the expert consensus that young people don’t vote at rates high enough for a campaign like his to succeed.
The media can’t see much of this because it wants you to believe change comes from Washington (where they live).
The combined Epstein-Minnesota victory is also not merely some triumph of resistance Democrats against the Trumpublicans. It’s much bigger than that, encompassing groups as varied (and weird!) as Evangelicals obsessed with Pizzagate-style conspiracy theories, “Antifa”-types, liberals, leftists, as well as generally apolitical types, and even the NRA, which defended Alex Pretti’s right to bear arms.
Now this motley group has claimed its biggest scalp yet…
I’m not sure I am quite as pumped about it, but it is definitely a sign of progress.
A funny note here:
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— George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 (@gtconway.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 8:50 AM
This may not actually be so funny — remember that bizarre story last November that looked like Trump had plotted with former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro to give him asylum at the US embassy, and then Trump blabbed so Brazil immediately put Bolsonaro in prison?
More Epstein Scalps here:
DP World owns six Canadian ports including in Prince Rupert
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026…[image or embed]
— Andrew Kurjata (@akurjata.ca) February 19, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Don’t threaten me with a good time.
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— Ukrainka 🇺🇦 (@mariaanastasia1.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 12:48 PM
On a side note:
i’m going to deadname prince andrew that’s his biological title
— jenny tightpants (@jtp.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 4:45 AM
Olympic Catch-up
Yes, it took me a little while to get over it.
But really, didn’t our hockey team play great?
I know, I know, they didn’t win gold. But silver is an absolutely great medal too, one that dozens of women on all of the other teams that went home already would have loved to get.
And didn’t Canada’s team play extraordinary hockey through these Olympics? After that horrible first game two weeks ago, when they lost 5-1 to the USA plus Poulin getting injured – and after reporters gave up on them – our team pulled themselves together, got balanced again, played their hearts out and got into that final game.
By the third period, anyone could see they were running on steam. So really, I guess it actually wasn’t surprising that the US finally scored.
Canada loves them all.
Silver!
Laura Stacey on Team Canada’s loss to Team USA in the gold medal game. #MilanoCortina2026
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— TSN (@tsnofficial.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Darryl Dick, Canadian Press, describes courage:
Marie-Philip Poulin never told her teammates on Team Canada how bad her injured knee actually was.
When it came time for the gold medal game against the United States in Milan, she showed up at the rink, got it wrapped in tape, and refused to let anyone suspect it might hurt as bad as it did.
“She wouldn’t let any of her teammates know the type of pain that she’s in,” defender Renata Fast said after Canada’s 2-1 loss to the U.S. in overtime.
“We were not aware of anything because she puts her head down and she goes to work. That’s just the type of player that she is. She’s always been that way, but she would never let her teammates know.”
The only point Poulin showed any sign she was in pain was after American Megan Keller put the puck past Canadian goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens to win the game.
Sitting on the bench, Canada’s captain slammed her stick on the boards in front of her. Once, then a second time, then a third.
It was an uncharacteristic outburst for Poulin…
Even Cathal Kelly had a change of heart tonight:
If there’s any solace to be found here, it’s in the fact that the effort was heroic, and only the result wasn’t.
In other events, the new sport this year was SkiMo, or Ski Mountaineering:
And both curling teams also got into the medal rounds too, with Homan fighting her way back from an initial three losses.
Canada’s Day 13 results here. For what is coming up on Day 14, click here – its going to be a busy day.
