Trudeau, Notley, & Singh All Have The Same Collectivist Agenda

OpinionSpencerFernando

They all elevate collectivist, government-directed action above individual freedom and the private sector.

Recent polls in Alberta are all over the place. A few days ago, two surveys showed the NDP with significant strength in both Edmonton and Calgary, putting them in striking distance of victory (even making them the favourites in a few poll aggregation models).

Yet, two polls released today show the UCP with a decent lead:

Still, the election is by no means a certainty for either party. An NDP win in Alberta cannot be ruled out, and the NDP is likely counting on Alberta’s Conservative majority being complacent.

The NDP has also employed a predictable – though still effective – strategy of distancing Rachel Notley from Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau.

Since both Singh and Trudeau are unpopular in Alberta, Notley can’t win if she is tied to them in the minds of most Albertans. So, she has attempted to separate herself from both.

A fundamental disconnect from the Alberta mindset

While all parts of Canada have are divided between people who are individualists and people who are collectivists, Alberta leans much more to the individualist side.

Alberta has many strong industries even beyond the oil & gas sector, with a growing tech industry and a growing film industry. Alberta is a low-tax province, driven by the belief that individuals and businesses should keep as much of what they earn as possible.

This has led Alberta to tremendous economic success, despite the province being heavily constrained by the ‘equalization’ system and hostile politicians like Justin Trudeau & Jagmeet Singh pushing anti-energy sector policies.

Imagine how much wealthier Alberta would be if they hadn’t had so much money taken away from them over the years, and if the Canadian government had valued Alberta’s achievements rather than seeing the province as nothing but a place to be periodically looted.

At the core, Alberta understands that it’s individuals – not government, not society – who create and innovate. It’s individuals who take risks. It’s individuals who test new ideas. It’s individuals who push the boundaries of what is possible. When governments step back and allow individuals to be free, great feats of achievement are possible.

But when governments subdue, constrain, and shackle the individual, when governments impose a collectivist burden on individuals, a place can fall into the abyss of stagnation, envy, division, and decline.

Rachel Notley, Justin Trudeau, and Jagmeet Singh are all collectivists. They all fundamentally believe in subordinating the individual, in constraining the most ambitious and productive creators, in making the government the dominant force in society.

Keep in mind, when Notley, Trudeau, and Singh talk about ‘helping’ others, they aren’t talking about taking any action themselves. They aren’t talking about encouraging people to choose to help others. They’re talking about forcing people to ‘help,’ and what that really means is taking more money away from individuals who produce and putting that money under the control of politicians.

That is in fact the opposite of ‘charitable’ mindset. Instead, it’s about control. It’s about ‘levelling’ society by keeping everyone down at a lower level, rather than freeing people to rise through their own hard work and skill.

The collectivism of Notley, Singh, and Trudeau is at odds with the fundamental values of Alberta. And that’s why a win for Rachel Notley would be a win for Justin Trudeau & Jagmeet Singh, but a loss for Albertans.

Spencer Fernando

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