Almost every Albertan is getting tired of paying for other provinces social programs, being underrepresented in the parliament and senate, watching Alberta industry being handcuffed and vetoed, yet subsidizing businesses in eastern Canada.
I am sure that Nenshi is somewhat aware of these issues but ignores them so he can differentiate himself from the UPC. He is an annoying little man who speaks to all the UPC haters in Alberta, but I don't think he is making any statements that would get conservative or unaffiliated voters to vote NDP.
As does BC. Both are represented with approximately the same number as Ontario and Alberta. Ontario and BC carry their weight as far as manufacturing and resource development go. Saskatchewan also carries its weight. Newfoundland and Labrador continue to get screwed by Quebec with their hydro.
I suspect that a person could take any of the short list I mentioned and find maybe one or two other provinces that have the same issue. In Alberta, the multiple (and I certainly didn't mention all the issues in this short comment) issues just keep piling up. To understand Alberta, just reading comments here can give you a taste of the current and some historical issues. To understand Alberta, a person has to read articles and go tho websites that can give you the whole story.
Alberta hated the NEP. Yet, if it had stayed in place, would not all of Alberta's oil have been refined in Canada, selling finished products instead of selling to the US at a discount? I'm sorry, but I'm tired of the whining about how hard things are for the richest province in the country. It's 40 years ago. Let it go. Youth unemployment is above 14%. That's a much bigger issue IMHO.
Alberta could be much richer though if Ottawa would just get out of the way. Comparing Alberta to other mediocre economically provinces isn't the metric Albertans use.
I suspect that you didn’t live through the NEP years. I did. All Canadians pay their taxes with the expectation that the government will protect them and allow the citizens of Canada to prosper.
Yet, in the NEP years, Albertans were betrayed by the federal government – job losses and economic collapse that in many cases took not just financial tolls, but dramatic spikes in suicide, alcoholism, depression, domestic violence, divorces and a whole group of mental issues. Not to mention people having to leave their homes to find work elsewhere when they went bankrupt or their homes were foreclosed upon.
Then, in 2015, another Trudeau, with the help of the Alberta NDP lost the most jobs since the first Trudeau. While that was happening, Trudeau was protecting the greatly disputed number of 9,000 jobs to save Quebec’s SNC-Lavalin corporation.
Albertans should never forget the betrayals of the federal government. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Albertans can’t just ‘get over it’ they must fight against it.
Believing that the federal government can run anything as big as the NEP program without corruption and make money is being naïve. Considering the speed of that the Canadian Federal government gets things done, they would still be trying to figger out the name of the ministry.
I was, but I was a teen in Ontario. It didn't register.
You'll get no argument from me that Justin was the worst PM the country has ever had. Nor do I suggest that you ever forget. But it is the past, and you can let it fester like a cancer, or you can move on.
You also have to accept the damage you've done to yourselves; Kenney killing Notley's tank car deal comes to mind. Billions in cancellation fees to move zero drops of oil.
I think complaining about government corruption in light of what is happening in Alberta is throwing stones in a glass house. No government will ever be perfect for everyone; it's the nature of the beast. They move too slowly for my liking as well, and make some really stupid decisions....ALTO and guns, for example. I wouldn't want the job. You truly can't please everyone, and things get more complex...and expensive by the day.
Choosing Nenshi was a massive "own goal" on the part of the Alberta NDP. They have to do well in Calgary. Which means that a bunch of Calgarians who have of late spent WAY too much time in an unshowered state while observing cottage rules in terms of flushing the toilet now are being told that they should trust the guy who kicked the can down the road when he was told that the water infrastructure was fixin' to die.
Nenshi is an academic at heart. Rhetorical battles are his “jam”. He “swam” in the same waters as Danielle Smith during his post secondary years. When he landed a teaching position at Mount Royal University he fully embraced the emerging identity based politics on campus.
His popularity among his students translated well into municipal politics as social media drove his momentum. He was a breath of fresh air, until he wasn’t.
I voted for Nenshi once. His canonization during the Calgary flood went to his head. He started to drink his own purple “koolaid”. He became tiresome.
Governing Calgary during Covid was hard but governing Alberta was harder. I give Kenney full props. He wasn’t perfect but governing Alberta at this time was like herding cats. As he found out the Conservative ones had the sharpest claws.
One party, the UCP focuses on wealth creation; the opposition party, the NDP focuses on wealth redistribution. For a productive and hard working Albertan the choice is obvious.
I think investors have made it clear that separation and wealth creation are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Alberta is cleaning up right now because Donald Trump is an idiot.
Always wonderful to hear from you, Donald. You missed the point. I'm living in the present tense. Today. Danielle is a separatist asshole, now basically neutered legally. Trudeau was just a stupid ass. You will note that CN signed a deal to ship LNG by rail......something Alberta could have been doing with oil for a decade, making billions except for terrible government decision-making by Kenney. But let's wait for another needless pipeline that taxpayers will be on the hook to clean up when it's no longer needed. "Tantrum"...hysterical.
Sounds pretty complicated to me: I have a theory. After more than a decade of leftwing ideological governance in this country has nearly destroyed us, maybe we just want to stay with a government that supports the policies and practices that made this province great in the first place.
It is heartbreaking that Nenshi is making such a hash of things.
Alberta so needs multi-party politics. The de-facto one-party state that the PCs and now their successor, the UCP, preside over is unhealthy, given to corruption, intolerance and monomania.
Yet here we are. The prospect of another majority for a broken party that panders to separatists, reactionaries and extremists.
Alberta needs the UCP as the centrist party and a party further on the right to make them honest and actually conservative from time to time. That is what would work best for Albertans. The NDP can stick to their university and union circuits.
It is a centre-right party, with Libertarian tendencies, an American style party culture and considerable sympathy amongst its party ranks for separatism.
A centre-left, federalist party that could also win sufficient support from uncommitted voters in the province would be welcome and did exist, for a time, under the former NDP leader, Rachel Notley.
If Naheed Nenshi were able to find his mojo this summer, then the fractious nature of the UCP would make it more difficult for Danielle Smith and her party to hold on to a majority in the Alberta Legislature.
At this point, though, I think that outcome is very unlikely.
You may have left out a couple of very important points of discussion: firstly, Mr. Nenshi is viewed as a self-aggrandizing buffoon. And, I might add, he was viewed as such prior to becoming the leader of the NDP.
Secondly, there is a difference between pretending to be moderate, and actually governing as a moderate. No one trusts the man, and for good reason.
Thirdly, whether one acknowledges this or not, Ms. Smith portrays an aura of calm, decisive competency, especially when dealing with the federal government.
I have dropped my UCP directorship. I am going to vote for the Tory party next time. Danielle Smith has ignored basic conservative values like fiscal prudence and good governance to focus on the politics of resentment.
Because it doesn't do anything to turn the dial in any one riding in Alberta, but it gives the NDP more power per vote since it takes away from the UCP
How does it take anything away from the UCP? Votes don't belong to any one party? You could just as easily say it gives the UCP more power per vote since it takes away from the NDP.
We have first past the post. Unfortunately coalitions are not just discouraged but punished in the system. Vote splits exist. But you are right, no one is entitled to a vote.
Nenshi, NDP (No Democracy Party), and leftism in general ( "Liberals") have a permanent built-in genetic flaw. Wherever they succeed in fooling the voters for long enough to form a lasting government, they destroy the economy, make productive people - those who can - flee, create destructive inflation, destroy free press, destroy personal liberties, and the impoverished population ends up living as serfs in a deeply corrupt harsh amoral leftist dictatorship.
This track record of theirs is now a hundred years and many countries long.
This is the path onto which Canada voted itself with Carney and his "Liberals".
Why the heck should Alberta follow that kind of stupidity.
Yes Nenshi is unlikable and yes his style, especially to Calgarians, is off putting. He also has a "team" problem, similar to the Libs, this is the same economic and business illiterate ideologs that don't know a budget or spreadsheet from a hole in the ground. This to me is ultimately where the trust of Albertans is lost. They need a new party. the UCP is compromised. the NDP is incapable. Its fun times.
The business illiterate ideologs always tend to be the Achilles heel of provincial NDP parties. Bob Rae wrote about hosting his first caucus meetings as the newly minted NDP Premier of Ontario, and needing to convince a depressing number of his members that budgets, debts, and deficits were real things, not just made-up words.
Great article, thank you. Bluster and blame might be great for angry clicks on social media but it doesn't demonstrate the skills necessary to win elections, or to lead once you do. I feel my local MLA is doing a good job speaking for constituents in the legislature. I feel for all the sincere people trying to do their best. But in the aggregate I worry about AB politics in 2026.
Nenshi is now going around giving off loser energy trying to kill the referendum. He doesn't behave or act like someone who is a leader ready to lead.
He is the polar opposite of Pierre Poilievre in many ways. Pierre rubs the 50+ crowd the wrong way in mannerism and actions. Naheed rubs the under 50 crowd the same way for the same reasons.
When Nenshi quipped "“Premier Smith, I want you to understand that votes aren’t worth a few dead kids.” it was disqualifying for me.
He can have his disagreements on policy, the man is a skilled enough debater, but he doesn't have license to libel those of us who do not agree that sex-changes for minors is sound medicine or that it is abuse for parents to affirm their child in their natural sexed bodies.
Using the reckless lie that youth will kill themselves (delivered at a rally where youth are present no less) was manifestly cruel and in the worst intent.
His trajectory as a politician who once sought to unify, who now only knows how to divide, has been hard to watch.
I do want an alternative to the UCP, because I don't want to reward them for being a separatist party, but how can I vote for a party that thinks Smith, and by extension those of us who agree with her on this issue want "dead kids"
Just as Pierre Poilievre is massively unlikeable so too is Nenshi - both for leadership style. One guy is a smarmy jerk and one guy talks like he works at the library. Great article. What a mess.
“She spent years carefully presenting herself as pragmatic, measured, and economically credible enough for cautious voters to cross the aisle without feeling they were abandoning Alberta’s identity.”
Is so bang on. I’ll alter it slightly in that I don’t believe Rachael Notely was carefully presenting herself in such a manner - this is who she was. A majority of Albertans saw one of their own. A girl who grew up in Valleyview AB. She grew up in and understood the same culture that many many of us also grew up in, understand and hold dear. It’s not to do with race, religion, or sexual orientation, and maybe it’s a bit romantic and illusionary anyways. But, you could imagine Rachael Notely sitting out with a bunch of rednecks around a lakeside summer night bonfire drinking several beers. And enjoying herself. Nenshi…. Not so much.
A massive majority of those in AB, or who grew up here anyways (things are changing and this is fine too), are one degree removed from a farm/rural AB/SASK, and/or from 1st gen immigrant hardship. Almost every AB family has one or several “crazy” right wing members in it. Most probably have a “separatist” in it… we get it. They’re not that bright. But they’re ours. And in the end, this is the important thing for the rest of Canada to realize. This is a family fight. Stay out of it. It’s not that we’re not family (Canada as a whole)? It’s more like my Brother doesn’t interfere or opine on how I manage issues within my family. Maybe I’ll ask for advice or help? But I’m not interested in anything unsolicited.
AB is not going to separate. All of Canada can relax. We’re actually all pretty patriotic. A majority of UCP voters are against, and all the NDP voters. But this is a family fight that we need to sort out ourselves. Sticking your nose in at the wrong time will lead to a bad result. As to the AB politics of it? Well Kenney is part of that inner family, his opinion matters. Nenshi is not, and his don’t.
The majority (I think) of Albertans who do not support the ongoing chicanery and anti-democratic actions of the UCP are looking for a credible option. Neither the NDP's Nenshi nor the Progressive Tory Party's Guthrie, who should be able to utilise the pent up anti UCP angst to build a base of centrist Albertans (which is where Notley's victory came from), have yet to gain visible traction. Some of this may be due to the "scandal or new pronouncement every day" strategy of the Premier which serves to distract focus of the public, media and the opposition.
Many of us are trying to figure out which way to support democracy but are waiting for some sign of passion, plans and progress. It is telling that Lukaszuk was better able to mobilize this group into Forever-Canadian than either of the above has been able to do.
Almost every Albertan is getting tired of paying for other provinces social programs, being underrepresented in the parliament and senate, watching Alberta industry being handcuffed and vetoed, yet subsidizing businesses in eastern Canada.
I am sure that Nenshi is somewhat aware of these issues but ignores them so he can differentiate himself from the UPC. He is an annoying little man who speaks to all the UPC haters in Alberta, but I don't think he is making any statements that would get conservative or unaffiliated voters to vote NDP.
What would make you feel represented? You have basically the same number of MPs per person as Ontario.
As does BC. Both are represented with approximately the same number as Ontario and Alberta. Ontario and BC carry their weight as far as manufacturing and resource development go. Saskatchewan also carries its weight. Newfoundland and Labrador continue to get screwed by Quebec with their hydro.
I suspect that a person could take any of the short list I mentioned and find maybe one or two other provinces that have the same issue. In Alberta, the multiple (and I certainly didn't mention all the issues in this short comment) issues just keep piling up. To understand Alberta, just reading comments here can give you a taste of the current and some historical issues. To understand Alberta, a person has to read articles and go tho websites that can give you the whole story.
Alberta hated the NEP. Yet, if it had stayed in place, would not all of Alberta's oil have been refined in Canada, selling finished products instead of selling to the US at a discount? I'm sorry, but I'm tired of the whining about how hard things are for the richest province in the country. It's 40 years ago. Let it go. Youth unemployment is above 14%. That's a much bigger issue IMHO.
Alberta could be much richer though if Ottawa would just get out of the way. Comparing Alberta to other mediocre economically provinces isn't the metric Albertans use.
I suspect that you didn’t live through the NEP years. I did. All Canadians pay their taxes with the expectation that the government will protect them and allow the citizens of Canada to prosper.
Yet, in the NEP years, Albertans were betrayed by the federal government – job losses and economic collapse that in many cases took not just financial tolls, but dramatic spikes in suicide, alcoholism, depression, domestic violence, divorces and a whole group of mental issues. Not to mention people having to leave their homes to find work elsewhere when they went bankrupt or their homes were foreclosed upon.
Then, in 2015, another Trudeau, with the help of the Alberta NDP lost the most jobs since the first Trudeau. While that was happening, Trudeau was protecting the greatly disputed number of 9,000 jobs to save Quebec’s SNC-Lavalin corporation.
Albertans should never forget the betrayals of the federal government. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Albertans can’t just ‘get over it’ they must fight against it.
Believing that the federal government can run anything as big as the NEP program without corruption and make money is being naïve. Considering the speed of that the Canadian Federal government gets things done, they would still be trying to figger out the name of the ministry.
I was, but I was a teen in Ontario. It didn't register.
You'll get no argument from me that Justin was the worst PM the country has ever had. Nor do I suggest that you ever forget. But it is the past, and you can let it fester like a cancer, or you can move on.
You also have to accept the damage you've done to yourselves; Kenney killing Notley's tank car deal comes to mind. Billions in cancellation fees to move zero drops of oil.
I think complaining about government corruption in light of what is happening in Alberta is throwing stones in a glass house. No government will ever be perfect for everyone; it's the nature of the beast. They move too slowly for my liking as well, and make some really stupid decisions....ALTO and guns, for example. I wouldn't want the job. You truly can't please everyone, and things get more complex...and expensive by the day.
Choosing Nenshi was a massive "own goal" on the part of the Alberta NDP. They have to do well in Calgary. Which means that a bunch of Calgarians who have of late spent WAY too much time in an unshowered state while observing cottage rules in terms of flushing the toilet now are being told that they should trust the guy who kicked the can down the road when he was told that the water infrastructure was fixin' to die.
The party didn't really choose him. The tens of thousands of people he brought in chose him.
That's how the parties roll here in Alberta. And it won't change until they all get tired of being hijacked.
Nenshi is an academic at heart. Rhetorical battles are his “jam”. He “swam” in the same waters as Danielle Smith during his post secondary years. When he landed a teaching position at Mount Royal University he fully embraced the emerging identity based politics on campus.
His popularity among his students translated well into municipal politics as social media drove his momentum. He was a breath of fresh air, until he wasn’t.
I voted for Nenshi once. His canonization during the Calgary flood went to his head. He started to drink his own purple “koolaid”. He became tiresome.
Governing Calgary during Covid was hard but governing Alberta was harder. I give Kenney full props. He wasn’t perfect but governing Alberta at this time was like herding cats. As he found out the Conservative ones had the sharpest claws.
Excellent analysis
Didn't Nenshi point out that he is younger than Smith and had a higher GPA?
One party, the UCP focuses on wealth creation; the opposition party, the NDP focuses on wealth redistribution. For a productive and hard working Albertan the choice is obvious.
I think investors have made it clear that separation and wealth creation are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Alberta is cleaning up right now because Donald Trump is an idiot.
Mr. Nenshi became leader of the NDP in June of 2024.
Donald Trump was sworn in January, 2025.
Ms. Smith has made strong political gains by dealing with the Trudeau/Carney Liberals effectively and proficiently.
Your timelines don’t add up, but don’t let that impair your little tantrum.
Always wonderful to hear from you, Donald. You missed the point. I'm living in the present tense. Today. Danielle is a separatist asshole, now basically neutered legally. Trudeau was just a stupid ass. You will note that CN signed a deal to ship LNG by rail......something Alberta could have been doing with oil for a decade, making billions except for terrible government decision-making by Kenney. But let's wait for another needless pipeline that taxpayers will be on the hook to clean up when it's no longer needed. "Tantrum"...hysterical.
Alberta literally signed or got started projects in the billions in value this month alone.
Both you and Jen are just factually wrong.
That you, Max Fawcett???
I did not miss your point.
I understand perfectly the point you failed to make.
Sounds pretty complicated to me: I have a theory. After more than a decade of leftwing ideological governance in this country has nearly destroyed us, maybe we just want to stay with a government that supports the policies and practices that made this province great in the first place.
It is heartbreaking that Nenshi is making such a hash of things.
Alberta so needs multi-party politics. The de-facto one-party state that the PCs and now their successor, the UCP, preside over is unhealthy, given to corruption, intolerance and monomania.
Yet here we are. The prospect of another majority for a broken party that panders to separatists, reactionaries and extremists.
Alberta needs the UCP as the centrist party and a party further on the right to make them honest and actually conservative from time to time. That is what would work best for Albertans. The NDP can stick to their university and union circuits.
The UCP is not a centrist party.
It is a centre-right party, with Libertarian tendencies, an American style party culture and considerable sympathy amongst its party ranks for separatism.
A centre-left, federalist party that could also win sufficient support from uncommitted voters in the province would be welcome and did exist, for a time, under the former NDP leader, Rachel Notley.
If Naheed Nenshi were able to find his mojo this summer, then the fractious nature of the UCP would make it more difficult for Danielle Smith and her party to hold on to a majority in the Alberta Legislature.
At this point, though, I think that outcome is very unlikely.
You may have left out a couple of very important points of discussion: firstly, Mr. Nenshi is viewed as a self-aggrandizing buffoon. And, I might add, he was viewed as such prior to becoming the leader of the NDP.
Secondly, there is a difference between pretending to be moderate, and actually governing as a moderate. No one trusts the man, and for good reason.
Thirdly, whether one acknowledges this or not, Ms. Smith portrays an aura of calm, decisive competency, especially when dealing with the federal government.
Smith is the best communicator in Canadian politics, IMHO.
I have dropped my UCP directorship. I am going to vote for the Tory party next time. Danielle Smith has ignored basic conservative values like fiscal prudence and good governance to focus on the politics of resentment.
Save the time and just stay home on the next election. Voting Tory is just wasting a vote.
How is voting Tory a waste of a vote?
Because it doesn't do anything to turn the dial in any one riding in Alberta, but it gives the NDP more power per vote since it takes away from the UCP
How does it take anything away from the UCP? Votes don't belong to any one party? You could just as easily say it gives the UCP more power per vote since it takes away from the NDP.
We have first past the post. Unfortunately coalitions are not just discouraged but punished in the system. Vote splits exist. But you are right, no one is entitled to a vote.
Nenshi, NDP (No Democracy Party), and leftism in general ( "Liberals") have a permanent built-in genetic flaw. Wherever they succeed in fooling the voters for long enough to form a lasting government, they destroy the economy, make productive people - those who can - flee, create destructive inflation, destroy free press, destroy personal liberties, and the impoverished population ends up living as serfs in a deeply corrupt harsh amoral leftist dictatorship.
This track record of theirs is now a hundred years and many countries long.
This is the path onto which Canada voted itself with Carney and his "Liberals".
Why the heck should Alberta follow that kind of stupidity.
Yes Nenshi is unlikable and yes his style, especially to Calgarians, is off putting. He also has a "team" problem, similar to the Libs, this is the same economic and business illiterate ideologs that don't know a budget or spreadsheet from a hole in the ground. This to me is ultimately where the trust of Albertans is lost. They need a new party. the UCP is compromised. the NDP is incapable. Its fun times.
The business illiterate ideologs always tend to be the Achilles heel of provincial NDP parties. Bob Rae wrote about hosting his first caucus meetings as the newly minted NDP Premier of Ontario, and needing to convince a depressing number of his members that budgets, debts, and deficits were real things, not just made-up words.
Great article, thank you. Bluster and blame might be great for angry clicks on social media but it doesn't demonstrate the skills necessary to win elections, or to lead once you do. I feel my local MLA is doing a good job speaking for constituents in the legislature. I feel for all the sincere people trying to do their best. But in the aggregate I worry about AB politics in 2026.
Nenshi is now going around giving off loser energy trying to kill the referendum. He doesn't behave or act like someone who is a leader ready to lead.
He is the polar opposite of Pierre Poilievre in many ways. Pierre rubs the 50+ crowd the wrong way in mannerism and actions. Naheed rubs the under 50 crowd the same way for the same reasons.
When Nenshi quipped "“Premier Smith, I want you to understand that votes aren’t worth a few dead kids.” it was disqualifying for me.
He can have his disagreements on policy, the man is a skilled enough debater, but he doesn't have license to libel those of us who do not agree that sex-changes for minors is sound medicine or that it is abuse for parents to affirm their child in their natural sexed bodies.
Using the reckless lie that youth will kill themselves (delivered at a rally where youth are present no less) was manifestly cruel and in the worst intent.
His trajectory as a politician who once sought to unify, who now only knows how to divide, has been hard to watch.
I do want an alternative to the UCP, because I don't want to reward them for being a separatist party, but how can I vote for a party that thinks Smith, and by extension those of us who agree with her on this issue want "dead kids"
This is terrible
Just as Pierre Poilievre is massively unlikeable so too is Nenshi - both for leadership style. One guy is a smarmy jerk and one guy talks like he works at the library. Great article. What a mess.
This.
“She spent years carefully presenting herself as pragmatic, measured, and economically credible enough for cautious voters to cross the aisle without feeling they were abandoning Alberta’s identity.”
Is so bang on. I’ll alter it slightly in that I don’t believe Rachael Notely was carefully presenting herself in such a manner - this is who she was. A majority of Albertans saw one of their own. A girl who grew up in Valleyview AB. She grew up in and understood the same culture that many many of us also grew up in, understand and hold dear. It’s not to do with race, religion, or sexual orientation, and maybe it’s a bit romantic and illusionary anyways. But, you could imagine Rachael Notely sitting out with a bunch of rednecks around a lakeside summer night bonfire drinking several beers. And enjoying herself. Nenshi…. Not so much.
A massive majority of those in AB, or who grew up here anyways (things are changing and this is fine too), are one degree removed from a farm/rural AB/SASK, and/or from 1st gen immigrant hardship. Almost every AB family has one or several “crazy” right wing members in it. Most probably have a “separatist” in it… we get it. They’re not that bright. But they’re ours. And in the end, this is the important thing for the rest of Canada to realize. This is a family fight. Stay out of it. It’s not that we’re not family (Canada as a whole)? It’s more like my Brother doesn’t interfere or opine on how I manage issues within my family. Maybe I’ll ask for advice or help? But I’m not interested in anything unsolicited.
AB is not going to separate. All of Canada can relax. We’re actually all pretty patriotic. A majority of UCP voters are against, and all the NDP voters. But this is a family fight that we need to sort out ourselves. Sticking your nose in at the wrong time will lead to a bad result. As to the AB politics of it? Well Kenney is part of that inner family, his opinion matters. Nenshi is not, and his don’t.
The majority (I think) of Albertans who do not support the ongoing chicanery and anti-democratic actions of the UCP are looking for a credible option. Neither the NDP's Nenshi nor the Progressive Tory Party's Guthrie, who should be able to utilise the pent up anti UCP angst to build a base of centrist Albertans (which is where Notley's victory came from), have yet to gain visible traction. Some of this may be due to the "scandal or new pronouncement every day" strategy of the Premier which serves to distract focus of the public, media and the opposition.
Many of us are trying to figure out which way to support democracy but are waiting for some sign of passion, plans and progress. It is telling that Lukaszuk was better able to mobilize this group into Forever-Canadian than either of the above has been able to do.