Councillor Handley mentioned that there was an atmosphere of “Us vs. Them” at the Westerner in regards to city hall. Partially deemed the reason for the Westerner’s financial plight.

Hospitals and schools seem to have the “Us vs. Them” in regards to the province. Covid-19 brought it to the forefront.

Alberta Premier seems to fan the flames of “Us vs, Them” in regards to Ottawa. Yet Ottawa has been doling money to Alberta in far greater amounts than the province. Pipelines and Covid-19 are 2 examples.

I can continue with all kinds of issues, like Molly Banister recently, the Aquatic Centre to name but 2 more.

With all these protectionist sectors battling each other, the fact that there is only one group of taxpayers paying for all of it, is forgotten.

Susan Delacourt wrote a column on Trumpism which thrived under the “Us vs. Them” political culture.

She included in her column;

“Frank Graves, the EKOS pollster who has been doing an intense study of populism and its potential to surface in Canada, was not feeling complacent at all as the results rolled in from the Nov. 3 vote.

Graves and Michael Valpy wrote a piece on the eve of the vote last week, and the conclusion of that article was a warning and a prediction wrapped up in four words: “Trump is still competitive.”

Quietly, methodically, Graves has been analyzing the component pieces of Trump’s appeal and what feeds the political culture of grievance that the president championed.

Much of Graves’ findings were published earlier this year in a paper for the University of Calgary’s public-policy school — a paper that should be required reading for any Canadians of the “it can’t happen here” way of thinking.

Graves has coined the phrase “ordered populism” to describe the Trump phenomenon and the paper’s summary describes it this way:

“Ordered populism rests on the belief in a corrupt elite, and the idea that power needs to be wrested from this elite and returned to the people. Oriented toward authoritarianism, ordered populism emphasizes obedience, hostility toward outgroups, a desire to turn back the clock to a time of greater order in society, and a search for a strongman type to lead the return to a better time.”

Does that type of politics exist in Canada? It sure does, Graves says, and it’s been on the rise for the past few years. His research says that view is shared by as much as a third of the population and its ascent is accompanied by increases in polarization, inequality and a decline in the middle class.”

The fact that we don’t have a true “Trump” populist strongman here does not mean the voters do not seek one.

Our Premier tried using Trump style tactics to benefit the rich oil companies and executives. Unfortunately he appears to operate solely for the few, his inner circle, the elite, and ignores the needs of the populace.

The taxpayers are constantly being told “NO”, yet it appears that there are the favored few who get everything. Public servants are being told they will be seeing a 4% cutback to their paycheque, but remember politicians, who voted themselves top up pay when their 1/3 tax subsidy ended. Home owners were deemed less important than the developer. Skaters seem more important than swimmers. Rich people need tax relief while poor people get benefits reduced.

Taxpayers in one area hear how in another area they are turning lemons into lemonade, but not here. I am talking about the county or Blackfalds , using low interest rates, low land prices, low bids to build now, at great savings, but the city says it can’t happen here. Why not? They found millions to suddenly renovate city hall. Why not look beyond their limited circle and ask? City vs. County? Red Deer vs. Blackfalds?

If the county can save $800,000 on a $2.9 million bid, could we not look to see if we could save at that ratio, $24 million on a $90 million Aquatic centre. The city keeps talking about ice rinks, life spans of current ice rinks, well the last pool we opened was 20 years ago. Do we have any plans to replace our aging swimming pools? Skaters vs, swimmers?

Again the list goes on and on.

Every where you go there seems to be the “Us vs. Them” mentality.

Perhaps we should support those who are contrarian to the wishes of the elite. Is there an updated Trump out there to lead?

Just asking.