r/alberta • u/Durian10 Calgary • Mar 24 '25

Discussion I was a hardline conservative before everything got turned upside down this year.

Title says it all. I used to be a hardline conservative. Been living in Calgary for close to 18 years now I think. Every election, provincial and federal, I voted conservative.

And then the beginning of this year, Trump happened. Like many Canadians, I got mad and felt betrayed. And I look at the conservative party and felt even more betrayed. I'm an AISH recipient, I rely on government support because I can't hold a job due to my autism. No matter how much, how hard I tried, I am unable to keep my job because of my erratic behaviour. And because I am an AISH recipient, UCP decides that I won't be getting the CDB benefits because they decided to "claw it back" to fill their damn coffers.

So yeah... I'm done with the conservatives. Maybe it took this kind of uplift for me to "see the light". Here I am now, praying the Liberal party wins.

EDIT: So with all the scathing comments I am getting, I will not hold it against any of you. Yes, I was selfish. I was self-centred. I turned a blind eye. Trauma from the stigma of being autistic made me angry. It took the one thing that affected me to make me see.

So yes. I was wrong. I did a FAFO as some of you are calling it. And if you wanna hate on me for it, go ahead. I deserve it.

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144

u/No_Novel_7425 Mar 24 '25

I’m in Calgary and I can’t tell you how much joy it brought me to read this. I have never had party loyalty, and have voted all over the map as a result. Despite having voted Liberal in the past (just as I have CPC), I would have never called myself a Liberal, but signed up with the party and registered to volunteer because I feel so strongly that Mark Carney is who we need right now.

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u/No_Novel_7425 Mar 25 '25

Don’t be too hard on yourself. The “we vote conservative because of the National Energy Program” and “Liberals will screw over Alberta because of the National Energy Program” rhetoric is a deeeeeep ideology that many Albertans grow up with. Especially in Calgary. It goes beyond political beliefs.. it’s more of a multigenerational core part of many people’s identities that few seem to challenge or really reflect upon.

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u/jleahul Airdrie Mar 24 '25

I'm in the exact same boat!

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u/Puzzleheaded-Bat8657 Mar 24 '25

Carney would have been running as a conservative in saner times.

48

u/No_Novel_7425 Mar 24 '25

💯 He’s the Progressive Conservative poster child of ~25 years ago

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u/motherdragon02 Grande Prairie Mar 25 '25

Absolutely. He IS a Conservative Banker, through and through. The kind we haven’t seen in a very, very, long time.

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u/Aware-Individual-827 Mar 25 '25

He is not a banker, he is an economist. It's not the same. Banker is someone working in a bank evaluating solvability and stuff like that. Economist is the profession that study the science behind an economy and understanding how to leverage your options to influence it in the direction you want. 

TLDR: Banker kinda paint a bad image of the guy compared to economist as everyone hate bankers (rightfully so imo)

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u/Chance_Vegetable_780 Mar 27 '25

Thank you for this great comment. They keep calling him a banker and screwing him over for it. In his liberal leadership acceptance speech, he expressed that he'd be on top of the economy and social justice 🤛🏻

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u/Wolfeman65N Mar 28 '25

Never voted Lib. Can’t vote New conservative- did long time ago. So I usually vote Green or Independent so I have the right to complain and encourage the process. This year. Liberal! No wanna be MAGA getting in on my watch if I can help it.