long live the witch; the witch is dead

Oh for the heady days of fall.  The scandal ridden Redford government seemed certain to collapse; the Wild Rose Party had all but officially taken office.  But a season is an eternity in politics and following a crippling electoral sweep during four by-elections and a few high profile defections the Wild Rose Party seems all but finished and the Conservatives seem destined to extend their 43 year reign.  The latest blow to Alberta's official opposition comes in the form of merger talks laced with the threat of four or more defections of Wild Rose MLA's to the Tory caucus.  Like rats scurrying off a sinking ship. These politicians are desperate to hold on to the meager power they have obtained and will do anything necessary to maintain it.

And why not?  Like all mainstream political parties in Canada the differences between Cons and Roses were in terms of rhetoric, not policies.  There is no substantive difference in the attitudes or beliefs of politicians of all stripes.  We are all social democrats now.  All politicians in this country serve themselves first and the state second.  They all believe in government intervention.  What we are offered at the ballot box is not a choice but an echo.  So why not merge these parties and make official what any disinterested observer can readily ascertain - that there is a one party system in Canada and that is the party of state control.

So good riddance to bad rubbish.  Let one more party of mensheviks bite the dust.  Perhaps from it's ashes will rise a new organization, devoted not to principle of personal power but opposed to the state entirely.  A new party, which does not squabble about how best to spend looted tax money but seeks instead to return this treasure to it's rightful owners.  A party based upon sound economic thinking.  A party of laissez-faire, fiscal restraint and social tolerance.  A party of principle and ideology.  A Libertarian Party of Alberta.  And why not?  Here, of all the provinces, the attitudes among the man on the street are most in line with the pro capitalist anti-government thinking of libertarians.  This is, after all, the most economically of all entrants into Confederation.  Surely if we can succeed anywhere it is here.

Perhaps some good will come of this after all