THE NEW TALE OF TWO CITIES

 THE NEW TALE OF TWO CITIES 

 Canada is about to go into a general election with two of its leading players hailing from Alberta. This is the battle of Highway 2.  

Having lived in both cities, you can see the differences right away. Edmonton and Calgary are as different in philosophy as they are in geography. Their constant rivalry solidly reflects their vast differences.  

Calgary is the big business, right-wing cowboy town, while Edmonton is the blue-collar, professional public service union-orientated hub of the province. The only thing binding them together is an unshakable work ethic born out of the province's pioneering spirit. 

With Poilievre and Carney, those same differences mirror each other as they square off. Carney, the ever-so-professional public servant and Rhodes Scholar who sees the ability of Government playing an effective role in the lives of its citizens. Raised in Edmonton, whose diverse neighborhoods embrace all income levels, grew up watching the Government of Peter Lougheed build a mixed economy driven by oil but emphasising public service and crown corporations.

To Poilievre, whose Calgary upbringing is based on the corporate flagship free enterprise philosophy, which encapsulates the freewheeling Ralph Klein, who would undo and sell off all but a few crown assets back to the private sector. Klein had no interest in government-owned enterprises and had a more everyman-for-self attitude.  

The two reflect an almost Eery sense of east-west battle that has plagued Canada's geography for years. 

 Some people think that looking at the two, the choice is abundantly clear: to give Carney the big education and work resume the helm. In comparison, Poilievre is a career politician elected out of university with limited work experience in the working world. Poilievre, the bulldog and polished speaker rallying the battle cry, tries to evoke the sense of populism that once flourished on the prairies.  Which has a broad appeal to the focused anger of the Canadian electorate.  

Already, the Media has begun to sharpen its rhetorical positioning. The National Post and Sun Media/Post Media publications are running stories critical of Carney, and the Star and Globe and Mail are solidifying the Liberal positioning.  

Jagmeet Singh, fighting to even achieve party status in the Commons, can only seem to watch the scenario unfold from the political sidelines, and you can see on his face that his ultimate defeat is imminent. It's not that he has a workable platform or issues that truly, as a New Democrat like me, are totally in his favor. He has lost his base while procrastinating and playing the media, especially with issues that have little or no reference to the day-to-day struggles of Canadian people. 

With our sovereignty under attack, with even Marco Rubio stating the preferred outcome, Canadians are looking at only two choices, and those are in the new TALE OF TWO CITIES. Which one will they choose?