big pimpin'

Pros-perity bonuses.

Of all the fucking nerve. Our provincial government, the biggest player in the ninth largest economy in the world or something like that, is raking it in thanks to the recent spikes in the price of oil. What they've decided to do with the money is to give every Albertan a four hundred dollar cheque.

First off: I have a pretty massive credit card debt right now, and it would be plain irresponsible of me to do anything with the money other than pay that down. But I reserve the right to burn with anger about this ridiculous choice.

We could have done something real with the money. We could have built the high-speed rail link between Edmonton and Calgary that we keep talking about. We could have built one to Fort MacMurray and enabled people to actually work in that festering cancer of an infrastructure-less cocaine-crazy cesspool without having to live there. We could have given rebates for fuel-efficient cars. We could have hired more teachers, or reversed the rate increase for seniors' homes. And these are things that come to mind immediately. What if we had a provincial government with some actual imagination? Think of what we could have done.

Instead, we're going to pretend that the skyrocketing price of gas is just a great thing for everyone in Alberta, and there are no systemic problems that we have to fix, so fuck it, let's all go bowling!

There are so many people in this province who have to drive to jobs that don't pay well enough to keep a car on the road. How the fuck is four hundred dollars going to do anything for these people but keep the wolf from the door for one month? Nice fucking legacy, Mr. Klein. Don't let the door crush you into powder on the way out.