political earthquake in Canada
May. 7th, 2015 03:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacOil country gets more types of earthquakes than the literal kind caused by fracking. Recent news makes anything that could happen in the UK election today into a relative snore. In Canada - a country prone to political earthquakes, where the rules of party balance that have held sway for decades may be suddenly swept away - they've had what may be their biggest political earthquake ever, and on the provincial level. The NDP just took Alberta.
I cannot emphasize enough what a big deal and what a surprise this is. Imagine if Bernie Sanders had been elected Governor of Texas; that's about the closest equivalent. Not only does it overturn all the rules of Albertan political culture, but it also means that, for the first time in living memory, the tar sands will be under the control of politicians who believe that stewardship of the planet means something other than sucking all the oil out of it.
I cannot emphasize enough what a big deal and what a surprise this is. Imagine if Bernie Sanders had been elected Governor of Texas; that's about the closest equivalent. Not only does it overturn all the rules of Albertan political culture, but it also means that, for the first time in living memory, the tar sands will be under the control of politicians who believe that stewardship of the planet means something other than sucking all the oil out of it.
