Alberta is on fire. Its children breathe in some of the worst air quality in the world. With Alberta having cut more than 15 million dollars from its wildfire budget in 2022, I know our pattern-seeking brains are itching to solve the culprit behind this case.
I’m sorry to say, you won’t find it in one person.
Many shake their fist at Premier Danielle Smith. As much as it’s warranted, it’s superficial. Replace her with virtually any other United Conservative Party (UCP) member and the end result would seldom differ. Hell, it doesn’t even need to be UCP. The NDP has also made cuts to Alberta’s wildfire budget. How could it be? Do team blue and team red (or in this case, orange) really make similar decisions that affect people’s socio-economic conditions?
The answer is yes, of course, no matter how much Smith, Pierre Pollievre, or Doug Ford tell you otherwise.
Neoliberalism is an important word no elected official ever cares to discuss. It’s Canada’s brain – it’s economic and political ideology. It’s also the root of everyone’s problems.
Neoliberalism encourages Canadians to believe they are solely their own individual. With this new-found freedom, wanting the government off their back makes inherent sense. They’re framed like the pesky parents in your teenage years.
It also tells Canadians they must make sure their government is fiscally conservative – because no one wants to go overboard on spending money on things like handouts. People need to earn their keep! Just ask any Albertan right now that’s lost their home. I’m sure they want to “earn” it back, no?
What’s rarely said is how anti-social this ideology makes people. Its hyper-fixation on individual freedom has bled so deep into peoples’ minds, they are quick to forget they live in tandem with others.
Matters like public health are reduced to people only considering what choices they want for themselves. The answers given to socio-economic failures that have killed all too many Canadians are to “pull yourself up by the bootstraps.”
Homelessness? That couldn’t possibly be a red flag that Canada’s socio-economic system is an objective failure. It’s actually Trudeau’s fault! I’m sure if team blue was in charge, then homelessness would go away.
We see ourselves as individuals, and when looking at problems, we want to find the individual behind them. It’s an easy way to quantify these things.
What’s not so easy is taking a step back and realizing the systems people operate under are not only tolerating, but encouraging behaviours that have led to disasters like Alberta’s.
Why not cut Alberta’s wildfire budget if it saves money? Sounds fiscally responsible to me. Plus, if people don’t like it, they’re free to leave. Canada is totally a free country – just don’t ask what happens if you stop showing up to work on Monday.
Mix in a little corporate influence and there’s no denying that neoliberalism is here to stay. Billion-dollar companies and businesses buy their influence on this world. They lobby and finance campaigns, all to mold policy decisions that better themselves.
Remember this when you vote next: you shouldn’t rely on one person to fix people’s problems.
It’s also important to note that any and all things pertaining to “woke” are nothing but distractions. Jennifer Johnson comparing transgender children in schools to having feces in food is a real simple and plain way of directing anger towards a minority group and away from real, systematic failures.
Neoliberalism has convinced people that some are inherently better than others. That’s why we only have room for one at the top. One premier, one Prime Minister. One superhero to save us all. But no more.Only when Canadians work together do they find their true strength.
That’s why the Economic Policy Institute writes how unions help everyone. Collective bargaining and cooperation go miles above what one single suit-and-tie will do for working Canadians.
Canada might never escape the neoliberal hell it finds itself in. Politicians treat their jobs like team sports and it’s far too lucrative to stop anytime soon. For this country to crawl its way out of whatever pit it’s in, it’s going to come from within. Specifically, inside the workplace.
Labour organizing demands better material conditions for Canada’s workforce. It goes a long way in showcasing Canadians how much better their lives can be. But more than that, it shows them they don’t have to sit around and wait for a single day in the year to try and vote in a new reality.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
