As with most years, I look to 2019 with a mix of eager anticipation and trepidation. Mostly the latter.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you with details of my New Year’s resolutions. I’m not a big believer in them anyway. That’s not to say I think self-improvement isn’t important, but tieing a change in habits to a date or a time on a clock isn’t the way to make long-lasting, beneficial change.
No, what fills me with hope and dread is what lies on the political horizon, both provincially and internationally.
I worry about the rise of authoritarianism around the world, of course. In China, Xi JinPing has essentially declared himself President for life, and in Russia, Vladimir Putin is making noises about doing the same. The “yellow vest” protests in France, spurred at least in part by anti-immigrant sentiment, is also cause for concern.
But in the U.S., it feels as though we’ve reached a turning point in the rule of that orange-hue con man Donald Trump. The Democrats now hold Congress, the Mueller probe is set to wrap up and Donald is demonstrating a level of dysfunction that is prompting even his own party to question if Donald has an anchor tied to their feet.
Provincially, I know we have the 2019 spring election to get through, which is the source of my fear.
I’ve been critical of the NDP in the past and I see some worrying signs that they’re giving in to the complacency and corruption that plagued the Progressive Conservatives in their final days.
However, I still think they’ve done a good job over the past four years, given the economic downturn. And I appreciate that they are dedicated to doing their part to combat climate change.
More to the point, I don’t think Jason Kenney’s UCP is better-suited to the task of leading Alberta. Another downturn in oil prices means another recession, and Kenney has no plan to deal with it beyond cutting government services and eliminating the carbon levy, which will set us back in our efforts to switch to renewables.
He has also proved incapable or unwilling to remove certain far-right elements from the UCP, which is also worrying. Will these issues be able to keep the UCP from a majority? Hard to say, so I’m not overly eager about the coming year, but still, there is room for hope.
