The Destroyers: Rachel Notley and the NDP’s War on Alberta

by Sheila Gunn Reid

58 pages / 2016

The first book from Ezra Levant's Rebel Media is about the radical background of key members of the new NDP Alberta government. It's a short, important book, and the price is right: they're giving it out for free.

Author Shelia Gunn Reid wants us to understand that, starting with the premier herself, the Alberta government is filled with socialist, communist, and environmental radicals. For example, the premier herself wears a Che Guevara watch. While Che Guevara is a common fashion accessory on college campuses in real life he helped Fidel Castro bring communism to Cuba. As Reid notes, her wristwatch wouldn't be all that alarming on a college student's wrist because

...those are kids. They're juvenile by definition. But Notley's old enough to be a grandmother, and she still hasn't grown out of her childish campus-style radicalism?

When a 51-year-old premier wears this sort of watch, it is rightfully disturbing. 

Reid continues sharing short biographies of key players, one of which is Brian Topp, the premier's chief of staff. Before taking up his new position he has previously come out against the Keystone XL pipeline, and at one point stated that if it were up to him he would force "fossil-fueled cars out of our cities." Then there is Graham Mitchell, the new chief of staff for Alberta's energy minister, who has trained activists to push for fracking bans. And NDP MLA Rod Loyola, who is an admirer of the late Hugo Chavez, and is on record saying that oil royalties should rise from 9% to as high as 60%.  

That's a taste of what Reid has to share. One point she makes repeatedly is that Albertans never really wanted the NDP. As an Abacus Data poll showed right after the election, 93% of Albertans thought the results were about throwing the PCs out of office, and only 7% thought it had anything to do with picking the NDP to govern. So the NDPs haven't been given a mandate to make their tax hikes, or to implement their carbon tax, or to force schools to allow transgender boys into girls washrooms. That wasn't what the electorate were voting for. They only wanted to "throw the bums out."

But Albertans are going to be stuck with the NDP for the next four years. We'd best learn all we can about our new government.

Cautions

As you might expect, considering the publisher, this is very one-sided. The NDP and their supporters must have some counterpoints to the material presented, but their response isn't provided here. There is a real weakness to such an imbalanced presentation. As we learn in Proverbs 18:17: 

"The first to present his case seems right, until another comes and questions him."

But this is still an important and valuable read because it serves as balance to other media outlet's equally – but less obviously so – one-sided reporting. And while The Rebel Media group does have a tendency to over-hype things, I can't recall them spreading straight-out falsehoods – we can trust them that far. That's more than can be said for many other news sources, and that's another reason this book is worth checking out.

Conclusion

You can get the e-book for free, in several formats (pdf, Kindle and epub) by visiting www.therebel.media/thedestroyers. You do have to give your email address, but can opt out of receiving any email updates.

Box Socials

by W.P. Kinsella
1991, 222 pages

Box Socials is the story of how Truckbox Al McClintock got his chance at fame when he got to play against the Major League All Stars in Renfrew Park in Edmonton. Though that's the thread that holds the entire book together, what it's really about is life in small town Alberta in the 1940s. For me the book was fun, in part, because I grew up in Alberta and a lot of the places referred to in the story are places I know, though I think at least a few are made up.

If you don't come from Alberta, the book is still entertaining, for though it's set in a specific place it's really about any small and close knit community. That could be your home town, or possibly the church community you're part of. The characters you meet in this book have parallels in any community. There's the gossips, the jokesters, the steady folks who are always there to help, and the wise and understanding sorts. Perhaps you'll recognize some of the characters in the book, but it's more likely that you'll discover yourself in here, for we're all made up of parts of the better and worse people that we meet in this tale.

The story is told in a folksy sort of way which is a bit repetitious. This gives it a flavor like you might have if you were sitting out on your front porch and being told the story by one of the community old timers. It's a tale that really should be read aloud even if that's only done in your head.

Though the story is told in the first person through the eyes of Jamie O'Day, a boy of about 10 or 11, there are some scenes described that are a bit crude. There's few inappropriate words, because the narrator doesn't always know what he's witnessing and consequently describes it using euphemisms, but you will know what he's talking about. The descriptions are not graphic and are only a sentence or so. These are things that you will recognize in your community, too, and the hypocrisy that's often associated with them. However, you'll need to decide if that's something you want in your fiction.

Overall it's a well told story about life in a small community. Though it's set in the 1940s the characters could fit in well in most communities today. It's touching, warm, and funny. It's a surprisingly good book.