Rachel Notley thinks not Shutting Down Businesses is an “extreme libertarian position”

The day after Alberta announced new restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic, Opposition Leader Rachel Notley unleashed a tirade in the legislature directed at the government. But instead of accusing the government of going too far in limiting people’s liberties, as many Albertans have criticized the government for doing so in social media, she instead accused the government of not going far enough!

Despite these restrictions infringing on our most basic rights in ways that even the most cynical observer could have never seen an Alberta government doing a year ago, Notley continued to call on the government to impose far harsher measures and to shut down businesses across the entire Province. Kenney rejected these calls from Notley, pointing to recent reports of restaurants which suggested half of them would be forced to close their doors permanently if another lockdown is implemented, preferring to use targeted measures instead based on tracing data.

As her time in Question period went further, Notley appeared to become increasingly melodramatic, short fused, and animated. Even making direct attacks on the Premier to “LEARN YOUR FILE!”, after the Premier compared Alberta’s restrictions as being similar to British Columbia’s, which is led by a government affiliated with Notley’s NDP.

For some context, BC does have fewer proven case numbers than Alberta, which Notley consistently pointed to as “evidence” of the government’s “failure” to prepare for the second wave. As of November 25th, BC had 7,816 proven active cases to Alberta’s 13,719 reported for the day prior.

However, it also has less testing, BC having only 11,492 new tests as of November 25th to Alberta’s 15,644 haven been reported on November 24th, calling into question whether BC has a better situation than Alberta, and pointing more in favour of Kenney’s argument that Alberta is handling the pandemic better overall.

Near the end of her time in Question Period, Notley then made an eyebrow raising claim. That the government’s recent restrictions amounted to “a discredited libertarian approach”. Kenney responded to the accusation, appearing much more emotionally collected but also visibly taken aback, “Mr. Speaker, she just accused this government of having an extreme libertarian position, when for the first time in the history of this Province, yesterday, we made it illegal for Albertans to visit people’s homes!… Only the NDP could consider that “an extreme libertarian position”, Mr. Speaker! ”

If Notley truly believes in forcing businesses to go bankrupt or fining people $1,000 for simply inviting someone over to their own home or even $100,000 if it goes to the courts, or not making the police arrest a bar owner 400 kilometers away from the edge of civilization for not wearing a mask, has become the definition of “libertarian extremism,” her politics must be left of Mao Zedong.

How much more people are willing to allow their freedoms to be clawed away in the name of a crisis? Stay tuned for Trudeau and Notley’s “Great Reset” to see?