TweetAnother news report this week focused on the devastation of caribou habitat in northwestern Alberta. The CBC story reported that deforestation caused by seismic cutlines and snowmobile traffic has caused irreparable damage to habitat critical to the survival of Alberta’s caribou herds. “About five per cent of range for the
Continue readingAuthor: daveberta
daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Prentice term-limit idea is gimmicky and probably unconstitutional
TweetYou are Jim Prentice. You have the podium and the attention of Alberta’s media. You are the next Premier of Alberta. You can dream big. You could promise to replace all of Alberta’s aging hospitals by 2020, to build a high-speed railway from Calgary to Edmonton, to forge a new relationship with municipalities through Big
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: PC Party compared MLA term-limits to whims of an Ayatollah or a general
TweetToday, Alberta Progressive Conservative Party leadership candidate Jim Prentice proposed term-limits for Premiers and MLAs. The following is an excerpt from an editorial on term-limits for MLAs that was printed in the Progressive Conservative Party’s “PC People” magazine, published in September 2010: Another concept being promoted in some quarters is the idea of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Advice for the next Premier of Alberta: Be Bold by being Boring
TweetSo you’re a new Premier, looking for a way to make a splash – to make the public forget about the previous regime. You could do something simple like reduce Cabinet to 20, which is essentially the size of Cabinet (Associate Ministers are not actually Cabinet ministers). But that’s not
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Photos: Justin Trudeau rally in Edmonton
TweetSee more photos of the “Team Trudeau” rally on Flickr. Tweet
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Federal Liberal Summer Caucus in Edmonton
TweetTwenty-one years ago, in a federal election that reshaped the Canadian political landscape, the Liberals swept Edmonton, electing Members of Parliament in four of the city’s six federal ridings. That year was a high-water mark for the federal party, which last elected an MP in Edmonton in 2004 and has not come close
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: PC Party: Oh Albertans, give us one more chance (we want you back)
TweetIn 1971, The Jackson 5 were topping the billboard charts and Peter Lougheed‘s Progressive Conservatives were just starting what has become an uninterrupted 43-year reign as Alberta’s governing party. Recent messaging from the PC Party have certainly drawn inspiration from the band’s famous song – I Want You Back – as the PC Party
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #pcldr Flashback: Alison Redford 2011: Why I want to be Premier of Alberta
TweetWith today’s release of Auditor General Merwan Saher‘s report on Alison Redford‘s travel habits, and as Premier Dave Hancock, leadership frontrunner Jim Prentice and Progressive Conservative MLAs desperately try to distance themselves from their former leader, it is important that we look back to a more optimistic time. During the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alison Redford resigns as MLA for Calgary-Elbow
TweetOne-hundred and thirty-six days after Alison Redford was forced to resign as Premier of Alberta, she has announced that she will resign as the MLA for Calgary-Elbow. Through an opinion-editorial published in the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, the former premier defended her record as premier and refused to apologize
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta NDP should embrace an Urban Agenda
TweetToday is the deadline to enter the Alberta New Democratic Party leadership race. With 3 candidates having already entered the race, Edmonton-Calder MLA David Eggen, Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley and labour activist Rod Loyola, the Alberta NDP are having their first contested leadership race since 1996. Advice I would offer to the next leader
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Goodbye? The future looks bleak for the Alberta Liberals
TweetIt has been a long time since things have looked good for the Alberta Liberals. The provincial party has been teetering on the verge of the political abyss for years but lately the future looks especially bleak. Recent announcements that popular Calgary Liberal MLAs Kent Hehr and Darshan Kang are moving
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Rob Anders to run in new Bow River riding?
TweetSources say that controversial Member of Parliament Rob Anders is preparing to run for the federal Conservative nomination in new rural Bow River riding south east of Calgary. The six-term MP has represented Calgary-West since 1997 but lost a heated Conservative nomination contest in the new Calgary-Signal Hill riding to former Progressive Conservative MLA Ron Liepert. It was previously been
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: False Passengers and Fake Promises: Could the PC Party be choosing the next opposition leader?
TweetHere’s a question that isn’t often asked in Alberta: Which of the three Progressive Conservative leadership candidates would make the best Leader of the Opposition? An insane trail of scandal continues to leak out of the 43-year-long governing PC Party as it lurches towards a leadership vote on September 6. A
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Parties gear up for federal election 2015 – Alberta nominations update
TweetAside from recent updates about Kent Hehr running in Calgary-Centre and Darshan Kang running in Calgary-Skyview, it has been a while since I have published an update to accompany the list of candidate nominations for the next federal election, expected to be held in 2015. So, without further ado, let me present you
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta oil sands not welcome in South Portland, Maine
TweetWhat’s going on in South Portland, Maine? Elected officials in the port city are on the verge of banning crude oil from Canada’s tar sands from entering their port. With a large and busy port, South Portland is the home of the Portland-Montreal Pipe Line, which pumps millions of barrels of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Fundraising numbers expose PC, Wildrose strengths and weaknesses
TweetThe latest quarterly fundraising disclosures from Alberta’s provincial political parties were released by Elections Alberta this week, and Alberta’s two conservative parties remain the dominant forces in political fundraising. Continuing a trend that has become the norm in Alberta politics, the Wildrose Party has once again raised more money than the long-governing Progressive Conservatives. Wildrose Party raised
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The Gang of Eight MLAs who have not endorsed Jim Prentice
TweetBy my count, there remain eight Progressive Conservative MLAs who have not endorsed a leadership candidate Jim Prentice in the race to become that party’s next leader. As of this week, 49 of 59 PC MLAs have endorsed Mr. Prentice’s candidacy to become their next leader. Leadership candidates Ric McIver and Thomas Lukaszuk have not earned any
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Source: MLA Kent Hehr to run for Trudeau Liberals in Calgary-Centre
TweetPolitical Calgary is abuzz with rumours that popular MLA Kent Hehr will seek the Liberal nomination in the federal riding of Calgary-Centre. Reliable sources say that Mr. Hehr has gone so far as to request nomination forms to become an official nomination candidate for the federal Liberals. Mr. Hehr would be
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta Tories hold the World’s Most Boring Leadership Race
TweetIn 53 days, members of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party will vote to choose their next leader and the next Premier of Alberta. Unlike previous PC leadership races, where Albertans of all political-inclinations were excited to participate in the vote to directly choose the next Leader of the Natural Governing Party, there does
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta’s billion dollar failed Carbon Capture “science experiment”
TweetA report from Auditor General Merwan Saher released this week found no evidence that the Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development has properly monitored the performance of the PC Government’s climate change strategy which was first implemented in 2008. The report also uncovered serious problems with the province’s expensive Carbon Capture
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