TweetHe is a leadership candidate backed by long-governing party establishment. He has chased away his potential rivals. He has experience in both the federal cabinet and the corporate sector. He is a respected party insider. He has a track record as a moderate conservative and can raise significant amounts of
Continue readingAuthor: daveberta
daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Underdog Liberal has a shot in Fort McMurray-Athabasca by-election
TweetFour federal by-elections will be held across Canada on June 30, 2014, including in Alberta’s Macleod and Fort McMurray-Athabasca ridings made vacant by the retirements of Conservative Members of Parliament Ted Menzies and Brian Jean months ago. While most general elections in Alberta can be counted on to result in broad Conservative sweeps, Albertans
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Who wants to be leader of the Alberta NDP?
TweetWhile most political chatter in Alberta is focused on how big Jim Prentice’s victory will be on the first ballot of the Progressive Conservative leadership vote on September 6, there is another race about to begin – the race to become the leader of the Alberta NDP. At his press
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The All-Calgarian PC Party leadership race
TweetAnother Calgarian has entered what has been, at least so far, an all-Calgarian Progressive Conservative leadership race. Announcing his candidacy in the contest to become the next PC Party leader and premier, former Infrastructure minister Ric McIver declared he would bring a “common-sense new approach to replace insider, establishment thinking, with new common-sense thinking.” The
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Pension bill delayed as Hancock softens ground for next PC Party leader
TweetIn another move suggesting the spring sitting of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly could end within days, it appears that the passage of the Progressive Conservative Government’s controversial public sector pension law – Bill 9: Public Sector Pension Plans Amendment Act, 2014 – will be delayed until the fall sitting later this year. The opposition filibuster of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Scrappy and strong-willed, Brian Mason punches above his weight
TweetBack in the mid-2000s, when I worked for the Alberta Liberals, Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason was a constant source of frustration for my colleagues and I. Each week, I was amazed at how the leader of the tiny perfect NDP could consistently earn so much press and scoop away the media attention deserved
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Detente or Entente Cordiale? AUPE and Hancock Government reach tentative agreement
TweetAt 10:00 a.m. on April 28, 2014, Hugh McPhail, a lawyer representing the Alberta Government requested the Court of Appeal to adjourn a scheduled hearing on Bill 46, the controversial anti-labour law that had been halted by a court injection months ago. The law would have forced a regressive contract on the 22,000 government employees
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta Tories waiting for a Jim Prentice coronation
TweetCould the snoozer that has become Alberta’s Progressive Conservative leadership race risk becoming a coronation if former federal cabinet minister Jim Prentice jumps into the race? Necessitated by the resignation of Premier Alison Redford on March 19, the race to choose the next leader of Alberta’s 43-year long governing PC Party has so far
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Building a replacement school in Greater Highlands?
TweetWhen was the last time we talked about opening a new school in the urban core, rather than closing one down? Packed into the gym of the hundred year-old Highlands Junior High School, hundreds of school and community members heard about plans to replace three already existing schools with a
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Lewis Cardinal steps down as NDP candidate in Edmonton-Centre
TweetLewis Cardinal announced today that, due to personal and health reasons, he is stepping down as the New Democratic Party candidate in Edmonton-Centre for the upcoming federal election. Although he had been campaigning for longer than a year, on March 27, 2014, Mr. Cardinal was officially nominated as his party’s first
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Insiders will pretend to be outsiders in the PC leadership race
Tweet Former Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel is not running for the PC Party leadership Former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel announced yesterday that he will not run for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership. Mr. Mandel was seen as a great hope by many Edmonton Tories, who believed him to be the outsider
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Conservatives spar for safe Alberta ridings
TweetWhile the epic battle between Rob Anders and Ron Liepert in Calgary-Signal Hill was entertaining to watch, preparation for the next federal election has sparked nomination contests in ridings across the province. And with two by-elections expected to be called within weeks, federal political parties are lining up their candidates for the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Big Money in Edmonton Municipal Election
Tweet$4.35, $19.75, and $5.45 are how much Don Iveson, Karen Leibovici and Kerry Diotte‘s campaigns spent for each vote received in Edmonton’s October 21, 2013 mayoral election. With the most efficient dollar-to-vote ratio is Mr. Iveson, who won the election with a landslide 132,162 votes (62% of the total votes cast).
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Good riddance, Rob Anders
TweetIt finally happened. The man who called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, insulted Canada’s veterans, and called for war against Russia, has suffered his first major defeat since he was first elected in 1997. After a campaign filled with accusations of dirty tricks and political mischief, arch conservative Member of Parliament Rob Anders lost the Conservative
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Rejection of Gay-Straight Alliances motion shows some Alberta MLAs need a reality check
TweetBe it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the Government to introduce legislation, like Manitoba’s and Ontario’s, requiring all school boards to develop policies to support students who want to lead and establish gay-straight alliance activities and organizations, using any name that is consistent with the promotion of a positive
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: PC Party leadership race off to a very slow start
TweetNineteen days have passed since former Premier Alison Redford announced her resignation and not one candidate has officially announced their intentions to enter the race to become the next leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives. But there is at least one unofficial candidate, maybe. Municipal Affairs minister Ken Hughes made the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A closer look at PC constituency-level fundraising
TweetAfter 43-years in government, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party now faces serious competition in the fundraising field from the Wildrose Party. Raising only $2.86 million in 2013, the PC Party ran a $136,000 deficit and owed $1.1 million on a line of credit. This shaky financial situation is unheard of for a
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Should the Alberta NDP accept corporate donations?
TweetWith vibrant progressive campaigns winning on the municipal-level in Calgary and Edmonton, it is difficult to understand why there is not be a progressive party, or even a non-conservative party, able to compete on the provincial-level in Alberta. Alberta’s progressive political parties are being left in the dust by the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Conservatives race to the bottom in Calgary-Signal Hill
TweetWith the race for the Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Signal Hill in less than 10 days, the Rob Anders campaign has broadcast a new robocall praising the incumbent MP for decreasing the federal Goods and Services Tax. The message also includes an attack on his opponent Ron Liepert for musing
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A Premier Penthouse Suite: Where Luxury is Yours
Tweet Find your home away from home in Edmonton, Alberta in the newly renovated art-deco Federal Building. Elegant features throughout the Premier’s Penthouse Suite are designed to make a private place in the province’s capital as special as it can be. This luxurious penthouse suite includes sleeping and grooming quarters
Continue reading