PHOTOS: New York, New York … You gotta love it! Below: Fast food, New York City style. Below that: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Alberta’s New Democratic Party government got a powerful boost from an unexpected quarter yesterday for its plan, which is controversial
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Alberta Politics: Lawyer, businessman and long-time Tory Douglas Goss steps aside as U of A board chair
PHOTOS: University of Alberta Board Chair Douglas Goss at the infamous Melcor Five news conference on May 1. Below: New University of Alberta President David Turpin, who took over on July 1, and former U of A provost Carl Amrhein, now the deputy minister of health in the Alberta government.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alison Redford is back, relaxed and ready to rumble with anyone who blames her for her former party’s problems
PHOTOS: A screen shot of former Alberta Premier Alison Redford as she appeared in the CBC’s interview yesterday, relaxed and confident. Below: Ms. Redford on the day in October 2011 she was chosen as the Progressive Conservative Party’s leader and premier of Alberta, and on the day in March 2014
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tory sale of government air fleet was a terrible business decision, executed incompetently
PHOTOS: Not this Beechcraft King Air, maybe, but three a lot like it are now plying the friendly skies of North Dakota, which is a great deal for their new owner thanks to the generous former government of Alberta. Below: The unsold Alberta Government Dash 8, and former Conservative Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Can the Great Wall of Saskatchewan resist Rachel Notley’s wish to put democracy back into energy politics?
PHOTOS: Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers in Newfoundland, with St. John’s Harbor visible in the background (CBC Photo). One hopes they didn’t have to walk up that hill! Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall (CP Photo). The acerbic public disagreement between Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Who ends up allied with whom in a ‘Pizza Parliament’? It may not be as simple as you think
ILLUSTRATIONS: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, left, and Conservative Leader and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, right, get together in a liaison dangereuse … actual Canadian politicians may not behave exactly as predicted, or expected. Below: The real Mr. Harper, NDP Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, the real Mr. Trudeau and notorious Republican
Continue readingAlberta Politics: MP Wai Young’s lines were flubbed, but nevertheless they sound like a cynical Harper Government talking point
PHOTOS: The Cone of Silence – it just doesn’t work for anyone any more. Below: Conservative MP Wai Young, Conservative PM Stephen Harper and Jesus, whose position on Canadian politics is unknown. It seems likely Vancouver South MP Wai Young fumbled a cynical Harper Government talking point when she claimed
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Liberal dissenter says Conservative Senators ignored advice from police in report on preventing terrorism
PHOTO: Alberta Senator Grant Mitchell with the Senate Chamber in the background (from his website). Conservative Senators on the Upper Chamber’s Standing Committee on National Security and Defence were not interested in the strongest recommendation by police and security experts who testified before the panel, its Liberal Deputy Chair told
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Was the Senate report on ‘countering’ the threat of terrorism intended to incite hatred for political gain?
PHOTOS: Conservative members of the Senate of Canada answer questions about their “interim report” on countering terrorist threats to Canada. Actual Conservative Senators may not appear exactly as illustrated – but close enough, unfortunately. Below: Liberal senator Grant Mitchell of Alberta, who dissented from the report; former British MP George
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Annual message to Calgary Stampede: real men don’t hurt animals for entertainment
PHOTOS: Stampede chuckwagon races – exciting for spectators, but deadly and cruel for horses. Real men don’t hurt animals for entertainment. There will be a safety “review” after the death of a fourth horse on Sunday at the 2015 Calgary Stampede, which is now mercifully over. Oh, please! There will
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Reunite Alberta’s right? The Great Wildrose Experiment is going to be hard to undo
PHOTOS: Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean at the Calgary Stampede. Too country to be electable in the new Alberta? (Photo from Mr. Jean’s Flickr account.) Below: Former Harper strategist Ken Boessenkool and former Harper speechwriter Paul Bunner, both involved in Alberta’s “reunite the right” movement. (Photos grabbed from their Facebook
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why stop with just one religion? Shouldn’t Ottawa certify clerics for all religions, plus martial arts instructors?
PHOTOS: The Senate of Canada, also known as “the Red Chamber,” possibly for its adoption of tactics for dealing with religion reminiscent of two large communist countries. Actual Canadian Senators may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Andrew P.W. Bennett, Canada’s first “Ambassador for Religious Freedom” and a cantor at
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Will Canadian troops in Ukraine have to train radical Islamist volunteers said to be tied to ISIS?
PHOTOS: Defence Minister Jason Kenney explains who Canadian troops will train in Ukraine last fall. Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ukraine in 2010. Photos are from the CBC and the Prime Minister’s Office’s Flickr account. It’s been evident for several months now Ukraine has a problem with neo-Nazis, in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Murky and contradictory poll results, weird timing, unlikely to divert media from its dubious narrative about Alberta’s NDP
PHOTOS: “Press 1 if you support the Wildrose Party …” With the right digital equipment, the whole family can have fun with demon-dialler public opinion polls, even down on the farm in rural Southern Alberta. Below: Novice political columnists learn how to cover the news in Alberta. According to news
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Memo from The Old Copy Editor: The offensive flag in question is not ‘the Stars ‘n’ Bars’
PHOTOS: An offensive symbol on the front of a Canadian truck, right here in Alberta. The Old Copy Editor reminds readers that this is not the Stars ’n’ Bars. Below: HMCS Iroquois back in the day when she still had a gun on her foredeck. The Old Copy Editor reminds
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The effort to engineer regime change in Greece could lead to a much bigger disaster
PHOTOS: Leaders of the Greek military government of 1967 to 1974. Is something similar waiting in the wings if the eurozone leadership’s effort to terrorize the Greeks into voting Yes to never-ending austerity fails today? Below: Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras, former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien and Nobel-Prize-winning American
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Independence Day: an excellent moment to remember Stephen Harper is no ‘Tory’
PHOTOS: Today is Independence Day in the United States, and also in Texas, where this photo was snapped. Below: Stephen Harper, not a Tory, unlike John A. Macdonald, below him, who was. Below both of them, a Hessian soldier gets ready to load up and shoot at an American insurgent.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Lawsuit and ASIRT investigation illuminate the Alberta Tory Party’s existential crisis
PHOTOS: Car 54 where are you? Somewhere in northeast Calgary, by the sound of it. Actual Calgary Police Service officers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below, former Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson (CBC photo) and former Edmonton-Ellerslie PC nomination candidate Balraj Manhas (from his Twitter account). Two news stories
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New Democrats to have real nomination battle in Calgary-Foothills riding
PHOTOS: Skilled polling technicians monitor the interactive voice response equipment the day before Canada Day. Actual Canadian pollsters may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: NDP Calgary-Foothills nomination candidates Anne Wilson and Bob Hawkesworth. Notwithstanding a gloomy demon-dialler poll suggesting voter support has migrated from the NDP Government to the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Happy Canada Day: Alberta has an extra billion, which was good luck for the NDP
PHOTOS: Finance Minister Joe Ceci at yesterday’s news conference, in a government of Alberta photo, imparting the happy news that former premier Jim Prentice’s Tories left $1.1 billion lying around and didn’t bother to tell anyone about it. Below: Opposition Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt and PC Leader Ric McIver. Presumably
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