PHOTOS: The government of Alberta’s spin on an increase in the minimum wage – what a contrast to the grim excuse-making of a few months ago! Below: Jobs Minister Lori Sigurdson (from the Premier of Alberta’s Flickr account), Premier Rachel Notley (photo by Dave Cournoyer) and Alberta Chambers of Commerce
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Alberta Politics: Civil disobedience, Alberta-style: obviously it’s only an outrage when non-conservatives talk about it
PHOTOS: Which one looks most like a certain Wildrose critic, back in the day? Just asking. Below: Wildrose MLA and frontbencher Rick Strankman, who was pardoned by PM Stephen Harper. Below them, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and enviro activist and Alberta values violator Mike Hudema plus his scary book. VICTORIA,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Reflections on the end of the Alberta NDP’s first session: voters want the government to succeed, the Opposition and media seek failure
PHOTOS: Members of the Press Gallery mark the end of the session in the Alberta Legislature by showering paper on MLAs. That, of course, was back in the day when the press still used presses, and wrote their reports on paper. Below: Premier Rachel Notley and Environment Minister Shannon Phillips
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Government by sneak: the preferred Harper Conservative response to thorny issues and hard-fought elections
PHOTOS: Poultry farmers not exactly like these, and dairy farmers as seen below, are facing sneaky attacks by the Harper Government. And speaking of the chickens coming home to roost, below them is a screen shot of former Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro. VICTORIA, B.C. Same sex marriage advocates and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Perfesser Dave explains ethics in lobbying and how to manage political marriages
VICTORIA, B.C. Some stories are just too confusing for ordinary bloggers to explain. That’s when we turn to the expert knowledge offered by such distinguished academics as Perfesser Dave, The Answer Guy ™, Canada’s No. 1 expert in politics, now at the Observatory of Political Phenomena in Victoria, B.C. As
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley offers a dignified argument for healing and acknowledgement of past wrongs against First Nations citizens
PHOTOS: The damage done by residential schools is part of every Canadian’s legacy and the sooner we acknowledge that, the better off we all will be. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. Premier Christy Cark, singer Raffi Cavoukian, Opposition Leader Brian Jean and Tory MLA Sandra Jansen. VICTORIA, B.C. From
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Alberta is not Greece yet’ … Why do we have to pay for Jack Mintz’s mythmaking?
PHOTOS: Calgary in the near future, as fancifully described by the usual suspects at the University of Calgary, if the NDP doesn’t start delivering Conservative polices with alacrity. Below: U of Calgary Professor Jack Mintz, grabbed from Imperial Oil’s annual report; former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge. VICTORIA, B.C.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Timing of NDP election finance bill’s planned implementation a direct shot at foundering Tories
PHOTOS: NDP Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley at yesterday morning’s press conference on Bill 1, An Act to Renew Democracy in Alberta. Below: Premier Rachel Notley, PC Leader Ric McIver. With Bill 1, An Act to Renew Democracy in Alberta, there can be no question that Alberta’s NDP government is playing
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Speech from the Throne: NDP’s new political funding rules turn the Tories’ world upside down
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley gives a thumbs up in the Legislature for her government’s Speech from the Throne yesterday. Below: Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell reads the speech (Government of Alberta photos). There weren’t any real surprises in the Notley Government’s first Speech from the Throne yesterday, although the ban
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Something new, and probably something old too: Reflections on the meaning of Alberta throne speeches, NDP and Tory
PHOTOS: Now that’s a throne speech! The Queen addresses Parliament in the Senate Chamber in Ottawa in 1957 as prime minister John Diefenbaker, on her right, listens to his government’s plans, no doubt with a great sense of satisfaction. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Alberta Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Banning corporate and union election cash: not just the right thing for the NDP to do, but the smart thing too
PHOTOS: A group of Albertans studies the effects of corporate cash on the conservative domination of North American politics. Actual Albertans may not appear exactly as illustrated. Regardless, Alberta’s NDP government may be about to try to fix this problem. Below: Parkland Institute charts showing the percentage of election campaign
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Inside baseball: Legislature picks Speaker; Albertans to get first glimpse of NDP policy Monday
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean, at left, and Premier Rachel Notley, far right, drag the new Speaker, Medicine Hat MLA Bob Wanner, to his chair, a tradition dating to the days when chairing the Legislature wasn’t as desirable a job as it is today. Below: Another shot of Mr. Wanner,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Grim Athabasca University report says ‘future is now,’ but faces a different future than the one its authors anticipated
PHOTOS: Athabasca University’s spooky headquarters in the forest near the town of Athabasca. Below: Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater NDP MLA Colin Piquette, AU President Peter MacKinnon and Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre Wildrose MLA Jason Nixon, once a member of Dr. MacKinnon’s task force on AU sustainability. Athabasca University’s three-day convocation begins today, but what
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Annals of Government Relations: B.C. lobbyists with faint Dipper links keep turning up in Alberta
PHOTOS: A line of “government relations” specialists with packs full of resumes mentioning past NDP connections make their way over a mountain pass from British Columbia into Alberta. Actual lineups of B.C.-based lobbyists may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Brad Zubyk, principal of Vancouver-based Wazuku Advisory Group, which is
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Starting with the A’s in Alberta: Archer is in; Asbell is on the way out
PHOTOS: A chaotic scene, not atypical of Alberta labour relations in the Age of Asbell, shot with a phone camera in the offices of the Alberta Labour Relations Board in Edmonton. Below: ALRB Chair Mark Asbell and former CBC reporter John Archer. Sorry about the lousy photos, but, hey, I’m
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP health minister’s decision to drop Tories’ phony AHS ‘decentralization’ is no loss to anyone
PHOTOS: Alberta Health Services, as originally envisaged by the Tories and described by the Wildrose Party. Below: Another AHS reorganization as seen by the NDP. Below that train wreck, Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman. Alberta’s two right-wing opposition parties are said to be in a lather because of Health Minister
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tory-linked lobbying firm hires former Canadian Labour Congress president and former B.C. NDP minister
PHOTOS: Lobbyists head out to provide “strategic counsel” to Alberta’s new NDP government. Can you spot the recently hired New Democrats among them? No? Well, neither can I. Actual Alberta lobbyists may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Former CLC president Ken Georgetti, former B.C. NDP party president and cabinet
Continue readingAlberta Politics: $15 is too low, and three years is too long to wait, for a higher Alberta minimum wage
PHOTOS: Greetings from Halifax, where a minimum wage almost as low as Alberta’s isn’t half of what a two-earner family needs to live a decent life. Can it be much different in Calgary or Edmonton? Below: Enthusiastic Tweeter Dan Kelly’s Twitter thumbnail; Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci. HALIFAX, N.S. The
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ours is smaller than yours! With 2 Sky Palace killers and 9 members, PC shadow cabinet outdoes Notley Cabinet … sort of
The PC Alberta Drum Band. It’s not this bad, but close enough. Below: Grant Notley, Raj Pannu and Brian Mason. HALIFAX, N.S. Well, we have to give them this much: the Alberta Progressive Conservatives have managed to produce a shadow cabinet even smaller than Premier Rachel Notley’s minimalist ministry! Not
Continue readingAlberta Politics: One government change and Big Tobacco’s effort to sidestep menthol cigarette ban goes up in smoke
PHOTOS: Young cigarette smokers. Youthful menthol smokers in Alberta may not appear exactly as illustrated, although it’ll stunt their growth just the same. Below: Health Minister Sarah Hoffman and former health minister Stephen Mandel. HALIFAX, N.S. What next? Apparently Alberta’s NDP government is now making decisions based on the best
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