PHOTOS: Lieutenant-Governor Donald Ethell prepares to read the Speech from the Throne in November 2014. Below: Mr. Ethell again and past lieutenants-governor Lois Hole and Norman Kwong. Photos from the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor.) More significant change is coming to Alberta’s government in the wake of last week’s election of
Continue readingAuthor: David Climenhaga
Alberta Politics: Lobbyists, agencies, government-funded ideological front groups face setbacks in wake of Alberta’s Orange Wave
PHOTOS: The Alberta Legislature Building as it transitions to Orange from Blue. Whatever will the lobbyists do? Below: NDP-connected federal lobbyist Robin Sears and Conservative-associated Alberta lobbyist Hal Danchilla. WANTED: Someone – anyone! – willing to work for major national lobbying firm in Alberta. New Democratic Party connections essential! Orange
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Despite his huge unintended favour to the NDP, U of A chair Doug Goss needs to step aside
PHOTOS: Doug Goss chairs the notorious news conference at which five prominent Edmonton businessmen assailed the New Democrats as amateurs and patronized Albertans about their need to start “thinking straight” mere hours before the May 5 election saw the NDP crush the Tories he supported. Below: Construction company CEO John
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tune up this spring with something new … Alberta’s PCs can find renewal and purpose as something completely different!
PHOTOS: UFA fuel stations today dot Alberta, giving hope to the remnants of the once mighty PC Party’s membership, who could transform the former political entity into something like this. Below: A shifty looking premier John Brownlee, who led his government to an unhappy end, and premier Jim Prentice, who
Continue readingAlberta Politics: And now for the hard part … getting businesses and right-wing commentators to curb their hysteria
PHOTOS: Alberta NDP premier-elect Rachel Notley at the centre of media attention. Below: NDP premiers Dave Barrett of British Columbia and Bob Rae of Ontario, back in the day; columnist and NDP activist Gerald Caplan. And now, the hard part … If you thought overcoming the supposed Progressive Conservative juggernaut
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pinch me! Am I dreaming? Canada’s ‘most conservative’ province elects an NDP majority
PHOTOS: Rachel Notley, Alberta’s premier-elect, smiles at 1,000 or more of her supporters last night in an Edmonton hotel ballroom. Below: Two more views of Ms. Notley during her victory speech. Well, how d’ya like them oranges? Alberta New Democratic Party, 53 seats; Wildrose Party, 20; Progressive Conservative Party, 11;
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP Leader Rachel Notley proves electrifying political speech-making still thrives in Canada
Surrounded by candidates, Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley pauses during her speech as something like 1,500 supporters cheer her on in Edmonton yesterday. Below: Part of the crowd at Sunday’s rally; Ms. Notley interviewed by the media at a post-speech news conference; Ms. Notley during the newser. There may have
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Zombie Confidence Fairy finally rears its head as the 2015 Campaign of Fear gets up steam in Alberta
A group of five prominent Edmonton businessmen with ties to the Prentice Progressive Conservative Party tried to talk some sense into us crazy Albertans yesterday about voting NDP during a news conference in the Melcor Developments’ boardroom in downtown Edmonton. From left to right: John Cameron, Paul Verhesen, Doug Goss,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A vote for the NDP is a vote for change; a vote for the Wildrose Party is a vote for the same old Tory dynasty
PHOTOS: Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley. Below: Premier Jim Prentice, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, neoconservative godfather Preston Manning. With five new polls yesterday showing Alberta’s New Democrats approaching minority government territory and the “ooga-booga” fear campaign against the NDP beginning in earnest, perhaps it’s time for Albertans who urgently want
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If anything, the headlines are getting worse for Jim Prentice and Alberta’s faltering PCs
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Jim Prentice just hasn’t been getting the good headlines a guy in his position would normally be looking for at a time like this. Typical Fort McMurray street scenes from 2013 may not have appeared exactly as illustrated. Below: Actual Tory MLA Mike Allen in his St.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Danielle Smith to former Wildrose supporters: I didn’t leave you, you left me!
Danielle Smith to Wildrose Party members: I didn’t leave you! It was you that left me! Ever since the former Opposition leader shocked Alberta and significant parts of the rest of the country on Dec. 17 by leading a parade of Wildrose Party MLAs over to the Progressive Conservative benches,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: How the mighty have fallen: former finance minister Doug Horner pulls the plug on provincial politics
Doug Horner, who was clearly the best qualified of the three frontrunners in the 2011 race for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, pulled the plug on provincial politics yesterday. Read more on AlbertaPolitics.ca.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: What’s the hurry? Jim Prentice push for early vote feels manipulative, bad for Alberta
Does anybody seriously think Alberta needs another election right now? Yeah, I know, Premier Jim Prentice and his Progressive Conservative legislative caucus want one. But do we need one, right at this particular moment? Read more at AlbertaPolitics.ca.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: What Would Ralph Do? Faced with plummeting oil prices, as a matter of fact, he taxed and spent
What would Ralph do? In a typically lame editorial over the weekend, the Edmonton Sun asked: “If Premier Ralph Klein were facing a $7-billion drop in revenues in the coming year, how would he handle it?” Drawing inspiration from those evangelical Christians whose test for the rightness and righteousness of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Terror as wedge issue: anticipating PM Stephen Harper’s ‘anti-terror’ legislation
It remains to be seen what Prime Minister Stephen Harper will do with his new “anti-terror legislation,” announced in the emotional aftermath of the shooting on Parliament Hill as the story of the murderous rampage in Paris was still unfolding. My guess is Harper himself doesn’t fully know yet because
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Prentice sales tax balloon has Albertans taking note — and potshots
Give Premier Jim Prentice his due, by floating his balloon about a sales tax in Canada’s only remaining sales-tax-free zone he really has Albertans sitting up and taking notice. Read more at AlbertaPolitics.ca.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: More lives than a movie zombie: ‘Canada’s Worst MP’ Rob Anders is back, eyeing Wildrose leadership
Just when we’d despaired of ever hearing again from Rob Anders, the man who will be Canada’s worst Member of Parliament only a little longer, he announced “a sense of mission and duty” has made him contemplate a run at the leadership of Alberta’s foundering Wildrose Party. To read more,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: It’s not spring in Alberta yet, but there are hints of a spring election in the air
There were two hints yesterday that Alberta Premier Jim Prentice is edging closer to calling an early election this spring, maybe three if you’re of a particularly conspiratorial turn of mind. To read more, go to AlbertaPolitics.ca.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Cheap oil’s the disaster it is for Alberta because our province is so badly run
The decline in oil prices to the sub-$50-per-barrel level may not be a pleasant experience for those of us here in Alberta, especially the Progressive Conservative rulers of our province, but it does offer the potential for what might be called a useful teaching and learning moment for other Canadians.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Peace, order and good government: Pondering John A. Macdonald’s legacy on his 200th birthday
Today, or possibly yesterday, is the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Macdonald, first prime minister of Canada, arguably the person most responsible for the creation of our country and surely the one who deserves the most credit for it surviving as long as it has. Read more at
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