Found on the Internet, apropos of nothing in particular, Ric McIver and friend. Below: Craig B. Chandler of the Progressive Group for Independent Business. Up to now, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ric McIver has quite successfully flown under the radar about his ideological beliefs. Indeed, very little has been written
Continue readingAuthor: David Climenhaga
Alberta Diary: Conservative former Edmonton mayor endorses conservative future Alberta premier: Yawn
Former Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and PC leadership candidate Jim Prentice, obviously pleased to be in one another’s company, at a news conference yesterday in Edmonton at which Mr. Mandel endorsed Mr. Prentice. Below: The other Tory leadership candidates, Ric McIver and Thomas Lukaszuk, and New Democrat MLA Rachel Notley,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Master of survey spinning takes potshot at poll showing Jim Prentice far ahead in Progressive Conservative leadership race
Stephen Carter, back in the day, looking very pleased with himself. Below: Former Carter clients Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Alison Redford. Below them: Pollster Janet Brown. What would happen if a new poll put Thomas Lukaszuk in third place in the Tory leadership race? Oh, wait! The former labour
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Don’t let any ‘celebrities’ tell you different, we’ve got friends of science here in Alberta
Don’t worry: you have absolutely nothing to do with the apocalypse. You might as well mine more bitumen while you wait for it. Below: Barry Cooper; another version of the Friends of Science billboard; yet another great billboard supporting democracy and the people. Billboard photos found on the Internet. Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Right-wing Rage Machine readies the Full Neil Young Treatment for Archbishop Desmond Tutu
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu will now be subjected to the full Neil Young Treatment for speaking out against overdevelopment of Alberta’s Bitumen Sands. (CBC Photo.) Below: Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ric McIver; Mr. Young, back in the days when Albertans were still allowed to love him. Retired South African
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A blast from the past: Oh, those Tories and their stories!
A postal worker searches for David Climenhaga’s lost letter from the minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ray Speaker. Nope. That’s not it … Nothing’s turned up just yet. Below: Mr. Speaker and NDP MLA Ed Ewasiuk. On May 7, 1991, Ray Speaker, the minister of municipal affairs in the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson suffers torments as Allan Hunsperger and the Lake of Fire return to haunt the Wildrose Party
Wildrose strategists illustrate the party’s recent strategy on the Lake of Fire issue. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working … again. The Wildrose Party’s actual senior strategists may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Pastor Allan Hunsperger, Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson, and the Airdrie Tower, thought to be the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ric McIver Progressive Conservative leadership campaign lurches to life as Hancock Government sends mixed signals
Tory leadership candidate Ric McIver, shown on his extremely uninformative campaign website. Below: Education Minister Jeff Johnson and newly appointed Jobs, Skills, Etc. Minister Kyle Fawcett. Ho-hum. After days of virtual silence, former infrastructure minister Ric McIver made the first official appearance of his campaign for the leadership of Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Brent Rathgeber may not a be a Tory any more, but he still supports the Harper Government’s worst ideas
Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber getting scrummed by the media in his St. Albert office the day after he resigned from the Conservative Parliamentary Caucus. (Photo grabbed from Mr. Rathgeber’s website.) Below: Mr. Rathgeber looking at the camera. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Notwithstanding his much-publicized break with the Harper Conservatives, Independent
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Edmonton New Democrat David Eggen is first to join Alberta’s only interesting political leadership race
David Eggen at the Legislature, hanging around with your blogger. Below: the Alberta NDP Legislative caucus, from left to right, Deron Bilous, Brian Mason, David Eggen and Rachel Notley. The latest Alberta political leadership candidate says his name means “the sharp end of the axe” in Norwegian, which would sound
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Everything the Alberta Progressive Conservatives Always Wanted to Know About Opposition* … (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Alberta Politics, The Movie: Woody Allen and actual Hollywood movie stars may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Harry Strom, the last Social Credit premier of Alberta. Let’s imagine for a moment that the Progressive Conservative Party – led by Jim Prentice or whomever – loses the next Alberta general
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Post-fight analysis: Round 1 to Jim Prentice as Wildrose comes out swinging over debt remark
Jim Prentice and Wildrose champion Rob Anderson square off in Round 1, as members of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce look on. Actual scenes from Alberta political discourse may not appear exactly as illustrated. Judge Dave gives Round 1 to Mr. Prentice. Below: The real Mr. Prentice and the real
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Thomas Lukaszuk throws his hat in the ring – although which ring is open to debate
Self-described anti-establishment Alberta PC leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk in a jaunty self-mocking portrait with your blogger. Below: Tory heir apparent Jim Prentice in another weirdly Joe-Clark-like pose found on the Internet; candidate Ric McIver. Thomas Lukaszuk visited Premier pro tempore Dave Hancock yesterday morning to resign as Alberta’s labour minister
Continue readingAlberta Diary: OK, Jim Prentice really loves Alberta … but can Alberta love Jim Prentice?
Jim Prentice officially announcing his candidacy yesterday. Is it just me, or is there the faintest air of Joe Clark about the man? Below left: Mr. Prentice surrounded by some of the usual suspects in Edmonton today, from a photo snatched from the PC Party’s Twitter feed. Below right: Alison
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Chutzpah Alert! Premier Dave Hancock explains why Sky Palaces and similar uproars are nothing but ‘distractions’
Alison Redford’s planned rooftop apartment, high atop the Federal Building in Edmonton. The Alberta Legislative Building is visible in the background. Actual secret places of the modern world may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A shot of the actual Sky Palace under construction. I don’t know about you, but
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Where’s the beef? Ottawa and the fast-food lobby are serving nothing but baloney about the need for Temporary Foreign Workers
Whatever it says on the menu, fast food restaurant owners, other employers of temporary foreign workers and their pals in the Harper Government are serving baloney. Below: Dominique M. Gross of Simon Fraser University; Charles Decatur “C.D.” Howe. Advocates of the Harper Government’s so-called Temporary Foreign Workers Program are using
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Finance Minister Doug Horner meekly throws his support to heir apparent Jim Prentice
Alberta Progressive Conservative Party activists surround leadership candidate Jim Prentice at a recent $500-a-plate fund-raising dinner in Edmonton. Finance Minister Doug Horner is visible immediately to Mr. Prentice’s right. The painting in the background illustrates Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Actual Progressive Conservative Party members may not appear exactly as illustrated.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Explaining the screams for easy-to-exploit Temporary Foreign Workers: Canadians are just too uppity for many low-wage employers
Chinese workers building Canadian railways – another sordid story of “temporary foreign workers.” Below: B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark rose in that province’s Legislative Building in Victoria yesterday and apologized for a stream of racist laws and policies
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Cone of Silence descends over deeds of Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice’s secret agents, real or imagined
An unidentified person, left, said to be close to undeclared Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice, waits for the Cone of Silence to descend over his discussions with a member of Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith’s inner circle, also unidentified, at right. Actual unidentified anonymous political agents may or may not appear
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Shorn locks and missing bowtie suggest Thomas Lukaszuk’s Progressive Conservative leadership announcement is imminent
A screen grab of Thomas Lukaszuk’s new boyishly coiffed, bowtie-free look. Below: Mr. Lukaszuk shortly after his demotion from deputy premier by Alison Redford; in distant, preppier, times; and as Lord Greystoke. (All photos grabbed from the Internet.) Sporting a new haircut and with his trademark bowtie tossed aside, Labour
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