Albertans line up for flu shots at Bonnie Doon Mall in Edmonton yesterday. Actual vaccination lines may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Heath Minister and de facto Alberta health Services chief executive Fred Horne. Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne, who nowadays doubles as the unofficial chief executive officer of
Continue readingAuthor: David Climenhaga
Alberta Diary: Why I voted for Jim Coutts in 1984 and probably would again, a lesson in retail politics
Jim Coutts, son of the Great Plains and, as long-time principal secretary to Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, once said to be the second most powerful person in Canada. (University of Lethbridge photo.) Below: The Lancaster bomber arrives in Nanton, inconveniently huge, but still too small to house a roadside
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Warning to Canadians: Reefer Madness in Colorado and Washington could mean the end of civilization as we know it!
Your intrepid blogger with one of the wholesome and touristic murals of Legal, Alberta – evidence Civilization As We Know It survives in Canada, thank goodness! Note the crowds of tourists. Below: Perfesser Dave; Mural on the Legal Post Office; Mural on the wall of Denver Airport; So, do you
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Happy New Year! Get ready for generational change in Canadian politics
Expect the new faces of Canadian politics to be young faces – like those of Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, 34, shown above with some clapped-out old geezer, and Manitoba MP and former NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton, 31, below. “Something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Top 13 from 2013: Alberta Diary borne ever upward on wings of far-right loons
Ron Paul, the crazy uncle of the American right, surrounded by grinning acolytes at the 2013 conference of the Manning Centre for Undermining Democracy in Ottawa. Putting Dr. Paul here worked before, so maybe it’ll work again! Below: For New Year’s Eve, we show Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who says
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s 13 most under-reported political news stories of 2013
Another aircraft takes off from Fort McMurray International Aerodrome loaded with CO2 captured from Alberta’s Athabasca bitumen sands. The gas will be stored in the basements of Russian buildings as part of a deal worked out through the province’s $2-billion “carbon capture” program. Actual Alberta carbon capture boondoggles may not
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Pretty rich: Manning Centre founder and namesake lectures Ottawa Press Gallery on ethics
The Parliamentary Press Gallery, apparently as seen, sort of, but not quite, by Preston Manning. New ethical guidelines required? Doubtful. Below: The founder and namesake of the Calgary-Based Manning Centre; Senator Mike Duffy. Let me get this straight: the founder and namesake of the Manning Centre presumes to lecture Ottawa’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ice Storm 2013: It’s still an emergency, and the PM is still missing in inaction
Canadian soldiers, summoned by Mayor Mel Lastman, clean up the streets of Toronto after the big dump of 1999. Below: Mr. Lastman. (Photos grabbed from the Toronto Star.) More days of silence from the prime minister of Canada have passed while the citizens of Toronto continue to dig themselves out
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ice storm 2013: Is the Canadian government like the cops – never around when you need them?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper over flooded Calgary last June. Apparently there’s no sign of him anywhere near Toronto now. Below: Then U.S. President George W. Bush over New Orleans in August 2005; Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne; the PM’s unhelpful Tweet from Calgary Sunday night. The Toronto Star reported yesterday that
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Remember the reason for the season: It’s time to put Krampus back into Christmas
Jiggers, look busy, it’s Krampus! And why is this mom giving him the thumbs up, I wonder? Below: Santa Claus, the God of Coca-Cola; Che Guevara; and Jesus Christ. Never mind Jesus Christ! It’s time to put Krampus back into Christmas. Who the hell is Krampus, you wonder? Well, we’ll
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Don’t go cryptic on me, man! Marking 100 years of crosswords with seven letters across
Dave’s Alberta Politics Puzzler: try to solve it if you dare! Click on the image for a larger copy. Below: Crossword inventor Arthur Wynne, MP Brian Jean. Today is the 100th anniversary of the invention of the crossword puzzle. That may explain why Brian Jean, the Conservative MP for Fort
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Shining you on: Alison Redford calls for a little selective sunshine on civil service salaries
The scene in February 2014: CBC investigative journalist Charles Rusnell pores through a list of senior Alberta civil service salaries as horrified deputy ministers and university professors look on. Actual Alberta public employees may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Associate Minister of Accountability, Transparency and Transformation Don Scott, left,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Moving on from the St. Albert Public Library Board: an occasion for bittersweet reflection
Your blogger with some of his fellow library trustees at last night’s farewell performance as chair of the St. Albert Public Library Board. Hasta la vista! Below: St. Albert Place. There’s no sign, but the library’s in there somewhere. ST. ALBERT Last night I attended my last meeting as chair,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: An open letter to Dave Hancock, Deputy Premier: Why you should quit … Now … Really!
Illegal organizations like this continue to operate in Alberta behind closed doors, despite the fact someone may yell … St**ke! … in violation of the Act to Protect Albertans from Inaccurate and Uninformative Bloggers. Actual members of collective bargaining organizations may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta deputy Premier
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The little government that grew: Alison Redford shuffles deckchairs on her cabinet
After her change of heart, Alberta Premier Ebenezer Redford, top left, accompanied by Speaker Gene Zwozdesky in his ceremonial robes, watches as some of the members of her cabinet sit down for an unexpected dinner of Christmas turkey. Actual Alberta Progressive Conservative movers and shakers may not appear exactly as
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Who gets muzzled next by unconstitutional Redford Government laws? Environmentalists?
Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk, in motorcycle sidecar, gives the order to go after a pesky trade unionist’s blog. But look out! Alison Redford’s Alberta Thought Police may already have their eyes on you! Actual Redford cabinet ministers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Then again, new uniforms for cabinet and
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Nelson Mandela: ‘An international emblem of dignity and forbearance’
Nelson Mandela, in about 1964. Nelson Mandela is the father of modern South Africa, but he belongs to all humanity now, and all of humanity seems ready to embrace him at last. The New York Times accurately observed that Mr. Mandela, who died today at the great age of 95,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Resolving ‘Tobaccogate’ – Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion … but not necessarily in Alberta
Where there’s smoke, ummm…. there’s smoke. Got that? Actual Alberta government tobacco lawyers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta Ethics Commissioner Neil Wilkinson. The astonishing thing about yesterday’s ruling by Alberta’s Ethics Commissioner exonerating Alison Redford in the “Tobaccogate” affair is not that Neil Wilkinson concluded no wrong
Continue readingAlberta Diary: If the deputy premier wants free speech for Ukraine so badly, why is he attacking it in Alberta?
Alberta Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk in the Rotunda of the Alberta Legislature. Note, in the background at left, Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith. Below, a recent Twitter message from Mr. Lukaszuk, an inveterate and confrontational Tweeter, who thinks your free speech rights are a matter of LOL and #wink. Last
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Hell freezes over in Alberta: Right-wing Wildrose Party sides with unions, sort of, over unconstitutional Tory bills
AUPE President Guy Smith, left, with Alberta Liberal MLA David Swann and Wildrose House Leader Rob Anderson on the steps of the Alberta Legislature last night. Below: Part of the crowd … the pots and pans start to come out. With blizzard conditions prevailing throughout most of Alberta today, it
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