Trying to change the channel: Unfortunately for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the remote seems to have disappeared under a pillow and the movie stuck on the TV screen stars Mike Duffy, shown above moving toward the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary Friday night. Actual Canadian Senators may not appear exactly
Continue readingAuthor: David Climenhaga
Alberta Diary: Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Halloween 2013: a meditation on power
Prime Minister Stephen Harper just one year ago. Actual Canadian prime ministers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Senator Mike Duffy and former Harper cabinet member Jim Prentice. Last Halloween, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper went trick ’n’ treating, he was monarch of all he surveyed. This year, he’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: How will we get back to the 19th Century without Stephen Harper? Why he should go, and won’t
A forlorn Richard Nixon waves goodbye to Washington for the last time from the steps of the presidential helicopter on Aug. 9, 1974. Don’t count on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do the same thing any time soon, even if it destroys his party. Below: Stephen Harper looking appropriately gloomy
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ceremonial Speech to Chamber starts session, sitting or whatever: Some Honourable Members, ‘Arf! Arf!’
Heather Forsyth, who after years in the Alberta Legislature has suffered significant hearing loss, and Quill, the topic of the most interesting Alberta news story of the day. Tout le monde Alberta news media were busily explaining yesterday afternoon that a new session of the Alberta Legislature had commenced at
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Are rats abandoning a sinking Alberta Tory ship? The evocative departure of Doug Elniski
Doug Elniski, back and centre, always the tallest guy in the room, at Alison Redford’s side on Oct. 2, 2011. Below: Kirk Patterson aboard Silk Purse somewhere, by the look of the clipping snatched from his Facebook page, in Japan; the ingenious Sir Winston Churchill. My university friend Kirk Patterson,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Disillusioned by Tory hard line, one union’s ad campaign suggests tilt toward Wildrose
“The Alberta Way,” a hard-hitting 30-second TV spot from the province’s largest union, attacks the Redford Government’s broken promises and hard-right policies. It will go into heavy rotation on Monday. Below: Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith; PC Environment Minister Diana McQueen. Never mind for the moment which of Alberta’s right-wing parties
Continue readingAlberta Diary: ‘Conservative activist’ seeks Brent Rathgeber’s Edmonton-St. Albert Parliamentary seat
Michael Cooper, left, celebrates after a fashion the May 2, 2011, federal election victory of Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber, as Mr. Rathgeber celebrates it in a more traditional and energetic way. (St. Albert Gazette photo.) Below: Mr. Cooper’s official campaign website photo; Mr. Rathgeber not long after his break
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s Wildrose Party strategists plan to have drained the Lake of Fire by Sunday
Explaining the new rules to the Wildrose Party’s many social conservatives. Wildrose political strategists may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Social conservative pastor and former Wildrose candidate Allan Hunsperger preaching; the late Oscar Wilde being the life of the party. To paraphrase Johnny Cash, they fell into a burning
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Coming soon, perhaps, a legitimate reason for Canadians to thank Conrad Black!
Linda McQuaig addresses the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees annual convention in 2008. (AUPE photo taken by Daryl Dyck.) Below: Conrad Black in the uniform of the Governor General’s Foot Guard, and not, as you may have thought, that of a security guard. It occurs to me that we Canadians
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Give me a minute, people … there’s some interference or something …
Count on it, Alison Redford is getting up to something as we wait for a clearer picture. Illustration by William Prettie, currently exhibiting in Cambridge, Ont. Regular blog posts will return soon.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 18: It’s election day today, it’s important; please make sure you vote!
Today’s St. Albert voting locations. Today is election day in St. Albert, and it’s hard to imagine a more important election for our community in recent years. The intervention by well-funded anonymous groups on behalf of an agenda-driven slate of candidates makes this election just too important to ignore. If
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 17: Last advance poll at St. Albert Place today
St. Albert place on Canada Day. The fireworks, as a matter of fact, are exploding right over the East Boardroom, where an advance poll will be held from 9 a.m. to noon today. (St. Albert Leader photo) Once more, with feeling: Monday is election day, but the final advance poll
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 16: Final advance poll at St. Albert Place tomorrow
St. Albert place on Canada Day. The fireworks, as a matter of fact, are exploding right over the East Boardroom, where an advance poll will be held tomorrow. (St. Albert Leader photo) Monday is election day, but the final advance poll will be held from 9 a.m. to noon tomorrow
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 15: When you vote on Monday, vote thoughtfully
Here’s a video of my opening remarks to the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce all-candidates’ forum last night. Here are my opening remarks at the fair and well-run St. Alberta Chamber of Commerce all-candidates forum at the St. Albert Inn last night: My name is David Climenhaga and I’m asking
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 14: ‘You’ll hear no irresponsible calls from me to slash programs’
Here’s a video of my opening remarks to the St. Albert Taxpayers Association’s all-candidates’ forum last night. Mayor Nolan Crouse, at left, and candidate Ted Durham, are visible in the frame. Here’s the heart of my opening remarks to the St. Alberta Taxpayers Association (SATA) all-candidates forum at the Arden
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 13: A proposal for one all-candidates’ forum on Oct. 16
The Enjoy Centre. Below: The Arden. Ummmm …. They’re both attractive venues! Is there any way we St. Albert city council candidates can all agree – for the sake of the citizens we are vying to represent – to all attend a single all-candidates forum on Oct. 16? I asked
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 12: Anonymity, advertising, Astro-Turf … & advice in St. Albert
Where’s Toto when St. Albert needs him? And what does he think about St. Albert’s leash bylaw? Here’s Toto, back in the day, exposing the Great Oz behind the green curtain. St. Albertans are curious about the anonymous groups trying to influence our city’s municipal election. At least one group
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 11: The uncomfortable truth about taxes and radical tax cuts
Radical cuts can’t be accomplished without harm – anyone who says different, like the city council candidate above, is presenting an illusion. Actual St. Albert city council candidates may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The philosopher Aristotle. A St. Albertan has asked me the tough question that all city
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 10: The ‘Me Card’ comes to St. Albert library users
Your candidate for St. Albert City Council, looking happy while hanging around St. Albert’s terrific public library. And why wouldn’t he? Now the library offers even more to patrons. Below: The “Me Card” icon. Today marks the start of Canadian Library Month, so it was appropriate for now to be
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 9: Sidewalks, snow, public transit & Adlai Stevenson
A sidewalk snow removal machine in Ottawa. Below: Better a hole in the shoe than a hole in the head, as the slogan said. Adlai Stevenson in ’52, campaigning in a bow tie! One of the joys of running for public office in St. Albert, win or lose, is the
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