A poster advertising last night’s NDP-Wildrose leaders’ debate at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Below: Odd couple Brian Mason and Danielle Smith, captured in electrons by Dave Cournoyer of the Daveberta.ca blog. Alberta New Democratic Party Leader Brian Mason and Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith debated each other at
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Alberta Diary: Advice for those awaiting ‘the Big One’ from the CFIB later today… have grain of salt at hand
A Canadian Federation of Independent Business technician puts the finishing touches on today’s “report” on retirement savings. (Photo grabbed from AstroTurf.com) Actual CFIB operatives may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: One of them, Dan Kelly. There really is a pension crisis in Canada, but it’s not the one the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: 70-plus AHS VPs over the side: Alberta doesn’t reinvent the health care system – sort of…
Another visually riveting moment in the history of Alberta Health Services – from left to right, CEO Chris Eagle, Health Minister Fred Horne and just-appointed Deputy Health Minister Janet Davidson at yesterday’s news conference in Edmonton, exactly as illustrated. Below: NDP Leader Brian Mason speaks for the opposition; new AHS
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Got trouble with ‘overbearing urban planners’? The Manning Centre wants to help!
A civic election all-candidates’ meeting in Calgary. “Why don’t we pass the time with a game of solitaire?” Actual Manning Centre supported candidates may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Manning Centre namesake Preston Manning; Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi; Calgary developer Cal Wenzel (CTV photo). If on Oct. 21 the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Minister’s F-Bomb illustrates the lamentable state of Alberta’s political discourse
A cheerful looking Doug Griffiths, back when he was running against Alison Redford for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. Below: Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. Many of us were asking ourselves yesterday afternoon if Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths had really dropped an F-Bomb on the Wildrose Party?
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Labour Day, 2013, in North America: Facing up to improving society for everyone
Striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. Martin Luther King played an active role in their struggle. Below: Striking Fast food workers in New York in 2013; Dr. King addressing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963; marchers on the National Mall in Washington. With Labour
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Grass crime no! Grain crime yes! The inconsistencies of Prime Minister Harper
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stands with Rick Strankman and some of the other law-breaking farmers the PM pardoned in 2011. (Photo grabbed from the Drumheller Mail.) Below: Mr. Strankman, now Wildrose MLA for Drumheller-Stettler, and Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is open
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Queue-jumping inquiry report surely wounds Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman
Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith, looking for all the world like a future premier, lands a few easy punches on the government after the release yesterday of the health care queue-jumping inquiry report. Below: Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman and former AHS CEO Stephen Duckett, both assailed in the report
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 6: Still asking for money … in tiny increments
On hand: one cool election lawn sign. Needed: funds to help print additional copies. The pitch is simple: Small donations can help make a big difference! As previously noted in this space, a big part of running for public office is asking for campaign donations. Some people can’t stand it,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: CRTC ruling notwithstanding, Sun News and its campaign for subsidies will continue
Sun News Network gets ready to take Phase II of its campaign for subsidies on the road. Actual action plans by the right-wing broadcaster in light of the CRTC’s denial Wednesday of free cash from consumers and a favourable location on the TV tuner may not turn out to be
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Adieu to Mark Lisac, hello to Ric Dolphin – not exactly the same kettle of fish!
The estimable Mark Lisac, at left, interviews Ted Morton, the worst premier Alberta never had, back in 2011. Below: Insight Into Government Publisher Ric Dolphin, photo grabbed from his Twitter account. Mark Lisac’s Insight Into Government newsletter was always worth reading. This retro-style, subscription-only publication – which was emphatically not
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ontario’s by-elections: potentially a perfectly acceptable result for Premier Kathleen Wynne
Ontario Conservative Tim Hudak’s Vandal horde sacks Rome Upon Lake Ontario, the media narrative for last Thursday’s Ontario by-elections that was sensibly ignored by the province’s voters. Below, Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne. Was she taking a page from the Book of Alison Redford, also below? One can read too
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 5: Praise, political priorities and poetry
Yours Truly visiting the Texas House of Representatives in the State Capitol building in Austin, Texas – and thinking about what to say to Ryan Hastman on EdmontionPolitics.com. Below: The author with LBJ, sort of, and looking particularly fierce for the benefit of our Texan hosts. Last week, just as
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The optics of politics in Alberta, or how to stay focused and in the picture…
Your blogger with the premier of Alberta. Somewhere below: Your blogger with a person who very well could be the next premier of Alberta. Or not. ST. ALBERT There’s something to be said for getting along with people even if you don’t agree with them. Seriously, you can get stuff
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Regional planning, an idea whose time has come again, whether Redwater likes it or not!
The region covered by Alberta’s Capital Region Board. Below: St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, Redwater Mayor Mel Smith and Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney. ST. ALBERT The Town of Redwater has petitioned Alberta’s Municipal Affairs Minister to be allowed to quit the Capital Region Board – a plea that no
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ill wind blows no good for Alberta PCs: caucus member arrested on U.S. prostitution rap
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Mike Allen and Alberta Premier Alison Redford in happier times (Edmonton Sun Photo). Below: Mr. Allen’s Minnesota police mug shot; the former Wildrose MLA for the riding, Guy Boutilier. The sordid arrest in St. Paul, Minn., of the Hon. Member for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo puts the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Chutzpah and corporate ‘self-regulation’ won’t make Canadians trust our oil-transport infrastructure
Rail tanker cars hang precariously over the Bow River in Calgary before their successful removal from a flood-damaged railway bridge last month. (Toronto Star photo.) Below: Humourist Leo Rosten, who usefully defined chutzpah for English speakers in only 26 words. ST. ALBERT Surely the pipeline advocates who accused New Democratic
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 4: On dishing it out it print … and taking it
If you’ve dished it out in print, like this guy did from the look of him, you’ve got to be prepared to take it. In real life, that was Bogey in Deadline USA. Below: The actual author of this blog with Danielle Smith, just before she announced she was seeking
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Context, Tory MP Russ Hiebert’s shifty campaign for Bill C-377, and me
The Parliamentary trolley, on its way back from the Senate, stops in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in the Langevin Block. The dog at left was never owned by Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King, who was well known in his day as a labour expert, although it clearly does
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Dairy Volume 3: My website arrives
Here’s a peek at the interior of DavidClimenhaga.ca – my campaign website. Below: Yours Truly, looking serious. It’s about the point in a campaign where voters start paying attention to who the candidates are and what each of them stands for. So I’m pleased to be able to tell you
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