Alberta Politics: Ethics Commissioner says she’ll investigate Smith’s conversation with rebel pastor; Premier’s Office clams up

In a terse statement this morning, the office of Danielle Smith said Alberta’s premier “was recently contacted by the Ethics Commissioner, who is undertaking an investigation into whether or not the Premier has interfered with the administration of justice in relation to a COVID prosecution. NDP Justice Critic Irfan Sabir

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Alberta Politics: Premier changes Pastorgate story again, claiming she thought preacher facing charges just wanted to talk politics

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has changed her story again about her controversially congenial telephone conservation with street preacher Artur Pawlowski about the criminal charges against him.  Controversial street preacher Artur Pawlowski (Photo: Independence Party of Alberta). This time, using the Saturday morning Your Province, Your Premier call-in radio program provided

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Alberta Politics: Embarrassed by premier’s telephone tête-à-tête with extremist facing criminal charges, UCP retreats to its safe space: Law ’n’ Order rhetoric

Sounding a mite panicked by the negative public response to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s willingness to bend rules to help political allies in trouble with the law, the United Conservative Party has retreated to its ideological safe space: Law ’n’ Order, with a side of dog-whistles and urban crime stereotypes. 

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Alberta Politics: Alberta premier hides behind lawsuit that hasn’t happened to dodge reporters’ difficult questions

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hid behind a lawsuit that doesn’t exist yesterday to avoid answering reporters’ questions about her sympathetic telephone chat with an unsavoury political ally facing criminal charges. Premier Smith’s controversial telephonic interlocutor, Artur Pawlowski (Photo: Facebook/Artur Pawlowski). If this gambit proves anything, I suppose, it’s that there’s

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Alberta Politics: If you’re not talking to a Crown prosecutor, it doesn’t count as interference – that’s the UCP’s story, and they’re stickin’ to it! 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith never spoke directly to a Crown Prosecutor when she set out to interfere in the administration of justice on behalf of pandemic public health scofflaws, and nothing else matters. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith with the giant sausage statue in Mundare, Alberta (Photo: Facebook/Danielle Smith). That’s the

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Alberta Politics: UCP plans to let private medical corporations provide some surgeries without qualified anesthesiologists in the Operating Room

I bet you didn’t know the United Conservative Party Government plans to let private medical corporations operating their own facilities perform surgeries even if the person delivering the anesthesia is not a physician specializing in anesthesiology. Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Alberta political blogger and corporate and

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Alberta Politics: So what kind of UCP candidates will replace Finance Minister Travis Toews and Environment Minister Sonya Savage?

Friday’s revelation that neither Finance Minister Travis Toews nor Environment Minister Sonya Savage would be running for re-election in the expected May 29 provincial vote quickly gave way to speculation about who, or at least what kind of candidate, would replace them in the short spell remaining till the election

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Alberta Politics: You can never believe anything until it’s been officially denied: The UCP just denied it wants to privatize health care

If it is truly an axiom of practical politics that you can you can never believe anything until it’s been officially denied, we now have confirmation Danielle Smith’s government is bent on privatizing health care in Alberta.  Home of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, publisher of Premier

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Alberta Politics: China’s spending money to undermine Canadian democracy? If they’ll just leave us alone, we’ll take care of it ourselves! 

If the People’s Republic of China is trying as hard as the Conservative Party of Canada insists it is to undermine Canadian democracy, it’s hard to understand why they’re bothering.  Retired Canadian national security advisor Wesley Wark (Photo: Centre for International Governance Innovation). After all, if they’ll just leave us

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Alberta Politics: ‘Tylenot’ is here at last, premier and health minister proclaim, just in time for no one to want to buy the stuff

Ridiculed for their weirdly incompetent response to last fall’s shortage of children’s fever medication, which has ended up costing Albertans $80 million for 750,000 bottles of a non-standard product that can’t be bought off the shelf, Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party Government decided to brazen it out instead. NDP Children’s

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Alberta Politics: MLA Dan Williams’ beer guzzling in the Legislature is just another episode in the UCP’s sophomoric obsession with alcohol

Peace River MLA Dan Williams’ distasteful display of beer guzzling on the floor of Alberta’s Legislature last week is just another embarrassing episode in the United Conservative Party’s sophomoric obsession with consumption of alcohol that seems to date back to the selection of Jason Kenney as the party’s first leader. 

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