OTTAWA – I suppose you could conclude that the spectacle of two leadership candidates actually arguing over tax cuts – with, shockingly, one of them not even in favour! – suggests that the Alberta NDP hasn’t fully transitioned into being a mere progressive conservative party. NDP leadership candidate Sarah Hoffman
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Alberta Politics: Is denigrating women in politics by mocking their appearance OK with the UCP? If it isn’t, the silence is deafening
Even before former health minister and deputy premier Sarah Hoffman’s NDP leadership campaign launch was over Sunday, the first tweets insulting her physical appearance began to appear on the social medial platform previously known as Twitter. Take Back Alberta’s David Parker, who’s now setting the tone for the entire United
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Sarah Hoffman knows who she is and has no apologies – and she wants to lead an Alberta NDP true to its New Democratic roots
First of all, Sarah Hoffman knows who she is and she has no apologies. “Women like me aren’t supposed to be in politics, right? I’m fat. I’m sassy. And I have a really hard time pretending to be somebody that I’m not.” The former NDP health minister calls the completion
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Citing health issues, David Shepherd announces he won’t be joining the NDP leadership race
Citing health challenges, Edmonton-City Centre MLA David Shepherd has announced he will not be joining the Alberta NDP leadership race after all. Mr. Shepherd on the campaign trail shortly before the 2015 election in which he was elected for the first time and the NDP formed government (Photo: David J.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: MLA Rakhi Pancholi formally joins NDP leadership contest, says she could drop consumer carbon tax
Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Rakhi Pancholi formally joined the NDP leadership race yesterday. Candidate Kathleen Ganley (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). This was not exactly a surprise, as Ms. Pancholi, an Edmonton lawyer before starting her career in politics, has made her interest in the province’s top political job quite clear for weeks.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: CTV gets hammered for credulous reporting of dodgy poll by deceptively named company
Sooner or later, every news organization gets sucked in by a questionable story. Reporter Duncan Kinney of The Progress Report (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Best practice suggests the appropriate way to deal with this is to admit everything as soon as you realize what happened, say you’re really, really sorry,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former justice minister Kathleen Ganley makes her bid to lead Alberta NDP official; others to follow soon
Yesterday was the official start of the Alberta NDP leadership race and Kathleen Ganley was the first to make official what pretty well everyone in political Alberta already knew – to wit, that, yes, the former justice minister is running to replace Rachel Notley as the leader of the Opposition
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Nenshimania’ grips social media, but would choosing Calgary’s former mayor to lead Alberta’s NDP really be a good idea?
Before we get carried away by the current outbreak of Nenshimania, let’s just remember that it wasn’t the Alberta Party or the Alberta Liberals that toppled this province’s 44-year Progressive Conservative dynasty in 2015, no matter how much they might wish they had. Departing NDP Leader Rachel Notley in 2019
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Kenneyism: Jason Kenney’s Pursuit of Power’ by Jeremy Appel is a strong second draft of history
Last Summer, Jeremy Appel, one of Alberta’s best young journalists, approached me to ask if I would write a foreword to the book he was completing on Jason Kenney’s big adventure in Alberta, and just what went so wrong for the former federal Conservative cabinet minister then thought to be
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Welcome to Dry February: Don’t worry about Dry 2024, though, the UCP has a ‘Drought Command Team’ for that
Welcome to Dry February: You’re probably going to feel the need for a good stiff drink when you realize just how dry things are likely to be in Alberta this year! Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The United Conservative Government appears to have finally cottoned
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith says she cares deeply about transgender Albertans, then unveils grotesquely harsh, othering policy
Of all the clownish, bizarre, and cynical policies of the United Conservative Party, surely the most grotesque we have seen so far was today’s launch on social media by Premier Danielle Smith of what is sure to become known as the War on Trans Kids. University of Calgary political science
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP claim it’s achieved a significant ‘red tape’ reduction goal isn’t backed up by meaningful facts
The United Conservative Party government patted itself on the back for eliminating one third of the province’s red tape at a poorly staged news conference yesterday in a part of St. Albert’s Arden Theatre usually reverved for the consumption of intoxicating beverages at intermission. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Inside baseball, but important: Alberta NDP announces leadership election campaign dates and details
As promised, the Alberta NDP has now announced the timing and basic rules for the leadership campaign and election to replace Rachel Notley. Candidate Kathleen Ganley (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Thanks principally to Ms. Notley’s success in the 2015 general election, which saw the NDP elect a majority government, this
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It turns out Shoppers Drug Mart clinic plan does nothing to improve access to primary health care in Alberta
The plan announced Thursday by an Ontario-based drugstore chain to add new stores in Alberta and renovate older ones does nothing to improve access to primary health care in this province. A sign inside an Edmonton-area Shoppers store advertises pharmacy services offered (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). So why was it
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith struggles to pump up new drugstore ‘clinics’ as primary care – no slur on pharmacists, but that dog won’t hunt!
The sight yesterday of Premier Danielle Smith and two of her ministers struggling to pump up the tires of a corporate scheme to pass off pharmacists as practitioners of family medicine and their drugstores as clinics was as embarrassing as it was disturbing. Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. CEO Jeff Leger
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith, busy with Tucker Carlson and lesser far-right bloviators, has no time to comment on Edmonton City Hall shooting
From time immemorial it has been understood that when there is a crisis, or in the aftermath of one, leaders are expected to be there to provide hope, offer comfort, demonstrate understanding, and show they are in control. Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, admired, even if not
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If it is to be properly settled, the divisive argument over use of the Emergencies Act needs to go to the Supreme Court
Another day, another fatuous statement from Alberta United Conservative Party attacking the Trudeau Government. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). This time the news hook for the UCP’s fatuity was the ruling by a Federal Court of Canada justice that the Liberal Government’s use of the Emergencies Act on
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Minister’s letter to municipalities demanding an accounting of all federal money they receive is classic UCP red tape
The United Conservative Party Government’s demand that all of Alberta municipalities report any agreements they have in place with the federal government by the end of the month will be expensive and time consuming, especially for Alberta’s largest cities. Former Progressive Conservative Party deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk (Photo: David J.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What does Alberta’s premier have to say about TBA founder’s call for UCP supporters to join NDP to mess up its leadership race?
It would be interesting to know what Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has to say about the call by the founder of her party’s influential Take Back Alberta faction to his supporters to use the NDP’s upcoming leadership race to infiltrate the Opposition party and try to elect its leader. Take
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With UCP support, police chief’s solution to homeless crisis moves ahead, whether Edmonton city council likes it or not
Edmonton’s police chief and the UCP ministers there to support him on his plan to clear Edmonton’s parks and avenues of hundreds of tents housing homeless people seemed antagonistic, annoyed and agitated at yesterday’s government news conference. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). This is evident if you
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