While thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, were taking part in Pride events throughout Edmonton today, Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party held a private, conservatives-only “Pride Breakfast” a few blocks from the route of the parade along fashionable Whyte Avenue on the city’s south side. This reflects the unique problem Mr.
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Alberta Politics: Hopes and Prayers, Ontario … Now, let’s get back to Dr. Suzuki and the U of A honorary degree …
Premier Doug Ford. You have our hopes and prayers, Ontario. Our hopes and prayers. And I’m sorry for my friends and readers in Ontario … so sorry to have gotten your hopes up by saying I thought the Ontario NDP would win. You should have known better than to listen
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Day We Burned Ole D.C. Down … I blame Stephen Harper for Canada’s latest trade troubles!
I blame Stephen Harper. Face it, Canada’s latest trade troubles wouldn’t have happened without him! If Mr. Harper hadn’t spent $30 million or so of our tax money “commemorating” the War of 1812, who would’ve known our side burned down the White House and sundry other buildings in Washington, D.C.,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: On Chesil Beach by British author Ian McEwan leads Audreys Books Edmonton Bestsellers List this week
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended June 3, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan 2. Full Disclosure – Beverley
Continue readingAlberta Politics: That U of A ‘bailout’ the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s prattling about? Hasn’t happened; isn’t happening; won’t happen …
Good news for Alberta taxpayers! The University of Alberta has not sought, is not seeking, and will not seek a “bailout” – or anything like a bailout – from the taxpayers of Alberta. Let’s say it again: Hasn’t happened. Isn’t happening. Won’t happen. I mention this because of the startling
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kinder, gentler Kenney must be for real! UCP lavishes 13 words of praise on NDP for capping super superintendent salaries!
Alberta’s United Conservative Party generates a lot of noise. Other than the Trans Mountain Pipeline, however, not a lot of it seems to have much to do with the principal issues facing Alberta these days. Education Minister David Eggen’s decision to slap a cap on the outrageous salaries paid to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: CLAC’s big role in the Trans Mountain expansion: Another political pipeline problem in the making?
If Canadians are going to have to pay the $10 to $15-billion cost of expanding the Trans Mountain Pipeline, it’s important they aren’t bound by side deals that are not in the public interest made by the project’s former corporate owner. When Kinder Morgan Inc. was masterminding the controversial megaproject
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP ‘Bubble Zone Bill’ to protect abortion clinic patients and staff passes as UCP Caucus heads for hallway hideouts again
Alberta’s “Bubble Zone Bill” to protect abortion clinic patients and staff from harassment, intimidation and potential violence has been passed by the provincial Legislature. When the vote on Third Reading happened yesterday, the entire United Conservative Party Opposition had once again gone into hiding. They’ve done the same thing every
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Trudeau Liberals call the opposition’s bluff and ‘nationalize’ (sort of, maybe) the Trans Mountain Pipeline
OK, so Ottawa’s going to buy the Trans Mountain Pipeline for $4.5 billion and run it as a Crown corporation. That’s a good start. (Caveats to follow.) Theoretically, it could ensure transparency and accountability, even responsibility, to a business in which the private sector adamantly refuses to deliver any such
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pipeline politics in Canada circa 2018: Destroying the rule of law in order to save it
Obviously, we have to destroy the rule of law in order to save it! With Kinder Morgan Inc.’s do-or-drop-it deadline set to arrive on Thursday, that seems to be the idea behind the argument advanced by the increasingly furious Canadian pipeline lobby that the Trans Mountain Expansion project must be
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Indian Horse by the late Richard Wagamese leads Audreys Books Edmonton Bestseller List for fiction
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and noir-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended May 20, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Indian Horse – Richard Wagamese 2. Warlight – Michael Ondaatje 3.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: 28 years and counting, Conservatives in Alberta and Ontario continue to misrepresent Bob Rae’s record
Now that he’s sworn to be nice to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Opposition Leader Jason Kenney is running against Bob Rae. Ralph Klein was a high school dropout & TV reporter before becoming Mayor. Bob Rae was a Rhodes scholar & accomplished MP before becoming Premier. Who do you think
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Shark Jumping in Alberta: NDP and UCP strive to outdo each other with ridiculous statements
As the Alberta Government’s fight with British Columbia over the Trans Mountain Pipeline takes on comic opera proportions, Premier Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party and Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party Opposition appear to be struggling to see which one can come up with the most ridiculous things to say about
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: Canadians should be on red alert over Redwater Energy case
Guest Post by Regan Boychuk Regan Boychuk is an independent researcher in Calgary and part of ReclaimAlberta.ca, which advocates solutions to the crisis of aging and expired Alberta oil and gas wells. He is the former public policy research manager of the Edmonton-based Parkland Institute. DJC It’s time for Albertans to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: 11 days from the brink, and Rachel Notley’s dice roll brings back memories of Mulroney and Meech
Rachel Notley, Alberta’s tough NDP premier who has clearly concluded her government’s survival depends on there being shovels in the ground building a pipeline by the time she asks the lieutenant governor to call an election next year, rolls the dice a lot like Brian Mulroney. Well, not exactly like
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Andrea Horwath is going to win Ontario on June 7 – that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it!
Happy Victoria Day! I’m feeling good about my prediction that the next Premier of Ontario will be Andrea Horwath. When I made that prediction back on Feb. 27, scads of commenters on social media and quite a few on this blog and at Rabble.ca said I was crazy. This being
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Cobra Clutch by A.J. Devlin tops in fiction last week on Audreys Edmonton Bestseller List
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and noir-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended May 13, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. By the way, my apologies to Audreys and the BPAA for missing the previous week’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘NRA Strategy’ to block connection of climate change dots won’t work when the climate disaster’s in B.C.
As fear rises in British Columbia this week along with the province’s record floodwaters, the likelihood B.C. voters will connect the dots between man-made climate change and “natural” catastrophes is rising too. Politically speaking, this is not exactly good news for the determined advocates in Alberta and Ottawa of aggressive
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Dispatches from the front lines of Alberta politics: Jason Kenney reveals his nasty streak … again
My, my, Jason Kenney’s vow to become the new Mr. Congeniality of Confederation sure didn’t last very long, did it? Twitterists are having fun comparing the Alberta Opposition leader’s response to a gentle jab by Premier Rachel Notley in the Alberta Legislature Tuesday afternoon with what he had to say
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Prominent labour activist, plus well-known chanteuse and LGBTQ+ activist, named to Alberta Order of Excellence
What a pleasure it was yesterday to see Reg Basken’s name on the 2018 list of eight new members of the Alberta Order of Excellence. There was a day I wasn’t at all sure it was even possible for someone associated with a trade union to be honoured in this
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