A young member of the Tory Online Rage Machine (TORM) composes a mean Tweet using talking points from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office. TORM operatives may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The unfortunate Dean Del Mastro. It’s hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for Dean Del Mastro,
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Alberta Diary: You can’t overlook convenient hours if you hope to preserve the obvious benefits of public liquor sales
In Alberta, this kid would be buying Jägermeister and Red Bull. Below: The Parkland study; Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. In one regard, Alberta’s 1993 experiment in liquor store privatization has been a resounding success. To wit: almost everyone thinks it worked. I was reminded of this reality earlier this week
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Fair or not, Opposition targets Katz donation(s) as symbol of Tory sleaze
Caesar repudiates Pompeia: “You’re outta here!” Below: Danielle Smith and Alison Redford. The Wildrose Party strategy for defeating the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Alison Redford when the next election rolls around in 2016 is a variation of the right-wing party’s plan when it came close to winning earlier this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Undemocratic impulses? Who ya gonna call? Not Jimmy Carter!
When it comes to ensuring the integrity of foreign elections, take it from Alberta Diary, Jimmy Carter is outstanding in the field. Below: Alberta MP Linda Duncan and Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovich. By the sound of it, the international observers of Sunday’s Ukrainian parliamentary elections did manage to catch
Continue readingAlberta Diary: There is a God: Merit Contractors, advocates of Bill C-377, would be caught in its web
Tory MP wonders about Bill C-377: “Is anybody really interested in breaching Sally the Receptionist’s privacy because she earns 40k answering the phones at the Union Hiring Hall?” Below: Stephen Kushner. Surely it is one of life’s little ironies that among the groups certain to be caught in the web
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Remember where you heard it first: foundering B.C. premier hires Alberta strategist Stephen Carter
Your blogger, looking rather stout and unkempt, with political strategist Stephen Carter, who popped up in British Columbia yesterday to try to work his come-from-behind magic for B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s foundering conservative Liberals. Below: Ms. Clark. As predicted here at Alberta Diary, British Columbia Premier Christie Clark has hired
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Welcome to Alberta’s Wild West, where the market sets the value of your vote
Drug store billionaire Daryl Katz, right, discusses his plans for a new Edmonton hockey arena with a representative of the Alberta government. Since Wild West hockey barons may not appear exactly as illustrated, a photo of the real Mr. Katz is shown below. (CBC Photo, circa 2008.) Look, people, this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: None dare call it treason: Jeffrey Delisle’s secret sale and Stephen Harper’s secret treaty
Harper in China: Not likely to be an opera any time soon. Below: Sir Alec Guinness as George Smiley, where is our Smiley now that we really need him? Sub-Lieut. Jeffrey Delisle, as himself; Sir John Harington. Is it only me that sees a certain irony in the fact a
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Despite plans to reopen next week, ripples from XL Foods closing may spread
Everything from ranches to feedlots to auction operations not quite like this one could be affected by a financial disaster at Nilsson Brothers Inc., the owner of XL Foods in Brooks. With reports yesterday the XL Foods meatpacking plant in Brooks is likely to reopen in a week, media attention
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tweetergate? Meatergate? For heaven’s sake, stop her before she Tweets again!
Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith Tweeting “let them eat steaks” over the worldwide web. Injudicious Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The offending Tweet; the real Ms. Smith. Alberta Opposition Leader Memo to Self: Whatever was I thinking? Whoever does Wildrose Party Leader Danielle “Marie Antoinette”
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Albertaliberals spawn Liberalberta … this is a joke, isn’t it?
Raj Sherman kills at Huckabay’s Comedy Club, which of course doesn’t exist. Actual Alberta comedians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The re-branded Liberalberta logo; the real Raj Sherman, with his real chief of staff, Jonathan Huckabay; former Alberta NDP Leader Raj Pannu; the Sherman Tank. THE SCENE: A
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta Premier Alison Redford gets warm reception in union lions’ den
Alison Redford speaks to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees’ convention in Edmonton yesterday. (AUPE photo.) Below: Ms. Redford with AUPE President Guy Smith. Is she trying to build an alliance with public service unions? It’s tempting to say Alberta Premier Alison Redford walked boldly into the lions’ den yesterday
Continue readingAlberta Diary: E. coli crisis illuminates need for full corporate accountability for private food-processing companies
Transparency: It’s not just about windshields any more. Below: In real life, Canadian Food Inspection Agency meat inspectors at the XL Foods packing plant in Brooks may not appear exactly as illustrated. As the E. coli crisis at XL Foods in southeastern Alberta clearly illustrates, food safety is too important
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic: E. coli-plagued Brooks packer handed off to Brazilian owned multinational
Deckchairs on the Titanic. The situation in the head office of XL Foods may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The JBS logo. The U.S. arm of a giant Brazilian beef-processing company announced yesterday it will immediately take over operations of XL Foods Ltd.’s troubled beef packing plant in southeastern
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Trivial pursuits: Still no NHL? The Asia Ice Hockey League awaits!
Your blogger drops the puck at centre ice of Maple Leaf Gardens. Really! Below: The lost and lamented Seibu Prince Rabbits’ rabbit, before the team rabbitted in 2009. Below: The lamentable China Dragon’s logo. Really, people, who needs the NHL? If later today or on the morrow the news from
Continue readingAlberta Diary: By-election watch: Calgary Centre Grits hope to benefit from Justin Trudeau’s reflected glow
Justin Trudeau passes through the Calgary Centre riding, as seen by the media. Actual Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidates may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Conservative Party candidate Joan Crockatt, still the front-runner in the by-election that hasn’t been called yet; Liberal candidate Harvey Locke looking outdoorsy; the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Advice to Alison Redford: Own fair and reasonable, and leave the comedy riffs about Danielle Smith to us bloggers
Yuck! Alberta Opposition Leader Danielle Smith learns about veterinary medicine at the source. Or was this the lesson on Wisconsin’s “grassroots democracy”? Whatever. After that, she had cheese in Wisconsin. Below: Alberta Premier Alison Redford. I recall hearing somewhere the image experts have come to the conclusion that “if you
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The XL Foods E. coli Crisis: Is the media asking the right questions?
The Edmonton Journal’s front page on Friday. Below: Brian Nilsson apologizing, Lee Nilsson, the Mannix brothers, Fred and Ron. All photos grabbed from the Internet. Postmedia News, owner of Alberta’s two largest newspapers, was so relieved when one of the brothers who own troubled XL Foods Ltd. in this province’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: NHL and NHLPA in labour relations face off: no penalties for Alberta employers caught offside
Members of the NHLPA wait around for their Sui Generis Alberta employers to obey the law. Alberta hockey players may not appear exactly as illustrated – for one thing, they wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the stove. Since the regular season of the National Hockey League was supposed to start
Continue readingAlberta Diary: MP Russ Hiebert’s anti-union campaign: is Bill C-377 another Tory ‘own-goal’?
Unidentified Conservative Party Member of Parliament contemplates B.C. Tory MP Russ Hiebert’s “own goal.” Strangely, actual Harper Government MPs may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Mr. Hiebert. What are Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s boon companions in the courts, fern-encrusted law offices, plush executive suites of provincial medical associations and
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