UCP leader and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Photo by Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta/Flickr. It used to be that conservatives campaigned to the right and governed to the centre. This tried and true strategy reflected the realities that conservative-minded people generally like to blow off some steam during campaigns (There’s too
Continue readingAuthor: Eric Strikwerda
Canadian Dimension: Jason Kenney, through a glass darkly
Jason Kenney has long maintained an address in fantasyland. Back in 2016 he somehow came to the now clearly erroneous conclusion that only he could fashion a robust and longstanding political dynasty out of two fractious conservative movements. Instead he resigned as United Conservative Party leader on May 18 after
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Jason Kenney making political hay out of tragedy? Why not?
Jason Kenney holds a press conference following his meeting with former Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and the Consul General of Ukraine in Edmonton, February 23, 2022. Image courtesy Jason Kenney/Twitter. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Wednesday simply wasn’t be able to resist weighing in on the Russian invasion of the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: In Alberta, COVID restrictions are out and even the truckers are unhappy
Members of the ‘Foothills Freedom Rally’ travel near Alberta’s Highway No. 2 to protest the provincial government’s vaccine mandate. Photo courtesy OkotoksOnline.com. Did you hear that sound? That slight puff of air followed by a whimpering sickly pffft noise, leaving nothing behind but a fetid and raunchy odour? That was
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: We need to talk about the Conservatives
Conservatism has been shut out of government amid a hard rightward shift, political infighting and the pursuit of socially and culturally divisive wedge issues, writes Eric Strikwerda. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. Shortly following the federal Conservatives’ defeat in the 2021 election, party leader Erin O’Toole tasked former Edmonton Centre MP
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Jason Kenney: Wrong again
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Photo by Codie McLachlan. It was the most Jason Kenney thing to do. Just before Christmas the embattled Alberta premier finally admitted, in referring to his government’s disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic’s fourth wave following his ill-advised ‘best summer ever’ catastrophe, that “We were wrong.”
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The tail wags the dog in Alberta. Can we expect the same if Erin O’Toole forms government in Ottawa?
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney appear at the United Conservative Party’s online convention from Nobelford, Alberta in October 2020. Screenshot from YouTube. Erin O’Toole has rightly taken much heat of late for first praising Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s handling of the pandemic in that province, and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Hey Conservatives, you’ve got an Alberta problem
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Photo from Twitter. Federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole is in a tight spot. On one hand, national polls have his party eking out a small lead over Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. On the other, uh, Jason Kenney. At this point, even Ontario’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Spare a thought for Jason Kenney. He’s lost a lot
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney during a news conference in Ottawa on May 2, 2019. Photo by Andrew Meade. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney can’t seem to catch a break. He just keeps on losing. But let’s get the winning out of the way first. It’s a much shorter list. In 2017,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Welcome to the UCP’s Alberta, where everything is going sideways in a hurry
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Photo courtesy the Government of Alberta/Flickr. It was weird. Here was Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in June, explaining to incredulous reporters that he has never supported a ban on Muslim women wearing niqabs. And yet, here too was Jason Kenney in May 2015 explaining to reporters
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Is Alberta’s UCP government trying to open a new front in the old Cold War?
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney provides an update on the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Alberta, February 19, 2021. Photo courtesy Alberta Newsroom/Flickr. Last month, a “deeply concerned” Alberta Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides instructed the province’s four comprehensive academic research universities to “pause” any new or renewed research partnerships with
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Jason Kenney’s epic fail
The spectacular failures of Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party government in Alberta are almost too frequent to enumerate. Image by Canadian Dimension. Many on the social medias have given Alberta Premier Jason Kenney a nickname: ‘Bumbles.’ Reflecting on his government’s performance over the past year, I can hardly disagree. Scratch
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Alberta’s draft curriculum will make the province a laughingstock
The United Conservative Party’s new draft K-6 curriculum is plagued with basic errors and out-of-sequence historical narratives. Photo courtesy Jason Kenney/Twitter. Leaving aside the stomach-clutching hilarity of some parts of the new Alberta draft K-6 curriculum (someone thought kids need to learn about old-time jazz musician Mart Kenney, who just
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Sir John A. comes tumbling down—Alberta’s Jason Kenney wants to raise him back up again
The statue of John A. Macdonald (not pictured) was toppled during an anti-racism demonstration in Montreal on August 29. Photo by Colin Knowles/Flickr. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is outraged. “A mob has torn down and defaced the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in Montreal,” he Twitter-raged on August 29.
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