Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivered on her long-promised shakeup of Alberta Health Services yesterday, firing the 11 members of the province-wide agency’s Conservative-appointed board and naming John Cowell as its sole administrator. Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Alert readers will recall that Dr. Cowell was appointed
Continue readingTag: Alberta NDP
Alberta Politics: Hot take: Premier Danielle Smith finally wins a seat in Brooks-Medicine Hat – with an unimpressive 54.5% of the vote
Who knew the Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election results would turn out to be exciting? NDP candidate Gwendoline Dirk (Photo: CHAT News). Well, sort of exciting. Everyone was pretty sure Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was going to win and finally get herself a seat in the Legislature. After all, Brooks-Medicine Hat is
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New cracks appear in UCP façade as party officials disallow anti-vaxx nomination candidate in premier’s home riding
If Alberta’s United Conservative Party were the “centre right” political party its leader Danielle Smith would like us to imagine it is, the disqualification of Nadine Wellwood as a candidate would barely rate as news. Ms. Wellwood campaigning with People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier in the Banff-Airdrie federal
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As by-election test nears for UCP Premier Danielle Smith, new poll shows NDP in majority territory
“We are going to beat the NDP in rural Alberta, we are going to beat the NDP in Edmonton, and we are going to beat the NDP in Calgary,” shouts Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in a little video ad for voters in next Tuesday’s Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election that popped up
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A tale of two speeches: Rachel Notley and Danielle Smith mark informal start of campaign leading to 2023 election
Members of Alberta’s only two political parties with MLAs in the Legislature met in convention yesterday – the governing United Conservatives in Edmonton and Opposition New Democrats in Calgary – where they heard strikingly different speeches from their leaders. Premier Daniel Smith addresses the United Conservative Party annual general meeting
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A big apology by Danielle Smith and a bad poll for the UCP make it look like her government’s already on the ropes
Coming on the heels of two official statements since she was sworn in as Alberta’s premier that attempted to explain or clarify contentious comments, Danielle Smith’s straight-up apology yesterday for controversial opinions about Ukraine published in April in a livestream chat leave the impression her week-old government is already on
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former Edmonton PC MLA, set to serve two years of house arrest, once promised to donate entire salary for scholarships
Back in 2008, while running as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the Alberta Legislature, Carl Benito made the spectacular promise to donate his entire MLA salary to create a scholarship fund for students in the Edmonton-Mill Woods riding. Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney earlier this month (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). “Carl’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith v. Rachel Notley: One remarkable political comeback sets the stage for another
When Danielle Smith is sworn in today as Alberta’s still-unelected United Conservative Party premier, there can be no doubt she has executed a remarkable comeback. NDP Opposition Leader and former premier Rachel Notley (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). But has one remarkable comeback set the stage for another? Way back, in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There will be only one by-election in Alberta before 2023, and it won’t be where it’s needed: Danielle Smith
Let us get this straight: Apparently will be only one by-election in Alberta before the next general election. Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Frey (Photo: Facebook/.Michaela Frey). That election will take place in a rural electoral district handpicked to make it easy for premier designate Danielle Smith to win a seat
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith has neither the temperament nor the right ideology to lead a united conservative party for long
Danielle Smith, expected to win the United Conservative Party leadership race on Thursday, has neither the temperament nor the right ideology to lead a united party for long. Former Premier and NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Her ideological views are too far from the mainstream not
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Alberta NDP Thinks That Female Sport is “Transphobic”
Hey folks, I’m just here watching the NDP continue to betray women and their hard fought for rights in society. Janis Irwin, of course is at the forefront of deciding that we should be including men in female sports, spaces, and services? Why? Because these men have special gender feelings
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP Leader Rachel Notley vows to reverse UCP policies that reduced worker overtime and the youth minimum wage
Opposition Leader Rachel Notley vowed yesterday to reverse two United Conservative Party policies that reduced overtime payments for many working Albertans and lowered minimum wages for young people if the NDP forms government after the next election. Labour Minister Kaycee Madu, whose 186-word message on the government website marked Labour
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Doug Schweitzer quits, effective midnight last night, tosses hot potato to UCP
Calgary-Elbow UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer’s resignation became official at midnight last night. Former Clerk of the Legislature Rob Reynolds (Photo: Government of Alberta). By quitting now, with no explanation, the former justice minister and minister of jobs, economy and innovation has tossed a metaphorical hot potato to the UCP. A
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Essaygate: Why has no one demanded the resignation of Culture and Status of Women Minister Ron Orr?
As what has come to be known as the Essaygate Scandal unfolded, no one in Alberta seems to have thought to demand the resignation of Ron Orr, minister of culture and status of women in the United Conservative Party Government. Associate Status of Women Minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk (Photo: Fort Saskatchewan
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Call it what you like, that $227,911 paid to Alberta’s chief medical officer of health wasn’t overtime
Just to be perfectly clear, Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw’s $227,911 in “cash benefits” is not overtime and should not be called overtime. Former finance minister Travis Toews, now a candidate to lead the United Conservative Party (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Call it a cash bonus if you
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley rolls dice, risks joining UCP leadership candidates to attack Danielle Smith for cancer remark
New Democratic Party Opposition Leader Rachel Notley joined the trailing United Conservative Party leadership candidates yesterday in piling onto UCP frontrunner Danielle Smith for her remarks in a recent social media video that appeared to blame cancer victims for their condition. UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith in her controversial July
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The real question facing Albertans: Which woman should be premier – Rachel Notley, Rebecca Schulz, or Danielle Smith?
The woman who replaces Jason Kenney as premier and leads the United Conservative Party Government into the next Alberta provincial election needs to be mindful of the fact she won’t have a mandate to implement radical change before the next general election. Jason Kenney, in costume as usual, as he
Continue readingAlberta Politics: MLA Thomas Dang acknowledges reality, drops effort to rejoin NDP, says he won’t run again in Edmonton-South
Edmonton-South MLA Thomas Dang was doing no more than recognizing the reality that his political career is finished when he had a spokesperson send media a statement yesterday saying he will not be seeking re-election in the next general election. Mr. Dang more recently, in 2019 (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).
Continue readingAlberta Politics: European movie chain folds, wipes out shares, and AIMCo suffers a big loss – but how big?
Last week the Globe and Mail reported that a “debt restructuring” at the largest movie theatre chain in Europe would wipe out a huge investment made by the Alberta Investment Management Corp., which manages Alberta’s public sector investments. NDP Opposition Finance Critic Shannon Phillips (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). AIMCo, as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: AHS drops mandatory COVID-19 immunization for health care employees; pressure from UCP widely assumed
Alberta Health Services rescinded its mandatory COVID-19 immunization requirement for all employees yesterday, effective immediately. Alberta Health Services interim CEO Mauro Chies (Photo: Northern Alberta Institute of Technology). In a memorandum emailed to staff, physicians and volunteers, interim CEO Mauro Chies and Senior Medical Officer of Health Laura McDougall made
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