Rebel conservative Drew Barnes, a former United Conservative exiled from the party’s caucus who nowadays sits as the Independent MLA for Cypress Medicine Hat, has floated the idea of forming a new conservative party that would run candidates only in rural Alberta. After all, Mr. Barnes told Global News for
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Alberta Politics: It’s almost magical how something can be true one day in Alberta while the complete opposite is true the next!
It’s almost magical the way something can be true one day in Alberta and the complete opposite is true the next. Readers need not be particularly well informed to recall Premier Jason Kenney’s confident pronouncement that a constitutional principle prevents MLAs from being held to the same standard as Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Best Summer Ever’ takes its toll on Jason Kenney as Alberta premier’s approval rating tumbles
All of political Alberta was agog yesterday at the revelation 77 per cent of adult Albertans disapprove of Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership according to a recent online survey by ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc. The premier’s approval rating, which the Calgary-based polling company characterized as tumbling, has now reached 22 per
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Weekend Roundup: Vaccine passport’s new QR code won’t work; Mandel quits AHS board; pipeline association folds tent
Astonishingly given its record, Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has actually upgraded its easy-to-forge vaccine passport in jig time! There’s only one problem. It doesn’t work. Alberta Jobs and Something-Something Minister Doug Schweitzer (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). But don’t worry, we’re told by our dependably undependable government, it’ll work “soon.”
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta premier’s rambling, uninformative news conference fails to live up to billing
All direct employees of the Alberta Government will now be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide regular negative test results, Premier Jason Kenney announced yesterday. Umm… That’s it. Alberta Public Service Commissioner Tim Grant (Photo: Screenshot of Alberta Government video). Of course, that’s not just it. As
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 78: Orange and Red in a Sea of Blue
Brad Lafortune joins Dave Cournoyer on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the federal election results in Alberta, including NDP candidate Blake Desjarlais‘ spectacular win over Kerry Diotte in Edmonton-Griesbach, and the ongoing troubles in the United Conservative Party and how many more days Jason Kenney might have as leader. We
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Napoleon’s advice to the Alberta NDP: ‘Never interfere with your enemy when he’s busy destroying himself’
VICTORIA – At least some in the Alberta NDP must have been offering up discreet prayers of thanks last night. Premier Jason Kenney, threatened with a vote of confidence yesterday by his rebellious United Conservative Caucus members, bluffed the lot of them into silence. Alberta Opposition Leader Rachel Notley, the
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 77: Back from the Best Summer Ever
We are back from the summer with the first episode of Season 4 of the Daveberta Podcast and we dive right into Alberta’s response to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, speculation about how long Jason Kenney might last in the Premier’s Office, the federal election, municipal political parties
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kenney Government suddenly backs away from long-brewing big battles with nurses and teachers
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has suddenly retreated from controversial battles with nurses and teachers that were a priority for Premier Jason Kenney and his inner circle almost since their election in the spring on 2019. Over the Labour Day weekend, a representative of the Alberta Health Services bargaining committee
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The UCP says they aren’t, but here’s why vaccine passports are coming to Alberta
Vaccine passports are coming to Alberta. Not just yet, but they’ll be along soon enough. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Not because they make sense. Opposition Leader Rachel Notley laid out that case pretty clearly yesterday: during a pandemic like the fourth wave of COVID-19 now battering our
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Where did CTV’s story attacking physician Joe Vipond, advocate for stricter COVID-19 testing and tracing, come from?
Between 2005 and 2011, CTV Television Inc. donated nearly $10,000 to the Alberta Conservatives. This interesting information can be found on Elections Alberta’s website using the provincial election agency’s contributor-search tool. Dr. Vipond in a typical pose (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). It was entirely legal. It took place back in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If the Alberta Party wants to get to the end of the rainbow, Brian Jean is probably not the man to take it there
Can it really be true Brian Jean, who once thought he had a pretty good chance of occupying the Alberta premier’s office as leader of the Wildrose Party, is quietly negotiating to lead the Alberta Party? With John F. Kennedy’s caveat that where there’s smoke, there’s usually a smoke-making machine,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: More bad news for UCP as poll by Leger shows NDP leading in Edmonton, Calgary and even rural Alberta
Another poll by a respectable pollster suggests that if an Alberta provincial election were held today Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party would triumph handily over Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party. This is starting to look like a trend. NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Such an election
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Health minister makes sure we understand chief medical officer of health came up with harshly criticized COVID-19 plan
According to Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro, speaking at a news conference on another topic yesterday, Wednesday’s decision for Alberta to become the only jurisdiction on the planet to start treating COVID-19 as if it were the common cold was Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw’s idea. Facing reporters
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Elections Alberta slaps $33,500 fines on UCP MLA Devinder Toor, campaign finance manager and related company
Albertans learned today that Elections Alberta has levied fines totalling $33,500 on Calgary-Falconridge United Conservative Party MLA Devinder Toor, his campaign finance manager, and a company run by his family for a string of violations when he was seeking the nomination in the northwest Calgary riding and during the 2019
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Welcome home, blogger! Don’t worry about closed Alberta hospital beds – we have pepper spray and pickup trucks
SIDNEY, B.C. Welcome home, blogger! Alberta Premier Jason Kenney trying to prove that he’s a real manly Alberta man too (Photo: Twitter/Jason Kenney). Having spent a few days dealing with family business in British Columbia, the first reminder of what passes for reality back home as I await my delayed
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney shuffles his cabinet – and criticizing the boss, or John A. Macdonald, will not be tolerated!
Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet shuffle yesterday had very little to do with supporting Alberta’s economic recovery and renewal, despite what the government would have you believe. This is not to say the claim in the official press release that “Alberta’s government is focused on Alberta’s Recovery Plan, a plan to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Something is dragging the federal Conservatives down in Alberta – is it Jason Kenney?
It sure looks as if Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s abysmal performance is not merely threatening the survival of his United Conservative Party Government, but is dragging down the federal Conservatives in Alberta as well. Alberta’s Conservatives are too strong and too entrenched even for Premier Kenney to destroy them completely.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Definitive answers about AIMCo’s investment strategy weren’t forthcoming at Heritage Savings Trust Fund Committee meeting
If anyone expected definitive answers about the Alberta Investment Management Corp.’s underperformance compared to that of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board at Friday’s meeting of the Legislature’s Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, they were disappointed. Unlike the previous 26 of the committee’s quarterly meetings over
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP plan to grab CPP contributions for underperforming AIMCo would be ‘worst investment decision in Alberta’s history’
With representatives of the Alberta Investment Management Corp. scheduled to appear before the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Committee today to explain their recent laggard performance, the NDP Opposition reminded Albertans about Premier Jason Kenney’s scheme to snatch their retirement savings from the Canada Pension Plan and hand them over
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