Jason Kenney did not seem pleased when the first reporter to ask a question at his June 18 news conference on his COVID-19 reopening plans raised the topic of offensive commentary about residential schools by the Alberta premier’s favourite curriculum advisor, Christian P. Champion. Dr. Champion, a PhD historian who
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Alberta Politics: Keystone XL, the pipeline that just keeps dying, officially pronounced dead
Keystone XL, the pipeline that just keeps dying over and over again, was officially pronounced dead yesterday. After TC Energy Corp. issued a statement saying it was walking away for good from the project that has obviously been doomed for months, the U.S. business press declared the pipedream of successive
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Worst news conference ever? Jason Kenney apologizes for Sky Palace patio party, touts silly equalization referendum
The rebellion that now has United Conservative Party Premier Jason Kenney looking as if his career is on the ropes is strongly reminiscent of the circumstances that brought Progressive Conservative Party premier Alison Redford’s political career to an end in 2014. Ironically, both feature the “Sky Palace” as a powerful
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Buoyed by overwhelming leadership approval vote, Rachel Notley sketches outline of Alberta NDP’s 2023 campaign
Acting like someone with a serious chance of returning to the Premier’s Office in 2023, Alberta New Democratic Party Leader Rachel Notley received a 98.2-per-cent approval vote in the Opposition party’s leadership review Sunday. The former Alberta premier set out a hopeful vision of how her next government would “transform
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two defiant UCP ministers tell Jason Kenney to apologize for breaking COVID-19 restrictions at Sky Palace patio party
The good ship United Conservative Party, the vessel carrying Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s ambitions, sprang a couple more leaks yesterday. This time it was two female members of the UCP cabinet who dared to criticize the boozy pandemic patio party last Tuesday on the roof of Edmonton’s notorious Sky Palace,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kenney rolls the dice on COVID-19: We’re going to have the best summer you can imagine even if it kills us
Only pure political calculation can be driving Premier Jason Kenney’s COVID-19 reopening strategy now. Science? Prudence? Caution? Second vaccine doses? Forget about ’em. Health Minister Tyler Shandro (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). We’re going to have the best little ole summer you can imagine even if it kills us. And it just
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Foundering public inquiry gets another two months to find evidence; UCP gets even more time to figure out what to do with it
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced his government’s foundering “public inquiry” into the supposed conspiracy by American interests to bankroll environmental charities to help landlock Alberta’s fossil fuel resources will get another two months to come up with some evidence. After that, the government will give itself an additional three
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 174: UCP Mutiny (Barnes and Loewen Edition)
Dani Paradis and Chris Henderson are back on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the recent blow-out in the United Conservative Party caucus, the expulsion of Drew Barnes and Todd Loewen and the ongoing challenges to Premier Jason Kenney’s flailing leadership. We also discuss recent developments in Edmonton’s mayoral election, Michael Oshry launching
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 174: UCP Mutiny Edition
Dani Paradis and Chris Henderson are back on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the recent blow-out in the United Conservative Party caucus, the expulsion of Drew Barnes and Todd Loewen and the ongoing challenges to Premier Jason Kenney’s flailing leadership. We also discuss recent developments in Edmonton’s mayoral election, Michael Oshry launching
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney, wounded by UCP Caucus dissent, manages to kick out two rebellious MLAs
Can Alberta Premier Jason Kenney remain in officer longer than Alison Redford was premier? Until yesterday, I would have answered that despite his current unpopularity, Premier Kenney’s rule would obviously last longer than Ms. Redford’s short, unhappy tenure. Former Alberta premier Alison Redford (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Now I am
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Speaker Nathan Cooper, who signed complaint about COVID-19 rules, cites pandemic ‘health concerns’ to extend Legislature shutdown
Alberta Speaker Nathan Cooper, one of the United Conservative Party MLAs known as the COVID 18 who last month signed a controversial letter opposing their own government’s COVID-19 restrictions, has issued a memorandum saying the Alberta Legislature will stay closed “due to the ongoing public health concerns arising from the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kaycee Madu’s claim Liberals and New Democrats want Alberta to be overwhelmed by COVID-19 is just classic gaslighting
When Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu said the federal Liberals, the Alberta NDP and the media all hoped Alberta would be overwhelmed by COVID-19, he was gaslighting. He’s just not as good at it as Premier Jason Kenney is. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Mr. Madu shouldn’t feel
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney steps up to rostrum, announces new COVID-19 restrictions, then skedaddles
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney stepped up to the rostrum at his hastily scheduled 6:02 p.m. “news conference” yesterday, reeled off what he proposes to do about the fact Alberta now has the worst collective case of COVID-19 in North America, and skedaddled. The whole affair took roughly nine and a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: When the going gets tough, tough-guy Jason Kenney gets going – this time leaving the Legislature padlocked behind him
With COVID-19 out of control, the United Conservative Party Government clueless and divided, ordinary citizens increasingly frightened, and defiant covidiots organizing super-spreader events like that no-more-lockdowns rodeo in Bowden Saturday, Premier Jason Kenney adopted his crisis response of choice. Cut and run. Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley (Photo: David J.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kinney versus Kenney: Can a progressive gadfly offer unhappy Albertans a way to send their premier a message?
Progressive gadfly Duncan Kinney, executive director of the progressive news and advocacy organization behind the Progress Report newsletter and podcast, is the first Albertan to file his papers with Elections Alberta to run in the Kenney Government’s “Senate Nominee Election.” Such Senate votes – they’re not really elections as electing
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 73: Alberta politics is never boring
There is rarely a week in Alberta politics that is boring. On this episode of the Daveberta Podcast we discuss the recent fundraising numbers that show the NDP crushed the UCP in the first three months of 2021 and what that could mean for the rest of the year. And
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Small donors, potential election volunteers, flock to Alberta NDP as disillusionment with Jason Kenney grows
Alberta’s New Democratic Party raised twice as much as the ruling United Conservative Party in the first quarter of 2021. And we’re not just talking about chicken feed here, people. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party, as he is often seen – surrounded by flags (Photo:
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Legislature passes transitory vaccine leave legislation, a worthwhile Canadian Initiative, Alberta style!
Never let it be said the United Conservative Party has done nothing worthwhile during the two years it’s been in power in Alberta. Late yesterday the Alberta Legislature passed a bill amending the Employment Standards Code “to ensure working Albertans can access up to three hours of paid, job-protected leave
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 72: The COVID 18 and the Curriculum Catastrophe
Alberta politics moves at a mile a minute and there’s no time to waste. On this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, we dive into the United Conservative Caucus rebellion against mild public health restrictions to fight COVID-19 and challenges to Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership, the controversial draft K-6 curriculum, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Few Albertans are likely to be pleased by the UCP’s ‘jaw-droppingly misguided’ K-6 social studies curriculum
Wherever one may fall on the question of traditional arithmetic versus the kinds of new math that frustrate many parents or the value of phonetics over other ways to learn to read, there’s not much chance many Albertans will be pleased with the changes to the kindergarten to Grade 6
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