Connect the dots, Mr. Prime Minister! That newspaper industry bailout package you’re foolishly planning in the name of preserving democracy is principally designed to keep a corporation afloat that will do anything, no matter how unethical, to destroy your government. If you want proof, look no further than Postmedia’s astonishing
Continue readingTag: Alberta NDP
Alberta Politics: Cuts & Critics: Expect fireworks in the Legislature, but no real brakes on radical UCP agenda
Alberta’s 24 NDP Opposition MLAs were sworn in yesterday and Opposition Leader Rachel Notley, not so long ago the province’s premier, named the MLAs who will fill her shadow cabinet portfolios. Meanwhile, Premier Jason Kenney’s MLAs will have to wait a few days while their boss gets on with his
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Stephen Mandel, as impudent as ever, pleads for public subsidy for his Alberta Party
Hello, Alberta! Stephen Mandel here! My Alberta Party didn’t manage to elect a single MLA last month, but we’re good guys and we got 9.1 per cent of the vote. How about you give us some money? That wasn’t really Stephen Mandel saying that, of course. It was me, your
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP Health Minister Tyler Shandro hesitates over risky ideological plan to pull plug on medical ‘Superlab’
When it opted to build a $590-million “Superlab” in Edmonton, Alberta’s former NDP government was relying on sound advice from the Health Quality Council of Alberta, which recommended medical lab services be consolidated under “a single public sector platform.” But never mind the HQCA was set up under legislation created
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Albertans, in their ‘bitumen bubble,’ may have missed the significance of West Coast Green goings on
We Albertans have been living in a bit if a bubble – a bitumen bubble. As a consequence, we may not all have noticed what’s been happening on Canada’s West Coast. So the potential significance of the victory in a federal by-election Monday by Paul Manly of the Green Party
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 36: Jason Kenney’s first week and what’s next for Rachel Notley
In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast we discuss the election results, Jason Kenney’s first week as Premier of Alberta and who he appointed to the United Conservative government cabinet, and Rachel Notley and what’s next for the Alberta NDP. We also dive into the mailbag to answer the great
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley sets out to do a little narrative building of her own about what Jason Kenney is up to, now that he’s premier
CALGARY – In her first major speech since losing the Alberta election to Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party on April 16, Rachel Notley called on her supporters not to allow conservatives to rewrite history to suit their own ends. “Make no mistake,” she warned a friendly crowd at the Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Fielding questions about Jason Kenney’s apparent effort to channel Vladimir Putin, B.C. premier sounded like the grownup
CALGARY – For those of us used to listening to Alberta politicians on the topic of pipelines, British Columbia Premier John Horgan made for a refreshing change yesterday, sounding remarkably like the grownup as he responded to Premier Jason Kenney’s proclamation into law of the NDP’s unconstitutional bill to shut
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It takes all kinds to make a cabinet, not necessarily good news when Jason Kenney’s making the picks
Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party cabinet contains a guy who once went down south to campaign for Donald Trump, a woman who opposes school gay-straight alliances and wrote a university president attacking a professor’s critical commentary on Catholic education, a man who fired a single mom he employed after
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: Why Alberta’s NDP will be living dangerously for the next four years
John Ashton is the co-author with former Alberta NDP leader Ray Martin of Made in Alberta: The Ray Martin Story. He has served as staff on 26 NDP campaigns. In this guest post, Mr. Ashton argues Alberta’s NDP may not be the first provincial branch of the New Democratic Party
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The game’s afoot in Ottawa as the moment nears for Jason Kenney to implement his ‘revenge platform’
Jason Kenney will be sworn in tomorrow as the 18th premier of Alberta, so we should know very soon if he really meant his oft-repeated pledge to make the repeal of the NDP’s carbon levy the first act of his government or if it was just another campaign whopper. Likewise,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Vote-anywhere made it easier to cast a vote against the government from, well, anywhere
Well, God bless the NDP, I guess, who could apparently be depended upon to do the right thing, even if it killed them. Alberta’s official vote results are now in and they suggest how the province’s new “vote anywhere” provisions did no favours for the departing government. Elections Alberta published
Continue readingAlberta Politics: When Jason Kenney kills Alberta’s carbon tax and emissions cap, What Will Justin Do?
When it comes to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finds himself on the proverbial horns of a dilemma. There are serious political consequences for his Liberal federal government if he now allows the project to proceed. There are likewise serious political consequences if he doesn’t.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pundits want you to believe negative campaigning hurt the NDP – it likely saved their bacon!
There are plenty of serious mistakes the Alberta NDP made during their four rocky years in power, but one of them wasn’t running a negative campaign that attacked Jason Kenney’s character and the attitudes of many of the candidates and advisors around him. Indeed, it’s said here the NDP’s negative
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 35: The big UCP win, an Alberta Election Recap
The Alberta election is over. In this episode Dave and Ryan discuss the election results, who Jason Kenney might pick for the United Conservative government cabinet, what is next for Rachel Notley and the New Democratic Party in Alberta, if there is a future for the Alberta Party and the Liberal Party, and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, wondering whether Alberta’s lamentable election of Jason Kenney and his gang of regressive Conservatives might have been avoided if Rachel Notley’s NDP had made an effort not to perpetuate the province’s petro-politics. For further reading…– The Alberta NDP’s 2015 platform is here (PDF), and doesn’t so much as hint
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jobs! Pipelines! Help is on the way! Or … maybe not: Election hot takes from Alberta
Tuesday night’s Alberta election results pretty well put paid to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “Grand Bargain” with Alberta on climate change, the terms of which were basically that the province could have a pipeline to tidewater if we play nice and put a price on carbon. Premier-elect Jason Kenney has
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney, having delivered victory to his UCP, sounds like man with his eye on Ottawa
Give Jason Kenney his due: The man delivered a convincing enough victory for his United Conservative Party last night that no one can call him a political flop if at some point soon he wants to make a return trip to Ottawa. And his long-winded victory speech at the Calgary
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Nearly a third of Alberta’s electorate voted in advance polls – whatever can it mean?
One of the mysteries of the 2019 Alberta election campaign that comes to an end with today’s election is the truly astonishing number of advance ballots cast. Nearly 700,000 Albertans voted in advance polls. That is close to 30 per cent of the electorate. This is unheard of in Alberta,
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 34: When you play the Game of Thrones… Alberta election edition.
In this episode Dave and Ryan discuss the huge turnout at the advance polls, some of the key races to watch on election night, and recap of the final days of the campaign. We also dive into the mailbag to answer some great questions from our listeners. And because we couldn’t help ourselves,
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