PHOTOS: A famous – and famously controversial – photo of Dan MacLennan playing golf with premier Ralph Klein (source not indicated). Below: Mr. MacLennan and Mr. Klein in conversation on the lawn of the Legislature; Mr. MacLennan as a union leader …
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Alberta Politics: RCMP turn a blind eye to abandoned firearms in Fort Mac – manna to the gun lobby but a worry to the rest of us
PHOTO: RCMP officers like these in High River during the flooding to 2013 were subjected to a vicious campaign of vilification by some Alberta gun enthusiasts for seizing abandoned weapons in the Southern Alberta town (CBC photo). QUEBEC CITY We know f…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A complaint about a former politician’s coal industry advocacy yields more significant results than expected
PHOTOS: Coal mining in Alberta (CBC photo). Below: Former Tory finance minister Robin Campbell, president of the Coal Association of Canada, on his way to Ottawa this morning; Duncan Kinney of Progress Alberta; and Alberta Ethics Commissioner Margaret …
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s official: Departure of oil sands and hockey billionaire Murray Edwards had nothing to do with taxes
ILLUSTRATIONS: Alberta’s terrifying Temple of Tax, found on the media midway. So scary it even frightens billionaires away. Really! Below: Dr. Samuel Johnson, noted wit, N. Murray Edwards, oil sands billionaire (CBC photo), and Mr. James Boswell, bio…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Notley Government navigates a profound crisis with grace and empathy, as even some conservatives begin to recognize
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who has risen to the challenge of a difficult moment in Alberta’s history. Below: Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee and a scene from the Fort McMurray fire catastrophe, which continues to burn. The lat…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: One year ago today the NDP won in Alberta. The next day hell froze over.
The attention of most Albertans this week is rightfully focused on the wildfires that are raging through northern Alberta and the more than 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray who have fled to safer ground in the south. It is a… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Fort Mac fire overshadows an earthshaking political anniversary – the NDP’s election one year ago today
One year ago today, Premier Rachel Notley and her New Democratic Party government swept in to power in Alberta. But celebration of Alberta’s unexpected and historically earthshaking Cinco de Mayo moment – and, of course, other emotions too on the p…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Votaries of right-wing unity gather in Red Deer, vote to form yet another conservative party
PHOTOS: Progressive Conservative interim Leader Ric McIver and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean in a rare recent moment of amity at, but of course, the Manning Centre’s Ottawa beanfest for right wingers in February 2016. This snapshot, the only one of its …
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don’t blame loudmouth extremist Craig Chandler for PC Leader Ric McIver’s troubles – they’re all his own
PHOTOS: Tory Dream Team, 2014 edition. From left to right, Jim Prentice, Ric McIver and Thomas Lukaszuk. You’ve got to admit, from the perspective of 2016, Mr. Lukaszuk is lookin’ pretty good, and not just because of the orange tie! Below: Extreme …
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Where’s the beef? Alberta’s cattle industry is only getting what it ordered from Earls
PHOTOS: Where’s the beef? Not in Alberta, if this province’s beef industry can do anything about it. One thing this story has nothing to do with is small-time ranchers like the guy on the steer or independent restaurants like the one run by the mom…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Five CEOs hold a press conference in a penthouse boardroom
It was a case of political friendly fire. With only days left before Election Day, the anti-NDP fear campaign was in full-gear but this shot might have been the final nail in the coffin for Alberta’s 44-year old Progressive Conservative… Continue R…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Preston Manning is now publicly, openly at the centre of Alberta’s latest ‘unite-the-right’ effort
PHOTOS: The Ambassadors reimagined. Actual unite-the-righters appearing with Preston Manning may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Preston Manning, Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean, “united alternative” Ambassador Rick Orman, …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The election rally that convinced me Notley’s momentum was real
“I think the PC Party needs a break from government and Albertans need a break from the PC Party,” New Democratic Party leader Rachel Notley told a massive crowd of more than 2,000 supporters at a May 3, 2015 rally… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The election rally that convinced me the Tories were running on fumes
I will be reminiscing on this blog over the next few days about some of the key moments from Alberta’s May 5, 2015 election campaign that stand out in my memory. The one year anniversary of that historic election, which saw the defeat of… C…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Advanced Education Ministry now maintaining close watch on Athabasca University
PHOTOS: A recent newspaper ad seeking a new board chair for Athabasca University. Below: Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt at the Legislature on Budget Day; Athabasca MLA Colin Piquette; and Athabasca University interim President Peter MacKinn…
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Why Alberta shouldn’t look to Norway, and why that’s a reason to Leap
One of the clearest memories I have from my only trip to Norway is the repeated failures at hitching a ride. What appeared to be an unbroken string of brand new Audi’s and BMW’s whizzed by my friend and I, dirty and sweaty after a few days hiking and camping in the mountains. “Where am I […]
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If you were secretly relieved by yesterday’s NDP Alberta budget, you weren’t alone …
PHOTOS: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci addresses the media during a lockup early yesterday afternoon in Edmonton before reading the 2016 Budget Speech to the Legislature. Below: CFIB Alberta spokesperson Richard Truscott, Edmonton-Centre MLA David S…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Corey Hogan makes the case for Rachel Notley’s NDP to develop a progressive fix to Alberta’s fiscal mess:No matter what you decide to do, you’re going to take a political hit with somebody. Credibility will be…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Just when the nattering nabobs of neoliberal negativism felt safe to write off the NDP, the crack of Doomsday opens!
PHOTOS: Actor David Suchet as Agatha Christie’s imaginary Hercule Poirot. Below: Postmedia Alberta Frankenpaper political columnist Lorne Gunter, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Prosperity Fund President Barry Mc…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The federal NDP’s ‘Leap’ of faith advocates and Alberta’s right-wing opposition: strange bedfellows?
PHOTOS: Rachel Notley pushes back against the Leap Manifesto Monday in this screen grab from a CBC broadcast. Below: Outgoing federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Vancouver environmentalist Tzeporah Berman, ProgressAlberta.ca blog author Duncan Kinney, a…
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