ILLUSTRATIONS: Jason Kenney, the victor in the PC leadership campaign now trying to create a narrative of invincibility about his ambition to lead Alberta. Below: Author Barret Weber. Charts shown are based on the Royal Bank of Canada fiscal tables, updated as of March 22, 2017, that show Alberta’s debt
Continue readingTag: Alberta New Democrats
Alberta Politics: One year ago, Stephen Harper, master of all he surveyed, called an election – what could possibly go wrong?
PHOTOS: Then prime minister Stephen Harper with his strategic brain trust, back when they still seemed like the masters of Canada’s political universe and would seem so for a few more weeks. (Source unknown.) Below: Screen shots of Mr. Harper’s Aug…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Shakeup? Lobby firms launch new publications to compete in a previously comfortable niche under the dome
PHOTOS: Glimpses of two lobby firms’ new publications about Alberta’s government. Below: Lobbyist, lawyer and former Wildrose MLA Shayne Saskiw, journalist Samantha Power, lobbyist and former Stelmach political advisor Elan MacDonald, and lobbyist …
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: #HarperBlamesAlbertans: Canadians thrash Harper for dissing Alberta Premier Notley, Albertans
Stephen Harper insulted Albertans for electing Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP, ending 44 straight years of one party Progressive Conservative rule in the oil-rich province. Canadians hit back using the Twitter hastag #HarperBlamesAlbertans. The post #HarperBlamesAlbertans: Canadians thrash Harper for dissing Alberta Premier Notley, Albertans appeared first on The
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pinch me! Am I dreaming? Canada’s ‘most conservative’ province elects an NDP majority
PHOTOS: Rachel Notley, Alberta’s premier-elect, smiles at 1,000 or more of her supporters last night in an Edmonton hotel ballroom. Below: Two more views of Ms. Notley during her victory speech. Well, how d’ya like them oranges? Alberta New Democratic Party, 53 seats; Wildrose Party, 20; Progressive Conservative Party, 11;
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Collapse of rickety Wildrose coalition of market fanatics and religious fundamentalists could be bad-news/good-news story for Alberta’s NDP
A recent meeting of the Wildrose Party Legislative caucus. Actual members of the official Opposition party may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: NDP Leader Rachel Notley and Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. Monday’s bombshell that the rickety coalition of ideological market-perfection fanatics and social-conservative religious fundamentalists called the Wildrose Party
Continue readingAlberta Diary: New Democrats yesterday were ready for Rachel – can Albertans reach the same conclusion?
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley, about to be interviewed by the media, moments after her victory speech in Edmonton yesterday. Below: Three scenes from yesterday’s NDP leadership convention, one of Ms. Notley’s buttons, her father, Grant Notley. Rachel Notley’s campaign buttons asked: “Are you Ready for Rachel?” There was never
Continue readingAlberta Diary: NDP leadership debate was amicable, but it ignored the elephant in the progressive political room
Candidate Rachel Notley addresses the crowd of New Democrats Thursday night during the Alberta New Democratic Party’s final leadership debate in Edmonton. Candidates Rod Loyola, in the middle, and David Eggen, at left, are visible in the background. (Photo by Olav Rokne.) Below: Mr. Eggen, Mr. Loyola and 2012 federal
Continue readingAlberta Diary: NDP and Liberal candidates’ with similar appeal in Edmonton-Whitemud don’t make progressive voters’ job any easier
The NDP and Alberta Liberals fight it out in Edmonton-Whitemud. I’ll leave it to readers to determine who’s just been demasted. Below: Liberal candidate Dr. Donna Wilson (CBC photo) and NDP candidate Dr. Bob Turner. The reasons are perfectly clear and quite understandable, but it’s depressing nonetheless to see Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Be careful what you ask for! Jim Prentice walks away with the Wildrose political play book
Premier Jim Prentice. Below: Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith and former party strategist Tom Flanagan, this time on the button. As the expression goes: be careful what you ask for! You might just get it. There is irony – perhaps even bitter irony – in what newly minted Alberta Premier
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Just as things were looking up a bit for foundering PCs, Alison Redford showed up again
Alison Redford contemplates which way to turn as she leaves behind a trail of devastation, toward the capital city’s new Sky Palace Hotel, left, or toward Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, right. Actual former premiers and the landmarks they threaten may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Ms. Redford;
Continue readingAlberta Diary: So much for ‘leading by example’ – Alberta Tories’ 3-year pay freeze for top civil service executives melts like ice cream on a hot day
Ice cream on a hot day – melts almost as fast as an Alberta Tory management wage freeze! Actual PC promises of “leading by example” may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Finance Minister Doug Horner, nowhere to be seen yesterday; leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk, bemoaning the decision last night.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Maybe it’s time to state the obvious: promises aren’t enough for Alberta Tories to win back any progressive votes
Tory leadership front-runner Jim Prentice on the campaign trail. Below: Former premier Alison Redford; Education Minister, though presumably not for long, Jeff Johnson; leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk. Perhaps it’s time to just come right out and state the obvious: If Tory leadership front-runner Jim Prentice wants even a few of Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Opposition attack on Tory leadership frontrunner Jim Prentice a measure of how deeply Alison Redford wounded her party
“Diamond Jim” Prentice, at right, in a strategy session with Alberta Premier Dave Hancock, as described by the provincial NDP and seen by the Wildrose Party. Below: the real Mr. Prentice and former premier Alison Redford. If you’re looking for a yardstick with which to measure the truly spectacular failure
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Conservative former Edmonton mayor endorses conservative future Alberta premier: Yawn
Former Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and PC leadership candidate Jim Prentice, obviously pleased to be in one another’s company, at a news conference yesterday in Edmonton at which Mr. Mandel endorsed Mr. Prentice. Below: The other Tory leadership candidates, Ric McIver and Thomas Lukaszuk, and New Democrat MLA Rachel Notley,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tiny Alberta Progressive Parties need to get their act together
TweetWhat do the Alberta Liberals, New Democrats, Alberta Party and Green Party have in common? None of these parties will form government after the next election. As Albertans prepare for another electoral showdown between two conservative parties – the long-governing Progressive Conservatives and the opposition Wildrose Party – many non-conservative voters
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A blast from the past: Oh, those Tories and their stories!
A postal worker searches for David Climenhaga’s lost letter from the minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ray Speaker. Nope. That’s not it … Nothing’s turned up just yet. Below: Mr. Speaker and NDP MLA Ed Ewasiuk. On May 7, 1991, Ray Speaker, the minister of municipal affairs in the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Edmonton New Democrat David Eggen is first to join Alberta’s only interesting political leadership race
David Eggen at the Legislature, hanging around with your blogger. Below: the Alberta NDP Legislative caucus, from left to right, Deron Bilous, Brian Mason, David Eggen and Rachel Notley. The latest Alberta political leadership candidate says his name means “the sharp end of the axe” in Norwegian, which would sound
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Thomas Lukaszuk throws his hat in the ring – although which ring is open to debate
Self-described anti-establishment Alberta PC leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk in a jaunty self-mocking portrait with your blogger. Below: Tory heir apparent Jim Prentice in another weirdly Joe-Clark-like pose found on the Internet; candidate Ric McIver. Thomas Lukaszuk visited Premier pro tempore Dave Hancock yesterday morning to resign as Alberta’s labour minister
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A Tale of Two Leaders: His was the best of exits, hers was the worst
Retiring Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason with your blogger’s introduction-to-journalism class in 2011: he was witty, passionate and persuasive, a big part of why the Alberta NDP continues to draw young supporters in significant numbers. Below: Mr. Mason with Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who has also retired from politics; in
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