Today’s announcement from Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean and Progressive Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney that they plan to create a new conservative political party has been expected for weeks. The press conference was filled with fairly nauseating partisan rhetoric about how awful and catastrophic the NDP are, but most importantly, we found
Continue readingTag: Alberta PC Party
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Two years later – Notley’s NDP victory and a reminder why Elections matter
Two years ago today Albertans voted to sweep out the old Progressive Conservative government by electing Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party into government. It was a surreal election that topped off a tumultuous decade in Alberta politics. It used to be said that politics in our province was boring, and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: First quarter political party fundraising puts NDP in the lead
Elections Alberta released the financial disclosures showing the results of political party fundraising in the first quarter of 2017. Combined party and constituency fundraising results show the governing New Democratic Party in the lead in early 2017, having fundraised $373,060.23 between January 1 and March 31, 2017. The Wildrose Party raised $345,125.06 and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta’s Conservatives are obsessed with Gay-Straight Alliances
Following Progressive Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney’s comments to the Calgary Postmedia editorial board fifteen days ago when he came out in favour of allowing schools to inform parents when students join a student-initiated Gay-Straight Alliance club, Alberta’s conservative politicians have tied themselves in knots over the issue. Gay-Straight Alliances are student-initiated clubs meant
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Kenney shifts into Phase Two of Uniting the Right
Shifting into the second phase of his campaign to unite Alberta’s two largest right-wing political parties, newly elected Progressive Conservative leader Jason Kenney met with Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean this week. According to an email from Kenney’s campaign, the two men, who are both expected to run for the leadership of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Setting the stage for Wildrose 2.0: Moderates need not apply
“We must also ensure that a new, united party will be built on a solid foundation of conservative principles and policy. The left-liberal clique that managed to slowly highjack the PC Party must never again be allowed to seize control of Alberta’s conservative movement.” This call for ideological purity came
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The PC Party’s Christmas gift to the NDP
A defamation lawsuit wrapped with a big bow. Any hope Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party had of making the story of Sandra Jansen’s harassment go away is long gone as a political operative working for Jason Kenney’s leadership campaign has launched… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta Party first out of the gate for 2019 election
Engineer Omar Masood is the first candidate nominated to run in Alberta’s next provincial election, which is expected to be held in early 2019. Members of the Alberta Party association in the Calgary-Buffalo constituency acclaimed Mr. Masood as their candidate at… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: PCs don’t need the Wildrose to win, NDP should watch their Liberal flank
Uneventful weeks have become rare in Alberta politics and this week in particular has been uniquely interesting. We started with the release of political party fundraising data from Elections Alberta showing the NDP raised more funds in the last quarter than… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta NDP raised more money than the Wildrose Party in Q3 of 2016
Elections Alberta has released the results of political party fundraising from the third quarter of 2016 and it shows that the Alberta NDP raised more money than the Wildrose Party for the first time since the second quarter of 2015. This marks the… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: PCs kick off leadership race 5 years after choosing Alison Redford
Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives officially kicked off their leadership race on October 1, 2016 at a party event in Lethbridge. The PC Party formed government in Alberta from 1971 until 2015, when it was reduced to third-place in the Legislative Assembly… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Levelling the playing field in Alberta Elections
For many decades, Alberta’s old Progressive Conservative government benefited greatly from large corporate donors which would help keep the governing party’s campaign war-chest flush with cash. It was well-known in Alberta political circles that th…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Myth of the Alberta Advantage
August 31, 1993 marked the first time the words “Alberta Advantage” were uttered on the floor of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly. “Unlike some others, my government will not try to buy prosperity through higher taxes. Instead, it will build on A…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: PCs have a long history of nomination scandals in Calgary-Greenway
The March 22 by-election in Calgary-Greenway kicked off this week with the defending Progressive Conservatives already embroiled in scandal. Four candidates were expected to contest the PC nomination at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 27, but the local c…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Albertans are more progressive than you might think. I’m not surprised.
A new report, “The Quiet Majority“, released by a new group called Progress Alberta shows that we Albertans may be more progressive than we believe we are. According to a survey conducted by Abacus Data, when Albertans were asked whethe…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta’s Tories Poised to Sweep Election in Spring 2016
December 17, 2015 By: Dirk Pranter, Provincial Affairs columnist, Calgary Sunherald One year after nearly the entire official opposition crossed the floor to join Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives, the 44 year long governing party is expected…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: PC Party financials reveal $1.5 million debt from 2015 election
Reports of the death of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta might only be slightly exaggerated. Financial disclosure reports submitted to Elections Alberta show the former governing party amassed a $1.5 million debt during the May 2015 election. After reportedly nearly missing the deadline to submit… Continue Reading →
Continue readingFive of Five: Friday Night
Liza Minelli and Joel Grey explain the surprising results in the 2012 Alberta Election. Also, the Toronto Star won five National Newspaper Awards.
Continue readingFive of Five: Morton, Hinman and Some Bickering
The last pre-election message on Ted Morton’s website: To our Supporters: Thank you for supporting me and the PC Party—a party that has madeAlbertathe best place to work, to live and to raise a family. As your MLA for Chestermere-Rocky View, I will work for you to keep it that
Continue readingdjkelly.ca: #abvote Predictions
What’s an election without a couple of predictions? And to avoid any of that “I said that would happen!”/”No you didn’t!” stuff I thought I’d write down a few of mine. (And instead revel in the multiple “Boy, was that guy way off!” that will no doubt come my way.) So
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