Justin Archer joins Dave Cournoyer and Adam Rozenhart on this remotely recorded episode of the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the federal government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, how our political leaders are responding to the pandemic and crashing oil prices. We also discussed the Alberta government’s
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Politics: The premier is disappointed? Where did Alberta’s Mr. Belligerence go when Donald Trump told 3M not to ship N95s to Canada?
Where’s the tough guy we got to know during the last Alberta election campaign, the Jason Kenney of the Summer of Repeal, the War Room and the War on Foreign Funded European Urban Greens? The Alberta premier’s favourite American president, Donald J. Trump, say’s he won’t let 3M Co. of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Smoke and mirrors aren’t cutting it — Alberta’s health minister still needs to go
Despite a lot of smoke and mirrors, Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has never dispelled the queasy feeling many Albertans have that Tyler Shandro’s personal business dealings render him unsuitable to serve as minister of health. It was Mr. Shandro’s personal conduct, publicly berating a neighbour who posted a critical
Continue readingAlberta Politics: April Fool aftermath: UCP says it’s broke, AUPE job protections back on, spill reporting suspended, Greens choose leader, and more
Whether or not Bob Buckle meant it to be an early April Fool’s joke when he posted his deep thoughts on public education on social media, opining that “perhaps it’s time to reduce our physical plant and footprint with large structures and move to virtual online learning,” he’d be smart
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta government to strike new Blue Ribbon Panel on Blue Ribbon Panels
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government plans to strike a Blue Ribbon Panel on Blue Ribbon Panels. With the global coronavirus pandemic and the worldwide collapse of oil prices, the United Conservative Party Government believes it will need even more “expert panels” to justify potentially unpopular policies it intends to enact,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Layoffs one day, billion-dollar pipeline giveaways the next — it’s not easy keeping up with the Kenneys!
Keeping up with the Kenneys will make your head spin. Yesterday, the Kenney Government was justifying the layoffs of 26,000 public-sector education workers by claiming there are limits to Alberta’s capacity to borrow during an economic downturn caused by a global pandemic. Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews (Photo: David J.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: War Room will return, vows energy minister Sonya Savage, after government slashes propaganda unit’s budget for three months
Is it possible the United Conservative Party has a conscience? I know, I know, this seems highly unlikely. Even if it were true, like the Grinch’s heart, it’s bound to be a shriveled organ, at least two sizes too small. Canadian Energy Centre Ltd. Managing Director Tom Olsen (Photo: David
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta government makes moves to lay off more public employees — this time provincial public service members
No one should assume Saturday’s mass layoff of 26,000 substitute teachers, teaching assistants and non-essential support staff at schools throughout Alberta is the last such action planned by the United Conservative Party Government as it attempts to game federal pandemic supports. In a bargaining update published this morning by the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Never mind the Kenney Government’s ‘Blueprint for Jobs’ — 26,000 jobs gone with the wind in a day
So, make that 26,000 Alberta jobs, gone with the wind! Now that some of the smoke is starting to clear from Premier Jason Kenney’s Saturday Afternoon Massacre of school board jobs, it’s apparent initial estimates by school trustees and union leaders of 20,000 jobs lost were about 30 per cent
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No warning, no consultation, UCP yanks school funding using COVID-19 pandemic as excuse, costing 20,000 jobs
Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., Alberta school trustees learned funding about to be yanked by the provincial government with no notice or discussion with boards. Massive layoffs are expected to result — up to 20,000 Substitute teachers, educational assistants, non-essential support staff and bus drivers will all face layoffs immediately. CUPE
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tyler Shandro’s epic meltdown reopens the debate about his Venetian blind trust
Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s epic meltdown in front of his neighbour’s home last weekend allows an important debate to be reopened about the appearance of conflict of interest in political families and the weakness of Alberta’s conflict-of-interest legislation with regard to politicians. The United Conservative Party successfully shut down discussion
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Think what we could have accomplished if we’d concentrated on climate change like we’re focusing on COVID-19!
“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully,” observed Samuel Johnson, a great wit of the 18th Century. If you doubt the truth of this aphorism, consider the coverage of the greatest news story of the 21st
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No one should fault Jason Kenney for his Hope Mission photo op — but that N95 mask is another matter
No one should fault Premier Jason Kenney too much for visiting Edmonton’s Hope Mission, having a few photos taken and posting them on social media with an uplifting message about pitching in to fight COVID-19. It’s what politicians of all stripes do, and arguably it’s not a terrible use of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Health gives way on docs’ billing for virtual services, but plunges ahead with controversial Babylon app
Bowing to pressure from the Alberta Medical Association and critics of the controversial Babylon “virtual care” app that’s created significant disruption to public health care in the United Kingdom, the United Conservative Party Government agreed yesterday to pay doctors already practicing medicine in Alberta the same rate for online and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Running a War Room in the age of coronavirus: Nothing much happening right now
For those of you worried about the prolonged silence from Alberta’s Energy War Room, it turns out the nine-member staff of Canadian Energy Centre Ltd. are just taking a little breather while they figure out what to do next. Back when Jason Kenney was running for his present job as
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 51: A new Alberta. Responding to COVID-19 and Oil Crash with Chris Henderson.
Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, stay at home. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the plummeting price of oil has sent shockwaves through Alberta politics over the past two weeks. Chris Henderson, Chief Strategist and Partner at Y Station Communications and Research, joins Dave Cournoyer and Adam
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If Health Minister Tyler Shandro were smart, he’d walk back that Babylon by Telus deal pronto
This whole Babylon smartphone app partnership between the Alberta government and Telus Corp. is starting to look like a major blunder. If he’s smart, Health Minister Tyler Shandro will recognize he needs to walk back Thursday’s gee-whiz news release announcing the deal with Telus, quickly. Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The new two-tier medicine: real physicians for the rich, an Internet app for the rest of us?
Get ready for the new two-tier medicine! Real doctors for the rich; Internet apps of the rest of us. Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro (Photo: Government of Alberta). You think I’m kidding? Wednesday night, I found an email in my inbox from Telus Corp., the corporate monstrosity based in the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The coronavirus pandemic: Not good news for anyone, but probably worse news for the West than China
The novel coronavirus hit China first. Today was the first day China reported no new local infections since the global pandemic officially began in Hubei province in the fall of 2019. No new local infections means that while there were 34 cases reported in China in the previous 24 hours,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Bill Morneau’s COVID-19 response: This economic and health crisis is no time for timidity or hesitation
According to Bill Morneau, “as Minister of Finance, my only job is to make sure that Canadians can keep food in the fridge.” That’s actually a rare useful thought for a federal finance minister to keep front of mind in calamitous circumstances like the present ones. Economist Jim Stanford (Photo:
Continue reading