The mighty voice of Alberta’s beleaguered oil industry, the long promised and much-touted $30-million “Energy War Room,” stumbled out of the starting gate yesterday after a news conference in Calgary graced by the presence of Premier Jason Kenney and Energy Minister Sonya Savage. At least, as the self-described purveyor of
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Politics: Regardless of Tyler Shandro’s promises, private clinics won’t shorten surgical wait times — they’ll make them longer
Using private medical clinics to remedy long wait times for surgeries in Alberta’s public health care system, as the United Conservative Party Government says it expects to do, is about as likely to work as treating iron-poor blood by attaching blood-sucking leeches to patients’ arms and legs. That is to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former Speaker Bob Wanner’s portrait, unveiled yesterday, adds a 21st Century touch to a gloomy 19th Century collection
It’s not just Alberta’s premiers who get their portraits hung in the dingy halls of the provincial Legislature Building in Edmonton, but the Assembly’s Speakers too. Let it be said here first that the portrait of Bob Wanner, the most recent Speaker to depart that role, unveiled at the Legislature
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is a ‘fair deal’ or a fare deal behind Jason Kenney’s Christmas flight to Ottawa with his entourage?
Nobody flies to Ottawa at this time of year expecting to get anything done with the government of Canada. This is axiomatic. Remember that if you’re wondering about that planeload of Alberta Conservative cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and assorted spear-carriers led by Jason Kenney jetting off to the nation’s capital,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Things just keeping getting weirder in Alberta as Jason Kenney sings the Moody Blues!
If a tree falls in the forest and Jason Kenney isn’t there to hear it, is it still the sound of European environmentalists and the Rockefellers plotting against Alberta’s ethical oil industry? Is it still Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s fault? Your blogger only spent three days on B.C.’s misty and
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Jason Kenney and the UCP are Kryptonite to Alberta Workers.
When the economy is down, and the money is tight, and a recession looms in the near future what would be the best course of action for the government of Alberta? Apparently, firing 6000 people from their jobs is the correct answer according to Jason Kenny and his merry band
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What’s with the United Conservative Party’s emerging fury at nurses, of all people?
What’s with the sudden hate on for nurses by United Conservative Party supporters? It comes from somewhere. Your average UCP internet troll doesn’t just come up with this stuff on his – or occasionally her – own. The traditional Conservative approach to attacking nurses and other predominantly public and female
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Groundhog Day on Black Friday! With 5,000 job cuts planned, perpetual chaos returns to health care in Alberta
With yesterday’s announcement the Alberta Government intends to wipe out close to 5,000 jobs in public health care by 2023, and another 2,500 or so in other parts of the public service, perpetual chaos has returned to health care in Alberta. Get used to it. It won’t be getting better
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hey Canada! Alberta here: Get off our lawn! And would you mow it, please?
Watch out, Rest of Canada! Jason Kenney, our leader here in Alberta, has mastered the art of sucking and blowing at the same time! You’re in for it now! This is the New Alberta, and you’re going to need to get the hell out of our way! We’ll be taking
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No way Conservatives will admit they look foolish for calls to legislate CN strikers back to work
Now that a tentative agreement in the national strike by 3,200 CN yard workers and train crew members has been reached in collective bargaining as God and the Canada Industrial Relations Board both intended, you’d think the Conservative politicians who were screeching for Ottawa to intervene and order the strikers
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta union leaders summoned to provocative weekend ‘consultation’ by Kenney Government
Alberta union leaders have been summoned to a “labour relations consultation” next weekend in Edmonton at which they will be informed how Premier Jason Kenney’s government plans to “protect workers from being forced to fund political parties and causes.” The announcement of the one-hour meetings came in an email from
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Booing Alberta’s premier at public events like Sunday’s Grey Cup — let’s make it a Battle of Alberta thing!
Is the United Conservative Party’s honeymoon over? God knows, it ought to be. Sadly, though, it’s probably not. Yet. Just the same, it was mildly encouraging to hear a few boos for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in a recording of the the opening ceremony of Sunday’s Grey Cup game —
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What media mostly misses about the national rail strike by CN train crews and yard workers
Here in Alberta, what news coverage there has been about the strike for safer working conditions by Canadian National Railway train crews and rail yard workers has focused on the increasingly agitated calls by Conservative politicians for punitive back-to-work legislation. There is very little reporting on the issues behind the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP to give Alberta government ‘a giant enema,’ minister of ‘red tape reduction’ proclaims
Grant Hunter, associate minister in charge of Alberta’s ministry of “red tape reduction,” got up on his hind legs in the Legislature Wednesday evening and proclaimed that the intention of the United Conservative Party majority is “to give this government a giant enema.” I wish I could tell you I
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: The Conscience Chronicles
UPDATE: As this was being readied for posting, the Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills voted to recommend that Bill 207 not move forward in its current form, meaning that the bill will not be proceeding to the floor. I have elected to post this anyway,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Being kicked out of the Legislature means never having to say you’re sorry
Apparently, being kicked out of the Alberta Legislature means never having to say you’re sorry! Judging by the smile on her face yesterday morning as a crowd of more than 800 Registered Nurses furious at the prospect of having their pay cut substantially by Premier Jason Kenney’s hard-right government roared
Continue readingAlberta Politics: From the first nail in the Velvet Coffin to the death of Star Metro — the decline of Alberta’s newspapers
The bad news was delivered on social media yesterday by employees of Star Metro newspapers in cities outside Ontario. Whatever was behind the Toronto Star’s decision in April 2018 to hire real journalists and publish free print newspapers in five major cities across Canada, including Calgary and Edmonton, apparently it
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If you’re shocked by the firing of Alberta’s Election Commissioner, you shouldn’t be
If you’re shocked that Jason Kenney’s Government has effectively just fired the guy who’s been investigating the sleazy Kamikaze Campaign that preceded the premier’s choice as leader of the United Conservative Party in 2017, you really haven’t been paying attention. Alberta’s best-known political commentator is so shocked… How shocked is
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 44: Live from the Parkland Institute Conference: Truth, the First Casualty? War Rooms and Rumours of War Rooms
Daveberta Podcast host Dave Cournoyer teamed up with AlbertaPolitics.ca writer David Climenhaga at the annual Parkland Institute Conference at the University of Alberta last weekend to share what we know and what we speculate might happen with the Canadian Energy Centre Ltd. (a.k.a. the War Room) and the Public Inquiry
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Excellent question: If a referendum’s good enough for the CPP, why not for the teachers’ pension fund?
“Jason Kenney says he will use a referendum to determine if Albertans want their Canada Pension Plan shifted to AIMCo,” Jonathan Teghtmeyer, Associate Communications Coordinator of the Alberta Teachers Association, observed before asking a perfectly reasonable question on social media yesterday. So, Mr. Teghtmeyer tweeted, “why won’t he allow teachers
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