If the world is on the cusp of another deadly coronavirus outbreak, this might seem like a peculiar time to be signing up for a high-risk experiment in health care management based on ideology instead of facts. But as far as Canada’s increasingly extremist conservative movement is concerned, of course
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Politics: RCMP investigation of ‘Kamikaze Campaign’ moves into new phase; what it means remains to be seen
“Soon, we will find out if breaking the law is illegal.” The line is Stephen Colbert’s and, no, he wasn’t talking about Alberta. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The well-known American comedian and TV personality, of course, was referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Shut down your ‘anti-Alberta campaigns’ inquiry or the courts will shut it for you, tiny group warns Alberta government
OTTAWA – Well, one thing’s already clear, there’s no way the mighty Kenney Government will shut down its so-called inquiry into “anti-Alberta energy campaigns” on the say so of Progress Alberta, a small Edmonton-based research and activist organization. That said, the day may come when the government’s leaders wish they
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s UCP deploys the red tape weapon: an example from the War on Education
Never let it be said Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government hates red tape. On the contrary, Premier Jason Kenney’s Government loves the stuff – at least if you define red tape as most dictionaries do, to wit, excessive bureaucratic rules that make it more difficult to get stuff done. Advanced
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Stephen Harper and Preston Manning, joined at the hip by history and not particularly liking it, make changes
On Wednesday, former prime minister Stephen Harper abruptly quit the Conservative Party of Canada’s fund-raising board, supposedly to give himself time to prevent Jean Charest from becoming leader of Canada’s Conservatives or prime minister of Canada. Yesterday, we learned that Preston Manning would quit his eponymous market-fundamentalist call centre in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brace yourselves, Alberta, Premier Kenney’s promising us another spring of renewal!
Good Lord, can Alberta survive another spring of renewal like the last one? Another springtime of renewal — that’s what Government House Leader Jason Nixon and the United Conservative Party’s meme machine were promising yesterday with the announcement the Alberta Legislature well get back to business on Feb. 25. Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: France is in turmoil and all we hear is crickets — what gives?
France is in turmoil and all we hear is crickets. What gives? The government of President Emmanuel Macron has introduced a scheme to overhaul pensions and retirement benefits for many workers, done as usual in the name of reform, rationalization and simplification. For most French workers, though, it will result
Continue readingAlberta Politics: S.O.S. for secession? Only about 150 make it to frigid Wexit rally at Alberta Legislature Building
Judging from the underwhelming turnout at its “S.O.S.” rally in Edmonton yesterday, Alberta’s minuscule Wexit faction might want to reconsider its demand for a separation referendum right now. Leastways, Wexit supporters should probably rethink the idea if the “S.O.S.” was supposed to stand for “Separation, the Only Solution,” as the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Loudest message from Fort Saskatchewan ‘Fair Deal Panel’ town hall? Hands off our CPP!
The visit of Premier Jason Kenney’s “Fair Deal Panel” to Fort Saskatchewan, an industrial oil town just northeast of Edmonton, may have been intended to be a separatist open-mike night when it was added as a stop on the travel itinerary by the UCP’s brain trust. Whatever they expected when
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Savage attack: There’s nothing like the United Nations putting its oar in to make the locals go loco in Alberta!
If we ever do form the Western Wepublic of Wexit out here in Wild Rose Country, I guess we won’t be able to join the United Nations. Too triggering. There’s just something about the UN putting its oar into our affairs that sends Alberta politicians over the edge. Guilty conscience?
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP assails Alberta Energy War Room for ‘gross incompetence’ — but is that such a bad thing?
Having swallowed much of the United Conservative Party’s unlikely conspiracy theory about what supposedly ails the Alberta oilpatch during its term in office makes it harder for the NDP to convincingly criticize the Kenney Government’s $30-million-a-year “Energy War Room.” To give the Opposition its due, though, yesterday they tried. Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Get used to it, Alberta, the world is learning how to talk about climate change
Remember the anger in Alberta in 2016 when some observers connected the dots between the fire that spring in Fort McMurray and the phenomenon known as global warming? Such statements were denounced as outrageous. Also insensitive — and, without doubt, a few of the comments on social media were. But
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Maintain Your Rage-Austraila Is Ground Zero
Austraila is ‘Ground Zero’ in the rage worthy reality that is the ‘Climate Crisis’ of our lives. British Columbia, like Austraila, could also explode into a hell on earth scenario if we continue with the Read more…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Foresight is 2020: It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without a Top Ten List of political predictions
This year, foresight is 2020! It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without AlbertaPolitics.ca’s Top Ten Political Predictions for 2020, so your blogger will gaze into his crystal ball one more time and tell you what’s up next. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). No one seems to have
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Makes Sense To Me
I had this exact conversation with my son this week as he and his wife visited from the west. Alberta, Ottawa set to clash over rent supplement cost, Dec. 27 This story reports another impasse over money between Alberta and Ottawa. Yet it fails to explain the full story as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: For the 12th anniversary of AlbertaPolitics.ca, here’s a Top Ten List of Alberta political stories in 2019
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the first post published on this blog, known at the time as St. Albert Diary. Later, for a long spell, it was Alberta Diary, and still retains that name on Rabble.ca, where it is also published. By the standards of the Internet, this makes
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Energy War Room’s crack team isn’t exactly ‘cookin’ with gas’
Should we be worried about operatives employed by the Alberta Government’s public-private Energy War Room masquerading as journalists? Of course we should. But it’s also OK to be amused by the astonishing ineptitude with which they’re going about the task. As King Solomon is said to have observed, pride goeth
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Happy Holidays! Alberta’s economic prospects may underwhelm, but at least you can spin them as you like!
Happy Holidays! At this time last year, it looked as if Santa would bring something for everyone in Alberta, regardless of their political orientation. This year, though, maybe not so much. Lumps of carbon-dioxide-emitting coal, maybe. Leastways, you can spin recent economic outlooks for the province any way you like,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Annals of the Energy War Room: Square-pipeline logo to be dumped like a bad first date
The Alberta Energy War Room’s logo will be unceremoniously dumped like a bad first date. It turns out the iconic square-pipeline symbol that was supposedly rustled up just for Canadian Energy Centre Ltd., as the War Room is officially known, was already in service as the corporate logo of a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rebranded ‘War Room’ aims for ‘measured tone’ in riposte to acerbic Medicine Hat News column, doesn’t quite succeed
All the Alberta Government’s rebranded Energy War Room is trying to do, pleaded Managing Director Tom Olsen yesterday in his much anticipated riposte to an acerbic column last week in the Medicine Hat News, is to bring a little civility to the debate about whether or not foreign-funded enviro-propagandists are
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