Space, the final frontier … they even think Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party Government are an interstellar disaster at Starfleet Command! Well, in fairness to the Alberta premier and his out-of-its-depth government, William Shatner was never a real Starfleet commander, he just played one on TV. Ontario Health
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Politics: Latest leak shows AHS modelling forecasts Intensive Care Units packed with COVID-19 patients by mid-December
In the first unauthorized information leak of December, Alberta’s NDP Opposition revealed yesterday Alberta Health Services case modelling projects about 775 Albertans will be in hospital with COVID-19 in just two weeks. More than 160 of them will be in intensive care units, further straining the overstressed provincial health system’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With pandemic respiratory disease rampaging virtually unchecked in Alberta, Calgary faces oxygen rationing
In a development that is surely emblematic of the unchecked progress of the novel coronavirus under the United Conservative Party Government of Premier Jason Kenney, Albertans learned yesterday we are now having to ration oxygen in Calgary. Oxygen! No fines were handed out when unmasked anti-maskers packed together defiantly to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Oppositional by nature, the UCP acts as if Rachel Notley’s NDP was still the government
Perhaps because he’s the only United Conservative Party MLA in Edmonton, Justice Minister Kaycee Madu seems to have become the Kenney Government’s main spokesperson responsible for yelling at the NDP. Whether Mr. Madu writes his own social media material or has an aide to perform that function for him, his
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP tries to recast story of premier’s meddling in pandemic response as tale of betrayal by unidentified leaker
Turns out the Kenney Government’s pandemic response has been guided more by political pressure and right-wing ideology than science and expert advice. For weeks Premier Jason Kenney and his army of “issues managers” have claimed Alberta’s determined effort to keep its restaurants, bars and casinos open in the face of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Gary Mar on Keystone XL: Likely the only guy who can save Jason Kenney’s Keystone XL pipe-dream is Justin Trudeau
It may not quite be impossible for Jason Kenney to see his dream of completing the Keystone XL Pipeline to the U.S. Gulf Coast on his watch come true, but it will be almighty difficult with Democrat Joe Biden in the White House. What’s more, if the project is to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta dithers on, replacing pandemic half-measures with slightly tougher half-measures
Premier Jason Kenney finally resurfaced yesterday, looking healthy enough, to respond to Alberta’s surging COVID-19 infection rate with new half-measures not all that distinguishable from the old half-measures. Bars, restaurants and non-essential businesses will be allowed to remain open with reduced capacity, ditto for megachurches that will still be permitted
Continue readingAlberta Politics: David Khan and Don Iveson, two bright lights of Alberta politics, announce they’re packing it in
Two prominent Alberta politicians have taken the traditional Canadian walk in the snow and announced their planned departures from their current political roles. Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan, 46, one of the most influential provincial politicians in Alberta without a seat in the Legislature, made his announcement on Sunday. Edmonton
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Premier is Missing (not a novel) – will he be back today to launch a big COVID-19 lockdown, or is it something else?
Where’s Jason Kenney? Alberta’s in the midst of a pandemic emergency that grows more frightening by the day, but it’s been days since the public’s seen or heard from the premier. Heath Minister Tyler Shandro (Photo: Chris Schwarz, Government of Alberta). There were 1,584 new COVID-19 cases in Alberta announced
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: 63: Defending Alberta Parks
Annalise Klingbeil joins the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the latest developments in United Conservative Party government’s plans to close and privatize more than 160 provincial parks and recreation areas. We also discuss the mixed-messaging about the COVID-19 pandemic that Albertans are hearing from Premier Jason Kenney and his cabinet ministers
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post by Cam Westhead: COVID-19 public health advice – armchair epidemiologists need not apply
By Cam Westhead One of the first things I learned in nursing school was not to panic during times of crisis. Medical professionals are trained to act like a duck – appearing calm on top of the water but paddling like mad underneath. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s the pandemic, stupid!
Another day, another COVID-19 infection record broken. This time, 1,155. There are 11 new deaths. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Tyler Shandro, as they appeared at yesterday’s news conference. Is it just me, or is there a whiff of panic in the cold Alberta air? Not among the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As COVID-19 cases soar, UCP MLA tells constituents the pandemic is behind us
Alberta set a new daily record for COVID-19 yesterday, with 1,105 confirmed new cases reported over the previous 24 hours. No fear, though. Apparently the worst of the pandemic is already behind us! Ms. Rosin during her tenure as a member of Premier Jason Kenney’s “Fair Deal” Panel (Photo: David
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP still covets CPP grubstake, so one way or another AIMCo CEO’s walk in the snow was inevitable
Did Kevin Uebelein jump or was he, ever so gently, shoved? Albertans can be confident we’ll never, ever get a straight answer about what led to the low-key announcement the day before yesterday that the CEO of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., better known as AIMCo, had decided to take
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canada’s progressive politicians need to pay attention to Erin O’Toole’s pivot to unions
If Erin O’Toole was sincere when he surprised everyone last month by bemoaning the decline of unions, you’d think he’d publicly rebuke Premier Jason Kenney for his ongoing campaign to turn Alberta into a right-to-work state. So far, though, the new Conservative Party of Canada leader has had nothing to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It was good luck not good management that saved us from COVID-19 last spring; bad management is killing us now
Sunday was Alberta’s deadliest pandemic day to date. Twenty people died from COVID-19. There were 860 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total of active cases to 10,031. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). And one gets the feeling, given the Kenney Government’s determinedly lackadaisical response to the pandemic,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Corporate lobbyist and former aide to two Conservative premiers named University of Alberta external relations VP
A high-profile lobbyist with connections to past Alberta Conservative governments and involvement in a controversial effort to open a large private hospital in Edmonton has been named as the University of Alberta’s new vice-president of external relations. U of A leadership, presumably, concluded lobbyist Elan MacDonald has the connections necessary
Continue readingAlberta Politics: COVID-19 is out of control and Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government looks like a deer in the headlights
Faced with a real crisis — a deadly pandemic that won’t quit when you yell at it to knock it off — Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government apparently has no idea what to do. COVID-19 is out of control. Alberta hospitals and care facilities are in near chaos. Alberta’s premier,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ignoring worried doctors, Jason Kenney sticks with largely voluntary ‘pause’ to keep lid on COVID-19
The pandemic is bad and quickly getting worse in Alberta with 860 new daily cases reported yesterday, but Premier Jason Kenney remains deeply committed to the please-knock-it-off-guys approach to controlling the spread of COVID-19. Only, this time, he really means it. Really! Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Arbitration panel rejects rollback demand, awards 1% raise to non-academic staff at eight small Alberta public colleges
It’s unlikely the United Conservative Party Government of Premier Jason Kenney was pleased when it got word Monday an arbitration panel had rejected an employer demand for a pay rollback and awarded support staff at eight smaller Alberta post-secondary institutions a 1-per-cent raise for the final year of their contract.
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