PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and friend with unionized firefighters at last year’s Edmonton and District Labour Council Labour Day BBQ. Below: Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan at the same event, and Labour Minister Christina Gray. Today is Labour Day, which in recent years has become a traditional
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Alberta Politics: MacKay, Hughes and Russell ID’d as St. Albert city council members who made statements criticized by Cuff Report
PHOTOS: St. Albert City Council, all smiles, back in the day a bit. From left to right, Bob Russell, Sheena Hughes, Tim Osborne, Nolan Crouse, Wes Brodhead, Cam MacKay and Cathy Heron. Below: Consultant George Cuff, author of the municipal inspection report, and informal shots of Councillors Russell, MacKay and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Sic transit gloria mundi … Globe and Mail, a ‘writers’ newspaper’ no more or a national one either, cans two great columnists
PHOTOS: This was the way into the Globe and Mail back when it was located at the unfashionable west end of Toronto’s Front Street. The door was moved. Apparently the “writers’ newspaper” behind it didn’t come with it. Below: Fired Globe columnists Tabatha Southey and Leah McLaren (Photos: Twitter). Many
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta premier’s quietly capable chief of staff, John Heaney, returns to his family and law practice in B.C.
PHOTOS: John Heaney last spring at the Alberta Legislature. Below: Mr. Heaney’s predecessor as Premier Rachel Notley’s chief of staff, Brian Topp, and his successor, Nathan Rotman (Photo: Twitter). The departure of the low-key and highly capable John Heaney as Premier Rachel Notley’s chief of staff will not necessarily become
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tales from the Council Crypt: Unnamed councillors ID’d in four statements criticized in St. Albert inspection report
PHOTOS: Councillor Bob Russell, at a recent picnic held to support the candidacy of Councillor Cam MacKay, who is running for mayor of St. Albert. Below: Councillor MacKay and Councillor Sheena Hughes, at the same event, and George Cuff, author of the “inspection report” on the work of St. Albert’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Mid-week Alberta Politics Roundup
Photo: Kent Hehr with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Calgary Stampede in July 2017. (Photo from Kent Hehr’s Facebook Page) It has been a busy week for me, so without the time to write a full column-type post, here is a quick summary of what I have been watching
Continue readingAlberta Politics: St. Albert inspection report points fingers at outrageous behaviour by some councillors, but fails to name names
PHOTOS: Consultant George Cuff, author of the City of St. Albert “inspection report,” at St. Albert City Hall after yesterday afternoon’s special council meeting. In the background, portraits of earlier, perhaps less fractious, St. Albert city councils. Below: Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson and St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What does climate change mean for Alberta’s growing dependence on a pipeline to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries?
PHOTOS: U.S. Climate Change Denier in Chief Donald J. Trump. (Photo: White House.) A woman is rescued from her Houston area home (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense.) “Wow – Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood!” So said an apparently astonished Donald J. Trump, First Tweeter
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta politics never slows down, even in the summer.
Politics never slows down in Alberta, even in the summer. Here is a quick look at some of what has been happening: New UCP caucus has a spending problems A day after the United Conservative Party lined up to criticize Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci, it was revealed that the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Time for a changeup? UCP Caucus’s money troubles are funny and ironic, but not enough to win an election for the NDP
PHOTOS: NDP Health Minister Sarah Hoffman. Is she the best person to hold Alberta’s finance portfolio as Alberta’s 2019 election edges nearer? Below: Finance Minister Joe Ceci and Jason Kenney, the conservative politician most likely to lead the United Conservative Party into the next provincial election. The pecuniary difficulties faced
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Former PC MLAs running for municipal office in 2017
Alberta’s 2015 provincial election resulted in the election of 75 new MLAs in the 87 seat Legislative Assembly. More than two years after that historic election, a group of former Progressive Conservative MLAs have put forward their names to stand in the October 16, 2017 municipal elections. Here is a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jim Dinning 6.0: how Jason Kenney is repeating the same failed Tory strategy, and expecting different results
PHOTOS: Singer k.d. lang (handout photo, via CBC). Below: Jim Dinning 1.0 and Jim Dinning 6.0. Is it just me, or is it mildly surprising that Jason Kenney turned down k.d. lang’s offer of free tickets to Calgary Pride on Sept. 3 and 4? Mr. Kenney, of course, is the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hard to believe it’s been 6 years: Looking back to 2011, and Election Eve 2008, with happy memories of Layton, Jack
PHOTOS: NDP Leader Jack Layton, looking fragile and using a crutch, in Edmonton in April 2011. Below: Mr. Layton that day, again, and some of the mourners in front of the Alberta Legislature on Aug. 24, 2011. Don’t mourn! Organize! — Joe Hill, Swedish-American union organizer As happens each
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: 55 days left until Edmonton’s municipal elections
With 55 days left until the October 16, 2017 municipal elections in Alberta, more candidates have put their names forward to run for public office. Here are some of the latest updates to the list of candidates running in Edmonton’s municipal election for City Council and the Edmonton Public School Board: Mayor Don
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Breakup on the right? Naw, Canadian conservative politicians’ long romance with the Rebel isn’t over
PHOTOS: Wildrose-UCP MLA Drew Barnes, who still stands with and by Rebel Media, at a protest on the steps of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton in December 2015. Below: Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer (Photo: Marcos Oliveira, Wikimedia Commons), UCP leadership candidates Jason Kenney and Brian Jean, and Alberta NDP
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Len Bracko, 74, was St. Albert MLA, city councillor, schoolteacher and respected community builder
PHOTOS: Len Bracko in his days as a St. Albert councillor at the site of the city’s wetland park on the east shore of Big Lake. Below: Mr. Bracko helping to build homes for people in need abroad, and being congratulated for his victory in the 1993 provincial election by
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP leaders edge away from Rebel Media after NDP House Leader rips their cozy past with alt-right group
PHOTOS: NDP House Leader Brian Mason, one of the fiercest fighters in Premier Rachel Notley’s government, ripped into UCP leadership contenders Jason Kenney and Brian Jean yesterday for their long association with Rebel Media. Below: Mr. Kenney, Mr. Jean, media accreditation report author Heather Boyd, and Alberta Legislative Press Gallery
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Paper Teeth, by Alberta author Lauralyn Chow, tops Audreys Books’ latest Edmonton faction bestsellers list
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended Aug. 13, 2017, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Paper Teeth – Lauralyn Chow*+ 2. The Late Show – Michael
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: Fiscal hawks’ formulas for cutting spending don’t really fly in the face of reality
PHOTOS: The Alberta Government’s Dash-8, used and abused by Premier Ralph Klein so that he could smoke while in transit between Calgary and Edmonton (Photo: Wikimedia Commons). It’s not just what you spend, but what you spend it on, says Guest Post Author Bob Raynard, below. Below him: former Conservative
Continue readingAlberta Politics: High-profile MLA Derek Fildebrandt, embroiled in embarrassing revelations, falls on his sword, quits UCP caucus
PHOTOS: Derek Fildebrandt buying extra fuel for his big red Ford pickup truck on New Year’s Eve 2016 to illustrate how much more gasoline was going to cost after the NDP’s carbon tax took effect the next morning. (Photo from the politician’s Facebook page.) Prices immediately went down. It turns
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