Even before the dust from the historically close 2023 Alberta general election has settled, Premier Danielle Smith was blabbing about creating an extra-parliamentary council of UCP electoral losers to act as Edmonton’s MLAs. University of Calgary Law Professor Martin Z. Olszynski (Photo: University of Calgary). Of course, the day before
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Alberta Politics: Hot take: If you were hoping for sanity in Alberta after yesterday’s election, you can forget about it
Those praying for a degree of sanity to prevail after yesterday’s Alberta provincial election were bound to be disappointed by the apparent result last night. NDP Leader Rachel Notley concedes the victory to Danielle Smith last night in Edmonton (Photo: Twitter/Saif Kaisar). At the witching hour, the United Conservative Party
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No predictions today, but the stakes are high, maybe existential, so just go vote!
One of the dirty little secrets of Canadian politics at the end of the beginning of the 21st Century is that a lot of political professionals have come to recognize the awesome power of fear. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper (Photo: Screenshot of UCP video). And nothing instills fear
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s economy has lagged the rest of Canada under the UCP, well-known economist’s study concludes
No matter how badly they mismanage it, Alberta Conservatives can usually expect to get a pass on the economy. Tomorrow is election day in Alberta (Photo: Michael J/Creative Commons). There’s no point carping about this. It’s not just Alberta. Public opinion research suggests it’s a common delusion among the populations
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s novel Hyperlink Defence in defamation suit fails to impress Court of King’s Bench judge
It’s probably not very helpful to the United Conservative Party effort to hang onto power by its fingernails that party founder and former premier Jason Kenney found himself back in the news yesterday, his effort to mount a novel Hyperlink Defence against a defamation lawsuit by five environmental organizations as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No Revelations, just allegations, as Artur Pawlowski brings his circus to the steps of the Legislature
The circus came to the steps of the Alberta Legislature yesterday. The Pawlowski Bros. and Preachers and Press Corps Circus, that is, for lack of a better name. Artur Pawlowski during his jeremiad (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Actually, notorious Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski didn’t appear to have brought his
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What’s driving Brian Jean, whose enthusiasm for politics waxes and wanes? Just Monday’s election, or something more?
Brian Jean – once upon a time the leader of the Wildrose Party Opposition and more recently twice an unsuccessful candidate to lead the United Conservative Party – seems to be as energized as that famous battery-powered bunny these days. Danielle Smith and the late Progressive Conservative premier Jim Prentice
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Copy editors checking facts? That’s thing of the past at Postmedia, apparently, as election column illustrates
This may surprise some readers, but back in the early 1970s, when your blogger was a callow youth working as a cub reporter for the Calgary Herald, newspapers did their own fact checking! A Calgary Herald paperboy (Photo: Calgary Herald Archives). This important task was done by a special category
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pensions don’t seem to be much of an issue in this election – pension governance expert says they should be
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she didn’t want to talk about the idea of taking Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan and creating an Alberta pension plan until after the election, and by and large the province’s political commentators have co-operated. Pension governance advisor Tom Fuller (Photo: David J.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Notley tells throng of supporters of NDP plan to invest $1.8 billion in Edmonton over three years
Calgary may be the battleground in Alberta’s May 29 provincial election, but NDP Leader Rachel Notley stopped in Edmonton yesterday morning to tell a throng of supporters packed into the entrance hall of the Citadel Theatre in the city’s downtown what her party would do for Alberta’s nowadays-neglected capital city.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta premier’s worst moment in last night’s leaders’ debate happened before the opening bell rang
The worst moment in yesterday’s televised leader’s debate for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith came well before the hourlong event’s opening bell rang at 6 p.m. Premier Smith during the debate (Photo: Screenshot of broadcasters’ pool video). That was when Alberta Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler issued her report on Ms. Smith’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two new polls Wednesday say UCP and NDP are close to ‘statistical dead heat,’ province-wide and in Calgary
If the latest Alberta voter intention polls are right – and who would be bold enough to predict that? – Canada’s richest province could soon end up in an excruciating political predicament. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on the campaign trail (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Well, at least it would be a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Heckling of NDP MLA at St. Albert meeting by UCP candidate’s supporters had a nasty Trumpian tone
St. ALBERT, Alberta – I’ve been to a couple of all-candidate forums in St. Albert over the years that got pretty lively, and one in 2015 that was downright rowdy, but the nasty tone of last night’s candidate forum at the St. Albert Inn was something new. Angela Wood, the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP’s ‘Alberta Surgical Initiative’ proves to be an expensive flop, reducing surgical capacity, failing to fix long wait times
The United Conservative Party’s “Alberta Surgical Initiative” to outsource publicly funded surgeries to private facilities is an expensive flop that has diverted resources away from public hospitals and reduced provincial surgical capacity, says a damning report released this morning by the Parkland Institute. The cover of the Parkland Institute’s report
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Leaked copy of respected pollster Janet Brown’s clients-only survey suggests UCP is on the road to victory
News yesterday that a leaked copy of high-profile Alberta pollster Janet Brown’s latest poll suggesting Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party may be on the road to a relatively easy victory in Calgary (and therefore Alberta) was about as welcome in NDP circles as the proverbial skunk at a garden
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New poll by Abacus Data shows Alberta NDP breaking ahead of UCP into winning territory
A new poll by Abacus Data released yesterday suggests the Alberta NDP led by Rachel Notley is breaking ahead of the United Conservative Party led by Danielle Smith and heading into winning territory. United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr) “Among all eligible voters, the NDP has gained
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Horror! Danielle Smith’s news conference is interrupted for about 50 seconds by 3 mild-mannered protesters!
So, let me see if I’ve got this straight … Trucks block the streets of Ottawa in February 2022 (Photo: Maksim Sokolov/Creative Commons). The people who vociferously supported the occupation of downtown Ottawa by truckers and others blasting air horns 24/7 and spewing filth on the streets of the nation’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP health minister’s claim of record-breaking nurse recruitment drive is hard to justify
Yesterday’s United Conservative Party claim that Alberta is the beneficiary of a record-breaking drive to recruit nurses from abroad seems divorced from reality. A UCP social media ad attributing a misleading claim to the Globe and Mail (Image: Facebook/Jason Copping). In a UCP news release echoed repeatedly on social media
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Even more stuff Danielle Smith says: Privatize major public hospitals? Sure! Alberta’s premier has a plan
A video clip of Danielle Smith outlining how Alberta could privatize major public hospitals like the Peter Lougheed Centre, the Rockyview General Hospital, and South Health Campus appeared on social media last week. The massive South Health Campus public hospital facility in Calgary – targeted by Alberta’s premier for privatization?
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Unhinged: Danielle Smith says vaccinated Albertans are just like the German voters who elected Hitler
In an unhinged commentary recorded by Danielle Smith on Nov. 10, 2021, the day before Remembrance Day, Alberta’s future premier compared Albertans who got vaccinated against COVID-19 with Germans who voted for Hitler. NDP Opposition Leader and former Alberta premier Rachel Notley called Ms. Smith’s comments “horrifying” (Photo: David J.
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