TweetOn October 18, 2014 Alberta’s New Democratic Party will choose a replacement for retiring leader Brian Mason, who has held the position since 2004. The three candidates seeking the leadership are Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley, Edmonton-Calder MLA David Eggen and Edmonton-Ellerslie candidate Rod Loyola. This is the Alberta NDP’s first foray
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daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: By-Election Round-up: 11 days until the mini-election
TweetThere are now eleven days left until voters cast their ballots in four provincial by-elections on October 27. Prentice a no-show in Calgary-Foothills He is the Premier of Alberta and he does not have a seat in the Legislature, but Jim Prentice was the only Calgary-Foothills by-election candidate to skip last night’s all-candidates forum organized by the Edgemont
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta may be under ‘new management,’ but we’re getting the same old bait ’n’ switch tactics in health care!
Premier Jim Prentice and Health Minister Stephen Mandel, both PC candidates in the Oct. 27 four-seat mini-election, at yesterday’s “Bed Blocker” news conference in Edmonton. Below: NDP candidate Dr. Bob Turner and Liberal Candidate Dr. Donna Wilson, RN, both running against Mr. Mandel, ex-mayor; Seniors Minister Jeff Johnson; and AHS
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Plot summary for a zombie policy apocalypse: Return of the Living Bed Blockers, Nightmare on Alberta Avenue, Part IV
Even though we know the prescription for curing the “bed blocker” problem, it’s unlikely Alberta can escape the revenge of the conservative zombie policy makers, shown above. Actual Progressive Conservative and Wildrose policy makers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Zombie policy enablers Jim Prentice and Danielle Smith; ER
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Sources: MLA David Xiao disqualified from federal Conservative nomination
TweetA Progressive Conservative MLA is appealing a decision by a Conservative Party of Canada committee to disqualify him as a nomination candidate in the newly created Edmonton-West federal riding, according to reliable sources. It remains unclear why the committee chose to disqualify Edmonton-McClung MLA David Xiao, who announced his entry into the contest in
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Happy Thanksgiving! Would the Tories praising our health care system please stop trying to privatize it!
Edmonton’s Misericordia Hospital waaay back in the day. Below: The modern Mis, the one in Edmonton’s west end that after 45 years is falling apart. Alberta Health Minister Stephen Mandel. Happy Thanksgiving! With a case of a “potential contagious illness” in an unidentified Edmonton hospital last night, I guess we
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Yellowhead federal by-election called for November 17
TweetProviding a distraction from the four provincial by-elections currently being held in Alberta, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that federal by-elections will be held in Ontario’s Whitby-Oshawa riding and Alberta’s Yellowhead riding. The Yellowhead by-election is triggered by the resignation of five-term Conservative Member of Parliament Rob Merrifield, who was
Continue readingAlberta Diary: On those Wildrose attack ads: they can hardly say Jim Prentice has ‘no plan’
The harshest of the three Wildrose Attack ads. Just let Youtube play, and you can see the Wildrose Party’s other two current attack ads plus its single positive spot. Below: A screen shot from one of the spectacularly ineffective 2006 No Plan ads attacking then premier Ed Stelmach. The full
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Despite statements by former premier and health minister, AHS has dropped its objection to paying full severance to fired CFO Allaudin Merali
Fred Horne and Alison Redford, back in the day. (CBC photo.) Below: Former Alberta Health Services senior vice-president and CFO Allaudin Merali; former Capital Health Region CEO Sheila Weatherill. Alberta Health Services has thrown in the towel on a key point of the legal dispute with Allaudin Merali and offered
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Welcome to Alberta, where, baby, these are the days of miracles and wonders…
Conservative political leaders distribute loaves and fishes, part of the school lunch program planned for the hundreds of new schools that will be popping up overnight out here in Alberta. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Premier Jim Prentice, Opposition Leader Danielle Smith and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Can the opposition win any of the 4 by-elections?
TweetCan the opposition parties win any of the four provincial by-elections being held on October 27, 2014? The by-election votes will take place in four urban constituencies that were considered safe for the Progressive Conservatives in the 2012 election. With a change in provincial leadership and a volatile political environment, these by-elections do provide
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Today in History: Alison Redford sworn-in as Premier of Alberta
TweetOn October 7, 2011, Alison Merrilla Redford stood in front of a large crowd of her peers and power-brokers in the Legislature Rotunda as she was sworn-in as Alberta’s 14th Premier. Having won the October 1, 2011 Progressive Conservative leadership contest with 37,101 votes to 35,491 for second-place Gary Mar, Ms. Redford
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Don Iveson will stand the test of time
Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor not a politician! Naheed Nenshi has built a reputation as Canada’s coolest mayor, at least among young progressives. He’s big on the Twitter. He’s hip (by politician standards). He’s funny (by politician standards). He shatters the (unfair) stereotype of Calgary as Canada’s redneck wasteland. However,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Remember where you heard it first: privatizing the Alberta government air fleet in haste was a lousy business decision
A flight steward welcomes well-connected passengers aboard a chartered government of Alberta flight sometime in the near future. But don’t worry about it. You’ll never know if Alberta’s privatized air services are not exactly as illustrated because there will be no accountability. Below: Premier Jim Prentice, the business guru who
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The magic of Tory reinvention. A new era for Alberta.
TweetAs the Progressive Conservatives brandish their new slogan, “A new era for Alberta,” many Albertans might be confused about which political party has been in power for the past 43 years. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an era as “a long and distinct period of history.” If we were to apply the geological
Continue readingAlberta Diary: NDP leadership debate was amicable, but it ignored the elephant in the progressive political room
Candidate Rachel Notley addresses the crowd of New Democrats Thursday night during the Alberta New Democratic Party’s final leadership debate in Edmonton. Candidates Rod Loyola, in the middle, and David Eggen, at left, are visible in the background. (Photo by Olav Rokne.) Below: Mr. Eggen, Mr. Loyola and 2012 federal
Continue readingAlberta Diary: NDP and Liberal candidates’ with similar appeal in Edmonton-Whitemud don’t make progressive voters’ job any easier
The NDP and Alberta Liberals fight it out in Edmonton-Whitemud. I’ll leave it to readers to determine who’s just been demasted. Below: Liberal candidate Dr. Donna Wilson (CBC photo) and NDP candidate Dr. Bob Turner. The reasons are perfectly clear and quite understandable, but it’s depressing nonetheless to see Alberta’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta politics this week: Health Ministers, By-Elections and Troubled Waters Ahead
TweetBANFF – Stepping onto the national stage for the first time since he was appointed as Alberta’s Minister of Health, Stephen Mandel met with his provincial and federal counterparts this week in Banff for the annual Health Ministers meeting. Mr. Mandel co-chaired the meeting, a role his predecessor, Fred Horne, had planned to
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Amazing Race, Alberta Political Edition: can the Tories find their missing mojo?
Opposition party members prepare to run against the Progressive Conservative candidates, uncertain why they are being made to race with sacks on their feet while the Tories aren’t. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. New faces below: The NDP’s Jennifer Burgess; the Tories’ Mike Ellis. Premier Jim
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Four by-elections are a risky mid-term report card for Alberta Tories
TweetAlbertans in four provincial constituencies will go to the polls on October 27, 2014. Half-way through the PC Government’s current four year term in office, the by-elections will be our own version of the mid-term elections. Yesterday morning three anticipated provincial by-elections turned into four when first-term Ken Hughes announced his resignation
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