Stephen Carter, back in the day, looking very pleased with himself. Below: Former Carter clients Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Alison Redford. Below them: Pollster Janet Brown. What would happen if a new poll put Thomas Lukaszuk in third place in the Tory leadership race? Oh, wait! The former labour
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: When is the next Alberta election?
Tweet With the governing Progressive Conservatives selecting their new leader in September 2014, there is growing suspicion that Albertans could be going to polls sooner than expected. While Alberta’s next strange “three-month fixed election period” is not until 2016, a loosely written law may allow the next premier to trigger an early election.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Don’t let any ‘celebrities’ tell you different, we’ve got friends of science here in Alberta
Don’t worry: you have absolutely nothing to do with the apocalypse. You might as well mine more bitumen while you wait for it. Below: Barry Cooper; another version of the Friends of Science billboard; yet another great billboard supporting democracy and the people. Billboard photos found on the Internet. Alberta’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tiny Alberta Progressive Parties need to get their act together
TweetWhat do the Alberta Liberals, New Democrats, Alberta Party and Green Party have in common? None of these parties will form government after the next election. As Albertans prepare for another electoral showdown between two conservative parties – the long-governing Progressive Conservatives and the opposition Wildrose Party – many non-conservative voters
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Right-wing Rage Machine readies the Full Neil Young Treatment for Archbishop Desmond Tutu
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu will now be subjected to the full Neil Young Treatment for speaking out against overdevelopment of Alberta’s Bitumen Sands. (CBC Photo.) Below: Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ric McIver; Mr. Young, back in the days when Albertans were still allowed to love him. Retired South African
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: And then there were three (white men)
TweetAs the deadline for candidates to enter their names (and $50,000 fee) in the contest to become the next leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Association came to a close yesterday, three politicians have put forward their names – bank vice-president and former federal cabinet minister Jim Prentice and former provincial
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A blast from the past: Oh, those Tories and their stories!
A postal worker searches for David Climenhaga’s lost letter from the minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ray Speaker. Nope. That’s not it … Nothing’s turned up just yet. Below: Mr. Speaker and NDP MLA Ed Ewasiuk. On May 7, 1991, Ray Speaker, the minister of municipal affairs in the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson suffers torments as Allan Hunsperger and the Lake of Fire return to haunt the Wildrose Party
Wildrose strategists illustrate the party’s recent strategy on the Lake of Fire issue. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working … again. The Wildrose Party’s actual senior strategists may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Pastor Allan Hunsperger, Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson, and the Airdrie Tower, thought to be the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ric McIver Progressive Conservative leadership campaign lurches to life as Hancock Government sends mixed signals
Tory leadership candidate Ric McIver, shown on his extremely uninformative campaign website. Below: Education Minister Jeff Johnson and newly appointed Jobs, Skills, Etc. Minister Kyle Fawcett. Ho-hum. After days of virtual silence, former infrastructure minister Ric McIver made the first official appearance of his campaign for the leadership of Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Brent Rathgeber may not a be a Tory any more, but he still supports the Harper Government’s worst ideas
Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber getting scrummed by the media in his St. Albert office the day after he resigned from the Conservative Parliamentary Caucus. (Photo grabbed from Mr. Rathgeber’s website.) Below: Mr. Rathgeber looking at the camera. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Notwithstanding his much-publicized break with the Harper Conservatives, Independent
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Edmonton New Democrat David Eggen is first to join Alberta’s only interesting political leadership race
David Eggen at the Legislature, hanging around with your blogger. Below: the Alberta NDP Legislative caucus, from left to right, Deron Bilous, Brian Mason, David Eggen and Rachel Notley. The latest Alberta political leadership candidate says his name means “the sharp end of the axe” in Norwegian, which would sound
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Post-fight analysis: Round 1 to Jim Prentice as Wildrose comes out swinging over debt remark
Jim Prentice and Wildrose champion Rob Anderson square off in Round 1, as members of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce look on. Actual scenes from Alberta political discourse may not appear exactly as illustrated. Judge Dave gives Round 1 to Mr. Prentice. Below: The real Mr. Prentice and the real
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Thomas Lukaszuk throws his hat in the ring – although which ring is open to debate
Self-described anti-establishment Alberta PC leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk in a jaunty self-mocking portrait with your blogger. Below: Tory heir apparent Jim Prentice in another weirdly Joe-Clark-like pose found on the Internet; candidate Ric McIver. Thomas Lukaszuk visited Premier pro tempore Dave Hancock yesterday morning to resign as Alberta’s labour minister
Continue readingAlberta Diary: OK, Jim Prentice really loves Alberta … but can Alberta love Jim Prentice?
Jim Prentice officially announcing his candidacy yesterday. Is it just me, or is there the faintest air of Joe Clark about the man? Below left: Mr. Prentice surrounded by some of the usual suspects in Edmonton today, from a photo snatched from the PC Party’s Twitter feed. Below right: Alison
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tory culture of entitlement a big problem for Jim Prentice
TweetWhoever leads Alberta’s long-governing Progressive Conservatives into the next election (probably Jim Prentice) will have some serious challenges to deal with. After more than forty years in office, Alberta’s natural governing party has become accustomed to getting its way, regardless of who stands in their way. Perhaps realizing how much damage this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Chutzpah Alert! Premier Dave Hancock explains why Sky Palaces and similar uproars are nothing but ‘distractions’
Alison Redford’s planned rooftop apartment, high atop the Federal Building in Edmonton. The Alberta Legislative Building is visible in the background. Actual secret places of the modern world may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A shot of the actual Sky Palace under construction. I don’t know about you, but
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Where’s the beef? Ottawa and the fast-food lobby are serving nothing but baloney about the need for Temporary Foreign Workers
Whatever it says on the menu, fast food restaurant owners, other employers of temporary foreign workers and their pals in the Harper Government are serving baloney. Below: Dominique M. Gross of Simon Fraser University; Charles Decatur “C.D.” Howe. Advocates of the Harper Government’s so-called Temporary Foreign Workers Program are using
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Nomination battles in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin, Griesbach
TweetWhat happens when three federal ridings become one? South of Edmonton, large portions of the Wetaskiwin, Edmonton-Leduc and Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont ridings have been merged into the new Edmonton-Wetaskiwin riding. The three Conservative MPs representing the area have chosen not to run against each other for their party’s nomination in the new
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A federal by-election in Cowboy Country
TweetEarlier this week, I wrote about the interesting by-election in Fort McMurray-Athabasca, today I look at the other federal by-election in Alberta that will take place on June 30, 2014. Situated on the eastern slopes of of the Rocky Mountains, the Conservative machine appears strong in southern Alberta’s Macleod riding. Although growth
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Finance Minister Doug Horner meekly throws his support to heir apparent Jim Prentice
Alberta Progressive Conservative Party activists surround leadership candidate Jim Prentice at a recent $500-a-plate fund-raising dinner in Edmonton. Finance Minister Doug Horner is visible immediately to Mr. Prentice’s right. The painting in the background illustrates Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Actual Progressive Conservative Party members may not appear exactly as illustrated.
Continue reading