Alberta Premier Cruella de Vil brings some of her rebellious MLAs to heel. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: High-profile caucus rebel Donna Kennedy-Glans; Stephen Mandel, former mayor of Edmonton and about the only person who could unseal the Alberta Tories’ doom at this late hour.
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Diary: Worst political strategy ever: Alison Redford put on probation by Tory party big shots
Alberta Premier Alison Redford, as her party used to see her. (In the background, an ecstatic Thomas Lukaszuk.) Sad to say, this is another example of actual politicians not appearing exactly as illustrated. Below: Alison Redford, as Cruella de Vil, the way her party sees her now. Below her: Red
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Allaudin Merali files suit against Fred Horne, Alberta Health Services for breach of contract, defamation
Health Minister Fred Horne: target of defamation, breach of trust, loss of income suit by former Alberta Health Services CFO. Below: Allaudin Merali. Allaudin Merali filed a statement of claim today in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench against Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne. “The statement
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tory caucus rebellion threatens Alberta premier? Nobody here but us chickens!
Alberta Premier Alison Redford departs Government House in Edmonton at 11:32 yesterday morning, all alone. No one else came out and the door quietly closed behind her. Then her security detail whisked her away in a big, black SUV. Below: Deputy Premier Dave Hancock blathers on, mostly about nothing in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Anti-Redford coup fails to materialize at PC MLA meeting
TweetA rumoured coup d’etat within Alberta’s Progressive Conservative caucus failed to materialize yesterday as government MLAs gathered at Government House to discuss Premier Alison Redford‘s future. Cancelling all public appearances and media events for the day, including the premier’s trip to Regina to participate in the New West Partnership meeting,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: $45000 trip has serious political costs for Redford
TweetAfter spending two months avoiding having to pay the costs of her $45,000 trip to South Africa, Premier Alison Redford called a press conference late yesterday to announce she would reimburse the government for costs of sending herself and her executive assistant Brad Stables to South Africa in December 2013. Despite attempts to ignore the issue,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Payment of $45,000 travel bill by Alberta Premier raises as many questions as it answers
There will be no more scenes like this aboard Government of Alberta aircraft, thank you very much! Actual Alberta cabinet ministers and cabin crew may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: a screenshot of Alberta Premier Alison Redford’s news conference yesterday. Fresh from her public relations triumph in Edmonton’s Churchill
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: LRT funding a big win for Edmonton, but it is enough to save Redford?
TweetJust five days after provincial finance minister Doug Horner was criticized for delivering a budget that was absent of additional funding to expand the south east section of the “Valley Line” of Edmonton’s LRT system, provincial politicians announced yesterday that it would commit $600 million towards the project. Surrounded by city
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Lousy polls? Redford Tories execute screeching reversal on southbound Edmonton LRT tracks
Fresh off a train in Edmonton’s Churchill LRT station, Alberta Premier Alison Redford announces $600 million surprise funding for an Edmonton LRT less than a week after her finance minister tabled a budget that didn’t mention it. Below: Finance Minister Doug Horner explains how the spending is really in the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Ides of March: Alison Redford under ‘friendly fire’ from coup plotters in her own caucus
Premier Alison Redford and an aide, at right, look on as Progressive Conservative caucus coup plotters try to remember if the signal to make their move is “Toga! Toga! Toga!” or “Tory! Tory! Tory!” Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Rumoured Redford replacements Gary Mar, Stephen Mandel
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Laurie Hawn to retire, blowing Edmonton-Centre race wide open
TweetEdmonton-Centre Conservative Member of Parliament Laurie Hawn has decided to retire when the next election is called, according to the latest column by the Edmonton Sun’s Lorne Gunter. The retired Air Force lieutenant-colonel first entered politics in 2004, running unsuccessfully against Liberal MP and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan. Mr. Hawn defeated Ms. McLellan in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: By-election update: Conservatives choose Barlow for Macleod, Liberal MPs invade Alberta
TweetJohn Barlow was chosen as the Conservative Party candidate last night in the Macleod riding. With a by-election expected to be called soon, Mr. Barlow defeated three other candidates – Melissa Mathieson, Phil Rowland and Scott Wagner – to win the nomination. During the campaign, Mr. Barlow faced severe opposition
Continue readingIn This Corner: Travels with Princess Premier.
I have a theory why Alison Redford is in so much trouble these days — she doesn’t like living in Alberta. Or maybe she just doesn’t like hanging around with Albertans, with their pickups and non-designer jeans and all. Redford’s aversion to Alberta has got her in all kinds of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Why Budget Day matters less every year
TweetGenerally speaking, Budget Day and the Speech from the Throne have been big events that gave Albertans an indication about the government’s agenda for the year ahead. This week, no real agenda was not laid out in the Throne Speech or in the provincial budget. Each event is stage-managed to
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Understanding Alberta’s 2014 budget: the deviltry’s in the details
Budget 2014: let the good times roll. Life’s great nowadays if you’re a Tory insider in Alberta – like these happy political staffers from the Premier’s Office. Actual political advisors to Premier Alison Redford may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Former Premier Ed Stelmach as he counted up ways
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The flight log: Alison Redford would be better off if she’d paid attention to sensible Alberta Public Service vehicle use policy!
Thinking of bringing your friends and relations along? Don’t bring them in the government truck, Mr. Civil Servant! OTTAWA “Good afternoon,” began a recent email from an assistant deputy minister to government employees of the humbler sort who don’t get to travel first class to faraway places but who may
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Turbulence
Back in 2008, myself and a couple of young Liberals launched “Edspedia.ca“, a mock website to poke fun at some eyebrow raising travel expenses by members of the Ed Stelmach cabinet. The list included Mark Norris’ $50,000 Vegas vacation, and Rod Stevens Hawaiian stop-over to “study their gambling system”. If
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Airplane scandal takes off as Tory support, fundraising effort nose dives
TweetYesterday’s Speech from the Throne was old news as scandal erupted today over Premier Alison Redford’s alleged inappropriate use of government-owned airplanes. After facing criticism over her $45,000 trip to South Africa and a $9,200 trip from Palm Springs, Ms. Redford struggled to control the story today by announcing plans
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Flights of fancy: 11 days to the Ides of March and the knives are already out for premier
Alison Redford’s party awaits the Alberta Premier’s arrival before boarding their Government of Alberta aircraft. Actual Alberta big shots may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Pompeia, the wife of Caesar, who divorced her; and Marie Antoinette, who didn’t say “let them eat cake” but came to a bad end
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The End is at Hand! Sure looks that way for Alberta’s PCs, anyway…
Members of the Alberta Tory caucus consider the latest poll results as they prepare for the 2016 provincial election. Actual Alberta Progressive Conservative MLAs may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Dave Hancock … leadership potential at last. OTTAWA It’s probably still possible for Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party to crawl
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