Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne, right, helps Premier Alison Redford get ready to face Opposition questions about Alberta Health Services expense accounts. Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Health executives Michele Lahey, Sheila Weatherill, Alison Tonge. The clueless ineptitude of the Redford Government dealing with Alberta’s continuing
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Diary: Blame Ralph Klein for Redford Government’s messy regional planning crisis
Representatives of Edmonton region municipalities discuss regional planning issues at a recent meeting. Actual municipal reps may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths; Ralph Klein with Steve West. The foundations of the regional planning crisis that prompted a frustrated Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Can Stephen Mandel save Alberta’s Tories from a Wildrose win in 2016?
TweetFacing internal strife after a rough spring of budget cuts and deflating bitumen bubbles, Premier Alison Redford is desperately searching for political wins that will win-over Albertans in advance of the Progressive Conservatives mandatory leadership review in November. When the Premier and her entourage hit the road for their summer Winnebago tour, they will
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Can Stephen Mandel save Alberta’s Tories from a Wildrose win in 2016?
TweetFacing internal strife after a rough spring of budget cuts and deflating bitumen bubbles, Premier Alison Redford is desperately searching for political wins that will win-over Albertans in advance of the Progressive Conservatives mandatory leadership review in November. When the Premier and her entourage hit the road for their summer Winnebago tour, they will
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Count on it: Alberta’s doctors got more than the government’s press release indicates
Dr. Michael Giuffre jots down the Alberta Medical Association’s wish list before yesterday’s agreement with the provincial government. Actual AMA negotiators may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne, Advanced Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk. It will take a while to sort out what really happened in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Laurie Blakeman now the longest-serving opposition MLA and other #ableg milestones.
TweetThis week Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman was recognized in the Legislative Assembly as being the “longest-serving member to serve exclusively in opposition in Alberta’s history. Ms. Blakeman was elected on March 11, 1997 and, as Speaker Gene Zwozdesky noted, she has served continuously since that time for a total of 5,876
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Funding Edmonton’s Downtown Arena, the strange comedy of errors continues.
TweetThe strange comedy of errors that has become Edmonton’s Downtown Arena project continued this week as City Council scrambled to fill a $100 million gap in a funding plan they approved months ago. Despite repeated claims by Mayor Stephen Mandel that provincial government money would fill the $100 million gap, anyone
Continue readingAlberta Diary: AHS chair to politicians: Do as I say, not as I do!
10-4 Good Buddy! Why is Stephen Lockwood, above, getting to drive this truck, while Chris Eagle’s got the airbrakes ticket? Just wondering. Senior Alberta Health Services officials may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Stephen Lockwood; Stephen Duckett, with his politically fatal cookie. The newish chairman of the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Bitumen bubble deflates as Redford visits Washington D.C.
TweetRemember the “Bitumen Bubble?” The “bitumen bubble” spin was unleashed by Premier Alison Redford during her January 24, 2013 televised address that claimed our province was in the midst of a fiscal crisis caused by the so-called “bitumen bubble” — the difference between the price Alberta can get for its
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Provincial Unrest
Alison Redford’s approval ratings have fallen to “Stelmachian” levels Angus Reid has released their quarterly Premier approval ratings. As per usual, Brad Wall is more popular than God, and everyone else is a little more human: Wall (SK): 64% approve, 28% disapprove Alward (NB): 41% approve, 50% disapprove Selinger (MB):
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Spreadsheet: Tracking Alberta political party fundraising from 2004 to 2012.
TweetFollowing yesterday’s release of political donations disclosure reports submitted to Elections Alberta, I thought it would be interesting to look at the recent history of political donations in Alberta. The disclosure reports are available for public consumption in difficult to search pdf files on the Elections Alberta website. The spreadsheet below includes
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Wildrose raised big cash in 2012, Tories fell behind.
TweetUnofficial political donation records published by Elections Alberta yesterday show that Premier Alison Redford‘s Progressive Conservative Association is not in the robust financial situation its leaders are accustomed to over the past four-decades in office. At least not in 2012, when the Tory Party was eclipsed by its main rival in
Continue readingA Different Point of View....: How should we remember Ralph Klein?
Condolences and praise poured in for former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, who passed away on Friday, March 29, at the age of 70. “We remember what a force of personality he was, how driven he was, how motivated he was, how straightforward he was, and that we trusted him implicitly.”
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Mayor Mandel on the warpath, keeps re-election plans secret.
Tweet Stephen Mandel is not ready to announce whether he will run for a fourth-term as Edmonton’s Mayor. Speaking to a crowd of more than 2000 people at his annual state-of-the-city address to the Chamber of Commerce, Mandel avoided the topic of his political future, instead taking aim at Premier Alison
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Ralph Klein’s recipe for Oriental Hoisin Chicken (from a 1995 Cookbook).
TweetSince Ralph Klein passed away last week, numerous people have emailed me with their stories about his time politics and reactions to legacy in Premier. The responses varied from loving to hostile, but easily the oddest email I received over the weekend was from a former Progressive Conservative constituency association
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Ralph’s World
After the passing of Peter Lougheed last year, another Alberta PC titan is gone, with Ralph Klein passing away at the age of 70. Although it is customary to offer tributes and praise at times like this, many of my motivations for getting involved in politics grew from a strong
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Ralph Phillip Klein (1942-2013).
TweetVarious news media are reporting that Ralph Klein has passed away at the age of 70. Mr. Klein served as Mayor of Calgary from 1980 to 1989 and Premier of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement from politics in 2006. He had suffered from numerous ailments since his retirement. CTV
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Universities, students and staff push back against post-secondary budget cuts.
Tweet“You don’t want to have five mediocre engineering schools. You’re better off having two really good engineering schools. There’s no doubt about it.” And on that note, Deputy Premier and Advanced Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk kicked off his overhaul of Alberta’s Post-Secondary Education system. It should be noted that there are
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: J’accuse! Thomas Mulcair’s treason and the Keystone XL Pipeline.
TweetThe rhetoric is running high this week with President Barack Obama expected to soon decide the fate of the controversial TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline. In Washington D.C. last week, federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair criticized the pipeline that would ship bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries in Texas. Mr. Mulcair also
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Of Petrostates and Patriotism
If Alison Redford gets to define Canadian patriotism, then I don’t want to be patriotic. The Alberta premier yesterday accused federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair of “a fundamental betrayal of Canada’s long-term economic interests” after the latter took a trip to DC in what is being widely interpreted as an
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