“Unaffordable blackout regulations”? Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). It wasn’t exactly a surprise that Alberta’s United Conservative Party started September by issuing a wildly misleading statement calling the federal Government’s proposed 2035 net-zero electricity generation regulations “unaffordable blackout regulations.” This kind of nonsense is the UCP’s schtick, after
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Politics: It’s hard to take Danielle Smith’s hysterical outburst at federal environment minister very seriously
Apparently Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is determined to make the flagging Trudeau Liberals look like the grownups in the room! Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault (Photo: UN Biodiversity, Creative Commons). What other explanation is there for Ms. Smith’s childish official outburst yesterday assailing federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault for his
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Social-conservative groups gear up for stealth takeover of Alberta school boards in coming elections
There’s plenty of chatter on social media about the plan by the United Conservative Party’s powerful and secretive Take Back Alberta faction to stealthily take over the province’s school boards in the next round of board elections and set the stage for indoctrinating children with social conservative ideology. Alberta Education
Continue readingAlberta Politics: 2,500-word Alberta ‘fact sheet’ tries to counter critics of freeze on new renewable electricity project approvals
Obviously feeling enough heat to overlook the political folk wisdom that if you’re explaining you’re losing, the Alberta government released a wordy “fact sheet” yesterday attempting to explain why no one should fret about its freeze on new renewable-energy electricity-generation projects. Alberta Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). According
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Estimated 24,000 jobs, $33B in investments at risk because of renewables freeze: Pembina Institute
An estimated 24,000 jobs and $33-billion in investments are at risk because of the Alberta Government’s seven-month moratorium on renewable energy development, the Pembina Institute said this morning. Pembina Institute spokesperson Courtney Smith (Photo: Pembina Institute). Courtney Smith, spokesperson for the Calgary-based clean energy think tank, said Pembina researchers reviewed
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Today is last day on job for AHS VP Deb Gordon, highest-ranking woman in the province-wide health agency
On Aug. 18, Alberta Health Services President and CEO Mauro Chies sent a memorandum to the province-wide public health care agency’s senior managers telling them that the highest ranking woman in their ranks would be leaving the organization today. AHS President and CEO Mauro Chies (Photo: Alberta Health Services). Deb
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Environment minister in government that won’t approve geothermal projects visits new geothermal project in Germany
Alberta’s environment minister, Rebecca Schulz, is in Germany today, getting set to celebrate the opening of a large geothermal electricity-generating project that uses technology designed by a Calgary company. Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). At the same time, back home in Wild Rose Country, geothermal projects
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Meanwhile, across the continent in Maine, citizens are fighting to create a publicly owned, not-for-profit state electrical utility
In case you missed it, Enmax Energy Corp., the public utility owned by the City of Calgary, has poured millions of dollars into a campaign to persuade voters in the U.S. state of Maine not to vote to create a publicly owned utility to take over generation and distribution of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Thanks, Klein! Albertans are getting hammered as deregulated July electricity prices jump 128% over last year
Albertans are getting hammered this summer by high electricity prices – just one of the impacts of the chaotic wide-open Alberta electricity market that was Conservative premier Ralph Klein’s gift to the province at the turn of the century. Back in 2000, as readers with long memories may recall, we
Continue readingAlberta Politics: United Conservative Party nationalizes privatized medical lab services – who saw that coming?
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, lifelong advocate of private health care, moved unexpectedly yesterday to nationalize the province’s recently privatized medical lab services. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Health Minister Adriana LaGrange made the announcement at what looked like a hastily organized press conference in Red Deer, but she
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What’s next for Rachel Notley? Is there a path to the PMO for Alberta’s former NDP premier?
So what’s next for Rachel Notley? Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The buzz grows louder by the day that sooner than later Ms. Notley is going to move on from her present role as Alberta’s Opposition leader. Gossips are hinting at sometime early in the new
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Premier and feisty reporters spar over details of UCP plan to freeze new renewable electricity generation projects
What was supposed to be a scripted jeremiad by Danielle Smith attacking the federal government’s proposed clean-electricity regulations yesterday turned into a verbal sparring match with some feisty reporters over when the government actually decided to freeze the application process for new renewable electricity generation projects. Globe and Mail reporter
Continue readingAlberta Politics: How is it possible basic communications work for Alberta’s renewables freeze announcement wasn’t done?
Between them, the Alberta Ministry of Energy and Minerals and the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas employ at least a dozen qualified communications professionals easily earning more than a million dollars a year in combined salary and benefits. Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). In addition,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With freeze on renewables and vow to ignore federal net-zero rules, Alberta’s on its way to being a three-alarm international dumpster fire!
Whether or not Premier Danielle Smith and her enabler and office manager Rob Anderson carefully planned their freeze on renewable electricity generation last week or just came up with it on a whim, it’s now turning into a three-alarm international dumpster fire. Deputy Premier Nathan Neudorf (Photo: Linked-In). On Wednesday
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No sooner are renewable electricity-generation project approvals frozen by Alberta than ‘small modular reactors’ rear their heads again
A smiling Brian Jean, Alberta’s energy minister, posted photos on social media yesterday of his visit last week “to check out the future home of Canada’s first grid-scale small modular reactor.” Mr. Jean with what looks like a model of a nuclear reactor’s cooling rods in his hands and a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith in damage-control mode as freeze on new renewable electricity generation projects sparks hostility
The nearly universally hostile reaction to Alberta Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf’s announcement last Thursday that the province had imposed a seven-month freeze on new renewable electricity generation projects over one megawatt seems to have taken the United Conservative Party by surprise. Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, who is also one of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Specialized Prosecution Unit’ will work only in Calgary and Edmonton, Deputy Premier Mike Ellis tells talk-show caller
Thanks to yesterday’s airing of the Global News/Corus Entertainment Your Province, Your Premier radio show, we now have a little more insight into the United Conservative Party’s plan to create a “specialized prosecution unit to address deteriorating safety in Alberta’s major urban centres.” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr).
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why does the UCP want to create a ‘special prosecution unit’ for Alberta cities when the evidence suggests it’s not needed?
Does the United Conservative Party Government’s intention to create a “specialized prosecution unit to address deteriorating safety in Alberta’s major urban centres” indicate there’s problem with the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service? Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). If so, what is it? If not, why is the government
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Once more unto the breach, public sector lab workers save medical test system from collapse in Calgary after privatization fiasco
With its latest medical lab privatization scheme in a shambles, Premier Danielle Smith’s market-fundamentalist government has turned to the public sector in a desperate bid to keep the system from collapsing in Calgary, Alberta’s largest city. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Or, to put it more colourfully, as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Forget that stuff about decentralizing health care, AHS directed to consolidate all mental health and addictions programs in one silo
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Dan Williams has issued a directive to Alberta Health Services giving the provincial agency 90 days to consolidate all of its mental health and addiction programs, services, and operations under a single administrative silo, the government announced yesterday. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith with Postmedia political
Continue reading