Former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel, 72, is the new leader of the Alberta Party. Mandel was elected on the first ballot with 66 percent of the vote, defeating Calgary lawyer Kara Levis, who placed second with 18 percent, and Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser, who placed third with 16 percent. 4,613 of
Continue readingTag: Alberta Politics
Alberta Politics: Andrea Horwath will be Ontario’s next premier – remember where you heard it first, Albertans
PHOTOS: Andrea Horwath, leader of the Ontario NDP. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, sometime Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader Patrick Brown, the late Jim Prentice when he was PC premier of Alberta, and former Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak. (All photos except those of Mr. Prentice and Ms. Notley are
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Trudeau in India, Part II: Canadian governments, and not just Liberals, have a history of playing footsie with bad actors
PHOTOS: A screenshot of what looks like a video of the controversial snapshot of Jaspal Atwal and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, grabbed from Twitter. The ownership of the photo is attributed variously, usually to the last place someone saw it. What does seem clear is that Mr. Atwal was almost as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Trudeau in India, Part I: PM’s family goes full Bollywood; Conservatives freak out; some alterations suggested
PHOTOS: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their children visit the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, India, during Mr. Trudeau’s official visit to that country. Below: Mr. Trudeau, resplendent in gold and making it work. Below him, his late father, prime minister Pierre Trudeau, doing his famous
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Who blinked? Doesn’t matter: There are plenty of reasons to doubt B.C. and Alberta’s differences are settled
PHOTOS: A map showing the route of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Below: B.C. Premier John Horgan, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta Opposition leader Jason Kenney, and B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman. No sooner was a truce declared in the Alberta-British Columbia war of wine and oil yesterday afternoon than claims
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Notley opens the Quails’ Gate and lets the BC wine flow into Alberta once again.
Did Alberta win the pipeline war against British Columbia? No, but the great BC wine boycott of 2018 appears to be over. The interprovincial dispute over the Kinder Morgan Inc. Trans Mountain Pipeline is likely far from over, but Premier Rachel Notley announced today that the Alberta Gaming and Liquor
Continue readingAlberta Politics: In case you missed it … Conservatives are in the news, making sure today’s bad ideas are tomorrow’s horrible reality! For you!
PHOTOS: Former Canadian Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, now leader of the Conintern. (Photo: Remy Steinegger, Wikimedia Commons.) Below: Margaret Thatcher, just another moderate leader of the “centre right.” Dig those pointy collars! Mr. Harper’s former lieutenant Jason Kenney, who is now the leader of Alberta’s “centre right.” Stephen Harper
Continue readingAlberta Politics: OK, maybe B.C. has a case against Alberta’s wine embargo … but so what?
PHOTOS: Well! Now we’re trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored! (Photo: Asociación De Vecinos “virgen Coronada,” Creative Commons.) Below: Alberta Trade Minister Deron Bilous and his British Columbia counterpart, Bruce Ralston. It certainly seems like British Columbia has a strong case against Alberta’s wine embargo
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney tries to look tough, but that ship’s already sailed with Rachel Notley at the helm
PHOTOS: The real Rachel Notley, looking tough and determined, as she is. Below: The new slimmed down, but still not very scary looking, Jason Kenney, trying to scare us of course. (Yes, the message from Mr. Kenney’s social media meme has been modified by your poor-sport blogger.) The real Dr.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 6: Alberta-BC Pipeline War, UCP loses 2 MLAs, and Alberta Party leadership race
We’re back! After a brief hiatus because Ryan was down south helping Make America Great Again, we are back with a new episode of The Daveberta Podcast. In this episode, Dave and Ryan discuss the ongoing dispute between Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and British Columbia Premier John Horgan over the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Best of Alberta Politics 2017: David Eggen, Minister of Education
With more than 1,200 votes cast in the Best of Alberta Politics survey, Minister of Education David Eggen came up on top in the Best Cabinet Minister of 2017 category. Adam Rozenhart and I were delighted to visit David Eggen at the Legislative Assembly this month to present him with
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Elke Blodgett was a passionate environmentalist, artist and committed friend of St. Albert
PHOTO: Elke Blodgett in 2016. (Photo: Screenshot from City of St. Albert video.) ST. ALBERT, Alberta I once described Elke Blodgett as not just a passionate advocate for our natural environment, but a force of nature herself. So it was particularly shocking to learn yesterday that Elke, environmentalist, artist, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A modest proposal to defuse the looming constitutional and national unity crisis caused by Western Canadian pipeline plans
PHOTOS: Protesters opposed to expansion of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline in Vancouver last fall. (Photo: William Chen, Creative Commons.) Below: Police and protesters square off in Burnaby, near Vancouver, where the terminus of the existing KM Pipeline is located. (Photo: Mark Klotz, Creative Commons). It sure looks as if we
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ex-MLA Joe Anglin continues his court fights with Elections Alberta and studies law in the United States
PHOTOS: Joe Anglin, speaking on the steps of the Alberta Legislature in his heyday as the Wildrose Party MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre. Below: Mr. Anglin in November 2015, after his election loss as an Independent to Jason Nixon, his former constituency association president, who won the Wildrose nomination in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is just talking about restricting diluted bitumen in pipelines an unconstitutional impediment to trade?
PHOTOS: Some of the Fathers of Confederation looking, well, fatherly. Below: Steely eyed Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. Premier John Horgan, and would-be premier Jason Kenney. In case you missed it, a new constitutional doctrine seems to be developing in Alberta. To wit: the idea that creating business uncertainty violates
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Son of Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen running for UCP nomination in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake by-election
Photo: Jason Kenney (centre) and Devin Dreeshen (right). (Photo source: Twitter) Facing charges of sexual assault and sexual interference, United Conservative Party MLA Don MacIntyre resigned from his party’s caucus on Feb. 2 and then from the Legislative Assembly on Feb. 5. A by-election in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake will be called
Continue readingAlberta Politics: He’s no bot, but Russia’s social media and press guy in Canada manages to stir up controversy just the same
PHOTOS: Kirill Kalinin, Press Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ottawa, in a reception room of the Soviet-era structure on Charlotte Street. Below: An image shot last week of the exterior of the Embassy, built in 1956 after the original building on the site burned down; the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: MLA Karen McPherson to endorse Rick Fraser in Alberta Party leadership race, sources confirm
Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson is expected to endorse Alberta Party leadership candidate Rick Fraser on the morning of Feb. 13, 2018, campaign sources confirm. McPherson represents one third of the party’s caucus in the Legislative Assembly. She was first elected as a New Democratic Party MLA in 2015 and joined
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: BC refuses to open the Quails’ Gate for Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline. Is Alberta up the CedarCreek with no paddle?
It has been one week since the Alberta Government began its great BC wine boycott and supplies of Okanagan wine are closer to running dry in Alberta’s privately owned liquor stores. While Premier Rachel Notley has succeeded in draping herself Alberta’s blue and gold flag, the Kinder Morgan corporation’s Trans
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Best of Alberta Politics 2017: David Shepherd, MLA for Edmonton-Centre
After the dust settled and more than 1,200 votes were tallied, Ryan Hastman and I were delighted to present David Shepherd with the Up and Comer in 2018 Award from the Best of Alberta 2017 survey. Shepherd was first elected as the New Democratic Party MLA for Edmonton-Centre in the
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