PHOTOS: Grape vines grow in B.C.’s beautiful Okanagan Valley, one of the prime wine producing regions of the world (Photo: Kelowna Wine & Cuisine Flickr, Creative Commons). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. Premier John Horgan, and Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney. With Alberta’s Sour Grapes Strategy, the official boycott
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daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: BC Wine Ban 2018: Notley picks her Mission Hill to die on
If you are an Albertan who enjoys British Columbia wines, now is the time to rush to your privately-owned and operated liquor store to purchase your favourites before it is too late. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley opened up a new front in the Great Constitutional Pipeline War of the Rockies
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Making facts everyone knows secret doesn’t protect crime victims, accused persons or democracy … so who benefits?
PHOTO: Nothing to see here, people, please move along … It should be pretty clear by now that Canada’s legal mechanisms to protect victims of crimes and the rights of accused persons haven’t kept up with the digital era in which we live. In case you’re part of the tiny
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Get ready for a by-election in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
Following Don MacIntyre’s resignation from the United Conservative Party caucus last week, it was confirmed by media Monday that he had also resigned as the MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. Information about MacIntyre’s unexpected departure is currently prohibited from publication by a court ordered publication ban, though rumours circulated fairly quickly
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Derek Fildebrandt and Don MacIntyre out of the UCP caucus. Alberta Advantage Party picks a new leader on Feb. 24, 2018.
Photo: Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt in happier days as he joined Jason Kenney on the eve of his victory in the 2017 PC Party leadership race. (Photo credit: @pcyouthalberta on Twitter) Derek Fildebrandt is out of the United Conservative Party Caucus for good, according to a statement issued by party leader
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The "But Communism Was Bad" Argument
Lately, when debating matters of economics, people that I will broadly call “small government advocates” (usually hardline fiscal hawk conservatives and libertarians) will inevitably start throwing about the argument that “communism is a failed ideology” when they are challenged directly about the specifics of what they would cut from government,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Groundhog Day 2018: Liberty Conservative ‘Didsbury Derek’ dispatched into deepest darkness
PHOTOS: Derek Fildebrandt as he hoped to be perceived when he went hunting in rural Alberta (photo grabbed from his Facebook account). It didn’t work out as planned. Below: Mr. Fildebrandt as he appeared around the Alberta Legislature, United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, and former UCP Caucus member Don
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why Alberta’s NDP would likely prefer a Liberal government in Victoria and B.C.’s NDP just might prefer the UCP in Edmonton
PHOTOS: Yoga enthusiasts on the lawn of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, probably focusing the energy of the cosmos to make Alberta’s bitumen go away. Below: The Alberta Legislature in Edmonton at about the same time of year. There’s nobody on the lawn because it’s too darned cold. Below the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta Election Candidate Nomination Update: 2018/02/02
Photo: Dave Schneider, Cameron Westhead, Morgan Nagel, and Todd Loewen With only about 13 months left until a potential provincial election call, the number of candidates stepping forward to run for party nominations is growing (this is the second time this week that I have written an update on candidate
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Dream of the 30s is Alive in the Social Credit Party
William: Do you remember the 30’s? Y’know. People were talking about printing their own currency, restricting the sale and serving of alcohol, and buying homburg hats and knickerbokers. And people were singing about Major Douglas and his A+B theorem? Margaret: Yeah? William: There’s a place where that idea still exists as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Forgotten amid pipeline war brouhaha, new study details failure of Oilsands Big Five to control emissions
PHOTOS: There’s no Plan B! And Alberta’s five largest oilsands producers have set no targets let alone taken action to get their emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. (Illustration: Parkland Institute.) Below: Parkland researcher and study author Ian Hussey (Photo: Parkland Institute), Parkland researcher David Janzen (Photo: Facebook),
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The bitumen hits the fan in Alberta and Ottawa as British Columbia moves to restrict pipeline and rail flow
PHOTOS: B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman, foreground, with members of his environment and climate change strategy council last fall (Photo: Province of British Columbia). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan (Photo: Wikimedia Commons). I’m not going to try to go all
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Great Constitutional Pipeline War of the Rockies
Fresh from the Alberta NDP’s victory over Saskatchewan in the Fake Trade War on the Prairies, the ongoing political fight over the expansion of the existing Kinder Morgan TransMountain Pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby is heating up. In the British Columbia NDP government’s most recent move to block the oil
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Chill the champagne! Market-fundamentalist newspaper owners primed for infusion of taxpayer cash!
PHOTOS: The Canadian newspaper industry celebrates the coming of tax subsidies from the federal government. Actual Canadian newspaper publishers may not appear exactly as illustrated – in this case, by Jean-Francois le Troy in 1735 – but readers will get the general idea. Below: Federal Heritage Minister Melanie Joy (Photo:
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta Candidate Nominations Update: 2018/01/30
Here is the latest update to the list of candidates running for political party nominations ahead of Alberta’s expected 2019 provincial general election: Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock: MLA Glenn van Dijken told Westlock News in an interview published on January 2, 2018 that he was planning to seek re-election as the United Conservative
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Public opinion research standards body to announce details of inquiry into Calgary election polling results this week
PHOTOS: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, apparently as puzzled by the results of some polls last fall as many other Calgarians were. Below: Marketing Research and Intelligence Association CEO Dr. Kara Mitchelmore (Photo: Linked-In), Mainstreet Research President Quito Maggi (Photo: Mainstreet Research), Mount Royal University political science Professor Duane Bratt (Photo:
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 5: #MeToo rocks Canadian politics, Kara Levis and the PST, goodbye Brad Wall, and more.
A look at how allegations of sexual misconduct have rocked Canadian politics, Alberta Party leadership candidate Kara Levis‘ sales tax idea, how a change in leadership could change Alberta-Saskatchewan relations, what’s weird with the 2017 fundraising returns (Dave goes deep into the weeds), and some hot gossip from Alberta politics
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brad Wall out! Jason Kenney not yet sworn in! Is Rachel Notley now the Real Leader of Western Canada?
PHOTOS: Brad Wall, the former premier of Saskatchewan, offers his farewell attack on the Alberta NDP to enthusiastic Saskatchewan Party supporters in Saskatoon last night. (Photo: Screenshot from Saskatchewan Party video.) Below: New Sask Party Leader Scott Moe, NDP Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Manitoba Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister, B.C.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Albertans lose money while energy companies continue to let escaping methane make climate change worse
PHOTOS: Gas wells a-flaring in the United States’ Bakken Field (Photo: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration). Below: Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) and Progress Alberta Executive Director Duncan Kinney (Photo: Progress Alberta). CALGARY Methane released from oil and gas operations in Alberta represents lost natural
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta NDP win the Fake Trade War on the Prairies
In one of his final acts as Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall ended the brief and bizarre fake trade war his government launched against Alberta. The ban on vehicles with Alberta license plates on Saskatchewan road worksites was initially framed as a retaliation for similar actions by the Alberta government.
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