TweetLast week, the wheels were falling off the Wildrose bus. This week, the passengers have flung open the emergency exits and started leaping out into traffic. The Wildrose Official Opposition started the month of November with 17 MLAs and might be ending it with only fourteen. Today, Progressive Conservative leader Jim
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Alberta Diary: The bloom is off the (Wild)rose – Opposition Leader Danielle Smith assailed by doubts, dissent and departures
Are the wheels falling off the Wildrose bus, which may or may not look exactly as illustrated any more? Below: Beleaguered Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith, Taber-Warner-Cardston MLA Gary Bikman and Wildrose House Leader Rob Anderson. These may be happy days for the Progressive Conservatives under Premier Jim Prentice, but the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Are the wheels falling off the Wildrose bus?
TweetA short few months ago, it almost felt inevitable that the Wildrose Party would sweep into a majority government at the next election. They were up in the polls and the long-time governing Progressive Conservatives looked corrupt, broken and battered. But over the past few weeks, it appears the Official Opposition
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Two political general meetings in one weekend: Wildrosers conduct gloomy post-mortem while PCs flirt with characteristic hubris
Steady as she goes! Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith, centre, works to keep party stalwarts, on either side, on the right course, which would be not too far to the right, of course. Alberta Premier Prentice, at the wheel above, tries to get the earnest Wildrosers to take a wrong turn.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Prentice victory lap to leave Redford legacy in the dust at Banff PC AGM
TweetPremier Jim Prentice is warming up for a victory lap as Progressive Conservatives loyalists gather at the posh Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel for the party’s annual general meeting on November 14 and 15, 2014. Mr. Prentice will join the convention basking in the glow of an impressive first two months as Premier and
Continue reading9 ways Alberta should manage resources better
Sometime toward the end of November, the Alberta government will release their 2nd quarter fiscal update. Finance Minister Robin Campbell will likely tell us that the second quarter was another good quarter but that the good news is coming to an end and the 1st quarter projection of a $3 Billion bonus will be
Continue reading9 WAYS ALBERTA SHOULD MANAGE RESOURCES BETTER
Sometime toward the end of November, the Alberta government will release their 2nd quarter fiscal update. Finance Minister Robin Campbell will likely tell us that the second quarter was another good quarter but that the good news is coming to an end and the 1st quarter projection of a $3 Billion bonus will be revised. The reason of course … Continue reading 9 WAYS ALBERTA SHOULD MANAGE RESOURCES BETTER →
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Conservative parties squirm as fired AHS executive triumphs over government, controversial MLA quits opposition caucus
This just in from Alberta’s two conservative parties. Below: former Alberta Health Services CFO Allaudin Merali, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, MLA Joe Anglin (CBC Photo), Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith, former health minister Fred Horne. Alberta’s governing Progressive Conservative Party and its Opposition Wildrose Party, in addition to sharing an identical
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: What Civil War? Wildrose MLAs rally behind Danielle Smith
TweetIn a move designed to quash any further internal party dissent, Wildrose MLAs rallied around their leader yesterday by unanimously requesting their party’s executive committee cancel a leadership review that Danielle Smith requested last week. The sign of caucus unity came shortly after Sundre-Rocky Mountain House-Rimbey MLA Joe Anglin announced he was leaving the Official
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Joe Anglin fires opening shot in Wildrose Civil War
TweetCiting a “civil war” within the Wildrose Party, MLA Joe Anglin has decided to leave the Official Opposition caucus to sit as an Independent MLA. Mr. Anglin said in a Facebook message posted this morning that he did so in advance of today’s caucus meeting, where leader Danielle Smith was
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Wildrose needs to be more than the Anti-Redford Party
TweetPCs sweep four by-elections, NDP and Alberta Party make gains Disgraced former premier Alison Redford gave Albertans a convincing reason to vote Wildrose, but Danielle Smith‘s official opposition needs to find a new strategy to defeat Premier Jim Prentice‘s Progressive Conservative. This appears to be the case as Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives celebrate their candidates
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Will by-election losses teach Alberta’s progressive parties basic math?
TweetFast forward to 10:00 p.m. on October 27, 2014. The ballots have been counted in Alberta’s four provincial by-elections and the two main conservative parties – the governing Progressive Conservatives and official opposition Wildrose Party – have taken the largest share of the votes. Once again the handful of “progressive” opposition political
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: What’s at stake in the four Oct. 27 by-elections?
TweetWith less than two days left in Alberta’s mini-election, voters will head to the polls on the morning of October 27, 2014 to cast their ballots in by-elections being held in Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West and Edmonton-Whitemud. As these mid-term elections approach, what is at stake for Alberta’s political parties? Progressive Conservatives
Continue readingAlberta Diary: No change! No change! Jim Prentice’s ‘new management’ is offering the same old Tory stuff
New management … same old owner. It’s all about marketing. Below: Jim Prentice and Fred Horne, advocating the same health care policies. Sustained, uninterrupted privatization of health care, a senior official dumped for daring to speak out about political interference in her supposedly independent work, thousands of dollars in illegal
Continue readingAlberta Diary: New Democrats yesterday were ready for Rachel – can Albertans reach the same conclusion?
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley, about to be interviewed by the media, moments after her victory speech in Edmonton yesterday. Below: Three scenes from yesterday’s NDP leadership convention, one of Ms. Notley’s buttons, her father, Grant Notley. Rachel Notley’s campaign buttons asked: “Are you Ready for Rachel?” There was never
Continue readingAlberta Diary: As soon as the NDP picks a new leader today, the party’s focus should turn to Edmonton-Whitemud – here’s why
Your blogger with Edmonton-Whitemud NDP candidate Dr. Bob Turner. Yeah, I support the NDP. Live with it! Below: Retiring NDP Leader Brian Mason, Health Minister Stephen Mandel, Alberta Liberal candidate Donna Wilson and NDP leadership frontrunner Rachel Notley. After today, when the Alberta New Democratic Party has at long last
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: By-Election Round-up: 11 days until the mini-election
TweetThere are now eleven days left until voters cast their ballots in four provincial by-elections on October 27. Prentice a no-show in Calgary-Foothills He is the Premier of Alberta and he does not have a seat in the Legislature, but Jim Prentice was the only Calgary-Foothills by-election candidate to skip last night’s all-candidates forum organized by the Edgemont
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta may be under ‘new management,’ but we’re getting the same old bait ’n’ switch tactics in health care!
Premier Jim Prentice and Health Minister Stephen Mandel, both PC candidates in the Oct. 27 four-seat mini-election, at yesterday’s “Bed Blocker” news conference in Edmonton. Below: NDP candidate Dr. Bob Turner and Liberal Candidate Dr. Donna Wilson, RN, both running against Mr. Mandel, ex-mayor; Seniors Minister Jeff Johnson; and AHS
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Plot summary for a zombie policy apocalypse: Return of the Living Bed Blockers, Nightmare on Alberta Avenue, Part IV
Even though we know the prescription for curing the “bed blocker” problem, it’s unlikely Alberta can escape the revenge of the conservative zombie policy makers, shown above. Actual Progressive Conservative and Wildrose policy makers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Zombie policy enablers Jim Prentice and Danielle Smith; ER
Continue readingAlberta Diary: On those Wildrose attack ads: they can hardly say Jim Prentice has ‘no plan’
The harshest of the three Wildrose Attack ads. Just let Youtube play, and you can see the Wildrose Party’s other two current attack ads plus its single positive spot. Below: A screen shot from one of the spectacularly ineffective 2006 No Plan ads attacking then premier Ed Stelmach. The full
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