Five years ago today, Ed Stelmach began the process of quietly stepping out of the political spotlight by announcing his resignation as Premier of Alberta after nearly five years in the office. The mild-mannered farmer from the Village of Andrew d…
Continue readingTag: Alison Redford
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Oil Pipeline still King in Notley’s Interprovincial Agenda
Three years ago this week, Conservative Premier Alison Redford took to the airwaves to warn Albertans about the ominous “bitumen bubble.” Ms. Redford warned that a pipeline bottleneck and a dramatic drop in the price of oil would rob the… Continu…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A good day for Rachel Notley – but you’d never know it with media and opposition in full-scale, unrestrained meltdown
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne at yesterday’s press conference in Toronto. Below: Ms. Notley, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn and U.S. Democratic Presidential candidat…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Juxtapose: Tories had loads of cash for junketing flunkies, none at all for dying addicts
PHOTOS: Alberta Progressive Conservatives enjoy an “international travel mission” during the Golden Age of Tory Travel. Actual PC staffers may not have appeared exactly as illustrated. Below: New Democrats Trevor Horne, the MLA for Spruce Grove-St….
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Delaying Alberta Liberal leadership vote until 2017 a good idea but does it break the party’s bylaws?
The Alberta Liberals have decided to postpone the selection of their next party leader until spring 2017. The party had originally scheduled to hold a leadership vote in April 2016. The only current Liberal MLA, Calgary’s David Swann, has de…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Year in review: from plunging oil to rising hope, the Top Ten news stories of 2015
PHOTOS: Cameras try to follow a nearly invisible Rachel Notley through the crowd at an Edmonton hotel on May 5, 2015, moments after she had been declared the winner of the Alberta election. No one could quite believe that the NDP had just won a majorit…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Christmas in Wildrose Country: That noise on the roof may not be Santa Claus! It could be the UN, here to steal your turnips!
ILLUSTRATIONS: Will Santa have to come armed and armoured like this to be safe on Alberta rooftops in case the province’s loony right mistakes him for a UN trooper bent on world government and turnip confiscation? Below: Wildrose MLA Rick Strankman a…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former Tory labour minister and deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk enters the farm safety fray with ‘Bill 6 Taskforce’
PHOTOS: Thomas Lukaszuk in the summer of 2014 when he was running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Below: A group of farmers and their supporters unhappy with Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Worker…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Dec. 17, 2014 – Defection Day – an Alberta anniversary to remember … and to forget!
PHOTOS: Defecting Opposition leader Danielle Smith, looking uncomfortable, gets an awkward and apparently unwanted hug from then-premier Jim Prentice at Government House in Edmonton as they announced their plans to merge the two parties’ caucuses. Be…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Violent, lurid and misogynistic threats against NDP politicians are both enabled and exposed by social media
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean addresses foes of Bill 6 on the steps of the Alberta Legislature. (Photo grabbed from his Facebook page.) Below: Alberta premiers Ralph Klein, Alison Redford, Ed Stelmach and Rachel Notley. It seemed pretty rich for…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Let sleeping overdogs lie: Nothing to see here folks, just move along, please!
PHOTOS: We’re closed. But not for long, OK? Don’t get antsy if your comments don’t appear immediately. Read Daveberta.ca. Below: If you wondered what was going on in Alberta, now you know. “There’s nothing to see here folks, just move along
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New board in; CEO Vickie Kaminski out … just another day at Alberta Health Services!
PHOTOS: Outgoing AHS CEO Vickie Kaminski at an Edmonton news conference last year. Below: Redford-era health minister Fred Horne, PC premier pro tem Dave Hancock, NDP Health Minister Sarah Hoffman and Premier Rachel Notley’s just-appointed deputy chi…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s PCs may not survive the damage done by Alison Redford; NDP faces risk of collateral damage from CBC revelations
PHOTOS: Alison Redford in 2011, as she was running for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives. Below: Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley and CBC investigative reporter Charles Rusnell. The Alberta Progressive Conservative Party m…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Sudden death of young PC star Manmeet Bhullar in road accident stuns Alberta Legislature
PHOTO: Progressive Conservative MLA Manmeet Bhullar, who was killed yesterday in a traffic accident on his way to Edmonton from Calgary (PC Party photo). The sudden death of Calgary-Greenway MLA Manmeet Bhullar in a traffic accident yesterday on the hi…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Bill 6, Alberta’s new farm safety legislation, will be a test both for the NDP Government and the Wildrose Opposition
PHOTOS: Down on the Alberta farm, successive Conservative governments have made sure farm animals had more rights than farm workers. Below: Alberta Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson and Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier, who may be about to fix this. It’s an embarrassing blot on the record of successive Progressive Conservative governments
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Bill 5 and sunshine lists generally are lousy public policy and a serious invasion of privacy
PHOTOS: The Alberta Legislature in the sunshine. It doesn’t matter that no individuals are visible, does it? Below: Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley and Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt, back when he was a Canadian Taxpayers Federation agitator. So-called sunshine lists, which publish the salaries of public employees who are paid
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Keystone XL is dead. New government means climate change back on the agenda.
Having enjoyed the last week in the sunny Berkeley, California, it felt odd to turn on the car radio to hear the local disc jockeys discussing the tarsands and the merits of a pipeline that would pump unrefined bitumen from Canada to Texas. Being one of… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildrose leader advocates a return to deep cuts and deep freezes for public services and public employees
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean holds forth on public jobs and public services during his Oct. 30 interview with the CBC. (Screenshot.) Below: Is this Mr. Jean’s idea of the future of Alberta’s public services? Below that: NDP Finance Minister Joe Ceci. Wildrose Leader Brian Jean is starting to sketch
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Budget 2015: You’d almost think Rachel Notley’s NDP has concluded its job is to govern this province!
PHOTOS: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci answers reporters’ questions after delivering the NDP’s first Budget Speech in the Alberta Legislature yesterday. (CBC Photo) Below: Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean and Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt also answer questions – but only from reporters who aren’t on the Wildrose Party’s Enemies List.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP brings to an end Alberta PCs’ bizarre experiment with one-person heath-care rule
PHOTOS: Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman announces the restoration of normal board governance to Alberta Health Services at the provincial Legislature yesterday. Below: Newly appointed AHS Board members Linda Hughes, Glenda Yeates and Brenda Hemmelgarn. Below them: Premier Rachel Notley on the big screen at AUPE’s convention, as union President
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