TweetThe controversial appointment of unelected Gordon Dirks as Education minister caught many Albertans by surprised this week. As the former chairman of the Calgary Board of Education, he is well-known to educators in that city, but not to the rest of Alberta. Before moving to Calgary, he served as a Progressive Conservative
Continue readingTag: Alison Redford
Alberta Diary: Privatization of Alberta’s air fleet will cost citizens money and change nothing
A typical government airplane explained. The politics and financing are more complicated. Below: Jim Prentice. Privatization of the Alberta government’s four-plane air fleet, announced this morning by unelected Premier Jim Prentice at his first official news conference, makes plenty of political sense, but will end up costing citizens more and
Continue readingWHAT’S THE STATUS OF THE PC’S 2012 MANDATE
So, you’re a former capital region mayor, who was popular as mayor, has good progressive credentials and now finds themselves on the inside of provincial government. You might be looking in the mirror today, thinking about the health portfolio and wondering how the world unfolded to put you where you are today. If this is you, then you’re not alone. … Continue reading WHAT’S THE STATUS OF THE PC’S 2012 MANDATE →
Continue readingWhat’s the Status of the PC’s 2012 Mandate
So, you’re a former capital region mayor, who was popular as mayor, has good progressive credentials and now finds themselves on the inside of provincial government. You might be looking in the mirror today, thinking about the health portfolio and wondering how the world unfolded to put you where you are today. If this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Strap on your seat belts? Jim Prentice’s cabinet is more like a drive down memory lane
Jim Prentice prepares to be sworn in yesterday. Below: Health Minister Stephen Mandel and social media gadfly Olav Rokne. Things were going to change in Alberta so much once his capable hands were on the steering wheel, Jim Prentice warned us, that we’d better make sure we’d strapped on our
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Jim Prentice appoints another Pipeline Focused Cabinet
TweetAs he prepared to be sworn-in as the 16th Premier of Alberta at Government House today, Jim Prentice aimed to project the image of a leader who is in command and in control of the situation. And today’s tightly controlled cabinet shuffle achieved that goal. Unlike previous cabinet shuffles, the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Outgoing Premier pro tempore Dave Hancock: 17 years of going along to get along
Another fine mess? No, no, it was a Bitumen Bubble that caused it! Really! Dave Hancock, left, shown explaining cuts to post-secondary education, imposed by Alison Redford, right, back when the bitumen was bubbling. Actual Redford Government officials may not have appeared exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Hancock,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Cabinet making in a shallow talent pool: what’s Alberta’s Jim Prentice going to do?
The Alberta Tory talent pool in 2014. Shallow, and not much fun for the guy in charge. Actual Alberta PC leaders may not appear as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Jim Prentice. Main photo grabbed from the Internet. Never mind the transition team. What about the cabinet? It’s not just
Continue readingAlberta Diary: How many PC memberships were given away? It’s time to get to know the known unknowns of the leadership campaign
Alberta’s PCs are smiling today as Jim Prentice, at right, takes over the helm of the RMS Titanic Tory. Actual just-elected leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Jim Prentice as he appeared surrounded by media last night. (Photo by Dave Cournoyer,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Boring Jim Prentice might be what the Tories need
TweetLow turnout, lack of interest overshadows Prentice’s win The atmosphere was noticeably subdued as I walked into the large hall at Northlands Expo Centre that hosted the Progressive Conservative’s leadership event. It was 6:45 pm and there were probably 300 loyal party supporters scattered across the hall, which looked like it could comfortably fit
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Prentice in a walk – but the low voter turnout tells the real story about the fate of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives
This file photo, almost as boring as Jim Prentice’s speech to the troops in Edmonton tonight, and I have it on good authority it was pretty darned boring, will be replaced later if anyone sends me a better one. VICTORIA, B.C. Well! That’s it then. Jim Prentice in a walk,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: That Portrait of a Certain Lady: a bargain for Albertans at $12,000? Or not?
Is this what Alison Redford’s official portrait is going to look like? Below: Ms. Redford as she might have been seen by Pablo Picasso or Gustav Klimt. We can do better, people! VICTORIA, B.C. “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” — Oscar Wilde, The
Continue readingIn This Corner: Worst. Leadership race. Ever.
Somewhere in my collection of flotsam and jetsam of old newspaper clippings from my youth, I have the famous Edmonton Journal paper from the day after the Progressive Conservatives, under Peter Lougheed, finally toppled the Social Credit dynasty. The headline, written in massive type in true Tory blue, read: “Now!
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: As lacklustre PC leadership race winds down, by-elections are on the horizon
TweetWith one day left before the vote, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ric McIver’s campaign took to the radio airwaves, attacking frontrunner Jim Prentice for being “an insider.” It was an strange move for Mr. McIver, as the general public appears largely disinterested in the contest and the deadline to purchase
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta Politics Catch Up: Pipelines, Planes, Cities and Rob Anders
TweetSpending a few days in another province can sometimes give you a different perspective on important national issues. Spending the last week in British Columbia served as a good reminder to this political watcher about how emotional the debate around pipelines and the Oilsands are in Alberta’s neighbouring province. While I am sure opinion is
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Opponents beyond PC ranks start to take aim at Alberta Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice
Alberta Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice, invisible, as everybody and their non-partisan friends pile on. Actual scenes from Alberta politics may not take place exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Prentice, in his lucky campaign shirt; Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta Director Derek Fildebrandt. VICTORIA, B.C. Jim Prentice, you’re in
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Unsolved mysteries: Never mind those roaming charges, who leaked that Tory party membership list in 2011?
Capt. Queeg of the USS Caine channels Alberta Tory Party leaders as he describes the search for the missing strawberries. Imagine what he would have done with a purloined cell phone bill or a leaked list of Tory Party members! Below: Dave Hancock, Thomas Lukaszuk. Premier pro tempore Dave Hancock
Continue readingCalgary Grit: In the Record Books
These are not happy days for the party which has ruled Alberta since before Happy Days ever aired, but the PCs had something to celebrate this weekend as they passed Ontario’s Big Blue Machine to become the longest serving government in Canadian history. There are many reasons for their longevity.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Just as things were looking up a bit for foundering PCs, Alison Redford showed up again
Alison Redford contemplates which way to turn as she leaves behind a trail of devastation, toward the capital city’s new Sky Palace Hotel, left, or toward Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, right. Actual former premiers and the landmarks they threaten may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Ms. Redford;
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Term limits on Alberta MLAs? ‘I think Jim Prentice is trying to lose… nothing else makes sense’
“A night to remember”: Jim Prentice explains to reporters how term limits for MLAs can work. Really! Below: The orchestra the Tories should have hired to play the lunchtime event. There was no orchestra at Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice’s lunchtime speech in Edmonton yesterday. But if there had been,
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