The crew of the Wildrose lays smoke to obscure their exact position. Below: Jane Cawthorne (Writers Guild of Alberta photo). Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith can pass off reports of her party’s (half) hidden abortion agenda as scare mongering, and she can try to throw the party official who apparently accidentally
Continue readingTag: Alison Redford
daveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: alberta election: the leaders’ debate will matter.
In a typical provincial election in Alberta, the televised Leaders’ debate is a mere formality in a process that would inevitably lead to the election of another massive Progressive Conservative majority government. Even when the perceived winner of the debate is from an opposition party, the effects only . In
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Ambiguous Wildrose abortion statements emerge as NDP support jumps in Edmonton
Wildrose Apocalypse? Abortion chatter sparks new fears about Wildrose as poll shows NDP mini-surge in Edmonton. Below: NDP Leader Brian Mason. Are residents of the Edmonton region, as disgusted with the antics of the long-ruling Progressive Conservatives as other Albertans, starting to have second thoughts about far-right Wildrose Party’s largely
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 12: Who says a 40 year old government can’t come up with new ideas?
Raj Sherman delivers perhaps the best line of the campaign so far: ‘Alison Redford Invents Triage’ Alberta’s Tory leader has announced money for faster treatment in emergency rooms, but the Grit leader — an ER physician — says the program is already in place. Tory Leader Alison Redford said patients
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Wildrose leader openly lays out plan for privatizing health care
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith in Promises, Promises, the Medical Comedy. The trouble is, it’s not funny. Real Alberta politicians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Ms. Smith as she really, really appears. There’s not much need for scare tactics by supporters of public medicare: Yesterday the Wildrose Party laid
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Wildrose strategists snarl at media to keep their overextended bubble unpricked
A bubble of Wildrose Party support hovers over Edmonton Journal political columnist Graham Thomson. Actual Alberta political writers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Thomson; Dave Cournoyer. Sitting atop an unexpectedly huge bubble of public support with only three weeks to go before Alberta’s provincial election,
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 9: Ralphbucks Returns
On Sunday, the Wildrose Party released an April Fools press release, proposing to merge Alberta and Saskatchewan. On Monday, they took the silliness up a level: Wildrose promises cash rebates to Albertans if oil money creates budget surplus CREMONA, Alta. – Alberta’s Wildrose party is promising free oil money for
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Who wins if the Alberta Legislature’s fit to be tied?
Strange Bedfellows: Danielle Smith and Brian Mason imagined discussing voting strategy in the Legislature… Alberta politicians may not be exactly as illustrated … or as weird as reality! If you think the Alberta election campaign has been exciting up to now, just wait. Any minute now, someone’s going to start
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Why aren’t heterosexual couples from Alberta good enough for the Wildrose Party?
Happy heterosexual families from Alberta: May not be exactly as illustrated (see below). Just the other day, Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith was assailing Premier Redford for not loving Alberta sufficiently, you know, ’cause she wants to change it.So if the Wildrosers love Alberta so much, how come they used
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: danielle smith is ‘out-ralphing’ alison redford.
Recycled 'Ralph Bucks' could become 'Danielle Dollars'. Eight years after the last round of provincial rebate cheques, popularly known as ‘Ralph Bucks‘, were mailed to Albertans care of Premier Ralph Klein, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith is proposing a similar ‘energy dividend.’ While ‘Ralph Bucks‘ were popular among most Albertans
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 8: Losing control of the agenda
One week into the election, and Alberta’s 40 year PC dynasty is on the ropes. It’s premature to write the obituaries, but it’s never too early to write about what went wrong – and what went wrong in week one was a complete inability of Alison Redford to control the
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Wildrose offers same old same old as Alison Redford’s fitted up for the Iggy treatment
Former federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff stands in front of the Reform-o-Con propaganda steamroller moments before it lurched forward. Flattened federal politicians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Dr. Ignatieff; Alison Redford. Does anyone remember Iggy? I couldn’t help but recall former federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: guest post: the election in highwood – week one.
By Jody MacPherson A trailer sign for Wildrose candidate Danielle Smith. The commute to Okotoks from Calgary is a scenic drive southwest with truly spectacular mountain views on a clear day. Having travelled the route almost daily for about 15 years, I saw something this week I’ve never seen before.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: the definition of silly season. is this what “change” looks like?
The wheels came off the Progressive Conservative election campaign this week. If you are looking for a definition of “silly season” the first week of Alberta’s 2012 provincial election fits the bill. Despite major policy announcements from each of the main political parties this week, the campaign is being reported
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Floundering Redford Tories’ fecundity fiasco no April Fool’s joke
When are they gonna learn? Loose Tweets Sink Fleets! Below: An agenda item from the Conservative brain trust’s emergency meeting yesterday. Actual Tory agendas may not be exactly as illustrated, and are unlikely to involve shotguns. Below that: Premier Alison Redford, campaign strategist Stephen Carter. Tempting as it may be
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: A New, Robust Role for Alberta in Federalism
For decades, the province engaged in an isolationist, defensive stance, strongly fending off any federal encroachment into its perceived sphere of control. This approach was consistent with both Liberal and Conservative governments in Ottawa, representing deep-seated resentment of Alberta’s expendable nature in a system where elections are largely determined by vote rich central Canada.
However, the nature of the challenges confronting Alberta today raises doubts as to the viability of this approach, particularly with increasing concerns over the province’s energy industry. Isolationism will not help the province overcome barriers to developing new means of transporting oilsands product to market, slashing the hefty discount purchasers are currently receiving. Neither will it address the major labour shortages facing Alberta, which involves making it easier for the province to lure workers from across the country and around the world. Rather, these challenges require Alberta to take a more robust role in federalism to shape the national agenda and ensure our interests are advanced.
Alberta’s role in confederation is a central issue at stake this election, with Allison Redford and Danielle Smith pitting two starkly different visions against each other. Visions both women outlined in speeches at the Economic Club of Canada a few months apart.
To Danielle Smith (speech), the solution is sticking to our isolationism and relying on a friendly federal government to make Alberta’s case to the rest of the country. Smith recognizes that this will make it difficult to expand our US oilsands market or develop new ones in Asia, but believes that an “all-Canadian solution” is the answer. By retrofitting current infrastructure, oil should flow west-east, eliminating the eastern Canada’s reliance on foreign oil and allowing depressed manufacturing regions of Ontario and Quebec to benefit from refining. A form of economic nationalism that one would expect to be proposed by Gordon Laxer, the Alberta Federation of Labour or the Alberta New Democrats than the Wild Rose.
How exactly she plans on accomplishing this without significant inter-provincial coordination is puzzling. However, the more important question is how this benefits Alberta. Refining oilsands product in Canada will increase the discount it’s sold at currently, meaning we will sell less oil and make less on each barrel sold.
Alison Redford (speech) on the other hand is calling for a break from the past, arguing that Alberta should take on a more robust role in Canadian federalism. At the core of this new role is her push for a Canadian Energy Strategy that will coordinate and advance provincial energy interests as a whole. In effect, the attempt is to link the oilsands to the energy interests of other provinces, in order to change national attitudes towards the industry. Although this sounds promising, the strategy lacks any real specifics to gauge what tradeoffs Alberta will be making in order to convince other provinces to get on board.
Regardless of what the election’s outcome, there are questions related to Alberta’s approach to federalism and its ability to address the challenges confronting the province. While the Wild Rose may have intentions of returning the province to the days of Manning, Lougheed and Klein, they and Albertans should be aware that the issues they dealt with are quite different from those that are confronting us today.
Straight Outta Edmonton: A New, Robust Role for Alberta in Federalism
Alberta has long played a pivotal role in Canadian federalism, with its economic might and vast oil reserves. However, the province’s equalization contributions have never quite matched its ability to influence the national agenda. This is partly due to Alberta’s size, but also reflects the province’s subdued role on the
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: A New, Robust Role for Alberta in Federalism
Alberta has long played a pivotal role in Canadian federalism, with its economic might and vast oil reserves. However, the province’s equalization contributions have never quite matched its ability to influence the national agenda. This is partly due to Alberta’s size, but also reflects the province’s subdued role on the
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 5: This time, when we say "It’s time", it really is time
A collection of random nuggets from the first week on the campaign trail… 1. The leader’s debate has been set for 6:30 mountain time on Thursday, April 12th. Unless of course, the Flames make the playoffs and play that night, in which case the leaders will fall over each other
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: On the trail of the party crasher … and where’s Kevin Taft now that the Liberals really need him?
Third (or fourth) party leader Raj Sherman crashes Premier Alison Redford’s party this afternoon. Sheesh! Ms. Redford must be thinking: “Oh butt out, Raj!” Below: Kevin Taft; Dr. Sherman – “Uh oh! Here he comes!” – accompanied by an uncomfortable looking local candidate Bruce Miller. (This photo by David Cournoyer.)
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