PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Below: Pollster Quito Maggi of Mainstreet Research, grabbed from his Twitter account, and former PC premier Ed Stelmach, whose personal popularity held through the economic downturn of 2007 and 2008. Late last wee…
Continue readingTag: Brian Jean
Susan on the Soapbox: Notley’s Royalty Review
Rachel Notley is driving Brian Jean and Ric McIver crazy. Every time they think they’ve backed her into a corner on the energy file she comes out with a creative and pragmatic solution which has the industry’s backing. What’s the … Continue reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: They did what?! Reaction to the NDP Royalty Review from across the political spectrum
Here is what energy industry executives, progressive advocates and opposition politicians had to say about the Royalty Review panel report released on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016: “Our new royalty framework recognizes the economic context of Alberta’s e…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Rachel Notley boosts her credentials as a pragmatist by accepting Tory royalty rates
If you were looking for evidence that Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is a pragmatist, we saw it yesterday. Backed by the members of the Royalty Review Panel, Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd and the 16 New Democratic Party MLAs from the Calgary regi…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP to release new energy royalty framework at week’s end – brace yourself for Apocalypse Friday!
PHOTOS: The next Apocalypse is scheduled for Friday morning. There will be an embargoed media briefing first. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and Royalty Review Advisory Panel Chair Dave Mowat. Brace yourself for a stor…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: C’mon … admit it, Wildrosers! Denis Coderre’s zinger burned because it landed a little too close for comfort
PHOTOS: Welcome to Bedrock City, AB. Actual rural Wildrose ridings in Southern Alberta may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta Opposition Leader Brian Jean (CBC photo), Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwe…
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Notley’s Approach to Trans Mountain (boys, get with the program)
“Projects like pipelines shouldn’t pit one province against another—they should stimulate conversations that recognize the economic needs and positions of all provinces.”—Alberta premier, Rachel Notley It doesn’t matter what Rachel Notley does to support interprovincial pipelines it’s never enough—at … Continue reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.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: It’s not just the #kudatah – it’s the feeling Alberta’s conservatives are all boarding the Crazy Train
PHOTOS: George Clark, Alberta’s answer to Joan of Arc. (Screen grab from Youtube.com.) Below: Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean, who with his MLAs is tacitly supporting Mr. Clark’s efforts; the origin of the #kudatah meme; Preston Manning, a conserv…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: A Rookie Crew: Eleven Alberta MLAs to watch in 2016
The past few years in Alberta politics have reminded us that politics can be an extraordinarily unpredictable and forecasting the future can be a very tricky business for political pundits. Aside from the obvious choices of Premier Rachel Notley, Finan…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Progress Alberta, new progressive advocacy group, will make waves … not just with opponents but maybe on own side too
PHOTOS: The Alberta Legislature, suitably decorated for the province’s progressive and proudly diverse population. Below: Progress Alberta Executive Director Duncan Kinney. Progress Alberta, a new group that describes itself as “a multi-issue, inde…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Albertans are more progressive than you might think. I’m not surprised.
A new report, “The Quiet Majority“, released by a new group called Progress Alberta shows that we Albertans may be more progressive than we believe we are. According to a survey conducted by Abacus Data, when Albertans were asked whethe…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New Year’s resolutions: Time for Alberta’s conservative leaders to speak out against violent and misogynistic political speech
ILLUSTRATIONS: Counting down to New Year’s. Three days to go is plenty of time for the leaders of Alberta’s conservatives to resolve to speak out in the New Year against threatening and misogynistic commentary by their supporters. Below: Former PM …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: 2015 was a great year for Progressive Politics in Alberta
It was an exciting year to be a progressive in Alberta. May 5, 2015 marked the first time since the 1930s that a conservative party did not win a provincial election in Alberta. The defeat of the Progressive Conservative government, which had… Cont…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canadian market-fundamentalist right looks to ‘Super PACs’ like so-called Alberta Prosperity Fund to grab back power
PHOTOS: ‘Super PACs’ have access to corporate vaults, and very little control or oversight of what they do with the money they’re given. Below: Alberta Prosperity Fund Director Barry McNamar, APF Advisory Council members Dave Rutherford and Camer…
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: Are moderate Alberta conservatives likely to find themselves waking up to a Wildrose nightmare?
ILLUSTRATIONS: It’s a nightmare alright – but whose? Actual Alberta voters may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and NDP Premier Rachel Notley. (Both shown in CBC photos.) The prevailing narrative in the Alberta m…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta’s Tories Poised to Sweep Election in Spring 2016
December 17, 2015 By: Dirk Pranter, Provincial Affairs columnist, Calgary Sunherald One year after nearly the entire official opposition crossed the floor to join Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives, the 44 year long governing party is expected…
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…
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