Tweet Thomas Mulcair After weeks of warring words about the economic influence of Western Canadian oilsands development on the crumbling Central Canadian manufacturing sector, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair will visit Alberta on May 31 to meet with business and political leaders. This will be Mr. Mulcair’s first visit to Alberta
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David Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel channels Henny Youngman: ‘Take my Opposition leader … Please!’
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and your blogger at a much warmer meeting than the one Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith had with His Honour yesterday. The guy with the cigarette may be one of the new Wildrose MLAs. Below right: Mayor Mandel after his meeting with Ms. Smith, not exactly
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: edmonton’s advantage: we owe danielle smith nothing.
After three years of slagging him in the media, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith met Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel for the first time yesterday (The image is a dramatization of actual events). Three years after becoming leader of her party, Official Opposition Wildrose Party leader and southern Alberta MLA Danielle Smith
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Jack Major’s wise counsel too sensible to be adopted in neo-conned Alberta
Premier Alison Redford contemplates Justice Jack Major’s recommendations on MLA compensation. Actual Alberta politicians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Justice Jack Major. Former Supreme Court Justice Jack Major’s long-awaited report on Alberta MLA compensation doesn’t stand much chance of doing anything more than serving as a 327-page doorstop
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: alberta election maps: percentage of vote by constituency.
I have spent some time over the past week looking at the voting numbers from Monday’s general election and have created these maps showing the percentage of vote earned by each party. The most stunning change from previous election is the significant drop in support for Alison Redford‘s Progressive Conservatives
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: the day after: alberta election analysis.
Alberta Election Results 2012 What was expected to be the most exciting provincial election in history of our province turned out to be a continuation of the 41-year old Progressive Conservative dynasty. The pollsters, the media, and the pundits (including this blogger) appear to have completely misjudged the electoral climate
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Top Ten Losers and Winners of the Alberta Election
Danielle Smith, leader of the upstart Wildrose Party celebrates her… Wait! That’s not Danielle! That’s Alison Redford! (Reuters Photo, snatched from the Internet.) Remember: Alberta political winners may not always be exactly as illustrated by the media and the pollsters. Below: The real Danielle Smith. ’Tis late and the CBC’s
Continue readingdjkelly.ca: #abvote Predictions
What’s an election without a couple of predictions? And to avoid any of that “I said that would happen!”/”No you didn’t!” stuff I thought I’d write down a few of mine. (And instead revel in the multiple “Boy, was that guy way off!” that will no doubt come my way.) So
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Brian Mason makes the closing argument for Alberta’s NDP in tomorrow’s provincial election: – Meanwhile in Ontario, Keith Leslie reports that the McGuinty Libs are still dragging their heels on Andrea Horwath’s entirely reasonable set of budget requests. But while Martin Regg Cohn
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Alberta campaign ends with all-party disobedience of Fourth Commandment
Just stepped off an interstellar Greyhound from Alpha Centauri, AB? Alberta Diary is here to help. Toronto media here to cover the campaign may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Tom Flanagan. As the 2012 Alberta election campaign moves through its final 24 hours this Sabbath day, all party leaders
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: it’s crunch time!
In the final days of Alberta’s 2012 General Election, party leaders will be focusing their time and energy in the places that will matter on election day. Premier Alison Redford with Calgary candidates Jason Luan, Teresa Woo-Paw, Sandra Jansen, and Len Webber (photo from Alison4Premier Facebook Page) Progressive Conservative leader
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: the great alberta election pool.
Who will run the show after April 23? On Monday, Albertans will go to the polls in what is already being dubbed a “historic” election. The outcome is uncertain, so why not gaze into your crystal ball and enter the Daveberta and CalgaryGrit election pool. It is simple enough –
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 24: Sleeping Arrangements at Minority Motel
Above: Preview of post-election Cabinet meetings? Despite a lackluster debate performance by Alison Redford, a pair of post-debate polls show the Wildrose margin down to 7 points. With daily controversies dogging Danielle Smith, there’s no guarantee that lead will hold and, even if it does, it’s impossible to accurately project
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: a wildrose government will need a real opposition.
Danielle Smith with Wildrose MLA's Paul Hinman, Heather Forsyth, and Rob Anderson in 2010. Despite questioning climate science and refusing to remove one candidate who railed against a policy to protect sexual minorities in public schools and another who claimed his skin colour as a political advantage, Danielle Smith‘s Wildrose Party appears set to
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 19: The Morning After
The hype machines were in overdrive for yesterday’s Alberta Leaders Debate, but the outcome was similar to most debates: steady but unspectacular performances from all the candidates, with the end result nothing more than re-enforcing existing attitudes. The post-debate Ipsos poll bears that out; when asked who won, 37% opted
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Last night’s TV leaders’ debate: Alison Redford won – but nothing’s that simple
The 2012 Alberta leadership debate’s dull set. From left to right: Brian Mason, Danielle Smith, Alison Redford, Raj Sherman. Below: Ms. Redford and Ms. Smith as they appeared on the debate. (Main phpoto grabbed from the Globe and Mail; the little ones from Daveberta.) I call it for Alison Redford
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: no knockout punches as candidates give it 110% in alberta’s leaders’ debate.
Four of the main party leaders at last night's televised debate. After watching last night’s televised Leaders’ Debate, I am left wondering whether it will even have an effect on how Albertans vote on April 23. In many ways, the Leaders’ Debate felt like a microcosm of the entire election campaign.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: sparks will fly as party leaders take off their gloves at tonight’s “make or break” televised debate.
The televised leaders' debate starts tonight at 6:30pm. Tonight’s hotly anticipated televised Leaders’ Debate will be the first time that the four main party leaders have debated each other in this format. All eyes will be on Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford and Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith, but do
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 18: Debate Night in Edmonton
More often than not, the Alberta leader’s debate is a mere formality, intended to create a vaneer of democracy in a province where elections tend to be meaningless. It’s barely worth watching, because even if someone delivers the mythic “knock out punch”, it doesn’t affect the election outcome. Hell, had
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: making cities matter in alberta’s election.
Alberta is the most urbanized province in Canada (81% of the population living in urban areas) and the Edmonton-Calgary corridor is one of the most urbanized regions in Canada. Looking to put cities on the provincial election agenda, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is using the CitiesMatter.ca website to weigh in on why it is
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