Alberta’s “Energy War Room” appears to be continuing to operate in defiance of Canada’s election laws, campaigning against positions clearly identified with a Canadian political party without registering as an election third party. Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart argued recently in a tweet thread that the War Room,
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Cowichan Conversations: Indian in the Cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould
Politics Full story of SNC-Lavalin affair still to be told, Wilson-Raybould says in new book Social Sharing Facebook Twitter Email Reddit LinkedIn Pressed on campaign trail, Trudeau denies he left former attorney general with impression Read more… The post Indian in the Cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould first appeared on richardhughes.ca.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kenney Government suddenly backs away from long-brewing big battles with nurses and teachers
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has suddenly retreated from controversial battles with nurses and teachers that were a priority for Premier Jason Kenney and his inner circle almost since their election in the spring on 2019. Over the Labour Day weekend, a representative of the Alberta Health Services bargaining committee
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: NDP’s same old foreign policy is a massive disappointment
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh on the campaign trail. Photo courtesy the New Democratic Party. Among the New Democratic Party’s 115-page 2021 electoral platform, “Ready For Better,” only one-and-a-half pages are dedicated to Canadian foreign policy—and they leave a lot to be desired. Before getting into its shortcomings, let’s begin by
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Hey Conservatives, you’ve got an Alberta problem
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Photo from Twitter. Federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole is in a tight spot. On one hand, national polls have his party eking out a small lead over Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. On the other, uh, Jason Kenney. At this point, even Ontario’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Green Party members give preliminary approval to bold progressive policies
A supporter holds a sign for the Green Party of Canada in Toronto, September 3, 2019. Photo by Cole Burston. On August 19, four days after the Trudeau government called a federal election, the Green Party of Canada (GPC) disclosed that its members had given preliminary approval to a series
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ne media welcome: Jason Kenney reappears, virtually, answering curated questions via Facebook Live
Having been spotted out for shawarma in Calgary Tuesday night, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney cautiously emerged back into the artificial light of political life yesterday. Rather than making an actual public appearance and risking having to answer rude questions by the province’s media, uncharacteristically uncooperative after Mr. Kenney’s two-week vacation
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: A modest proposal for reimagining Canadian foreign policy
The Canadian flag flies over the Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa. Photo from Flickr. Kim Campbell once said “an election is no time to discuss serious issues.” While most politicians would reject the former prime minister’s bluntness, they largely follow her logic, offering sound bites and snappy proposals rather than substantial
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Spare a thought for Jason Kenney. He’s lost a lot
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney during a news conference in Ottawa on May 2, 2019. Photo by Andrew Meade. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney can’t seem to catch a break. He just keeps on losing. But let’s get the winning out of the way first. It’s a much shorter list. In 2017,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: In Alberta this week, COVID’s surging and there’s no sign of the premier – but, fear not, we have a chief firearms officer!
Alberta’s premier hasn’t been seen in public since Aug. 9. But he’s just on holiday, Jason Kenney’s spokesperson says. “He is of course still able to fully communicate with his Cabinet and senior officials as required,” Jerrica Goodwin said in a statement yesterday that, seemingly, was intended to reassure us
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Fairy Tale Factory
As children, we very much enjoyed fairy tales. Stories filled with wolves and innocent damsels, children led astray by heartless witches, princes and plotters, giants and giant-slayers, all combined to fill us with both fear and ultimately hope, as good prevailed over evil and the world was once more
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Back in the holster: Sport shooting, 3-Gun, and the ban on assault-style rifles
The firearms industry loves practical shooting, but especially 3-Gun, which encourages participants to buy multiple firearms as well as various ammunition and other paraphernalia that people use to trick out their weapons and kit. Photo from Shutterstock. Gun control will again be an issue in the next federal election. On
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta premier unseen since Aug. 9 as COVID counts rise; Opposition assails inaction and media starts to grumble
With COVID-19 case counts in Alberta marching higher by the day, now closing in on 8,000 active cases, the chorus of grumbles about the what’s become of Premier Jason Kenney is increasing in volume. Mr. Kenney was last seen on Aug. 9 at a press conference called to announce expansion
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Erin O’Toole’s promise he’d put workers on corporate boards is meaningless at best, harmful at worst, unlikely to be implemented
Federal Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole has launched a charm offensive to win over unionized workers normally treated as lepers or enemies by modern North American “conservative” parties. A key policy in the Conservative Party of Canada’s platform, Mr. O’Toole insisted yesterday, will be to require about 100 corporations under federal
Continue readingAlberta Politics: On the 10th anniversary of his death, from the vantage of Election 2021, happy memories of Jack Layton and the campaign of 2011
Don’t mourn! Organize! — Joe Hill, Swedish-American union organizer Canadians still mourn the loss of Jack Layton, Joe Hill’s wise strategic counsel to social activists notwithstanding. Mr. Layton on one of his last visits to Edmonton during that campaign (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). I first made that observation on this
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, target Jason Kenney on his own turf
The Alberta portion of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s election campaign got off to an upbeat start in Edmonton yesterday with an enthusiastic outdoor crowd of supporters, a substantive policy announcement, and some fair shots at Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Mr. Singh’s visit to the Edmonton-Griesbach Riding indicates party strategists have
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Independent Ontario MP Derek Sloan, dumped by Conservatives he vied to lead for extremist views, rumoured set to run in Alberta
For heaven’s sake, Ontario, would you stop sending us your right-wing nut-jobs? There was Derek Fildebrandt. Horrible! There was Jason Kenney. Even worse! There are too many more to mention. Their names are legion. Conservative Party of Canada Leader Erin O’Toole (Photo: Erin O’Toole/Flickr). And now, if social media auguries
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Three Alberta universities announce COVID-19 restrictions declared impossible just three weeks ago
The universities of Alberta, Calgary and Lethbridge announced a joint back-to-school vaccine strategy yesterday that will require everyone on campus who can’t prove they’ve been fully vaccinated to undergo rapid COVID-19 testing. “Students, faculty, and staff who are not fully vaccinated, and those who would prefer not to disclose their
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pandemic election an outrage: Alberta Conservatives. Pandemic over, we’re open for good: Also Alberta Conservatives
It’s an outrage, practically a crime against humanity, for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call a federal election in the midst of a global pandemic, Alberta’s Conservatives say. The pandemic is over and thanks to the wise leadership of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, we are open for good, enjoying the
Continue readingScott's Diatribes: The blog awakens for Federal Election 2021
Hello folks: Miss me? (Don’t answer that ) Seeing as we’re about to head into a Federal Election set for Sept 20, I thought it time to shake off the cobwebs off of this blog and revive it a tad. I won’t promise you posts every day, as I used
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