TweetPremier Dave Hancock is standing behind Jeff Johnson, even after the Information and Privacy Commissioner ruled that the embattled education minister broke Alberta’s privacy laws by sending a direct message to the personal email addresses of thousands of teachers during their contract negotiations. In any other job, breaking the law
Continue readingTag: Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Alberta Diary: CTF bullying and misinformation: just what’s ‘wacky’ about rape prevention research?
Canadian Taxpayers Association Federal Director Gregory Thomas dressed up as a professor, with a man dressed as a pig, at a CTF news conference trashing government support for academic research. A cameraman can be seen at left obligingly filming. Below: Dr. Melanie Beres, unfairly ridiculed by the CTF for her
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: On talking about priorities: Oil spills and teachers strikes
On the same day one week ago, teachers in British Columbia began a full strike and the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was approved by the Canadian government. With such telling coincidences, it is hard not to juxtapose the two broad social conflicts in which BC has become a flashpoint: that
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta PC leadership race is policy-lite in early days
TweetThe race is still in its early stages, but Albertans hoping the Progressive Conservatives leadership contest would spark a great policy debate about the future of our province are so far disappointed. The most notable news so far from this race has been the growing number of endorsements collected by
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Two-tier “Alberta Chaoulli” goes down to defeat in courts
The so-called “Alberta Chaoulli” challenge to single-tier health care has been defeated in the courts. The Ultra-Conservative Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF) had sponsored two cases in that province that suggested Canada’s single tier health system represented a monopoly … Continue reading →
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Macdonald comments on Statistics Canada’s latest wealth survey, with particular emphasis on the continued gap between a privileged few and the vast majority of Canadians: (T)he top 20% of families have twice as much wealth as the bottom 80% of families
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Shocker: Canadian Taxpayers Federation suffers 17-per-cent membership slump!
Riley Climenhaga, who has some duties as an actual watchdog despite being one of the Canadian Taxpayer Federation’s 70,000 “supporters,” watches suspiciously. Below: CTF Alberta mouthpiece Derek Fildebrandt and Operations VP Shannon Morrison. In a stunning development, membership in the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has slumped close to 17 per cent
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Redford’s top advisor earns more than Obama’s top advisor, claims Wildrose
TweetPremier Alison Redford‘s chief of staff earns a bigger salary than his counterpart in the West Wing, claimed the official opposition Wildrose in a press release yesterday. As the salary disclosure ”sunshine list” of Alberta’s senior public servants who earn more than $100,000 annually was released late last week, opposition critics honed in on Ms.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Top 13 from 2013: Alberta Diary borne ever upward on wings of far-right loons
Ron Paul, the crazy uncle of the American right, surrounded by grinning acolytes at the 2013 conference of the Manning Centre for Undermining Democracy in Ottawa. Putting Dr. Paul here worked before, so maybe it’ll work again! Below: For New Year’s Eve, we show Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who says
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s 13 most under-reported political news stories of 2013
Another aircraft takes off from Fort McMurray International Aerodrome loaded with CO2 captured from Alberta’s Athabasca bitumen sands. The gas will be stored in the basements of Russian buildings as part of a deal worked out through the province’s $2-billion “carbon capture” program. Actual Alberta carbon capture boondoggles may not
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Shining you on: Alison Redford calls for a little selective sunshine on civil service salaries
The scene in February 2014: CBC investigative journalist Charles Rusnell pores through a list of senior Alberta civil service salaries as horrified deputy ministers and university professors look on. Actual Alberta public employees may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Associate Minister of Accountability, Transparency and Transformation Don Scott, left,
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Thinking upstream — new institute invites us to think differently about health and politics
Dr. Ryan Meili has received considerable attention for his short 2012 book A Healthy Society: How a Focus on Health can Revive Canadian Democracy. Little did we know that the book would become a manifesto for a new institute dedicated … Continue reading →
Continue readingAlberta Diary: ‘Conservative activist’ seeks Brent Rathgeber’s Edmonton-St. Albert Parliamentary seat
Michael Cooper, left, celebrates after a fashion the May 2, 2011, federal election victory of Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber, as Mr. Rathgeber celebrates it in a more traditional and energetic way. (St. Albert Gazette photo.) Below: Mr. Cooper’s official campaign website photo; Mr. Rathgeber not long after his break
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – It shouldn’t be a surprise that more people are pointing out the importance of effective regulation in preventing disasters like the Lac-Mégantic explosion. But it may be somewhat unexpected to see that message from a CEO in the industry which stands to be
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Canada’s Far Right Next Attack On Nenshi
It’s no big secret that the Conservative power base in Calgary was profoundly pissed off when Naheed Nenshi won the Mayoral race in 2010. The amount of vitriol seen in the Sun’s pages after election day was astonishing, and since then, they have taken every opportunity to snipe at Nenshi.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Cracks in the Conservative Monolith
Hannah Thibedeau’s report gladdened my heart this morning as she detailed the events behind federal Conservative M.P. Brent Rathgeber’s decision to leave the Harper caucus over changes to his private member’s bill that would have required the public disclosure of all the expenses and salaries of highly paid public service
Continue readingA Different Point of View....: Petitions next to useless in campaign to defend CBC
At least half-a-dozen petitions aimed at stopping Stephen Harper from taking control of the CBC are buzzing around the Internet. Pressure groups are putting a lot of effort into this campaign, but the question is – does sending petitions to Ottawa have any effect on the Conservatives. Are they just
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Yves Engler highlights the two-tiered justice system exacerbated by the Harper Cons, as anybody with a sufficient level of privilege avoids any punishment for wrongdoing: One law for the rulers and another for the rest of us — wasn’t that supposed to
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Minuscule Canadian Taxpayers Federation in running for ‘Turfy Award’
Former Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta Director Scott Hennig, now the group’s Communications VP, in a nice AstroTurf-coloured sweater at last weekend’s Ottawa conference of the Manning Centre for Undermining Democracy. Below: CTF President Troy Lanigan; CTF member … rrrrrrr … supporter, Riley Climenhaga; CTF Operations VP Shannon Morrison. When it
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Close enough for government work: Alberta Tories manage to hold their centre-right turf
Finance Minister Doug Horner preps Albertans for yesterday’s budget. Actual Alberta finance ministers may not appear exactly as illustrated – but that’s the trick, isn’t it? Below: The real Doug Horner. All in all, I guess, you could make a good case this was a pretty lousy budget. It’s deeply
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