PHOTOS: Jeremy Corbyn on Sept. 5, campaigning in Margate. (Photo by Chris Beckett.) Below: A young Mr. Corbyn, always true to his principles; the catastrophic Margaret Thatcher; 1970s Labour prime minister Harold Wilson; NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair. If you’re one of those who imagines Alberta has embarked on a “dangerous
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Alberta Politics: Thomas Mulcair comes to Edmonton bringing the promise of flinty eyed fixes to our national malaise
PHOTOS: NDP supporters lined up to take selfies with the man they hope will be the next prime minister of Canada. And if Thomas Mulcair wasn’t available, as below, there was always his bearded visage on the side of a bus for a selfie. Bottom: Mr. Mulcair, still smiling, as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Give some credit to Jerry Bance for improving the quality of Conservative public discourse
ILLUSTRATIONS: Is it time to give Jerry Bance a break? After all, he’s raised the tone of Conservative discourse in Toronto, and raised our national profile abroad. (Image grabbed from the CBC, just as Mr. Bance reaches for the cup.) Below: Mr. Bance in happier times, with both his hands
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The refugee crisis: Harper Conservatives just can’t spin it both ways
PHOTOS: Refugees from the Syrian civil war clog a road near the Syria-Iraq border. (UNHCR photo.) Below: Saskatchewan Conservative MP Kelly Block’s constituency leaflet; Ms. Block herself; Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. For several years, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has played to the worst instincts of a significant
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildrose Party wins Calgary-Foothills by-election, and fairly decisively, but leaves plenty of grist for the mill
PHOTOS: Wildrose Party candidate Prasad Panda celebrates his victory last night in the Calgary-Foothills by-election with Wildrose Leader Brian Jean. (Photo from Mr. Panda’s Twitter account.) Below: NDP candidate Bob Hawkesworth and PC candidate Blair Houston. Within moments of Wildrose Party candidate Prasad Panda emerging as the winner in the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP deftly picks royalty review panel while media freaks out about low-key welcome for ‘lightweight’ U.S. politicians
PHOTOS: U.S. President Lindsey Graham, left, is welcomed by a Wildrose Government colour party of Alberta Legislature security officers sometime in the imagined future. Actual circumstances may not unfold exactly as illustrated. Below: Former finance deputy minister Annette Trimbee, energy economist Peter Tertzakian and Beaverlodge Mayor Leona Hanson, as they
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Why Are Harper and Kenney Such Liars?
Chronic Liar. We all know Stephen Harper is fond of lying. During the debate this month there were a myriad of drinking games around the country for whenever one of the other leaders called him a liar. Here’s one clever analysis of his tendency to LIE TO US TO GET
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP strength in Calgary-Foothills riding suggests May 5 election was no fluke – and could rattle federal Tory narrative
PHOTOS: A Chinook arch moves across the sky of Calgary in 2007, bringing warmer temperatures and, for some people, headaches. The same kind of thing happens in politics. Below: NDP Calgary-Foothills candidate Bob Hawkesworth, Conservative Blair Houston and Wildroser Prasad Panda. So, what happens if the Alberta NDP wins the
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Elect Harper = Kill Medicare for Good
#HeaveSteve THIS is how much the Harper Conservatives resent, hate and want to kill Medicare with a slow, painful death [starting with a $36 billion cut]…leading to for-profit healthcare where the rich are OK, the companies are brutally profitable and the middle class and poor go bankrupt or die from
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The #AngryCon: he learned those attitudes about the media from the party he supports
PHOTOS: A screen shot of the man identified by the Toronto Star as Earl Cowan at the moment he informs a reporter she’s a lying piece of … something. Below: Tory operative Fred DeLorey and Toronto Star columnist Heather Mallick. I have to confess I felt the tiniest bit of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is there enough Orange Wave left in Alberta to propel more Dippers to Ottawa?
ILLUSTRATIONS: A typical Alberta conservative voter, with orange hair, flirts with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair while Prime Minister Stephan Harper, in the background, tries to warn her to stop. Actual Alberta political figures may not appear exactly as illustrated. With apologies to Normal Rockwell. Below: Alberta political commentator Duane Bratt.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Sonic privatization mystery: what were the Tories thinking?
PHOTOS: More medical lab techs examining specimens, still not illustrated exactly as they’re likely to appear nowadays. Below: Progressive Conservative health ministers Gary Mar, Iris Evans, Stephen Mandel and Fred Horne, every one a would-be privatizer and every one in a picture personally snapped by your blogger. Viewed with 20/20
Continue readingLeft Over: Harper’s Hapless Harbingers…There’s Your Trouble…
Stephen Harper says ‘subordinates’ not responsible for Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy’s actions Conservative leader faces questions arising from senator’s fraud trial, for 3rd day in a row By Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Aug 14, 2015 1:01 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 14, 2015 5:26 PM ET “…You
Continue readingAlberta Politics: When propaganda becomes memory: Pierre Trudeau and the National Energy Program
PHOTOS: Pierre and Justin Trudeau back in the day, with possibly quite a few Liberal supporters in the background. Below: Prime Minister Steve and Defence Minister Jason Kenney. Everybody in Alberta knows Pierre Trudeau and his National Energy Program laid waste to Alberta in the 1980s, and that would include
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No losers except Canadians in last night’s ditchwater-dull debate
PHOTOS: Zzzzzzzzz … Why are these men smiling? Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sneering; Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, smiling unnervingly; Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, doing his best to look pugnacious; Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, happy to be there. Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair stayed calm, smiled and looked prime ministerial
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is it good news or bad news for the Conservatives if Stephen Harper trumps Trump tonight?
PHOTOS: Stephen Harper, as imagined during tonight’s TV debate. (Photo of Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore.) Below: The real Mr. Harper and another shot of the real Mr. Trump. Now, about that debate tonight, the big question has to be whether it will help the Conservatives or hurt them when
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Harper’s Campaign Against a Mythical Netflix Tax Backfires, Badly
Check out our savvy PM, getting all hashtaggy on us all! But to quote Mr. Layton from 2011, it’s become a #Fail, or, “Hashtag-Fail” if you will. You see, our PM has decided to say that others want to bring in a Netflix Tax. So he opposed it. But he
Continue readingAlberta Politics: That Conservative foreign policy election plank: shaky, incoherent and quite possibly dangerous
PHOTOS: A screen grab from the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s notorious electioneering video showing the himself and Defence Minister Jason Kenney in Iraqi Kurdistan, with the face of a Canadian special forces soldier blocked out by the CBC – unlike the version that appeared on the PMO’s website. Note the
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Stephen Harper Is Such a Bad Economist!
He says he’s awesome, but he’s so bad, that on the economy he’s the worst prime minister since WWII. And his campaign is “don’t change horses in mid-stream, I’m a great economist, we aren’t in a recession, we have a balanced budget and only I can protect you from the
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: 11 Weeks of Daily Harper Protests
The Harper Re-election Disaster Bus Totalitarianism: daily, for 11 weeks! Get used to this. People hate Harper and his Conservatives. We will see through his weak attempt to wedge oppositions parties by running a long election campaign because he has more money to spend. Saturation will come fast. We will
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