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
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CalgaryGrit: 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: the reform-conservative family feud continues in alberta’s election.
Wildrose is under attack! The same people that caused the Liberal Party of Canada to be in power for 13 uninterrupted years now have Wildrose in their crosshairs. They want nothing more than to see the Redford PCs re-elected to impose their big government knows best, ivory tower views on
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: One True Conservative Party and Other One True Conservative Party now said in dead heat
A typical Alberta soccer mom contemplates the differences between the province’s two conservative parties. The one on the left has indicated stronger support for public health care. According to the latest poll, Alberta’s election race has tightened significantly, and the province’s One True Conservative Party is now in a statistical
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: communications problems.
A half-page advertisement promoting PC candidate Maureen Kubinec in the St. Albert Gazette. One of the most interesting features of the first two weeks of Alberta’s election campaign has been just how different the messaging of the two main campaigns have been. The challenging Wildrose Party has presented a campaign
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Does one third add up to more than two thirds in Wildrose democratic arithmetic?
The Fathers of Confederation, 1967: Referenda? Fixed election dates? Recall votes? Not very likely! Let me get this straight: If two thirds of the electorate in a given constituency elect an MLA, the Wildrose Party proposes that one third of that electorate should be able to have her recalled? I
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Alberta Party Pushes For Anti-Gay “Conscience Rights”
The Wildrose Party, a socially-conservative provincial party hoping to wrestle power away from Alberta’s current conservative government, is defending its election platform against some pretty serious criticism this month. The policy is pretty far to the right of the political spectrum, even by Alberta’s standards. One contentious point
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
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 14: Party of One
Notes from week 2 of the Alberta election, as Alison Redford tries to resurrect her campaign over Easter Weekend. 1. Daveberta’s post on the Wildrose Party’s more controversial candidates has generated over 100 responses and heavy online debate – not surprising, given the limited coverage by the mainstream media on
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Danielle Smith can’t toss the abortion furor under the bus along with Jeffrey Trynchy
The crew of the Wildrose lays smoke to obscure their exact position. Below: Jane Cawthorne (Writers Guild of Alberta photo). Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith can pass off reports of her party’s (half) hidden abortion agenda as scare mongering, and she can try to throw the party official who apparently accidentally
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: alberta election: the leaders’ debate will matter.
In a typical provincial election in Alberta, the televised Leaders’ debate is a mere formality in a process that would inevitably lead to the election of another massive Progressive Conservative majority government. Even when the perceived winner of the debate is from an opposition party, the effects only . In
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Ambiguous Wildrose abortion statements emerge as NDP support jumps in Edmonton
Wildrose Apocalypse? Abortion chatter sparks new fears about Wildrose as poll shows NDP mini-surge in Edmonton. Below: NDP Leader Brian Mason. Are residents of the Edmonton region, as disgusted with the antics of the long-ruling Progressive Conservatives as other Albertans, starting to have second thoughts about far-right Wildrose Party’s largely
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Wildrose leader openly lays out plan for privatizing health care
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith in Promises, Promises, the Medical Comedy. The trouble is, it’s not funny. Real Alberta politicians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Ms. Smith as she really, really appears. There’s not much need for scare tactics by supporters of public medicare: Yesterday the Wildrose Party laid
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: tempting fate, a new @premierdanielle twitter account is created.
A screen shot of the @PremierDanielle Twitter account. Is Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith already measuring the drapes in the Premier’s Office? A Twitter account named @PremierDanielle has been created. The only other Twitter user the account is following, as of this afternoon, is @ElectDanielle, Ms. Smith’s official Twitter account.
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Albertans deserve a straight answer: Where does Danielle Smith stand on ‘conscience rights’?
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. (Photo by Dave Cournoyer.) Where does Danielle Smith stand on ‘conscience rights’? With Ms. Smith’s Wildrose Party quite possibly in a position to win a majority government on April 23, Albertans deserve an unequivocal answer to this question. Right now, they’re not getting it. Instead, Ms.
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Conscience Rights in a Free Society
The Wildrose’s stance on conscience rights has quickly become the wedge issue differentiating it from the Progressive Conservatives. “Populist” Danielle Smith’s unwillingness to clarify her personal views on the party’s stance, legitimate fears over which potential Wildrose MLAs will find themselves in cabinet if the party does form government and
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Conscience Rights in a Free Society
The Wildrose’s stance on conscience rights has quickly become the wedge issue differentiating it from the Progressive Conservatives. “Populist” Danielle Smith’s unwillingness to clarify her personal views on the party’s stance, legitimate fears over wh…
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Conscience Rights in a Free Society
The Wildrose’s stance on conscience rights has quickly become the wedge issue differentiating it from the Progressive Conservatives. “Populist” Danielle Smith’s unwillingness to clarify her personal views on the party’s stance, legitimate fears over which potential Wildrose MLAs will find themselves in cabinet if the party does form government and
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Wildrose strategists snarl at media to keep their overextended bubble unpricked
A bubble of Wildrose Party support hovers over Edmonton Journal political columnist Graham Thomson. Actual Alberta political writers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Thomson; Dave Cournoyer. Sitting atop an unexpectedly huge bubble of public support with only three weeks to go before Alberta’s provincial election,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: thorny candidates could be the wildrose party’s biggest liability.
Danielle Smith (photo from Wildrose Facebook page) As the face of the campaign, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith is her party’s biggest asset. She is media savvy, personable and, despite her limited governance experience (one year as a trustee on the dysfunctional Calgary Board of Education), she talks about becoming Premier
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