A new survey released in the National Post by Forum Research Inc. shows Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives with 38% province-wide support and the opposition Wildrose Party sitting at 29%. This survey shows the Liberals at 14%, New Democratic Party at 13%, and the Alberta Party with 3% province-wide support. Danielle Smith
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David Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Liberal Conservative appoints conservative Liberals to battle progressive conservatives, true conservatives
I’m with him… Conservative Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman with his new chief of staff, Jonathan Huckabay. Below: Jeff Melland, from his Facebook page. Earlier today, Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman emailed out a press release announcing big changes to his staff. Key among these were the additions of Jeff
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Will only NDP and Wildrose mount full slates to challenge Alison Redford this spring?
Alison Redford: Why is this woman smiling? Why not? Below: NDP Leader Brian Mason: the next leader of the Opposition? Even with Alberta Premier Alison Redford in a mood to tarry just a little and not call an election until after her government has passed its first budget, only one
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: what to make of alison redford’s budget before election strategy.
Premier Alison Redford Premier Alison Redford has told reporters that her government will approve Alberta’s 2012/2013 budget before the next provincial general election is called. The budget is expected to be introduced shortly after MLAs return to the Assembly on February 7, 2012. The election must take place between March 1 and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: why don’t i feel outraged about the illegal donations scandal?
I feel like I should be outraged about recent allegations that Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives have received thousands of dollars in illegal donations from municipalities and public institutions including the University of Lethbridge, but I am not. Under elections finance legislation in Alberta, it is illegal for these entities to make
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Re-regulating electricity – a great issue for the Alberta New Democrats
An Alberta voter contemplates what’s likely to happen to electricity prices if “deregulation” continues. Below: Brian Mason, Dilbert. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t understand Alberta’s shocking electricity prices. You’re not supposed to. Sales of electricity in Alberta are now managed through what Dilbert calls a “confusopoly.” It’s a system
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Old Year assessment and New Year prediction: Alison Redford, Alberta Newsmaker o’ th’ Year, 2011 and 2012
Alison Redford meets the media minutes after her election in a Conservative Party members-only vote was announced in the wee hours of Oct. 2, 2011. Below: The unexpected results displayed. All politics end in tears, a wise man once observed, meaning that sooner or later, almost all political winners turn
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: looking back at 2011: alberta mla’s who made a difference.
Each year around this time, I compile a list of a handful of Members of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly who I believe deserve mentioning following their political performance over the past year. This is just my list, so please feel free to agree, disagree, or make your own suggestions in the
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: What Alison Redford really needs: a smaller caucus
Members of former premier Ed Stelmach’s caucus discuss their differences in the Legislative Assembly. Is that Ron Liepert top right? Actual Conservative MLAs may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Premier Alison Redford; Tory defector Rob Anderson, in black. Alberta Premier Alison Redford needs to be praying hard that she
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: the hypocrisy of ethical oil’s chiquita banana boycott.
Ethical Oil? If you have been paying any attention to Canadian politics on Twitter or have tuned into any of the Sun Media outlets over the past few days, you will have undoubtably noticed that the greenwashing website “Ethical Oil” has launched the Great Canadian Banana Boycott. Reacting to the
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: National Post poll bad news for Alberta Tories … in the unlikely event it’s right
A word of advice, boys: don’t bet all your kibbles on the results of a one-day demon-dialer poll! Alberta political analysts or the chances they take may not be exactly as illustrated. Toronto’s National Post – or, as I prefer to think of it, the National Pest – states in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: pre-election games: progressive conservatives and wildrose spar with new ads.
As the Spring 2012 provincial election approaches, the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose Party have rolled out a series of television ads (on YouTube) delivering their political pitches to Albertans. The Wildrose ads, as David Climenhaga and Graham Thomson have already written, are cast with two faces of leader Danielle Smith.
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Alberta political TV ad battle: Round 1 to the Wildrose Party
The Alison Redford Party’s first ad from the 2012 election season. Below: Hubby in the headlights. Maybe he’s just seen what’s on that to-do list. Or maybe he just feels strange wearing a sports coat in his kitchen at 7 in the morning. Yesterday, Alberta’s mighty Tory dynasty released its
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Rumoured Tory poll showing Alberta NDP surge: Orange Wave, or just orange hair dye?
Orange Wave, or just orange dye? Below: Alberta Premier Alison Redford with her Chief of Staff, Stephen Carter (photo borrowed from Calgary Herald); NDP Leader Brian Mason. What’s with the recent buzz there’s a private Conservative poll that shows NDP support surging in the Capital Region? Is this a real
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Bad Danielle Smith & Good Danielle Smith: the Wildrose Party campaign begins to unfold
Good Danielle, above, softens you up while Bad Danielle waits just outside the door. Bad Danielle is going to slap you around a bit now for even thinking about voting for Alberta Premier Alison Redford. Then maybe she’ll step out of the room for a smoke. While she’s gone, Good
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: the cast of alberta politics: the motion picture.
Politics in Alberta is not always easy for outsiders to understand. Forty years of uninterrupted Progressive Conservative majority governments have given the province a reputation of being a politically homogenous monolith. The myth of Alberta as a western frontier where tarsands-rich oilmen and rugged cowboys rule the plains, perpetrated by an
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Future bleak for Alberta liberals; among progressive parties, only NDP has momentum
The Alberta Liberals: running out of gas and running out of road? Below: Liberal Leader Raj Sherman, NDP Leader Brian Mason, NDP candidates Shannon Phillips and Deron Bilous. If you want a useful yardstick of the relative health of Alberta’s opposition parties, you need look no further than the number
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The Wildrose Party’s Redford Files: Not nearly as funny as the first time…
The Redford Files website: evidence the Wildrose Alliance is on the ropes. Below, an image grabbed from the site. If “the Redford Files” really are “authorized by the Wildrose Party,” as the blog-style attack website that appeared on the Internet a few days ago indicates, it is the best evidence
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Never mind the Fight on Alberta’s Right; think about the Scramble for Position Among the Opposition!
Post No. 711Quick! What’s the name of Alberta’s No. 2 political party based on popular support?The Wildrose Party, right?That’s certainly what the headline implied in the Edmonton Journal on Friday – “Elections Alberta arms for X day, when ma…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: in alberta politics, what was once old is new again.
Premier Alison Redford is expected to introduce new fixed-election date legislation in the postponed fall sitting of the Assembly, expected to sit in late November. In 2009, I wrote: “In April 2008, St. Albert PC MLA Ken Allred introduced a Private Member’s Bill, Bill 203: Election Statutes (Fixed Election Dates), in the Legislative Assembly of […]
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