TweetAmid a storm of embarrassing news stories of unreported deaths of children in the foster care system, Human Services Minister Dave Hancock rushed forward last week with Bill 45: Public Sector Services Continuation Act and Bill 46: Public Service Salary Restraint Act. These two bills will allow the Redford Government to bypass a
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daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Threatening to strike in Alberta? Under Bill 45, that’s a paddlin.
TweetJasper Beardly explains the Redford Government’s Bill 45: ”Threatening to strike? That’s a paddlin’. Talking about going on strike? That’s a paddlin’.” In their rush to pass anti-labour laws that would force the province’s largest union into a new contract and increase penalties public sector unions that enter illegal strikes, could Premier Alison
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Redford Government shows bad faith by rushing labour law changes
TweetProviding a timely distraction for a government facing criticism over the sobering news stories of unreported deaths of children in the foster care system, Premier Alison Redford‘s Progressive Conservatives today suddenly introduced two pieces of legislation that could have a significant impact on labour relations in Alberta. The first piece of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Redford Government set to impose wage freeze on public employees, blowing winning coalition to smithereens
The state of public service labour relations in Alberta, circa some time this afternoon. Premier Alison Redford, in black, is visible standing at right. Below: Alberta civil servants’ likely response to the government’s plan. Actual events in the near future may not appear exactly as illustrated, especially the part with
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Secrecy of foster care deaths a sobering story
TweetThe normally hyper-partisan atmosphere in Alberta’s Legislative Assembly was sobered today with news of a tragic and startling story. A six-month investigation by Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald reporters based on death records unsealed after a four-year legal battle revealed a startling number of unreported deaths of children in care of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: No surprise, Alberta PCs endorse Alison Redford with the traditional 77% Solution
A couple of political pundits try to explain to Alberta Premier Alison Redford, centre, why the 77 Per Cent Solution may not be a good thing after all. Actual Alberta premiers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Note that the previous reference has nothing to do with illegal drugs or
Continue readingAlberta Diary: 70%? 66.9%? 55.9%? 50%+1 good enough for Alison Redford this evocative weekend
Alison Redford, ready for her endorsement vote tomorrow, as rendered by Edmonton artist William Prettie. Below: former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark, late U.S. president John F. Kennedy, both of whom figure in this blog post about Alberta politics for some reason. Was it insularity and tone deafness, or Machiavellian
Continue readingAlberta Diary: CBC journalist Charles Rusnell: slaying Alberta’s Tory dragon, one scandal at a time …
Your blogger with CBC investigative reporter Charles Rusnell. Below: Edmonton-Manning MLA Peter Sandhu; Mr. Sandhu with Alison Redford in a Tory Party photo grabbed from the Daveberta.ca blog. The photo-bomber is Calgary-Fort MLA Wayne Cao. You’d think it would be easy to run a petroleum-soaked, cash-rich jurisdiction like Alberta, but
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Albertans want election-spending-limit law but are unlikely to get one from Redford PCs
Generous corporate donor drops off cash at Tory headquarters. Actual donors, who may not be exactly as illustrated, will be determined later. Below: Parkland Institute researcher Trevor Harrison and Tory Human Services Minister Dave Hancock. It’s a conundrum! What should Alberta’s Tories do? A study by the University of Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: All lawbreakers will be punished … unless they happen to be Alberta Conservatives
“’Ave you got a leesence for your minkey?” An investigator for Elections Alberta pauses momentarily in his probe of political donations made to the Progressive Conservative Party by seeing-eye monkeys. If you don’t get it, I can’t help you. Actual Elections Alberta investigators by now have likely been transferred back
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Deputy Premier Tom Lukaszuk: exactly the wrong man to solve Alberta’s jail crisis
Wildcatting Correctional Officers on the picket line at the Edmonton Remand Centre just before midnight last night, long after the government’s ultimatum ordering them back to work. Below: Trade unionists occupy an Alberta Labour Relations Board boardroom yesterday afternoon in support of the striking guards. Below that: Deputy Premier Thomas
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tories versus Wildrose: Year One in Alberta’s new political game.
TweetOn April 23, 2012, Alberta’s most hotly contested election in decades culminated with the re-election of the twelfth consecutive Progressive Conservative majority government since 1971. Despite holding the large majority elected MLAs, the popular vote showed Albertans were closely divided between Alison Redford‘s Tories who finished with 44% compared to
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Laurie Blakeman now the longest-serving opposition MLA and other #ableg milestones.
TweetThis week Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman was recognized in the Legislative Assembly as being the “longest-serving member to serve exclusively in opposition in Alberta’s history. Ms. Blakeman was elected on March 11, 1997 and, as Speaker Gene Zwozdesky noted, she has served continuously since that time for a total of 5,876
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Dave Hancocok’s latest consultation leads to Social Policy Framework.
TweetMost media and political watchers are focused on today’s release of the provincial budget, but last week Human Services Minister Dave Hancock focused on the human-side of government with the release of the much anticipated ‘Social Policy Framework.’ “It’s part of taking an intelligent look at the social policy agenda,”
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Why are the Redford Tories picking a fight with Alberta teachers?
TweetEducation Minister Jeff Johnson dispatched a letter to the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) and the Alberta School Boards Association yesterday threatening salary cuts if a new contract is not agreed to before the provincial budget is released on March 7, 2013. Minister Johnson’s statement was made the same day that Premier
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Beyond Question Period: Debating Bill 1.
TweetIf you pay attention to political pundits or follow the #ableg hashtag on Twitter, you will have read about how nasty and partisan the fall sitting of the Legislative Assembly has been. But if you logout of Twitter for a bit and ignore the embarrassing theatrics of Question Period, you will
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: alberta cabinet minister dave hancock pictured in american attack ad.
TweetHuman Services Minister Dave Hancock made an appearance in an election attack ad aimed at two Minnesota Republicans, including Representative David Hancock. It appears that the photo of Alberta’s Mr. Hancock was accidentally used in place of his Minnesota counterpart in the ad sponsored by the Minnesota House Democratic-Farmer-Labour Party
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: big money spent in alberta’s 2012 election.
Tweet Elections Alberta has released the financial disclosure forms submitted by candidates who ran in the April 2012 provincial election and some of the disclosure forms reveal some interesting information about how much money was fundraised and spent during the campaign. The money spent by candidates and political parties in
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Annals of Alberta Labour Relations: Redford Government goes boldly where no Tory’s gone before
Some of the AUPE members who work at the Revera Riverbend facility in Edmonton, which ended yesterday when the Alberta government imposed a first-contract binding arbitration process and ordered an end to the strike. (AUPE Photo.) Below: Former AUPE President Dan MacLennan hams it up with former premier Ralph Klein.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s Expensesgate scandal: Just saying it’s over doesn’t mean it’s over
Transparency, Alberta style, with Gloria Stuart as Alison Redford, William Harrigan as Dr. Chris Eagle and Claude Rains as Fred Horne. Below: Don Scott, yesterday’s Invisible Man. Alberta’s mainstream media finally got around yesterday to acknowledging the obvious, that Alberta Health Services may have left itself (and the rest of
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