PHOTOS: Derek Fildebrandt buying extra fuel for his big red Ford pickup truck on New Year’s Eve 2016 to illustrate how much more gasoline was going to cost after the NDP’s carbon tax took effect the next morning. (Photo from the politician’s Facebook page.) Prices immediately went down. It turns
Continue readingTag: Deborah Drever
Alberta Politics: Brian Jean’s Wildrose Party leadership is now unquestioned: the fall of Derek Fildebrandt explained
PHOTOS: Brian Jean will be in the background no more … Back in 2015, Derek Fildebrandt was dominating the conversation, refusing to answer questions from a CBC reporter who had annoyed him, as his former party leader looked on, apparently bemused (CB…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As widely predicted, Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever invited to rejoin New Democratic Party Government’s caucus
PHOTOS: Surrounded and supported by NDP House Leader Brian Mason, Calgary-Varsity MLA Stephanie McLean and Finance Minister Joe Ceci, Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever addresses the media in Calgary yesterday after being welcomed back into the Government …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: A Rookie Crew: Eleven Alberta MLAs to watch in 2016
The past few years in Alberta politics have reminded us that politics can be an extraordinarily unpredictable and forecasting the future can be a very tricky business for political pundits. Aside from the obvious choices of Premier Rachel Notley, Finan…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Newsletter publisher apologizes and takes full responsibility for wrong MLA message – but Team Angry’s still angry at NDP
PHOTOS: Spokespeople for the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties stand by to comment in the media on the latest manufactured Alberta political crisis. Actual opposition politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Independent MLA…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Calgary Sun, angry conservatives try to spin a glorified typographical error into the first political brouhaha of 2016
PHOTOS: Independent Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever in a recent shot grabbed from her Facebook page. Below: Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrand (grabbed from Facebook) and PC interim Leader Ric McIver (from Wikipedia). The Calgary Sun called it “…
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: What new laws did Alberta’s NDP Government pass in 2015?
The fall session of the Alberta Legislature ended last week and MLAs will now spend the next few weeks working in their constituencies until the Assembly returns in early 2016. The Assembly passed nine pieces of legislation introduced by Alberta’…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Domestic Violence – A Step Forward in Alberta
First and foremost if you are experiencing Domestic Violence in Alberta check out these numbers from the Human Services branch of the Alberta Government: “Talk to trained staff over the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in more than 170 languages. Chat anonymously online with staff from noon to 8:00 p.m., […]
Alberta Politics: End of exile seems likely for Calgary MLA Deborah Drever, expelled from NDP caucus for tasteless social media posts
PHOTOS: Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever around the time of her banishment from the NDP caucus for tasteless social media posts she had published before her political career (CBC Photo). Below: Lethbridge-East MLA Maria Fitzpatrick and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. A welcome effort to rehabilitate Independent Calgary MLA Deborah Drever, pilloried
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Federal Election Digest | Alberta Edition
While most Albertans are enjoying the last few weeks of summer, here are some of the more interesting and bizarre news stories from the federal election campaign trail in our province.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Wildrose MLA Jason Nixon faces expulsion motion from students’ union
While the mainstream media has spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on the social media indiscretions of Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever, newly elected Wildrose Party MLA Jason Nixon faces an expulsion motion from members of an organization he used to lead. According to the student newspaper The Voice Magazine, members of… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On search results
Colby Cosh’s latest on the role of the “human search engine” in tracking down information about candidates and elected officials is worth a read. But it’s worth keeping in mind that the search results only matter to the extent they’re put to use. On that front, having commended Notley for
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Was Lake of Fire 2.0, the 2015 edition, averted by an incompetent Tory war room?
PHOTOS: Former premier Jim Prentice, left, asks a member of his opposition research and strategy team what the heck went wrong on May 5. Actual Alberta politicians and their flunkies may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Pastor Allan Hunsperger, whose blog post ignited Lake of Fire 1.0; Deborah Drever,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley sets transition schedule for NDP government, gives impression grownups are in charge in Alberta again
Premier Designate Rachel Notley addresses reporters in the Alberta Legislature Building’s media room yesterday. (CBC photo.) Below: MLA Deborah Drever, new Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell. If Alberta’s Conservatives weren’t worried about the long-term effects of their surprise defeat in the May 5 general election, by gosh they should be now!
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Frances Woolley reminds us of some of the hidden advantages of the rich, and suggests that they point toward the fairness of taxing wealth in addition to consumption: The greatest freedom money offers is the freedom to walk away. Your bank doesn’t offer
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Inexperienced? Says who? Complaints about NDP caucus composition only show how weak the right wing is just now
ILLUSTRATIONS: “You voted for whom? Are you mad, man?” … No way to win friends and influence people. (Historic illustration from Punch – no idea what point the artist was trying to make.) Below: Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever (Metro Newspapers photo). Below her, an illustration from the author’s Facebook page
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens, week 18: PCs put up the ‘closed’ sign; candidate kerfuffle II; Dave departs
Election fallout continues. On Friday, the formerly unbeatable PCs essentially threw in the towel. In a stunning housecleaning, the ex-dynasty fired all staffers except one and announced plans to close their Calgary and Edmonton offices. Remember, this is a party that raised $825,000 in the first quarter of 2015 (more
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Politicians with embarrassing Facebook photos? Get used to it.
Since Alberta’s provincial election on May 5, Calgary-Bow MLA-elect Deborah Drever has been the target of much criticism over some photos posted on Facebook from before she was a candidate. Working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology at Mount Royal University,… Continue Reading →
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