PHOTOS: Opposition Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney. Below: A clear-eyed Premier Rachel Notley, former British Columbia NDP premier Dave Barrett and the late Jim Prentice, former premier of Alberta. TORONTO “Two years after Alberta NDP win, critics see signs of early election call,” a headline
Continue readingTag: Derek Fildebrandt
Alberta Politics: Re-stating the obvious: elections matter, and the Alberta NDP victory on May 5, 2015, proves it
PHOTOS: Rachel Notley celebrates her victory on the night of May 5, 2015. Below: Ms. Notley again, the same night, still celebrating; defeated Progressive Conservative Premier Jim Prentice as seen via TV at NDP headquarters conceding to the NDP; a small corner of the crowd at NDP election headquarters in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Kenney shifts into Phase Two of Uniting the Right
Shifting into the second phase of his campaign to unite Alberta’s two largest right-wing political parties, newly elected Progressive Conservative leader Jason Kenney met with Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean this week. According to an email from Kenney’s campaign, the two men, who are both expected to run for the leadership of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Bozo-Eruption Alert: Wildrose campus club email declares “Feminism is Cancer”
“Feminism is Cancer” was the subject line of an email sent out by the Wildrose Party campus club at the University of Calgary promoting the showing of the film “Red Pill.” The Wildrose club planned to screen the film, which online reviews describe as exploring Men’s Rights issues, on the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: O’Leary skips Conservative debate, federal NDP debate skips Alberta
The most high-profile candidate running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada will be skipping tomorrow’s leadership debate in Edmonton. As the thirteen other candidates for the leadership gather on stage at the Citadel Theatre, Boston-resident and American reality television personality Kevin O’Leary will instead be hosting a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Jean makes it clear, any new Alberta conservative party will be the Wildrose Party
PHOTOS: Hate to burst your balloons, Tories, but Brian Jean says any new new united right-wing party will be the Wildrose Party, and nothing else. (Wildrose.ca photo.) Below: Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt, front-running Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Jason Kenney and a group of smokers … actual young Alberta tobacco
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta public employees, subject to constant Wildrose and media vilification, win national award for effective service
PHOTOS: An image of the May 2016 Fort McMurray fire taken by Alberta Government photographer Chris Schwarz. Below: The Wildrose Party sees government workers like forest fire fighters (GoA photo) and Licensed Practical Nurses (AUPE photo) as “union bosses.” Just guessing, but you probably won’t read much news coverage about
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildrose reaction to proposed raise for front-line health workers illustrates the party’s rightward shift
PHOTOS: Rob Anderson, on the right, the Wildrose Party’s finance critic under Danielle Smith, at a rally supporting public sector workers in 2012. With him are AUPE President Guy Smith, left, and Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann, centre. Below: The Wildrose Party’s intemperate current finance critic, Derek Fildebrandt, Ms. Smith,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Setting the stage for Wildrose 2.0: Moderates need not apply
“We must also ensure that a new, united party will be built on a solid foundation of conservative principles and policy. The left-liberal clique that managed to slowly highjack the PC Party must never again be allowed to seize control of Alberta’s conservative movement.” This call for ideological purity came
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Winter of Discontent over the Carbon Tax
Alberta’s carbon tax, lauded by economists and experts and derided by opposition conservatives, came into force on January 1, 2017. From photo-ops at gas pumps to outright climate change denial, opposition to the carbon tax has been nothing short of hysterical… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Past PC taxes disappear down conservative Memory Hole amid apocalyptic claims about similar NDP policies
PHOTOS: Then finance minister Robin Campbell and premier Jim Prentice explain their plan to increase taxes in March 2015. Criticism was mild. Below: Premier Ralph Klein and Stockwell Day, who was Mr. Klein’s provincial treasurer in the late 1990s (CBC photo); Wildrose MLA Heather Forsyth, who was interim Opposition leaders
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Wildrose Shuffles Critics, Fildebrandt no longer Public Accounts Committee Chairman
Outspoken Wildrose Party MLA Derek Fildebrandt, who finds himself frequently at odds with leader Brian Jean, remains in his high-profile role as Official Opposition Finance & Treasury critic after a shuffle of critic portfolios in the Wildrose caucus this week. But according to… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildrose shadow shuffle leaves Derek Fildebrandt in finance; Brian Jean rumoured eyeing shuffle off to Wood Buffalo
PHOTOS: Yon Fildebrandt has that lean and hungry look … Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, right, and his finance critic, still, Derek Fildebrandt, in happier times. Below: Wildrose MLAs Drew Barnes, Leela Aheer and Tany Yao. Seemingly flying beneath the radar, Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean has completed a significant reshuffle
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Great Betrayal, or just a great mistake? Today marks the second anniversary of the Wildrose Party’s mass defection
PHOTOS: Progressive Conservative premier Jim Prentice and Opposition leader turned PC MLA Danielle Smith pose awkwardly on Dec. 17, 2014, in what was supposed to be a political masterstroke, and could have turned out to have been just that (CBC photo). Below: NDP Premier Rachel Notley, Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rogue One, a Right Wing Wars Story: wherein the Wildrose Party’s Derek Fildebrandt slips his leader’s leash
PHOTOS: Wildrose Party Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt going rogue at Rebel Media’s Calgary anti-everything rally last Sunday (CBC photo). Below: Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Jason Kenney as imagined for this story’s rather labored metaphor. (They said I couldn’t do it. Actual PC leadership contenders may not appear exactly as illustrated.)
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Ten Alberta MLAs to watch in 2017
Despite its past reputation, Alberta politics has become extraordinarily unpredictable over the past decade. This makes forecasting the future a very tricky business for political pundits. As is tradition on this blog, each December I sit down by the open… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Death threats, a noose on a hockey stick, opponents kicked out … Calgary Rebel Media rally was another goon show
PHOTOS: They say a photo is worth a thousand words. This one, taken at Ezra Levant’s Rebel Media rally in Calgary yesterday, certainly speaks for itself. Obviously, not all the NDP supporters were successfully purged from the meeting. Below: Chris Alexander, Mr. Levant and Kellie Leitch. Mr. Aleander and Ms.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Oh, there you go Bradsplaining again!’ Like it or not, Brads from Saskatchewan just can’t control their Bradsplaining
PHOTOS: Federal Conservative leadership candidate and Bradsplainer Brad Trost shows he’s hip to the jive with this newfangled technology stuff. (Photo from BradTrost.ca.) Below: Brad Wall, another well-known Bradsplainer, Bradsplaining, and blogger word-coiner Dave Cournoyer, kitted out to observe one of Rebel Media’s rallies. Uh-oh! We’re about to be “Bradsplained”!
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildrose defence of Christian home schooling group unravels on news of operators’ big salaries
PHOTOS: The Trinity Christian private school in Cold Lake. Court documents indicate its principal was paid $322,813 over three years. One news report says it currently has 13 students. Below: Ken Noster, board chair and administrator of Wisdom Home Schooling Society, his wife Marlane Noster, and Trinity School principal Richard
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Backstory to purloined party list whodunit hints Wildrose civil war may be brewing
PHOTOS: Veterans of the Wildrose Caucus civil wars get together in 2046 to compare their experiences. Actual aged Wildrose MLAs are unlikely to appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Wildrose Leader Brian Jean (CBC photo), his party’s finance critic, Derek Fildebrandt, and former Wildrose House leader Rob Anderson reading his confession
Continue reading