Conservative Glen Motz and Libertarian Sheldon Johnston appear to be the only two candidates to so far step up to run in the upcoming federal by-election in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner. The by-election has not been called yet but it will be… Continu…
Continue readingTag: Drew Barnes
Alberta Politics: The tragedies we ignore: Recent Wildrose gaffe won’t end right’s bogus equivalencies in Canadian political discourse
PHOTOS: The Famine Memorial in Dublin. The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and ’50s is ignored in current Canadian political discourse while the Ukrainian Famine of the 1930s is frequently evoked. Both are real historical events with ideological roo…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Opposition Leader Brian Jean now officially ‘embattled’ as Wildrose insurrection appears to spread
PHOTOS: Is Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean contemplating being given the boot by his party’s radicals … or giving it to them? (Wildrose.ca photo.) Below: Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills MLA David Hanson (photo also from Wildrose.ca), Twitter infor…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Keeping things in in the Right perspective: Wildrose says NDP’s carbon levy is much like killing 10 million people
PHOTOS: Wildrose Agriculture Critic Rick Strankman thinks the NDP Government’s carbon levy is just murder. (Photo grabbed from his Facebook page.) Below: NDP Economic Development Minister Deron Bilous, Wildrose MLA Drew Barnes, another member of the …
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What We Learned from the Fort McMurray Wildfire
The government calls it MWF-009. Darby Allen, the regional fire chief of Wood Buffalo, calls it The Beast. Regardless of what it’s called the Fort McMurray wildfire is erratic, unpredictable and extremely dangerous. It was spotted on Sunday May 1; … Continue reading →
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Is the sky blue? A Conservative win in Southern Alberta by-election a certainty
Following the death of Conservative Member of Parliament Jim Hillyer on March 23, 2016, Elections Canada has announced that a by-election must be called in the Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner electoral district before September 26, 2016. The earlies…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Will the social conservative elephant in the Wildrose room crowd out the Tories being wooed by party Leader Brian Jean?
PHOTOS: With AGM delegates’ endorsement in hand, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean is calling for Alberta’s right to reunite under his party’s banner. Below: Former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith, in her current role as a radio talk show host (Global News photo) and Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA and former leadership candidate Drew
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Wildrose demands transparency from NDP and PCs but holds its annual meeting in secret
Alberta’s conservative Wildrose Party is holding its annual general meeting this weekend in Calgary and, according to one media source, the event will be closed to the media with the exception of leader Brian Jean‘s speech ahead of the leadership review vote on the evening of… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP brings to an end Alberta PCs’ bizarre experiment with one-person heath-care rule
PHOTOS: Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman announces the restoration of normal board governance to Alberta Health Services at the provincial Legislature yesterday. Below: Newly appointed AHS Board members Linda Hughes, Glenda Yeates and Brenda Hemmelgarn. Below them: Premier Rachel Notley on the big screen at AUPE’s convention, as union President
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition: just off the turnip truck … or what?
ILLUSTRATIONS: Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, back in the day. Below: A newer version of the same hospital, one of the buildings that’s now falling apart. (From CardCow.com) Below that image: Wildrose Health Critic Drew Barnes; Richard Starke, MLA, and Richard Starkey, MBE. Anybody who’s been inside the Royal Alexandra Hospital
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Notley Government channels Lougheed to protect Alberta jobs and services, dumps medical lab privatization ‘experiment’
PHOTOS: Medical lab techs examine a specimen, perhaps appearing not exactly as illustrated nowadays. Below: Alberta NDP Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, former PC health minister Stephen Mandel, Alberta Health Services CEO Vickie Kaminski and long-ago Conservative premier Peter Lougheed. In a bombshell move reminiscent of Peter Lougheed’s 1974 takeover of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Cowboy Code and the Abuse of Grazing Leases
Alberta ranchers could teach Wall Street moguls a thing or two about leveraging other peoples’ money for personal gain. The Auditor General just released a report showing that Alberta ranchers short changed Albertans about $25 million last year. Furthermore, they’ll keep doing it unless the new government does something about
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Notley NDP waste no time implementing popular progressive agenda in former conservative heartland
Banning corporate and union donations: Check. Restoring funding to health, education and human services: Check. Increasing corporate taxes: Check. Introducing a new climate change strategy: Coming soon. Phasing in a $15 per hour minimum wage: Coming soon. Reviewing Alberta’s natural resource… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Can Alberta’s Tories Navigate their way back to relevance?
As most Albertans head to work tomorrow morning, the Tory-connected public relations firm Navigator will host an invite-only session for clients in downtown Edmonton titled “Alberta’s New Government: What to Expect.” The session is being hosted by former Ottawa television… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: #abvote Google Hangout with Wildrose leadership candidates
It has been a rough seven months for the Wildrose Party of Alberta. After losing four by-elections in September 2014, the party was decimated when eleven Wildrose MLAs, including leader Danielle Smith, crossed the floor to the governing Progressive Conservatives…. Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Rob Anders still lurking around the Wildrose Party
Twice denied an opportunity to run for the leadership of the Wildrose Party, controversial Conservative Party Member of Parliament Rob Anders is still lurking in the shadows of the deflated Alberta conservative opposition party. As reported by the Medicine Hat News,… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Can Wildrose survive Rob Anders? Can floor crossers survive PC Party?
Initially turned away by Wildrose Party officials, controversial Conservative Member of Parliament Rob Anders has asked the Wildrose Party for a “waiver” to run for the party’s leadership. Having lost bids for federal Conservative nominations in Calgary-Signal Hill and Bow River last… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Friday morning provincial candidate nomination updates from Alberta
Alberta MLAs will return to the Legislature for a spring sitting on March 10, 2015, the Progressive Conservative Party plans to have candidates nominated in all 87 constituencies by March 15, 2015 and Finance Minister Robin Campbell is expected to introduce… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Who will be the next leader of the Wildrose Party?
TweetAfter 11 of the party’s 16 MLAs crossed the floor to the Progressive Conservatives in November and December 2014, the Wildrose Party has been thrown into chaos. Left without its most public faces, most notably former leader Danielle Smith, the party will choose its next permanent leader sometime in the next
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Could the Wildrose collapse mean an early 2015 election?
TweetThis week’s defection of nine Wildrose MLAs to the Progressive Conservative Caucus has drastically impacted Alberta’s electoral map. The governing PCs now hold 72 of 87 electoral constituencies with the remaining opposition consisting of 5 Wildrose MLAs, 5 Liberal MLAs, 4 New Democrats and 1 Independent MLA. The mass-floor crossing could
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