We Albertans have been living in a bit if a bubble – a bitumen bubble. As a consequence, we may not all have noticed what’s been happening on Canada’s West Coast. So the potential significance of the victory in a federal by-election Monday by Paul Manly of the Green Party
Continue readingTag: jack layton
Montreal Simon: Nathan Cullen And The Slow Death Of The NDP
I was sitting on a bench overlooking the beach at Ward's Island this weekend, when I suddenly thought of Jack Layton. And how I used to see him all the time cycling around the island on a bicycle made for two. Back in the giddy days when an orange wave had made
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Everything you always wanted to know about Rand Paul and the Shouldice Hernia Hospital * but were afraid to ask
I’m sorry to report, Canada, that Rand Paul, the nutty libertarian son of the crazy uncle of the American Right, isn’t the only politician to stumble into a controversy for getting repairs at the Shouldice Hernia Hospital. We’ll get to that in a minute, but first there’s a backstory. According
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Topp, NDP strategist who led Rachel Notley’s 2015 war room, describes what Jagmeet Singh must do this year to win
With a federal election looming this fall, mainstream pundits have already written off the federal New Democratic Party and its leader, Jagmeet Singh, relegating Mr. Singh to history’s discard bin and declaring the party to have already returned to perpetual third-party status. Maybe they shouldn’t, suggests long-time NDP political strategist
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Anne McGrath jumps into NDP nomination in Calgary-Varsity, Byron Nelson seeks UCP nod in Calgary-Bow
New Democratic Party stalwart Anne McGrath announced on social media today that she plans to seek her party’s nomination to run in Alberta’s next provincial election in the Calgary-Varsity district. A long-time advocate for progressive issues, McGrath is known to many of Canada’s New Democrats as Chief of Staff to
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta’s lone-NDP MP Linda Duncan will not seek re-election in 2019
Photo: MP Linda Duncan and MLA Rachel Notley at Edmonton’s Pride Parade. It was one of the worst kept secrets in Edmonton politics. Linda Duncan has announced that she will not seek re-election as the Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Strathcona when the next federal election is held in October 2019. After a strong
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP will need to choose carefully as Linda Duncan decides not to seek re-election as Edmonton Strathcona MP
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Not to be negative, but the federal New Democrats might want to hold off scheduling the nomination to choose Linda Duncan’s successor until just after next spring’s provincial election. Then again – given the fraught relationship these days between the federal NDP and the Alberta branch of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hard to believe it’s been seven years: Looking back to 2011, and Election Eve 2008, with happy memories of Layton, Jack
Don’t mourn! Organize! — Joe Hill, Swedish-American union organizer As happens each year at this time, I’m rendered almost speechless by the loss of Jack Layton, seven years ago today. The piece below, with my own fond memory of Mr. Layton, was published on this date in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Surely it’s time for us in the reality based community to act on our convictions as decisively as conservatives do
Surely it’s time for the reality based community – that’s us, my progressive friends – to start making some new democratic realities! In 2015, as you will recall, many of us overcame our reservations and voted for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals on the basis of his firm, clear, unequivocal promise to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Prab Gill saga seems to have legs, so UCP Leader Jason Kenney attacks environmentalist Tzeporah Berman …
Astonishingly, the Prab Gill saga appears to have legs. Yesterday, the Star Metro arm of the Toronto Star’s effort to create a national footprint, informed Alberta readers there’s no way the United Conservative Party will be revealing the contents of its insider investigation of ballot stuffing and snatching by Mr.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Stephen Harper’s Paris speech to Mojahedin-e Khalq: No laws were broken; appropriate interests were served; get over it!
Many readers would be offended if someone were to suggest the Roman Catholic Church was a former terrorist organization with cult-like attributes. Still, wouldn’t terrorism be a fair description of the Inquisition, the brutal effort to root out heresy carried out from the 12th to the early 19th centuries by
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Mason, who kept NDP flame alight in Alberta’s Legislature for a decade, to take his leave from politics
Brian Mason, who as party leader kept the NDP flame burning brightly in the Alberta Legislature from 2004 to 2014 even when the caucus was small enough to truly meet in a phone booth, announced yesterday he is about to pull the plug on a 29-year political career that has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On history repeating
I haven’t yet commented much on Ontario’s provincial election campaign – and readers interested in the race will find plenty of noteworthy observers on the blogroll. That said, it’s worth noting the parallels between this campaign and a couple of the NDP’s other recent breakthroughs. To start with, Ontario’s 2018
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The NDP and the LEAP liability.
This is unbelievable. The New Democratic Party is having a convention in mid February and we hear the LEAP Manifesto seems to be the selected song book. Not only is the document two years older but it was out of date when introduced in Edmonton to the consternation of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – David McGrane writes about Jack Layton’s five great fights – and how they continue to provide an essential framework for social democrats. – Rupert Neate reports on London’s “ghost towers”, which include tens of thousands of high-end homes sitting empty in a city
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Will Singh say something serious?
With a new party leader established and MP Charlie Angus taking over the New Democratic Party house leadership, and Thomas Mulcair retiring, the new leader, Jagmeet Singh, is free to roam the country. He can meet Canadians everywhere and press the flesh at local labour halls. The only question is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2017 Links
The latest from the NDP’s federal leadership campaign following Jagmeet Singh’s impressive first-ballot victory. – Paul Wells discusses how Singh’s youth and optimism fit with the NDP’s history and self-image. Jeremy Nuttall interviews Brian Topp about some lessons Singh can take from Jack Layton – including his apparent plan to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Having no potential national leader obviously helpful to Notley Government may be liberating to Alberta New Democrats
PHOTOS: Candidate Niki Ashton, in Edmonton during the 2012 NDP leadership race. (Photo: Olav Rokne.) Below: Charlie Angus, Jagmeet Singh, Guy Caron and the late Jack Layton. (Photos: All from the Wikimedia Commons.) Like a rural highway through northern Alberta, the federal New Democratic Party’s leadership race has seemed long,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On discriminatory treatment
Following up on this post, let’s take a look at Tom Parkin’s other recent post which offers plenty of food for thought. Parkin’s view broadly matches Guy Caron’s position on Quebec’s treatment of people who wear niqabs – but seems to me to fall short of making the case for
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hard to believe it’s been 6 years: Looking back to 2011, and Election Eve 2008, with happy memories of Layton, Jack
PHOTOS: NDP Leader Jack Layton, looking fragile and using a crutch, in Edmonton in April 2011. Below: Mr. Layton that day, again, and some of the mourners in front of the Alberta Legislature on Aug. 24, 2011. Don’t mourn! Organize! — Joe Hill, Swedish-American union organizer As happens each
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