We do face a serious national crisis in Canada. It is not caused by a few rail and road blockades by First Nations activists and their allies, however. Nor is it caused by environmentalists to some of whom the grave issues facing Indigenous Canadians may be secondary but who view
Continue readingTag: Justin Trudeau
Alberta Politics: It wasn’t supposed to be like this! Alberta sheds jobs while the rest of the country creates them
In January, as the Globe and Mail put it in a colourful old-timey headline last week, Canada’s job market blew past the forecasts for the month. Unemployment also fell. In Alberta, not so much. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Indeed, Alberta was the only province in Canada
Continue readingAlberta Politics: This just in! Stable Reliable Liberal Democracy of Alberta suddenly adopts social license strategy for fossil fuel development
We interrupt this blog with an important bulletin from the Stable Reliable Liberal Democracy of Alberta! In an unexpected move, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced he will seek social license for new energy projects in the Canadian province. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). How unexpected was
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: My latest: ten reasons why Peter MacKay has a shot
Peter MacKay has hit a rough patch. Weird social media. Policy incoherence. Crummy French. Interviews going awry. Sure, he’s coughed up the big entrance fee, and proffered the requisite number of signatures. Came up with a nice logo. Attracted the support of smart backroomers, and figured out how to avoid
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former U.S. ambassador to Canada unaware of any conversation like the plot described by Jason Kenney
There’s a small but important update to the story about Jason Kenney’s conspiracy theorizing in Washington at the end of last week. According to the man who served as the United States’ ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017, nothing was ever said to him that would suggest there were
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Teck Decision Provides a Lesson on Handouts
For a long time Ms Soapbox has been trying figure out what Mr Kenney and the UCP mean when they talk about a “hand up” and a “handout”. She knew from the context that a “hand up” was good and a “handout” was bad, but she was never quite sure
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney names Gerry Butts and Barack Obama in latest UCP conspiracy theory!
Does anyone actually believe Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s startling claim that Gerald Butts, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary, secretly conspired with the White House in 2015 to engineer “a co-ordinated surrender” by Canada on President Barack Obama’s veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline project? Judging from the conversations
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the costs of approving the Teck Frontier tar sands mine likely include locking Canada into another cycle of public subsidies for a dying oil sector – making it clear that it isn’t in the public interest. For further reading…– Tzeporah Berman has previously questioned how any approval
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: My latest: sad Trudeau
Is Justin Trudeau sad? He sure looks sad. He looks positively dejected, in fact. In his few public appearances since the election, Trudeau has radiated none of the boyish charm that was the signature of his first term in office. Gone are the selfies, the costumes, and the maddening preoccupation
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What Brexit and Ottawa’s decision on the Teck oilsands mine have in common: Jason Kenney’s stubborn intransigence
Question: What do Brexit, which finally happened on Friday but the full implications of which are yet to unfold, and Ottawa’s impending decision on the Teck Resources Ltd. Frontier oilsands mine in northern Alberta have in common? Answer: Both are examples of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s stubborn tendency to cling
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Why Is It Always Someone Else’s Fault?
When Jason Kenney convinced Albertans that our economy is solely dependent on fossil fuels (diversification is a luxury, remember) and government policy, not the global marketplace, drives our economy; he needed a scapegoat when our economy failed to grow. Cue Rachel Notley and Justin Trudeau, although with the passage of
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Peter MacKay Wants To Fight Justin Trudeau. For Real!!
Nine years ago Justin Trudeau offered Peter MacKay a chance to fight him in a charity boxing match.MacKay turned him down, so Patrick Brazeau took his place. Only to wish he hadn't.But despite that, MacKay now says he'd welcome a chance to fight Trudeau.Read more »
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Without Rachel Notley’s reviled but effective social license strategy, support outside the Prairies drops for pipeline’s expansion
According to a well-known pollster, support for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project has dropped in Canada outside the Prairies since this time last year. In the same time frame, opposition to the multi-billion-dollar pipeline expansion project is growing at an even faster rate. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Peter MacKay may be One Candidate to Rule Them All — but can he save the party of Preston, Stockwell & Steve?
There are those who say we should be bracing ourselves for the return of President Steve. Say it ain’t so! Stephen Harper (Photo: Remy Steinegger, Creative Commons). We can expect know today if Stephen Harper is going to re-emerge to make a re-run to re-lead the Conservative Party of Canada
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Hole-y: CNN is now covering the stupid doughnut thing
And I’m amazed CNN spelled “doughnut” correctly. Usually they spell it like these guys do. PS: this proves that (a) we’re lucky that this counts as a scandal, when you consider what is going on right now in the U.S. Senate and (b) the world is crazy. Washington (CNN) — A photo
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Of doughnuts and beards and the like
The Conservative Party – back when it knew how to win, and when it was preoccupied with winning more than whining – was pretty good at symbols. Symbol-wise, ten years ago, the Conservatives’ communications strategy always came back a single theme: that Michael Ignatieff out-of-touch and from Mars – while
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s UCP deploys the red tape weapon: an example from the War on Education
Never let it be said Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government hates red tape. On the contrary, Premier Jason Kenney’s Government loves the stuff – at least if you define red tape as most dictionaries do, to wit, excessive bureaucratic rules that make it more difficult to get stuff done. Advanced
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Iran and the Political Resurrection of Justin Trudeau
Over the course of the last year Justin Trudeau has had to deal with some of the darkest days of his political career.The ugly Cons attacked him like a pack of rabid hyenas over one fake scandal after the other.Their media stooges joined in the attempted lynching. with some of them
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