TweetIn 53 days, members of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party will vote to choose their next leader and the next Premier of Alberta. Unlike previous PC leadership races, where Albertans of all political-inclinations were excited to participate in the vote to directly choose the next Leader of the Natural Governing Party, there does
Continue readingTag: Ken Hughes
Alberta Diary: Finance Minister Doug Horner meekly throws his support to heir apparent Jim Prentice
Alberta Progressive Conservative Party activists surround leadership candidate Jim Prentice at a recent $500-a-plate fund-raising dinner in Edmonton. Finance Minister Doug Horner is visible immediately to Mr. Prentice’s right. The painting in the background illustrates Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Actual Progressive Conservative Party members may not appear exactly as illustrated.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tracking Alberta MLA endorsements in the PC Leadership race
Tweet In party leadership races, endorsements by sitting MLAs can be a double-edged sword. Endorsements can lend credibility to candidates and individual MLAs own local political networks to the campaign. Large numbers of endorsements can also signal to rank and file party members where their party’s establishment is lining up. But MLA
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Cone of Silence descends over deeds of Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice’s secret agents, real or imagined
An unidentified person, left, said to be close to undeclared Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice, waits for the Cone of Silence to descend over his discussions with a member of Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith’s inner circle, also unidentified, at right. Actual unidentified anonymous political agents may or may not appear
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Is the Jim Prentice Juggernaut unstoppable?
TweetHe is a leadership candidate backed by long-governing party establishment. He has chased away his potential rivals. He has experience in both the federal cabinet and the corporate sector. He is a respected party insider. He has a track record as a moderate conservative and can raise significant amounts of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: And then there were two … decline of the Alberta Tory leadership race mirrors decline of Progressive Conservative Party
Hail the conquering hero … now starring Jim Prentice, above. Actual Progressive Conservative Enlightened Beings may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Non-leadership contenders Ken … Ken, we hardly knew ye! … Hughes, Doug Horner, Diana McQueen and Jonathan Denis. And then there were two… Ken Hughes, the former minister
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta Workers Compensation Board poised to give back more than $500 million to employers
Alberta Workers Compensation Board officials ready shipments of money to send back to employers. Actual WBC staff may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Labour Minister Thomas Lukaszuk and now-official Tory leadership candidate Ric McIver, who gave up the K in his first name for the benefit of all Albertans.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The All-Calgarian PC Party leadership race
TweetAnother Calgarian has entered what has been, at least so far, an all-Calgarian Progressive Conservative leadership race. Announcing his candidacy in the contest to become the next PC Party leader and premier, former Infrastructure minister Ric McIver declared he would bring a “common-sense new approach to replace insider, establishment thinking, with new common-sense thinking.” The
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Finance minister’s joint news conference with civil service union leader sure looked like a total climb-down
AUPE President Guy Smith, left, and Finance Minister Doug Horner on the podium together at yesterday’s news conference in Edmonton. Below: NDP leader Brian Mason as he spoke to reporters moments afterward. There’s no question, after a year of something approaching total warfare between the Government of Alberta and its
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Detente or Entente Cordiale? AUPE and Hancock Government reach tentative agreement
TweetAt 10:00 a.m. on April 28, 2014, Hugh McPhail, a lawyer representing the Alberta Government requested the Court of Appeal to adjourn a scheduled hearing on Bill 46, the controversial anti-labour law that had been halted by a court injection months ago. The law would have forced a regressive contract on the 22,000 government employees
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta Tories waiting for a Jim Prentice coronation
TweetCould the snoozer that has become Alberta’s Progressive Conservative leadership race risk becoming a coronation if former federal cabinet minister Jim Prentice jumps into the race? Necessitated by the resignation of Premier Alison Redford on March 19, the race to choose the next leader of Alberta’s 43-year long governing PC Party has so far
Continue readingIn This Corner: Does anybody want to be the PC leader? Seriously, anyone …
The Progressive Conservatives will select their latest leader in September, a mere five months away. You would think that the lineup to claim such a glittering political prize would be long, but so far it begins and ends with Ken ‘Who?’ Hughes. Hughes, the Calgary West MLA and grown-up version
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Waiting in ambush for PC leadership candidate Ken Hughes: the ghosts of health care disasters past and present
Back in the day when Alberta Health Services was still full of promise, AHS board chair Ken Hughes, above left, got his instructions from health minister Ron Liepert, right. Mr. Hughes is now a candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party and Mr. Liepert is a candidate for
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Insiders will pretend to be outsiders in the PC leadership race
Tweet Former Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel is not running for the PC Party leadership Former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel announced yesterday that he will not run for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership. Mr. Mandel was seen as a great hope by many Edmonton Tories, who believed him to be the outsider
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Rejection of Gay-Straight Alliances motion shows some Alberta MLAs need a reality check
TweetBe it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the Government to introduce legislation, like Manitoba’s and Ontario’s, requiring all school boards to develop policies to support students who want to lead and establish gay-straight alliance activities and organizations, using any name that is consistent with the promotion of a positive
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Municipal Affairs Minister Ken Hughes quits Alberta cabinet – presumably to run for PC leadership
Half-confirmed Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ken Hughes, on the night in 2011 Alison Redford won the party’s leadership. Well, that was then and this is now, as the appalled looking unidentified passerby sensed to have sensed. Below: Doug Horner. Anyone else? Alberta’s Municipal Affairs Minister quit his cabinet post yesterday,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: PC Party leadership race off to a very slow start
TweetNineteen days have passed since former Premier Alison Redford announced her resignation and not one candidate has officially announced their intentions to enter the race to become the next leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives. But there is at least one unofficial candidate, maybe. Municipal Affairs minister Ken Hughes made the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: PC Party opts for a short and expensive leadership campaign
TweetIn 2006, it was $15,000, in 2011, it was $40,000, and in 2011, the fee to become a candidate in the Progressive Conservative leadership race is $50,000. Senior officials from Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party gathered in Red Deer last night to discuss timelines, entry fees and the rules that will
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Anti-Redford coup fails to materialize at PC MLA meeting
TweetA rumoured coup d’etat within Alberta’s Progressive Conservative caucus failed to materialize yesterday as government MLAs gathered at Government House to discuss Premier Alison Redford‘s future. Cancelling all public appearances and media events for the day, including the premier’s trip to Regina to participate in the New West Partnership meeting,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2014
TweetBecause politics is unpredictable, forecasting the future can be a tricky business for pundits, but here is a list of a dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2014. Manmeet Bhullar (Calgary-Greenway): An up and comer in the PC ranks, Mr. Bhullar was rewarded for his time as the competent Service
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