TweetIt has been a long time since things have looked good for the Alberta Liberals. The provincial party has been teetering on the verge of the political abyss for years but lately the future looks especially bleak. Recent announcements that popular Calgary Liberal MLAs Kent Hehr and Darshan Kang are moving
Continue readingTag: Kent Hehr
daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Parties gear up for federal election 2015 – Alberta nominations update
TweetAside from recent updates about Kent Hehr running in Calgary-Centre and Darshan Kang running in Calgary-Skyview, it has been a while since I have published an update to accompany the list of candidate nominations for the next federal election, expected to be held in 2015. So, without further ado, let me present you
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Source: MLA Kent Hehr to run for Trudeau Liberals in Calgary-Centre
TweetPolitical Calgary is abuzz with rumours that popular MLA Kent Hehr will seek the Liberal nomination in the federal riding of Calgary-Centre. Reliable sources say that Mr. Hehr has gone so far as to request nomination forms to become an official nomination candidate for the federal Liberals. Mr. Hehr would be
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta’s billion dollar failed Carbon Capture “science experiment”
TweetA report from Auditor General Merwan Saher released this week found no evidence that the Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development has properly monitored the performance of the PC Government’s climate change strategy which was first implemented in 2008. The report also uncovered serious problems with the province’s expensive Carbon Capture
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Ric McIver Stumbles…the PC Party Falls
“Closed-mindedness or intolerance have no place in the PC [party].” —The PC party’s response to Ric McIver’s participation in the March for Jesus led by anti-gay pastor Artur Pawlowski. Instead of belabouring Ric McIver’s pathetic too-little, too-late apology for participating in last Sunday’s March for Jesus (led by Pastor Pawlowski
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Can the Alberta NDP win in Calgary?
TweetTo describe it as a long-shot is polite, but two Edmonton MLAs running for the leadership of Alberta’s New Democratic Party say that growing support in Calgary is critical. Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley launched her campaign for her party’s leadership at Niko’s Bistro in Kensington this week. And Edmonton-Calder MLA David Eggen
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: When is the next Alberta election?
Tweet With the governing Progressive Conservatives selecting their new leader in September 2014, there is growing suspicion that Albertans could be going to polls sooner than expected. While Alberta’s next strange “three-month fixed election period” is not until 2016, a loosely written law may allow the next premier to trigger an early election.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tiny Alberta Progressive Parties need to get their act together
TweetWhat do the Alberta Liberals, New Democrats, Alberta Party and Green Party have in common? None of these parties will form government after the next election. As Albertans prepare for another electoral showdown between two conservative parties – the long-governing Progressive Conservatives and the opposition Wildrose Party – many non-conservative voters
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson suffers torments as Allan Hunsperger and the Lake of Fire return to haunt the Wildrose Party
Wildrose strategists illustrate the party’s recent strategy on the Lake of Fire issue. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working … again. The Wildrose Party’s actual senior strategists may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Pastor Allan Hunsperger, Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson, and the Airdrie Tower, thought to be the
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: What Is This? The 1950s???
I have no idea who the parties are behind Airdrie’s Footprints For Learning Academy, but someone needs to give them a shake and educate them about a few things regarding gender and sexuality. Their dress code is something out of the 1950s, with rigid gender roles assumed, and strict rules
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Pension bill delayed as Hancock softens ground for next PC Party leader
TweetIn another move suggesting the spring sitting of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly could end within days, it appears that the passage of the Progressive Conservative Government’s controversial public sector pension law – Bill 9: Public Sector Pension Plans Amendment Act, 2014 – will be delayed until the fall sitting later this year. The opposition filibuster of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Calgary mayor hands Alberta PCs a ‘Get Out of Jail Card’ on public service pensions
Alberta Premier pro tem Dave Hancock, who does not appear exactly as illustrated, of course, pictured on a Get Out of Jail Free card given him today by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. Below: Mr. Nenshi and the real Mr. Hancock. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi handed Alberta Premier pro tempore Dave
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: It’s Time to Drag Redneck Alberta Out of the Closet
If a government wants to trample the rights of its citizens it can do so in two ways. It can violate our fundamental rights by passing legislation that invokes the “notwithstanding clause”—this allows the government to pass laws that expressly violate the fundamental rights guaranteed to us under the Charter
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Motion 503: Calling all Hypocrites and Homophobes
In the same week that the Alberta government debated and rejected Motion 503, Rob Anderson, Wildrose House Leader, made an emotional plea to put an end to name-calling—specifically “Lake of Fire Party” and “homophobe”. It was a bizarre week. Here’s how it rolled out. On Monday, Liberal MLA Kent Hehr
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: Alternate Universe: 2012 effort to merge Alberta NDP and Liberals may have come closer than we thought
A poster we won’t be seeing any time soon! Below: Liberals Kent Hehr and Corey Hogan. An effort to meld the Alberta New Democrats and the province’s Liberals into a single party may have come closer than many of us imagined in 2012, indeed it was “mind bogglingly close” one
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
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Scramble for federal nominations begins in Alberta
TweetIt’s a fight – or at least it could be if two southern Alberta Conservative Members of Parliament seek their party’s nomination in the same riding. Boundary changes in the next federal election will mean that Lethbridge Conservative MP Jim Hillier will find himself living within the boundaries of the new Medicine Hat riding.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The new (and old) faces of municipal elections in Alberta
TweetTomorrow is election day and in counties, municipal districts, villages, towns, and cities across the province, Albertans will cast their votes for mayors, reeves, councillors, aldermen, and school trustees. In Calgary, uber-popular mayor Naheed Nenshi is expected to crush his opponents, including former Progressive Conservative MLA Jon Lord and a
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: News from parties not named PC or Wildrose
TweetWith Alberta’s daily political scene dominated by the loud and partisan voices of the governing Progressive Conservatives and the official opposition Wildrose, it has become easy to miss what is happening in Alberta’s other political parties. Here is a quick look at some news from the other parties represented in the
Continue reading