The Royal Canadian Mounted Police may be no paragon of liberalism and progressive enforcement, but they’re apparently too liberal and progressive for the members of the so-called Fair Deal Panel that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney appointed to trot out his quasi-separatist hobbyhorses. Mr. Kenney’s supposedly cash-poor government announced yesterday it
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Alberta Politics: A Family Day toast to Don Getty, whose record is underwhelming, but whose best-known achievement was one for the ages
The winters around here are long. Even with social media Canadians need a February holiday. Come to think of it, given what the Internet has turned into in the few years since it arrived on the scene with such promise, we need a February long weekend even more than we
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Feeling blue? Don’t worry, Jason Kenney’s got a ‘blue ribbon panel’ sharpening its razors for you!
Brace yourselves, people. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced his “Blue Ribbon” panel to do a “deep dive” into the province’s books and figure out how to get them into the black in less than three years, eliminate debt, and do it all without raising taxes or introducing a sales
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley drops hint about affordable child-care plan, mocks recent UCP bozo eruptions
It sure sounds as if Alberta Premier Rachel Notley will announce an affordable child-care plan for Alberta today. At any rate, at a rally in downtown Edmonton’s Polish Hall yesterday afternoon, she boldly told more than 1,000 enthusiastic supporters – who sounded like an Oilers crowd back in the days
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A holiday toast to Don Getty, the father of Family Day, even if it was pretty much the only thing he achieved in office
Lord knows, Canadians need a February holiday! So thank God for small favours and, come to that, for Don Getty! As favours go, Mr. Getty, 11th premier of Alberta, was a pretty small one. Just the same, this was one for the ages! So, 30 years ago today, with an
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Who might and might not be invited to the Leaders’ Debate in Alberta’s 2019 election?
Photo: Alberta political party leaders – Rachel Notley, Jason Kenney, Stephen Mandel, David Khan, and Derek Fildebrandt. We are now somewhere between seven and ten months away from the next provincial general election in Alberta. For the past seven provincial elections, leaders of the main political parties have participated in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Son of Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen running for UCP nomination in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake by-election
Photo: Jason Kenney (centre) and Devin Dreeshen (right). (Photo source: Twitter) Facing charges of sexual assault and sexual interference, United Conservative Party MLA Don MacIntyre resigned from his party’s caucus on Feb. 2 and then from the Legislative Assembly on Feb. 5. A by-election in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake will be called
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Will the Alberta Together takeover turn the Alberta Party into PC 2.0?
Photo: Alberta Party leader Greg Clark on the campaign trail in Calgary-Elbow in 2014. Source: Twitter. In the latest shakeup in Alberta politics, Greg Clark announced last Friday that he would resign as leader of the Alberta Party at the party’s upcoming annual general meeting on November 18, 2017. Clark
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Len Bracko, 74, was St. Albert MLA, city councillor, schoolteacher and respected community builder
PHOTOS: Len Bracko in his days as a St. Albert councillor at the site of the city’s wetland park on the east shore of Big Lake. Below: Mr. Bracko helping to build homes for people in need abroad, and being congratulated for his victory in the 1993 provincial election by
Continue readingAlberta Politics: David Khan elected to lead Alberta Liberals 100 years less a day after party’s last election victory
PHOTOS: New Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan, at left, in a hopelessly self-referential photo with your blogger. (Photo: Dave Cournoyer.) Below: Liberal leadership candidate Kerry Cundal, leadership dropout Nolan Crouse and would-be centre uniter Stephen Mandel. CALGARY Members of the Alberta Liberal Party elected David Khan to what has to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s hard to imagine the Alberta Liberal Party surviving the existential crisis of its past few days
PHOTOS: Is this the new face of the Alberta Liberal Party? Would-be candidate Jacob Huffman, photo grabbed from his Facebook account. Below: Candidates David Khan and Kerry Cundal, plus non-candidate Nolan Crouse. About the kindest thing you can say about the Alberta Liberal Party right now is that it’s facing
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Repost: The Great Family Day Debate of 1989
[This post was originally published on Feb. 16, 2010] The annual Family Day long-weekend is something that many Albertans look forward to. The many Albertans who take for granted the holiday on the third Monday of February may be surprised to know that the idea of creating Family Day was incredibly controversial when it
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta’s odd tradition of naming electoral districts after former politicians
Become famous in Alberta politics and one day you could have a provincial electoral district named in your honour. It has become a custom in recent decades in Alberta for electoral districts to be named after former politicians. As far… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Myth of the Alberta Advantage
August 31, 1993 marked the first time the words “Alberta Advantage” were uttered on the floor of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly. “Unlike some others, my government will not try to buy prosperity through higher taxes. Instead, it will build on A…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don Getty, premier who battled economic downturn much like today’s, among the last of Alberta’s Red Tory leaders
PHOTOS: Don Getty and Peter Lougheed, going places politically back in the day. Below: Mr. Getty again, and Mr. Lougheed , as professional football players with the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1950s, the former in an Eskimos photo, the latter in a shot sna…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Doff hats to Don Getty, father of Family Day – too bad about that August holiday
PHOTOS: Don Getty, premier, celebrating the first Family Day in 1990. No! wait! That’s Don Getty, quarterback, celebrating the Edmonton Eskimos’ Grey Cup victory in 1956. Same guy, though. Who says actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: June 15 marks the end of the NDP’s trek through Alberta’s political wilderness
On June 15, 2015, Alberta’s new government will present its first Speech from the Throne. Read by new Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell, the speech will represent the first official major statement made by Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP government since its stunning… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Alberta’s Great Family Day Debate of 1989
[This post was originally published on Feb. 16, 2010] The annual Family Day long-weekend is something that many Albertans look forward to. The many Albertans who take the holiday on the third Monday of February for granted may be surprised to know… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Are the wheels falling off the Wildrose bus?
TweetA short few months ago, it almost felt inevitable that the Wildrose Party would sweep into a majority government at the next election. They were up in the polls and the long-time governing Progressive Conservatives looked corrupt, broken and battered. But over the past few weeks, it appears the Official Opposition
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Prentice tells Albertans to strap on their seat belts
Tweet“After two weeks with me as the premier, there will be no doubts in anyone’s minds that this a time of renewal and a time of change. Put your seat belts on.” – Jim Prentice speaking with Roger Kingkade and Rob Breakenridge on September 9, 2014 on News Talk 770.
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