The most productive Canadian government in history is arguably that of Lester Pearson’s Liberal regime of 1963-68. Two consecutive minority governments, all that it accomplished depended on the co-operation of other parties. And it accomplished a very great deal. That included the Medical Care Act, establishing universal health care; the
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Alberta Politics: A national pharmacare program at last? Forget about it, says Alberta’s UCP – just give us the cash!
No sooner did the federal Liberal and New Democratic parties say they’d reached a deal on a national pharmacare program at the end of last week than Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government insisted it wanted no part of the plan. Friends of Medicare Director Chris Gallaway (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: MPs reject democratic upgrade
Canada is a very free country, but unfortunately not a very democratic one. Not when our electoral system consistently gives us governments that most of us don’t choose. For example, during the decade of the Harper government, the Conservatives never even managed to get 40 percent of voter support. The
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Time for a walk in the snow?
I believe Justin Trudeau has made quite a decent prime minister, certainly at least a major improvement over his predecessor. The only important disappointment for me was the betrayal of his promise to end the current electoral system. In any case, his star has faded. He is unpopular with the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta medical clinic’s ‘membership’ billing scheme won’t hurt a bid by PM to attack Pierre Poilievre through Danielle Smith
There must have been a moment of pure delight in the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa when the story broke about Dr. Sally Talbot-Jones’s plan to get her patients to pay thousands of dollars a year to become “members” of her Calgary medical practice. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Alberta Newsroom/Flickr).
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Electoral reform—to be or not to be?
Once again our hopes rise. Or do they? At their recent national policy convention the Liberals voted to back a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform. Specifically, the convention resolved that “the Liberal Party of Canada urge the Government of Canada to establish a non-partisan National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Politics and the gender gap
What is the political contest about in this country. Conservatives vs. progressives? Conservatives vs. Liberals? Or men vs. women? A recent survey by the Angus Reid Institute suggests the latter has become increasingly important. While almost half of men of all ages support the Conservatives, women are much more supportive
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Majority government – who would have thought?
I was pleased indeed to read about the agreement between the Liberals and the NDP to create a stable government until 2025. This will be the first time in almost 40 years that we will have a federal government that represents a majority of the voters. One might almost think
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hysterical Conservatives outdo themselves with ‘coalition’ histrionics, but Parliament is operating exactly as it should
Let it be conceded that the Conservative histrionics over yesterday’s confidence and supply agreement between the Liberals and the New Democrats in Parliament has far outdone the “spectacular national Conservative tantrum” predicted in this space. Naturally one would have expected a right-wing Opposition party to argue that any deal between
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: The Dead Candidate’s Report
The Dead Candidate’s Report, a Memoir tells the story of a celebrated journalist who decided she wanted to be a member of Canada’s Parliament only to have her candidacy canceled by her leader without notice, as she was preparing to launch her campaign. In fact, her political obituary was written
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta signs on to federal child care deal its premier once mocked as ‘9-to-5, urban, government and union-run institutional daycare’
Premier Jason Kenney didn’t look all that cheerful at yesterday’s announcement Alberta had finally signed on to participate in the Trudeau Government’s national $10-a-day-child-care program. While the premier fidgeted in the background, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the other federal Liberal politicians at the morning news conference in Edmonton seemed
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 77: Back from the Best Summer Ever
We are back from the summer with the first episode of Season 4 of the Daveberta Podcast and we dive right into Alberta’s response to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, speculation about how long Jason Kenney might last in the Premier’s Office, the federal election, municipal political parties
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s ‘Energy War Room’ appears to be operating in defiance of the Canada Elections Act
Alberta’s “Energy War Room” appears to be continuing to operate in defiance of Canada’s election laws, campaigning against positions clearly identified with a Canadian political party without registering as an election third party. Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart argued recently in a tweet thread that the War Room,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pandemic election an outrage: Alberta Conservatives. Pandemic over, we’re open for good: Also Alberta Conservatives
It’s an outrage, practically a crime against humanity, for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call a federal election in the midst of a global pandemic, Alberta’s Conservatives say. The pandemic is over and thanks to the wise leadership of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, we are open for good, enjoying the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Voting strategically in an election we don’t need
So we are to have an unnecessary election. Didn’t we make our views clear enough in 2019? We didn’t give one of the parties a majority because we didn’t buy into any of their platforms sufficiently. So we elected a minority government. And it seems to be working well enough.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Canada’s progressive tilt—mitigating first-past-the-post
From 2006 to 2015 we endured a decade of Conservative rule even though the Conservatives never won the support of even 40 percent of Canadian voters. Such are the idiosyncrasies of the First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) electoral system. Since 2015 we have been governed by the Liberals, but not with much more
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu waves a red flag in front of her irascible Alberta counterpart, Tyler Shandro
Obviously, federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu didn’t expect to get a serious answer from Tyler Shandro, her Alberta counterpart, when she wrote the irascible minister to warn him the Kenney Government’s “unnecessary and risky gamble” to drop COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and mandatory isolation will put children at risk. In
Continue readingAlberta Politics: PM Justin Trudeau, boyish, beardless and in campaign mode, shows up to bestow $1.5B on Calgary Green Line LRT
Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, boyish and freshly beardless as if a summer election is blowin’ in the wind, showed up in Alberta yesterday to bestow $1.5 billion in federal cash on Calgary’s Green Line LRT, a mega-project unpopular with many of the well-heeled donors who support Premier Jason Kenney’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Something is dragging the federal Conservatives down in Alberta – is it Jason Kenney?
It sure looks as if Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s abysmal performance is not merely threatening the survival of his United Conservative Party Government, but is dragging down the federal Conservatives in Alberta as well. Alberta’s Conservatives are too strong and too entrenched even for Premier Kenney to destroy them completely.
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 75: Amarjeet Sohi is running for Mayor of Edmonton
Amarjeet Sohi joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about why he is running to become the next Mayor of Edmonton and discuss his experiences moving to Canada as a young man, being elected as a City Councillor, serving in Ottawa as a Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, and his
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