PHOTOS: Federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, a hard-working and talented former Edmonton Transit bus driver. Below: Alberta Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason, a hard-working and talented former Edmonton Transit bus driver. Mr. Sohi, a Liberal, and Mr. Mason, a New Democrat, are both used to cheap conservative shots about their former
Continue readingTag: Liberal Party of Canada
Views from the Beltline: Trudeau’s big lie
I am reluctant to refer to my prime minister as a liar, particularly when I generally hold him in high regard, but when the lie reaches a certain magnitude, one’s hand is forced. And this was a very big one—a whopper. The promise was unequivocal. The Liberal election platform of
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Trudeau’s big lie
I am reluctant to refer to my prime minister as a liar, particularly when I generally hold him in high regard, but when the lie reaches a certain magnitude, one’s hand is forced. And this was a very big one—a whopper. The promise was unequivocal. The Liberal election platform of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: This feels like it’s happened before … it’s Groundhog Day and the Liberals have just broken a promise!
PHOTOS: Can you not quite shake the feeling, like the Canadian voter at left, things keep happening over and over again? Actual Canadian voters may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and NDP Democratic Reform Critic Nathan
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canadian newspaper industry advances on Ottawa, hands out, awash in red ink and democratic platitudes
PHOTOS: Stop the presses! … I mean the losses! Put me through to the red ink department … I mean the tax department … Actual Canadian newspaper owners may not be as committed to jobs as the sign on the press suggests. Below: Edward Greenspon of the Public Policy Forum
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Oilsands phase-out freak-out explained: Conservatives see the road back to Ottawa going through Edmonton
PHOTOS: G7 leaders including Canada’s then prime minister, Stephen Harper, wander down the garden path in Schloss Elmau, Germany, in June 2015. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta Federation of Labour leader Gil McGowan, Opposition Leader Brian Jean and would-be Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney. OTTAWA “Funny,” Alberta Federation of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Jason Syndrome: Conservative candidate melts down about Hollywood star turn in bid to derail NDP strategy that’s working
PHOTOS: Conservative carbon-tax foe Jason Kenney in a screen shot taken from his recent Facebook video. Actual best experiences may not result as promised from turning on the sound. Below: Hollywood actress Jane Fonda aboard a helicopter somewhere over Fort McMurray. Just what is the pilot pointing at? Below her:
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s carbon tax: Science is political when it doesn’t suit Wildrose agenda; politics is scientific when it does
PHOTOS: Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips at yesterday’s Edmonton press conference on the imposition Jan. 1 of the NDP Government’s carbon tax. Below: Wildrose Electricity and Renewables Critic Don MacIntyre. Both are CBC photos. Alberta has had a carbon tax for two days now and as Environment Minister Shannon Phillips
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney – just visiting Alberta? – piously congratulates Michael Ignatieff for Order of Canada
PHOTOS: A screen shot from the Conservative Party of Canada’s vile “Just Visiting” ads, which were designed to undermine then Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in the spring of 2009. They worked. Below: Dr. Ignatieff, who on Friday was awarded an Order of Canada, and Jason Kenney, candidate for the leadership
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: #RealChange wearing thin: A look back at Trudeau’s first year
We’re one year into Justin Trudeau’s government of #RealChange, yet it’s mostly the rhetoric not the policies that have changed. Some of the shine is finally wearing off. Whether approving pipelines, settting electoral reform up to fail or privatizing airports and transit, the Liberals are showing themselves to be the good
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is veteran Tory’s bid to run as Liberal in by-election to replace ex-PM a sign of sagging Conservative fortunes nationally?
PHOTOS: Veteran Conservative Lee Richardson with Alberta premier Alison Redford, who he served as principal secretary. Below: Prime minister John Diefenbaker, who Mr. Richardson served as executive assistant, and Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, for whom he was chief of staff. Understanding history requires a long view, and the picture that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former B.C. NDP premier’s pro-pipeline sentiments boost Rachel Notley’s ‘social license’ strategy
PHOTOS: One of the few photos your blogger could find of Dan Miller (found on the Internet, original source unknown). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and B.C. Premier Christy Clark (from the Canadian Encyclopedia). There’s more evidence out of British Columbia this week that Rachel
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Pipeline File: NDP’s ‘social license’ approach worked where Conservative shouting failed, it’s that simple
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kananaskis, Alberta, in April 2016 (photo by Chris Schwarz, Government of Alberta). Below: Anti-pipeline demonstrators in British Columbia (Rabble photo by Alyse Kotyk). They may not find it reassuring that Alberta conservatives are praying for their success. Without
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Smoke-Free Alberta asks: Why hasn’t all of the Smoking Reduction Act been enacted?
PHOTOS: Water pipes and flavoured tobacco … Why has Alberta legislation outlawing them not been enacted? There are no secret political messages in this picture, by the way. Below: Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, NDP MLA Sandra Jansen, and Edmonton Journal Editor Mark Iype. A letter Monday from the Campaign
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Location of immigration office in Vegreville steeped in Mulroney Era pork barrel politics, and never made sense
PHOTOS: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s soon-to-be-moved national case-processing centre in Vegreville, Alberta. Below: Mulroney Era deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski, the man who pushed for the centre to be located in his riding; Vegreville’s famed giant Ukrainian egg; and Vegreville Mayor Myron Hayduk. News Ottawa is at long last
Continue readingAlberta Politics: This shouldn’t be a surprise: Trudeaumania 2.0 fails to deliver in Medicine Hat
PHOTOS: Trudeaumania 1.0, the real thing, in 1968. Below: Trudeaumania 2.0, not nearly as effective, in Medicine Hat, Alberta, on Oct. 13, 2016. Below: Conservative by-election winner Glen Motz, Rudyard Kipling, poet of empire and saviour of the Hat part of the Hat, and unsuccessful Liberal challenger Stan Sakamoto. Well,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Pigs will fly before the fantasy that Ottawa’s carbon tax ‘invades provincial jurisdiction’ will ever persuade a court
PHOTOS: Who says Jason Kenney is full of baloney? These guys do! And they’re the Fathers of Confederation! Below: PC leadership candidate Mr. Kenney; federal Liberal Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, MP for Calgary Centre; and Brian Jean, leader of the Wildrose Opposition in the Alberta Legislature (Wildrose.ca photo). Ottawa’s
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Prime Minister Announces Official Name Change to “Justin Harper”
PMO announces official name change to "Justin Harper" https://t.co/tX1J18Ffdb #cdnpoli #Stand4Medicare #HealthAccord #JustinHarper — Politics, Re-Spun (@PoliticsReSpun) October 6, 2016 It just used to be that perpetuating Harper’s social, environmental, economic and political policies made me think that Justin Trudeau is merely #TheNewHarper. But we’re way past that, as we
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A compelling counter-narrative: Are Justin Trudeau and Rachel Notley singing from the same hymn book?
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Chris Schwarz, Premier of Alberta/Flickr). Below: Brad Wall, Saskatchewan’s cranky premier; a tease from the Calgary Herald’s web page that maybe, just maybe, swings and misses; SAIT journalism instructor and former Calgary Herald reporter Jim Cunningham. CALGARY Was Prime
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP appoints former Liberal strategist Corey Hogan to head Alberta Public Affairs Bureau
PHOTOS: Corey Hogan, centre, in a screen shot from The Strategists political commentary show on CBC Calgary. On the left is Stephen Carter and on the right is Zain Velji. Below: Recent Public Affairs Bureau leaders Mr. Hogan again, Mark Wells and Martin Kennedy. I’m not sure why the Notley
Continue reading