Progressive Conservative MLAs sitting on the Standing Committee for Legislative Offices voted last week to deny a request from Child and Youth Advocate Del Graff to reinstate more than $200,000 in funding cut in Dec. 2014. At the same committee meeting,… Continue Reading →
Continue readingTag: Merwan Saher
daveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Top 10 moments in Alberta Politics in 2014
TweetIn my nearly ten years writing about politics in Alberta on this blog, 2014 was easily the most exciting. The sheer number of scandals, controversies, fumbles and resignations made for new content on a daily basis. If I had the time and resources, I could have easily written three or four posts
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta politics this week: Health Ministers, By-Elections and Troubled Waters Ahead
TweetBANFF – Stepping onto the national stage for the first time since he was appointed as Alberta’s Minister of Health, Stephen Mandel met with his provincial and federal counterparts this week in Banff for the annual Health Ministers meeting. Mr. Mandel co-chaired the meeting, a role his predecessor, Fred Horne, had planned to
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Just as things were looking up a bit for foundering PCs, Alison Redford showed up again
Alison Redford contemplates which way to turn as she leaves behind a trail of devastation, toward the capital city’s new Sky Palace Hotel, left, or toward Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, right. Actual former premiers and the landmarks they threaten may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Ms. Redford;
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: PC Party: Oh Albertans, give us one more chance (we want you back)
TweetIn 1971, The Jackson 5 were topping the billboard charts and Peter Lougheed‘s Progressive Conservatives were just starting what has become an uninterrupted 43-year reign as Alberta’s governing party. Recent messaging from the PC Party have certainly drawn inspiration from the band’s famous song – I Want You Back – as the PC Party
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Tory Airplane Scandal–Excuses, Excuses
“I am optimistic that your review will assist in securing Albertans’ continued confidence in their government and trust in their elected officials.”—Premier Redford’s letter to the Auditor General requesting a review of her compliance with the Travel and Expense policy, Mar 4, 2014 Ms Redford Ms Redford’s optimism quickly turned
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alison’s Albertan airplanes and architecture: Who knew? No one, it turns out!
A search for a member of Alison Redford’s cabinet or caucus who knew what was going on in the premier’s office might look something like this. Nothing like this is necessary in Alberta, though, because no one knew anything. It’s hardly necessary to say that real Alberta Tories may not
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #pcldr Flashback: Alison Redford 2011: Why I want to be Premier of Alberta
TweetWith today’s release of Auditor General Merwan Saher‘s report on Alison Redford‘s travel habits, and as Premier Dave Hancock, leadership frontrunner Jim Prentice and Progressive Conservative MLAs desperately try to distance themselves from their former leader, it is important that we look back to a more optimistic time. During the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alison Redford resigns as MLA for Calgary-Elbow
TweetOne-hundred and thirty-six days after Alison Redford was forced to resign as Premier of Alberta, she has announced that she will resign as the MLA for Calgary-Elbow. Through an opinion-editorial published in the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, the former premier defended her record as premier and refused to apologize
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Rogue Politics and Politicians
Is Alison Redford a rogue politician or does she belong to a rogue party? A rogue is a dishonest or unprincipled man (or woman), a scoundrel, villain, miscreant, reprobate, good-for-nothing, ne’re-do-well, wretch, louse, crook. The word “rogue” entered the lexicon of Alberta politics after Auditor General Merwan Saher reviewed Alison
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Never mind Alison Redford: Finance Minister Doug Horner, unfortunately, needs to resign
Ed Stelmach, Alison Redford and Doug Horner together on the stage on the night of Ms. Redford’s election as PC Party leader in October 2011. Below: Mr. Horner, Ms. Redford and Mr. Stelmach. If the Parliamentary convention called ministerial responsibility still has meaning in Alberta or Canada, Finance Minister Doug
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Flights of folly: Air Redford’s airborne ghost riders will be the death of Alberta’s Tories
De Plane! De Plane! Tattoo calls out from the tower to announce the arrival of the premier’s plane at Calgary International Airport. Actual members of former Premier Alison Redford’s staff may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Ms. Redford; Alberta Auditor General Merwan Saher. Those ghost riders on Alison Redford’s
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Climate Change Strategy Goes Up in Smoke
Alberta’s Auditor General blew a gasket. He called the government’s performance on climate change strategy “troubling” and “disturbing”. Hey, he’s a mild mannered accountant; this is as in-your-face as he gets. Our feisty Auditor General Mr Saher kicked off the July 2014 audit report with a lesson on the role
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 readingAlberta Diary: Wild Rose Country no more? What are we gonna call this place if the Alberta Party starts soaring in the polls?
Alberta Minister of Licence Plates Doug Griffiths poses with some of the versions of Alberta’s plates considered by provincial officials before they settled on the three finalists unveiled yesterday. Below: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Mike Allen, centre, examines a licence-plate-making facility on a recent government trip to Minnesota. Below that:
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Airplane scandal takes off as Tory support, fundraising effort nose dives
TweetYesterday’s Speech from the Throne was old news as scandal erupted today over Premier Alison Redford’s alleged inappropriate use of government-owned airplanes. After facing criticism over her $45,000 trip to South Africa and a $9,200 trip from Palm Springs, Ms. Redford struggled to control the story today by announcing plans
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Fresh meat and Alberta politics
TweetFresh meat Last week, he was publicly criticizing Premier Alison Redford for her over-priced $45,000 trip to South Africa (see below) and faced a threat of expulsion from the Progressive Conservative caucus. This week, coincidentally, Edmonton-Riverview PC MLA Steve Young faces a new set of revelations dating back to his time as
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Auditor General’s Report: Alberta’s “Enron” Moment
God bless Merwan Saher, Alberta’s Auditor General! He grabbed the government by the scruff of the neck and gave it a shake for dragging us into the abyss of “Enron” accounting. Sadly, the government refuses to budge and opaque financial reporting will continue. Merwan Saher has been a government auditor
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta MLAs return to Edmonton next week for the first real sitting of 2012.
TweetThe fall sitting of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly begins on October 23 and indications suggest that it will be a different than recent sittings. Aside from the brief sitting held in the spring with the almost sole purpose of ejecting retired MLA Ken Kowalski from his long-held spot in Speaker’s Chair,
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