Former Progressive Conservative MLA Mike Allen, a man who’s been the subject of some interesting stories in recent Alberta political history, announced Tuesday he plans to run for mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which in practical terms means mayor of Fort McMurray. Nowadays, the former music store
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daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: How former PC MLAs fared in the 2017 municipal elections
Photo: Former Alberta PC MLAs Jacquie Fenske, Don Scott, Linda Johnson and Art Johnston Former PC MLAs elected in Fort McMurray They served together in the Legislature from 2012 until 2015, and last week former Fort McMurray-Conklin MLA Don Scott was elected Mayor and former Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Mike Allen was
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The game’s afoot! The time is now to demand candidates reveal their donors, not after the Oct. 16 municipal election
PHOTOS: St. Albert’s renowned city hall, designed by Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal, formally known as St. Albert Place. Below: The three candidates for mayor who are now now officially in the race, Cathy Heron, Cam MacKay and Malcolm Parker. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Is it just my imagination, or does the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Can we not go a week without someone threatening to harm the Premier?
“I’ve been beating this drum for 10,11 years. I will continue to beat it, I promise. But it’s against the law to beat Rachel Notley…” – Wildrose leader Brian Jean Speaking at a town hall forum in Fort McMurray, Fort…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Jean’s crack about beating Rachel Notley may have ended his hopes to lead Alberta’s right
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean, haunted by the radicalism of his own rural-dominated party, now looks like he’s stumbled into the same snake pit of anger and misogyny. (Photo from Wildrose.ca.) Below: Premier Rachel Notley, the subject of Mr. J…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If anything, the headlines are getting worse for Jim Prentice and Alberta’s faltering PCs
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Jim Prentice just hasn’t been getting the good headlines a guy in his position would normally be looking for at a time like this. Typical Fort McMurray street scenes from 2013 may not have appeared exactly as illustrated. Below: Actual Tory MLA Mike Allen in his St.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: The Final Countdown: 6 days left until Election Day in Alberta
Staying above the fray of Alberta’s wild 2015 election campaign, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson argued in his annual State of the City Address that which ever political party forms the provincial government after the May 5 election will have to focus… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Some controversy with your candidate nomination update
As the Progressive Conservative Party rushes towards an early election call, party officials are investigating nomination irregularities and allegations of bribery, reports Metro Edmonton. According to Metro, the PC Party is investigating the process that led to the acclamation of… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Monday morning candidate nomination updates in Alberta
The Progressive Conservatives held their first “Super Saturday” on Feb. 21, 2015, during which contested nominations were held in seven constituencies. The handful of contested PC nominations have been overshadowed by the nearly forty acclamations by incumbent PC MLAs across the province…. Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Friday morning provincial candidate nomination updates from Alberta
Alberta MLAs will return to the Legislature for a spring sitting on March 10, 2015, the Progressive Conservative Party plans to have candidates nominated in all 87 constituencies by March 15, 2015 and Finance Minister Robin Campbell is expected to introduce… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Cabinet making in a shallow talent pool: what’s Alberta’s Jim Prentice going to do?
The Alberta Tory talent pool in 2014. Shallow, and not much fun for the guy in charge. Actual Alberta PC leaders may not appear as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Jim Prentice. Main photo grabbed from the Internet. Never mind the transition team. What about the cabinet? It’s not just
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: Fundraising numbers expose PC, Wildrose strengths and weaknesses
TweetThe latest quarterly fundraising disclosures from Alberta’s provincial political parties were released by Elections Alberta this week, and Alberta’s two conservative parties remain the dominant forces in political fundraising. Continuing a trend that has become the norm in Alberta politics, the Wildrose Party has once again raised more money than the long-governing Progressive Conservatives. Wildrose Party raised
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 readingAlberta Diary: Alberta Tory MLA arrested in U.S. prostitution sting? Not a problem, apparently…
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Tory MLA Mike Allen: Excited to be back in the Tory caucus. (Dave Cournoyer photo, used with permission.) Say what you like about the many flaws of former Alberta premier Alison Redford, she never would have let Mike Allen back into the Progressive Conservative caucus, not as
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Tories invite Mike Allen back in, Wildrose show Joe Anglin the door
TweetProgressive Conservative MLAs have voted to extend an invitation to Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Mike Allen to rejoin their caucus. Mr. Allen, a relatively popular first-term politician in his constituency, left the PC caucus after he was arrested while trying to hire two prostitutes in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unfortunately for the Mr. Allen,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Anglin for a fight (and more nomination updates)
Tweet“Alleged death threats, implied bribes, constituency association ambushes and supposed Progressive Conservative Party skulduggery,” is how a Red Deer Advocate report described the unexpectedly interesting Wildrose Party nomination in the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre constituency. First-term MLA Joe Anglin is being challenged for his nomination by former local Wildrose president Jason Nixon. Mr. Anglin
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Electoral math is calculus, not arithmetic, so 15 more Tory defectors won’t necessarily bring down Alison Redford’s shaky government
Alberta Premier Alison Redford and her crack team of Tory political strategists consult the Billion Dollar Brainiac, the Alberta government’s carbon- and vote-capture supercomputer, to figure out how many members must remain in her shrinking caucus for the party to survive a non-confidence motion. Actual crack Alberta political strategists may
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Back to the future with Guy Boutilier: a run to be Fort Mac’s MP looks to be in the cards
Guy Boutilier in his Wildrose caucus office in Edmonton back in 2009. Notice Ralph Klein peering over his shoulder. Below: Other Fort Mac politicians Brian Jean, the Conservative Crossword King, and Mike Allen, a saxophonist, in his St. Paul Police mugshot. Guy Boots, Member of Parliament? Why not? When you
Continue readingAlberta Diary: In four letters, Brian Jean, the Crossword King of Parliament Hill, has Q-U-I-T
How Brian Jean may have started to see himself after whiling away too many hours on Parliament Hill over the decade. Amateur psychologizing by blog authors is unlikely to resemble the actual mental state of real Parliamentarians. Below: The real Mr. Jean, who announced yesterday he is quitting his job
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