PHOTOS: Derek Fildebrandt, the Alberta Wildrose Party’s finance critic and, possibly, third unofficial candidate to enter the non-race to lead the still-nonexistent United Conservative Party. Below: Maxime Bernier (Photo: CBC), who is apparently Mr. Fildebrandt’s ideological hero, and British Columbia NDP Leader John Horgan, who seems very close to grasping
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Alberta Politics: ‘Foreign influence’ had nothing to do with Tory Joan Crockatt’s Calgary Centre election defeat in 2015
PHOTOS: Joan Crockatt, during her brief spell as Conservative Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre. Below: Liberal Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, who beat Ms. Crockatt in 2015; environmentalist Chris Turner who ran against her for the Greens in 2012 and did very well; and environmentalist Harvey Locke, who ran
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What you should worry about when you worry about President Trump – hint: not where Ivanka sits!
PHOTOS: The controversial photo of Mr. Donald, Ivanka Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto … Wait! That’s Joe Trudeau! Below: U.S. Presidents whose “First Ladies” weren’t necessarily their wives, for one reason or another … Thomas Jefferson, who predated the whole First Lady phenomenon; Martin van Buren, a widower; Grover Cleveland,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why Canadians are lucky Rona Ambrose was hanging around the Caribbean with a billionaire
PHOTOS: The scene abroad N. Murray Edwards’ yacht imagined. Actual Canadian bitumen billionaires and their onboard guests may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real N. Murray Edwards, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aboard a helicopter, although not the Aga Khan’s, Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose in a yacht harbor, and
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: Schiaparelli lander missing; ground control still in contact with Postmedia; prognosis grim for both
PHOTOS: An artist’s impression of the Schiaparelli Mars Lander descending gently toward the Martian surface. Schiaparelli’s actual Mars landings may not have unfolded exactly as illustrated by the European Space Agency. Below: The evocative cover of today’s National Post. About 178 million kilometres from us yesterday, give or take, Europe’s
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: National Post Letter
You will find a letter of mine in today’s National Post enumerating the many benefits of proportional representation. In order to read it, please click here and scroll down to the second last entry (or see the last entry in … Continue reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There’s nothing ‘independent’ or ‘blue-ribbon’ about the Wildrose Party’s ‘Equalization Fairness Panel’
PHOTOS: How the Frontier Centre views Canada’s Equalization Program. Oh! Wait! That’s a 19th Century temperance poster. Same difference, basically. Below: The Wildrose Party’s four Frontier-Centre-associated “equalization fairness” panelists:…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s not just the #kudatah – it’s the feeling Alberta’s conservatives are all boarding the Crazy Train
PHOTOS: George Clark, Alberta’s answer to Joan of Arc. (Screen grab from Youtube.com.) Below: Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean, who with his MLAs is tacitly supporting Mr. Clark’s efforts; the origin of the #kudatah meme; Preston Manning, a conserv…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- Bryce Edwards comments on the politics of inequality in New Zealand, while noting that there’s a huge gap between talk and action:Could the political left benefit from more focus on economics and inequality?…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Succession planning: what do we do when the great Canadian newspapers die off?
PHOTOS: Never mind the world. Who will save Canadian democracy now? With apologies to Superman. Below: Joseph Howe in his prime, and with his ottoman; the author, holding forth while explaining something about the Edmonton Journal; Journal columnist Paula Simons. Yesterday’s claim by Frank Magazine that Postmedia Network Canada Ltd.
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Rafe: Canada’s biggest newspaper chain sold its soul to oil and gas
Yes Rafe, I agree wholeheartedly. One step forward , another back. We heaved Steve, elected Justin Trudeau and stopped the bleeding on a number of fronts. However our MSM media has never been as poor, Read more…
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Is the National Post Trying to Muzzle Andrew Coyne?
I rarely agree with anything Andrew Coyne says or writes. I don't share his missionary faith in an economic system that I believe has been corrupted to its core by the rich and the powerful.There couldn't be a better example of that corruption, than the way the big MSM organizations like
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Margaret Atwood column pulled, re-posted on National Post website
One of the advantages of the second longest campaign in Canadian history is that there is more time for voters and pundits to observe and comment on the various leaders, parties and issues. What Harper Read more…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: That Conservative foreign policy election plank: shaky, incoherent and quite possibly dangerous
PHOTOS: A screen grab from the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s notorious electioneering video showing the himself and Defence Minister Jason Kenney in Iraqi Kurdistan, with the face of a Canadian special forces soldier blocked out by the CBC – unlike the version that appeared on the PMO’s website. Note the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: This just in: Prime minister calls early election … I mean, calls an election early … What could possibly go wrong?
PHOTOS: The prime minister of Canada in a Navy hat. The new kind. Yeah! A macho Navy cap! Now where’s Tommy Flanagan, now that we need him again? No, not that Tommy Flanagan! The political strategy guy. Below: Former prime minister Joe Clark, former Alberta premier Jim Prentice and current
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta shows why there will be no NDP-Liberal entente, Nathan Cullen’s mistimed musing notwithstanding
PHOTOS: Loose-lipped New Democrat Nathan Cullen – whatever was he thinking? Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, former Alberta Liberal leader Raj Sherman, federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP strategist Ian Capstick. Whatever Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen was thinking when he flapped his lips to the delight of the
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: RAFE: Blatant Media Bias -Vancouver Province Partners With Woodfibre LNG
Rafe Mair As you know, the Vancouver Province is an official partner of Resort Works, who are essentially the public relations arm of Woodfibre LNG. That means, of course, that the Vancouver Sun and Read more…
Continue readingLeft Over: The Donald Bleats , Harper/Walker Meet..And Other Rightwing Treats…
Stephen Harper met with controversial Wisconsin governor Scott Walker last month and didn’t tell anyone Glen McGregor, Postmedia News | July 9, 2015 | Last Updated: Jul 9 3:42 PM ET More from Postmedia News Donald Trump, Stephen Harper, and the Bigots That Flock Together http://montrealsimon.blogspot.ca/2015/07/donald-trump-stephen-harper-and-bigots.html No one in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Worth considering
Shorter National Post: Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP are keeping their campaign promises. For some reason, we think this should be a warning rather than a beacon of hope for the rest of Canada.
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