PHOTOS: Nick Koolsbergen, new chief of staff to United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney. (Photo: Lorian Belanger/Radio-Canada.) Below: UCP Deputy Chief of Staff Matt Wolf (Photo: Linkedin), UCP communications staffer Blaise Boehmer (Photo: Twitter), and Jamie Mozeson, former candidate to succeed Rona Ambrose as MP for Sturgeon River-Parkland (Photo: Jamie
Continue readingTag: Official Opposition
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: A Timeline of Derek Fildebrandt’s “suspension” from Wildrose
The Wildrose Party was not one big happy family this week. Albertans might be confused about what exactly happened between Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean and Finance critic Derek Fildebrandt. It might be one of the most bizarre political stories o…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Disturbing echoes of ‘Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments’ heard in Alberta #kudatah talk
PHOTOS: Edmonton’s courthouse, home of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, not long after it was built. Below: Associate Chief Justice John Rooke of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Anti-NDP petitioners tacitl…
Continue readingLeft Over: To The Left, To The Left…Second-Guessing The Youth Vote
Free to dream, I’d be left of Jeremy Corbyn. But we can’t gamble the future on him Here is a comment I made re an opinion piece in the Guardian by Polly Toynbee… This is an oddly similar discussion to one happening in Canada today..but we are just
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: The angst of a progressive.
Over the last week we have seen someone who had tried pull in progressives into a very un-progressive party be raked over the coals. For issues of arrogance and otherwise, Alison Redford has been the target of much acrimony, anger, and angst. This angst has been by both her party and
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Budget 2013: Petty Politics in the PCs
The Conservatives, in a grand act of pettiness, have punted the Canadian Taxpayers Federation from the budget lockup on the 7th. It is likely in response to the organization holding the government’s feet to the fire. The budget lockup is a long tradition of the province that invites politicians from the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Aagh, Harper Conservatives Nuked Democratic NDP Motion On Role Of PBO
By Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 14, 2013: Showing their burgeoning disdain for accountability, transparency, financial oversight and the independence of federal watchdogs, the Harper Conservatives earlier this week nuked a progressive NDP motion on the role of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO). The motion, tabled by the Official Opposition’s Finance critic, Peggy
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: With new NDP shadow cabinet, Mulcair plots Harper’s 2015 defeat
Last week’s 24-hour House of Commons vote on Stephen Harper‘s draconian budget Bill C-38, the “Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act”, ended in a dramatic fashion. The New Democratic Party (NDP), the Official Opposition, concluded the vote with a spontaneous: Deux mille quinze! Deux mille quinze! Deux mille quinze! chant. That’s French
Continue readingThe Leadership Narrative
Way back when, a few months after the last federal election, I replied to the Susan Delacourt’s “Is the Liberal Party dead?” question, echoed ad nauseum in the nation’s press, with a warning to be wary of forcing Canadian politics to fit a certain narrative. That narrative presupposes the inevitability
Continue reading