PHOTOS & ILLUSTRATIONS: Early opponents of the War on Shopping fight back at Christmastime (Photo: Chicago History Museum). Today consumerism is the state religion of both the United States and Canada, helping to put the marks back in the market. Below: Sol Invictus. Any resemblance to the Statue of Liberty
Continue readingTag: Rachel Notley
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 3: Best of Alberta Politics 2017
In the latest episode of The Daveberta Podcast, Ryan and I discuss Kara Levis‘ entry into the Alberta Party leadership race, the results of the Calgary-Lougheed by-election, Conservative MPs being challenged for their nominations, and we reveal the winners of the Best of Alberta Politics 2017 Survey. With more than
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Derek Fildebrandt’s hit-&-run fine is only $402 but the political tariff is likely to be much steeper
PHOTOS: Derek Fildebrandt in a pose evocative of his next legal challenge, hunting without permission on private land. Below: Mr. Fildebrandt famously loading jerry cans full of gasoline in his now-notorious big red pickup truck the night before the NDP’s carbon levy took effect on the first day of 2017.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Get ready for the kinder, gentler Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader pivots toward the rhetorical centre
PHOTOS: Get ready for the new, kinder, gentler Jason Kenney. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley; Mr. Kenney, who is about to be sworn in as the leader of the Opposition, with his strategic mentor and inspiration, Stephen Harper (Photo: Jason Kenney Facebook account). His leadership of Alberta’s conservatives, and his
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Vote in the Best of Alberta Politics 2017 Survey (Round 2!)
In our most recent episode of The Daveberta Podcast, Ryan and I asked you to help us shape our final episode of 2017 by voting in the Best of Alberta Politics 2017 Survey. More than 300 of you responded to the survey last week with your choices for the biggest
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s “Big” Win
Jason Kenney and the media describe Kenney’s win in the Calgary-Lougheed byelection with 71.5% of the votes as a “landslide” and the final tick in the box before Kenney cruises through the 2019 general election and sends Rachel Notley and the NDP packing. Maybe…maybe not. Consider the facts. The candidates
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As expected, UCP Leader Jason Kenney chalks up another convincing win in Calgary-Lougheed by-election
PHOTOS: UCP Leader Jason Kenney celebrates his victory in the Calgary-Lougheed by-election last night (Photo: CBC). Below: NDP candidate Phillip van der Merwe, Liberal leader and candidate David Khan, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, all their photos grabbed for simplicity’s sake from Twitter. Never mind Surrey and Alabama. Jason Kenney
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: NDP should recalibrate their line of attack after Kenney’s crushing landslide in Calgary-Lougheed
Attempts by Jason Kenney’s opponents to paint him as an extremist social conservative failed to stop the United Conservative Party leader from winning a crushing landslide victory today in Calgary-Lougheed. With 22 of 22 polls reporting, Kenney had earned 7,760 votes, 71.51 percent of the total votes cast in the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The politics of harassment-free workplaces – UCP House Leader Jason Nixon walks right into a trap of his own creation
PHOTOS: A steely-eyed Alberta Premier Rachel Notley meets the media in the Alberta Legislature yesterday in this screenshot of a Government of Alberta video. Below: United Conservative Party House Leader Jason Nixon and UCP Leader Jason Kenney, the subjects of her ire. Mr. Kenney faces the voters in a by-election
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Sexual harassment firing is a gloomy cloud over Jason Kenney’s by-election victory parade
Photo: UCP MLA Jason Nixon endorsing Jason Kenney’s bid for the leadership of the United Conservative Party. United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney is expected to slide to an easy victory in Thursday’s by-election in Calgary-Lougheed. But the skies over Kenney’s victory parade will be gloomy thanks to an Edmonton
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Discomfort about UCP Leader Jason Kenney’s relationship with the truth winkles into respectable circles
PHOTOS: Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party and, if things go as expected on Thursday, leader of the Opposition soon thereafter. Below: Alberta commentators Susan Wright, a blogger, and Graham Thomson, one of Postmedia’s political columnists, and U.S. political essayist Frank Rich (Photo: Twitter). There’s a growing discomfort
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Vote in the Best of Alberta Politics 2017 Survey
In our latest episode of The Daveberta Podcast we asked you to help us shape our final episode of 2017, which we will be recording in a few weeks. We want to hear from you about the big political players and issues of 2017 – fill out the survey and we
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Saskatchewan’s War on Licence Plates: Is Brad just mad because he’s been upstaged by a woman, and an NDP woman at that?
PHOTOS: No press releases about Texas plates? Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall didn’t used to have a problem with out-of-province tags on work trucks, at least when they were being used to undermine publicly owned Crown corporations, as this photo posted on social media by Saskatchewan Federation of Labour President Larry
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It was wall-to-wall Brad Wall as premier exits, stage right, before wheels fall off Saskatchewan Party bus
PHOTOS: Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, smiling like old times, says farewell in this video screenshot to an adoring media on his last day in the provincial Legislature in Regina yesterday. Below: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and Alberta Trade Minister Deron Bilous. Political coverage was wall-to-wall Brad Wall yesterday as mainstream
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Calgary-Lougheed by-election update and a chat with NDP candidate Phillip van der Merwe
Photo: Premier Rachel Notley and Calgary-Lougheed NDP candidate Phillip van der Marwe. (Photo from Facebook) I had a chance to chat with New Democratic Party candidate Phillip van der Merwe on the phone this week about the December 14, 2017 by-election in Calgary-Lougheed. The first-time political candidate practices family medicine in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Great Alberto-Saskatchewanian Licence Plate War of 2017: Everything you need to know …
PHOTOS: Tough talk from Alberta Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous, above, was directed at Saskatchewan’s cranky government. Below: Saskatchewan’s lame duck premier, Brad Wall (Photo: Jake Wright, Wikimedia Commons); Alberta United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, who calls Mr. Wall “the real leader of Western Canada”; Saskatchewan Highways
Continue readingAlberta Politics: In Bill 32, NDP’s latest tweaks to Alberta election financing laws, Notley Government takes aim at PACs
PHOTOS: Democratic Renewal (and Labour) Minister Christina Gray. Below: Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan and Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark. The most controversial omission in new Alberta legislation restricting the activities of so-called political action committees released yesterday afternoon by the NDP Government of Premier Rachel Notley will likely be
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP set to introduce legislation to control ‘Political Action Committees’ today in wake of Liberal private member’s bill
PHOTOS: Liberal Leader David Khan, left, and former leader and sole MLA David Swann in front of the Alberta Legislature last week. Below: NDP Labour and Democratic Renewal Minister Christina Gray, Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Glen Resler (Photo: Elections Alberta), Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, and ethics and accountability committee chair
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Finance Minister Joe Ceci’s call for no wage hikes for public-sector unions a risky strategy for New Democrats
PHOTOS: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci at yesterday’s news conference in Edmonton (Photo: Government of Alberta). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, her former chief of Staff, Brian Topp, and former NDP premiers Dave Barrett (Photo: The Tyee), Roy Romanow, and Bob Rae (Photo: Wikimedia Commons). Alberta’s NDP Government can’t say
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Bill 30, Alberta NDP’s workplace safety and Workers Compensation legislation, steps bravely into 21st Century
PHOTOS: Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray, in a shot taken by the author at last summer’s Premier’s Pancake Breakfast on the Legislature grounds. In the background, media camera crews mob Premier Rachel Notley as she flips pancakes on the griddle. Below: UCP leader Jason Kenney and Joe McCarthy, some guy
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