A report by three high-profile academics with expertise in public opinion research who were commissioned to look into polling failures that marred the 2017 Calgary municipal election campaign sharply criticizes the role of the city’s media in covering and sponsoring the polls. Christopher Adams of the University of Manitoba, Paul
Continue readingTag: Rachel Notley
Alberta Politics: The Grande Prairie Hospital saga: PC political motives, terrible planning, and past ministerial meddling haunt project
The battle between Alberta government officials and a Calgary construction company over long delays building a new hospital in Grande Prairie that boiled over this week is more than a mere political he-said/she-said story. There’s a backstory that started the late days of Alberta’s 44-year Tory Dynasty – partly acknowledged
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The poll puts Jason Kenney’s UCP in slam-dunk range over NDP; the pollster has a bit of a history
Yesterday, United Conservative Party MLAs were Tweeting around a graphic from a new poll that showed their party with a wide lead over the New Democratic Party in all regions of Alberta, including the Edmonton area, which lately has been seen as an NDP stronghold. Mysteriously, the UCPers didn’t include
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Evening Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Joel Achenbach and Angela Fritz discuss how climate change is amplifying all kinds of extreme weather (with severe heat as only the most obvious example). And Umair Irfan examines some of the dangerous economic and social side effects of unprecedented heat waves. –
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: When it comes to Sandra Jansen, it’s a grudge match for the UCP
It was supposed to be an event highlighting an effort to recruit more conservative women into politics in Alberta, but it was overshadowed by the news that former Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to personally campaign against New Democratic Party MLA Sandra Jansen in the next provincial election. Laureen Harper
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 16: Derek Fildebrandt introduces the Derek Fildebrandt Party
In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, Dave Cournoyer and Ryan Hastman discuss whether Derek Fildebrandt‘s Freedom Conservative Party will be relevant in the next election, Rachel Notley‘s role at the recent Council of the Federation meeting in New Brunswick, the decision by Greyhound to withdraw from western Canada, and Edmonton-Mill Woods MP Amarjeet Sohi‘s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On public interests
Plenty of others have pointed out the most direct lie in Jason Kenney’s attempt to blame Alberta’s NDP for the decisions of an Ontario court dealing with Carillion’s Canadian bankruptcy. But it’s worth taking a look at the much more fundamental lie at the core of Kenney’s complaint. As mentioned
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Fildebrandt Agonistes: Hell hath no fury like a ‘Liberty Conservative’ scorned
Hell hath no fury like a “Liberty Conservative” scorned! Derek Fildebrandt, the former Wildrose Party and United Conservative Party finance critic scorned by UCP Leader Jason Kenney after a series of unfortunate events turned him into him the Lemony Snicket of the Alberta conservative movement, has joined the Freedom Conservative
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Girls Just Want to Have Fun…at the Calgary Stampede
“When the working day is done. Oh girls, they wanna have fun.”—Cyndi Lauper After a rough few weeks Ms Soapbox and her family dug out their cowboy hats, found some denim shirts and went stampeding. Ms Soapbox decided to retrace the steps of the all-time Stampede champion, Premier Rachel Notley,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: By-elections conveniently over, United Conservative Party pushes out MLA accused of ballot stuffing at nomination meeting
With many Albertans apparently in a mood to take Jason Kenney’s claim at face value his year-old United Conservative Party is renewed, reformed and ready to govern, you can’t be too careful about evidence that the same-old-same-old Tory entitlement continues to lurk on the Opposition benches of the Legislature. Not
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Three candidates drop out of Peace River UCP race, showdown in Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock, and a Sweet nomination in Edmonton-Manning
The number of candidates in the United Conservative Party nomination contest in the sprawling northwest district of Peace River has dropped from five to two. Lisa Wardley, deputy reeve of Mackenzie County, and Dan Williams, who worked as a political staffer for Jason Kenney, are the two remaining candidates in the contest after
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP by-elections wins in central and northern Alberta are no surprise, but offer little cause for optimism to NDP
It’s Friday the 13th, and after two by-elections yesterday in central and northern Alberta, supporters of the province’s NDP government are awaking to a new reality that’s pretty much the same as the old reality. That is, rural Central Alberta is deeply Conservative country pretty well no matter what, and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 15: Politicians pretending to be Cowboys. It’s Stampede Week in Calgary!
It is Calgary Stampede season, which means politicians from across Canada are flocking to Alberta’s largest city to show off their recently purchased plaid shirts and cowboy hats. In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, Dave Cournoyer and Ryan Hastman discuss politicians pretending to be cowboys, the latest federal and provincial nomination news, including
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Remember when those confident British voters chose ‘hope over fear’ with Brexit? What Would Jason Tweet now?
While much of the world looked on in dismay as the results of the Brexit votes rolled in two years ago last month, Jason Kenney Tweeted his congratulations to the people of Britain for “choosing hope over fear by embracing a confident, sovereign future, open to the world.” How’s that
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Overheard at Rachel’s Cocktail Party
It was packed, absolutely packed, at Rachel Notley’s cocktail party at Hotel Arts in Calgary last Wednesday. The event was billed as an evening of cocktails and conversation with Rachel Notley and her caucus. Tickets were available with a minimum $250 donation and the place was jammed. Ms Notley gave
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP rural crime proposal sure sounds like a call to bring deadly U.S.-style ‘stand-your-ground’ laws to Canada
I’m sure the United Conservative Party will say I’m wrong, so can somebody please explain to me how the UCP’s rural crime “task force” proposal to let rural property owners defend themselves and their property with firearms is not the same as the stand-your-ground” laws in the United States that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Mason, who kept NDP flame alight in Alberta’s Legislature for a decade, to take his leave from politics
Brian Mason, who as party leader kept the NDP flame burning brightly in the Alberta Legislature from 2004 to 2014 even when the caucus was small enough to truly meet in a phone booth, announced yesterday he is about to pull the plug on a 29-year political career that has
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No need to make this stuff up: Celebrate Canada Day 2018 by driving the secret highways of Alberta!
Happy Canada Day! Why not celebrate by driving on Alberta’s secret highways? Frankly, I don’t know how the Beaverton stays in business with the brutal competition they’re facing nowadays from Wild Rose Country. There’s an expression we’ve all heard: “You can’t make this stuff up!” In Alberta, you don’t need
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 14: Alberta Equalization, NDP Attack Ads, and Social Media Advice for Candidates
What does the renewal of the national Equalization formula mean for Alberta? What should Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney be doing this summer? What do we think about the New Democratic Party’s latest attack ad? And how should election candidates be using social media in 2019? These are a few
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s not equalization! It’s the taxes, stupid! They’re almost too low to keep the lights on and something’s gotta give
It’s not equalization. It’s the taxes, stupid! That is to say, Alberta’s taxes are too low to run the place over the long term and something’s gotta give. The great thing about Alberta’s never-ending tantrum about equalization and how the province of Quebec taxes and spends, at least from the
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