Well done UCP! Your new leader is Jason Kenney, the candidate least likely to beat Rachel Notley in 2019. You could have saved yourself the bother and elected ET for all the difference this is going to make in Calgary. (You remember Calgary, it’s the hub you’ll need to deliver
Continue readingTag: Rachel Notley
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Jason Kenney as the new face of Conservatism in Alberta
When the Legislative Assembly resumes for its fall sitting on Monday, there will be a new seating plan. A new Official Opposition United Conservative Caucus made up of twenty-two former Wildrose MLAs and six former Progressive Conservative MLAs will make its debut. Richard Starke of Vermilion-Lloydminster will continue to sit
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney wins, completing double reverse hostile takeover of Alberta’s conservative parties
PHOTOS: Jason Kenney celebrates his victory last night in Calgary. (Photo: @JasonKenney Twitter account, where it was posted without attribution.) Below: Brian Jean, gone fishin’ … with his wife, photo from his Twitter account. Is this what the future holds for the former Wildrose leader? Next, Doug Schweitzer, the third
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Desperation anyone? The clock runs out on Brian Jean’s campaign to lead the UCP
PHOTOS: UCP leadership candidate Brian Jean, with loyal MLAs Leela Aheer, Glenn van Dijken and Todd Loewen, in front of Premier Rachel Notley’s constituency office yesterday. (Screenshot of Jean Campaign video.) The wind was blowing. Below: Former Calgary MP Jason Kenney, whose coronation as leader of the UCP is expected
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney Was Just Kidding about Peter Lougheed…really?
In 1999 a young Jason Kenney told the National Post that “Klein realized Alberta could no longer afford the neo-Stalinist make-work projects of the Lougheed and Getty years, and he set about to distance himself from them.” This is an inflammatory comment of Twilight Zone proportions, particularly given the lengths
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Electoral Boundaries Commission calls for addition of three urban ridings, reduction of three rural constituencies
PHOTOS: A typical scene in voter heavy rural Alberta. Well, they’ve probably updated the sign on the truck trailer by now, or, if not, they will soon. (Photo: J. McPherson, Wikimedia Commons.) Below: Daveberta.ca blogger Dave Cournoyer. Stand by for an often-mentioned agricultural product to hit the fan. Alberta’s Electoral
Continue readingAlberta Politics: In a pragmatic move, Premier Rachel Notley appoints former Tory minister from Calgary to infrastructure portfolio
PHOTOS: Newly appointed NDP Infrastructure Minister Sandra Jansen speaks during yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Edmonton. With her are new Parliamentary Secretaries Jessica Littlewood and Annie McKitrick, left and right, and Premier Rachel Notley (Photo: Government of Alberta). Below: Pierre Trudeau and Peter Lougheed, looking pretty friendly for
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Former Tory Sandra Jansen appointed to Notley NDP cabinet
Photo: Sandra Jansen (left) and Premier Rachel Notley (right) at the press conference announcing the PC MLA had crossed the floor to join the NDP in November 2016. (Photo from Premier Rachel Notley’s Facebook Page) It was widely expected to happen in 2017, and today NDP MLA Sandra Jansen was sworn-in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: New book tells the story of the rise and fall of (Pierre) Trudeaumania in Alberta
There is perhaps no greater myth in Alberta politics than that the National Energy Program, which all Albertans are told to believe brought untold devastation to the oil sector and salted the earth for the federal Liberals in this province for decades to come. Looking beyond the myth, most Albertans
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Municipal politics: If you choose to run with a slate, don’t complain when you’re asked about other members’ views
PHOTOS: St. Albert’s iconic city hall, site of the growing community’s only public library. Image grabbed from Councillor Wes Brodhead’s website. Below: Mayoral candidates Cathy Heron and Cam MacKay (photos grabbed from their campaign materials), and one side of the anti-branch-library leaflet published by a group of six candidates for
Continue readingAlberta Politics: TransCanada pulls the plug on Energy East: the fallout in Alberta will be measurable
PHOTOS: Protesters opposed to the Energy East Pipeline project in Montreal last summer (Photo: Radio Canada). Below: United Conservative Party leadership contender Brian Jean, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Canadian prime ministers Trudeau, Pierre and Justin, and sometime UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway. It’s been quite obvious
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Energy East Blame Game. Who blames who?
Today’s announcement by the TransCanada Corporation that it would no longer pursue the construction of the Energy East Pipeline from Hardisty, Albert to St. John, New Brunswick triggered a storm of statements, accusations and criticisms from politicians trying to drive their political narratives. Here is a quick look at who is
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two departures – of an NDP MLA and a UCP leadership candidate – pop up on Alberta’s political radar
PHOTOS: Former NDP MLA Karen McPherson, who has asked to sit as the Independent representative for her Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill riding (Photo: Bob Hawkesworth). Below: Former United Conservative Party leadership candidate Jeff Callaway (Photo: CBC), the port of Churchill, Man. (Photo: churchillpolarbears.com), and Independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt, the UCP’s answer to
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: MLA Karen McPherson bids farewell to the Alberta NDP
Photo: Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson (right) and Calgary-Northern Hills MLA Jamie Kleinsteuber (left). Source: Facebook There have been a lot of changes on the opposition side of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly this year, but today marked the first time since 2015 that we saw a decline in the number of MLAs
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don’t expect an NDP cold war between Jagmeet Singh’s federal New Democrats and Rachel Notley’s Alberta caucus
PHOTOS: Jagmeet Singh, whose campaign to lead the national New Democratic Party came to a successful conclusion yesterday. (Photo: NDP.ca.) Below: Alberta NDP Leader and Premier Rachel Notley, former Alberta Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford, and former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith. So, it’s Jagmeet Singh, and decisively. But don’t
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: We will not be divided.
“We will not be divided” was the message delivered by political leaders in Edmonton and Alberta after an apparent terrorist attack that began with the attempted murder of an Edmonton police officer outside a Friday night football game at Commonwealth Stadium. While it is too soon to tell what the longer-term
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Having no potential national leader obviously helpful to Notley Government may be liberating to Alberta New Democrats
PHOTOS: Candidate Niki Ashton, in Edmonton during the 2012 NDP leadership race. (Photo: Olav Rokne.) Below: Charlie Angus, Jagmeet Singh, Guy Caron and the late Jack Layton. (Photos: All from the Wikimedia Commons.) Like a rural highway through northern Alberta, the federal New Democratic Party’s leadership race has seemed long,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP leadership candidate Brian Jean utters the R-word – one faux pas too many
PHOTOS: Mr. Jean as he likely appeared yesterday afternoon, perhaps as the obvious impact of his foolish use of words sank in. (Photo: CBC) Below: Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and St. Albert NDP MLA Marie Renaud. It sure sounds like Brian Jean is done. You know, like dinner. Done in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Blasphemy, Alberta style – former Liberal opposition leader sees clouded future for Alberta and its oil industry
PHOTOS: Kevin Taft, leader of the Opposition Liberal Party in the Alberta Legislature from 2004 to 2008, shortly before his book launch at the University of Alberta last night. Below: Former Edmonton Journal senior editor Sheila Pratt, who shared the stage with Dr. Taft. It was blasphemy, Alberta style! Last
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: How much influence does the oil industry have over Alberta politics?
Way too much, according to author and former Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft. Taft takes a deep dive into the influence of big oil on the politics and policy direction of our province in his new book, Oil’s Deep State: How the petroleum industry undermines democracy and stops action on global
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