PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who is not getting any credit for her economic successes from the Opposition or the media. Below: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci; Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall; and University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe (CBC photo). Alberta added an impressive 20,000 full-time jobs in March, according
Continue readingTag: Rachel Notley
Alberta Politics: No redemption for the Wildrose, outed in a Lake of Fire five years ago today, and it’s Eastertime too
PHOTOS: Rev. Allan Hunsperger, whose beliefs about the eternal fate of people who live a gay lifestyle contributed mightily to the downfall of the Wildrose Party. (Wildrose Party photo, circa 2012.) Below: Then Wildrose leader Danielle Smith; Jason Kenney, leader of the Progressive Conservatives today; and former PC premier Alison
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP plan to change funding model for agricultural commissions is unlikely to much help farmers or the government
PHOTOS: Alberta Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier with some of the members, staff and leaders of the province’s agricultural commissions at a sparsely attended news conference in Edmonton yesterday to announce the Marketing of Agricultural Products Amendment Act 2017. Below: Mr. Carlier, at left, chats with Alberta Beef Producers Chair Bob
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta’s Conservatives are obsessed with Gay-Straight Alliances
Following Progressive Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney’s comments to the Calgary Postmedia editorial board fifteen days ago when he came out in favour of allowing schools to inform parents when students join a student-initiated Gay-Straight Alliance club, Alberta’s conservative politicians have tied themselves in knots over the issue. Gay-Straight Alliances are student-initiated clubs meant
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Big changes coming to academic faculty, graduate student and postdoctoral bargaining rights in Alberta
PHOTOS: Could we someday see scenes like this one at Boston University in 1979 at an Alberta University? The late Howard Zinn, author of the People’s History of the United States (banned in Arkansas), is visible, quite naturally, I suppose, near the front on the left. (Photo from the Boston
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – In advance of this year’s Progress Summit, Ed Broadbent writes that burgeoning inequality threatens our democracy: Inequality matters. Promises must be kept. It’s not enough for our government to celebrate the diversity of our country but not enact policies that head off
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s first woman premier calls for more than talk about the deplorable treatment of women in politics
PHOTOS: Former Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford smiles sadly as she leaves Government House in Edmonton on March 13, 2015, the day her Progressive Conservative caucus made the first steps toward firing her. Below: NDP Premier Rachel Notley, CBC morning show host Mark Connelly and NDP Status of Women Minister
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Budgeting for the oil bust in Saskatchewan and Alberta
The resource price bust is already a few years old but it’s still hitting parts of Canada hard. Two guests talk about the impact of the downturn on fiscal policy in the Canadian prairies and what this augers for the bigger question of a transformation of the economy away from fossil
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two by-elections, three probes, and plenty more: All the Alberta political news that’s fit to print
PHOTO: The decision desk at AlbertaPolitics.ca calls it for Conservative candidates Bob Benzen and Stephanie Kusie in two Calgary by-elections yesterday. Actual Alberta political bloggers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Mr. Benzen and Ms. Kusie, former Conservative premier Alison Redford, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Wildrose Opposition Leader
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney and the GSA reverse-tip-line brouhaha: Is this conservative turning into the Anita Bryant of Canada?
PHOTOS: Is Jason Kenney turning into Canada’s Anita Bryant? Actual Canadian politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons.) Below: The real Jason Kenney, and singer-songwriters k.d. lang and Boy George. Is Jason Kenney turning into the Anita Bryant of Canada? If you’re of a certain age, you
Continue readingAlberta Politics: April Fools jokes? In 2017? Just forget it! The zeitgeist forbids!
PHOTOS: Calgary lawyer David Khan, the only candidate willing to lead the sad-sack Alberta Liberals. Below: Donald Trump in a rare presidential moment; Jason Kenney, the man with a mandate to destroy the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta; and Sheila Gunn Reid, who in real life has nothing whatsoever to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s hard to imagine the Alberta Liberal Party surviving the existential crisis of its past few days
PHOTOS: Is this the new face of the Alberta Liberal Party? Would-be candidate Jacob Huffman, photo grabbed from his Facebook account. Below: Candidates David Khan and Kerry Cundal, plus non-candidate Nolan Crouse. About the kindest thing you can say about the Alberta Liberal Party right now is that it’s facing
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: The time has come for a sober conversation about Jason Kenney … and his implied platform
ILLUSTRATIONS: Jason Kenney, the victor in the PC leadership campaign now trying to create a narrative of invincibility about his ambition to lead Alberta. Below: Author Barret Weber. Charts shown are based on the Royal Bank of Canada fiscal tables, updated as of March 22, 2017, that show Alberta’s debt
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Now that he can’t be Mr. Congeniality any more, is Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall eyeing the exit?
PHOTOS: I’m sick of this shifty eyed shot of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall too, but it’s the only decent royalty free photo of the guy I can find. Below top and bottom: Jason Kenney and Brian Jean, two Alberta Conservatives who used to have nothing bad to say about Mr.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Cue the balalaikas! Tory MLA hears the Red Army tramping across the Steppes of Central Alberta
PHOTOS: Calgary-Fish Creek MLA Richard Gotfried, at right, and an unidentified friend. (Photo grabbed from Mr. Gotfried’s Facebook page.) Below: Mr. Gotfried with Progressive Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney and PC Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke. Social democracy in Alberta? Pretty much the same as the Russian Revolution! Really! I’m not
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s hostile takeover of Alberta’s PC Party is complete
Former federal politician Jason Kenney won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta today, as was widely expected. Kenney received the support of 75 percent of the delegates attending the party’s voting meeting today at the Hyatt in downtown Calgary. His only opponents, Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke and Calgary
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Like rust, Preston Manning apparently never sleeps: Jason Kenney is just his latest manifestation
PHOTOS: Preston Manning has every reason to feel pleased with himself as he moves toward his goal of uniting Alberta’s right on his own terms, with an extreme social conservative candidate like Jason Kenney in the vanguard. Below: Mr. Kenney; Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark; Danielle Smith, just before she
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Not many surprises in Alberta’s stay the course budget
There were few surprises when Finance Minister Joe Ceci stood to table the New Democratic Party’s third budget since forming government in 2015. What I expect were strategic leaks over the past week revealed some popular highlights included in the budget, giving the government some positive media in the days
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Despite Opposition demands, Alberta NDP says no to risky conservative ideological experiments in its 2017 budget
PHOTOS: Finance Minister Joe Ceci. Below: Interim Progressive Conservative Ric McIver showing off his Three Stooges tie, the sale of which puts the gross in Gross National Product; Opposition Leader Brian Jean; and Alberta Liberal interim Leader David Swann. “Admit it, Alberta, after yesterday afternoon’s Budget Speech was read by
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New board chairs appointed at Athabasca University and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
PHOTOS: Ray Martin at the side of NDP Leader Rachel Notley, back in the days before she was premier. He once sat in the Legislature with Premier Notley’s father, Grant Notley. Mr. Martin has been appointed chair of the board of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Below, Edmonton architect
Continue reading