PHOTOS: Deficit rode a pale horse … as seen by some Albertans in the skies over Edmonton. Below: Rachel Notley, and Pierre and Justin Trudeau, who are all thought by sufferers of various forms of conservative delusional personality disorder to have economic superpowers. Below them: Two guys who for some
Continue readingTag: Rachel Notley
Alberta Politics: Alberta Budget 2015: You’d almost think Rachel Notley’s NDP has concluded its job is to govern this province!
PHOTOS: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci answers reporters’ questions after delivering the NDP’s first Budget Speech in the Alberta Legislature yesterday. (CBC Photo) Below: Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean and Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt also answer questions – but only from reporters who aren’t on the Wildrose Party’s Enemies List.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Sky does not fall as Alberta NDP presents its first budget
When Finance Minister Joe Ceci stood in the Legislature on Oct. 27 to deliver the Alberta NDP’s first budget, it marked the first time since 1972 that the budget was not tabled by a Progressive Conservative finance minister. The first budget of Premier Rachel Notley‘s… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Reaction to this afternoon’s Budget Speech is bound to be completely predictable
ILLUSTRATIONS: A mosaic planned for some future Legislature renovation showing the Opposition and Government positions on the budget. Below: A scene from the Kabuki theatre in which actors portraying Premier Rachel Notley and Finance Minister Joe Ceci contemplate the books left them by the PC government … or something. Below
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: What do the federal election results mean for Edmonton and Alberta?
With the excitement of the 2015 federal election one week behind us, now is a good time to take a look at how the results of the election could impact Edmonton and Alberta. The reality of a majority Liberal government in Ottawa… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: You tell me, Dear Readers: Did I unfairly beat the Wildrose finance critic like a piñata?
PHOTO: Your blogger, at right, wearing the brand new string tie he just bought in Santa Fe, takes a whack at Derek Fildebrandt, the Wildrose Opposition’s finance critic. Actual Alberta politicians and political commentators may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Derek Fildebrandt; Globe and Mail reporter Carrie
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP brings to an end Alberta PCs’ bizarre experiment with one-person heath-care rule
PHOTOS: Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman announces the restoration of normal board governance to Alberta Health Services at the provincial Legislature yesterday. Below: Newly appointed AHS Board members Linda Hughes, Glenda Yeates and Brenda Hemmelgarn. Below them: Premier Rachel Notley on the big screen at AUPE’s convention, as union President
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Notley creates Economic Development ministry, appoints rural Municipal Affairs minister
Alberta’s provincial cabinet grew from twelve to thirteen today with the appointment of Lesser Slave Lake MLA Danielle Larivee to the posts of Minister of Municipal Affairs and Service Alberta. Ms. Larivee takes over those roles from Deron Bilous. Mr. Bilous, one… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s NDP government gets serious about economic diversification, an overdue change
PHOTOS: Premier Rachel Notley with Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous and Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee moments after the two cabinet members were sworn into their new portfolios. Below: Labour and Advanced Education Minister Lori Sigurdson. A key part of the business of any government is the business
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Death threats and vile misogynist commentary about NDP politicians infest Alberta social media
PHOTOS: An organizer of a rally by the group Albertans Against the NDP, addresses a couple of dozen supporters in Calgary last Saturday. The horses are public art and were not technically part of the rally. Until recently, the group’s home page featured violent and offensive commentary about the Alberta
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Tax Increases no longer Political Kryptonite in Canadian Elections
It’s been a rough year for Conservatives in Canada as two major elections in six months have resulted in major blows for Conservative parties in Alberta and Ottawa. In May 2015, former federal cabinet minister and bank vice-president Jim Prentice, a political moderate… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The story thus far from Alberta: the Western Alienation narrative starts today
PHOTOS: A couple of typical alienated Westerners discuss what to do next now that another Trudeau is about to be sworn in as prime minister of Canada. Head for the hills, I guess. Below: The elder prime minister Trudeau, Pierre, and Alberta premier Peter Lougheed toast the mutually satisfactory deal
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Trudeau Liberals crack Conservative “Fortress Alberta” in nationwide sweep
The dust has yet to finally settle on tonight’s election night results but we know that the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau will form a majority government with more than 180 seats in the next parliament. Conservative Party leader Stephen… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Justin Trudeau rallies Alberta Liberals just like Notley did five months ago
While Canadians could be on track to elect the country’s first Liberal Party government since 2004, it looks like Albertans could remain firmly in the Conservative Party camp, even after Stephen Harper‘s decade-long reign in Ottawa. But while most of Alberta’s federal… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Eleven grinding weeks and this federal election comes down to a science question: momentum, or inertia?
PHOTOS: Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair on stage in Edmonton Friday night (photo by Olav Rokne). The red signs say “Stop Harper.” Perhaps at this hour they should say “Stop Trudeau!” Below: Well-known Alberta pollster Janet Brown, Calgary Centre Liberal candidate Kent Hehr, former Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion, and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Mulcair and Trudeau show Alberta some love in the final days of Election 2015. Where’s Harper?
There is no longer any doubt that Alberta is an important battleground in this federal election campaign. While Conservatives will dominate in the provincial seat count, the Liberals and NDP believe they are in a position to win competitive races in Edmonton… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition: just off the turnip truck … or what?
ILLUSTRATIONS: Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, back in the day. Below: A newer version of the same hospital, one of the buildings that’s now falling apart. (From CardCow.com) Below that image: Wildrose Health Critic Drew Barnes; Richard Starke, MLA, and Richard Starkey, MBE. Anybody who’s been inside the Royal Alexandra Hospital
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Welcome to the Orwellian world of Wildrose, where keeping your promises makes you a liar
PHOTOS: Possibly the Globe and Mail’s best headline of the decade. Below: NDP Premier Rachel Notley, Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt, the sailboat known as French Kiss, shown just to prove I didn’t make that part up, the full Globe headline, shown for the same reason. Is Alberta ready for
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens, week 39: Big (yawn) trade deal; Harper plays niqab card; Notley bombs
The big story this week was a trade deal. Wait, wait! Please don’t stop reading. Canada has joined 11 other countries in something called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a collection of countries including big dogs (the U.S., Japan), middle-sized dogs (Canada, Mexico, Australia) and some pups (Vietnam, Brunei). The combined gross
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens, week 39: Big (yawn) trade deal; Harper plays niqab card; Notley bombs
The big story this week was a trade deal. Wait, wait! Please don’t stop reading. Canada has joined 11 other countries in something called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a collection of countries including big dogs (the U.S., Japan), middle-sized dogs (Canada, Mexico, Australia) and some pups (Vietnam, Brunei). The combined gross
Continue reading