The United Conservative Party Government’s demand that all of Alberta municipalities report any agreements they have in place with the federal government by the end of the month will be expensive and time consuming, especially for Alberta’s largest cities. Former Progressive Conservative Party deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk (Photo: David J.
Continue readingTag: Ric McIver
The Daveberta Podcast: Ask Me Anything about Alberta politics episode
You shared your Alberta politics questions and we answered them in our annual Ask Me Anything episode of the Daveberta Podcast. New and recent episodes of the Daveberta Podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. In case you missed them, you can catch up on recent Daveberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With bill banning municipal mask mandates, Kenney Cabinet tries to toss its foundering leader a political life preserver
The Kenney Government introduced legislation yesterday to prevent Alberta municipalities from imposing their own mask requirements and proof of vaccination rules to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, in particular, COVID-19. By doing so, Premier Jason Kenney has flip-flopped about as much as you can flip-flop on what he was
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 82: Best of Alberta Politics with Adrienne King and Matt Solberg
Adrienne King and Matt Solberg join the Daveberta Podcast for our year-end episode of 2021. We delve into Premier Jason Kenney‘s leadership challenges, the fireworks at the end of Alberta’s longest legislative session on record, and the upcoming Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche by-election. Adrienne King works for the Now Group,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Health Minister shuffled to Labour; Labour Minister shuffled to Health … premier says he won’t quit
VICTORIA – Say what you will about Jason Kenney, he never fails to disappoint. When the buzz hit social media yesterday morning that Alberta’s premier would attempt to shore up his shaky perch atop Alberta’s government with a post-federal-election cabinet shuffle, the assumption was natural that he was about to
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 65: The Best of Alberta Politics 2020
With the help of two special guests, Jessica Littlewood and Matt Solberg, we are thrilled to announce and discuss the results of the 2020 Best of Alberta Politics survey. Jessica Littlewood was the Alberta NDP MLA for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville from 2015 to 2019 and during that time served as Parliamentary
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Handpicked UCP advisors call for mention of residential schools to be erased from primary grades’ social studies curriculum
A recommendation by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s handpicked curriculum advisors to strip all mention of residential schools from the province’s Kindergarten-to-Grade 4 curriculum “will perpetuate systemic racism through whitewashing,” says Melissa Purcell, the Alberta Teachers Association’s staff officer for Indigenous education. “The Indian Residential School system was created to erase
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Things just keeping getting weirder in Alberta as Jason Kenney sings the Moody Blues!
If a tree falls in the forest and Jason Kenney isn’t there to hear it, is it still the sound of European environmentalists and the Rockefellers plotting against Alberta’s ethical oil industry? Is it still Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s fault? Your blogger only spent three days on B.C.’s misty and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It takes all kinds to make a cabinet, not necessarily good news when Jason Kenney’s making the picks
Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party cabinet contains a guy who once went down south to campaign for Donald Trump, a woman who opposes school gay-straight alliances and wrote a university president attacking a professor’s critical commentary on Catholic education, a man who fired a single mom he employed after
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenny Controls the Narrative, Why is this a Surprise?
We’ve been so focused on Jason Kenney’s public rhetoric that we didn’t see him transform the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose MLAs into a bunch of hush puppies ready to recite whatever speaking notes he gives them. The transformation took less than two years. This probably says more about the integrity
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP leader discovers there’s no affliction more persistent than an outbreak political theatrics in India
Jason Kenney’s mid-September sojourn to India with a couple of his United Conservative Party sidekicks was pure political theatre, likely aimed as much at the Alberta Opposition leader’s real main enemy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as at Alberta’s NDP premier, Rachel Notley. Still, lots of Albertans were wondering last week
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Janis Irwin running for NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Daniel Williams wins UCP contest in Peace River
Photo: More than 200 people packed into the Bellevue Community Hall tonight to support Janis Irwin’s bid for the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. Janis Irwin launched her campaign for the New Democratic Party nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood this evening at the Bellevue Community Hall. Irwin is a community advocate and educator, and she
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 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: It’s not quite Wayne’s World and it’s not quite The Mercer Report. It’s The McIver Report.
Photo: UCP MLA Jason Nixon (left) and UCP MLA Ric McIver (right) as the host of The McIver Report. I was surprised to discover this week that Ric McIver, the United Conservative Party MLA from Calgary-Hays and former Calgary Alderman, is the host of a TV show which is recorded
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta Candidate Nomination Update: Shepherd nominated in Edmonton-City Centre, McPherson chosen in Calgary-Beddington, and McIver’s challenger drops out in Calgary-Hays
Photo: Edmonton-Centre MLA David Shepherd with Premier Rachel Notley and other NDP MLAs at Pride festivities. Here are some of the latest updates to the list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of Alberta’s 2019 provincial election: Calgary-Beddington – Karen McPherson has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Alberta Candidate Nomination Update: NDPer Stephanie McLean retiring, Mike Nickel runs for UCP nomination, UCP MLAs face challengers
The big nomination news since my last update was the announcement by Stephanie McLean that she was withdrawing from the New Democratic Party nomination contest in Calgary-Varsity. McLean is Minister of Status of Women and Minister of Service Alberta and is the second NDP MLA to announced plans not to seek re-election
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Admirably true to their Iron Age code, UCP delegates defy their leaders and the zeitgeist
Modern Conservatives indeed! The Wildrose Party base – by which I mean the United Conservative Party base, they are the same people – is a wild horse that cannot be ridden safely or broken easily for reasons of mere political expedience. This is partly because it contains many people of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: UCP draws huge crowds, huge controversy to its first policy convention
(Photo credit: @Alberta_UCP on Twitter) With more than 2,500 party members in attendance, this weekend’s United Conservative Party founding convention was one of the biggest political events in Alberta’s recent memory. It was a big show of force for the official opposition party, which continues to dominate in the polls
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Monday Night Candidate Nomination Update
Here are some of the latest updates to the list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of Alberta’s expected 2019 provincial general election: Airdrie-Cochrane: Airdrie realtor Mauri Stiff is seeking the United Conservative Party nomination. Banff-Kananaskis – Miranda Rosin and restaurant owner Scott Winograd are seeking the UCP nomination. Calgary-Acadia
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