In a first of what we expect to be a regular feature, I have joined forces with conservative political commentator Ryan Hastman in launching the Daveberta podcast. In our pilot episode, recorded on November 5, 2017, Ryan and I were joined by our talented producer Adam Rozenhart to talk about
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daveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Dust, Sweat and Blood: In defence of the modern political campaign
Guest post by Ryan Hastman Note: Sarcasm function is set to 8/10 for the remainder of this piece. Thank you to my good friend Dave for the opportunity to contribute this guest blog. As everyone in Canada knows, we are nearing… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A political oddity hits the big time – but what do we really know about Michael Cooper?
Michael Cooper turned up door knocking on your blogger’s doorstep in St. Albert last summer. A photo was required! Below: Independent St. Albert Member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber, former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day and journalist Paul Wells. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Every few years, Michael Cooper seems to pop onto
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Conservatives approach a full-slate of nominated candidates in Alberta
TweetWith the next federal election less than one year away, the Conservative Party of Canada is close to nominating a full slate of candidates in Alberta’s 34 newly redrawn ridings. By my count, Calgary Rocky Ridge, Edmonton-Griesbach, Lakeland and Peace River-Westlock are the only ridings without nominated Conservative candidates in this province.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Battles in the ’Burbs: Independent St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber eyes formation of party as fund-raising vehicle
Independent MP Brent Rathgeber with machine gun, looking as if he could use some closer supervision, takes aim at the CBC. (Joke.) And, yes, that is Jack Layton with the other one. Below: Teddy Roosevelt. (That’s enough politicians with firearms! – Ed.) ST. ALBERT, Alberta Edmonton-St. Albert Member of Parliament
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Scramble for federal nominations begins in Alberta
TweetIt’s a fight – or at least it could be if two southern Alberta Conservative Members of Parliament seek their party’s nomination in the same riding. Boundary changes in the next federal election will mean that Lethbridge Conservative MP Jim Hillier will find himself living within the boundaries of the new Medicine Hat riding.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Nomination races begin for federal election 2015
TweetThere are 705 days until Monday, October 19, 2015, when the next Canadian federal election is scheduled to be held. With less than two years until Canadians choose who will serve as Members of Parliament and with new electoral boundaries coming into effect at the next election, candidates across Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Rising Tory interest in St. Albert-Edmonton nomination could set the stage for something completely different!
Ryan Hastman’s business card, handed out at last weekend’s Conservative Convention in Calgary. Below: Mr. Hastman, Independent MP Brent Rathgeber, competing Tory candidate Michael Cooper and the other side of Mr. Hastman’s card. ST. ALBERT, Alberta There’s a new candidate in the race for the Conservative Party of Canada’s nomination
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #yegvote hangout – post-election “after hours” edition
Tweet Last night we hosted the final #yegvote Edmonton election Google Hangout. Not surprisingly, we had a lot of topics to discuss in our post-election “after hours” edition, ranging from school board races, new city councillors, and, of course, the mayoral election. When we started recording these hangouts in June
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #yegvote Google Hangout with Kerry Diotte
Tweet Last night on the #yegvote Google Hangout, Ryan Hastman, Mack Male and I were joined by mayoral candidate Kerry Diotte. We faced some minor technical difficulties, but overall I feel we had a good conversation with Mr. Diotte about his campaign for mayor and some of the key issues
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Edmonton Election Substance and Style #1
TweetWith Edmonton’s election campaign in full-swing, it is easy for this political watcher to miss a moment or campaign announcement over the course of a week. At the beginning or end of each week, I plan to compile ‘Substance and Style’, a summary of some the week’s events that I
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A short roundup of municipal election races across Alberta
Tweet With a feeling of excitement in the air, Nomination Day came and went today as residents across Alberta officially became candidates in this year’s municipal election. With nearly 120 candidates registered to run in Edmonton’s municipal election, today’s event was busy. I was at Edmonton City Hall at this
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Nomination Day: Edmonton civic election official starts today
TweetDedicated citizens across Alberta will gather this morning in town halls and community centres to submit their nomination forms to become official candidates in this year’s municipal elections. In the capital city, the excitement is taking place at Edmonton’s downtown City Hall. With three-term Mayor Stephen Mandel not seeking re-election,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #yegvote Google Hangout with Steven Dollansky
Tweet After a week-long break from the world of political writing and social media, I was happy to return just in time for yesterday’s sixth edition of the #yegvote Google Hangout. This week, Ryan Hastman and I were joined by guest Steven Dollansky, who sat in for Mack Male, who
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #yegvote Google Hangout with Don Iveson
Tweet Last night, we had the pleasure of having Edmonton mayoral candidate Don Iveson as our special guest on the fourth #yegvote Google Hangout. Over the course of the hangout, Ryan Hastman, Mack Male, and I questioned Don on some of the hottest issues of the election campaign. The conversation
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #yegvote Google Hangout #3 with ActivatED
Tweet On last night’s #yegvote Google Hangout, the third in our series, Ryan Hastman, Mack Male, and I were joined by Aliza Dadani from the group ActivatED. According to their website, “ActivatED is committed to electing forward-thinking progressive councillors in the 2013 Edmonton Municipal Election.” Endorsing candidates can be a messy
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 5: Praise, political priorities and poetry
Yours Truly visiting the Texas House of Representatives in the State Capitol building in Austin, Texas – and thinking about what to say to Ryan Hastman on EdmontionPolitics.com. Below: The author with LBJ, sort of, and looking particularly fierce for the benefit of our Texan hosts. Last week, just as
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: #yegvote Google Hangout #2
TweetFollowing out successful first #yegvote Google Hangout a few weeks ago, Mack Male, Ryan Hastman, and I gathered online for the second #yegvote Google Hangout focusing on this October’s municipal elections in Edmonton. In this week’s hangout, we chatted about everything from the strategies of the three main mayoral candidates,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The first #yegvote Google Hangout
TweetTonight, I joined Ryan Hastman and Mack Male on Edmonton’s first #yegvote Google Hangout on the topic of this October’s municipal election. Over the course of 50 minutes, we discussed the hotly contested mayoral race, some of the interesting open city council races, and issues that could define this year’s election
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Controversial Ottawa Tory operative now working for Wildrose Opposition.
TweetThe westward migration of Central Canada-based political operatives continues. Controversial former Ottawa Conservative staffer Sébastien Togneri is now employed as the Caucus Whip Coordinator for Danielle Smith‘s Wildrose Official Opposition. Political watchers may remember Mr. Togneri as the aide to federal Conservative cabinet minister Christian Paradis who, in 2010, resigned over his alleged meddling in
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