Photo: Liberal Party executive director Gwyneth Midgley and newly elected party leader David Khan (photo from March 2017). Calgary – In a battle of Calgary lawyers, David Khan defeated Kerry Cundal to become the next leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. Khan earned 54 percent of the vote in the two-person race,
Continue readingTag: Sandra Jansen
Alberta Politics: Funny … not a peep on the right about Jason Kenney stumping for a Liberal
PHOTOS: Sandra Jansen, back in the day when she never imagined she’s be anything but a Tory. Below: Jason Kenney, leader today of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta; Rachel Notley, whose NDP Government was elected on May 5, 2017; and Brad Wall, the man with a plan to save
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 readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Does anyone want to lead Alberta’s Liberal Party?
The deadline is fast approaching. On March 31 at 5:00 p.m. we will know for sure who, if anyone, wants to lead Alberta’s Liberal Party. The race to choose a replacement for the party’s last permanent leader – Raj Sherman, who resigned in January 2015 – has been less than exciting. The entry
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 readingSusan on the Soapbox: Another Day, Another Bozo Eruption
On the eve of International Women’s Day, Wildrose on Campus (WROC) issued an invitation to the screening of The Red Pill. The invitation stated “You and I both know that feminism is cancer. To create a dialogue on campus, we have decided to take action”. (Apparently WROC doesn’t know the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: International Women’s Day turns into a major embarrassment for Alberta’s tone-deaf opposition
PHOTOS: Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean – nothing to do with us, really. Below: Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and former PC leadership contender Sandra Jansen, all New Democrats. It’s International Women’s Day and, whatever Alberta’s two right-wing Opposition parties would rather be doing, one doubts it’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Appalled maybe, but no one should be surprised by the ugly threats against Rachel Notley
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. She has been threatened more than any other Alberta premier, and she reacts with aplomb. Below: British politician Jo Cox, murdered last year by a right-wing extremist for her beliefs; federal Conservative leadership candidate Chris Alexander while a right-wing crowd chanted “lock her up” about
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Setting the stage for Wildrose 2.0: Moderates need not apply
“We must also ensure that a new, united party will be built on a solid foundation of conservative principles and policy. The left-liberal clique that managed to slowly highjack the PC Party must never again be allowed to seize control of Alberta’s conservative movement.” This call for ideological purity came
Continue readingAlberta Politics: For a mild-mannered guy, Stephen Khan’s farewell to the PC leadership race was remarkably blunt
PHOTOS: Former Progressive Conservative Leadership candidate Stephen Khan in the Legislature as St. Albert’s MLA in February 2012. Below: PC leadership candidate Jason Kenney, former candidate Sandra Jansen, now a member of the NDP caucus, and St. Albert NDP MLA Marie Renaud. What’s remarkable about Stephen Khan’s farewell to the
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: New Alberta Politics Podcast: The Broadcast
Edmonton-based journalists Trisha Estabrooks and Alex Zabjek have launched a new podcast focusing on women and Alberta politics. The Broadcast website describes the inspiration for the podcast: We started this podcast because we believe that 100 years after some women won… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Happy New Year! AlbertaPolitics.ca’s Top Ten political predictions for 2017
PHOTOS: Your blogger, in hat, contemplates the difference between the renamed Conservative Party of Alberta and the renamed Conservative Party of Alberta. That’s not a typo. See Prediction No. 9 below for an explanation. Actual Alberta political commentators may not appear exactly as illustrated in this screenshot. Below (with predictions):
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Top 10 Alberta political news stories of 2016: AlbertaPolitics.ca’s picks
PHOTOS: Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley. Below: Calgary MLA Sandra Jansen, elected as a Progressive Conservative and now a member of the NDP, Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee, and the late Jim Prentice, the last PC premier of Alberta. 2016: It was the International Year of the Bean. I kid
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Merry Christmas to all! Santa is bringing presents for everyone this holiday, regardless of political orientation
PHOTOS: Merry Christmas! Your blogger with a man who can penetrate North American air defences with ease. Russian President Vladimir Putin may not appear exactly as illustrated. (Joke.) Below: Political strategist Stephen Carter with the same blogger; Alberta pollster Janet Brown; Conservative strategist Alan Hallman, who is now associated with
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The PC Party’s Christmas gift to the NDP
A defamation lawsuit wrapped with a big bow. Any hope Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party had of making the story of Sandra Jansen’s harassment go away is long gone as a political operative working for Jason Kenney’s leadership campaign has launched… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tory harassment investigation: Move along please; nothing to see here, folks…
PHOTOS: MLA Sandra Jansen makes an impassioned plea in the Alberta Legislature on Nov. 22, calling out the hate and misogyny she has endured since announcing she was running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. On that occasion, the PC members in the House joined the standing ovation
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Ten Alberta MLAs to watch in 2017
Despite its past reputation, Alberta politics has become extraordinarily unpredictable over the past decade. This makes forecasting the future a very tricky business for political pundits. As is tradition on this blog, each December I sit down by the open… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Off the Topp: Notley shuffles her senior staff
As the fall Legislative session ends and MLAs prepare to return home to their constituencies for the holiday season, Premier Rachel Notley announced big changes in the senior ranks of her political office. Gone is Brian Topp, the veteran political… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A ‘merger’ between the Alberta Party and the Progressive Conservatives? Unlikely
PHOTOS: A meeting of the Alberta Party’s “Big Listen,” circa 2010. Actual Alberta Party coffee parties may not have appeared exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark, former leaders Sue Huff and Glenn Taylor, and PC Party President Katherine O’Neill (from Facebook). Don’t bet the farm on a
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