Alberta Politics: We still don’t know who was in charge of Alberta while Premier Jason Kenney vacationed last summer – maybe no one

So who was in command of the good ship Alberta during those troubling weeks last summer when it became apparent the fourth wave of COVID-19 was raging and the premier had disappeared somewhere abroad to “recharge his batteries”?  That remains a mystery almost as mysterious as the never-answered question of

Continue reading

Alberta Politics: U.S. and Canadian right-wing politicians march in lockstep as they dismiss facts as conspiracy, disagreement as criminality

Apparently infected by the decline of political discourse in the United States, the Canadian right is increasingly moving toward defining the use of facts that run counter to its narrative as conspiracy and policy disagreement criminality. If you doubt this, consider recent Tweets by the likes of Calgary Conservative MP

Continue reading

Alberta Politics: Location of immigration office in Vegreville steeped in Mulroney Era pork barrel politics, and never made sense

PHOTOS: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s soon-to-be-moved national case-processing centre in Vegreville, Alberta. Below: Mulroney Era deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski, the man who pushed for the centre to be located in his riding; Vegreville’s famed giant Ukrainian egg; and Vegreville Mayor Myron Hayduk. News Ottawa is at long last

Continue reading

Alberta Politics: ‘Bernard the Roughneck’ campaign has been in preparation for months, may soon target Rachel Notley

PHOTOS: Neal (Bernard the Roughneck) Hancock’s first appearance on a well-known right-wing video blog in January 2015. (Screenshot) Below: Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Jason Kenney with his new friend Bernard, who was making a rare public appearance in mufti; Shannon Stubbs with her husband Shayne Saskiw and a friend; and

Continue reading

Alberta Politics: It can’t help the oil-well drillers’ campaign that ‘Bernard the Roughneck’ appeared in 2014 theatrical production

PHOTOS: Neal Hancock, nowadays better known as Bernard the Roughneck, with his co-star in a 2014 theatrical production in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. The play was about a boot-maker who had his foot amputated. Below: Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs (from her Facebook account), Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors President Mark Scholz (from the CAODC’s website), […]

The post It can’t help the oil-well drillers’ campaign that ‘Bernard the Roughneck’ appeared in 2014 theatrical production appeared first on Alberta Politics.

Continue reading

Alberta Politics: Bernard the Roughneck in his own words: Neal Bernard Hancock responds to his critics

PHOTOS: “Bernard the Roughneck,” Neal Bernard Hancock, addresses the media in Ottawa in this screenshot of the CBC’s tape of his interview. Below: Mr. Hancock at the same event with Mark Scholz, president of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors, David Lefebvre, director of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association (which the CAODC describes […]

The post Bernard the Roughneck in his own words: Neal Bernard Hancock responds to his critics appeared first on Alberta Politics.

Continue reading

Alberta Diary: Jim Prentice revealed as Hayek ‘disciple’; Heather Forsyth to lead Wildrose rump; Preston Manning says he’s sorry … and more!

A crowd of typical Albertans reacts to the news Danielle Smith and most of her caucus have gone and joined Premier Jim Prentice’s PCs. Below: Mr. Prentice; neoliberal saint Friedrich Hayek; Preston Manning, who is really, really sorry he didn’t counsel a vote or something; interim Wildrose Leader Heather Forsyth;

Continue reading

daveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Nomination update: Yellowhead by-election, Bow River Tories vote, and Anybody but Xiao

TweetPremier Jim Prentice announced this week that five-term Conservative Member of Parliament Rob Merrifield would be appointed as Alberta’s representative in Washington D.C. Mr. Merrifield’s resignation from the House of Commons means that a federal by-election will need to be called in the Yellowhead riding by March 17, 2015. This

Continue reading