One of the enduring myths of our era is that Albertans (or Canadians, or whomever) don’t like negative political advertising, and therefore that political attack ads won’t work here. Now that Alberta’s New Democratic Party has published a website attacking Opposition Leader Jason Kenney’s record as a federal Conservative MP,
Continue readingTag: social conservatism
Alberta Politics: What was John Carpay’s goal when he in effect withdrew his apology for comparing Pride flags to swastikas?
John Carpay is a clever man. The high-profile Alberta social conservative leader puts careful thought into what he says and how he says it. A lawyer by profession, he constructs his sentences precisely and deliberately. He knows exactly what he is saying when he says something. So one has to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As reproductive rights wither in the United States, a UCP candidate’s abortion-restricting strategy for Canada is revealed
“On abortion, we’re never going to see a black and white, yes or no question. My job as your MP is to fight for incremental changes. … It’s called the foot-in-the-door tactic.” — Joseph Schow On a day when there’s serious talk in the United States that women’s right to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Effort by religious schools to halt enforcement of Alberta’s GSA protection law tossed out by Medicine Hat judge
An effort by the so-called Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms to get a court injunction to halt enforcement of the Alberta law that prevents schools from informing parents when students join gay-straight alliances fell short in a written ruling of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Medicine Hat yesterday.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Get ready for the kinder, gentler Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader pivots toward the rhetorical centre
PHOTOS: Get ready for the new, kinder, gentler Jason Kenney. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley; Mr. Kenney, who is about to be sworn in as the leader of the Opposition, with his strategic mentor and inspiration, Stephen Harper (Photo: Jason Kenney Facebook account). His leadership of Alberta’s conservatives, and his
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Abandon hope, all UCP who enter here? Ted Byfield may have opened the gates to Lake of Fire 2.0
PHOTOS: Social conservative publisher and ideologue Ted Byfield (Photo: Screenshot of Youtube Video). Below: United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, NDP Education Minister David Eggen, and Calgary-West UCP MLA Mike Ellis (Photo: Screenshot of CBC broadcast). It’s fair to suggest Ted Byfield always dreamed of being able to direct Alberta’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: One big problem for Alberta’s ‘unite-the-centre’ effort: the NDP already occupies that space
PHOTO: Stephen Mandel, would-be uniter of Alberta’s “centre,” when he was a Tory minister. The effort by a group of politicians previously associated with the Progressive Conservative, Liberal and Alberta parties to “unite the centre” suggests divisive social conservative doctrines that increasingly dominate the Wildrose and PC parties are starting
Continue readingAlberta Politics: One big problem for Alberta’s ‘unite-the-centre’ effort: the NDP already occupies that space
PHOTO: Stephen Mandel, would-be uniter of Alberta’s “centre,” when he was a Tory minister. April 19, 2017 – The effort by a group of politicians previously associated with the Progressive Conservative, Liberal and Alberta parties to “unite the centre” suggests divisive social conservative doctrines that increasingly dominate the Wildrose and
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 readingAlberta Diary: Collapse of rickety Wildrose coalition of market fanatics and religious fundamentalists could be bad-news/good-news story for Alberta’s NDP
A recent meeting of the Wildrose Party Legislative caucus. Actual members of the official Opposition party may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: NDP Leader Rachel Notley and Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. Monday’s bombshell that the rickety coalition of ideological market-perfection fanatics and social-conservative religious fundamentalists called the Wildrose Party
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tory income-splitting tax policy: It’s about creating and preserving gender inequality and making rich guys richer
Whew! This income splitting is a killer. Actual perfect families as seen by the Harper Government may not appear exactly like Canadian reality. Below: Queen’s University tax law professor Kathleen Lahey. A fundamental purpose the Harper Government’s ideologically driven income-splitting tax scheme is to undermine women’s equality, Queen’s University tax
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: It Was Wrong When Ronald Reagan Did it and Just as Wrong For Stephen Harper
In, albeit not their sleaziest act, the Harper government blanketed the Ontario federal riding of Scarborough-Agincourt with flyers, aimed at the Liberals, for the upcoming bi-election. Not unusual during an election campaign. What made these flyers beyond the pale, was their content. Hoping to tap into the abundant immigrant community
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Joy Smith, Minister of Censorship #cdnpoli #censorship #cpc
Joy Smith, the Conservative Minister for Censorship, has an op-ed up in the Huffington Post continuing her call to filter internet content at the internet service provider level. I won’t link to it because I can’t help but think I’m giving her more than the 15 minutes of fame she
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Yes, the Manning Centre is a Registered Charity … Still
A Mennonite magazine, ‘Canadian Mennonite’, has received a warning from the Canadian Revenue Agency, about what articles and editorials it can publish, citing their pieces “appear to promote opposition to a political party, or to candidates for public office”. That’s a no-no under the rules for maintaining registered charity status. Meanwhile,
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Whip the Vote, Mr. Rae (#lpc #prochoice)
Citation: R. v. Morgentaler, [1988] 1 S.C.R. 30 Date: January 28, 1988 State interference with bodily integrity and serious state-imposed psychological stress, at least in the criminal law context, constitutes a breach of security of the person. … Liberty in a free and democratic society does not require the state
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: The Manning Centre is Still a Registered Charity
Ethical Oil has written a letter to the Canada Revenue Agency to review the David Suzuki Foundation’s charitable status because, they allege, the Suzuki Foundation is a partisan political organization. I won’t link to it because I don’t want to. The National Post and the Toronto Sun are also carrying
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Will the Real Rob Ford Please Stand Up?
Rob Ford’s former press secretary, Adrienne Batra, addresses the hullabaloo regarding the mayor’s pending absence from Pride events: I know Rob Ford. He is a far more tolerant individual than many of the people attacking him. Ford’s problem isn’t homophobia, nor does he have a hidden agenda to take away
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Larry O’Brien Loves Glenn Beck
I don’t pay much attention to Larry O’Brien. I know he was Ottawa’s mayor, but he had no direct impact on me or my life. The only thing I paid attention to was when Toronto elected Rob Ford, Rob Ford was dubbed “our Larry O’Brien” and that Toronto shouldn’t vote
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Disturbing Conservative Viewpoints on Education
Interesting how social conservatives in both Canada and the United States are blaming universities for their being “too much edumacation”. On his Facebook profile, former Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, found and posted this letter to the editor on Mississauga.com that highlighted one of Canada’s problem to those of the so-called common
Continue readingthe reeves report: Laureen Harper’s Big Opportunity
Laureen and Stephen Harper. Even though it has been Ottawa’s worst kept secret for years, the rumour (which in all likelihood has some truth to it) that Laureen Harper has moved out of 24 Sussex Drive and into the Chateau Laurier has been making the rounds yet again. The rumour
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