stephen harper ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

Montreal Simon: Celebrating the Day Justin Trudeau Defeated the Harper Cons

Oct

19

2017

It's now been two years to the day since Canadians gave Justin Trudeau a crushing majority. And he sent Stephen Harper packing… And into the garbage can of history. Who can forget what a magical night it was? And who can forget what the Cons looked like once it was over.Read more »

Alberta Politics: Don’t expect an NDP cold war between Jagmeet Singh’s federal New Democrats and Rachel Notley’s Alberta caucus

Oct

2

2017

PHOTOS: Jagmeet Singh, whose campaign to lead the national New Democratic Party came to a successful conclusion yesterday. (Photo: NDP.ca.) Below: Alberta NDP Leader and Premier Rachel Notley, former Alberta Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford, and former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith. So, it’s Jagmeet Singh, and decisively. But don’t expect many hints from Alberta ...

Alberta Politics: Between the lines, Calgary MLA Rick Fraser’s UCP resignation letter is an indictment of Wildrose-ified party

Sep

22

2017

PHOTOS: Rick Fraser in a screenshot from the Legislature of Alberta. Below: Legislative loners Greg Clark, David Swann and Richard Starke, Calgary MP Kent Hehr, and environmentalist and former Green Party candidate Chris Turner. Let’s cut to the chase about what Calgary MLA Rick Fraser’s decision to quit the United Conservative Party really means. Mr. ...

Montreal Simon: The Final Humiliation of the Con Clown Dean Del Mastro

Sep

14

2017

The news hit me like a blast from the past. A very dark past. A past I sometimes wish I could forget. But there was Dean Del Mastro, who once somehow managed to be Stephen Harper's favourite Con enforcer AND his point man on ethics, on his way to jail. Again. To complete his sentence for electoral fraud. And ...

Alberta Politics: Paul Hinman wants to contest UCP leadership! He has till tonight to raise $57,500! I’m not making this up!

Sep

12

2017

PHOTOS: Would-be UCP leadership candidate Paul Hinman, back when he was Wildrose Alliance MLA for Calgary-Glenmore. Below: Preston Manning, Ted Hinman, and Ernest Manning. Paul Hinman? Seriously? Has somebody stumbled over a mysterious time capsule buried by the Wildrose Alliance Party way out on the lone prairie? Probably somewhere down there in Southern Alberta around ...

Alberta Politics: United Conservative Party stance on climate change amounts to not much more than hot air

Sep

8

2017

PHOTOS: Hurricane Harvey batters Corpus Christie, Texas. (Photo: ABC News.) Below: Guest post author Barret Weber, Conservative leadership contenders Jason Kenney and Brian Jean, and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives researchers Shannon Daub and Seth Klein. Guest Post by Barret Weber One truly surprising aspect of the United Conservative Party leadership race to date has ...

Montreal Simon: Mike Duffy and the Con Scandal That Won’t Die

Aug

26

2017

I know the Mike Duffy trial seems like ancient history now, and I can hardly remember the details of the case.Except that the wrong man was put on trial. The Harper PMO, and its morally depraved leader, were able to elude the long withered arm of the law.And although Duffy won, he also lost, and ...

Alberta Politics: Never mind apologies, it’s time for Canada’s Tories just to admit Jack Layton was right about talking to the Taliban

Aug

9

2017

PHOTOS: Jack Layton in Edmonton in 2011. Below: Forgettable Harper Government foreign minister Lawrence Cannon (Photo: Abigail Veronneau, Wikimedia Commons) and Peter MacKay, who took some of the cheap shots at Mr. Layton in 2006 (Photo: Department of National Defence, via the Wikimedia Commons). Never mind the apologies. That ship has sailed. We Canadians need ...

Alberta Politics: Derek Fildebrandt, UCP ‘liberty’ advocate, calls for return to ugly 1940s labour relations, labour studies professor says

Aug

4

2017

PHOTOS: The late Jim Prentice, during his successful 2014 campaign to lead the Progressive Conservative Party, with supporters in Edmonton. Below: Anti-union “liberty conservative” Derek Fildebrandt, NDP Premier Rachel Notley, and Athabasca University Labour Studies Professor Bob Barnetson. It was probably his “math is hard” moment in a televised debate with NDP Leader Rachel Notley ...

daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Sturgeon River-Parkland by-election to replace Rona Ambrose to be called by end of 2017

Aug

2

2017

A federal by-election will be held in Sturgeon River-Parkland in the coming months following the resignation of Conservative Member of Parliament Rona Ambrose. Ambrose served as MP for this riding from 2015 to 2017 and as MP for the now defunct Edmonton-Spruce Grove riding from 2004 to 2015. A by-election must be called by December 31, 2017. ...

Alberta Politics: Groovy! It’s the Summer of Love for the UCP! Should the NDP despair? Not really

Aug

2

2017

PHOTOS: Cool, man, it’s the Summer of Love! Alberta’s conservatives, grooving to the beat of the Jason Kenney Experience, say: Tune in, turn on, and (if you’re a progressive voter) drop out! (Photo found on the Internet; source not indicated.) Below: Pollster Quito Maggi, United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Jason Kenney, and Alberta Premier Rachel ...

Montreal Simon: John Ibbitson’s Obscene Ode to Andrew Scheer

Jul

24

2017

I realize that the Globe writer John Ibbitson has written some rotten columns before, most of them in praise of Stephen Harper.And I realize he works for a newspaper that somehow managed to endorse the Cons, if not Harper, in the last election.Which was of course somewhere between absurdity, and insanity.And after the way Harper and his ...

Montreal Simon: The Traitor Cons and the Trudeau Derangement Syndrome

Jul

22

2017

As you know, I believe that the decision by Andrew Scheer's Cons to take their campaign against the Khadr settlement to the U.S. on the eve of the NAFTA talks, can only be described as treason.So I'm glad to see that even some in the Con media agree.Conservatives are entitled to object to the Liberal ...

Montreal Simon: Why Are The Cons Trying To Destroy Canadian Jobs?

Jul

21

2017

The other day I accused Stephen Harper of acting in a treasonous manner, by trashing his country in Trump's America for crass political purposes.But now his filthy Harper Party has taken that traitorous behaviour one foul step further.By threatening to destroy tens of thousands of Canadian jobs.Read more »

Alberta Politics: On Jason Kenney’s Progressive Conservative leadership victory: big money guys finish first (nice guys, not so much)

Jul

20

2017

PHOTOS: Tory volunteers and armed guards move cash into Jason Kenney’s campaign vault. Actual Progressive Conservative bag people and security measures may not appear exactly as illustrated. (Photo … dimly recalled when needed … University of Victoria Archives.) Below: Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney and badly outspent leadership contender Richard Starke. Jason Kenney has ...

Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Treason of the Cons

Jul

18

2017

When Stephen Harper stumbled into the night after his humiliating election defeat at the hands of Justin Trudeau, I thought it would be a long long time before we saw or heard from him again.And for almost two years that seemed to be the case, as he kept a very low profile, or only came ...

Montreal Simon: Justin Trudeau, Omar Khadr, and the Monster Stephen Harper

Jul

12

2017

I've been having too much of a good time sailing and fishing in the north of Scotland to keep up with what has been happening in Canada.But everywhere I go, as soon as people find out I'm a Canadian, they can't wait to tell me how much they admire Justin Trudeau.And how they wish he ...

Alberta Politics: Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s position on Khadr case exposes the group’s partisan inclinations

Jul

6

2017

PHOTOS: Omar Khadr, left, with his Edmonton lawyer, Dennis Edney, at right. Mr. Edney’s wife, Patricia Edney, is in the middle. (Photo: CBC) Below: Mr. Khadr at age 14, not long before his capture by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in July 2002, and Aaron Wudrick, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. If you have ...

Montreal Simon: Omar Khadr and the Day of Justice

Jul

5

2017

I've written many posts about the case of Omar Khadr. I consider the way that Canadian child soldier was treated by his own government to be one of the worst legal travesties in modern Canadian history.And one that should shame us all.So I'm glad to see that he is finally going to get some justice. And as ...

Montreal Simon: My Fabulous Canada Day Long Weekend

Jul

4

2017

Well I must say my Canada 150 long weekend was about 150% better than I had hoped it would be.The music and the fireworks were amazing. Some friends from Montreal were staying with me, so I was able to party in both official languages.And for the first time I felt that our other founding nations ...

Alberta Politics: Big Tobacco will be pleased as Derek Fildebrandt’s ‘liberty’ video assails restrictions on flavoured cigarettes

Jul

2

2017

PHOTOS: Young smokers, circa 1910. Below: A screenshot of Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt’s social media video, Mr. Fildebrandt himself, former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose marijuana-legalization strategy Mr. Fildebrandt appears to endorse. Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt is continuing his party’s tradition of supporting Big Tobacco’s right to ...

Alberta Politics: Happy Canada Day! Nice to welcome a new NDP government, though some caveats may apply here in Alberta

Jul

1

2017

PHOTOS: British Columbia’s NDP Premier-Designate John Horgan with your blogger, not so very long ago. Below: Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley, a Vancouver take on a Canada Day flag, and B.C. premier W.A.C. Bennett in his heyday. Happy Canada Day, people, and after more than 50 days of waiting to find out what the heck ...

Alberta Politics: With three right-wing political parties now possible instead of one, has Jason Kenney’s roll of the dice crapped out?

Jun

25

2017

PHOTOS: Jason Kenney, as he may see himself, gets ready to roll the unite-the-right dice. Actual Alberta conservative politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. (Photo: Publicity shot for Sky Full of Moon, 1952.) Below: The real Mr. Kenney, plus the real Katherine O’Neill, Greg Clark and Stephen Mandel. Snake eyes? Jason Kenney rolled the ...

Alberta Politics: Corporate media have reached consensus about Andrew Scheer: He’s Stephen Harper with a human face!

May

29

2017

PHOTOS: Andrew Scheer, demonstrating his vaunted smile. (Photo: Rabble.ca.) This fills corporate media with hope. It shouldn’t. In Canada, with or without a smile, social conservatism is ballot-box poison. Below: former prime minister Stephen Harper, who really doesn’t have a very nice smile at all. Below him, former PM Joe Clark and serving PM Justin ...

Accidental Deliberations: On changing opposition

May

28

2017

While there will be plenty more to discuss about how the Conservatives’ choice of Andrew Scheer as their new leader, I’ll offer a few preliminary thoughts now – starting with a warning about knee-jerk reactions. We shouldn’t presume that Scheer’s apparent lack of current definition will last long: the Libs are obviously wasting no time ...