Alberta’s UCP government likes to keep a tight rein on labour unions. One of the first pieces of legislation brought in after their election in 2019 was the infamous Bill 32, the inappropriately named the Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act, 2020. The Bill, among other things, split union activities
Continue readingTag: United Conservative Party (UCP)
Views from the Beltline: Alberta—rural government in an urban province
The last century saw the greatest revolution in this country’s history. I refer to the mass migration from country to town. At Confederation, about 80 percent of Canadians lived in rural areas, today that’s less than 20 percent, and the trend continues. We have become an urban and suburban nation.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Danielle Smith’s Alberta
No one had a bigger win on Alberta election night than Danielle Smith. Her UCP (and this is definitely her party now) won a solid majority of seats and a majority of the popular vote (how many parties win elections in this country with over 50 percent of the popular
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: For Alberta, sovereignty; for Calgary and Edmonton, supplication
One might think that Alberta’s provincial government would have the greatest respect for its subordinate level of governing—the municipalities. One might expect that to be especially true for the two major cities, Calgary and Edmonton. These are the closest level of government to the people for over half the province’s
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta’s very own tax cut fiasco
A recent tax cut for the rich managed to achieve international notoriety. Former British Prime Minster Liz Truss, a neo-liberal zealot à la her idol Margaret Thatcher, ushered in her term with a generous tax cut for Britain’s high income earners. It got quite the response: the exchange rate of
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Have conservatives all gone mad?
As a social democrat I may be prone to seeing the virtues in progressives and the vices in conservatives. But I challenge any objective observer to deny that a streak of madness hasn’t overtaken the conservative political world. Consider the UK. Run by the Conservatives for the past dozen years
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The amazing Mr. Madu
Jason Kenney warned us. Prior to stepping down as premier, he suggested it was important he stay on to prevent the UCP from being taken over by “lunatics” and “kooky people.” But after getting barely lukewarm support from his party on a leadership vote, he stepped down. In any case,
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: How Alberta populists wrecked conservatism
Brian Mulroney recently said he no longer recognized himself in the Conservative Party. I’m no conservative, but I sympathize with him. The current Conservative Party just isn’t the conservative party we knew for most of our history. It seems to be focussed on the economy at the expense of everything
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Albertans happy to see Kenney’s back, but who’s next up?
Jason Kenney tried hard to convince Albertans that he was one of them. He failed to even convince members of his own party. In a confidence vote, he could only muster 51 percent support, a slight majority but hardly enough for him to continue on as leader. He sensibly announced
Continue readingAre Albertans Regretting Their Decision?
Jason Kenney and his UCP won a convincing victory in Alberta’s April election, winning 55 percent of the popular vote, impressive in a country where 40 percent often gains a party a majority government. Yet in only eight months, Albertans seemed to have reversed their opinion. A ThinkHQ poll found
Continue readingThe Extraordinary Arrogance of "Kamikaze" Kenney
Lorne Gibson, Alberta’s elections commissioner, has had his differences with the province’s Conservatives. In 2009, he was Alberta’s chief electoral officer and, unhappy with the 2008 election, he recommended 182 reforms to the province’s electoral system. The Conservative government of the time was not amused and failed to renew his
Continue readingWar Rooms, Secrecy and a Little Patronage—Democracy in Alberta
Former journalist and conservative lobbyist Tom Olsen was the UCP candidate in my riding of Calgary-Buffalo in this spring’s Alberta election. Tom lost to Joe Ceci of the NDP, but his loss was only temporary. Recently it turned into a handsome reward. He was named by Energy Minister Sonya Savage
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