In the Westminster Parliamentary system, the Throne Speech is supposed to set out the government’s direction, goals and policy for a new session of the legislature. The one read by Alberta Lieutenant-Governor Salma Lakhani in the provincial Legislature in Edmonton yesterday appears to have been written for the next 45
Continue readingTag: United Conservative Party
Alberta Politics: Jason Nixon’s UCP nomination challenger Tim Hoven got his campaign off to a pretty good start last night
It looks like Tim Hoven’s campaign to challenge Jason Nixon for the United Conservative Party nomination in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre got off to a pretty good start last night at a rural community hall in the Central Alberta riding. Leastways, a photo that turned up in my inbox shows the
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 83: Take care, stay safe, be kind, and see you next time.
We got the band back together for the final episode of the Daveberta Podcast. That’s right, folks. We are going on a semi-permanent hiatus. And to help mark this announcement, our good friend Ryan Hastman joined Dave Cournoyer and Adam Rozenhart for a trip down memory lane, reminiscing and reflecting
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kenny pulls plug on vaccine passport, as expected, but still manages to gobsmack news conference watchers
There were exactly zero policy surprises at Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s afternoon COVID-19 news conference yesterday. As predicted by everyone everywhere, Mr. Kenney pulled the plug immediately on the province’s vaccine passport – which was euphemistically known as the “Restrictions Exemption Program,” so he could deny ever having implemented such
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘It’s time for this lawlessness to end’ – Rachel Notley rips Jason Kenney’s inaction on illegal border blockade
The 10-day blockade of the main border crossing between Alberta and the United States had damaged the provincial economy to the tune of about half a billion dollars by yesterday. Yet Jason Kenney – the self-described premier of jobs, economy, pipelines – has done nothing about the illegal blockade on
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Emboldened by Erin O’Toole’s fate in Ottawa, UCP anti-vaxx faction eyes Jason Kenney
Emboldened by the success of the social conservative coup plotters who overthrew Conservative Party of Canada leader Erin O’Toole in Ottawa Wednesday, the same anti-vaccine faction of Alberta’s United Conservative Party is now eyeing Premier Jason Kenney. Not that Mr. Kenney is a moderate. Far from it. United Conservative Party
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Convoys, COVID and Conservative discord dominate Jason Kenney’s return from Washington governors’ clambake
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, back from an ill-timed and seemingly mostly fruitless trip to Washington D.C., pleaded for federal Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole’s political life yesterday at a typical Alberta Government news conference about nothing in particular. “I would just say this to my friends in the federal Conservative
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP MLAs on Legislature committee block Auditor General from reporting findings on how government handled COVID-19
Alberta’s Auditor-General has completed six performance audits of the United Conservative Party Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as you may already have seen on social media, Doug Wylie won’t be allowed to tell anyone about them. Alberta Auditor General Doug Wylie (Photo: Office of the Auditor General). That
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With ‘red alerts’ plaguing Alberta ambulance calls, health minister Jason Copping forms advisory committee to search for a fix
With EMS “red alerts” spiking in Alberta and both Calgary and Edmonton running out of ambulances to respond to emergencies roughly every 90 minutes, Health Minister Jason Copping yesterday announced he’s forming an advisory committee to study how to improve ambulance services in Alberta. To be fair, Mr. Copping also
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As energy minister, acting Alberta justice minister Sonya Savage also has a less-than-stellar record
While Kaycee Madu cools his jets in the political penalty box for phoning Edmonton’s police chief about a traffic ticket, it’s worth noting that acting justice minister Sonya Savage has not exactly covered herself in glory during her two and a half years as energy minister. Touted as a high-profile
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kenney benches Justice Minister Kaycee Madu after revelation he phoned Edmonton police chief about traffic ticket
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney put his justice minister on the bench last night after a CBC story revealed one of the first things Kaycee Madu did after a traffic cop handed him a $300 distracted driving ticket for talking on his cellular phone as he motored through an Edmonton school
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If the UCP’s Leela Aheer still has political ambitions, she’ll likely need a new political party to pursue them
If Leela Aheer hopes to continue her career in Alberta provincial politics, she’ll probably need to find a new political party. Well, sure, the United Conservative Party MLA who lately has become a frequent and vocal critic of Premier Jason Kenney could theoretically still win the United Conservative Party nomination
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There are several reasons for Jason Kenney’s enthusiasm for ‘small modular reactors’ – none of them are particularly good
Small nuclear reactors don’t make any more economic sense now than they did back in the summer of 2020 when Alberta Premier Jason Kenney took to the Internet to tout the supposed benefits of the largely undeveloped technology being promoted by Canada’s nuclear industry. Now that Mr. Kenney has taken
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don’t worry about mandatory vaccinations coming to Alberta – if they do, we’ll call them something different
“Alberta’s Legislature removed the power of mandatory vaccination from the Public Health Act last year and will not revisit that decision, period,” Premier Jason Kenney tweeted yesterday. Just in case any Albertans were in doubt about what he really meant, about an hour later Brock Harrison, Mr. Kenney’s communications director,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If only Alberta had an institution that could support students forced to learn at home – like it did until 2020
With this pandemic disrupting education in Alberta, if only we’d had an institution that could have supported students forced to learn at home, help their parents, and provide digital curriculum resources province-wide! We did, of course. Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange in 2020 (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Before it was closed
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney holds a news conference about nothing – the rest of us are just going to have to suck it up!
Jason Kenney held a news conference about nothing yesterday. Alberta’s premier said he’s “very determined” there will be no additional delays and schools will reopen as planned on Monday, the continued rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 notwithstanding. It doesn’t sound as if much has been done to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don’t imagine UCP’s Eastern Slopes coal mining plans have gone away – Jason Kenney still has his eyes on that prize
The plan to approve coal developments on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains is another thing that remains on the United Conservative Party’s agenda – if not for 2022, at least for some point in the future after the 2023 election is out of the way. This is another
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Spinning delay as a favour to teachers and a response to COVID, Kenney indicates he’ll press on with controversial curriculum
The way Jason Kenney told the story, Alberta parents and teachers would like his United Conservative Party government to “go a bit slower” rolling out the new primary school curriculum it introduced in late March to widespread opposition. To those who have been following the controversy created by the curriculum
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Happy New Year! COVID, Conservatives and Kenney end 2021 on an ominous note
It would be an exaggeration to say 2021 is ending on an apocalyptic note in Alberta, or even a chaotic one, but it feels ominously as if the boat we’re in is drifting toward the falls with no one looking for the paddle. If our United Conservative Government had plans
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kenney Government orders Alberta Health Services to drop its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for employees
Alberta Health Services has been ordered by the Kenney Government to drop its policy of requiring health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “At the direction of Alberta’s government, Alberta Health Services will provide all unimmunized physicians and staff the option of temporary frequent COVID-19 testing to ensure the
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