Elections Alberta released the financial disclosures showing the results of political party fundraising in the third quarter of 2017. Here are my quick thoughts on the latest fundraising numbers: The NDP continue to demonstrate an impressive ability to raise money in Alberta. The NDP has raised the most of any
Continue readingTag: United Conservative Party
Alberta Politics: Wildrose leader complains UCP voting system may be rigged, and not in his favour
PHOTOS: Then Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean, holding microphone, addressing an anti-carbon-tax, anti-Bill-6, anti-etc. rally on the steps of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton in December 2016. The visible sign may or may not have represented the opinion of more than one participant in the event. (Photo grabbed from Daveberta.ca.)
Continue readingAlberta Politics: TransCanada pulls the plug on Energy East: the fallout in Alberta will be measurable
PHOTOS: Protesters opposed to the Energy East Pipeline project in Montreal last summer (Photo: Radio Canada). Below: United Conservative Party leadership contender Brian Jean, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Canadian prime ministers Trudeau, Pierre and Justin, and sometime UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway. It’s been quite obvious
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two departures – of an NDP MLA and a UCP leadership candidate – pop up on Alberta’s political radar
PHOTOS: Former NDP MLA Karen McPherson, who has asked to sit as the Independent representative for her Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill riding (Photo: Bob Hawkesworth). Below: Former United Conservative Party leadership candidate Jeff Callaway (Photo: CBC), the port of Churchill, Man. (Photo: churchillpolarbears.com), and Independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt, the UCP’s answer to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don’t expect an NDP cold war between Jagmeet Singh’s federal New Democrats and Rachel Notley’s Alberta caucus
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
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Having no potential national leader obviously helpful to Notley Government may be liberating to Alberta New Democrats
PHOTOS: Candidate Niki Ashton, in Edmonton during the 2012 NDP leadership race. (Photo: Olav Rokne.) Below: Charlie Angus, Jagmeet Singh, Guy Caron and the late Jack Layton. (Photos: All from the Wikimedia Commons.) Like a rural highway through northern Alberta, the federal New Democratic Party’s leadership race has seemed long,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP leadership candidate Brian Jean utters the R-word – one faux pas too many
PHOTOS: Mr. Jean as he likely appeared yesterday afternoon, perhaps as the obvious impact of his foolish use of words sank in. (Photo: CBC) Below: Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and St. Albert NDP MLA Marie Renaud. It sure sounds like Brian Jean is done. You know, like dinner. Done in
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: You’ll be surprised who is on Elections Alberta’s list of banned candidates
A ruling by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice William Tilleman has lifted a ban imposed on past election candidate Jamie Lall, allowing him to run in the next provincial election if he chooses. Lall was added to a list of individuals who are ineligible to run for provincial office in Alberta because, as a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Between the lines, Calgary MLA Rick Fraser’s UCP resignation letter is an indictment of Wildrose-ified party
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
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: No Thanks and So Long. Former PC MLA Rick Fraser leaves the UCP to sit as an Independent
Photo: Former PC MLAs Richard Starke (left) and Rick Fraser (right) at the 2016 Calgary Pride Parade (Photo from Facebook). The recently formed United Conservative Party may be leading in the polls but the party is looking a lot less united. One of the party’s 28 MLAs, Calgary-South East MLA Rick
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: In a democracy, quiet is rarely a good sign, and Alberta’s relationship with Big Oil is very quiet indeed
PHOTOS: Part of the Jackpine Oilsands Mine north of Fort McMurray, formerly owned by Shell and now operated by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (Photo: Pembina Institute.) Below: Author Kevin Taft. Guest Post by Kevin Taft Kevin Taft is a best-selling author, well-known speaker, and former provincial politician in Alberta. He
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta Legislature Members’ Services Committee passes ‘Derek’s Rule,’ banning Airbnb rentals of MLA apartments
PHOTOS: Former Wildrose and UCP caucus member Derek Fildebrandt, now an Independent Alberta MLA, in happier times for him when he was an employee of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Below: UCP interim Leader Nathan Cooper, former Progressive Conservative interim leader Ric McIver, NDP MLA Estefania Cortes-Vargas, and Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Tracking MLA endorsements in the UCP leadership race
Members of the United Conservative Party will be selecting the party’s first permanent leader on October 28, 2017. After of this week’s fee payment deadline, four candidates will be listed on the ballot: Brian Jean, Jason Kenney, Doug Schweitzer and Jeff Callaway. Of the 28 UCP MLAs represented in Alberta’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Paul Hinman’s narrow by-election win in 2009 had a big impact on Alberta politics
Former Wildrose Alliance Party leader Paul Hinman staged an odd and brief reappearance on Alberta’s political stage this week when he announced his plans to run for the leadership of the United Conservative Party. But when the Sept. 12, 2017 deadline for candidates to deposit a $57,500 fee had passed,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Unable to raise the entry fee, Paul Hinman drops out of UCP leadership race almost as soon as he dropped in
PHOTOS: Would-be/won’t-be UCP leadership candidate Paul Hinman, gone from the contest after the shortest Alberta leadership campaign in living memory, your blogger’s anyway. Below: Jason Kenney and Andy Warhol. Talk about a Minute Man! Paul Hinman, the former Wildrose Alliance leader who ran his flag up the virtual flagpole on
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Paul Hinman wants to contest UCP leadership! He has till tonight to raise $57,500! I’m not making this up!
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
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Political words before elementary school audiences could’ve, should’ve been a teaching moment, literally
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley with the school children at Lois E. Hole Elementary School in St. Albert, before whom she dared to speak political words. (Photo: CBC.) Below: St. City Councillor Sheena Hughes and former Progressive Conservative Alberta premier Alison Redford, who committed the same sin in 2013, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: United Conservative Party stance on climate change amounts to not much more than hot air
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
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The big problem facing Alberta that none of our politicians want to talk about
As the Alberta New Democratic Party enters the half way mark of their first four-year term in office and the United Conservative Party chooses its next leader, a big question that remains unanswered in Alberta politics today is how, in the long-term, the Alberta government plans to deal with the revenue
Continue readingAlberta Politics: This week at the UCP: huge cuts, social conservative sins, and complaints of fractious fibs dominate the conversation
PHOTOS: A screenshot of United Conservative Party leadership frontrunner Jason Kenney as he appeared during his Internet town hall Tuesday. Below: UCP leadership contenders Doug Schweitzer and Brian Jean, U of A Professor Russell Cobb and Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley. Jason Kenney, front-running candidate to lead Alberta’s United Conservative
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