They kissed us once. Will they kiss us again? Alas, in Alberta right now, there’s no way to be cert- cert- certain. Alison Redford chats with a typical Alberta voter last spring – although, Alberta politicians and their supporters may not turn out to be exactly as illustrated. Below: The
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Alberta Diary: A tsunami of Tory troubles? Naw, the Alberta universe is unfolding as it should…
All we want are the facts, Ma’am. A couple of investigators hired by Alberta Chief Electoral Officer O. (for Olaf) Brian Fjeldheim prepare to go through the files of friends, relatives and employees of billionaire Daryl Katz who may or may not have donated money to the Redford Tories. Actual
Continue readingAlberta Diary: With the NHL back on the ice, why not let Chinese taxpayers subsidize Canada’s billionaires?
The Great Leap Forum: what Edmonton’s luxurious new ice hockey palace could look like with a little gesture of internationist solidarity from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Communist Chinese friends. Conceptual art by Dave Cournoyer used with permission. It’s a moment of such perfect convergence that it’s astonishing Alberta’s Wildrose Party,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Wildrose rink lotto scheme: a new tax on the prodigal and the poor
Imagine the millions we can scoop up from the foolish and the intoxicated! Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith extemporizes on the advantages of using gambling to subsidize billionaires. Below: Drugstore and hockey billionaire Daryl Katz; former Wildrose candidate Pastor Alan Hunsperger. It was almost a relief yesterday when Danielle Smith, leader
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A last thought for 2012: 2013 is bound to be an important year for Alberta’s NDP
2013 could be a big year for Alberta’s NDP – if they play their cards right. Members of the Alberta NDP caucus and their opponents may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: NDP Leader Brian Mason. Surely the strategic goal of Alberta’s New Democrats between now and the next provincial
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Stephen Harper model for Wildrose power: promise free votes and deliver the Borg Hive
Singing along: What we were promised by the Reform-Conservative platform. Below: What we got. Alberta’s Wildrose Party blossomed at the edges of the same muddy spring whence sprang the federal Reform Party of Preston Manning and Stephen Harper. As is well known, the Reform Party went on to engineer the
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Pollster’s take on Alberta leaders’ popularity sets stage for long Prairie slug-fest
Shades of things to come? Alison Redford, Canada’s second most popular premier, gets ready to break a board with Opposition Leader Danielle Smith’s face on it. Situations Alberta politicians find themselves in may not be exactly as described. Below: Ms. Smith. Alison Redford remains Canada’s second most popular premier behind
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Attack on Kent Hehr highlights deepening fissures in Alberta Liberal ranks
Calgary-Buffalo MLA Kent Hehr with a crowd of Liberalberta supporters in the background. (Bad joke. I apologize.) Below: Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman. An angry and public attack last week on Liberal MLA Kent Hehr by Alberta Liberal Party President Todd Van Vliet suggests the party’s caucus is splintering under
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Docs call health minister liar, liar, scrubs on fire, but their ad fails to persuade
The docs’ advertisement. Below: AMA President Dr. Michael Giuffre. The Alberta Medical Association, the province’s most powerful trade union, has gone back to the familiar ground of buying newspaper advertisements to call Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne and the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Alison Redford a bunch of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Wildrose leader to Albertans: You’re gullible and stupid!
Pastor Allan Hunsperger in exile, as seen by the Wildrose Party’s leadership. Below: Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith (mean photo by Dave Cournoyer); the real Allan Hunsperger; party strategist Tom Flanagan; Wildrose House Leader Rob Anderson. Despite an amusing Pierre Poutine moment before it started, the Wildrose Party’s one-day annual general meeting in Edmonton yesterday seems …
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta health minister to doctors: shut up and take your medicine!
Long memories? D’ya think? Tory Health Minister Fred Horne overturns an Alberta physicians’ vehicle yesterday. Alberta Progressive Conservative ministers may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Fred Horne, Alberta Medical Association President Dr. Michael Giuffre, former AMA President Dr. Linda Slocombe. When Alberta’s most powerful union – the Alberta Medical Association, which until …
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Is a Wildrose ‘coup d’etat’ in the works as blog claims? Not very likely
Shades of Videodrome: Wildrose Deputy Leader Rob Anderson listens to Danielle Smith on a mysterious video about goings on in the Wildrose Party emanating from a French online video site. Actual clips from the missing movie may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Blogger Kathleen Smith, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith, Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford …
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta Tories send feds a message, but keep their most dangerous enemies close
Friends close, enemies closer: Alberta Tories, left, send a message to their federal counterparts. Alberta political parties may not be exactly as anthropomorphized. Below: Premier Alison Redford, Niccolo Machiavelli. Proving you really can have it both ways, Premier Alison Redford’s Alberta Tories rapped the knuckles of their federal counterparts yesterday but kept their most dangerous …
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tip for Tories: a grownup conversation about debt will pay political dividends
The House that Ralph built. Alberta mismanaged by market fundamentalists may not appear exactly as illustrated, but close enough. Below: Peter Lougheed, Alison Redford, Ralph Klein. As Alberta’s Tories gather today in Calgary to celebrate Peter Lougheed leading them out of the Social Credit wilderness 41 years ago, they will expend plenty of energy feuding …
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Republican failure shows conservative parties must adapt, like Alberta PCs, or die
Psychological/political portraits of Stephen Harper and Barack Obama by Edmonton artist William Prettie. Used with permission. This too shall pass… Now and then throughout history, as with Whigs and Communists, international political-ideological movements of enormous influence wither and disappear, often quite suddenly. It is rarely their call. Neoconservatives – or neoliberals, call them what you …
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Fair or not, Opposition targets Katz donation(s) as symbol of Tory sleaze
Caesar repudiates Pompeia: “You’re outta here!” Below: Danielle Smith and Alison Redford. The Wildrose Party strategy for defeating the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Alison Redford when the next election rolls around in 2016 is a variation of the right-wing party’s plan when it came close to winning earlier this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Remember where you heard it first: foundering B.C. premier hires Alberta strategist Stephen Carter
Your blogger, looking rather stout and unkempt, with political strategist Stephen Carter, who popped up in British Columbia yesterday to try to work his come-from-behind magic for B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s foundering conservative Liberals. Below: Ms. Clark. As predicted here at Alberta Diary, British Columbia Premier Christie Clark has hired
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Welcome to Alberta’s Wild West, where the market sets the value of your vote
Drug store billionaire Daryl Katz, right, discusses his plans for a new Edmonton hockey arena with a representative of the Alberta government. Since Wild West hockey barons may not appear exactly as illustrated, a photo of the real Mr. Katz is shown below. (CBC Photo, circa 2008.) Look, people, this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tweetergate? Meatergate? For heaven’s sake, stop her before she Tweets again!
Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith Tweeting “let them eat steaks” over the worldwide web. Injudicious Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The offending Tweet; the real Ms. Smith. Alberta Opposition Leader Memo to Self: Whatever was I thinking? Whoever does Wildrose Party Leader Danielle “Marie Antoinette”
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta Premier Alison Redford gets warm reception in union lions’ den
Alison Redford speaks to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees’ convention in Edmonton yesterday. (AUPE photo.) Below: Ms. Redford with AUPE President Guy Smith. Is she trying to build an alliance with public service unions? It’s tempting to say Alberta Premier Alison Redford walked boldly into the lions’ den yesterday
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