Alberta Diary is closed, please come again soon
Closed for vacation. Come back soon. Bad timing, I realize, what with a provincial election looming and all kinds of political havoc likely to break out at any moment, but…
David J. Climenhaga
No breakfast for Conservative champions? Alberta’s Tories as churlish as ever
Doug Griffiths, apparently still wearing black, has sent a message on behalf of his premier to Alberta politicos: resistance is futile, and will not be tolerated. Below: Edmonton City Councillor…
Is Alberta’s most entertaining political season in a lifetime drawing to a close? Gosh I hope not!
Get me Wildrose, Rewrite! Your blogger, who many not be exactly as illustrated but used to have a typewriter just like that, pounds out a last plea for a poll…
Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber on the long-gun registry: welfare state social engineering, or what?
Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber, in naval costume, gets off some potshots with a Glock, or something. Below: Another shot Brent in a military getup. Note the flag, I swear…
What’s up with Calgary West Progressive Conservative nomination? Rematch, appointment or what?
Surprise winner Shiraz Shariff sends favourite Ken Hughes out of the ring in Round 1 of the Calgary West PC nomination battle on Jan. 21. Alberta political candidates may not…
Forum poll revealed: With an iPhone and a blog, we can now predict poll results before they’re published!
Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith with the voice of Forum Research Inc. She’s smiling because she likes his answers. Alberta pollsters and politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below:…
Few oxen gored in Alberta Tories’ exquisitely political budget
Your intrepid blogger, with Alberta Finance Minister Ron Liepert. Below: New Democrat MLA Rachel Notley. Oddly enough, there actually was a lesson that could be learned from the first budget…
Who shot Shariff? More lessons in democracy, Alberta-style
Shiraz Shariff works the phone in his Calgary office yesterday afternoon. Below: interim PC Executive Director Kelley Charlebois; former AHS Chair Ken Hughes; outgoing Calgary-West MLA Ron Liepert. The Alberta…
Alberta’s Electrolux Throne Speech: breathtaking in its vacuity, but quite possibly effective
Your blogger with Tory campaign mastermind Stephen Carter. Below, Charles Dickens, who also wrote a good story; Finance Minister Ron Liepert. It was either the best of Throne Speeches or…
The Fraser Institute: 100% political and still a registered charity! Explain, please…
A typical Canadian taxpayer ponders the tax-deductible corporate pork that goes to support the Fraser Institute and its ilk. Below: Fraser Institute critics Donald Gutstein and Graham Steele; the Canada…
Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve. Cooking up an unauthorized Alberta brand!
Ow! Alberta government market researchers test a new brand for the province. Alberta branding specialists may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta’s old brand, with minor modifications done to…
Another sleazy push poll takes aim at high-riding Redford Tories
Is this the party for which you are voting? Pollsters’ representatives call Albertans. Below: Naughty push-pollsters work from their basement boiler room in Calgary. Actual robo-callers may not actually exist…
Truth, Tories and the Sun Network: ‘Let’s do it. We can fake the Oath!’
New Canadians rounded up by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s office get ready to reaffirm their citizenship oath. Actual new Canadians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Mr. Kenney; Paraguayan-born…
Alberta tidbits: Can market-fundamentalist Wildrose Party be trusted to pull plug on high electricity costs?
Contemplating Alberta electricity prices, consumers are usually not as cheerful looking as illustrated. Below: Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith; Edmonton-Mill Woods MLA Carl Benito, former premier Ed Stelmach. Now that the…
No one who has been paying attention should be surprised by Harper government’s fake pension ‘crisis’
“Holy shit,” this old guy is asking himself, “what was I thinking when I voted for Stephen Harper?” Below, Prime Minister Harper himself, possibly not exactly as illustrated. Below that,…
Kevin Taft follows Alberta’s money and finds out where it all went
Your blogger, with another doomed politician, this time the author of Follow the Money, Where is Alberta’s Wealth Going? Just in case you’re thinking of being sarcastic, the sign says…
Are there really 287,000 law-abiding farmers, trappers, hunters and fishers in Toronto?
A strong market in central Canada for raccoon coats like the one worn by this man accounts for the large number of urban trappers who live in Metropolitan Toronto, law-abiding…
Did Forlorn Friday’s leak of Snelgrove resignation sink ‘Super Saturday’ spoiler?
Somebody blabbed! Below: Stephen Carter, Tweeting; Mr. Carter’s Tweet. All across Alberta it was “Super Saturday” yesterday and throughout the province members of the eternally ruling Progressive Conservative Party were…
Lloyd Snelgrove’s Dinner with Danielle: far-right desperation or another Wildrose exodus?
Phone camera photo? Former Stelmach right-hand man Lloyd Snelgrove spotted with Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith in Calgary brewpub! Alberta politicians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below, the real Mr.…
Sorry, an Order of Canada for Ralph Klein is not appropriate
Ralph Klein, as premier of Alberta. Below: Kevin Taft, an Order of Canada gong. Does the kind of man who would call immigrants to Alberta from Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic…