Tales from the Tory crypt: Apres Alison le deluge
Tory leadership non-candidate Jim Dinning with your blogger, back in the day. Below: Former premier Ed Stelmach and non-candidates Ted Morton and Gary Mar. If we were to speak for…
Alberta Politics
Should the Alberta NDP accept corporate donations?
TweetWith vibrant progressive campaigns winning on the municipal-level in Calgary and Edmonton, it is difficult to understand why there is not be a progressive party, or even a non-conservative party,…
A mystery that won’t go away: Why do Alberta patients still face such long waits for lung surgery?
A horse with a silver blaze, curried mutton and a dog that did nothing in the night-time helped Sherlock Holmes get to the bottom of a mysterious death. Will it…
Conservatives race to the bottom in Calgary-Signal Hill
TweetWith the race for the Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Signal Hill in less than 10 days, the Rob Anders campaign has broadcast a new robocall praising the incumbent MP for…
PC finances: looks like Armageddon for Tories and Wildrose Apocalypse for the rest of us
Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith, on horseback, gazes at all that remains of Alberta’s once-mighty Alberta Progressive Conservative dynasty. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear quite so metaphorically. Below: PC…
Good advice for Alberta New Democrats from Quebec: this time, make it easy for voters to support you
Ray Guardia, one of the key architects of the federal NDP’s 2011 breakthrough in Quebec, at yesterday’s closing session of the Broadbent Institute’s 2014 Progress Summit in Ottawa. Below: Environmental…
The PCs scorched earth policy on Alison Redford
When Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, his right hand man was Leon Trotsky. When Lenin and Trotsky had a falling out — never a good thing in…
A Premier Penthouse Suite: Where Luxury is Yours
Tweet Find your home away from home in Edmonton, Alberta in the newly renovated art-deco Federal Building. Elegant features throughout the Premier’s Penthouse Suite are designed to make a private…
Tory MLAs, reporters, right-wing ideologues take aim at Alison Redford for PC Party’s woes
The Alberta premier’s personal airship ties up alongside the Sky Palace Official First Minister’s Residence, high atop the former Federal Building in Edmonton. Actual official accommodations may not appear exactly…
Alberta Premier Dave Hancock needs to apply his leadership candidates’ rules to secretive cabinet committee
A rare shot of a meeting of the Alberta government’s secretive Public Sector Resource Committee in session. Actual Alberta policymakers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Premier Dave Hancock…
New poll shows Albertans love their Big City Mayors
TweetThe same poll that showed former Premier Alison Redford with a 75% disapproval rating also showed urban Albertans have huge confidence in the leadership of their big city mayors. Previously…
Thomas Mulcair reminds me of Stephen Harper
TweetMore than 500 people packed into the lobby of the Winspear Centre yesterday to watch the New Democratic Party of Canada officially nominate Edmonton-Centre‘s Lewis Cardinal as the first candidate…
Alison Redford and the misogyny defence: does it really hold any water?
Former Alberta Premier Alison Redford in happier times, as we remember her on the eve of her selection as PC Party leader in the fall of 2011. The suggestion former…
Advice to Dave Hancock: sweet words won’t be enough for Alberta’s unhappy civil servants
Your blogger with Alberta’s newest premier, Dave Hancock, not so long ago. Below: U.S. presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. What a difference a few days can make!…
PC Party opts for a short and expensive leadership campaign
TweetIn 2006, it was $15,000, in 2011, it was $40,000, and in 2011, the fee to become a candidate in the Progressive Conservative leadership race is $50,000. Senior officials from…
Harper endorses Rob Anders and more nomination updates
TweetWith Dave Hancock being sworn-in as the 15th Premier of Alberta and speculation running rampant about who will replace him in four to six months, I thought now would be…
Lorne Gunter On Alberta Politics: A Brief Note
The Alta. Tories will replace Alison Redford with a monkey in a suit. The monkey will win the next provincial election. A year later, the Alta. Tories will grow tired…
Redford has no one to blame but herself
. No one, least of all politicians, likes to admit just how big a role outside forces play in one’s political success – and failure. Strong MPs are defeated when…
8 candidates who could run for the leadership of the Alberta PC Party
TweetWith yesterday’s announcement by Premier Alison Redford that she will resign on March 23, 2014, the Progressive Conservative caucus will need to select an interim premier and the PC Party…