Five ways to save the Senate of Canada
Tweet Is the Senate of Canada broken? And if so, is it worth saving? Here are the positions held by Canada’s federal political parties: 1) Abolish the Senate The New…
Alberta Politics
Oh to be a fly on the cabinet room wall today! Court grants stay on application against AUPE of Bill 46 until Valentine’s Day
Steam vents from the cabinet room at the Alberta Legislature. Actual eruptions of Tory fury may not be exactly as illustrated – and, actually, that’s the Lieutenant Governor’s office. Well,…
Alberta government ponders ‘options’ as independent arbitrator overturns firing of jail guards who took part in illegal strike
AUPE Correctional Officers rally at the picket line outside the Edmonton Remand Centre during their illegal strike in June 2013. Below: Arbitrator Andy Sims; former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, as…
Still hoping for a ‘deal’ with AUPE, Alberta Deputy Premier Dave Hancock has a Seinfeld moment
Deputy Premier Dave Hancock holds forth in the Legislature this morning as a few bored reporters half-heartedly listen. Below: Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who could have written Mr. Hancock’s script; former…
Cancelled: Alison Redford’s expensive Afghanistan photo-op
TweetAlbertans discovered this week that Premier Alison Redford cancelled a secretly planned trip to war-torn Afghanistan after suicide bomber blew herself up in a Kabul restaurant , killing twenty-one people,…
The ‘Petroleum Party’ in full cry about Neil Young: what are they afraid of? Not what Northwestern Alberta doctors fear
Neil Young: Giving as good as he’s been getting during an all-out attack by the Petroleum Party. Below: Dr. John O’Connor, vilified by the hirelings, toadies and pet legislators of…
With free expression under assault in Alberta, where’s ‘free speech advocate’ Ezra Levant?
So-called free-speech advocate and celebrity commentator Ezra Levant. Below: Free-speech opponent Alison Redford, Canada’s answer to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, shown below her; that Voltaire guy; nearly forgotten Tory political…
Wildrose fundraised more than the Alberta PCs in 2013
TweetThe Wildrose Party raised more than the long-governing Progressive Conservatives in last year’s party fundraising, according to Elections Alberta financial disclosure reports released last week. The financial reports show Danielle…
The unholy trinity of the Alberta tarsands industry,…
The unholy trinity of the Alberta tarsands industry, the Conservative Party and the right-wing media has gone all-out in its attacks on Neil Young for his stance against their destructive…
Battles in the ’Burbs: Independent St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber eyes formation of party as fund-raising vehicle
Independent MP Brent Rathgeber with machine gun, looking as if he could use some closer supervision, takes aim at the CBC. (Joke.) And, yes, that is Jack Layton with the…
He’s in: Ron Liepert challenges Rob Anders in Calgary Signal Hill
TweetFormer provincial cabinet minister and MLA Ron Liepert officially announced in a statement this morning his intentions to seek the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in the newly redistributed Calgary…
Neil Young, the oil sands and shifting political loyalties in Fort McMurray
TweetPundits from across the country are waxing and waning over comments made by rock n’ roll icon Neil Young about Canada’s oil sands. Mr. Young’s inarticulate criticisms of the oil…
In four letters, Brian Jean, the Crossword King of Parliament Hill, has Q-U-I-T
How Brian Jean may have started to see himself after whiling away too many hours on Parliament Hill over the decade. Amateur psychologizing by blog authors is unlikely to resemble…
Fort McMurray MP Brian Jean resigns
TweetFort McMurray-Athabasca Conservative Member of Parliament Brian Jean announced his resignation today in a written statement to the media. Mr. Jean was first elected in 2004. He was re-elected in…
Criminal employers are employers too, Alberta government spokesman says, but illegal strikes are still illegal
If feeding your employees to lions is outlawed, then only outlaws would be able to feed their employees to lions! Or is that the other way around? Whatever. In Alberta,…
A dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2014
TweetBecause politics is unpredictable, forecasting the future can be a tricky business for pundits, but here is a list of a dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2014. Manmeet Bhullar…
Fear & Loathing in Calgary Signal Hill: rumble on the right breaks out in Calgary
Your blogger in 2011 with Ron Liepert, Alberta’s former Worst Provincial Cabinet Minister. Below: Calgary West Member of Parliament Rob Anders, Canada’s worst MP, with his friend and supporter, Prime…
Ron Liepert versus Rob Anders: the next PC-Wildrose proxy war?
TweetWill former provincial cabinet minister Ron Liepert make the jump into federal politics? With the launch of the TimeToDoBetter.ca website today, rumours began to spread that the former two-term Calgary-West…