Restructuring AHS – The Wrong Way
I was never particularly impressed with the AHS “Superboard” concept that was instituted in 2009 – it got some thing right (like centralizing procurement), but it also had the effect…
Alberta Politics
Danielle Smith summons Ed Stelmach, Lyle Oberg from the Alberta political crypt to help sell the breakup of AHS
It was an interesting strategy for Premier Danielle Smith’s government to trot out former premier Ed Stelmach, the man most associated with the creation of Alberta Health Services back in…
Back to the future: UCP set to announce plan to bust up AHS, add reams of red tape, and politicize health care decisions
Health care in Alberta is moving confidently into the 1990s! Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). The United Conservative Party Government led by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is about…
‘Lunatics’ really are running the asylum: UCP-TBA fusion starts to sink in with the Alberta commentariat
It was finally starting to sink in with Alberta commentariat yesterday in the aftermath of the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting that the lunatics really are running the asylum,…
The UCP Goes "Hold My Beer" To The CPC
Author's Note: I started writing something about the UCP's policy resolutions in October, but it seemed redundant. Now that the UCP has held their AGM, and these have been voted…
Take Back Alberta victory in UCP board elections wasn’t that steep a hill to climb – the party went full MAGA ages ago
Well, it looks as if the United Conservatives’ extremist Take Back Alberta faction now controls all the seats on the party’s board. The UCP’s new party president, Rob Smith, when…
Chrystia Freeland says Canada’s chief actuary will determine how much cash Alberta would actually get if it pulls out of the CPP
When we heard Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner say yesterday he’s encouraged to hear that the federal government will ask the Government of Canada’s chief actuary to determine how much…
As Edmonton activist Michael Kalmanovitch sees it, with the planet afire, he had no choice but to raise a ruckus at the Legislature
The way Michael Kalmanovitch sees it, he had no choice but to raise a ruckus inside the Chamber of the Alberta Legislature moments after Monday’s Throne Speech. The moment on…
UCP expands role of government’s chief advisor on union negotiations, former AUPE negotiator Kevin Davediuk
In March 2016, Kevin Davediuk’s new job as chief government advisor on negotiations with Alberta’s public sector unions was described by media and Conservative politicians as a grave blunder by…
The mystery of Bill 5: Is it part of the UCP’s covert ‘Free Alberta’ agenda or just a bit of administrative housekeeping?
Members of Alberta’s labour relations community were scratching their heads Monday and yesterday about Bill 5, the Public Sector Employer Amendment Act, 2023, last on the list of the first…
Alberta’s Throne Speech was long, boring, unpersuasive, evasive, unoriginal, and defiantly aspirational
There were two speeches at the Alberta Legislature yesterday! Lieutenant Governor Lakhani (Photo: Legislative Assembly of Alberta/Flickr). The Speech from the Throne was long, boring, unpersuasive, evasive, unoriginal, and weirdly…
Alberta’s Legislature shudders back to life this afternoon – what will the UCP get up to next?
With the Alberta Legislature resuming sitting today with a Throne Speech, one has to wonder what the United Conservative Government of Premier Danielle Smith will get up to next? Government…
Help was on the way? Looks like the goal of UCP’s $70M+ ‘Tylenot’ stunt was simply to own the Libs
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party government may look like fools for having paid $70 million up front to a Turkish drug manufacturer last December for a…
Continuing CPP uproar means Danielle Smith and the UCP are getting what they want: the grownups are paying attention!
Like any teenager acting out, Danielle Smith must be delighted to have the entire country in a swivet about her government’s preposterous claim that even though Alberta has only about…
International Energy Agency predicts fossil fuel use will peak by 2030 – whatever will Alberta have to say?
Maybe Alberta Premier Danielle Smith can send an open letter to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, to accuse him of trying to frighten Alberta’s seniors. International…
Congratulations on your appointment, Mr. Dinning, your pension ‘consultation’ has a few flaws: CPP public affairs leader
Michel Leduc, the Canada Pension Plan’s head of public affairs and communications, recently demonstrated how to swiftly and skilfully eviscerate a goat, metaphorically speaking. Canada Pension Plan public affairs and…
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre joins Alberta pension plan uproar, proffers weak endorsement of Canada Pension Plan
In an obvious effort to inoculate himself against being identified as an enemy of the Canada Pension Plan, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre yesterday inserted himself into the open-letter uproar…
Will Danielle Smith’s pension scheme drive a wedge right into the heart of Conservative support?
In the past few hours, a lot of metaphorical ink has been spilled on the duelling open letters about the Alberta Government’s scheme to pull the province’s still-skeptical population out…
Guest Post: Alberta has already killed the notorious Grassy Mountain coal mine, so why is it still alive?
It’s a true Alberta mystery. The notorious Grassy Mountain open-pit coal mine proposal on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta near the Crowsnest Pass keeps getting…
Canadian Ditchley Foundation tells TBA’s David Parker he’s out as a director; Premier Smith does damage control
According to Take Back Alberta Executive Director David Parker, he has been informed by the Canadian Ditchley Foundation he’s being dumped as a director of the organization. Canadian Ditchley Foundation…