Smith’s Demands
“She’s playing with fire with a foreign adversary.” Political scientist, Duane Bratt in an interview with Mark Hislop This week Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, gave Canadians another reason not to…
Danielle Smith
Former AHS CEO briskly denies her job performance had anything to do with why she was fired
Former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos has responded to the Alberta Government’s statement of defence in her wrongful dismissal suit with a briskly argued denial that lousy job performance…
Mark Carney comes back to Edmonton, warms up with Oilers, infuriates Danielle Smith
It may just be a political stunt when a prime minister comes to the capital city of Alberta, puts on his skates and a jersey with his own name on…
Amid performative tantrum about ‘federal overreach,’ UCP tries to goad Mark Carney
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government is having another tantrum about federal environmental regulatory overreach, mostly imagined, by the former Trudeau Government. Yesterday’s meltdown came in the form of an announcement…
Moribund newspaper chain names former Alberta premier Jason Kenney to its board
Postmedia Network Canada Corp., operator of the flagging chain of English-language Canadian newspapers and clickbait websites, yesterday announced the appointment of former Alberta Conservative premier Jason Kenney to its board…
Crack appears in UCP’s solid front as cabinet member calls for Adriana LaGrange to be sacked as health minister
For the first time since Danielle Smith became premier of Alberta in the fall of 2022, a rift in United Conservative Party cabinet ranks appeared in public view yesterday over…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Anne Applebaum discusses how the actual regime change under Donald Trump involves the replacement of any public service with a system devoted exclusively to…
If the UCP hopes to turn the page on the Dodgy Contracts Scandal, someone’s going to have to fall on their sword
If Danielle Smith hopes to turn the page on the Dodgy Contracts Scandal that’s been dogging her since the former CEO of Alberta Health Services challenged the United Conservative Party…
The Captain Goes Down with the Ship
“This isn’t mismanagement—it’s a scandal”—Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association. Calling for an independent investigation into the Alberta Surgical Initiative (a $400 Mill effort to outsource surgeries to…
The Captain Must Go Down with the Ship
“This isn’t mismanagement—it’s a scandal”—Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association, calling for an independent investigation into the Alberta Surgical Initiative (a $400 Mill effort to outsource surgeries to…
In truculent statement, Danielle Smith denies any responsibility for misconduct at Alberta Health Services by government staff
In a truculent and defensive statement in response to this week’s bombshell allegations provincial officials improperly pressured Alberta Health Services to sign bad deals with private contractors, a stormy Danielle…
Danielle Smith declares victory in tariff imbroglio, despite her abject failure to influence Donald Trump
In the face of the abject failure of Danielle Smith’s appeasement tour of Mar-a-Lago and Washington D.C. last month, Alberta’s premier has declared victory with the fatuous claim the Trump…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Paul Krugman discusses how one of the top priorities of the second Donald Trump administration is to trash public health in the U.S. And…
Danielle Smith undermined Canada’s bargaining position in face of Trump tariffs, says former chief trade negotiator
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s refusal to sign the joint statement in which all other provincial and territorial premiers agreed to a co-ordinated response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs…
What Is She Thinking?
Last November Danielle Smith said she wasn’t worried about tariffs on oil and gas products (at that time Trump was threatening a 10 to 20% tariff on Canadian goods). Last…
Media matters: If Justin Trudeau’s vacation itinerary was so vitally important, why isn’t Danielle Smith’s?
Do you remember the furor the National Post and all its little local Postlets ginned up about Justin Trudeau’s Christmas holiday in British Columbia? Hard to believe that was just…
If Danielle Smith intends to defy a national consensus on how to respond to Donald Trump’s tariffs, she should call an election
If Alberta Premier Danielle Smith intends to defy an all-party, all-province, national consensus on how to respond to Donald Trump’s tariff threats, she should call a provincial election and get…
Danielle Smith races to the side of the biggest right-wing celebrity of them all, Donald Trump, conducts ‘diplomacy’
There being no Canadian version of the Logan Act, there’s little that could be done about Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s mortifying pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to pose for a selfie with…
Chaos and the Importance of Community
“In the most dangerous of times, those who escape and survive generally know people whom they can trust. Having old friends is the politics of last resort. And making new…
Do The Math
I swore I was going to put politics aside in the run up to Christmas, but when the latest screed from Free Alberta Strategy dropped into my inbox, I had…