Happy Alberta Day
I just finished reading Premier Smith’s statement celebrating Alberta Day and wondered how I would explain it to someone who knows nothing about Alberta’s history. I suspect the conversation would…
Jason Kenney
After five years, RCMP investigation into Kamikaze Affair ends with a whimper, not a bang
After five years, Canada’s national police force has concluded no charges will be laid in the notorious Kamikaze Affair, as allegations of fraud and identity theft in Jason Kenney’s victorious…
‘Kenneyism: Jason Kenney’s Pursuit of Power’ by Jeremy Appel is a strong second draft of history
Last Summer, Jeremy Appel, one of Alberta’s best young journalists, approached me to ask if I would write a foreword to the book he was completing on Jason Kenney’s big…
He’s baaaack! Jason Kenney on Donald Trump – and maybe Danielle Smith and Take Back Alberta, too
When Jason Kenney talks about Donald Trump, it’s hard to shake the feeling he’s really talking about Danielle Smith. Interviewer Steven Edginton (Photo: Screenshot of Youtube video). We all remember…
Protecting the Environment: There has to be a better way
In 2019 the federal government enacted the Impact Assessment Act which regulated “designated projects” (think: oil sands, mining and other major projects within provincial boundaries). The Kenney government tagged it…
Danielle Smith’s Alternative Reality
Albertans live in an alternate universe. How else can we explain last week’s press conference where Danielle Smith pilloried the draft electricity regulations which are designed to ensure Canada’s electrical…
Today is last day on job for AHS VP Deb Gordon, highest-ranking woman in the province-wide health agency
On Aug. 18, Alberta Health Services President and CEO Mauro Chies sent a memorandum to the province-wide public health care agency’s senior managers telling them that the highest ranking woman…
Cabinet was ignoring the law when it ordered Dr. Hinshaw around during the pandemic! Who knew?
You can blame Jason Kenney, principal author of the United Conservative Government’s clown-show response to COVID-19, if Alberta’s many pandemic scofflaws manage to wiggle off the hook for their violations…
Danielle Smith Stands her Ground (or something)
Last week the Feds unveiled the Sustainable Jobs Act, Danielle Smith responded in her typical word-salad fashion and the press lauded her for standing her ground. Against what? The Feds…
Jason Kenney’s novel Hyperlink Defence in defamation suit fails to impress Court of King’s Bench judge
It’s probably not very helpful to the United Conservative Party effort to hang onto power by its fingernails that party founder and former premier Jason Kenney found himself back in…
Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Omar Mosleh discusses the growing damage being caused by repeated wildfires in Canada, while David Wallace-Wells writes that there’s no escape from…
UCP health minister’s claim of record-breaking nurse recruitment drive is hard to justify
Yesterday’s United Conservative Party claim that Alberta is the beneficiary of a record-breaking drive to recruit nurses from abroad seems divorced from reality. A UCP social media ad attributing a…
Last week wasn’t a good one for Alberta’s UCP – this week holds the promise of more … snow
They say a week is a long time in politics, but last week must have felt like eternity to the United Conservative Party brain trust. Deputy Premier Kaycee Madu (Photo:…
Who Do You Trust?
In less than 70 days Albertans will decide whether Daniel Smith’s UCP or Rachel Notley’s NDP will form the next government. Political junkies like me have pretty much made up…
Episode 85: Naheed Nenshi on Calgary in Alberta’s 2023 election
Former Calgary mayor shares his thoughts on Danielle Smith, Rachel Notley and the city he calls home ahead of Alberta’s provincial election. Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi joins the Daveberta…
‘We reject the premise of your question’ – an excerpt from ‘Anger and Angst, Jason Kenney’s Legacy and Alberta’s Right’
Alberta is on the cusp of a provincial election in which a United Conservative Party increasingly dominated by far-right ideologues and an ever more centrist NDP will face off to…
Former premier, CMOH – both battered by the winds of COVID controversy – find soft post-pandemic landings
Surely it was mere coincidence that two of the principal actors in Alberta’s COVID-19 drama had soft post-pandemic landings announced yesterday. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Former…
Shandro’s Disciplinary Hearing
The “boiling frog syndrome” is a metaphor used to describe the failure to act against a problematic situation which will increase in severity until reaching catastrophic proportions.—Wikipedia. Let’s talk about…
The Alberta political story of 2022 was the decline, fall, irrelevance and virtual disappearance of Jason Kenney
Looking back over the Alberta political stories of 2022, one theme dominates all others: the fall of Jason Kenney. What may have been Mr. Kenney’s worst moment of 2022, the…
In only 64 days, Danielle Smith blew the relationship Jason Kenney strove to build with Alberta First Nations to smithereens
Say what you will about Jason Kenney and his ideas, he made progress on persuading First Nations communities to buy into his vision of Alberta’s future. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith…