The tough road ahead for Alberta’s opposition PC Party
When Members of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly gather on June 11 to choose a new Speaker, the seating chart will be unlike anything Albertans have seen in this province’s 110 year…
Manmeet Bhullar
Coming to grips the the ungrippable.
Sometimes, there are events that are so huge, it’s difficult to wrap your brain around all of the elements involved, and try to come up with some sort of reason…
Will Rick Hanson run for the PCs in Calgary-Cross?
Will Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson run for the Progressive Conservatives in the upcoming spring provincial election? His surprise resignation announcement today timed with the PCs abrupt delay of their…
A Dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2015
TweetAs 2014 reminded us, politics can be an extraordinarily unpredictable and forecasting the future can be a tricky business for political pundits. Aside from the obvious choice of Premier Jim…
Prentice Government takes Alberta from boom to bust in one weekend, breaking all records
Premier Jim Prentice points the way for public spending in Alberta now that our boom has gone bust again. Oil prices, ya know… But read the Reaper’s grim lips: “No…
Sources: MLA David Xiao disqualified from federal Conservative nomination
TweetA Progressive Conservative MLA is appealing a decision by a Conservative Party of Canada committee to disqualify him as a nomination candidate in the newly created Edmonton-West federal riding, according…
Nomination update: Yellowhead by-election, Bow River Tories vote, and Anybody but Xiao
TweetPremier Jim Prentice announced this week that five-term Conservative Member of Parliament Rob Merrifield would be appointed as Alberta’s representative in Washington D.C. Mr. Merrifield’s resignation from the House of…
Strap on your seat belts? Jim Prentice’s cabinet is more like a drive down memory lane
Jim Prentice prepares to be sworn in yesterday. Below: Health Minister Stephen Mandel and social media gadfly Olav Rokne. Things were going to change in Alberta so much once his…
Cabinet making in a shallow talent pool: what’s Alberta’s Jim Prentice going to do?
The Alberta Tory talent pool in 2014. Shallow, and not much fun for the guy in charge. Actual Alberta PC leaders may not appear as illustrated. Below: The real Mr.…
As lacklustre PC leadership race winds down, by-elections are on the horizon
TweetWith one day left before the vote, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ric McIver’s campaign took to the radio airwaves, attacking frontrunner Jim Prentice for being “an insider.” It was an…
Alberta Politics Catch Up: Pipelines, Planes, Cities and Rob Anders
TweetSpending a few days in another province can sometimes give you a different perspective on important national issues. Spending the last week in British Columbia served as a good reminder…
Thomas Lukaszuk, world’s most expensive relationship counsellor.
OK, I have about a million questions about the Thomas Lukaszuk $20,000 phone bill scandal. Or maybe about seven. First, the background. It was revealed this week that Lukaszuk, the…
Russia must be stopped! And Peter Goldring’s just the man to do it! We’ll fight to the last Frenchman and German!
After we’ve won the war with Russia, a beachhead in the Caribbean! Edmonton MP Peter Goldring as illustrated by Press Progress. Below: Rob Ford, Louis Riel, Ann of Green Gables…
Tracking Alberta MLA endorsements in the PC Leadership race
Tweet In party leadership races, endorsements by sitting MLAs can be a double-edged sword. Endorsements can lend credibility to candidates and individual MLAs own local political networks to the campaign.…
Is the Jim Prentice Juggernaut unstoppable?
TweetHe is a leadership candidate backed by long-governing party establishment. He has chased away his potential rivals. He has experience in both the federal cabinet and the corporate sector. He…
The All-Calgarian PC Party leadership race
TweetAnother Calgarian has entered what has been, at least so far, an all-Calgarian Progressive Conservative leadership race. Announcing his candidacy in the contest to become the next PC Party leader…
Alberta Tories waiting for a Jim Prentice coronation
TweetCould the snoozer that has become Alberta’s Progressive Conservative leadership race risk becoming a coronation if former federal cabinet minister Jim Prentice jumps into the race? Necessitated by the resignation…
Another PC MLA abandons Redford for the Harper Tories
TweetAnother Progressive Conservative MLA is about to jump into the federal arena. Edmonton-McClung PC MLA David Xiao will announce this week that he will seek the Conservative Party nomination in…