Regardless of what you think of the Longest Ballot Committee’s call for Canadian electoral reform, you have to admit that Elections Canada’s solution yesterday to the mischievous addition of more than 200 names to the by-election ballot in the Battle River-Crowfoot federal riding was elegant and decisive. It’s OK, you can believe that electoral reform […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Answering a seven-year-old rhetorical question: Why Canada needs to outlaw freelance ‘diplomacy’
Back in 2018, I asked, “Do we need a Canadian version of the Logan Act to put a stop to dangerous freelance diplomacy?” The proximate cause of this rhetorical query was the supposed-to-be-secret visit to the Trump White House that former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper was scheduled to make a few days later. This […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Looks like those MLAs who want to reboot the PC Party think they can use the Alberta Party to make it happen
Uh-oh! Looks like those two Independent MLAs who want to reboot Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party think they can use the moribund Alberta Party as the vector of their political resurrection story. Hasn’t this been tried before by doomed Progressive Conservatives? That was a rhetorical question: The answer is yes. By former Edmonton Mayor and PC […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Guest Post: Reduce ‘red tape’ and also have the highest environmental standards? Can’t be done!
Anyone who reads a lot of Alberta government news releases soon come to realize that there’s a kind of literary word salad in play – phrases that seem to mean one thing but on closer analysis are just jumbles of words intended to convey “truthiness,” the term coined by American comedian Stephen Colbert – who […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Globe and Mail journalist was stalked and photographed by persons unknown for breaking stories about UCP Government
For several days the sordid tale of how a Globe and Mail journalist was stalked and photographed by a person or persons as yet unidentified has been one of the best read, least reported stories in Alberta. Best read because prima facie evidence of the harassment in the form of photos of reporter Carrie Tait […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Does a UCP path to victory in the next provincial election run through Edmonton City Hall?
With a steady buzz suggesting Premier Danielle Smith may call an early provincial election in 2026, a path to victory runs through Alberta’s city halls, particularly Edmonton’s. Ms. Smith has made no secret of her lack of enthusiasm for Alberta’s municipal governments – especially the ones in Alberta’s two biggest cities that have a habit […]
Posted inGeopolitics
The political demise of Donald Trump, which suddenly appears possible, would herald big changes for UCP
Well, you didn’t exactly hear this first here, but it sure is starting to look like Donald Trump is done like dinner! The political demise of the U.S. president, if it happens any time soon as now seems possible, would have a number of positive impacts on this side of the World’s Longest Undefended Border, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Danielle Smith, exhibiting remarkably thin skin, demands apology from Town of Jasper for consultant’s critical report on 2024 fire
Alberta’s thin-skinned premier clapped back at Jasper yesterday for daring to release a consultant’s after-action report about last July’s devastating fire that criticized her government’s response. Clearly the report’s indication some of the 300 or so firefighters and officials interviewed by SATYA Inc. thought the province made things worse when its officials interfered with efforts […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Interfering Alberta officials made things worse during last year’s catastrophic Jasper fire: report
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government will do anything to own the Libs – even if they have to burn your house down to do it! That at least is an inference that can be drawn from a 57-page report commissioned by the Town of Jasper and released yesterday that concludes the Alberta government made things […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Last night’s Alberta Next town hall ‘couldn’t have been more contrived if it were a one-star Fringe show’
Despite the United Conservative Party’s best efforts to do so, there’s no way Premier Danielle Smith’s “Alberta Next” travelling townhall tour can be described as a public consultation on this province’s role in Canada. At best, it’s a pre-campaign roadshow intended to distract from several major embarrassments dogging Ms. Smith’s United Conservative Party Government in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
‘My husband’s an adviser to me, and that’s allowed because he’s married to me,’ Alberta Premier Danielle Smith insists
Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith replied snippily to a reporter’s question at a news conference that it was quite proper for her husband to take part in discussions about the province’s passenger rail system. “My husband’s an adviser to me, and that’s allowed because he’s married to me, so I can ask for his […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Congratulations to the United Conservative Party Government! Alberta is No. 1 … for measles infections
Thank you, Danielle Smith! We are No. 1! In fact, congratulations to the whole United Conservative Party team. Alberta wouldn’t be at the top today without your hard work. We are the champions! Unfortunately, this isn’t a contest you’d think anyone would want to win. The number of reported measles cases in Alberta now exceeds […]