PHOTOS: Alaska Governor Bill Walker illustrates about how much is left in the northern state’s budget now that oil prices have gone south. (Alaska Dispatch News photo.) Below: The wild rose, official flower of both Alaska and Alberta; baked Alaska, going up in flames. Looks like Alaska is totally … baked. As in, done like […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Christmas in Wildrose Country: That noise on the roof may not be Santa Claus! It could be the UN, here to steal your turnips!
ILLUSTRATIONS: Will Santa have to come armed and armoured like this to be safe on Alberta rooftops in case the province’s loony right mistakes him for a UN trooper bent on world government and turnip confiscation? Below: Wildrose MLA Rick Strankman and NDP MLA Estefania Cortes-Vargas. Below them: A sinister I [HEART] [ALBERTA] [BEETS] bumper […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Eight months of the NDP in review: Main themes pretty much as predicted on Day 2
PHOTOS: Premier Rachel Notley gives her victory speech on the historic evening of May 5, 2015, moments after the Alberta NDP’s victory was declared. Below: Former British Columbia NDP premier Dave Barrett, former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae, later a federal Liberal, and CCF-NDP activist and journalist Gerald Caplan. There is no war on Christmas, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Canadian market-fundamentalist right looks to ‘Super PACs’ like so-called Alberta Prosperity Fund to grab back power
PHOTOS: ‘Super PACs’ have access to corporate vaults, and very little control or oversight of what they do with the money they’re given. Below: Alberta Prosperity Fund Director Barry McNamar, APF Advisory Council members Dave Rutherford and Cameron Davies, and U.S. anti-taxation zealot Grover Norquist. Having received serious and unexpected shocks nationally and in Alberta […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, News Satire
NDP environment minister, premier blamed for withdrawal of Senator Lindsey Graham from presidential race
PHOTOS: South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham dropped out of the race to become the Republican Party’s presidential candidate this morning. Well-informed sources point to Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and the rest of Alberta’s NDP government as the reason he had to quit. Below: Phillips, who is now thought to be plotting to go after Donald […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Former Tory labour minister and deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk enters the farm safety fray with ‘Bill 6 Taskforce’
PHOTOS: Thomas Lukaszuk in the summer of 2014 when he was running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Below: A group of farmers and their supporters unhappy with Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, protest the legislation at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton a few days […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Dec. 17, 2014 – Defection Day – an Alberta anniversary to remember … and to forget!
PHOTOS: Defecting Opposition leader Danielle Smith, looking uncomfortable, gets an awkward and apparently unwanted hug from then-premier Jim Prentice at Government House in Edmonton as they announced their plans to merge the two parties’ caucuses. Below: Ms. Smith explains the reasoning behind the move, while our sovereign lady the Queen looks on, presumably appalled. One […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Are moderate Alberta conservatives likely to find themselves waking up to a Wildrose nightmare?
ILLUSTRATIONS: It’s a nightmare alright – but whose? Actual Alberta voters may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and NDP Premier Rachel Notley. (Both shown in CBC photos.) The prevailing narrative in the Alberta media, as a headline in the reliably pro-Wildrose Edmonton Sun put it earlier this week, is that […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Violent, lurid and misogynistic threats against NDP politicians are both enabled and exposed by social media
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean addresses foes of Bill 6 on the steps of the Alberta Legislature. (Photo grabbed from his Facebook page.) Below: Alberta premiers Ralph Klein, Alison Redford, Ed Stelmach and Rachel Notley. It seemed pretty rich for Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean to announce he was shocked – just shocked! – at […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Four veteran news professionals depart as Bell Media slashing hits CTV Edmonton
PHOTOS: CFRN in happier, pre-CTV times. Below: Journalists Serena Mah and Kim Taylor, veteran camera operator Robin Cleator, and editor Brian Fletcher. Fallout from the mid-November “restructuring” at Bell Media continues to be felt at CTV operations across the country, including here in Edmonton. If you have particularly sharp eyes, you might have noticed the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Hunting for hangover remedies with Bill Bennett and other tall tales from Social Credit British Columbia
PHOTOS: Former British Columbia Social Credit Party Premier Bill Bennett on the steps of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria. Below: Another shot of Mr. Bennett, who died on Dec. 3, looking a little shaggy; NDP Premier Dave Barrett; W.A.C. Bennett, B.C.’s Social Credit League premier before Mr. Barrett’s short and turbulent tenure. Some things change, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Let sleeping overdogs lie: Nothing to see here folks, just move along, please!
PHOTOS: We’re closed. But not for long, OK? Don’t get antsy if your comments don’t appear immediately. Read Daveberta.ca. Below: If you wondered what was going on in Alberta, now you know. “There’s nothing to see here folks, just move along…” It’s nice to know the Calgary Herald, fearless champion of the overdog, is still […]