Now that Canadians have been given a one-month reprieve from President Trump’s threatened arbitrary 25-per-cent tariffs, it’s safe to assume media and politicians north of the world’s longest undefended border will quickly revert to old bad habits. After a brief, uncomfortable stab at appearing to be a team player, we can probably expect federal Conservative […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
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 Tariffs imposed on Canadian oil and gas are only 10 per cent thanks to her. “We note the reduced 10 per cent tariff for Canadian […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
On eve of Groundhog Day, UCP removes Alberta Health Services board … again!
Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Government dismissed the entire Alberta Health Services Board yesterday – the second time in two years the UCP brain trust has dumped the health care agency’s board of directors en masse! The last time the UCP eliminated the entire AHS board was on Nov. 17, 2022, so, to be precise, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Raj Pannu, gentlemanly and scholarly leader of Alberta’s NDP from 2000 to 2004, is fondly remembered
When Raj Pannu first won Edmonton-Strathcona riding for the Alberta NDP in 1997, he took the riding by 58 votes. In those days, Edmonton-Strathcona was not the NDP bastion it is today. It could as easily have fallen to the Alberta Liberals, whose candidate had 4,214 votes to Mr. Pannu’s 4,272, or the Progressive Conservatives, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Danielle Smith, defiant and unrepentant, blows off criticism of her government’s dubious COVID-19 report
Alberta premier Danielle Smith, defiant and unrepentant, continues to slough off criticism of the report on Alberta’s COVID-19 response produced by her government’s a handpicked panel of vaccine skeptical and conspiracy-theory-influenced contributors. “This is the kind of approach you should always expect from me,” she told a reporter at a news conference yesterday on another […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Promise made, promise kept: Thanks to the UCP, Alberta workers now face a significant ‘Alberta Disadvantage’
As far as wages go, Alberta workers now face a significant “Alberta Disadvantage,” says a report published yesterday on the continuing suppression of wages and salaries in the Western Canadian province. Not long ago the highest-wage province in Canada, with wages 17 per cent above the national average, payroll data for hourly employees shows Alberta […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Its addled report assailed by expert critics, UCP COVID ‘task force’ quickly descends into a task farce
As predicted on Friday, it didn’t take long for the debunking of the conspiracy-theory-riddled final report of the United Conservative Party Government’s so-called task force on Alberta’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to begin in earnest. It started yesterday morning with a blast from Alberta Medical Association President Shelley Duggan, who assailed the document as […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The Jasper fire funding flip-flop: The UCP is prepared to let families go homeless to pursue its vendetta against Ottawa
It sure looks as if Alberta’s United Conservative Government is prepared to let more than 600 families whose homes were destroyed by last July’s wildfire go homeless if that’s what it takes to pursue its political vendetta against the Liberal federal government in Ottawa. According to The Canadian Press, this was the view of the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta government ‘task force’ report on response to COVID-19 calls for vaccine use to be halted, pumps quack cures and conspiracy theories
Hours after U.S. government health agencies’ websites began to go dark as part of President Donald Trump’s opening attack on public health in the United States, the Alberta government yesterday quietly published a conspiracy-theory-promoting report on the province’s response to COVID-19 that calls for use of COVID vaccines to be halted and accuses media of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
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 on Canadian exports significantly undermined Canada’s bargaining position, Canada’s former chief trade negotiator says. Steve Verheul delivered that judgment during a 2025 financial outlook panel […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Dig, baby, dig! Energy Minister Brian Jean lifts ban on coal exploration on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies
In a Jan. 15 letter to the Chairman of the Alberta Energy Regulator, Environment Minister Brian Jean lifted the ban on coal exploration on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains that was put in place after intense public pressure on Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party Government in February 2021. Hard to say whether the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Canada could be in stronger position than U.S. if trade war breaks out: economist Paul Krugman
Canada may find itself in a stronger position than the United States if a trade war breaks out between the two countries. Don’t take my word for that. That’s Paul Krugman speaking. You know, the distinguished professor of economics, winner of a Nobel prize in that field* and for almost 24 years until late last […]