As was famously said by the renowned expert on domestic safety and social order, Tweety Bird: “I tawt I taw a puddy tat!” And this is not just any puddy tat, as it turns out. It is a politically significant puddy tat made out of gold! I speak of the graven image of a feline […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Danielle Smith sure doesn’t look like a suitable person to be privy to Canadian state secrets
When Premier Danielle Smith revealed Wednesday during Question Period in the Alberta Legislature that she is seeking national security clearance from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, she put Canada’s spy agency in a potentially difficult spot. Jousting with Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi about the danger of foreign interference in the separation referendum she is determined […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP to rural municipalities: Forget about ever collecting those unpaid O&G property taxes
Monday’s report of the Alberta Government’s so-called Property Tax Accountability Strategy Working Group had lots of big ideas about how to recover unpaid taxes “from companies that are still operating and reducing future unpaid taxes.” Seventeen recommendations in all, according to the government’s news release, which also quoted Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams piously explaining […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No Order of Canada for Cherry? That’s the pits, sour grapes Conservatives insist
Tout le monde MAGA Alberta, apparently anxious to quit Canada as quickly as possible and maybe even join the gong show south of the 49th Parallel, is all of a sudden, speaking of gongs, in a swivet because Don Cherry doesn’t have an Order of Canada! Go figure! Is it just me, or is this […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
$90M for private schools is terrible public policy, but it makes political sense for the UCP
Critics say the United Conservative Government’s plan to fund private-school construction projects to the tune of $90 million over three years makes no sense. Alas, the scheme announced by Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides at the end of last week to “create 6,000 new student spaces at independent schools,” as the government’s news release tendentiously put […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Despite the misgivings of many progressives, Mark Carney, sworn in as PM a year ago today, is undeniably a political success
Mark Carney was sworn in as prime minister of Canada a year ago today, and surely even his opponents must admit he’s enjoyed considerable success in his first year on the job. Many progressive Canadians with deep misgivings about the direction in which Mr. Carney is taking the country are nevertheless watching with a certain […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
New Democrats feel the Carney burn as Nunavut MP Lori Idlout crosses floor to Liberals
Like their Conservative counterparts who have already felt the Carney burn three times, federal New Democrats will be none too happy about the not-completely-unexpected news late yesterday that Nunavut MP Lori Idlout has crossed the floor to join the Liberal Government as it creeps toward a post-election majority. When I predicted in yesterday’s post that […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Avi Lewis pulls ahead in fund-raising and the vibe as end of federal NDP leadership race nears
Online voting started yesterday in the NDP leadership contest, which from the start has appeared to be a two-horse race between Avi Lewis and Heather McPherson. The auguries suggest Mr. Lewis is now in the lead and pulling farther ahead. Mr. Lewis is the scion of the Lewis political family, which has been prominent in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Is the Alberta Prosperity Project having trouble finding enough Albertans willing to sign its separation petition?
Is the Alberta Prosperity Project having trouble finding enough Albertans willing to sign its Citizen Initiative Act petition to gets its separation referendum on the ballot next fall? One has to wonder. It seemed as if it wouldn’t be that hard for Alberta’s far-right separation crowd to get the 177,732 valid signatures needed under the […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Mark Carney made ‘terrible mistake’ by parroting Donald Trump’s justification for war on Iran, says historian and security expert
Prime Minister Mark Carney made “a terrible mistake” with his immediate full-throated support of U.S. President Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran, Canadian historian and security-intelligence expert Wesley Wark said yesterday. It’s hard to argue with Dr. Wark’s grim assessment that the hasty announcement by the PM while at the Canada-India Growth and Investment […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Nobody expected UCP Finance Minister Nate Horner to deliver an NDP budget, but yesterday he did!
Surely nobody expected Finance Minister Nate Horner to stand up in the Alberta Legislature yesterday and table an NDP budget. But that’s pretty much what he did. In the leadup to the 2026 Budget Speech, Mr. Horner made lots of noises about hard choices, tough times, and how Albertans don’t back down from challenges. “In […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Get ready for the ‘Blame-it-all-on Trudeau Budget’ – don’t expect many other surprises either
This afternoon, Finance Minister Nate Horner will rise in the Legislature to read Alberta’s Budget Speech. One hopes Mr. Horner has bought himself a nice new pair of shoes, as is uniquely traditional for finance ministers on Budget Days in Canada. That should offer some psychic compensation for having to admit he’s about to post […]