PHOTOS: Alberta’s latest would-be conservative leader, as seen by party insiders and supporters. (Actually, it’s Bonaparte. Alberta conservative leaders may not appear exactly imagined by Jacques-Louis David.) Below: Would-be Tory messiahs Stephen Mandel and the late Jim Prentice, and Jason Kenney. Below them: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Stephen Mandel, former mayor of Edmonton and a […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The UCP may be a different party, but its policy document shows it’s peddling the same old … stuff
PHOTOS: Among other things, the aspirational UCP policy document would have you believe the party could balance environmental protection and the wants of recreational vehicle users if it were the government. What do you think that means? (Photo, for illustrative purposes only, grabbed from SHERP ATV.) Below: Alberta premiers Rachel Notley and Peter Lougheed (Photos: […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Stephen Mandel, past his best-before date but still politically sexy to media, declares Alberta Party leadership bid
PHOTOS: Stephen Mandel makes his Alberta Party leadership campaign announcement yesterday in Edmonton (Photo: Twitter). Below: Mr. Mandel back in the day with premier Jim Prentice, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, former Alberta Party leader Greg Clark, and United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney. Stephen Mandel’s political strategists would like you to think he’s just the […]
Posted inBestsellers
Oil’s Deep State by Edmonton author Kevin Taft returns to top of Audreys Books Edmonton non-fiction bestseller list
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended Jan. 7, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. This Wound is a World (poetry) Billy-Ray Belcourt*+ 2. Bellevue Square – Michael Redhill 3. Autumn – Ali Smith […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
‘Blockbuster’ job creation in Alberta leaves UCP in search of new talking points about ‘job killing’ carbon levy
PHOTOS: The Calgary skyline in 2016. After a bad patch, the city is now back in the BMO Capital Markets’ Top Ten performance list, thanks in part to falling unemployment rates. (Photo: Kevin Cappis, Wikimedia Commons.) Below: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci, Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips, and Calgary Chamber of Commerce Spokesperson Scott Crockatt. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Thank God! A horserace at last for the Alberta Party leadership … probably, anyway
PHOTOS: What a glorious opportunity to use this photo of Stephen Mandel again! Say what you will about the guy, he’s got style! Below: Rick Fraser, the other former Progressive Conservative known to be running for the leadership of the Alberta Party and, by coincidence, the other credible candidate with any sort of profile as […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Tim Hortons brew-haha shows how the fast-food industry doesn’t get PR, Economics 101, or what Canadians think
PHOTOS: Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in a very old picture that has the dual advantages of showing her wearing a smile appropriate to the occasion being discussed and of having been taken by your blogger. Below: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives analyst Michal Rozworski (Photo: Twitter), the late but actual non-iconic Tim Horton (Photo: Wikipedia), […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Thanks to Donald Trump, the post-war American imperium that’s run like a Swiss watch is coming unsprung!
PHOTOS: U.S. President Donald Trump’s inaugural parade makes its way through Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017, just before the stuff hit the fan and everything went to hell in a handbasket. (Photo: United States Navy.) Below: President Trump, former president Barack Obama, the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and former Australian PM and […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Donald Trump: He’s bad, but I’m here to tell you he’s not the worst president our neighbours have ever had
PHOTOS: Donald J. Trump. Never mind what you think. He’s not the worst American president ever. Actually, he’s probably about the 7th worst … so far. (Photo: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons.) Below: Worse presidents James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Andrew Johnson, Andrew Jackson (in his dotage), Franklin Pierce and Millard Fillmore. People, I’m here to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Impact of growing opioid crisis on life expectancy in the United States is more evidence that neoliberal austerity kills
PHOTOS: This scene is in Paris. It could be anywhere in our “globalized,” that is, neoliberalized world. (Photo: Eric Poulhier, Wikimedia Commons.) Below: Rundown but dignified Havana, high-profile U.S. economist Paul Krugman (Photo: Flickr, Commonwealth Club) and political economist Alan Nasser (Photo: Evergreen State College). Will Mexico eventually decide it wants to pay to build […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Those lame green coroplast arrows point to one thing: the UCP’s cozy relationship with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
PHOTOS: United Conservative Party MLA Wes Taylor with his notorious green coroplast arrow. Below: An example of the fun made of Mr. Taylor by Internet wags; Porky the Waster Hater, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s mascot; Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean in happier times with their lame CTF-style signage; and UCP Leader […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
New Year’s bitter Twitter attacks on fact-checking economists suggest UCP will try to make 2018 the Year of the Big Chill
PHOTOS: University of Alberta economist and professor Andrew Leach. Below: Calgary-Fish Creek United Conservative Party MLA Richard Gotfried (Photo: Mr. Gotfried’s Facebook page), UCP Leader Jason Kenney, and University of Calgary economist and professor Trevor Tombe (Photo: U of C). New Year’s in Alberta blew in on a bitter winter wind. That was the weather. […]