PHOTOS: Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley. Below: Calgary MLA Sandra Jansen, elected as a Progressive Conservative and now a member of the NDP, Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee, and the late Jim Prentice, the last PC premier of Alberta. 2016: It was the International Year of the Bean. I kid you not … OK, technically, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
How to put Christ back in Christmas: It starts with Christians pressing ‘Reset’
ILLUSTRATIONS: Santa Claus … not Jesus. Below: Karl Marx (not mentioned in the story) … also not Santa Claus. Jesus Christ (quoted at length) … not Santa Claus either. This is an edited version of a post that first appeared in this space in 2012. With the Right in Alberta working itself into a full-blown […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Merry Christmas to all! Santa is bringing presents for everyone this holiday, regardless of political orientation
PHOTOS: Merry Christmas! Your blogger with a man who can penetrate North American air defences with ease. Russian President Vladimir Putin may not appear exactly as illustrated. (Joke.) Below: Political strategist Stephen Carter with the same blogger; Alberta pollster Janet Brown; Conservative strategist Alan Hallman, who is now associated with Jason Kenney’s Alberta Progressive Conservative […]
Posted inBestsellers
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien tops this week’s Audreys Books Edmonton Bestseller List
Here is this week’s list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Do Not Say We Have Nothing – Madeleine Thien 2. A Wake for the Dreamland – Laurel Deedrick-Mayne * 3. The Whistler […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Is veteran Tory’s bid to run as Liberal in by-election to replace ex-PM a sign of sagging Conservative fortunes nationally?
PHOTOS: Veteran Conservative Lee Richardson with Alberta premier Alison Redford, who he served as principal secretary. Below: Prime minister John Diefenbaker, who Mr. Richardson served as executive assistant, and Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, for whom he was chief of staff. Understanding history requires a long view, and the picture that is emerging from the Reform […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Canada’s Conservatives have taken their greatest strength and bulldozed it to the ground: this will not end well for them
PHOTOS: Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates Kellie Leitch, Chris Alexander and Brad Trost get ready for their next debate on how best to Make Canada Great Again. Actual CPC leadership candidates may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Former Alberta Progressive Conservative premier Ed Stelmach, Alberta PC leadership candidate Jason Kenney, and Liberal Prime […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Tory harassment investigation: Move along please; nothing to see here, folks…
PHOTOS: MLA Sandra Jansen makes an impassioned plea in the Alberta Legislature on Nov. 22, calling out the hate and misogyny she has endured since announcing she was running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. On that occasion, the PC members in the House joined the standing ovation she received from her new […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Wildrose shadow shuffle leaves Derek Fildebrandt in finance; Brian Jean rumoured eyeing shuffle off to Wood Buffalo
PHOTOS: Yon Fildebrandt has that lean and hungry look … Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, right, and his finance critic, still, Derek Fildebrandt, in happier times. Below: Wildrose MLAs Drew Barnes, Leela Aheer and Tany Yao. Seemingly flying beneath the radar, Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean has completed a significant reshuffle of his shadow cabinet, the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Trouble on the ‘Alb-Right’? What are the details of Wildrose Leader Brian Jean’s better way to unite the right?
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean. He says he has a better plan than Jason Kenney’s to unite the right. The only thing is, he won’t say what it is. If it involves changing the party name, though, as this picture shows there are going to be a lot of “Wildroses” to scrub! (Photo from wildrose.ca.) […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The Great Betrayal, or just a great mistake? Today marks the second anniversary of the Wildrose Party’s mass defection
PHOTOS: Progressive Conservative premier Jim Prentice and Opposition leader turned PC MLA Danielle Smith pose awkwardly on Dec. 17, 2014, in what was supposed to be a political masterstroke, and could have turned out to have been just that (CBC photo). Below: NDP Premier Rachel Notley, Wildrose Opposition Leader Brian Jean (from Wildrose.ca) and conservative […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Rogue One, a Right Wing Wars Story: wherein the Wildrose Party’s Derek Fildebrandt slips his leader’s leash
PHOTOS: Wildrose Party Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt going rogue at Rebel Media’s Calgary anti-everything rally last Sunday (CBC photo). Below: Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Jason Kenney as imagined for this story’s rather labored metaphor. (They said I couldn’t do it. Actual PC leadership contenders may not appear exactly as illustrated.) Plus, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Topp spin: Alberta premier’s departing chief of staff gives his final report to media with an eye to history
PHOTOS: Brian Topp, Premier Rachel Notley’s departing chief of staff. Below: Mr. Topp’s replacement, John Heaney; Jim Rutkowski, appointed Principal Secretary in the premier’s office; he replaces Anne McGrath, who becomes executive director of the Premier’s Southern Alberta Office in Calgary; and former southern office ED Bob Hawkesworth. It would be fair to say Brian […]