PHOTO: Derek Fildebrandt, a (former?) Wildrose Opposition MLA and as of right now chair of the Legislature’s Public Accounts Committee. (Photo © David Climenhaga, just sayin’.) Tomorrow morning, the Alberta Legislature’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts will have the opportunity to grill officials from Alberta Treasury Board and Finance about the state of the province’s […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Brian Jean’s Wildrose Party leadership is now unquestioned: the fall of Derek Fildebrandt explained
PHOTOS: Brian Jean will be in the background no more … Back in 2015, Derek Fildebrandt was dominating the conversation, refusing to answer questions from a Globe and Mail reporter who had annoyed him, as his former party leader looked on, apparently bemused (CBC photo). Below: Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, from her Twitter page, and […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt suspended from caucus by Leader Brian Jean over social media message
PHOTO: Wildrose Finance Citic Derek Fildebrandt was suspended by the party caucus last night by Leader Brian Jean. Below: Mr. Jean, Twitterer Dave Beninger and NDP MLA Deb Drever (CBC photo). Wildrose Party Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt was suspended from the Opposition party’s Legislative caucus just before midnight last night by party Leader Brian Jean. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Wildrose Party’s half-hearted apology to Ontario premier doesn’t mean much
PHOTOS: Wildrose Party Finance Critic and chief Legislative greeter Derek Fildebrandt, demonstrating a typical attitude. Below: Shocked and appalled critics Naheed Nenshi, mayor of Calgary, David Swann, Alberta Liberal leader, Greg Clark, Alberta Party leader, and Brian Mason, Government House Leader. Thanks to the Wildrose Party, the phrase “Alberta welcome” may enter the popular lexicon […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Watching the Wildrose in the Legislature: Beverly Hillbillies … or Deliverance?
PHOTOS: The Beverly Hillbillies in campaign mode. Actual members of the Alberta Wildrose caucus may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, left, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, right, answer reporters’ questions in the Legislature Rotunda yesterday morning (screen shots … can’t say I was there) and, below them, Wildrose Leader Brian […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Those wacky federal Tories! Just how dumb do they think we are? (Hint: plenty)
PHOTOS: Rona Ambrose dressed up in hospital scrubs and a stethoscope. Hint: She’s not a real doctor. It’s not clear from this photo, which was published on a CTV site, if the other people are real health care workers or Tory MPs. Below: Your blogger with Dr. Joe Vipond, who is a real doctor. Hint: […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Brace for it: Alberta is about to endure weeks of vicious climate-change-induced political weather!
PHOTOS: Environment Minister Shannon Phillips at a related announcement last fall. As you can see, some of the same supporters were with her yesterday, as shown below by the Government of Alberta photo taken at the notorious Sky Palace in Edmonton, which has been converted to a meeting area by the NDP. Below that, Wildrose […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
It’s time for a national postal bank in both Canada and the United States
PHOTOS: The little Post Office in downtown St. Albert, where your blogger lives, which Canada Post is anxious to close as soon as possible. Below: The U.S. Post Office in Fallon, Montana, the Canadian Post Office in Dewberry, Alberta (villageofdewberry.ca), American social activist Ralph Nader, and Service Alberta Minister Stephanie McLean. We now live in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
We frown on smiles! The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is unhappy to learn public-sector workers are happy
PHOTOS: Canadian public sector employees like these workers are just too darned happy and must be made to stop smiling, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation believes. Actual Canadian public sector workers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick (CBC photo) and former CTF board member and anti-union activist John Mortimer. Employees […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
NDP moves to rein in Tory patronage and boondoggles at Alberta’s many boards, agencies and commissions
PHOTOS: NDP Finance Minister Joe Ceci on the day he was sworn in. Below: The full list of agencies to be amalgamated or eliminated by the government in the first round of its “ABC” review; NDP Environment Minister Shannon Phillips; and Tory health minister Fred Horne, way back in the day. In yet another example […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
If the Wildrose Party can’t unite the right on its terms, maybe there’s another way to skin that particular conservative cat
PHOTOS: Don’t look for a happy occasion like this any time in the near future of the Alberta Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties (grabbed from FashionEra.com). Below: Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean, Progressive Conservative Party President Katherine O’Neill and PC Party founder Peter Lougheed. The Wildrose Conservative Party? Sounds like the Wildrose Party’s strategic brain […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
What makes sense for pill presses in Alberta doesn’t make sense for firearms: Discuss
PHOTOS: An illegal pill press, with illegal firearms (Australian Broadcasting Corporation photo). Below: Progressive Conservative MLA Mike Ellis and NDP MLA Deb Drever (Edmonton Journal photo). Hmmmm… Canada’s conservative parties – first among them Alberta’s Opposition Wildrose Party and its federal auxiliary, the Conservative Party of Canada – have long found a certain segment of […]