PHOTOS: Thomas Mulcair in Edmonton … shortly before the disappointing federal election on Oct. 19, 2015. Below: Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff, former NDP MP and leadership candidate Peggy Nash, and influential Alberta union leader Doug O’Halloran. This probably isn’t a very nice way to put it, but the question everyone in Edmonton was […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Former Alberta Health Services CEO’s accusations of NDP ‘interference’ raise more questions than they answer
PHOTOS: Former Alberta Health Services CEO and president Vickie Kaminski, who was back in the news yesterday. Below: Former Progressive Conservative health minister Stephen Mandel; NDP health Minister Sarah Hoffman. Vickie Kaminski’s self-justifying letter of resignation, leaked to the CBC by a person or persons unknown with the obvious intention of wounding the NDP Government, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Acclaimed to party official’s job, social conservative activist Craig Chandler is sure to embarrass Ric McIver and his sad sack PCs
PHOTOS: Craig Chandler – about the closest thing there is to ballot box poison in Alberta. (Photo from Mr. Chandler via the CBC.) Below: Progressive Conservative interim Leader Ric McIver. Craig Chandler – just about the closest thing to ballot box poison in Alberta – has just presented Progressive Conservative interim Leader Ric McIver with […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Former justice Frank Iacobucci’s recommendation proves one thing: Alison Redford haunts us still
PHOTOS: Alison Redford, back in the day. … She haunts us still. Below: Former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci, former Alberta ethics commissioner Neil Wilkinson, Alberta Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler and Parkland Institute Executive Director Ricardo Acuña. It’s unlikely Alison Redford is guilty of anything worse than being a spectacularly incompetent politician, but […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Time to share the pain and stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars on elite private and cherry-picking charter schools
PHOTOS: A typical Alberta charter school class, at least as imagined by supporters of the expensive idea. Actual charter and private school students in 2016 may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Progressive Conservative Party interim Leader Ric McIver, Education Minister David Eggen and private school supporter and former PC premier Jim Prentice. Progressive Conservative […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Albertans will soon be able to ‘tap’ for ambulance service with new smartphone app
PHOTO: An artist’s rendering of what one of a new TAP-ulanceRX emergency care vehicle might look like. TAP-ulance Premium emergency vehicles will resemble conventional ambulances but offer a higher grade of gurney and a premium sound system, plus an attendant who may be trained. April 1, 2016 Residents of Alberta will soon be able to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A class of refugee the National Post and Wildrose Party can finally love: billionaires in tax flight
PHOTOS: N. Murray Edwards talking about himself in a screen capture from a Facebook video. Below: The National Post’s Kevin Libin and the Wildrose Party’s Derek Fildebrandt, united in their fearless championing of the Canadian overdog. Bottom: Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, sitting while the rest of us stand to attention. N. Murray Edwards, where are […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Postmedia’s symbiotic relationship with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation fails to offer much illumination
PHOTOS: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s misleading “debt clock” trailer back when Alberta’s debt wasn’t $10 billion. Now it isn’t $17 billion. Below: CTF Alberta Director Paige MacPherson, telling Okotoks Online that 44,000 teachers should all be handed a big pay cut (Okotoks Online photo); Parkland Institute Research Manager Ian Hussey and tight-fisted Alberta NDP Finance […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Do billionaires fleeing Canadian taxes deserve public subsidies for their Alberta franchises?
PHOTOS: CNRL Executive Chairperson N. Murray Edwards, a billionaire. (Wikipedia photo). Below: Twitter gadfly Dave Beninger (Facebook grab), Law Professor Catherine Brown (University of Calgary photo), former Alberta Premier Alison Redford and billionaire hockey team owner Daryl Katz. Bottom: A typically fair and balanced story on one of the many front pages of the Edmonton-Calgary-Sun-Journal-Herald-Sun. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Questions without answers: Why are our U.S. allies so ambivalent about ISIS, and what does it mean for Canada?
PHOTOS: U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner. (Screen grab from C-SPAN.) Below: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Conservative interim Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. For all we know, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a fine ophthalmologist with a sympathetic bedside manner. By all accounts, though, he is not a very nice person. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Tory victory in Calgary-Greenway riding turns ‘unite the right’ merger on Wildrose terms into political roadkill
PHOTOS: Progressive Conservative candidate Prabhdeep Gill, centre, celebrates after last night’s results were announced in the Calgary-Greenway by-election. (CBC photo.) Below: The night’s biggest loser, arguably, was Opposition Leader Brian Jean. (Manning Centre photo.) Below Mr. Jean: Conservative Sandra Jansen and former Liberal MLA Hugh McDonald. Last night’s clear victory by Progressive Conservative candidate Prabhdeep […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Whatever the outcome, today’s Calgary-Greenway by-election is sure to be a spinner’s dream
PHOTOS: Some of the candidates in today’s Calgary-Greenway by-election. (CBC photo) Below: Manmeet Bhullar, the PC MLA for the riding killed in a highway crash last November, NDP candidate Roop Rai and PC candidate Prabhdeep Gill. Today is the day of the by-election in Calgary-Greenway, called to replace Progressive Conservative MLA Manmeet Bhullar, who was […]