PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kananaskis, Alberta, in April 2016 (photo by Chris Schwarz, Government of Alberta). Below: Anti-pipeline demonstrators in British Columbia (Rabble photo by Alyse Kotyk). They may not find it reassuring that Alberta conservatives are praying for their success. Without the Alberta NDP’s climate strategy, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Backstory to purloined party list whodunit hints Wildrose civil war may be brewing
PHOTOS: Veterans of the Wildrose Caucus civil wars get together in 2046 to compare their experiences. Actual aged Wildrose MLAs are unlikely to appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Wildrose Leader Brian Jean (CBC photo), his party’s finance critic, Derek Fildebrandt, and former Wildrose House leader Rob Anderson reading his confession … oh, wait, that was […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Watergate anyone? Wildrose Edmonton office burgled, computers stolen, membership data being misused: Brian Jean
PHOTOS: Brian Jean, leader of Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition Party, says he has no idea how representatives of another party gained possession of Wildrose membership lists and misused them (Wildrose.ca photo). Below: Progressive Conservative front-runner Jason Kenney, and Richard M. Nixon, who was president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. UPDATED In an email […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
I come to bury Castro, not to praise him: unpacking conservative fury at PM Justin Trudeau’s condolences
PHOTOS: Fidel Castrol in his heyday. Mr. Castro died Friday at 90. Below: An affectionate Havana scene … “Viva Fidel por siempre;” Margaret Trudeau, Mr. Castro and Pierre Trudeau in 1976; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died at 90 last year; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Before I start, let’s just make one thing perfectly […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Robo-gaffe: What do you do when caller-ID says it’s a PC on the line and you get the NDP?
PHOTOS: The offending caller ID message (photo found on Twitter). Below: Edmonton-Castle Downs NDP MLA Nicole Goehring, former Edmonton-Castle Downs Progressive Conservative MLA Thomas Lukaszuk and NDP Caucus Outreach Director Garret Spelliscy. Memo to politicians: Make sure – really, really sure – that when you send out a robo-call alerting your constituents to something you’d […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Bygone bleats: Ray Speaker speaks again, while your blogger still awaits his letter
PHOTOS: Past and present at the Alberta Legislature. Progressive Conservative campaign vehicles may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Former MLAs Ray Speaker, a Social Crediter and Progressive Conservative, Tory Steve West, New Democrat Ed Ewasiuk, and Conservative Ted Morton, the worst premier Alberta never had. Below them, Calgary MLA Sandra Jansen and assassinated Labour […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Smoke-Free Alberta asks: Why hasn’t all of the Smoking Reduction Act been enacted?
PHOTOS: Water pipes and flavoured tobacco … Why has Alberta legislation outlawing them not been enacted? There are no secret political messages in this picture, by the way. Below: Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, NDP MLA Sandra Jansen, and Edmonton Journal Editor Mark Iype. A letter Monday from the Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Jason Kenney’s sleazy campaign tactics explained: He’s rolling the dice on a first-ballot win
PHOTOS: Baby needs new shoes! Jason Kenney prepares to roll the dice on winning the Alberta PC leadership race on the first ballot. Actual Alberta conservative politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Kenney, plus candidates Steve Khan and Richard Starke. If you’re surprised by reports Jason Kenney’s Progressive Conservative leadership […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Trading press barons for social media behemoths: not an improvement for people who want news
PHOTOS: The Calgary Herald newsroom, back in the day. (Photo grabbed from Facebook, of course.) It’s quieter, nowadays. Below: Brodie Fenlon, managing editor of CBCNews.ca, and Gillian Steward, former managing editor of the Herald. I have bad news for you, people: mainstream media in Alberta is a trainwreck! Of course, if you were paying attention, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The puzzling legacy of Calgary mayor Rod Sykes: not even one pathetic cul-de-sac has been named after him!
PHOTOS: Former Calgary mayor Rod Sykes sometime during his heyday between 1969 and 1977 (Glenbow Museum photo). Below: The cover of Thin Power, How Former Calgary Mayor Rod Sykes Stamped His Brand on the City … And Scorched Some Sacred Cows, and its author, retired Alberta journalist Andy Marshall. Rod Sykes was Mayor of Calgary […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Former PC leadership candidate Sandra Jansen, subjected by Tories to ‘intimidation and harassment,’ joins NDP caucus
PHOTOS: Sandra Jansen and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley at today’s news conference (CBC Photo). Below: Conservative leadership front-runner Jason Kenney. Ten days ago ago she was a credible candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. This afternoon, Sandra Jansen became a member of the New Democratic Party Caucus in the provincial Legislature. It […]
Posted inGeopolitics
If Donald Trump won’t knuckle under, could he face an American ‘Colour Revolution’?
PHOTOS: One of many anti-Trump rallies in the United States in the past few days (from Facebook). Below: U.S. President Elect Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, U.S. Senator John McCain and Julius Caesar. It would be an irony if the troubles the United States has visited on much of the earth were now […]