PHOTOS: A couple of typical alienated Westerners discuss what to do next now that another Trudeau is about to be sworn in as prime minister of Canada. Head for the hills, I guess. Below: The elder prime minister Trudeau, Pierre, and Alberta premier Peter Lougheed toast the mutually satisfactory deal they signed in September 1981 […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Justin Trudeau’s victory speech was generous, but toughly repudiated Stephen Harper’s divisive rule
PHOTOS: Justin Trudeau addresses supporters in Montreal last night in this screen shot from the CBC’s broadcast of the prime minister elect’s victory speech. Below: the Trudeaus, son and father. Justin Trudeau’s victory speech last night touched a gracious note of tribute to the losers, especially the evening’s principal loser, Stephen Harper, as such speeches […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Where are the ‘good Conservatives,’ prepared to speak against their party’s race-baiting tactics?
PHOTOS: Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s tactics have sparked protests, but Conservatives who should know better have been astonishingly quiet. (CommonDreams.org photo.) Below: Former St. Albert MLA Mary O’Neill, Independent MP Brent Rathgeber and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. ST. ALBERT, Alberta The single most disheartening thing about this long 2015 federal election campaign has been the […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Whatever happens next, Justin Trudeau has brought the Liberals back from the brink
PHOTOS: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau addresses his supporters in Edmonton this morning. Below: Mr. Trudeau’s supporters line up in the pale morning light to get into his rally; Mr. Trudeau greets supporters as he bounded to the stage. Charisma matters. I don’t know if Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will win the federal election tomorrow or not, […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Eleven grinding weeks and this federal election comes down to a science question: momentum, or inertia?
PHOTOS: Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair on stage in Edmonton Friday night (photo by Olav Rokne). The red signs say “Stop Harper.” Perhaps at this hour they should say “Stop Trudeau!” Below: Well-known Alberta pollster Janet Brown, Calgary Centre Liberal candidate Kent Hehr, former Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion, and Australian campaign dirty-tricks mogul Lynton […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Brothels? Neighbourhood injection sites? Have the Cons jumped the shark? Or is the nightmare just beginning?
PHOTOS: Trashy bars like this with free-injection sites and illegal card games out back could soon start popping up in cities like yours if we don’t re-elect the sternly upright Stephen Harper. Really! And if you think this story was easy to illustrate without straining the limits of good taste, you haven’t been spending much […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition: just off the turnip truck … or what?
ILLUSTRATIONS: Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, back in the day. Below: A newer version of the same hospital, one of the buildings that’s now falling apart. (From CardCow.com) Below that image: Wildrose Health Critic Drew Barnes; Richard Starke, MLA, and Richard Starkey, MBE. Anybody who’s been inside the Royal Alexandra Hospital in the past decade knows […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Welcome to the Orwellian world of Wildrose, where keeping your promises makes you a liar
PHOTOS: Possibly the Globe and Mail’s best headline of the decade. Below: NDP Premier Rachel Notley, Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt, the sailboat known as French Kiss, shown just to prove I didn’t make that part up, the full Globe headline, shown for the same reason. Is Alberta ready for democracy? Notwithstanding the unexpected election […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics, Geopolitics
Lawyers, guns and money: Russia’s intervention in Syria offers a useful teaching moment for Canadians
PHOTOS: A Russian Su-34 bomber releases a bomb near the provisional ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria. (Russian Ministry of Defence photo.) Below: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Russia’s military intervention in the Syrian civil war has offered a unique teaching moment for Canadians about the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Independent MP Brent Rathgeber gives St. Albertans a former Tory insider’s take on the many sins of the Harper PMO
PHOTOS: Independent MP Brent Rathgeber, in a typical pose, chats with a couple of constituents at last night’s candidates’ forum in St. Albert, Alberta. Below: Conservative candidate Michael Cooper, Mr. Rathgeber again, New Democrat Darlene Malayko and Liberal Beatrice Ghettuba. ST. ALBERT, Alberta The only Independent candidate in Canada with any hope of winning on […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Fortune favours the brave? Trudeau risks advocating sane gun laws and ripping PM’s dog-whistle bigotry
PHOTOS: Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau during a visit to Edmonton last year. Below: NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It should have been natural for the leader of the NDP to finally be the one who clearly called out Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his unprincipled and unpatriotic campaign of dog-whistle […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Fireworks notably absent during final Edmonton royalty review public consultation
PHOTOS: Royalty review chair Dave Mowat, top left, addresses the small and polite crowd that showed up in Edmonton for the panel’s open house last night. Below: Mr. Mowat again and committee members Peter Tertzakian and Leona Hanson. The biggest challenge the Notley Government’s royalty review committee faces may turn out to be persuading the […]