PHOTOS: A screen shot of the man identified by the Toronto Star as Earl Cowan at the moment he informs a reporter she’s a lying piece of … something. Below: Tory operative Fred DeLorey and Toronto Star columnist Heather Mallick. I have to confess I felt the tiniest bit of empathy for the aged Harper […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Jason Kenney sails close to the wind on Anti-Terrorism Act at picnic visit
PHOTOS: Liberal candidate Adam Vaughan’s photo of the Kurdish Peace and Cultural Festival in Toronto Saturday, with an image of PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan visible in the background. (Grabbed from Twitter.) Below: Defence Minister Jason Kenney, who bragged about being at the event, and Mr. Vaughan. Jason Kenney, who notwithstanding the dissolution of the House […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Is there enough Orange Wave left in Alberta to propel more Dippers to Ottawa?
ILLUSTRATIONS: A typical Alberta conservative voter, with orange hair, flirts with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair while Prime Minister Stephan Harper, in the background, tries to warn her to stop. Actual Alberta political figures may not appear exactly as illustrated. With apologies to Normal Rockwell. Below: Alberta political commentator Duane Bratt. Could there be enough momentum […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Craig B. Chandler: He’s baaaack (in Ontario)! And he’s gonna get Linda McQuaig … elected!
PHOTOS: A screen grab of Craig B. Chandler telling immigrants to Alberta to vote Conservative or get lost back in 2007. Below: NDP Toronto Centre candidate Linda McQuaig. Brace yourselves, Toronto! Craig B. Chandler’s heading your way to campaign against Linda McQuaig, the NDP’s candidate in the Toronto Centre riding, who is notorious here in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The Sonic privatization mystery: what were the Tories thinking?
PHOTOS: More medical lab techs examining specimens, still not illustrated exactly as they’re likely to appear nowadays. Below: Progressive Conservative health ministers Gary Mar, Iris Evans, Stephen Mandel and Fred Horne, every one a would-be privatizer and every one in a picture personally snapped by your blogger. Viewed with 20/20 hindsight, a Frequently-Asked-Questions document published […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Notley Government channels Lougheed to protect Alberta jobs and services, dumps medical lab privatization ‘experiment’
PHOTOS: Medical lab techs examine a specimen, perhaps appearing not exactly as illustrated nowadays. Below: Alberta NDP Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, former PC health minister Stephen Mandel, Alberta Health Services CEO Vickie Kaminski and long-ago Conservative premier Peter Lougheed. In a bombshell move reminiscent of Peter Lougheed’s 1974 takeover of Pacific Western Airlines, Rachel Notley’s […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Medical transport is an essential service, and properly so – it’s time to start treating it like one
PHOTOS: Medical air transport – an essential service too important to be left to private insurers and their ilk. Below: Amy and Amelia Savill (CTV News) and Alberta Health spokesperson Timothy Wilson (Linkedin). So now we need to buy medical-travel insurance when we travel inside Canada? Who knew? Certainly not Amy Savill of High Prairie, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Between a rock and a hard place in Calgary-Foothills, foundering PCs’ second-best hope is an NDP victory on Sept. 3
PHOTOS: Oh, Jimmy! Here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten us into! Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice gets ready to climb onto his bus and lit out for the territories. (Photo actually taken before the election by Dave Cournoyer, used with permission.) Below: Calgary-Foothills by-election candidates and possible candidates Bob Hawkesworth, NDP; Kathy MacDonald, Wildrose; Janet […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Stephen Harper’s proposed ban on terror travel: subversive, unconstitutional, and unlikely to work, but clever
PHOTOS: Nineteenth Century Mormon men, criminalized by U.S. polygamy laws. Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Senator Mike Duffy, former MP Dean Del Mastro. The Conservative Party’s terror-travel ban proposal is vintage Stephen Harper – subversive, unconstitutional and likely to have unintended consequences, but clever and highly motivating to the conservative base. As added bonuses from […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
When propaganda becomes memory: Pierre Trudeau and the National Energy Program
PHOTOS: Pierre and Justin Trudeau back in the day, with possibly quite a few Liberal supporters in the background. Below: Prime Minister Steve and Defence Minister Jason Kenney. Everybody in Alberta knows Pierre Trudeau and his National Energy Program laid waste to Alberta in the 1980s, and that would include plenty of people out here […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
No losers except Canadians in last night’s ditchwater-dull debate
PHOTOS: Zzzzzzzzz … Why are these men smiling? Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sneering; Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, smiling unnervingly; Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, doing his best to look pugnacious; Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, happy to be there. Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair stayed calm, smiled and looked prime ministerial during last night’s “national” televised […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Is it good news or bad news for the Conservatives if Stephen Harper trumps Trump tonight?
PHOTOS: Stephen Harper, as imagined during tonight’s TV debate. (Photo of Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore.) Below: The real Mr. Harper and another shot of the real Mr. Trump. Now, about that debate tonight, the big question has to be whether it will help the Conservatives or hurt them when Canadian voters tune into the […]