PHOTOS: Jason Kenney with Preston Manning grabbed from @jkenney Twitter account). Below: Likely Kenney opponents Sandra Jansen, another possible PC candidate, and Brian Jean, leader of the Wildrose Party in happier times. In many ways, as was said here two days ago, Jason Kenney is a miscast and unattractive candidate for the leadership of the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The tragedies we ignore: Recent Wildrose gaffe won’t end right’s bogus equivalencies in Canadian political discourse
PHOTOS: The Famine Memorial in Dublin. The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and ’50s is ignored in current Canadian political discourse while the Ukrainian Famine of the 1930s is frequently evoked. Both are real historical events with ideological roots. One fits the narrative of the political right. The other does not. Below: Mike Davis, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Jason Kenney: Conservative saviour or a guy with the appeal of a trip to the dentist?
PHOTOS: Jason Kenney at a NATO do, looking positively Nixonian (from his Facebook page). Below: The only shot I ever managed to get of Mr. Kenney myself; former Progressive Conservative saviour Jim Prentice; Mr. Kenney letting his hair down at Toronto’s Caribbean Fest; and Mr. Kenney with senior Republican Paul Ryan. “There is an end […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Explaining how the right wing echo chamber operates … operates … operates … The Strange Case of the Canada Pension Plan
PHOTOS: “Alright, everyone, here’s what we’re gonna say: ‘Expanding the CPP is a solution in search of a problem.’ Everybody got that? Fraser? Check! APEC? Check! CFIB? Check! Taxpayers? Check! … ” Actual right-wing echo chamber conference calls may not unfold exactly as described. Below: What you actually see behind the curtain. Note: Prime Minister […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Time for parties of the Canadian and Alberta right to deal with the violent extremists in their midst
PHOTOS: Nigel Farage, leader of the extremist U.K. Independence Party, at the 2013 Manning Conference in Ottawa. That’s former Australian prime minister John Howard with his back to the camera, for what it’s worth. Below: The target picturing Alberta Premier Rachel Notley used by the Brooks Big Country Oilmen’s Association golf tournament last Friday, a […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
When Tories, the Fraser Institute and media team up to attack plans to improve the CPP, you have to know it needs fixing!
ILLUSTRATIONS: A luxurious retirement? Do you get the feeling that ship may have sailed? Well, rich conservatives and their flunkies want you to think that a better Canada Pension Plan is a bad idea anyway. Below: Conservative Party of Canada Finance Critic Lisa Raitt. Wow! Talk about a full-court press! All the usual suspects are […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Appalling gun lobby press release begs Canadians not to blame the gun used in massacre
PHOTOS: Retired Quebec Liberal Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette (Alchetron.com), whose Senate bill would make a sensible model for government gun-control legislation. Below: Conservative British Columbia MP Bob Zimmer, an advocate of lifting all Canadian restrictions from weapons like the one used in the Orlando massacre a week ago (Wikipedia). It is impossible not to be appalled […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
After the fall: The world needs more Meat Loaf
PHOTOS: My only, terrible, mobile phone photo of Meat Loaf on stage, before the fall. Below: The author and his daughter in their Meat Loaf T-shirts, likely to become a collectors’ item if the remaining dates in the concert tour are cancelled. Readers will forgive me, I hope, for not posting anything last night – […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Athabasca University documents suggest institution’s leadership remains out of sync with Alberta’s NDP government
PHOTOS: Athabasca University’s headquarters in the Town of Athabasca, 145 kilometres north of Edmonton. Below: Alberta Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt and AU Interim President Peter MacKinnon. Two recently completed reviews springing from Athabasca University’s grim 2015 Task Force report on the institution’s clouded future suggest AU’s senior administration and board remain out of sync […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
OMG! Energy industry faces ‘existential threat’ from Hollywood, ‘ever-growing matrix of activists’
PHOTOS: Brad Wall, increasingly the Mr. Disagreeable of Confederation (Photo: Daniel Paquet). Below: Calgary’s Glenmore Reservoir as dreamed of by supporters of the Saskatchewan Party of Alberta. Actual Calgary beaches may not appear exactly as illustrated, either with regards to oil production or the quality of surf. Below that, environmentalist Mike Hudema in a tie […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Government’s dismissal of Crown corporation’s board indicates NDP is paying attention to Alberta’s ABC sector
PHOTOS: Alberta Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier seen walking through an angry crowd of Bill 6 protesters last fall, chatting with participants. Below: Brad Klak, suspended president of Alberta’s Crown-owned Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, and former AFSC board member and Tory agriculture minister George Groeneveld. Yesterday’s government news release is short and to the point. But […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
We need a referendum on electoral reform? No! We need a national referendum on the TPP!
PHOTOS: Justin Trudeau, back in 2015 before he was prime minister, promising Canadians real change, including electoral reform, if we gave him the chance. We gave him the chance. Below: Opposition Conservative interim Leader Rona Ambrose (CBC Photo) and the New Democrats’ Alexandre Boulerice. Lately it’s been very hard to avoid noisy demands for a […]