PHOTOS: Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Naresh Bhardwaj has left the Prentice cabinet while the party investigates accusations he offered a $10,000 bribe to a challenger for his riding’s PC nomination. Below: NDP Leader Rachel Notley and departing Wildrose MLA Shayne Saskiw. Under the circumstances, Premier Jim Prentice had little choice Friday but to ask Naresh Bhardwaj, associate […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Unite-the-left pot starts to boil in Alberta, whether progressive parties like it or not
PHOTOS: Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman holds up a mirror to the Progressive Conservative Party’s cracked austerity policies at a recent demonstration. Yesterday she announced she’d be running for three parties at the same time. BELOW: Brian Singh of 1abvote.ca, Calgary Centre Conservative MP Joan Crockatt and her federal Liberal challenger, Kent Hehr. Efforts to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Why Taber smells like agricultural products and Ottawa smells like roses
PHOTOS: Helloo, Farm Boy! Welcome to Taber, Alberta, sin city of the southern plains, a place obviously badly in need of correction (1988 photo by Harry Palmer found on the Internet). Below: the Taber sugar beet refinery; a truck selling Taber corn. Taber gets the ridicule and Ottawa gets the glory. What’s with that? To […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
What really matters to the Prentice Government? Market fundamentalism is pivotal, social conservatism is not
PHOTOS: “This round, Jim, just bob and weave. No freakin’ mirrors!” Strategists from the Premier’s Office and Navigator Ltd. advise Premier Jim Prentice, centre, on today’s second go-round in the Legislature. Actual Alberta politicians and their advisors may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Education Minister Gordon Dirks and human rights promoter Laurie Blakeman. The […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
That early election: what if Premier Jim Prentice doesn’t do what everyone expects?
PHOTOS: Politics is a high-stakes poker game. So, is Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, at right, still peeking at his cards, or just sleeping? Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A poker-faced real Mr. Prentice and former premier Ralph Klein. Alberta’s Legislature resumes sitting today, and the widespread expectation is that the […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Circumstances of Canadian soldier’s death in Iraq strongly suggest Harper Government is lying to us
PHOTOS: A U.S. soldier uses a lightweight laser range-finding device to help “paint” targets for bomber aircraft in this posed Stars & Stripes photo. Below: Canadian Defence Minister Jason Kenney. The circumstances surrounding the death of a Canadian special-forces soldier in Iraq are important because they strongly suggest the Harper Government has been lying to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s mirror meme: Premier Jim Prentice could have avoided it just by being more like Ralph
PHOTOS: Scenes from yesterday’s mirror-meme rally at the Legislature, including shots of NDP Finance Critic and former leader Brian Mason in full flight, above, and Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, below him. So much for Jim Prentice taking the advice to be like Ralph! One of the notable things about Ralph Klein was his ability […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Fractured fairy tales: Jim Prentice consults his magic mirror and the peasants are not amused!
ILLUSTRATIONS: What many Albertans now see when they consult their magic mirrors about what’s actually causing their province’s current economic troubles. Below: Former Social Credit premier E.C. Manning and current NDP Leader Rachel Notley. Wicked Queen to Mirror: “Mirror, mirror coin machine, am I still the cutest queen?” Mirror to Wicked Queen: “You are now, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta premier calls for better gender balance on boards while preserving the ‘Alberta Disadvantage’ for women
ILLUSTRATIONS: A flat tax for a flat earth: Alberta Premier Jim Prentice arrives at the edge of the flat earth and pokes his head through to see the wonderful machinery of the free market as described by the “senior fellows” at the Fraser Institute. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated, and the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Apocalypse Now! (Details to follow) Get ready, Alberta, for the glories of the First Ten Year Plan
PHOTOS: Where would we be in Alberta without GroupThink ™? All hail the glories of the First Ten Year Plan. Pick up your quota of pain at the commissar’s office. Actual Progressive Conservative Youth may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A Five Year Plan poster from … somewhere. Wherever it’s from, it’s a great […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Jim Prentice to Rotarians: Don’t read my lips, but no new taxes! Everything else will be revealed later …
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Jim Prentice demonstrates the concept of “jazz hands” at his post-speech presser yesterday in Edmonton while Labour Minister Ric McIver stands by, perhaps pondering what it would have been like if he’d won the leadership race. Look, sorry, but the only camera I brought was in my cell phone. It’s just not […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Prentice PCs prepared to use bare knuckles on battered Wildrose remnants
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, centre, tells Okotoks Councillor Carrie Fischer sorry, but another candidate will probably be getting the Highwood PC nomination on March 28. Actual Alberta political figures may not appear exactly as illustrated. BELOW: Wildrose leadership candidates Brian Jean, Linda Osinchuk and Drew Barnes (Who? – ed.) Below them, the real Carrie […]