PHOTOS: Thomas Lukaszuk in the summer of 2014 when he was running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Below: A group of farmers and their supporters unhappy with Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, protest the legislation at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton a few days […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Dec. 17, 2014 – Defection Day – an Alberta anniversary to remember … and to forget!
PHOTOS: Defecting Opposition leader Danielle Smith, looking uncomfortable, gets an awkward and apparently unwanted hug from then-premier Jim Prentice at Government House in Edmonton as they announced their plans to merge the two parties’ caucuses. Below: Ms. Smith explains the reasoning behind the move, while our sovereign lady the Queen looks on, presumably appalled. One […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Are moderate Alberta conservatives likely to find themselves waking up to a Wildrose nightmare?
ILLUSTRATIONS: It’s a nightmare alright – but whose? Actual Alberta voters may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and NDP Premier Rachel Notley. (Both shown in CBC photos.) The prevailing narrative in the Alberta media, as a headline in the reliably pro-Wildrose Edmonton Sun put it earlier this week, is that […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Violent, lurid and misogynistic threats against NDP politicians are both enabled and exposed by social media
PHOTOS: Opposition Leader Brian Jean addresses foes of Bill 6 on the steps of the Alberta Legislature. (Photo grabbed from his Facebook page.) Below: Alberta premiers Ralph Klein, Alison Redford, Ed Stelmach and Rachel Notley. It seemed pretty rich for Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean to announce he was shocked – just shocked! – at […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Four veteran news professionals depart as Bell Media slashing hits CTV Edmonton
PHOTOS: CFRN in happier, pre-CTV times. Below: Journalists Serena Mah and Kim Taylor, veteran camera operator Robin Cleator, and editor Brian Fletcher. Fallout from the mid-November “restructuring” at Bell Media continues to be felt at CTV operations across the country, including here in Edmonton. If you have particularly sharp eyes, you might have noticed the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Hunting for hangover remedies with Bill Bennett and other tall tales from Social Credit British Columbia
PHOTOS: Former British Columbia Social Credit Party Premier Bill Bennett on the steps of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria. Below: Another shot of Mr. Bennett, who died on Dec. 3, looking a little shaggy; NDP Premier Dave Barrett; W.A.C. Bennett, B.C.’s Social Credit League premier before Mr. Barrett’s short and turbulent tenure. Some things change, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Let sleeping overdogs lie: Nothing to see here folks, just move along, please!
PHOTOS: We’re closed. But not for long, OK? Don’t get antsy if your comments don’t appear immediately. Read Daveberta.ca. Below: If you wondered what was going on in Alberta, now you know. “There’s nothing to see here folks, just move along…” It’s nice to know the Calgary Herald, fearless champion of the overdog, is still […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Sorry Wildrose, but recall legislation has no place in a representative democracy
PHOTOS: A man with a pitchfork at a protest by a group of farmers and their supporters in front of the Alberta Legislature this week. We’re going to chalk this up to over-enthusiasm, but if someone had brought a pitchfork to a labour rally, you can count on it the police would have arrested him. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Bill 6 Update: With the NDP in damage control mode, has the storm passed?
PHOTOS: The crowd outside the Westerner Centre in Red Deer, photo grabbed from the Twitter feed of Mary MacArthur, the Western Producer’s Alberta correspondent. Below: Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson and Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier. Alberta’s New Democratic Government went into damage-control mode yesterday, giving the most vociferous critics of Bill 6 what they’ve been saying […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Never mind the ‘Fuddites,’ Alberta needs Bill 6, although Bill 6 needs fixes
PHOTOS: NDP Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson chats with anti-Bill-6 protesters in front of the Legislature on Friday. Below: The crowd of protesters at its zenith and members of the Legislative Press Gallery interviewing a turkey, not for the first time, either! From here in the city, it almost looks as if rural Alberta has worked […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Reassessing NATO: Canada shouldn’t let itself be ‘Article Fived’ into a war by Turkey’s Islamist president
PHOTOS: A bunch of NATO political bureaucrats try to look busy in this file photo. Recognize anyone? Below: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Does it benefit Canada in any way to remain part of NATO, an organization that harbours at least one member country that […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
New board in; CEO Vickie Kaminski out … just another day at Alberta Health Services!
PHOTOS: Outgoing AHS CEO Vickie Kaminski at an Edmonton news conference last year. Below: Redford-era health minister Fred Horne, PC premier pro tem Dave Hancock, NDP Health Minister Sarah Hoffman and Premier Rachel Notley’s just-appointed deputy chief of staff, Anne McGrath. If you expected yesterday’s health care news merely to be the resumption of board […]