PHOTOS: A screen grab from yesterday’s video feed of Jason Kenney announcing his candidacy for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in Calgary. Immediately behind him is Caitlyn Madliner, who has prominently figured in anti-PC campaigns. Below: The late Alberta premier Ralph Klein, defeated Conservative MP Joan Crockatt, President Richard M. Nixon and […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Cue the crickets: Where are the media warnings Canada Post bosses are ‘holding the country to ransom’?
PHOTOS: Locked out postal workers in a past dispute in Halifax (HalifaxMediaCoop.ca photo). Below: St. Albert resident’s illegal “Restore door to door” sign (CBC photo), Controversial Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra, CUPW President Mike Palecek, and St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse. It’s funny, you know, but there doesn’t seem to have been a single mainstream […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Jason Kenney reported ready to announce his bid to lead a Tory Restoration effort as soon as tomorrow
PHOTOS: Former federal Conservative cabinet minister Jason Kenney looks like he’s describing how he’ll capture the Alberta PC Party, then the Wildrose, and unite them whether they like it or not, in this shot grabbed from his Parliamentary Flickr account. Below: Rick Orman, Rob Anders, Thomas Lukaszuk and Brian Jean. Jason Kenney, putative leader of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Albertans hear the same old same old as fast-food restaurant owners grow hysterical over minimum wage
PHOTOS: Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray, who is sticking to her guns on the provincial government’s plans to raise the provincial minimum wage to $15 by 2018. Below: Notable fair wage campaigners, Joe Ceci, finance minister of Alberta; Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United States; and Karl Marx, philosopher, economist and journalist. Fast-food restaurant […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Ottawa won’t say if former Ukrainian prime minister is now a Canadian citizen, as Russian media report
PHOTOS: Former Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and former Canadian PM Stephen Harper in their July 13, 2015, news conference announcing a Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. (Screen shot of CBC broadcast.) Below: Former Conservative immigration minister Chris Alexander speaking to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in Toronto on Feb. 22, 2015 (screen shot of UCC Youtube […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Standard & Poor’s downgrades Saskatchewan’s credit rating and The Anger Machine falls silent
PHOTOS: Like a flock of starlings, the entire Canadian Perpetual Outrage Industry knows when to wheel and turn instantly. Since they do it electronically, it’s almost as if they’re … a machine! Below: Brad Wall, the crumbling Colossus of the Prairies (Photo: Daniel Paquet), and Stephen Harper, the former prime minister of Canada, snapped in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A spectre is haunting Alberta, and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean wants to assure you it’s not him!
PHOTOS: The plot thickens … like the gravy at a certain truck stop restaurant. The spectral presences of Jason Kenney and Stephen Harper eating breakfast are not quite visible in the booth. Below: Mr. Jean, plus the real Mr. Kenney and the real Mr. Harper as he may appear today. A spectre is haunting Alberta, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Jason Kenney’s bizarre ‘Brexit’ broadsides: the explanation is in the dog-whistle
ILLUSTRATION: Press Progress’s take on Jason Kenney’s “Brexit” broadsides Thursday night and yesterday morning (Press Progress image used with permission). Below: The Acme Professional Dog Whistle, now commanding attention all over the world. It is made in U.K. You don’t even have to make this stuff up! Below that little gem, former Alberta politician Thomas […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
You take the high road and we’ll take the low road: The Kenney Cabal’s strategy to grab back power in Alberta for the right
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 […]