PHOTOS: St. Albert-Edmonton Conservative candidate Michael Cooper, centre, with former Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis, left, and Employment Minister Pierre Pollievre in a photo grabbed from Mr. Cooper’s campaign website. Below: A shot of Mr. Cooper snapped on my doorstep when he turned up campaigning for the Conservative nomination. ST. ALBERT, Alberta St. Albert-Edmonton Conservative […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
One day after his graceless departure, former Alberta ‘envoy’ to Washington lands lobbying gig
PHOTOS: Sour grapes! Actual former Alberta trade representatives may not appear exactly as illustrated. (Photo from Barkpost.com.) Below: Alberta Conservative-connected lobbyists Rob Merrifield, Hal Danchilla, Brian Storseth and Rick Orman. Rob Merrifield’s parting shot at the Alberta government: tacky. Canadian Strategy Group’s decision to hire Mr. Merrifield as a lobbyist: Um, are you sure you’re […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Fate of Canadian Wheat Board a disturbing harbinger for Canada’s dairy, poultry and egg farmers
PHOTOS: Tractors in the streets of Ottawa on Tuesday, their drivers protesting the Harper Conservatives’ barely concealed plans to destroy the supply-management agricultural sector. (Grabbed from @amkfoote on Twitter.) Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and CCPA economist Bruce Campbell. GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alberta With the farmer-owned Canadian Wheat Board gutted by legislation […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Russian boots on Syrian ground create new reality for Canadian leaders, whether they discuss it or not
PHOTOS: Russian President Vladimir Putin – creating new realities for Canadian leaders to talk about … or not. Below: The three Canadian debating amigos, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair. As the three principal contenders for the job of running the country were sparring entertainingly over the […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
What’s next? F-35 boondoggle to land on the deck of a Canadian Mistral carrier?
PHOTOS: The F-35, possibly the worst military aircraft ever made, dollar for dollar or pound for pound, photographed to make it look less like a brick. A hovering version of the same plane. A not-quite-finished Mistral-class helicopter carrier. SANTA FE, N.M. I suppose a hotel in the desert, just down the block from the address […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Public health care: We have it, Americans still don’t, they wish they did – there’s a lesson in that
PHOTO: Sorry, no relevant photos tonight. Just this shot of a typical American public servant crossing the rotunda of the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe, deep in thought. She is doubtless wishing the United States had Canada’s system of health care. SANTA FE, N.M. The economy, Harper Fatigue Syndrome or however one should […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Go figure! Major tobacco corporation’s unique Alberta lobbying effort focuses on Wildrose finance critic
PHOTOS: The benefits to young people of a low-tax regime for cigarettes. Real portrayals of the joys of smoking may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Cigarette smuggling – bad for the books for sure; Wildrose Party Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt, whose 2012 Canadian Taxpayers Federation publication argued contraband cigarettes are a problem that could […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Rachel Notley to Alberta’s trade ‘envoy’ to Washington: Nice seeing you ’round! Here’s your hat!
PHOTOS: Departing Alberta trade ‘envoy’ to Washington, D.C., Rob Merrifield, back in the day when he was a federal cabinet minister. Below: Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice, who hired Mr. Merrifield a year ago, and Premier Rachel Notley, who let him go at the end of last week. It was an easy mistake to make: […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Geopolitics
The election of Jeremy Corbyn to lead Labour is proof that, sometimes, hope triumphs over fear mongering
PHOTOS: Jeremy Corbyn on Sept. 5, campaigning in Margate. (Photo by Chris Beckett.) Below: A young Mr. Corbyn, always true to his principles; the catastrophic Margaret Thatcher; 1970s Labour prime minister Harold Wilson; NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair. If you’re one of those who imagines Alberta has embarked on a “dangerous experiment” by electing the moderately […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, News Satire
Fake news: Wildrose urges market-based breathing solutions to ease air-quality woes
PHOTO: The NDP Government refuses to fix Alberta’s air-quality problems with effective market-based solutions and instead wants to force Albertans to ride bicycles like these and be tied up in communist Red tape. If the people illustrated here had true freedom, they could choose the quality of air that suited their own breathing preferences. Alberta’s […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Thomas Mulcair comes to Edmonton bringing the promise of flinty eyed fixes to our national malaise
PHOTOS: NDP supporters lined up to take selfies with the man they hope will be the next prime minister of Canada. And if Thomas Mulcair wasn’t available, as below, there was always his bearded visage on the side of a bus for a selfie. Bottom: Mr. Mulcair, still smiling, as he leaves the Shaw Conference […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Thomas Lukaszuk, once the Gorgeous George of Alberta politics, ponders an unlikely political resurrection
PHOTOS: Thomas Lukaszuk, at what was arguably the summit of his political career, launching his bid in May 2014 to lead the Progressive Conservative Party and become premier of Alberta. Below: Mr. Lukaszuk showing his flowing locks to advantage, 1950s wrestling star Gorgeous George, and Edmonton-Castle Down MLA Nicole Goehring. When Thomas Lukaszuk announced he […]