The Hancock Conservatives do good-cop-bad-cop? At left, Jeff Johnson as Jim Prentice, at right, tries to get him to straighten up and fly a little less far right. Actual Alberta Progressive Conservatives may not appear exactly as illustrated, especially in this unlikely scenario. Below: My only picture of the real Mr. Johnson; one of many […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A question for Premier Dave Hancock: Who will rid Alberta’s Tories of their turbulent Education Minister?
Education Minister Jeff Johnson flips burgers at Alison Redford’s K-Days Breakfast, last year. A sign of things to come for Mr. Johnson? Below: Premier Dave Hancock, who knows what he needs to do, former premier Redford, who knew exactly what she wanted, and Alberta Information Commissioner Jill Clayton, who knows the law. Now that we […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s Tories appear to have waded into the shallow end of the political gene pool
Jim Prentice surrounded by supporters in Edmonton. Below: Defiant Education Minister Jeff Johnson, Premier Dave Hancock, political strategist Stephen Carter. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world… Never mind the bit about any second coming being at hand. You can go too far, in my estimation, searching modern […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
CTF bullying and misinformation: just what’s ‘wacky’ about rape prevention research?
Canadian Taxpayers Association Federal Director Gregory Thomas dressed up as a professor, with a man dressed as a pig, at a CTF news conference trashing government support for academic research. A cameraman can be seen at left obligingly filming. Below: Dr. Melanie Beres, unfairly ridiculed by the CTF for her 2006 thesis; Mr. Thomas when […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Happy Canada Day from the prime minister of Canada and the premier of Alberta, channeled by Perfesser Dave
Oooooh! Happy Canada Day, Canadians. Enjoy yourselves. Prime Minister Steve Harper and Premier Dave Hancock wish they could be here with you and Perfesser Dave. Below: Mr. Hancock and Mr. Harper … Happy-Happy! Happy Canada Day! Perfesser Dave, here, the political predictions guy, speaking on behalf of my friends Stephen Harper and David Hancock, who […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Big by-election in Fort McMurray? Never mind that! As goes Macleod, so goes Alberta…
Fort McMurray, before the Bitumen Boom. Things have changed. Below: Conservative Fort McMurray-Athabasca candidate David Yurdiga, Liberal candidate Kyle Harrietha, NDP candidate Lori McDaniel, former Conservative MP Brian Jean. If the good people of Fort McMurray climb out of bed this morning and decide to elect a Liberal to represent them in Parliament, there will […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
On the centenary of Gavrilo Princip’s fateful shot in Sarajevo, let’s learn the right lessons from history
Gavrilo Princip under arrest. Below: Princip and the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Today is the centenary of the day Gavrilo Princip took his little Belgian pistol to Sarajevo and blew the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire into history. As is well known, not long after young Princip caused the demise of Franz […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Maybe it’s time to state the obvious: promises aren’t enough for Alberta Tories to win back any progressive votes
Tory leadership front-runner Jim Prentice on the campaign trail. Below: Former premier Alison Redford; Education Minister, though presumably not for long, Jeff Johnson; leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk. Perhaps it’s time to just come right out and state the obvious: If Tory leadership front-runner Jim Prentice wants even a few of Alberta’s badly burned progressive voters to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Front-running PC leadership candidate Jim Prentice may have just set benchmark for party vote in September
Tory candidate Jim Prentice greets supporters at the opening of his Edmonton campaign headquarters Tuesday evening, showing the first signs of development of the hard-to-avoid campaign paunch. Below: Proven Tory vote-getter Ed Stelmach; Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Joe Anglin. Looking tired and uncharacteristically slightly rumpled, Progressive Conservative leadership front-runner Jim Prentice pleaded with supporters at […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
The boss has gone crazy! He’s giving away new uniforms! And at only $4.5 million, they’re practically free!
Canadian soldiers will once again be clad in uniforms like these. If that doesn’t scare the hell out of Vladimir Putin, the guy’s got ice in his veins! Below: A typical naval officer in his cool new brass loops, armed with a naval thingy; what he’d be wearing if he were an officer in the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Controversial Central Alberta MLA Joe Anglin faces a serious challenge within his own Wildrose Party ranks
A snapshot of Rimbey, Alberta, taken not so long ago. Below: Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Joe Anglin, Rimbey-area dairy farmer Peter Pieter Broere, who tried to challenge Mr. Anglin for the Wildrose nomination, and challenger Jason Nixon. After a single term in office, controversial Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin is facing a serious nomination challenge – […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Progressive Conservative leadership candidates take aim at federal bogeyman, demand Alberta’s own immigration policy
Alberta’s three Progressive Conservative leadership candidates contemplate Ottawa mucking about with the beloved Temporary Foreign Worker Program. From left to right: Ric McIver, Jim Prentice and Thomas Lukaszuk. Actual would-be Alberta premiers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: the real Messrs. McIver, Prentice and Lukaszuk. Never mind Alberta’s Lake of Fire! Is that an […]