Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber getting scrummed by the media in his St. Albert office the day after he resigned from the Conservative Parliamentary Caucus. (Photo grabbed from Mr. Rathgeber’s website.) Below: Mr. Rathgeber looking at the camera. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Notwithstanding his much-publicized break with the Harper Conservatives, Independent Edmonton-St. Albert Member of Parliament […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Edmonton New Democrat David Eggen is first to join Alberta’s only interesting political leadership race
David Eggen at the Legislature, hanging around with your blogger. Below: the Alberta NDP Legislative caucus, from left to right, Deron Bilous, Brian Mason, David Eggen and Rachel Notley. The latest Alberta political leadership candidate says his name means “the sharp end of the axe” in Norwegian, which would sound more sinister in this neoliberal […]
Posted inUncategorized
Everything the Alberta Progressive Conservatives Always Wanted to Know About Opposition* … (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Alberta Politics, The Movie: Woody Allen and actual Hollywood movie stars may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Harry Strom, the last Social Credit premier of Alberta. Let’s imagine for a moment that the Progressive Conservative Party – led by Jim Prentice or whomever – loses the next Alberta general election. For long-time Albertans, like […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Post-fight analysis: Round 1 to Jim Prentice as Wildrose comes out swinging over debt remark
Jim Prentice and Wildrose champion Rob Anderson square off in Round 1, as members of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce look on. Actual scenes from Alberta political discourse may not appear exactly as illustrated. Judge Dave gives Round 1 to Mr. Prentice. Below: The real Mr. Prentice and the real Mr. Anderson. Well, it’s hard […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Thomas Lukaszuk throws his hat in the ring – although which ring is open to debate
Self-described anti-establishment Alberta PC leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk in a jaunty self-mocking portrait with your blogger. Below: Tory heir apparent Jim Prentice in another weirdly Joe-Clark-like pose found on the Internet; candidate Ric McIver. Thomas Lukaszuk visited Premier pro tempore Dave Hancock yesterday morning to resign as Alberta’s labour minister and became a candidate for […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
OK, Jim Prentice really loves Alberta … but can Alberta love Jim Prentice?
Jim Prentice officially announcing his candidacy yesterday. Is it just me, or is there the faintest air of Joe Clark about the man? Below left: Mr. Prentice surrounded by some of the usual suspects in Edmonton yesterday, from a photo snatched from the PC Party’s Twitter feed. Below right: Alison Redford back in October 2012 […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Chutzpah Alert! Premier Dave Hancock explains why Sky Palaces and similar uproars are nothing but ‘distractions’
Alison Redford’s planned rooftop apartment, high atop the Federal Building in Edmonton. The Alberta Legislative Building is visible in the background. Actual secret places of the modern world may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A shot of the actual Sky Palace under construction. I don’t know about you, but I sort of admire the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Where’s the beef? Ottawa and the fast-food lobby are serving nothing but baloney about the need for Temporary Foreign Workers
Whatever it says on the menu, fast food restaurant owners, other employers of temporary foreign workers and their pals in the Harper Government are serving baloney. Below: Dominique M. Gross of Simon Fraser University; Charles Decatur “C.D.” Howe. Advocates of the Harper Government’s so-called Temporary Foreign Workers Program are using an occasionally legitimate need to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Finance Minister Doug Horner meekly throws his support to heir apparent Jim Prentice
Alberta Progressive Conservative Party activists surround leadership candidate Jim Prentice at a recent $500-a-plate fund-raising dinner in Edmonton. Finance Minister Doug Horner is visible immediately to Mr. Prentice’s right. The painting in the background illustrates Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Actual Progressive Conservative Party members may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The actual Mr. Horner, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics, Canadian Politics
Explaining the screams for easy-to-exploit Temporary Foreign Workers: Canadians are just too uppity for many low-wage employers
Chinese workers building Canadian railways – another sordid story of “temporary foreign workers.” Below: B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark rose in that province’s Legislative Building in Victoria yesterday and apologized for a stream of racist laws and policies that began to be introduced […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Cone of Silence descends over deeds of Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice’s secret agents, real or imagined
An unidentified person, left, said to be close to undeclared Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice, waits for the Cone of Silence to descend over his discussions with a member of Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith’s inner circle, also unidentified, at right. Actual unidentified anonymous political agents may or may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Shorn locks and missing bowtie suggest Thomas Lukaszuk’s Progressive Conservative leadership announcement is imminent
A screen grab of Thomas Lukaszuk’s new boyishly coiffed, bowtie-free look. Below: Mr. Lukaszuk shortly after his demotion from deputy premier by Alison Redford; in distant, preppier, times; and as Lord Greystoke. (All photos grabbed from the Internet.) Sporting a new haircut and with his trademark bowtie tossed aside, Labour Minister Thomas Lukaszuk hardly needs […]