The $45,000 Question: How could they put Alison Redford on probation … and then not give her a chance to shape up? Former premier Alison Redford intends to sue the government of Alberta for wrongful dismissal. The former premier believes that because she was given a “work plan” by the leadership of the province’s Progressive […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Good advice for Alberta New Democrats from Quebec: this time, make it easy for voters to support you
Ray Guardia, one of the key architects of the federal NDP’s 2011 breakthrough in Quebec, at yesterday’s closing session of the Broadbent Institute’s 2014 Progress Summit in Ottawa. Below: Environmental activist Tzeporah Berman. OTTAWA Here’s a tip for Alberta New Democrats from one of the principal architects of Jack Layton’s historic 2011 Quebec campaign: don’t […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Tory MLAs, reporters, right-wing ideologues take aim at Alison Redford for PC Party’s woes
The Alberta premier’s personal airship ties up alongside the Sky Palace Official First Minister’s Residence, high atop the former Federal Building in Edmonton. Actual official accommodations may not appear exactly as illustrated, even in the blueprints. Below: Former premiers Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach. OTTAWA Everyone is piling onto Alison Redford now, a phenomenon we […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta Premier Dave Hancock needs to apply his leadership candidates’ rules to secretive cabinet committee
A rare shot of a meeting of the Alberta government’s secretive Public Sector Resource Committee in session. Actual Alberta policymakers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Premier Dave Hancock with former premier Alison Redford, back in the day, photo grabbed from Daveberta.ca. OTTAWA Is the Redford-Hancock Government’s Public Sector Resource Committee a cabinet committee, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alison Redford and the misogyny defence: does it really hold any water?
Former Alberta Premier Alison Redford in happier times, as we remember her on the eve of her selection as PC Party leader in the fall of 2011. The suggestion former Alberta Premier Alison Redford was treated differently, and was presumably fired by her party more peremptorily, because she is a woman is generating considerable heat […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Advice to Dave Hancock: sweet words won’t be enough for Alberta’s unhappy civil servants
Your blogger with Alberta’s newest premier, Dave Hancock, not so long ago. Below: U.S. presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. What a difference a few days can make! One leaves the province with one premier in power, figuratively bellowing threats at the civil service, and returns less than a week later to find […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Everyone must do their duty for Canada – even Sun News Network ideologues
Admiral Horatio Nelson gives up his life in the service of his country on the deck of HMS Victory on Oct. 21, 1805. Below: Horatio Nelson; his famous signal to his fleet: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” Surely, Canada should expect no less! NEW YORK “England expects that every man will […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A very Albertan coup: Alison Redford fell victim to her own hubris, as well as that of her Progressive Conservative Party
Alison Redford announces her resignation moments after 6 p.m. yesterday while Deputy Premier Dave Hancock looks on grimly in the background. Below: Mr. Hancock, the man thought most likely to become the PC Party’s interim leader and premier, as the crisis played out last week. Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who resigned moments after 6 p.m. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Important fake news: Canada, Alberta to erect huge ‘Mother Oil’ statue near Fort Mac?
Screenshot of the WTFAlberta.ca fake news site. Below: Publisher David Climenhaga in his misspent youth, when he still had hair. Painting by Ryn Climenhaga. Alberta Diary is pleased to announce a new website in the vast and growing Alberta Diary online publishing empire: WTFAlberta.ca. WTFAlberta.ca, which can also be found at WTFAlberta.com, appears to be […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Electoral math is calculus, not arithmetic, so 15 more Tory defectors won’t necessarily bring down Alison Redford’s shaky government
Alberta Premier Alison Redford and her crack team of Tory political strategists consult the Billion Dollar Brainiac, the Alberta government’s carbon- and vote-capture supercomputer, to figure out how many members must remain in her shrinking caucus for the party to survive a non-confidence motion. Actual crack Alberta political strategists may not appear exactly as illustrated. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
If Alison Redford won’t voluntarily step aside, Alberta’s Tories are likely finished
Alberta Premier Cruella de Vil brings some of her rebellious MLAs to heel. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: High-profile caucus rebel Donna Kennedy-Glans; Stephen Mandel, former mayor of Edmonton and about the only person who could unseal the Alberta Tories’ doom at this late hour. The departure yesterday morning of […]
Posted inCanadian Politics, Geopolitics
Vladimir Putin’s strategic crisis in 2014 sure looks a lot like John F. Kennedy’s in 1962
President John F. Kennedy signs the proclamation of the “Interdiction of the Delivery of Offensive Weapons to Cuba” on Oct. 23, 1962. The order imposed the U.S. naval blockade on Cuba that Mr. Kennedy had announced during his televised address the night before. Below: Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, Sun […]