Desperate to distract from the attention being paid to allegations of dodgy contracts pushed by government insiders, Alberta’s United Conservative Government attacked the Canadian Union of Public Employees yesterday, accusing its Ontario-based national office of “attacking” public sector bargaining. In a joint statement laden with falsehoods published on the official Alberta Government website, Finance Minister […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Where the hell is our head of state?
Where the hell is our head of state? I speak, of course, of His Majesty, Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Canada and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. One would think, wouldn’t one, that in a grave national crisis, a real head of state would speak up […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
In truculent statement, Danielle Smith denies any responsibility for misconduct at Alberta Health Services by government staff
In a truculent and defensive statement in response to last week’s bombshell allegations provincial officials improperly pressured Alberta Health Services to sign bad deals with private contractors, a stormy Danielle Smith took to social media yesterday to channel Richard Nixon and declare herself not to be a crook. “As Premier, I was not involved in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Athana Mentzelopoulos’s bombshell allegations about sketchy deals at AHS pushed by officials and political staffers set off huge storm
It will be hard for Alberta’s United Conservative Party to shake off former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos’s bombshell allegation she was fired for launching an investigation of sketchy procurement deals and private surgical contracts pushed by influential staffers in Premier Danielle Smith’s government. Ms. Mentzelopoulos’s claims are included in a long letter to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Did Take Back Alberta steal the 2023 Alberta provincial election for the United Conservative Party?
Could Take Back Alberta have stolen the 2023 Alberta provincial election for the United Conservative Party? The possibility must now be considered. We knew immediately after the May 29, 2023, election that the UCP had won six ridings by less than 1,000 votes. We didn’t know for sure until Tuesday this week, however, that the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Who told Donald Trump’s ‘top economic advisor’ Alberta’s capital is a seething quagmire of fentanyl and disorder?
Gee whiz! Who knew “U.S. President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor,” as the CBC respectfully described Kevin Hassett, visited Edmonton of all places last summer? What was he doing here? Apparently no one thought to ask. At any rate, Dr. Hassett – who has been the director of the U.S. National Economic Council for all […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Brace for more bait-and-switch: Having squeezed a few concessions out of Canada, Donald Trump will soon switch to new demands
Now that Canadians have been given a one-month reprieve from President Trump’s threatened arbitrary 25-per-cent tariffs, it’s safe to assume media and politicians north of the world’s longest undefended border will quickly revert to old bad habits. After a brief, uncomfortable stab at appearing to be a team player, we can probably expect federal Conservative […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Danielle Smith declares victory in tariff imbroglio, despite her abject failure to influence Donald Trump
In the face of the abject failure of Danielle Smith’s appeasement tour of Mar-a-Lago and Washington D.C. last month, Alberta’s premier has declared victory with the fatuous claim the Trump Tariffs imposed on Canadian oil and gas are only 10 per cent thanks to her. “We note the reduced 10 per cent tariff for Canadian […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
On eve of Groundhog Day, UCP removes Alberta Health Services board … again!
Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Government dismissed the entire Alberta Health Services Board yesterday – the second time in two years the UCP brain trust has dumped the health care agency’s board of directors en masse! The last time the UCP eliminated the entire AHS board was on Nov. 17, 2022, so, to be precise, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Raj Pannu, gentlemanly and scholarly leader of Alberta’s NDP from 2000 to 2004, is fondly remembered
When Raj Pannu first won Edmonton-Strathcona riding for the Alberta NDP in 1997, he took the riding by 58 votes. In those days, Edmonton-Strathcona was not the NDP bastion it is today. It could as easily have fallen to the Alberta Liberals, whose candidate had 4,214 votes to Mr. Pannu’s 4,272, or the Progressive Conservatives, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Danielle Smith, defiant and unrepentant, blows off criticism of her government’s dubious COVID-19 report
Alberta premier Danielle Smith, defiant and unrepentant, continues to slough off criticism of the report on Alberta’s COVID-19 response produced by her government’s a handpicked panel of vaccine skeptical and conspiracy-theory-influenced contributors. “This is the kind of approach you should always expect from me,” she told a reporter at a news conference yesterday on another […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Promise made, promise kept: Thanks to the UCP, Alberta workers now face a significant ‘Alberta Disadvantage’
As far as wages go, Alberta workers now face a significant “Alberta Disadvantage,” says a report published yesterday on the continuing suppression of wages and salaries in the Western Canadian province. Not long ago the highest-wage province in Canada, with wages 17 per cent above the national average, payroll data for hourly employees shows Alberta […]