‘This has been an unreasonable and opaque process from the beginning,’ musician and reluctant environmentalist says After learning that 35,000 signatures on Corb Lund’s Water Not Coal citizen initiative petition had been ruled invalid on various grounds by Elections Alberta – enough for the provincial elections agency to ensure there is no ballot question on […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Channelling Mackenzie King, Mark Carney strikes a pipeline deal with Alberta and British Columbia
Saving Canada and saving the planet? Not necessarily a pipeline, but a pipeline if necessary! Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared last night to have threaded the needle between Alberta and British Columbia, joining Danielle Smith in Calgary to announce that the Alberta Government is OK with a southern pipeline route that avoids some of the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Finance Minister Jason Nixon admits Alberta just missed its annual fiscal report deadline, offers two lame excuses
Government news release fails to mention the omission actually breaks the law, but there’s no penalty, so why worry? Happy Canada Day! The summer solstice has already come and gone. So has the deadline for Alberta’s fiscal-year-end update! The next summer solstice won’t be back till June 21, 2027, of course, but we can be […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP Calgary-Shaw by-election nomination winner assailed as ‘extremist’ by NDP
Mike Derry’s choice as candidate has upset a couple of apple carts for the UCP; the Opposition NDP demands he state his position on separation When Mike Derry beat the United Conservative Party’s apparent preferred candidate for the nomination in Rebecca Schulz’s old Calgary-Shaw riding on June 24, the Opposition New Democratic Party immediately branded […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A summertime mystery: Why has Danielle Smith flip-flopped on forcing public health inspectors to switch employers?
Despite the Alberta premier’s explanation, it’s hard to believe the idea was a phone-in radio show caller’s When someone named Lori called Danielle Smith’s phone-in radio program on Saturday and proposed a way to restructure a controversial plan to move Alberta health inspectors from an arm’s length health agency into a government department, it was […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Right-wing think tankers urge PM Mark Carney to leave Alberta alone to undermine public health care
The hand of the Atlas Network – the ‘the Johnny Appleseed of antiregulation groups’ – seems never to be far from such efforts Everyone paying attention to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s ongoing effort to break up and “refocus” Alberta’s public health care system understands that its true goal is to undermine it to the point […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Smith-Farkas fracas: Calgary mayor spells out the B.S. in stinging riposte to Alberta premier’s pressure campaign
Many have tried to pierce Danielle Smith’s political armour but few have succeeded; Jeromy Farkas may have just put a dent in it Late Monday night, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas took to social media and called out Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for her bullshit. His word. Not mine. It was a bravura performance that raises […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas wins Round One of bitter Twitter window-rattle battle
But Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sends letter telling Calgary City Council to roll over or the province will step in It’s not over, but Round One of last weekend’s intergovernmental noise bylaw fracas – which channelling the late Dr. Seuss, we might call a bitter Twitter window-rattle battle – goes to Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Prominent Conservatives go wild on social media attacking Calgary’s conservative mayor
The topic of their ire? The City of Calgary’s noise bylaw! What’s with that, anyway? Over the weekend, prominent Conservative political figures including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, many of the other usual suspects on the right, and eventually what appeared to be flocks of right-wing online bots took to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Bold move or big mistake? Naheed Nenshi implores Ottawa to step in and force Alberta to drop surgery line-jumping scheme
Send ‘a strong signal that Canada works’ NDP Opposition leader urges PM Mark Carney in letter Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi called yesterday on Ottawa to step in and use the Canada Health Act to force Alberta’s government to drop its plan to allow surgeons to practice in the public health care system while at the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP plunges ahead with scheme to Americanize health care by letting patients with money jump the line for surgeries
Premier Danielle Smith’s pathetic $100 Dani Dollars gambit having flopped miserably with pretty well everyone on Wednesday, Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government plunged ahead yesterday with its previously announced scheme to Americanize public health care by allowing physicians to bill patients to jump the lines for surgeries. A lot of voters are going to really […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Wow! 3.4 million Albertans will qualify for $100 ‘Dani Dollars’ energy rebate – enough for maybe half a tank of gas
Apparently no one in the United Conservative Party cabinet has to shop for their own groceries these days! How else do you explain the lamest stunt in Alberta political history? Premier Danielle Smith and Finance Minister Jason Nixon got up on their hind legs yesterday at a press conference in front of a row of […]