So far we only have Brian Jean’s word for it, but the former Wildrose Party leader and Jason Kenney’s principal rival in the 2017 race to lead the United Conservative Party in 2017, says he has won the UCP nomination contest for the Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche by-election. In a statement published on Facebook early […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Why the UCP won’t use Bill 81’s nomination-stacking provisions to mess with the NDP
There’s been some online chatter since the passage of Bill 81 about the possibility the United Conservative Party might use the Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2021, to seed the NDP with lunatic candidates who could destroy the Opposition party or secret neoliberals who would switch their allegiance once elected. Since the act legalizes the for-all-practical-purposes […]
Posted inBestsellers
State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny leads Alberta independent bookshops’ bestseller list
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. Since former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s fictional arrival (if […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Despite a few dissenting voices, unsettling new nomination-stacking law shows Jason Kenney firmly in control of party and caucus
Presumably the risk remains small that deep-pocketed United Conservative Party activists will ever buy party memberships in the names of hundreds of random Albertans, funnel the funds to the party, and use the new “members’” stolen identities to vote for nomination candidates who meet the approval of the party’s leader. More likely, the UCP Cabinet […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
We still don’t know who was in charge of Alberta while Premier Jason Kenney vacationed last summer – maybe no one
So who was in command of the good ship Alberta during those troubling weeks last summer when it became apparent the fourth wave of COVID-19 was raging and the premier had disappeared somewhere abroad to “recharge his batteries”? That remains a mystery almost as mysterious as the never-answered question of where Premier Kenney was vacationing […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Pay attention to MLA Dan Williams’ attacks on Alberta Health Services – he’s likely saying exactly what Jason Kenney thinks
Peace River MLA Dan Williams’ member’s statement in the Legislature last Thursday attacking Alberta Health Services leadership for trying to require employees to be vaccinated against the disease that has caused the deadliest pandemic in a century will sound to many like a bizarre rant. Mr. Williams got up on his hind legs during the […]
Posted inBestsellers
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon tops independent bookshops’ weekly Alberta fiction bestseller list
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Go Tell the Bees That I […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta premier’s lawyers to eight environmental groups: You’ll have our answer soon to your demand for an apology
If Jason Kenney’s lawyers give him sensible advice, they’ll tell him to seek a compromise with the coalition of eight environmental groups that threatened last month to sue him if he doesn’t retract and apologize for statements they say defame them. That could save Alberta’s premier a lot of grief and us Albertan taxpayers a […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Statement of defence by Premier’s Office indicates Jobs Minister Doug Schweitzer wanted fired chief of staff replaced
After the story broke in late October that Doug Schweitzer’s ministerial chief of staff, Ariella Kimmel, had filed a lawsuit claiming she was unjustly fired for complaining about sexual harassment in a workplace where open drinking and abusive behaviour were tolerated, the minister of jobs, economy and innovation told reporters he wasn’t aware of her […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Omicron variant arrives in Alberta – so naturally Jason Kenney is talking about easing COVID restrictions
The first case of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has arrived in Alberta, Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw confirmed yesterday at one of her routine pandemic update news conferences. There was no sign of Premier Jason Kenney, of course, presumably because there was no way to spin this development as something […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Touting it as a winner, UCP picks hydroponic pea shoot producer for optimistic jobs announcement
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Alberta’s United Conservative Government has been reduced to doing what market fundamentalists like Jason Kenney usually vow they’ll never contemplate: picking winners and losers. Or, the way these things often seem to turn out, picking winners and discovering later that they’re actually losers. The UCP announced yesterday it […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Critic of UCP COVID response has Twitter account suspended after complaining fake account used his name and image
IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m pleased to report Dr. Joe Vipond’s Twitter account was restored to him 21 minutes after this post was published. I’m not taking credit. I rather imagine it was all the tweets Twitter received yesterday and this morning. DJC Calgary Emergency Room physician Joe Vipond, who has been a thorn in the side […]