The problem with Jack Mintz leading the committee that’s supposedly tasked with determining the pros and cons of Alberta separation is that he already appears to have made up his mind in favour of secession. “Albertans need to know and understand the potential impacts of separating from Canada,” said Dr. Mintz, who has for many […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Four NDP MLAs, three of them cabinet veterans, announce plans to retire after next election
Four high-profile New Democrat MLAs, two from Edmonton and two from Calgary, will not seek re-election, the Opposition party in the Alberta Legislature said yesterday. Three of them – Calgary-Buffalo MLA Joe Ceci, Edmonton-Riverview MLA Lori Sigurdson, and Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA Marlin Schmidt – were first elected in the NDP sweep of 2015 and served […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP’s ‘independent advisory panel’ on Alberta secession costs is likely to defend Canada on separatist terms
The “independent advisory panel” named yesterday by Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government to look into the “potential economic impacts of secession” illustrates an observation the day before by a prominent Canadian political commentator that too many self-identified federalists are likely to defend Canada on separatist terms. Writing in The Globe and Mail, columnist Andrew Coyne […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Voters risk whiplash watching Danielle Smith switch sides back and forth in Alberta separation fight
Watching Danielle Smith switch back and forth from striving to get her party’s large contingent of separatists to settle down to trying to keep severely normal Albertans who want no part of separation on side is enough to give you whiplash. It’s starting to feel like we’re watching a really fast game of tennis while […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Polls last week suggest ‘low and declining appetite for separation in Alberta’
A public opinion survey published last Friday by the Ipsos polling firm suggests that support for separation from Canada is both limited and decreasing in Alberta, a trend that I’m betting will grow more evident as Albertans start paying attention to what Premier Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Government have perpetrated by starting the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
How do we explain Danielle Smith’s out-of-the-blue promise last week her government will cost out separation by August?
The folks who control the big bucks in Alberta must finally have realized what Danielle Smith’s separation referendum is about to do to their profit potential. How else can we explain Premier Smith’s out-of-the-blue promise last week that her government would fully cost out separation by August and her observation at a news conference she […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
82 years on, a reminder that on this historic date the hammer of D-Day crushed Hitler on the anvil of Russia
REGINA – It’s now been 82 years since our magnificent Canadian soldiers stormed ashore at Juno Beach in Normandy to play their part the grim and deadly task of sweeping Hitler and his odious empire out of Europe. The landings on June 6, 1944, by 156,000 Canadian, British, U.S. and other Allied soldiers along the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Preston Manning wants Canada to know that another pipeline or two won’t be enough
REGINA – Just a darn minute there, Canada! Preston Manning wants you to know another pipeline or two isn’t going to cut the mustard. You’re going to have to fork over more – we Albertans will decide more of what later. Probably federal jurisdiction. Sovereignty, ya know! This just in thanks to an obsequious little […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP re-announces its ‘patient-focused’ hospital funding scheme – it’s still a bad policy
Nothing much has changed since the last time Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government trotted out its “patient-focused funding” scheme for hospitals. It’s still a bad policy that will force hospitals to game the system, increase bureaucracy, and hurt patients while delivering few benefits. Naturally, this is not what the UCP claimed yesterday in an announcement […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Former cabinet minister Rebecca Schulz quietly resigned her seat in the Legislature two weeks ago
According to the website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Calgary-Shaw MLA Rebecca Schulz gave up her seat on May 15. That’s not a surprise, but it’s odd. It’s no surprise because when the former minister in cabinets formed by United Conservative Party premiers Jason Kenney and Danielle Smith announced her resignation as Alberta’s environment […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Who will be demonized by Conservatives as Alberta’s official Bond villain now that Steven Guilbeault is quitting?
Who will be demonized by Alberta Conservatives as this province’s official Bond villain now that Steven Guilbeault has announced he’s quitting politics? Mr. Guilbeault made his announcement yesterday. It wasn’t exactly a bombshell. It’s been expected for a while. A lifelong environmental activist, he obviously sees Prime Minister Mark Carney’s volte-face on the environmental policies […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Prime minister’s Wexit warning prompts western whinging by Calgary Conservative MP with ties to Oklahoma
When Prime Minister Mark Carney called Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s relentless campaign to ensure there’s some form of separation referendum on a provincial ballot next fall “a dangerous bluff” and “not helpful” yesterday, City News in Ottawa sent a reporter to find a Conservative MP who would complain about it. To many of us, Mr. […]