Alison Redford’s planned rooftop apartment, high atop the Federal Building in Edmonton. The Alberta Legislative Building is visible in the background. Actual secret places of the modern world may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A shot of the actual Sky Palace under construction. I don’t know about you, but
Continue readingTag: Charles Rusnell
Alberta Diary: The ‘Self Preservation Society’ wants Jim Prentice for ‘The Alberta Job’ – but can he forgo his ambition to be PM?
“The Alberta Job.” Will the original “Self Preservation Society” get to keep the Tory gold? Is Jim Prentice – above, not exactly as illustrated – the man to help them do it? Read on to find out why we’ll probably never find out. Below: The actual Jim Prentice. Below him:
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Allaudin Merali files suit against Fred Horne, Alberta Health Services for breach of contract, defamation
Health Minister Fred Horne: target of defamation, breach of trust, loss of income suit by former Alberta Health Services CFO. Below: Allaudin Merali. Allaudin Merali filed a statement of claim today in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench against Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne. “The statement
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Who are the Top MLAs of 2013?
TweetIt has become tradition on this blog at the end of each year that I publish a list of Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta who have been the best and most notable of the past year. This year was the first time I struggled to compile a list.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s 13 most under-reported political news stories of 2013
Another aircraft takes off from Fort McMurray International Aerodrome loaded with CO2 captured from Alberta’s Athabasca bitumen sands. The gas will be stored in the basements of Russian buildings as part of a deal worked out through the province’s $2-billion “carbon capture” program. Actual Alberta carbon capture boondoggles may not
Continue readingAlberta Diary: CBC journalist Charles Rusnell: slaying Alberta’s Tory dragon, one scandal at a time …
Your blogger with CBC investigative reporter Charles Rusnell. Below: Edmonton-Manning MLA Peter Sandhu; Mr. Sandhu with Alison Redford in a Tory Party photo grabbed from the Daveberta.ca blog. The photo-bomber is Calgary-Fort MLA Wayne Cao. You’d think it would be easy to run a petroleum-soaked, cash-rich jurisdiction like Alberta, but
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: CBC investigation, Wildrose aggressiveness real reasons Peter Sandhu quit Tories.
TweetEdmonton-Manning MLA Peter Sandhu has resigned from the Progressive Conservative Caucus after a CBC investigation revealed that a company owned by the politician had accumulated a trail of unpaid debt. The report, by investigative reporter Charles Rusnell, also found that Mr. Sandhu made a false statement in a sworn affidavit.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Mysterious 2011 review of Alberta Labour Code explained – corporate influence, of course!
Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan, right, speaks to yesterday’s AFL news conference at the Edmonton’s Shaw Conference Centre. Your faithful blogger can be glimpsed at the far right. Beside him, the CBC’s Charles Rusnell. Below: Rusnell, Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason. Back in the summer of 2011, as
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Progressive Conservatives and Alberta’s government: one entity, indivisible, under God?
Participants in today’s Alberta Economic Summit solemnly await Premier Alison Redford’s arrival at Calgary’s Mount Royal University. Many are called but few are chosen, and they may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Stefan Baranski, Charles Rusnell and Stephen Carter. As befits an almost exclusively political event, criticism of today’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Scandal, controversy, and electoral fortunes? What does 2013 hold for Alberta politics?
TweetWhat does 2013 hold for Alberta’s political leaders? Do their performances in 2012 shed any light on how the next year will play out? Saved from defeat by controversial comments made by social conservative elements of the Wildrose Party, Premier Alison Redford led the Progressive Conservative Party to its 12th
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Wildrose MLAs stage walk out during dramatic tobacco conflict.
TweetTheatric and dramatic antics dominated this afternoon’s hour-long Question Period in Alberta’s Legislative Assembly. To start the drama, the official opposition Wildrose Caucus raised a point of personal privilege claiming that Premie…
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Potted history: why the winter of 2012 feels like the summer of ’73
Richard Nixon after his overwhelming 1972 re-election victory. Below: George McGovern, Alison Redford. Here in Alberta’s icy capital, the winter of 2012 is starting to feel like the summer of ’73. If you’re an Alberta Progressive Conservative, this is not a good thing. Let me explain. In the spring and summer of 1972, Richard Nixon, …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A smoking gun? Premier Redford accused of conflict in tobacco case.
TweetAnother exclusive story from CBC investigative reporter Charles Rusnell: Premier Alison Redford, while justice minister, personally chose her ex-husband’s law firm for a government tobacco-litigation contract worth potentially tens of millio…
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Cone of Silence won’t make Albertans any less angry at expense account shenanigans
Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne, at right, and a representative of the media go inside the Cone of Silence to discuss the latest health care expense account revelations. Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated, but, boy, Maxwell Smart sure looks like Dalton McGuinty! Below: Premier Redford’s sister Lynn, CBC reporter Charles Rusnell and …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Something was rotten in the former Calgary Health Region.
TweetIntrepid CBC investigative journalist Charles Rusnell has uncovered another swath of illegal political donations made to Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party: Lynn Redford, sister of Alberta Premier Alison Redford, attended Progressive C…
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The XL Foods E. coli Crisis: Is the media asking the right questions?
The Edmonton Journal’s front page on Friday. Below: Brian Nilsson apologizing, Lee Nilsson, the Mannix brothers, Fred and Ron. All photos grabbed from the Internet. Postmedia News, owner of Alberta’s two largest newspapers, was so relieved when one of the brothers who own troubled XL Foods Ltd. in this province’s
Continue readingAlberta Diary: No buyout for former Alberta Health chief financial officer? Really?
Back in the days of Capital Health… Very little may be exactly as illustrated. Below: Dr. Chris Eagle, Alllaudin Merali, Fred Horne, Sheila Weatherill. Alberta Health Services CEO Dr. Chris Eagle announced categorically in a news release today there will be no buyout for Allaudin Merali, the health care agency’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: allaudin merali’s extravagant expenses a blow to alberta health services, redford government.
TweetThe highest echelons of Alberta Health Services are once again being rocked by a firestorm of public criticism after it was revealed that AHS Chief Financial Officer Allaudin Merali had claimed more than $345,000 in expenses to the province-wide health authority. Mr. Merali was fired by AHS hours before CBC
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Understanding AHS: Carmangay nursing home repairs? We need the money for Allaudin Merali!
Village of Carmangay: Sorry, your nursing home will have to close. Below: Former Capital Health CEO Sheila Weatherill, Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne. Let’s cut right to the chase: If Alberta Health Services can afford to buy out Allaudin Merali, again, it can afford to keep the doors open at
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Something hits the Alberta fan: Allaudin and his wonderful expense account revealed by CBC
Allaudin and his wonderful expense account? Departing Alberta Health Service executives may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: One of the few photos available of Allaudin Merali; CBC investigative journalist Charles Rusnell. One is practically struck dumb by the astonishing CBC revelation that the Chief Financial Officer of Alberta’s massive
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