U.S. President Joseph R. Biden’s swift action yesterday to revoke the permit to build the Keystone XL Pipeline has exposed Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to the world as a hopeless prat. Mr. Kenney gave away $1.5 billion on a dumb bet that he’d look like a hero if Donald Trump
Continue readingTag: David Khan
Alberta Politics: David Khan and Don Iveson, two bright lights of Alberta politics, announce they’re packing it in
Two prominent Alberta politicians have taken the traditional Canadian walk in the snow and announced their planned departures from their current political roles. Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan, 46, one of the most influential provincial politicians in Alberta without a seat in the Legislature, made his announcement on Sunday. Edmonton
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s not up to the premier’s staff to decide who’s a journalist — except when it is
Responding yesterday to criticism for letting Alberta Premier Jason Kenney take a question from a reporter for a controversial right-wing news site during Tuesday’s virtual COVID-19 update, Press Secretary Christine Myatt tweeted defensively that “I don’t think anybody wants the government deciding who is or is not a journalist.” Taken
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Ignominy of Kenney’s Bill 1
As Albertans flooded into the streets to join the hundreds of thousands of people around the world protesting systemic racism and police brutality, some of us worried about the UCP government’s move to limit our right to engage in peaceful protests by enacting Bill 1, the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s Bill 1 is bad law, bad theatre, and an unconstitutional attack on the fundamental rights of citizens
If the passage of Bill 1 by the Alberta Legislature last month demonstrates anything, it’s the contempt in which Premier Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party hold the rule of law. Mr. Kenney and his well-behaved UCP caucus know that Canada’s Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 35: The big UCP win, an Alberta Election Recap
The Alberta election is over. In this episode Dave and Ryan discuss the election results, who Jason Kenney might pick for the United Conservative government cabinet, what is next for Rachel Notley and the New Democratic Party in Alberta, if there is a future for the Alberta Party and the Liberal Party, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney, having delivered victory to his UCP, sounds like man with his eye on Ottawa
Give Jason Kenney his due: The man delivered a convincing enough victory for his United Conservative Party last night that no one can call him a political flop if at some point soon he wants to make a return trip to Ottawa. And his long-winded victory speech at the Calgary
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 34: When you play the Game of Thrones… Alberta election edition.
In this episode Dave and Ryan discuss the huge turnout at the advance polls, some of the key races to watch on election night, and recap of the final days of the campaign. We also dive into the mailbag to answer some great questions from our listeners. And because we couldn’t help ourselves,
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 33: Ballot Questions, the Leaders’ Debate, and your great Alberta Election questions
In this episode Dave and Ryan discuss the latest Alberta’s election developments, including the fallout from Mark Smith’s homophobic comments, Jason Kenney’s interview with Charles Adler and how it might impact voters on April 16, the televised leaders’ debate, and what Rachel Notley needs to do in the final week of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney escape relatively unscathed in Alberta election leaders’ debate
Last night’s Alberta election leaders’ debate was an unedifying experience, as these things often are. If anyone except hard-core political junkies kept their hands off the remote, I’d be surprised. Debate stuck to talking points we’ve heard before, the broadcast aired at a weird hour when many viewers were still
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 31: Game on. Week 1 of Alberta’s 2019 Election.
Alberta’s provincial election has been called and Albertans will be going to the polls on April 16. For the duration of the campaign, we’re going to be recording a new episode of the Daveberta Podcast each week. In this episode we jump right into the fray, looking at the New
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 25: We answer your Alberta Politics questions
We asked listeners to send us their Alberta politics questions and we dedicated our final episode of 2018 to answering them! We kicked off this episode with a game of “is it more likely,” where we discuss different potential scenarios in Alberta politics in 2019 and then we dove into
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 24: Oil, Pipelines and Alberta’s next election.
The First Minister’s Meeting, oil prices, and Premier Rachel Notley’s performance on the national stage are where we started the discussion in this episode. Dave and Ryan also delved into the latest nomination news and what 2019 holds for Alberta politics, including when the next provincial and federal elections could be called.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Janis Irwin running for NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Daniel Williams wins UCP contest in Peace River
Photo: More than 200 people packed into the Bellevue Community Hall tonight to support Janis Irwin’s bid for the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. Janis Irwin launched her campaign for the New Democratic Party nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood this evening at the Bellevue Community Hall. Irwin is a community advocate and educator, and she
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The poll puts Jason Kenney’s UCP in slam-dunk range over NDP; the pollster has a bit of a history
Yesterday, United Conservative Party MLAs were Tweeting around a graphic from a new poll that showed their party with a wide lead over the New Democratic Party in all regions of Alberta, including the Edmonton area, which lately has been seen as an NDP stronghold. Mysteriously, the UCPers didn’t include
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Tom Olsen beats Megan McCaffrey in Calgary-Buffalo UCP nomination, Liberal David Khan to run in Mountain View
Photo: Tom Olsen and Ric McIver (source: Facebook) Lobbyist Tom Olsen surprised many political watchers last weekend when he defeated Megan McCaffery in the United Conservative Party nomination contest in Calgary-Buffalo. McCaffery, who has strong ties with the Manning Centre and had the endorsement of 9 UCP MLAs, was believed to
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Calgary-Lougheed by-election report reveals $885,206.29 in NDP donations not reported in regular quarterly reports
Elections Alberta has released the initial campaign finance reports from political parties during the Calgary-Lougheed by-election held on December 14, 2017. Due to a strange quirk in Alberta’s election finance laws, all or most donations collected by political parties during the official by-election period between November 16, 2017 and February 14, 2018
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No Progressives Allowed! No entry without secret decoder! UCP serves up private Pride pancakes only today
While thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, were taking part in Pride events throughout Edmonton today, Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party held a private, conservatives-only “Pride Breakfast” a few blocks from the route of the parade along fashionable Whyte Avenue on the city’s south side. This reflects the unique problem Mr.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Stephen Mandel to lead Alberta Party; probably won’t take Tory insider’s advice to go ‘ultra-left’
PHOTOS: Stephen Mandel, always a natty dresser, was chosen as the leader of the Alberta Party last night. He was dressed more conservatively than in this old picture, though, which has the advantage of having been taken by your blogger back when Mr. Mandel was Jim Prentice’s unelected health minister.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As expected, UCP Leader Jason Kenney chalks up another convincing win in Calgary-Lougheed by-election
PHOTOS: UCP Leader Jason Kenney celebrates his victory in the Calgary-Lougheed by-election last night (Photo: CBC). Below: NDP candidate Phillip van der Merwe, Liberal leader and candidate David Khan, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, all their photos grabbed for simplicity’s sake from Twitter. Never mind Surrey and Alabama. Jason Kenney
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