University of Alberta political scientist Dr. Jared Wesley joins Dave Cournoyer on the Daveberta Podcast for a deep dive into Alberta’s October 18 Equalization Referendum, why it is being held, what Premier Jason Kenney hopes to accomplish (and why he’s been absent on the campaign trail), and what the ramifications
Continue readingTag: Drew Barnes
Alberta Politics: MLA Drew Barnes, creating more mischief to confound Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, proposes new rural conservative party
Rebel conservative Drew Barnes, a former United Conservative exiled from the party’s caucus who nowadays sits as the Independent MLA for Cypress Medicine Hat, has floated the idea of forming a new conservative party that would run candidates only in rural Alberta. After all, Mr. Barnes told Global News for
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 174: UCP Mutiny (Barnes and Loewen Edition)
Dani Paradis and Chris Henderson are back on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the recent blow-out in the United Conservative Party caucus, the expulsion of Drew Barnes and Todd Loewen and the ongoing challenges to Premier Jason Kenney’s flailing leadership. We also discuss recent developments in Edmonton’s mayoral election, Michael Oshry launching
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 174: UCP Mutiny Edition
Dani Paradis and Chris Henderson are back on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the recent blow-out in the United Conservative Party caucus, the expulsion of Drew Barnes and Todd Loewen and the ongoing challenges to Premier Jason Kenney’s flailing leadership. We also discuss recent developments in Edmonton’s mayoral election, Michael Oshry launching
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Um, Uh, You Know, Reopening Plan
Alberta is a train slowly emerging from a tunnel, we see the light, the vaccines are coming and most of us will be vaccinated soon. Unfortunately, Alberta is a runaway train and Jason Kenney is the engine driver (also known as the loco pilot in some jurisdictions). Alberta’s loco pilot
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney, wounded by UCP Caucus dissent, manages to kick out two rebellious MLAs
Can Alberta Premier Jason Kenney remain in officer longer than Alison Redford was premier? Until yesterday, I would have answered that despite his current unpopularity, Premier Kenney’s rule would obviously last longer than Ms. Redford’s short, unhappy tenure. Former Alberta premier Alison Redford (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Now I am
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Drew Barnes is calling the shots for Alberta and any way you look at that, it’s not healthy
It looks like Drew Barnes calling the shots for Alberta! By any measure, Jason Kenney is a pretty bad premier. But he’s not the worst we could have in the midst of a deadly global pandemic that just won’t quit. No, that would be someone like Mr. Barnes, the COVID-denying,
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 72: The COVID 18 and the Curriculum Catastrophe
Alberta politics moves at a mile a minute and there’s no time to waste. On this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, we dive into the United Conservative Caucus rebellion against mild public health restrictions to fight COVID-19 and challenges to Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership, the controversial draft K-6 curriculum, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Defying Jason Kenney’s pleas to take COVID-19 seriously, two UCP MLAs join ‘End the Lockdowns National Caucus’
Two MLAs from Premier Jason Kenney’s government caucus have joined a national coalition of elected and former politicians dedicated to the proposition restrictions on social and commercial activities intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 must end. Needless to say, centrifugal force is not a good look for a United
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 66: Aloha! Flying into Alberta politics in 2021
What lies ahead for Alberta politics in 2021? Dr. Jared Wesley joins Dave Cournoyer on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss Jason Kenney’s leadership of the United Conservative Party, Rachel Notley’s focus on health care during the pandemic, the Alberta Party and Wildrose Independence Party leadership races, and the equalization referendum
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Clarity on pandemic travel: it’s bad, but it’s safe; it’s not recommended, but it’s facilitated … OK?
Travelling by air is safer than going to the grocery store, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney explained to yesterday’s COVID-19 news conference. But that doesn’t mean you should travel by air. Or shouldn’t go to the grocery store. Or something. Chief Medical Officer Deena Hinshaw at the same event (Photo: Chris
Continue readingAlberta Politics: AlbertaPolitics.ca marks its 13th anniversary today as 2020, annus horribilis, nears its end
Today marks the 13th anniversary of the first post published on this blog, known at the time as St. Albert Diary, and later, for a spell, as Alberta Diary. So, by the standards of the Internet, this makes AlbertaPolitics.ca an institution. Premier Jason Kenney, striking an avuncular pose himself (Photo:
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New Zealand eyes reopening borders a crack while Calgary crowd protests ‘draconian’ COVID-19 restrictions
After being declared COVID-19 free last June, New Zealand is ever-so-cautiously moving toward reopening its watery borders to some international travel. With Australia, that is. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (Photo: NewZild, Creative Commons). Australia hasn’t done quite as well countering the coronavirus as New Zealand has, but it’s
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Restrictions: A Jekyll and Hyde Story
A couple of months after Mr Kenney lost control of Covid-19, he lost control of his party. Consequently on Dec 13 Albertans find themselves here: our covid testing system is overwhelmed, contact tracing has collapsed, hospitals are at 120% capacity, ICU beds are filling up, the Red Cross and hospital
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 62: Maybe Keystone XL wasn’t a very good investment after all
In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast we discuss: the election of Joe Biden as President of the United States and the future of the Alberta government’s $7 billion investment into the Keystone XL Pipeline. the Kenney government’s response to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and Health Minister
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta political roundup: The paper-pile premier, furious doctors, rebel ’Roser rumours, Total disaster, and more …
Having rammed through two controversial bills Tuesday night, one opening the door to more health care privatization and the other eliminating workplace fairness and declaring war on unions, the Alberta Legislature wrapped up its business just after 8 o’clock yesterday morning. United Conservative Party social media spent the afternoon bragging
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If he loves his country as he says, Jason Kenney needs to dump rebel MLA for peddling dangerous separatist twaddle
Jason Kenney can mildly admonish Drew Barnes for spouting separatist twaddle if he wishes, but the Alberta premier’s protestations of Canadian patriotism won’t be very persuasive if he lets the Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA remain in his United Conservative Party Caucus. I know, Mr. Kenney has a problem with the loony
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Distinction Rebellion? There are plenty of reasons breaking up is hard to do, so don’t expect the UCP to do it
Is a rebellion brewing in Southern Alberta against Alberta Premier Jason Kenney among the United Conservative Party’s old Wildrose crowd? Is there a Prairie fire smouldering in the heart Wild Rose Country that might turn into another “upstart conservative party”? Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, as he looked in 2017 as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Government puts ‘Fair Deal’ report on the shelf after panel hands in its homework late
Alberta’s so-called Fair Deal Panel, which might have seemed like a good idea when Premier Jason Kenney announced it last fall, presents something of a political problem for a government that has more often than not let Ottawa do the heavy lifting throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Premier Kenney pitched the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hinterland Who’s Who: Hear the haunting call of the wild Deep South Alberta UCP MLA …
With friends like Drew Barnes, does the United Conservative Party really need enemies in these troubles times? The right-wing Frankenparty may have won the 2019 provincial election convincingly soon after it was cobbled together from the fringy Wildrose Party and the old Progressive Conservatives by former Harper Government cabinet minister
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