Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had a five-minute-and-10-second televised conversation of remarkable vapidity in Calgary yesterday. Why is this man smiling (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Notwithstanding the frenzied spinning of some local newshounds, what little news there was at the Calgary Stampede photo-op needs to be prised
Continue readingTag: Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Alberta 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 readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Rick Strankman ousted by Nate Horner in Drumheller-Stettler, UCP dumps Dale Johnson in Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland
Photo: Rick Strankman and Jason Kenney (source: Facebook) Rick Strankman is the first incumbent MLA to lose his party’s nomination in this election cycle as he went down to defeat at the hands of Pollockville rancher and political family scion Nate Horner in last weekend’s United Conservative Party nomination contest
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Deconstructing political discourse in Alberta: Doublethink is alive and well in recessionary Wild Rose Country
PHOTOS: Parson Manning spreads the Gospel of Market Fundamentalism in his days as leader of the Reform Party of Alberta. The actual neoliberal preacher-men of Confederation may not appear exactly as illustrated. Photo grabbed from Elmer Gantry, the mov…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Don Getty, premier who battled economic downturn much like today’s, among the last of Alberta’s Red Tory leaders
PHOTOS: Don Getty and Peter Lougheed, going places politically back in the day. Below: Mr. Getty again, and Mr. Lougheed , as professional football players with the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1950s, the former in an Eskimos photo, the latter in a shot sna…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Whatever happens next, Justin Trudeau has brought the Liberals back from the brink
PHOTOS: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau addresses his supporters in Edmonton this morning. Below: Mr. Trudeau’s supporters line up in the pale morning light to get into his rally; Mr. Trudeau greets supporters as he bounded to the stage. Charisma matters. I don’t know if Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will win the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper scolded by Conservatives over grotesque anti-communism memorial in Ottawa
Even ardent Conservative Party supporters are unhappy about the design, location and cost of the planned $5,5 million Memorial to the Victims of Communism memorial in Ottawa. The post Harper scolded by Conservatives over grotesque anti-communism memorial in Ottawa appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Relocate Victims of Communism Memorial or Cancel Project
An online petition and prominent Canadian voices demand that the proposed Memorial to the Victims of Communism be relocated, or the project entirely. The post Relocate Victims of Communism Memorial or Cancel Project appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Alberta can’t afford to ignore the Provincial Sales Tax
“Rat-free, PST-free and Liberal-free” has been a Conservative mantra in Alberta since the reign of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. But is this trifecta now in jeopardy? The decline of government revenues caused by the drop in the price of oil has once again sparked… Continue Reading →
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Maybe fake soldier didn’t understand only Tory politicians and TV stars are allowed to play military dressup in Canada
Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans were outraged when this man allegedly passed himself off as a Forces member at the scene of a flood in Calgary, Alberta. As you can see, he seemed to have a couple of civilians fooled. However, his weird haircut gave him away to keen
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Justin Trudeau in Edmonton: dismiss this guy as a flake or a lightweight at your peril
Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau energized a crowd of Liberals and the curious last night in Edmonton. Below: His father, Pierre Trudeau, circa 1968; the chip off the old block. I’m pretty sure it was in the spring of 1968 that I heard Pierre Trudeau speak in Victoria’s
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: NEP what? Trudeau Liberals dominate Oil Capital Fort McMurray
TweetPreliminary results from last week’s Fort McMurray-Athabasca by-election show that federal Liberal candidate Kyle Harrietha dominated in the industrial capital of Canada’s oil economy. According to an initial breakdown of the results by polling station, Mr. Harrietha earned 46% of the votes cast (2,560 votes) in the northern region the riding on June 30, 2014, which includes
Continue readingAlberta Diary: All lawbreakers will be punished … unless they happen to be Alberta Conservatives
“’Ave you got a leesence for your minkey?” An investigator for Elections Alberta pauses momentarily in his probe of political donations made to the Progressive Conservative Party by seeing-eye monkeys. If you don’t get it, I can’t help you. Actual Elections Alberta investigators by now have likely been transferred back
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Justin Trudeau crowned leader of the Liberal Party of Canada!
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: As expected, Justin Trudeau has been crowned leader of the 3rd-placed Liberal Party of Canada. But the eldest son of former prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, won convincingly: with 80% support. Trudeau says the era of the hyphenated Liberal is over. “It doesn’t matter to me if you
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: Justin Trudeau Announces Liberal Party Leadership Bid
After months of speculation, it’s official! Justin Trudeau is running for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. And he’s already dreaming big: he wants to replace Stephen Harper as Canada’s next prime minister. Announcing his leadership bid in Montreal Tuesday, the Papineau MP delivered a speech unequivocally pointing in that direction. The
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Adoration of Peter Lougheed moves beyond canonization into deification
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s message at Peter Lougheed’s state funeral. Below: Premier Lougheed with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who haunts us still. With his state funeral yesterday afternoon, the official adoration of former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed moved beyond canonization into deification. If other Canadians happened to pause and listen
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Harper Determined to Erase Pierre Trudeau From Public Consciousness
No doubt, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are determined to create a Canadian nationalism that is both socially conservative and loyal to the British Empire. Their key strategy is to radically revise history and suppress certain moments that do not identify with past Conservative leaders. This penchant for naked revisionism
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Come 2015, don’t expect the Harper Tories to do aught but rag on our Maple Leaf Flag
Canada’s Maple Leaf Flag. Below: Lester B. Pearson, the prime minister whose vision gave us the flag; Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the father of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Harper Conservatives wrap themselves in the Maple Leaf Flag, but don’t expect them to be waving it on Feb. 15,
Continue readingPample the Moose: Happy Charter Day! And the importance of an "s"
Today’s the 30th anniversary of the formal adoption of the 1982 Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A lot of ink has been recently devoted to the Harper government’s non-observance of this day. I could add to this, but instead I’d like to draw your attention to
Continue readingPample the Moose: Happy Charter Day! And the importance of an "s"
Today’s the 30th anniversary of the formal adoption of the 1982 Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A lot of ink has been recently devoted to the Harper government’s non-observance of this day. I could add to this, but instead I’d like to draw your attention to the text of the formal statement issued by Heritage Minister James Moore and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson which was originally posted here. I say “originally posted” lest the initial text be changed.
The full statement reads:
Statement by the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on the 30th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act of 1982
OTTAWA, April 17, 2012 – Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act of 1982, which was formally signed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on April 17, 1982, in the presence of tens of thousands of Canadians on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
This anniversary marks an important step in the development of Canada’s human rights policy. Building on Diefenbaker’s Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960, the Constitution Act of 1982 enshrined certain rights and freedoms that had historically been at the heart of Canadian society into a constitutional document known as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Constitution Act of 1982 empowered our government to amend every part of Canada’s constitution, for the very first time.
As we look ahead to Canada’s 150th Anniversary in 2017, we encourage all Canadians to commemorate the milestones that have built our nation and made us the great country we are today.
There are all sorts of things that can be critiqued about this statement, starting with the omission of the Prime Minister and architect of the deal, Pierre Trudeau. But because I’m in a peculiar mood, let me instead draw your attention to paragraph 3 of the statement. There’s a rather important little “s” that is missing from the end of the word “government”. Because as any constitutional expert worth their salt knows, most parts of Canada’s constitution cannot be amended by any single government. In some cases, it takes at least two, in most it takes eight (seven provincial governments representing 50% of the population, plus the federal government), and in a few key areas it takes eleven governments to amend the constitution.
So unless there is a super-secret plan by the Harper government to start unilaterally amending the constitution, his ministers’ staffers did a terrible job proofing that mediocre statement.
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