Photo: Doug Schweitzer, Danielle Larivee, Travis Toews, and Mo Elsalhy. Former United Conservative Party leadership candidate Doug Schweitzer defeated past city council candidate Chris Davis to secure his party’s nomination in Calgary-Elbow on September 13, 2018. As noted last week, Schweitzer is a lawyer who briefly considered running for the PC Party
Continue readingTag: Rick Fraser
daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 19: Quashing Pipelines and Political Dreams
In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, Dave Cournoyer and Ryan Hastman discuss the latest news in Alberta politics, including Premier Rachel Notley’s response to the quashing of approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, how rumours of an early federal election could impact Alberta’s 2019 election, and Ryan’s favourite topic, the Alberta Party. We
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Who might and might not be invited to the Leaders’ Debate in Alberta’s 2019 election?
Photo: Alberta political party leaders – Rachel Notley, Jason Kenney, Stephen Mandel, David Khan, and Derek Fildebrandt. We are now somewhere between seven and ten months away from the next provincial general election in Alberta. For the past seven provincial elections, leaders of the main political parties have participated in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: By-elections conveniently over, United Conservative Party pushes out MLA accused of ballot stuffing at nomination meeting
With many Albertans apparently in a mood to take Jason Kenney’s claim at face value his year-old United Conservative Party is renewed, reformed and ready to govern, you can’t be too careful about evidence that the same-old-same-old Tory entitlement continues to lurk on the Opposition benches of the Legislature. Not
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Sixth MLA leaves the UCP. Prab Gill resigns from caucus following ballot-stuffing investigation.
The polls suggest the United Conservative Party is poised to form government in 2019, but how united the caucus actually is remains questionable. Calgary-Greenway UCP MLA Prab Gill issued a statement yesterday announcing that he has left the UCP caucus to sit as an Independent MLA following the conclusion of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Stephen Mandel wins Alberta Party leadership. Alberta Advantage Party acclaims Marilyn Burns as leader.
Former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel, 72, is the new leader of the Alberta Party. Mandel was elected on the first ballot with 66 percent of the vote, defeating Calgary lawyer Kara Levis, who placed second with 18 percent, and Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser, who placed third with 16 percent. 4,613 of
Continue readingKen Chapman: Looking at the Alberta Party Leadership
A New Day and a New Way? With the retirement of Greg Clark as leader, there are four phases to the leadership change process within Alberta Party. First was to find quality and committed candidates. Done! Membership sales was next phase that closed on February 12. Done! Now the candidates have
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: MLA Karen McPherson to endorse Rick Fraser in Alberta Party leadership race, sources confirm
Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson is expected to endorse Alberta Party leadership candidate Rick Fraser on the morning of Feb. 13, 2018, campaign sources confirm. McPherson represents one third of the party’s caucus in the Legislative Assembly. She was first elected as a New Democratic Party MLA in 2015 and joined
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Why Do We March?
Of the 120,000 people who attended the Women’s March in Canada, 10,000 marched in Alberta and 3,500 marched in Calgary. They were repeatedly asked, “Why do you march?” They replied they were concerned about equal pay, violence against women, protecting human rights, and ensuring the ugliness of Trumpism doesn’t seep
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Episode 4: The Alberta Party (again), leaked UCP policy, and predictions for 2018
The Alberta Party leadership race (it’s finally a race!), the United Conservative Party’s leaked policy document, predictions for 2018, and hot gossip from the Alberta Legislature are just some of the topics covered in the latest episode of The Daveberta Podcast with Dave Cournoyer and Ryan Hastman (recorded in the Harry Strom Memorial
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Thank You Alberta Party!
When Greg Clark stepped down as the leader of the Alberta Party Ms Soapbox wondered whether the party had lost its mind. When Rick Fraser and Stephen Mandel, two former Progressive Conservatives, entered the AP leadership race, Ms Soapbox wondered whether the party had been taken over by the Progressive
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Stephen Mandel, past his best-before date but still politically sexy to media, declares Alberta Party leadership bid
PHOTOS: Stephen Mandel makes his Alberta Party leadership campaign announcement yesterday in Edmonton (Photo: Twitter). Below: Mr. Mandel back in the day with premier Jim Prentice, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, former Alberta Party leader Greg Clark, and United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney. Stephen Mandel’s political strategists would like you
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Thank God! A horserace at last for the Alberta Party leadership … probably, anyway
PHOTOS: What a glorious opportunity to use this photo of Stephen Mandel again! Say what you will about the guy, he’s got style! Below: Rick Fraser, the other former Progressive Conservative known to be running for the leadership of the Alberta Party and, by coincidence, the other credible candidate with
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: It’s an Alberta Party leadership race: Kara Levis, Rick Fraser… Stephen Mandel
Photo: Former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel when he announced his plans to retire from municipal politics in 2013. The rumours have been circulating for weeks, and they now appear to be confirmed. Stephen Mandel is jumping back into provincial politics by launching a campaign for the leadership of the Alberta
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: 12 Alberta MLAs to watch in 2018
Photo: Alberta MLAs to watch in 2018: Leela Aheer, Shaye Anderson, Deron Bilous, Joe Ceci, Rick Fraser, Sandra Jansen, Brian Jean, Danielle Larivee, Jessica Littlewood, Shannon Phillips, David Shepherd and Richard Starke. Despite its past reputation, Alberta politics has become extraordinarily unpredictable over the past twelve years. This makes forecasting the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Counting up the Alberta Party’s leadership candidates, real and imagined, so far: a partial list, no doubt
PHOTOS: Former Morinville mayor Lisa Holmes. Below: Doug Griffiths, Thomas Lukaszuk, Stephen Khan and Chima Nkemdirim. These photos were chosen completely arbitrarily, mainly because they came from the author’s own collection and hadn’t been used a bunch of times before. If it weren’t for the takeover of the once-rather-liberal Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Calgary MLA Dave Rodney to make way for new Conservative Leader; ex New Democrat Karen McPherson to join Alberta Party
PHOTOS: Calgary-Lougheed MLA Dave Rodney, centre right, gets close to the new Conservative leader … in 2011. Below: Newly elected United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney; another look at Mr. Rodney, the renowned Everest summiteer; and Alberta Party recruit Karen McPherson (Photo: Connor Mah, Wikipedia Commons). Members of the Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two departures – of an NDP MLA and a UCP leadership candidate – pop up on Alberta’s political radar
PHOTOS: Former NDP MLA Karen McPherson, who has asked to sit as the Independent representative for her Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill riding (Photo: Bob Hawkesworth). Below: Former United Conservative Party leadership candidate Jeff Callaway (Photo: CBC), the port of Churchill, Man. (Photo: churchillpolarbears.com), and Independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt, the UCP’s answer to
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: MLA Karen McPherson bids farewell to the Alberta NDP
Photo: Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson (right) and Calgary-Northern Hills MLA Jamie Kleinsteuber (left). Source: Facebook There have been a lot of changes on the opposition side of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly this year, but today marked the first time since 2015 that we saw a decline in the number of MLAs
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Between the lines, Calgary MLA Rick Fraser’s UCP resignation letter is an indictment of Wildrose-ified party
PHOTOS: Rick Fraser in a screenshot from the Legislature of Alberta. Below: Legislative loners Greg Clark, David Swann and Richard Starke, Calgary MP Kent Hehr, and environmentalist and former Green Party candidate Chris Turner. Let’s cut to the chase about what Calgary MLA Rick Fraser’s decision to quit the United
Continue reading