After my father died in Victoria in 2008 at the age of 91, my sister opened his safety deposit box and discovered $5,000 in shares in the British Columbia Resources Investment Corp., better known as the BCRIC, universally pronounced at the end of the 1970s as the “brick.” When I
Continue readingTag: social credit party
Alberta Politics: First reading of Bill 207 reveals zero UCP votes for women’s reproductive rights
Here are two important statistics about the United Conservative Party’s Bill 207, the Conscience Rights (Health Care Providers) Protection Act, which was introduced in the Alberta Legislature yesterday … Just a minute, you say, Bill 207 is a private member’s bill, brought forward by Peace River UCP MLA Dan Williams,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Trump’s anti-Canadian antics are good news for Alberta pipeline advocates – whether or not that was the plan
U.S. President Donald Trump may not actually have intended to deliver a blow to West Coast environmentalists opposed to the completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project, but he has done so with his recent dubious allegations about Canada’s trading practices. Building a pipeline capable of carrying diluted bitumen
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Get ready for a by-election in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
Following Don MacIntyre’s resignation from the United Conservative Party caucus last week, it was confirmed by media Monday that he had also resigned as the MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. Information about MacIntyre’s unexpected departure is currently prohibited from publication by a court ordered publication ban, though rumours circulated fairly quickly
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: The Dream of the 30s is Alive in the Social Credit Party
William: Do you remember the 30’s? Y’know. People were talking about printing their own currency, restricting the sale and serving of alcohol, and buying homburg hats and knickerbokers. And people were singing about Major Douglas and his A+B theorem? Margaret: Yeah? William: There’s a place where that idea still exists as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Paul Hinman wants to contest UCP leadership! He has till tonight to raise $57,500! I’m not making this up!
PHOTOS: Would-be UCP leadership candidate Paul Hinman, back when he was Wildrose Alliance MLA for Calgary-Glenmore. Below: Preston Manning, Ted Hinman, and Ernest Manning. Paul Hinman? Seriously? Has somebody stumbled over a mysterious time capsule buried by the Wildrose Alliance Party way out on the lone prairie? Probably somewhere down
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ANDREW WHO? Oh, wait! I grabbed the wrong picture from the file cabinet!
PHOTOS: Andrew Scheer … I mean Joe Clark, a then-almost-unknown MP from Alberta, celebrates his victory in the Tory party leadership contest with his wife, Maureen McTeer, on Feb. 22, 1976. (Photo: Toronto Public Library.) The real Andrew Scheer, seen below, an almost-unknown MP from Saskatchewan, was doing the same
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Obituary: ‘Old Leather Lungs,’ one of B.C.’s most colourful politicians
Old time Socred MLA and Cabinet Minister Don Phillips was from another era, a time of flamboyant speakers and keen as hell debaters. On the Socred side, Phillips, Rafe Mair and Grace McCarthy would Read more…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hunting for hangover remedies with Bill Bennett and other tall tales from Social Credit British Columbia
PHOTOS: Former British Columbia Social Credit Party Premier Bill Bennett on the steps of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria. Below: Another shot of Mr. Bennett, who died on Dec. 3, looking a little shaggy; NDP Premier Dave Barrett; W.A.C. Bennett, B.C.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Has the Wildrose Party outlived its purpose?
TweetAnyone already cynical about politics in Alberta will have their views reinforced with yesterday’s announcement that Wildrose leader Danielle Smith and eight of her party’s MLAs have abandoned their role as the Official Opposition and joined the 43-year governing Progressive Conservatives. After a five hour meeting of the PC Caucus at Government House, Premier
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: The magic of Tory reinvention. A new era for Alberta.
TweetAs the Progressive Conservatives brandish their new slogan, “A new era for Alberta,” many Albertans might be confused about which political party has been in power for the past 43 years. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an era as “a long and distinct period of history.” If we were to apply the geological
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A closer look at PC constituency-level fundraising
TweetAfter 43-years in government, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party now faces serious competition in the fundraising field from the Wildrose Party. Raising only $2.86 million in 2013, the PC Party ran a $136,000 deficit and owed $1.1 million on a line of credit. This shaky financial situation is unheard of for a
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Folly of Balanced Budget Laws in BC
The news is out. Due to declining natural gas prices, the BC Liberal government is projecting a budget deficit of $1.14 billion this year — $173 million more than expected. And while the government still insists that it plans on finding enough savings to balance next year’s (election year) budget,
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