As lacklustre PC leadership race winds down, by-elections are on the horizon
TweetWith one day left before the vote, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Ric McIver’s campaign took to the radio airwaves, attacking frontrunner Jim Prentice for being “an insider.” It was...
View ArticleJim Prentice tells Albertans to strap on their seat belts
Tweet“After two weeks with me as the premier, there will be no doubts in anyone’s minds that this a time of renewal and a time of change. Put your seat belts on.” – Jim Prentice speaking with Roger...
View ArticleJim Prentice appoints another Pipeline Obsessed Cabinet
TweetAs he prepared to be sworn-in as the 16th Premier of Alberta at Government House today, Jim Prentice aimed to project the image of a leader who is in command and in control of the situation. And...
View ArticleTories impose a strict policy of de-Redfordization
TweetThe strength of any long-ruling political party is the ability to reinvent itself under new leaders and changing circumstances. After 43-years in power, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative...
View ArticleAlberta politics round up: Health Ministers, By-Elections and Troubled Waters...
TweetBANFF – Stepping onto the national stage for the first time since he was appointed as Alberta’s Minister of Health, Stephen Mandel met with his provincial and federal counterparts this week in...
View ArticleCould the Wildrose collapse mean an early 2015 election?
This week’s defection of nine Wildrose MLAs to the Progressive Conservative Caucus has drastically impacted Alberta’s electoral map. The governing PCs now hold 72 of 87 electoral constituencies with...
View ArticleElection Alert! PCs set March 15 nomination deadline!
The Progressive Conservatives gave hints today that they could be preparing for a Spring 2015 provincial election. Reported by the Calgary Herald and confirmed by sources close to this blogger, the PC...
View ArticleGoodbye 4H Club – Horne, Horner, Hughes and Hancock now gone
The announcements this week by former Finance Minister Doug Horner and former Health Minister Fred Horne that they are leaving politics did not come as a surprise to anyone watching politics in...
View ArticleWildrose can grow from Tory seeds of doubt
Do you drain a Lake of Fire or do you dam it? Whatever it takes, Wildrose Party activists are expected to moderate the tone of their policies at their weekend policy convention in the booming central...
View ArticleA dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2014
Because politics are unpredictable, forecasting the future can be a tricky business for pundits, but here is a list of a dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2014. Manmeet Bhullar (Calgary-Greenway):...
View ArticleAnti-Redford coup fails to materialize at PC MLA meeting
A rumoured coup d’etat within Alberta’s Progressive Conservative caucus failed to materialize yesterday as government MLAs gathered at Government House to discuss Premier Alison Redford‘s future....
View ArticleTracking Alberta MLA endorsements in the PC Leadership race
In party leadership races, endorsements by sitting MLAs can be a double-edged sword. Endorsements can lend credibility to candidates and individual MLAs own local political networks to the campaign....
View ArticleRedford shines in flood aftermath, but political problems not washed away
The day to day melee of provincial politics in Alberta was thrown out the window two weeks ago as rising rivers flooded communities in southern Alberta and forced the evacuation of more than 100,000...
View ArticleQueue-jumping report quashes another Tory scandal
Over the past eight months, Premier Alison Redford‘s Tories have been quickly dispatching the handful of scandals and allegations that dogged them and robbed them of their political agenda throughout...
View ArticleAlberta politics last week
After spending some much needed time relaxing in beautiful British Columbia, I returned to Alberta this week and noticed some of the political stories that occurred during my absence. Here are some of...
View Articlealberta politics notes 7/23/2010
– From the west coast, the mighty Tyee has published some interesting oilsands related articles this week: Oil Sands opponents will lose, Economist suggests and Lobby group vows to protect oil sands...
View Articlerick miller to stand in rutherford.
In front of almost 200 supporters at a BBQ fundraiser, former MLA Rick Miller announced that he will seek the Liberal nomination in Edmonton-Rutherford in the next provincial election. The next...
View Articlealberta politics notes 9/19/2010
Edmonton Mill Woods Liberals The Liberal Party will nominate its first candidate for the next election on October 2 in Edmonton-Mill Woods. According to an email from constituency President Paula Stein...
View Articlealberta politics inside and outside the dome.
Alberta’s Legislative Assembly resumes for Fall Sitting in a constantly changing political environment. As the leaves fall and winter approaches, so does the resumption of the venerable institution...
View Articlealberta politics notes 10/29/2010
It was supposed to be a boring week in Alberta politics. What was billed as a low-key and low-substance return of the Assembly for its fall sitting may still be lacking on substance, but it is not as...
View Articlestability and political control in our health care system & the alberta...
When discussing public health care in Alberta, there is a lot to be said about the lack of stability in the system over the past twenty years. I have found that much of the recent media coverage around...
View Articlenominations update: a bloom off the wildrose in little bow.
A little bit of the bloom came off the Wildrose this week as the entire executive committee of that party’s Little Bow Constituency Association resigned in protest central party interference of their...
View Articlecatching up on health care politics in alberta.
I sure picked an interesting time to leave the province for a few days. After a short absence, it has been exhausting catching up on all the political games and intrigue that happened over the weekend...
View Articleraj sherman. where to from here?
There may have been eighty three men and women (mostly men) sitting on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, but none made as much impact on the direction of the fall sitting than Dr. Raj Sherman. The...
View Articleyear in review 2010: alberta mla edition.
Raj Sherman (Independent Edmonton-Meadowlark) The Emergency Room Doctor turned MLA shook the Tory establishment when he went public with his concerns about how the PC government has handled health...
View Articlelegislative agenda a side-show. leadership contests the only show in town.
Amid all the regal pomp and ceremony we could spare ahead of Wills & Kate’s expected visit this Summer, Lieutenant Governor Donald Ethell delivered his first Speech from the Throne today. An annual...
View Articlenominations update – edmonton.
As the contests to replace the leaders of the governing Progressive Conservative Party and the Opposition Liberal Party and new Alberta Party grab the media spotlight, political parties have been...
View Articlegary mar’s peeps – supporters secret facebook group revealed.
Gary Mar resigned today from his position as Alberta’s Representative in Washington DC, fuelling the speculation that the former cabinet minister will soon join the Progressive Conservative leadership...
View Articleupdated: nomination updates – alberta election.
With the federal election behind us, it is now time to turn attention towards the quiet preparation happening in the run up to the next provincial election. I have updated the growing list of declared...
View Articlea look at the candidates lining up in the race to replace ed stelmach.
The candidates lining up to replace Premier Ed Stelmach as leader of the PC Party have been campaigning for months, yet what should be the hottest political leadership contest of the year has so far...
View Articlepearl calahasen backs doug horner. verlyn olsen, dave hancock, fred horne...
I have updated the list of Progressive Conservative MLAs endorsing leadership candidates to reflect four recent endorsements. Only days after leadership candidates Gary Mar and Alison Redford got into...
View Articlealison redford appoints gary mar’s cabinet.
Do you think Gary Mar left a draft cabinet list in the Premier’s Office when he was measuring the drapes? Because Premier Alison Redford found it. We were told to expect big changes, that many...
View Articlealberta’s 48 hour legislative lightning round
The two-day sitting of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly has come and gone with little fan fare. Despite the continental shift in the Assembly seating plan – the entire back row of the Tory caucus was...
View Articleelection in edmonton-riverview heating up.
Former Edmonton Public School Trustee Bev Esslinger announced today in an email (pdf) that she is seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination in Edmonton-Riverview. The constituency is currently...
View Articlewhat to make of alison redford’s budget before election strategy.
Premier Alison Redford has told reporters that her government will approve Alberta’s 2012/2013 budget before the next provincial general election is called. The budget is expected to be introduced...
View Article15 races to watch in alberta’s 2012 election.
In the lead up to the Alberta’s 2012 election, I have identified fifteen constituencies across the province that could produce interesting contests and results when the election is called. 1) Highwood...
View Articlecindy ady not seeking re-election, hector goudreau demoted, and raj sherman...
Less than 48 hours after the Progressive Conservatives filled their slate of 87 candidates, three-term Calgary-Shaw MLA Cindy Ady announced on her website that she will not be seeking re-election. Ms....
View Articlealison redford and her new cabinet could lead a new urban agenda.
Premier Alison Redford appointed her post-election cabinet ministers today after forgoing an initial press release and announcing them on Twitter. These picks and the legislation they will bring...
View Articleedmonton’s advantage: we owe danielle smith nothing.
Three years after becoming leader of her party, Official Opposition Wildrose Party leader and southern Alberta MLA Danielle Smith met with Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel for the first time yesterday. It...
View Articleallaudin merali’s extravagant expenses and severance package a blow to...
The highest echelons of Alberta Health Services are once again being rocked by a firestorm of public criticism after it was revealed that AHS Chief Financial Officer Allaudin Merali had claimed more...
View Articlecarmangay confusion puts tory southern alberta prospects to the torch.
Confusion about the closure of the Little Bow Continuing Care Centre in the tiny southern Alberta village of Carmangay has triggered a backlash by local residents against the Progressive Conservative...
View Articlebig money spent in alberta’s 2012 election.
Elections Alberta has released the financial disclosure forms submitted by candidates who ran in the April 2012 provincial election and some of the disclosure forms reveal some interesting...
View ArticleAlberta MLAs return to Edmonton next week for the first real sitting of 2012.
The fall sitting of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly begins on October 23 and indications suggest that it will be a different than recent sittings. Aside from the brief sitting held in the spring with...
View ArticleHard pills to swallow: Tories duck-and-weave amid allegations of conflict.
A CBC investigative team, led by intrepid reporter Charles Rusnell, reported this week that Premier Alison Redford may have put herself in a conflict with the government’s selection of a legal...
View ArticleWho are Alberta’s top MLAs of 2012?
It has become tradition on this blog that near the end of each year I publish a list of Members of Alberta’s Legislative Assembly who have been the best, worst, or most notable of the past year. Each...
View ArticleThree investigations kick-off 2013 in Alberta politics.
Despite winning a large majority in last spring’s provincial election, Alberta’s long-governing Progressive Conservatives had a rough ride in the media and on the floor of the Assembly last year. If...
View ArticleWhere in the world are Tory cabinet ministers?
Brussels, Bucharest, and Juneau are three international destinations where Tory MLAs were scheduled to visit during Government of Alberta sponsored trips today. Environment and Sustainable Resources...
View ArticleTories versus Wildrose: Year One in Alberta’s new political game.
On April 23, 2012, Alberta’s most hotly contested election in decades culminated with the re-election of the twelfth consecutive Progressive Conservative majority government since 1971. Despite holding...
View ArticleWho’s the boss? Fred Horne and Stephen Lockwood spar over AHS performance pay.
“Regardless of how people feel about the decision of the AHS board, I don’t think anybody would want me or a colleague to interfere with the terms of their employment they’ve agreed to. It’s a decision...
View ArticleWorking under the Dome: A look at some political staffers hired to work for...
One of the results of a change in government is a mass turnover in the political staffers who occupy the offices of the premier, cabinet ministers and caucuses. As a new government enters office in...
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