After his overwhelming victory to become Alberta’s opposition NDP leader in June, Naheed Nenshi abruptly turned into something of a political Bigfoot. There were few sightings of him as he all but disappeared into a summer of backyard barbecues and backroom party confabs with members. Last week, he reemerged.

Too soon? Is it too soon after the devastating fire that ripped through Jasper last week, creating a human tragedy and an ecological disaster, to talk about the fraught politics of wildfires in Alberta? The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) didn’t think so.

The UCP vs. Alberta’s riding map. It’s the most contentious issue in Alberta politics that we’re not talking about. I give you Alberta’s Electoral Boundaries Commission, which every eight years or so erases and redraws the province’s political ridings like a five-year-old playing with an Etch A Sketch.

It was a bloodless coup. Alberta’s opposition New Democratic Party is now being led by a man who wasn’t even a member of the party until entering the leadership race in March. Naheed Nenshi, noted for his “purple revolution” as Calgary mayor from 2020-2011 where he blended Liberal red and Conservative blue ideals, has gone full NDP orange. Or has…

Voting has begun in the leadership race to choose a new leader of Alberta’s NDP. During the first 48 hours of voting from Monday to Wednesday, more than 27,000 party members cast a ballot. That’s a record for Alberta New Democrats. In fact, everything about the race is record-setting for a party that, with 38 MLAs, is the largest official…