Alberta and Ottawa

At odds, no matter the leaders The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act might have a clumsy and oxymoronic title, but you can boil it down to two words: If only. As in, if only we didn’t have a federal Liberal government under Justin Trudeau, we wouldn’t need a Sovereignty Act to protect the province’s interests. Or, if only we had…

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The Great Leveller

Healthcare reform is perilous It is the great equalizer in politics. And it will help determine who wins Alberta’s upcoming election. Say hello to healthcare reform.

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Long Live the King?

Maybe we need the monarchy. I once had dinner with the Queen. Well, me and several hundred of her closest friends and confidants in Edmonton, including politicians, journalists and other ne’er-do-wells. It was May 25, 2005, and the “gala” event inside the cavernous Northlands AgriCom (now the Edmonton Expo Centre) had all the intimacy of an aircraft hangar—and I never actually…

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How Not to Choose Leaders

The flaws of one-person-one-vote. Jason Kenney likes to say he was toppled by a coup. His complaint does have a sliver of merit. After all, his leadership was brought down by 16,660 members of the United Conservative Party in May 2022 even though, just three years before, the Kenney-led UCP captured a million votes from regular citizens to form a majority government.

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Jason Kenney squares off with Danielle Smith for the soul of Alberta’s United Conservative Party

Premier Jason Kenney has entered the United Conservative Party race to replace him as leader. Not as a candidate — but as a meddler. Kenney didn’t so much dive as belly-flop into the race this week, with an awkward attack on a proposal from perceived frontrunner Danielle Smith. She is championing a controversial “Alberta Sovereignty Act” that she says would allow…

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