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Alberta Politics

Jennifer Johnson in, Marshall Smith out, Rob Anderson still in

UCP cabinet minister Jason Nixon and Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson in August 2024 (source: Jennifer Johnson / Facebook)
UCP cabinet minister Jason Nixon and Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson in August 2024 (source: Jennifer Johnson / Facebook)

Jennifer Johnson welcomed into the UCP Caucus, Rob Anderson to replace Marshall Smith as Premier’s Chief of Staff

The leaves are changing, the nights are getting cooler, and the days are getting shorter. It’s fall in Alberta. And while many Albertans are enjoying a fairly pleasant change of seasons as we reluctantly brace ourselves for the inevitable shock of the first snowfall, politics in our province is just starting to heat up.

Government and opposition MLAs will return to the Legislature at the end of this month for what is expected to be a painfully contentious and controversial session. And a rowdy crowd of more than 5,400 partisans are expected to converge on Red Deer for the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting and leadership review during the first two days of November.

And like the changing of the seasons, there will be a few notable changes in the ranks of the UCP when these two big events happen at the end of the month.

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Alberta Politics

Can Nenshi charm the NDP old guard? He’ll need to at this weekend’s Provincial Council meeting

Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi speaks at a healthcare town hall forum in Lethbridge on October 1, 2024 (source: Naheed Nenshi / Instagram)
Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi speaks at a healthcare town hall forum in Lethbridge on October 1, 2024 (source: Naheed Nenshi / Instagram)
First, the Lethbridge by-election; then the federal NDP – do they stay or do they go?

The next step in the Alberta NDP’s transformation from Rachel Notley’s NDP to Naheed Nenshi’s NDP takes place this weekend in Calgary.

NDP members from across Alberta will gather in the province’s largest city this weekend for the party’s first meeting of its Provincial Council since Nenshi won his landslide victory in the race to replace Notley.

Nenshi’s 84% win with 62,746 votes means there is no doubt who the vast majority of the party’s membership wanted as leader. But meaningfully connecting with the people in the room this weekend will be Nenshi’s next big step.

Expect a charm offensive.

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Alberta Politics

Kenneyism in Alberta politics. An interview with Jeremy Appel

New book delves into the conservative politics of former Premier Jason Kenney

Author and journalist Jeremy Appel helps us launch the 7th season of Daveberta Podcast with an in-depth conversation about his new book, Kenneyism: Jason Kenney’s Pursuit of Power.

In his book, Appel takes one of the first in-depth looks at Jason Kenney’s rise and fall in Canadian politics, and dissects the branches of conservatism and adherence to hierarchical social order that drove the former Premier to become a political animal unlike anything Alberta politics has seen before.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on September 23, 2024 in the offices of Adverb Communications in beautiful downtown Edmonton.

New and recent episodes of the Daveberta Podcast are available exclusively to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.

 

Kenneyism in Alberta politics. An interview with Jeremy Appel by Dave Cournoyer

New book delves into the conservative politics of former Premier Jason Kenney

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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s big pre-recorded policy announcements

Premier Danielle Smith delivered a pre-recorded televised address on September 17 (screenshot source: Your Alberta/YouTube)
Premier Danielle Smith delivered a pre-recorded televised address on September 17 (screenshot source: Your Alberta/YouTube)

Another way for politicians to control the message and avoid facing tough questions

In the span of one week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith released two pre-recorded video messages announcing major changes to the United Conservative Party government’s political agenda.

The first was an 8-minute broadcast online and on television featuring Smith announcing new funding for school construction and taking political jabs at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the federal government’s immigration policies.

A second 3-minute video featured the Premier announcing the rumoured amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights she argued would enshrine protections for people who refuse get vaccinated and people who own firearms and property.

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Alberta Politics

Long list of COVID-19 grievances could head to UCP AGM policy debate

Premier Danielle Smith and Innisfail-Sylvan Lake UCP MLA Devin Dreeshen at a UCP member only town hall meeting (source: United Conservative Party / Facebook)
Premier Danielle Smith and Innisfail-Sylvan Lake UCP MLA Devin Dreeshen at a UCP member only town hall meeting (source: United Conservative Party / Facebook)

It’s hard to imagine the old PC Party getting bogged down by this debate

If I had walked into the Alberta Legislature ten years ago and told an MLA, staffer, or journalist that in 2024 the province’s political landscape would be a competitive two-party system, I probably would have been laughed out of the Rotunda. They might have even alerted a security guard if I’d been so out of my mind to predict that the New Democratic Party would be competing with the conservatives to form Alberta’s government.

Until that point ten years ago, only twice in the Progressive Conservative Party’s four decades of uninterrupted majority governments had the dynasty been seriously challenged in an election. The PC Party was unquestionably Alberta’s Natural Governing Party.

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Alberta Politics

Once upon a time Alberta MLAs had meaningful ideas about Senate Reform

Strengthening Canada Reform of Canadas Senate

Until last weekend, 2 of Alberta’s 6 seats in the Canadian Senate sat empty for years

Did you know that until recently, two of Alberta’s six seats in the Canadian Senate had been vacant for years?

You’re not alone if you didn’t know before last weekend. Most Albertans probably didn’t know.

You’re also not alone if you didn’t even hear about the appointments, because it was out of the news-cycle in about 24 hours.

Despite playing a big role in how federal laws are shaped in our country, the profile of Canada’s Senate, a place of sober second thought, usually flies far under the radar of most Canadians.

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Alberta Politics

Ask me anything about Alberta politics

Alberta’s Legislature grounds in Edmonton under construction in July 2024 (photo: Dave Cournoyer)
Alberta’s Legislature grounds in Edmonton under construction in July 2024 (photo: Dave Cournoyer)

With the end of summer fast approaching and the Labour Day long-weekend just days away, I’ve opened up the mailbag to answer a few Alberta politics questions about health care privatization, early election speculation, and small nuclear reactors sent in by Daveberta subscribers. Read it all on the Daveberta Substack.

 

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Subscribe to the Daveberta Newsletter on Substack

Alberta's Legislature Building (photo licensed by University of Alberta Libraries under the Attribution - Non-Commercial - Creative Commons license)
Alberta's Legislature Building (photo licensed by University of Alberta Libraries under the Attribution - Non-Commercial - Creative Commons license)

For about 15 years I published a post almost daily on Daveberta.ca. A growing family and full-time day job meant that I had to scale back the quantity of content I was publishing but moving to a Substack newsletter has been a good change of pace.

I enjoy having a bit of time to write a weekly (and bi-weekly in the summer) column about Alberta politics and not feeling the pressure to publish new content every single day.

Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me and joined the Daveberta readership since I launched Daveberta nearly 20 years ago.

I still publish links to my Substack newsletter on this site, but if you want them delivered directly to your email inbox you can sign up at Daveberta.Substack.com/Subscribe.

If you find my columns and podcasts about Alberta politics useful and interesting, please consider contributing $5/month for a monthly subscription or $50/year ($4.17/month) for an annual subscription. And if you’re feeling very generous, please consider becoming a Friend of Daveberta for $150/year (this includes some limited edition Daveberta swag).

Paid subscribers will have access to new episodes of the Daveberta Podcast and extras.

Thank you!

Dave

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Alberta Politics

The stakes are high for Nenshi’s NDP in the Lethbridge-West by-election

Two former City Councillors running for NDP nomination

The stakes are high for Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi in the upcoming Lethbridge-West by-election. This will be the new NDP leader’s first electoral test since his landslide victory in June and, because of that, it’s also a race that Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party really want to win.

The by-election to choose who will succeed former three-term NDP MLA Shannon Phillips’ hasn’t been called yet but the date of the vote will need to be set by January 1, 2025. The NDP and UCP have both started their nomination process to select candidates.

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Alberta Politics

It’s all about the UCP leadership review

Minister of Public Safety Mike Ellis and Premier Danielle Smith respond to questions about politicians accepting tickets to NHL playoff games (source: Screenshot from YourAlberta / YouTube)
Minister of Public Safety Mike Ellis and Premier Danielle Smith respond to questions about politicians accepting tickets to NHL playoff games (source: Screenshot from YourAlberta / YouTube)

Protected rights for the unvaccinated and tax cuts aimed at appeasing unruly UCP members ahead of November vote

Summer is normally a time when politics cools down and politicians hit the BBQ circuit, but there’s something smelly in the air and it’s not just the wildfire smoke that Albertans have become accustomed to being part of our increasingly hot summers.

A political scandal surrounding Premier Danielle Smith and senior United Conservative Party cabinet ministers accepting tickets to skybox seats during the Edmonton Oilers NHL playoff run has erupted. Globe & Mail journalist Carrie Tait first broke the story that Smith and some UCP cabinet ministers had accepted box seat tickets to NHL playoff hockey games from private corporations that have close connections to or are lobbying the Alberta government.

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UCP launches attacks ads at Nenshi. Nenshi laughs it off and shoots back.

Politics in Alberta doesn’t skip a beat.

Less than a week after former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi won a landslide victory in the Alberta NDP leadership race, the United Conservative Party has launched a series of attack ads against him, framing the new NDP leader as “Justin Trudeau’s choice for Alberta” and “just another tax and spend Liberal.”

Nenshi’s team tossed out the old NDP playbook.

Instead of stumbling over fancy words and getting overly defensive (or even worse, ignoring the charge), Nenshi laughed off the attack and shot back with his own stinging criticism of Smith’s UCP.

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Nenshi wins Alberta NDP leadership vote in a landslide victory

Rachel Notley and Naheed Nenshi at the announcement of the NDP leadership vote results (source: Alberta NDP / YouTube)
Rachel Notley and Naheed Nenshi at the announcement of the NDP leadership vote results (source: Alberta NDP / YouTube)

Former Calgary mayor wins with a record 62,746 votes on the first ballot

Naheed Nenshi is the new leader of the Alberta NDP. The former Calgary mayor won with a huge landslide victory on the first ballot.

Here are the results of the NDP leadership vote:

  1. Naheed Nenshi: 62,746 (86%)
  2. Kathleen Ganley: 5,899 (8%)
  3. Sarah Hoffman: 3,063 (4%)
  4. Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse: 1,222 (2%)

Nenshi’s three-terms as mayor of Alberta’s largest city have made him one of the province’s most recognizable politicians. That name recognition and his history of electoral success in Calgary almost certainly helped carry him to his landslide first place finish in the race to replace Rachel Notley.

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NDP to announce new leader and Conservatives vote in Calgary Signal Hill

The view from the inside of the Wonderland Sculpture outside The Bow tower in downtown Calgary (source: Dave Cournoyer)
The view from the inside of the Wonderland Sculpture outside The Bow tower in downtown Calgary (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Calgary is in the headlines a lot these days, but today’s Daveberta newsletter doesn’t have anything to do with the busted water main that is threatening the city’s water supply (but I do hope to write more about that later).

Today’s newsletter focuses on two big political events happening in Alberta’s largest city this weekend: the announcement of the NDP leadership vote and the federal Conservative nomination vote in Calgary Signal Hill.

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Alberta Politics

Alberta politicians betting on the Stanley Cup

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (image from Danielle Smith / Instagram)
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (image from Danielle Smith / Instagram)

Harmless fun or shameless stunt? Does it matter?! Go Oilers!

As hockey fans pour into Rogers Place tonight to watch the Edmonton Oilers face the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, their focus will be on the rink. Most fans probably won’t be giving much thought about what their local or provincial politicians think about the game (as long as they are cheering for the home team).

Playoff season in Alberta is exciting and it also means that politicians have jumped on the Oilers bandwagon with the long-held tradition of making public bets with politicians from the city or state of the opposing team. Whether you believe it’s a shameless media stunt or just harmless fun, there’s no stopping them.

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NDP MLA Shannon Phillips stepping down, opening Lethbridge-West by-election

Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips (source: Shannon Phillips / Facebook)
Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips (source: Shannon Phillips / Facebook)

I usually share Daveberta newsletters later in the week, but with MLA Shannon Phillips announcing her resignation yesterday, I wanted to share my thoughts earlier this week. Enjoy!

Shannon Phillips is smart as a whip and tough as nails but after nine years in the Alberta Legislature, she is stepping down as the NDP MLA for Lethbridge-West.

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