– Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe was in Alberta last week to gauge public opinion on … yawn… Quebec separatism in the rest of Canada. Last week… yawn… Premier Ed Stelmach launched an attack straight out of the 1990s against the amount of Alberta’s federal transfer payments go to Quebec.
– Graham Thomson wrote an excellent column this weekend on the PCs attempts to weaken the Public Accounts Committee and a bizarre statement from Assembly Speaker Ken Kowalski. It appears that neither Premier Stelmach or House Leader Dave Hancock will rein in the backbench PC MLAs who voted to dilute the power of this important watchdog committee.
– They may have not been the only person thinking it, but they were the only one to say it. Someone at last week’s PC fundraising dinner in Calgary asked Premier Stelmach “When are you resigning?”
– The next few months will be filled with political conventions: the PC Party Policy Convention from April 30 to May 1 at the Mayfield Inn in Edmonton, the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta on April 30 to May 2 in Lethbridge, the Alberta Liberal Party on May 15 to 16 in Edmonton, and the Wildrose Alliance AGM from June 25 to 26 in Red Deer.
– The race to replace five-term Conservative MP Rick Casson in Lethbridge is heating up. I have counted four candidates vying for the nomination: Jim Hillyer (@JimHillyer), Henry Doeve, Ken Prestage, and Mark Switzer. Also on the federal scene, the NDP will nominate their candidate in Red Deer on April 24.
– Many people expected the Legislative Assembly to break for the summer last week, but it now it appears that it may actually sit until June 3rd as the 2010 Calendar suggests.
– The Standing Committee for Health has been deemed to be the special committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
– Alberta’s Electoral Boundaries Commission will be meeting Monday, April 19, and Tuesday, April 20 at the Mayfield Inn in northwest Edmonton. The Commission has also scheduled upcoming meetings in Peace River, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Brooks, Drumheller, and Stettler. If you have any issues with the maps proposed in the interim report, now is your last chance to let your voice he heard. Show up and let them know.
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10 replies on “alberta politics notes 4/18/2010”
Small quibble: you rein something in but reign over them.
Me and my family will be supporting Jim Hillyer in Lethrbridge. We need more true conservatives in Ottawa to cut the Liberals spending and waste!
Neumanic: Thank you. Fixed.
Conservative in Lethbridge: Any idea when the nomination meeting date is? I couldn’t find it on the Constit Association website.
Conservative in Lethbridge, are you even awake? We’ve had a conservative government in ottawa for a while now but you want to stop the liberals’ spending and waste?!! I find that amusing.
Stephen Harper has worked hard to lead the kind of government that Canadians really want (small, no waste and low taxes) and Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Senate has stopped true conservative change from happening in Ottawa. The conservative majority in Canada will show Ignatieff what they want in the next election.
Conservative in Lethbridge, you really aren’t paying attention. The Senate has had more Conservatives than Liberals for months now.
Unlike “Conservative in Lethbridge” I usually ignore the CPC talking points emails and phone calls. But I don’t think we need another “family-values,” pro-life, anti same sex marriage, candidate from the Stirling, Raymond, Magrath triangle, the good ‘ol stomping ground of Paul Hinman, Alberta Alliance, and now Hillyer. We need a smart, common-sense candidate in Ottawa.
But I’m just waiting to see if the CPC national council pulls a Calgary-West/Edmonton-Sherwood Park, etc. and intervenes in the nomination race to get their “chosen” candidate nominated…
Why should Conservative in Lethbridge let the facts get in the way of a good rant? The Harper Conservatives have established one of the more secretive and controlling regimes in the western world, thumbing their noses at Parliament in the process.
I can’t believe you missed this story in your update Dave!
http://www.thegauntlet.ca/story/14472
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