Tag: Alberta NDP

Mark Carney’s broad approval dwarfs Danielle Smith and Naheed Nenshi

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 27, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Albertans at a Forever Canadian event in Banff in September 2026 (source: Mark Carney / Facebook)

There’s nothing like a Janet Brown poll to shake up Alberta politics

There’s a lot to unpack in the new Alberta politics poll by Janet Brown Opinion Research commissioned by CBC, but before I dive into what one of the province’s most well-respected pollsters has to say about support for Alberta’s political parties, separatism, and AI data centres it’s worth spending a moment reflecting on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s popularity in Alberta.

Carney’s popularity continues to dwarf Premier Danielle Smith and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi and he might be the most popular Liberal Prime Minister in Alberta since Sir Wilfrid Laurier more than 100 years ago.

According to Brown’s poll, 52 percent of Albertans surveyed said they were very impressed with Carney and only 26 percent said they were not at all impressed. Only 30 percent of Albertans surveyed said they were very impressed with Danielle Smith and 51 percent said they were not at all impressed with her job as Premier.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

UCP nominate MLAs Turton and Long, Sarah Geisler running for NDP nomination in Strathcona-Sherwood Park

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 26, 2026

Searle Turton was nominated as the UCP candidate in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain. Turton was first elected as MLA of the riding west of Edmonton in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023 with 56 per cent of the vote.

Turton currently serves as Minister of Children and Family Services.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Election Candidate Nominations, Alberta NDP, Martin Long, Nate Glubish, Sarah Geisler, Searle Turton, Spruce Grove-Stony Plain, Strathcona-Sherwood Park, United Conservative Party, West Yellowhead

Alberta Politics

“Discriminatory” and unclear referendum questions discussed at MLA town hall in Calgary-Klein

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 25, 2026

Calgary-Klein MLA Lizette Tejada speaks to a crowd of constituents at her referendum town hall (source: Dave Cournoyer)

I stopped by Calgary-Klein MLA Lizette Tejada’s referendum town hall at the Winston Heights Mountainview Community Association this week in Calgary.

With about 70 people in attendance, the crowd was heavily pro-Canada and raised a lot of concerns about the lack of clarity in the government’s 10 referendum questions and the confusing voting process, and what happens after October 19.

Tejada raised serious concerns about the referendum questions that ask Albertans to give the government permission to limit access to health care and education for immigrant workers and their families. Tejada described the questions as discriminatory and pretending to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Anti-Immigration Referendum, Alberta NDP, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Bronwyn Bragg, Calgary-Klein, Lizette Tejada, Parkland Institute, UCP AGM 2026, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

The UCP loss in Calgary-Shaw and the thin end of the separatist wedge

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 25, 2026

Premier Danielle Smith joined former Reform Party leader Preston Manning and former BC Premier Gordon Campbell on a zoom call-based Alberta and the West Assembly conference last weekend.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has had a rough few weeks.

Ten days ago, Smith’s United Conservative Party lost the by-election in Calgary-Shaw, a south Calgary riding that had been a stronghold for her party in the last two elections. The surprise win by NDP candidate Kyle Campbell has been widely interpreted as a backlash against Smith’s referendums on October 19, including a vote on Alberta’s separation from Canada.

Smith quickly blamed the loss on vote splitting with the Progressive Tory Party candidate who earned 6 percent of the vote, but that doesn’t explain the 22.2 point drop in UCP support in the riding since the 2019 election. The Progressive Tories may have been a dynamic in the race but they weren’t the reason why the UCP lost the Calgary-Shaw by-election.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

Wow! Just wow. NDP’s Kyle Campbell wins Calgary-Shaw by-election.

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 14, 2026

Calgary-Shaw NDP MLA-elect Kyle Campbell and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi on September 14, 2026 (source: Naheed Nenshi / Facebook)

The Calgary-Shaw by-election was supposed to be a sleepy race and an easy win for the United Conservative Party but it ended up being a nail-biter with a surprise NDP win.

The Alberta NDP’s Kyle Campbell did what many political watchers believed would never happen by beating UCP candidate Mike Derry to win the by-election in the south Calgary riding that was a UCP stronghold under former cabinet minister Rebecca Schulz.

Tags Alberta Liberal Party, Alberta NDP, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Calgary-Shaw, Calgary-Shaw by-election, Danielle Smith, John Roggeveen, Kyle Campbell, Kyle Joseph, Mike Derry, Naheed Nenshi, Peter Guthrie, Progressive Tory Party of Alberta, Rebecca Schulz, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Dan Williams wins UCP nomination in Peace River

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 12, 2026

Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams speaks to reporters on April 2, 2026 (screenshot: Government of Alberta / YouTube)

UCP MLA and Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams fended off a challenge from local contractor and separatist-backed candidate Dave Long to win his party’s nomination to run for re-election in Peace River.

Williams was first elected in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023 with 72.8 per cent of the vote.

UCP’s Mike Derry the favourite to win the Calgary-Shaw by-election

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 12, 2026

Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary-Shaw UCP by-election candidate Mike Derry (screenshot: Mike Derry / Facebook)

Provincial cabinet ministers have poured into Calgary-Shaw to support UCP candidate Mike Derry and Danielle Smith has campaigned with him numerous times since the by-election campaign started last month.

Derry is the favourite to win the by-election but the vote is also a test for Smith, who has led a government mired in controversy and a party deeply divided on whether Alberta should separate from Canada.

Smith’s absence from any visible pro-Canada campaigns ahead of her October 19 separation referendum has raised a lot of eyebrows, especially after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s full-throated support of Thomas Lukaszuk’s Forever Canadian campaign in Banff this week.

Naheed Nenshi delivers NDP health care pitch days before Calgary-Shaw by-election

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 12, 2026

Calgary-Shaw NDP by-election candidate Kyle Campbell (centre) with NDP leader Naheed Nenshi (left) and Dr. Luanne Metz (right) announcing the party’s “Future of Health Care” policy (screenshot: Alberta NDP / YouTube)

NDP pitches stability and investment over the UCP’s restructuring and privatization

With only days left before the September 14th by-election in Calgary-Shaw, Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi joined candidate Kyle Campbell to deliver his party’s health care pitch to voters with a pledge of stability and investment in a public system that has undergone massive bureaucratic restructuring and increased privatization since 2023.

Nenshi pledged that within three years of forming government after the 2027 election, the NDP would shorten emergency department wait times, cut surgical, diagnostic, and specialist wait times by 30 per cent, make sure every Albertan has access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and, a big one, re-form one single Ministry of Health.

Nenshi said the NDP would also launch a judiciary-led public inquiry into CorruptCare, a wide-ranging government corruption scandal that largely faded into the background over the summer.

Alberta Referendum Day is 41 days away.

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 8, 2026

Elections Alberta issued a statement correcting a series of errors and confusing instructions included in Special Ballot packages that have been mailed to more than 200,000 Albertans ahead of the October 19 referendums. The elections authority also announced the deadline for applying for a mail-in Special Ballot is now September 25 instead of the previously announced October 9.

There has been no shortage of attention on the Alberta separation question that Albertans will be asked on October 19, but a cadre of former and current municipal and provincial politicians have written an op-ed warning of the divisions created by the five referendum questions that frame immigrants as scapegoats for the strain on Alberta’s health care and education systems.

The op-ed published in the province’s Postmedia newspaper was penned by former premier Rachel Notley, former Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, former Lethbridge mayor Chris Spearman former St. Albert mayor Cathy Heron, former Brooks mayor Barry Morishita, former Slave Lake mayor Karina Pillay, lawyer Avnish Nanda, and current High River Mayor Craig Snodgrass (Premier Smith lives in High River).

The immigration referendum questions were a hot topic at the Edmonton launch of Public Interest Alberta’s referendum campaign at the Beverly Heights Community Hall on September 3. The well-attended event in the packed community hall featured a handful of speakers including PIA executive director Brad Lafortune, comedian Henry Sir, Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan, and Senator Paula Simons (who recently wrote about the “Noxious Nine” in Alberta Views Magazine).

Nenshi kicks off series of Vote to Save Canada rallies

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 1, 2026

There are 49 days left until Albertans cast 10 separate referendum ballots on October 19. Rallies held over the weekend aimed to pump some energy into what has been a fairly sleepy referendum campaign.

In Calgary, NDP leader Naheed Nenshi launched the first in a series of Vote to Save Canada rallies being organized by the NDP Official Opposition Caucus.

Nenshi was joined by Calgary-Edgemont MLA Julia Hayter at the rally of supporters clad in red and white and waving maple leaf flags. The NDP’s For Alberta, For Canada has been one of the main campaigns focused on door-to-door canvassing and lawn sign placement ahead of October 19.

Danielle Smith heading to Music City USA

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date August 31, 2026

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism Muhammad Yaseen at the province’s Alberta Day event in Calgary on August 30, 2026 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

Premier going to Tennessee as Alberta separation referendum only 49 days away

Premier Danielle Smith is soon flying to Nashville, Tennessee to meet with the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Head of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, and the CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation.

These meetings with local officials in Nashville are somewhat comical because of how low-level they are for a provincial premier’s international trip. Imagine the Governor of Tennessee travelling to Alberta to meet with the CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce but not arranging a meeting with the Premier.

It would be strange, right?

Tags Alberta NDP, Alberta Prosperity Project, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Danielle Smith, Donald Trump, Doug Ford, Jeff Rath, Jeffrey Rath, Madison Holmes, MayCee Holmes, Mitch Sylvestre, Naheed Nenshi, Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation, Nathan Cooper, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Alberta’s separation referendum and the law of unintended consequences

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date August 29, 2026

Jason Kenney accepting the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in March 2017

Politics makes strange bedfellows. It’s amazing how much can change in 10 years.

I was recently reminded that it was only 10 years ago that Jason Kenney was campaigning for the leadership of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party. With everything that has happened in Alberta politics since then, it feels like it might as well have been 20 years ago.

The longtime Calgary MP and former federal cabinet minister set his sights on “uniting the right” after the PC Party’s 43-year long streak as govermment was ended in spectacular fashion by Rachel Notley’s Alberta NDP in the 2015 election.

Tags Alberta NDP, Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Alberta Separatists Rally, Brian Jean, Canada Election Substack, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Jason Kenney, Jim Prentice, Rachel Notley, Substack, United Conservative Party, Western Separation

Alberta Politics

Nate Glubish faces rural Alberta backlash against AI Data Centres

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date August 22, 2026

Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish was met with jeers from the crowd at the government’s AI Data Centre town hall in Lacombe. The Canadian Press reports:

“Albertans do not want data centres,” said one man who came from the neighbouring town of Ponoka.

Another woman told Glubish to “get your boxing gloves on” if another AI data centre was being planned for the region.

“Your words are nice, you explain things well, but I don’t trust you, and I think that the people in this room agree with me,” she said to big applause.

Glubish encountered a similar response from local residents at a Redwater town hall with Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally:

Sturgeon County resident, Connie Shields, said she doesn’t trust the government to properly regulate projects like these.

“You are the people we elected. You should be saying what we’re telling you to say,” Shields said.

“You shouldn’t be making up your own rules, you shouldn’t be dictating what goes where.”

The NDP has been hosting their own town halls in response to the data centre backlash. Leader Naheed Nenshi was joined by Edmonton-South West NDP MLA Nathan Ip at a town hall meeting in Red Deer earlier in August

UCP board director Irma Roberts enters Calgary-South East nomination contest

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date August 20, 2026

Lawyer Irma Roberts is the third candidate to enter the UCP nomination contest in Calgary-South East. Roberts has served as a regional director representing Calgary on the UCP’s provincial board of directors since 2023.

Roberts’ campaign is being run by right-wing political organizer Craig Chandler, who recently ran Mike Derry’s successful campaign for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Shaw. Chandler is also running Erin Averbukh’s UCP nomination campaign in Calgary-Acadia.

Alabi Adenekan and former Freedom Conservative Party chief of staff Stephen Burry are also running for the UCP nomination in this riding.

UCP disqualifies Karen Peters from Grande Prairie-Wapiti nomination race, MLA Ron Wiebe expected to be acclaimed

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date August 19, 2026

Former UCP nomination candidate Karen Peters was disuqlified from the party’s candidate selection race in Grande Prairie-Wapiti (source: Vote Karen Peters / Facebook)

Karen Peters has been disqualifed from the United Conservative Party nomination contest in Grande Prairie-Wapiti, making first-term MLA Ron Wiebe widely expected to be acclaimed to run for re-election in the 2027 provincial election.

Peters was the UCP constituency president in the northwest Alberta riding and has posted on her personal Facebook page about chemtrails and vaccination conspiracy theories. These posts raised eyebrows among political watchers but neither issue is grounds for disqualification in the current UCP.