I’m Dave Cournoyer and this isn’t the Daveberta Podcast but it might be the next best thing.
A few weeks ago I joined my friend and former Daveberta Podcast co-host Ryan Hastman on his new podcast, the Alberta Edge, for a discussion about Alberta politics along with respected pollster Janet Brown.
I’m happy to share that episode of Alberta Edge with Daveberta subscribers today. Be sure to visit TheHub.ca and subscribe to Ryan’s podcasts.
Enjoy the show and thanks for listening.
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
Calgary NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley joins the Daveberta Podcast to share why she is running to replace Rachel Notley as leader of the Alberta NDP.
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Longtime labour leader joins the Daveberta Podcast to explain why he’s running for the Alberta NDP leadership
Labour leader Gil McGowan joins the Daveberta Podcast to share why he’s running to succeed Rachel Notley as leader of Alberta’s NDP.
The full interview with Gil McGowan is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack
McGowan was first elected as President of the Alberta Federation of Labour in 2005 and is an outspoken advocate for working Albertans, especially when it comes to the impact of the incoming energy transition on the province’s workforce. He has been one of the most vocal critics of the United Conservative Party government’s plan to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on April 30, 2024 in comfort of the fully-furnished bank vault-turned-podcast studio in the basement of the Homestead building in beautiful downtown Edmonton.
The full interview with Gil McGowan is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack
New and recent episodes of the podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for an annual or monthly subscription to listen to the whole episode.
Extra! Paid subscribers can also read a federal nomination update accompanying today’s podcast about former Enoch Cree Nation Chief Billy Morin being acclaimed as the federal Conservative candidate in the new Edmonton Northwest riding.
A special weekend episode of the Daveberta Podcast
It’s rare that I send out a newsletter on the weekend but I thought subscribers would enjoy listening to a new episode of the Daveberta Podcast we recorded this week.
We cover a lot of ground in this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, including:
The full episode of this Daveberta Podcast is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.
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Nenshi shares his thoughts on Rakhi Pancholi’s endorsement and what it means to be NDP in 2024
He’s a household name in Calgary, Alberta, and across Canada, and now he’s running to become the next leader of the Alberta NDP. Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi joins the Daveberta Podcast to share why he jumped into the race to replace Rachel Notley.
Since Nenshi entered the race on March 11, the NDP has seen the size of its membership double from around 16,000 to more than 30,000, a factor that likely played a big role in convincing rising political star Rakhi Pancholi to bow out of the race and endorse Nenshi.
“We must move forward to offer a positive alternative to the UCP that Albertans can enthusiastically support in the next election. And I believe that means uniting behind the next leader, Naheed Nenshi,” Pancholi said in her surprise endorsement of the now perceived frontrunner.
In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, we sit down with Nenshi to discuss Pancholi’s endorsement, what it means to be an Alberta New Democrat in 2024, his time as mayor of Calgary, growing up in Red Deer, empathy in politics and much more.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on March 26, 2024. The Daveberta Podcast was the 2020 winner in the Outstanding News & Current Affairs Series category in the Canadian Podcast Awards.
The full interview with Naheed Nenshi is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.
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The former health minister shares her plans for health, climate, and housing
NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about why she is running for the Alberta NDP leadership and her plans for health care, climate, and housing.
We discuss Hoffman’s experiences as Minister of Health and chair of the Edmonton Public School Board, the NDP’s challenges in rural Alberta, the party’s focus on Calgary and it’s relationship with the federal NDP. We also chat a bit about the possibility of former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi entering the race to replace Rachel Notley.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on March 1, 2024.
New and recent episodes of the podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for an annual or monthly subscription to listen to the entire episode.
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You shared your Alberta politics questions and we answered them in our annual Ask Me Anything episode of the Daveberta Podcast.
New and recent episodes of the Daveberta Podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. In case you missed them, you can catch up on recent Daveberta Podcast episodes with Edmonton Public School Board chairperson Trisha Estabrooks, thewrit.ca publisher Éric Grenier, and strategist Chris Henderson.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on July 12, 2023.
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Former Calgary mayor shares his thoughts on Danielle Smith, Rachel Notley and the city he calls home ahead of Alberta’s provincial election.
Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about provincial politics in Alberta’s largest city, the upcoming election, and The Last of Us and the city’s film industry.
Sign up for a monthly or annual paid subscription to the Daveberta Substack to get access to new episodes of the Daveberta Podcast and upcoming election extras.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart.
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The Daveberta Podcast is back after a brief 11-month semi-permanent hiatus! Enjoy the podcast and find future episodes exclusively at the podcast’s new home on the Daveberta Substack.
As the United Conservative Party leadership race begins to take shape, I joined Chris Brown on his Cross Border Interviews Podcast to talk about the race, the declared and prospective candidates, and what impact it will have on Alberta politics.
It appears that the UCP will allow Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner to enter the leadership race, if she chooses, even though she has not had a current party membership for the full past six months as required (there is no doubt she is a committed Conservative partisan).
A similar request for an exemption by former Liberal Party leader Raj Sherman was denied.
Outgoing Premier Jason Kenney announced a cabinet shuffle to fill in the spots left by ministers leaving to run in the race to replace him.
Changes to the caretaker cabinet, which will be in place until a new Premier takes office after the October 6 UCP leadership vote, include:
Unsurprisingly, everyone on the list is considered a loyalist, and a few, notably Issik, Milliken, and Rutherford, are considered vulnerable to strong NDP challenges in the next election.
Issik, Jones and Armstrong Homeniuk have publicly endorsed former finance minister Travis Toews for the UCP leadership, who is widely considered the establishment favourite in the race.
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We got the band back together for the final episode of the Daveberta Podcast. That’s right, folks. We are going on a semi-permanent hiatus. And to help mark this announcement, our good friend Ryan Hastman joined Dave Cournoyer and Adam Rozenhart for a trip down memory lane, reminiscing and reflecting on Alberta politics since we launched the Daveberta Podcast in 2017.
In our second segment, we were thrilled to welcome Alberta Party leader Barry Morishita as our guest on this episode to talk about his time as Mayor of Brooks and President of the AUMA, and why he decided to make the jump into provincial politics (he also confirmed his plans to run in the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding in the next election).
You can listen to and find archived episodes of the Daveberta Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online.
Thank you to our friends at the Alberta Podcast Network: Locally grown. Community supported, for their support over the years. Make sure to check out their growing roster of great made-in-Alberta podcasts.
We’d like to send a big heartfelt thank you to everyone who has listened, subscribed to, supported, and joined us as a guest on the podcast over the years. It has been a lot of fun for us, and even more fun that many of you joined us on this ride (and a special thanks to our friend Mountain Ted for your always insightful and interesting questions).
We are signing off for now, but we are still around and might pop up again with some new special episodes when next year’s provincial election is called. Stay tuned.
And, of course, Dave will continue to write about Alberta politics and obscure Alberta political history at Daveberta.ca.
Take care, stay safe, be kind, and see you next time.
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Adrienne King and Matt Solberg join the Daveberta Podcast for our year-end episode of 2021. We delve into Premier Jason Kenney‘s leadership challenges, the fireworks at the end of Alberta’s longest legislative session on record, and the upcoming Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche by-election.
Adrienne King works for the Now Group, and is the former Chief of Staff to Alberta NDP Leaders Rachel Notley and Brian Mason, and Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili.
Matt Solberg is a Partner at New West Public Affairs and is a former Wildrose and UCP staffer who has worked at various times along-side Paul Hinman, Danielle Smith, Brian Jean, and Jason Kenney.
We also launched the fifth annual Best of Alberta Politics Survey and asked Adrienne and Matt for their picks the best of 2021:
Best Cabinet Minister
Adrienne: Travis Toews, Minister of Finance
Matt: Jason Copping, Minister of Health
Best Opposition MLA
Adrienne: Shannon Phillips, NDP MLA for Lethbridge-West
Matt: David Shepherd, NDP MLA for Edmonton-City Centre
Up and Comer to Watch in 2022
Adrienne: Rakhi Pancholi, NDP MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud
Matt: Nate Horner, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
Submissions for the Best of Alberta Politics 2021 Survey are open until Dec. 16, 2021 at 12:00 pm and the top three choices in each category will be included in a round of voting starting later that day. Voting for the top 3 will be open until Dec. 22, 2021 at 6:00 pm and the winners will be announced shortly afterward.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by the talented Adam Rozenhart.
The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network: Locally grown. Community supported.
You can listen and subscribe to the Daveberta Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online. We love feedback from our listeners, so let us know what you think of this episode and leave a review where you download.
And, as promised on the podcast, here is the infamous and hilarious NDP Caucus Press Gallery Christmas Party video from 2010:
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Edmonton City Councillor Michael Janz joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about the recent municipal election, his experiences during his first month on City Council, what he hopes to accomplish in the years ahead, and how ordinary Edmontonians can have an impact on decisions at City Hall. We also dive into provincial politics and what might lie ahead in the future for Premier Jason Kenney and Alberta’s 2023 election.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by the talented Adam Rozenhart.
The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network: Locally grown. Community supported.
You can listen and subscribe to the Daveberta Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online. We love feedback from our listeners, so let us know what you think of this episode and leave a review where you download.
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Harnoor Kochar and Rajah Maggay join the Daveberta Podcast to talk about Edmonton’s recent municipal election, the historic wins that came out of it, and what comes next for Alberta’s capital city.
Harnoor Kochar was the Director of Field Operations and Get Out the Vote co-chair on the successful Amarjeet Sohi for Mayor campaign. She is also a fifth-year Political Science student at the University of Alberta.
Rajah Maggay is a research and policy advisor for City Councillor Andrew Knack, Vice-Chair of Research at ParityYeg, and co-founder of Political Divas.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by the talented Adam Rozenhart.
The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network: Locally grown. Community supported.
You can listen and subscribe to the Daveberta Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online. We love feedback from our listeners, so let us know what you think of this episode and leave a review where you download.
