Tag: Alberta Politics Substack

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Alberta Politics

Nenshi NDP launch affordability agenda, finally talking about cost of living and grocery prices

Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA Marlin Schmidt (left) and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi (right) speaking at a press conference on June 23, 2026 (screenshot: Alberta NDP / YouTube)
Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA Marlin Schmidt (left) and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi (right) speaking at a press conference on June 23, 2026 (screenshot: Alberta NDP / YouTube)

I wrote last year that NDP MLAs should should start every day by asking themselves the question “how can we make life more affordable for working-class Alberta families?” and then they should spend the rest of their day talking all about it, all the time. I still believe this today.

Nenshi’s NDP have now started talking more about pocketbook issues with the launch of their Alberta Affordability Agenda, which is a good start. The party has been spending a lot of energy focusing on the separation referendum through its For Alberta For Canada campaign, but it can’t afford to ignore other important issues with a provincial election only 15 months away at the latest.

In their new suite of affordability policies, the NDP promises to cut electricity bills by 10 per cent, increase minimum wage to $18, and to reduce grocery prices by increasing competition, ending shrinkflation, and appointing a grocery watchdog.

The NDP also proposed removing the $0.13 per litre provincial gas tax while gas prices remain high — something that will make even Lorne Gunter happy.

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Alberta Politics

Calgary-Shaw UCP nomination vote today. It’s Dan McLean vs Mike Derry.

Calgary City Councillor Dan McLean announces his candidacy for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Shaw (source: Dan McLean / Facebook)
Calgary City Councillor Dan McLean announces his candidacy for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Shaw (source: Dan McLean / Facebook)

UCP members in Calgary-Shaw will choose the candidate to raise their party’s banner in the upcoming by-election to fill the Legislature seat vacated by UCP MLA Rebecca Schulz.

Current city councillor Dan McLean is considered the establishment favourite in this race. The second-term councillor was re-elected last October and has maintained close public ties to the UCP since he ran against Schulz for the nomination in this riding in 2018.

McLean’s decision to jump into provincial politics so soon after the October 2025 municipal election has made him a target of criticism from former councillor Jeff Davison.

McLean faces Mike Derry, an oil and gas industry talent company owner who has the support of well-known right-wing political organizer Craig Chandler.

Another candidate, Stewart Jeanes, had planned to run but did not qualify to enter the nomination race. Jeanes had been endorsed by separatist leader and Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul UCP constituency president Mitch Sylvestre.

The nomination vote is being held from 3:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Cardel Rec South.

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Alberta Politics

Stampede Stomp! Farkas and Smith duel over party tents and beer prices, Nenshi finally shifts to affordability

Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas in December 2025 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)
Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas in December 2025 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

Danielle Smith’s row with Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas over weeknight music tent hours ended with the Premier getting Stampede stomped over her government’s plans to increase the minimum price of a pint of beer days ahead of the start of the Calgary Stampede. Smith backed down and beer minister Dale Nally ordered the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis crown corporation to abandon the price increase.

Farkas can now do a victory lap as a hero of both Stampede beer drinkers and local residents worried about the giant Cowboys party tent being erected in their neighbourhood.

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Alberta Politics

Former UCP President Matthew Bissett running for Progressive Tory nomination in Sherwood Park

Former UCP staffer and constituency president Matthew Bissett has announced his plans to run for the Progressive Tory Party nomination in the Sherwood Park riding just east of Edmonton.

Bissett was president of the UCP constituency association in the riding from 2023 to 2024 and worked as a policy advisory to Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis and Minister of Infrastructure Nathan Neudorf. He was an active member of the Progressive Conservative Party in the 2000s and early 2010s.

Bissett shared a statement about his candidacy with Daveberta, including why he believes he was dismissed as a staffer by the UCP government.

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Alberta Politics

NDP nominates MLA David Eggen and David Shepherd for re-election

The longest serving MLA in the Alberta Legislature is hoping to extend his winning streak by another four years. NDP MLA David Eggen was selected to run for re-election in Edmonton-North West at a nomination meeting on June 16.

Eggen has represented that Edmonton riding since 2019 and previously represented Edmonton-Calder from 2004 to 2008 and 2012 to 2019. He was Minister of Education for the entire four years of the NDP’s time in government from 2015 to 2019 and currently services as chair of the NDP Opposition Caucus and Advanced Education critic.

The high level of churn in Alberta’s recent provincial elections has meant that not many MLAs make it to five-terms like Eggen has.

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Alberta Politics

Sundre’s rodeo parade an early casualty of Alberta’s separation referendum

A photo from the Sundre Pro Rodeo in 2025 (source: Sundre Pro Rodeo / Facebook)
A photo from the Sundre Pro Rodeo in 2025 (source: Sundre Pro Rodeo / Facebook)

Social media algorithms and influencers put a big target on community volunteers

What happened in Sundre is a warning about how algorithms that decide what people see on social media platforms are promoting outrage and opportunistic influencers looking to score clicks are helping fuel that division. It means that local issues, like a decision made by a small town rodeo parade committee, can have a much broader reach and be a target for backlash from people (and AI-bots) from far and wide who might have no real connection or interest in the community.

Sparking anger over Alberta separatism has even become financially lucrative for some people outside the country and is almost certainly a target for foreign governments and groups who have an interest in destabilizing Canada.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

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Daveberta Podcast

Alberta’s role in Canada – why we need to tell better stories

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Federalists need emotional arguments about improving Canada and Alberta

Alberta’s separation referendum is only four months away, so longtime Daveberta Podcast contributor Adam Rozenhart joins Dave Cournoyer for part 2 of our discussion about Canada’s role in Alberta and Alberta’s role in Canada as neighbours and leaders in our country.

Where do Albertans fit in the sprawling success story we call Canada? What can we do to improve Alberta and Canada? How can we tell better stories about why Albertans are important players in making our country a better place? We start the discussion here.

Thanks for listening.

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Alberta Politics

Kyle Campbell running for NDP nomination in Calgary-Shaw by-election

Somerset Residents Association President Kyle Campbell is the first candidate to enter the Alberta NDP nomination in Calgary-Shaw ahead of the expected by-election. The NDP have scheduled a nomination meeting on Friday, June 26 at 7:00 pm at the Cardel Rec South.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Campbell is the Director of Employee Benefits for Qopia Financial and previously worked as Senior Sales Consultant for RBC Insurance. He studied Global Supply Chain Management at Brigham Young University.

“I’m running to protect the essential services our province delivers. My life is deeply impacted by the province of Alberta: career opportunities, public education for my children, cancer care for myself, and more,” Campbell told Daveberta.

“I’m running to ensure that as my kids grow up that they are afforded the same quality of life, and quality of protection that I’ve benefited from,” Campbell said. “I’m keen to protect their rights as Albertans, and their privileges as Canadians.”

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Alberta Politics

Rebecca Schulz resigns, UCP and NDP set nomination dates for Calgary-Shaw by-election

Rebecca Schulz speaking at the United Conservative Party Leaders Dinner in Calgary in 2025 (source: Rebecca Schulz / Facebook)
Rebecca Schulz speaking at the United Conservative Party Leaders Dinner in Calgary in 2025 (source: Rebecca Schulz / Facebook)

A by-election in Calgary-Shaw is imminent following the resignation of United Conservative Party MLA Rebecca Schulz, who stepped down last month after representing the riding since 2019. Schulz served as Minister of Environment and Protected Areas until her resignation from cabinet last December.

The UCP nomination contest is now set for June 24 but the race got one candidate smaller this week after Stewart Jeanes was told by the UCP that he will not be allowed to run after his application was deemed incomplete.

Jeanes’ candidacy in the Calgary-Shaw nomination contest was recently endorsed by Mitch Sylvestre, the Alberta separatist leader and UCP constituency president from Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul who led the Stay Free Alberta petition drive to leave Canada.

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Daveberta Podcast

Water Not Coal with Corb Lund

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As the Water Not Coal citizen initiative enters its final week, country music singer-songwriter and rancher Corb Lund joined the Daveberta Podcast to explain why it’s important for Albertans to sign the petition to block new coal mining projects, like Grassy Mountain, from opening in the Eastern Slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

The Water Not Coal campaign needs to submit more than 177,732 signatures to Elections Alberta in order to force the Alberta government to respond to the following statement through a vote by MLAs in the Legislature or a province-wide referendum:

“The Government of Alberta shall prohibit through legislation all coal exploration and mining activities within the Eastern Slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, other than mines that are in actual production as of January 1, 2026. For clarity, this prohibition includes Northback Holdings’ Grassy Mountain Project and Valory Resources’ Blackstone Project as well as any projects to expand any producing mines.”

Ranchers, farmers, landowners, residents of communities downstream of the Eastern Slopes, and Albertans across the province are concerned about the impact of large industrial coal mines on the fresh water that flows from the Rocky Mountains.

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Alberta Politics

Livestream: Alberta Referendum Madness

Thank you to Jeremy Appel for inviting me to join his live stream over at The Orchard today where we discussed Alberta’s upcoming referenda, the politics of Alberta separatism and the United Conservative Party that led us to this point, and what might come next.

We also delved into a bit of history from Danielle Smith’s time as leader of the Wildrose Party and echos of the Social Credit era of Alberta politics.

Be sure to check out Jeremy’s new book, Dark Phoenix: The Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence of Danielle Smith, available on October 13, 2026 from Dundurn Press.

Watch the livestream on the Daveberta Substack

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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith dug the separatist hole she’s now stuck in

UCP leader Danielle Smith on election night in Calgary (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)
UCP leader Danielle Smith on election night in Calgary (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

Former conservative premiers Ralph Klein and Peter Lougheed told Alberta separatists to pound dirt

An Angus Reid survey released this week found that 56 per cent of Albertans believe Smith is handling the separatism issue poorly and 58 per cent believe she is calling the referendum to appease the separatists in her party. Sixty-nine per cent of Albertans surveyed believe the separatists will never accept a no vote result in the referendum.

Smith dug the political hole she now finds herself in. After years of bending over backward for the separatists in her party by amending laws, fuelling the flames of resentment, and appealing for them to the courts, she has found herself in a politically untenable situation. Simply claiming to be pro-Canada at the eleventh hour is hilariously unconvincing.

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Alberta Politics

Yes, Alberta is actually having a separation referendum

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, US President-elect Donald Trump, and celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, US President Donald Trump, and celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

There’s a lot happening following Premier Smith’s announcement last week that she has decided to hold a province-wide referendum on October 19, 2026 about Alberta’s separation from Canada. Here are some of the latest updates:

  • “The party won’t be taking a position and I won’t be making mine public,” UCP President Rob Smith told CBC Radio this week when asked if he or the governing party would pick a side in the Alberta separation referendum. Most polls show a majority of UCP voters support Alberta separating from Canada.
  • Environics and Angus Reid have released fresh polling about Albertans response to Smith’s separation referendum.
    • The Angus Reid survey found that 56 per cent of Albertans believe Smith is handling the issue poorly and 58 per cent believe she is calling the referendum to appease the separatists in her party.
    • Sixty-nine per cent of Albertans surveyed believe the separatists will never accept a no vote result in the referendum.

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Alberta Politics

NDP MLA Kyle Kasawski running for re-election in Sherwood Park

Sherwood Park NDP MLA Kyle Kasawski (source: Kyle Kasawski / Facebook)
Sherwood Park NDP MLA Kyle Kasawski (source: Kyle Kasawski / Facebook)

Danielle Smith’s Alberta separation referendum looms over party nominations for next election

MLA Kyle Kasawski was nominated to run for re-election in Sherwood Park by Alberta NDP members at a meeting last weekend in the large suburban hamlet east of Edmonton.

Kasawski currently serves as the opposition’s Affordability and Utilities critic role has been one of the strongest additions to the NDP opposition bench since 2023.

Kasawski has been vocal in his opposition to Alberta separatism and called on Premier Danielle Smith to speak out against foreign interference.

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Alberta Politics

Separatists are entrenched in Danielle Smith’s UCP and aren’t going away

The Alberta Prosperity Project’s Jeffrey Rath shows off the separatist group’s proposed referendum question in Calgary (source: Facebook).
The Alberta Prosperity Project’s Jeffrey Rath shows off the separatist group’s proposed referendum question in Calgary (source: Facebook).

Former conservative party premiers Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein would have told the separatists to pound dirt and wouldn’t have allowed them to dig themselves into their party like they have in the UCP.

The referendum will almost certainly further deepen the divide in conservative politics in this province along pro-Canada and pro-separation lines.

In her press conference today, Smith called for the losing side of this referendum to “accept the judgement of people and the direction that we go.”

That seems unlikely.

This referendum is guaranteed to string out this debate.

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