Tag: Amarjeet Sohi

Is Naheed Nenshi ready to be the next Premier of Alberta?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 18, 2025

Flashy new NDP ad gives a glimpse into what the NDP wants to fight for in the next election

Naheed Nenshi is ready. That’s the main message of a new campaign ad released by the Alberta New Democrats last week. The video reintroduces Nenshi to Albertans and tries to lay out some clear contrasts between his party and Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party.

The new ad is reportedly the result of the Alberta NDP’s new relationship with the US-based Fight Agency, the political consultants behind Zohran Mamdani’s wildly successful campaign to become the next Mayor of New York City. And it’s an impressive ad.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Airdrie-Cochrane, Alberta Election 2027, Alberta Municipalities, Alberta NDP, Alberta Party, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Alex Hryciw, Amarjeet Sohi, Andrew Knack, Andrew MacKendrick, Better Edmonton Party, Calgary-Mountain View, Calgary-Peigan, Canada Election Substack, Dan Nielsen, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Devery Corbin, Dylan Bressey, Edmonton-Ellerslie by-election, Edmonton-Strathcona, Fight Agency, Heather Wilson, Kathleen Ganley, Kyall Glennie, Kyle Kasawski, Lesser Slave Lake, Lethbridge-West by-election, Mark Miller, Mike Burton, Mike Elliott, Mike Vivian, Naheed Nenshi, Omar Mohammad, Peter Guthrie, Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, Rachel Notley, Reed Clark, Richard Corbin, Scott Sinclair, Sherwood Park, Tanya Fir, Tim Cartmell, UCP AGM 2025, United Conservative Party, Winston Pon, Zohran Mamdani

Alberta Politics

Tim Cartmell’s big money Better Edmonton campaign falls flat

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 23, 2025

Tim Cartmell was the perceived frontrunner who had been posturing for a mayoral run for years and entered the race with a large campaign war chest and a tailor made Better Edmonton Party with a slate of council candidates in each ward.

In theory, the menu of fundraising and organizational advantages available to him should have vaulted Cartmell into the mayor’s office.

The advantages the party structure could give candidates with large bases of corporate donor support was the real political incentive in mind when the province’s United Conservative Party government decided to inject municipal political parties into Edmonton and Calgary elections. Cartmell’s mayoral campaign is expected to have spent more than $1 million on the race, making it the most expensive election campaign in Edmonton’s history.

Andrew Knack as the progressive choice for mayor

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 23, 2025

Andrew Knack spent most of his 12 years on Edmonton city council playing the role of the mild-mannered moderate centrist who was known for going above and beyond to engage with his constituents. But in this election, Knack was cast as the progressive alternative to Tim Cartmell’s corporate donor backed campaign.

Hey Dave! Who’s going to be the next Mayor of Edmonton?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 27, 2025

Edmonton mayoral candidate Michael Walters (source: Michael Walters / Facebook)

The latest public opinion poll shows current councillors Tim Cartmell and Andrew Knack and former councillor Michael Walters leading the pack in a close three way race. But with nearly 50 percent of voters saying they are undecided, it could be anyone’s to win.

The Cardinal Research poll showed Walters with 15 per cent support and Cartmell and Knack with 13 per cent each, and 48 per cent of voters undecided. I don’t want to focus too much on the horse race, but that poll shows a pretty tight race in a big open field.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta NDP, Amarjeet Sohi, Andrew Knack, Dan Williams, Danielle Smith, Edmonton Mayoral Election 2025, Michael Walters, Naheed Nenshi, Omar Mohammad, Rahim Jaffer, Tim Cartmell, Tony Caterina, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Low key, low energy mayoral race starts to take shape in Edmonton

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date July 25, 2025

Edmonton City Hall (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Who’s on first in the race to replace Amarjeet Sohi? It’s hard to tell.

There are 87 days until municipal election day in Alberta and Edmonton’s sleepy mayoral race is beginning to take shape.

With Mayor Amarjeet Sohi not running for re-election after serving one term in the office, what looks like a fairly open field of current and former city councillors has emerged in the race to replace him.

With the city facing an addictions and mental health crisis, a pitch battle over zoning and infill in mature neighbourhoods, huge population growth that is putting immense pressure on the city’s public services, infrastructure, schools and hospitals, and a provincial government is openly hostile to the current city council, whoever is in the mayor’s chair for the next four years will face a rough and challenging time.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

To celebrate 20 years of Daveberta, I’m happy to offer free subscribers a 20 percent discount on an annual paid subscription ($40/year down from the regular $50/year). Paid subscribers get full access to all Daveberta newsletters and columns, full episodes of the Daveberta Podcast and a shout out on the podcast, and special Alberta politics extras.

Alberta Politics

Daveberta turns 20 years old

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date July 21, 2025

CBC The National reporter Ian Hanomansing interviews Dave Cournoyer on the day before Alberta’s 2023 provincial election (source: CBC)

I’ve been writing about Alberta politics since 2005 and it’s been a wild ride

It was 2005.

After a short stint on the dysfunctional Calgary Board of Education, former Fraser Institute intern Danielle Smith was in her fifth year as a columnist and editorial board member at the Calgary Herald. Smith joined the Herald a few years earlier while the journalists who worked for the paper were on strike.

Harvard-educated Naheed Nenshi was teaching non-profit management at Mount Royal College in Calgary. Nenshi was recovering from an unsuccessful first campaign for city council the year earlier and was about to build his profile as a civic affairs columnist in the same newspaper that employed Smith.

And somewhere on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, a young political science student named Dave plucked away at his laptop keyboard writing posts to publish on his new blog, Daveberta.

A lot has happened in the 20 years since. Time flies when you’re having fun.

I never expected or planned to still be writing about Alberta politics today but it turns out that it was something I enjoyed doing and people enjoyed reading, so I kept it up. And I’m glad I did.

Edmonton’s mayoral frontrunner Tim Cartmell skips crucial vote to go on vacation

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date July 10, 2025

With municipal elections happening in October, Edmonton mayoral race is taking shape and taking unexpected turns.

A heated few weeks at Edmonton City Council culminated with retiring councillor Sarah Hamilton launching a profanity-laden attack against her colleague Jo-Anne Wright, and perceived mayoral race frontrunner and Better Edmonton Party leader Tim Cartmell leaving on vacation just before the end of public hearings and missing a crucial vote to amend the city’s controversial zoning bylaw.

A motion from Mayor Amarjeet Sohi to reaffirm some of the most controversial parts of the current bylaw passed in a 6-5 vote, meaning that Cartmell’s vote would have made the difference had he shown up in-person or joined the meeting over Zoom.

The week before Cartmell left for vacation, he proposed halting infill development in the city with a dramatic motion that he was told ahead of time was likely illegal. Cartmell then posted a video on social media tut tutting his council colleagues before leaving for an undisclosed vacation spot that his campaign says has no internet connectivity.

Ten big questions about Alberta separatism in 2025

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 16, 2025

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

Is Premier Danielle Smith a separatist? Is the UCP a separatist party?

The biggest difference between today’s Alberta separatist push and past efforts is that today’s most vocal separatists are operating within the governing UCP. Premier Danielle Smith gave her tacit public support for these groups in an online video address earlier this month and she knows that any direct effort to try to stop it would turn those groups, which included some of the UCP’s most enthusiastic activists, against her.

Many of those enthusiastic separatists inside the UCP helped topple former Premier Jason Kenney in 2022 and propel Smith to victory in the leadership race that followed. Writer Jen Gerson cleverly described Smith’s situation through one rule of politics: you get ate by the dragon you ride in on.

Liberals win the election but Alberta stays Conservative blue

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date April 29, 2025

Pierre Poilievre delivers his election night concession speech to supporters (screenshot: Conservative Party of Canada / Facebook)

Conservatives win 34 of 37 seats, Liberals win 2, NDP 1

One of Daveberta’s first rules of Alberta politics is to never underestimate the Conservatives, and that rule appears to have held true last night as votes in the federal election were counted across the province.

At the time I am publishing this, Conservative Party candidates are elected in 34 of 37 ridings in Alberta. This makes them a significant block in what will be a 144 MP Conservative Opposition in Ottawa. This is a larger Conservative caucus than existed before this election but falls far short of the huge majority government the Conservatives were expecting Pierre Poilievre would lead them to only a few months ago. The Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Mark Carney were re-elected with 168 seats, including two in Alberta.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

🇨🇦 Alberta ridings I’m watching on federal election night in Canada

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date April 28, 2025

It’s Election Day so don’t forget to vote!

It’s Election Day in Canada and the polls are open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Alberta. If you aren’t one of the 815,131 Albertans who voted in the Advance Polls, then be sure to find your voting station and cast a ballot today.

Alberta Politics

The final pitch: Who will be the big election winners in Calgary and Edmonton?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date April 24, 2025

Jagmeet Singh, Pierre Poilievre, and maybe Mark Carney make final stops in Alberta

Canada’s federal election is four days away and most polls are pointing to a big national victory for Mark Carney’s Liberal Party. While the national polls show the gap between Carney’s party and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives slightly tightening, the Liberal lead in Ontario and Atlantic Canada looks insurmountable unless something drastic happens before April 28.

While most of Alberta’s federal ridings will be solidly Conservative blue on election night, the province’s two biggest cities could produce some interesting results. I haven’t seen any actual riding-level polls, which are both expensive and difficult to conduct, but most national polls show the Liberals with around 30 percent support in Alberta. This would represent the largest percentage of votes for the federal Liberals in Alberta since 1968.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

Alberta boys Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney return to the province of their youths

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date April 11, 2025

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and former Prime Minister Stephen Harper at an election rally in Edmonton on April 7, 2025 (source: Pierre Poilievre / Facebook)

It was Alberta Week in Canada’s federal election campaign

It was Alberta Week in the federal election campaign with the two party leaders who grew up in the western province returning to wave their party flags and rally supporters.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Federal Candidate Nomination Update, Alberta NDP, Amarjeet Sohi, Anne McLellan, Blake Desjarlais, Calgary McKnight, Calgary-Centre, Calgary-Confederation, Calgary-Fish Creek, Calgary-Shaw, Calgary-Skyview, Canada Election 2025, Corey Hogan, Cynthia Moore, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Tariff, Edmonton Centre, Edmonton Southeast, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Ellerslie by-election, Edmonton-Griesbach, Edmonton-Strathcona, Eleanor Olszewski, Foothills, George Chahal, Greg McLean, Hafeez Malik, Heather McPherson, Jagmeet Singh, John Barlow, Kerry Diotte, Laura Stone, Leduc-Wetaskiwin, Lindsay Luhnau, Mark Carney, Myles McDougall, Nixan Patel, Pierre Poilievre, Ponoka-Didsbury, Preston Manning, Rebecca Schulz, Roy Romanow, Sana Kakar, Stephen Harper, Tracy Gray, Trisha Estabrooks, United Conservative Party, Zarnab Zafar

Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s MAGA charm offensive could haunt the Conservatives

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 24, 2025

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the United Conservative Party’s Leader’s Dinner in Edmonton in March 2025 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

When Alberta Premier Danielle Smith demanded Carney call a federal election after he was sworn-in as Prime Minister ten days ago, she probably didn’t expect that a two week old interview with an American alt-right news website would be making headlines on the first day of the campaign.

In a March 8 interview with the pro-Trump Breitbart website, Smith said she asked the Trump administration to pause their economic attacks on Canada until after the federal election because they might hurt Pierre Poilievre’s chances of defeating the Liberals.

Read it all on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

What to make of Mark Carney’s meeting with Danielle Smith

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 21, 2025

Premier Danielle Smith speaks to supporters at the United Conservative Party Leader’s Dinner fundraiser in Edmonton on March 19, 2025 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

Liberal PM expected to call federal election on Sunday for an April 28 or May 5 vote

Prime Minster Mark Carney was in Edmonton yesterday for his first visit since winning the Liberal Party leadership and becoming leader of the government. Carney met with Premier Danielle Smith, who re-endorsed Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre the night before at a sold out Leader’s Dinner fundraiser in the capital city.

The Prime Minister and Premier did not make themselves available to speak with the media after the meeting and there were no photos taken of the two politicians together, which is probably an indication of how well we can expect the meeting went (Smith’s office later posted a photo of her meeting with Ambassador of Austria Andreas Rendl, which also gives us an idea of where the Prime Minister fits in her pecking order).

Nate Horner’s deficit spending, tax cutting confused conservative budget

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date February 28, 2025

Minister of Finance Nate Horner in the government’s pre-budget release video posted on social media (source: Nate Horner / Instagram)

Alberta goes for another ride on the royalty roller coaster

After twenty years of writing about Alberta politics and about same number of provincial budgets, it’s sometimes hard not to write the same thing year after year: Alberta relies too heavily on revenues from oil and gas royalties to fund the daily operations of government.

That’s the baked-in analysis of Alberta politics. Our provincial government’s over-dependence on oil revenues is both a blessing and a curse. When the price of oil is high, things are really good. When the price of oil is low, it’s really bad. It is the central component of what we used to call the “Alberta Advantage.”

Alberta has been able to afford to have the lowest taxes in Canada and high spending on public services because the government could use oil and gas royalties to offset what every other province would normally collect through taxes.