Tag: Naheed Nenshi

Top 10 Daveberta columns of 2025

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 29, 2025

Alberta’s Legislature Building through the view of a broken glass panel in summer 2025 (credit: Dave Cournoyer)

It has been a big year in Alberta politics and a big year for Daveberta. Canada had a federal election, there was no shortage of news and (frequently troubling) political maneuvering in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton elected new mayors, and I marked 20 years since launching my original blog and starting to write about Alberta politics online.

I’m taking it easy this week to enjoy the Christmas break with my family and friends but I did take a few moments to look at some of the top columns I published this year and wanted to share that list with you today.

Using Substack’s metrics, which combine traffic, likes and subscriptions generated, here are the top 10 columns I published in 2025.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

UCP direct democracy tools give Albertans a way to fight back

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 21, 2025

Albertans unhappy with the government are used to protests outside the Legislature in the deep and dark winter months but direct democracy tools introduced by the UCP a few years ago have given people new avenues to express their discontent.

A citizen initiative launched by former Edmonton-Castle Downs PC MLA Thomas Lukaszuk calling on Alberta to remain in Canada collected more than 456,000 signatures, blowing way past the required threshold of 293,000 signatures. The amazing organizational feat of the Forever Canadian campaign inspired citizen initiatives calling for a referendum question about ending government funding of private schools and banning coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Alberta separatism the biggest and most dangerous distraction of the year

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 21, 2025

The biggest distraction of the year is the fight over Alberta staying in Canada.

Premier Danielle Smith is walking a narrow line between Albertans who want a better deal with Ottawa and those who just want Alberta to outright leave Canada (or join the United States), though she has actively tipped the scales in favour of the separatists in her party.

The UCP has twice amended the Citizen Initiative Act this year. First to lower the number of signatures required to trigger a province-wide referendum and second to block the Chief Elections Officer from referring initiative questions to the courts to determine their constitutionality.

Alberta has long had a fringe separatist movement that has usually lived on the margins of the far-right, but today’s separatists are a deeply intrenched and active force inside Smith’s UCP. They showed their strength at the recent UCP AGM when Smith was booed after trumpeting her government’s memorandum of understanding about pipelines and the electrical grid with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government in Ottawa.

Health care chaos the most underreported Alberta politics story of the year

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 20, 2025

The complete dismantling of Alberta Health Services, which is almost certainly a vendetta for the role the organization played in implementing public health measures meant to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the most underreported stories of the year.

The province-wide health authority that was created by Premier Ed Stelmach’s Progressive Conservative government in 2008 is being carved into five or six different administrative silos (depending how you count) which will have a real impact on hospitals and health centres from big cities to small rural communities — and health ministers like Adriana LaGrange and Matt Jones haven’t been able to clearly answer the question of how this will make patient care better for Albertans.

Danielle Smith’s wild ride. What to make of Alberta politics in 2025?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 20, 2025

Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong & Free Networking Conference (formerly known as the Manning Centre) (source: Danielle Smith / Instagram)

As 2025 comes to an end, it’s hard to describe the past twelve months in Alberta politics, but Edmonton-Whitemud NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi summed it up well in the opposition’s year-end press conference by describing it a “wild ride.”

It has been a chaotic 12 months in Alberta politics. Even for someone who pays very close attention to provincial politics, the pace of the past year was so fast and frantic that it has been hard to keep track. The recently ended fall session of the Legislature might have been one of the most chaotic in recent memory.

It’s clear that Premier Danielle Smith’s governing United Conservative Party is using a “flood the zone” strategy but there were many times when it looked like the government was just flying by the seat of its pants and no one was really in control of the political agenda.

And if it’s hard for political watchers to keep track, that means it’s probably almost impossible for normal Albertans to figure out what’s going on — and that’s the point. The strategy keeps the opposition off balance and doesn’t give them time to respond before the next big announcement or political controversy steals the attention of shrinking newsrooms and a fast paced social media eco-system.

Anyone familiar with the chaos of American politics will recognize this strategy because it’s employed almost hourly by President Donald Trump.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Adriana LaGrange, Airdrie-Cochrane, Alanna Smith, Alberta Coal Policy, Alberta Health Services, Alberta NDP, Alberta Party, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Prosperity Project, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Ben Shapiro, Best of Alberta Politics 2025, Cameron Davies, Canada Election Substack, Carrie Tait, Corb Lund, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Donald Trump, Edmonton-Castle Downs, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-Whitemud, Flood the Zone, Forever Canadian, Janis Irwin, Jeff Rath, Jeffrey Rath, Jordan Peterson, Matt Jones, Mickey Amery, Mitch Sylvestre, Naheed Nenshi, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Peter Guthrie, Progressive Tory Party of Alberta, Rakhi Pancholi, Real Talk, Republican Party of Alberta, Ryan Jespersen, Thomas Lukaszuk, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Janis Irwin, Peter Guthrie, and Rakhi Pancholi big winners in Best of Alberta Politics 2025 Survey

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 4, 2025

Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin (source: Janis Irwin / Facebook)

Marlin Schmidt voted MLA with Best Sense of Humour and Brooks Arcand-Paul is the MLA to watch in 2026

After a week of fierce campaigning, all the votes have been counted and the winners of the ninth annual Daveberta Best of Alberta Politics Survey have been chosen.

The annual survey is all about celebrating the best in Alberta politics and the winners were nominated and voted for by politically-savvy Daveberta subscribers.

Congratulations to this year’s winners.

Read all about this the Best of Alberta Politics 2025 Survey on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

4 ways Danielle Smith’s UCP could react to the Forever Canadian citizen initiative

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 2, 2025

Has Thomas Lukaszuk’s pro-Canada petition boxed in Danielle Smith on Alberta separatism?

If there is one big takeaway from last weekend’s United Conservative Party annual general meeting it’s that the separatist movement in Alberta is deeply intrenched in the governing party.

From jeers and cheers to at least half the board candidates endorsed by the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project getting elected, the weekend gathering was a showcase of how influential Alberta’s most prominent separatists are in Premier Danielle Smith‘s UCP.

Alberta Politics

Vote for the Best of Alberta Politics in 2025!

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 27, 2025

The Best of Alberta Politics 2025 Survey top nominees include MLAs Nate Glubish, Janis Irwin, Peter Guthrie, Danielle Smith, Naheed Nenshi, Sarah Hoffman, Brandon Lunty, Scott Sinclair, Rebecca Schulz, Brooks Arcand-Paul, Rakhi Pancholi, Rob Miyashiro, Chantelle de Jonge, and Marlin Schmidt. (source: Legislative Assembly of Alberta)

Voting is now open for this year’s best MLA, best cabinet minister, most effective opposition MLA, best public speaker, and more.

With hundreds of names submitted to the ninth annual Best of Alberta Politics Survey, your nominations have been sorted and the top choices have been identified in all nine categories.

Voting in the 2025 survey is now open to the nearly 8,000 Daveberta subscribers until Tuesday, December 2 at 8:00 p.m. The results will be announced on Thursday, December 4.

Alberta Politics

It’s your choice: Best of Alberta Politics 2025 Survey

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 20, 2025

24 of Alberta’s 87 MLAs (source: assembly.ab.ca)

Nominate your picks for this year’s best MLA, best cabinet minister, most effective opposition MLA, and more

It’s that time of year again. I am thrilled to launch the ninth annual Daveberta’s Best of Alberta Politics Survey. There is never a dull moment in Alberta politics so I am excited to hear from you about the big political players of 2025.

I have changed up the categories this year to recognize not just the best MLAs but the work they do in the Legislature and in their constituencies.

Tags Alberta NDP, Alberta Politics, Alberta Politics Substack, Best of Alberta Politics 2025, Canada Election Substack, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Janis Irwin, Naheed Nenshi, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

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

Alberta Liberals rode the Reform Party MLA recall wave

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 16, 2025

Liberal Party leader Laurence Decore at a press conference with University of Calgary Students’ Union President Naheed Nenshi in 1993 (source: Alberta Views Magazine)

It would be more than 50 years after William Aberhart repealled the recall law before more attempts were made to bring back recall in Alberta.

Riding the same wave of populism that Ernest’s son Preston Manning rode into Ottawa in the early 1990s, the Alberta Liberal Party led by Laurence Decore adopted recall as an official party policy in the 1993 election.

“Recall is vital for Albertans because it gives people an element of control over their politicians between elections,” Decore argued in the Edmonton Journal in June 1993. “It also gives MLAs the power to tell their leader they can’t vote for a bill because their constituents wouldn’t stand for it. This power will encourage more free votes in the house and loosen party discipline.”

Danielle Smith leaves Canada, flies to Saudi Arabia after invoking Notwithstanding Clause

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 2, 2025

Albertans’ negative reaction to the government’s handling of the teachers strike was probably a big reason why Premier Danielle Smith was scheduled to leave the country before her UCP MLAs passed Bill 2.

We don’t know exactly what Smith was looking at on her phone when she was photographed sitting at the Calgary International Airport while her UCP MLAs were still in the Legislature on Monday night, but her conveniently scheduled week-long trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates means that she will not face questions from reporters about suspending constitutional rights of citizens.

Danielle Smith’s job approval drops, Naheed Nenshi gets a bump

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 2, 2025

United Conservative Party Premier Danielle Smith’s own approval rating took a beating as well. The Premier saw her job approval drop from 44 per cent in May to 38 per cent this month. And, for the first time, that puts Smith below NDP leader Naheed Nenshi, who saw his approval jump up to 43 per cent in the same period.

Taking his seat in the Legislature this week, it definitely felt like Bill 2 gave Nenshi an opportunity to step into the spotlight and he didn’t disappoint.

UCP fumbling primed Albertans to support the teachers’ strike

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date November 1, 2025

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (right) was photographed sitting at the Calgary International Airport while UCP MLAs were still in the Legislature pushing through Bill 2 on Monday night. Smith is spending the week in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. (photo: publicinterestalberta / Instagram)

Danielle Smith left for Saudi Arabia before invoking Notwithstanding Clause

The fall session of the Legislature started on Monday and Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government wasted no time pushing through its legislation to force striking Alberta teachers back to work.

In a severely time-limited debate that took less than 12 hours in total, UCP MLAs voted on third reading to pass Bill 2: Back to Work Act at around 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

The bill imposed a new contract on 51,000 striking teachers until 2028, threatened hefty fines for any teachers who dared defy the UCP’s rushed law, and used the constitutional sledgehammer known as the Notwithstanding Clause to suspend teachers’ and the Alberta Teachers’ Associations’ rights to collective bargaining under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Where is Nenshi? He’s in the Legislature.

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 26, 2025

One of the biggest questions I get asked about Alberta politics these days is “where is Nenshi?”

Well, former mayor of Calgary and current Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi now has a seat in the Assembly and will be spending some time getting acquainted with what levers of the legislative process are available to opposition leaders.

While there will be a temptation to put extra effort into sparring with Smith and scoring points in Question Period, the NDP need to reintroduce a curiously absent Nenshi to Albertans and figure out what their pitch is to the province’s voters — and then get out there and sell it.

Nenshi’s decision to shuffle Sherwood Park MLA Kyle Kasawski into the role of Shadow Minister for Affordability and Utilities this week is a good start.