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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith does a victory lap on Trump’s oil and gas tariffs

But remember, this is not a trade war.

With American President Donald Trump announcing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products imported from Canada into the United States and a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian oil and gas, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing retaliatory 25 per cent tariffs on US imports, the era of free trade between Canada and the United States appears to have come to an end.

But despite all the tariffs, this is not a trade war.

Trump’s tariffs were not imposed as a retaliation to any trade dispute or economic disagreement his country has with Canada. Trump claims the tariffs are a response to illegal fentanyl crossing the US border from Canada and Mexico, but his frequent rants on social media about annexing Canada to make it the 51st State mean it’s unlikely that any action on border security taken by Canadian federal or provincial government’s will actually appease the US President.

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Alberta Politics

Being in Donald Trump’s orbit a double-edged sword for Danielle Smith

Smith wants tariff exemptions for oil and gas but Trump might want those jobs for American workers

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith continued her diplomatic charm offensive in the United States with a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by incoming American President Donald Trump. Trump’s Sunshine State refuge has operated as his White House-in-Waiting until next week’s Presidential Inauguration festivities.

Smith has been a regular guest over the past few weeks on a long list of Fox News shows where she has argued that Trump should to exempt Canadian oil and gas from his threat of tariffs. She also plans to join a crowd of Trump supporters to watch him be sworn-in to office next week in Washington D.C.

Albertans found out about Smith’s trip after her staff posted photos on social media of her and Trump alongside celebrity investor and former Conservative Party leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary. She also posted photos of herself, O’Leary, and conservative gadfly Jordan Peterson at Mar-a-Lago.

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Alberta Politics

NDP’s Rob Miyashiro wins by-election in Lethbridge-West

Alberta NDP candidate Rob Miyashiro won the provincial by-election in Lethbridge-West.

Unofficial results from Elections Alberta:

  • Rob Miyashiro, NDP: 7,239 votes (53.4%)
  • John Middleton-Hope, UCP: 6,089 votes (44.9%)
  • Layton Veverka, Alberta Party: 233 votes (1.7%)

Read more on the Daveberta Substack

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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s charm offensive in Trump’s America

More MAGA, Less Ottawa

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Alberta Politics

Janis Irwin voted Best Alberta MLA for fifth year in a row

Justice Minister Mickey Amery voted Best Cabinet Minister of 2024

With all the votes counted, the winners of the Best of Alberta Politics 2024 Survey have been chosen. The eighth annual survey is all about celebrating the best in Alberta politics. The winners were selected from a week-long vote for the top two choices in each category nominated by Daveberta subscribers.

Read all about the winners on the Daveberta Substack.

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Alberta Politics

Vote for the Best of Alberta Politics in 2024!

Vote for this year’s best MLA, cabinet minister, MLA to watch, municipal leader and more

With hundreds of names submitted to the 2024 Best of Alberta Politics Survey, your nominations have been sorted and the top two choices have been identified in all seven categories.

Voting in the eighth annual survey is now open to the nearly 4,600 Daveberta subscribers (free and paid) until Sunday, December 1 at 8:00 p.m. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, December 3.

Vote in the 2024 Best of Alberta Politics Survey

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Alberta Politics

Lethbridge-West by-election a big test for Naheed Nenshi and Danielle Smith

Race to replace Shannon Phillips called for December 18

Nearly five months after Alberta NDP MLA Shannon Phillips resigned her seat in the Legislature, a by-election has been called in Lethbridge-West and it’s happening on December 18.

For the past five years, this urban riding located in southwest Alberta has been an electoral anomaly: a lone orange island surrounded by a sea of blue. The riding was one of two won by the NDP in 2023 that was outside of the immediate Edmonton and Calgary areas.

Read more on the Daveberta Substack

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Alberta Politics

Best of Alberta Politics 2024 Survey

Nominate your choice for this year’s best MLA, cabinet minister, up and comer, and more

It’s that time of year again. I am thrilled to launch the eighth annual Daveberta Best of Alberta Politics Survey. It has been a big year in Alberta politics so I am excited to hear from you about the big political players and issues of 2024.

Submit your choices on the Daveberta Substack

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Alberta Politics

UCP cuts the “length” off arms-length AIMCo

Alberta’s $160.6 billion investments now under a government controlled cone of silence

Secure in her party’s leadership after earning the support of 91.5 percent of members at the United Conservative Party AGM earlier this month, Premier Danielle Smith isn’t skipping a beat in implementing her government’s political agenda.

The firing of the CEO and the entire board of directors of AIMCo, the arms-length Alberta Investment Management Corporation, was confirmed through a short 9:47 am press release from Finance Minister Nate Horner last Friday.

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Alberta Politics

Can Danielle Smith survive the UCP political circus in Red Deer?

Alberta politics is unpredictable and sometimes it’s best to expect the unexpected

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Alberta Politics

Can Nenshi charm the NDP old guard? He’ll need to at this weekend’s Provincial Council meeting

First, the Lethbridge by-election; then the federal NDP – do they stay or do they go?

The next step in the Alberta NDP’s transformation from Rachel Notley’s NDP to Naheed Nenshi’s NDP takes place this weekend in Calgary.

NDP members from across Alberta will gather in the province’s largest city this weekend for the party’s first meeting of its Provincial Council since Nenshi won his landslide victory in the race to replace Notley.

Nenshi’s 84% win with 62,746 votes means there is no doubt who the vast majority of the party’s membership wanted as leader. But meaningfully connecting with the people in the room this weekend will be Nenshi’s next big step.

Expect a charm offensive.

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Alberta Politics

Kenneyism in Alberta politics. An interview with Jeremy Appel

New book delves into the conservative politics of former Premier Jason Kenney

Author and journalist Jeremy Appel helps us launch the 7th season of Daveberta Podcast with an in-depth conversation about his new book, Kenneyism: Jason Kenney’s Pursuit of Power.

In his book, Appel takes one of the first in-depth looks at Jason Kenney’s rise and fall in Canadian politics, and dissects the branches of conservatism and adherence to hierarchical social order that drove the former Premier to become a political animal unlike anything Alberta politics has seen before.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on September 23, 2024 in the offices of Adverb Communications in beautiful downtown Edmonton.

New and recent episodes of the Daveberta Podcast are available exclusively to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.

 

Kenneyism in Alberta politics. An interview with Jeremy Appel by Dave Cournoyer

New book delves into the conservative politics of former Premier Jason Kenney

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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s big pre-recorded policy announcements

Another way for politicians to control the message and avoid facing tough questions

In the span of one week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith released two pre-recorded video messages announcing major changes to the United Conservative Party government’s political agenda.

The first was an 8-minute broadcast online and on television featuring Smith announcing new funding for school construction and taking political jabs at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the federal government’s immigration policies.

A second 3-minute video featured the Premier announcing the rumoured amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights she argued would enshrine protections for people who refuse get vaccinated and people who own firearms and property.

Read more on the Daveberta Substack

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Alberta Politics

Long list of COVID-19 grievances could head to UCP AGM policy debate

It’s hard to imagine the old PC Party getting bogged down by this debate

If I had walked into the Alberta Legislature ten years ago and told an MLA, staffer, or journalist that in 2024 the province’s political landscape would be a competitive two-party system, I probably would have been laughed out of the Rotunda. They might have even alerted a security guard if I’d been so out of my mind to predict that the New Democratic Party would be competing with the conservatives to form Alberta’s government.

Until that point ten years ago, only twice in the Progressive Conservative Party’s four decades of uninterrupted majority governments had the dynasty been seriously challenged in an election. The PC Party was unquestionably Alberta’s Natural Governing Party.

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Alberta Politics

Once upon a time Alberta MLAs had meaningful ideas about Senate Reform

Until last weekend, 2 of Alberta’s 6 seats in the Canadian Senate sat empty for years

Did you know that until recently, two of Alberta’s six seats in the Canadian Senate had been vacant for years?

You’re not alone if you didn’t know before last weekend. Most Albertans probably didn’t know.

You’re also not alone if you didn’t even hear about the appointments, because it was out of the news-cycle in about 24 hours.

Despite playing a big role in how federal laws are shaped in our country, the profile of Canada’s Senate, a place of sober second thought, usually flies far under the radar of most Canadians.