Tag: United Conservative Party

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Alberta Politics

What UCP cabinet minister mandate letters say about the government’s agenda

AI generated images of the “Alberta Legislature Building on the moon.” (source: DALL-E mini)
AI generated images of the “Alberta Legislature Building on the moon.” (source: DALL-E mini)

Kind of like Aunt Martha’s fruitcake. It keeps coming back at you year after year.

Over the summer months, while most Albertans were focusing on navigating wildfire smoke and intense heat, the provincial government released a steady stream of mandate letters from Premier Danielle Smith to her cabinet ministers.

The mandate letters are meant to provide direction from the Premier to the Ministers on where the departments they are responsible for fit in the government’s agenda.

Publicly releasing ministerial mandate letters provides a certain level of transparency on the surface but the stream of press releases, as conservative thinker Ken Boessenkool mused last year, “turns an important governing process into a communications and stakeholder exercise.”

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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith enjoys a honeymoon summer

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at the Taber Corn Fest in August 2023 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at the Taber Corn Fest in August 2023 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

It’s been a quiet, but not boring, post-election summer in Alberta

Conventional wisdom tells us that the summer months are a quiet and boring time in politics, but not so in Alberta. It’s not often there is an actual quiet and boring political summer in this province.

Two summers ago was the Best Summer Ever disaster and the summer before that was the first COVID-19 summer. Before that was the Summer of Repeal.

And last summer, one of the most unexpected political comebacks happened right before our eyes. Former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith, who had been written off by most political watchers after her disastrous decision to cross the floor in 2014, defined the summer of 2022 and the United Conservative Party leadership vote that followed.

But this year’s political summer was a fairly quiet, albeit incredibly smoky, affair.

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Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith is no fan of wind and solar power

Danielle Smith and Rob Anderson in the Media Room at the Alberta Legislature in 2010 (Source: Dave Cournoyer)..
Danielle Smith and Rob Anderson in the Media Room at the Alberta Legislature in 2010 (Source: Dave Cournoyer).

As a columnist, Smith was a harsh critic of “unreliable” renewable energy

The United Conservative Party government’s decision to impose an immediate 7-month moratorium on all new major wind and solar energy projects in Alberta came as a surprise to many political watchers.

The drastic decision was sudden and it wasn’t featured in any of the UCP’s campaign promises in the election held only 75 days ago. But anyone who has paid close attention to now-Premier Danielle Smith’s newspaper and radio commentary knows she has not hidden her deeply critical and skeptical views of wind and solar power.

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Daveberta Podcast

Ask Me Anything about Alberta politics 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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Alberta Politics

Saddle up. Calgary Stampede politics are back.

The cover of the 1974 Calgary Exhibition and Stampede annual report (source: Glenbow Museum)
The cover of the 1974 Calgary Exhibition and Stampede annual report (source: Glenbow Museum)

Dust off your cowboy boots and hat. It’s that time of year again. It’s the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. It’s the Calgary Stampede.

The Stampede is a must attend event for politicians of all stripes. Aside from the actual rodeo (the Chuckwagon races are a must see), the free pancake breakfast and BBQ circuit is unparalleled and a huge opportunity for local, provincial and federal politicians to connect with Calgarians. Proper attire is key, as is the ability to wear it properly.

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Alberta Politics

Find your buddy: NDP pairs veteran and rookie MLAs in energy, finance, health and municipal affairs critic roles

The Alberta NDP Caucus released the list of critic roles that its roster of 38 Official Opposition MLAs have been tasked to fill.

Every NDP MLA has been assigned a role as a critic or in the caucus leadership, which is not unusual for provincial oppositions in Alberta. But, because of the unusually large size of the opposition caucus, there are more critics than cabinet ministers to shadow.

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Alberta Politics

Bringing Jason Nixon and Ric McIver back into cabinet was smart politics

Then-leader of the Wildrose Party Danielle Smith at a press conference during the 2014 Edmonton-Whitemud by-election. Newly nominated Wildrose candidate Jason Nixon is standing on the right side of the photo. (source: Dave Cournoyer)
Then-leader of the Wildrose Party Danielle Smith at a press conference during the 2014 Edmonton-Whitemud by-election. Newly nominated Wildrose candidate Jason Nixon is standing on the right side of the photo. (source: Dave Cournoyer)

It has been almost two weeks since Alberta Premier Danielle Smith named her new 24-member cabinet and a lot of ink has been spilled dissecting what the appointments could mean for the start of the United Conservative Party’s second term as government and the next four years.

There are big challenges facing the new cabinet, especially for ministers appointed to high-profile positions. But what caught my attention among the appointments was the return of two former cabinet ministers who were pushed into the backbenches when Smith entered the Premier’s Office last October.

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Alberta Politics

The election aftermath for Alberta’s NDP

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley at an Edmonton rally on May 28, 2023 (source: Rachel Notley / Facebook)
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley at an Edmonton rally on May 28, 2023 (source: Rachel Notley / Facebook)
Victory was within sight but out of reach for Notley’s party

It was a historic election result for the Alberta NDP.

Rachel Notley’s NDP won 38 seats in last week’s election and will form the largest Official Opposition in the province’s history. The NDP got more votes in this election than it ever has before, including a historic high of 49% in Calgary. The party ran the most sophisticated, well-organized and best-funded campaign in its history.

But it fell short of its ultimate goal of forming government.

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Alberta Politics

How to build an Alberta cabinet without Edmonton

Premier Danielle Smith and UCP candidates election 2023
It’s easy. Edmontonians didn’t want a seat at Smith’s cabinet table.

It has been one week since Alberta’s election and Premier Danielle Smith is expected to appoint a new roster of cabinet ministers soon.

At least six current United Conservative Party cabinet ministers and three former cabinet ministers were defeated in the election. Along with four former cabinet ministers who declined to run for re-election, it means there could be some new and inexperienced MLAs with jobs as cabinet ministers.

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Alberta Politics

Top 12 closest races of Alberta’s 2023 election

The top 12 closest races in Alberta’s 2023 election (map source: CanadianPolling.ca)
The top 12 closest races in Alberta’s 2023 election (map source: CanadianPolling.ca)

It’s been a few days since Election Day in Alberta and as the dust begins to settle I’ve been able to take a closer look at the results in ridings across the province.

The Alberta election results tell a big story.

1. Alberta is politically divided, but not equally divided everywhere.
2. Alberta is politically competitive, but only in some places.

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Alberta Politics

Never bet against the Conservatives in Alberta

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)

Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party will form a majority government in Alberta and Rachel Notley’s NDP will form the Official Opposition.

As of 2:00am, the UCP has 49 seats and the NDP has 38, which I believe is the closest election result in Alberta’s history. There are still some remaining polls that haven’t reported in a few Calgary ridings with tight races, so those numbers could shift slightly.

This election has been a wild ride and the electoral map shows a deeply divided province.

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Alberta Politics

Impress your friends with Alberta election night trivia

Sunset at the Alberta Legislature (source: Dave Cournoyer)

It’s Election Day in Alberta! If you didn’t vote in the advance polls, voting stations are open today from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Whether you are planning to settle in for a quiet evening of results watching or heading to your local candidate’s campaign office for a victory party, I am happy to share some fun Alberta election trivia you can wow your friends and family with tonight.

Enjoy!

Dave

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Alberta Politics

Follow the leaders: Mapping where Smith and Notley campaigned in Alberta’s election

A map showing which ridings UCP leader Danielle Smith campaigned in from May 1 to May 27, 2023 (map: CanadianPolling.ca)
A map showing which ridings UCP leader Danielle Smith campaigned in from May 1 to May 27, 2023 (map: CanadianPolling.ca)

Over the course of the election I’ve been doing my best to keep track of which ridings United Conservative Party leader Danielle Smith and Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley visited for events and announcements on the campaign trail between May 1 and May 27, 2023.

The leader’s tour can give some insight into where the parties are on the defensive and where they hope to make gains in an election. And, if competitive ridings are the big measurement, then there were only a few surprises on this map.

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Alberta Politics

Nenshi and Harper endorsements set the tone for final weekend of Alberta’s election

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley and former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi (source: Rachel Notley / Twitter)
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley and former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi (source: Rachel Notley / Twitter)

There are two days left until Election Day in Alberta.

I was planning on taking a short break from writing any election commentary this morning, but I decided I had a few thoughts I wanted to share about some recent high-profile election endorsements.

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Alberta Politics

Final Friday! Three days left until Election Day in Alberta

NDP leader Rachel Notley speaking at an event in support of Calgary-Fish Creek candidate Rebecca Bounsall (source: Rebecca Bounsall / Twitter)

There are three days left until Election Day in Alberta!

The parties and their leaders are spending the final days making their last pitches to voters and rallying their supporters.

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley spoke to a crowd of about 350 supporters at a campaign rally in Medicine Hat yesterday before heading back to Calgary to speak at a backyard gathering in support of Calgary-Fish Creek candidate Rebecca Bounsall.

Neither of these places are where an NDP leader would traditionally spend any time during the final days of the campaign in past elections but all of the old assumptions have been tossed out the window in 2023.

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