It’s silly season in Alberta – a surefire sign that an election is in the wind.
Tag Archives: Alberta Party
Calgary mayor looking more and more foolish by the minute
Who is Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi kidding? Hopefully, only himself if he thinks that by licking the ground on which Occupy Calgary protesters squat he’ll get enough votes for reelection in 2013.
Alberta Tories surging – how gullible are Albertans?
A new poll shows that Albertans are still (again?) in love with the Alberta Tories. In fact, the polling numbers are so favourable for the Tories that they could win at least as big a “majority” as last time (term applied loosely, because they were “elected” by only 21% of all eligible voters, not exactly a vote of confidence if you ask me).
$40,000 to vie for Alberta Tories leadership – money well spent?
The other day marked the deadline for anyone hoping to become the new leader of the Alberta Tories. That was the day when leadership candidates needed to have a minimum of 500 signatures and an entry fee of $40,000. By the end of the deadline, there were six candidates, but Albertans are torn: should they stick it out with the 40-year-old party, or should they go with one of the other options, such as the Wildrose Alliance, Alberta Liberals or the new Alberta Party.
Alberta: Time to reshuffle parties and remove the dinosaurs
Things are surely changing fast in Alberta politics. With a premier, finance minister and opposition leader resigning, there’s a “can-do” mood in the air. And it’s about time.
Alberta’s worst premier to resign – time for the Tories to wither away
Albertans are celebrating: the worst premier in the province’s history, Ed Stelmach, has finally caught a whiff of reality and decided it’s time to leave. Stelmach will stay on as Alberta Tories leader and premier for now but won’t run in the next election, which could come anytime between this fall and March 2012.
Stelmach to step aside, but Tories are history regardless
Albertans are celebrating: the worst premier in the province’s history, Ed Stelmach, has finally caught a whiff of reality and decided it’s time to leave. Stelmach will stay on as Alberta Tories leader and premier for now but won’t run in the next election, which could come anytime between this fall and March 2012.
Now the Alberta Party is a legitimate party
The fledgling Alberta Party is finally a legitimate party, now that former Alberta Liberal MLA Dave Taylor has decided to join the party and become its first sitting MLA in the Legislative Assembly.
Does the Alberta Party have a future?
Over the years, I have soured on organized politics. I have been a member of this party and that party, and each time I came away with nothing but disappointment and disillusionment. I don’t plan to join another political party unless, in the highly unlikely case, a party comes along that is truly after my own heart and gut. For that to happen, though, such a party would have to meet my (high) expectations on at least 95 per cent of the issues dear to me. I know, it’s not going to happen.
Alberta Liberals: Let’s talk
Variatio delectat – or liberally translated: having choices makes one’s heart bounce with joy. These days, it seems, Albertans must have especially bouncy hearts, because their choices of parties for the next provincial election (likely to come in 2011 or 2012) are growing. But are they really?
The Alberta Tories are tired, worn out and, as most voters suspect, no longer above suspicions of corruption after 40-odd years in power. Ed Stelmach has also proved to be one of Alberta’s most unpopular, and most incompetent, premiers in the province’s history.
The Liberals are not faring any better. Since David Swann’s election as party leader, the party has lost a lot of its traditional support, and even several high-profile party members have bolted from the party, such as Dave Taylor.
The NDP is, as always, stagnant. It has two seats in the Edmonton region, and that’s as far as the party will ever go in this conservative-libertarian province.
But there are two new “kids on the block”: the Wildrose Alliance and the Alberta Party. The Wildrose is a small-c conservative party and represents the political and social views of a clear majority of Albertans. The Alberta Party is a “catchment basin” for disgruntled voters who haven’t figured out yet what or who they are in political or ideological terms.