Articles by Dean Bennett

Apr 18 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Premier Rachel Notley and incoming premier Jason Kenney began the formal transfer of power in Alberta on Thursday, with Notley saying Kenney is already getting real-life lessons on the difference between political grandstanding and governing. The NDP's Notley said that since the United Conservative leader won Tuesday's Alberta election, Quebec has rebuffed his public pitch to accept new […]

Apr 17 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Jason Kenney, Alberta's incoming premier, said he cordially talked pipelines Wednesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — Kenney's political nemesis and his election campaign pinata — and said the plan is to meet soon for a one-on-one. "He called to offer his congratulations. We spoke for about 15 minutes," Kenney said outside Alberta's legislature building. […]

Apr 17 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Jason Kenney and his United Conservatives channelled the angst of an angry electorate to soar to a majority government in Alberta's election Tuesday and relegate Rachel Notley's NDP to the history books as a one-and-done government. The UCP, formed two years ago by a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties, held its rural and Calgary seats and took […]

Apr 16 2019 — Dean Bennett — Jason Kenney's fight is over. Let the fight begin. The 50-year-old United Conservative Party leader, known for saying he can't help but march to the sound of rhetorical gunfire, soundly defeated Rachel Notley's NDP with a majority in Tuesday's Alberta election. The former federal cabinet minister now takes his fight to Ottawa as Alberta's 18th premier. He has promised […]

Apr 15 2019 — Dean Bennett — SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — A day before Alberta voters go to the polls, United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney and the NDP's Rachel Notley traded attacks over the pipeline issue that has come to define the campaign. "Just one more sleep, one more day before Albertans have an opportunity to vote for change that gets our […]

Apr 15 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Alberta's election campaign promised a titanic clash of ideas and ideologies between two nationally known leaders, but delivered a burlesque of biting attacks and bozo eruptions — and a surprise guest appearance by the RCMP. Rachel Notley will make history Tuesday as either the first Alberta NDP premier to win re-election or the first-ever […]

Apr 4 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney and NDP Leader Rachel Notley came in elbows high in Alberta's election leadership debate, each castigating the other of failing fundamental tests of public trust. Kenney accused Notley of bungling the economy and kowtowing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while Notley labelled Kenney a snake oil salesman on social issues and a […]

Mar 27 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney says if he were premier he would throw out an NDP policy that directs Alberta's Crown prosecutors to abandon some criminal cases to make sure more serious ones get to court. Kenney says the policy flies in the face of justice and could be rectified with more resources and better planning. "We will shred the triage memo," Kenney said Wednesday at […]

Mar 26 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney is clashing with Alberta's teachers over his party's education election promises that include a renewed emphasis on standardized testing and changes to protections for gay students. "The priorities in this platform are misplaced and misguided," Alberta Teachers' Association president Greg Jeffery told a news conference Tuesday. "Instead of addressing the […]

Mar 19 2019 — Dean Bennett — Alberta's NDP leader and her main conservative rival wasted no time pointing fingers at each other on the first day of the campaign for an April 16 election. Premier Rachel Notley called the vote Tuesday in front of cheering supporters at the National Music Centre in Calgary and made it clear from the get-go that the front-burner issue will […]

Mar 19 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney finally gets his title shot. It’s not a chance the former federal Conservative cabinet minister saw coming until he put together a plan in the summer of 2016 to unite the province's feuding right-of-centre Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose Party into what would become the United Conservatives. "If you had talked […]

Mar 19 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Premier Rachel Notley says her childhood in the semi-isolated town of Fairview in northern Alberta taught her to adapt and improvise — even if means sticking your spouse on the hood of the car. It happened a year ago when she and her family found themselves trapped at the foot of a steep, snow-choked hill and needing some […]

Mar 18 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's government has launched its spring session with a throne speech lauding its accomplishments and a bill to further protect public health. Monday's throne speech, read aloud by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell, was followed by the introduction of Bill 1, titled An Act to Protect Public Health Care. "We will continue to […]

Mar 18 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney addressed a scandal over his party's leadership campaign in 2017 by saying he and his team have done nothing wrong or unethical, telling a news conference Monday it's not unusual for competing campaigns to share information during a leadership race. "Our two campaigns were communicating, and that would be normal in […]

Mar 17 2019 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — The staffer at the centre of a spreading scandal over Alberta's United Conservative leadership race says party leader Jason Kenney's team did not direct and prop up a bogus candidate to attack Kenney's main rival. In a letter obtained by The Canadian Press, Matt Wolf says that when he worked on Kenney's campaign, he shared policy and […]