Aug 12 2022 — Calgary Herald — A majority of Albertans aren’t sold on the idea of replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force, a recent survey suggests. Fifty-five per cent of Albertans oppose Alberta ditching the Mounties for its own police service, according to a Pollara survey commissioned by the National Police Federation, the union representing RCMP officers across the […]
Aug 11 2022 — Calgary Herald — Presumed UCP leadership front-runner Danielle Smith was met with boos Wednesday at an event full of promises to repair the relationship between government and Alberta’s teachers’ union. At the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) summer conference in Banff, six of the seven candidates hoping to become UCP leader and premier faced questions selected by delegates on […]
Aug 9 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Bows to moderation and compromise aren’t working very well in this UCP campaign. They could even cost an MLA her riding nomination. Appearing to criticize Danielle Smith’s plans can come with a penalty in UCP ranks, as Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt learned to her chagrin. Last September, when former MLA Rob Anderson proposed an Alberta […]
Aug 9 2022 — Calgary Herald — Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish has shifted his allegiance to UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith after previously backing former finance minister Travis Toews for premier. Glubish, who is the UCP MLA for Strathcona-Sherwood Park, said in a statement to Postmedia that he believes under Smith’s leadership the province will be able to modernize how it […]
Aug 6 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — UCP leadership candidate Leela Aheer became a big story the moment she jumped into a melee with a rampaging bull, bravely trying to save a young man who was being trampled. Aheer says she doesn’t remember anything after she plunged in. “I honestly thought the kid was gonna die,” she said. “I jumped and the […]
Aug 1 2022 — Calgary Herald — Canada’s Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the federal Conservatives are to blame for legislative delays on handguns that have led to a backlog of firearm registrations. In May, Ottawa introduced a bill that proposes freezing handgun sales and transfers, a move slammed at the time by Alberta’s chief firearms officer as an “intrusion” into […]
Jul 28 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Former Treasurer Travis Toews offers the most startling anti-Ottawa proposal of all. Danielle Smith and her UCP leadership campaigners have shrewdly fostered the impression that she wears the anti-Ottawa crown. Fighting Ottawa is the whole point of the leadership race, she says — the central issue for Alberta.
Jul 26 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith’s dabbles in quackery are sometimes almost funny. This one is dangerous. Her bizarre statement about cancer care could encourage patients not to seek “mainstream” or “traditional” care until their cancer is at stage four. By which time, in many cases, the patients will die no matter what care they get. […]
Jul 17 2022 — Ted Morton — Calgary Herald — According to Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid’s account of last weekend’s federal Conservative Stampede Barbecue, the divisions within the Conservative Party of Canada were “on display.” Maybe Don should have listened a little more closely. And certainly, the jerk who booed Jean Charest should have. Because if you did listen carefully, you saw a window […]
Jul 16 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Leela Aheer is the loud and proud progressive in the UCP leadership race. She’s conservative on the fiscal side with a strong strain of progressivism on everything from abortion rights to refuting COVID deniers. “Yes, you can call me progressive,” she says. “That’s who I am.” It’s a dirty word for many in […]
Jul 15 2022 — Calgary Herald — Danielle Smith is playing to a sharp edge of extremism. The others didn’t see this coming. A month ago, the UCP had a dream of unity and harmony. Leadership candidates would set a genial tone. They would not fight among themselves. After dignified debate, they would settle around their new leader like a warm blanket, […]
Jul 13 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Pierre Poilievre is widely considered a cinch to win the federal Conservative Party leadership on Sept. 10. If that’s true, Danielle Smith’s chances for the premier’s office look very good on Oct. 6. Her campaign, equally aggressive, is aimed at a narrower, more reachable band of voters than Poilievre faces in the far-flung federal party. […]
Jul 12 2022 — Rob Breakenridge — Calgary Herald — Jason Kenney’s recent comments about anti-vaxxers being the author of his downfall were widely seen as self-serving and unhelpful. After all, there were many factors in Kenney’s demise. It’s less damaging to his ego to blame sinister forces conspiring against him than to have to confront his own missteps and shortcomings. But suggesting that the […]
Jul 11 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Poilievre’s emotional fixation on grievances has far more appeal. The leadership verdict of many Alberta CPC members is as obvious as the quips on Pierre Poilievre’s lips. The putative front-runner for the national conservative leadership got raucous applause Saturday night at the Conservative Stampede Barbecue, attended by 1,100 people at $165 a ticket. Four candidates […]
Jul 8 2022 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Charest is the first federal Conservative leadership candidate to make specific Alberta promises that may jolt other Canadians. Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest vows to break the bronco of Alberta anger with a unique special deal for the province. If he becomes Conservative leader and then prime minister, Charest said Thursday, he would immediately develop […]