Oct 21 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Premier Rachel Notley had harsh words Friday for Quebec legislation that takes aim at Muslim women who cover their faces for religious reasons. Bill62, which was adopted in the Quebec legislature Wednesday, bans people with their faces covered from providing or receiving public services in the province and is widely seen as an attack on […]
Oct 21 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — The United Conservative Party may have been formed this summer when Progressive Conservative and Wildrose members voted to form a new party, but the really big decision is looming. Next week, UCP members will choose either former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, former PC leader Jason Kenney or Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer as the fledging party’s […]
Oct 20 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Premier Rachel Notley said Friday that opposition to pipelines by the newly elected leader of the federal NDP has little bearing on the ongoing debate over the projects. Jagmeet Singh made a campaign-style swing through Vancouver, where he reiterated that he is against both the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain line to the Pacific […]
Oct 19 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Premier Rachel Notley is being honoured for her work advancing women in politics. Equal Voice will present Notley with its 2017 National EVE Award at a ceremony Friday at the Fairmont Palliser hotel in Calgary. The award is given annually to a woman who has achieved significant success in her political career. Notley became Alberta’s […]
Oct 17 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — After a tumultuous municipal campaign and a chaotic election day on Monday, Naheed Nenshi was returned for a third term as Calgary’s mayor. While the city website was replete with glitches and agonizingly slow in posting results due to unknown technical difficulties, Nenshi’s main challenger, Bill Smith, conceded just before midnight. Speaking to jubilant campaign […]
Oct 15 2017 — Calgary Herald — After nine months of experiencing the provincial government’s carbon levy and rebate policies, the majority of Albertans remain opposed to the program, a newly released study indicates. But opposition has softened compared to a survey conducted this time last year, according to Faron Ellis, research chair of the Citizen Society Research Lab (CSRL) at Lethbridge […]
Oct 15 2017 — Bill Kaufmann — Calgary Herald — For one political wonk, the apogee of the mayoral battle’s final debate boiled down a campaign that’s dredged up ugly heat and put an incumbent’s once-safe reign in doubt. Near the end of last Monday’s verbal tilt, Naheed Nenshi rose abruptly to address what he calls racist, hateful rhetoric that’s tainted the contest. “When he […]
Oct 13 2017 — Zane Schwartz — Calgary Herald — An online poll released Friday gives Naheed Nenshi a 17-point lead over rival Bill Smith. That poll stands in stark contrast to a telephone poll conducted by Mainstreet Research for Postmedia on Tuesday and Wednesday, which gave Smith an 11 point lead over Nenshi. The online poll was conducted by Forum Research for the academic […]
Oct 12 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Leadership candidate Brian Jean sounded the alarm over the electronic voting system in the United Conservative Party’s leadership contest, saying Wednesday thousands of party members may not be able to vote because they aren’t registered with the party. But with the deadline for party members to register less than two days away, UCP officials say […]
Oct 9 2017 — Calgary Herald — Concerned about an increasing presence of racism and hateful language in the civic election’s social media discourse, mayoral candidate Naheed Nenshi is asking voters to support diversity instead. In a Facebook video posted by Mashhood Qazi, a community activist and president of the Sindhi Association of North America’s southern Alberta chapter, Nenshi talked about what […]
Sep 17 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — The United Conservative Party appears to be in a position of strength as contenders vie to be the first leader, but as the new party takes shape it faces questions over whether issues around diversity could be an Achilles heel. The deadline to enter the UCP leadership contest was last Tuesday and the roster of […]
Sep 16 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley says she’s not expecting “complete consensus” as Alberta prepares to release its plan for legal cannabis in a matter of weeks. As the federal Liberal government prepares to legalize the recreational use of marijuana on July 1, 2018, it falls to the provinces to deal with issues such as the minimum […]
Sep 14 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Candidates for the United Conservative Party leadership have put their promises to scrap Alberta’s carbon tax and balance the provincial budget into writing. But they acknowledged that the pledge to abolish the carbon tax brought in by the NDP government could be complicated by the fate of Justin Trudeau’s own carbon pricing plan. On Thursday, […]
Sep 14 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — Candidates for the United Conservative Party leadership battled over endorsements Wednesday but one claim of support ended up backfiring on Brian Jean’s campaign. The day started with former PC leader Jason Kenney rolling out Calgary-Hays MLA Ric McIver and Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon as part of his team. Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer followed […]
Sep 13 2017 — James Wood — Calgary Herald — The four candidates already running hard for the United Conservative Party leadership have ponied up to officially enter the race, while a possible fifth contender has bowed out. Former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, former Progressive Conservative leader Jason Kenney, Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer and former Wildrose president Jeff Callaway have all filed their documents and […]