Dec 10 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Do they actually have a section in the Prime Minister’s office called Annoy Alberta? You’d think so, given the timing of the new Liberal environment minister’s statements that LNG exports may not count toward emissions targets. Jonathan Wilkinson was just off to the Madrid climate summit when he said that to the Globe and Mail. […]
Nov 30 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer had every right to expect an enthusiastic reception Friday at the United Conservative Party convention in Calgary. His party won 69.2 per cent of the provincewide federal vote on Oct. 21. He elected 33 of 34 Alberta MPs. The Conservatives reduced the Trudeau Liberals to a minority. Scheer’s economic policies […]
Nov 26 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland arrived in Alberta Monday amid genuine crisis. Listening “very, very hard” — her words — won’t do a thing to fix it. Only action will. The Canadian National Railway strike has shut down the delivery of 170,000 barrels of oil a day. Grain shipping is clogged. Alberta refiners are facing […]
Nov 21 2019 — Chris Nelson — Calgary Herald — Well, if nothing else, you have to admire her sheer nerve. Here’s a person who led a major Canadian political party holding the reigns of power in a majority government into an election campaign that proved the most disastrous in our country’s entire history. But that was so many yesterdays ago. So today we’re supposed […]
Nov 17 2019 — Calgary Herald — A controversial private member’s bill meant to extend protection for physicians’ conscience rights will not be supported by a pair of Calgary-area MLAs, who’ve spoken out against the bill in its current form. Introduced in the legislature by Peace River UCP backbencher Dan Williams last week, Bill 207 would prevent patients from submitting a professional […]
Nov 15 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — There’s no anti-Alberta character Jason Kenney won’t attack. But sometimes, he should cool it. The premier is giving Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet too much oxygen by snapping back at his provocative anti-oil statements. Blanchet is the boss of a Quebec-only, separatist federal party. He doesn’t run a government. Unlike earlier Bloc bosses, he’s not […]
Oct 31 2019 — Calgary Herald — Encana Corp.’s announcement that it will move its corporate domicile to the U.S. and drop the link to Canada is indicative of a “broader decline” of the Canadian energy sector and a deliberate policy of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Thursday. But the Calgary-based energy company denied that federal government […]
Oct 31 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — The myth of the United Conservative Party has taken a beating this week. Many felt that once Jason Kenney routed the NDP and became premier, investors would dance in the streets, the unemployed would flock back to work and the valleys would be green again. Exaggerated as this may be, the expectation of reborn prosperity […]
Oct 31 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Deaf to Alberta and Saskatchewan for four years, Justin Trudeau wants us to believe his hearing is suddenly restored. The Liberals won no seats in the main energy provinces. Now the prime minister, reduced to a minority, yearns to listen and understand. But his sop to westerners — engaging an advisor who happens to be […]
Oct 30 2019 — Calgary Herald — Budget concerns heard within the walls of city council chambers spilled onto social media Tuesday as Calgary’s mayor and the provincial justice minister sparred over police funding. A day after councillors questioned a $13-million police budget shortfall, Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer jabbed at Mayor Naheed Nenshi, calling him “Trudeau’s mayor” in a Twitter post. “Trudeau’s […]
Oct 29 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — There was a budget in the spring of 2015 that raised taxes for individuals but not corporations, and included many hikes to taxes, fees and other charges for citizens. Albertans did not like it. The final PC government, led by Premier Jim Prentice, promptly got slaughtered by the NDP, thus ending a 43-year reign. Now […]
Oct 22 2019 — Chris Varcoe — Calgary Herald — The Canadian oilpatch had a lot on the line heading in the federal election. Many industry players saw it as a decisive moment to regain some momentum for a sector that’s been stuck in neutral this year, frustrated by a lack of pipeline capacity and largely ignored by investors. Company executives spoke out, penned an […]
Oct 22 2019 — Calgary Herald — Alberta conservatives will hate this. But with Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives beaten, the remaining hope for Trans Mountain construction is Justin Trudeau in (limited) power. There is a view, advanced here sometimes, that a minority is disastrous because the NDP, Greens and/or Bloc Quebecois will force Trudeau to abandon Trans Mountain. And, of course, those parties […]
Oct 20 2019 — Calgary Herald — For the second time in the election campaign, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau paid a visit to Alberta — this time to a northeast Calgary banquet hall — in the final hours ahead of voting. The 11th-hour stop, his only visit to Calgary of the election, saw him rally a large crowd of roughly 800 people […]
Oct 12 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Some federal leaders are getting close to declaring the oil and gas industry a hostile force. That’s one result of this dismal campaign. To score climate-change brownies, they’re pushing the country down a dangerous, divisive road. In the French-language debate Thursday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said he has to continue the fight against conservative premiers […]