We need to talk about Matt

The stakes were raised when Kenney dispatched a team of government employees to stoke anger by engaging in arguments on the ruling party’s behalf. It’s absolutely a partisan and destructive exercise.

Doing nothing helpful on jobs, economy or pipelines

The government can’t be blamed for a global shift away from new fossil fuel development. They can and should be held to account for not understanding this shift, as well as the devastating cost to the province resulting from this lack of understanding and planning.

The bizarre end of an era for Okotoks sustainability

Early indications were that the council vote today in Okotoks was not going to go well. Councillors Laurie Hodson and Stephen Clark were strong in their commitment to Okotoks' sustainability model--a globally recognized, award-winning approach to community development based on the concept of "living within your means." But both were worried and as we know …

Miss Cranky Pants: Woke up with a PC tattoo

“Oh my god! It’s the Tuesday morning after and baby, who the hell did I vote for?” (with apologies to Amanda Marshall - http://youtu.be/oxUxIDOOPg0) Albertans woke up this morning to the same thing they’ve been waking up to for the last 40 years--another Progressive Conservative majority government. How is that possible, you say? FEAR. PC campaign …

Meltdown in Highwood: The floods are coming, but Smith will prevail

This post originally appeared on http://www.daveberta.ca Okotoks, the little town with the international reputation for award-winning environmental sustainability, could very well find itself the home riding of the next premier of Alberta, a climate-change denier. This is just one of many ironies of this 29th election in the province that birthed the oil/tarsands (depending on …

Miss Cranky Pants: The Walk of shame. Don’t do it!

This post originally appeared on http://www.changealberta.wordpress.com. To be fair, real conversation was drowned out by the noise and the confusion. You could hardly think straight, bombarded with people and the place so crowded — and hot, so hot (like a fiery lake?).  Add to that, the intoxication of the moment. Taps were flowing with liquid …

Twitter the clear winner in the Alberta election debate

This column appeared originally on Troy Media. Oops. They did it again. And we fell for it. We actually believed the debate was about informing Albertans of the issues prior to the April 23 provincial election. We tuned in to watch an hour-long “debate” expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet of election information and ended up ordering …

Miss Cranky Pants: Seeing STARS, feeling dazed

Today, Alison Redford announced a promise of $10 million/year in funding for STARS air ambulance per year starting in 2013. The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service provides emergency health care service to rural and remote communities, a group of voters traditionally supportive of the Progressive Conservatives. Now, this audience is almost downright hostile to the …

Is social media a new take on politics or a new format for the same old song?

This blog post originally appeared on Troy Media. Ten days into the Alberta provincial election and social media is responsible for two of the biggest controversies of the campaign. Or is it? On the surface, it may appear as though a single rogue tweet or blog post has the power to derail an entire campaign …

Miss Cranky Pants: Who’s on first?

You say Wildrose. I say Progressive Conservative. Who best to defend human rights for all? I'm increasingly unable to tell who stands for what between the PC's and the Wildrose. The lines are extremely blurry when you look deeper. I'll give you a couple of guesses who said this in a lengthy interview: Q. But you …