Why She Runs
It’s a half hour before dawn when Rachel Notley emerges from her hotel elevator, and I barely recognize her. She’s wearing her running clothes and a battered pair of Asics Gel running [...]
Leadership
Leadership
The Takeover
At 5:20 p.m. on October 28, 2017, minutes before the accidental, and then the official announcement of the winner of the United Conservative Party’s (UCP) first-ever leadership race, blue and [...]
Where Leaders Matter More Than Party
The summer of 2017 saw big changes in Alberta party politics. The Progressive Conservatives, which had governed the province from 1971 to 2015 and established a Canadian record for longevity, [...]
Our Surprising Premier
Alison Redford was a bit late to the party when she appeared, rainbow sash over black top, at Calgary Pride’s post-parade festival on September 2. From the stage at the downtown park, the premier [...]
A Tale of Two Leaders
Stephen Harper and Ed Stelmach emerged as government leaders in 2006. Some say the similarity ends there. If you stood them side by side—or, for that matter, if you studied them for a year—you [...]
By Fred Stenson
A Walk in the Park
Danielle Smith is ready for a brisk stroll with her dogs. At Calgary’s Nose Hill Park—a veritable dog-heaven-on-Earth—we remove our mitts and shake hands before she reaches for the back latch of [...]
By Peter Worden
Deconstructing Danielle
If Danielle Smith ever had a youthful flirtation with the left, she’s kept it well hidden. From campus to career conservative, Smith has found a comfortable home on the right side of the [...]
Party of One
Ernest C. Manning (1908–1997) was an Alberta MLA and cabinet minister for 33 years and the province’s premier for 25 years. When he first joined the provincial cabinet as provincial secretary and [...]
By Alex Rettie
The Year Alberta Stayed Home
During a summer 2007 visit to Calgary—that provincial bastion of conservatism—Liberal party leader Kevin Taft was practically swept off his feet by the reception he got from strangers on the [...]
By Darcy Henton
Constructing Morton
He is smart, he is scary. He used to be an American. He talks more than any other Alberta politician about strengthening democracy. There was a time when his family could call Dick Cheney a [...]
MOST READ
MOST READ
Kenney VS. Campgrounds
I hear children giggling, wood being chopped and wind blowing through towering lodgepole pines as I use the back of a hatchet to tap my tent stakes into the soft, pine-needle-covered earth. It’s a warm Friday in mid-August, and I’ll spend the evening around a campfire before tucking myself into ...
Should Churches be Tax Exempt?
Karen Kerr, the president of Edmonton Atheists and co-founder of Alberta Secular Conference says no.
In Canada many charities and other non-profits, including churches and religious groups, are tax-exempt if they are deemed to create public benefit. The exemption is premised on the idea that they provide a public good. However ...
Pension Folly
In 1965, Quebec, eager to be master in its own house, decided it wanted to have its own pension plan and not be part of the new Canada Pension Plan. Quebec’s population was younger than the Canadian average, and the province had a high birth rate. The province believed its ...