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Alberta Politics

Edmonton needs 4 new hospitals badly
1. replacement of Misericordia - this has been overdue by at least 20 years and that facillity is terribly undersized and outdated

2. new SW hospital - this has been overdue by about 5-8 years based on population growth in the SW. This is probably the largest population in Alberta not served by a hospital, the fastest growing part of the City, shocking really that it still is not under any sort of significant construction while Calgary hospitals get upgrades galore

3. replacement of the Royal Alex - this has been overdue by about 10 years. The facility is old and not where a modern hospital should be. Only one Health Minister, Stephen Mandel, actually planned to replace this. The NDP actually cancelled the replacement plans underway. This is the flagship hospital that serves central Edmonton, and most of Northern Canada.

4. completion of Edmonton Clinic - This goes back to the spiking of this project by AHS after the dissolution of Capital Health. You may recall Capital Health was positioning the Edmonton Clinic to be super leading edge and reinforce the City's position in health leadership. Partway through the project Capital Health was dissolved in favour of a single health region for the entire province - AHS. As far as I know there are still vacant floors in the Edmonton Clinic and the vision was not fully realized. At a time when the City needs diversification and new approaches to Health this also, in my mind, is unacceptable. As we just went through Covid hell, brutal capacity constraints where people's medically necessary procedures were cancelled, leaving vacant floors is shocking.
 
TAS said:
As the political hack that Jason Kenney is - whose intentions are more aligned with victory than personal conviction - a friend of mine thinks it's not out of the question that he would call a surprise provincial election prior to his April leadership vote if he thinks has going to be tossed.

That way, he escapes that and can go into an election with a budget surplus and if he wins, a leadership vote won't be an issue. If he loses, it doesn't matter because the party was going to turf him anyway.

I'm not sure, but I guess I wouldn't be surprised.
Click to expand...

edmonton.ctvnews.ca

Early Alberta election? Kenney says maybe, if 'the confidence of the legislature' is lost

Albertans are scheduled to go to the polls on May 29, 2023 but this week Premier Jason Kenney left the door open for an earlier vote.
edmonton.ctvnews.ca edmonton.ctvnews.ca
 
Does Edmonton not have any subject matter experts that can be consulted by Edmonton media on current events?

I have noticed quite often especially over the past couple years with COVID that more often than not when a subject matter expert is consulted by Edmonton media they are from Calgary. Not all the time, but certainly with noticeable frequency. Political scientists (Duane Bratt's commentary is in the news almost every day now), medical experts during COVID, etc. are frequently consulted by Edmonton based media. Does Edmonton or the U of A not have any experts that we support or can speak to?

In the link below, both Lori Williams and Duane Bratt Calgary Political Scientists are interviewed by CBC Edmonton to provide their takes on the the UCP bi-election. I am sure we have prominent, well known political experts at the U of A or MacEwan that we can reach out to or support, no?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...tion-1.6387087
 
CaptainBL said:
Does Edmonton not have any subject matter experts that can be consulted by Edmonton media on current events?

I have noticed quite often especially over the past couple years with COVID that more often than not when a subject matter expert is consulted by Edmonton media they are from Calgary. Not all the time, but certainly with noticeable frequency. Political scientists (Duane Bratt's commentary is in the news almost every day now), medical experts during COVID, etc. are frequently consulted by Edmonton based media. Does Edmonton or the U of A not have any experts that we support or can speak to?

In the link below, both Lori Williams and Duane Bratt Calgary Political Scientists are interviewed by CBC Edmonton to provide their takes on the the UCP bi-election. I am sure we have prominent, well known political experts at the U of A or MacEwan that we can reach out to or support, no?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...tion-1.6387087
Click to expand...
I think the only one I've heard from in any format is Jared Wesley from the U of A.
 
Gronk! said:
Brian Jean will become the next Premier of Alberta if Jason Kenney is sent out to pasture. I'm calling it now...
Click to expand...

I do think the NDP will remain a hard sell in Calgary, which is why Notley spends so much time and focus there now, but do you think Jean appeals to Calgary voters? I'm not sure.

The NDP recruited longtime YYC city councillor Druh Farrell to run for them which is a good pick up for them. But it came with controversy. The NDP constituency association president quit the party for how it all went down.

www.google.com

NDP Calgary-Bow president steps down after Druh Farrell's nomination bid

Former constituency association president said the nomination process is "skewed" and "alienates volunteers."
www.google.com www.google.com

Gotta love politics.
 
Big UCP comeback?

Pollster Janet Brown had her polling results released without her permission - obviously the UCP, and Kenney in particular, would want these results of this private poll to be made public.

"Brown says that in current conditions the UCP could win 40 per cent of the popular vote and 47 legislature seats, compared to 36 per cent and 40 seats for the NDP."

calgaryherald.com

Calgary Herald

Read latest breaking news, updates, and headlines. Calgary Herald offers information on latest national and international events & more.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com
 
CaptainBL said:
Does Edmonton not have any subject matter experts that can be consulted by Edmonton media on current events?

I have noticed quite often especially over the past couple years with COVID that more often than not when a subject matter expert is consulted by Edmonton media they are from Calgary. Not all the time, but certainly with noticeable frequency. Political scientists (Duane Bratt's commentary is in the news almost every day now), medical experts during COVID, etc. are frequently consulted by Edmonton based media. Does Edmonton or the U of A not have any experts that we support or can speak to?

In the link below, both Lori Williams and Duane Bratt Calgary Political Scientists are interviewed by CBC Edmonton to provide their takes on the the UCP bi-election. I am sure we have prominent, well known political experts at the U of A or MacEwan that we can reach out to or support, no?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...tion-1.6387087
Click to expand...
I think part of the issue is that only some post-secondaries give professors credit for media availability. Most academics are measured on teaching and publishing, so being interviewed by reporters takes away from things that are actually measured. I believe MRU specifically gives professors credit for this type of public outreach, likely because it raises the profile of the institution even though it doesn't contribute much in an academic sense. Would be nice to see more talking heads from Edmonton, but I get why it isn't a huge focus for the U of A or MU..
 
tkoe_ said:
I think part of the issue is that only some post-secondaries give professors credit for media availability. Most academics are measured on teaching and publishing, so being interviewed by reporters takes away from things that are actually measured. I believe MRU specifically gives professors credit for this type of public outreach, likely because it raises the profile of the institution even though it doesn't contribute much in an academic sense. Would be nice to see more talking heads from Edmonton, but I get why it isn't a huge focus for the U of A or MU..
Click to expand...
given how kenney and the ucp have tried to gut the u of a every chance they get - and don’t seem to be finished - it might be hard to find anyone at the u of a with enough impartiality to be even a nominally non-partisan talking head…
 
Liberal and NDP commit to maintain the at least the current number (and an undefined constant number ensuring over representation) of seats for Quebec in the Housep of Commons despite the requirement to reduce it by one according to the Electoral Commission … meaning Quebec residents will have a preferred status in Canada while residents in all other Provinces and Territorys will have proportionally less representation and our votes are worth less. The language used is this “We commit to ensuring that Quebec’s number of seats in the House of Commons remains constant”. The last line in the webpage before asking for donations. Screw the Liberals and NDP for not ensuring equitable representation based on population.https://www.ndp.ca/news/delivering-canadians-now
 
EdmTrekker said:
Liberal and NDP commit to maintain the at least the current number (and an undefined constant number ensuring over representation) of seats for Quebec in the Housep of Commons despite the requirement to reduce it by one according to the Electoral Commission … meaning Quebec residents will have a preferred status in Canada while residents in all other Provinces and Territorys will have proportionally less representation and our votes are worth less. The language used is this “We commit to ensuring that Quebec’s number of seats in the House of Commons remains constant”. The last line in the webpage before asking for donations. Screw the Liberals and NDP for not ensuring equitable representation based on population.https://www.ndp.ca/news/delivering-canadians-now
Click to expand...

This is a little simplistic, as the whole representativeness in Parliament is a complicated subject.h TheMaritimes, as a whole, for example, are over represented.

The Westminster System we have in Canada (and the UK) is somewhat detrimental to a fair balance of power, considering the uselessness of the Senate.

Should the Senate be formed by elected officials and the seats distributed in a manner similar to what happens in the US, Brazil and other dual-chamber parliaments, with an equal amount is senators for each province, it would be easier to deal with the political backlash from changing the proportions in the House of Commons.

You say "screw the Liberals and the NDP" for keeping the number of seats in Quebec, but you need to be really naive to believe they would endanger their own votes to benefit the prairie provinces and, indirectly, the CPC. The irony is that the CPC hasn't been great for the Prairies either, as they see us as an automatic win and have been focusing their efforts in making gains in Ontario and Quebec. I'll bet you any kind of money that had the CPC been in power now, the same thing would've happened, as they'd use it to signal Quebecers that they "stand with them" too.

Absolutely NO POLITICAL PARTY will EVER reduce the number is seats of any province at any time in history, because it is political suicide.
They might fight to increase the number of seats where it's convenient for them, but it is really, really naive to believe anyone would ever do what you expect them to, no matter what the projections, laws, bylaws or whatever say.
 
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