Tag: Alberta

Kenney’s “equalization rebate” grabs the spotlight

Kenney’s “equalization rebate” grabs the spotlight

Posted by | Dec 20, 2019 | |

It was Alberta time again in Ottawa with the province’s demands for a re-jigging of the previously obscure Fiscal Stabilization Program (FSP) dominating coverage of this week’s annual meeting of Canada’s finance ministers. Other longstanding issues – such as increased health transfers – were shoved into the background as attention was focused on Alberta’s appeal for $2.4 billion from the feds. Also known the “equalization rebate,” the potential payout is being framed as a peace offering to the demons of western alienation, an opportunity for the Trudeau government to connect its money with its post-election soothing words. The FSP,...

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Lowered political temperature bodes poorly for warming climate

Lowered political temperature bodes poorly for warming climate

Posted by | Dec 1, 2019 | |

The sweet sounds of reconciliation between the re-elected Trudeau government and the leaders of the oil-producing provinces, which began immediately after the fall election, are continuing apace. After an earlier meeting in Ottawa with Scott Moe during which he delivered a conciliatory message to the truculent Saskatchewan Premier, Justin Trudeau last week sent his ministers on mollifying missions to the lions’ dens of Calgary, Regina and Edmonton. Very little has come out about the Edmonton tête-à-tête between Jason Kenney and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland. The news clips, which looked tame enough, were mostly about the now-settled CN Rail strike...

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Post-election Reflection #2: The alienated west

Post-election Reflection #2: The alienated west

Posted by | Oct 29, 2019 | , |

Trying to sum up the federal election results and reactions in Alberta and Saskatchewan moves one to aphorism and metaphor. “Cutting off the nose to spite the face” comes to mind as an apt description of the vengeful dispatching of every Liberal candidate between the Manitoba and British Columbia borders, leaving the two provinces without representation in the cabinet or government caucus. And the one about the guy who, convicted of murdering his parents, begs the judge for clemency because he’s an orphan, captures the reaction to the realization that the ballot box tantrum could well leave the two...

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Climate chaos: Kenney aims to make a bad situation worse

Climate chaos: Kenney aims to make a bad situation worse

Posted by | May 7, 2019 | |

Among the several examples of foolery – cutting off oil to B.C., a referendum on equalization – that accompanied his swearing-in as Premier of Alberta last week, one statement by Jason Kenney stood out. The man who had pledged to spend multi-millions on a war room to attack those who say anything negative about the oil industry declared the need “to strike the right balance between environmental protection and economic growth.” In a story under the headline “Kenney vows to restore balance,” the Globe and Mail reported Kenney’s assertion that “there is no balance in Alberta right now” but...

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Media’s slant on Alberta economy helped Kenney’s cause

Media’s slant on Alberta economy helped Kenney’s cause

Posted by | Apr 18, 2019 | |

The fact it was predictable didn’t make the election result in Alberta any easier to take. Despite distant echoes of homophobia and misogyny, current allegations of electoral corruption and a clutch of dodgy candidates, Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party won in a landslide. Albertans threw out Rachel Notley, a leader widely admired, and replaced her with someone many people, for good reason, can’t abide. A reason for this, we were told repeatedly, is the dreadful state of the Alberta economy. As many would have it, since world oil prices started to fall in 2014, Alberta’s been in...

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Richard Starr, The man behind the Point

About Richard

RICHARD STARR has had careers as a journalist, public servant, broadcaster, political staffer and freelance policy adviser. He is author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, appearing in everything from Atlantic Insight to Atlantic Progress. A lifelong student of Maritime history, Starr is married to playwright and former MP Wendy Lill. They live in Dartmouth.

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