Alison Redford says construction company donations had no effect on awarding of contracts New documents that reveal large political donations to the Alison Redford Progressive Conservative party from a coalition of construction companies should be investigated as possible bribes, says a national democracy watchdog group. The correspondence, obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour under [...]
Cal Wenzel video – Mayor Nenshi suggests election finance laws were broken The secretly taped video that shows Calgary home builders in a room listening to Cal Wenzel talk about supporting candidates they feel will vote in their favour was finally released in its entirety Tuesday night. Mayor Naheed Nenshi fought back Wednesday morning, calling [...]
Manning Centre denies $1.1 million donation to be used in next election As the fallout from the Cal Wenzel video continued Wednesday, the incoming chair of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy said the conservative training facility does not function to further their donors’ personal ambitions. On a secretly taped video released earlier this week, [...]
Justin Trudeau wins Liberal Party of Canada leadership race on first ballot Justin Trudeau called for an end to internal Liberal Party of Canada divisions and an end to the partisan politics of division Sunday night as he was anointed party leader in a landslide, first-ballot win. Trudeau, eldest son of former prime minister Pierre [...]
Liberals preparing to choose Justin Trudeau as party leader He grew up just to one side of the national viewfinder, teasing us with the echo of his father’s greatness while insisting to anyone who would listen that he could never meet his father’s sky-high standard. Justin Trudeau acknowledged he has lived his life under the [...]
Victory by Justin Trudeau means NDP and Liberals shift into 2015 campaign mode immediately Fixed election dates. They sounded so logical when they were first made law. Prime Ministers (or Premiers) could no longer decide when to call an election. The advantage of surprise would be taken away from them. So, too, the ability to [...]
Polls consistently show Liberal Party of Canada rising in public opinion One’s an outlier. Two’s an indication. And three’s a trend. We’re now at three national polls all showing the same thing: The Liberal Party of Canada is up off the mat. The latest one — done nationally, by Léger Associates — explicitly didn’t mention the [...]
We elect Canadian MPs to be more than trained seals There’s been a lot of chatter in the past week about the supposed “uprising” on the Conservative back benches in Ottawa. Much like a similar bit of grousing in the British Columbia scene, where the BC Liberal back benchers (even some of the cabinet ministers) [...]
American conservatives like Stephen Harper By Pat Murphy Coincidence can be an interesting thing. In its March 11 issue, National Review – the flagship magazine of the American Right – ran a complimentary cover story on Stephen Harper. The following day, the National Post’s Andrew Coyne took the opposite tack, publishing a blistering critique of what he sees [...]
Liberal Party of Canada leadership hopeful Joyce Murray wants to run single candidates against Tories Yesterday’s Liberal Party of Canada leadership debate (which will change nothing about the outcome on April 13) awoke from its slumber for a brief moment near the end. Front-runner Justin Trudeau (Papineau) decided to take on Joyce Murray (Vancouver-Quadra) over [...]
Canadian tax code a make work project for accountants and lawyers Thursday’s federal budget had this year’s goodies. Yet more sharply-focused Canadian tax code credits for this and that. The Toronto Transit Commission’s subway cars, street cars and buses have ads (labelled “Canada’s Economic Action Plan”) extolling various tax credits you can use when filing [...]
Martha Hall Findlay says Justin Trudeau can be beaten Federal Liberal leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay says the race for leader is far from over, despite the withdrawal last week of top contender Marc Garneau amidst internal polling that suggested no candidate could beat front-runner Justin Trudeau. “We’re taking that with a grain of salt,” [...]
Thomas Mulcair and delegation deny pipeline-bashing Thomas Mulcair says he has nothing to learn from Conservatives about how an official Opposition leader should comport himself when travelling outside Canada. Indeed, the NDP leader says the Tories – who’ve been bashing him all week for allegedly “trash talking” Canada during a visit to Washington and New [...]
Liberal Party of Canada ambitions for a comeback in tatters It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Liberal Party of Canada leadership race was to be a battle. Policy was supposed to emerge from a clash of titans. Supporters were supposed to emerge in droves to back ideas and candidates. Over the course of the [...]
Old guard of Canadian politics backing Justin Trudeau against Thomas Mulcair No one should be surprised that there’s not much of a market for NDP leader Thomas Mulcair in Alberta. Thomas Mulcair came out of the NDP’s leadership race in March last year and almost immediately gave a speech where he put forward the notion that [...]
Sharkwater director Rob Stewart launches latest film ‘Revolution’
‘Revolution’ documentary is anticipated follow-up to Rob Stewart’s ‘Sharkwater’ Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart was in Calgary yesterday promoting a follow-up film to his award-winning documentary Sharkwater. Stewart spoke to The Beacon News about his latest film Revolution. Stewart’s mission is simple, if a little ambitious – save humanity. The Canadian conservationist has expanded the scope of his [...]
The Arts must innovate to survive in today’s world
Giving value to the arts and culture By Shawna Stirrett Traditional arts groups such as orchestras, ballets, operas and theatres that neglect to think about how they fit into the broader social context and respond accordingly will fail. This might not happen today or the next day, but the writing is on the wall. While [...]
Historic Barkerville exhibit to tour British Columbia and China
Barkerville exhibit captures Chinese experience during Cariboo Gold Rush An exhibit depicting the lives of Chinese immigrants during the Cariboo Gold Rush will travel to China next year thanks to a $20,000 grant from the B.C. government. The Barkerville exhibit is put together from archives kept in the historic gold rush town, which capture the [...]