Latest news with #EdmontonCentre
Global News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Alberta premier's chief of staff criticizes Carney's pick for new federal environment minister
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's chief of staff is sounding the alarm over Prime Minister Mark Carney's pick to head up the government's environment portfolio. Rob Anderson took to social media Tuesday to air his misgivings about new Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin. 'Sit down for this one Alberta…Meet Canada's new Environment Minister,' he writes. He points to Dabrusin's website, which touts her support for putting a price on carbon pollution, her strong stance against oilsands expansion, and her push for a transition away from fossil fuels. Anderson concludes: 'fire…meet gas.' Smith has said policies put in place under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, such as Ottawa's emissions cap, have done nothing but harm Alberta's oil and gas sector. Story continues below advertisement 1:51 Alberta scraps industrial carbon tax increase And, she has long vilified former environment minister Steven Guilbeault as an extreme environmentalist. Guilbeault will stay in cabinet as minister of Canadian identity and culture and the minister responsible for official languages. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The premier has said she wants to reset the province's combative relationship with Ottawa, demanding major changes on the environment file. That includes unfettered access to build oil and gas pipelines to the coasts, and a repeal of the Liberals' single-use plastics ban. As for Alberta representation, Carney appointed Edmonton Centre member of Parliament Eleanor Olszewski in charge of emergency management and community resilience. She will also be the minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, a former corporate executive who served as an adviser to Carney while he was leading the Bank of Canada, will replace Jonathan Wilkinson. Story continues below advertisement Carney's new cabinet comes after Smith threatened a national unity crisis over her province's grievances. She moved quickly after last month's election to lower the bar for citizens to demand a referendum question, including on seceding from Canada. That sparked renewed separatist sentiment among some in Alberta who are organizing to push for a referendum. While Smith has said she supports Alberta remaining in Canada, she has pointed to growing alienation in her province and frustration with Ottawa, saying those wanting to separate 'are not fringe voices.'
CBC
30-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Edmonton voters wanted change, action on affordability, Conservative candidates say
Conservative candidates who won in Edmonton ridings on election night say voters were looking for change and were concerned about affordability and crime in Canada. The party's candidates won seven of Edmonton's nine ridings, re-electing four incumbents, flipping Edmonton Griesbach, which was previously held by the NDP, and electing two newcomers, Billy Morin and Jagsharan Singh Mahal, in Edmonton Northwest and Edmonton Southeast. The NDP's Heather McPherson decisively held her Edmonton Strathcona riding while Liberal candidate Eleanor Olszewski won Edmonton Centre in a tighter race against Conservative challenger Sayid Ahmed and the NDP's Trisha Estabrooks. "From what we saw here in Edmonton Riverbend, it was things like crime and affordability, where life hasn't got better on those two files for the last 10 years, so people wanted to see that change," said Matt Jeneroux, who was re-elected as a Conservative MP. WATCH | What's behind the Conservatives' success in Edmonton? Edmonton votes blue with two first-time Conservative MPs 4 hours ago Duration 2:33 Fellow Conservatives Ziad Aboultaif and Kerry Diotte, who won the Edmonton Manning and Edmonton Griesbach ridings, said their campaign teams worked hard to earn voters' support. Aboultaif said his campaigners logged 12-14-hour days and Diotte, who represented the riding from 2015–2021 and served as an Edmonton city councillor for three years from 2010–2013, said he had never had so many volunteers. Both candidates said affordability was important to the residents in their ridings. "Edmontonians are worried about the future of this country," Aboultaif said at his watch party Monday night. "They worry about the daily cost of living, the carbon tax, the high taxation." Diotte said Monday he believed concerns about "meat and potatoes issues," like affordability, energy and reducing crime, tipped the race in his favour. Chaldeans Mensah, a political science professor at MacEwan University, said local Conservative candidates consistently stuck to the party platform, emphasizing issues like affordability and crime. He said while Conservatives have historically dominated in Alberta, the first-past-the-post electoral system doesn't reflect the diversity of opinions in a city like Edmonton, where there are many Liberal and NDP supporters as well. "The opposition isn't organized around a single party," he said. Vote-splitting may have helped Diotte win in Edmonton Griesbach, where the NDP and Liberals received more than half of the vote share, but it does not appear to have been as much of a factor in other ridings. In Edmonton Southeast, had Liberal candidate Amarjeet Sohi also received all of the votes for the NDP's Harpreet Grewal, that still would not have been enough to beat Conservative Jagsharan Singh Mahal, who received more than half of all votes. Mensah said he thinks Mahal benefited from Edmontonians' disgruntlement about crime in the city and local housing affordability.
CBC
27-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Mark Carney charts course for Alberta in dying hours of campaign
Social Sharing Once seen as flyover territory during federal campaigns, Alberta has turned into a hotbed of political activity on the final weekend before election day. Liberal Leader Mark Carney is travelling to Alberta on Sunday for a pair of events, with rallies at 2:30 p.m. in Edmonton, and 5:30 p.m. in Calgary. The visit marks Carney's second event in Calgary during this campaign. Both events are listed on the party's website. The planned visits come two days after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre jetted into Calgary on Friday, drawing a large, cheering crowd. Earlier in the campaign, Poilievre packed an industrial warehouse near Edmonton with supporters, which included former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. The focus on Alberta comes as political watchers have speculated several seats in both Edmonton and Calgary are tight races between the Conservatives and Liberals. The possibility of taking multiple seats in both cities represents a stark change from recent Liberal history. After the Liberals picked up four seats in Alberta in 2015, the party's best result in the province in decades, they were wiped out across Alberta in 2019, before winning Edmonton Centre and Calgary Skyview in 2021. Pollster Janet Brown says the party is dropping in on Alberta because the difference between a Liberal majority or minority government could come down to ridings in Western Canada. "Mark Carney is very focused on how many more seats he needs to flip into majority territory," said Brown. "I think he's counting with his fingers and his toes right now that it's going to come down to individual seats." Brown also took note of Poilievre's visit to Calgary on Friday. She argues that holding the Conservative party's Alberta seats is important, because even if Poilievre loses Monday's election, he needs to hold the Liberals to a minority and hold onto party leadership so he can challenge them in another election. "This is the last line of defence for him. This is the place that's going to keep the Liberals to a minority so the Conservatives can regroup and maybe try and win another election in a couple years," Brown said. Ken Boessenkool, a political strategist and partner at Meredith Boessenkool & Phillips, planned several federal election campaign tours for former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. He said it's not unusual for the Liberals to stop in Alberta near the end of a campaign, but he believes two rallies there a day before voting closes makes a statement. "I think it says that the underlying numbers are moving," Boessenkool said. "I understand that the numbers in Alberta have been shifting over the last 48 hours, and I think they're making a play." A visit from a party leader can boost local riding polling, Boessenkool estimates, and in tight races in Calgary and Edmonton where he believes just two to five per cent will separate the Liberals and Conservatives, he says that late bump could make a big difference. The ridings political analysts have deemed to be up for grabs in Calgary, traditionally a Conservative stronghold, include McKnight, where the Liberals' lone MP in the city, George Chahal, is running, as well as Centre, Confederation and Skyview. Boessenkool highlighted Calgary Confederation especially, where the Conservatives' Jeremy Nixon and the Liberals' Corey Hogan present popular, credible candidates who both sides will want in their caucus. In Edmonton, Brown notes the ridings to watch are the hotly contested race for the Liberals' seat in Centre, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi's bid for the Liberals in Southeast, and two NDP-held ridings in Strathcona and Griesbach during an election where she says the New Democrats have few safe seats. Zeroing in on western issues When Carney speaks on Sunday, Brown will be watching to see how much he focuses on major election issues for western voters like pipelines and affordability. "He's probably going to talk about Donald Trump, but the Donald Trump message in and of itself is not enough for western Canadians," Brown said. "He's got to talk about how he has a new vision and voting for him won't be the same as voting for the Liberal government we've had for the last 10 years." During his Friday appearance in Calgary, Poilievre encouraged supporters to get out and vote in big numbers. He also pledged the Conservatives would "stand up" for the West, further voicing his support for the province's energy sector. Rob Russo, The Economist 's Canada correspondent, believes that spending precious time during the final day of the campaign indicates the Liberals believe several ridings in the province are in play, which is unusual. Russo added that if Carney wins Monday's federal election, he'll need to quickly address growing frustration in Alberta that has spurred some discussions of a national unity crisis. He argues that on Sunday, and again as prime minister if he wins on Monday, Carney will have to assure Albertans his government will take a different approach than the Trudeau government. "He has fences to mend in Alberta, and I imagine it's going to be one of his first agenda items should he become prime minister," Russo said.
