Prorogue this!
Living in Old Strathcona you’re never too far away from this rally or that protest. This weekend was no exception.
Edmontonians took the streets, and then Dr. Wilbert McIntyre (Gazebo) Park, to show the Prime Minister they’d rather have him, and all elected MPs, back in the House of Commons.
The interesting thing about this day of protest, across the country, was that things started on Facebook.
Could the Internet be turning around all of our political apathy? (more…)
It’s a post-Conan world
I know that Conan O’Brien is a smart cookie and he’ll land on his feet. I also know he’ll be missed on The Tonight Show, around these parts. It’s back to Letterman/Kimmel/Lopez for the first round of late night TV.
I think my love of Carson Daly has also been noted.
For these reasons I may bounce over to Original Joe’s-Varisty Row (109 Street, north of Whyte Avenue) for the last Coco-Tonight Show. They’ll be showing it at the restaurant/bar and they’ve got specials on Red Ale and Coco Martinis (clever). Maybe I’ll see you there.
On a more serious note, there will be a march and rally in Old Strathcona tomorrow (when isn’t there?) as Canadians against Proroguing Parliament hit the streets. Let’s see if the Facebook protest transitions to the real world.
I bet this show won't be a "big wreck." (It's Monday at Union Hall.)
Edmonton’s Winter Light festival continues this weekend, with the Baba Yaga Trail Adventure.
Ice on Whyte also continues.
There are zombie-literary discussions happening Saturday afternoon (2-4pm, in the Edmonton Room) at the Stanley Milner Library. It’s about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
There are also ways to enjoy the party-scene of the weekend and help Haiti. Check this Metro-Edmonton story for details.
Dave Attell is at The Comic Strip this weekend.
You can take your tummy out to the second round of Fork Fest.
Maybe you’d rather try not to get trampled by brides looking for deals and other items for THEIR SPECIAL DAY. There’s an event for that.
Or you can attempt to keep your head from exploding due to an abundance of cuteness at the Edmonton Pet Expo. Aww…
The Edmonton Rush have their home opener Saturday, against the Buffalo Bandits. Hey, they’ve got more of a chance of winning than the Oilers. (Thanks for the reminder, Derjs.)
Whatever it is you do to make it to Monday, have fun.
Make your move!
This is probably the only time anyone will ever mention David Swann, Brian Mason AND Carson Daly in the same breath. And I’m going somewhere with it. (Probably.)
It’s their time to make a move.
Don't stare directly into his eyes! Or you'll fall in love.
With all the chatter about Jay and Conan (I’m with Coco, by the way), and the renewed interest in all late night talk shows, Carson Daly is getting zinged left and right. I bet he’s being talked about as much, or more, than in his TRL days. Make your move Carson. It’s time to capitalize on your current name-recoginition before NBC just dumps your show (or puts you on at 2am), and secure your retirement with a sweet deal somewhere else.
Now, for our Alberta politicians I’d also say it’s time to make a big move. Though, they don’t have near the current name-recognition of doe-eyed Carson.
With the governing Tories taking a beating from all sides, the Wildrose Alliance is striding up the right-side of the policical spectrum to one elected member and two crossover MLAs. Plus, they’re all over the news and sinking into the consciousness of Albertans.
Why isn't Rick Mercer hanging out with this guy at WEM?
So…it’s time for the centre-left guys to do something big. I know people have told you to join forces, I know people have told you to work together, or start a new party for progressives, and those who are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I’m telling you this is your one real chance.
Hey, would you look at that. Someone has already gone out and started a party which is looking for enough signatures to become the real deal. If the NDP and Liberals could just suck up their egos for about a minute they might see that they aren’t being talked about at all these days.
At all.
Never surrender! Never win many seats!
And since they haven’t been able to do much with their current parties, and since Alberta feels like a two-party kind of parliamentary democracy, I think the only chance real centre-left, post-partisans have is something new.
Now is also the time because you’ve got a few years until the next election so you’ve got time for the Tories and Wildrose to split the partisan, socially conservative side of things even more, leaving a nice big swath of voters looking elsewhere. And maybe all this new action will get even more people out to vote.
Come on Carson, David and Brian, make a big move.
p.s. If you make a move to a new party, be sure to pay off your current party debts first.
Why politics matter
Dustin McNichol is stepping up to talk politics here at the edmontonian. Politics matter. Really.
Dear Albertans,
Can we talk…about politics? Just for a little while? I promise I’ll be brief.
Before your eyes glaze over and you brush me off, let me explain. I know that politics is boring. Of course it is—who wants to pay attention to a bunch of old men in suits who drone on all day about nothing? Some of them have questionable judgment. I know that it’s often seen as childish, a waste of time, useless, irrelevant, etc…
Politics is full of strange rules and follows an even stranger logic. And, at the end of the day, it has no relevance on us or what we do with our lives anyway, right?
Wrong. (more…)
What exactly is a Byelection?
This is Paul Hinman's new house. Or something.
We know that not everyone has time to pay attention to politics.
We know that a lot of political information is forgotten after high school.
We know.
And we want to break things down so everybody can be an engaged citizen.
Part 1 of “Muddling Through: The Strange World of Provincial Politics”
By Dustin McNichol
Yesterday, Albertans got a chance to vote. But not all of us. Only those in the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore, where Wildrose Alliance candidate Paul Hinman won the provincial byelection.
A byelection occurs when an elected member of the provincial legislature vacates his or her seat at the legislature. Remember, every electoral constituency in the province gets one seat, and one member in each seat represents one constituency. Still with me? Good. (more…)
Michael Ignatieff gets silly in Edmonton
It's not always the fun kind of fireworks when Liberals come to Alberta.
If you’re not following the federal political scene, you might have missed the fact Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was in Edmonton this past Tuesday and Wednesday (…er, I think it’s fair to assume not everyone in Edmonton would follow the Liberals…?)
Alex Abboud has a really interesting rundown on Ignatieff’s Tuesday night town hall over at his blog. You should definitely check it out.
In town for Canada Day, Ignatieff was also spotted at the Silly Summer Parade on Whyte Avenue.
We would have had photo evidence for you, but Sally got all hopped up on delicious Two Rooms coffee and kept yelling “IS THAT HIM?!” every time somebody in a glittery clown wig paraded by. Overstimulated, she went down for a nap, and we missed the “silly” Ignatieff photo (if you snapped one, drop us a link to it in the comments).
