Smith UCP — it's wakey-wakey time from those Calgary byelection blues
The UCP lose in south Calgary. They cannot afford losses like that
Rick Bell
While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Rick Bell.
Defiant Pierre Poilievre fights back, vows to keep exposing Carney as a fake
He's not giving up. He's not backing down. If he was a boxer you'd need to knock him out. The man insists he is not throwing in the towel. He will continue to throw down the gauntlet. Wasn't so long ago Pierre Poilievre had the momentum, drew the huge crowds at rallies across Canada, attracted the young and the working...
Danielle Smith sees pipeline win, feels Alberta is now a long way from Trudeau
Right after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith rolls out her pipeline plans to the country Thursday night she heads off to the Cowboys Music Festival. As the premier makes her way to Cowboys she sounds very happy. She is not claiming victory when the goal line is still down the field. But she and her government have clearly moved the yardsticks...
Farkas on fire, Danielle Smith pushes back — the Stampede tent brawl
Crackle! Sizzle! Roar! Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is on fire. "A permit is not a free pass to keep people awake for 11 nights because someone powerful demands it. "Rick, you spoke up for years. You were told to call 311. You were told to wait while people with money, access and powerful friends expected city hall to look the other way.
Facing a chorus of critics, Danielle Smith defends Dani Dollars payout
Well, we now know how many Dani Dollars Albertans are getting. Albertans 18 and older who've filed their taxes and have a household income of $225,000 a year or less will score a tax-free $100. Just so you know, the Alberta government considers a household to be a single person or two people who are married or in a common-law...
Dani Dollars — Danielle Smith set to dole out dough to Albertans
Step right up. Read all about it. Here it comes. Dani Dollars. Yes, Dani Dollars will be rolled out Wednesday by Premier Danielle Smith and her UCP government. Of course, Dani Dollars isn't the official name of Smith's doling out the dough, just like Ralphbucks wasn't the official name when money was headed your way back in the day.
Alberta separatists clobbered in Calgary in the latest numbers
It's not even close. It's not even close to being close. We wait for them to make a move, do something, try to win the hearts and minds of the undecided, answer the actual questions on people's minds. Heaven knows the separatists have the attention of Canada now. Newshounds can tell you how every single day story-hungry editors want the...
With independence movement going nowhere, Alberta separatists blame Danielle Smith
The poll numbers sting. The numbers should sting, if you are for Alberta splitting from Canada. Article content It appears, in this early snapshot in time, the Alberta separatists are spinning their wheels.
Alberta separatists trounced in poll, Smith's UCP up 9 points on Nenshi NDP
The latest. The freshest numbers. Let's go straight to the math of the Postmedia-Leger poll on the October referendum question. The envelope please. Alberta should remain a province of Canada. 68 per cent. The government of Alberta should commence the legal process required to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada. 24 per cent.
Danielle Smith set to name experts to nail down cost of Alberta separatism
To start the week, in this column space, you would have read how Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gave us a ballpark price tag for Alberta leaving Canada and becoming its own country. It was a ballpark number. Around $400 billion in start-up costs for an independent Alberta. $25 billion to $50 billion in yearly costs.
Danielle Smith drops a $400-billion bomb on Alberta separatism
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith drops a political bomb, a financial bomb, a bomb dropped on the separatist assumptions of way more gain than pain by Alberta leaving Canada and striking out on its own. Almost $400 billion in start-up costs to set up an independent Alberta. Roughly $80,000 for every Albertan. Somewhere between $25 billion and $50 billion in yearly...
Kenney paints a horrifying doomsday picture of an independent Alberta
The horror! The horror! Before the night is over, one side will paint a horrifying picture of an independent Alberta and the other side will speak of shameless fear mongering. The man was ready. He had what he believed was his ace in the hole. He was just waiting for the chance to use it. It didn’t take long.
What! Alberta separatists split on Danielle Smith's referendum question. My, my. Alberta separatists are not one big happy family.
You had to know this was coming. It didn’t take long. Not long at all, as in minutes. One big name in the Alberta independence movement is vein-popping pissed off. Jeff Rath has become to the go-to guy when newshounds want to take the temperature of the Alberta separatists. Right now, Rath’s political thermometer indicates a heat wave.
Danielle Smith referendum puzzle, she's got some explaining to do
Surprise! We’ve got the Danielle Smith two-step. If your head is hurting by the time you read this column it’s not because you ate ice cream too fast. The early verdict is in on Thursday night. A lot of folks are confused. Some don’t even know how to react.
Premier Smith in a jam — You're in for a surprise on the Alberta separatist vote
What is Premier Danielle Smith going to do? How is the Smith government going to get out of this jam? At this point you’re no doubt asking: What are you talking about? Read this column carefully. Don’t rush to a conclusion. Follow the stickhandling around the political land mines. The referendum question may not be what you think it is...
Danielle Smith shoots down her critics in scoring big pipeline deal
Premier Danielle Smith is confident. On the pipeline deal with Mark Carney she believes she speaks for most Albertans
Done! Danielle Smith expected to ink MOU pipeline deal with Carney by Friday
A deal between Premier Smith and Prime Minister Carney. Very soon. Book your seat
Carney-Smith showdown is now on — Alberta premier needs a win
Oh, goody. We now find out there WILL BE a meeting scheduled between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney bright and early Friday morning in Ottawa. The news comes to your scribbler Wednesday afternoon.
Carney-Smith showdown in Ottawa but Smith knows nothing about it
Carney says he's meeting Danielle Smith in Ottawa this week but doesn't tell Smith
Carney-Smith pipeline deal drags on, Smith to raise hell if Alberta is shafted
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith faces heat Tuesday from some folks who likely voted for her and the UCP in the last provincial election. Heat from those who may support Smith and like a lot of what she’s doing but think the deal she inked with Prime Minister Mark Carney to get a pipeline to the west coast is not worth...
Danielle Smith says Don Cherry should be appointed to the Order of Canada
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks out on this day. Article content But the premier is not on about budgets or pipelines or the place of Alberta in Canada. Smith is talking about Don Cherry, the man also known by his nickname, Grapes. For years, for far too many years, Don Cherry has been snubbed by the establishment types in this...
Danielle Smith faces more Nazi slurs, defends immigration stand
Danielle Smith isn’t blinking on her immigration stand. And she is not prepared to let things slide when utter and vile crap comes of the mouths of her political opponents.
Danielle Smith serves up conservative red meat and wins big at UCP shindig
Premier Danielle Smith is no dummy. She is well aware the pipeline deal she made with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday would not be an easy sell but sell it she must. There are UCP voters and UCP members motivated enough to spend a couple of days at a political gabfest in Edmonton who have had it with Canada...
Pipeline deal with Smith, Poilievre Conservatives think Carney is full of it
The political temperature in Ottawa appears to be hot. A pipeline that doesn’t even exist and isn’t even close to existing and politicians and insiders in Liberal Ottawa are all over the map on this one. A pipeline Alberta wants, a pipeline Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants — some in the nation’s capital can’t stomach the thought, including people who...
Poilievre slams Smith-Carney pipeline deal as a 'public relations stunt'
'We believe the government of British Columbia has to agree,' says Prime Minister Mark Carney, of a new pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast. Pierre Poilievre was ready. The Conservative leader was ready to rumble. Article content On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Calgary. As reported in this column this past Saturday morning, Carney and Premier Danielle...
A no-nonsense Poilievre pulls no punches and stands his ground
'Keep going. Keep going. Don't give up." That's what Pierre Poilievre says Canadians are telling him. He smiles. Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, was asked how he feels. After all, conservatives had so much hope. Finally, they could see the defeat of the Liberals.
Danielle Smith goes on offence against a two-faced Mark Carney
No more playing nice. For Premier Danielle Smith, it is time. Time to light a fire under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Time to cut through his weasel words. The clock is ticking on Carney, the master of talking out of both sides of his mouth. On Tuesday, in Calgary, Smith will roll out what she calls her Alberta Next panel...
Carney gets Bill C-5 win but will Danielle Smith get schooled by the PM?
Will a pipeline be considered as one of the projects Prime Minister wants fast-tracked? 'It depends,' says Carney.
Premier Smith says Trudeau lives in Carney's camp and that's a problem
You didn’t really think it would be that easy to get rid of him. No, Trudeau lives on. The spirit of the former Liberal prime minister is alive. The phase out the oilsands prime minister, the I listen to my green guru Steven Guilbeault and can’t see that he is a walking disaster prime minister, the I screwed up so...
Danielle Smith is playing nice with Carney — Poilievre is not
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith plays ball with Carney unless or until he screws over Alberta
Premier Smith — 'The ball is in Carney's court' with Alberta separatism at a high
Over to you, Mr. Carney! “I haven’t witnessed independence sentiment being as high as it right now. Really, the ball is in Carney’s court,” says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in an interview with Postmedia. “I’m watching it. I’m taking it seriously. I think he’s watching it. I think he’s taking it seriously.
Smith vows to work with Carney, says he is way better than Justin Trudeau
Truth be told this is not a column where the headline is shouting outrage, where Alberta against Ottawa sounds like an old-school wrestling cage match. You know the headline. DANIELLE SMITH SLAMS MARK CARNEY. Alberta premier says Prime Minister Carney is just another Justin Trudeau.
Danielle Smith and Alberta give Mark Carney an offer he shouldn't refuse
In a five-page letter, Premier Smith makes her big push to Prime Minister Carney for a west coast pipeline and dumping all Liberal anti-oil policies, in advance of possible June 2 fireworks when Carney and the premiers meet
Albertans waiting — is Carney going to screw us over this week?
The question. A simple question. Easy to answer if you’re not playing games. Easy to answer if your words have any meaning. Prime Minister Mark Carney will roll out his plans for the country Tuesday. King Charles III will read the script. Ottawa insiders expect it to be mostly high-minded words. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will be listening...
Danielle Smith warns Carney — 'stop foot-dragging' and kill anti-oil policies
'So far I'm not seeing anything to suggest there's been a true change of heart,' says Premier Danielle Smith, of Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal government
Smith to Carney — Wanted Now, a pipeline to Prince Rupert, B.C.
What does Alberta Premier Danielle Smith want? What does Smith want right now? What does she want from Prime Minister Mark Carney? Article content Smith presented Carney with nine demands. She wants Carney to roll back the harmful Liberal laws and regulations attacking Alberta and Alberta’s oilpatch.
Alberta separatists warn Danielle Smith — don't campaign against us
'If she doesn't come over to our side, well, there's going to be a problem,' says Mitch Sylvestre, leading the charge on Alberta independence and warning Premier Danielle Smith
Mark Carney Liberal sleaze and Premier Doug Ford's big mouth
Carney Liberals once again want to link Pierre Poilievre to Donald Trump, this time with dirty tricks of their own
Mark Carney is now on a collision course with Danielle Smith
'It's like saying you'll win an Olympic swimming medal with an anvil tied around your foot,' says Alberta Premier Smith, on how Canada will never be an energy superpower with anti-oilpatch laws
Carney says he's for Alberta — the crap detector alarm goes off
'I resile to no one in terms of my understanding of the West,' says Liberal Leader Mark Carney, leading people to rush for the closest dictionary.
Danielle Smith leaves the door open for a vote on Alberta leaving Canada
The idea of Alberta leaving Canada is increasingly not being written off as raving lunacy
Smith sees a real danger Mark Carney could be worse than Trudeau
Well, no doubt about it. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is on the political warpath, with the federal election campaign expected to kick off Sunday. The premier already has a lot of demands for the new prime minister after the dust settles, either the Liberal Mark Carney or the Conservative Pierre Poilievre.
Carney and Poilievre — an ugly match-up in the brawl for it all
This is going to be a brawl. This is going to be a brutal battle. It will get ugly. There is too much at stake and too much bad blood for it to be anything but a political street fight.
Angry Canadians lose their minds, Liberals paint Poilievre as Trump
'It absolutely is real, as real as the earth going around the sun,' says ThinkHQ pollster Marc Henry, of a polling trend showing a Mark Carney Liberal party could beat the Conservatives
Albertans are getting a tax cut in this week's provincial budget
We’re getting it. We’re finally getting it. Getting some of our hard-earned cash back, putting some of our dough back in our pockets. This Thursday, the UCP government led by Premier Danielle Smith will give Albertans the income tax cut they promised in their kickoff to the last election campaign two years back, vowing to make life a little more...
Premier Smith to Mark Carney — Alberta won't be kicked around anymore
People I run into here in Alberta are thinking about it and talking about it. Some in quiet voices, others more openly. Few want to contemplate the possibility for very long. It is that bad. Their tone of voice is one of disbelief, usually followed by a prediction. If it happens, many Albertans will blow a gasket.
What's up Canada? Liberals could win the election, are you nuts?
Poll shows Mark Carney-led Liberals are neck-and-neck with Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives. Other polls show Liberals gaining. Now Canada is really broken
Danielle Smith insists she's not guilty of anything, but will that be enough?
'As premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing,' says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, responding to allegations of political interference in the health care system
Big allegations — Danielle Smith, come out, come out wherever you are
We have questions. We have no answers. It is said we will hear from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Next Saturday. On her radio show. That’s Feb. 15. This column is being written Feb.7.
Trudeau no hero — Danielle Smith's diplomacy helped win the day on tariffs
Canadians get 30 more days without tariffs from President Trump because people like Premier Danielle Smith and not Justin Trudeau won the day
Danielle Smith pushes back, warns eastern Canada as Trump tariffs loom
'I think Eastern Canada has to be very, very careful what they wish for,' says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, on using oil as a weapon in a trade war with Trump
Why Danielle Smith's Alberta isn't buying Trudeau's Team Canada
Albertans aren’t traitors. We’re just pissed off. It confirms what people in Alberta have been saying for way too long.
Trump's tariff U-turn ruined Danielle Smith's day — and ours
Just when you think President Donald Trump is going one way, he’s going another.
Danielle Smith stands firm, slams Trudeau as Trump takes power
'When I'm defending Alberta, I will never back down,' says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
Smith vows she will never sell out Albertans to a Trudeau tax on oil
We know Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is not backing down. She is not blinking. Far from it.
Danielle Smith is no traitor and neither are Albertans
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sure stirred up the hornet’s nest and upset the apple cart.
Danielle Smith tells Team Canada to pound sand, Alberta has its Iron Lady
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith draws a line in the sand, won't join Team Canada and sell out the province's oilpatch.
For Smith, Canada will see real ugly if Alberta oil is ammo against Trump
You want to crank up talk of Alberta splitting from Canada, folks looking at all the options beyond staying put and playing the patsy.
Here's what went down — Trump and Premier Smith at Mar-a-Lago
You’ve got to admit, it is bigger news than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau going down to Florida.