West of Centre

Political tensions at home and a military invasion abroad. This week, host Kathleen Petty is joined by Zain Velji from Northweather, Taleesha Thorogood from Fasken Law and Duane Bratt from Mount Royal University to talk about Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s approaching leadership review, the upcoming federal Conservative leadership race, Alberta’s energy security pitch amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how those three issues all relate back to leadership.

Alberta is projecting something not seen in years: A balanced budget, with plans for surpluses. Finance Minister Travis Toews says oil prices play a huge role in that rebound, but what do the outsized contributions of oil and gas mean for future economic stability? Host Kathleen Petty is joined by University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe, the Globe and Mail's energy reporter Emma Graney and political columnist Rick Bell from the Calgary Sun to dissect Budget 2022.

Leaders have talked about “living with COVID” for months, but what does it really mean? Alberta and Saskatchewan are the first provinces to remove vaccine passports in the country, with more restrictions planned to lift in the coming weeks. This week, host Kathleen Petty sits down with Evan Menzies, the former director of communication for the United Conservative Party, Leah Ward, NDP leader Rachel Notley’s previous communications chief, and Murray Mandryk, a long-time columnist at the Regina Leader-Post to discuss the dilemma of how to adjust to this new stage of COVID response.

The convoy protests in Ottawa and at the Alberta-Montana border have been going on for a week. Nestled into those noisy days, Conservative Party MPs overthrew leader Erin O’Toole. This week, host Kathleen Petty talks about those two huge stories in Canadian politics with former Conservative cabinet minister Monte Solberg, Jared Wesley from the University of Alberta and the Globe and Mail’s Kelly Cryderman.

Conservative parties in Canada often struggle to stay united, and the federal and provincial parties today are no exception. This week, host Kathleen Petty and her panel discuss conservatism in Canada and the future of leaders like federal leader Erin O’Toole and Premier Jason Kenney. West of Centre is joined this week by Taleesha Thorogood, a federal Conservative political strategist, Blaise Boehmer, a former senior staffer in Alberta’s UCP government, and Corey Hogan from the Strategists podcast.

Premier Jason Kenney is down his justice minister after Kaycee Madu was stripped of his duties for calling Edmonton’s police chief over a personal traffic ticket last March.  Madu is the third member of Kenney’s cabinet to fall into scandal in the last year, after Tracy Allard’s Hawaii vacation during COVID and allegations of Devin Dreeshen’s heavy drinking. This week host Kathleen Petty is joined by Rishi Nagar from RED FM, political columnist Graham Thomson and pollster Janet Brown to discuss what those incidents say about Alberta’s government and the people running it.

Protests at politicians’ homes, harassment of their families, and a security detail hired for the chief medical officer. The list goes on and the abuse has gotten worse. This week, we’re talking about the tone of politics and what can be done to improve it. Former Edmonton and Calgary mayors Don Iveson and Naheed Nenshi join host Kathleen Petty to talk about the disintegration of political discourse, and why it’s gotten worse during the pandemic.

Solar, wind, nuclear and hydrogen. Perhaps a different four elements than the ones people would think of, but each is a critical part of energy diversification efforts in Alberta. Today, we’re diving into diversification to look at what it means, what it might cost and what governments are doing about it. Jennifer Winter and Sara Hastings-Simon, sustainable energy experts from the University of Calgary, and Emma Graney, an energy reporter from the Globe and Mail, join guest host Jim Brown.

So long, 2021. We’ve dealt with new variants of COVID-19, started an economic bounceback, and waded through elections, referendums and political infighting. Today guest host Jim Brown does a recap of the last year and looks ahead to what may come in 2022 with Rishi Nagar, the news director at RED FM, Kelly Cryderman, a journalist at the Globe and Mail, and Jason Markusoff from Maclean’s magazine.

Boom, bust, crash, recover, then ride the rollercoaster again. Alberta’s economy is rebounding, but shifting factors at home and abroad will play a role in what the province’s fiscal opportunities and challenges are in the coming years. Today, host Kathleen Petty is joined by University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe, energy and environment economist Andrew Leach from the University of Alberta and political scientist Lori Williams at Mount Royal University to talk about the economic path the province is on.