iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 15h

🤠🇨🇦 My friend Chris Henderson wrote about how to talk about Alberta’s October 19 referendum with the temporary separatist and separation curious people in your life. Here are a few ground rules for your approach, then five messages for those conversations: daveberta.substack.com/p/chris-hend...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

You can tell how politically important the October 19 referendums are to the UCP by the number of cabinet ministers currently on international trips two weeks ahead of the vote.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

EDMONTON JOURNAL (Sept 27, 1986): Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said Friday he called Pembina riding demonstrators "separatists" because they insulted him first by calling him a "frog.”

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

UCP members are currently voting to rank policy proposals to be debated at the party’s AGM in November. This policy supporting Alberta’s independence from Canada is one of the proposals currently in the ranking process and could be debated at the AGM regardless of the Oct 19 referendum results.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I stopped by Calgary-Klein MLA Lizette Tejada’s referendum town hall. With about 70 people in attendance, the crowd was heavily pro-Canada and raised a lot of concerns about the lack of clarity in the government’s 10 questions and the confusing voting process, and what happens after October 19.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

UCP now leading for the first time all night in Calgary-Shaw. Mike Derry ahead by 4 votes with 47 of 71 polls reporting.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

👀 24 polls reporting and the NDP’s Kyle Campbell is maintaining a 4 point lead in the Calgary-Shaw by-election.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

👀 NDP’s Kyle Campbell still leading in Calgary-Shaw with 11 polls reporting.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🗳️ Calgary-Shaw by-election results slowly starting to roll in. The NDP win the Special Ballot poll. 70 more polling stations to report. results.elections.ab.ca/8486

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It’s by-election day in Calgary-Shaw. The polls are open from 9:00am until 8:00pm.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I can only imagine the real goal of the Alberta government’s referendum advertising campaign is to keep Albertans guessing about how the government wants them to vote.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

🇨🇦 Good turnout, good speakers and good energy at the Public Interest Alberta event tonight at the Beverly Heights Community Hall in Edmonton.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I wonder what Nashville was known for before it became the music industry capital only 25 years ago in 2001. 🤷‍♂️ www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

New Leger Poll: 📍Alberta-wide 🟦 UCP 51% 🟧 NDP 41% 📍Edmonton 🟧 NDP 51% 🟦 UCP 40% 📍Calgary 🟦 UCP 49% 🟧 NDP 42% 📍Rest of Alberta 🟦 UCP 63% 🟧 NDP 30% leger360.com/wp-content/u...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I went to part of today’s separatist rally at the Legislature organized by the Alberta Prosperity Project. For most of the time I was there an evangelical pastor delivered a sermon and someone else spoke about the evils of COVID-19 vaccine. It was a good indication of where this movement is rooted.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

💪🇨🇦 69% of Canadians support Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to pull out of trade negotiations with Trump.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The Calgary-Shaw by-election is happening on September 14. Premier Danielle Smith issued a statement announcing the by-election today.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

🗞️ Edmonton Journal coverage of the first Heritage Day in 1974 (on page 62! Remember when newspapers had that many pages?)

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Feeling a little choked about this today. I saw Glen Hansard perform with Markéta Irglová in Seattle back in 2023. It was a great outdoor show. The two of them brought so much talent to the stage.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

These articles were published just hours apart. It’s been pretty obvious for sometime that US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has little to no influence or insight into what’s happening in Trump’s White House.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

🟧 Former school trustee Trisha Estabrooks launches her campaign for the Alberta NDP nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

The Rugby Nations Cup is hosting a few matches in Edmonton this month. Yesterday’s fast paced match between the Canadian and Spanish men’s national teams ended in a 42-42 draw and was pretty exciting. On July 11 there’s a double header with Spain vs Tonga and Canada vs Portugal. 🇨🇦

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

⚽️🇨🇦 There’s a big feature about Alphonso Davies in Edmonton’s Beverly Community News this month. Davies played soccer in north east Edmonton and attended St. Nicholas Junior High School in Beverly.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

🟦🗳️ Former Catholic school trustee and past UCP candidate Pamela Rath has launched her campaign for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Beddington. daveberta.substack.com/p/kyle-campb...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Mike Derry also had the support of campaign manager Craig Chandler, a frequently controversial and seasoned right-wing political organizer who spearheaded an aggressive lawn sign campaign in the riding calling on Dan McLean to remain on city council.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

“The race to replace Premier Ralph Klein is shaping up to be a two-person contest between Jim Dinning and Lyle Oberg, according to recent polling figures that suggest a statistical dead beat between the leadership rivals.” 📰 Calgary Herald, June 23, 2006

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

It’s not nothing but it’s close to nothing. The one-time $100 rebate from the Alberta government leaves me wondering when was the last time any cabinet minister actually went grocery shopping or looked at their utility bills.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

🟧🗳️ A Saturday afternoon press release from the Alberta NDP announcing that MLAs Joe Ceci (Calgary-Buffalo), Luanne Metz (Calgary-Varsity), Lori Sigurdson (Edmonton-Riverview) and Marlin Schmidt (Edmonton-Gold Bar) will not be running for re-election when the next provincial election is called.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Alberta is a province of 5 million people with an incredible depth of talent, knowledge and experience, yet the UCP basically appoints the same people to every panel the government creates. 🙄 www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

🗳️😎 I’m tracking candidate nominations for Alberta’s next provincial election. ✅ Here’s the list: daveberta.substack.com/p/candidates...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

The Alberta NDP have relaunched their website with a new splash of purple.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

🇨🇦 "I'm no separatist. I am a Canadian. A proud Canadian. And I think almost every person in this party is a proud Canadian." - Premier Ralph Klein speaking to Progressive Conservative Party convention delegates on March 28, 2003. (📰📸 Red Deer Advocate, March 29, 2003)

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

The Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations has released a blistering response to the UCP government moving forward with a referendum on Alberta separation from Canada.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

🇨🇦City Councillor Michael Janz joined former Edmonton MLA Thomas Lukaszuk and supporters near the Alberta Legislature today to announce a proposal to rename a two-block stretch of 99th Avenue between 107 Street to 109 Street to Forever Canadian Avenue.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

New PC Premier Don Getty faced a larger opposition of 16 NDP, 4 Liberal & 2 Representative MLAs. The NDP jumped from 2 to 16 seats and the Liberals, led by the eminently quotable Nick Taylor, reemerged for the first time since the late 1960s. (📰 Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Red Deer Advocate)

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Yesterday marked 40 years since Alberta’s 1986 provincial election. Facing skyrocketing costs of living, rising inflation and low oil prices, the Progressive Conservatives won a 5th straight election but it was a smaller majority compared to the electoral romps of the Lougheed era.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Emmott Kelsey of the separatist Centurion Project is a UCP member and has submitted a policy resolution for debate at this year’s UCP AGM that would officially endorse Alberta leaving Canada. He spoke at the Centurion Project event in Edmonton last week.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

The mould of Alberta politics was shattered 11 years ago today when Rachel Notley’s NDP surprised the country by defeating the 43-year long governing Progressive Conservatives. We were also gifted the best Peter Mansbridge screenshot ever. 🤠

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

👀 We will have a lot more questions than answers about this unfolding story and what it means for Albertans’ privacy this week, but the five questions that immediately popped into my mind over the last few days are: daveberta.substack.com/p/largest-pr...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

The October 19 referendum day is now a day off for students in Edmonton Public Schools.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Elections Alberta issued a statement this morning about the alleged inappropriate access and use of the official voters list. Very unusual that Elections Alberta would even comment on this — it shows they are taking these allegations very seriously.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Huge congratulations to @carrietait.bsky.social for being named Journalist of the Year for her ongoijg investigation into the Alberta government health care procurement scandal. 🏆 www.newswire.ca/news-release...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Getty spent part of the first week of the election dropping into the 4 opposition held ridings, but a stop in Lamont gave us this great photo of farmers, including future PC cabinet minister Ray Danyluk, confronting the Premier over rising costs of farming. 2/ (📸 Edmonton Journal, April 18, 1986)

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Nenshi wants to avoid Brexit mistakes in fight against Alberta separatists. Alberta politics is going to get a lot noisier and more confusing during the months ahead. 🤠Read all about it: daveberta.substack.com/p/nenshi-wan...

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Every year someone (I don’t know who) still delivers a Yellow Pages book to my house and when it arrives the first thing I do is check if the phone number for Ted Morton’s 2011 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign is still listed. Yes, it’s still there.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

There was a time in the not too distant past when it was frowned upon, and possibly even against ethics rules, for political parties in Alberta to use cabinet ministers titles to sell tickets to partisan fundraising events. No more, I guess.

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Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

🚨👀 The final report of the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission is now online: www.assembly.ab.ca/docs/default...

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