“Rescind Keystone XL Pipeline permit,” says the transition team’s briefing note for Day One of the Biden Administration on Wednesday. This seems pretty definitive. Yup, according to the CBC the briefing note for Joe Biden’s first day on the job as president of the United States indicates pulling the plug on the bitumen pipeline from […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
‘Public’ inquiry into ‘anti-Alberta’ campaigns descends into fiasco with request for third extension, apparently posted in error
Having just been busted for commissioning three reports that an expert critic dismissed as “textbook examples of climate change denialism,” the commissioner of the so-called Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns now appears to be seeking a third extension of time before delivering his final report. Commissioner Steve Allan’s request for the time extension was […]
Posted inBestsellers
Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart is Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller for week ended Jan. 10
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books in Edmonton and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart (Grove […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Climate-change denial, bias, and a Marxist under every bed of leaves characterize papers commissioned by energy campaigns inquiry
An “engagement process update” published Wednesday night by the so-called Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns reveals inquiry head Steve Allan commissioned reports by climate-change skeptics and a fossil fuel industry advocacy group in the United States. A critical submission to the $3.5-million inquiry by University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszynski called the three […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Kenney kicks Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pat Rehn, often missing in action, out of UCP Caucus
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney moved quickly to kick Pat Rehn out of the United Conservative Party Caucus this morning, a day after an Edmonton researcher revealed the Lesser Slave Lake MLA spent almost all of last April, May, June and July in Edmonton while constituents complained he was never in the riding. In a Facebook […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Expense claims show MLA who rarely visits his own riding spent almost every day in Edmonton for four months last year
Lots of Pat Rehn’s constituents may think the Lesser Slave Lake MLA is about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine, but it turns out the fellow’s been able to dine out on his exalted status just the same. Quite literally, it would seem. Researcher Tony Clark recently dug into Mr. Rehn’s expense […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Teachers are bound to be furious about UCP’s Christmas coup to consolidate control over their pensions
If the Kenney Government’s Christmas Eve coup to consolidate control over $18 billion in Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund assets shows anything, it’s that the United Conservative Party’s investment strategy is as good as its political strategy! Or maybe we should put that the other way: that the government’s political strategy is as good as its […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
What’s next for former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith now that she’s dropping out of right-wing talk radio?
Former school trustee, former Wildrose Party leader, and former controversial legislative floor-crosser, Danielle Smith announced yesterday she will add right-wing talk-radio bloviator to her long list of former occupations. The woman thought in 2012 to be on track to become Alberta’s first Wildrose Party premier announced yesterday she is ending her six-year stint as the […]
Posted inBestsellers
Our Only Home by the Dalai Lama tops independent booksellers non-fiction bestseller list for first week of 2021
Well, we’ve had a few exciting days. Let’s just take a breath tonight and contemplate the top selling books sold by Alberta’s independent booksellers during the week ended Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. No. 1 on the non-fiction list last week is Our Only Home, by the 14th Dalai Lama, subtitled “A Climate Appeal to the […]
Posted inGeopolitics
Notice to Canadian Conservatives: de-Trumpification is coming and it’s time to burn your MAGA caps!
Is the United States about to embark on a program of de-Trumpification? Less than a week ago, that seemed highly improbable. In the aftermath of the startling events of the 6th, another early December date which will live in infamy, it’s sure starting to look like it. It remains to be seen if the storming […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Clarity on pandemic travel: it’s bad, but it’s safe; it’s not recommended, but it’s facilitated … OK?
Travelling by air is safer than going to the grocery store, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney explained to yesterday’s COVID-19 news conference. But that doesn’t mean you should travel by air. Or shouldn’t go to the grocery store. Or something. It’s always a little dispiriting when Mr. Kenney steps up to the microphone at one of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta premier piously pleads for restoration of order in Washington, smooth ascension of Joe Biden to U.S. presidency
“Alberta has always had close ties to the United States, so it’s painful to watch the bizarre scenes unfolding at the U.S. Capitol,” Jason Kenney lamented yesterday, presumably tweeting from a secure command post atop the office building that overlooks the Alberta Legislature. “Political violence is always wrong, especially when it seeks to interrupt the […]