The elevation of Alberta-born chanteuse k.d. lang to the Alberta Order of Excellence last week is both a positive sign of change in Alberta and a timely reminder there’s nothing new about bozo eruptions from the back forty of the province’s conservative movement. Ms. lang, now 56, was born in Edmonton and raised in the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Message to my American Cousins: It’s mellow up here; there is no communist revolution yet; no one wants to take Manhattan
Dear American Cousins, literal and metaphorical: The day before yesterday, medical and recreational cannabis became legal in Canada. The Canada correspondent for the New York Times reported excitedly that we Canadians were calling this C-Day. We were? Beats the hell outta me where she got that idea. I’m pretty sure none of us actual C-dawgs […]
Posted inBestsellers
Made in Alberta – the Ray Martin Story by Ray Martin and John Ashton tops Edmonton bestsellers non-fiction list
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended Oct. 14, 2018. The lists are compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. French Exit – Patrick DeWitt 2. Orange Shirt Day (children’s) – Phyllis Webstad […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Highly concentrated ownership of Canadian fossil fuel sector leaves little incentive for change, study indicates
Highly concentrated corporate ownership of Canada’s energy sector and lack of government influence means there’s very little incentive for the fossil fuel industry to pay attention to the dangers of global climate change or worry about the communities and workers that depend on it. That’s the tough message behind a new study – Who Owns […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Hugh MacDonald, four-term Edmonton MLA and scourge of Tory governments, quietly resurfaces
With an election in the wind, it’s always worth remembering there’s life after politics. Consider Hugh MacDonald, once renowned as Alberta’s hardest-working MLA. The former Alberta Liberal Party stalwart served four terms as MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar and certainly would have been elected to a fifth had he chosen to run again in 2012. From […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP Leader Jason Kenney drops hints of radical plans during policy fan dance before Calgary Chamber of Commerce
A recent speech by Jason Kenney to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce indicates the Alberta Opposition leader intends to ram a radical program through the Legislature with minimal public consultation if his United Conservative Party wins the election likely to be held in 2019. Oddly, it took almost a week for a comprehensive report of […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Unfazed by Donald Trump, what will Stephen Harper make of far-right revival in Bavaria?
I wonder what former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper will make of the success of the scary far-right Alternative für Deutschland party in Sunday’s elections in the South German state of Bavaria? Apparently, significant numbers of Bavarian voters have concluded nothing could possibly go wrong if they elect a bunch of reconstituted Nazis. After all, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Rachel Notley and Tzeporah Berman present starkly different views of Alberta’s energy future
Thanks to invitations from the province’s teachers’ union, the two most influential people in Alberta presented their starkly different visions of the energy future in the same room yesterday. I speak, of course, of environmentalist Tzeporah Berman and … Premier Rachel Notley. I jest. Ms. Berman resides in Vancouver. Other than that, though – owing […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP finally – after an ever-so-excruciating wait – shows rogue nomination candidate Lance Coulter the door
Give Lance Coulter credit: The guy seems to be a very hard worker. Leastways, the United Conservative Party nomination candidate in the Edmonton-Henday West Riding certainly had to work extremely hard to get himself kicked out of the party’s nomination process. Finally, late yesterday morning, the UCP – oh, so reluctantly – instructed Mr. Coulter […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Colourful former Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin finds another windmill to tilt at, for Freedom Conservative Party
Last observed pursuing a claim against Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer alleging abuse of process, colourful former MLA Joe Anglin has found a new way to tilt at Alberta’s perpetually swirling political windmill. Mr. Anglin, 63, who is both the former Wildrose Party MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre and the former leader of Alberta’s Greens, announced […]
Posted inBestsellers
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq leads Audreys Books Edmonton Bestseller List for fiction
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended Oct. 7, 2018. The lists are compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Split Tooth – Tanya Tagaq 2. Starlight – Richard Wagamese 3. This Wound […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Stand by for renewed attacks on Tzeporah Berman as UCP tries to change channel on ‘Soldiers of Odin’ embarrassment
After a difficult weekend doing damage control about how members of an anti-immigration group with white supremacist links were welcomed to a United Conservative Party beer-and-selfies night last Friday by an Edmonton constituency association, expect the right-wing Opposition party to dip into its strategic playbook to try to change the channel. UCP Channel-Changing Strategy No. […]