Alberta Premier Jason Kenney put his justice minister on the bench last night after a CBC story revealed one of the first things Kaycee Madu did after a traffic cop handed him a $300 distracted driving ticket for talking on his cellular phone as he motored through an Edmonton school zone was to call the […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Research paper argues Canadian Taxpayers Federation pushed ‘anti-Indigenous political rhetoric and policy’ over 21 years
Locating the Canadian Taxpayers Federation clearly in the ecosystem of neoliberal advocacy, a recent paper in the Canadian Review of Sociology analyzes more than 400 documents published by the CTF over 21 years to argue the organization has pushed “anti-Indigenous political rhetoric and policy.” Lead author Kyle Willmott, a professor at B.C.’s Simon Fraser University, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Concordia University of Edmonton strike ends as faculty association members ratify new collective agreement
After 11 days on the picket line, members of the Concordia University of Edmonton Faculty Association have ratified a tentative agreement, ending the first strike by university faculty members in Alberta history. The agreement opens the door for classes to begin at the university on Wednesday, Jan. 19, the faculty association said in a news […]
Posted inBestsellers
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard tops independent booksellers’ non-fiction bestseller list for week ended Jan. 9
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. 9, 2022. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. I was mildly disappointed not to see Nora Loreto’s Spin […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
If the UCP’s Leela Aheer still has political ambitions, she’ll likely need a new political party to pursue them
If Leela Aheer hopes to continue her career in Alberta provincial politics, she’ll probably need to find a new political party. Well, sure, the United Conservative Party MLA who lately has become a frequent and vocal critic of Premier Jason Kenney could theoretically still win the United Conservative Party nomination in her Chestermere-Strathmore riding just […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Here’s what happened when a courageous medical officer of health was fired by Alberta Conservatives
The sudden firing of a medical officer of health was a shocking development in Alberta politics. On Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2002, the medical officer of health for the Palliser Health Authority in southeastern Alberta was informed he’d been terminated for speaking out on the harmful health impacts of burning fossil fuels and expressing his support […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Impact of UCP’s brutal post-secondary funding cuts sparks fear in University of Lethbridge’s Music Department
Faculty and students in the University of Lethbridge Music Department are fearful of the impact of a “drastic restructuring” of academic programs brought about by the Kenney Government’s brutal funding cuts to Alberta’s public post-secondary institutions in last February’s provincial budget. In a letter to published Saturday on the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra’s Facebook page, U […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
There are several reasons for Jason Kenney’s enthusiasm for ‘small modular reactors’ – none of them are particularly good
Small nuclear reactors don’t make any more economic sense now than they did back in the summer of 2020 when Alberta Premier Jason Kenney took to the Internet to tout the supposed benefits of the largely undeveloped technology being promoted by Canada’s nuclear industry. Now that Mr. Kenney has taken to Twitter again to claim […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Don’t worry about mandatory vaccinations coming to Alberta – if they do, we’ll call them something different
“Alberta’s Legislature removed the power of mandatory vaccination from the Public Health Act last year and will not revisit that decision, period,” Premier Jason Kenney tweeted yesterday. Just in case any Albertans were in doubt about what he really meant, about an hour later Brock Harrison, Mr. Kenney’s communications director, tweeted the same sentiment. “Not […]
Posted inBestsellers
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig tops Independent bookshops’ Alberta Fiction Bestseller List for week ended Jan. 2
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. 2, 2022. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
If only Alberta had an institution that could support students forced to learn at home – like it did until 2020
With this pandemic disrupting education in Alberta, if only we’d had an institution that could have supported students forced to learn at home, help their parents, and provide digital curriculum resources province-wide! We did, of course. Before it was closed by the United Conservative Party, it was known as the Alberta Distance Learning Centre. The […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Private Edmonton university sees the first faculty strike in Alberta history – it likely won’t be the last
With labour disputes looming at three Alberta public universities, it came as a surprise when the faculty association at a small private university in Edmonton became the first in the province’s history to walk off the job in a legal strike. But at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, some of the 82 full-time professors, librarians, lab […]