Jason Kenney held a news conference about nothing yesterday. Alberta’s premier said he’s “very determined” there will be no additional delays and schools will reopen as planned on Monday, the continued rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 notwithstanding. It doesn’t sound as if much has been done to make schools safer, so teachers […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Don’t imagine UCP’s Eastern Slopes coal mining plans have gone away – Jason Kenney still has his eyes on that prize
The plan to approve coal developments on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains is another thing that remains on the United Conservative Party’s agenda – if not for 2022, at least for some point in the future after the 2023 election is out of the way. This is another tidbit that can be prised […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Spinning delay as a favour to teachers and a response to COVID, Kenney indicates he’ll press on with controversial curriculum
The way Jason Kenney told the story, Alberta parents and teachers would like his United Conservative Party government to “go a bit slower” rolling out the new primary school curriculum it introduced in late March to widespread opposition. To those who have been following the controversy created by the curriculum dreamed up by Alberta’s premier, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A New Year’s message from the author: Please consider signing up for my weekly email roundup of posts
As regular readers of AlbertaPolitics.ca know, there are a lot of posts on this blog, generally divided into three general topic areas: Alberta politics, Canadian politics, and geopolitics. It’s my blog, and I always said that I’d write about topics that interested me, and I wouldn’t necessarily write about topics on which other people are […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Happy New Year! COVID, Conservatives and Kenney end 2021 on an ominous note
It would be an exaggeration to say 2021 is ending on an apocalyptic note in Alberta, or even a chaotic one, but it feels ominously as if the boat we’re in is drifting toward the falls with no one looking for the paddle. If our United Conservative Government had plans for dealing with the next […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Reports on controversial coal mining plans received, says Alberta energy minister, providing little additional information
Midpoint between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage yesterday issued an 85-word statement saying the government’s Coal Policy Committee has submitted its final report and recommendations on Alberta’s long-term approach to coal mining. In addition, the five-member committee chaired by National Energy Board member Ron Wallace submitted another report on […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No plan? Expectation of mass Omicron infection, reduced access to PCR tests, dominate Alberta COVID-19 update
Reading between the lines of remarks by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw at yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing, it seems evident they have reached a point where they no longer have a plan for the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The disturbing thing about that, of course, is that no plan is […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Marking the 15th year of AlbertaPolitics.ca, which begins today, here’s a list the Top Ten UCP Scandals of 2021
With less than 48 hours to go until Christmas Day, I predicted on Dec. 23 that the UCP’s Edmonton pandemic party at the Parlour Restaurant two and a half hours after Premier Jason Kenney instructed Albertans to cut their social contacts in half to slow the spread of the Omicron variant would be his party’s […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Ted Byfield, talented rhetorician and paleoconservative activist, dead at 93
Ted Byfield, publisher of the influential Alberta Report Magazine and similar hard right spinoffs, died Thursday at 93. Edward Bartlett Byfield was born in Toronto on Bastille Day, 1928. He was talented rhetorician and prominent influencer of the Harper-Manning-Kenney Axis of Paleoconservatism – and by inevitable extension, of Canadian journalism. He probably would not have […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Kenney Government orders Alberta Health Services to drop its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for employees
Alberta Health Services has been ordered by the Kenney Government to drop its policy of requiring health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “At the direction of Alberta’s government, Alberta Health Services will provide all unimmunized physicians and staff the option of temporary frequent COVID-19 testing to ensure the anticipated demand on the health-care […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Adhere to the letter and spirit of guidelines to slow Omicron COVID infections? Not Alberta’s UCP!
“I appeal to all Albertans to reduce their number of contacts by half over the coming weeks, follow the guidelines already in place, and get the vaccine booster as soon as they are eligible,” said Jason Kenney, premier of Alberta and leader of the governing United Conservative Party, way back on Tuesday. Mr. Kenney was […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No more dancing or snooker, but bars can remain open and unvaccinated Albertans are still welcome at house parties
Premier Jason Kenney was back on camera yesterday afternoon to plead with Albertans to hasten to get their third shot of COVID-19 vaccine to blunt the fifth wave of the disease now barrelling into Alberta. If we don’t, he grimly told a news conference theoretically called to announce that any Albertan over 18 may now […]