Who says Albertans don’t have influence in Confederation? Jason Kenney proved once again Wednesday that an Alberta political leader, just by calling a news conference and speaking a few words, can single-handedly influence the course of a federal election! One imagines, though, Alberta’s premier would have preferred not to have influenced the 2021 federal election […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Kenney, declaring public health emergency, to Alberta: ‘I apologize … I don’t apologize!’
The richest, most self-righteous province in Confederation has been forced to go cap in hand to other provinces to beg for beds in which to park our sick vaccine refuseniks and health care workers to travel here and help us keep our hospitals open. Thanks, Kenney! It wasn’t Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, of course, who […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Jason Kenney’s rotten record of COVID chaos has finally become an issue in the federal election
So it’s come to this: Jason Kenney has become an issue in the federal election. All that effort keeping his head down for all but a couple of days over the past five weeks while Alberta’s health care system appeared to fall apart, and here we are. Canadians are going to have to pay attention […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Talk of cabinet split over vaccine passports sparks buzz in Alberta government circles
Has the parlous state of Alberta’s health care system, said to be on the verge of collapse as the fourth wave of COVID-19 rampages through the province, opened a serious rift in the United Conservative Party cabinet? With Premier Jason Kenney missing in action for 33 of the past 35 days, Alberta intensive care units […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Alberta’s ‘Energy War Room’ appears to be operating in defiance of the Canada Elections Act
Alberta’s “Energy War Room” appears to be continuing to operate in defiance of Canada’s election laws, campaigning against positions clearly identified with a Canadian political party without registering as an election third party. Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart argued recently in a tweet thread that the War Room, legally known as Canadian Energy […]
Posted inBestsellers
Of Mice and Men, classic American novel by John Steinbeck, tops independent bookshops’ bestseller list this week
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. As I have observed in this space before, one of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Bafflegab aplenty but few answers for Albertans at Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s COVID-19 news conference
Albertans are dying, yet the Kenney Government is paralyzed, a deer caught in the headlights. Alberta is in crisis. Hammered by the fourth wave of the pandemic, our health care system appears to be on the verge of collapse. All elective surgeries in Calgary have been cancelled. The province leads the country with new and […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Kenney Government suddenly backs away from long-brewing big battles with nurses and teachers
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has suddenly retreated from controversial battles with nurses and teachers that were a priority for Premier Jason Kenney and his inner circle almost since their election in the spring on 2019. Over the Labour Day weekend, a representative of the Alberta Health Services bargaining committee contacted the United Nurses of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s on the rise! And so are COVID-19, hospitalizations and ICU admissions
It seems appropriate that the United Conservative Party has chosen “Alberta on the rise” as the theme of its 2021 annual general meeting in November. “Alberta is OPEN! Come join us in person for the AGM this fall,” the UCP’s convention website pleads. (Emphasis added.) Call the UCP tone deaf if you like, but as […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Yippee-ki-yay! Kenney Government exempts weekend rodeos from a feeble COVID-19 rule
Friday’s jaw-dropping “Kenney Pennies” announcement may have included a few feeble temporary measures to slow surging COVID-19 infection rates and ease the strain on the fraying health care system, but it took less than 24 hours for word to leak the Alberta government has created special exemptions for rodeos. So while as of yesterday restaurants, […]
Posted inBestsellers
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny leads Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller list for week ended Aug. 29
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. 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 Madness of Crowds – Louise […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s ‘Kenney Pennies’ scheme to motivate vaccine-hesitant holdouts earns instant, visceral, near-universal derision
Everybody hates a freeloader. This is a universal law of human nature. So while it’s true evidence suggests “vaccine passports” would be more effective at getting vaccination-hesitant Albertans to do the right thing than Jason Kenney’s scheme to give $100 gift cards to dim-witted holdouts if they agree to get a jab, that’s not why […]