Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government plans to strike a Blue Ribbon Panel on Blue Ribbon Panels. With the global coronavirus pandemic and the worldwide collapse of oil prices, the United Conservative Party Government believes it will need even more “expert panels” to justify potentially unpopular policies it intends to enact, sources say. Former Canadian prime […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Layoffs one day, billion-dollar pipeline giveaways the next — it’s not easy keeping up with the Kenneys!
Keeping up with the Kenneys will make your head spin. Yesterday, the Kenney Government was justifying the layoffs of 26,000 public-sector education workers by claiming there are limits to Alberta’s capacity to borrow during an economic downturn caused by a global pandemic. This morning, it was bragging about creating 6,800 jobs by giving $1.5 billion […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
War Room will return, vows energy minister Sonya Savage, after government slashes propaganda unit’s budget for three months
Is it possible the United Conservative Party has a conscience? I know, I know, this seems highly unlikely. Even if it were true, like the Grinch’s heart, it’s bound to be a shriveled organ, at least two sizes too small. Still, if not a conscience exactly, the temporary winding down of the embarrassment of the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta government makes moves to lay off more public employees — this time provincial public service members
No one should assume Saturday’s mass layoff of 26,000 substitute teachers, teaching assistants and non-essential support staff at schools throughout Alberta is the last such action planned by the United Conservative Party Government as it attempts to game federal pandemic supports. In a bargaining update published this morning by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Never mind the Kenney Government’s ‘Blueprint for Jobs’ — 26,000 jobs gone with the wind in a day
So, make that 26,000 Alberta jobs, gone with the wind! Now that some of the smoke is starting to clear from Premier Jason Kenney’s Saturday Afternoon Massacre of school board jobs, it’s apparent initial estimates by school trustees and union leaders of 20,000 jobs lost were about 30 per cent low. The true number of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No warning, no consultation, UCP yanks school funding using COVID-19 pandemic as excuse, costing 20,000 jobs
Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., Alberta school trustees learned funding was about to be yanked by the provincial government with no notice or discussion with boards. Massive layoffs are expected to result — up to 20,000 substitute teachers, educational assistants, non-essential support staff and bus drivers will all face layoffs immediately. The Kenney Government used […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Tyler Shandro’s epic meltdown reopens the debate about his Venetian blind trust
Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s epic meltdown in front of his neighbour’s home last weekend allows an important debate to be reopened about the appearance of conflict of interest in political families and the weakness of Alberta’s conflict-of-interest legislation with regard to politicians. The United Conservative Party successfully shut down discussion of this problem after it […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Think what we could have accomplished if we’d concentrated on climate change like we’re focusing on COVID-19!
“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully,” observed Samuel Johnson, a great wit of the 18th Century. If you doubt the truth of this aphorism, consider the coverage of the greatest news story of the 21st Century, the arrival on our […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No one should fault Jason Kenney for his Hope Mission photo op — but that N95 mask is another matter
No one should fault Premier Jason Kenney too much for visiting Edmonton’s Hope Mission, having a few photos taken and posting them on social media with an uplifting message about pitching in to fight COVID-19. It’s what politicians of all stripes do, and arguably it’s not a terrible use of their time. It beats sitting […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta Health gives way on docs’ billing for virtual services, but plunges ahead with controversial Babylon app
Bowing to pressure from the Alberta Medical Association and critics of the controversial Babylon “virtual care” app that’s created significant disruption to public health care in the United Kingdom, the United Conservative Party Government agreed yesterday to pay doctors already practicing medicine in Alberta the same rate for online and telephone consultations. That’s another victory […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Running a War Room in the age of coronavirus: Nothing much happening right now
For those of you worried about the prolonged silence from Alberta’s Energy War Room, it turns out the nine-member staff of Canadian Energy Centre Ltd. are just taking a little breather while they figure out what to do next. Back when Jason Kenney was running for his present job as premier of Alberta, he promised […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
If Health Minister Tyler Shandro were smart, he’d walk back that Babylon by Telus deal pronto
This whole Babylon smartphone app partnership between the Alberta government and Telus Corp. is starting to look like a major blunder. If he’s smart, Health Minister Tyler Shandro will recognize he needs to walk back Thursday’s gee-whiz news release announcing the deal with Telus, quickly. Probably the best way for him to do that and […]