Get ready for the new two-tier medicine! Real doctors for the rich; Internet apps of the rest of us. You think I’m kidding? Wednesday night, I found an email in my inbox from Telus Corp., the corporate monstrosity based in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby that was once two excellent publicly owned utilities in British […]
Posted inBestsellers
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel tops independent Alberta 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, March 15, 2020. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books in Edmonton and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. The […]
Posted inGeopolitics
The coronavirus pandemic: Not good news for anyone, but probably worse news for the West than China
The novel coronavirus hit China first. Today was the first day China reported no new local infections since the global pandemic officially began in Hubei province in the fall of 2019. No new local infections means that while there were 34 cases reported in China in the previous 24 hours, all could be traced back […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Bill Morneau’s COVID-19 response: This economic and health crisis is no time for timidity or hesitation
According to Bill Morneau, “as Minister of Finance, my only job is to make sure that Canadians can keep food in the fridge.” That’s actually a rare useful thought for a federal finance minister to keep front of mind in calamitous circumstances like the present ones. It’s also a hopeful sign that Prime Minister Justin […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
With COVID-19 in Alberta, Health Minister Tyler Shandro caves to docs on ‘complex billing’ battle
As Lyndon B. Johnson famously explained, in politics, chicken poop can turn over night into chicken salad. Those weren’t exactly the words used by the late United States Senator from Texas, Senate Majority Leader, Vice-President and then, in tragic circumstances after Nov. 22, 1963, Democratic Party President of the United States. But they’re close enough […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta COVID-19 cases rise to 74; UCP to push budget through; Jason Kenney visits the airport
Faced with the embarrassment of having to rewrite Alberta’s budget to acknowledge economic reality and public health necessity in the midst of a global pandemic or stick with one that fails to meet even that low bar and sets the stage for a attacks on public health care in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Community transmission of COVID-19 seen in Alberta; all classes cancelled; no layoffs of health workers — for now
Community transmission of COVID-19 is now taking place in Alberta as numbers of cases grew by 17 over the past 24 hours to 56, Premier Jason Kenney told the province’s daily briefing on the local spread of the global pandemic today. Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw said seven new infections happened at a […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Can Jason Kenney pass the UCP budget, prorogue the Legislature, and get out of town before COVID-19 really hits the fan?
Beware the Ides of March! It’ll be interesting to see if Premier Jason Kenney can find a way to pass his budget, prorogue the Legislature, and get the heck outta Dodge before the really bad stuff from the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival in Alberta starts to hit the fan. On Friday, as we know thanks to […]
Posted inBestsellers
Son of a Trickster by Indigenous author Eden Robinson tops independent Alberta bookstores’ bestseller list
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, March 8, 2020. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books in Edmonton and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Son […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Coronavirus pandemic? What a peculiar time for the health minister to pursue a fight with Alberta’s physicians
Hey! It’s Friday the 13th in the age of the coronavirus. Are you feeling lucky? Apparently Tyler Shandro and Tara Jago are. Leastways, Alberta’s heath minister and his “issues manager” were yesterday when, global coronavirus pandemic and all that stuff notwithstanding, they were busy on social media yelling at Alberta’s physicians and their supporters for […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
It’s almost as if the new coronavirus has evolved to exploit the vulnerabilities of the modern neoliberal state
“The risk to Albertans is still low,” the Government of Alberta’s official website soothingly assured us yesterday afternoon, the day the World Health Organization officially declared the effects of the coronavirus swiftly coursing ’round the globe to be a pandemic. This may reassure some of us. Others, not so much. Yesterday afternoon, Alberta had 19 […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Report forecasts future of Alberta’s oilsands as more production, fewer jobs, and less spending
Thanks to technological advances and modular facilities, leading oilsands companies are increasing bitumen production while cutting the numbers of people they employ and spending less money, says a new Corporate Mapping Project report published this morning by the Parkland Institute. More than 34,000 oil and gas workers in Alberta have lost their jobs since the […]