Even real conservatives, if such a species exists anymore, know something’s gone awry with Alberta’s fiscal setup and that part of the solution’s on the revenue side. The fact we’ve not faced up to this is why Alberta is so vulnerable to the unavoidable volatility of the fossil fuel market. Now our new United Conservative […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
‘Inauthentic activity’ on social media, abuse of progressive women in politics … is there a common thread here?
Is there a common thread running between reports Friday that a spike in “inauthentic activity” on social media just before the Alberta provincial election came from unidentified backers of the United Conservative Party and news stories Saturday about harassment of federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna? It would be impossible to make an […]
Posted inBestsellers
Billy-Ray Belcourt’s NDN Coping Mechanisms tops Audreys Books Edmonton Fiction Bestseller List
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton during the week ended Sept. 1, 2019. The lists are compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field – Billy-Ray Belcourt * 2. A Better Man – […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta schools are public no more … What gives?
Alberta schools are public no more. Or something. A ministerial order signed by Education Minister Adriana LaGrange on Aug. 15 eliminated the word “public” from the legal title of all public school divisions and boards in Alberta. What’s going on? That’s not immediately clear, but given Premier Jason Kenney’s promises to support private schools with […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
‘Blue-Ribbon Panel’ report sets stage for full-blown austerity, private health care, soaring tuition and much more
The recommendations of the Kenney Government’s “blue-ribbon panel” on Alberta’s finances yesterday went further over the top than you’d even have expected from a report ginned up by a couple of Fraser Institute ringers, a former bank president, and a few additional followers of the government’s low-tax, market-fundamentalist ideology. As anticipated, the report called for […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Happy Labour Day, Alberta Day, or whatever … brace yourself for unpleasantness tomorrow!
Happy Labour Day! Given the occasion, it’s mildly surprising Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government didn’t use today to announce the “findings” of its “blue-ribbon” panel’s “deep dive” into the state of the province’s finances. The idea of poking a stick in the eye of unionized public employees on Labour Day must have been tempting to […]
Posted inGeopolitics
Why Canadian media won’t call post-Brexit protests ‘pro-democracy demonstrations’
If there are riots in Britain after the hard Brexit Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party cronies have scheduled for Halloween, will mainstream media in Canada describe them as “pro-democracy demonstrations” as they do when similar violent outbursts take place nowadays in Hong Kong or Moscow? On the face of it, there would […]
Posted inGeopolitics
Calling Peter MacKay! Could you remind us what we were fighting for in Afghanistan again?
Peter MacKay, former Harper Government defence minister and one of the dimmer candles to cast his flickering light on Canadian affairs, turns out to have been a prophet after all! Who would have guessed? Back in 2008, when Canada’s role in the long war in Afghanistan had grown considerably in its cost and toll, Mr. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Never mind sparse facts in Alberta’s first-quarter financial update, its subtext is deep cuts are coming soon
The United Conservative Party Government led by Jason Kenney wants deep cuts, and, by God, it’s going to have them. That includes tax cuts, which will drive the province’s books deeper into the red, and cuts to services to help pay for the tax breaks. If the facts, such as they are known, suggest this […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Andrew Weaver to Jason Kenney: ‘Every day you keep opening your mouth, more people come to the B.C. Greens!’
When it comes to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Andrew Weaver is not a fan. This will not come as a complete surprise to anyone who follows either Alberta or British Columbia politics. Dr. Weaver, after all, is the leader of the B.C. Greens. He is also a climate scientist. In some circles, either of those […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
It was a delight to talk with Andrew Weaver about Jason Kenney, details to follow soon
VICTORIA, B.C. — If Jason Kenney’s ears were burning today, perhaps it was because of what Andrew Weaver had to say about him. Mr. Kenney, as all readers of this blog should know as part of the price of admission, is now premier of Alberta; Dr. Weaver is the leader of British Columbia’s Green Party, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP slaps Alberta Teachers Association … probably not for the last time
Almost completely missed in media coverage of Friday’s purge of NDP appointees to agencies, boards and commissions by Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government was the revelation that the same day the government abruptly cancelled a three-year-old memorandum of agreement with the Alberta Teachers Association to co-operate on curriculum development. While all eyes were on the […]