The Alberta Government and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees both announced yesterday they’ve signed a tentative agreement on a new collective agreement covering the union’s approximately 23,000 members who work directly for the provincial government. This is the group of public employees the union accurately calls “front-line government service employees,” right-wing ideological enemies of […]
Posted inBestsellers
My Sundays with Normand by Adele Fontaine tops Audreys Books Edmonton Bestseller List
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended Aug. 12, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. My Sundays with Normand – Adele Fontaine * 2. This Wound is a World – Billy-Ray […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Doomsayers, Chicken Littles and Conservatives get it wrong on the impact of minimum wage increases
Now there’s a surprise! Ontario’s minimum wage increase behaved exactly as predicted by most mainstream economists. That is, the 21-per-cent wage increase implemented by the former Liberal government that took effect on Jan. 1 this year did none of the terrible things Conservative politicians, right-wing think tankers, Astro-Turf “tax watchdog” organizations, business groups, and the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Shape of the Planet; Both Sides Have a Point* … Alberta’s UCP helps make flat-eartherism respectable again!
Surprisingly, as far as we know, neither Opposition Leader Jason Kenney nor any members of his United Conservative Party Legislative Caucus made it to the Flat Earth International Conference at the appropriately named Fantasyland Hotel in Alberta’s capital city Thursday and yesterday. “Flat-earthers from around North America came to listen to speakers such as Indiana […]
Posted inBestsellers
Billy-Ray Bellcourt’s This Wound is a World returns to top of Audreys Books Edmonton Bestseller List
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended Aug. 8, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. This Wound is a World – Billy-Ray Belcourt * + 2. Relying on that Body – […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Report on Calgary civic election polling failures sharply criticizes Postmedia coverage of ‘radically mistaken’ polls by partner firm
A report by three high-profile academics with expertise in public opinion research who were commissioned to look into polling failures that marred the 2017 Calgary municipal election campaign sharply criticizes the role of the city’s media in covering and sponsoring the polls. Christopher Adams of the University of Manitoba, Paul Adams of Carleton University, and […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
What’s the appropriate response to Riyadh’s diplomatic hysterics? How about reopening our embassy in Tehran?
Is there an appropriate response by Canada to the bizarre events of the last few hours on the diplomatic circuit? It’s not just that Canada’s ambassador has been kicked out of Saudi Arabia for Tweets by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and an official in her department that by no reasonable standard amount to […]
Posted inGeopolitics
Will Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic tantrum provoke a moment of cognitive dissonance for Canada’s ‘ethical oil’ crowd?
Saudi Arabia has given the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to pack his bags and go home because, the Saudi Foreign Ministry complains, Canada is meddling in the internal affairs of the oil-soaked feudal theocracy by expressing concern in Tweets about its arrests of human rights activists, clerics and journalists. Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Rich Larson’s sci-fi thriller Annex tops Audreys Books’ list of Edmonton bestsellers
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended July 29, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. Sorry I was a little slow processing this one this week. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Annex – Rich Larson 2. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The Grande Prairie Hospital saga: PC political motives, terrible planning, and past ministerial meddling haunt project
The battle between Alberta government officials and a Calgary construction company over long delays building a new hospital in Grande Prairie that boiled over this week is more than a mere political he-said/she-said story. There’s a backstory that started the late days of Alberta’s 44-year Tory Dynasty – partly acknowledged earlier this week, interestingly, by […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Respected community advocate and educator Janis Irwin to seek NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Former high school teacher, vice-principal, university lecturer and education curriculum specialist Janis Irwin announced to a packed auditorium of supporters last night she will seek the NDP nomination in the Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood riding. Ms. Irwin will have to forgive me for introducing her this way. Her news release acknowledged her background as an educator, but emphasized […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Sudden closing of polling oversight group could mean Albertans never see report on botched Calgary polls
If you were wondering about that inquiry by the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association into inaccurate polling that marred the October 2017 Calgary civic election, don’t hold your breath. Publication of the inquiry by three panelists engaged by the national standards association for public opinion research companies was expected soon – until the MRIA issued […]