PHOTOS: Alberta politicians Deron Bilous, Jason Kenney, Derek Fildebrandt and Thomas Lukaszuk, all from the author’s vast collection of snapshots. Trigger warning! This dispatch from the Annals of Political Discourse in Alberta contains words unsuitable for sensitive and young readers. For a more fulsome discussion of why they are included anyway, read this chapter from […]
Posted inBestsellers
Welcome to the Anthropocene, Alice Major’s collection of poetry, tops Audreys Books’ fiction bestsellers this week
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended March 11, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Welcome to the Anthropocene – Alice Major * + 2. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows – […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Climate change, climate denial and climate ironies in the wake of Alberta Legislature’s pipeline demand vote
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Below: Soon-to-retire Alberta Liberal MLA and former party leader David Swann, Shannon Daub of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and United Conservative Party MLAs Grant Hunter, Drew Barnes and Rick Strankman. Happy Ides of March. On Tuesday, the Alberta Legislature passed a motion declaring the support of everyone there […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Who saw Donald Trump coming? Not Simon Reisman, that’s for sure, but maybe Ed Broadbent and John Turner
PHOTOS: Simon Reisman’s business card. Below: Mr. Reisman, chief Canadian negotiator of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in a screenshot of a blurry CBC archival broadcast; a recent shot of Brian Mulroney (Photo: Mike Feraco); Toronto Star political columnist Thomas Walkom; and lobbyist Robin Sears. Circa 1986, I recognized Simon Reisman one afternoon on a […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney find common ground, sort of … on dubious pipeline posturing
PHOTOS: Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain Pipeline. (Photo: Handout from Kinder Morgan Canada.) Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney, U of A economist Andrew Leach, and British Columbia Premier John Horgan. I guess we can understand why Jason Kenney acts like Alberta has all the powers of a sovereign nation. After all, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Unity at all costs? Ontario PC choice of Doug Ford as leader shows need for principled conservative division
PHOTOS: Doug Ford in 2014 (Photo: Bruce Reeve, Creative Commons). Below: Toronto’s calamitous mayor Rob Ford, who died in 2016; second-place Ontario PC candidate Christine Elliott, who has not yet conceded the victory to Doug Ford; Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney; and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Photos: All from the Wikimedia Commons but for the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s NDP borrowed more than export-cut threats from Peter Lougheed for yesterday’s Throne Speech
PHOTOS: Premier Rachel Notley speaks with well wishers in the Alberta Legislature Rotunda yesterday after her government’s Speech from the Throne was read by Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell. Below: Finance Minister Joe Ceci, Ms. Mitchell and Premier Peter Lougheed, back in the day. (Mitchell and Lougheed photos: Government of Alberta.) Understandably given the nature of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
It’s all about Derek (2018, dark comedy) – ‘politics is full of bullshit’ … at least when nothing’s going your way
HOTOS: Independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt at the moment yesterday when he declared “politics is full of bullshit.” (Photo: Screenshot of CBC’s broadcast of the news conference.) Below: United Conservative Party Deputy Leader Leela Aheer, who, unlike Mr. Fildebrandt, probably has a future in politics, and the man who sent him into political exile, UCP Leader […]
Posted inBestsellers
Crying for the Moon by Mary Walsh leads Audreys Books Edmonton Bestseller List this week
Here is the list of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton for the week ended March 4, 2018, compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Crying for the Moon – Mary Walsh 2. Welcome to the Anthropocene – Alice Major * […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Is rural crime actually getting worse in Alberta? What we know and what we don’t
PHOTOS: Unlike these guys, real RCMP officers cost money to train, pay and outfit. When he promised many more of them to rural Alberta, Jason Kenney didn’t explain how he proposes to pay the freight. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons.) Below: Mr. Kenney and Postmedia political columnists Don Braid, Rick Bell and Licia Corbella. We can say […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Brian Jean, former Opposition leader and unsuccessful contender to lead United Conservative Party, quits Alberta politics
PHOTOS: Brian Jean, when he was still running for the leadership of the United Conservative Party in 2017. Below: Mr. Jean feeling the love during the race to lead the UCP, and as he would probably like his political career to be remembered. (The second and third photos were grabbed from Mr. Jean’s Facebook page.) […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP leader says he’s opposed to more safe-drug-consumption clinics – but what does he favour to address opioid crisis?
PHOTOS: United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney in a typical pose. He said in Lethbridge last week he’s opposed to harm-reduction efforts like supervised injection sites to deal with the opioid crisis. But what does he support? Below: Mr. Kenney’s brother David Kenney (Photo: Once posted on LinkedIn); NDP Banff-Cochrane MLA Cameron Westhead; and former […]