“Alberta’s Legislature removed the power of mandatory vaccination from the Public Health Act last year and will not revisit that decision, period,” Premier Jason Kenney tweeted yesterday. Just in case any Albertans were in doubt about what he really meant, about an hour later Brock Harrison, Mr. Kenney’s communications director, tweeted the same sentiment. “Not […]
Posted inBestsellers
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig tops Independent bookshops’ Alberta Fiction Bestseller List for week ended Jan. 2
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
If only Alberta had an institution that could support students forced to learn at home – like it did until 2020
With this pandemic disrupting education in Alberta, if only we’d had an institution that could have supported students forced to learn at home, help their parents, and provide digital curriculum resources province-wide! We did, of course. Before it was closed by the United Conservative Party, it was known as the Alberta Distance Learning Centre. The […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Private Edmonton university sees the first faculty strike in Alberta history – it likely won’t be the last
With labour disputes looming at three Alberta public universities, it came as a surprise when the faculty association at a small private university in Edmonton became the first in the province’s history to walk off the job in a legal strike. But at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, some of the 82 full-time professors, librarians, lab […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney holds a news conference about nothing – the rest of us are just going to have to suck it up!
Jason Kenney held a news conference about nothing yesterday. Alberta’s premier said he’s “very determined” there will be no additional delays and schools will reopen as planned on Monday, the continued rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 notwithstanding. It doesn’t sound as if much has been done to make schools safer, so teachers […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Don’t imagine UCP’s Eastern Slopes coal mining plans have gone away – Jason Kenney still has his eyes on that prize
The plan to approve coal developments on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains is another thing that remains on the United Conservative Party’s agenda – if not for 2022, at least for some point in the future after the 2023 election is out of the way. This is another tidbit that can be prised […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Spinning delay as a favour to teachers and a response to COVID, Kenney indicates he’ll press on with controversial curriculum
The way Jason Kenney told the story, Alberta parents and teachers would like his United Conservative Party government to “go a bit slower” rolling out the new primary school curriculum it introduced in late March to widespread opposition. To those who have been following the controversy created by the curriculum dreamed up by Alberta’s premier, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
A New Year’s message from the author: Please consider signing up for my weekly email roundup of posts
As regular readers of AlbertaPolitics.ca know, there are a lot of posts on this blog, generally divided into three general topic areas: Alberta politics, Canadian politics, and geopolitics. It’s my blog, and I always said that I’d write about topics that interested me, and I wouldn’t necessarily write about topics on which other people are […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Happy New Year! COVID, Conservatives and Kenney end 2021 on an ominous note
It would be an exaggeration to say 2021 is ending on an apocalyptic note in Alberta, or even a chaotic one, but it feels ominously as if the boat we’re in is drifting toward the falls with no one looking for the paddle. If our United Conservative Government had plans for dealing with the next […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Reports on controversial coal mining plans received, says Alberta energy minister, providing little additional information
Midpoint between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage yesterday issued an 85-word statement saying the government’s Coal Policy Committee has submitted its final report and recommendations on Alberta’s long-term approach to coal mining. In addition, the five-member committee chaired by National Energy Board member Ron Wallace submitted another report on […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No plan? Expectation of mass Omicron infection, reduced access to PCR tests, dominate Alberta COVID-19 update
Reading between the lines of remarks by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw at yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing, it seems evident they have reached a point where they no longer have a plan for the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The disturbing thing about that, of course, is that no plan is […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Marking the 15th year of AlbertaPolitics.ca, which begins today, here’s a list the Top Ten UCP Scandals of 2021
With less than 48 hours to go until Christmas Day, I predicted on Dec. 23 that the UCP’s Edmonton pandemic party at the Parlour Restaurant two and a half hours after Premier Jason Kenney instructed Albertans to cut their social contacts in half to slow the spread of the Omicron variant would be his party’s […]