Has the parlous state of Alberta’s health care system, said to be on the verge of collapse as the fourth wave of COVID-19 rampages through the province, opened a serious rift in the United Conservative Party cabinet? With Premier Jason Kenney missing in action for 33 of the past 35 days, Alberta intensive care units […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Alberta’s ‘Energy War Room’ appears to be operating in defiance of the Canada Elections Act
Alberta’s “Energy War Room” appears to be continuing to operate in defiance of Canada’s election laws, campaigning against positions clearly identified with a Canadian political party without registering as an election third party. Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart argued recently in a tweet thread that the War Room, legally known as Canadian Energy […]
Posted inBestsellers
Of Mice and Men, classic American novel by John Steinbeck, tops independent 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, Sept. 5, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. As I have observed in this space before, one of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Bafflegab aplenty but few answers for Albertans at Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s COVID-19 news conference
Albertans are dying, yet the Kenney Government is paralyzed, a deer caught in the headlights. Alberta is in crisis. Hammered by the fourth wave of the pandemic, our health care system appears to be on the verge of collapse. All elective surgeries in Calgary have been cancelled. The province leads the country with new and […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Kenney Government suddenly backs away from long-brewing big battles with nurses and teachers
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has suddenly retreated from controversial battles with nurses and teachers that were a priority for Premier Jason Kenney and his inner circle almost since their election in the spring on 2019. Over the Labour Day weekend, a representative of the Alberta Health Services bargaining committee contacted the United Nurses of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s on the rise! And so are COVID-19, hospitalizations and ICU admissions
It seems appropriate that the United Conservative Party has chosen “Alberta on the rise” as the theme of its 2021 annual general meeting in November. “Alberta is OPEN! Come join us in person for the AGM this fall,” the UCP’s convention website pleads. (Emphasis added.) Call the UCP tone deaf if you like, but as […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Yippee-ki-yay! Kenney Government exempts weekend rodeos from a feeble COVID-19 rule
Friday’s jaw-dropping “Kenney Pennies” announcement may have included a few feeble temporary measures to slow surging COVID-19 infection rates and ease the strain on the fraying health care system, but it took less than 24 hours for word to leak the Alberta government has created special exemptions for rodeos. So while as of yesterday restaurants, […]
Posted inBestsellers
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny leads Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller list for week ended Aug. 29
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. 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 Madness of Crowds – Louise […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s ‘Kenney Pennies’ scheme to motivate vaccine-hesitant holdouts earns instant, visceral, near-universal derision
Everybody hates a freeloader. This is a universal law of human nature. So while it’s true evidence suggests “vaccine passports” would be more effective at getting vaccination-hesitant Albertans to do the right thing than Jason Kenney’s scheme to give $100 gift cards to dim-witted holdouts if they agree to get a jab, that’s not why […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The UCP says they aren’t, but here’s why vaccine passports are coming to Alberta
Vaccine passports are coming to Alberta. Not just yet, but they’ll be along soon enough. Not because they make sense. Opposition Leader Rachel Notley laid out that case pretty clearly yesterday: during a pandemic like the fourth wave of COVID-19 now battering our province, they can protect people, hospitals and the provincial economy. “By providing […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No media welcome: Jason Kenney reappears, virtually, answering curated questions via Facebook Live
Having been spotted out for shawarma in Calgary Tuesday night, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney cautiously emerged back into the artificial light of political life yesterday. Rather than making an actual public appearance and risking having to answer rude questions by the province’s media, uncharacteristically uncooperative after Mr. Kenney’s two-week vacation ran to 23 days during […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Missing premier reported sighted in Calgary – if it’s really Jason Kenney, he’s got some ’splainin’ to do!
After managing to stay completely off the radar for a two-week vacation that stretched to at least 23 days, there was a credible sounding Jason Kenney sighting in Calgary last night. If the man spotted at a southeast Calgary shawarma restaurant while a dark SUV full of bodyguards idled nearby really was Alberta’s elusive premier, […]