Jason Kenney did not seem pleased when the first reporter to ask a question at his June 18 news conference on his COVID-19 reopening plans raised the topic of offensive commentary about residential schools by the Alberta premier’s favourite curriculum advisor, Christian P. Champion. Dr. Champion, a PhD historian who worked as Mr. Kenney’s political […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta ‘public inquiry’ saga takes another confusing turn – but whatever’s going on, it’s a secret
Has Steve Allan finally gotten around to starting work looking into whether that supposed environmental conspiracy that became an issue during the 2019 Alberta election campaign is an actual thing? Or what? Late last week, Albertans learned the forensic accountant from Calgary who leads the so-called Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns had notified 40 […]
Posted inBestsellers
Brother by David Chariandy tops Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller list for week ended June 13
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, June 13, 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. Brother – David Chariandy (McClelland & […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Mission accomplished? Jason Kenney rolls the dice again on a swift reopening
Never mind the obvious risk or his expensive and expansive record of bad bets, Jason Kenney rolled the dice again yesterday on Alberta’s pandemic reopening. Delta variant or no variant, Alberta will be pulling the plug on almost all COVID-19 restrictions on July 1, Mr. Kenney confirmed yesterday – you can’t really call it an […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Lotto Vaxx to include Mexican vacation prizes as bid to woo vaccine-hesitant UCP supporters nears peak irony
If “the Open for Summer Lottery is a once-in-a-lifetime response to a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic,” as Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro put it in a news release about vacation package prizes for Albertans willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, what does that make Premier Jason Kenney’s $1.3-billion giveaway to TC Energy? It’s rude of me to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Never mind the evidence, Jason Kenney insists he never called for a niqab ban in his Ottawa days
“I’ve always said that Canada is a country that protects and respects religious freedom and pluralism, and the government has no business regulating what people wear…” — Jason Kenney, yesterday. “Whaaat?” — Everybody else, also yesterday. Is Jason Kenney’s constant gaslighting getting worse? Or were we just not paying sufficient attention when the man was […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Lotto Vaxx: Can the Kenney Government give away cash money without seriously messing up?
As a purely cynical effort to distract voters from the many failings of the Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government, it would be hard to top the decision announced yesterday to give away the first of three $1-million vaccination lottery prizes on the day the province drops most of its COVID-19 restrictions. Better, the Kenney Government’s […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
How the Kenney Government could push us back into another wave of COVID in the name of reopening
Will the Kenney Government lose interest in its vaccination campaign the instant Premier Jason Kenney’s arbitrary 70-per-cent vaccination threshold for allowing the Calgary Stampede to open is met? If past behaviour is a guide, this seems quite possible. Once Alberta has hit a first-dose vaccination rate of 70 per cent – we were at 67.8 […]
Posted inBestsellers
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good is Alberta Independent Bookshops’ fiction bestseller for week ended June 6
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, June 6, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. Michelle Good, author of the bestselling fiction title this week, […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
About that cash lottery idea for Albertans who sign up to get their COVID-19 jabs – cognitive dissonance, anyone?
It sort of makes sense that a fellow who gambled away $1.3 billion of other people’s money on the U.S. presidential horserace last summer would like the idea of a lottery to get vaccine skeptical Albertans to roll up their sleeves for a COVID-19 jab in sufficient numbers to justify opening the Calgary Stampede next […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Keystone XL, the pipeline that just keeps dying, officially pronounced dead
Keystone XL, the pipeline that just keeps dying over and over again, was officially pronounced dead yesterday. After TC Energy Corp. issued a statement saying it was walking away for good from the project that has obviously been doomed for months, the U.S. business press declared the pipedream of successive Alberta and Canadian governments deader […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Worst news conference ever? Jason Kenney apologizes for Sky Palace patio party, touts silly equalization referendum
The rebellion that now has United Conservative Party Premier Jason Kenney looking as if his career is on the ropes is strongly reminiscent of the circumstances that brought Progressive Conservative Party premier Alison Redford’s political career to an end in 2014. Ironically, both feature the “Sky Palace” as a powerful symbol of a premier’s arrogance, […]