Happy Easter 2021! It being Easter Sunday, presumably the flock at GraceLife Church in Parkland County will pack into their pews inside their barn-like rolled-steel worship centre southwest of Edmonton this morning in open defiance of Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions. We can likewise be assured that, for the umpteenth time, polite Alberta Health Services inspectors will […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
What Jason Kenney calls the virus-versus-vaccine race is part of Alberta’s problem fighting COVID-19
According to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s logic, Alberta’s doing a better job of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic than New Zealand. New Zealand, a country with a population roughly the same size as Alberta’s with a similar demographic makeup, is widely considered to be one of the few success stories in the global pandemic. Alberta? […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Peace envoy Rodman reaches out to ‘Hermit Kingdom’ Alberta
Basketball legend and self-appointed diplomat Dennis Rodman is reportedly heading to Alberta in an attempt to quell tensions between the increasingly isolated “Wild Rose Country” and the international community. Sources say the 59-year-old Mr. Rodman – former star of the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks of the […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The punchline to the bad joke that’s Alberta’s new primary school social studies curriculum: Mart Kenney
Alberta’s new social studies curriculum is pretty obviously a bad joke, but at least it’s got an entertaining punch line. To wit: Mart Kenney. Curriculum experts and accredited teachers were shocked by the thoroughly politicized draft curriculum document circulated by Education Minister Adriana LaGrande on Monday. But notwithstanding its ideological bias, cultural chauvinism and amateurish […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Few Albertans are likely to be pleased by the UCP’s ‘jaw-droppingly misguided’ K-6 social studies curriculum
Wherever one may fall on the question of traditional arithmetic versus the kinds of new math that frustrate many parents or the value of phonetics over other ways to learn to read, there’s not much chance many Albertans will be pleased with the changes to the kindergarten to Grade 6 social studies curriculum introduced by […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
On the anniversary of his death, we come to bury Ralph Klein, not to praise him – but just the same the man had his moments
Today marks the eighth anniversary of the death of Ralph Klein, so we can expect Conservatives in media, social and otherwise, to strive mightily today to outdo one another with improbable panegyrics to the man. The memory of Mr. Klein, who was premier from Dec. 14, 1992, to Dec. 14, 2006, is bound to be […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP gobsmacked by widely anticipated Supreme Court ruling – Jason Kenney: No Plan, No Way!
According to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, he was so sure his government would win its challenge of the federal government’s carbon-mitigation law that he never gave it a second thought, let alone plan what to do if the Supreme Court of Canada thought otherwise. Gee, it just seemed like a sure thing, the premier explained […]
Posted inBestsellers
Joshua Whitehead’s Jonny Appleseed tops Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller list for week ended March 21
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, March 21, 2021. The lists are compiled by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and include sales at Audreys Books in Edmonton and Glass Bookshop in Edmonton. ALBERTA FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Jonny Appleseed – Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Supreme Court settles the carbon pricing matter in Ottawa’s favour – and maybe a lot more than that
Canadians worried about the survival of the country had cause for relief yesterday morning with news the Supreme Court of Canada had ruled 6-3 the federal government is entitled to impose a national carbon-pollution pricing system – in other words, to act like the government of Canada. Had the court done what a cabal of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Former PC MLA Mike Allen, a man with a controversial past, to seek mayor’s office in Fort McMurray
Former Progressive Conservative MLA Mike Allen, a man who’s been the subject of some interesting stories in recent Alberta political history, announced Tuesday he plans to run for mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which in practical terms means mayor of Fort McMurray. Nowadays, the former music store owner is a councillor on […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The short, unhappy reign of Alison Redford nevertheless showed a better Alberta was possible – and still is
Seven years ago today, Alison Redford resigned as premier of Alberta. Her rise and fall were swift. Unexpectedly chosen to replace the departing Progressive Conservative premier, Ed Stelmach, in the wee hours of Oct. 2, 2011, she was sworn in six days later. She survived an election the PCs had been thought likely to lose […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Facing stark choice on COVID-19 response, Alberta delays third phase of reopening plan and blames Ottawa for all its troubles
Cornered by an upswing in the rate of COVID-19 cases and a frightening rise in cases of the more infectious B117 variant, Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government was forced yesterday to shelve its plan to move immediately into the third phase of its reopening. Under the circumstances, a return to even stricter measures to control […]