Question: What is Erin O’Toole supposed to do now that we all know 54 per cent of the delegates to his online Conservative Party of Canada policy convention have formally refused to acknowledge climate change is an actual thing? Answer: Pretend it never happened, of course. If that doesn’t work, he can beg the party’s […]
Posted inGeopolitics
Do we have a prime minister or a mouse? Canada doesn’t need U.S. permission to call China and bring the Two Michaels home
It appears China has thrown Canada an unexpected lifeline, offering us a chance to redeem our relationship with the world’s No. 2 economy and save the Two Michaels. Is Justin Trudeau up to the challenge? On Friday, the Chinese government put Michael Spavor on trial for espionage in Dandong on the country’s eastern border, where […]
Posted inBestsellers
Return of the Trickster by Eden Robinson tops independent bookshops’ Alberta fiction bestsellers for week ended March 14
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 14, 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. Return of the Trickster – Eden […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Another poll shows Alberta’s NDP ahead of the faltering United Conservative Party
A new Viewpoint Alberta poll released yesterday shows the Alberta NDP leading the United Conservative Party strongly and, significantly, suggests the New Democrats are picking up support directly from disillusioned UCP voters. The joint project of the University of Alberta and University of Saskatchewan shows support for the Alberta NDP at 39.1 per cent province-wide, […]
Posted inGeopolitics
Canada has only a few hours to play the only decent card it holds to free the Two Michaels – but that would take courage
News media reported yesterday China has announced the espionage trials of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig will go ahead swiftly this week and next, leaving official Canada with only a few hours to play the only decent card it holds to free the unfortunate pair. Unhappily for the Two Michaels, as Mr. Spavor and Mr. […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Jason Kenney doubles down on the War Room’s War on Bigfoot Family; also mentions ‘citizen initiative’ bill
The United Conservative Party Caucus is going to be busy now that Premier Jason Kenney has doubled down on the Alberta Energy War Room’s plan to review animated kids’ movies. After all, the entertainment industry hasn’t done a positive take on the oil industry since the Beverly Hillbillies TV sitcom, which between 1962 and 1971 […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Recall bill’s bar is so high, no MLA needs to lose sleep, but municipal provisions of Bill 52 have potential for mischief
Laws that let voters recall representatives with whom they’ve grown dissatisfied have an undeniable appeal, even as they threaten to unleash constitutional mayhem and make some jurisdictions all but ungovernable. So it was one thing for Jason Kenney to promise to implement this hardy perennial of Alberta’s aspirational politics when his new United Conservative Party […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The Ides of March: an appropriate moment to mark the end of Alison Redford’s Conservative leadership seven years ago
Today is the seventh anniversary of the day the Progressive Conservative Party Caucus in the Alberta Legislature gave its leader and premier, Alison Redford, a “work plan” to get her foundering government back on track, or else. Four days later Ms. Redford formally announced her resignation and by March 23 she was gone, replaced by […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Three-term public school trustee Michael Janz to seek Edmonton City Council seat, wants fair deal for Alberta’s capital city
While rural and small-town Alberta, traditionally the Conservative electoral heartland, are finding ways to put pressure on Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party, the province’s big cities seem to have concluded discretion is the better part of valour. Former Edmonton Public School trustee Michael Janz, who filed his candidacy papers for Edmonton City Council in […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The world takes aim at fossil fuels while Alberta, Canada, takes aim at Bigfoot cartoon*
History repeats itself, Karl Marx famously observed, first as tragedy, second as farce. Well, not always. Alberta’s notorious Energy War Room, fortunately, seems to have skipped the tragedy phase and moved directly to farce. With the War Room staff’s unintentionally hilarious decision last week to launch a petition attacking a Netflix cartoon movie called Bigfoot […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Two bad polls in one day for Alberta’s UCP don’t tell us what will happen in 2023, but suggest some interesting possibilities
Two bad new polls in one day for the United Conservative Party do not guarantee NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley will return to power in 2023 or that we will soon see the back of Premier Jason Kenney. Still, they suggest some interesting possibilities. The online survey of 1,001 Albertans by Léger reported yesterday shows […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
The Vanishing half by Brit Bennett leads Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller list for week ended March 7
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 7, 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. The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett […]