Throughout the pandemic, Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s War on Doctors has been held up as an example of what a government ought not to do in the midst of a pandemic when front-line medical workers of all sorts are risking their lives to keep us safe and well. Yesterday, though, the United Conservative Party […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
UCP explains away Jason Kenney’s lost $1.3-billion KXL gamble by lumping it into ‘historic’ infrastructure budget
If you’ve been wondering how the United Conservative Party Government would explain that $1.3 billion gifted for nothing to TC Energy Corp. as a result of Premier Jason Kenney’s foolish bet Donald Trump would win last November’s U.S. presidential election, you need wonder no more. They’ve lumped it into the “the largest infrastructure budget to […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
ASIRT won’t do to investigate Lethbridge Police spying on NDP MLA; a judicial inquiry is required
ASIRT may be an OK place to start the investigation into the concerted effort by the Lethbridge Police Service to spy on Shannon Phillips, a local woman who just happened to be the environment minister in the NDP Government that led Alberta from 2015 to 2019. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is the investigative […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Yes, there’s trouble in Kenneyland – but not yet the kind Alberta’s unlikable Conservative premier can’t survive
It’s obvious there’s trouble in Kenneyland. But is there enough trouble to unseat Alberta’s suddenly unpopular premier? There’s certainly plenty of buzz about that on social media these days. The chitchat about Premier Jason Kenney’s difficulties with his own United Conservative Party Caucus, especially the rebellious former Wildrosers in the ranks, is almost deafening. You […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Women’s employment rates in Alberta return to levels not seen since the Eighties – the reaction? Crickets
Remember all the hand-wringing back in 2018 and 2019 when unemployment for young men in Alberta hit 20 per cent? “It is so stark: Young men left behind in Alberta’s recovery amid ‘male-dominated recession’” — Financial Post “Legions of young Alberta men are unemployed and feel ostracized. What could go wrong?” — the Globe and […]
Posted inBestsellers
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig remains atop independent bookshops’ Alberta bestseller list for week ended Feb. 28
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Feb. 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. I suppose there are a couple of grounds for wondering […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Amid pandemic chaos, CFNU President Linda Silas ends bid to lead Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas, an engaging and articulate public voice for a national drug insurance plan, enhanced public health care, and the rights of all working people, said yesterday she is ending her campaign to lead the Canadian Labour Congress. The global pandemic has upset a lot of plans and it […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Alberta MP launches petition to make House of Commons stop calling assault rifles assault rifles
It is an actual fact that Alberta MP David Yurdiga launched a petition yesterday calling on the House of Commons to stop using the term “assault rifle” to describe assault rifles. Mr. Yurdiga is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, naturally. He was elected to the House of Commons in 2014 and has […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
No fiscal reckoning for health care – just yet, anyway – Alberta premier tells largely news-free news conference
O Budget, where is thy fiscal sting? O Premier, where is thy fiscal victory? From 2016, when he first cast his eyes on Alberta provincial politics, until a few weeks ago when his polls slipped into the basement, the words “fiscal discipline” and “fiscal reckoning” were often on Premier Jason Kenney’s lips. The first was […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Casino capitalism comes to newspapers and it sure looks like the dealin’s done!
Newspapering was a great career, fun and pretty well paid too, once upon a time. I’m pretty sure, though, that the whole daily newspaper thing is really closing in on the end of the line now. Evidence? The day before yesterday, the Tyee reported that both the Torstar Corp. and Postmedia Inc. newspaper chains knew […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Ty Lund, 23-year PC MLA and holder of four cabinet portfolios, dead at 82
Ty Lund, one of the hardy perennials of the Progressive Conservative Dynasty who served six terms as MLA for Rocky Mountain House, has died at 82. Mr. Lund was born in the west-central Alberta town about 50 kilometres west of Red Deer on the last day of March in 1938, near where his family had […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
University of Alberta faces more than half of budget’s brutal post-secondary cuts – so why does UCP have it in for U of A?
University of Alberta President William Flanagan’s mildly worded protest Friday that nearly half of the massive $126-million cut to post-secondary education in Alberta will be borne by the University of Alberta is certain to fall on deaf ears within Premier Jason Kenney’s governing United Conservative Party. “In Budget 2021, the University of Alberta’s provincial grant […]