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 […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
As world marks first anniversary of global pandemic, Alberta Medical Association surrenders to Kenney Government
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 […]