Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton during the week ended June 9, 2019. The lists are compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. This Place: 150 Years Retold – Various Contributors, Foreword by Alicia
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Alberta Politics: The strategy behind the UCP’s Public Sector Arbitration Deferral Act explained
Albertans who don’t pay much attention to labour relations may be forgiven for wondering about the harsh reaction yesterday to the Alberta Government’s introduction of legislation to delay arbitration for thousands of public employees. Many readers not directly hostile to unions nevertheless may have wondered, “What’s the big deal? The
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Acknowledging public reaction, Edmonton Public Library drops plan to cut pages’ wages, strikes deal with union
Acknowledging negative feedback received by Edmonton Public Library about its plan to reduce pay rates for youth pages in line with the United Conservative Party Government’s cuts to the minimum wage, EPL Chief Executive Officer Pilar Martinez said today the Library would maintain current student pay rates. In an official
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hiding behind UCP youth minimum wage cut, Edmonton Public Library slashes library pages’ pay
Using the wording of its collective agreement with Civic Service Union 52 as an excuse, and the United Conservative Government’s minimum wage reduction for students under 18 as the trigger, Edmonton Public Library is handing its youth pages pay cuts of $2.30 to $2.50 per hour. This is pretty shameful
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP bulls ahead with plan to ignore public employees’ collective agreements
One thing you can say for Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party Government: they don’t even pretend to act in good faith! Early this month they mailed public sector unions a letter asking them to take part in “a consultation session” about the government’s wish to delay contractually stipulated wage arbitration
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post by Olav Rokne: Since all political careers end in trivia, here’s the scoop on America’s would-be presidential candidates
Guest Post by Olav Rokne British statesman (and repugnant racist) Enoch Powell once famously remarked that all political careers end in failure. While there may be some truth to his observation, I would suggest that it might be even more accurate to say that all political careers eventually become trivia.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If it seems as if Canada’s Conservatives have lost it, guess again: They’ve just adopted the Trump playbook in its entirety
“Huge pothole on #StAlbert Trail right now! This is a preview of Canada’s future if Justin Trudeau is re-elected as prime minister, as he continues to implement his terrible anti-automobile agenda.” Were I to take to Twitter and say such a thing, dear readers, presumably many of you would conclude
Continue readingAlberta Politics: How will Alberta politicians respond now that groups like Canada’s nurses are demanding action on climate change?
FREDERICTON – On the last day of their national convention in New Brunswick’s capital city today, the approximately 900 delegates of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on Canadian governments to recognize climate change is a global crisis and a health emergency, and to act
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A timely reminder on this historic day: The hammer of D-Day crushed Hitler on the anvil of Russia
FREDERICTON, N.B. – It’s now been 75 years since our magnificent Canadian soldiers went ashore at Juno Beach in Normandy to play their part the grim and deadly task of sweeping Hitler and his odious empire from Europe. Canadians need to remember, though, that the landings on June 6, 1944,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There’s not much Jason Kenney’s ‘war room’ can do to ease medical concerns about health impacts of climate change
FREDERICTON, N.B. – Whatever will Jason Kenney’s $30-million “war room” do about people like the nurses and physicians around the world growing increasingly troubled by the health impacts of climate change? They are, after all, members of two professions most trusted by the Canadians according to survey after survey going
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Methinks the MP doth protest too much! Michael Cooper came to that Justice Committee meeting loaded for bear
Now that St. Albert-Edmonton MP Michael Cooper has been given a gentle tap on the wrist by Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer for his offensive performance at the House of Commons Justice Committee Thursday, we can be confident Conservatives will try to make the whole thing disappear as quickly as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Here’s a bet: Alberta Health Services review announced yesterday will cost more than any savings it finds
Tyler Shandro was pretty bold yesterday when he put out a Government of Alberta news release announcing the United Conservative Party Government’s promised review of Alberta Health Services. Mr. Shandro is the baby-faced MLA for Calgary-Acadia who was made minister of health by Premier Jason Kenney. He is a lawyer
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is Alberta’s ‘Yes to TMX’ campaign a sly tax-funded attack on the Trudeau Liberals?
Things are certainly different on the pipeline front now that Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party are in power in Alberta! Yesterday, the airwaves were full of reports Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage had announced an advertising campaign urging Parliamentarians to say “Yes to TMX.” (We’ll get back to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why wouldn’t Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer appoint an independent prosecutor in the Kamikaze Campaign case?
So riddle me this: Why wouldn’t Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer appoint an independent Crown prosecutor to oversee the Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into allegations of voting fraud in the 2017 United Conservative Party leadership race? Especially now it’s been revealed by the CBC that Mr. Schweitzer, who himself was
Continue readingAlberta Politics: United Conservative Party introduces the Open for Fast Food Act – sorry about the 13% pay cut, kids
Premier Jason Kenney’s newly elected United Conservative Party introduced its second bill yesterday, calling it the Open for Business Act. The NDP immediately dubbed Bill 2 the Pick Your Pockets Bill, seeing as its provisions include a 13-per-cent pay cut to $13 an hour from $15 for students under 18
Continue readingAlberta Politics: B.C. Appeal Court’s Trans Mountain ruling may not be quite the slam-dunk Alberta thinks it is
The unanimous ruling Friday by the British Columbia Court of Appeal that the B.C. Government does not have the constitutional authority to control what goes inside the federally regulated Trans Mountain Pipeline is being hailed as a great victory in Alberta. Church bells didn’t actually ring on Friday, but the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Quebec premier vows drive to slash oil use; Alberta premier calls climate worry ‘flavour of the month’
Over the weekend, Quebec Premier François Legault vowed to implement an ambitious electrification drive that would reduce the province’s use of oil by 40 per cent by 2030, which in case you’re not counting happens to be in only 11 years. Quebec will electrify transportation systems, buildings and businesses to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What should we make of the post-election Edmonton Journal editorial urging the UCP to keep the carbon tax?
I suppose we should never attribute to mischief what can be explained by incompetence, but what else are we to make of the Edmonton Journal’s earnest editorial yesterday urging Alberta Premier Jason Kenney not to pull the plug on the carbon tax? “Killing the provincial carbon tax is one political
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rescue in the Rockies by Edmonton’s Rita Feutl tops Audreys Books’ fiction bestseller list
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold in Edmonton during the week ended May 19, 2019. The lists are compiled by Audreys Books and provided by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. EDMONTON FICTION BESTSELLERS 1. Rescue in the Rockies – Rita Feutl * 2. Boom Time
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney fiddles (with climate policy) while Alberta burns
It is an irony, though not a particularly satisfying one to observe, that while Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party Government moves swiftly to repeal Alberta’s carbon tax, the province is aflame, with more than 5,000 Albertans required to leave homes and communities in imminent danger of destruction. It is
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