“Canada is increasingly a riskier place to live, work and insure,” said Craig Stewart, Vice-President, Climate Change and Federal Issues, Insurance Bureau of Canada. The bureau’s stats back up Mr. Stewart’s words. Canada’s top 10 highest insurance loss years all occurred since 2011 with the exception of 1998, the year
Continue readingTag: Alberta
52 Ideas: Alberta is missing the transition window
When Alberta’s Premier, the Hon. Danielle Smith, gave her election victory speech; she made it clear that she believed that she could protect Alberta’s Oil and Gas industry from the Global Energy Transition. Or as she put it, “We need to come together no matter how we voted to stand
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: D. Smith Suspended From Facebook
The Premier of Alberta was whining about being temporarily suspended from posting to Facebook yesterday. 1. Smith, you block people, constituents, all the time!2. You post deadly disinformation about hoaxes routinely.3. Meta/Facebook has blocked links to my website despite it not hosting misinformation, and provides no opportunity to appeal, so
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: An open letter to Premier Smith
I didn’t vote for Danielle Smith and her party, nonetheless I thought congratulations on her victory were in order. Consequently I wrote her the following letter. Dear Premier Smith: Congratulations on your success in the recent election. You now have the opportunity to help prepare Alberta for success in the
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: 2035 Is Too Hard: NDP and Sask Party and now UCP
A month ago the Sask Party and the SK NDP both said for different reasons, that getting our energy system to net-zero emissions was too hard. The NDP said this was because the Sask Party did nothing so far to improve emissions, while the Sask Party prefers to believe the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta—rural government in an urban province
The last century saw the greatest revolution in this country’s history. I refer to the mass migration from country to town. At Confederation, about 80 percent of Canadians lived in rural areas, today that’s less than 20 percent, and the trend continues. We have become an urban and suburban nation.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Danielle Smith’s Alberta
No one had a bigger win on Alberta election night than Danielle Smith. Her UCP (and this is definitely her party now) won a solid majority of seats and a majority of the popular vote (how many parties win elections in this country with over 50 percent of the popular
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: About reparations
Last Tuesday, the air quality in Calgary hit a level in the range hazardous to human health. According to meteorologist Jaclyn Whittal, Alberta had the “worst air quality in the entire world.” The villain of course was smoke from the wildfires raging across the province. And who were the villains
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Beth Mole writes about the work being done to better define, diagnose and treat long COVID – even as different symptoms appear to be the result of different factors arising out of COVID-19 infection. And Markus Eyting et al. study the connection between infectious
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Fires? What Fires?
It’s funny. Also sad, because it’s so believable. thebeaverton.com/2023/05/ucp-promises-to-build-giant-gas-powered-fans-to-clear-alberta-skies/ Smoke over Calgary and Regina. pic.twitter.com/a0lFKFh3Vs — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) May 22, 2023
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: For Alberta, sovereignty; for Calgary and Edmonton, supplication
One might think that Alberta’s provincial government would have the greatest respect for its subordinate level of governing—the municipalities. One might expect that to be especially true for the two major cities, Calgary and Edmonton. These are the closest level of government to the people for over half the province’s
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Global warming—news old and new
I got up this morning in semi-darkness even though the sun had risen at 5:45 a.m. and the forecast was for sunny and warm. I looked out my window and couldn’t see farther than a couple of blocks. Looked as foggy as old London town. But of course it wasn’t
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Matthew Oliver, Mark Ungrin and Joe Vipond write about the overwhelming evidence that masks offer protection from airborne viruses – even as anti-public-health forces attack them as part of their general denialist project. And Dan Diamond reports on expert warnings that in the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Election manna: Calgary gets a new arena
The on-again, off-again project for a new arena in Calgary is on again. At twice the cost. Earlier this week The City of Calgary, the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) and the province announced a $1.22 billion replacement for the Saddledome, a community rink, a public plaza and associated
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Arielle Dreher reports on the findings of the U.S.’ COVID Crisis Group that the U.S. fell short of the mark in coordinating its COVID-19 response and figures to do so again in future pandemics without improvement. And Leigh MacMillan reports on research
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Coexistence With Bears on CBC Radio
Driving to work on Saturday and Sunday I tune to CBC to get an idea of what is going on in Alberta and the world. On Sunday though I was quite perplexed. The topic was – I think – bear safety. Bear safety, especially during spring, is a relevant topic
Continue reading52 Ideas: Alberta’s latest economic threat: Thanks to China, Saudi Arabia and Iran are beginning to normalise relations
It might seem odd for an Albertan to point to Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Middle East and say that it has an effect on us. However, it does. History tells us that Alberta’s oil is most desired when another major oil producing country (usually a member of the Organization
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: On Crime Waves and Policy
Much ink (most of it virtual) is being spilled these days about how “dangerous” our cities have become. Shootings, assaults and so on seem to take place on our transit systems on a nearly daily basis. I’m not here to say that there is no problem – there clearly is
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Two Albertas … or three?
Alberta has long been a politically divided province. The north inclines progressive, the south conservative. Edmonton currently only has one UCP MLA out of 20, and Calgary only three NDP MLAs out of 26. A new study by the Environics Institute, Spotlight on Alberta, adds some interesting details to the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Two Albertas … or three?
Alberta has long been a politically divided province. The north inclines progressive, the south conservative. Edmonton currently only has one UCP MLA out of 20, and Calgary only three NDP MLAs out of 26. A new study by the Environics Institute, Spotlight on Alberta, adds some interesting details to the
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