In December 2007, at the height of Calgary’s housing crunch, a report emerged from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation that confirmed what many had long suspected: the cost of renting a two bedroom apartment in Calgary eclipsed that of all major Canadian cities, marking the first time since the
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djkelly.ca: Metro column: Focusing on the individual, not the party
I’m not a big fan of party politics. I could care less which party is in charge. I care more about who the people in government are and what kinds of decisions they make. [Note: This last sentence was cut from the printed version, but I thought it was important so I added it back […]
Continue readingOn Being a Teacher, or Why Merit Pay Stinks.
I’m taking a course on organizational theory right now and the readings have caused me to reflect on an issue that is getting a fair deal of play in education right now – merit pay for teachers. There are many specific arguments that can be made as to why merit
Continue readingHerbinator: Alberta Election
I am starting to look forward to the upcoming Alberta provincial election in 2012. Of particular interest to me are the candidates who will emerge in support of Green Principles. In a manner similar to the American Tea Party movement, Visionary Greens …
Continue readingFive of Five: Life is Bigger than Politics
News was released today that former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is a horrible disease that has no cure and robs the body and brain of oxygen. It doesn’t have good outcomes.It got me thinking…
Continue readingezrawinton.com: Tar on the Tusks – The Walrus sells out to Big Oil
Canada’s preeminent culture magazine has let Big Oil lie about the tar sands on its pages.
Continue readingFive of Five: Holy Biased Poll
I realize website polls are primarily for entertainment and shouldn’t be taken seriously, especially not on a hyper-conservative radio site.But this poll really stuck out as having a totally meaningless, poorly worded and biased set of choices.There is…
Continue readingFive of Five: When a Witch Weighs the Same as a Duck
Ed Stelmach’s communication style is oblique and opaque most of the time. Opaque in the sense of being impenetrable by light. Today he all but confirmed that Stephen Duckett would be relieved of his duties as the Alberta Health Services CEO. At leas…
Continue readingBill 17: De-democratizing healthcare
My time lately has been consumed by two grad courses, an active full-time job and home and family commitments. But one emergent and urgent issue has forced me to tend to my oft-neglected blog. (Yes, Minister Zwozdesky, I do consider healthcare to be urgent.) If I was at all surprised
Continue readingMeet an Alberta Progressive: Sherry McKibben
One of the primary objectives of this series of podcasts, Meet an Alberta Progressive, is to demonstrate that progressives are a diverse group of people with diverse backgrounds, but to help us all to think about where our commonalities might lie.
Sp…
Continue readingYour Alberta Health Act: Opening Doors for Private Healthcare.
“We’d be a lot better off if we had funding follow the patient”
The comment hung in the air, a pinata, colorful, attention seeking, begging for a reaction.
I figured I would have to swing at it, or at least give it a poke.
I tapped the edge, “Hmmm, …
Continue readingMeet an Alberta Progressive: Chima Nkemdirim
The Alberta Liberal party placed an advertisement Wednesday inviting other progressive parties to talk about opportunities for cooperation. I spent a great amount of time campaigning in 2004 in Edmonton Glenora when a high profile NDP candidate and a h…
Continue readingFraser Institute is Flat Wrong
Earlier this year, I wrote about the Manning Centre for Democracy’s conference on Alberta’s future. What I didn’t discuss in that post was how I spent an hour in the afternoon in the foyer outside the conference room talking about education with …
Continue readingInspiring Education report comes with risks
Inspiring Education came out with its long anticipated report yesterday and the initial response is quite positive. The primary vision is reflected in the three-Es for an educated Albertan: Engaged Thinker, Ethical Citizen and Entrepreneurial Spirit. B…
Continue readingManning Centre misses opportunity
In his book Don’t Think of an Elephant, George Lakoff provides a metaphor for conservatives as the strict father figure, where as liberals are the nurturant parent. Upon first reading I have to admit I didn’t completely buy the metaphors as a way to co…
Continue readingCute.
Further to my post on private health care…
Continue readingTime to put private health delivery to bed.
There seems to be one demon that lingers that Albertans have to fight off time and time again. At least this time it appears that our premier is actually standing up to the demon, instead of opening the door like our last premier did – and now the oppo…
Continue readingA. Picazo: Shit Craig Chandler Says
BONUS Chandler rants! Chandler on Calgary mayoral candidate Naheed Nenshi: Poetry in motion, Chandler style: You think Veterans are safe from Chandler’s hysterics? No. (He’s in the 4th shot, but the full conversation is provided for context): The federal election will be held May 2, which means …. Liberals hate
Continue readingWhat it means to be a progressive.
Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to 2010. Is it everything you thought it would look like?I remember the new year of 1990 very well. I was 10 and it was the first time in my memory that we were celebrating the start of a decade. I remember vividly thin…
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