As is often the case when dealing with Donald Trump, the saga of the five million N95 respirators built by Minnesota’s 3M Co. and purchased by Ontario keeps changing. On Saturday, the U.S. President invoked the Defense Production Act to force the Maplewood, Minn.-based multinational to stop sending Canadians the
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Alberta Politics: Virus-blocking masks are part of our future — it’s time to dump Canada’s unconstitutional anti-mask law
Universal adoption of homemade face masks would have huge health and economic benefits in the current global coronavirus pandemic, says a paper published a few days ago by seven Yale professors. “We estimate that the benefits of each additional cloth mask worn by the public are conservatively in the $3,000-$6,000
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The premier is disappointed? Where did Alberta’s Mr. Belligerence go when Donald Trump told 3M not to ship N95s to Canada?
Where’s the tough guy we got to know during the last Alberta election campaign, the Jason Kenney of the Summer of Repeal, the War Room and the War on Foreign Funded European Urban Greens? The Alberta premier’s favourite American president, Donald J. Trump, say’s he won’t let 3M Co. of
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: My latest: leadership in tough times
Leadership in good times means little. Leadership in bad times means everything. And these times, they are indisputably bad. Grim, grinding, grotesque. For the rest of our lives, we will all remember the dark days of 2020, when nothing was again the same. Everyone, everything, everywhere: it’s all different, now.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: April Fool aftermath: UCP says it’s broke, AUPE job protections back on, spill reporting suspended, Greens choose leader, and more
Whether or not Bob Buckle meant it to be an early April Fool’s joke when he posted his deep thoughts on public education on social media, opining that “perhaps it’s time to reduce our physical plant and footprint with large structures and move to virtual online learning,” he’d be smart
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta government to strike new Blue Ribbon Panel on Blue Ribbon Panels
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government plans to strike a Blue Ribbon Panel on Blue Ribbon Panels. With the global coronavirus pandemic and the worldwide collapse of oil prices, the United Conservative Party Government believes it will need even more “expert panels” to justify potentially unpopular policies it intends to enact,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta government makes moves to lay off more public employees — this time provincial public service members
No one should assume Saturday’s mass layoff of 26,000 substitute teachers, teaching assistants and non-essential support staff at schools throughout Alberta is the last such action planned by the United Conservative Party Government as it attempts to game federal pandemic supports. In a bargaining update published this morning by the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Never mind the Kenney Government’s ‘Blueprint for Jobs’ — 26,000 jobs gone with the wind in a day
So, make that 26,000 Alberta jobs, gone with the wind! Now that some of the smoke is starting to clear from Premier Jason Kenney’s Saturday Afternoon Massacre of school board jobs, it’s apparent initial estimates by school trustees and union leaders of 20,000 jobs lost were about 30 per cent
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No warning, no consultation, UCP yanks school funding using COVID-19 pandemic as excuse, costing 20,000 jobs
Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., Alberta school trustees learned funding about to be yanked by the provincial government with no notice or discussion with boards. Massive layoffs are expected to result — up to 20,000 Substitute teachers, educational assistants, non-essential support staff and bus drivers will all face layoffs immediately. CUPE
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Covid-19 and the new normal.
Well… lots has happened since my last post. Normal political news and normal news for that matter is now almost completely gone due to the Covid19 pandemic gripping the world. Once this all passes (whenever that happens to be) it will be interesting to see what the new “normal” is.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Think what we could have accomplished if we’d concentrated on climate change like we’re focusing on COVID-19!
“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully,” observed Samuel Johnson, a great wit of the 18th Century. If you doubt the truth of this aphorism, consider the coverage of the greatest news story of the 21st
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: We Face Two Stark Choices for Dealing with COVID-19
What ‘Report 9’ means when it compares ‘mitigation or suppression.’ Crawford Kilian Today | TheTyee.caTyee contributing editor Crawford Kilian blogs about COVID-19 here. 66 Comments What measures are coming? A rider Read more…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The coronavirus pandemic: Not good news for anyone, but probably worse news for the West than China
The novel coronavirus hit China first. Today was the first day China reported no new local infections since the global pandemic officially began in Hubei province in the fall of 2019. No new local infections means that while there were 34 cases reported in China in the previous 24 hours,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Bill Morneau’s COVID-19 response: This economic and health crisis is no time for timidity or hesitation
According to Bill Morneau, “as Minister of Finance, my only job is to make sure that Canadians can keep food in the fridge.” That’s actually a rare useful thought for a federal finance minister to keep front of mind in calamitous circumstances like the present ones. Economist Jim Stanford (Photo:
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With COVID-19 in Alberta, Health Minister Tyler Shandro caves to docs on ‘complex billing’ battle
As Lyndon B. Johnson famously explained, in politics, chicken poop can turn over night into chicken salad. Those weren’t exactly the words used by the late United States Senator from Texas, Senate Majority Leader, Vice-President and then, in tragic circumstances after Nov. 22, 1963, Democratic Party President of the United
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta COVID-19 cases rise to 74; UCP to push budget through; Jason Kenney visits the airport
Faced with the embarrassment of having to rewrite Alberta’s budget to acknowledge economic reality and public health necessity in the midst of a global pandemic or stick with one that fails to meet even that low bar and sets the stage for a attacks on public health care in the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Stop Canadian Bill C-8 – Letters To Your Member of Parliament
Greetings my fellow Canadians. I need you to take action on the the bill that is before the Canadian Parliament :Bill C-8. Why Bill C-8 will be harmful to children and parental rights – “Under the guise of prohibiting “conversion therapy,” Bill C-8 would make it a criminal offence for
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: COVID-19, Brought to You by Globalization
Originally published by The Tyee How the virus exploits traits of our economy extolled as modern triumphs. Andrew Nikiforuk Today | TheTyee.ca Andrew Nikiforuk is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about the Read more…
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