Danielle Smith is always the smartest person in any room she’s in, so back in August 2022 when she was running to lead the United Conservative Party, she didn’t need to hesitate even for a moment when she was asked about what to do if hospitals filled up again with
Continue readingTag: Danielle Smith
Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Andrew Phillips offers a reminder that Canada will pay the price for a climate breakdown whether or not it partially prices emissions in the moment – though it’s worth noting that even the existing combination of taxes and regulations falls far short of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Kate Irwin reports on new research showing that dozens of the U.S.’ largest corporations are doling out more money to their five top executives than they paid in total federal income tax. And Robert Renger makes the case that windfall gains in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Julia Doubleday highlights how the continued unmitigated spread of COVID-19 is collapsing hospital systems around the globe. Priyanjana Primanik examines how the coronavirus leads to long-lasting cognitive deficits, while Isabella Cueto discusses new research confirming a connection between COVID and autoimmune disease (which
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Budget 2024: Gotcha!
In case you didn’t catch Danielle Smith’s bizzarro Address to the Province last week, the one where she signalled what we could expect in the 2024 Budget, here’s a brief synopsis. (Smith’s comments are edited for tone and appear in bold). Premier Smith’s pre-budget address to the province We need
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Why Sarah Hoffman is running for the Alberta NDP leadership
The former health minister shares her plans for health, climate, and housing NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about why she is running for the Alberta NDP leadership and her plans for health care, climate, and housing. We discuss Hoffman’s experiences as Minister of Health and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Will Take Back Alberta’s sinister supremo meekly submit to the premier’s command to quit tweeting?
Now that he’s been ordered by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shut the heck up and stop slagging federal Conservative boss Pierre Poilievre and his lovely wife, will Take Back Alberta’s founder and sometime executive director David Parker meekly do as he’s told or will he make like Darth Vader and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard highlights the dangers of treating the return of measles (and other threats to health exacerbated by anti-science zealotry) as something to be mocked rather than taken seriously. And John Paul Tasker discusses the widespread frustration Canadians are experiencing trying to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith keeps saying she’s going to ‘de-risk’ natural-gas-fired electricity generation – what exactly does she have in mind?
According to the Council of Europe, “de-risking” means “the phenomenon of financial institutions terminating or restricting business relationships with clients or categories of clients to avoid, rather than manage, risk.” Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, pretty much the arch-fiend the way Ms. Smith describes him (Photo: UN Biodiversity, Creative Commons).
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The premier’s speech: A spectre still isn’t haunting Alberta, the spectre of fair taxes
I’ve never actually heard that there’s a ghost in the Premier’s Office at the Alberta Legislative Building, but apparently there’s a dusty old speech that was left in a drawer by some forgotten premier in the distant past, Peter Lougheed, probably. The late premier of Alberta, Peter Lougheed (Photo: Government
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: About Alberta’s Proposed Ban On Trans Athletes
Among the heartless and cruel things that Danielle Smith announced in her "policy package" about parental rights (anti-transgender policy, really), was an absolute ban on transgender women competing in sports in Alberta. The rationale being that somehow "transgender women have massive advantages in athletics", and somehow that having transgender women
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Rachael Lyle-Thompson discusses how children are happier in countries with social safety nets which reduce the anxiety level around them. And Eric Galbraith et al. find that satisfaction levels in small-scale Indigenous societies may be just as high as in the wealthiest countries
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Misinformed
Danielle Smith believes that the future is in oil. Maax Fawcett writes that she is misinformed: Alberta’s UCP government may like to pretend it sees the world differently than Saudi Arabia but when it comes to their biggest industry, they speak the same language. Both have said the International Energy
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Continuing with A Theme….
H/t Theo Moudakis Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Art Of Misdirection
Well-played, Danielle. H/t Graeme Mackay Given that only 0.0037 of Albertans over 15 identify as transgender or non-binary, that is quite the feat! Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Let’s Talk About Protecting Children
The ostensible reason for the UCP government's recently announced bundle of policies around transgender youth (actually, all trans people – but we'll come back to that) is to "protect children". I'm going to speak to this from a professional and therapeutic perspective, because I have relevant training and experience in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith’s Parental Rights Agenda
Last week in pursuit of her “parental rights” agenda, Premier Smith announced a set of policies that limited medical treatment for transgender youth and did a whole lot more. I tried to imagine what it would be like to explain these policies to someone not living in cloud cuckoo land.
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Alberta’s Proposed Trans Policy
It's been 3 days since Premier Danielle Smith dropped a bomb on Alberta's transgender community, and I'm still reeling. I'm alternating between being angry with the government, and grieving for the youth that will be most deeply affected by these policies. Before I dive into a deeper analysis of what
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Ian Welsh discusses how COVID-19 is the second-most important story in the world – and how our failure to respond with appropriate regard for human life and well-being mirrors our inability to address any social challenge. And Ruth Link-Gelles et al. find that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Stephanie Soucheray examines new research showing that a large majority of respondents have concealed infectious diseases out of perceived economic or social necessity. And Zoya Teirstein discusses modeling showing that we’re vastly underestimating the death toll from the climate crisis – with
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