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 readingTag: Danielle Smith
Accidental 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
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith says she cares deeply about transgender Albertans, then unveils grotesquely harsh, othering policy
Of all the clownish, bizarre, and cynical policies of the United Conservative Party, surely the most grotesque we have seen so far was today’s launch on social media by Premier Danielle Smith of what is sure to become known as the War on Trans Kids. University of Calgary political science
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg examines why seemingly healthy macroeconomic indicators – and even positive personal expectations – haven’t translated into public satisfaction with political economic leaders. But Dougald Lamont is setting out how our economic system has been torqued at the behest of corporate robber
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith, busy with Tucker Carlson and lesser far-right bloviators, has no time to comment on Edmonton City Hall shooting
From time immemorial it has been understood that when there is a crisis, or in the aftermath of one, leaders are expected to be there to provide hope, offer comfort, demonstrate understanding, and show they are in control. Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, admired, even if not
Continue readingAlberta Politics: That was the weekend that was: -38, grid on the brink, UCP flooding the zone, NDP all but struck dumb, and more
The United Conservative Party Government and its supporters appeared to be flooding the zone, Steve Bannon style, today to recover from the embarrassment of the near collapse of the provincial electrical grid during last weekend’s polar vortex deep-freeze. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). There was a stream of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jamie Ducharme examines the realities of a COVID-19 surge in progress – as well as the reason to worry that avoidable illness and death is being treated as the new normal. Kailin Yin et al. highlight the harm caused by systemic inflammation and
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The AESO Emergency Alert
Last night Alberta’s electric system operator (AESO) issued a province-wide emergency alert asking Albertans to immediately reduce their electricity use to minimize the potential for rotating outages across the province. First the good news, Albertans responded to the call. Within minutes usage dropped significantly and rotating power outages were avoided.
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