Jason Kenney can mildly admonish Drew Barnes for spouting separatist twaddle if he wishes, but the Alberta premier’s protestations of Canadian patriotism won’t be very persuasive if he lets the Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA remain in his United Conservative Party Caucus. I know, Mr. Kenney has a problem with the loony
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Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Jason Markusoff writes about the absurdity of Jason Kenney’s continued bluster about attacking the rest of Canada rather than working on improving the lives of Albertans. And Shama Rangwala and Danielle Paradis discuss the warped idea of “freedom” underlying the ideology of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As predicted, ‘Fair Deal’ Panel reheats the Firewall Manifesto to manufacture consent for policies Albertans don’t want
Consider the report of Alberta’s “Fair Deal” Panel, released yesterday by Premier Jason Kenney with considerable fanfare. It strongly suggests the Harper-Kenney wing of the Canadian Conservative movement is made up of people who purport to be Canadian patriots when they’re in power in Ottawa but are Prairie separatists when
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alert the media! Fair Deal Panel recommendations to be trotted out today
Today we will see the results of the efforts of Alberta’s Fair Deal Panel throughout the first half of 2020. We know this because the Kenney Government yesterday emailed out one of those media notices beloved of all democratic governments (and some not-so-democratic ones as well) alerting the media to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Athabasca U: The redheaded stepchild of Alberta universities faces a Cinderella moment
Is Athabasca University, long the redheaded stepchild of Alberta’s universities, about to have its Cinderella moment? After years of financial insecurity and deep angst about a mission seemingly made redundant by the Internet that sometimes gave the impression of an existential crisis about to go critical, there are signs the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Post-secondary review: Alberta prepares to train the workforce of yesterday, starting tomorrow!
Brace yourself for the First 10-Year Plan for the rapid modernization of post-secondary education! As a general rule, promises by highly ideological governments to enact ambitious transformational change in institutions they have targeted as hotbeds of opposition to their dogma and policies should be viewed with a certain amount of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Systemic Racism in Alberta
“This is hard to watch but it’s important. We cannot ignore that systemic racism persists in Alberta and across the world.” – Rachel Notley commenting on the video of the RCMP taking down Fort Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam We were grappling with the harsh reality of our own
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s late for snowflakes, but UCP gas minister melts down over criticism at St. Albert Pride flag raising
St. ALBERT, Alberta — My goodness, it’s rough being a government minister in this province! Sometimes people will even criticize you! Dale Nally, associate minister of natural gas and electricity and MLA for Morinville-St. Albert (Photo: Government of Alberta). I mean, seriously, the nerve! This never used to happen to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Somehow South Tyrolean autonomy doesn’t sound like the best way to sell the Alberta Fair Deal Panel’s dumb ideas
Sure sounds like Jason Kenney has a problem. He’s promised to release his Fair Deal Panel’s report next Monday, but it’s not at all clear Albertans are going to like what they hear. In politics, like the dairy cooler, things come with a best-before date. And the Fair Deal Panel’s
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Ignominy of Kenney’s Bill 1
As Albertans flooded into the streets to join the hundreds of thousands of people around the world protesting systemic racism and police brutality, some of us worried about the UCP government’s move to limit our right to engage in peaceful protests by enacting Bill 1, the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Stephen Long writes that one of the key economic symptoms of the coronavirus pandemic has been to push people into underemployment. And CBC Radio examines how people with disabilities have been left out of both conversations as to how to respond to COVID-19,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Despite COVID-19, 15,000 people join Fight for Equity rally against racism at Alberta Legislature
A mostly youthful throng estimated at more than 15,000 people braved the coronavirus pandemic yesterday evening to join the Fight for Equity rally against racism at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton. The rally was organized in response the public murder of George Floyd, an African American man, at the hands
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s Bill 1 is bad law, bad theatre, and an unconstitutional attack on the fundamental rights of citizens
If the passage of Bill 1 by the Alberta Legislature last month demonstrates anything, it’s the contempt in which Premier Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party hold the rule of law. Mr. Kenney and his well-behaved UCP caucus know that Canada’s Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No need to lose much sleep over yesterday’s firearms ownership announcement by the UCP
If you’re worried by the announcement Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is seeking ways of “respecting law-abiding Albertans’ long history of responsible firearms ownership,” there’s no need to lose much sleep just yet. The premier’s press conference and news release about how he’s setting up a panel of firearms enthusiasts to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Parole boards! Rodeo! Guns! The U.S. may be in flames while the world goes viral, but Alberta’s legislators cut to the chase!
The great republic to our south is in flames, led by an American Nero and seemingly teetering on the brink of martial law. At the same moment, the world is convulsed by an entirely new disease, the first truly global pandemic in history. So what are Premier Jason Kenney and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Eric Cadesky writes about the psychology behind adherence to – and deviation from – the social distancing rules needed to keep us all safe. – Nora Loreto discusses how COVID-19 has exposed the lethal problems with Canada’s long-term care system. Karl Belanger points
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 55: Alberta Parks need to be protected and expanded, not closed and privatized.
As Environment & Parks Minister Jason Nixon moves forward with his plans to downgrade, close or privatize 164 provincial parks, outdoor enthusiast Annalise Klingbeil joins Dave Cournoyer on the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the importance of Alberta’s provincial parks and why they need to be protected and conserved. Annalise is
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s bloviations about medical matters may have found a friendly audience south of the Medicine Line
Stuff UCPers Say! Epidemiologists and other scientific types may not like it very much when Alberta Premier Jason Kenney equates COVID-19 with influenza, but at least Fox News seems to be on side. Last Wednesday in the Legislature in a prepared speech arguing for the government’s understandable desire to get
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s Miniscule Pandemic Bump
He’s tried everything from rolling up his shirtsleeves and pointing at graphs to quoting Franklin Roosevelt (“we have nothing to fear but fear itself”), but still Albertans refuse to give him his due. Jason Kenney’s pandemic performance gave him a one point bump in approval ratings (from 47 to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Would you like a nasal swab with your fries, sir? Health care comes to A&W, McDonald’s and Timmy’s in Jason Kenney’s Alberta
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney runs a government deeply committed to erasing the obvious connection between government and the services that are essential to the functioning of society. How else is he going to persuade Albertans to abandon public health care that works for the broken privatization model now destroying our
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