Using his favourite medium, Facebook, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced yesterday his government plans to go to court to challenge “the unjustified use of the Emergencies Act” by Ottawa. The one minute and 49 second video clip posted to the social media platform was not particularly informative about what the
Continue readingTag: Justin Trudeau
Alberta Politics: Jason Nixon’s UCP nomination challenger Tim Hoven got his campaign off to a pretty good start last night
It looks like Tim Hoven’s campaign to challenge Jason Nixon for the United Conservative Party nomination in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre got off to a pretty good start last night at a rural community hall in the Central Alberta riding. Leastways, a photo that turned up in my inbox shows the
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Pierre Poilievre is no friend of the working class, despite his pro-worker ranting
Poilievre’s announcement to run as Prime Minister touches on working-class issues, with a mood of plausible, genuine sincerity. He even mentions the working class by name. Of course, Poilievre doesn’t care about the working class at all. His solution to alleviating poverty in Canada is to put the social welfare
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ottawa has invoked the Emergencies Act – do you know where your trucks are?
The Canadian government has invoked the Emergencies Act. Do you know where your trucks are? If you don’t, and you run a trucking company, you might want to check. Some of the weapons seized Sunday night at the Coutts blockade (Photo: Twitter). As Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday,
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: The truckers convoy promotes social harm, not “mandating freedom.”
The organizers of the covid convoy have been demanding they speak to the manager of Canada. While they claim to fight for freedom and “vaccine choice,” this couldn’t be further from the truth. What all the elements within the spectrum of supporters of the convoy have in common is the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Right-wing U.S. paw prints are all over Ottawa occupation and other convoy disruptions
Where are Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party now that evidence is accumulating the disruptive and threatening “Freedom Convoy” occupation of Ottawa is being funded and supported by far-right activists in the United States? Mr. Kenney and his crowd, after all, were the guys who demanded a
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Top Banking CEO blames workers’ wages for causing inflation
In the end, workers are attacked on two fronts via inflation rhetoric. First, by banking CEO’s who claim workers make too much money, and second, by the Conservatives who claim that they received too much government support during the pandemic.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Widely condemned ‘Truckers For Freedom’ rally features Trudeau figure in a noose
Aside from needless greenhouse gas emissions, the only accomplishment of the so-called Truckers for Freedom convoy is further consolidation and recruitment of the far-right. Whatever your stance on vaccines or vaccine mandate, the growth of these far-right conspiracy movements and the inevitable violence that goes along with it should be
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: National Post Letter
The old poli sci major in me could not allow John Ivison’s column to stand. Please see the letters section in today’s National Post for my response to the argument that it is somehow “illiberal” for governments to impel individuals to get vaccinated. Re: Trudeau shows liberal principles have left
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: National Post Letter
The old poli sci major in me could not allow John Ivison’s column to stand. Please see the letters section in today’s National Post for my response to the argument that it is somehow “illiberal” for governments to impel individuals to get vaccinated. Re: Trudeau shows liberal principles have left
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Don’t just blame the anti-vaxxers, blame our political elites too
Justin Trudeau has chosen to place all of the blame on the unvaccinated for the current spike in cases and hospitalizations. The problem is, this is only a half-truth. It is political scapegoating. The other half of the problem is Trudeau himself – and the rest of Canada’s political elites
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Businesses received $26 billion more in pandemic relief money than individuals
The influence of the private sector paid off for business owners, as they received more pandemic relief money collectively than individuals did. Justin Trudeau’s federal government came out with a slew of programs to help those in Canada, but many of these predominantly favoured employers. According to a new CCPA
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: How capitalism made the pandemic worse, every step of the way
The internal logic of capitalism has tainted our government’s response to the pandemic. Corporate profits were preserved, while the interests of the working class were disregarded. Pandemic austerity and vaccine nationalism were the primary themes of government responses, and have grave consequences for the working class and health of humanity.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s New Modus Operandi: Goodbye Peter Lougheed; Hello Donald Trump
There was a time when Jason Kenney pretended to be the modern-day manifestation of Peter Lougheed, notwithstanding his conviction that Lougheed’s programs were akin to “neo-Stalinist make-work projects.” He’s since dropped the charade. He no longer pretends to be anything other than what he is. A Trump admirer. Recently he’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – David Bush discusses how the latest wave of COVID-19 would have been entirely avoidable if we hadn’t allowed corporate interests to suppress vaccine availability and turn workplaces into super-spreaders, while Andreas Laupacis confirms that we had (and have) more than enough knowledge to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ominous Omicron variant, prime minister Justin Trudeau, and rival Brian Jean all throw sand in Jason Kenney’s gears
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney hardly seemed to know what to do yesterday. As a result, he did nothing. Mr. Kenney was scheduled to make a big announcement about health care – widely assumed based on hints dropped by the premier himself to be a relaxation of holiday restrictions just in
Continue readingNorthern Currents : While the state arrests land defenders and the press, a new report highlights government apathy toward climate change
An all-to-familiar juxtaposition has arisen with the recent arrests of Indigenous land defenders and journalists by the RCMP. On the one hand, we have politicians like Justin Trudeau and John Horgan insisting on the importance of climate change and that we must act now. On the other, these same politicians
Continue readingNorthern Currents : Reconciliation is a sham to our political leaders
Our political leaders have a deficient understanding of reconciliation. What they want to reconcile are the contradictory interests between Capital and Indigenous self-determination. Ultimately, our political leaders, embodied by the Canadian state, side with Capital. There is a much more radical, transformative understanding of reconciliation available.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On priorities
While I’ve pointed out the absurdity of yet another round of anti-coalition scaremongering, it does seem clear that any discussion between the NDP and the Libs will instead involve a confidence and supply arrangement. And that may well be for the best, as it maximizes the policy outcomes the NDP
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta signs on to federal child care deal its premier once mocked as ‘9-to-5, urban, government and union-run institutional daycare’
Premier Jason Kenney didn’t look all that cheerful at yesterday’s announcement Alberta had finally signed on to participate in the Trudeau Government’s national $10-a-day-child-care program. While the premier fidgeted in the background, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the other federal Liberal politicians at the morning news conference in Edmonton seemed
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