Ward papastew City Councillor Michael Janz (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). In recent months, a lot of ink has been spilled and hot air vented on the housing crisis being experienced everywhere in Canada. Meanwhile, as leaders at every level of government blame others for the crisis, our municipalities continue to
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Accidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your Boxing Day reading. – Robert Reich discusses the dangers of relying on – and indeed building a political and economic system to favour – the social costs of extreme greed. And the Canadian Press reports on the Trudeau Libs’ plan to take foreign aid even further
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard discusses the reality that long COVID will result in lasting aftereffects even if we eventually manage to get the spread of new variants under control (which is of course itself a long way off). Thomson Reuters reports on new research
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Police association’s 24 complaints to integrity commissioner, all found to be without merit, were retaliatory: Edmonton City Councillor
Twenty-four complaints by the Edmonton Police Association claiming Councillor Michael Janz broke City Council’s code of conduct have all been dismissed as completely without merit by Edmonton Integrity Commissioner Jamie Pytel. “The complaint was retaliatory, as I have raised a number of concerns about police spending and conduct, and designed
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 81: Taking ideas and turning them into action. An interview with City Councillor Michael Janz.
Newly elected Edmonton City Councillor Michael Janz joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about the recent municipal election, his experiences during his first month on City Council, what he hopes to accomplish in the years ahead, and how ordinary Edmontonians can have an impact on decisions at City Hall. We
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Worst news conference ever? Jason Kenney apologizes for Sky Palace patio party, touts silly equalization referendum
The rebellion that now has United Conservative Party Premier Jason Kenney looking as if his career is on the ropes is strongly reminiscent of the circumstances that brought Progressive Conservative Party premier Alison Redford’s political career to an end in 2014. Ironically, both feature the “Sky Palace” as a powerful
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Three-term public school trustee Michael Janz to seek Edmonton City Council seat, wants fair deal for Alberta’s capital city
While rural and small-town Alberta, traditionally the Conservative electoral heartland, are finding ways to put pressure on Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party, the province’s big cities seem to have concluded discretion is the better part of valour. Former Edmonton Public School trustee Michael Janz, who filed his candidacy papers
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 readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 45: How the UCP Budget impacts Public Education in Alberta
Public education advocate and school trustee Michael Janz joins Dave Cournoyer on this episode of the Daveberta Podcast to discuss the state of public education in Alberta and how cuts in the United Conservative Party‘s first provincial budget will impact the education system in our province. We also discuss what is behind
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Appointment of Stephen Mandel to AHS board proves failure’s no barrier to success in Jason Kenney’s Alberta
Who says Premier Jason Kenney can’t unite Albertans? Sometime today, Mr. Kenney will appoint Stephen Mandel to the governing board of Alberta Health Services. Well, the announcement will be made by Health Minister Tyler Shandro. Late yesterday, as the word of the appointment leaked out, moans of despair could be
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The students are revolting – and so is Trustee Michael Janz as far as Alberta’s education minister is concerned
The students are revolting – and as far as Alberta’s education minister is concerned, at least one of the school trustees is too. This Friday, students from all over the Edmonton area will abandon their classes to participate in the global strike for climate action. Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta schools are public no more … What gives?
Alberta schools are public no more. Or something. A ministerial order signed by Education Minister Adriana LaGrange on Aug. 15 eliminated the word “public” from the legal title of all public school divisions and boards in Alberta. What’s going on? That’s not immediately clear, but given Premier Jason Kenney’s promises
Continue readingThe Daveberta Podcast: Episode 39: Wet Hot Albertan Summer
We’re taking a break from our summer vacations to record this special episode of the Daveberta Podcast. In this episode, Dave Cournoyer and guest co-host Michael Janz discuss Bill 8, the contentious Education Act and its impact on Gay-Straight Alliances, and how the political battles over pipelines, climate change, and
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Edmonton Public School Trustees doing their due diligence by asking about UCP education cuts
UCP doesn’t want Albertans to talk about cuts that could come if they form government in 2019 “How are we going to get our province back on course? I’m sorry to tell you, but it’s going to hurt. Will it affect you? It absolutely will,” said United Conservative Party MLA
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP in damage control mode, its troll farm busy, in face of Edmonton Public School Board budget cuts analysis
Alberta’s United Conservative Party Opposition was in furious damage control mode yesterday after Edmonton Public Schools’ release of “hypothetical” estimates of four budget scenarios for what anticipated UCP cuts could mean for students, parents and teachers. The scenarios were based on past hints UCP Leader Jason Kenney has dropped about
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Vue Weekly Best of Edmonton 2018
Thank you to the readers of Vue Weekly for voting daveberta.ca as one of the city’s Best Local Affairs Blogs in the annual Best of Edmonton list for 2018. I’m thrilled this website was tied for first place with Mack Male’s excellent mastermaq.ca blog, which has long been a solid standard source of information
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Janis Irwin running for NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Daniel Williams wins UCP contest in Peace River
Photo: More than 200 people packed into the Bellevue Community Hall tonight to support Janis Irwin’s bid for the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. Janis Irwin launched her campaign for the New Democratic Party nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood this evening at the Bellevue Community Hall. Irwin is a community advocate and educator, and she
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Public schools should be the priority, says trustee Michael Janz
With Finance Minister Joe Ceci scheduled to table Alberta’s budget in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, March 22, there was plenty of activity today by advocates wanting to see big changes in provincial education. Public schools should be the priority, says Janz Edmonton Public School Board Trustee Michael Janz is
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Edmonton Election Results – A big Iveson landslide and few City Council surprises
Photo: Don Iveson celebrates his re-election victory with his family (photo: Twitter) As expected, Don Iveson was re-elected Mayor of Edmonton in a huge landslide with 141,182 votes – 72 percent of the total votes cast in that race – increasing his total vote count from the 2013 election. Placing a very,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Edmonton Election races I will be watching on Election Night
With less than 36-hours left until the polls open on Alberta’s municipal Election Day, candidates and their campaign teams will be pressing hard to make sure their efforts over the past month pay off. Here are a few Edmonton City Council races I will be watching on Election night: Ward
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