Universal adoption of homemade face masks would have huge health and economic benefits in the current global coronavirus pandemic, says a paper published a few days ago by seven Yale professors. “We estimate that the benefits of each additional cloth mask worn by the public are conservatively in the $3,000-$6,000
Continue readingTag: new democratic party
Alberta Politics: The premier is disappointed? Where did Alberta’s Mr. Belligerence go when Donald Trump told 3M not to ship N95s to Canada?
Where’s the tough guy we got to know during the last Alberta election campaign, the Jason Kenney of the Summer of Repeal, the War Room and the War on Foreign Funded European Urban Greens? The Alberta premier’s favourite American president, Donald J. Trump, say’s he won’t let 3M Co. of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Can Canada’s Conservatives resist temptation to try to sabotage the accord with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs?
It will be interesting to see how the Conservative Opposition in Ottawa and Alberta’s Conservative government react to yesterday’s announcement the federal and British Columbia governments have reached an accord with the Wet’suwet’en First Nation that would recognize its system of hereditary governance. Participants said the agreement reached yesterday in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Unconstitutional anyone? If Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell is doing her job, she’ll refuse to sign Bill 1 into law
Bill 1 is a breathtakingly terrible piece of legislation. The bill, given first reading in the Alberta Legislature on Tuesday, is called the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. Edmonton lawyer Simon Renouf (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Just for starters, in case you missed it, Bill 1 appears to be intended to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is the Conservative Opposition a national government in waiting or a separatist bloc? Andrew Scheer must decide
Who said, “At time of global economic instability, Canada’s government must stand unequivocally for keeping the country together”? I won’t tease you. It was Stephen Harper, on Dec. 3, 2008. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper (Photo: Prime Minister of Greece). Prime minister Harper, desperate to avoid a non-confidence vote
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The state of the art of Conservative victimhood in Alberta: Cue the violins! Here comes the Buffalo Declaration!
Cue the violins! No one does victimhood like an Alberta Conservative contemplating the prospect of another term in Opposition overlooking the Ottawa River. Michelle Rempel Garner, the Blocker Queen of Twitter and Conservative MP for the monochromatic suburban wasteland of Calgary Nose Hill, apparently wants us to think she is
Continue readingA bad night for politicians, but not so bad for the country
It was not a good night for political parties. Clearly, the voters were not about to commend the Liberals for their four years in power. And just as clearly, they weren’t about to replace them with the Conservatives. Or anybody else. The only party that came out smiling was the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Federal Election 2019 Reflections
The big surprise of the election has to be the Bloc Québécois resurgence, although I am sure they probably saw it coming even if the rest of us didn’t. This certainly makes leader Yves-François Blanchet’s position secure. The other surprise was the late campaign resurgence of the New Democratic Party
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: Welcome to Scheerless Tuesday!
OK… LPC 157 : CPC 121 : BQ 32 : NDP 24 : GPC 3 : IND 1 : PPC 0 A Liberal minority government it is, eh Canada. A Liberal minority government is NOT the worst thing ever. In fact, w/ the seat count, either the NDP, or the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What a strange, strange night it’s been: Andrew Scheer snatches defeat from the jaws of victory!
Well! There’s certainly no shortage of safe Conservative seats in Alberta Jason Kenney could use to saddle up and ride back to Ottawa to save conservatism after Andrew Scheer’s disastrous impersonation of the Conservative Party of Canada’s leader ended in ignominy last night. It takes a special talent to snatch
Continue readingAlberta Politics: N.B.’s Blaine Higgs showed the proper path to power after a close vote, but don’t expect Albertans to believe it
If the Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer should win the most seats in the House of Commons tonight but Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to hand over power on the perfectly reasonable Parliamentary grounds he thinks he can command the confidence of the House, much of Alberta will go
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Massive Edmonton rally greets eco-activist Greta Thunberg; tiny truck counter-protest ignored by all but media
It would have been a remarkable accomplishment for any group to summon a throng the size of the multitude that enthusiastically greeted 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg in Edmonton yesterday afternoon. To do it on three days’ notice in the capital city of Canada’s fossil fuel heartland where everyone
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Edmonton Strathcona voters should vote for NDP’s Heather McPherson, says former Alberta leader Brian Mason
No name was mentioned, but it was pretty clear exactly whom former Alberta New Democratic Party Leader Brian Mason had in mind Wednesday when he posted a social media comment stating he will be voting for the federal NDP candidate in his own riding on Monday. In case that message
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Green Party candidate drops out in Edmonton Strathcona, urges supporters to switch to NDP
Michael Kalmanovitch, the Green Party of Canada Candidate in the tight Edmonton-Strathcona race, told an all-candidates’ forum at the riding’s King’s University College yesterday that he is dropping out and asking his supporters to vote strategically for the NDP’s Heather McPherson. “Based on polling projections, it has become clear that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Those elusive Liberals of Edmonton Strathcona: Where did Mainstreet’s pollsters find them?
Volunteers for NDP candidate Heather McPherson’s campaign in the federal Edmonton-Strathcona riding are asking themselves, where the heck are those mobs of Liberal voters one pollster claims to have identified in the riding? Door-knocking in 2019 in the progressive-leaning riding on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River feels
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There was actually something new in the leader’s debate Monday — alas, it’s not a good thing
The United States’ two-party political setup may not be much of a template for actual democracy, but at least it has lots of potential for interesting leaders’ debates. A televised leaders’ debate in a vibrant multi-party democracy like Canada? Not so much. For one thing, you have to invite the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What was Rachel Notley suggesting when she said she’s not committed to voting for Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats?
Responding to former Alberta NDP premier Rachel Notley’s remark last week that she hasn’t committed to voting for Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats in her own federal riding, a young Albertan named Reakash Walters tweeted from Ontario: “I have never felt so out of touch from Alberta politics than right at
Continue readingAlberta Politics: When in doubt, tell the truth: Andy Scheer’s lies lack ambition; more importantly, so do his excuses!
Mark Twain, the renowned American author and one of the great raconteurs of the 19th Century, counselled: “When in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.” Excellent advice, it turns out, in this political season. The author’s advice was not just about lies of
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Inequality, Democracy and Taxing the Rich – A Modest Proposal
No doubt many raised in our capitalist society, where inequality rules and excessive incomes and wealth are seen as a right (and where even the NDP only proposes a measly 1% tax on excessive wealth), will consider this proposal to be radical but it is actually quit a modest proposal.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s tough to be a federal Liberal or a New Democrat in Alberta … especially during elections
It’s always hard to be a federal Liberal in Alberta … especially during elections! (Ba-boom!) In the federal election Prime Minister Trudeau called yesterday, it’ll probably be just a little harder than usual. Here in Wild Rose Country, it’s usually pretty difficult to be a New Democrat too, subject to
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