Chances are vanishingly small that Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government somehow managed to intentionally cause last night’s cold-weather electricity crunch that led to every Albertan with a smartphone receiving an emergency alert pleading with them “to immediately limit their electricity use to essential needs only.” Somebody’s screenshot of Saturday’s emergency
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Alberta Politics: UCP minister tells Edmonton mayor he can forget about seeing anyone from the province at a summit on homelessness
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi can forget about seeing Jason Nixon – Alberta’s minister of seniors, community and social services – at the summit on housing and homelessness he hopes to organize with provincial, city, First Nations, and federal leaders. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Indeed, Mr. Sohi
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Edmonton mayor to ask city councillors to declare housing and homelessness emergency on Monday, ruffling UCP feathers
In a blog post published yesterday, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he has called a special meeting of City Council Monday to ask for a declaration of a housing and homelessness emergency in the city. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The United Conservative Party Government was clearly
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A potentially deadly ‘Tyleonot’ gong show: Can Alberta’s UCP government be trusted to do anything right?
Prediction: Every remaining drop of the screwball Turkish children’s medicine bought by Alberta’s United Conservative Party last year for give or take $100 million just to own the Libs is going to have to be poured down the drain. Then deputy premier Nathan Neudorf, at left, and then health minister
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Expect more chaos in health care, already overwhelmed and at the brink, as AHS ‘senior leaders’ get orders to cut costs
With Alberta’s overwhelmed public health care system once again teetering at the brink, a memorandum from Alberta Health Services’ acting chief financial officer to its “senior leaders” telling them they must find ways to cut costs has surfaced. Michael Lam, Alberta Health Services acting chief financial officer and vice-president of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As temperatures drop, police and city crews continue rousts of homeless encampments, government pitches winter camping
With temperatures falling and lows below minus-30 degrees Celsius forecast by the middle of next week, Edmonton police and city crews continue to break up homeless encampments in the city core. A Government of Alberta advertisement promoting winter camping (Illustration: Government of Alberta). Police in black uniforms and city employees
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Engaged citizens need to take it seriously when UCP leaders start talking about mass purges in health care and education
On December 30, Edmonton Sun commentator Rick Bell published a column suggesting Premier Danielle Smith plans a purge of Alberta Health Services that will reach deep into the middle ranks of the province-wide public health care agency’s management. Calgary Sun political columnist Rick Bell (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). “Layers and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Steven Guilbeault is keeping someone busy writing unhinged jeremiads for Danielle Smith!
Who’s writing Danielle Smith’s unhinged jeremiads? Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Whoever it is, as an Alberta taxpayer I sincerely hope we’re not paying them by the word, because their screeds are definitely getting longer! Regardless of what it sounds like, we know it’s not some guy with
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ethics investigations, Alberta, style – no rules were broken when Deena Hinshaw was fired! Now please move along, folks …
You were wondering about that ethics investigation into the way former Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw was immediately re-fired after she was hired as a member of Alberta Health Services’ Indigenous Wellness Core last June? Was it Premier Danielle Smith? She says not (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr).
Continue readingAlberta Politics: After a day of negotiations, deal lightly taps the brakes on mass Christmas clearances of Edmonton homeless camps
Lawyers for the Edmonton police and the city of Edmonton on one side and the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights on the other reached a deal last night that lightly taps the brakes on pre-Christmas sweeps to bust up eight homeless encampments in the city’s downtown core. Justice Kent
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Replacing to Sovereignty Act so soon? Danielle Smith’s belligerent statement vows new attack on federal power
VICTORIA, B.C. – Is Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party Government now planning to introduce a new, tougher Sovereignty Act to fight Ottawa’s proposed emissions regulations? Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). As is well known, the plainly unconstitutional Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act has
Continue readingAlberta Politics: #Kudatah? Not quite – even Danielle Smith admits this Sovereignty Act stuff is mostly performative fluff
“Alberta’s government will not put Albertans and their businesses at risk of freezing in the dark at -30 C due to the federal government’s proposed unaffordable, unreliable and unconstitutional Clean Electricity Regulations (CERs).” — Actual Government of Alberta press release, Nov. 27, 2023 I think it’s official, my fellow Albertans.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Preston Manning’s pandemic panel report wants more politicians, fewer docs calling public health shots
Have I got this straight? Preston Manning just made a recommendation to give politicians absolute authority over public health that was so excellent the Alberta government accepted it a week before they got it? Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Can someone remind me why we gave the superannuated
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Premiers can agree not to poach health care workers from one another, but that’s easier said than done
A week ago, Canada’s premiers ended a meeting in Halifax agreeing that they shouldn’t poach health care workers from one another. Nova Scotia Conservative Premier Tim Houston (Photo: Screenshot of CPAC video). There’s a shortage all round, they seemed to be saying, let’s poach from poor countries instead of each
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith summons Ed Stelmach, Lyle Oberg from the Alberta political crypt to help sell the breakup of AHS
It was an interesting strategy for Premier Danielle Smith’s government to trot out former premier Ed Stelmach, the man most associated with the creation of Alberta Health Services back in 2009, to act as a validator at the announcement yesterday of her plan to smash the province-wide health care agency
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Lunatics’ really are running the asylum: UCP-TBA fusion starts to sink in with the Alberta commentariat
It was finally starting to sink in with Alberta commentariat yesterday in the aftermath of the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting that the lunatics really are running the asylum, to borrow a colourful metaphor from former premier and UCP founder Jason Kenney. Calgary Herald political columnist Don Braid (Photo:
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The mystery of Bill 5: Is it part of the UCP’s covert ‘Free Alberta’ agenda or just a bit of administrative housekeeping?
Members of Alberta’s labour relations community were scratching their heads Monday and yesterday about Bill 5, the Public Sector Employer Amendment Act, 2023, last on the list of the first five bills to be introduced by the United Conservative Party in the new session of the provincial Legislature that began
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s Legislature shudders back to life this afternoon – what will the UCP get up to next?
With the Alberta Legislature resuming sitting today with a Throne Speech, one has to wonder what the United Conservative Government of Premier Danielle Smith will get up to next? Government House Leader Joseph Schow (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). The headline on the government’s news release Friday about the inaugural session of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: International Energy Agency predicts fossil fuel use will peak by 2030 – whatever will Alberta have to say?
Maybe Alberta Premier Danielle Smith can send an open letter to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, to accuse him of trying to frighten Alberta’s seniors. International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol says the transition to clean energy is unstoppable (Photo: World Economic Forum, yeah, that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: Alberta has already killed the notorious Grassy Mountain coal mine, so why is it still alive?
It’s a true Alberta mystery. The notorious Grassy Mountain open-pit coal mine proposal on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta near the Crowsnest Pass keeps getting killed by the regulatory process – and somehow keeps being resurrected by its deep-pocketed Australian backers who seem to have
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