Big Oil’s bad week
As I have said elsewhere, I don’t do a lot of finger-pointing at oil companies when placing the blame for global warming. They produce the oil and gas because we…
Bill Longstaff
Canmore rejects growth—a note of encouragement
Canmore is no Banff, but it is a charming and popular mountain town in its own right. Just outside of the famous park and just over an hour from Calgary,…
Here’s a surprise—relatives supportive of long-term care facilities
After all the horror stories to emerge from long-term care facilities during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, one might expect that relatives of those in care would be…
How races differ
Science has little use for the term “race.” Defining it is too problematic due to genetic variation among individuals and populations. To quote geneticist Kenneth Kidd, “Race is not biologically…
You, yes you, will pay for the tar sands cleanup
The general rule in regard to environmental damage is the polluter pays. In accordance with that rule as applied to mining, Alberta has in place the Mine Financial Security Program…
Alberta justice minister goes full paranoid
Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu’s comment that a Covid disaster is “what the NDP, the media and the federal Liberals were looking for and want” is contemptible. Politics can be…
Premier Kenney encounters contrary constituents
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, dating back to his college days, has never been comfortable with people who hold divergent views. Perhaps chief among the views he despises the most are…
Rebooting Calgary’s downtown core
Calgary’s downtown core has long been a hive of commercial activity, a major energy centre in more ways than one. Not long ago the city had the second-highest number of…
Death of an elm
The idea that trees have personalities may be offensive to science, but sometimes they just do. Such is the massive elm that sits in the middle of a Calgary Stampede…
Kudos to Maria Ressa
Among the numerous seriously unpleasant men leading countries in the world today, Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, must be included. Perhaps his most odious policy is his support for…
The China dilemma—global warming or human rights?
If anything scares China’s formidable president, Xi Jinping, it’s probably democracy. The idea of the Chinese people choosing their own president must be nightmarish to the new emperor. His current…
O’Toole re-sets on climate change
It’s taken a while but finally Erin O’Toole has a climate change policy to present to the voters. The most intriguing bit is his acceptance of the need for a…
Survey of Western powers points toward citizens’ assemblies
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center of the four major Western powers turned up some interesting if not altogether surprising results. The goal of the study was to…
I’ll miss the mayor
I was surprised when Naheed Nenshi won Calgary’s mayoral race in 2010. The odds-on favourite, a well-known alderman, had been running for years and, due to his popularity with developers,…
Biden-led U.S. to power global economy
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Covid shrunk the global economy by 3.3 percent in 2020, the worst downturn since 1980. Almost 100 million people slipped into severe poverty.…
Billionaires 1, Unions 0
The richest man in the world wins again. Earlier this week, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, voted overwhelmingly against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.…
Alberta government fails school curriculum
To comment on the new school curriculum proposed by Alberta’s Department of Education, I’ll do something it apparently didn’t. I’ll rely on experts. Specifically, four professors who teach in the…
Biden admin getting it right on taxes
For some time, corporations have had things their way. With globalization, which was largely designed by and for them, they were able to slip the leashes that nation states had…
Kim struts his stuff
Nuclear technology does more than make powerful weapons. It also makes for powerful politics. It allows Kim Jong-un, ruler of a sordid little dictatorship, possibly the most backward nation on…
Alberta—big winner of Covid relief
The Covid pandemic has, among other things, reminded us that we are indeed “all in it together,” requiring government leadership and assistance unprecedented in recent history. According to a report…