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…
Alberta
Leadership Lacking.
We are not getting much provincial leadership in Canada these days. Despite liking both Andrew Furey in Newfoundland and Labrador and John Horgan of B.C., I cannot say much for…
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…
Canute-like Kenney confronts Canadians.
In the supposedly moralistic story of King Canute of the North Sea Empire, Canute was demonstrating that even a king could not control the tides. It is somewhat strange that…
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…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Katie Raso describes the coronavirus pandemic as the neoliberal Chernobyl, having exposed how we’re not only unable to respond to a disaster…
Mr. Kenney, take back control of the damn tax!
It’s encouraging to hear someone in the upper reaches of the Canadian establishment recognize reality. Ruling on the appeal by Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan against the federal carbon tax, the…
The 2021 alberta budget
On 25 February 2021, Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party government tabled its third budget, announcing very few major changes to either spending or taxation, while also projecting a deficit of…
Shannon Phillips and the Lethbridge cops
Women in politics are routinely subjected to hate mail from assorted misogynists. Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips is no exception. According to her constituency assistant, “We used to say that if…
Kenney opts for debt over taxes.
It seems obvious that premier Jason Kenney of Alberta is a strange sort of conservative. His and previous conservative regimes in Alberta have managed to piss away another fortune in…
Sensible Alberta voice appointed to Net-Zero Advisory Body
I was pleased to hear that the Pembina Institute’s executive-director, Linda Coady, has been appointed to the federal government’s new Net-Zero Advisory Body. The body is an independent group of…
Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Lauren Krugel reports on a push by Alberta doctors to avoid the further lifting of public health restrictions which will increase the risk…
Alberta business proposes more taxes
We don’t generally think of proposals for more taxes coming from the business community but that’s exactly what happened in Alberta this week. The Business Council of Alberta has issued…
An apology to Gillian Steward.
Fair is fair. For years I have thought that Gillian Steward, a freelance journalist in Calgary who frequently writes for the Toronto Star, was an apologist for the oil interests.…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Gabrielle Drolet discusses how essential workers have been left to bear the physical and emotional burdens of workplaces designed to prioritize the…
Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jerusalem Demsas discusses the strong popular support for affordable social housing even as governments continually fail to provide it. Daphne Bramham rightly asks…
Albertans support net-zero by 2050, but …
A recent survey by Janet Brown Opinion Research, commissioned by the Pembina Institute, showed some encouraging attitudes of Albertans toward climate change. For example, two-thirds of those surveyed support the…
And the World moves on…. (or why Alberta needs to pay attention to the way other people are getting their energy)
When I was a child, I was privileged in that I got to travel to Jamaica and Barbados to see my relatives. The trips were amazing; and, each time I…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Grace Blakeley comments on the connection between neoliberal ideology, and the replacement of even the possibility of collective action with an assumption…