On Being a Teacher, or Why Merit Pay Stinks.
I’m taking a course on organizational theory right now and the readings have caused me to reflect on an issue that is getting a fair deal of play in education…
Alberta
Alberta Election
I am starting to look forward to the upcoming Alberta provincial election in 2012. Of particular interest to me are the candidates who will emerge in support of Green Principles.…
Life is Bigger than Politics
News was released today that former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is a horrible disease that has no cure and robs the body…
Tar on the Tusks – The Walrus sells out to Big Oil
Canada's preeminent culture magazine has let Big Oil lie about the tar sands on its pages.
Holy Biased Poll
I realize website polls are primarily for entertainment and shouldn't be taken seriously, especially not on a hyper-conservative radio site.But this poll really stuck out as having a totally meaningless,…
When a Witch Weighs the Same as a Duck
Ed Stelmach's communication style is oblique and opaque most of the time. Opaque in the sense of being impenetrable by light. Today he all but confirmed that Stephen Duckett would…
Bill 17: De-democratizing healthcare
My time lately has been consumed by two grad courses, an active full-time job and home and family commitments. But one emergent and urgent issue has forced me to tend…
Meet an Alberta Progressive: Sherry McKibben
One of the primary objectives of this series of podcasts, Meet an Alberta Progressive, is to demonstrate that progressives are a diverse group of people with diverse backgrounds, but to…
Your Alberta Health Act: Opening Doors for Private Healthcare.
"We'd be a lot better off if we had funding follow the patient" The comment hung in the air, a pinata, colorful, attention seeking, begging for a reaction. I figured…
Meet an Alberta Progressive: Chima Nkemdirim
The Alberta Liberal party placed an advertisement Wednesday inviting other progressive parties to talk about opportunities for cooperation. I spent a great amount of time campaigning in 2004 in Edmonton…
Fraser Institute is Flat Wrong
Earlier this year, I wrote about the Manning Centre for Democracy’s conference on Alberta’s future. What I didn’t discuss in that post was how I spent an hour in the…
Inspiring Education report comes with risks
Inspiring Education came out with its long anticipated report yesterday and the initial response is quite positive. The primary vision is reflected in the three-Es for an educated Albertan: Engaged…
Manning Centre misses opportunity
In his book Don't Think of an Elephant, George Lakoff provides a metaphor for conservatives as the strict father figure, where as liberals are the nurturant parent. Upon first reading…
Cute.
Further to my post on private health care...
Time to put private health delivery to bed.
There seems to be one demon that lingers that Albertans have to fight off time and time again. At least this time it appears that our premier is actually standing…
Shit Craig Chandler Says
BONUS Chandler rants! Chandler on Calgary mayoral candidate Naheed Nenshi: Poetry in motion, Chandler style: You think Veterans are safe from Chandler’s hysterics? No. (He’s in the 4th shot, but…
What it means to be a progressive.
Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to 2010. Is it everything you thought it would look like?I remember the new year of 1990 very well. I was 10 and it was…