Bill 20: Another Bill No One Asked For
” are good for municipalities, good for voters, good for Albertans.” – Ric McIver, minister of Municipal Affairs with respect to Bill 20. How do they do it? How can…
Danielle Smith
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Saskia O'Donoghue reports on the continued recognition by both risk experts and the general public that the climate crisis is the most important…
No pharmacare, please, we’re Alberta Conservatives! … and if there’s no grift, there’ll be no gift!
Alberta still won’t join the federal pharmacare program. Never mind Health Minister Adriana LaGrange’s explanation in her press release Friday – “the federal government has yet to share its vision…
Jennifer Johnson, the deplorable poop-cookie lady, is welcomed back into the bosom of the UCP
CALGARY – If the United Conservative Party Caucus in the Alberta Legislature were cookie dough, I suppose the addition of Jennifer Johnson wouldn’t significantly change the flavour of the cookies…
Danielle Smith’s promised ‘new day for health care in Alberta’ is here – and, yikes, is it ever awful!
When she opened her news conference on Nov. 8 last year, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith began: “Welcome to a new day for health care in Alberta!” Did she get that…
Chemtrails, moon men, and United Conservative Party 2.0 – nope, this is not your father’s Conservative Party!
A political party that has completely lost its mind is no laughing matter, but I’m going to start with a dad joke. Since my late dad was an astrophysicist and…
Behind closed doors with Danielle Smith
Premier Danielle Smith has made major policy announcements at closed-door meetings with UCP members in select communities. There will be plenty more to come … At a private meeting with…
Alberta’s Healthcare System is on Life Support
Mr. Soapbox’s timing couldn’t have been worse. A couple of days before my husband experienced chest pains that landed him in the cardio unit at Foothills Hospital, Dr Paul Parks,…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Hilary Beaumont and Nina Lakhani report on the fossil fuel lobby's pressure on U.S. governments to impose draconian anti-protest laws to prevent climate…
Danielle Smith announces performative changes with little legal significance to ‘Alberta Bill of Rights’
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith generated a huge amount of virtual ink yesterday yakking about her planned amendments to Alberta’s Lougheed-era Bill of Rights, passed by the Legislature in 1972 and…
The Danielle Smith Chronicles: Still picking fights and wasting other people’s money
Last June, Naheed Nenshi began his campaign to lead the Alberta NDP by observing that Premier Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party “only know how to do two things:…
Premier Smith Closes the Door on Asylum Claimants
On Sept 12, the day after The Trump/Harris debate, Premier Smith told the federal government that Alberta has closed its doors to any more asylum seekers. Here’s what she said:…
Danielle Smith: Alberta welcomes newcomers, but only if they ‘possess our shared values’
“Alberta has always welcomed newcomers who possess our shared values,” Premier Danielle Smith says in a statement published by on the Government’s official web page yesterday. “Who possess our shared…
Danielle Smith complains to feds about looming Air Canada strike, never mind that other airline
Perhaps feeling as if she’d enjoyed a little success yelling at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about last month’s national rail lockout, Danielle Smith was back at it this week, demanding…
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- Andrew Freedman examines how the summer of 2024 is shaping up to be the hottest on record. And Jessica Corbett discusses the strong public…
Breaking UCP promise, Devin Dreeshen pulls plug on $1.5B provincial grant to Calgary Green Line
Let’s try to figure this out: On July 29, Calgary’s $6.3-billion Green Line light rail transit extension project was worthwhile enough for Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen to assure Calgary…
Hope y’all had a great Labour Day/Labor Day, fellow Albertans, while our premier popped up in Texas
While Albertans celebrated the traditional final long weekend of the summer amid unseasonable heat, Premier Danielle Smith popped up in Texas, all but ignoring the occasion. This is pretty much…
Happy Labour Day
Yesterday Premier Danielle Smith issued a statement celebrating Alberta Day—a non-stat holiday created by her predecessor Jason Kenney to commemorate the day Alberta became a province—without once mentioning Confederation. Today…
Happy Alberta Day
I just finished reading Premier Smith’s statement celebrating Alberta Day and wondered how I would explain it to someone who knows nothing about Alberta’s history. I suspect the conversation would…