Alberta Politics: With UCP support, police chief’s solution to homeless crisis moves ahead, whether Edmonton city council likes it or not

Edmonton’s police chief and the UCP ministers there to support him on his plan to clear Edmonton’s parks and avenues of hundreds of tents housing homeless people seemed antagonistic, annoyed and agitated at yesterday’s government news conference. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). This is evident if you

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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

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Alberta 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

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Alberta Politics: What do you do about a problem like Shane Getson, the UCP MLA whose Facebook post appeared to call for the PM to be lynched? 

With apologies to the Sound of Music, what do you do with a problem like Shane Getson? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Photo: Justin Trudeau/Flickr). More specifically, what should the Alberta Legislature do about a member like Shane Getson, the United Conservative Party MLA for the rural riding of Lac Ste.

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Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – David Wallace-Wells examines the massive global toll of excess deaths from COVID-19 (likely far exceeding even the already-alarming official counts). Nele Brusselaers et al. examine how Sweden’s choice to ignore science in favour of wishcasting and a strategy of deliberate infection resulted in

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Alberta Politics: When the going gets tough, tough-guy Jason Kenney gets going – this time leaving the Legislature padlocked behind him

With COVID-19 out of control, the United Conservative Party Government clueless and divided, ordinary citizens increasingly frightened, and defiant covidiots organizing super-spreader events like that no-more-lockdowns rodeo in Bowden Saturday, Premier Jason Kenney adopted his crisis response of choice.  Cut and run. Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley (Photo: David J.

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Alberta Politics: It’s the UCP Government that’s been blocking Albertans’ access to Ottawa’s COVID Alert app, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says

We now know with reasonable certainty it’s the United Conservative Party Government that’s been responsible for blocking Albertans from having access to the federal COVID Alert smartphone app. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear in a radio interview in Edmonton yesterday morning that Ottawa views Alberta’s UCP Government as

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Alberta Politics: Public inquiry, conducted in secret, gets another extension to find elusive foreign funders of ‘anti-Alberta’ campaigns

Apparently commissioner Steve Allan still isn’t having any luck finding those sinister foreign funders of “anti-energy” campaigns. But don’t worry, the government of Alberta has given the head of its “inquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns” yet another extension to keep looking for the elusive foreigners featured in Premier Jason Kenney’s

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Alberta Politics: UCP launches ambitious legislative session, with 20 bills packed into six weeks and no time for COVID-19

An ambitious six-week fall sitting of the Alberta Legislature commenced in Edmonton yesterday with Premier Jason Kenney telling the House during Question Period that his government isn’t about to publish any updated COVID-19 modelling. As Opposition Leader Rachel Notley argued, it would be useful to know what the experts say

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Alberta Politics: Sundre hospital renamed to honour MP Myron Thompson, long-time foe of equality for same-sex couples

“They’re trying to take away our culture, they’re trying to take away our history,” Donald Trump complained back in 2017 about activists who call for the removal statues of Confederate and colonialist heroes. Mr. Trump’s supporters have been loudly making their agreement known ever since, including here in Alberta where

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