Last night Alberta’s electric system operator (AESO) issued a province-wide emergency alert asking Albertans to immediately reduce their electricity use to minimize the potential for rotating outages across the province. First the good news, Albertans responded to the call. Within minutes usage dropped significantly and rotating power outages were avoided.
Continue readingTag: Justin Trudeau
Alberta Politics: Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas comes a little early for the Trans Mountain Pipeline as Ottawa guarantees another couple o’ billion
It appears Christmas came a little early for that unending and expensive Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project, with word of another couple of billion dollars in loan guarantees arriving from Ottawa on Tibb’s Eve, the celebration on the day before Christmas Eve that’s marked in Newfoundland – and, by logical
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Alberta Pension Plan: Pierre Poilievre Weighs In
It took Danielle Smith five months to go from “Nobody is touching anyone’s pension” to “Look! It’s a shiny new APP! Albertans will get much more and it will cost much less!!” And she had the LifeWorks report to backup her claim. LifeWorks says Alberta is entitled to 53%
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Will Danielle Smith’s pension scheme drive a wedge right into the heart of Conservative support?
In the past few hours, a lot of metaphorical ink has been spilled on the duelling open letters about the Alberta Government’s scheme to pull the province’s still-skeptical population out of the Canada Pension Plan, the first from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday and the response from Alberta Premier
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Justin Trudeau blasted after trans ‘woman’ breaks Canadian Power-lifting Record
We need to not endorse people who do not comport with the material reality we all share.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta medical clinic’s ‘membership’ billing scheme won’t hurt a bid by PM to attack Pierre Poilievre through Danielle Smith
There must have been a moment of pure delight in the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa when the story broke about Dr. Sally Talbot-Jones’s plan to get her patients to pay thousands of dollars a year to become “members” of her Calgary medical practice. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Alberta Newsroom/Flickr).
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Premier’s meeting with PM sparks petulantly hyperbolic ‘readout,’ Postmedia hysteria
Danielle Smith’s petulant afternoon “readout” from Friday’s Calgary Stampede meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggests Alberta’s premier didn’t get very far trying to bully the feds into abandoning their energy emissions targets. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, looking steely eyed (Photo: Liberal Party of Canada). In other words, my assessment
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canadian prime minister and Alberta premier exchange vapidities in public for 5 minutes and 10 seconds
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had a five-minute-and-10-second televised conversation of remarkable vapidity in Calgary yesterday. Why is this man smiling (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Notwithstanding the frenzied spinning of some local newshounds, what little news there was at the Calgary Stampede photo-op needs to be prised
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No predictions today, but the stakes are high, maybe existential, so just go vote!
One of the dirty little secrets of Canadian politics at the end of the beginning of the 21st Century is that a lot of political professionals have come to recognize the awesome power of fear. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper (Photo: Screenshot of UCP video). And nothing instills fear
Continue readingThe Maple Monarchists - Blog: Justin Trudeau’s Partial About Face on the Monarchy
Photo Credit: Reuters I have, for a while now, been critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the monarchy. Perhaps, surprisingly, he has done several positive things for the monarchy in a very short amount of time and it is worth examining what the effects of his actions will be. Approval of Coronation Medallions Trudeau faced a fair amount
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The UCP Government Responds to Justice Paul Rouleau’s Report on the Emergencies Act
On Friday Justice Paul Rouleau released his report of the inquiry into the Trudeau government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to the convoy protests in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada. Rouleau determined the Feds’ decision met the “very high threshold” necessary to invoke the Act. The Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Health care funding: Trudeau looks serene, even mischievous; premiers look like they’re just going to have to take it
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looked like the smooth old political pro he has become yesterday as he laid out his health care deal for Canada’s perpetually dissatisfied and mostly Conservative premiers. Former Alberta premier Rachel Notley looks askance of Mr. Trudeau’s proffered hand (Photo: Canadian Press). Try as they might
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith comes out swinging; Justin Trudeau responds with the rope-a-dope strategy
Danielle Smith comes out swinging. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Justin Trudeau’s Liberals do the rope-a-dope. Remember, though, in addition to being prime minister, Mr. Trudeau is an actual boxer, and the son of a judoka to boot. So he understands the rope-a-dope strategy, about which there is
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Political Interference in the Administration of Justice (Again!)
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”—Proverb, originated 1562 Did you catch all that? Premier Smith has been all over the airwaves saying that regardless of what it looks like she wasn’t trying to interfere with the administration of justice. On Thursday Jan 12 in a discussion
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Free Money? No Thank You!
Many years ago the (then) Progressive Conservative government offered energy companies bags of money if they undertook projects the government thought were necessary. The CEO I worked for told us to create such a project (even though it would be of little value to the company) and apply for the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your Boxing Day reading. – Robert Reich discusses the dangers of relying on – and indeed building a political and economic system to favour – the social costs of extreme greed. And the Canadian Press reports on the Trudeau Libs’ plan to take foreign aid even further
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney, working remotely by cellphone from London queue, tweets ostentatiously while waiting to bid farewell to Queen
“In queue for Queen, Premier Kenney signs order banning remote work option for civil servants.” University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). In fact, there was nothing for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to sign. Alberta’s civil servants were ordered back to their offices months ago, on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Jon Henley writes that COVID is surging across Europe as governments and people alike ignore desperate warnings not to let their guard down. And Eric Topol writes about the reality that reinfection produces even worse outcomes than initial exposure – even as governments
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s “Breaking Bad” Press Release
Last week, the feds granted BC a 3-year exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act decriminalizing the possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain illegal drugs for personal use. Judging by Jason Kenney’s response, you’d think Breaking Bad had set up shop next door. Leaving aside Kenney’s hypocritical
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: 51.4% (the end of Jason Kenney?)
It finally happened.* Despite the UCP government changing the law to allow the purchase of party memberships without someone’s knowledge or consent, the UCP executive changing the rules setting out when, where, and how Jason Kenney’s leadership review would take place and Kenney’s announcement that an approval rating of 50%
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