By modifying the St. Albert Public Library Board’s budget request before presenting it to St. Albert City Council as part of its proposed city budget, the city’s administration contravened the Alberta Libraries Act, the library board’s co-chairs advised city councillors in an Oct. 22 letter to the city’s mayor and
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Alberta Politics: St. Albert city administration wants to cut $500,000 from public library – and add $480,000 for 2 new senior administrators
The City of St. Albert’s administration posted a proposed 2023 budget Monday that includes a brutal $500,000 single-year funding cut to the St. Albert Public Library. A typical scene before the library’s main branch in St. Albert City Hall opens (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The budget proposal was added to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hiding behind UCP youth minimum wage cut, Edmonton Public Library slashes library pages’ pay
Using the wording of its collective agreement with Civic Service Union 52 as an excuse, and the United Conservative Government’s minimum wage reduction for students under 18 as the trigger, Edmonton Public Library is handing its youth pages pay cuts of $2.30 to $2.50 per hour. This is pretty shameful
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Wildrose-style insurgency smacked down in St. Albert as progressive Cathy Heron elected as mayor
PHOTOS: St. Albert Mayor-elect Cathy Heron with the author of this blog post last night at her victory celebration. Below: Newly elected councillors Natalie Joly, Ken MacKay, Ray Watkins, Jacqui Hansen, and re-elected incumbent Wes Brodhead. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Let’s start with the basic score: Cathy Heron, widely perceived as
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Cathy Heron is the candidate for mayor of St. Albert with a compelling and positive vision for the future
PHOTOS: St. Albert mayoral candidate Cathy Heron at her official campaign launch. Below: Candidates Cam MacKay and Malcolm Parker, and outgoing Mayor Nolan Crouse; St. Albert Place architect Douglas Cardinal, and first artistic director Maralyn Ryan. ST. ALBERT, Alberta In the first few moments of Wednesday’s mayoral candidates’ forum in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘What would Lois do?’ asks leader of St. Albert’s Vote Yes for the Library campaign at Saturday evening launch event
PHOTOS: In the foreground, former St. Albert Public Library Board chair Charmaine Brooks, who now leads the Vote Yes for the Library campaign, and mayoral candidate Cathy Heron, a city councillor, at last night’s campaign launch. Below: A band perked things up and Library Director Peter Bailey addressed the crowd
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘What would Lois do?’ asks St. Albert Public Library Board chair at launch of Vote Yes campaign for a branch library
PHOTOS: In the foreground, St. Albert Public Library Board Chair Charmaine Brooks and mayoral candidate Cathy Heron, a city councillor, at last night’s Vote Yes for the Library campaign launch. Below: A band perked things up and Library Director Peter Bailey addressed the crowd of about 200 people at the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Has St. Albert mayoral candidate Cam MacKay moved from opposition to a branch library to opposition to libraries?
PHOTOS: A children’s reading event at the St. Albert Public Library, illustrating the level of partication in some of the library’s programs. (Photo: YesForTheLibrary.ca.) Below: Councillor Cam MacKay, who is running for mayor of St. Albert on a platform that prominently features opposition to a new branch library, and St.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Has St. Albert councillor’s mayoral campaign forgotten the incumbent mayor isn’t seeking reelection?
PHOTOS: St. Albert City Councillor Cam MacKay, who is running for mayor of the municipality northwest of Edmonton. Below: Mayoral candidate Cathy Heron, also a city councillor, St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, and Councillor Sheena Hughes. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Have the key players in City Councillor Cam MacKay’s campaign to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With 588 invalid signatures, petition to St. Albert City Council opposing borrowing bylaw for library ruled invalid
PHOTOS: Supporters of the St. Albert Public Library gathered for a reception in the crowded downtown facility in 2015. Below: St. Albert City Councillors Bob Russell (Photo: City of St. Albert), Cathy Heron (Photo: Twitter) and Cam MacKay. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Surely St. Albert City Council should get the city’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New board chairs appointed at Athabasca University and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
PHOTOS: Ray Martin at the side of NDP Leader Rachel Notley, back in the days before she was premier. He once sat in the Legislature with Premier Notley’s father, Grant Notley. Mr. Martin has been appointed chair of the board of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Below, Edmonton architect
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Hello Canada? This is London calling! … and we’re mildly confused
PHOTOS: BBC listeners, suitably equipped because they think they’re listening to Ezra Levant, tune into my words of wisdom from Canada. Actual 21st Century “media consumers” may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The weather in Britain ……
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Every time you bug this 85-year-old city councillor, your library could lose a few books! Have you got that, people?
PHOTOS: St. Albert City Councillor Bob Russell – fending off annoying letters from voters since 1950-something! Time to send him back to the greenhouse? (St. Albert Gazette photo.) Below: A crowd of irritating readers at a recent library event. Probably every one them sent an email to Bob Russell, dammit!
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Why libraries – and library users – need their librarians and other library workers to be union members
Maureen O’Reilly, president of the Toronto Public Library Workers Union, speaking in Toronto last weekend. Below: Renowned author Margaret Atwood on an Alberta union picket line, circa 2000, Doug Ford and his Brother Rob. Doug Ford? Doug Ford? Who is Doug Ford again? I think he’s Rob Ford’s brother? OK.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: There’s no better time than right now for non-union employees of the City of St. Albert to look for union protection
St. Albert’s 2013 civic election campaign was pretty dirty, as the illustration above, grabbed from an anonymous blog during the campaign, illustrates. Since those kind of tactics seemed to work, the next one, in October 2017, is likely to be dirtier still. Below: St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, Spruce Grove-St.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Moving on from the St. Albert Public Library Board: an occasion for bittersweet reflection
Your blogger with some of his fellow library trustees at last night’s farewell performance as chair of the St. Albert Public Library Board. Hasta la vista! Below: St. Albert Place. There’s no sign, but the library’s in there somewhere. ST. ALBERT Last night I attended my last meeting as chair,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 10: The ‘Me Card’ comes to St. Albert library users
Your candidate for St. Albert City Council, looking happy while hanging around St. Albert’s terrific public library. And why wouldn’t he? Now the library offers even more to patrons. Below: The “Me Card” icon. Today marks the start of Canadian Library Month, so it was appropriate for now to be
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Campaign Diary Volume 8: Why I’m running for council & why I went door-knocking Tuesday
Yours Truly, left, showing a patron the new automatic checkout machine at the St. Albert Public Library, one of the facilities in our community that’s worth making an effort to protect. The library is located in St. Albert Place, at 5 St. Anne St. A good friend of mine asked
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