Down the River
Winging my way over the deep green forest of northern Alberta toward Fort Chipewyan, I’m crammed into a twin- engine Piper PA 31-350 Navajo Chieftain with two pilots and five other passengers. We [...]
The Ponds
EVERY ALBERTAN NOW KNOWS that the tar sands, the world’s largest energy project, drinks an enormous amount of water. Separating tar from sand is a messy, water intensive business: producing just [...]
Western Taxidermy
Deirdre’s mother opened the door when I arrived at the baby celebration. She reminded me of a monkey: short with stringy limbs, close-set eyes, a wide, smiling mouth. Although, unlike a [...]
The Hidden Face of Prosperity
Six years ago, when RCMP constable Scott Hagarty moved to grande Prairie, prostitution was almost invisible in the city of 31,000. Today, grande Prairie’s population is pushing 50,000, plus a [...]
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Should Post-Secondary Education be Free?
Hugh Mackenzie
The economist and research associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says yes.
Free tuition would redress a massive intergenerational inequity created over the past 30 years. In 1990–91, average university tuition in Canada was $1,464; adjusted for inflation, that would be $2,541 in 2019–20. Today the actual average ...
Two Trillion Litres of Toxicity
Much has been written about the egregious environmental impacts of Alberta’s oil sands, from fugitive clouds of petcoke dust (which damage human lungs and hearts) to the invisible curse of greenhouse gas emissions. But nothing compares to the size and toxicity of the tailings ponds. In a bid to provide America with ...
Out with the Old
On a sunny autumn afternoon, pedestrians walk up to the edge of Edmonton’s 115th St, where steel girders separate the road from the edge of the hill. The view is tremendous: overlooking the lush Victoria Park golf course and the gorgeous panorama of the North Saskatchewan River valley. Most people ...