Mythologized & Misunderstood
Trying to define anything, let alone a place like Alberta, is complicated by the panoply of perspectives involved. Like the blind bloke approaching the elephant, each of us grasps a piece of the [...]
Why I Left Politics
For three and a half years (2004–2008), I had the honour of being the Alberta Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Meadowlark. The pay was pleasant, the perks were plentiful. I [...]
Martha and Henry Retire
Martha and Henry sat down in the family room to watch the local news, as they did most nights. It was early 2009, the late stages of winter, and oil prices were staying stubbornly low. That [...]
Mr. Tree (Part Two)
Auguste, Ernst’s mother, was wise to flee East Prussia when she did. Many who stayed starved to death or worse. One of Ernst’s childhood friends endured six years of forced labour in a Soviet [...]
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Part 2: A Tribute to Charlie Russell
I knew about ranching back in the 1980s. Ranchers were the bad guys who killed off bears and whose cattle trashed their habitat. Like most environmentalists of the day, I got my insights from urban-based environmental groups. In Alberta’s ranch country the story seemed almost always to be about conflict ...
Part 1: A Tribute to Charlie Russell
Charlie Russell loved to fly, and he seldom phoned first those times when he would fly his Kolb ultralight airplane north from Hawk’s Nest ranch on the boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park, to our “ranchette” near the Crowsnest Pass. We would hear the thrum of the plane’s Rotax motor ...
AURA OF POWER: An Alberta Election Game
To download a printable version of the game rules click here.
OBJECT OF THE GAME
The goal is to win a majority of Alberta’s 87 seats (i.e., at least 44) and, with them, raw, unchecked power for four long years.
In a minority situation, a party leader can win the election if they successfully ...