Stampede and the Westness of West
The first poem in Aritha van Herk’s new book, Stampede and the Westness of West, ends with something akin to a threat: “Stampede or else.” One can almost hear the film score of a gunfight in a [...]
God’s Province: Evangelical Christianity, Political Thought and Conservatism in Alberta
Alberta may be the only Canadian province in which two premiers collaborated to write a play. That William Aberhart and Ernest Manning were playwrights—in 1931, before either became premier—is [...]
Notley Nation: How Alberta’s Political Upheaval Swept the Country
It remains a pleasant shock that Alberta is no longer a political monolith. Why Rachel Notley’s NDP triumphed and how well they are governing have occasioned considerable debate since the [...]
This Land: Betrayed
Friday, January 13, 2017, was not Jessica Ernst’s lucky day. That’s the day the Supreme Court of Canada handed down a non-decision in her legal battle against the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)—a [...]
Profile: Grande Prairie
Guess where the city ends and the county begins,” says Bill Given, the two-term mayor of Grande Prairie—the main retail and services hub for northwest Alberta. We’re driving past gas stations, [...]
The Sicilian Wife
Edmonton writer Caterina Edwards’s latest book is both an intriguing mystery and a sharp critique of how men often expect women to behave. As a mystery, The Sicilian Wife is a departure from [...]
Who Needs Books? Reading in the Digital Age
Lynn Coady is the Giller Prize-winning author of Hellgoing, as well as the author of Strange Heaven and The Antagonist, so answering the titular question of her 2015 CLC Kreisel [...]
The Digital Nexus: Identity, Agency and Political Engagement
Fake news. Filter bubbles. The influence of social media on the US election. Online harassment of female politicians in Alberta. These are just a few of the digital media issues competing for [...]
The Banker and the Blackfoot: A Memoir of My Grandfather in Chinook Country
John “Jack” Cowdry, the author’s grandfather, first came to my attention in L.V. Kelly’s Alberta ranching chronicle The Range Men (1913). The Cowdry brothers were the first bankers to set up shop [...]
In Focus: Festival of Animated Objects
Two years ago Xstine (pronounced “Christine”) Cook, founder of the International Festival of Animated Objects, passed the torch—an actual flaming torch—to Peter Balkwill, co-artistic director of [...]
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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 ...
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 ...
Pension Folly
In 1965, Quebec, eager to be master in its own house, decided it wanted to have its own pension plan and not be part of the new Canada Pension Plan. Quebec’s population was younger than the Canadian average, and the province had a high birth rate. The province believed its ...