Inside the War Room
On the campaign trail in 2018, Jason Kenney promised that one of his first acts as premier would be to establish a “fully staffed, rapid response war room” to defend Alberta’s oil and gas sector. [...]
Chris Turner
Chris Turner
Trans Mountain Pipeline: Cold Pipe, Hot Rhetoric
Have you heard about Trans Mountain? Well, of course you have. Everyone has. There’s been nothing but heated talk about the planned expansion of the pipeline system carrying bitumen and other oil [...]
Retrospective: Mind the Gap
In the spring of 2011, Naheed Nenshi flew off on his first big overseas junket as mayor of Calgary—a trade mission to China. His destination was Beijing, and he arrived after a gruelling flight [...]
The Coal Phase-Out
“Jason digs coal.” That’s Jason as in Kenney, the long-serving Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore, former federal minister and current leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives. Also, [...]
A Price is Right
Let’s begin with the hard truth: Alberta has a carbon problem. A pretty major one. Potentially a generation-defining one, in fact. It’s not just that Alberta emits more carbon dioxide than any [...]
Mind the Gap
In the spring of 2011, Naheed Nenshi flew off on his first big overseas junket as mayor of Calgary—a trade mission to China. His destination was Beijing, and he arrived after a gruelling flight [...]
Paradigm Shift
To the 14th Premier of the Province of Alberta: Dear Premier, Welcome to your new office. Can’t say I envy the job you’ve worked so hard to get, but I’ll wish you well nonetheless. In any [...]
Prodigal Band
When Nils Edenloff was a high school student in Fort McMurray, there was a minor scandal one summer involving a gaggle of teens who decided to ride their bicycles to Edmonton. It was received [...]
Kill (Your) Bill
If you’d like to see a sort of sneak preview of what Alberta’s future could look like, you’ll find it in a warehouse that comprises part of a bland, big-box commercial strip in southeast Calgary. [...]
The Big Decision
The first time I heard tell of the notion of a nuclear power plant in northern Alberta, it was the punchline to an anecdote, intended as a wry slice of gallows humour. It was in the spring of [...]
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Kenney VS. Campgrounds
I hear children giggling, wood being chopped and wind blowing through towering lodgepole pines as I use the back of a hatchet to tap my tent stakes into the soft, pine-needle-covered earth. It’s a warm Friday in mid-August, and I’ll spend the evening around a campfire before tucking myself into ...
Should Churches be Tax Exempt?
Karen Kerr, the president of Edmonton Atheists and co-founder of Alberta Secular Conference says no.
In Canada many charities and other non-profits, including churches and religious groups, are tax-exempt if they are deemed to create public benefit. The exemption is premised on the idea that they provide a public good. However ...
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 ...