The Resurgence of Respect for Expertise
So here we are, in the midst of a global pandemic, though for all we know it might still be the opening credits. The whole crisis feels simultaneously as if it is in its early stages (in that we [...]
Curtis Gillespie
Curtis Gillespie
Retrospective: Party, Started
Where did the chaos of January 2011 leave the Alberta Party? The only provincial party left standing that hadn’t alienated itself from Alberta’s vast swath of disaffected voters through obvious [...]
What’s Left
On the western edge of downtown Edmonton sits a small, triangular park that commands a vista over the serpentine North Saskatchewan River valley. With its sublime and panoramic views, it’s the [...]
Under Scrutiny
For certain animals, human and non-human, the 8,900-hectare Calgary Stampede Ranch, located about halfway between Brooks and Hanna, is paradise. When I arrived there on a bright and windy day [...]
Party, Started
When Dave Taylor, independent MLA for Calgary-Currie, announced on January 24 that he would join the Alberta Party—a somewhat lonely “floor crossing,” since the party held no seats in the [...]
Artists Without Labels
The buildings around the intersection of 111 Avenue and 97 Street in Edmonton, halfway between Commonwealth Stadium and the Glenrose Hospital, are rather unprepossessing: a large funeral home, a [...]
Surface Rites
Local myth tells us that it was the beloved Father Albert Lacombe, missionary to the Cree and Blackfoot, who picked the site for the church at the turn of the last century. Though he was based [...]
The Contender
Outside the town of Jasper sits Lake Edith, a stunning of natural jewel. Tasteful cabins ring the lake; the owners tend to be families who have held the lease rights for generations. They also [...]
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The Lesson of Lougheed
For 100 years, between 1905 and 2005, Albertans changed their government only three times (1921, 1935, 1971). The last of these elections, the most portentous, happened 50 years ago this August. Alberta has now changed government twice in the past six years. The next election may see yet another new government—meaning ...
The Assault on Higher Education
The Kenney government proclaimed in fall 2019 that Alberta’s post-secondary institutions were “overly dependent” on government funding—which is an odd thing to say about a public good. Then it declared that the province’s grant to the schools should be reduced by 20 per cent by 2023. The rationale for this ...
Rediscovering a River
The Cree called it Kisiskâciwanisîpiy—the swiftly flowing river. For the Blackfoot, it was omaka-ty—the big river. It starts in the Columbia Icefield, at the toe of the Saskatchewan Glacier, and cuts the province in half as it flows through Banff and Jasper national parks, northeast to Edmonton, then east-by-southeast across the ...