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 [...]
By Chris Turner
Infrastructure
Infrastructure
The $35-Billion Build
After its hangover softened in late May 2015, the NDP likely felt winner’s remorse. The new government inherited hundreds of decaying hospitals and schools, many with leaking roofs, toxic mould [...]
Beyond Books
Each morning, David McMain tries to get to work an hour before he officially starts. But he doesn’t head straight to his office at Edmonton’s Stanley Milner library, where he is an outreach [...]
By Jay Smith
The Two-Wheel Challenge
Ask any cyclist who manoeuvres Calgary’s or Edmonton’s roads during rush hour if they feel comfortable or even respected by drivers. The answer is usually a resounding “no.” Ask any driver if [...]
Wild Rose Bullet
If Sir William Cornelius Van Horne were alive today, he’d surely be first in line to weigh in on the notion of a Calgary/Edmonton high-speed rail link. Haughty, wealthy and totally uncompromising [...]
Money Pit: The Case Against P3s
Communities are built around public facilities and the services they deliver. Town halls, libraries, hospitals, schools, arenas, recreation centres, roads and water treatment plants are [...]
MOST READ
MOST READ
How Ethical is Alberta’s Governing Party?
We should have seen it coming. The first inkling that controversy would dog Jason Kenney’s victory in the 2017 United Conservative Party leadership race came not during that contest but a year earlier, when Kenney ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives.
On the evening of November 16, 2016, at ...
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. This was the cornerstone of his “Fight Back Strategy,” a massive shift in the tenor ...
Getting the Axe
Rod Skura was on a deadline. It was a Thursday afternoon, mid-August, and as an Alberta events-listing site had proclaimed: “Festival season is in full swing and you need to take advantage of it before it comes to a screeching halt.” The weekend festivities—“a whole lot of music, culture, food ...