Grade 2 Stuff
My name is Ginnie. I am 6 years old. I’ll be 7 on October 10. That’s my birthday. I’m going to be in Grade 2 soon. My favourite part of school is recess. The next best thing in Grade 1 was that I [...]
By Fred Stenson
Columns
Columns
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 [...]
By Paula Simons
The Also-Rans
If you’re unhappy with the state of Alberta politics and are tempted as a summer project to form your own political party, might I suggest you call it the “None of the Above” party. Or [...]
The End of Innocence
In 1960s Calgary it was easy for a kid to be naive and free. Naive, because Alberta seemed a perfect place, far from all the ugliness populating the pages of the papers our parents read. Free, [...]
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 [...]
By Paula Simons
Inside the War Room
Today’s agenda is not long but it is meaty, so I suggest we dispense with formalities such as the Prayer of Thanks for Alberta Oil and move directly to our action items and new business. [...]
By Fred Stenson
Missing Answers
On February 23, 2021, something amazing happened—almost a miracle, as far as I’m concerned. I got to ask Premier Jason Kenney a question during a news conference (about the upcoming legislative [...]
Treaty People, Treaty Place
Fall solstice, September 22: The prairie grass, gold in the sun, stretched all the way to the end of a world of birds. Long wavering skeins of snow geese and sandhill cranes, shimmering swarms of [...]
Once Were Mountains
The democracy thing. Here in 2021 the Alberta premier was having trouble getting his mind around it. In his Ottawa days he’d been taught to forget the concept of government by the people. His [...]
By Fred Stenson
Children of Freedom
The National Library and Archives of Canada is an imposing example of mid-century modernist architecture, its 1960s Star Trek design vibe an odd juxtaposition to its archival purpose. Inside, the [...]
By Paula Simons
MOST READ
MOST READ
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 ...