“Just Say No To Drugs”
More than four Albertans die of a drug overdose every day. In 2020, 1,358 people in this province—most of whom had taken an opioid—died of a drug overdose. In 2021, 1,758 Albertans died the same [...]
By Jeremy Appel
Social Issues
Social Issues
Slow, Constant Erosion
As Alberta staggered under a third surge of COVID-19 in May 2021, Premier Jason Kenney announced a province-wide, two-week school closure. Immediately, up rose the chorus that has accompanied [...]
Evidence of Habitation
“Evidence of Habitation” explores informal housing and homelessness in Edmonton. The project reveals the signs of individuals as they seek refuge in the interstitial spaces of the city. The [...]
“Tin-Pot Childcare” Lives On?
During the second World War, Canada had a national daycare program to facilitate the participation of women with young children in a labour market emptied out by military service and the [...]
By Tom Langford
The Pied Piper of Alberta
At the peak of last winter’s omicron wave, I found myself thinking about “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” If you don’t know the story, here’s a short synopsis: A medieval European town has a [...]
By Fred Stenson
Should Alberta Have $10/Day Childcare?
Marina Adshade, the professor of economics at UBC and author of Dollars and Sex (Harper Collins, 2013) says yes. If you are like me, and believe the role of responsible government is to spend [...]
What Makes an Excellent Childcare Centre?
An excellent childcare centre, such as this one at Mount Royal University in Calgary, provides a safe, friendly, stimulating environment for children. Probably the most important characteristic [...]
Public Housing For Sale?
Many Albertans are publicly declaring their opposition to the conservative policies and budget cuts of the UCP government. But as lawn signs defending provincial parks, healthcare and public [...]
Ask Questions First, Shoot Never
Blood Tribe Police Chief Kyle Melting Tallow is growing his hair out. When I visited the police station in Standoff on the Blood Reserve in late September, his face was framed by a wave of black [...]
By Doug Horner
The Orange Tent
As I back my minivan out of the garage, I roll down the window. My husband, post-call after a night of anaesthetizing patients for emergency surgeries, is blowing leaves around in the yard with [...]
MOST READ
MOST READ
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 ...