It doesn’t make sense, they reason, to ship oil by rail when pipelines are safer. It also isn’t smart to give up market share to American competitors who frack as they damn well please. And the engineers are correct — it doesn’t make much sense — logically.
LOGIC CAN BE A BLINDSPOT.
Logic isn’t going to solve the present challenges facing western Canada. … More A logic bomb… [part 2]
Canada is a work in progress. And it’s the very idea of progress (as we shall discuss in this series of posts) which has put the country in the crosshairs of activists, advocacy groups, and especially our current prime minister. We believe that if unchecked, ill-defined ambitions for the prairie and the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains will echo a history (and a dreadful one at that) in the name of progress. … More Clearing the Plains 2.0
When he was running for election, our prime minister never said he was going to conduct a radical experiment. He never said he wanted to be leader of the first post-nation nation-state. We thought he was running to be leader of Canada, our country! This is dangerous stuff. We can’t wait until next November to get our country back on track. … More Has Trudeau committed treason?
Justin Trudeau’s claim that Canada has no core identity, that we’re the first post-nation nation state, is reawakening dark forces thought buried in western Canada. Some believe that the Canadian confederation is at risk… … More CBC REPOST: TRUDEAU’S NEGLECT OF THE NATION HAS LED US TO THIS PLACE
My mother is 81-years-old. Graceful to a fault. And very ill with cancer.
At her most vulnerable, the conversations with Mom are not just poignant—can I say this?—they’re instructive. … More Quiet strength & manifest destiny…
WINTER in Alberta.
Right now, the NDP government—with the blessing of the official opposition in Alberta— is considering a rollback, hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day from the province’s production. UCP leader Jason Kenney said as much, in an extraordinary press conference… … More Trudeau, rail cars, winter…
We need to up our game.
Once again, Alberta needs to create the conditions to attract new talent and retain the very best & brightest to rebuild the (former) Petroleum Paradise. … More No more glassholes…
YOU MIGHT HATE THIS, but spectator sports — hockey, football, the olympics — are a diminishing crowd… … More Out of left field comes…
It’s known as the ‘great global game’. A daily contest that’s played with boats and shipping lanes. A vast majority of world’s goods–including energy–are delivered via the world’s sea lanes. If you don’t have a boat that can float your stuff to markets abroad, you can’t even play to lose… … More The Great Global Game
Dear Robyn, You don’t know me, but you might know of me. I’m the woman saddled with a political stain and chatter behind my back. I’m the gal who did what you just did… And if Premier Rachel Notley loses in 2019, you will be blamed for that (as much as I have been fingered … More oh-oh… Dear Robyn Luff
If we had a story of our province—a pragmatic dream of what we believed we could look like a decade from now here on the prairies, a story every Albertan could see themselves in–would we be having polarized debates about the 2026 Winter Olympics bid?
… More An olympic fail (or the end of an error)?
Considering the Saudi regime’s unbelievable cover story and persistent lies to account for a vicious murder of a prominent Saudi journalist, what’s Canada to do? … More Saudi Arabia: What’s Canada to do?
I’m no longer a politician. And I find myself travelling in India (a longer story), in the wake of our prime minister’s costume ball, and lately Jason Kenney’s hi-how-are-you tour. This week, it’s the honourable Andrew Scheer’s turn to enjoy sit down conversations with leadership and business in the world’s largest democracy; they got their photo-ops, for sure. Handshakes.
But that’s not what I saw. … More India: What’s the big attraction?
DOUG FORD has the left up in arms. The freshly-elected Ontario premier is deploying the ‘notwithstanding clause’ to disrupt a judge’s decision he doesn’t like. What’s that got to do with Alberta? The very idea of a ‘notwithstanding clause’ was invented in our Legislature. And it was Peter Lougheed, Alberta’s premier during the tense constitutional talks … More “What the hell is a not-withstanding clause?” a premier said, decades ago.
Turbulence ahead! What’s Alberta’s Plan B, Plan C, Plan D? I’m deeply concerned that Alberta is up in the air. And we have no idea how all this crazy business is going to land. … More There’s no business like no business…
FREE TRADE IS A BIG DEAL in southwestern Ontario. I’m visiting relatives here. Donald Trump just declared NAFTA as good as dead. Pointing to a new deal with Mexico, the American president set a deadline for Canada to come to terms. Friday. The end of the month.
… More Free Trade at the periphery.
THE PERIPHERY:
It’s smart to pay attention to what’s in front of you, but have you noticed what’s happening along the periphery of your vision?
Come, join me in this learning journey in southern Alberta! … More Details, details, details…
THE LEAD ACTORS on Alberta’s political stage have been typecast. It’s kind of like watching the summer movie trailers for coming attractions. Two different film franchises. Two different actors in a starring role. … More A strongman or Tom Hanks?
In a global environment where democracy seems to be withering, and information constrained by either/or narratives, how can Albertans make an informed decision about who or what to vote for? … More Too much democracy?
Alberta’s NDP government has launched an anti-racism campaign. Did they miss an extraordinary opportunity to take a negative and turn it into a positive? … More The business of anti-racism…
She lives in Calgary and he lives in a bubble.
I’m ticked that national media still hasn’t listened to what Rose Knight is drawing our attention to about our prime minister.
… More Circle the Wagons
A Calgary Stampede dare for all you partisan politicians in Alberta! How bout you rustle up a sales tax for this province? Pronto! … More Buckin’ the sales tax bronco!
A sequel, as promised. We’re posing 2 tough questions:
What should we do with cellphones in the classroom? What should we do with religion in the classroom? … More Education! (part 2)
How can we move forward on the climate change debate? Apocalypse now vs. climate change denial? Here are some practical ideas. … More Smelling Carbon
School Act vs Education Act in Alberta. Are you ready to rumble? … More Playing Hooky with the Education Act
The Trump administration is slapping down hard on immigration. Zero tolerance. Even separating children from their parents. Meanwhile, in Canada, we’re turning a blind eye to ‘birth houses’ in British Columbia. Pregnant women coming to Canada to deliver their Maple-Leaf branded babies, then heading back home, most to China. This isn’t a partisan political issue. All we need is a simple modernization. … More Manipulating the Odds on the Baby Lottery
It’s Father’s Day tomorrow. My father passed away on February 4th. I posted this blog 5 months ago, but it feels like yesterday. It feels like a right time to share again. Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, and all the cherished memories of fathers. Could God have created a better way of living than as families?
… More Capital D: Dad, Duty, Dignity
What does a shooting war in Yemen have to do with inter-provincial sniping between Alberta & British Columbia? With Canada’s response to American protectionism? … More Family feuds & tidewater–a cautionary tale.
There are real chokepoints in the flow of Canada’s energy. And, in Canada’s confederation. In this 3rd podcast in our 3-part series, Alberta Bound, Alberta Unbound, Alberta Rebound, we explore the risks to Canada’s reputation as a place for investment if we can’t get our act together on pipelines. Alberta Rebound
The structure that has held us together is in Canada coming apart. We’re at a defining moment for our energy — the energy economy, and our energy as a people.
What do you think we can do?
… More Repost from CBC: Albertans Don’t Play the Victim Card Lightly
