It's been not just quite a week but quite a year!

To help make sense of the "year" part, we are extremely excited to welcome back to the show Political Scientist Dr Duane Bratt!

Dr Bratt takes us through his top five biggest events in Alberta politics and shares what he's watching as the year turns over from 2024 to 2025!

If you're able to support our legal defense fund to fight back against the $6 Million lawsuit against us by Sam Mraiche, the man who imported Vanch masks and the Turkish Tylenot as well as who hosted MLA's and Ministers in his skybox as he had business with the government...

You can do that at www.savethebreakdownab.ca!

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

Welcome to the episode where Nate gets sued for $6 Million by Sam Mraiche, who became famous for importing Vanch Masks, childrens medication's from Turkey and hosting UCP Government members in his elite skybox during hockey games!

(And our regular Alberta Politics roundup)

Nate takes us through the lawsuit, his response and then...

(As if that wasn't enough)

We take a look at border comms blunders, massive changes to homeless funding in Alberta, the latest news for the Alberta Pension Fund and the bait and switch that the UCP tried to pull with the Grassy Mountain Coal Mine!

If you can help with the legal defense fund, you can do it at www.savethebreakdownab.ca!

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

As we head into the end of the year, we’re dropping what is likely to be one of our most controversial episodes, but it’s also potentially one of the most insightful and informative of the year as well!

Because in this episode we sit down with conservative political organizer Kris Moen and new UCP member Andrea Willman, both of whom wrote policies in the hopes of seeing get debated on the floor of the recent UCP AGM!

In this extended conversation we get into their thoughts on the new directions the UCP is heading and perhaps most importantly why they have chosen to invest their energies in a party that is advancing policies some of which they strongly disagree with in ways that they both express concerns with.

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

Time for another live Alberta Politics Roundup!

Despite the fact that the end of the legislative session is over, the last week in Alberta politics has been as busy as ever!

In this episode we take a look at the EMS Crisis, Rachel Notley's resignation and the building calls for Naheed Nenshi to run in a Byelection, the drama coming our of the Edmonton Police service, the rapid fire developments on border security and the latest in the Green Line debacle!

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads all at @thebreakdownab!

It's the return of our live Alberta Politics Roundup!

This week we take a look at the bizarrely contradictory decision by the province to eliminate 70% of photo radar, the impact of the new impact assessment regulations for renewable energy in Alberta, Danielle Smith's roll out of the Sovereignty Act and her new border security measures and a whole lot more!

Don't forget to look for our call in section later on in the week where we get into a Tylenot update and hear a heartbreaking story from one of our regulars.

You can donate to skipping stone at https://www.skippingstone.ca/legalfund

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads all at @thebreakdownab!

With changes to FOIP legislation, the surprise firing of the AIMCO board, a UCP legislative agenda that’s entirely about social regression with nothing to address cost of living and a byelection looking in Lethbridge, we figured it was time to sit down for another conversation with Alberta Party leader Lindsay Amantea!

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

Albertans have been facing steadily increasing insurance costs since the UCP came to power. Recently the UCP announced that they would be moving Alberta to “no fault” insurance, but what does that mean and does it actually translate into cheaper insurance for good drivers?

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

With so many conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation being shared both intentionally and unintentionally, how are Albertans supposed to navigate the minefield that our information ecosystem has become?

In this episode we sit down with renowned expert in navigating that minefield, Timothy Caulfield to try and figure exactly that out!

From his Univeristy of Alberta bio...

"Timothy Caulfield is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health, and Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. He was the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy for over 20 years (2002 - 2023). His interdisciplinary research on topics like stem cells, genetics, research ethics, the public representations of science, and public health policy has allowed him to publish almost 400 academic articles. He has won numerous academic, science communication, and writing awards, and is a Member of the Order Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry."

You can donate to skipping stone at https://www.skippingstone.ca/legalfund

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Blue Sky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

Welcome to our new episode, a conversation with NDP MLA's Janis Irwin and Rakhi Pancholi!

In this episode we get into the sweeping changes that the UCP are introducing to Alberta's political landscape, including the changes to electoral boundaries, the Freedom Of Information Act, changes to the conflict of interest act, anti trans policies and more!

We also take some time to talk about what issues the NDP would like to see government pursuing instead of making government more opaque and less accountable to Albertans!

You can donate to skipping stone at https://www.skippingstone.ca/legalfund

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads!

What are parental rights?

With Danielle Smith and the UCP using parental rights as a justification for pushing forward policies that many legal scholars are condemning as being gross violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we wanted to get a better understanding of what "parental rights" even mean and where they start and stop.

In order to do that, we're sitting down with legal scholar and award winning advoacte, Florence Ashley!

Florence served as a clerk in the Supreme Court of Canada under Justice Sheilah Martin and is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, so she's more than qualified to walk us not only through "parental rights" but also the reality of what the "notwithstanding clause" actually is!

You can donate to skipping stone at https://www.skippingstone.ca/legalfund

Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/category/the-breakdown-ab!

As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at [email protected]!

If you're listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don't forget to like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads and now BlueSky!