The Press Gallery: Inside Alberta politics

With Alberta's budget now confirmed for Oct. 24, the government this week floated a couple of snippets at the AUMA convention about what we might see in the UCP's first set of complete fiscal plans.

Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney and guests Moira Wyton, Keith Gerein and Dave Breakenridge to talk about what else happened at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention in Edmonton.

The team also takes you to what might be the oddest political press conference of 2019 thus far, and visits the court decision that granted B.C. a temporary injunction against Alberta's so-called turn-off-the-taps legislation.

Good Stuff from the Gallery Dave's pick: Listen Up, a new podcast with the lads from Oasis.

Keith's pick: This excellent piece on the Burnaby North-Seymour riding in Vancouver, the epicentre of the Trans Mountain pipeline battle.

Emma's pick: Emma suggests you go visit Chobe National Park in Botswana and Victoria Falls in Zambia. Failing that, she'd like you to read How The West Was Lost by Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo.

Moira's pick: Moira has a couple of intertwined recommendations for you this week, both revolving around the film Hustlers — this 2015 piece from The Cut called The Hustlers At Scores, and this read on HuffPost about how Canadian sex workers felt about the movie.

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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney recently visited New York hoping to sell Alberta to investors.

Join Dave Breakenridge, Janet French and Keith Gerein as they talk about Kenney's American travels.

The team also talks about rural policing, and news that a lawsuit over gay-straight alliances has been dropped.

Regular host Emma Graney was busy chasing elephants this week, but will hopefully return soon.

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This week, Alberta premier Jason Kenney got into a war of words with Amnesty International.

Kenney's colourful letter made full use of his thesaurus.

Our regular host Emma Graney is away this week.

Join Dave Breakenridge, Janet French, Clare Clancy in Edmonton and Chris Varcoe in Calgary.

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The big news out of Alberta politics this week was, of course, the MacKinnon panel report, which is slated to guide the UCP's spending over the party's four-year mandate as government.

Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney with guests Clare Clancy, Dave Breakenridge and the Calgary Herald's Chris Varcoe to unpack the 26 recommendations, what it means for Alberta, provincial policy and the path to balance. The team also takes a look at transparency, possible legislation out of the report and the political fallout.

The Press Gallery also farewells a very special podcast pal (we're not crying, you're crying).

Good Stuff from the Gallery Clare's pick: With the death of former Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe, Clare recommends you read When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, a memoir of Africa by journalist Peter Godwin.

Emma's pick: Emma recommends you dive into the excellent multi-part series from The Walrus, which details seven cases of corruption around the world.

Dave's pick: Dave recommends a disturbing but important read from The Atlantic, called Why Don’t Police Catch Serial Rapists?

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Two flimsy, stapled pages formed the entirety of the province's first-quarter fiscal update this week, leading Alberta politics watchers to wonder — where's the rest?

Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney with guests Keith Gerein and Clare Clancy to dive into what that was such an odd turn of events, and what it means for Alberta.

The team also tackles two new auditor reports released this week, and drags education reporter Janet French into the studio to talk seclusion rooms and school funding challenges.

Good stuff from the Gallery

Clare's pick: This incredible long read from Elle magazine about two sisters and the terrorist that came between them.

Emma's pick: For the science nerds among us, Emma recommends the excellent Washington Post Moonrise podcast, which tells the tale of nuclear brinkmanship, backroom politics, and science fiction — all thanks to mankind's race to the moon.

Keith's pick: This fascinating long read out of the UK about folks who are decidedly ungrateful for their social worker.

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Alberta's agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs for short) have undergone an overhaul by the UCP government, with 61 new appointments all at once.

Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney (who apologizes for her singing) and guests Clare Clancy and Keith Gerein to talk about what the thwack of changes means for Alberta politics.

The team also takes a look at developments on the education file around the curriculum, and a potential change to property tax laws for cannabis producers.

Good stuffy from the gallery

Clare's pick: This is one of the best podcast episodes Clare has ever heard — so you know it's good. Called 'The right to be forgotten,' by Radiolab, it takes a look at why some journalists are unpublishing stories from the internet.

Emma's pick: This excellent read from Drew Anderson at CBC Calgary, who used court documents to fully explain the allegations around Jeff Callaway's UCP leadership campaign.

Keith's pick: This fascinating piece in Esquire about a detective who only finds missing million-dollar cars.

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Minimum wage gets a panel! Alberta's finances get a panel! You ALLLLLL get a panel! Such was the case in Alberta politics this week.

Join Press Gallery host Emma Graney with guests Clare Clancy and Dave Breakenridge to talk about panels galore, and take a brief look at what legislation is ahead for the UCP government.

Good stuff from the gallery

Clare's pick: Clare wants you to listen to the Reply All podcast. Specifcially, this awesome episode called The Crime Machine.

Emma's pick: Emma recommends this excellent and relevant deep dive by Journal reporter Liane Faulder about conversion therapy in Alberta.

Dave's pick: Dave thinks you should go and check out as many Edmonton Fringe Festival shows as you possibly can. You can find the Journal team's swath of show reviews online here at the edmontonjournal.com, and maybe find your next favourite act.

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Sure, it was a four-day week in the middle of summer, but that didn't stop MLAs from giving themselves a five per cent pay cut and Premier Jason Kenney from celebrating his first 100 days in office.

Join host Emma Graney with guests Keith Gerein and Dave Breakenridge to talk all things Alberta politics, and find out why former U.S. president Roosevelt ended up in the discussion this week.

We also have a very special interview with departing editor Sarah O'Donnell (*Emma starts crying*), without whom The Press Gallery wouldn't even exist.

Good Stuff from the Gallery Keith's pick: Keith would like you to read the editorials that earned Sarah O'Donnell a national newspaper award.

Emma's pick: Off the back of a recent recommendation by Press Gallery regular Clare Clancy about young women becoming Catholic nuns, Emma's pick is along a similar vein but takes us to India where more young people are becoming Jain monks.

Dave's pick: Dave recommends you drive across Canada and check out all the awesome stuff our wonderful country has to offer. Here are some tips from Culture Trip if you need them.

Sarah's (final) pick: Keep on reading the Edmonton Journal (we're not crying YOU'RE crying).

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It might be summer, but that doesn't mean Alberta politics is taking time off. Instead, it headed to court this week where Justice Eric Macklin granted an injunction against Bill 9, the UCP government's controversial labour law.

Join host Emma Graney with guests Clare Clancy, Janet French and Sarah O'Donnell to dive into why, and what that means for unions waiting in the wings.

The team also takes on recent developments in the Chicago Principles kerfuffle and an appointment to the war room.

Good Stuff from the Gallery

Janet's pick: This disturbing read from Toronto Life about greed, betrayal and medical misconduct.

Sarah's pick: Sarah would like you to listen to these two awesome Planet Money podcast instalments about recycling, episodes 925 and 926. And if it's not going to leave you awake at night, she also recommends the Amazon TV series The Man In The High Castle.

Emma's pick: On a lighter note, Emma recommends you all delight in the new Wigan Athletic football team mascot — Crusty, the giant pie. You can read about Crusty and his creators Caydenm (8) and Neve (9) here on Wigan Today, and about fan reactions to the mascot here on The Sun.

Clare's pick: This jaw-dropping read from The Cut about a Harvard law professor, titled The Most Gullible Man in Cambridge.

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The new UCP government this week reversed an NDP decision around Alberta's electricity market, announcing the province will stick with an energy-only market.

Confused as to what that means? You're not alone. It's outrageously complex. Join host Emma Graney who tries to explain it all with the help of guests Sarah O'Donnell and Clare Clancy.

The team also takes a look at Alberta's sunshine list and the latest in party fundraising totals.

Good Stuff from the Gallery

Clare's pick: Clare recommends two things this week. First up, Emma Graney's deep dive into the work of Janice MacKinnon who is overseeing a panel about Alberta's finances ("Thanks, Clancy!" - Emma.) She also recommends this horrifying read from The Guardian about the rise of domestic killings using the defense of a "sex game gone wrong."

Emma's pick: Not to be outdone, Emma also recommends two things this week. Firstly, this amusing Washington Post interview with the graphic designer behind a parody presidential seal mistakenly used at a Trump speech this week. Also, she thinks you should absolutely go watch the Good Omens television series on Amazon.

Sarah's pick: Sarah also jumps aboard the multiple recommendations train this week, but wins with three. She recommends the This Sounds Serious podcast, Elise Stolte's column about Edmonton drawing a line on urban sprawl, and — for the power geeks — the AESO real-time electricity tracker.

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twitter.com/EmmaLGraney

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