The Progress Report

We're back! Jim rouses himself from his sick bed to deliver part two of our look into the conflict between the Alberta NDP establishment and the eco-socialist wing of the party that has been simmering ever since the LEAP manifesto arrived at convention in 2016. This time we chat with a someone from the pro-LEAP side—Breach Media managing editor & Avi Lewis advisor Martin Lukacs.

The federal NDP leadership race is on, and with the recently-harrowed federal party's strongest remaining power base right here in Alberta this may be a very Alberta-focused campaign. Former Alberta environment minister Shannon Phillips joins us on the pod to talk about the lore you'll need to understand this race—the lingering resentment over candidate Avi Lewis's attempt to introduce the LEAP manifesto at the 2019 Alberta NDP convention.

Euan Thomson from drugdatadecoded.ca joins us on the pod once again, this time to tell us about his investigation into the Calgary police's use of facial recognition technology.

• Premier’s Office spent nearly $20K on PragerU fundraiser gala
  
• ‘MAGA performer’ booked to perform at the Legislature is a far-right associate of Artur Pawlowski and the Proud Boys
  
• Calgary police "image recognition" software identifies individuals in photos & videos posted online

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In the grip of anti-vax culture and governed by an anti-vax premier, Alberta is now the site of the world's second-worst active measles outbreak, with more total cases than the entire United States of America. Former Alberta NDP health minister Sarah Hoffman joins us on the pod to discuss the causes of the outbreak and what the opposition thinks Alberta should be doing about it. Then, for a palate cleanser, a bit about Hoffman's new hobby as a stand-up comic.

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Jeremy recounts the harrowing tale of his visit to a separatist rally on Canada Day in Mirror, Alberta.

Check out Jeremy's original article on this event on his blog The Orchard at www.readtheorchard.org/p/canada-day-with-the-separatists.

To support the Progress Report podcast and keep us free of advertisements for mattresses and nutritional supplements, head over to theprogressreport.ca/patrons.

Jim and Jeremy interview Michael Janz, councillor for Edmonton's Ward Papastew, about his election campaign, the value of fighting to change public opinion, whether political parties at the muni level are good, and more.

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For more from the Janz campaign, see the councillor's site at michaeljanz.ca.

Press Progress's Stephen Magusiak joins Jim and Jeremy to talk about this week's G7 conference—and not about the unimportant parts, like global geopolitics, but about what really matters: what Albertans were doing. Who was organizing around G7 locally and were they successful? The fellas get into it.

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Stephen writes for Press Progress, which you can find at pressprogress.ca

Jim and Jeremy speak with participants in an ongoing 40-day fast for Gaza about the present situation in Palestine, organizing back here in Edmonton, and the difficult task of grappling with power from a disempowered position.

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The 20-year president of the Alberta Federation of Labour is up for re-election this Sunday. Jim and Jeremy take a look at the present situation, check out some Gil McGowan campaign literature, and speak to the AFL leadership candidate who didn't ignore our interview request.

2025's federal election is set to up-end politics in Western Canada and yet at the same time the campaign period has been both short and uneventful. So we tapped a couple of smart guys to un-boring it: first Dave Cournoyer, one of Alberta's most knowledgeable political commentators. Then we talk to Blake Desjarlais, one of the rare electeds worthy of our rascal respect. More of Dave's work is available at www.daveberta.ca.