The Progress Report

The Progress Report podcast is back and fellow Progress Reporters Jeremy Appel and Jim Storrie are around to break down the resolutions and the vibes heading into this weekend's UCP AGM. This is the first AGM with Danielle Smith at the helm and we'll see where her loosey-goosey leadership style plays with an increasingly bug-eyed UCP grassroots.

After a long hiatus due to moving offices the Progress Report pod is back. Jeremy Appel joins host Duncan Kinney to sift through the wreckage of the Alberta election. They discuss the Alberta NDP's spin on their catastrophic loss as well as what is to be done about the coming UCP cruelty.

Police body cameras are sold as a solution that will increase trust, transparency, and accountability with police. Daniella Barreto of Rights Back at You joins host Duncan Kinney to debunk every one of these claims and make the case that police body cameras actually suck ass.

Ophelia Black is not just a young woman who lives in Calgary who likes to read fantasy romance novels and cross-stitch, she's also proof that safe supply programs can work. When the UCP tried to take away her treatment plan she took the government to court, and won. Black joins Duncan Kinney to talk about her case, the life she's built for herself thanks to her treatment and why the UCP are trying to kill her and other intravenous drug users.

Canadian Anti-Hate Network writer and research Peter Smith joins host Duncan Kinney to talk about the recent spate of far right protests at all-ages drag reading events and other queer events in Alberta—and the counter-protests that resist them.

Freelance investigative journalist and former paramedic Brett McKay joins Duncan Kinney to discuss his recent piece in the Breach which makes the convincing case that the increased use precarious paramedics in Alberta is a part of a deliberate strategy to make it easier for the UCP to privatize ambulance service in Alberta.

If you like this podcast please support it! Go to https://www.theprogressreport.ca/patrons and become a monthly patron. Make a one-time donation here. Or e-transfer a donation to [email protected]

Links:

• Rise in Alberta’s precarious paramedics a UCP ‘privatization strategy’

Shama Rangwala joins Duncan Kinney to discuss the students of Uleth owning Frances Widdowson, the UCP reaction and the historical context of academic free speech and how it's been weaponized by the right.

If you like this podcast please support it! Go to https://www.theprogressreport.ca/patrons and become a monthly patron. Make a one-time donation here. Or e-transfer a donation to [email protected]

Links:

• Pronouncing un-freedom
• Free Speech and the University: A Closer Look at the Chicago Principles
• Controversial academic meets noisy resistance at U of L after school halts planned lecture

Paris Marx of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast joins Duncan Kinney to explore Danielle Smith's obsession with cryptocurrency and taking Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan.

Euan Thompson of Each + Every joins Duncan Kinney to discuss the incredibly evil "Alberta Model" of addressing the drug poisoning crisis and why it must be destroyed.

University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszysnki joins Duncan Kinney to discuss the recently passed Alberta Sovereignty Act and its corrosive effects on democracy, the rule of law and the treaties.