“Stuff” keeps coming up about the UCP candidates and there’s news on the leadership vote as well. But what we really want to talk about is the economy.

People are beginning to question Jason Kenney’s strategy for getting the pipeline approved. His plan to remove every environmental consideration that helped with the approval could put Trudeau in a nasty spot. How would he claim that Alberta is doing its part? How can he stand up for a pipeline from a province that is giving him, the environment, and the rest of Canada the finger?

It may be part of Kenney’s own plan to make Trudeau choose between Alberta and everyone else but are Albertans willing to be pawns in Kenney’s personal vendetta? Stay tuned.

Thanks for being a subscriber – I couldn’t do this without your support.

Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean

[email protected]

Twitter: @Mitchell_AB for full commentary @thisweekinAB for posts

What happened between the unite the right movement and those who were left behind? Richard Starke, the last PC MLA joins me to talk about his experience as the lone Progressive Conservative defender.

Maybe you’ve heard of John Carpay and his Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Perhaps you’ve followed the Parents for Choice in Education group or their joint effort in challenging the constitutionality of Bill 24, the Act to Strengthen Gay-Straight Alliances.  The common threads between these groups are many but the foundation is religious rights and freedoms.

Groups such as these in Alberta have become more of a focus as their political ties and party affiliations come under scrutiny.  They are not new but they are growing.  What does that mean for those who also want to protect their freedom from religion?  It may depend on who your government is, and what they support.

Andre Gagne, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal has been researching the rise of the religious right in Canada.  Consider this a primer on what we are beginning to see more of as these groups gain both attention and support.

Some may say electing politicians or political parties with close ties to special interest groups is simply fear-mongering.  After all, when has a political party with a hidden agenda and favours owed for their electoral success ever been an issue in Alberta?

Additional Resources:

https://theconversation.com/from-america-to-ontario-the-political-impact-of-the-christian-right-107400

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

https://www.parentchoice.ca/

I wanted to do a year in review but guests like Stephen Carter have so much history with which to provide context that it’s difficult to keep on track.  My condolences to Zain Velji who managed to successfully herd that cat for almost a year (so many puns). 

Stephen and I talk about December (spoiler alert, stocking horse candidates don’t make him sweat) and we take some small steps into other happenings this year as well; doesn’t it seem like Fildebrandt has been out of the UCP for a lot longer than 10 months?  And who would have guessed that Stelmach might be to blame for the current oversupply simply because he allowed new projects to go ahead?  

And with a nod to my favourite former UCP communications director, Stephen and I also talk about how Notley should not drop the writ until shovels are in the ground. 

Always interesting to have someone with Stephen’s history on the show and looking forward to an exciting, and likely exhausting 2019.  Many thanks to everyone who listens, comments, and also to those who have donated their time to sit with me and talk about politics.  

All the best, 

Deirdre 

“How did we get here?” is a question often asked and I wanted to put that to Minister Jansen.  I wanted to know when she became interested in politics and how she came to make certain decisions like who to support, why did she run and what the heck happened after 2015.

It was political engagement that stoked her interested in journalism.  It was journalism that made her grateful not to be a politician and it wasn’t actually politics that led her to join the NDP.

Find us on Twitter: @Mitchell_AB @SandraYYCNW

Bill 206, the Societies (Preventing the Promotion of Hate) Amendment Act went through its second reading in the Alberta Legislature yesterday and was unanimously supported.  In today’s episode, I talk with Irfan Chaudry who started an initiative called Stop Hate AB back in February 2017.  Stop Hate AB is a site that gathers data on non-criminal incidents of possible hate-related crime in Alberta and shares the data with local and provincial authorities.  We also talk about how reporting is verified before being added to the data.

Find us on Twitter: @irfanYEG @Mitchell_AB

#StopHateAB

The Alberta curriculum has been used as a political football and many thought it was for no good reason other than to score some points.  I sat down with Dr. Lindsay Gibson, an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, who was part of the Social Studies Working Group from 2016 until earlier this week.  Dr. Gibson went into detail about why he felt he needed to resign and asked an important question: Who’s writing the Alberta curriculum?

Find us on Twitter: @ls_gibson @Mitchell_AB

If you have more to add to this story, please contact me: [email protected]

This is the first episode of a new series that will be added to as guests come up or the topic is especially relevant.  Today my guest is Luke Fevin who started APUPIL (Albertan Parents for Unbiased, Inclusive Learning) about 7 years ago.  Luke and I discuss what started APUPIL, whether Alberta’s exceptionally generous funding model deters religious groups from advocating for religious privilege to match that of Catholic schools and how the laws, and parent advocacy, have affected public education as we know it today.

Find us on Twitter: @According2Luke @Mitchell_AB and Facebook APUPIL and This Week in AB

There are a few groups that I know of who advocate for change or improvements to the way we offer education in Alberta and I will have upcoming episodes featuring Together for Students as well as Support Our Students.  Feel free to recommend others who are working to open conversations in education

After John Carpay’s speech this weekend to a few hundred Rebel Media fans, I had to find out more about conservatism.  Luckily, I know someone who has been a conservative in a number of political parties.  Mark Taylor, Executive Director of the Alberta Party, sat down with me to chat about conservatism. Mark has been involved in the Saskatchewan PCs (he claims it was the youth wing…), the federal Green Party, the Wildrose, and now, the Alberta Party.   Somehow taxes came up, and populism, and I’ll put more time into practicing words before I record again.

Find us on Twitter: @ABMarkTaylor and @Mitchell_AB