Proud mom raised in rural AB, works in O&G and leans left, Secular Humanist, Alphabet Club Ally, Rights come with responsibilities, data nerd, sarcasm is art
.@ABDanielleSmith now we know.
You decided to give separatists a referendum and you already pre-recorded your tomorrow’s TV announcement, before the Legislature committee even had a chance to vote on the #ForeverCanadian petition.
The 500,000 Albertans don’t matter.
#ableg
Imagine that. Turns out you can’t lawfully hold a referendum on whether to take something that isn’t yours: like land covered by treaties, or the sovereign territory of Canada.
Watching Carney and Poilievre go at it in Parliament is starting to feel uncomfortable. Not in a dramatic way, just in the way it feels when someone is clearly out of their depth and keeps pressing anyway.
Carney knows the file. When he answers, he answers the actual question. He doesn’t need to perform outrage or repeat a catchphrase three times and call it a rebuttal. He just explains things, clearly, because he understands them.
Poilievre comes in loud and confident, same as always, and that works great on a campaign trail or a Facebook video. But in a room where the other guy actually knows what he’s talking about? The gap shows. Every time.
The frustrating part isn’t even the politics. It’s watching someone confuse intensity for competence and expect nobody to notice the difference. People notice.
This stopped being a left vs right thing a while ago. Now it just looks like one guy who did the reading and one guy who thinks he doesn’t have to.
An important aspect of the privatization of healthcare:
A knee replacement in Alberta costs:
• Public system: ~$12K
• Private: ~$20K–$35K+
Same surgery.
Patients aren’t even told what it costs in the public system – so how is that an informed choice?
Wow. This is a lie. I remember being surprised when Lukazsuk said the petition called for a vote in the Legislature and not a referendum. So, I checked the legislation and Lukazsuk’s actual application. Sure enough, that’s what he was asking for. The Premier is a shameless liar.
Peter Lougheed later (and rightly) argued that the notwithstanding clause should only be used where:
- rationale is clearly articulated
- 60% of the legislature votes for it
- a court has already weighed in, i.e. it should never be used pre-emptively
I really like this video. It is important to understand our history as we face an uncertain future. That said, I recall many pundits criticizing PM Harper for highlighting the importance of the War of 1812 at the bicentennial. I look forward to the contortions to come. 🇨🇦
Smith never intended to fix HC in AB.
It was ALWAYS about destroying it to push privatization to benefit her friends.
She LIED when she said she was going to fix it in 90 days. Pretty much everything else has been a lie too.
To save HC & AB we must #FireTheUCP.
#ableg
This should have a million retweets…literally. This is the moment to be loud, to be heard. We cannot let this govt trample any more of our rights. #saynotogerrymandering#stopthesteal
Three more things Peter Lougheed said about using the notwithstanding clause:
1⃣ "A simple majority does not appear adequate."
2⃣ "In my mind, [pre-empting judicial review] is undemocratic."
3⃣ “I would hope that the notwithstanding clause would be used very, very rarely.”
Unfortunately, the Alberta government invoked the notwithstanding clause four times in the last year, each time pre-emptively, and each time with a simple majority, rather than the higher 60% threshold Lougheed preferred.
Nobody is suggesting removing the notwithstanding clause. There are complicated constitutional issues at play but it is inaccurate and misleading to imply Peter Lougheed would support its use in a way he explicitly said he opposed.
The courts are the appropriate place for these arguments.
. @MarkJCarney was once a rock star central bank governor.
In his current role as 🇨🇦 Prime Minister, he is working to reinvent multilateralism.
I was delighted to write a piece for
@TIME reflecting on why he is one of the world's most influential people https://t.co/WJ3QuSTDjI
This week on Whatever This Is, we’re calling out the ultimate wealth transfer happening right under our noses: Danielle Smith’s two-tier education system.
A tactic ripped straight from the U.S. playbook: Defund public. Subsidize elites. Segregate by class. #ableg#canpoli#abpoli
Past Premier Smith explains how current Premier Smith is using AHS as a scapegoat from "the fallout of mistakes" and admits the truth that she had fired the board and was in direct control of AHS during the contracting.
And if AHS didn't comply she would "chop off a few heads".
The air traffic controller cleared the fire truck onto the runway. Seconds later, the same controller screamed “stop, stop, stop.” The plane was doing 93 to 105 mph.
Both pilots are dead.
Everyone will frame this as controller error. One controller was simultaneously managing a United flight that aborted takeoff after an anti-ice warning, dispatching a fire truck across an active runway, and sequencing an inbound Air Canada landing at highway speed. At 11:40 PM. On a mandatory overtime shift at a facility that has been understaffed for years.
A system that assigns one person that workload will produce exactly this outcome. The only variable is when.
The FAA is short approximately 3,000 controllers. The headcount dropped 13% from 2010 to 2024 while flight volume rose 10%. Over 40% of the FAA’s 290 terminal facilities are understaffed. The New York TRACON, which manages the most congested airspace in America across LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark, has been chronically below target. Newark was operating at 59% of its staffing goal. LaGuardia handles 900 flights a day.
The hiring pipeline is broken at every stage. Only 2% of applicants complete the full process. Training takes up to 6 years. The FAA Academy in Oklahoma City is a bottleneck, with roughly 35% of trainees washing out. Congress blocked legislation to build a second academy. In one recent hiring cycle, the FAA brought on 1,512 candidates and lost 1,300 in the same window. Net gain: around 160 controllers for an entire country.
Three things need to happen and everyone who can make them happen has known for years.
Congress needs to fund and authorize a second FAA training academy. One facility in Oklahoma City cannot produce enough controllers for 900 million annual passengers. Members of Congress from Oklahoma have actively blocked this. That needs to end yesterday.
The FAA needs to cut certification time. Six years from application to fully certified controller is absurd. The agency’s own data shows tower simulators reduce certification time by 27%. They’ve installed them at 95 facilities. That should be every facility, and the simulated hours should count toward more of the certification requirement.
The FAA needs to stop plugging staffing gaps with mandatory overtime. Controllers at understaffed facilities are working six-day weeks rotating between morning, mid, and night shifts. The NTSB has flagged fatigue repeatedly. The controller last night was managing overlapping emergencies during a nighttime operation. Overtime is not a staffing plan. It’s a countdown to the next runway collision.
The controller said “I messed up” to a Frontier pilot who watched the whole thing. The pilot responded “No man, you did the best you could.”
One of them is right. The answer determines whether this happens again.