The person who wins the race for Alberta NDP leader has one job—defeat the UCP in the next election. Picking the person to do that job will be one the most politically significant moments of the year, and the Progress Report plans to cover it like no other news outlet. 

On Feb. 15, Alberta premier Danielle Smith boasted of her government’s mass displacement of unhoused encampment residents in Edmonton to a formal black-tie dinner at Calgary’s Ranchmen’s Club, making extreme and unsubstantiated allegations about how the camps operated. 

The business owners and conservative politicians arguing for Edmonton’s draconian public spaces bylaw last week had two silent partners—the UCP and the Edmonton Police Service. And that’s why what happened with this bylaw matters outside of Edmonton city limits. 

The initial results on the scorched earth campaign that the Edmonton Police Service and the United Conservative Party have initiated on encampments in Edmonton are in—179 encampments swept in 23 days. That’s nearly 8 encampments swept a day.

God willing, mass public outcry like the rallies and school walkouts we’ve seen over the past several days are going to kill Danielle Smith’s anti-trans policy push before it can become law in November.

But whatever happens, it’s time to call an end to something else: Danielle Smith’s ‘maverick libertarian’ brand.

In January, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and city council declared a housing and homelessness emergency. The very first bylaw that city manager Andre Corbould has come back with since then is a Public Spaces Bylaw that not only further criminalizes and punishes the poor and the homeless, but brings in harsh restrictions on political protest.

If you’re wondering who sent you that push-poll on abortion and ‘parental rights’ this week, corporate records have the answer: Alberta Blue Strategies, through their subsidiary, ‘National Public Research Canada.’ Alberta Blue Strategies is a conservative voter contact firm and call center run by Richard Dur. 

Jeremy Appel joins the pod to talk about his newly published book, Kenneyism: Jason Kenney's Pursuit of Power. We discuss how Jason Kenney's ghost continues to haunt us still and the effects his time in politics have wrought at the federal and provincial level. Also, you should buy the book.

Could former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi run for the leadership of the Alberta NDP? One of his closest friends and advisors is telling him to think about it. 

Edmonton libraries could be shut down as early as February 12 due to a strike or lockout. Most inside city of Edmonton workers including 911 operators, recreation centre workers and civilian police workers could be off the job as early as February 15.