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But it’s time for the newsletter. And it’s a great example of why you should donate. 

The talk of Alberta’s chattering classes, when they’re not talking about the  devastating second wave of COVID-19 in Alberta, is recent polling that suggests Albertans are turning against Premier Jason Kenney. The narrative of the week is that his once-vanquished foe, Rachel Notley, might even re-enter the premier’s office as soon as 2023.

With record breaking COVID-19 cases and no way to blame Trudeau and Notley, Jason Kenney has decided to scapegoat the northeast Calgary South Asian community for his own incompetence. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is out of control in Alberta and it’s in our hospitals where the effects are being felt the most. 

That headline is not hyperbole, a Calgary Police officer sued to try and stop the documentary No Visible Trauma from being screened. Thankfully the filmmakers won and we have Marc Serpa Francouer and Robinder Uppal on to talk about their case as well as their documentary that examines several cases of police brutality and explores just how broken of an institution the Calgary Police Service really is. 

Alberta is careening towards a Christmas lockdown as our COVID-19 rates, already the worst in the country, surge exponentially. But over the last week Premier Kenney and his cabinet appear more concerned with polling and shoring up the support of their base than doing anything to pull us away from this disaster.

Recently disclosed public documents show the Government of Alberta gave the NHL $4 million dollars in a sole-source contract between July 31, 2020 and October 1, 2020 in order to “promote investment in Alberta to provincial, national and international audiences through a unique partnership opportunity with the NHL.” But no public statement from Premier Jason Kenney or the Alberta government has made mention of the $4 million dollar payment.

Sandra Azocar, the executive director of Friends of Medicare, joins us to analyze and breakdown Jason Kenney's new COVID restrictions as well as a recently passed bill that allows private, for-profit plasma farming operations to be set up in Alberta. 

Alberta will do only the bare minimum on COVID, says premier

You can’t have your grandma over to visit, under the new pandemic restrictions announced by the UCP government yesterday--but you can still take her to the casino.

It’s one of the many contradictions in the strange, piecemeal set of rules laid out by the Premier and Health Minister Tyler Shandro yesterday.

From firebrand student politician to city hall’s resident skeptic--and from anonymous rabble-rouser to very public rabble-rouser--Councillor Mike Nickel's story is a strange one. Now once again the Ward 11 councillor's ambitions seem to be in a position he has chased before: the mayor's seat.