The executive director of the Friends of Medicare, Sandra Azocar, returns to the pod to discuss the state of Alberta's healthcare system and the deliberate choices by Jason Kenney and the UCP that led to this catastrophe. 

A small Alberta-based oil and gas company that has received substantial financial support from Alberta pensioners, the Alberta government, and the federal government is now getting into crypto mining—the energy-intensive and not-very-climate-friendly process of creating digital tokens like Bitcoins. Their windfall of government funding comes despite a dysfunctional relationship with its university research partner, regular failures to make interest payments to debtors, and a spotty environmental record.

Jason Kenney’s utter beating in the media last week was apparently not a turning point in Alberta’s ongoing COVID disaster. We’re hurtling along in exactly the same direction again this week, and at this point things are starting to get a little absurd.

We wash the latest federal election nonsense out of our mouth with an interview with Judith Gale, the leader of Bear Clan Patrol Beaver Hills House here in Edmonton. This group hits the streets multiple times a week to distribute food, water, clothing and harm reduction supplies to people who need it. This group is doing invaluable work during a time of crisis, learn more about what Bear Clan does and how they do it in this must-listen interview.

If you were expecting fireworks when the federal election got out of the way and the fractious UCP bench was free to start going wild, I’m sad to report none have been lit. Jason Kenney had his big post-election caucus meeting yesterday and contrary to some very optimistic speculation in the media, there was no caucus rebellion. 

One source told an Edmonton journalist that the caucus was too scared to hold a non-confidence vote without a secret ballot, which is a great demonstration of why card check is an important labor policy but not a great demonstration of courage. Jason Kenney’s popularity rating is somewhere below that of syphilis these days and it’s hard to imagine what he could threaten any elected MLA with. What’s he going to do—kick them off the sinking ship?

We are joined by author Omar Mouallem for a must-listen conversation on his just released book Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas. We chat about why it's important to not be a shithead atheist, his book lining up nearly exactly with the 20 year anniversary of 9/11 and how liberal media types just can't help themselves when it comes to excusing fascism. 

If you ever want to despair for the future of our species, attend an anti-vax rally outside of a hospital. Benita Pedersen, a DJ and karaoke host organized an anti-vax protest of around 80-100 people outside of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on Monday, in concert with more than a dozen other anti-vax protests outside of hospitals across Canada.

Adora Nwofor, the president of Black Lives Matter YYC, joins us to discuss the case of Dalia Kafi's brutal and violent encounter with Constable Alex Dunn of the Calgary Police Service, the aftermath and what's being done to get justice for Dalia. 

Jason Kenney is finally back to work—not that it seems to make much of a difference.

Alberta is unquestionably in its fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and our UCP administration is flailing incompetently, when it’s doing anything at all. Last week, the Premier, desperate to look like he’s doing anything, announced a $100 reward to everyone who goes out and gets vaccinated, which had virtually no impact: Alberta’s vaccination rate went up a mere 22% after the announcement, while bolder plans in other provinces were able to get their rates to entirely double.

On August 19 Larry Kaumeyer, Jason Kenney’s principal secretary and interim chief of staff, announced he was stepping down from his position to become the CEO of Ducks Unlimited Canada, an environmental NGO that received $429 million in foreign funding between 2003 and 2019. Ducks Unlimited is in Steve Allan’s inquiry list of anti-Alberta NGOs—but curiously, they’re one of the few organizations whose name was redacted out of the inquiry’s draft report.