POD: Defund the police
Edmonton and Calgary spend nine times more on the police than they spend on housing the homeless or social programs. Combined the two cities spend $750 million a year on cops. We talk with Reakash Walters and Molly Swain about how to divest from police and invest in the community.
Read moreCalgary and Edmonton spend more than $750 million a year on cops. It’s time to defund the police
Budgets are moral documents. They allow you to see, mathematically and with great precision, what a government’s priorities are.
And for Alberta’s two biggest cities the top priority is clear – police.
Read morePOD: How a young mother and former foster kid is fighting the UCP (and winning)
The UCP are trying to snatch away financial, social and education benefits from 2100 former foster kids. It's incredibly cruel and totally needless and A.C. and her lawyer Avnish Nanda have taken the government to court and won to keep these benefits – for now. We talk about this case with Nanda and Jenn Prosser an organizer and campaigner who grew up in foster care and kinship care during the aftermath of Klein's cuts.
Read moreIt's time to consider our own sins
It’s an extremely dark time in North America. For six days now, American police have been escalating violence against protests that erupted after Minneapolis police murdered an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by choking him to death in the street.
Read moreJason Kenney continues to stomp on reconcilation’s dead corpse
You might not have noticed it with the United States of America tearing itself apart but over the weekend, but Premier Jason Kenney sent out an official press release alongside the requisite social media messages celebrating the 90th anniversary of the theft of all of Alberta’s resource wealth from Alberta’s original inhabitants.
Read more'Great time' to build a pipeline is during global pandemic that's killed 350,000 people: Energy minister
Well, it’s nice to know someone’s happy about the global coronavirus pandemic!
Canadians got a rare glimpse into Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage’s thinking yesterday thanks to a friendly podcaster at the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors.
Read moreThe law? That's for workers, not owners
COVID-19 has already killed 103 residents of continuing care facilities across Alberta, and hundreds of workers and residents have tested positive for the virus. In response Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, issued a number of orders meant to protect workers and residents from the spread of the virus--but some employers are apparently choosing to ignore them.
Read moreLAPP protected themselves from AIMCo’s $2.1 billion loss with downside protection plan done over AIMCo’s wishes
As the investigation by outsiders into the Alberta Investment Management Corporation or AIMCo’s $2.1 billion loss on an exotic volatility-based strategy continues other details are trickling out. Notably that AIMCo’s biggest client, the Local Authorities Pension Plan or LAPP had a downside protection plan independent of AIMCo that actually made money while its pension fund manager was losing it.
Read moreHealth care aides still haven't gotten their $2 an hour raise
More than a month has passed since Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro promised the government would pay the province’s health care aides a $2-per-hour coronavirus-crisis top-up — and there’s still no sign of the money.
Read moreWhat to do when your landlord wants to evict you during a pandemic
If you’re having trouble paying your rent, you’re not alone. COVID-19 has stuck Alberta with the highest unemployment rate highest of any province in Canada. Alberta is very slowly re-opening its economy and coming out of lockdown but that doesn’t mean that you have a job or that it’s any easier to pay your rent.
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