Founding Partner, MB&P Policy Advisors. Former Alberta NDP MLA, Min.of Environment&Parks/Climate Change. I’m usually not here, I’m on Bluesky.
Alberta, Canada
Joined May 2009
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What is going on, indeed.
The Conservatives need to be much more serious Opposition if they’re going to dig to get to the bottom of this issue - & represent their own constituents while they’re at it.
The NDP has a golden opportunity to be the voice of working people again.
Ottawa could have prevented the Brampton auto plant sale to defense contractor Roshel - saving 1000s of jobs.
Rezoning & procurement conditions were options.
Reason # bajillion why we need an NDP focused on the industrial economy and holding LPC accountable in Parliament.
Who among us is surprised it has come to this. These accountability systems are utterly broken.
theijf.org/article/grieving-…
Worth reading as a very highlevel overview of what is happening with long COVID research.
For decades, people with ME/CFS struggled for recognition while researchers struggled for funding.
Then came Covid.
My latest for @business on how Long Covid is transforming the science of infection-associated chronic illness.
🎁🔗👇
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The partisan electoral boundaries “panel” designed to replace the judge-led process that refused to recommend gerrymandering was compromised from the beginning.
Those who chose to participate in this farce undermined their reputation & credibility.
There will come a day when Danielle Smith is gone, but the dishonour of participating in this brazen attempt to gerrymander, unique in Canadian history, will remain.
Alberta patient here. I found my specialist *myself*, through a random mention in a patient Facebook group.
The system is bananas, and broken. Let’s listen to docs and patients on how to work within the public system to fix it.
Doctors are calling on the province to reform access to specialist care, drop the use of fax machines and launch a province-wide central intake so they stop the process of finding specialized care for patients through group chats and social media.
ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/o…
The citizens of Lethbridge will not stand for this.
They expect their politicians to work to earn their vote, and then to represent them effectively.
The UCP don’t want to do that, it’s too hard. So they’ll cheat instead.
I didn’t think Thomas Lukaszuk was on Danielle Smith’s side, but if he does this, they’re on the same team.
I didn’t sign up as an FC supporter to be part of a new political party’s database. My info better not be used that way.
Anyway, this ego trip is a gift to the UCP.
We are less than a year out of an election. We need to fight like hell to replace this government and there is no time for side quests.
The good news is I know progressive voters will unite behind @nenshi and reject this “high on his own supply” attempt at dividing us.
I did not sign the Forever Canadian petition to become part of a new political party’s data programme.
I signed it because I didn’t want a divisive referendum.
In 2027, I want an NDP govt so we never have to deal with divisive separatist referenda again.
We should not have the courts involved.
We had a Commission.
It submitted a report.
The UCP didn’t like that report, because the changes in it were fair.
So there was an effort at a “minority” report. Which is not a thing. Which led us to this compromised, secret process.
We already had a legally constituted Electoral Boundaries Commission report to the Legislature.
This new process is not part of the law. It’s just the UCP wanting a do-over as they didn’t get their gerrymandered boundaries the first time.
Representation by population isn’t “gerrymandering,” you absolute numpty.
It’s in fact the basis of our liberal democracy and the constitution.
The UCP are going to gerrymander Lethbridge in to oblivion because they need, in the Premier’s Chief of Staff’s words, to “level the playing field.”
They can’t out-work the Lethbridge NDP, they got their asses beat 4 times in a row, so now they figure they need to cheat to win.
Total garbage. @DonBraid is literally just regurgitating exactly what is NDP buddies are telling him. Would be nice if he represented both sides of an issue for once.
One of the most respected court of appeal justices in Alberta history is chairing the boundary committee. It’s a lie to say that it’s the UCP. The maps aren’t even available yet (though clearly leaked to the NDP by someone).
In addition, Judge Miller and half the NDP caucus complained that there should be 2 additional seats added to account for population growth. So that was done and left to the independent judge-led committee to figure out how to do it. I assume they have done so.
Further, last election the NDP lost the popular vote by almost 10 percent and still almost ended up winning the most seats. So obviously they don’t want any change whatsoever that could level the playing field.
How do you explain that Don? Did the NDP gerrymander the map last go around under Notley? Was the 2023 election undemocratic too?
The UCP isn’t making that claim because it’s disrespectful of the people - including the judge - who did the hard work of determining those past boundaries.
Your bias is so clear Don. It’s disturbing.
Danielle Smith needs to cheat to beat the NDP in Lethbridge.
Time to go to court.
Jesus Christ - watching the Alberta Leg committee on the boundaries change, @nenshi confirmed the UCP is going to split Lethbridge up (likely the four way split we saw in the minority maps) and the Calgary rural-urban split seats.
Shameful @ABDanielleSmith, dirty cheater. #ableg
The gerrymandering has come out in Alberta.
It means the end of 15 years of work on a level playing field for Lethbridge New Democrats.
Profoundly illiberal, undemocratic, and a disgrace for every person involved in this fiasco.
Some pretty wild takeaways from today's electoral boundaries committee meeting:
Lethbridge would be split into FOUR ridings instead of its current two urban ones. Three would combine city neighbourhoods with surrounding rural areas.
Three urban-rural hybrid ridings are proposed along Calgary's northwest and western edges. Springbank gets split up. Kathleen Ganley questioned why the panel was citing GOLF COURSES to justify its boundaries.
Okotoks and Diamond Valley would be split apart, with Diamond Valley paired with Banff. The panel's dissenting members say public submissions overwhelmingly favoured keeping them together.
Ganley says Calgary and Edmonton ridings would average 7,000 more residents per MLA than ridings outside those cities. That's a 14 percent difference.
The NDP wanted to put its concerns about the maps on the record. UCP MLAs voted 3–2 to end the committee's review before those motions could even be considered.
The NDP also wanted taxpayers to know how much the panel and its outside consultants were paid. UCP MLAs voted that down too. Ganley says the panel chair gets an extra $5,000/month on top of regular pay.
The UCP says the maps should be debated in the Legislature once they're public. The NDP wanted the committee to scrutinize them now.
Meanwhile, Albertans still haven't seen the maps. The report is due November 2.
#ableg #abpoli
That moment you realize @tobi really does have only one vote…
Incredible photo from Bradford HQ last night by Laura Proctor in The Local
thelocal.to/olivia-chow-re-e…
There’s a huge gap between what Albertans want and need and what the UCP think is their mandate.
Good ad.
How about telling people to get vaccinated?
Get your Covid and flu vaccines, Albertans.
Respiratory virus season means busier hospitals, and we want to make sure they’re ready. Saturday, I joined Premier Danielle Smith, Minister Nathan Neudorf and Acute Care Alberta CEO Dr. Sayeh Zielke to share what we’re doing to prepare.
Alberta now has a record high of more than 9,000 acute care spaces across the province, and we’re building on that capacity to help hospitals handle the extra demand.
Along with preparing additional hospital spaces, our capacity task force is looking for ways to expand even further. We’re also helping patients move into care settings that better meet their needs and bringing physicians into emergency department waiting areas so patients can be assessed and treated sooner.
These steps will help ease pressure on our hospitals, give health care teams the support they need and make sure Albertans can get the care they need, when they need it.
After 9 years of the BCNDP, we finally have normal, fair labour laws in BC.
Labour laws that are consistent with the federal Labour Code and even consistent with what the federal Conservatives now vote for and support.
Let’s keep it that way for the next four years.