Way To Go...

...Dippers:

Shelves bare at several Alberta food banks as usage increases

More than 3,000 new clients each month!!!

Fires Threatening...

...my old stomping grounds:

Crews working to gain upper hand on growing wildfire in Jasper

Jasper fire growing

"a Parks Canada spokeswoman, said the 50-square-kilometre fire in the Maligne Valley was 14 kilometres from the town and 15 kilometres from Maligne Lake.

“We expect the fire to spread toward Maligne Lake, that is, to the south, and that means away from the community of Jasper,” Weir said."

I Spoke Too Soon

NDP cabinet approves additional $6 billion in debt

There's a reason they're called Dippers.

Alberta's New Politics

Do you think this:

Rachel Notley's first question period: Alberta premier promises no sales taxes

Notley wows Alberta business with pro-oilsands speech

Has anything to do with this:

Alberta’s NDP inherits more than $1B-surplus from last budget under PCs

Who Didn't See...

...this coming?

Alberta environment minister faces questions over work on protest book


Wildrose charges NDP energy minister's top staffer was anti-pipeline lobbyist

Wildrose proposes lower small business tax rate

Like that will happen.


Wildrose brings the FUNK in attack on environment minister’s past

"If all goes according to plan, Alberta’s first legislative sitting under an NDP government will wrap up Thursday afternoon.

We will have survived.

The government didn’t nationalize the oilsands or add the hammer and sickle to the province’s coat or arms. MLAs didn’t sing Solidarity Forever at the start of each day and the Alberta Legislature didn’t tilt so far left that it slid into the North Saskatchewan River.

The government’s critics, of course, will say just give it time."

[---]

"It was a remarkably short sitting — eight days — just long enough for the government to put an end to political donations from corporations and unions, increase taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and pass an interim supply bill to keep the lights on until the fall when Finance Minister Joe Ceci will introduce a new budget."

And So It Begins

Alberta NDP introduces bill to hike taxes on corporations and wealthy

Alberta NDP prove they are oblivious to economic reality

Tell us something we wouldn't have known would happen.

Well, That Didn't Take Long

Alberta environment minister faces questions over work on protest book

NDP will double carbon levy by 2017: By 2017, the Alberta government will require large emitters to reduce greenhouse gases by 20 per cent

Alberta legislature begins session under NDP, and everyone is watching the money

Wildrose brings the FUNK in attack on environment minister’s past

"If all goes according to plan, Alberta’s first legislative sitting under an NDP government will wrap up Thursday afternoon.

We will have survived.

The government didn’t nationalize the oilsands or add the hammer and sickle to the province’s coat or arms. MLAs didn’t sing Solidarity Forever at the start of each day and the Alberta Legislature didn’t tilt so far left that it slid into the North Saskatchewan River."

It may be a case of saving the best for last.

Never Saw This Coming

Alberta passes bill banning corporate and union donations

"Corporate" I can understand. After all, they are Dippers. But Union donations???? Unions have to be their biggest funders, bar none. I think I just saw more pigs flying.

"Getting union and corporate donations out of politics is good for democracy, it’s good for Alberta. The NDP even accepted one of our amendments, which shows some progress,” said Jean. “But there is still a horrendous loophole in this legislation; unions can actually pay their employees to volunteer for a political party. We don’t think that’s right.”"

[---]
"Alberta’s NDP has traditionally gained about 10 per cent of its funding from unions, while the PCs have relied heavily on corporate donations."

My guess is, Notley and crew didn't want egg or their faces. Can't make it too obvious, you know.

Smokin'

Playing fairy godmother to Quebec not so fun

"Today, let’s have some fun and play fairy godmother to Quebec. Let’s grant the province the wish it articulated in Copenhagen. Wave the magic wand and poof, wish granted. Shut down Alberta’s oilsands, except, since it’s Quebec making the wish, we have to call it tarsands, even though it’s not tar they use to run their Bombardier planes, trains and Skidoos.

Ah, at last! The blight on Canada’s reputation shut down. All those dastardly workers from across Canada living in Fort McMurray, Calgary and Edmonton out of jobs, including those waitresses, truck drivers, nurses, teachers, doctors, pilots, engineers etc. They can all go on employment insurance like Ontario autoworkers and Quebec parts makers!

Today, let’s have some fun and play fairy godmother to Quebec. Let’s grant the province the wish it articulated in Copenhagen. Wave the magic wand and poof, wish granted. Shut down Alberta’s oilsands, except, since it’s Quebec making the wish, we have to call it tarsands, even though it’s not tar they use to run their Bombardier planes, trains and Skidoos.

Ah, at last! The blight on Canada’s reputation shut down. All those dastardly workers from across Canada living in Fort McMurray, Calgary and Edmonton out of jobs, including those waitresses, truck drivers, nurses, teachers, doctors, pilots, engineers etc. They can all go on employment insurance like Ontario autoworkers and Quebec parts makers!"

[---]

"Shutting down the oilsands will reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 38.4 Mt (megatonnes). Hooray! It’s so fun to be a fairy godmother! While that sounds like a lot, Canada only produces two per cent of the world’s man-made GHGs and the oilsands only produce five per cent of Canada’s total emissions or 0.1 per cent of the world’s emissions. By comparison, the U.S. produces 20.2 per cent of the world’s GHG emissions — 27 per cent of which comes from coal-fired electricity.

The 530 sq.-km piece of land currently disturbed by the tarsands (which is smaller than the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 570 sq. km) must be reclaimed by law and will return to Alberta’s 381,000 sq. km of boreal forest, a huge carbon sink. Quebec, of course, has clean hydro power, but more than 13,000 sq. km were drowned for the James Bay hydroelectric project, permanently removing that forest from acting as a carbon sink."

RTWT

Stock In Trade Response

Doesn't every new government come up with the excuse upon assuming office?

Notley Finds The Unexpected, Says Fiscal Situation Bigger Than PCs Led On

Which, of course, means they won't be keeping any of their promises.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

How the NDP can win the next Alberta election

Yup

Saskatchewan offers refuge for Alberta energy companies following NDP win

Well, At Least...

...they're not picking on Alberta's oil sands:

More Protesters Arrested Over Tar Sands Mining in Utah

Oh Canada, Again!

Nenshi to Quebeckers: Come to Calgary, we don’t care how you worship

But, but, but. Alberta is the most bigoted region in Canada, dontcha know. (Seriously, though. Calgary rocks.)

Back To The Alberta Floods

I heard on the radio this afternoon that scuba diving rescue workers were searching for bodies inside some of the inundated buildings in Calgary. They hadn't found any drowned people, but they have found many dead pets. :(

Speaking Of Alberta,...

...here's a musical tribute:





And it didn't take long for a new song to pop up.

Rain, Rain,...

...Go away! Little weesie wants to weed her flower beds.

No I don't.

I lied.

Could be worse: Rain-deluged Canmore in state of emergency

Several Southern Alberta communities are flooded after heavy rains

After bitching all winter about the cold and snow, I'm now going to bitch about the rain. It's the Canadian way.

Lotsa pictures at that last link. Time to build an ark.

The Last Post...

...for a while. Tomorrow I'm heading out to Alberta (oil country) to visit a couple of grand-kiddies and their mommy. I'll be back on the 15th, but don't count on any new blog entries until a day or two after I return.

In the meantime, feel free to search the bowels of my blog or visit any of the fine bloggers in my blogroll, or any other of the links I've provided. (And let me know of any dead ones. I've been meaning to clean out that mess for a long time. I know some of them are dead.)

RIP King Ralph

Stupidest Question Ever

Can Justin Trudeau break the conservative grip on Alberta?