Jun 5 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — In about five minutes on TV, Stockwell Day made himself the Canadian symbol of what is called white male privilege, which typically renders the afflicted clueless to boiling social currents around them. His insistence that Canadian racism isn’t much of a problem also turned out to be very expensive.
Jun 3 2020 — Don Braid — National Post — Of all the Canadian responses to the “I Can’t Breathe” movement, one of the most offensive comes from Randy Hillier, a Progressive Conservative legislative member in Ontario. Ahmed Hussen, the federal Liberal minister of families, children, and social development, had said on CTV: “I have been followed in stores. Instinctively my back gets up when […]
May 27 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — The UCP isn’t exactly trying to underplay the COVID-19 threat. No government in Canada has worked harder to contain the disease, and no province has been as successful. But still, there is a powerful urge to get back to regular life, with COVID-19 relegated to a seniors-only corner.
Apr 1 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — An opinion poll on western attitudes, done just two weeks ago, already seems as historical as a Babylonian tablet (the original kind). That’s how radically the COVID-19 plague has changed Canada’s emotional landscape.
Mar 30 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Alberta’s unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent in February. It’s about to climb to levels unknown because of COVID-19 and crashed oil prices. And now, your Alberta government is adding up to 20,000 layoffs from K-12 education until kids are back in the classroom.
Mar 9 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Alberta at this moment is a lonely peanut shell, tossed aloft and blasted by ferocious world gales. There has been no day like this in my memory of oil riches and crashes, going back to 1978 as a young legislature columnist. Never have we seen such a collision of adverse forces — an international economy […]
Mar 5 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — The Kenney government is not known for gracious retreat. Faced with criticism, it hunkers down and fights. But this battle against the doctors must stop. With the new coronavirus likely to hit the province, it’s the worst possible moment for changes to physician pay and governance rules that could seriously affect service. Dr. Christine Molnar, […]
Feb 25 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — In a throne speech shrouded in dark economic clouds, the UCP makes a startling announcement. The government promises to invest directly in energy projects to get them moving — a sharp change from UCP policy of encouraging business through tax policy rather than direct intervention. “When regulatory uncertainty, hostility by the federal government or pressure […]
Feb 24 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — For the Kenney government and almost anybody interested in oil and gas investment, it was the Sunday night slaughter — sudden news that Teck Resources has cancelled its $20-billion Frontier oilsands mine. Federal cabinet was expected to rule on the mine this week. Teck’s sudden decision to withdraw its application has many consequences, but one […]
Feb 10 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Suddenly, Premier Jason Kenney is talking publicly about the “energy transition.” This is new. And it’s significant. “Over the next decades as we go through the energy transition, we all know that there will be a continued demand for crude,” he told a panel at Washington’s Wilson Center last Friday. Kenney added: “It is preferable […]
Feb 7 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — The premier spends $24,000 on a six-day trip to Central Canada and the U.S., promoting investment in Alberta. Immediately, the slamming begins. The Opposition says it’s “nothing more than a political vanity trip . . . “Albertans want the premier to be more visible here at home right now, talking up industry and having a […]
Feb 5 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Major religions urge us not to wallow in revenge. The Almighty, I hope, will grant an exemption for frustrations over the Trans Mountain pipeline. It is vengeful fun, frankly, to watch B.C. Premier John Horgan pleading for “the rule of law” as he faces opposition to his own natural gas pipeline, just as the pipeline […]
Jan 24 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — The talent void in the Conservative party leadership race is prompting strange scenarios among Alberta loyalists. Their first and faintest hope: Stephen Harper comes back, wins the leadership with ease, runs off Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and recreates a Conservative national government. There is no hard evidence for this, but you have to wonder why […]
Jan 16 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Quebec’s La Presse has declared that Rona Ambrose won’t run for the Conservative leadership. Albertans who know her scratch their heads and say, what the . . .? “A plant from a Quebec rival, no doubt about it,” says one. Who would that be, if not Jean Charest? Ambrose still hasn’t decided. That’s today’s understanding […]
Jan 15 2020 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — It was damned near impossible for the Liberals to turn Quebec into Canada’s happiest, most optimistic province, while killing hopes for millions of people in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But they’ve done it. Brilliantly. We already knew discontent was deep on the Prairies. A new Angus Reid Institute poll shows it’s almost bottomless. Seventy-one per cent […]