Alberta

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Alarming trend

A blinding trend that includes Tumbler Ridge, Charlie Kirk & sadly much more Here’s what mental health support looks like – not supporting his delusional belief that he’s a girl when he’s a boy. I didn’t lose a loved one in BC yet I’m infuriated by the mainstream media calling this shooter a female. He was born a biological male. (The prime minister delayed a foreign trip because of BC, yet supports sex reassignment surgeries on minors.) Government, media, etc. need to take accountability for these deaths. No, not a stretch. Journalism loves patterns. In line with the media’s denial, it’s not reporting a blinding trend. All mass shootings committed by trans people (or a partner) in the U.S.: (as always, Canada is sadly catching up). – 2025, Utah, Charlie Kirk; – 2025, Minnesota, two children killed, 17 injured at Annunciation Catholic Church and school; – 2023, Tennessee, six killed at Covenant School; – 2022, Colorado, five killed, 40 injured at a LGBTQ nightclub; – 2019, Colorado, one student killed, eight injured at a Science, Tech., Engineering and Math School; – 2018, Maryland, three killed, three injured at a Rite Aid warehouse. Claudelle Key Calgary

Strength at home

In his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke truth to power. He also put forth a new perspective on middle powers and their collective influence on global issues. However, his authoritative remarks to Canada are what really stand out. He said we need to build our strength at home. Well, I am going to take him at his word and suggest one way we can start doing that. Canada should become an arms producer and supplier to the world. I say that because Canada has the talent and resources to do so. We have steel and aluminum along with other important minerals such as cobalt and tungsten. Just reflect back on the Avro Arrow project of the mid-50s where Canadian ingenuity designed and built a Mach 2 military interceptor. It was a crowning achievement for Canadian entrepreneurial strength and spirit. Canada had a can-do attitude then and should revive it now by making armaments for the world. By armaments I mean cruise missiles, smart bombs, artillery shells, military grade drones, along with the software to power this new industry. That list is far too small but you get the idea. Government should partner with the private sector to get this effort rolling. Just think of the jobs it would create but also would be a significant consumer of steel and aluminum that the US no longer wants. As Prime Minister Mark Carney said, we need to build our strength at home. So let’s get on the road to that future which will make Canada much more self reliant and bring a lot of jobs to Canadians. Don Intihar Edmonton

Canada Post flawed priorities

Recent article in the Westaskiwin Times covering the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ (CUPW) strike notice rightly acknowledges the tension between labour and Canada Post management—but it omits a crucial truth: the crisis at Canada Post is not being driven by wages. It is being driven by flawed fiscal priorities and an outdated mandate that treats a public institution like a profit-seeking corporation. According to Canada Post’s own Annual Reports from 2018 to 2023, labour and employee benefit costs have remained virtually flat, increasing just 0.1% over six years. In that same period, “other operating costs” rose by 48.1%, adding over $800 million in expenditures. And revenue? It increased by 4.8%—enough to more than keep pace with wages, which have also failed to match inflation. Canada Post Financial Summary (2018–2023) (Source: Canada Post Annual Reports, CUPW / Rankandfile.ca, 2024) Year Revenue from Operations Labour & Benefits Other Operating Costs Employee Wage Increase Inflation 2018 $6.620B $4.882B $1.718B 2.0% 2.27% 2019 $6.748B $4.798B $1.828B 2.1% 1.95% 2020 $6.942B $5.365B $2.061B 2.5% 2.70% 2021 $7.349B $5.347B $2.197B 2.9% 3.40% 2022 $7.182B $5.051B $2.402B 2.0% 6.80% 2023 $6.942B $4.889B $2.545B 2.0% 3.85% Even the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC), struck by the federal government to assess Canada Post’s viability, acknowledged that modernization would require significant capital expenditures—but notably did not recommend transitioning Canada Post to a public service delivery model. It instead advocated cuts: ending daily door-to-door delivery, increasing reliance on part-time work, and closing rural offices. Meanwhile, CUPW has proposed a constructive alternative: treat Canada Post as a vital public utility, not a business. This includes expanding into postal banking, investing in green infrastructure, and maintaining full-service delivery across Canada. The path forward is not to cut wages or services. It is to acknowledge that public services should not be expected to turn profits—they should be expected to serve people. Let’s stop blaming postal workers for mismanagement they didn’t cause. Let’s rebuild Canada Post as the universal public service it was meant to be. James Williamson

Liberal bait and switch

Are Carney voters gullible or just misinformed? Canadians who vote for Carney are either misinformed or gullible to Liberal storytelling. He is the result of a “bait and switch” strategy. Trudeau was ousted to bring in an older, wiser, and more palatable leader. However, he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing waiting to unleash economic policies that will erode our economy. The Liberal party plans larger deficits. To service the debt, a likely plan is to tax home equity. Say goodbye to your tax-free home exemption. He said he took out the carbon tax because it was “too divisive.” He developed it with Trudeau and is likely to find another way to tax carbon, that will still increase our cost of living. Carney has said “pipelines are not a major project to prioritize.” Isn’t it? An Eastern pipeline would build our economy and bypass the USA? How much evidence does it take to show Liberals that Carney is not good for Canada? Karen Hope

No more support for UCP

Danielle Smith’s UCP has shown voters that they care not about our fresh water sources present and future and choose to ignore the previous refusals, and rejections of the Grassy Mountain old mine site by the joint provincial-federal review panel composed of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). I can only surmise that the same care would apply to our pensions, police force, oil well cleanups. I therefore will not be renewing my UCP membership. They don’t need our support as they’ve already been paid off by Gina Rinehart ‘s Northback Holdings of Australia. I guess the only recourse is through the courts. Contractual obligations my butt. Kevin McLaughlin Leduc

High speed rail not feasible

To the provincial government…. Forget spending our tax dollars on high speed rail. Upgrade the highways with the money. Four lanes each way from Calgary to Edmonton would be a good start. Highway 2 is becoming a nightmare to drive. Too many transport trucks and too many impatient drivers in cars. Four lanes to Ft. Mac and four lanes on #3 to the B.C. border. Get rid of the deathtrap range road intersections. Put in proper interchanges. Rest stops every 60 kilometers far enough off the highway to keep people safe. There are not enough people in this province to support high speed rail. The government will end up spending billions on a project that will never make enough revenue to pay the interest on the debt, let alone the construction costs. The taxpayers of the future will be saddled with a debt that will take decades to pay off. Andy Hansen

Where is the Alberta Advantage ?

Where is the Alberta Advantage when it comes to electricity rates? According to energyhub.org September 2023 figures the average residential cost of electricity in Canada, based on an average consumption of 1,000 kWh, including both fixed and variable rates, is $0.192 / 1,000 kWh. The Canadian average total cost for 1,000 kWh of electricity is 19 cents per kWh. The highest rate is in the Northwest Territories at 41 cents / kWh. The lowest rate is in Quebec at 7.8 cents / kWh. B.C. – 11.4, Saskatchewan – 19.9 and Ontario – 14.1. Albertans pay 25.8 cents / kWh. Alberta has a unique electrical market in Canada.  The Alberta electricity grid was privatized by a previous conservative government looking to pay off our provincial debt.  Do the high electricity rates that people in Alberta pay indicate how well that decision has worked out for the Alberta taxpayer? Jeff Toffin Calgary

Where’s the emergency?

The Federal Liberals are on notice that their appeal of the Emergencies Act may not be guaranteed because their bizarre violation of the Charter and overreach should never have reached the conclusion that was exploited. “The stand-up guy”, Justin Trudeau dispatches Chrystia Freeland to do the dirty work of announcing the court of appeal application which is unlikely to occur because it was deemed unlawful but not unconstitutional. The Supremes are not likely to agree with the absurdity and lame reason for appeal of the Emergencies Act. Infamous Liberal lawyers Lametti and Mendicino openly discussed employing tanks which had to be an eye-opener to Canadians who were not bedazzled. This is a victory ruling for anyone who opposed mandatory MRNA injections, and this ruling vindicates those who opposed the subject vaccinations. Freezing of bank accounts was an overreach and went too far. In summary, one egotistical individual refused to speak with the Freedom Convoy where this atrocity could have been averted but being narcissist, Justin Trudeau made the wrong decision afresh. The PM chose to call their bluff and lost big-time. Having witnessed the sins of the past, the Liberal party violated and disregarded Canada’s “Charter of Rights.” This calls for extremely severe punishment by the law including those involved and particularly the Prime Minister. R Yaschuk

Alberta Health Services – A ship without a rudder?

As we drift towards May 23 and Alberta’s provincial election, we should all wonder – what will happen with our provincial health delivery system, Alberta Health Services? Other Provinces have copied the single system model and despite interventions and interference in governance and management, AHS is beginning to achieve outcomes it is meant to achieve. But now, the largest healthcare organization in Canada has had no Board and the prior management were shown the door over six months ago. This has happened twice in the 15-year life of AHS, each time disbanding the Board and placing the entire operation under the governance of an individual. Regardless of the quality of the chosen administrator, it is hard to imagine a $14.5 Billion organization, with over 100,000 employees and 10,000 doctors that has no governance body. So, what might happen? Four options emerge: going back to individual hospital boards and management, such as existed from 1971 to 1995; going back to regionalization, when there were at first 17 then 9 RHAs and 3 Provincial Boards (1995 – 2008); keep AHS, with changes; or, try something completely different with a provincial health and social services super board, and with sub-Boards in primary & community care, acute care, long-term care, and population health. Except in selected areas, AHS is not the highest performing health system in Canada, and it could be. Given what we pay, it should be. While there may be options for where we go from here, it seems common sense to not structurally disrupt the system we have unless and until there is a strong, evidence-based reason to do so. When Governments are elected, the health system is often a target for disruptive change. Each time that happens, it takes a generation to recover from the fallout. Dr Tom Noseworthy Calgary

Travel Hostages in Canada

I am writing to you and I would like to make Public the totally unacceptable handling of Passport renewals by the government. My grandchildren’s passports 11yrs and 7yrs old, were sent into the passport office for renewal in August/2022. They have still not been processed as of January 13th/2023. A period of over 5 MONTHS! Calls to the passport office are useless. (192 in line). Then after waiting to get to number one, to be told there is a backlog of renewals for any passport submitted before October/2022. But after October, renewals are done in 6 weeks. Help! We need to make public the outrageous handling of this department policy’s. Our family is being held travel hostages. Also all the government issued ID for these children is being held by this department. This has to be made public and someone in the government department has to be held accountable. Please help! Stephen Wort Leduc, AB

Not Good Enough?

The Certificate to Canadian Pharmacy Practice (CCPP) is a new bridging program introduced in April 2021 for internationally educated pharmacy graduates (IEPGs) as a mandatory requirement to get an entry-to-practice by Alberta College of Pharmacy (ACP). The CCPP program is claimed to be designed to build upon and further develop the knowledge and skills of internationally educated pharmacy graduates (IEPGs) to be “competent” and “confident” practitioners to enter into pharmacy practice in Alberta but unfortunately, it is not much of a benefit for the IEPGs who have already written and passed the PEBC qualifying exams because most of the course content is redundant and is merely a repetition of the material that the PEBC passers have already gone through and have rigorously been trained on before writing their PEBC qualifying exams. It is as if we are being told that just because we’re IEPGs we’re not good enough even if we have gotten the entry to practice permit from PEBC. ACP can’t trust our abilities, maybe we just passed by fluke. So please go read again and attend the classes (which will teach and test you guys on the exact same things that you have already been tested on), you will be held captive in an almost a year-long bridging program for us to develop some trust in you that you’re capable of serving our pharmacies and communities. This program is halting international pharmacists to enter pharmacy practice and all this is happening at a time when the province is in a dire need of pharmacists and where 92% of pharmacy professionals are at risk of burnout due to work overload and inadequate staffing according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. In my opinion, ACP and the University of Alberta need to modify this program and shorten its course and make it similar to bridging programs offered elsewhere in Canada where they are offered over the course of 3 to 6 months only. Pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals, they have prescribing authority in Alberta, we need to take steps to make the licensing process more efficient & concise for international pharmacists to join the workforce and support patient care in the best ways possible. Amna Farooq Calgary