Kent is a voice against intolerance

Ever since I can remember, my sister has broken every mould. The youngest child, with five years between her and my younger brother, she was always surprising.Before she even started school, my father had an offer he couldn’t refuse—at the end of the world, or so it seemed—in Fort McMurray. We were uprooted and transplanted. …

Redux: Inspiring a disillusioned electorate

This is a repost of another blog entry written in the context of the provincial election. I'm revising it slightly in light of the Municipal Election happening now in Alberta. See the original post here. If there's one thing that unites most, if not all politicians, it's the ongoing bafflement about how to motivate an …

Sleepless in Calgary: Startling move by Alberta Liberal board leaves a bad taste

Alberta Liberal Party board meetings have always been a scramble to organize. During my time on the board as VP, Communications (and briefly as President), there were never enough hours to organize agendas and packages. Board members were usually rushed to find transportation and make it to the meetings with busy personal lives and family …

The bizarre end of an era for Okotoks sustainability

Early indications were that the council vote today in Okotoks was not going to go well. Councillors Laurie Hodson and Stephen Clark were strong in their commitment to Okotoks' sustainability model--a globally recognized, award-winning approach to community development based on the concept of "living within your means." But both were worried and as we know …

Miss Cranky Pants: Woke up with a PC tattoo

“Oh my god! It’s the Tuesday morning after and baby, who the hell did I vote for?” (with apologies to Amanda Marshall - http://youtu.be/oxUxIDOOPg0) Albertans woke up this morning to the same thing they’ve been waking up to for the last 40 years--another Progressive Conservative majority government. How is that possible, you say? FEAR. PC campaign …

Meltdown in Highwood: The floods are coming, but Smith will prevail

This post originally appeared on http://www.daveberta.ca Okotoks, the little town with the international reputation for award-winning environmental sustainability, could very well find itself the home riding of the next premier of Alberta, a climate-change denier. This is just one of many ironies of this 29th election in the province that birthed the oil/tarsands (depending on …

Miss Cranky Pants: The Walk of shame. Don’t do it!

This post originally appeared on http://www.changealberta.wordpress.com. To be fair, real conversation was drowned out by the noise and the confusion. You could hardly think straight, bombarded with people and the place so crowded — and hot, so hot (like a fiery lake?).  Add to that, the intoxication of the moment. Taps were flowing with liquid …

Twitter the clear winner in the Alberta election debate

This column appeared originally on Troy Media. Oops. They did it again. And we fell for it. We actually believed the debate was about informing Albertans of the issues prior to the April 23 provincial election. We tuned in to watch an hour-long “debate” expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet of election information and ended up ordering …

New blog post on Troy Media: Twitter the clear winner in the Alberta Election debate

Oops. They did it again. And we fell for it. We actually believed the debate was about informing Albertans of the issues prior to the April 23 provincial election. We tuned in to watch an hour-long “debate” expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet of election information and ended up ordering off a pretty limited menu. See my …

Miss Cranky Pants: Seeing STARS, feeling dazed

Today, Alison Redford announced a promise of $10 million/year in funding for STARS air ambulance per year starting in 2013. The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service provides emergency health care service to rural and remote communities, a group of voters traditionally supportive of the Progressive Conservatives. Now, this audience is almost downright hostile to the …