The good news: Alberta schools will resume in-class learning in September. The bad news: Alberta schools will resume in-class learning in September. For Alberta parents of school age children, this fall will be an emotional tug-of-war between relief at getting the kids back in school and anxiety about their safety. Not helping matters are the conflicting messages from politicians.

How did we get into this mess? How did Alberta — in the midst of a pandemic — end up with a war between the provincial government and physicians? And how did the two sides get so far apart they practically need binoculars to see each other? The government says the main issue is money; the doctors say it’s respect.

During debate in the legislature this summer, Alberta politicians are not wearing face masks. They should. Not because of COVID-19 but because the atmosphere in the assembly is so toxic. Heck, the air is so poisonous at times they should be wearing hazmat suits.

Premier Jason Kenney doesn’t talk a lot about former-premier Ed Stelmach, probably because Stelmach wasn’t a particularly successful premier. Stelmach tried to raise royalties on energy companies, tried to erase the infrastructure deficit created by Ralph Klein, and tried to take human-induced climate change seriously.  However, Kenney did mention Stelmach on July 10 when holding a news conference to announce…

Since being elected last year, the government of Premier Jason Kenney has introduced legislation to undermine the power of labour unions, remove environmental protection on sand-extraction pits, and set up a Crown corporation to attract investment to Alberta. Come to think of it, that was just Tuesday this week.