Call it ironic or odd or surreal. But there was definitely something troubling about the optics of the Alberta government’s news conference on Thursday at Calgary’s International Airport. Jobs Minister Doug Schweitzer announced an experimental program that will use testing and monitoring to reduce the self-isolating period for arriving international travellers down to just a few days from the current…

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.

Pop Quiz! What do you call a government that runs up record deficits, intervenes in the marketplace, restricts people’s movements and pays workers to stay home?a. Socialistb. Communistc. New Democraticd. LiberalIn Alberta, the answer is “none of the above.” Or, put another way: United Conservative.

As a journalist, covering Alberta’s United Conservative Party government is a bit like trying to jump aboard a speeding locomotive. So much weight is moving at such great velocity that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to keep up.

If politics makes for strange bedfellows, politics during a pandemic makes for shocking bedfellows. I give you Alberta Premier Kenney and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. After years of bickering, and outright hostility on the part of Kenney toward Trudeau, the two have become allies. Pandemic pals, if you will.