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Alberta

Summer 2024

Save the children

What progressive Albertans can do in the face of the province's proposed gender policies

Natasha Chiam

On a cloudy February day in Edmonton, Alberta, a giant trans pride flag flies over Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park, marking the meeting place for a rally in support of the trans community. It’s days after Premier Danielle Smith, in a seven-minute video posted online, announced the most restrictive gender policies in Canada under the guise […] More »
March-April 2022

New voices in the city

Calgary media collective explores the Black experience

Zawadi Bunzigiye

“Our goal was amplifying Black voices,” says Ado Nkemka, deputy editor of Calgary-based media collective Afros In Tha City. The media collective is the only one of its kind in Mohkínstsis/Calgary, exploring topics relevant to the Black experience and supporting the voices of Black journalists in a hegemonically white media landscape. Founded in 2016, it […] More »
November-December 2021

Ride free

Transit advocates fight to freeze fares

Geoff Russ

“I think if you’re not leaning into transit as a reliance or as your first choice, you don’t really know how these fare impacts can really hit you,” says Danika McConnell, an organizer for Free Transit Edmonton (FTE). In spring 2021, Edmonton was set to raise adult cash transit fares to $3.75. It would have […] More »
September-October 2021

Post-apocalyptic prose

Premee Mohamed explores the future at a local level

Kate Heartfield

In These Lifeless Things, by Edmonton writer Premee Mohamed, a character looks at her partner in a post-apocalyptic landscape. “We could make love right here!” she thinks. “Who, in this dead city, would stop us?” Amid pandemics, rising fascism and climate disaster, science fiction writers are imagining new futures in new ways. Mohamed is a […] More »
September-October 2021

25 years from now, where will aging millennials live?

The oldest members of the generation will be turning 60 and will need options

Ximena González

The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered some of the many disparities affecting Canadian society today. One of the most outstanding examples of this are the deficiencies exposed in senior care facilities and the subsequent calls for aging in place from experts and seniors alike. (Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta observed the highest rate of seniors who perished as […] More »
July-August 2021

An independent alternative

The Sprawl offers Albertans a progressive perspective

Sydney Hildebrandt

Jason Kenney, the United Conservative Party (UCP) premier of Alberta, is the best thing to happen to The Sprawl, says Jeremy Klaszus, the publication’s editor-in-chief. Under Kenney’s leadership, the UCP’s approach to controversial issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate action has divided Albertans. Polarization is especially evident between rural and urban residents. Individuals […] More »
January-February 2020

Spotlight on The Alberta Advantage podcast

Podcast gives a left-wing perspective on local politics

Ben Cohen

The Premier of Alberta is a Conservative. Every single seat in the province bar one went blue in the last federal election. Despite the severe lack of representation in government, those with leftward ideologies still exist in Alberta. Where can they turn to hear friendly voices? The Alberta Advantage podcast. The bi-monthly podcast was born […] More »
July-August 2017

New ecological project takes stock of Calgary’s amphibian life

The project will provide insight into the health of the city's wetlands

Allyson Aritcheta@ariCheddar

A woman in a coral windbreaker peeks through cattails on the periphery of a marsh, her rubber boots camouflaged by vegetation and mud as she strains, clipboard in hand, to detect signs of amphibian life. A frog hops into a beam of sunlight through the dense flora and she marks a tick on her clipboard. […] More »

FTW Friday: Sweet news for bees

Hillary Di Menna

Canada now has a working group dedicated to figuring out bee mortality. On July 9, environmental group Sierra Club Canada shared a press release announcing the group’s formation, which is made up of beekeepers, farmers, scientists and others in agri-business. The press release mentions the recent loss of 27 million bees near Elwood, Ont. In […] More »

A new generation farmer weighs in on beef

Anna Bowen

Ian McCormick is one of the new generation of Canadian farmers.  Thanks to programs like FarmStart and CRAFT (Canadian Regional Alliance for Farmer Training), new farmers — young people and folks who often didn’t grow up farming — are trying their hand at small-scale production.  FarmStart helps develop a new generation of farmers by leasing […] More »
January-February 2012

When Canada’s biggest businesses need access in Washington, they call lobbyist Paul Frazer

Lyndsie Bourgon

Paul Frazer is an invisible Canadian. He doesn’t live in Canada, and hasn’t for more than two decades. But he works for us, and he represents us abroad, and he holds sway over the leaders and big businesses that affect our lives. In many ways, he has power over the powerful. But here at home, […] More »