This week from AB: February 2, 2025

Canadians revolt against Trump; Trump remains revolting.

BlueSky

Alberta

A-Trumping we will go

Alberta Investment Management Corporation has fired 19 employees, including the head of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) program, but says it remains committed to an inclusive workplace — pinky swear.

The move comes shortly after a foreign leader of whom the Alberta Premier is still crushing over issued an Executive Order to remove all such programming from its country’s federal and state institutions. Such programs are often derided by Caucasian males and their subservient counterparts as being non-merit based because obviously Caucasian males would be the preferred hire if not for EDI programs.

This, from a country that just replaced its head of government personnel with a recent high school graduate who interned for Elon Musk last summer.

“Merit-based” also appears to be just one of Donald Trump’s “hilarious” jokes.

UCP Cabinet Ministers off to dine and whine in America

Alberta’s Cabinet Ministers aren’t going to let a little trade war get in the way of their good times.

The mission to Washington’s prayer and politics event will also seek out Republicans to get their thoughts and prayers for Alberta’s economy in person next week.

Smith and Co. obviously think the retaliatory tariffs on, and boycotts of goods from, red states where those legislators were elected won’t have any effect on the reception they receive.

I’m sure they’ll get around to those big pipeline conversations with other provinces eventually.

UCP launches Crown Corp: “Heritage Fund Opportunities Corporation”

Danielle Smith says that oil royalties should pay out around $24 billion from last year, but the $2 billion that she said her government would invest each year is now going to a new toy, the Heritage Fund Opportunities Corporation.

According to the statements made during the press conference (not captured in the press release) it will be used as an “asset management fund” with the ability to invest money, in “things Albertans care about” starting with a $2 billion deposit “earmarked for deposit to the Heritage Fund”.

In 2023, Smith mused that Alberta could counteract hostility towards oil and gas by using pension funds to bankroll projects. In a speech to Calgary Chamber last year, she acknowledged that pension funds should not be used that way; instead, her government could repurpose the Heritage Fund to “assist in de-risking projects that we're finding difficult to get financing” and “seeing if there are innovative ways we can support the business community”.

UCP fires Alberta Health Services board, again

Danielle Smith may be “disappointed” in Donald Trump’s decision to pressure the Canadian economy with tariffs, but that isn’t going to stop her from using the republican playbook of inserting chaos where none deserves to be.

The UCP fired AHS board members, again, and made the Deputy Minister of Health its CEO on Friday.

The last thing a government bent on tearing down institutions needs is more voices at the table.

It has been 850 days since Danielle Smith promised to fix healthcare in 90 days.

A few more words on UCP’s anti-science pandemic report

Canada