Women of ABpoli: Hot Flashes - Issue #16
This Week in AB
It's old hat for Team UCP: they get caught doing something that besmirches their position as representatives of government, proceed to mock anyone who dared hold them to any standard, followed by a complete 180 after finding out the critics aren't actually being partisan hacks.
The flavour of the week is former Agriculture Minister, Devin Dreeshen, whose questionable behaviour came to light after details surfaced about a wrongful termination lawsuit, filed by Arianna Kimmel, Jobs Minister Doug Schweitzer’s former Chief of Staff, who declared in the affidavit she had been in an “on-again, off-again” relationship with Dreeshen.
Kimmel also claimed that over-indulging at the office had been a fairly regular occurrence for the Minister, who said he resigned in order to take care of his own health and wellness after trolling Albertans with the above photo of himself attending a Zoom meeting, with his laptop sitting on a portable styrofoam cooler and a liquor bottle visible under his desk.
Further unnamed sources (who feared for their jobs) added that when the booze came out, the words “shields up” were jokingly used to let staff know that Dreeshen and Co. were no longer accepting callers.
Dreeshen’s age has been brought up numerous times so people remember that the privilege of being an elected representative in charge of a major portfolio was not his fault.
While Kimmel’s allegations have yet to be proven in a court of law, actions can also be a powerful communication tool.
Alberta is still on the affordable child care wait list
The blame game continues and Alberta parents are losing out. Back in April, the federal government announced funding for national child care affordability programs, the particulars of which would be proposed by the provinces themselves.
Last August, Rebecca Shulz, Alberta's Children's Services Minister claimed the hold up was coming from the federal government, even though deals had already been made with other provinces that had affordable care programs in place for all families.
The UCP has said they will implement affordable programs for low-to-middle income families but refuses thus far to implement a program that would benefit all families.
As such, the federal government has yet to be convinced that Alberta should receive funding for something they have no intention of providing. Something, something, accountability.
Former Wildrose leader and United Conservative Party hopeful Brian Jean announced he will seek the UCP nomination for the upcoming Fort McMurray - Lac La Biche byelection.
As if it wasn't going to be drama-filled enough, Jean opened with a clear shot at Kenney's leadership and a potential foreshadowing of running, yet again, for the top spot if Albertans get their way and reunite Kenney with his outdated ideology and the many ghosts of Alberta's past.
Kenney took the bait and highlighted Jean's "reliability" issues. If anything, Kenney only allowed the reasoning for Jean's departures to become recalled into memory. Welcome to Act III.
Dr. Hinshaw wants to be the face of Alberta's fourth wave (and Kenney wants that too, coincidentally)
In a move that surprised absolutely no one, Kenney said responsibility for the fourth wave lay with Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw - but that's the short version.
The claim was made during a Legislative session while Kenney was under fire for leaving no one in charge while he took a three week vacation in August. Kenney responded that Dr. Hinshaw didn't make any recommendations to him in August that would have allowed him to address the issue.
In support of his lack of decision-making, Kenney also said that he was in contact with his office daily, and therefore still in charge. That, of course, turned out to be a lie as for some reason, his calendar was available and showed only two Covid updates with his office but did detail "every five minute drive, personal meal - even casual walks". Fun.
For her part, Hinshaw admitted to Alberta doctors after Kenney returned from vacation and reinstituted a provincial mask mandate that the "government knew since mid-August hospital demand would rise without provincial intervention", and also that she made a mistake by focusing solely on data from the U.K. instead of using available data on Delta spikes in other regions where the outcome was not so great.
The race to the bottom isn't as much fun when you're being dragged along for the ride.
Canada
November 8 is Aboriginal Veteran's Day
For some incredible stories of Indigenous Members in the Canadian Armed Forces, I highly recommend following @CAFinUS. The account profiles Members with amazing storytelling and uses honest language when memorializing the battles Indigenous Members faced in their determination to fight alongside their neighbours.
Saskatchewan Health Authority says 5th wave possible with new variants of Delta and waning immunity
Today I learned there are Delta mutants spreading in Europe, Asia, Canada and the U.S.. Sorry.
Manitoba doesn't elect person who feels she's Premier and more prairie strange
CPC says what??
Conservative Party of Canada MP Marilyn Gladu announced the creation of a new Civil Liberties Caucus that will advocate for the right to remain unvaccinated. Gladu made herself a laughing stock on CTV PowerPlay with Evan Soloman, which led to a statement of different claims, and disappointment from conservative voters who would really like it if the CPC had a hope in hell of ever forming government again. But... you realize these idiots will then be running the country... right?
'Merica
Who is Aaron Rodgers?
He plays football but caught up on epidemiology during the off-season (didn't we all?), lied about his vaccination status, got Covid-19, consulted Joe Rogan for medical advice (lol), and is now claiming he's being cancelled for having a dissenting opinion. In the words of the Social Network, "I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true - it'll be because you're an asshole."
Final thought