By Steve Weller I was listening to a call-in radio show on CBC, about the death of former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein. I listened to the glowing reviews until I felt like vomiting, and turned the radio off. You see, I lived in Edmonton through the Ralph Klein years, and I am frankly sickened to […]
The Plan, Part Deux
By Frank Moher Previously on The Plan, I explained why, despite the depredations of the current federal government, the Canadian political universe is unfolding as it should — or at least as I hoped it would when I was a young journalist in Alberta in the 1980s. The Harperites are doing what they can to […]
Humane Society ad ropes Calgary Stampede
A BoB short A new ad released by the Vancouver Humane Society compares calf-roping at the Calgary Stampede to abusing a baby. The ad, published in a Calgary newspaper, shows a surprised looking infant next to a calf with the caption “Just 3 months old — Would you abuse a baby to entertain a crowd?” […]
Wildrose’s Ron Leech and the “ethinicity” problem
By Frank Moher Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith says she takes it personally when “accusations of racism and bigotry are aimed at me and at my party.” Okay, well how about if we accuse some of your candidates of being bone dumb? We knew, of course, that Wildrose candidate Ron Leech had told an interviewer […]
Put to bed: The strike that broke the news at The Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald told its striking workers they were about to “jump off a cliff.” By the end, the Herald had gone over the edge, too ~~ Excerpted from Leaving Dublin: Writing My Way From Dublin to Canada, by kind permission of Rocky Mountain Books By Brian Brennan I never envisaged it would end the […]
Stelmach resignation leaves old-school media in the dust
By Brian Brennan Can the mainstream print media successfully reinvent itself to become as relevant to news consumers in the digital age as it used to be back in the days when readers looked to their morning newspapers for authoritative coverage of the previous day’s events? The question arises in the wake of Tuesday’s surprise […]
Calgary Jazz Festival plays itself off
By Brian Brennan Chick Corea was supposed to play Calgary this Friday night, followed by Ben E. King on Saturday night. But that won’t happen now because C-Jazz, the local organizers of the Calgary Jazz Festival, have abruptly pulled the plug on the annual event. Is it possible the shows will still go on? Likely […]
Lindsay Blackett strays from the script
By Frank Moher So, Lindsay Blackett was just performing a public service when, at the Banff World Television Festival, he called Canadian TV “shit”? Apparently so. As the Alberta Minister of Culture and Community Spirit told the Calgary Herald earlier this week, his intention was to create “a national discussion” about Canadian TV’s crapitude. But […]
Telling me I’m more vulnerable makes me so
By Jodi A. Shaw Today, for the first time in my life, I was concerned for my safety based on my gender. Working in a northwest Calgary neighbourhood, I was informed by a resident that a “perv” had reached inside a woman’s bedroom window (in a house just down the street) and fondled her breasts […]
Leaping Flames
By Jodi A. Shaw From the very beginning of the H1N1/Swine Flu drama, I’ve had zero intention of getting a flu shot. Nevertheless, even I am infuriated by the preferential treatment given to the Calgary Flames players and their families. I don’t blame the Flames’ medical team for requesting special treatment (it doesn’t hurt to […]
