When Danielle Smith refused to speak up about the WRP candidate and his Lake of Fire comments, it cost her the premier's seat. Her inaction now about the separatists suggests she has not changed. Yet instead of sinking in the polls, she seems to be gaining. If she hasn't changed, what has?

Love doing in-person school visits and hearing how many kids tell me that their parents know me. I've been at this for a loooooonnnnggg time.

Tech gremlins pestered me today in my virtual and in-person sessions. The internet died minutes before going live and is still down. And the slides I had for my in-person session were barely visible against a gymnasium wall. Today's secret word? "Pivot!"

Whoa! This day nearly blew by me before I could post a #PromptMyStory to help kids get creative. Under the wire, here's this week's story starter. "When one of your socks goes missing, I know where it goes. Look for the secret trapdoor under the dryer... Oh no, I've said too much. He's coming!"

If the separatists lose a referendum vote, do they accept the results or do they go scorched Earth on everyone until they get their way?

You ever have one of those days when work keeps piling on top of your inbox and all you want to do is re-organize the pens in your holder? #amsupposedtobewriting

For teachers and librarians across Canada, January 30 is the deadline to apply to host a Canadian author or illustrator for the CCBC Book Week tour (last week of April). Check out the roster to see who is touring in your province. #ccbcbookweek2026 bookcentre.ca/pages/who-is...

Every Tuesday, I post writing prompts to help teachers and parents motivate their kids to write. #PromptMyStory "At the bottom of grandma's bowl of questionable snacks, I found a golden key with a tag that read: 'use during the solar eclipse.' What did the key open?"

What disheartens me is that a certain ilk of politician has risen to power on promise that only they could fix the problems they claim others have created, but instead of addressing those problems, they invent new ones to distract the public from their incompetence.

The deadline to book presenters for the The Canadian Children's Book Centre's Book Week tour is coming up fast. I'm touring virtually, which means I can go anywhere in Canada. Give the CCBC a shout if you want to book me for this spring (the last week of April). #schoolvisits #virtual

This week's events leaves me with two nagging questions: 1. What was the vetting process for ICE agents? 2. What happens when those agents have the perceived authority to kill with impunity?

You know you're having a lazy day when you spent the entire afternoon building the wait screen for a virtual workshop instead of planning the actual virtual workshop.

First #PromptMyStory of 2026. If you want to inspire your kids to write, check out this hashtag every Tuesday. #edusky "Every afternoon at exactly 4:15, my neighbour stops in front of my lawn, knocks three times in the air, bows to the cedar bush, then skips away. Today, I'm going to find out why."

The scary thing about DT's invasion of Venezuela is that now that he has a taste of it, he won't stop.

Ever notice the people who claim immigrants are stealing their jobs and scoff at the need for unions rarely have a bad thing to say about companies that eschew unions and hire immigrants?

Alberta closes out a weird year with UCP MLA and Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz resigning. The optimist in me thinks she doesn't agree with Danielle's direction. The cynic in me assumes she's probably going to run for a federal seat.

The UCP is acting like a fringe party that convinced and/or intimidated moderate conservatives into voting for them and now have convinced themselves that their fringe beliefs are mainstream.

If the UCP wants to raise the fee to submit a recall petition, shouldn't MLAs be disqualified from using government resources to tout themselves during a recall petition?

No better way to celebrate sending off a manuscript than having lunch with my wife and finding a place that serves flapper pie.

Our political world consists of people who know that touching a redhot burner will hurt; people who'll touch the burner out of spite and blame others for the pain; and people who know the burner is hot but will touch it because they don't want the angry guy with the burnt hand to yell at them.

Nothing beats the pride that comes with sending your revised manuscript to your editor before the deadline date.

With all the tragedy in the world, I found it hard to be upbeat in my school session until I reminded myself that the kids I was seeing today could be the ones who make the world a better place tomorrow if they're shown a beacon of hope and positivity.

Tuesday! Time for another #PromptMyStory to help kids get more creative. Here's today's story starter. "What's the most embarrassing super power a hero could have and how would they use it to save the world?" #edusky

Politically speaking, Alberta is an example of what happens when a party manufactures problems and creates enemies while choosing to ignore the actual problems people want them to address.

It's #PromptMyStory Tuesday. Time for another story starter to help kids write. "I thought my brother was joking when he said the floor was lava, but he's not." #edusky

CCBC is now accepting applications from schools/libraries/community groups that want to host an author visit during Book Week (April 26 - May 2, 2026). I'm touring virtually so I'm available in any province. Give me a shout if you want more info. #schoolvisits #virtual bookcentre.ca/pages/people...

IMO, the reason Danielle Smith is so dangerous is that her years of media training have honed her skills of making the most insane and questionable actions sound run of the mill, which cons the Albertans who only pay superficial attention to politics into thinking everything's fine.

With the UCP's latest bill, they've just shown they care more about the few thousand loud separatists at their party convention than the over 400,000 Albertans who signed the Forever Canadian petition. Let's see how that plays out for them at the next election.

UCP: recall petitions are politically motivated and news outlets are reporting on a nothing burger. Albertans: Would you rather the media dig deeper into the AHS scandal? UCP: Everything is the NDP's fault. Or Trudeau's. Look over there! We've got a pipeline promise. Ignore the Globe article.

It's #PromptMyStory Tuesday. Time for another story starter to motivate kids to write. "It was creepy when the eyes of the painting followed me across the room, but now the portrait of the gap-toothed woman was smiling at me." #edusky

Just so I'm clear, the UCP conspiracy theorists think there's a secret leftist organization behind the recall petitions, but this same all-powerful organization couldn't get their act together to vote in the NDP last election?

Alberta's Minister of Education re-announces school building projects that were already in the works for a year. Do you think the re-annoucements might have something to do with his recall petition? Hmm.

With all these recall petitions, you get the feeling the UCP knows the end is near and is going to scorch the earth and make off with whatever they can carry in their greedy hands before then?

It's #PromptMyStory Tuesday. Time for another story starter to get kids excited about writing. "Today, it snowed Corn Flakes." #edusky

Tell me you've never herded cattle without saying you've never herded cattle.

When someone contacts me to do a free in-person author visit, but ghosts me when I quote my fees and suggest virtual as an option, it makes me think they wanted a warm body and not me.

Tuesday rolls around for another #PromptMyStory. Teachers, if you're looking for a way to motivate your students to write, here is this week's prompt. "In my wildest dreams, I never imagined the search for my missing sock would lead me to Area 51."

Last day of the school week. First day of snow. The ballet of chaos in my virtual Kindergarten session was off the charts.

ime for another #PromptMyStory to motivate kids to write. "The Swiss cheese at the back of the fridge has grown four moldy legs, but what really bothers me is the deformed eye that keeps winking at me." #edusky

Halloween! Time to stock up on my favourite candy for the trick-or-treaters, then turn out the lights and pretend I'm not home so I can eat all the candy myself.

The cynic in me thinks that Danielle Smith and the UCP want us to pay attention to their over-the-top use of the notwithstanding clause in the teachers' strike, because like magicians, they are misdirecting us from noticing the gerrymandering they're doing right now.

Upside of getting cataract surgery is that I can see where I'm walking at the local gym's showers. Downside? I can see what I'm walking on. Ew.

Almost forgot it's Tuesday. Time for another #PromptMyStory to motivate kids to write. Here's this week's prompt: "The leaves that fell from my tree bounced like superballs all the way down the street to the house that no one is allowed to visit on Halloween." #edusky

If my math is right, Forever Canadian's signature count is roughly 25 percent of the voter turnout in the last Alberta election. Or in UCP numbers, about half of the bots they're currently deploying to discredit the signature count.

Tossing in a notwithstanding clause and pushing the back to work legislation quick enough for Danielle Smith to fly off to Saudi Arabia seems... I struggle to find a diplomatic word for it... Authoritarian? Cruel? Dickish?

Only in Alberta would a party that holds a slim majority of seats decide to double-down on playing only to their base while alienating the rest of the province. #InterestingTimes

Starting the week off with a bit of good news on the book front. My novel Izzy Wong's Nose for News has been nominated for a Red Cedar Book Award, which is a readers' choice award out of BC. Congrats to all the other nominees! www.redcedaraward.ca/fiction-nomi...

I demand that the vote for the new Alberta license plate be tabulated by hand, preferably by the brain trust who came up with the revamped rules for municipal elections.

The UCP wants to introduce legislation to vet who is allowed to run for office in Alberta. They want only those who truly care or are serious about serving their riding. I can't help but notice that they left out "ethical."

In the same week, the AHS #corruptcare report is supposed to be delivered, Danielle Smith announces new license plates with the motto Strong and Free. We could waste our energy mocking the plates, but then she will have succeeded in distracting us. Instead of new plates, why not a new premier?