Inspired by @jlisayoung.bsky.social's metaphor, I've been thinking a lot about the path to a possible separatism referendum this fall. Not only is it entirely avoidable. It is clearly intentional. Lisa's piece, in case you missed it: open.substack.com/pub/lisayoun...

Among hard-core Alberta separatists, the level of contempt for courts and hate for Indigenous people is palpable following yesterday's ruling. This is going to be an ugly summer. Reasonable Albertans will need to stand up for the constitution and treaties. Staying silent is being complicit.+

This point by Max matters a lot: “…take a moment to appreciate the bravery shown…by Justice Leonard, who must have known that members of the separatist movement would have her home address thanks to the recent leak and dissemination of an electors list among separatist organizers.” #abpoli #ableg

How is it that there is not one journalist in America who can figure out why the president looks like he's decomposing?

Terrible putting stroke, for what it's worth...

"nobody else ever ended a war"

"If she doesn’t, well, then, what we have here is a woman who is willing to put her personal ambitions and her party ahead of the safeguarding of the nation, and the rest of Canada ought to know how to regard her." #ableg

Signature policy priorities, off the top of my head: 1. Bush: the War on Terror and counterterrorism; 2. Obama: the Affordable Care Act; 3. Biden: the Inflation Reduction Act; 4. Trump, in his second term: a ballroom???

More on Alberta’s boundary mess… CBC News election unit analysed the maps: the main report would have produced a 7-seat margin of victory for UCP. The minority report by UCP appointees? A 23-seat win, with many seats narrowly flipped in Calgary. W/analysis by me: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Though she sounds nervous, this is a welcome statement by the Premier. She will need to repeat these words louder, clearer, and more often — in many more places — though, otherwise it will be clear she is continuing to prioritize UCP party politics over the good of the province. #ableg

*taps sign* #ableg bsky.app/profile/stev...

Once the British press gets the classic introspective and depressed backseat car photo of you… it is over.

Smith’s creeping Americanization of Alberta goes well beyond culture wars and legal skirmishes, @maxfawcett.bsky.social writes. Her government has been busy with American-style attacks on healthcare, the judiciary and democracy itself.

With a potential Alberta referendum ahead, we're releasing "Slopaganda," an incident response report documenting a network of inauthentic YouTube channels pushing coordinated, fake Albertan political commentary. 🧵#cdnpoli

planners: our two universities will be at the end of a peninsula and at the top of a mountain people: won't people complain about how removed they are from the city? planners: almost immediately people: will rapid transit be created in response? planners: we'll talk about it for decades, but no

How it started, how it's going, etc. #ableg

Unbelievably corrupt. Literally just transferring tax-payer's money to his own account.

A decade on, Trump's disdain for his own supporters remains an incredible sight to behold.

They are literally making it up as they go along. When they don't like the outcome, the Smith government rigs the process. It's a worrisome pattern for those who care about procedural fairness and institutional forebearance. You know, real conservatives.

Orban is not conceding because he's honourable. He's conceding because his defeat is so comprehensive even he can't pretend he won.

With 15% of the votes counted, it looks like a huge win for Tisza (the opposition) in Hungary's election. Critical to emphasize that even *if* Tisza wins, it does not mean that there won't be challenges. Fidesz is looking increasingly likely to do so and has already raised alarms of "fraud."

If Joe Biden or Kamala Harris had, etc.

Obama negotiated for two years with Iran over JCPOA and went into every detail painstakingly. These guys, after 20h -- "it's too complicated; talks failed".

An mRNA treatment for PANCREATIC CANCER was in trials, among many other uses. Choosing to end this research is choosing to sentence millions to an early, painful death

Two thoughts on this: ⤵️ (1/4) "Rath, an Indigenous law lawyer, piqued Leonard’s curiosity by suggesting Alberta’s referendum legislation does not require the government to hold a vote if a petition reaches the required threshold of signatures." #ableg

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas came out with some pretty strong words against Alberta separation — and in favour of immigration as a strength for the city — in his remarks at a Calgary Economic Development event yesterday:

This is all so deeply unsustainable...

With arguments today in Alberta litigation on the issue, I am reposting my piece on the 1998 Secession Reference and how the 'honour the Crown' principle changes what the Court said. TLDR: the secession of a province is essentially impossible. emmettmacfarlane.substack.com/p/is-the-sup...

Gladu has a history of making decidedly un-Liberal statements She's suggested she Canada should "return" to its Christian "foundation" and also shared anti-Muslim videos, commenting: "People came to a country with certain values and now want to kill everyone else" pressprogress.ca/this_conserv...

ANOTHER Conservative MP has crossed the floor to the Liberals. Marilyn Gladu, who represents Sarnia. This...is an interesting one.

How much insider trading was there on this latest bullshit?

"...each general...promoted as a replacement should do likewise, until Trump has a pile of stars and eagles on his desk. Trump may eventually find someone to fulfill his orders, but people of honor and duty need not be the unwilling instruments of so great a sin."

The story of the last 10 years of American politics is that nearly all of our ex post mechanisms of presidential accountability have failed The action/inaction of other political elites have created an environment where the president, once in office, is immune from accountability

I am not one of those who believes that history repeats, but consider the following from Herodotus: the Oracle at Delphi told the fabulously wealthy King Croesus that if he invaded Persia he would "destroy a great empire." Croesus invaded and lost--the empire he destroyed was his own.

He’s mad. American military leaders should resign, and the US Congress should impeach him as soon as possible. That’s the bar. Anything less is a failure. Horrendous.

BERMAN: Do you think Congress should have a vote if the United States is going to make a whole civilization die? MIKE LAWLER: John, you are parsing here BERMAN: I was quoting

We’re living in Veep:

As someone who studies politicization of democratic militaries this statement on X is a five- alarm fire. It creates an undeniable permission structure for overt partisan behavior by mil. It's part of a concerted effort by civilian leaders to turn the U.S. military into a partisan aligned force.

It was a true honor to talk to legendary political scientist Adam Przeworski about how he understands the present crisis, what he learned from Chile and Poland, and how to move forward from here www.dissentmagazine.org/article/how-...

Donald Trump really could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any voters.

Free ideas for those who study Alberta politics: 1. Descriptive analysis of the Minority and Commission Reports to describe the conflict between the two groups; 2. Esp. re: the hybrid riding boundary maps for Lethbridge and Red Deer, I would LOVE to see a textual analysis of the submissions. #ableg

For years, an anecdote has floated around that @barackobama.bsky.social changed the timing/structure of his Presidential Daily Briefing so that he could receive the briefing materials earlier, read them, and make notes to ask relevant staff in the briefing. Compare that to now...

NEW: Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video for President Trump that shows the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, U.S. officials say. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”

@natashabulowski.bsky.social and I analyzed the locations of 38 proposed data centre sites in Alberta for this investigation. The results aren’t pretty. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

"'It was a significant meeting, as Treaty partners and equals,' said Grand Chief Pete in a statement." #ableg www.bbc.com/news/article...

I think war is serious business, real life-and-death stuff, and should be taken seriously by people who initiate and prosecute it. Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.

Via Kevin Maimann of CBC. Alberta Prosperity Project co-leader Dr. Dennis Modry took at least $1.3M from elderly relatives with dementia and Alzheimer's. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I’m struck by how every day the admin is like “whoever could have foreseen these consequences?!” when the consequences thus far — evacuations, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, rise in gas prices, etc. — are all the literal most obvious consequences.