At every level, including Trump himself, the Trump administration is filled with people who are simply in over their heads, @profpaulpoast.bsky.social writes in his latest column for WPR. The buffoonery would be comical if the consequences were not so tragic.

For those keeping track: You ARE supposed to trust Mitch Sylvestre when he says he collected 300K valid signatures. You are NOT supposed to take him seriously when he says that large numbers of immigrants are foreign soldiers, and that Canada profits from selling organs obtained through MAID.

While Albertans were distracted by separatist nonsense, you may have missed the fact that Danielle Smith has functionally stripped Albertans of their constitutional right to MAID, making us 2nd-class Canadians. Where was the outrage? Well, here’s mine. #ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli #SenateofCanada #MAID

Calgary's Chamber of Commerce isn't pulling their punches any more on the impact of separatism. #abpoli

A sentence for the ages; from @maxfawcett.bsky.social: "But it seems, after spending years letting the separatist wing of her party drive the province’s political agenda, the premier has finally realized that the leopards she’s been feeding will, in fact, also eat her face."

Today Danielle Smith became, the third Premier in Canada’s history to put a question on breaking up our country to a referendum. The other two Premiers were leaders of a Quebec separatist party and had a mandate to do so. Not the way I’d like to be remembered. #ableg #cdnpoli #Yeg #Yyc

"A lot of what David Cameron did is he made choices in the referendum campaign that made it harder for his side to win," Cooper said. "And I can see Danielle Smith making similar moves." #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

🇨🇦 "I'm no separatist. I am a Canadian. A proud Canadian. And I think almost every person in this party is a proud Canadian." - Premier Ralph Klein speaking to Progressive Conservative Party convention delegates on March 28, 2003. (📰📸 Red Deer Advocate, March 29, 2003)

Gregory Jack in @thelineca.bsky.social this morning: “Danielle Smith just handed the Americans a powerful weapon in negotiations over the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. … Alberta separatism lets Washington now argue that Canada is not a coherent counterparty.”

What she said. +1

On this day in 1932, the government of R.B. Bennett created the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission. In 1936, it was replaced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Learn more in my Deep Dive 👇 buff.ly/dW00Zp0

May 26, 1971 and Construction Begins $22 Million Stores Complex at Vintage Edmonton: http://www.vintageed... #yeg #alberta #edmonton #1970s

She has designed a question that artificially boosts support for separatism, ensuring that when it's defeated it will remain a part of the broader political conversation for many, many years. This will be her legacy. It won't be pretty. #abpoli

"ARI then asked a far more straightforward question: Should Alberta leave Canada and become its own independent country or stay in Canada? The results were even more decisive. Support for remaining in Canada rises to 67%, while support for independence falls to 30%."

Some excellent analysis on how badly Musk has run Twitter over the last three years by @masnick.com www.techdirt.com/2026/05/22/s... I expect the Musk cult members I share this with will immediately go to Musk’s intent with Yaccarino and blame her for all of his failures (glass cliff).

At a time when people are worried about affordability, health care, housing, and jobs, Smith is pouring gasoline on division and fear. She is selfishly pitting Albertan against Albertan and dragging our province into chaos to save herself and her scandal-ridden government.

“These people are children poisoned by cynicism and self-regard running an ugly little grift and ordinary Albertans will foot the bill in the long run.” www.readtheline.ca/p/jen-gerson...

Now, it’s a bit difficult to take the Fraser Institute seriously on this issue -- even more than usual. In a recent commentary, Ms. Aliakbari and Mr. Mejia suggested that the industrial carbon tax could “add roughly $20 to the cost of producing a barrel of oil.”

Ok so the committee meeting for the Forever Canada petition has taken a surprise turn. After hearing from proponent Thomas Lukaszuk, Minister Nate Glubish made a motion to recommend the legislature send the petition and committee report to the lt-gov for the purpose of calling a referendum Oct 19

I’m ranking every mall in Metro Vancouver. This week: City of Lougheed! Somewhat surprisingly, it’s a great example of how a potential really dying suburban mall can repurpose itself into a place of community and quirk in the 21st century.

This is appalling. And it is the perfectly logical consequence of the Alberta government’s anti immigrant rhetoric and referendum questions. #yyc #ableg #abpoli #referendumb2026

Canada has, in the span of a year, nearly doubled its defence spending to hit 2%/GDP; stood up a project to build America's much-needed icebreakers; and is (finally) creating its own defence industrial base. So, naturally, the U.S. is suspending a shared defence panel that's been around since 1940.

@jlisayoung.bsky.social: "For the past several months, Smith has been Schroedinger’s Premier: both separatist and federalist at the same time. The Forever Canada option comes closest to allowing her to continue this stance."

Thank you Edmonton Councillor Michael Janz for applying to have 99 Avenue, near the Legislature, to be named the #ForeverCanadian Avenue. What an honour for this unprecedented, non-partisan, grassroots movement. #Yeg #ableg #cdnpoli

When knowledgeable people choose to remain silent. substack.com/@meeranair/n...

This is your daily reminder: The claim that separatists collected 300,000 signatures rests on one man's word. And reasonable people should question whether he is telling the truth.+

Not so much a thread, as a photo essay. This week, @kpateonthehill.bsky.social and I visited Grierson Institution, a minimum security prison for men in downtown Edmonton - in the basement of a 1930s heritage building that once housed the RCMP. It’s study in wild contrasts. 🧵#yeg #cdnpoli

From the backgrounder to today's announcement. This is a big deal for/in Alberta.

"[It's] fair to ask if Carney has given up too much to secure peace [or a cease fire] with Alberta. [But has he given up as much as it might seem?] For all of the Trudeau govt’s skill at setting targets and making commitments, it was far less talented at actually delivering progress towards them."

see also: "Most Talkative — ICQ & Hotmail" Free email. Collapsing time and space. Although, that also marked the beginning of the end of my penmanship.

Nice to see that "unverified" is attached to the number of Albertans claimed by separatists as supportive of having a referendum on separation. Too many other commentators have not been as precise in their language.

From Peter Jones: "USMCA does not go poof on July 1. It enters a 10-year period of annual reviews to see if a deal can be made. Obviously [certainty would be better] but not if it is a terrible deal..." This needs to be said more often. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

"The energy you're spending demanding that Bluesky's community become hospitable to you is energy you could be spending building the community you actually want, on infrastructure that already exists and is already being used by people who figured this out a few years ago."

Further to my own post, "If you want to understand what it takes to be a leader, just watch a mom in action. They're masters at multi-tasking ... and doing the bulk of the invisible labour that comes with running a family." May 9, 2026, @theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

J.E.H. MacDonald was one of the most acclaimed Canadian artists of his era. A member of The Group Of Seven, his style of paintings was described as tough, dark and elegant. Today, his work sells for upwards of $200,000. This is his story. 📸 Archives of Ontario 🧵 1/9

@donbraid.bsky.social: "Quebec has nearly 4,000 kilometres of ocean-access coastline, including the St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay. Alberta has none. No province is less likely to thrive as an independent state. ... [But] joining the U.S. ... " edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

From @lukaszukab.bsky.social: “It is just unfortunate that our premier, our government and duly elected MLAs just don’t have the fortitude — frankly, don’t have the guts to stand up in the chamber in the legislature and declare whether they’re separatists or not."

Former Supreme Court justice & Elections Alberta confirm: ”No referendum required: Pro-Canada petition can be voted on by Alberta MLAs, committee hears” Why are MLAs so scared to publicly declare whether they’re proud Canadians, or separatists? #ableg #cdnpoli edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Jen Gerson's right. And bear in mind, she's a conservative commentator.

"According to Telus, the facilities will run on 98 per cent clean hydro power and recycle enough waste energy to heat 150,000 homes... the projects will also use 90 per cent less water than a traditional data centre, and that it is working on plans to incorporate recycled water..."

It is great to hear today from Justice Brown (Supreme Court of Canada) and Chief Electoral Commissioner that the #ForeverCanadian petition is not calling for a referendum, but a vote at Legislature. Also, glad Elections Alberta re-confirmed that all signatures were valid. #ableg

Remembering my mother this Mother's Day (and all days): fairduty.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/a...

"What is certain, according to economists and business leaders, is that just talking about separation in a serious way is already hurting the Alberta economy. 'It is crystal clear,' said @trevortombe.bsky.social. Separatism 'creates uncertainty, and uncertainty lowers investment.'”

With Mother's Day nearly here; re-posting my tribute to a dear friend taken too soon. meeranair.substack.com/p/about-moth...

"Longtime conservative activist Ken Boessenkool, a co-signer of the Firewall Letter, said it’s a dubious messaging choice to argue that 'our political opponents are bad because they must have recognized something we were too dumb to recognize.'”

CBU made the Times! (of India)

5️⃣/5️⃣ 30 years ago, Brewster Kahle founded Internet Archive. Now, Internet Archive Switzerland joins Internet Archive, Internet Archive Canada, and Internet Archive Europe in building a distributed, resilient digital library for the 🌍 Learn about this inititive ⤵️ blog.archive.org/2026/05/06/i...

About mothers - past, present, future When loss meets population statistics, history, and the present labour force. HT to Jesús Fernández-Villaverde and Doug Saunders, and mothers everywhere. open.substack.com/pub/meeranai...

"...unemployed Albertans (85 %) are most likely to say it’s difficult to meet monthly expenses. Facing a tough job market, younger Albertans (68 % say it's harder to make ends meet. Nearly half of seniors (46 % find they are having trouble paying their bills." Is there a comparative survey to ROC?