If you spend time in the bad place, you’re hearing this claim a lot: Alberta sends $23B more to Ottawa than it gets back. If we separated, we’d erase the $9B deficit and have a $14B surplus. It sounds simple. It’s wrong. Here's why. 🧵

Independence would shift, not like erase redistribution. Calgary and Edmonton would further subsidize rural regions in bust times. High-income earners in Alberta would subsidize low-income Albertans. That’s how modern tax systems work.

An independent Alberta would need to fund: • National defence • Border services • Foreign affairs & trade • Immigration • Higher level courts • Aviation regulation • Debt servicing • Central banking, etc. This stuff is also conveniently left out of the "-$23B" fiscal balance calculation.

Lives get in the way of profits.

Not a single word about international law—these attacks are clearly, unambiguously illegal. Not a single word about sovereignty—Carney’s supposed bedrock value, as claimed in Davos. No concern about Iran being attacked by the US while pursuing diplomacy—as Canada embarks on existential USMCA talks.

Did you know? The Provincial government has increased their property taxes on Calgarians by 57% over four years, well above inflation and population growth. They're now imposing the largest property tax increase in Calgary's history with a 21% hike, or about $350 for the typical family.

From our team in the Middle East: As Israeli airstrikes hit Tehran this morning, millions of Iranians received mysterious push notifications saying that “help is on the way”, promising amnesty if they surrender. wrd.cm/4l0QScB

What will go wrong… #notwhatcouldgowrong

I can't fucking believe we're doing this again.

Flip. Flop.

Don’t lose sight of the fact the UCP consistently download their own “deficit taxes” onto cities like Calgary, only to then later blame city councils for raising property taxes on their citizens.

I cannot stress enough the extreme danger of social media platforms, especially Twitter and YouTube, continuing to generate and spread misinformation. There are more and more data every day showing that this is an existential threat to everything ranging from elections to health.

If bold claims about Ottawa “killing” oil & gas go unchallenged, is that journalism — or amplification? When separatist narratives aren’t pressed for evidence, it shapes public perception. Are we facing a broader media failure in political accountability? #abpoli #cdnpoli #MediaAccountability

Conservatives have held provincial power in Alberta since 1971 except for 4 years. They have consistently sent conservative MPs to Ottawa and ran the federal government for a decade under Harper. But somehow they're not the cause of all Alberta's problems... #ableg #cdnpoli

The AB government announced a navigation portal for seniors in need of continuing care... And that's it. But while seniors face real issues with the system, the government keeps privatizing & eroding care standards. Seniors in Alberta deserve real change! Watch FOM's Chris Gallaway on Global news:

Of course she doesn’t…

Reminder! #RecallMickey offers mobile canvassing. If you're in Calgary-Cross, call or text 587-887-6810 to request a verified canvasser come directly to your door so you can sign the petition recall Mickey Amery. Learn more places to sign the petition at RecallMickey.ca. #ableg #abpoli #yyc

Net migration in Alberta. Up, up, up, down, down, down. Net international migration to Alberta totalled 197 in Q3 2025, down 99% from 32,046 in the same quarter a year prior.

Last week Donald Trump registered the trademark "Donald J. Trump International Airport." This week Florida Republicans voted to rename Palm Beach International Airport Donald J. Trump International Airport," putting taxpayers on the hook for licensing fees that go straight to him

SCOOP: Alberta Health Services destroyed roughly half of the children's medication imported from Turkey, paying $718,000 to dispose of the hazardous waste. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...

These “devout Catholics” are only into religion for the jewelry.

We must stop every single proposed concentration camp. www.kjzz.org/the-show/202...

You have to have at least $5000 to spend on monthly rent & do not require medical support to have a chance at finding a decent space. If not, if you have any need for medical assistance while in assisted care, you’re out of luck. “Alberta Assisted Care” is expensive, limited, & not enough beds.

Wow.

A lot of 1990s photos of Oasis look like this to me.

(2/11) You know dynamic pricing—think Uber rides, flights, or concert tickets that surge based on supply and demand. “Surveillance Pricing” takes this to the next level: using your data to set a “price for you” based on your predicted breaking point. This is, increasingly, everywhere.

(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.

(5/11) Walmart, Whole Foods, and Kohls are switching to electronic shelf labels that can display dynamic prices. Kroger deployed them with Microsoft AI—a setup a 2024 Senate inquiry warned could enable “surge pricing” via facial recognition. (Kroger claims it will only lower prices.)

B.C. coal giant penalized millions for treatment delays, 171 pollution breaches (Elk Valley)

“What our paper, I think, makes fairly clear is that there’s pretty much an utter failure of environmental management regulation and enforcement in relation to coal mining,” thenarwhal.ca/alberta-stal...

For months, ICE has been expanding its footprint across the US, leasing offices and spaces, many of which are ear schools, medical offices, and places of worship. From @leahfeiger.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/ice-ex...

THE WARRIORS was released 47 years ago today. Acclaimed as one of the great 1970s NYC movies, and a true cult classic, the story of how it was made involved real gangs, vomiting extras and a future star who didn't make the cut. Can you dig it? 1/46

“Although the judge noted numerous irregularities on Ice’s court documents, she ultimately sided with the agency. Under US law, Culleton cannot appeal,” Add this to the never ending list of lawlessness in America. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

the bushes were people 😂

QR770 continues to fail to live up to the conditions & commitments to their @crtceng.bsky.social radio licence and the unenforceable standards of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. “Talk to the Premier” is nothing but an unpaid political advertisement masked as “journalistic editorial”.

America is a dystopian nightmare.

This picture is from LA in June 2025 www.nytimes.com/es/2025/06/0...

🇨🇦 Who’s going to stand up for Canada in Alberta’s separation referendum? Alberta is barrelling toward a referendum on the province’s separation from Canada. The time to stand up for a Strong Alberta within a Strong Canada is now. daveberta.substack.com/p/whos-going...

We found that Jeff Bezos paid *zero* taxes in 2007 and 2011. In fact, he reported making so little in 2011 that he even claimed and received a $4,000 tax credit for his children. This is how he did it (published 2021):

Premier Smith & the UCP are hollowing out ABs judicial system by purging nonpartisan professionals, replacing them with loyalist hacks. This sucks the capacity out of the system. It can’t handle as many cases, ambiguous ones fall away, and the quality of the lawyering suffers in all cases.

“It’s unprecedented for our province, or I think, anywhere else in the country, for a government or a minister to basically take control of (private) funds, and have carte blanche authority over how it’s delivered without listening to its staff or its processes.” #abpoli #cdnpoli

In which colleague Dave Ebner notes that Albertans have been named to the Supreme Court in five of the past seven openings for Western Canada. And more— #ableg #abpoli

And this! The ACLRC is part of our law school. Part of the community. Supports access to justice in numerous ways. And now another target of the UCP’s ideological warfare.

Relying on powers conferred by recent statutory amendments Mickey Amery, the province's AG and Minister of Justice, has just knee-capped the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre. First they came for the independent voices of civil society ... And then .... #abpoli #cdnpoli #ableg

The Canadian life and health insurance lobby association has a working group with the Alberta government to implement the new private health insurance market The Alberta government appears to be captured by the industry #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Smith continues to encourage the Americanization of Alberta’s institutions. Healthcare. Education. The environment. Separatism. And now the judicial system. The UCP didn’t campaign on this nonsense.

Tens of millions dismantling health care. "The former executive said the government has replaced some experienced executives with former Alberta government bureaucrats who have no requisite health-related education and no operational experience, yet some are being paid 30 to 40 per cent more."

Here's our 25-min video news-documentary version of the story of Red Bull, the whistleblower who leaked me the secrets of a crypto scam compound while trapped as a forced laborer inside it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOcN... Hope you'll watch and consider the immense scale of this global crisis.