We analyzed the locations of 38 data centre campuses proposed in Alberta. Three quarters of them are in regions under high or extremely high water stress. Only three have been planned in low water stress regions, which comprise the majority of Alberta’s land mass.

Really cannot overstate how bonkers the heat wave out West is. Just obliterating records. 🧪

Scoop from me: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

As U.S. immigration enforcement and heightened ICE activity have led First Nations to issue travel advisories to their communities, Indigenous leaders urge Canada to do a better job of enforcing treaty rights. zurl.co/b7TSc

Bell Canada ramped up lobbying efforts related to AI in Saskatchewan months before announcing its 90,000 square foot data centre near Regina. zurl.co/bmstg

A lot to digest in this story but yet more explosive allegations in the biggest ongoing scandal in recent Alberta history. Accusations Fly in Newly Surfaced Legal Fight Involving Sam Mraiche via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/03...

"I think the idea of taking hospital beds away from hospital patients and using them to launch this program is going to have some potential negative implications for patients who are just waiting for a regular hospital space.”

Alberta is dreaming big. $100-billion big. And developers are keen to build. Prairies reporter @drewanderson.bsky.social explains the push for AI data centres in the province. #ai #abpoli #alberta

"Do Municipal Voters Punish Partisan Candidates?" New working paper with Mike McGregor, @fsnagovsky.bsky.social , and @jaredwesley.ca. We study Calgary's election after AB imposed parties in a longtime nonpartisan city. Do voters punish candidates who run with parties? osf.io/preprints/so...

The Alberta government is allocating $7.5 million to create about 100 secure beds in hospitals throughout the province to accommodate people detained under the province’s controversial involuntary treatment program. @brettmckay.bsky.social with the @theijf.org reports. #abpoli

SCOOP: Two companies involved in building some of Alberta's addiction recovery centres are mired in litigation, including accusations of forgery on one side and allegations of intimidation involving Sam Mraiche, of MHCare www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... By @tomcardoso.bsky.social and friend

Thanks @ctheriault.bsky.social for having me on to discuss new reporting on Alberta’s forced abstinence strategy, including today’s story by @brettmckay.bsky.social on hospital-based drug jails & last week’s fraudulent AB govt study on consumption sites. Full conversation: pca.st/episode/c7ed...

Alberta spending $7.5 million to put involuntary treatment rooms in hospitals 100 acute care beds will be repurposed by 2027 to hold people detained under compassionate intervention act. theijf.org/article/albe...

Alberta is carving out hospital space for people detained under new compassionate intervention legislation. zurl.co/DXA01

Alberta landowners take stand over years of missed payments by delinquent oil company Energy Minister Brian Jean dismissed them as activists, but also says no government system is perfect. From me today: www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/business/alb...

“...The idea of taking hospital beds away from hospital patients and using them to launch this program is going to have some potential negative implications for patients..." Alberta spending $7.5 million to put involuntary treatment rooms in hospitals www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/a...

“I think the idea of taking hospital beds away from hospital patients and using them to launch this program is going to have some potential negative implications for patients who are just waiting for a regular hospital space,” #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli theijf.org/article/albe...

Alberta spending $7.5 million to put involuntary treatment rooms in hospitals 100 acute care beds will be repurposed by 2027 to hold people detained under compassionate intervention act. theijf.org/article/albe...

The reintroduction of corporate political contributions in Alberta has created a new avenue of influence for lobbyists, an @theijf.org data analysis suggests. @brettmckay.bsky.social reports. #abpoli

Companies and PR firms that are actively lobbying Alberta’s government made dozens of donations to the United Conservative Party after the province ended a ban on corporate political contributions last year. Read our investigation. zurl.co/E79jm

PR firms and lobbyists gave thousands to UCP in 2025. Donations to Alberta’s governing party raise questions about influence and conflict of interest. theijf.org/article/pr-f...

Tourmaline Oil Corp. and Enbridge are lobbying Alberta’s government for changes to how oil and gas companies’ property is taxed by municipalities. zurl.co/wvyr4

Pro-Life Alberta, the province’s anti-abortion political party, received over half a million dollars in donations in 2025, out-fundraising the Green Party, the Alberta Liberals and newcomers like the Republican Party of Alberta. zurl.co/3Fll2

"When it comes to Op. Southern Spear, the legal loopholes Ottawa hides behind may not be enough to wash the blood off our hands." My latest: a long-form context and analysis piece. substack.com/@thestateoft...

How political influencers avoid election rules, transparency and consequences ‘We actually have a worse dark money problem in Canada than they do in the U.S.’ theijf.org/article/how-...

Here's another sneak preview of Alberta's budget. Approval for $40 billion in borrowing; yes you read that right 40 BILLION. New Order in Council signed today. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Months after Canada’s election, the funding sources for some third-party advertisers remain a mystery. Experts say the political influencers are increasingly finding ways to sidestep advertising regulations, and in some cases strategically choosing non-compliance. @brettmckay.bsky.social reports.

The long-ballot committee opponents must be beside themselves, right? Right?

How political influencers avoid election rules, transparency and consequences ‘We actually have a worse dark money problem in Canada than they do in the U.S.’ theijf.org/article/how-...

As the right-wing meme page Canada Proud was posting calls to "DEFUND THE CBC," the same PR firm behind it was being indirectly funded by CBC journalists’ own union dues. Yeah. And that's not all. So I’m teaming up with my friends at @nationalobserver.com to tell you all about it:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that ChatGPT conversations from the Tumbler Ridge teenager who carried out a horrific school shooting were flagged by employees at OpenAI. They raised their concerns but the company ultimately did nothing, according to the reporting. archive.is/GUweE#select...

Via @brettmckay.bsky.social How political influencers avoid election rules, transparency and consequences: theijf.org/article/how-...

This is a very interesting new paper in Nature about the role that feed algorithms on X play in influencing political attitudes. No paywall: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Last week, I learned an adjudicator had sided with me in 5 inquiries re: the province refusing to release results of its Alberta Next surveys GOA published the multiple choice results in Dec but has been ordered to give me 213 pages of open-answer replies that haven't yet been shared #ableg #abpoli

The Alberta government has repeatedly insisted that its drug jails (“secure care” Compassionate Intervention facilities) will be only a measure of last resort. But this finding suggests they have bigger plans — apparently, space for 300 adults won’t be enough. drugdatadecoded.ca/alberta-gove...

Whenever I've written about oil and gas property tax arrears in the past, people emailed me asking why I didn't name the companies. The answer is that this information wasn't public and difficult to obtain. With this story we're releasing the tax debts of hundreds of companies /1 zurl.co/O1gMZ

It will take more than a report called Alberta’s Mature Asset Strategy to tackle the massive problem of hundreds of insolvent oil companies holding over 35,000 well, facility, and pipeline licenses. Where’s the Regulator? www.lakelandtoday.ca/the-latest/s....

The Carney LPC government and the Harper CPC government have this in common … www.cbc.ca/radio/whaton...

Our joint investigation with TVO takes you inside social media hubs for the sale and promotion of unproven health products, including some claiming to treat or even cure autism. The Facebook group "OSR cream for autism" has left one mother horrified. Read more: zurl.co/TsrZ0

If you're in Ontario, please tune into TVO on Sunday night for our story about unproven and potentially dangerous autism "treatments" and "cures" being sold all over Facebook. The story will be on YouTube as well for the rest of us!

Edmonton-based Stantec cancels ICE facility contract after backlash edmontonjournal.com/business/edm...

The fallout of Alberta Premier Smith’s call for judicial appointment reform continued today with the Canadian Bar Association saying Smith’s solution wasn’t constitutional. From @reportrix.bsky.social with a lil add on from me today: www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/politics/can...

The data comes from the Government of Alberta, and accounts for millions of dollars of unpaid taxes owed to communities throughout the province. Use the embedded graphics to search your location and see which companies owed your local gov't in the last reporting period. 2/

BCCLA, CCLA, and the Ligue des droits et libertés have written a letter asking the Alberta Minister of Justice to reconsider the decision to deny funding to the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre (ACLRC). Read more here. ccla.org/fundamental-...

Study ties particle pollution from wildfire smoke to 24,100 U.S. deaths per year https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/04/particle-pollution-wildfire-smoke-deaths-study/ ⤷ canadahealthwatch.ca/featured 🍁

I can think of one way Alberta's legal system is distinct: "2 Alberta judges under investigation after IJF reveals evidence of donations to UCP" theijf.org/article/albe...

"The government says that it used multiple AI tools to interpret the data ... However, the results appear as sweeping takeaways and do not cite any weighting of the data nor specific sources." from @alexriehl.com

Alberta legislation could pave way for two-tiered health-care system, new report says #abpoli #ableg www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...