United Nations Special Rapporteur Visits Northern #Alberta

TREATY 6 (EDMONTON)—Representatives from Treaty 8, Treaty 6, and Keepers of the #Water will meet the #UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, during his visit to Canada. Arrojo-Agudo is visiting April 8 - 19 to discuss safe drinking water and sanitation. Alberta is facing a drought in 2024, and the extraction industry still has the right to much of the water that is left.

“Keepers of the Water will attend this meeting to share the serious concerns related to Water, such as the proposal to dump the toxic tailings into the Athabasca River and other industrial contamination concerns, as well as the immense water use by Industry and how that will impact this entire society as we are in a drought.”

Jesse Cardinal, Executive Director, Keepers of the Water

There should be an international outcry over this. The Alberta Energy Regulator #AER has approved #Suncor to mine a rare patterned fen that holds millions of tonnes of carbon, to produce heavy oil that should never be burned. Project starts next year. #Alberta #wetland #carbon
https://albertawilderness.ca/dontminemcclelland/

Don't Mine McClelland - Alberta Wilderness Association

McClelland Lake wetland complex is an important stopover point and breeding ground for migratory birds. Suncor has plans to mine half of it.

GOTTA LOVE EDMONTON #1

A montage of a chain of incidents with composite conversation a la 'The Conversation' 1974, with Gene Hackman.

"Police complaint line, can I help you?"
"Yes, I filed a complaint 2 weeks ago, file #_________."
"The stolen Honda civic and the Aboriginal thief?"
"Yes."
"Do you have more information?"
"Yes, you can close the file.
"Why"
"The thief died last night in the cold. It was -20°C. He was homeless. He banged on my door at 11:00pm. I threw him out. He was found this morning in the creek ravine. He had mental health issues and was Aboriginal."
"Well, there's one less bad guy in the world."
"Well, he stole my car, and several others, but he was damaged, not 'bad'". "The damage left his head scrambled and it was in a different world from the rest of us. He couldn't get along with people." "And so he was broke", "And homeless."

"He was all of those things because he was Aboriginal, so his mother, being in the Edmonton, had no access to traditional supports when she was pregnant and had a new baby. The White system afforded her no access to White resources so mother and child had basically no support at all. Probably she had no money, either to keep herself or to raise a child."

"And, of course, she was dealing with the effects of 157 years of abuse to her population by Canada, and so had a lot of internal damage of her own to deal with."

"So, really, the fact that he lived till thirty something is rather remarkable, and the fact that he died is more proof of the systemic racism of the system. But never mind, just make a note in the file."
'Goodby'.

#Edmonton, #Alberta, #Indian, #Thief

The ghost at the bargaining table #Alberta
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/local-news/government-using-secret-mandates-to-undermine-public-sector-bargaining-report-8389460

Government using 'secret mandates' to undermine public sector bargaining: report

When Alberta's 200,000 public employees begin their rounds of collective bargaining this year, there will likely be a "ghost at the table" influencing negotiations with their employer, a new report from the Parkland Institute says.

@Cass M 👋🏽 Talking about #Alberta

https://twitter.com/depthsofwiki/status/1764365477508186423

What a great accomplishment this family from Airdrie #Alberta made in #retrofitting their home to #net_zero. I wish the Greener Homes program would continue https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/beyond-local/alberta-family-turns-1980s-bi-level-into-net-zero-home-8308119

Beyond Local: Alberta family turns 1980s bi-level into net zero home

Read the full story and comment on TownAndCountryToday.com

CITIZEN ACTION: #Alberta, #Canada
Regular pushing is what gets things done (or, in this case, prevents them getting worse)
PatientsFirst.ca Team

"Dear Chris,
Thanks to everyone who tuned in and called into Premier Smith’s radio show. Some of you may have received our email after the show aired.

Here’s a link to today's episode: https://globalnews.ca/national/program/your-province-your-premier/

Remember to get your questions in every second Saturday at 10 AM. This provides a recurring opportunity for you to participate and voice your concerns directly.

Your eagerness to participate in these crucial conversations is what drives us forward.

The Patients First Team"

Putting Patients First

Tell us your health care deficit story. The Patients First community is brought to you by the Alberta Medical Association.

#solar #alberta #Canada
So, Alberta's preventing alternative energy is not unique. Lots of places in the US are doing it, too.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/04/us-counties-ban-renewable-energy-plants/71841063007/

Across America, clean energy plants are being banned faster than they're being built

Protest an absolutely terrible proposed bylaw that would further criminalize homelessness and peaceful protest, as if things aren't bad enough right now in Edmonton https://nwmd.social/s/copylink/4AiAZ1uXfeHLxQ==/b #Edmonton #Alberta

With the growing concern across the province that the #Alberta #Energy Regulator seems to operate without sufficient public transparency and has vast discretionary powers, Alberta Wilderness Association opted to host a panel discussion on the theme "Reconsidering the Alberta Energy Regulator." The agency seems to be held captive by industry interests, rather than functioning as it is meant to: making decisions based on the best interests of Indigenous communities, the environment, and the public at large. Recent incidents, like the Kearl spills — and AER's response to it among others — highlights this point. #tarsands #oilsands #oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sRP4INGLg4&t=1s

Treaty 8 Territory | Northern Alberta – A year ago, news broke that Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine had been leaking toxic industrial wastewater for over nine months while keeping local Indigenous communities in the dark. The public only learned about the leak after a subsequent spill at the same facility, which released 5.3 million litres of industrial waste into the environment. Despite this, a year later, Imperial Oil has not faced charges or penalties under the Fisheries Act or provincial environmental protection laws. #tarsands #Alberta https://www.keepersofthewater.ca/news/feb6-2024-joint-statement

Indigenous and Environmental Groups Denounce Government Inaction on First Anniversary of Imperial Oil Tailings Disaster — Keepers of the Water

“The Imperial Oil disaster confirmed what our communities have said for generations: big polluters are free to do whatever they want in our traditional territory – our backyards. The Alberta Energy Regulator has shown us over and over that it is...

“The public should fear that arresting journalists has become the new norm,” Morin said during the conference. “Holding powers to account is the core of journalism.” https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/01/30/Advocates-Call-Police-Drop-Charges-Indigenous-Reporter/ #Edmonton #Alberta #homeless #indigenous #journalists

Advocates Call for Police to Drop Charges Against Indigenous Reporter | The Tyee

Journalism and human rights groups have thrown their support behind Brandi Morin, who was arrested while covering decampments in Edmonton.

Can the #oil industry afford to clean up its mess? If by ‘mess’ we mean fossil-fuel-induced climate change, the answer is almost certainly ‘no’. But what if we look at a more limited cleanup scenario, restricted to the #remediation of conventional oil and gas wells? Even then, it seems that the oil industry may already be bankrupt.
As a case study, this paper estimates the solvency of the conventional) oilpatch in the Canadian province of #Alberta.

Writing in the journal Science, scientists have confirmed what Indigenous communities have known — and been calling attention to — for generations. Not only are communities in and around the Alberta tar sands suffering from rare and deadly cancers, their food sources — those same moose and fish they were promised protection for in Treaties — are so contaminated with arsenic, cadmium and methylmercury, they often reek of burning plastic when they hit the frying pan.
#Alberta #tarsands #oilsands #pollution
https://raventrust.com/6300-false-canada-takes-gaslighting-to-a-whole-new-level/

6300% FALSE: Canada takes gaslighting to a whole new level - RAVEN

What is Gaslighting? It’s that workmate who, when called out on their racist behaviour, retorts, “You’re being too sensitive: this has NOTHING to do with race.” It’s that casual date who shows up half an hour late to dinner then, when you tell...

The Canada Pension Plan, which Alberta premier Danielle Smith wants to take us out of, is the best performing National Pension Fund in the world https://www.cppinvestments.com/newsroom/cpp-investments-ranks-among-worlds-best-with-10-year-returns/ #Alberta #Canada #pension

CPP Investments ranks among world’s best with 10-year returns | CPP Investments

We are living in uncertain times, but there’s one thing Canadians can be certain about: the strong and steady performance of CPP Investments.

It sounds to me like this could have been a mass shooting, with child casualties, and it was averted by the courage of one unarmed man. https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/beyond-local/man-faces-seven-charges-after-edmonton-city-hall-shooting-8158774 #Alberta

Beyond Local: Man faces seven charges after Edmonton City Hall shooting

Read the full story and comment on TownAndCountryToday.com

There is growing concern across the province that the Alberta Energy Regulator seems to operate without sufficient public transparency and has vast discretionary powers.Join Alberta Wilderness Association, alongside other interested individuals and groups, for a panel discussion on the theme “Reconsidering the Alberta Energy Regulator.” Great panel, this will be very interesting. #Alberta
https://albertawilderness.ca/awaevent/reconsidering-the-alberta-energy-regulator-panel-discussion/

Reconsidering the Alberta Energy Regulator: Panel Discussion - Alberta Wilderness Association

Time: Feb. 1, 2024 @ 6 p.m. Location: AWA Office: 455 – 12 St. NW Calgary,...

They could not be more transparent #alberta #UCP #corruption #labour https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/local-news/legislation-could-mean-return-of-lavish-public-sector-executive-perks-in-alberta-8129807

Legislation could mean return of lavish public sector executive perks in Alberta

Amendments may also escalate government interference in collective bargaining, professor says.

This should be a huge scandel #alberta #corruption #hospitals #health_care https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/01/08/Alberta-Surgeons-Allege-Conflict-Interest

As Alberta Pushes Private Clinics, Surgeons Allege Conflict of Interest | The Tyee

A whistleblower complaint obtained by The Tyee slams a top public health administrator. First of two.

#Alberta, #Capitalism

Bison skulls: In Canada we exterminated ours & thereby almost exterminated the Indian population with starvation. The USA, using the capitalist idea of selling guns and militarism, shot Indians, but not all their bison.

The bison Canada now has are largely from the USA, and the First Nations populations of both countries are regrouping and learning to once more thrive in this hostile continent. The white invaders are pretty much the same. :-(