Charles Rusnell

Danielle Smith watches her back Guest writer Ken Boessenkool on the party factions Alberta's premier has to manage

Clear summary of the current political situation in Alberta via Ken Boessenkool.
Danielle Smith watches her back
open.substack.com/pub/paulwell...

Tkachuk played in the Americans’ victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, which secured the US men their first gold medal since 1980. In the wake of that win, the White House’s TikTok account published video of Tkachuk saying: “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fuckers a lesson.” Tkachuk never said those words and the video, which has had more than 10m views, is labelled as AI-generated. Kendall Coyne Schofield, left, and Hilary Knight celebrate the US team's gold medal win. US hockey star Hilary Knight responds to Trump’s ‘distasteful joke’ about women’s team Read more “Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said on Thursday. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.”

www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

One hundred accounts are behind the majority of conspiracy theory content in Canada Researchers analyzed more than 14 million social media posts from accounts in Canada and found that 87 per cent of conspiratorial claims come from influencers, with just 100 users responsible for near...

Via @rorywh.bsky.social

One hundred accounts are behind the majority of conspiracy theory content in Canada www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/25/n...

The Liberal immigration minister, Lena Diab, is failing Canadians. Mark Carney personally appointed this Liberal immigration minister, and now her own colleagues are questioning her competence. The Liberal government's immigration crisis has already wrecked Canada’s healthcare system, blown up the housing market, and taken job opportunities from Canadians. This is why Conservatives are calling on Mark Carney to: IMMEDIATELY FIRE his incompetent immigration minister! We should be putting our youth first as they face down an unemployment crisis, yet the Liberals are expanding immigration streams that push our young people further away from jobs. Join Conservatives in calling on Mark Carney to FIRE Lena so we can restore order to Canada’s once world renowned immigration system that the Liberals destroyed. Thank you for standing up for Canadians. Team Pierre

Demonizing immigrants must be gaining traction for the Conservative Party of Canada. Also, the federal CPC and Alberta's UCP must be sharing the same political comms strategist, who appears to be either an American who has worked for the Trump regime or a Canadian Trump regime acolyte.

Politicians are being sold AI-powered 'digital fighters' A new app gets around bot bans by recruiting real people to post political messages generated by AI.

Must read here via @rorywh.bsky.social.
Politicians are being sold AI-powered 'digital fighters' www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/24/i...

The federal Progressive Conservative Party are in lockstep with the UCP in Alberta.

Senior leaders of the Canada Pension Plan are holding public meetings tonight in Calgary and Wednesday in Edmonton. Here is a chance for those who think an Alberta Pension Plan will provide greater benefits than the CPP to inform themselves. Register here. www.cppinvestments.com/public-meeti...

Inside the AI-powered conspiracy machine selling ‘Truthwear’ to Canadians Multiple researchers told Canada’s National Observer that conspiracy companies like Mutinni are the inevitable result of artificial intelligence colliding with the attention economy. Social media algo...

Missed this when it was first published. Great reporting here via @rorywh.bsky.social

Inside the AI-powered conspiracy machine selling ‘Truthwear’ to Canadians www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/08/i...

Brazen revisionist lying here by Danielle Smith, blaming AHS for screwing up the procurement. She personally announced the purchase. At her behest, Jason Copping directly oversaw the contract and defended the high cost. This is from a March 20, 2025 Globe story by Carrie Tait and Alanna Smith.

Exclusive | OpenAI Employees Raised Alarms About Canada Shooting Suspect Months Ago The ChatGPT maker opted against informing Canadian authorities about Jesse Van Rootselaar’s descriptions of violence last June.

Absolutely wild. WSJ reporting that some OpenAI staffers thought the Tumbler Ridge shooter's use of ChatGPT raised the potential of real world violence but leadership decided not to alert RCMP. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

U of A's proposed removal of EDI hiring policies sparks legal threats - The Gateway After U of A's proposal to eliminate EDI policies, law professor Amir Attaran decided to take legal action against President Bill Flanagan.

U of A president Bill Flanagan placed between the far-right anti-woke UCP and federal EDI requirements for funding.

thegatewayonline.ca/2026/02/u-of...

Alberta Premier defends fall referendum plans Danielle Smith stumbles when asked about costs of providing health care and education to newcomers; NDP says referendum proposals designed to inflame

Premier Danielle Smith said she doesn't know how much newcomers cost Alberta’s health care and education systems, despite scheduling a referendum to ask whether social services to those residents shd be limited b/c of cost

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber... By @mattscace.bsky.social and friend

Lawyer who fought against mandatory oath reacts to Alberta seeking Supreme Court ruling | CBC News The Alberta government wants the Supreme Court of Canada to decide the constitutionality of a rule requiring new lawyers to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch. In December, Alberta's Court of ...

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

The furious backlash to Danielle Smith's TV address makes clear why the UCP sent out this messaging to its supporters in advance of the broadcast. They don't want supporters listening to the overwhelmingly negative analysis from academics, politicians, columnists, etc.

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.’

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

"“Alberta’s” taxpayers are like every other taxpayers in the country: they pay provincial taxes, and they pay federal taxes. Within Alberta, the provincial government redistributes that money, literally “subsidizing” rural areas, people who need healthcare, etc. The money we all pay into the federal level does the same thing.

On equalization, he makes this point:

Danielle Smith is no separatist; she's much, much worse In a televised address last night Danielle Smith launched a xenophobic assault on immigration and proposed a set of referendum questions for next Fall advocating a constitutional agenda that would red...

A must read here for all Canadians, but especially Albertans via @emmettmacfarlane.com

emmettmacfarlane.substack.com/p/danielle-s...

Remember, Auditor General Doug Wylie's term ends April 28. Will he have enough time to properly investigate and complete his report? This is where the RCMP's progress, or lack thereof, on its criminal investigation becomes important.

Audrey Macklin is an immigration scholar at the University of Toronto faculty of law, where she is also the Rebecca Cook chair in human rights law. Populist politicians in Canada have used immigration, and established immigrants willing to criticize new immigrants, as a tool of deflection for more than 100 years, she said. “Anti-immigration is always a cheap and available tactic for populist governments,” said Macklin, who was born and raised in Edmonton and took her first degree at the University of Alberta. “It is an easy way to blame some other people for the challenges that are faced at any given moment,” she added, but particularly when a government is facing financial challenges due to such variables as the structural changes in the global economy.

Danielle Smith's referendum announcement on immigration represents the pre-determined end goal of the Alberta Next Panel.
thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...

remember when there was a whole media storm about a leaked document that gave some vague gesture towards "significant" diversion without ever really saying what that meant?

it'd be cool if this got any attention from other media in the province

This is the latest messaging from the UCP to their supporters.

For what it's worth, the House had a chance to effectively ban floor-crossing in 2012: C-306 would have required an MP to run in a by-election before sitting with another party.

It was defeated by a vote of 181 to 91 at second reading.

Just 3 Conservatives voted in favour, 142 voted against.

Huge irony in the medication being destroyed at the Swan Hills Waste Treatment Plant. It's a Klein-era white elephant that has cost Alberta taxpayers at least $1.6B and counting. Yet, many Albertas continue to believe conservative govts are better financial managers than any alternative party

Premier Smith Is Right That Judge Choices Are Partisan. Her Way Is Worse | The Tyee Breaking down the controversy with ethical government expert Duff Conacher.

Danielle Smith threatened to withhold funding for higher-court judges in Alberta unless she got more say in their selection. Turns out that was an empty threat.
Premier Smith Is Right That Judge Choices Are Partisan. Her Way Is Worse via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

Premier Smith Is Right That Judge Choices Are Partisan. Her Way Is Worse | The Tyee Breaking down the controversy with ethical government expert Duff Conacher.

Premier Smith Is Right That Judge Choices Are Partisan. Her Way Is Worse via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

A couple of Canadian journalists (myself included) have started a fundraiser for Trenth Ernst & Tumbler Ridgelines. Since the shooting, he's stopped writing. We're hoping to get him some short-term support for these hard times.

Donate here: www.gofundme.com/f/support-tr...

The Tory's fake media scandal Conservatives are attacking journalism by pretending not to understand the difference between film producers and reporters

My latest: on the Tory's fake media scandal

Conservatives are attacking journalism by pretending not to understand the difference between film producers and reporters
canadanownews.substack.com/p/the-torys-...

What We Know about the Online Life of the Tumbler Ridge Shooter | The Tyee An expert digs into the social media accounts of Jesse Van Rootselaar.

Via @jenstden.bsky.social
What We Know about the Online Life of the Tumbler Ridge Shooter via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

YouTube video by Senator Paula Simons It's time to make an X-it: Senator Simons questions the Canadian government's continued use of X

I had the opportunity to rise during Senate Question Period this week, to ask about the Canadian government's continued commitment to using X for official communications - and about their failure to use sites such as Bluesky and Mastodon. What do you think? #cdnpoli #Canada #Grok #X #Bluesky