Matthew Black

Alberta separatist lawyer reprimanded, ordered to pay $10K in costs The Alberta Law Society found Jeffrey Rath had twice violated professional standards and ordered him to pay $10,000 in costs.

Latest from @matthewblack.ca — The Law Society of Alberta has reprimanded one of the leaders of the Albert separatist movement after finding he twice broke professional standards. #ableg #abpoli

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Elections Alberta approves petition seeking referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada The petition begins the 90-day signature collection period which requires 293,976 signatures to be submitted to Elections Alberta by Oct. 28

"We need all Albertans to put their pride and love of Canada into writing now and put their signature on a petition," campaign leader Thomas Lukaszuk said after Elections Alberta issued a petition for his "Alberta Forever Canada" initiative
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

Braid: Premier Smith says Elections Alberta should not send separatist question to court Alberta Braid: Separatism debate heats up as referendum question goes to court. Pro-Canada question rolls on.

COLUMN UPDATED AGAIN: Elections officer won't back down. Says he's just doing his job by going to court, after Smith alleges he's violating democracy by asking for ruling on separatist question. calgaryherald.com/news/braid-s... #ableg #abpoli #AlbertaSeparation #cdnpoli #yyc #yeg

Braid: Premier Smith says Elections Alberta should not send separatist question to court Alberta Braid: Separatism debate heats up as referendum question goes to court. Pro-Canada question rolls on.

UPDATED COLUMN: Smith lands a bombshell on electoral office referring a separatist referendum question to court. She says that's a violation of democracy.
calgaryherald.com/news/braid-s... #ableg #abpoli #AlbertaSeparation #cdnpoli #yyc #yeg

'Gizmo', 'Satan,' and 'McLovin': Inside the changing world of pilot call signs at CFB Cold Lake The pilot monikers were once permanent, but criticism of past call signs, and how they were chosen, has led to changes.

Fun read by @matthewblack.ca 'Gizmo', 'Satan,' and 'McLovin' — How RCAF pilots at CFB Cold Lake get their call signs. edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n... via @edmontonjournal.com

Ex-UCP MLA Peter Guthrie says his efforts to revive the PC Party are now focused on a collaboration with and rebrand of the Alberta Party.
"It made a lot of sense to us," he said, also citing a possible spring election & legal threat from UCP
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

Edmontonians call on province to abandon Royal Alberta Museum demolition: survey results The results of the province's survey on the future of the old Royal Alberta Museum site showed strong support for preserving or repurposing

From January re: the RAM site development survey results:
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

'Final opportunity': Province reverses course, opens new call for RAM site development pitches The province is opening a new call for pitches to develop the cites after negative public feedback to its plan to demolish the building.

In Jan, I reported a majority of responses (~57%) to the govt's survey wanted the old RAM site saved.
Then, govt told me those results didn't change its plan to demolish the building.
Today, it's opening a new call for pitches to develop the site.
edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...
#ableg #abpoli

Edmonton city council votes 6-5 in favour of a Mayor Sohi motion to keep the maximum number of units for a mid-block lot at 8 units, rather than going down to 6. Had Coun. Cartmell shown up to the meeting he would have changed the result to get the 6 he wanted. #yeg #yegcc

Braid: Alberta's pro-Canada forces scoop separatists, set referendum question The pro-Canada referendum forces have scooped the separatists and succeeded in setting the question for a referendum on Alberta independence

Alberta separatists get scooped - pro-Canada group is allowed to set referendum question. Column calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu... #abpoli #cdnpoli #ableg #Independence #yyc #yeg

Alberta reaches deal to donate imported children's pain medication to Ukraine The province imported the medication from Turkey in a $70-million deal that has since come under scrutiny from the RCMP and auditor general.

Alberta has a deal with a charity to donate to Ukraine its surplus supply of children’s pain meds it imported from Turkey in 2023

AHS: "Preliminary" shipment has already left Alberta. No additional taxpayer costs

Meds expire between January-March
edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...
#ableg #abpoli

Keith Gerein: Rahim Jaffer channels Edmonton's past in bid to lead Edmonton's future Former Member of Parliament and current businessman Rahim Jaffer announces his intention to run for Edmonton mayor

“I couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer"

Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer is set to announce this afternoon he's running for mayor #yeg

To clarify something I've received emails about:

The ~6K replies GOA posted are the response to my FOI request (prompted by the OIPC) which was for answers received in the survey's first 24 hours

94K people did the survey over the 80 days it was open
open.alberta.ca/dataset/9f48...
#ableg #abpoli

"The remaining 15 per cent were other forms of responses, including questions about implementation, suggestions for other alternatives, non-answers, and incomplete responses."

Alberta releases its pension survey results, 63% opposed to leaving CPP After a more than 21-month wait, the Alberta government has released to Postmedia the results of its 2023 provincial pension plan survey.

It took 21 months but, this morning I received the results of the Alberta government's pension plan engagement survey:
*63% opposed to Alberta Pension Plan (APP)
*10% pro-APP
*12% undecided/unsure
*15% other responses
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

Alberta auditor general argues government's questioning of Mentzelopoulos could undermine his investigation The Alberta government is appealing to ask the former AHS head about what she shared with the auditor general and RCMP.

“Permitting questioning regarding records provided ... would be contrary to the public interest and has the potential to create a chilling effect on the general provision of records to the auditor general,” the court filing states

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

Alberta premier's ex-chief of staff sues former AHS CEO, newspaper over health contracting corruption allegations Premier Danielle Smith's former chief of staff has jumped into the fray over allegations of corruption in health care procurement, filing a $12 million lawsuit against ex-Alberta Health Services CEO A...

Premier Smith's former chief of staff Marshall Smith has filed a $12M lawsuit vs. ex-Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos and the Globe and Mail for what he claims are defamatory statements

via @jonnywakefield.bsky.social
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#abpoli #ableg

Alberta government failed to follow access to information rules A report from Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod found the province had improperly refused to process a number of requests.

Alberta government failed to follow access to information rules: "Accountability is the cornerstone of the exercise of good governance," Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod noted in her report released earlier today
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg

Adding this because lots of people are following folks here for the first time: Alberta Today is the first email I read every morning. If you want to comment on #ableg in an informed way, I’d recommend subscribing. Out of context gif from the most comprehensive legislature reporter in the province:

Data on advance polls – 45th General Election Data on advance polls ? 45th General Election

815,131 votes were cast at advanced polls in Alberta, amounting to ~11% of all 7,280,975 across Canada.

The 815K represents an increase from the 646,090 who cast advanced votes in AB in 2021 elxn

See more here from Elections Canada: www.elections.ca/content.aspx...

#yyc #yeg #abpoli #cdnpoli

Calgary rankings (of 343 ridings)

Crowfoot - 4th (33,743)
Signal Hill - 44th
Confederation - 45th
Heritage-68th
Midnapore - 71st
Nose Hill - 77th
Skyview - 140th
Shepard - 148th
Centre - 159th
East - 247th
McKnight - 269th

#yyc #abpoli #cdnpoli

Two nearby #yeg ridings had much higher turnout

St.Albert-Sturgeon River - 14th
Sherwood Park-Fort Sask - 15th

#abpoli #cdnpoli

Advanced poll turnout appears to have been higher in Calgary than in Edmonton

#yeg rankings (vs all 343 ridings)

Riverbend - 129th
West - 147th
Gateway - 192nd
Northwest - 196th
Manning - 239th
Strathcona - 247th
Centre - 254th
Griesbach - 275th
Southeast - 284th

#abpoli #cdnpoli

Updated to include parts of Guthrie's cabinet resignation letter where he accuses the health minister and "possibly even" the premier of deceiving cabinet around when they had knowledge of procurement issues

"This deception resulted in the dismissal of the AHS board"
#ableg #abpoli

UCP caucus expels outspoken MLA Peter Guthrie Guthrie had criticized the government's handling of corruption allegations related to procurement at AHS and called for a public inquiry.

UCP caucus expels outspoken MLA Peter Guthrie

"It is also clear that he wishes to continue to publicly voice his opposition to the government"

Story: edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

The UCP caucus has expelled MLA and former cabinet minister Peter Guthrie
#ableg #abpoli

Braid: UCP whistleblower Peter Guthrie spends his days in lonely silence Peter Guthrie crossed Alberta's UCP government with his demands for a public inquiry into contract scandal, now spends his days in silence.

There's a price for blowing the whistle, standing up to the government. Former minister Peter Guthrie is paying it. Column.
calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu... #ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli #ucp #yyc #yeg

Guthrie breaks with UCP caucus, calls for public inquiry into AHS corruption allegations A United Conservative MLA is breaking with caucus ranks and calling on the government to launch a judge-led public inquiry into allegations of corruption around procurement at Alberta Health Services ...

Backbench UCP MLA Peter Guthrie is breaking with his party's caucus and calling for a judicial-led public inquiry into the AHS procurement corruption allegations

Claims he's under a gag order & on day 48 of what was to be a 30-day caucus suspension
edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...
#ableg #abpoli

Jasper mayor wants more election focus on environment Richard Ireland saw his town devastated by wildfire in 2024. He's dismayed that the environment has been pushed to the back burner in the 2025 election

Jasper mayor wants more election focus on environment

edmontonjournal.com/news/nationa...

Braid: Government tries to deflect auditor general to lawyers — No way, says Doug Wylie The Alberta UCP govenment wants Doug Wylie to talk to lawyer instead of witnesses in procurement scandal. No way, he ways.

In health procurement scandal, UCP is trying to steer the Auditor General to their lawyer when he wants to question an involved official. No way, says Doug Wylie.
calgaryherald.com/news/braid-g... #ableg #abgov #abpoli #cdpoli #yyc #yeg