Libarbarian

It was all streaming on CBC Gem, free of charge, open to all.

Tomorrow, Edmonton hosts is annual Lunar New Year Festival at the Royal Alberta Museum. (Outdoor events cancelled due to weather, alas,) Did you know that Edmonton’s first Chinese immigrant settled here in 1890? Chung Kee arrived here from Calgary, via stagecoach, 15 years before Alberta existed.

"Smith is the most dangerous politician in Canada, launching an agenda not only of fear and greed, but one that seeks to undermine the country, its federal structure, and its spirit of tolerance and compassion. It is nothing short of evil, and it must be fought on all fronts."

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...

Hey it’s me, a racialized person born in Alberta to an immigrant parent, with trans and queer friends, saying that the UCP does not get to determine who belongs here. All of us, and the Albertans yet to come, deserve to be here. And we must stand with Indigenous people to honour treaty promises.

Waiting for the Olympic hockey play by play announcer to realize the penalty called on Canada is Too Many Players, not Too Many Men.

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.

Shout out to The Beths' excellent song and album "Expert in a Dying Field"!

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

Keep Calm and Carney On! Great speech Mr. Carney! I celebrated with a Danish beer, in support of our noble Nordic NATO neighbours!

The U.S. is giving dying mall vibes.

I can't explain it, but you know I'm right.

Unsanctioned roadway barriers installed in the dark of night on Gabriola Island | CBC News Just a few weeks after residents pleaded with local government to take action on "traffic chaos" at Descanso Bay Ferry Terminal on Gabriola Island, someone has gone rogue and installed delineators alo...

Guerrilla traffic safety gets me excited www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

‘A Long December’ Always Gives Me Reason to Believe December is a month of traditions. A myriad religious observances, baked goods, decorations and familial obligations. We all have our conventions, taking time t

Years ago, when I still wrote for SPIN, the great @danielkohn.bsky.social let me write about "A Long December", so of course I wrote a little about death and sadness and choosing to believe things can get better.

www.spin.com/2021/12/a-lo...

Julie Dabrusin is Carney's Environment Minister. She has not resigned. Steven Guilbeault, the former Environment Minister, current Canadian Identity and Culture Minister, has resigned.

Today we remember the #Holodomor where millions of Ukrainians were starved by Stalin’s regime.

It’s heartbreaking that, generations later, Ukraine is once again fighting for survival in the face of Russian aggression. Their grief echoes across time. We remember. We mourn. We stand in solidarity.

🪩

Yukon Blonde on the grounding power of being in a band Anyone in a band will tell you it’s like being in a family — a dysfunctional family. But somehow, against all odds, the Canadian rock band Yukon Blonde has managed to stay together for nearly 20 years...

"I dont think it's a secret, but we've always just wanted to be Sloan." ~ Yukon Blonde www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

"She flung herself from the room, flung herself upon her horse and rode madly off in all directions." - Stephen Leacock described Danielle Smith aptly in "Nonsense Novels" (1911). #ableg #canlit

For a party that says it’s all about free market choice, the UCP is sure eager to quash any other political party that tries to use the word “conservative” in its name.

Alberta UCP launches lawsuit against former caucus members United Conservative Party alleges Peter Guthrie, Scott Sinclair conspired to damage party’s reputation by using Progressive Conservative name

SCOOP: Alberta's UCP is suing two MLAs it kicked out of caucus in order to keep the Progressive Conservative brand outta their hands.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
By @alannasmith.bsky.social and helper

Don't forget the Winnipeg Goldeyes!

Fantastic freshly harvested fresh hop pale ale from Sidney's Small Gods Brewing and Victoria's Whistle Buoy Brewing. Fresh Cowichan Valley hops from Maple Bay Hops and Field Five Farms malt from North Saanich. With Jim Crace's 2013 novel, Harvest. #craftbeer

A lovely evening at Beth Shalom for a Kristallnacht commemoration with Bonny Reichert, and her memoir, How to Share an Egg, with @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social. Food is the key to Bonny's life story, including growing up in Edmonton, and her father Saul Reichert's story of surviving the Holocaust.

Congratulations Laura!

Emma Donoghue on Populating Historical Fiction This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. It began with a photograph. I’d searched for “history Montparnasse” because that was the neighborhood where we…

@emmadonoghue.bsky.social explains why fact-based historical fiction still must negotiate with the truth.

The stories in RUBBLE CHILDREN by Aaron Kreuter explore contemporary Jewish Canadian identity. Now available in audio as well as print and e-editions!
https://bit.ly/4bXHSzF

@aaronkreuter.bsky.social #MiddleEast #Fiction #CanLit #JewishIdentity #Toronto

Two great story collections from Edmonton literary power couple Blaine Newton (2025) and Leslie Greentree (2022). (Both U of C Press). You might run into them holding court at Irrational Brewing.