When we as Albertans look back on what the labs rollercoaster has cost us — the hundreds of millions wasted, the generational damage to our health-care workforce, the erosion of trust in the delivery of a vital service — all of it may be dwarfed by the long-term damage being wrought to our health-care system in its name.

Danielle Smith tried — again — to blame AHS for the province’s health care woes. Alas (for her), hard data has a way of catching up with misleading statements. This article show how responsibility for the poor performance, high costs, and potential irregularities in Alberta’s surgical crisis sits squarely with the government.

Education support workers are striking across Alberta. The strikes are causing significant disruption for families, placing strain on teachers, and impacting the education kids receive. It is in everyone’s interest that these disputes get settled so these important workers can get back to their jobs. So why aren’t things getting settled? Ask the UCP government.

The Alberta government’s abrupt dismissal of AIMCo’s board and CEO has sparked worries about political meddling and loss of independence. Stephen Harper’s appointment as chair was another step toward reshaping AIMCo to serve partisan goals over Albertans’ needs. Against this backdrop, understanding AIMCo’s evolution and its politicization becomes more critical than ever.

The way out of oil revenue dependency is clear: increase royalties and replace oil and gas dollars with tax dollars. The numbers add up, and the impact on the long-term well-being, economic stability, and viability of Alberta would be huge. The only thing missing is a government with the courage and political will to make it happen.

Saskatchewan just raised its minimum wage to $15, which means Alberta now officially shares with our neighbour the dubious honour of having the lowest minimum wage in Canada. As the “Alberta Advantage” dies a slow death amid low wages and public services in crisis, Albertans might need to ask themselves who is taking advantage of its demise.

This blog post critically responds to a recent Calgary Herald opinion piece on surgical wait times in Alberta. It shows how spending taxpayers’ money in private surgical centers not only failed to resolve the issue but also made it worse. The post also presents evidence-based solutions to reduce wait times in the public system.

So much has been happening in our politics that Albertans can be forgiven for feeling disoriented. It’s easy to focus on the latest bombshell as previous pronouncements fade. But it’s important to take a step back to see what patterns emerge. When we do, we find that the government’s flurry of activity indicates something more methodical is going on.

Almost a decade after the NDP government passed the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act (PSCTA), the act is under review. The PSCTA created the so-called “sunshine lists” hoping public disclosure would work to curb financial excess by senior executives. But it needs changes to protect average public-sector workers.

Is the Alberta we are hoping to build made possible by Budget 2024? How will we meet the immediate and long-term needs of a rapidly growing province, in a rapidly changing political, economic, and environmental context? When we look in the mirror, what Alberta do we see?