OTTAWA – The Conservative caucus has chosen Andrew Scheer to lead the party in Parliament during the spring session. The Saskatchewan MP and former party leader will be the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons when the session begins on May 26: a necessary step since the party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, no longer holds a seat in the House of Commons, having lost the Ontario riding of Carleton in last week’s election after representing the district for more than two decades. →
EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is once again “winking” at the separatists. After announcing a bill to reduce the number of signatures needed to call for a referendum, the governor of the “rebel” Canadian province said – in a video posted on social media on Monday – that she will call a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada next year if citizens collect the necessary signatures. →
TORONTO – Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco’s autobiographical film About My Father was just added to Netflix Canada this month – a story about families meeting. For those unfamiliar with Maniscalco’s comedy, one of the mainstays of his act involves jokes about how his antiquated father raised him. From descriptions of being put through “slave labour” as a child, to his dad killing garden pests with antifreeze, Sebastian’s father is rarely spared his blushes during the act. It’s edgy, irreverent, but always delivered with love.
EDMONTON – Separatism in Alberta: what is the most widespread feeling among the population? Nanos Research tried to detect it with a random, hybrid (telephone / online) survey of 432 inhabitants of the province aged 18 and over, carried out on May 1st on behalf of the Globe and Mail. →
EDMONTON – In the beginning it was Quebec. The dream of an independent nation, separate from the rest of Canada, has always been the prerogative of the most French-speaking (and least North American) province in the country. But the two referendums for independence – in 1980 and 1995 – rejected this idea, although not entirely clearly: in 1995, the “no” votes prevailed over the “yes” votes 50.58% to 49.42%. By a hair’s breadth, Quebec did not “break away”. Today, the wind of separatism is blowing strongly in Alberta, the most American province in Canada. There, the secessionist movement actually already existed but has now gained strength and what until now had been a breeze risks turning into a tornado, powered by the victory of Donald Trump in the USA and the defeat of the Canadian Conservatives in the federal elections. →
