The federal census says that there were over 1.5 million households in 2016. Assuming it’s still the same number (and it’s probably higher now), that’s only 37 bucks per person.
Hey, Albertans. What are you planning to do with your family’s 37 bucks?
I’m probably going to buy 6 tubs of vanilla ice cream.
Concerned that the Kenney government will end programs run by Energy Efficiency Alberta, the city of Edmonton is considering other options to offer you energy incentives for you to go green.
The time to speak up has past. You had your chance and you didn't do it.
Edmonton is considering a “Plan B” if Jason Kenney’s UCP government pulls the plug on Energy Efficiency Alberta. The city wants to maintain its plan to assist home and business owners in making their properties more energy efficient.
David Dodge, the co-chair of the Edmonton energy transition advisory committee — a working group that is helping city staff stickhandle its way through emerging green technologies — said Edmonton has the one of highest carbon footprint of all major cities in Canada.
He said Edmonton currently emits 20 tonnes per capita because of where we are and what we do.
My little motto, in recent months, has been “we laugh to keep from crying”.
I have always managed pain and sorrow with humour – the persistent cacophony of my laughter has become almost infamous for those close to me. Laughter helps me sustain morale and hope, even in dark times. In the face of polls predicting the UCP victory in Alberta’s most recent election, I laughed, and maintained a firm confidence in the decency and common sense of my fellow Albertans.
But I did not laugh on April 16th.
It seems that some one million Albertans are some blend of ignorant dupes who uncritically ate up blatant lies and hypocrisy, and malignant bigots who threw Alberta’s most vulnerable under the bus in exchange for the privilege of licking the boots of oil barons. I’m not sure which is more disgusting. Meanwhile, about 800,000 more cared so little, or so poorly understood the implications, that they felt content to stand idle while corruption and cruelty seized authority.
Life is a struggle at the best of times, but now, because of the popular hatred, ignorance, and indifference of Albertans, the government that we might have trusted to help us manage those struggles will instead be looking to disempower and exploit us on the behalf of unscrupulous hoarders of wealth and power. We will need to work even harder to cope.
So here’s the new motto: “be good, and be good at it”.
Be good. Look out for the people around you. Reflect on your contributions. Try to see the greater impact of your actions and to make it a priority to care for your immediate community – your friends, your family, your colleagues, and your neighbours. Practice empathy for those who struggle, practice bravery in standing against malice and apathy.
But also? Be good at it. Our best intentions, alone, are not enough. They must be paired with a deeper understanding of our situation; with competence in handling challenges. So learn as much as you can. Find out how your abilities best serve the common good. Find out, even if it is painful, how you have inadvertently obstructed the common good. Learn how to fight, even when you have been disenfranchised.
Be vocal. Protest. Rally. Strike. Contact your representatives. Demand to know why they are hurting your community, demand to know what they will do to help. Call your reps at the municipal and federal level, too.
I know this is a lot, so I’ll leave you with some encouraging words from an American who, in 2016, had to endure a similar abuse of democracy.
I'm gonna wake up and keep trying to do good and so are you and nobody gets to vote on that.
RepostBy @albertaresistance: "Keep being told by UCP supporters to go away now that Kenney has won. If their goal was for progressive Albertans to shut up, then they’re the ones who have lost. We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be louder than ever. @rachelnotleyab and the @albertandp will be the voice of the opposition in the Alberta legislature. And we collectively will be the voices of the Alberta Resistance. . . . . . #abvote #abpoli #abndp #albertaresistance #beyonce #imwithrachel #queerkidsab #betteroffwithrachel #albertandp #yyc #yeg #resist #notangryab #rachelnotley #yycarts #yegarts" (via #InstaRepost @AppsKottage) im going to add in the follows: #abdisabled #mentallychallengedpeople #chronicallyillpeople #chromicallyinpainpeople #braininjuredpeople #transmenandwomen and the list goes on. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwX45LkFWNm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1by1sxcwmjmhn
I want to thank Jeremy at @sprawlcalgary for putting together the #ABVote election watch party at @dandyalesyyc, always a good time! L to R: Me, Farkhod, Jeremy. (at The Dandy Brewing Company) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXX6IWhKTZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=11oegzmhxyzdc
I’m exhausted and dealing with pain. I made sure I voted yesterday. My candidate won! Yay for @janis.irwin for her hard won win of #edmontonhighlandsnorwood! I wanted to share #mimieilliams take on the changed landscape across our province. It needs to be heard. #abvote #abpoli Twitter link➡️ https://twitter.com/mimiprobably/status/1118497142182563840?s=21 https://www.instagram.com/p/BwW-we5phkg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=d3ojro9y8lua
