Author: Laurel L. Russwurm

allthecanadianpolitics:

allthecanadianpolitics:

cornergandtherub:

“Pick on someone your own size”

Rick’s Rant – Jason Kenney

Also a reminder that Jason Kenney is trying to get elected to Alberta’s legislature. On December 14th, he will run in a by-election in Calgary. So if you want to prevent him from getting elected and you live in Calgary, here’s some information:

Calgary-Lougheed byelection called for Dec. 14

Braid: NDP sets early byelection for riding Kenney needs to win

Also because this is getting popular enough that many non-Canadians are sharing this, I should explain that what Rick Mercer is talking about when he says Jason Kenney could be Alberta’s next Premier.

A Premier in Canada is the highest ranking political position in a Canadian Province or Territiory. It is roughly equivalent to a U.S. state’s governor when it comes to power and legislative ability.

If Jason Kenney becomes Premier in 2019 and wins enough seats for his party he could repeal this bill and pass a new one requiring teachers to notify parents when a student joins a gay straight alliance. This isn’t an impossible scenario; it could be very likely. Centre-Right to Right-wing parties and politics have broad support in Alberta, and Jason Kenney has unified the 2 major right parties into 1 party, increasing his odds by reducing vote splitting (last election the centre-left NDP won because although the 2 centre right to right wing parties had a combined vote percentage higher than the NDP no single party won more seats than the NDP).

Graham Thomson: Alberta Teachers’ Association says Bill 24 protects teachers as well as students:

allthecanadianpolitics:

The Alberta Teachers’ Association would like to talk to Jason Kenney.

The 46,000-member association, which represents the vast majority of teachers in the province, wants the leader of the United Conservative Party to know it backs Bill 24, an Act to Support Gay-Straight Alliances.

The ATA also doesn’t appreciate Kenney trying to put teachers in a position where they would be responsible for potentially divulging a student’s sexual identity to his or her parents without the student’s consent.

ATA president Greg Jeffery said he’s been trying to arrange a meeting with Kenney to talk about education issues. But Kenney just doesn’t pick up.

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Despite outcry, committee makes few changes to Access to Information bill:

allthecanadianpolitics:

A Liberal-dominated committee is sending the government’s Access to Information bill back to the House of Commons with few changes, despite the deep concerns of transparency advocates and opposition MPs.

Committee members rejected most of the amendments put forward Wednesday, including some from Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith.

The Access to Information Act allows applicants who pay $5 to ask for federal documents, but it has been widely denounced as slow and antiquated.

The Trudeau government says the bill, introduced last June, represents the first real modernization of the law since it took effect in 1983.

It would give the information commissioner new authority to order the release of records as well as entrench the practice of routinely disclosing documents such as briefing notes and expense reports.

But many who testified at the committee, including information commissioner Suzanne Legault, dismissed the legislation as a step backward.

The bill is fatally flawed and will make Canadian democracy weaker, said committee member Nathan Cullen, a New Democrat MP.

“The Liberals chose to ignore just about every piece of testimony that we were given. It just mocks the whole process and their commitment to evidence-based decision-making,” Cullen said after the meeting.

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