Last week in AB: December 12, 2025

QP education, Bill 14, Recall updates, and Alberta Party news

My apologies folks; doctor’s appointments, g-baby responsibilities, sad news, and my bad habit of saying “yes” instead of “I’m really too busy” mucked this week up entirely. QP is over thankfully, and the last week before Christmas break should be back to business as usual.

TLDR: ABleg Oral Question Period Dec. 1-4

I post snarky snippets on BlueSky each day the Legislature is sitting. My suggestion, if you’re interested in a particular exchange, is to use it as a guide for the speakers and time, then check Hansard for proper quotes. I try to emote through GIFs, and snark, and sometimes miss puffballs; it’s not an exact science.

Monday: another raise for UCP MLAs— affordability crises are for people who can’t raise their own wages with unlimited access to funds, you know? An odd talking point from the Energy Minister about how broken coal contracts are the NDP’s fault made me do some background. Apparently it stems from a letter NDP Energy Minister wrote to coal companies in 2016 saying they have to apply and yes, the Energy Minister could override whatever comes it, without offering to do so. Near as I can tell, approvals didn’t exist until after then-Premier Jason Kenney repealed the 1976 coal policy. And then had to replace it. And then Smith ignored it. Now Corb Lund has received an approval to start collecting signatures for a citizen-led petition to tell the Alberta government yet again just how many Albertans do not want mining on the eastern slopes.

Tuesday: we learned that the $430 million Red Deer and Lethbridge Chartered Surgical Facility contracts with companies tied to Sam Mraiche were cancelled. He’ll be fine, I’m sure; word in the House is he still has other projects funneling public funds his way.

Wednesday: we learned that the handpicked replacement as AHS CEO— who replaced the other handpicked AHS CEO that he fired— is on administrative leave (CBC). Danielle Smith says every hospital will have its own CEO (just like the U.S.!).

Thursday: government ministers stand by the talking point that they didn’t gift Sam Mraiche another way to passively collect income from public funds. Some background on the purchase of a building that is being leased with— unsurprisingly— public funds that go straight into one guy’s pocket makes it look worse (Paul Wells, National Observer, CBC, Euan Thomson).

UCP’s Bill 14 is undemocratic, unconservative, and a shameful display of incompetence and it’s worth bringing up again

I sat down with The Line: Alberta’s Rob Breakenridge on December 5 to discuss Bill 14, and I’ll be honest— I’d just read the legislation and hadn’t really had time to digest it. I filled in some blanks but it wasn’t until the next day that it really sunk in for me what that bill was doing. Dr. Jared Wesley also had some thoughts I hope you’ll read.

In the TLDR version (which Rob Breakenridge also laid out this week in the Line: Alberta) Bill 14 repeals an amendment the UCP included to placate the valid concerns of First Nations and Indigenous Peoples. It then adds that the government of Alberta isn’t bound to act on a result that isn’t constitutional (and the separatists have not picked up on that part yet).

It also attempted to override a court decision that had been expedited, at cost to those who intervened, and removed the non-partisan office of the Elections Commissioner from determining if a referendum question was unconstitutional and empowering a partisan official appointed as Justice Minister with the decision instead. After the Elections Commissioner responded, the UCP had to amend the legislation again.

Bill 14 also shields the official named Justice Minister— past, present, and future— from ever answering complaints sent to the Law Society of Alberta over conduct while or as a Justice Minister and Attorney General with the Government of Alberta.

The bill bans words that a future political party may use, including “conservative”, “democratic”, and (two extra parties too late) Wildrose. It feels less like living in a democracy than totalitarian Russia, but Danielle Smith’s caucus is still shielding her with their support.

Dr. Wesley also had a helpful list of actions we can all partake in over this most family-friendly holiday season.

People often ask: what can ordinary people do to stop populists like Trump and Smith from running roughshod over democratic norms?

Populists rely on the widespread perception that their actions are supported by “the majority” and “common people.” Anything that punctures that myth helps.

Be visible.

Yard/window signs. Buttons, stickers, tote bags. T-shirts at the rink, grocery store, kids’ events. These are quiet signals that the “silent majority” isn’t as silent or as unified as populists claim.

Challenge.

When someone says, “Well, that’s what the typical Albertan thinks” or “that’s just politics,” try: “Some do, but a lot of us are worried about how this hurts democracy.”

You’re reminding everyone listening that unchecked power is not “normal.”

Support people on the front lines.

Teachers, professors, public servants, journalists, organizers, and targeted communities often pay the price for resisting populists. Check in. Show up at their events. Defend them when they’re smeared. Abandoned critics make the “majority” myth look stronger.

Use your memberships and money.

Join organizations that defend democratic norms.

Cancel business with those that openly attack them.

Even small donations to local media, NGOs, and community groups matter.

Subscribe to news organizations that are investigating the backsliding.

Recall updates

As of today, December 12, 2025, 20 MLAs have active recall petitions against them. Newly added last week are:

Amanda Chapman, NDP, Calgary-Beddington; member statement

Peter Singh, UCP, Calgary-East; member statement

Tanya Fir, Calgary-Peigan; member statement

Adriana LaGrange, Red Deer-North; member statement

Rebecca Schulz, Calgary-Shaw; member statement

Danielle Smith, Brooks-Medicine Hat; member statement

Nate Glubish, Strathcona-Sherwood Park; member statement

If anyone checks, they’d think I miscounted, as there are clearly 21 recall petitions. However, the petition for Nathan Neudorf in Lethbridge-East is not collecting signatures and appears to have been filed to foil an actual recall attempt.

I heard rumours of this and reached out, quite snarkily, only to receive a very pleasant reply in return:

I was struck by the reference to a “canvassing coordinator” because it conveys a greater knowledge of organization and campaigning than one would expect from someone who was “caught off guard” by people wanting to volunteer.

There are no rules that state those who file a recall petition have to legitimately want to recall their MLA but it does ensure that no other petition can be filed against the member this term.

Though I can admire the attempt to get ahead of a petition to protect the Minister, it also has the effect of making him look vulnerable; weak, even. In that respect, the “catch and kill petition” has potentially done more damage to the Minister than a serious recall that was unable to get the required number of signatures would have.

Operation Total Recall is a starting point,

Alberta Party has a new leader in the House

I may have accidentally hurried the official announcement, but it was part of the tablings on Tuesday after QP ended and I happened to still be listening. What I didn’t hear until the official announcement is that Hon. Pete Guthrie didn’t just join the Alberta Party as a Member of the Legislative Assembly; he joined as its leader.

LinkedIn, X

I don’t claim to be a conservative, liberal, progressive, libertarian, or socialist; though I think they all have some good ideas. As such, I’ll never be so dedicated to any ideology as to pretend good ideas are the sole domain of a single one of them. It’s also why, when I was trying to find a party ten years ago, the Alberta Party fit. It’s also why, as the years went on, I realized that if I had to choose an ideology that would allow me to move comfortably within it, I would have been a PC. Of course I would figure that out after they were obliterated provincially and federally; I am a contrarian at my core.

It’s also why politics is a good fit for my contrarianism; there’s always something to disagree with. However, I have two rules, best summed up by the following:

“First, get your facts straight. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” ~ Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1983

And;

“The law is reason, free from passion.” Aristotle, 4th century BCE

These two are perfectly intertwined for me in a way that gets me into as much trouble as you would think, but less trouble than you would know because it usually hits me before I press “send”. Or as I’m working through it in conversation. Or someone earnestly talks me out of taking it public. All are reasonably regular occurrences.

With that being said, I support a third party resurgence, and I emphatically support the resurgence of a third party that is intent on building a bridge between the two main ideological preferences in our province. I don’t know if it will succeed, but for this brief moment, I can at least hope.

Final thoughts

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