#i am an albertan and i did not ask for this

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

November 30, 2022

Mr. Hunter: Why did Albertans ask us to introduce a bill that reminds everyone in Canada what constitutional rights we have as a province? Because our equal partner – not parent or senior partner but an equal partner – in Confederation is driving drunk.

[arsonforcharlie]

'Scuse me, Bert, did you name yourself after the Canadian province?

this is the worst slander I've ever had to deal with on this webbed site

[battle-of-alberta]

Battle of Alberta 2023 Survey Results

It's that time again. Previous surveys can be found here for 2022, 2021 and 2020 for your reference.

We had 18 respondents to the survey. The average BoAB reader is female, around 24-25, and Canadian. Over half of respondents identified as Albertan, which is again increased from last year. Of those that have lived in Alberta, most of you have lived in Calgary followed by Edmonton, Lethbridge and Banff.

Read on for some graphs, notes, and responses...

Demographics

Much bigger proportion of men this year than last, howdy fellas! :)

I'm always meaning to extend the ages out a bit more than I have been, there's a very slight increase this year just based on averages from years previous. Curiously enough there is a very even split between those in the 19-30 rage this year that I don't typically see. As possible, it could just be that some of you are aging and reaching a new category.

A smaller category for international folks and a bigger category of North Americans than previously - I'm always worried whether I should focus more on making this blog more accessible to non-Canadians and I feel that I've been failing on that a lot, for which I apologize. Thanks for your patience!

The Albertan category continues to grow this year, and it's also worth noting that the "Never heard of it" category has disappeared this year. Well, I suppose those who hadn't last year have heard of it now? I hope. : );

Calgary has finally surpassed Edmonton in this ranking, which I suppose was only a matter of time as it is the more populous city. Can't believe all the Lethbians are moving to Calgary jk.

We have some more variation on travel this year as well, a couple of you cited Drumheller specifically and I believe one person mentioned Slave Lake as well. Naturally, the big cities and mountain parks are in the lead. And tsk tsk, no the Calgary airport doesn't count (though it is certainly Calgary flavoured in my recollection) :^)

Blog

Little change in the proportions here, just less of you admitting you know me which is fine :^)

Lots of shifting here with art steadily at the top. There's been a drop off in politics and stereotypes and a rise in not being alone in Hellberta, which I imagine might have been somewhat related to wanting to forget the election this year.

One of you mentioned not remembering following the blog - this might have been my error because I did reblog the survey to my other blogs since I'm in the habit of doing so. It's entirely possible you coincidentally followed one of my other blogs for something else but ended up inundated with the content on this blog anyway, since I tend to self-reblog quite liberally.

Illustrations beat out Asks for top spot this year, current events taking another hit. I'm glad you guys enjoyed Jasper's introduction and my travels so much! Someone also mentioned the timeline which was very kind, the only reason it wasn't on the survey was because I had already published the survey before the timeline!

I also realized for the second year in a row I don't really have a name for what one respondent described as "local flavour" posts that are directly inspired from my travels and day to day, and thus I don't exactly have a tag for it to make it easily findable. I will consider whether it needs a name and if I have a good one.

I also screwed up slightly and listed the Bison ask as the only one of its category rather than introducing "Parks Pass" as its own category, so this is something I'm going to reflect on for future surveys as well.

Historical events plummeted from the top spot this year in favour of gag comics, and again I definitely get the need for more lighthearted stuff as all these compounding crises are weighing on us. I feel like that's definitely a direction I've already been leaning in, even with those things that do relate to current or historical events.

(but yeah, I am still thinking about the otome game even though the pace is slower than molasses right now)

For other: there's still some interest in Special Powers and Cloud Minding there, so I will definitely consider how to continue them if possible even if it's not on the horizon right away.

This was a new question this year to replace "Projects". While I'm a little sad at the high number of you guys who use mobile only, I understand. I just feel frustrated because I learned how to make webcomics before mobile was a thing, and I still struggle with proportioning my comics for scrolling and legibility and I'm constantly worried that I'm doing something wrong (so of course I am always scrolling my own blog on my phone and nitpicking).

The other issue is that some pages of the blog including the vision, FAQ, etc. are inaccessible to android users (like myself) which is also annoying. But it's the way of the world and I can't fault anyone for it, I can just do my best to be aware of it and try to learn and make decisions accordingly.

Characters

Calvin stayed steady in the lead with the same number of votes, but I'm shocked and amazed to see Red making such gains this year! The rest of the votes were a little more egalitarian than last year, although sacrifices were made (poor Eleanor!)

I also want to note that there's no direct correlation between living in Calgary and voting for Calvin, interestingly enough.

Jasper's first year of life has left you all thirsty for more, I see. But uh, I really dug my own grave with Sherwood Park as my joke answer, hey...? I guess you will have to meet Marion soon enough (which means I have to actually picture what she looks like and put that on paper instead of just drawing the Eye of Sauron)

Eleanor, the Paranormal Squad and the Nyo! characters are climbing up this year as well.

Someone actually suggested other towns such as Vegreville, which made me chuckle a little. As I've said previously, my goal is not to create as many characters as possible but to focus on developing the ones I have in front of me, and I'm not interested in personifying any more small towns at this time. That said if I had to pick a design for Vegreville...

why not this guy? :^)

I'm not picky though, they could be a lady too.

lol.

The magpies won this year, hooray! I will put out some extra peanuts for them from you guys.

Comments

Now to address some of the comments...

Let's start with the recommendations! Thank you so much for your suggestions, I hope you don't mind me sharing so we can all take advantage. They're all new to me, so I'd like to check them out as soon as I'm able :)

In terms of artists, I'll put in a recommendation for Amelie Patterson! She's an alt-pop singer/songwriter from Banff. I don't know if she fits the "vibe" of Eleanor necessarily, but she definitely has some good songs! I assume you're probably aware of the documentarian Dan Olson (https://youtube.com/@FoldingIdeas) but if not, he's made an eclectic mix of video essays with rather good quality behind them! :D visit Chunk'd in Calgary (it's in Kensington), they sell kinda expensive but absolutely life-changing cookies Have you ever visited Fort McMurray?

To answer this last one directly, no, not yet: I'm waiting a bit on that one because apart from Northern Alberta being constantly on fire during travel season lately, we are hoping for some progress on Highway 686 between Fort Mac and GP to make the Northern Alberta trip a little easier. Also hoping to save up some money so pals from up north can show me around a bit too :)

---

The lack of an Unknown-N/A mark for opinion makes it less welcoming. I was shared a link to your blog, and yet, I didn't see an easy to read pinned "What to Expect / About… et cetera" so I don't know if I want to follow or block - that's much more in depth.

I'm going to be real with you, though I have no idea if you have any intention of reading my response or not or if you have already moved on, this response is somewhat unprecedented for me and I would be lying if I said it didn't keep me awake at night for a bit.

I'll set aside my bruised ego for a moment just to thank you for making me aware of some of my own blind spots and assumptions. Though it is not explicit and in fact I might have even been unintentionally misleading when I advertised this survey, I assume a certain level of familiarity with or at least curiosity about my work for survey respondents. However, there is no requirement to fill it out, regardless of whether you can answer the questions or not. It never occurred to me for this to be intended as a 'welcome' survey for visitors or potential readers, but more of a year in review.

I can't make any comment on who sent you my blog or why, but I do feel somewhat on the defensive from your response. Not only do I have a pinned post that links to more in depth about pages, but one of my main projects this year was to revamp it to be more accessible and easy to read than previously, so I can't help but feel a little stung that either it was not findable or not easy to read for you.

I'm not in the habit of self-marketing to complete strangers and I've racked my brains trying to come up with an alternative explanation for this amorphous thing that I've been building these past few years, but the choice between "follow or block" rather than "follow or leave" sounds to me like something I cannot resolve in my response beyond the following, and I apologize if this comes across as rude:

If you're not into weird drawings of anime twinks with varying levels of homoerotic tension that just happen to represent personifications of cities in this weird, beautiful, frustrating province and my own evolving understandings of them as both characters and as places, maybe this blog isn't for you. It's one part idealised vision, one part shenanigans, and one part coping mechanism. Maybe someone else could describe it better from the outside (lord knows as an ask blog, a great deal of the blog is somewhat dependent on reader contributions).

If you're looking for a bumper sticker that would encapsulate enough of my political views to decide whether to block me, you'd have to drive pretty close to read the paragraph starting with "well i absolutely voted for notley because i'm willing to settle for what amounts to a centre right pro-pipeline party if it means a snowball's chance in hell of avoiding certain death from the bigots and conspiracy theorists continuing to flock to what passes for the conservatives these days... etc etc", well, there it is and certainly there is a queer, satirical bent to political views espoused on this blog, though I try to think of it as a "break from the bullshit" because otherwise I wouldn't get out of bed let alone pick up my pen.

I can't provide much more than this in terms of "what to expect" because, as the survey indicates, the blog is always changing according to my time, energy, and mindset and who the heckaroonie i think I'm speaking to at any given time. If you stuck around long enough to read this, thanks.

---

the parliament of magpies would have won if they'd ACTUALLY BEEN THERE.

I try to keep results as anonymous as possible but Maybe If You Came Over at a Different Time that isn't Balding Season they wouldn't be so shy! :)

you're good

Let's end on this one, thank you :) and thank you all for responding this year, I hope things can look up for us a little in the new year despite all the political bullshit, the cost of living and the goddamn constant fires. I learned a lot this year and was able to travel a lot too, and I hope I can continue drawing inspiration from this silly project for a while yet.

See you, Space Cowboys.

[sga-owns-my-soul]

🖤 Excuse me! I would.love to hear more about Albertan Rodney if/when you are so inclined. Xxx

oh boy i am SO inclined buckle up bc i have some THOUGHTS about this!!

okay so i'm from alberta, born and raised, and i have literally been thinking about rodney being from alberta since the first time i watched tracker at like 11 years old. if you're not aware, alberta is a VERY redneck/conservative province, i refer to us as americas 51st state bc so many people here have a lot of Conservative Capitalist America Views. as one of the oil and gas capitals of the world, there is a lot of people who work on the oil rigs (everyone here (that i grew up with) calls them rig pigs, and i can 100% see rodney calling them that) especially in fort macmurray, which is located in the middle of the athabasca oil sands.

and like don't get me wrong there's a lot of great things about alberta but it's too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer and imagine you're a genius who's smarter than everyone around you by the time you're like 8 years old and you're just. Stuck There. stuck surrounded by people who think fossil fuels are the end all be all of power technology. surrounded by all these narrow minded people stuck in their ways and incapable of looking forward towards the future. he probably couldn't WAIT to get out of there the second he could, and i have no doubts he did

but i also think he gets, like, weirdly nostalgic for it? alberta is a fucking BEAUTIFUL province it's literally so fucking breathtaking and we have everything. we have mountains and forests and plains and grasslands and badlands, it's so fucking diverse and despite all its problems (so many problems), you can't help but look around sometimes and think "i am damn lucky to live here." i can just imagine rodney going to different planets and just taking a second bc whatever world they stepped onto looks /just like/ that provincial park he went to as a kid. or that picture of a mountain range he saw at school every day for 6 years. or some other vivid memory of where he grew up (it helps that they filmed in BC so it's not that much of a stretch to be like this literally looks like somewhere he's been before)

i also think there's a lot about being albertan that he hated as a kid but as an adult, specifically with his team, he's more inclined to miss. like obviously some things he shared the second he could (maple taffy was the first thing on his requisition list when they reconnected with earth and you cannot tell me otherwise. it's also what him and ronon first bonded over you can't tell me otherwise for that either) but certain things (like going to Edmonton or Calgary for Vacation bc that's where the Things To Do are, or maybe Banff or Jasper if you're feeling Touristy/Outdoorsy) that seemed so terrible for whatever reason as a kid seems... endearing almost? and especially when ronon and teyla start talking about athos or sateda, rodney just feels like he wants to share too, share this part of himself with his team that maybe he didn't always like but. it's part of who he is, it shaped him, and as awful as it was at the time maybe he wouldn't have pushed himself as hard as he did to get to where he is now. he worked and worked and worked to get as far away from that stupid town as possible and he literally went to another galaxy to get away from it and he ran right into the family he didn't think he would ever find (no that's not projection shut up)

wow okay this is getting long so i'll end it here but yeah i have Thoughts. about rodney mckay and how he definitely absolutely 100% grew up in alberta! thanks for the ask i hope this answer satisfies you

[kayla1993-world]

Alberta's two main provincial party leaders shared the same stage Tuesday but not at the same time, delivering competing visions for the province's largest city as they move into campaign mode before this spring's election. Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek interviewed Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley and then Premier Danielle Smith as part of Calgary Economic Development's annual report to the community. Gondek asked each leader questions that included how they would diversify the city's economy, their vision for Calgary's downtown, and how they would work with the federal government to ensure a steady source of municipal funding. Notley touted tax credits, a reinvestment in post-secondary education, and ways an NDP government would revitalize the city's downtown. "Post-secondary is a critical partner in business development," she said to a round of applause. Notley talked about a plan to create a downtown post-secondary footprint in Calgary and to deal with such issues as public safety, mental health, and affordable housing. She also got a round of applause when she promised to "get rid of this ridiculous Sovereignty Act" to provide greater investment certainty in the province. The bill was introduced by Smith as centerpiece legislation to pursue a more confrontational approach with the federal government on issues deemed to be an overreach in provincial areas of responsibility. As Notley exited on one side of the stage, Smith walked up on the other to sit down for the same set of questions from Gondek. The United Conservative Party leader focused on her government's film tax credit and corporate tax cuts, as well as a national campaign to attract more workers to Alberta. "We have had six quarters of people move into our province, and I think that's going to keep on going," said Smith. "We just want to make sure we have stability and that people know they have a low-tax environment." "When you get the economics right and people see this is the place to be, they will come and do that kind of investment," she said. "When you get the economics right and people see this is the place to be, they will come and do that kind of investment," she said. Smith got applause when she said the government was committed to helping get a new sports, arts, and entertainment building for Calgary. Smith did not take questions from reporters, while several other NDP politicians joined Notley when she spoke after the event and pointed out the differences in philosophy between her party and the UCP. "They are basically washing their hands of the issue of downtown revitalization and the issue of incentivizing more diversification and really actively promoting... the kind of economic plan that will set us up for many decades into the future," Notley told reporters. "It's a very hands-off approach. "We need to be strategic, and we need to work as partners in order to ensure Alberta attracts the kind of investment that we have the potential to attract." Notley acknowledged that both provincial parties are starting to shift into campaign mode. "We have a fixed election date," she said, "and the focus will shift when that happens, so I am just going to continue talking to Albertans about the things that matter to them and what our plans are."

[yegarts]

“I Am YEG Arts” Series: Derina Harvey

Gather around you that which you need to produce what you want. Oh, and while you’re at it, get to work! To Derina Harvey, there’s not much more to it than that. Except, of course, making music—something she and the Derina Harvey Band can’t do without. If you’ve never caught a live show, just imagine a “rockier” version of Great Big Sea, if fronted by Adele. Intrigued? It’s hard not to be. Harvey’s masterful storytelling and soaring vocals are nothing short of a call to action. An invitation to laugh more, celebrate more, and feel alive. This week’s “I Am YEG Arts” story belongs to Derina Harvey.

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and how it has influenced your path.

Well, I grew up playing country and folk music, and Celtic classics, with my musical family in Wabush, Labrador. Then, when it was time for college, I followed my mother’s and sister's footsteps and went into post-secondary for the arts. In 2000, after graduating with a diploma in Music Industry and Performance from the College of the North Atlantic, I promptly headed west to follow the friends I made during the program who were moving to Alberta to pursue careers in the music scene. I may have had other ulterior motives for moving west too, as my best-friend-and-now-husband (and bandmate), Steve Pinsent, was one of these migrating classmates.

I arrived in Edmonton in 2002 and found work as a sound engineer for an Edmonton-based hotel-events team and with Sinclair, the band my college friends had formed. Touring around Alberta with Sinclair, I’d occasionally join them onstage playing and singing covers and originals, which was so much fun! We started attending Alberta Music seminars and began networking and soaking up industry information.

In 2004, Steve and I welcomed our first (of three) wee Albertan babies. As my maternity cheques were running out in the early weeks of January 2005, Steve looked in an actual paper copy of the Edmonton Yellow Pages and got me an audition at the East-Coast-themed Atlantic Trap and Gill. Manager Tanya Thorne gave me my first opportunity as a solo performer on weekdays, and I played both popular tunes and the traditional songs I grew up with. This helped keep a roof over our heads as I looked for more work. Eventually, I was asked by The Trap’s manager to put a band together for the weekend spots, and the Derina Harvey Band (dHb) was formed.

When two members of dHb moved back east, Scott Greene stepped in on electric guitar and harmony vocals. Scott’s long-time friend and bass player, Edward Smith, also joined us! Instantly, our audience begged for an album. We are completely independent, so it took some time to put together but, dHb released our first album in 2013 and then another in 2016…. By 2017 we had played with a few fiddle players: Matt O’Connor was in the mix, Alex Kusturok was with us in Tacoma adding his superb Métis and folk style to our sound. The uber talented Jessica Blenis also joins us on stage and lends her soaring harmonies and fiery fiddles on all our recordings since 2017.

We had all grown up on Celtic music but had focused on our other musical educations and collaborative projects until dHb was formed. The authenticity of returning to our roots, the dedication to musicality, and the blend of genres lent us a fresh take on traditional favourites, while maintaining the integrity of the covers. In songwriting, our original material has flavours of country, blues, rock, and pop—but wrapped in a woolly and woven East Coast Celtic tartan blanket! So, I suppose you could say that I walked off the plane in YEG with intentions to find my musical path, and Alberta’s audiences from Fort McMurray to Medicine Hat—and, of course, Edmonton—kept me on a road of authenticity.

How did you get your start as a singer/songwriter? Did one come more naturally than the other?

I was born into a musical family of four—five if you count the dog who played piano from time to time. Being on stage at five-years-old and being raised in a household where music and visual art were created and discussed daily, gave me an appreciation for the process. My parents, Ron and Sheilagh, wrote and released honest, observational-type songs and always had instruments all over the house that we were encouraged to play. My sister Kyna and I would also help them write and lend a hand in editing lyrics or arranging instruments and harmonies. Watching my father rehearse and perform with Labrador Black Spruce also gave me insights into industry do’s and don'ts.

When I was twelve, I visited my sister at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology and realized that creating music could be a real job! I was hooked! I wrote little songs and performed them with my friends and bandmates in high school. By the time I was in college, I’d received my first SOCAN cheque (while I was still in my teens) for a recording of a song I’d written for a college songwriting course! I was so grateful—and perhaps in shock.

What narratives are you drawn to as a storyteller?

With dHb, the songwriting feels like it's always maturing, yet still feels new, because the processes, plots, and prose often change. Sometimes songs are based on real-life situations, like the retelling of the resettlement process in the title track off our second CD, Rove and Go (2016), about a house that moves to a new home and the strength of the people who moved it. It came about as Steve played a progression on an acoustic guitar one evening and asked me, “what would you sing over this?” I came up with the chorus pretty quick, but the story came much later.

“The Fallen Man's Daughter” (2018) was the result of a collaboration with Ed Smith writing a tribute to his uncle and the men lost at sea when a fishing vessel went down off the coast of Newfoundland in 1994. A story sadly all too familiar is the loss of family, those who take care of us, and the legacy of love they leave behind. We worked with Alberta’s own Barrett Kelsko and created a music video for this song that was shot in both Newfoundland and Alberta.

Some of the songs we’re working on now for the new album range from fun, in-the-moment-driven party tunes, like “Up All Night” (already released), to deeper, inward, raw reflections, like another single we released, titled “Grow,” which reminds us to remember our strength when navigating obstacles in our path. Writing sometimes flows out in an unstoppable torrent, and “Grow” was like that—lyrics first, then progressions and accompaniment many months after—a true exercise in refinement over months and years. When it comes to narrative, I’d say the most important part for me is to have a story and a musical landscape that matches—to tell a story through song that I believe and can deliver with my entire heart.

What is a Derina Harvey Band live show like? How do you hope to make people feel?

I want to invite you to relax in a friendly environment, and tap your toe, and sing along. No matter where we are, in Malibu or Marystown, in Cold Lake or Canmore, I want you to walk away after the show still humming a lilting, lifting tune. Depending on the venue, you may get a barrage of high-energy tunes or a night of dancing, perfect for twirling in tall festival grasses! Or perhaps, in a theatre setting, you could expect a few more moving ballads and stories—in this seated setting, I want to make you laugh, maybe make you cry, and then make you laugh again before sending you home. Music can call us to action. It can help us celebrate or grieve, it brings us together, and all of that is what I want to offer at a dHb show!

Where have you seen your music show up that’s surprised you?

Somehow, somewhere in the world, one of our songs ended up as a sound used on TikTok, and as a result, this Edmonton-based band has listeners all over the planet! As tracked in 2022, about a million streams a month for dHb songs stems from our version of Tom Lewis’ classic, “The Last Shanty.” Our choice to put this song on our second album was made based on performing at Edmonton’s events and the crowds’ reactions to our set list! Our gratitude is unending.

Tell us about someone whose support and advice have guided your career.

So many wonderful pieces of advice over the years have been bestowed, and I try to remember them as often as possible. Encouragement from friends and family are, no doubt, on the list. My mother (Sheilagh Harvey) often quotes Dr. Wayne Dyer’s, “Gather around you that which you need to produce what you want,” and I find myself using this as a mantra.

When I attended a seminar with Kevin Blackmore of the legendary touring music-and-comedy act Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers, I asked what should be avoided in the industry. He responded, “negativity.”

Wade Pinhorn was my professor in college, and he would often remind the class to “leave the ego at the door—if you weren’t great you wouldn’t be here,” followed by, “Now get to work.” Also, about being true to yourself and not giving in to fits of extravagance or greed he said, “We don’t need much, do we?” All of these are grounding, and they bring me back to a purpose and ring with truth.

What’s the first song you ever remember wishing you’d written?

I’m not sure that I have ever wished I had written someone else’s song. I’m always happy that someone wrote a song that slaps or touches my heart. If a writer delivers a story that aligns with mine or makes me cry—which is the litmus test for me feeling a song—I just enjoy their work and am inspired by their brilliance!

How important has collaboration been throughout your career?

I often have to pour over my choices for a while before making decisions. I think there are benefits to collaborating that range from encouragement and to refinement, to maybe helping me get out of my own way… past a block.

I love seeing how an idea blooms… although I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t experience some anxiety about bearing a deep personal message or a foolish idea to a group or individual for the first time. It helps to understand that an idea, perhaps a crappy idea, when reviewed or shared can lead to a less crappy idea and, perhaps, to something you feel is near the right fit or owns some level of brilliance—I'm sure I read something like that in a Write Better Lyrics handbook.

We work, write and record together, and all dHb albums and singles have been self-produced by dHb and engineered and mixed by Scott Greene (a dHb member). But having outside help does give us inspiration. The late Mike Wells mastered all our recordings, and his input was invaluable. He will be missed for his many talents, and we are better for his gifts to us. Having another set of ears and eyes on your work and then evaluating their considerations can help breathe much needed fresh air into a project—and lend opportunities for depth.

Is there a particular piece of feedback you lean on when days are tough?

We don’t always know the impact of our work; however, with social media we’ve received such kind messages and moving stories from our friends through music. Recently after a show in Washington, we met a young person who shared that she’d been in a very low, very dark place emotionally for a while. She said that about a year prior to that very day, a music platform randomly added one of our songs to her playlist, and she liked what she’d heard! She told us she then found everything we’d released, and that the more she listened, the better she felt—that it made a difference that changed—and maybe helped save—her life. I’m paraphrasing it all, but this kind of message is one that hits me, and I have tears in my eyes now thinking about her and the other folks who have shared similar messages with us. It makes me feel tiny but very connected in a significant and beautiful way to have had some impact on a person’s experience of joy. It’s indescribable. It pushes us forward on days when I forget myself and start to tumble or spiral in my own issues. I keep that moment close to my heart.

What are you currently working on or hoping to explore next?

Currently we are writing to finish our third album, which will include the singles that have already been released. We have hopes for a concept album to follow.

What excites you most about the YEG art scene right now?

The awakening and reopening of venues with lots of music and dancing! The mix of established and new artists sharing stages of all sizes! Summer patios filled with song, festivals wafting music through the river valley, and the upcoming theatre season bursting with local acts and touring groups from all over the world, inspiring the next generation of performers within its audience! Sharing unifying experiences and making new memories together, in person, from backstage to the back row! The front of house, sound crews, and support staff all getting back to doing what they love best! The show that must go on! What could be better?

Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here all year and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along! 

Click here to learn more about Derina Harvey, the Derina Harvey Band, and where to find their music, shows, and more. 

About Derina Harvey

Derina Harvey leads the award-winning Celtic Rock sensation, the Derina Harvey Band (dHb). With a show that offers a fresh take on traditional folk songs, as well as a few originals, Derina’s vibrant personality takes centre stage with humour, storytelling and, of course, her world-class vocals. dHb has been likened to a “rockier” version of Canada’s Great Big Sea, if fronted by Adele, and has earned a reputation as a high-energy live show that leaves many an audience out of breath and hollering from their seats! dHb concerts can be adapted to suit any venue, whether it’s a captivating night of telling stories through song in a Performing Arts Centre or a dinner and dance in a community hall. The band has been across Canada via the performing arts and festival circuits and is now poised to take the US by storm, having been very well-received at three juried US showcases. The band has begun to make inroads in the US and had finished a tour of the south-eastern states just prior to the pandemic. The group has spent the last year writing some new music (releasing the single “Grow” in 2021) and enjoying a huge wave of new online followers from across the globe, via TikTok. dHb’s recording of Tom Lewis’s “The Last Shanty” was used in thousands of videos on the platform, introducing the band to a whole new generation of listeners and causing their streaming numbers to skyrocket to almost 25 million total streams—and adding over a million more every month!

[heartlandians]

Chris Potter on acting and directing on Heartland

Hello Heartlanders,

Welcome back to a brand new season.

One we might all agree has been "for the ages."

The CBC Digital media team has asked if I would answer some questions with regard to the episodes I directed this season.

The answer is Yes!

So, let's "Blog".

Question: How do you feel about Graham Wardle's departure from the show?

With a few minutes of online research, anyone can discover that over the decades many successful TV series have experienced the loss of a lead character. Shelley Long from Cheers, Steve Carell from The Office and Game of Thrones, who virtually rewrote the playback on killing off lead characters, to name just a few.

Individuals seek change in every walk of life.

Graham Wardle gave a 100% effort during his years on Heartland. Though it may only take an hour to watch, it's important to remember that it took Graham 6 to 8 months to complete a season each and every year.

If Graham were my son, I'd be glowing with pride for his achievements.

I wish him continued success. It was a pleasure working with him.

Question: What is your process and what were the challenges of directing episode 1403 and 1404?

I was assigned Episode 3, "Making Amends", co-written by Heather Conkie and her daughter Alexandra Clarke, as well as Episode 4, "Through the Flames", written by Ken Craw.

I wrapped on Season 13 in late August of 2019. Little did we know that a full year would pass before we would roll cameras on a 14th season of Heartland.

The progressive uncertainty brought on by the Covid pandemic was shutting down our industry and sidelining performing artists the world over. The Heartland window was closing on completing a season of 10 episodes.

In late August, I received a text from Executive Producer Dean Bennett that stated we were ready to roll, and I would be needed in Calgary the second week of September 2020 to begin filming.

The part of the text I'll never forget informed me that the producers would like me to direct Block 2 (episodes 3 and 4) and that the scripts were currently being extensively re-written due to casting. They would not be available for me to read.

But... the 'train derailment' and 'grass fire' were still in episode 4.

What?? Train derailment? Grass fire?

Where am I going to find a location to derail a train, create explosions, open flames, heavy smoke and Fire Crews to fight it, in the middle of pandemic restricted conditions?

Important to note, the director's success is fully dependent on support from and communication with numerous creative departments that make up a production team. Just read the credits at the end of any show for proof.

On Heartland, we have an intense 15-day pre-production schedule prior to filming each block of shows. It is in these ongoing production meetings that we iron out the challenges and logistics that each episode may present. Teamwork is the key.

As Director, I am assigned an assistant directing team whose talents make my work achievable.

Back to the Train Wreck :)

Leave it to our talented locations manager, Brian Dunne, to find an Albertan acreage owned by a train lover.

Not only had the property owner turned his ranch land into a train themed family campground, but he also owned an adjacent property with kilometres of usable track and a collection of functional rail cars that he had accumulated over the years. Knowing that the list of alternate choices might be limited to none, I made this our first choice.

Dale Marushy became our new production designer for Season 14. What he and his team accomplished in turning that set into what you see in "Through the Smoke," deserves recognition. It was literally a "trial by fire" victory for his department.

Another new addition to the Heartland production team this season was David Benediktson and his special effects team that provided the fire, smoke, explosions etc. throughout the episode. Top shelf pros.

* The most important step of my directing process is my first read of the script. No distractions, no interruptions. I disappear inside the story. I reappear on a visual path. The rhythm, pace, colours, textures, light and dramatic beats all inform the tone of the episode I want to deliver.

As a Director, I try to give the Heartland audience more of what they expect. I don't try to reinvent the wheel.

Having a great working relationship and trust in Director of Photography Jarrett Craig and his camera team is the icing on the cake.

Question: How do you act and direct at the same time? Which do you prefer?

I prefer doing both at the same time. I feel fully engaged giving everything I can offer. I feel fortunate that our producers have shown faith in my ability to do both. But... if I had to choose one, it would be acting.

Mastering the craft is a lifelong pursuit. I love the moments between "Action and Cut".

Everything outside of those moments is just 'waiting'...and life of course.

*Acting and Directing demand opposing energies.

As a Director, I'm actively engaged with a crew and expected to lead them through our day as scheduled. The days are long and can be physically and mentally exhausting depending on location and weather. Somewhat like doing a jigsaw puzzle outside all day.

As an actor, I need to calm my mind and harness my internal energy in order to focus, concentrate and, most importantly, listen, when I am performing in a scene.

Calming breaths are helpful for both jobs. :)

Question: Is being an Actor an advantage when Directing an Actor?

It certainly provides an understanding. Not sure if it is an advantage.

One thing that is guaranteed on Heartland is the beauty of the animals, the surroundings of the Rocky Mountain foothills and the long spectacular views.

But the writing and performances of the actors bring our viewers back each week.

I believe in actors. No matter what level of experience they may have. I believe that if they are on our set, they have gone through a long process to be there and they have my support.

I try to quickly identify their strengths and let them know I believe in them.

I encourage them to be confident in their abilities and choices. I let them know I've got their backs.

As for our lead characters, well, I think they know that I'm wise to their tricks and if I catch them coasting I won't let them get away with it. HaHa.

There is nothing more exciting and entertaining for me than to watch Shaun and Megan Follows take a scene off the page as in Episode 4, Scene 51 "Through the Smoke."

Or Amber and Michelle work their magic in Episode 3, Scene 29 "Making Amends."

I just keep the cameras still and let them work. Beautiful.

Question: What was it like working through the pandemic?

Heartland began filming its first season in 2007. The summer was extremely hot and dry as I recall. The ranch lands and foothills were parched and brown. Dry, hot and dusty. Subsequent seasons followed with days of relentless rain, early snowfalls, and plummeting early fall temperatures. Lou married Peter in -30C weather. The girls in dresses the guys in suits, having to walk outside from the parking lot to the church, more than once.

In 2013, Calgary and specifically High River, home to Maggie's Diner, was wiped out by historic flooding. We were working there that day and had to scramble to get out of town. Forest fire smoke has delayed filming. Golf ball sized hail has assaulted our crew on remote mountain and hill top locations. Ominous electrical storm fronts have closed in on us and left us all scrambling for cover. We even had a tornado bearing down on us at Heartland ranch sending us into panic mode before it made an abrupt turn away.

And that's just the weather!!

So, if you think a little pandemic is going to scare the most resilient group of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Think again.

Kudos to the specialists that implemented and oversaw the system of health and safety protocols that we followed this past season.

Hugs and handshakes to a cast and crew that doesn't scare easily.

Heartland season 14 required a 4-month, 24hr a day commitment from every single individual.

No one wanted to be the person that brought Covid-19 to work. And because of the quality of the individuals who make up the Heartland production family. Nobody did!!

Health and happiness,

I hope you all enjoy season 14 of Heartland.  

CP

Source

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

June 20, 2023

Ms Smith: I am honoured to rise today and nominate a member of this Assembly for the role of Deputy Speaker. Before I do, however, I’d like to take a moment to address the Ethics Commissioner report from last month. Although I had no ill intent, the Ethics Commissioner found it was improper for me to contact the Minister of Justice in the way I did, and I apologize to all members of the Assembly and to all Albertans for the error.

I’ve asked my Minister of Justice to develop guidelines for an appropriate way to receive his legal advice on various legal matters, and I look forward to receiving that advice.

[allbeendonebefore]

Hey hapo what's with the sea of blue in sask and Alberta during the election like did Sheer make that good of an impression on Sask voters??? NDP is option??

sea of blue you say? obviously we created our own blue sea since we’re not allowed access to tidewater JKJKJKJK

this is a really complicated question and I’m trying to think about how best to explain it. my feelings on the issue are very mixed because i feel like i have a foot or a hand in several camps like some convoluted twister game. it’s something that a lot of identity and emotion is tied up in for a lot of people and it’s rooted very firmly in inequalities that have existed for over a century and get expressed differently in different regions. It’s something that I grew up saturated in and I’ve done a lot of reading about (and of course there’s always more on my reading list) but I’ll try and highlight a few reasons that I’ve been musing about so as not to be too overwhelming. 

it’s something that is really hard to explain to people from outside the province because we’re quick to be written off (sometimes rightfully so, others not) but it’s something that’s equally hard to explain to people inside the province. As I said it’s something we’re all saturated in, we are born into it or we grow up in it and it’s really hard to confront a lot of things surrounding it. And I definitely have my own biases and background and relation to this issue and I must stress that as furious as I am with people in large groups making dumb ass decisions, I can’t be angry at individuals because I get a lot of why this happens even though I find it personally misguided or ignorant at best and actively harmful, selfish, and self-sabotaging at worst. But when I explain this I hope it makes sense why for a lot of people it feels like the only option.

And my last preface is that I am speaking from an Alberta perspective, if my followers in Saskatchewan want to add on to this please feel free. I’m glossing over a lot here because I’m trying to keep this short and understandable… but when have I ever done that lol.

Yeah, it got long.

so why does the west go conservative. it’s not scheer, and if you remember harper you’ll remember personality is never high on our list of priorities. [insert gif of harper explaining how he too is a human who watches netflix here] 

1. History 

To sum up two hundred years: Alberta and Saskatchewan were never equal partners in confederation with other provinces. They were purchased and carved up by the Canadian government which then imposed the two party system on the provinces, which prior had consensus government which (i believe) was similar to how NWT and Nunavut continue to operate. They were not given the rights to their own resources until decades after joining confederation. They were given Liberal governments because the Liberals were and are considered the “natural” governing party of Canada, and while Saskatchewan has flopped between Liberal and Conservative governments like many eastern provinces, Alberta has always had a radical streak and has NEVER re-elected an unseated party in its history. And no, I don’t consider the UCP a continuation of the previous 4 decades of conservative rule, even though they imagine themselves to be the inheritors of that legacy. 

Fast forward to the direct impacts: in the 70s, world events that severely impacted oil production caused Eastern Canada to absolutely panic and force Alberta and Saskatchewan (yet again) into providing discounts on their production to soften the blow in Ontario and Quebec of rising prices, forbidding them to sell for a profit to the United States. This included both oil products and potash, hugely lucrative products in AB and SK. It was a continuation of Eastern Canada imagining and treating the prairies as property, as chattel, where provinces like Quebec and BC would never be asked to undersell to benefit the rest of the country. 

The current federal conservative party is an amalgamation of reactions to this situation and related ones: the Progressive party (which was a complete misnomer) originated in Manitoba, the Reform party emerged from what I understand as the “first wave” of western separatism, and even though Reform was defeated federally it is still a direct ancestor to Stephen Harper and by extension Andrew Scheer. Harper’s policies are the natural product of decades of conservative governments dating back to Preston and Earnest Manning’s Social Credit party in Alberta.

That said, people from both inside and outside the provinces completely misunderstand Harper’s (and Kenney’s) “Western-ness” or “Albertan-ness”. Both of them ran on western issues and appear to speak up for western interests, but those issues and interests only go as far as the CEOs of the oil companies are concerned, not the working class in the industry. Harper and Kenney actively undermined the equalization formula for the west and had the gall to campaign on striking a good deal for the west. Federal politicians do not have to ever strike a good deal for the west, they will ALWAYS prioritize voters in Ontario and Quebec so long as our voting system remains this way. 

2. Identity

My next point in the long agonizing question of Why This is a sensitive one. In Alberta we have my parent’s generation who were voting age at the toppling of Social Credit by Lougheed’s Conservatives. For Alberta this was a monumental shift in taking no shit from Ottawa that people still look back on. Lougheed was a hero for demanding a fair price from Canada for Alberta, and he was incredibly concerned with managing the resource and the profits wisely. While conservative governments were natural and long standing in eastern Canada, this was the first time they had taken power in Alberta and they made a dramatic and revolutionary impression, which is not a thing that conservative governments are usually known to do. 

My parent’s generation remembers this time of intense prosperity. My parent’s generation raised their children in this boom-bust cycle and my parent’s generation watched as Lougheed’s heritage fund was spent out from under us. I grew up under Ralph Klein’s government- intensely popular for a premier and who’s legacy was as powerful as Lougheed’s, but incredibly polarizing. He gave $300 to every man, woman and child in the province (except my fam because we had just moved back and didn’t have residency, lol) which was memorable if irresponsible. But it was men like Klein who had the charisma and the presence to make people really take pride in the industry, to worship the boom-bust, and to consider all problems solved. Klein did not give a shit about the part of Alberta I grew up in, and friends who lived in the far north of the province fared even worse. It’s absolutely no wonder that the Edmonton area consistently votes “against” the rest of the province when we were left isolated and broken during the bust of the 90s and ignored repeatedly in the mid to late 2000s. 

I have a deep seated and extreme resentment for Ralph Klein’s government and it’s not because I missed out on my 300 Ralph Bucks or because I don’t have connections to the industry, it’s because I grew up with a deep seated fear that I wouldn’t be able to complete my education or that if I got sick something horrible would happen. I was legitimately terrified I would not be able to make it to secondary school because of the cuts his government made on rural schools, and for friends of mine who were not as lucky and well supported as I was, it was even worse. I won’t drag their personal stories onto the internet to make my point, but know 

But the point of this all is that the people alive today who vote are people who remember this time of prosperity, of fighting Ottawa, and of relative ‘freedom’ from taxation and so on and so forth are constantly trying to hold onto that time. The kids in my generation who I went to school with did not have to graduate high school - my school had a 70% drop out rate because people would go straight to the patch or into a related industry. In Alberta, every industry is a related industry. There is not an aspect of living in Alberta that the patch doesn’t touch. This is hard to understand for people outside the province. It was actual culture shock to me to come to Ontario where funders of schools and businesses are families that date back to confederation rather than Enbridge or Suncor. 

Moreover, the people who work in the patch do an incredibly difficult and dangerous job for incredible amounts of money and it’s no wonder they are so valourized. The people who work in the patch are more dependent on the companies than they are on the government. During the fire of 2016, it may have been the government providing evacuation stations, but it was the companies who got people out. Working class people feel seriously undervalued and are obviously seriously defensive about the industry for real, concrete reasons. 

The past four decades have shaped generations of people in this way. This is not something easily reversed. Voting conservative is almost inextricable from Albertan identity and it’s impossible to explain concisely. We all grow up with the same arguments and talking points, we are all imbued with anger and defensive remarks from birth, and to people outside the province our arguments can sound rehearsed to the point of sounding cult-like. Stop Using Plastic If You Don’t Like It. Stop Driving and Flying. Stop Importing from Dictatorships. Stop Being a Hypocrite. They are easy, simple mantras to absolve anyone related to the industry (which is everyone) of any guilt because they don’t have to be a hypocrite if they just embrace the reality. There is no room for any critical thought in this identity, there is no room for discussion, there is nothing beyond Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and Don’t Ever Criticize What Keeps Everything Running. It’s normal and natural to feel upset when people who don’t grow up with this line of thinking find it strange.

3. Alienation

So why doesn’t our valourization of the working class translate directly into NDP votes? Why does Rachel Notley become vilified for speaking and acting as Peter Lougheed did in the 1970s? Why do we continue voting conservative and say thank you when they betray us and kick us in the balls every single time? Why do we cover up our oh-so-shameful history of birthing the CCF/NDP out of the desperation and destitution of the Great Depression? 

As I’ve been saying it’s complicated, but it’s also really simple. No federal party ever speaks to us. Not a single one. The conservatives barely have to because they know our identity as conservative dates back to before a time when we even had a provincial upper-case Conservative government ourselves. Scheer can parade up and down parliament hill with his appeals to free speech and his pro life base and his white supremacist dogwhistles all he likes because he knows keeping Alberta and Saskatchewan “happy” (read: angry) is easy. This is a man who said himself that he doesn’t need ‘indian votes’ to win and he certainly was far more worried about keeping Doug Ford out of the spotlight during his campaign and pissing off Ontario than he was about us, and premier kenney spent all his time in office campaigning for scheer instead of running the goddamn province, including preparing us for an emergency. And we lap it up while screaming bloody murder if rachel notley is not personally handing out waterbottles on the side of the highway of death. 

No party, not even the conservatives, truly speaks to Albertans. We get hated on constantly by the rest of the country because we appear to be full of climate change deniers, but even the CEO of SUNCOR condemns deniers and politicians who cater to them. A lot of Albertans do acknowledge climate change is a reality despite how we’re painted, but because of the misunderstanding we feel directed at us constantly we tend to react badly and would rather hole up in our bunkers and let the rest of the country freeze in the dark - or melt in the sun as it were. No party speaks to working class rural people. No party makes the attempt to speak to people who are still only grappling with already outdated terminology like “global warming” while they are shoveling snow in August or September. No party is talking about actual grievances that working class people in Alberta face, such as long hours away from home and family or intense isolation that leads to addiction and death, that matter more to people than seemingly hypothetical change in climate that happens Elsewhere, not Here. Parties need to start coming up with concrete solutions that will make the inevitable transition more than just necessary but inclusive and beneficial. No one wants to feel like they have to start from scratch, no one wants to worry about what to do or how it will help. We aren’t used to thinking about solving problems, and we keep putting it on the next generation while we make it even harder for them.  

The more we are criticized the more militaristic the vocabulary becomes, and that’s why we provincially voted for a war room and tax cuts while taking the money from school lunch programs. We rest on our laurels of having the lowest child poverty rate in the country while stealing money from children and blaming their parents for them going hungry. It’s abominable. And a lot of us realize it. And a lot of us still feel as if we have no choice. A lot of progressive voices get drowned out in stifling silence and any change feels like an existential threat. We got ourselves into this mess, but we all need to work together to get out of it. And that means listening to the strongest opposition we’ve had in nearly a half century. That means being grown ups and sitting at the table with the rest of the country. That means fighting the gut reaction to sputter out talking points you were taught to say because it meant protecting your family. That also means that we need to be listened to in return without smugness or patronizing attitudes from politicians or the rest of the country. 

If you want us to switch to alternative energy, you all need to step up and start helping us do that. As long as we feel as if it’s being imposed on us we will struggle and we will fight, but it’s exactly why it’s so important to change the tone of the conversation. Listen to us. Help us. Make us feel like we’re part of the country. Give us the tools we need to be better. Encourage us to be leaders in the energy industry because we love being the best and thrive off healthy competition. Appeal to real, concrete issues for working class people with real concrete solutions. 

yeah. uh. [places mic shakily back on the stand] peace im going to bed, fight me or whatever. 

[madeleinedevalois]

Where in the World is Wynonna Earp?

So I’m a map fiend. I love maps. Any time someone pulls out a map, I am THERE. So when I noticed Waverly pull out a map on a rewatch of Season 1, Episode 3...

I was all over it.

So we know from Season 1, Episode 1 that the show takes place in Canada, as a conversation between Wynonna and Dolls tells us that as a U.S. Marshal he’s out of his jurisdiction, and that he’s on a cross-border task force. We can tell which province from the blurred out license plates on the cars - the red letters and numbers indicate an Alberta license plate. Luckily for production, Alberta does not require license plates on the front of vehicles, so as long as you shoot from the front no one will notice - but we get the odd glimpse.

So what can we do with Waverly’s map? We can locate Purgatory itself, and understand the full extent of the Ghost River Triangle. 

It’s big.

Really big.

Glad I’m not you, Wynonna. 

My first estimation was that Calgary, as the biggest city close to the border, was ‘The Big City,' as Waverly has labelled it. This was backed up by the highway patterns. From there I used Cranbrook, Calgary, Canmore, and the U.S. border as my references to superimpose the maps and make them match up and create the border of the Ghost River Triangle.

However, we’re missing a piece in the top right corner. Following the lines of the border, I was able to figure out the full extent of the Triangle. And still using Waverly’s map, we’re able to guess at the location of Purgatory.

Now, Waverly’s map isn’t the clearest on the precise location - her markers are too large and don’t pinpoint places neatly. But I placed it there for three primary reasons:

1) The locale. I placed Purgatory at the location of Ozada, an old prisoner of war camp from WWII, which has the vibes of a ghost town, as well as looking similar to Purgatory in the show. Ozada is also right by the Bow River, which feeds off of Ghost Lake - Ghost Lake is fed by Ghost River from the north.

2) In Season 1, Episode 1, Wynonna is on a bus line, ‘Bluntline,’ which is driving out West, presumably across Canada. Wynonna asks her fellow rider Kiersten if this is her first time out west, and it is - as such it’s a national bus line, not a local one, and is likely based off of Greyhound. We know from Waverly’s map that Purgatory is just north-west of Calgary, so they would be taking Highway 1, but it has to be within walking distance for Wynonna to make it there for Curtis’ funeral after she gets off the bus.

3) In Season 1, Episode 3, Dolls tells Sheriff Nedley that it would take an hour for a tactical team to arrive from the city - Ozada is approximately one hour out of Calgary.

And going from there: did Wyatt Earp ever get up to the Ghost River Triangle? The answer is no. Wyatt did travel throughout the U.S., from being born in Illinois and moving to California, then mostly spending his years working through Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, Alaska, Washington, then settling for the rest of his years in Los Angeles. In 1885, Wyatt was as close to Purgatory as he’d ever get, in Chewelah, Washington - logically that would be when he went north, but we can tell from Season 1, Episode 4 that Wyatt Earp rode to Purgatory when Doc Holliday’s health was failing. Historically, Doc was in Denver at the time of the last meeting in 1886, so Wyatt would have had to head north in 1886 - his exact whereabouts at that time are uncertain.

So now we know - while Wyatt Earp got to live it up to the age of 80 in Los Angeles, hob-nobbing with celebrities while working as a consult for Western films at the time, the revenants were stuck in the icy cold Albertan winters at the base of the Rockies.

[battle-of-alberta]

Battle of Alberta 2022 Survey Results

It’s time my friends! If you would like to see previous surveys, here is 2021 and 2020 for your reference.

We had a total of 16 respondents to the survey. The average BoAB reader is female, age 19-24, and Canadian. At least half of respondents this year identified as Albertan, which is a bigger proportion than previously. Most of you live in Canada, and of those in Alberta most live in Edmonton followed by Calgary or Lethbridge.

Read on for graphs and some notes about what’s new!

Demographics

A larger proportion this year are female while fewer are male, and more of you seem to be questioning. Whether you’re new readers or are old readers figuring some stuff out, we’re happy to have you!

Less of you are 14-24 year olds, but more of you are identifying as 25-30+. (I know I made a couple people feel old with that last category and I apologize, I can add a bit more nuance next year if you like). Again, either some new folks or some of you are just aging, no problem!

Most of you are from Canada, which is not unusual. We have more folks from outside of North America than previously, however.

A larger proportion of you consider yourselves Albertan. This year, we have fewer people who visit and more people who have never been.

More of you once again live in Edmonton - even with more responses, the proportions of this graph stayed about the same as last year.

This was a new question for 2022. This is basically what I expected, some of you are definitely more well-travelled than I am in the province! I also felt I should have specified that this question can be answered by all respondents, whether you live in Alberta or elsewhere.

Blog

Those of you who followed via IAMP or because of me stayed about the same. This year we had less people looking for Hetalia OCs and more looking up stuff about places in Alberta, which is definitely a significant shift. Feeling the pressure for sure now :)

Art maintains its position in number one; interestingly “culture” shot up there (is that something we have?) while meta fell, and the rest sort of jostled around a little. I might owe some of that to the phrasing of “connection to Hetalia”, seeing as I’ve done little to anchor this comic in the Hetalia canon and therefore there’s a drop in people who were looking for that content above. At least, that’s my supposition.

When I made this question I realized I had done very little other than asks, which isn’t a bad thing. I’m glad you liked ‘em!

Historical events muscled its way to the top this year, and in tandem with the next question I’ve definitely been thinking about how to deal with that. More on that later, but I also find it interesting that Asks fell significantly here.

I really tried to narrow this down to three things I was considering on working on or wrapping up so as not to scatter my focus too much, but of course a couple of you did steer your answers differently. The historical focus is definitely the winner here though.

I meant to just do simple timelines, but the more I think of it the more I feel I need to tell some sort of cliff’s notes “story” of Alberta in order to situate the characters and to accommodate readers who aren’t familiar with either the broad strokes of Alberta or Canadian history in general. It’s difficult to undertake such a task, but I promise I have been :) While the characters featured here span only a couple hundred years at most, there are broader scopes I need to consider in order to fully explain the contexts in which they came to be and to relate to one another.

Characters

So here’s where things get interesting...

All of you love Calvin. It’s clearly not just because of hometown pride. Is it because I torture him? Is it because he has a sort of stupidity naivety that makes you want to take care of him? Is it because he’s a scorpio and could snap any minute? Why??????

Secondly: a significant proportion of you have decided Jasper is your favourite of all the characters before I’ve even published any design. Wow. Mac has also dropped off the list entirely.

Okay, Jasper is no surprise here. I also think it is HILARIOUS that not only did your favourite character score low, he even scored below That Guy On the Fridge. Very interesting.

And oddly enough, I guess you guys must have felt sorry for Ed not being your favourite so he finally won the battle this year by a significant proportion instead of a deadlock. Bravo! We also had respondents refuse to choose and who summoned the rats back from last year. Special thanks to everyone for restraining themselves from naming any ucp politicians this go.

Special thanks also to those of you who left a kind comment at the end or who helped me update some of my playlists! <3 Thanks again to everyone who filled out the survey, I’ve really enjoyed collecting your responses and I hope to hear from you again next year!

[coreytravelogue]

Fort McMurray - June 8, 2018

It is a good thing I took a few weeks to process what was a mixed kind of long weekend filled with nostalgia, decent weather, ok times and good ol Alberta anger. This trip covers my May 25-27 trip to Fort Mac.

The first thing I noticed coming into Fort Mac was the smoke, apparently there was a forest fire near the highway, felt well I came in at the right time. We flew through to a sea of grey trees. At first I thought it must be normal till I seen patches of green lush trees here and there. That will be a ongoing theme of my report of my hometown.

I touched down in YYM expecting to walk into the same old shack or warehouse I left Fort Mac from 11 years later to discover a brand new airport. I just came from Calgary International which was a decent looking airport renovated to be pretty impressive but this was on a different level. I won’t say it was high tech because the airport was too small to have golf carts moving people around like Calgary but it was brand spanking new and down right gorgeous. Say what you want about Albertans but when it comes to building stuff they don’t half measure it, they go big and the money is put into it. Again this will be a reoccurring theme.

After I got my fridge magnet because I figure there wouldn’t be a place to buy one in the city I set out to do something I didn’t get to do very much while I lived in Fort Mac; take the bus. Mind you as a kid I was spoiled so my parents drove me where ever and if they didn’t I either walked or if it was summer I rode my bike there. As a kid and a teen if felt buses at least the ones here were dirty and worn down, at least the ones I remember were. However in the last 11 years I have become more into and more of a user of transit than I ever was when I was I was in Fort Mac last. To say the least my expectations were at knee level but again I was pleasantly surprised.

The bus that pulled up looked brand new and the interior looked wont say sparkling new but definitely within the year new. If it wasn’t I will say they better be paying their janitors well because they kept their buses in tip top shape. The best part about the bus wasn’t the bus itself though it was the price; a buck twenty five...... A BUCK TWENTY FIVE! Even. If it is only good for and hour that is still a steal at least for someone like me who has had to shell out 2.50 plus just to use a bus to get somewhere 15 min drive/train from where I was each time. On a buck twenty five if you wanted to you could grab a bus from the airport and get right to the back of timberlea and back (in 2018 oil bust Fort Mac traffic at least).

I was in Gregoire within 5 minutes but it didn’t go along the highway which I should have expected but since Gregoire has always been half industrial and half residential you don’t need to look hard to see the one way in and one way out of Fort McMurray and what I saw was not there last time I was there. Where there was once armies of green beautiful birch trees were now frontlines of grey and some still burnt trees still standing from the fire that came too close to burning down my hometown. It wasn’t a good feeling to me, while I was. Never the outdoorsy type I always appreciated how beautiful what forest we did have here. It is hard to not notice it since this city is surrounded by it and it is five hours of it south before you seen another city.

The trip down Gregoire hill made it more real for me. For 20 years so many times as a kid I would go up and down Gregoire hill. The trip up is not memorable because it is a uphill trip and a Gregoire with all due respect is not really a go to place in the city, it was always the trip down I looked forward to whenever I was returning home, especially after a five hour road trip from Edmonton which was usually the case. From the hill going down if you looked right there was always trees among trees as green as fresh grass that you couldn’t see past. Now most of them burnt to never be green again. Despite that if you looked below young treelings were growing beneath them that breathed hope in me however it would probably take a generation or two maybe barring another forest fire before they would grow to be as big or as green as their predecessors were.

Instead of heading straight to the main terminal I wanted to start my tour of the city from start of Franklin Ave which is basically the Main Street of the city, very much the Hastings Street of the city like Vancouver it literally covers 90% of downtown. Where I stopped was a place I knew fairly well which was once a trailer park where an aunt and uncle used to live. I remember both me and my cousins whom were around my age all going back to the house for recess to watch tv or do whatever as it was just a five minute walk from my high school. They were already in the process of developing that area into something by the time I left but I never knew what. Returning I noticed they turned it into a sports facility for Keyano College, the only real college or post secondary institution in the city. The main building had remained the same, still made of bricks w it’s floors that look like they came from 70s (another reoccurring theme) however unlike most things as I grew up the college was almost always well kept and you wouldn’t be able to guess the age of at least the theatre entrance from looking at it. Then there is the purple building that has always been purple and still is, always wondered why it was coloured purple I never found the answer.

Right next door to it was my high school, Composite High School where from 1998/99 to 2002/03 (I graduated in 2002 but I spent an extra year upgrading) I went to school. I was looking forward to going inside and reminiscing on the time I spent there. Mind you most of my memories were of sitting against walls and lockers in between classes and during recesses when my cousins soon graduated or left schools themselves. However I was not able tog eat in because the school appeared to be undergoing major renovations. Long over due I am  sure like most things in Fort Mac a lot of things have been left to I won’t say rot but used long after it should have been refurbished.

Composite never really looked like a dingy or run down place, they reputation went to Father Mercredi High School whose run down and edgy condition matched the student attitudes I who went to it. It was never the nicest looking high school either in the city which went to West Wood High School which was seemingly the high school for rich kids in the eyes of everyone who didn’t go to that school because unlike Comp and Merc West Wood seemingly had everything and everything looked brand new. Hopefully after these renovations Comp will get that distinction because it deserves/deserved to. Composite was always over crowded, I don’t know if it was as. Over crowded as the other but it always felt like it. Father Merc and West Wood were both situated in Thickwood and technically were for kids in the Thickwood, Timberlea, Dickensfield and surrounding neighbourhood. While they are the biggest neighbourhoods those schools were for those neighbourhoods.

Composite on the other hand is the only one on the other side of town which means it has to cover not only cover downtown but Gregoire, Abasand, Beacon Hill and whomever from the other neighbourhoods Merc and West Wood would cover who want to be with their friends.

Suffice to say I was disappointed and walked a couple blocks down to Dr. Clark Elementary which was open. I never really had great memories here. I will always resent the school, the principal and whomever closed Clearwater Elementary for making me have to go there. The three years I spent at this school felt long and torturous to me. That being said Clearwater is a office building now and had been for decades so this place would be the closest I would have to guide to nostalgia. The staff did not see it that way however and I can’t really blame them. I went in and asked politely if I would be allowed to walk around the school. They then gave me a look as if I was a pervert and told me they have nobody to give me a tour because it was sports week. The perv look was tinged with a look I would get from a lot of people. That why the hell would you want to come here look.

Fort McMurray is not a tourist destination, most people who live or have lived there will tell you people only go there for one main reason and it is not for the pizza (even though their pizza is good) it is for money. Thwarted again at another chance to breathe in nostalgia I continued my way down Franklin. I noticed the Hospital on hospital hill still looked like it was built in the 70s with the same colour scheme but it was in the middle of being renovated itself. When I went inside it was the same old floors and same old look. Thankfully the emergency room got renovated though, that area always looked like a shit hole. Now it looks like a sit table place.

From the top of the hill is where I got to see just how close the fires came before it almost touched downtown. It got way too close than I would have wanted it to. Thinking about it now it does allow me to appreciate what I could have lost here, though as you will come to see there is not much if anything left for me in Fort McMurray outside of memories that are stale because so much of what I grew up with and known in Fort Mac is gone for good or bad.

The next stop were two malls that I hung out quite a bit both in my early childhood and late teen years and that was Plaza One and Two. Plaza One is still the same name but for some reason they decided to change Plaza Two to River City Centre and gave it a brand new colour scheme to where it not long has the 70s black and warm orange but the late 90s light black and cyan blue. The interior was still the same however minus the ramp way I called it as a kid. It was a ramp way that lead to the upstairs portion. It was built in a circle formation, I used to run up and down the ramp all the time when I was a kid. There were no stores I remembered as a kid outside of two; Shoppers Drug Mart whom only moved to the IGA Grocery store portion of mall (I wonder if it still has a mould and rat problem?) and the other was a place called Mom’s Resteraunt.

I have very vague memories of that place only that I had one or two burgers there as a kid and I liked them but apparently they have gone downhill. I tried to eat here during my time but thwarted again.

Plaza One was once one of my favourite hang out spots, prior to how it looks right now it used to be a T shaped sort of a building. The right side of the building has remained the same but the left went through changes. There used to be a straight line that would intersect with the right side but they decided to remove that intersection for some reason that made no sense to me, maybe the need for parking  space but even then that never made sense. For years and even now behind the plazas there was always a shit ton of parking space and when it wasn’t paved I remember it being just a empty field. I might be wrong as I am reaching back to the early to mid 90s but that is what I remember.

Prior to that change and even a little while after depending on the side there were shops you could always fine me in. On the right side was a comic store I don’t recall going to much, I can’t remember why as this was during my comic book binging time. I am assuming it was because I had no money and the store guys didn’t like me there or because they just never had stuff I wanted or it was too expensive. I really don’t know the reason why I just know the place closed in the early 00s like most of the comic book shops at that time. There was a online gaming room there as well that I can’t remember the name of but I remember for a summer or two all my friends hung out there to play computer games because at that time it was much more easier to play there than a t home. Not everyone had a computer or internet let alone a strong connection. this place allowed kids to play computer games together in each other’s presence with little to no lag and To play games that they may not have afforded to own. I didn’t like this place not because of they staff or anything it was just I never saw the point, I could play most of these games at my house against my friends and I knew they could too. Plus the games I wanted to play I never could get people o play because this was the era for which Counterstrike was the game everyone was playing.

The most important shop on the right side, the one that is still there and will remain unless the owner decided to stop is Jomaa’s Pizza. Have I had better pizza sure but I would say Jomaa’s ranks in the top five if not at the number 2 spot and i would still buy it over my number one because it is cheaper. When people ask me how I like my pizza I often think of that place and how they did it. Jomaa’s is a institution in Fort Mac, it just is. I wound. Up having pizza for dinner that night from there as well as Saturday night and Sunday morning. That is how much I love their pizza.

One the left prior to the renovations used to be a cards and collectables shop,  unlike the comic book shop the owner loved me and my friends hanging  around because we actually spent a fair bit of money there. This was during the short window of time where I collected cards. There was only really one card collection I sought after and for a few years i would come in only buying those packs in order to try and complete the collection which I never did at least until 7 years ago when I decided to just eBay the rest of it (I like tot insist what I start even if it takes me 15 years or so). I did buy other cards and try to collect others but never with the same vigour as I did with X Men Ultra Fleer 94.

The other place as soon as I say it you immediately think ahh so that is where his love for that came but you would not be.....entirely correct. There was a Doniar shop three shops away from the cards store that if my parents had to choose the first place to find me if they needed to track me it would be here but not because of the doniars but because of the arcade games in the store. I can’t remember which games they had there outside of Super Ghosts and Goblins but since the arcade was a easy walk away from my house whatever spare quarters I had often went there.  I never if ever bought doniars there though I wish I did. I do remember now and then the owner giving us a slice of doniar meat now and then and I do remember having one doniar and not minding it. It was a taste of a doniar that made me want o have another when I got older but at the time I was more into candy and sweet stuff. Sour tasting foods didn’t become big into my life till I was a teenager. I never understood why this place closed down, it never seemed dead there. Part of me thinks it may have turned into Jomaa’s because i think they did serve pizzas there and the owner I believe was Lebanese (they have a long and strong presence in the city). Weird how I just possibly put two and two together but that is only an assumption. When they shop possibly moved the arcades didn’t thus why as a kid the shop may as well have been dead to me.

Next stop was the most important part of the tour; my old neighbourhood. First thing I spotted was newish but terrible paint job one of the old apartments had. For years it was just beige and brown but they painted it in rainbow colours which I have no problem w it’s but the shades made it look disgusting to the eye.

At f fist glance the neighbourhood which I inhabited for 20 years appeared in tact however it only took 3 houses down before I started to notice. Somethings were missing, missing namely certain houses.

After I moved away from Fort Mac the city was experiencing the biggest boom its ever had. This city lives and dies off the price of oil so when the prices are high the city is booming and moving, if the oil prices are low the city is hurting and dying on the vine. During this boom many developers had it in their mind to want to try and add more condos to the downtown area. The only issue is there was no more room to be had. So like smart developers they decided to try and buy out houses from. Our neighbourhood since we were located very centrally within the downtown area. It makes perfect sense, and during this time they did succeed in buying properly from particular home owners. Once they owned the property they tore the house down and basically attempted to snatch more and more property. However it’s pretty easy to see when you are down there to notice either they could never find the right price to get the remaining houses and/or they couldn’t do it fast enough before the low price of oil ruined whatever interest there was to do so. So now all that is left is empty lots that used to be houses, one of which was home to one of my childhood friends. It was weird, almost being like in a Doctor Who episode even. That being said it didn’t make much of a difference to me as long as one or I guess two houses.

After the nostalgia trip I headed back down to Franklin Ave and continued my tour but I started to realize how hot it was getting and the harshness of the sun was getting sharper so I needed to get sunscreen. I first looked at Safeway since I worked at the gas bar for two years. The slant area where skaters used to always play looked completely run down, not worth skating over now. The Safeway itself looked the same as it always did but I decided not to buy sunscreen there and chose to go to Superstore instead. What wound up happening on my way there nearly spoiled my entire trip.

As I was walking down that way I noticed 3 guys walking in my direction, I noticed Anne of them notice some guy under a tree whom started to that guy started to kick the shit out of him. The second guy ran towards the other to try and stop him. As I was watching as this was going on the third guy told me to keep on walking. I told him he did not need to threaten me, if I was a smart man I would have just walked away but sadly I am not a smart person and my pride kicked in. The guy rebutted thinking he could intimidate me, till I gave him the Corey Stare and told him he does not need to threaten me. I would like to think I gave him the look of I am not looking for a fight but if you are looking for one I will give it to you.

He did nothing and I walked away and passed by another group of guys who wanted to try and hassle me but I ignored them. For the rest of the day I was pretty bitter about that altercation. What can I say that event reminded as to why I left this city.

Peter Pond Mall was next, Peter Pond Mall was and remains the main mall of the city. I have spent many a time here and seen it as it has gone through its many changes however it is still very much the same old place.

I made my way to the government building which was as orange as ever but without the library and in its place a cafe. There was once a bar across the street next to a stereo store but like the houses in my neighbourhood it was just a empty up un utilized property. The theatre I seen so many movies in was also a empty space. The building that used to be the video store has been split between a empty spot and a blood donation area.

Next was the Morrison Centre, another sort of mall though slightly not. It was always a area that had a interesting mix of stuff. Once it had a comic book store and a computer game store. Now neither are there but other stuff that doesn’t interest me outside of a brewery which is new and a statue in front of it which was the only Jayne hat table statue I could find. There were some small statues but all were absolutely filthy and don’t count in my eyes.

I wanted to go see the new McDonald Island but by the time I got very close I realized my ankles were about done after all the walking and decided to just head to where I would be staying for the weekend. As a kid going from Mac island back to my neighbourhood was fairly easy, you just had to go through the syne then bang. However it was not that easy, the syne had changed a fair bit since I was there last. As a kid it was basically a poor or lazy person’s dumping ground and just a place for sea boats to land and take off. Now the entire area was being torn up for what I later discovered was a building of a new road to ease the traffic on Franklin which makes perfect sense. The problem was they were still making the roads which made it very difficult to get back to my old neighbourhood but I finally did.

I arrived and met my host who was nicer than I was expecting. I was expecting the worst but the guy was basically a lot like me it seemed. His children however looked at me like a alien but I can’t say I blame them. If I was them I would probably be no better seeing a stranger come around every now and then. I dropped my stuff off and decided to have Jomaa’s pizza which was still as awesome every followed by going tot he brewery to have the hometown beer.

While I was there some local guy was singing covers of 90s music which felt very appropriate at the  times since much of that music was music I grew up on. I ate the most vegetarian thing I could find in the menu which was a falafel burger. I then proceeded to have a taste of every beer they had. Can’t say I was entirely impressed but it wasn’t bad. I do think the brewery does have a long way to go on quality but in all honesty even the fact I that the city has a brewery is a big step up. Event he liquor stores had a ok selection, over priced selection but a decent bit. Before I left the only real options you had was of the Molson, Labatt or Old Milwaukee variety. There were others but outside of the generic brands that was it. I think a lot of that has to do with the beer boom that has happened over the last few years. While it has been bigger in Vancouver the waves were felt there.

After having my fill of beer I headed back to my room and rested my legs for the night.

For breakfast I wanted to go to Mom’s Resteraunt in Plaza 2 but it was closed when it should have been opened and decided to go to the Newfie resteraunt called Kozy Korner. I only remember being in this place once and I remember I disliked it so much I faked fainting as a kid for the entirety of it. As a kid I never liked going to traditional style joints because as a kid I felt why bother going to these places if the food was going to be the same as home (I never took into consideration my mom was sick of cooking all of the time, I was a child). Plus the quality was always touch and go. I remember the place being ok looking as a child. Coming in this time it didn’t look run down but it looked like it has needed a renovation for awhile but hasn’t. I decided to try something new and have eggs benedict. The place itself was not bad, definitely Newfie oriented but no better than any other traditional food place.

I knew day 2 was going to be another full day and I knew it was going be a full day. Started with walking to Lion’s Park. Lion’s Park was my favourite park growing up as a kid. My parents would often take me there on special occasions or picnics. I remember having lots of fun there but as I grew up the park got run down and turned into a campsite for homeless people. Returning I am glad that park has been completely redone. Well not entirely redone but I should say cleaned up and it looks about as good as I remembered it minus the huge slide and the other playground stuff that was there as a kid. I am glad it is this way right now and seeing kids playing and having fun there. I decided to do something I had only ever done once and could barely do and that is walk up Gregoire Hill.

If this was me in 2005 or even 2007 I would have a hard time going up this hill, it is a rather long and steep hill but going up this this time wasn’t so bad. Only hard part about it was getting a up close look at all the burnt down trees in and around trail. From the midway point of being up on Gregoire hill I got to see just how close the fire was to overtaking downtown. I had heard that the fires were sitting right on top of the downtown area but never came down. Downtown sits in the valley portion of the city. It serves as great protection for Fort Mac people because tornados cant hit it and in terms of fires it also can protect as well but doesn’t save from floods though. However I noticed nearly a line between where the trees were untouched and the ones that were burnt. Fort McMurray is lucky to still be standing.

I finally made it up to Gregoire, it hadn’t really changed much from w hen I last went up there. Still very much a industrial area with some residential pockets. I wanted to go to the Oil Interpretive Center. I had not. Been there since I was a child and wanted tot o in there to see how the oil industry was spinning their importance to the city/Alberta/Canada/World but apparently there was a power outage in the area and the Center was closed. So basically everywhere I wanted to go to I could not go to.

After that I decided to cross the highway to see where was once a RV area for those who did not want to camp far from the city. It was no longer there anymore just big blank space just like much of downtown. However unlike where other places burnt down and new trees were starting this property looked like it would developed. Could not help but t hint of Big Yellow TAXI BY Joni Mitchel. This was a sector of beautiful forest, now in a few years it will be another line of liquor stores (to add tot he three in a 4 block radius in Gregoire alone), a car dealership (2 already in the area), a gas station and a fast food Joint like A&W. Depressing

Crossed the highway and paid a 1.25 to get back downtown and let fate decide whether I went to Timberlea or Thickwood first. I preferred Thickwood because Timberlea was never part of my childhood or barely. It was a new neighbourhood during my time and it is one that continues to grow to this day because it is the only area for which can grow. My ticket was still good and for about an hour and a half I got a full tour of not only Thickwood but The outside end of Timberlea. The bus driver looked at me weird from t I met it ime wondering why I didn’t stop anywhere while he was driving. I only got off when we got back downtown.

Upon returning I decided to go probably the only place I hadn’t been to since coming back and to the only people I still know here in the city, I went to McMurray TV to catch up with Daryl and Gerry.

Though my first real job was at Superstore selling Christmas trees I feel my first true job was working at McMurray TV as basically the odd job guy. Everything they needed to get done around the store I did. Whether it be cleaning, installing electronics, stocking shelves, reorganizing, basically everything. I was a bit shy going in, could never understand why. They were always great to me and were always loyal to me. I walked up to them and it took Daryl a moment before he realized it was me. Both him and Gerry seemed happy to see me and both seemed absolutely surprised at how thin I was. It is often hard for me to imagine feeling like I am in good shape because I am so used to being in the shape I am in. If I am honest with myself I am in decent shape, not cut or really lean but in decent shape, definitely not fat or over weight. They asked me where the other half of me was which reminded me of how heavy I was before I left when I was a little north of 200 pounds. They had always owned much of the city block they inhabited but now it felt more literal as they took over the Chinese resteraunt that was next door turning it into more TVs in the TV room. The place where I used to go in and out of to hunt down boxes had now become a furniture display area for them. Gerry and Daryl had always tried to grow their business and they still are. They and their family are as much a staple of the city as Jomaa’s, more so than them I would say. After reuniting I decided to finally head to Macdonald Island.

Last time I seen Mac Island it was basically a generic red building whose curling rink was also used a trade show area every now and then. What I saw returning is probably the king of all red centres. Like I have said before say what you want about Albertans.when they commit to something or fund something to get something built they do not half ass it at all. This red center had just about everything, so much it puts all other red centres to shame. It had a gym, library, ice rink, running track, a couple of base ball diamonds, football and baseball arena like areas for big crowd games, floor hockey rink, water park as well as a water park within and that was just all I could say. I wish I brought my swimming trunks is all I could say.

By the time I finished it was too late to do anything unless I wanted to go back to the bar but I didn’t want o do that, not in Fort Mac. What I wanted to do was try more Alberta beer that I haven’t tried before. I bought a 6 pack of beer then went to Jomaa’s for my last bit of beer. Spent the rest of night drinking beer I thought I never had but I did and it wasn’t that great and only had four. Ate most of the pizza but left enough for breakfast the next day.

I laid in bed and watched a movie called Suck It Up and Porcupine Lake. Bother we’re ok movies but nothing to shout home about.

Slept in a bit and before leaving I had a pretty decent talk with my host. I found out he used to be a government official working for the municipal government. He was very knowledgeable of the city but since retiring has basically started selling paintings for which he looks good at. Basically doing his own form of portraits of famous people including famous or important Fort McMurray people. We talked about the city in the past, the fires as well as pipeline stuff. Thankfully he respected my opinions on it, I think he understood the BC side, there was no arguments on that end which I was glad. I really hoped to avoid getting into arguments about pipelines with people here and thankfully I did.

I knew I didn’t have time to do much but one more thing which was to see my house one last time. I knew I must have creeped some people out walking past there all the time but I found seeing my house an not being able to go into it probably the most painful part of the whole trip and made it hard to leave. After walking by there I got on the bus and headed back to the airport.

Outside of nearly getting into a fight this trip had no setbacks and no issues, no travel delays no nothing just simply was around. Well no setbacks outside of not being able to go into either school I went to, my house or the oil sands center everything was uneventful.

Now that it has been two weeks since this trip I haven’t had any dreams about Fort Mac since which is good. I do feel like it was a worth while trip, would like to come back again in the next 5 years this time and not 11 years. I do not know if I want to bring my girlfriend here, it’s not really a exciting city and I have already gave her the tour via google maps. If I was to come back I would scope out the places I missed like the Center, Waterways, Beacon Hill and Abasand. Mainly the places hit by the fires. I didn’t go there mainly because I never really went to those places a lot as a kid so I have no real attachment to them but I would go there next time. I do feel like I got closure with this trip, much needed closure.

Fort McMurray is not really the same city I left, mainly for the good. When I left it was a angry, testoserone driven city ruled by bitumen and was run down. Now while the city is still a bit angry and testosterone driven after the fire there has been a greater need to give the city a much needed make over, more money is put into infrastructure and it shows. When I was a kid I felt like this city was safe and family friendly, as I grown older I came realize that the city was losing that family appeal. I am glad this city is trying to fix that with all the playgrounds and cleaning the streets up but there are still instances where poverty is evident parts are unsafe.

The city feels like a relative I had a falling out with that I meet up with after a long while. The relative still has a ‘problem’ but you know they are trying to clean up their life. The effort is there to change but it is not happening over night. One thing that has changed about this city is that it tries to be tourist friendly though if you were in the eyes of people here people would think you are weird because why would anyone want to visit this city if they are not here for money? This city lives and dies on bitumen and that is the saddest part, as much as I want this country and Alberta to get off the oil addiction getting off it would basically sentence Fort McMurray to death unless there was a way to make it thrive without bitumen and that does not look likely at all at this point in time and won’t be for a long time.

Grading my hometown, that feels very weird but let’s get started.

Transportation, this and another was a big surprise for me because coming in I had a very low bar. My previous experience with transit in this isolated areas is that it is over bare bones and basic and that is it. Fort Mac’s transit is still very basic but it covers everywhere you could go if you need to. Every 30 min a bus will take you somewhere easily. The buses are extremely clean and the best part about it is it’s dirt cheap. I am shocked transit is not used enough but probably because of the stigma behind using the bus in a city driven pun intended by having your own truck and driving your own way around. Dollar twenty can get you anywhere for an hour and you should be able tot eat there in an hour.

This city was always very bikeable, not safe to bike on the streets but enough side streets to use to get you where you need to go. As for walking this city is small and most places are walkable outside of going up the hill. I am not impressed with Gregoire’s lack of sidewalks. I give transportation a 3/4 C. May seem like much but the price of transit as well as its coverage on top of bike trails and the walkable size of the city it is the reason for this grade.

Food was another surprise but it was a pleasant surprise. When I left this city had next to no food options. There was Mexican, Chinese, traditional and pizza. I don’t want o say Italian but I don’t recall an Italian place. In downtown alone I seen so many other kinds of restaurants, so many cultures it was shocking. I didn’t go to any of them outside of Jomaa’s simply because of time but it is night and day difference. I will still give it a 1/2 C simply because there are lots of options but little options but the options are the same now as regular cities versus not on the level.

The beer has also come a long way, though I think that has to do with the beer boom over the last few years but still there are so many options now and it is great. That being said the beer is still expensive here needlessly and this is not just because of Fort Mac it is like this in Edmonton too. Too overpriced for the quality and the beer in the city while still drinkable is very meh. With that I grade it with a modest 1/3 C.

Fort McMurray is still a fairly boring place to live. They have made strides though with Mac Island and they have always had bike paths, hiking and camping on top of the one museum they have but that is about it. Winter there is skiing as well but yeah there are still not many options ad this city has nearly no night life unless you want to drink with dangerous people. I have heard many  stories over my life in Fort Mac of people basically getting mugged getting beaten up even if they did nothing while hanging around bars thus why I didn’t stay around long during my trip. With that I give the city a 1/4 C grade for things to do.

If you asked me Friday night what the vibe was it would be a next to no vibe for Fort Mac but if you asked on Saturday or Sunday I may have eased up. This vibe of the city is still negative and worrisome. Much of that is the economic uncertainty of the city but that being said I lived int he city during large economic growth and the city still had a angry and negative vibe. While visiting this city I felt like a alien in the city. I kept getting looks from people like “Who is that guy, why the hell is he taking pictures of the A&W? Why would anyone want to come and visit here if not for work?” Outside of my host and maybe one or two people I didn’t really feel welcome in Fort Mac. This city has always been defensive but if they want to draw people in outside of just for work and money they have be nicer and given the Alberta Anger that he city perpetuates they got a long way to go. I give the city 1/8 of a C on that.

So the overall grade of may as well be CC on the Corey Scale (or 1 23/24) and I think that is a fair grade. Fort McMurray is not a travellers destination and that not a knock on them,w ell maybe it is but the thing is it is a city built to be a place to house people who work in the oil sands. People don’t go there unless it is work that is just how it goes. The city is boring, there is very few t hints one could do here that one could not already do in their home town. Nothing really sets Fort Mac aside from another place outside of the fact that you go there for money. Like Whitehorse it does have a outdoor element you can’t quite get in bigger cities but that really is it while Whitehorse still had other things one could do even if it could be a day affair. In all honesty if I was a visitor here the only thing of note here would be the Oil Sands Interpretive Centre and maybe MacDonald Island....that is it.

That being said the city has vastly improved since I lived here, it is turning less into a man made shit hole/Ralph Klein’s wet dream and more of just a regular city again. I am happy I went and I may return again because I while it is no longer my home or a place I even recognize anymore it is still my hometown and nothing can change that.

That concludes the rest for my long distance travel for the summer. It will be in September when I go to Australia and try to see as much of the country as a kind while being with my girlfriend. If I go anywhere it will probably be Victoria or even Edmonton but I don’t even feel they count anymore. I have thought about Kelowna or other places in the BC interior but I think this summer needs to be another summer of saving even though I tend to always work through the summer but especially now if I plan to do a lot of flying in Oz. I am excited I am not going to lie but September feels way too far away from me. Till the next time I leave VanCity,I shazbot nanu nanu.

[cator99]

She also did the Canadian social cues thing where we openly and immediately give way too much info out about ourselves while waiting for others to do the same instead of asking people questions in equal amount to how much you're talking. Just something I've noticed after realizing that people here expect to be interacted with through questions when I'm used to people just jumping at each other during conversation desperate to divulge, and if they dont then it means they don't want to talk at all & not that they want u to ask bcuz that's often considered rude/prying unless it's a practical/impersonal question? Maybe I'm just like socially inept but let's be honest that's an incredibly Canadian trait because we are so fucking isolated it makes ppl lose their minds and that was exemplified by the pandemic. I'm trying to figure out how to socialize in a more American way but its impressive how she just doesn't seem to have acclimated after almost 30 years in the states (I'm assuming she is really attached to the Canadian identity- or lack thereof let's be honest- hence the shirt) but I just stood there while she went off about Newfoundland and meeting her American husband on an NFL chat site and trying to convince him to go back to Canada but he refuses to, until I admitted that I am regrettably Albertan and then she lost it and told me all about her wacko Albertan relatives.

[acetechne]

This is How We Rock it in the Tdot 12 / West Coast Love Affair 1

some comics I did on my flight from yyz to yyj. Pearson airport is...... a mess. Everyone keeps telling me that yvr is a mess but compared to Pearson? i’ve never had an issue at yvr. I get through security, i look for my flight on every single chart and it’s not there, i finally find my gate by looking it up myself on their friggin website..... i get there and every few minutes it tells me that my flight has moved from the gate im already at to... the gate im already at. Lu just wants me to panic needlessly. 

But i’ve found that for me, living in toronto, literally everything is that weird bureaucratic step by step in circles ‘go ask mom’ ‘go ask your dad’ back and forth inefficiency, the worst of their british character inheritance (not that i got the best, i still got the scottish cheapness and the english passive aggressive politeness in addition to my shameful colonialist heritage and taste for dark yeast paste). Everything. 

I just got an email today that my faculty has finally noticed i’m getting out of province support and that i will be receiving a bursary and basically to find out how much it is i have to go look at my invoice in january and presumably piece together what has been deducted from my account- for all i know they’re giving me 5 bucks. I just want to get things done and nooo John A MacFrigginDonald himself appears to play both sides and swindle me. 

Granted that the university has their own particular brand of inefficiency and impotency but me, the angry and anxious albertan who is Always in a hurry, i keep finding myself Exasperated to the point where even going grocery shopping is a challenge to master my nerves. (the only way to combat this is to get up Early in the morning because most of Toronto appears to sleep in until 10 am. Except construction.) 

the nice thing about pearson is that my gate happened to be near many pokestops so that was cool. i haven’t tried pokemon at any other airport though so it’s only a small redeeming factor. and i will give the UP express credit for the smooth buttery ride to the airport, that I enjoy a lot. And it wasn’t the TTC’s fault that it decided to break down just before I went to the airport- I had enough sense to leave at least an hour in advance of the 2 hours i had planned for my trip to the airport. Another comic about that later.

i wanted to draw more but during my flight my stomach kind of seized up a bit with indigestion and that was really not fun so i was in too much pain to concentrate on anything but music and ‘i wonder if we’re over alberta yet’

once again the van man is back to being elusive. I hope i can come see him this summer. 

[kayla1993-world]

The province plans to start lifting COVID-19 restrictions early next week, starting with the Restrictions Exemptions Program and measures involving children, Premier Jason Kenney said Thursday. As long as hospital pressures decline this month, the COVID cabinet committee will propose a phased plan aimed at removing almost all public health restrictions, Kenney said in an hour-long Facebook Live.

“After two years of this, we simply can't continue to rely on damage restrictions as that as the primary way to cope with a disease that will be with us for life," he said. In his address, the premier didn't specify a specific date when the program will be repealed, but said that it would be done “in the first quarter of 2022.”

“We must find a way to restore normality to our lives,” he said. At Thursday’s afternoon news conference with Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Kenney did not appear. She instead answered viewers' questions on social media around 7 p.m.

At COVID-19, Hinshaw said the province has begun to turn a corner in the fifth wave of the pandemic and it is now time to move towards an endemic approach but she declined to give her position on whether restrictions should be removed in the province. “Hopefully, after the Omicron wave has subsided, our system will be less likely to become overwhelmed, which will allow us to shift our response. It will take time for the response to change,” Hinshaw said.

“When the risk of a system overload has passed we cannot continue to use restrictions in the long run.” The number of hospitalizations in the province decreased slightly from previous records Thursday. The number of Albertans in hospitals with the virus is down by 14 from Wednesday.

Intensive-care units reported an increase of six patients, with 112 reported. There have now been 3610 COVID-related deaths in the province since the outbreak began.

In response to media questions, Hinshaw said she would not comment on the province’s plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions in the coming days. Any recommendations she makes to Kenney are under “cabinet confidence” and decisions involving restrictions are “within the purview of elected officials.”

According to Kenney, Alberta could begin relaxing public health measures by the end of the month if hospitalizations continue to decline in the province. “Once we see sustained reductions in COVID pressure on the hospitals, I am looking forward to being able to make decisions about relaxing public health measures then,” Kenney said.

Wednesday, however, the United Conservative caucus proposed a much faster timeline for reopening. According to caucus chair Nathan Neudorf, Alberta will begin lifting restrictions “very soon, likely within days,” starting with the REP.

Kenney’s cabinet members also called for the premier to lift the public health restrictions. According to Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon, he will “hold” Kenney accountable for removing vaccination mandates “imminently.” “It is clear now that mandates such as the Restrictions Exemption Program have not been as effective at combating the current COVID-19 situation as health officials had hoped,” wrote Nixon.

On Thursday, Alberta reported 2,370 new COVID-19 cases from 7,338 PCR tests. These cases represent a 34 percent test positivity rate.

In his Facebook Live, Kenney was asked whether the province would prevent municipalities from enforcing their own mask and vaccine mandates. According to Kenney, municipalities have such authority under the Municipal Government Act, but the UCP government will consider changes when the Alberta legislature reconvenes.

“I am sure city governments will certainly take a look at that since it is not their normal area of responsibility. Cities lack the access to data that we have. “I think it would be a matter of concern, if the province moves ahead, safely, while elected officials improvise their own local policies."

Changes in provincial health measures could have a big impact on the City of Calgary. The city’s vaccination passport bylaw will also be lifted if the REP is lifted, a city spokesperson told Postmedia in an email. City mask laws will still be in place.

“Our healthcare system is still under significant pressure and the current provincial and local health and safety measures continue to be implemented," states the statement. Bylaws mandating participation in the REP require the province’s REP to remain in place for the city's vaccine passport program to function.

Councillor Kourtney Penner, who also chairs the emergency management committee, said the city has difficulty planning without direct communication with the province. Penner stated, "Once again, two cities where the majority of cases and businesses are based were completely ignored." He said, "It puts us in a tight spot.”

In the face of the removal of provincial restrictions, Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said the city is exploring its legal options. “I believe we have the capability, even though it’s a stretch, to require people to wear masks as a matter of law. Without provincial support, I'm not sure we have the jurisdiction, power, or capacity to maintain the vaccine passport.”

Prior to the news conference, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi issued a statement. He urged the province to reconsider lifting restrictions and explore options with the city.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Pauls Story...

Recently I have been following the news around Bill 10 and GSA’s in Alberta schools.

I was glad like many to see this legislation pass and now like many are questioning why are we revisiting this issue.

If for no other reason I would say it is a way for some politicians to get votes from fundamentalist groups that still believe gay is evil and all gay people “should burn in a lake of fire”.

I don’t care what political stripe you wear but shame on those who do not see the value of giving kids another source of a way to belong.

Kudos to those conservative leaders like Brian Jean who stood up against the neo-conservative mindset and denounced Kenney’s comments seeing it as simply wrong.

Kudos to all the other parties Liberal, NDP, and Alberta Party who all made clear positive statements around support of GSA’s in Alberta schools.

This message is pointed directly at the current Progressive Conservative party leadership.

The recent move to become more a Populist party has left many people wondering how regressive the party will become.

I catch myself lately when I see a photo of Jason Kenney with someone smiling, shaking hands, I now have to ask myself do they actually support his positions on social issues? Really?

On twitter I am simply blown away by the fact that some people are applauding his win saying he will unite Albertans, Some of these are the same local politicians that marched in Gay pride parades in the past.

The party swept him in as their leader but I argue they did so in a attempt to consolidate the conservative electorate. Some PC members just want to win so badly they gave up their ideals.

People may think I am harsh about Jason Kenney’s recent remarks on GSA’s but I have a strong personal reason.

As a kid growing up in a small city I had a friend Paul who from a very early age knew he was gay. As a teenager his family still would not accept his being gay and attempted all sorts of ways to try to make him “turn” straight.

My dad and Paul’s father though he just needed to hang around straight kids and that would make him straight.

Not surprisingly their plan didn’t work out. Paul became my friend and we never really talked about him being gay. He was just a normal kid and I really had no influence on him. This friendship made me realize this kid was just like me and there was no big deal him being gay. We just hung out and did what teenagers do to pass time. In a way this was an alliance. One gay kid and one straight kid just hanging out.

However back at home Paul was being mentally and physically beaten by his father on a regular schedule. His parents would not accept Paul being gay and eventually after he was finished high school his father kicked Paul out of the house.

A very short time after Paul was found dead in a local mall bathroom. Paul had intentionally overdosed on pills and alcohol. Pauls death in my mind was a direct result of the abuse he endured from his family.

I knew Paul was suffering not by the fact that he was gay, not by the fact that his peers would not accept him. For Paul it was his home life he simply could not be himself at home. With his peers Paul felt comfortable and became himself and was safe.

Can you just imagine what Paul’s father would have done had he got a call from school that his son was in a gay club?

Don’t fool yourself that there are not parents out there right now that are like Paul’s dad ready to physically and mentally beat the gay out of their kid if the opportunity presents itself.

GSA’s are not recruitment clubs to convert straight kids into being gay. GSA clubs are there like any other club in school to make kids feel normal by providing a space of like minded people to discuss what kids discuss.

Normalizing gay is not wrong in my mind, you may disagree but we can agree on that we want our kids to feel accepted in life, not excluded.

Making statements that children going to these clubs will is some way be monitored differently than other clubs is just wrong. Politicians making statements that they will somehow undo these clubs or out people in these clubs are like Paul’s father.

My plea is to everyone think about who you are supporting in life, who you stand with. Just because someone is in a leadership position do not think you cannot challenge or question their ideals.

Jason Kenney you are wrong and your statements around GSA's do effect kids in a very negative way.

To respect the countless teenagers and my dear friend Paul who we have lost due to ignorance.

I for one could never shake your hand.