There, I said it. I could dress that up. I could call the United States Treasury Secretary’s comments economically unserious. I could write several very professional paragraphs explaining why reducing one of the most integrated trading relationships on Earth to the relative size of two economies is breathtakingly stupid.

But, Scott Bessent already did the hard work for me.

Speaking about Canada’s retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs, Bessent said:

I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone 13 times larger than you are.

I guess the self proclaimed Christian forgot about David and Goliath.

Then, because apparently the Treasury Department has expanded into military analysis, he mocked our Armed Forces too:

How could we be at war with Canada? They’re going to take their two submarines from the Edmonton Mall and point them at us?

What the actual fuck Scott? We are talking about tariffs, not preparing an amphibious assault on Cleveland.

And, while we’re here, mocking the military of the NATO ally whose soldiers fought and died beside Americans, in wars STARTED by Americans, is a particularly shitty look for a senior American government official.

But, just for shits and giggles, let’s deal with his economic argument. Because, apparently America’s Treasury Secretary thinks GDP is the same thing as leverage, and just so I note here, that is terrifying for Americans.. Your top Treasury Secretary doesn’t understand economics 101… OUCH!

Let’s play Scott’s game… Canada IS smaller. America is enormous. I do not hear anyone disputing that.

The United States can absorb considerably more economic damage than Canada can. A prolonged economic war would hurt Canada badly.

BUT.. economic size and economic vulnerability are NOT the same fucking measurement. Trade isn’t a weightlifting competition or WWF match that the orange toad likes so much.

Countries do not line up their GDPs, determine who has the biggest number and hand the winner everything it wants. Trade runs through Supply chains, Pipelines, Refineries, Electrical grids, Factories, Railways, Ports, Farms, Mines, Transmission lines and geography.

Sometimes the smaller country possesses something the big bad bully wants…. hence the constant 51st state bs.

Sometimes replacing that something is rather expensive… oh like the refineries in the Midwest.. Ouch!!

Sometimes it takes years… like Venezuelan oil and working with their infrastructure and the types of oil they produce.

And sometimes the infrastructure connecting the two countries was literally built on the assumption that neither government would be STUPID enough to deliberately blow up the relationship.

Well, boy oh boy, were we wrong on that point… We learned that the US is always 4 to 8 years away from electing another idiot into the white house.

Now, Scott Bessent, Let’s take Canada apart….

If Canada is so economically insignificant, we shouldn’t have any trouble removing it from the equation, right. I mean since we are so nasty to deal with, and you do not need anything from us…

Let’s start west and work our way across the country, shall we!?

British Columbia - B.C. isn’t just mountains and Vancouver real estate. It is America’s neighbour on the Pacific and Canada’s principal gateway to Asian markets. It produces lumber and wood products, natural gas, metallurgical coal, copper and other mineral, electricity, agricultural products and seafood.

More importantly for Canada’s future, it’s Pacific ports give Canadian producers something Washington probably wishes we didn’t have right now. Another direction to sell. Every additional barrel, tonne and container Canada can move west reduces America’s ability to say, Where else are you going to go?

In Fact, only about 53% of B.C.’s goods exports went to the United States in 2024, substantially less than Canada’s national dependence on the American market. B.C. has spent decades developing Asian customers.

In 2024, roughly 74.8% of B.C.’s softwood-lumber exports went to the United States. The U.S. was also the sole international destination for B.C.’s natural-gas and electricity exports at the time, worth about $3.3 billion combined. More than 90% of exports of several B.C. wood products, paper products, vegetables, bread products, lead and zinc also went south.

B.C. also exported more than $2.4 billion in minerals to the United States in 2024 particularly zinc and aluminum.

But Scott, B.C.’s biggest strategic asset maybe something you can’t tariff away: The Pacific Ocean.

LNG Canada, expanded Pacific port capacity and Canada’s growing ability to move commodities directly into Asia means B.C. provides Canada with something you seem to have forgotten… an exit from that toxic market we have been forced to deal with.

That’s leverage too…

Alberta - Oh Scott, Trump, and Smith - This is where things get fun… ready??

Canada supplied the United States with an average of 3.9 million barrels of crude oil EVERY SINGLE DAY IN 2025. That represented 63.4% of all American crude-oil imports. And, just for reassurance, much of that Canadian supply is heavy crude feeding American refineries specifically configured to process it.

We exported approximately $151.5 BILLION in goods to the United States in 2025.

American’s produce enormous quantities of oil… YEE Fucking Haw.. Congratulations Trump… oh wait!!! Crude isn’t one interchangeable substance. You cannot simply replace millions of barrels of heavy Canadian crude tomorrow morning by pretending you are ready. No matter how much B.S. press conferences you give.

Then, add natural gas, natural gas liquids and petrochemicals…

Canada supplied nearly 100% of AMERICA’S IMPORTED NATURAL GAS AND 97.9% OF ITS IMPORTED NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS IN 2025.

In 2025, we exported $8.7 BILLION in agri-food products to the United States. Beef is particularly important: Alberta supplies the overwhelming majority of Canadian beef exports to the U.S.

Scott, you ignorant toad, those aren’t patriotic Canadian talking points, they are measurements of the North American Energy System.

Saskatchewan - Hello American farmers… Let’s talk potash. Saskatchewan sits on one of the world’s great potash resources, and Canada is America’s overwhelmingly dominant foreign source.

Potash is fertilizer. For those who do not know, fertilizer grows crops of food. Scott, you nincompoop - Farmers cannot spread GDP across a field and hope corn comes out.

Saskatchewan supplies the overwhelming majority of Canada's potash production, while Canada accounts for approximately 90% of U.S. net potash imports. Saskatchewan is also home to some of the world's richest uranium deposits, and Canada is the largest individual foreign supplier of uranium to U.S. civilian nuclear reactors, accounting for roughly a quarter of purchases in the latest USGS calculation. Add oil, canola, wheat and pulses and suddenly little Saskatchewan looks rather fucking useful.

Oh and here’s an interesting little detail about how integrated this relationship has become: In 2024, 94.6% of Saskatchewan exporting establishments sold goods into the United States. In 2025 $23.7 Billion in goods to the U.S.

Their most common American destination? North Dakota.

Manitoba - brings hydroelectricity, agriculture, grains and oilseeds, livestock and food processing, minerals and one hell of an important north-south transportation relationship.

And, Manitoba is even more integrated with the United States than Saskatchewan by one measure:

95.3% of its exporting establishments sold into the U.S. in 2024. With Minnesota as their most common destination.

That dependency, cuts both ways Scott. Canadian companies need American customers… for now, just as much as American customers need Canadian suppliers.

Ontario - Now Scott, we arrive at the industrial heart of the relationship. Cars, auto parts, steel, machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nuclear technology, electricity and the Great Lakes manufacturing corridor. Now, we know how much your little hands president likes to pretend he is King of the World, and likes to pretend he can change names of monuments … How’s that working out for you with those subs stuck in the Canal?

An automobile assembled in North America doesn’t necessarily contain “Canadian parts” or “American parts” in the simplistic way politicians, such as yourself, talk about them. Which again, surprises me, considering you are the Treasury Secretary. Yikes Buddy!!

Components can cross that border repeatedly during production. Michigan and Ontario didn’t spend generations building parallel automobile industries for the hell of it Scott. They built ONE integrated automobile industry with an international border running through the middle of it.

Which leads me to explain, this is why a 50% tariff on Canadian automobiles isn’t simply punishment inflicted on Canadians bud. It also hits inside the American supply chain.

Quebec - Primary aluminum, hydroelectricity, aerospace, forestry, pulp and paper, mining and critical minerals, manufacturing, and again - access through the St. Lawrence. Quebec exported $84.8 billion in merchandise to the U.S. in 2025.

Canada exported 13.8 BILLION in aluminum products to the United States in 2025 nationally alone. Quebec is central to that supply.
American manufacturers don’t care that America’s GDP is thirteen times larger when they’re looking for competitively prices primary aluminum. Ya’ll need it… sorry, not sorry.

$6.40 billion in aircraft. $4.40 billion in aircraft engines. $2.65 billion in unwrought copper and copper alloys. $2.07 billion in aircraft parts and other aerospace equipment. Nearly $2 billion in paper and more than 1.3 billion in softwood lumber.

Boeing still can’t manufacture an airplane out of GDP.

New Brunswick - Now, let’s stop pretending Atlantic Canada doesn’t count. New Brunswick has petroleum refining, forestry, pulp and paper, seafood, agriculture, mining and electricity connections with New England.

It also sits on Canada’s Atlantic doorstep. Which, just so you know, matters considerably more when the country next door starts using continental economic integration as leverage…

New Brunswick also contains Canada’s largest oil refinery at Saint John and one of Canada’s major Atlantic port. That port, is becoming more strategically important precisely because we are diversifying.

Ontario reported that the volume of its goods moving through Port Saint John to international markets jumped 153% in 2025.

Nova Scotia - Again, seafood, lobster, tires and manufacturing, forestry, ports, shipbuilding, defense industry, and direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. Again, geography is an economic asset, because we have three oceans… and you know what Scott? We absolutely should start acting like it…

Prince Edward Island otherwise known as PEI - supplies potatoes and processed potato products, seafood and agricultural products and has developed a significant bioscience sector as of now.

PEI exported roughly $946 million worth of potato products globally in the 2024-2025 crop year, including about $715 million in frozen potato products.

The lesson here isn’t that PEI can bring the American economy to its potato shaped knees…. but that every fucking region participates differently in an integrated continental economy.

Newfoundland and Labrador - Here we fly back into Canada’s resources. Offshore petroleum, iron ore, nickel, copper, cobalt, hydroelectric power, seafood and of course, that Atlantic access…

These minerals inputs into energy, steel, manufacturing and increasingly the critical-mineral supply chains EVERY MAJOR WESTERN ECONOMY IS SCRAMBLING TO SECURE… Too bad Captain No Brain had to start all of this. You guys had pretty much unlimited access.

Yukon - Gold, Silver, Copper, Critical-mineral potential, and once again, our strategic northern geography. The economic value of Canada’s North cannot be measured solely by today’s export receipts, as we are entering an era in which Artic access, critical minerals and northern infrastructure are becoming strategic assets… Oh and look you spineless jelly fish, you’ve managed to piss everyone off that has access to that Artic water.

Northwest Territories - Diamonds, rare earth and other critical-mineral potential… Ohhhh and enormous piece of the Canadian Artic. The U.S. has currently been looking to reduce its dependence on hostile or unreliable suppliers of critical minerals…. well Scott, you bamboo… you and tiny hands just screwed that up. Good Luck! Awkward.. for you!

Nunavut - Iron ore, gold, critical-mineral potential and Ohhhhh a staggering amount of that Artic territory…

Again; Maybe Scott, you should look at a fucking map. Because the economic and strategic relationship between Canada and the United States isn’t simply about what crossed the Ambassador Bridge yesterday. It is about resources, geography, infrastructure and security stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic to the Artic.

Now, Scott, we will get to the part your argument really shits the bed.

Canada doesn’t NEED to produce more of everything than America does. Canada only needs to provide something America needs, in sufficient quantity, through infrastructure that makes replacing it expensive, difficult or slow.

And Scott, we do.

A lot of it.

In 2025 alone, Canada supplied:

63.4% of U.S. crude-oil imports, nearly 100% of U.S. natural gas imports, 97.9% of U.S. natural gas liquid imports, 76.4 Billion in mineral products - including $14.4 billion in iron and steel, $13.8 billion in aluminum, $5.6 billion in copper and $4.2 billion in potash.

Canada also remains an important American supplier of critical minerals including uranium, tellurium and niobium.

Now, Donald and Scott - Thanks to our extremely intelligent Prime Minister, Mark Carney - Canada has ALREADY started diversifying.

In 2025, Canadian merchandise exports to the U.S. fell by $29.4 billion. Exports to countries outside the United States increased by $27.6 billion.

Canadian energy exports outside America jumped 22.3%, reaching $28.8 billion.

Even Canadian aluminum exports outside the U.S. nearly tripled, from $738 million to $2.1 billion.

So… Scott Buddy, Canada is already learning the lesson Trump wanted to teach us… depending overwhelmingly on one customer is dangerous, and not in OUR best interest. Which, if you ask me, is not the lesson Tiny Hands wanted to teach us.

Oh and Bessent, you bootlicker, saying we walked away from “the best trade deal of any country on the globe.”

Wonderful Scott - How about you PUBLISH that deal? Us Canadians would LOVE to see what you came to the table with at the last minute…. So… publish the fucking deal Scott. Show Canadians what Washington demanded. Show Americans what Washington offered. Show us what Canada supposedly walked away from… Because Ottawa says something very different happened.

Canada says the United States introduced new demands late in the negotiations that Ottawa considered uneconomic, unfair and incompatible with Canadian sovereignty, including disputes over Canada’s freedom to conduct trade relationships with other countries and, during the negotiations, Canadian French-language requirements.

Publish the fucking deal.

Let Canadians see which version is true… Until then, Canadians know you are full of hot air, and we aren’t afraid to tell everyone else.

We don’t want to hurt America - most of us have family down there, or close friends. We have spent generations building things together. We’ve fought wars together. We built industries together. We built pipelines and power lines across that border because BOTH countries benefited.

There are 86 international electricity transmission lines connecting Canadian provinces and American states alone.

That is why this entire situation is so fucking stupid. Interdependence was never weakness. It was insurance against precisely this kind of behaviour.

Hurting Canada economically inevitably creates costs in America because our economies were deliberately built that way.

And Scott, about those Edmonton Mall Submarines…

Canada isn’t threatening military action against the U.S. We’re imposing tariffs in a response to YOUR Captain Tiny Hands temper tantrum tariffs.

So, why exactly is the United States Treasury Secretary talking about our military? And, even more, why is a senior official of an ALLIED government mocking Canada’s Armed Forces while his president threatens our economy, tells Canadian businesses to move to America, repeatedly talk about absorbing Canada and has now decided Lake Ontario should be called Lake America? Is that what you are anxiously trying to do? I think you should perhaps, get your own military fed and taken care of before you come knocking ours.

And, while we are at it, we are allowed to defend ourselves. But Scott, being thirteen times larger doesn’t mean America possesses thirteen times the leverage in every industry, every commodity, every supply chain and every geographic relationship.

Stop with the dick measuring Scott… it isn’t economics.

And perhaps the man running the United States Treasury Department should spend less time making jokes about submarines in the Edmonton mall - and more time learning how the North American economy actually fucking works.

Last but not least, Scott, your booze.

I’ve heard plenty of crying from American alcohol producers about losing access to Canadian shelves and Canadian customers. Tough shit!!

Our wineries in B.C.’s Okanagan and Ontario’s Niagara region produce internationally recognized wines. We make damn good Canadian rye. And then there’s your watered-down, piss-tasting beer. Yeah. Keep the Coors.

Canadians once spent billions of dollars every year buying American alcohol. Now your booze can sit there and gather dust. Let’s see if it does, in fact, taste better with age.

And here’s the part that should concern American producers: tariffs can disappear. Consumer habits don’t necessarily disappear with them.

Canadians have spent this trade war discovering Canadian wine, Canadian whisky, Canadian beer and Canadian products we weren’t buying before.

Some of us aren’t going back. You didn’t lose Canadian customers because Canadians suddenly hated American whiskey. You lost Canadian customers because your president made buying Canadian an act of fucking patriotism.

Donald Trump wanted to teach Canada how badly we needed America.

Instead, he taught millions of Canadians to turn the bottle around, read the label and ask:

“Is this Canadian?”

That might turn out to be one of the most expensive lessons he ever taught us.

Canada might be small, but we are not helpless, irrelevant… and hey you idiots, we are not now or ever for sale… and that includes Alberta.

Linda Walker Proud Albertan Canadian

Dear Danielle Smith,

Seriously, what the actual fuck? Who taught you the art of negotiating?

Did you read Trump’s book? Because Buddy, you apparently missed one of the most basic principals of negotiation:

You do not walk into a fight and announce which cards you refuse to play.

You don’t have to play the card… hell, you don’t even have to want to play the card…

But if the other side believes you might have an ace sitting in your back pocket, that changes the conversation.

And yet, while Canada is in an escalating trade war with the U.S. president who has repeatedly used economic pressure against us, you publicly declared that using Alberta oil and gas as leverage is off the table.

You said cutting off Alberta energy exports would be “extremely harmful to Canadians and is not a viable option.” You have also rejected the idea of taxing energy exports, calling it disastrous.

Now, before someone in the oil patch starts getting their panties in a wad… hear me out.

I am NOT arguing that Canada should shut the pipelines tomorrow.

I am not even arguing that an export tax was necessarily the right move. What I am asking is something so much simpler:

Why in God’s green earth would you publicly assure the Americans that we wouldn’t use one of Canada’s strongest pieces of leverage BEFORE negotiations are finished?

Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, and believe me, the irony of me citing Jason Kenney is not lost on me, made almost exactly this argument this last week. His point wasn’t “turn off the taps.” His point was that you don’t respond to an aggressive economic attack by beginning with a list of things Canada promises NOT to do.

Kenney said prospective export taxes on critical exports such as oil, gas and potash should at least remain available if Trump escalates further. And when you actually look at what is happening inside the American energy system right now?

Holy shit, Danielle!!

Let’s talk about American’s oil cushion that you mentioned in your speech.

The United States currently has about 289.7 million barrels remaining in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That is the lowest SPR level since November 1982.

Another 3.7 million barrels came out in the week ending August 21, 2026 as emergency releases continued during the Middle East supply crisis.

Think about that.

The reserve specifically created to provide the United States with a buffer during major energy disruptions is sitting at a 44- year low while the country is already dealing with a major energy disruption.

And then there is Cushing, Oklahoma.

Cushing is one of the most important crude-storage and pricing hubs in North America. Earlier this summer, Cushing inventories dropped below 20 million barrels for several weeks.

That got low enough that the U.S. Energy information Administration actually published an explainer about “tank bottoms.”

“Tank bottoms” refers to the minimum volume of crude that must remain in tanks, pipes and associated infrastructure for pumping systems to function properly. If inventories fall to far, pump suction and storage operations become impaired.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_stoc_wstk_dcu_ycuok_w.htm?utm_source

Cushing has since recovered somewhat, to about 22.4 million barrels as of August 21 so no, the place isn’t about to run dry tomorrow.

But the fact that EIA was explaining minimum operating volumes should tell you something about how tight the system became.

Now, let’s get to the part Alberta understands very well.

A barrel is not just a barrel.

Whenever this conversation comes up, somebody inevitably says:

“But America produces its own oil.”

Yes. A shitload of it.

U.S. production was running around 13.8 million barrels per day in the week ending August 21.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/PET_SUM_SNDW_DCUS_NUS_W.htm?utm_source

But, much of the shale oil produced in the United States is relatively light, sweet crude.

Many large American refineries, particularly sophisticated facilities in the Midwest and Gulf Coast, invested billions in cokers, hydrocrackers and desulphurization equipment specifically so they could profitably process heavy, sour crude.

Guess what Dani, Canadian heavy crude fits those configurations extremely well.

EIA has specifically described Gulf Coast refiners seeking Canadian heavy crude as heavy supplies from places like Mexico and Venezuela declined.

https://www.eia.gov/tODAyinenergy/detail.php?id=8130&utm_source

And then Dani, there is the American Midwest, my home area. This number is almost ridiculous really. According to EIA’s most recent monthly import data, in May 2026 the Midwest imported about 2.793 million barrels of crude oil PER DAY.

Canadian crude going into the Midwest that month? Also approximately 2.793 million barrels per day.

In other words Dani, within rounding, essentially every barrel of imported crude entering the U.S. Midwest that month came from Canada.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcp_d_r20_z00_mbblpd_m.htm?utm_source

What that means Dani, is replacing Canadian supply isn’t as simple as Donald Trump snapping his fingers and yelling:

“DRILL BABY DRILL”

You need the right crude.

In the right place.

At the right refinery.

Connected by the right transportation infrastructure.

And, available at the right volume.

“FINE. They’ll get it from Venezuela.” You did say that.

Yep… that’s your counterargument.

And unlike some people, I’m not going to pretend Venezuelan crude can’t replace Canadian heavy crude.

It can.

Many Gulf Coast refineries were literally built or upgraded to run Venezuelan heavy crude. Venezuela was historically a major U.S. supplier, and Gulf Coast refiners are already taking increasing volumes of it again.

BUT, here is the rather LARGE problem:

Venezuela isn’t remotely ready to replace several million barrels a day of reliable Canadian pipeline supply on demand.

Reuters reported just days ago that Venezuelan tankers are waiting as long as 30 days to load.

Why you may ask?

Aging terminals.

Power outages.

Crude-quality problems.

Infrastructure bottlenecks.

Despite rising production, Venezuelan exports have struggled to exceed roughly 1.25 million barrels per day in recent months. That isn’t nothing… But compare that with Canada sending roughly 3.9 million barrels per day of crude into the United States in May alone.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcp_a1_nca_epc0_ip0_mbblpd_m.htm?utm_source

And there is another logistical problem. Gulf Coast refineries have easier access to Venezuelan barrels by tanker.

The Midwest has spent years building its crude system around Canada.

Midwestern refiners shifted heavily toward Canadian crude as Latin American supply declined, while pipeline configurations also changed… including the reversal of the Capline pipeline.

So, sure. Venezuela can replace some Canadian oil… Eventually, perhaps considerably more. But could Venezuela instantly replace millions of barrels per day if Canada suddenly disrupted supply during an existing global oil crunch?

Come on now.

And then there’s Iran.

This is where the timing becomes almost surreal. The United States is already six months into a war. The Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important energy chokepoints on the planet, remains badly disrupted.

Before the war, close to 20 per cent of global crude oil and LNG shipments passed through Hormuz. Traffic remains substantially impaired. As of today, Reuters reports that shipping has improved slightly, but traffic remains below recent averages. Kpler counted on 10 visible commodity=vessel transits Wednesday, versus a ten-day moving average of 15.

More importantly, Kpler estimates oil exports through Hormuz at only about 2.3 million barrels per day in August, down from 4.49 million in July, with Asian crude imports still well below pre-war levels.

Meanwhile Dani, gasoline in the United States has climbed above $4 per gallon, with the Iran war contributing to higher crude and fuel prices.

As I am writing this, Donald Trump is preparing to meet American refiners and fuel retailers specifically because gasoline prices are becoming a political problem heading toward the midterms.

And U.S. refiners aren’t sitting around idle waiting to magically increase output. EIA says nationwide refinery utilization reached 97.4 per cent in the week ending August 21 2026.

The Midwest was running at an extraordinary 101.8 per cent of stated operable capacity, while the Gulf Coast was around 97 per cent.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_wiup_dcu_nus_w.htm?utm_source

So Dani, let’s put this all together.

America’s strategic reserve is at a 44- year low.

Cushing recently flirted with extremely low operating inventories.

The Midwest is overwhelmingly dependent on Canadian crude imports.

American refineries are already running exceptionally hard.

Venezuela has suitable heavy crude but currently has serious production-export infrastructure constraints.

And one of the world’s most important oil shipping corridors is sitting in the middle of an active war.

OH!!

And American gasoline prices are already becoming a political liability for Donald Trump heading into the midterms.

That would have put the United States in quite a little picklejam, now wouldn’t it?

Would Alberta have taken a giant uppercut if Canada actually used oil as retaiation?

Absolutely. I’m not going to bullshit you.

Alberta exported roughly $111 Billion worth of oil to the United States in 2025. Producers would suffer. Provincial royalties would suffer. Canadian revenues would suffer. Workers would suffer. And, that matters.

It is precisely why actually using this lever would be a serious decision, not something you do angry. BUT Dani, leverage works because both sides know using it would hurt. Mutually painful leverage is still leverage. Especially when one side may be far less able to absorb the shock at that particular moment.

And, just so we are precise, there is another important legal issue that needs to be acknowledged.

CUSMA Article 2.15 says Canada cannot simply slap a special export tax on goods going to the United States unless that tax is also applied to the same good for domestic consumption. So, there is that.

Another quick thing Dani, I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but Alberta itself cannot simply dictate Canada’s international trade policy… remember “Stay in your lane?” Provinces have extensive constitutional authority over their natural resources, but international trade and export regulation involve the federal government.

Which, brings me right back to you!

You personally did not legally surrender Canada’s ability to use energy leverage.

Ottawa didn’t announce an oil-export tax. Industry Minister Melanie Joly was asked whether energy was on the table, and rather intelligently, refused to answer, saying the federal government doesn’t negotiate in public.

Her words were essentially: Canada has cards and we’re not telling you which ones we might play.

Danielle, that is how you negotiate.

You? You publicly told the other side which card you desperately don’t want Canada to use.

Why?

Seriously.

Why?

If the United States knows Canada’s energy weapon is painful enough that Alberta is terrified of using it, that is exactly what makes it a bargaining chip.

You don’t have to fire the gun. You don’t even have to load the damn thing. But maybe don’t walk into negotiations, hand Donald Trump the ammunition, point to the empty chamber and announce:

“Don’t worry, Mr. President. Canada would never use this.”

Because, and here’s the part that bothers me most. Trump clearly understands leverage. He has used tariffs, automobiles, market access, border issues, pipelines and Canada’s dependence on the U.S. market as negotiating weapons.

Just last week, he was publicly talking again about Keystone XL while trade negotiations were underway. That is leverage. He doesn’t HAVE to get everything he threatens… He needs Canada to believe he might do it. So, why are we volunteering certainty in return?

If Canada had walked into those negotiations knowing the United States was dealing with depleted strategic reserves, disrupted Middle East supply, refinery constraints, high gas prices and midterm political pressure….

Do you really think Washington wouldn’t have calculated the risk differently?

Maybe

Maybe not.

But we’ll never know what value that uncertainty could have had if our own premier keeps publicly removing it from the damn table.

I don’t want Alberta destroyed to prove a point… I want us strong. I want our oil industry strong. And I want Canada negotiating from the strongest position we can possibly build.

That, Ms. Smith is what TEAM CANADA means.

Not Ontario against Alberta.

Not Ottawa against Alberta.

Not Alberta against the rest of Canada.

It means understanding that when another country attacks Canadian industries, every legitimate piece of Canadian leverage should be evaluated strategically before anybody starts publicly surrendering it.

When playing poker, you don’t show your cards to everyone Danielle. And you sure as hell don’t tell him which ace you’re afraid to play.

Be a team player Dani!

Linda Walker

Team Canada

In 2023, I received a utility bill of more than $900 one month.

That was electricity, natural gas and municipal utilities, but it still landed in the same household budget. It was still money that had to come from somewhere. Eventually, I moved onto an equalized payment plan because unpredictable utility bills had become impossible to manage.

Three years later, I am still paying roughly $350 to $400 a month for electricity and gas.

We are now living in a brand-new home, which is energy efficient.

So when governments, electricity-market experts and industry groups tell Albertans that wholesale power prices have fallen dramatically, I have a simple question:

Where exactly are those savings?

Because they are not showing up in my bank account, are they yours?

And now, before ordinary Albertans have received meaningful relief, Danielle Smith’s government is welcoming a Meta AI data centre that could consume approximately as much electricity as a major Alberta city.

I pulled an ENMAX bill from August 2024 and compared it with my current 2026 bill.

They are from different homes and different municipalities, so this is not a perfect experiment, but the breakdown exposes something important about Alberta’s electricity system.

In 2024, I used 1,168 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

The electricity itself cost me $134.20.

Distribution, transmission, administration, riders and the local access fee added another $116.74.

In 2026, I used only 838 kilowatt-hours … around 28 per cent less electricity.

The electricity itself cost $69.49, almost half the 2024 amount.

But everything surrounding that electricity still cost $114.99.

Let that sink in.

My electricity use dropped substantially, my energy rate dropped, my actual energy charge was cut almost in half.

But the non-energy portion of the bill declined by less than two dollars.

The wholesale market improved. My household budget barely noticed.

That is because Albertans do not pay only for electricity. We pay for the wires, transmission network, distribution system, administration charges, riders, franchise fees and all the other machinery wrapped around it. Thank you Alberta for selling off our public utilities.

In my current bill, the electricity itself represented only about 38 per cent of the total electricity charge.

The other 62 per cent was everything required… or permitted… to surround it.

Natural gas was even more ridiculous.

The gas itself cost $5.41.

The total natural-gas bill was $58.47.

I paid more than ten times as much for delivery, administration and other charges as I paid for the gas.

This is not an abstract economic debate. It is the bill sitting on my kitchen table.

Now, Meta has announced a new one-gigawatt, AI-optimized data centre in Alberta. One gigawatt means 1,000 megawatts of electrical demand when already operating at full capacity.

That number matters because the Alberta Electric System Operator previously established an interim limit of 1,200 megawatts for additional large-load connections… the maximum AESO said could be served without negatively affecting grid reliability under that interim process.

Meta’s announced facility alone is equivalent to roughly 83 per cent of that entire limit.

This is not another warehouse. It is not another office building. It is not even a conventional industrial plant with large fluctuations in activity.

AI data centres can operate around the clock, drawing enormous quantities of steady electricity for computing and cooling.

Now, I know that they are building their own power source, BUT they have up to 3 years to build it.

In the meantime, a one-gigawatt load operating continuously would consume approximately 8.76 terawatt-hours of electricity in a year. And AESO is still developing the long-term rules governing how these enormous new users will connect, how the system will be planned, how markets will respond, what tariffs will apply and how reliability will be protected.

Read that again.

The project has been announced. The groundbreaking has been celebrated.

But you Guys, major questions involving tariffs, markets, planning and reliability are still being worked through.

That is backasswards.

Now back to “Meta will build its own power plant.”

That is the reassurance we are being offered. Eventually. Can take up to 3 years.

But what happens before it is operating?

What happens if construction runs late?

What happens if the generation facility experiences outages?

What happens during an Alberta cold snap, when residential heating demand is high, the wind is weak and the system is already under stress?

What happens when Meta’s enormous new demand competes with homes, hospitals, businesses and existing industries?

Most importantly:

Who pays for the infrastructure required to accommodate it?

Meta will presumably pay for the electricity recorded by its meter. But that is not the same thing as paying the full cost it imposes on Alberta’s (our) system.

A load this large may require new substations, transmission infrastructure, grid reinforcement, reserve capacity, balancing services and emergency planning.

Those costs do not vanish.

They are either charged directly to the company creating them, paid by taxpayers, or distributed through tariffs charged to everybody connected to the system. So, which is it?

We have already seen what tight supply can do Guys.

Alberta’s Market Surveillance Administrator reported that the average pool price in 2023 was approximately $134 per megawatt-hour. Although that was below 2022, it remained significantly higher than in 2021.

During the third quarter of 2023, the average pool price was approximately $152 per megawatt-hour. The MSA noted that increased wind and solar generation contributed to lower prices compared with the previous year. (Huh… is that why renewables were strangled in 2023?)

By the first quarter of 2026, the average pool price had fallen to approximately $32.15 per megawatt-hour amid mild weather and increased supply.

That tells us two things.

First, Alberta electricity prices can move dramatically depending on supply, demand and market conditions.

Second, increased generation matters.

Prices declined as more supply became available.

Now Alberta is preparing to add an extraordinary amount of new demand, without upgrading our current infrastructure. What ever could go wrong?

Are we becoming Texas?

People hear “Texas-style electricity crisis” and assume someone is being dramatic…. But Guys, as I have been saying, Alberta and Texas have uncomfortable similarities.

Both rely heavily on deregulated, market-based electricity systems.

Both face severe weather.

Both have experienced scarcity pricing and volatile wholesale markets.

Both have governments that speak reverently about private investment while becoming remarkably vague when asked who will absorb the risk.

During the 2021 Texas winter storm, some customers exposed to real-time wholesale pricing received bills reaching thousands of dollars over a matter of days. Then, there is the AI Data centre’s there, causing issues with their already struggling infrastructure. We have the ingredients for serious price pressure and they are sitting plainly in front of us:

• an already expensive household billing structure;

• delivery and infrastructure charges that remain high even when energy prices fall;

• a market with a documented history of extreme volatility;

• enormous new round-the-clock electricity demand;

• dedicated generation that may not be available immediately;

• and no publicly demonstrated guarantee that Meta will pay every additional system cost it creates.

Alberta households cannot be the shock absorber Guys.

Meta is one of the wealthiest corporations on Earth. It does not need Alberta families to subsidize its electricity infrastructure.

Before the facility connects to Alberta’s grid, the Smith government should publicly release:

1. The agreement governing Meta’s interim use of grid electricity.

2. The expected date its dedicated generation will be fully operational.

3. The party responsible for cost overruns or construction delays.

4. The complete list of required transmission and distribution upgrades.

5. The rules determining who pays for those upgrades.

6. The tariff Meta will pay while drawing from the provincial grid.

7. The estimated effect on wholesale prices and household utility bills.

8. The curtailment rules that will apply during periods of scarcity.

9. The amount and source of water required for cooling.

10. Every grant, tax concession, guarantee or public incentive attached to the project.

And the agreement should contain one simple principle:

No household, municipality or existing Alberta business should pay higher electricity costs because Meta chose to build here.

Meta should pay for its electricity.

Meta should pay for its connection.

Meta should pay for every grid upgrade required by its project.

Meta should pay for the reserve and emergency capacity needed to protect reliability.

Meta should bear the financial risk if its dedicated generation is delayed.

Not Alberta families.

Guys, We have heard this sales pitch before… Multiple times.

Albertans are repeatedly told that the next corporate megaproject will create jobs, attract investment and secure our economic future.

Then the details disappear behind commercial confidentiality.

The risks become public.

The profits remain private.

And when the bill finally arrives, politicians explain that the market made them do it.

My household has already lived through Alberta’s electricity-price crisis.

I remember the panic of opening a utility bill that exceeded $900.

I remember moving to equalized payments because there was no other way to make household budgeting predictable.

And I know that despite falling wholesale prices, my electricity and gas costs remain hundreds of dollars every month.

So no, I am not prepared to smile politely while this government adds a one-gigawatt corporate load to Alberta’s grid and tells us everything will work itself out.

Danielle Smith and the GOA, show us the contracts, the infrastructure plan, the cost allocation.

Show us who pays when something goes wrong.

Because Albertans have spent years being told electricity is getting cheaper.

Our bills tell a different story.

Now is the time that I ask for your support. If you found this piece informative, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It is through my paid subscriptions that I am able to keep this publication free for everyone.

In a world that is blatantly trying to pull the wool over our eyes, it is time that we start trying to warn one another. Kindness costs nothing, but can give you the world. Take care Guys, and I hope you have a wonderful day!! Bye!

Today, I had one of those conversations with my oldest son that stuck with me long after we hung up. So much so, here I am writing about it.

I expected us to debate immigration.

Instead, he made me question what kind of society we’re becoming.

My son, oldest of 6 kids, and I never land on the same side of political issues. He’s more old-school conservative than I am. I’m more likely to ask uncomfortable questions about power, accountability, and the unintended consequences of public policy, knowing when rights are taken, it is often not our own at first.

We both know this about each other, yet we still sit down and talk... even when those conversations can get a little strained (and they often do, to the point, over the last few years, it has become almost impossible for us to have a normal conversation.)

This time, however, when the conversation inevitably turned to immigration. He said something that stopped me.

“Mom, they’re not talking about you and my stepdad.”

I knew exactly what he meant.

He wasn’t talking about legal immigrants. He wasn’t talking about people who have built their lives here, paid taxes, raised families, and followed the rules. (As a matter of fact, he jokingly calls me a “Karen” because I’m such a rule follower, most of the time.)

He meant people who enter the country illegally and, in his view, bring the problems they left behind with them.

I told him I understood where he was coming from… but then I asked him to see it from where I am sitting.

My husband is an immigrant from Iraq. He became a Canadian citizen more than twenty years ago.

Most people don’t know his story when they look at him. They don’t know what he believes. They don’t know he served in the military or the things he did that most people would consider heroic. They don’t know he’s worked hard his entire life, raised a family, contributed to his community, and proudly chose Canada as his home.

What they see is a brown-skinned man.

Sometimes that’s enough for some people to decide who he is before he ever opens his mouth.

We’ve been driving through both of Alberta’s major cities and had people drive past pretending to shoot us with their fingers. We’ve had similar things happen in small towns here in Alberta too.

Those people didn’t know anything about him.

They only knew what they assumed.

As for me, I’ve lived in Alberta since 1994. I’ve worked here. I’ve raised my children here. I’ve survived cancer here... three times. I’ve paid taxes here. And I’m a legal permanent resident working toward Canadian citizenship.

I’ve also been the illegal immigrant that so many people talk about. It wasn't something I was proud of, but it gave me firsthand experience with how the immigration system actually works.

The difference is that I’m white, American-born, and I don’t look like what many people picture when they hear the word “immigrant.”

Because I’ve lived both sides of the immigration system, I understand more of it than many people realize and what you can and cannot do.

I know the documentation required to access healthcare.

I know what you need to enroll your children in school.

I know what identification is required to receive government services (which I was never allowed to access, because I didn’t have the ID’s needed). Hell, you can’t even open a bank account in Canada without proving who you are.

That’s why I often struggle when people make sweeping statements about immigration. The reality is far more complicated than many realize.

Policies don’t exist in a vacuum. Governments write them. People live them.

Even when they aren’t intended to affect people like us, they can still influence how people see us.

That’s the difference between intent and impact.

Then my son said something else that got me thinking.

“People just need to focus on themselves.”

I don’t think he realized it, but that sentence changed the entire conversation. We weren’t really talking about immigration anymore. We were talking about two completely different visions of society.

One believes our primary responsibility is ourselves.

Work hard. Pay your bills. Stay out of everyone else’s business.

I see it differently. I believe communities are built when people look beyond themselves.

That neighbours matter. That empathy isn’t weakness but rather It’s the glue that holds a society together.

Neither philosophy starts from a bad place.

One values independence.

The other values interdependence.

But they lead us to very different places.

For me, if we only ever focus on ourselves...

Who checks on the elderly neighbour whose family lives halfway across the country?

Who brings meals to someone recovering from surgery?

Who coaches kids’ sports after working all day?

Who volunteers at the food bank?

Who stands beside a friend going through cancer?

Who helps the family that just lost everything in a fire?

Those things aren’t government programs.

They’re the neighbour who notices your driveway hasn’t been shoveled.

They’re the friend who quietly drops supper on your doorstep.

They’re the stranger who stops to help when your car breaks down.

They’re community.

They’re the quiet moments where someone decides another person’s wellbeing matters too… And that is the Alberta I have known and loved for over 30 years.

Over the past year, I’ve written about governments, legislation, and accountability, but this conversation reminded me of something even more important.

Politics doesn’t begin in Parliament.

It doesn’t begin at the Alberta Legislature.

It begins around kitchen tables.

It begins when families can ask difficult questions without feeling like one of them has to “win.” It begins when we’re willing to respect one another enough to listen before we respond.

My son didn’t change my mind.

I don’t think I changed his either.

But he did change the question.

Maybe the real question isn’t whether we’re too tough or too soft on immigration.

Maybe it’s this:

What do we owe one another simply because we share a community?

When we look at someone’s skin colour and decide who they are...

When we judge someone because of their religion...

Their accent...

Their sexual orientation...

Or simply because they were born somewhere else...

We’ve already created an “us” and a “them.”

And personally, I think that’s exactly where societies begin to fracture, as we are currently seeing in Alberta.

Many of my readers know I grew up in Oklahoma. I was raised in a family of Reagan Republicans. Oil and gas wasn’t just an industry … it was our family business. I attended excellent schools, schools that were considered among the best in the United States at the time.

Yet despite growing up in Tulsa, I was never taught about Black Wall Street. I was never taught about the Tulsa Race Massacre. No, I didn’t learn about it until my own children were being taught about it here in Canada.

That realization has stayed with me for years, because it reminded me how easy it is to make assumptions when we only know part of the story.

The same thing is happening now.

Unless we take the time to know someone, we’ll fill in the blanks ourselves.

My husband has lived a life most people know nothing about. He’s seen parts of the world many of us couldn’t imagine. He’s experienced things that would break some people. Yet instead of allowing those experiences to fill him with bitterness, he chose to build a happy life here.

He chose Canada.

He became a citizen.

He proudly flies the Canadian flag outside our home.

He loves this country deeply.

In fact, I’d argue he’s prouder to be Canadian than many people who happened to be born here.

And yet for some people...He’ll never be Canadian enough.

Not because of the life he’s lived.

Not because of the values he holds.

Not because of the contributions he’s made.

Simply because of what they see before they’ve taken five minutes to know him.

And to me...

That’s the real tragedy.

Not that people disagree about immigration. Healthy democracies need those conversations.

The tragedy is that we’ve become so quick to judge strangers that we’ve forgotten how to become neighbours. Somewhere along the way, we stopped being curious about one another.

We started assuming instead of asking.

We started choosing teams instead of choosing community.

And Alberta, the one thing I do know is this…

The Alberta I fell in love with wasn’t built by people who only looked after themselves.

It was built by neighbours and community.

Maybe that’s the conversation we should be having. Tell me what you think in the comments. Am I wrong? Let’s talk about it, respectfully.

Now is the time where I ask for support. Through my paid subscribers, I am able to keep this publication free for everyone. Most of the time, I write about policy in Alberta, the effects it is having and connecting the dots on where they actually come from.

I am passionate about this, because I am living with the consequences, as are so many others. So, if you find value in my writing, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. My free subscribers are also very important, because without them, the algorithms would not even pick up my work. Thank you guys for helping me spread my words near and far.

As always, in a world full of hate and division, the only way we will make it out of this in one piece is to remember kindness to one another. Empathy. And, true patriotism.

Thanks Guys, and I hope you have a wonderful day!! Enjoy the heat we are FINALLY having. Bye!

Melly shares her ongoing frustrations with a vehicle that’s been in and out of the dealership for months and the feeling that, as a woman, she wasn’t being taken seriously. That conversation naturally leads into mental health, self-care, and the importance of being heard.

Then we shift to Alberta politics.

We walk through all 10 Alberta referendum questions, discussing what each question asks, why the wording matters, and the potential implications for healthcare, education, immigration, provincial powers, the courts, and Alberta’s future in Canada.

To wrap up the episode, we discuss the newly announced Meta AI Data Centre and the questions we believe Albertans deserve answers to before construction moves forward:

• Who pays for infrastructure upgrades?

• What will be the impact on Alberta’s power grid?

• Where will the water come from?

• How will wastewater be managed?

• What environmental assessments have been completed?

• How many permanent Alberta jobs will actually be created?

• What guarantees are in place to protect taxpayers?

As always, we encourage everyone to read the information for themselves, ask questions, and make informed decisions.

Have questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message and we may feature it in a future episode.

If I am honest this year Guys, this Canada Day feels a bit different… and no it’s not because we need our canoe to get from one event to the other… not because we love this country any more than we did last year.

But Alberta, it’s because I’ve spent the better part of this last year realizing that democracy, public institutions, and even the idea of Canada itself are not guaranteed. They survive only because ordinary people decide they are worth protecting.

I was born in the U.S. I have never kept that from my readers. But Alberta, I CHOSE Alberta over 30 years ago. Canada has become my home, my family, and the place where I built my life.

That’s why I refuse to be silent when I see division replacing unity, ideology replacing evidence, or politics asking us to forget who we truly are.

Loving your country doesn’t mean pretending everything is perfect. Far from it. It means, defending our public healthcare, our democratic institutions, the rule of law, our treaties, and the rights and freedoms that belong to every Canadian from sea to shining sea, not just those who agree with us.

This year, I along with Tami Smith from AB Resistance will be spending it, rain or shine, at Anniversary Park in Chestermere. We will have flags, games, quiz’s, information and good ole conversation. Make sure to pop by and say hello. We have a quiz to see if you can pass the citizenship test for Canada. Let’s see how well you know your Canada.

While out today, remember to be kind, celebrate safely, laugh often, hug people you love and those maybe even more that you don’t. And Guys, let’s remember that this country has always been strongest when we faced challenges together!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Forever Canadian. Always Albertan.

Over the past year, I’ve had hundreds if not thousands of conversations with Albertans… supporters of the UCP, NDP, Liberal voters… libertarians, conservatives, business owners, healthcare workers, retirees, and people who simply want answers.

What truly struck me wasn’t that we disagreed on everything. It was that we often aren’t debating the same question.

When I ask why emergency rooms are overcrowded, why food bank use is at record highs, why insurance, utilities, and housing costs continue to climb. I rarely get an answer about those issues.

Instead, the conversation inevitably shifts to:

“Ontario is worse.”

“The federal government caused it.”

“No government can perform miracles.”

“Government shouldn’t be doing that in the first place.”

“Families should take care of their own.”

None of those responses actually answers the original question. They just simply change the standard or move the goalpost.

When Alberta leads the country in job growth, government supporters point to provincial policy as proof the government deserves credit. We have all seen it. BUT, when someone asks why affordability is getting worse, suddenly provincial governments can only do so much, Ottawa is to blame, or every other province is struggling.

Both positions cannot be true at the same time Alberta.

Either provincial governments have meaningful influence over outcomes, or they don’t. If they deserve credit for success, they also deserve accountability when results fall short.

And Guys, another pattern appears over and over and over again. “We’re still better than Ontario.” “We’re doing better than B.C.” “Look at Quebec.”

Ok, Maybe Guys.

But, that isn’t the Alberta Advantage that Albertans were promised. The promise wasn’t to be less bad than someone else. None of us would have fallen for that. No, the promise Alberta, was prosperity for ALL Albertans.

Comparing Alberta to another province might win a political argument, but it doesn’t tell me whether Albertans are actually thriving.

And Guys, let’s set one thing straight. Growth is NOT the same thing as prosperity.

I have never, not once, disputed that Alberta is growing. Jobs are being created. Investments are arriving. People do continue to move here. That is all TRUE.

My question though is whether ordinary Albertans feel that growth in their daily lives, and if not, why is that?

Can they afford housing?

Can they get a family doctor?

Can they access mental health care?

Can they pay their utility bills, taxes and insurance?

Can their children learn in classrooms that aren’t stretched beyond capacity?

Alberta, economic growth is what we call an input. Prosperity is the outcome. And honest to God Alberta, governments should ultimately be judged by OUTCOMES.

Now, I’ve had commentors accuse me of expecting perfection.

I do not.

No government is perfect, and I know that. But, accountability doesn’t require perfection. It requires ownership.

Governments, especially the current administration, love taking credit for success and outsourcing blame for their failure. I want to see them take accountability.

After all, isn’t personal responsibility something we Albertans pride ourselves on? Shouldn’t we expect the same for the government who works for us?

Guys, maybe the most important lesson from these conversations that I learned is this: the debate isn’t really about left verses right. It’s about what standard we use to judge success… and Guys, doing a little better than someone else, isn’t the flex you think it is.

Let’s hold this government, and every one after, to the same standards, shared realities, and promises that are made… because barely making it, was not the promise that we were sold with the Alberta Advantage. We need to be asking the GOA the harder questions. Hold them accountable, because Alberta, right now, they work for us…. if we wait much longer, we will be working for them.

Guys, Canada Day is coming up on Wednesday, even in the pouring rain, we need to be showing our Canadian pride like never before. I will be at Anniversary Park in Chestermere with AB Resistance board member Tami Smith. You might have remembered her from the interview “Using Your MelLin” did with her a few weeks back. Come out and say hello. We will have games, bubbles, information and conversation. I hope to see you there, but no matter where you are on Canada Day, please take part.. It’s just rain, and as Albertans, we know we aren’t made of sugar and won’t melt. Get out and show your Canadian spirit.

Now is the time that I ask for coffee or not! If you found this piece informative, I’d ask that you become a paid subscriber. It is through that generosity, that I am able to continue to do these deep dives and comparisons. Thank you to all of my new subscribers and followers. Without your help, I would just be screaming at my monitor… now, others are able to hear the truth without the partisan spin.

Remember Guys, in a world full of hate, be kind. Have a great day! Bye!

Really Alberta? Because that’s exactly what Americans used to say.

They didn’t wake up one morning to discover executive power had expanded, constitutional rights were being reinterpreted, the courts had become political battlegrounds, and institutions they once trusted being fundamentally changed.

No Guys, It happened over the last 1.5 years, some before that (Roe). It happened by one appointment of an individual, one executive order, one court decision, one piece of legislation, one “reasonable” change at a time.

Each one was defended at the time. Each one sounded somewhat logical, or was explained away. Until one day people looked around and asked…

“How the hell did we get here?”

That Alberta, is why I am paying attention to our southern border. Because in all reality Guys, we would be foolish not to learn from what is happening.

People keep asking why I connect what’s happening south of the border with what is happening here.

Not because I love politics, that I can tell you. But because I watch power. Power has a pattern.

It starts with legislation, through restructuring, through changing who makes decisions.

Guys, look at what has happened in Alberta over the past several years.

Bill 18 - centralized provincial control over agreements between municipalities, universities, school boards, health authorities and the federal government.

Bill 20 - expanded provincial authority over municipalities and local elections.

Bill 27 - inserted government into deeply personal decisions involving students and families.

Bill 54 - lowered the threshold for citizen - initiated referendums, making it easier to place constitutional questions before voters.

Bill 55 - fundamentally restructures public healthcare while placing more authority in the hands of the Minister and Executive Council.

At the same time, we’ve seen repeated efforts to increase political influence over judicial appointments and ongoing debates about the independence of the courts.

Guys, individually, each bill has its own justification (somewhat). But collectively? They tell a story.

Control the funding.

Control the municipalities.

Control education.

Control healthcare.

Control the referendum process.

Increase the authority of the Government of Alberta’s Executive Council.

Pressure the institutions that are supposed to provide independent oversight.

Guys, that is not just one bill, that is a governance philosophy.

Now, before anyone accuses me of being dramatic (I know, awkward!!)

Let’s go back to the Untied States for a minute. Americans didn’t lose decades of constitutional precedent because one president simply decided they would (no matter how much I want to say it is all his fault.)

In reality, throughout the years, institutions changed. Courts changed. Interpretations changed. And, Executive authority has expanded. Today, Americans are watching the consequences play out in real time.

Constitutional rights that many believed were settle law, have been revisited. Immigration policy has become increasingly concentrated in executive authority. The Supreme Court continues to redefine the relationship between government power and individual rights.

My point Guys, Institutional change has consequences.

And Alberta, once those institutions change….

The next government inherits those powers.

Take healthcare for instance.

People ask why I keep talking about Bill 55 and Covenant Health. It’s because rights aren’t always taken away by banning them… Sometimes they’re limited by changing access, and it becomes that simple. Sometimes governments don’t just eliminate a service, they change who controls it. They change who delivers the services, and who makes those decisions.

The law can remain exactly the same while practical access becomes harder and harder to obtain Alberta. That is literally how policy is often changed.

That same principal applies far beyond healthcare.

When more decisions move into the Executive Council….

When local governments lose independence (we got a glimpse of that over the great noise pollution of Calgary debate).

When public institutions become more politically directed..

When independent oversight weakens…

Citizens become increasingly dependent on the goodwill of whoever happens to be in power. And that Guys, is not how constitutional democracy is supposed to work.

Alberta, Canada and really anyone else reading this, the Constitution wasn’t written to protect governments.

It was written to LIMIT THEM.

Independent courts weren’t created to serve premiers. They exist to ensure governments obey the law.

Public institutions weren’t designed to become extensions of the Premier’s Office. They exist to SERVE THE PUBLIC.

And democracy Alberta, isn’t simply majority rule. Sorry not sorry. It’s majority rule constrained by constitutional rights, independent courts and in institutions strong enough to tell governments “no.”

That’s why the upcoming referendum matters Guys. And no, it’s not because I fear democracy. Quiet the opposite actually, it’s because I respect the hell out of it.

If Albertans are being asked to vote on questions with PROFOUND CONSTITUTIONAL CONSEQUENCES, then our institutions have never been more important.

Who protects Treaty rights under section 35?

Who determines whether a referendum complies with the Constitution?

Who protects minority rights if a majority votes for something governments simply cannot do?

Guys, those aren’t political questions, they are constitutional ones.

And here is a question I want to directly ask the Conservatives of Alberta or rather, they ask themselves.

Let’s forget Danielle Smith for a second.

Would you be comfortable giving the NDP or Liberal governments the same powers?

Because Alberta, governments always change. Political parties can change. Premier’s change… But the powers they accumulate do not.

History teaches us one lesson over and over and over again. One that we still apparently have not learned yet.

The people who build powerful governments almost never imagine someone else will inherit those powers. But someone ALWAYS does.

The United States is a case study Alberta. The question is whether we’re paying attention while our own democratic guardrails are being quietly rammed through legislation.

Because Alberta, by the time everyone agrees that things need to change, it’s usually too late. Let’s speak up now.

This is the part where I ask for coffee or not. If you feel this piece was informative, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It is through that generosity that I am able to continue to do these deep dives and explainers. I want to say a giant THANK YOU!! to all of my new subscribers and followers. It is through you spreading this content that we are informing people of the truth of what is happening. Please get involved. There is no time like the present to make your voice heard.

Remember Guys, in a world full of hate, remember to be kind. Have a great day Guys! Bye!

I am getting really tired of hearing about the Alberta Advantage.

Alberta is absolutely a wealthy province. That is not even close to the question…

Every single time Albertans ask for better healthcare, better schools, properly funded municipalities, disability supports, or help dealing with the highest utility and insurance costs in the entire country… We’re told there isn’t enough money Alberta. In fact Guys, we are gaslit into blaming people for asking these very questions.

Notice how we always have money when it’s convenient? Headlines like “We’re the economic engine of Canada.” “We’re prosperous.” “We’re booming.” “We’re the envy of the country.” “Alberta Advantage.”

OK GOA, if that is the case, where the hell is the advantage? Because Guys, from where I am sitting, Alberta is a rich province, but more and more Albertans are struggling.

I’ve lived here for over 30 years. I’ve seen Alberta boom and bust. I have seen where the Conservative government created AHS, managed AHS, then complained that there is a problem with heavy management. Well who the hell is responsible for that, if the GOA has consistently been in power for over 50 years (minus 4 years)? That type of gaslighting is exactly what I am talking about. Alberta used to have the best health care in the country, best education, cheaper utilities, cheaper insurance, and actually showed the “Alberta Advantage.” So, what happened? I don’t want to hear bs federal comments though Guys, because yes, federal policies affect things, but this has been managed by the Conservatives for over 50+ YEARS. At some point, we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot while crying that the gun was defective.

I’ve watched neighbours lose their jobs, people working harder than ever and somehow fall further behind. I’ve watched ordinary Albertans become more statistics while politicians talk about prosperity and I am fed up with the contradictions.

The Alberta Advantage was never supposed to be about making a handful of people rich beyond their biggest dreams. It was supposed to mean that Alberta’s prosperity benefited Albertans.

Not corporations.

Not just investors.

Not just political insiders.

Albertans.

ALL OF US.

And Guys, today, we’re told Alberta can’t afford more nurses, doctors, smaller class sizes… that we can’t afford to PROPERLY fund our municipalities… can’t afford disability supports, affordable housing, or public services that is what made Alberta strong in the first place.

Yet Alberta… There somehow seems to always be money for consultants, advertising campaigns, restructuring, lawsuits (that most have been lost), and political pet projects of Ms. Smith.

See the contradictions yet? Because to me, they are blaring neon signs that are blinding on the side of the road at night.

A few days ago, I had read about yet another Albertan who has died, due to policies put in place by this GOA.

Deaths in the ER, deaths of children who died of diseases we had previously eradicated, and now citizens…

Bruce Johnson from Empress had been receiving AISH for decades. Before his death, he had reportedly expressed fear about upcoming changes to the support system that he depends on… a provincial responsibility. His story has become part of a larger conversation about disability, poverty, and what happens when vulnerable Albertans feel like nobody is listening. And, Alberta, Bruce wasn’t or isn’t the only one struggling right now.

Everyday, I see Albertans worried about rent, groceries, medication, utilities, wondering if good, affordable healthcare will be around in Alberta anymore or not.

And then, we have the headlines popping up again. We are told that Alberta is prosperous. My question is and has been, prosperous for who? No one in the GOA is willing to answer that question. I’ve asked multiple times, publicly.

Guys, when ordinary Albertans hear the words “Alberta Advantage,” they don’t think about GDP, or corporate tax rates, quarterly earning reports….

They think about opportunity, being able to build a decent life, about raising a family, owning a home… finding a doctor, getting an excellent education and growing old with dignity. Guys, THAT WAS THE PROMISE!!!

That is why I get so mad when politicians tell me Alberta is rich while simultaneously telling me we can’t afford the things Albertans rely on…

So, Danielle Smith and the entire UCP party, I have questions….

If Alberta is rich, where is the money going?

If Alberta is truly prosperous, why are so many Albertans struggling?

If Alberta has an advantage, why does it feel like fewer and fewer Albertans are sharing in it?

That Guys, is the real conversation that we should be having with our “Alberta Politicians.” Not whether Alberta is rich, it is… but whether Alberta’s wealth still belongs to Albertans? Because Guys, if the Alberta Advantage only works for the people at the top, then it isn’t much of an advantage for the rest of us now is it?

We’ve now come to the time where I ask you for your support. It is through my paid subscribers that I am able to keep this publication free for everyone. If you found this piece informative, then please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years. Please like, comment and share to keep the conversation going.

Please remember Guys, In a world of bully’s, it is now, more than ever, the time to remember empathy and kindness. Have a great day Guys!! Bye!

Every generation inherits a society. Education determines whether they understand how that society works.

Alberta, that may sound dramatic, but education has never been just about reading, writing, mathematics, or test scores.

Education teaches citizens how to think. How to evaluate information. How to separate evidence from opinion. How to recognize manipulation. How to understand history. How government works. How rights function. How responsibilities function. And maybe, most importantly, how to navigate complexity without immediately reaching for the easiest answers.

That is why education is one of the most important pillars of any democracy… Because Alberta, an informed population is significantly harder to manipulate than an uninformed one.

Think about the first three pillars in this series.

Shared Reality

Public Trust

Healthcare

All three depend upon citizens having the tools necessary to understand what they are seeing. Guys, if people don’t know how to evaluate evidence, shared reality begins to fracture. If people cannot distinguish legitimate criticism from constant institutional attacks, public trust begins to collapse.

If people cannot understand long-term planning, demographics, budgets, staffing challenges, and jurisdictional responsibilities… healthcare becomes reduced to slogans instead of solutions… and education.. sits underneath it all.

Alberta, we are increasingly living in a world where information is unlimited, but the understanding is not.

For the first time in human history, nearly every piece of information imaginable is available in our pockets… and yet, misinformation spreads faster than facts. Outrage faster than nuance. Certainty faster than evidence. And, confidence often spreads faster than expertise.

Why Alberta?

Because knowing something and understanding something are not the same thing.

Reading a headline is not research, watching a video is not expertise… repeating a meme is not critical thinking… and consuming information is not the same thing as understanding it. I think we have all seen that in the understanding of Section 35 of the Constitution.

What education does, is teaches people how to ask better questions.

How do we know this is true?

Who benefits from this claim?

What evidence supports the claim?

What evidence contradicts it?

What information might be missing?

What incentives are at play?

Those questions Guys, are not signs of weakness, but signs of intellectual maturity. Unfortunately, we increasingly live in a culture that rewards the opposite. The loudest voices often wins. The most emotionally satisfying explanation often spreads the fastest. Complexity is treated as suspicious. Nuance is portrayed as weakness… and Guys, expertise is frequently dismissed as elitism.

Complex societies require citizens who can think through complex problems. Things like:

Housing is complex

Healthcare is complex

Education is complex

Energy policy is complex

Trade is complex

Constitutional law is complex

Indigenous relations are complex

None of these issues, can be solved through bs slogans… and yet bs slogans increasingly dominate public discourse.

Simple answers are easier to sell than complicated realities… and Alberta, that is especially true during periods of economic stress, social change, uncertainty, and fear. Which bring us to a difficult question Guys:

Who benefits when citizens lose the ability to think critically? People who understand how systems work are harder to manipulate. People who understand jurisdiction are harder to mislead. People who understand evidence are less susceptible to propaganda. People who understand civic responsibility are harder to divide. It teaches them how to evaluate competing claims for themselves.

A great education does not create agreement, it creates informed disagreement… and that… is a fucking huge difference Alberta.

Healthy democracies are full of disagreement… but, healthy democracies also require citizens who share a basic commitment to evidence, facts, reason, and intellectual honesty. Without those foundations Alberta, every damn debate becomes a battle of identities instead of ideas. Everything becomes hockey team jerseys. Every disagreement is personal. Every conversation becomes a fight. And Guys, eventually, people stop trying to understand one another at all.

We are already seeing signs of that across society. What I want to know is whether we are willing to acknowledge it? Because Alberta, education is not simply about preparing students for jobs. It is about preparing citizens for democracy. It is about giving people the tools necessary to navigate a world filled with competing narratives, political messaging, social media algorithms, misinformation, and increasingly sophisticated forms of manipulation. That, Alberta, has never been greater than it is today.

Our future will not be shaped by those with the loudest voices… but rather by those capable of thinking clearly when everyone else is shouting. Education helps build the kind of society capable of solving problems instead of simply arguing about them.

Alberta, a democracy cannot survive without informed citizens. A healthy society cannot function without critical thinking… and a population that loses the ability to distinguish evidence from emotion becomes vulnerable to anyone willing to exploit the difference.

Education is not simply another government service, but one of the foundations upon which every other pillar rests. When that foundation weakens, every other pillar standing above it, becomes less stable as well.

We’ve come to the part where I ask you for your support. If you find this piece helpful or informative, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It is through my generous subscribers, that I am able to keep this publication free for everyone.

Guys, and finally, in a world full of Smith’s be a Kinew! Be kind!! Bye!!

Healthcare is where politics stop being a game. It is the exact place where ideology collides directly with human vulnerability.

People can argue, until the cows come home, about taxes, governments, spending, economics, political parties, or ideology. However, eventually, every single one of us enters the healthcare system. Most of the time, not during the best moments of our lives. We enter it scared, in pain, exhausted, desperate and vulnerable. We enter it hoping someone will help us.

And that, Alberta, is why healthcare is not simply another political talking point. Instead, it is one of the foundational pillars holding all of society together. And when that pillar begins to crack, people all feel it personally at one time or the other.

You might feel it sitting in an overcrowded emergency room. While waiting months for specialists. Driving hours in search for a family doctor. Watching loved ones stuck in hallways, or in worse shape, in the ER. Seeing rural emergency departments close repeatedly. Watching maternity wards disappear from smaller communities. Hearing ambulances diverted farther and farther away. And Alberta, we are beginning to NORMALIZE this instability. WTF?

Guys, once instability becomes accepted and normalized, populations slowly begin lowering their expectations of what public healthcare is even supposed to provide. I think it is safe to say, we are already showing signs of this.

Temporary emergency closures become a weekly routine. Virtual coverage replaces physical doctors. Communities are repeatedly told shortages are temporary, while the strain stretches on for years. Healthcare workers burn out, I know, I am one, who are trying to hold systems together with fewer resources, fewer staff, and growing daily pressures.

Meanwhile, population growth continues accelerating, while public infrastructure is underfunded and ignored. Instead of having an honest conversation about long-term planning, healthcare increasingly becomes trapped inside political branding wars. Public frustration grows. Trust is wiped away. Fear spreads. And instability itself becomes politically useful. Because Guys, nothing says desperation like a struggling healthcare system.

And Alberta, desperate populations, become far more willing to accept changes they might once have resisted…. especially when those changes are packaged using words like “choice,” “innovation,” “efficiency,” or “modernization.” I have repeatedly reminded you to watch for those words… Because, instability changes public psychology… as we have seen.

A person terrified they cannot access care for their child, parent, partner, or themselves is no longer debating healthcare policy academically. They are looking for relief. And that right there, is what makes healthcare such a powerful political battleground.. Healthcare touches literal survival itself. And Guys, survival creates emotional vulnerability.

This is where we need to be brutally honest as Albertans: a healthcare system under constant strain changes how people think. It creates fear, anger, hopelessness, resentment and eventually, it creates exhaustion… and exhaustion matters for the political agenda.

Why? Because, exhausted populations become easier to convince that instability is inevitable. That deterioration is normal. That public systems are doomed. That privatization is the only realistic path forward.

Alberta… once people stop believing improvement is possible, cynicism begins replacing civic engagement. I believe that is where we are at now, and this is extremely dangerous for our public healthcare.

Healthcare instability doesn’t exist in isolation either. It affects: employment, mental health, family stability, caregiving, housing security, financial stress, rural sustainability, and whether people feel safe imagining their own futures.

Rural Albertans, you are closer than you think.

For years now, Albertans have watched repeated emergency room closures, staffing shortages, reduced rural services, ambulance diversions, delayed procedures, and the gradual erosion of local healthcare access.

Communities are increasingly expected to adapt to instability instead of demanding stability. That shift Guys, is enormous. Healthcare infrastructure is not just about buildings. It is more about trust. The trust that when something catastrophic happens, help will exist. Right now, is that true in your area?

And Guys, despite all of the back and forth, mistreatment, underfunding, and blame… healthcare workers continue to show up. Nurses. Doctors. Paramedics. Aides. Technicians. Support staff. Administrators. Caregivers.

They are exhausted, burned out and many are leaving.

But Guys, there are many who are still trying desperately to hold the system together because they understand what happens if it fully breaks.

This pillar is not about pretending healthcare systems are perfect. They absolutely are not. But, Guys, at some point in all of this, you need to ask ourselves, if we are, in fact, the richest province in Alberta… Why has our provincial government underfunded our public services? We can’t blame everything on Ottawa… or else, what purpose is the provincial government for?

Public systems require reform, modernization, accountability, efficiency and an honest evaluation with long term planning. Alberta, remember, there is a profound difference between reforming a strained system and allowing instability itself to be the norm. One strengthens healthcare, the other weakens public faith in it.

Healthcare is one of the clearest reflections of what a society believes human beings owe one another. Care. Dignity. Security. Stability. Humanity. Not just for the wealthy or the politically connected individuals. Not if you get lucky. But for EVERYONE.

A province cannot build long-term stability while citizens increasingly fear they may not receive care when they need it most.

Healthcare is not a weakness, it is part of the societal infrastructure… and once that infrastructure begins collapsing Alberta, every other pillar beside it begins to crack as well.

We’ve now come to the part where I ask for your support. If you find this writing informative and valuable, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It is with great thanks to my subscribers, that I am able to keep this publication free for everyone. Please like, comment and share.

With all of that being said, Alberta… remember your manners and be kind today!! Bye!

In this episode of Using Your MelLin, Brian and Michael share their journey from the American South to Alberta, discuss what surprised them most about life in Canada, and offer a candid perspective on the cultural, political, and everyday differences between the two countries. Their story is one of change, resilience, and finding a new sense of home.

Over a glass of wine and plenty of laughs, we talked healthcare, community, immigration, and what it means to build a life in a new country.

Thank you Brian and Michael, for joining us. We look forward to having you back on Using Your MelLin soon!

Public trust is one of the most valuable resources a society possesses.

Once it begins to collapse, almost everything else starts collapsing with it. Not overnight, or all at once, not always dramatically.

Sometimes, it happens slowly. Quietly. One accusation at a time. One outrage cycle at a time. One institution at a time. Until eventually, people stop believing in almost anything at all.

This is, I am afraid Alberta, where we now find ourselves drifting towards. And personally, it scares the hell out of me.

There is a profound difference Guys, between holding institutions accountable and systematically teaching people that every institution is inherently corrupt unless it serves their political identity.

A functioning democracy, requires public trust. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not mean blind trust, or unconditional loyalty, or obedience.

But, the understanding that while institutions may be flawed, imperfect, bureaucratic, unbelievably slow, frustrating, and sometimes even deeply wrong, they still serve a purpose larger than partisan outrage.

Healthcare systems, schools, courts, journalism, public service… all matter. But, so does Science, elections, municipal governance, and evidence. Guys, come on now.

Once people stop believing those systems have legitimacy, societies become extremely vulnerable to manipulation and grievance politics… because you Guys, distrust is politically profitable.

It is far easier to convince angry people that “everything is broken” than it is to actually govern responsibly.

And Alberta, increasingly, we are watching political culture reward those who attack institutions more aggressively than those attempting to improve them.

Read that again.

Teachers become ideological enemies… teachers you guys…Mrs. Smith with glasses, a skirt and sensible shoes… Doctors become “political actors.” Judges/Judiciary become “corrupt.” Journalists become “fake news.” Scientist become “elitists.” Universities become “indoctrination centres.” Public servants become “the deep state.” Municipal leaders become “traitors.” Election systems become suspect whenever outcomes disappoint people, or are manipulated by people trying to remain in power, who change laws to make it easier, using that very institution.

You Guys, once that happens, objective accountability becomes broken. Instead of looking at laws and respected positions, we frame everything through partisan identity. People no longer evaluate information based on evidence.. but on rather it emotionally reinforces their worldview.

That… is dangerous AF.

Societies cannot function if citizens lose confidence in every system meant to stabilize collective life.

This narrative becomes especially dangerous during periods of economic stress, demographic pressure, healthcare strain, housing shortages, and rapid technological change… Exactly the conditions that Alberta, and much of the world are finding themselves in.

Fear creates vulnerability.

Vulnerable populations are far easier to radicalize through anger than stabilize through complexity. That is why outrage politics are so effective. They provide emotional certainty in uncertain times.

After all, someone is always to blame. Someone is always lying. Someone is always “destroying the country.” Someone is ALWAYS the enemy.

And Alberta, while those stories may feel good… they slowly erode the civic glue required for societies to function together cooperatively.

When we stop seeing one another as fellow citizens and humans navigating shared problems…. and start seeing one another as threats…. That is when democratic deterioration accelerates. I know you Alberta. This is not you!

We are being constantly fed American-style institutional warfare. Distrust is no longer emerging organically from isolated failures. They are being cultivated intentionally.

Think about it Alberta…

Healthcare workers are accused of hidden agendas. Teachers are portrayed as activists (Really??!!) Public health officials became targets. Journalists are dismissed automatically. Academic expertise is treated as suspicious. Courts are attacked when decisions are unpopular. Federalism itself is deliberately distorted until citizens no longer understand jurisdictional responsibility. LinkedIn comments can prove that! Guys, everything becomes: “Don’t trust them.”

But, who exactly replaces those institutions once trust is destroyed?

Influencers? Algorithms? Political branding teams? Anonymous meme pages? Podcasters? Outrage merchants MONETIZING fear? Because Alberta, something always fills that space…. and it usually isn’t something healthier for the general population.

Now, am I not saying institutions should be shielded from criticism? FAR from it!!!!

Our systems are not now, nor have they ever been perfect. Which is why we need people in government who maintain transparency, accountability, ethical leadership, evidence-based governance, responsible journalism, civic literacy, and citizens willing to engage honestly with complexity instead of collapsing into hockey teams. Although, that might be fun to watch, it does not make good governance.

That being said, trust must be earned continuously. There is a difference between reforming institutions and convincing populations they should trust only their team.

One strengthens democracy, the other destabilizes it.

And Guys, maybe the greatest danger is that once public trust collapses far enough, rebuilding it becomes extraordinarily difficult.

People stop participating constructively. They flat out disengage. They find themselves radicalized. The retreat into ideological silos. They lose faith that anything can improve. And eventually Alberta, cynicism itself becomes the identity… and that is something I am trying so very hard to break. It is why I keep trying to remind you of who you are.

A province cannot build a stable future if every institution becomes the enemy. A democracy cannot function if trust only exists inside partisan colours and a society cannot solve complex problems when every conversation begins from the assumption that everyone else is acting in bad faith Alberta!!!

Public trust is not weakness Guys, it is infrastructure. Once infrastructure begins collapsing, every other pillar becomes unstable beside it.

We have now come to the time where I beg for coffee… or not! Either way, I will still be here, connecting the dots to the rot.

A genuine thank you to my paid subscribers. It is through their generosity, that this publication can remain free. To my free subscribers, a giant thank you as well. Without you, this information would just be me, screaming at the screen… and for that, you have my deepest gratitude.

If you found this piece helpful, please share and consider becoming a paid subscriber. Please like, comment and share to keep the conversation going. And Guys, please remember… Be Kind! Have a great day Guys!! Bye!

Rather than me telling you what happened, we took a microphone directly to the people who showed up and asked a simple question:

“What brought you out here today?”

The answers were thoughtful, passionate, frustrated, hopeful, and deeply personal. While participants all came from different backgrounds and held different concerns, one message surfaced repeatedly: many feel they are no longer being heard from by our UCP Government of Alberta.

This special edition of Using Your MelLin features the voices of Albertans speaking for themselves.

Whether you agree with them or not, these conversations offer a snapshot into what many people were feeling on May 29.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and experiences.

There was a time when most people could disagree on solutions while still agreeing on the basic shape of reality.

We could argue about taxes, healthcare, education, wage stagnation, spending, pipelines, unions, regulation, or political parties… but there was still an underlying understanding that facts mattered. Evidence mattered. Expertise mattered. Evidence mattered Alberta… Institutions mattered, even while imperfect.

That foundation is cracking wide open, and Alberta, we are not immune.

In fact Guys, in many ways, we have become one of the clearest examples of what happens when political identity starts replacing shared civic reality.

This is no longer just about Conservatives versus Progressives, rural verses urban, or left verses right. This is about something so much deeper.

This is what happens when people are intentionally taught to distrust nearly every source of information except the ones that reinforces their opinion. Once that happens Alberta, society becomes almost impossible to govern rationally.

If healthcare is collapsing, but every problem is blamed on Ottawa regardless of constitutional responsibility, solutions become impossible.

If education outcomes decline, but experts and teachers are dismissed as ideological enemies, improvement becomes impossible.

If economists, scientists, journalists, judges, healthcare workers, teachers, and public servants are all portrayed as corrupt unless they support a specific political narrative, trust itself begins to erode… and once trust erodes far enough, anger becomes easier to sell than governance.

And that Alberta, is the REAL danger. Not disagreement, democracy or debate. A society without debate is unhealthy. But Guys, a society where people no longer share a common understanding of reality and laws, becomes vulnerable to manipulation from every direction.

Algorithms reward outrage. Political branding rewards grievances. Social media rewards certainty over nuance. Influencers PROFIT from your fear. And Alberta, increasingly, complexity itself is treated as suspicious.

Everything becomes: “Someone is lying to you.” Eventually, people stop asking: “What is true?” and start asking “Which team said it?” That shift Guys, changes EVERYTHING.

We now see major policy discussions reduced to slogans, memes, rage clips, and conspiracy-laced narratives that spread faster than actual governance information ever could.

Healthcare wait times? “All the federal governments fault”

Education strain? “Woke agenda” (I am sorry, opinion here, but this one in particular, really irritates me, because this came straight from Florida with Ron DeSantis, Danielle Smith’s idol).

Housing shortages? “Immigrants”

Economic pressures? “Globalists”

Wildfires? “Arsonists”

Municipal conflict? “Traitors to the party”

Treaty obligations? “Special treatment”

Every single issue becomes simplified into emotionally satisfying villains instead of structurally honest conversations.. And Guys, while that may feel emotionally validating in the short term, it slowly destroys a population’s ability to solve ACTUAL problems.

Real governance should be boring. Real economics involve tradeoffs. Real healthcare systems require long-term planning. Real infrastructure takes years. Real constitutional frameworks matter. Real demographic growth creates pressures. Real solutions require cooperation. And Alberta, that cooperation becomes nearly impossible, once citizens are conditioned to see one another as enemies instead of neighbours.

That is what polarization does. It deepens resentment. Not overnight, or one election cycle or through one leader. Through the steady erosion of shared civic trust. And, that, I think we can all agree on, is what we are seeing today in Alberta.

A lot of Albertans think they are “doing research” while consuming highly curated emotional content designed to reinforce identity and outrage. And Guys, this is happening across the political spectrum.

In Alberta specifically though, American style grievance politics have increasingly merged with regional frustration, economic anxiety, and social media rage economics to create something far more combustible. That frustration is fed to us through American owned media corporations who’s intentions are not fully recognized.

Guys, I am telling you, a population that no longer agrees on basic reality cannot effectively hold power accountable, because, everyone is operating inside entirely different informational universes. That is when accountability begins to collapse.

This is why I wrote this Pillar as the first one, not because governments should control thought, not because disagreement is dangerous… not because criticism is wrong… But because, democracies can not function if citizens lose the ability to distinguish between evidence, propaganda, branding, outrage, law and facts.

Guys, without a shared reality:

Every institution becomes suspect. Every election becomes illegitimate. Every crisis becomes a conspiracy. Every disagreement becomes betrayal of the identity. Every single problem becomes someone else’s fault. And, eventually, society stops functioning as a community and starts functioning as permanent psychological warfare. Guys, no province, no matter how proud, independent, or resource-rich, can build a stable future on that type of foundation.

The solution is rebuilding critical thinking, media literacy, institutional accountability for jurisdictional responsibilities, evidence-based discussions, and the civic maturity required to handle complexity without immediately collapsing into tribal rage. Oh and let’s not forget total transparency. Because Alberta, once a society loses shared reality, every other pillar begins to crack beside it… and honestly, that is the very last thing Alberta needs.

We have now come to the point where I ask for coffee… or not! Either way, I will still be here connecting the dots to the rot.. If you find this publication informational, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Through my paid subscribers, I am able to keep this publication free for everyone. If you want to be a free subscriber, that is wonderful too. The more people talking truths and shared realities, the better. Thank you Guys!! I really do have the best readership!!

Please like, comment and share to keep the conversation moving forward. And Guys, remember to be kind today. We never know what someone else is going through. Have a great day Guys!! Bye!!

We talked Alberta politics, accountability, division, frustration, healthcare, Treaty rights, political manipulation, and what it feels like to live through a time where people are exhausted from being constantly pushed into “us vs. them.”

One thing I appreciated most was that it didn’t feel like a screaming match or political theatre.

Just real people trying to make sense of what’s happening around us.

Huge thanks to Tami for the laughs and conversation.

And as Tami mentioned at the end of the interview ... if you’re interested in what’s happening in Alberta but don’t always have time to follow the news cycle every day, check out the AB Resistance Substack released Sunday mornings.

Real conversations matter right now.

Thanks again Tami and thank you for coming on Using Your MelLin. ❤️

This one is a little different.

Less polished. Less scripted. More honest.

Today we talked about something a lot of people seem to be feeling right now… exhaustion.

Not just political exhaustion.
Human exhaustion.

The constant outrage.
The division.
The doomscrolling.
The affordability stress.
The feeling that everyone is angry all the time.

Linda talks about what it feels like living inside Alberta right now, while Melly shares her perspective watching it all unfold from New Brunswick as a former Albertan still deeply connected to the province.

We talk about:
• whether Alberta still feels like home
• “real Alberta” versus political identity wars
• social media burnout
• compassion fatigue
• community
• why people feel emotionally fried
• and why we still love Alberta despite all of it

This episode isn’t about screaming louder.

It’s about asking:
“Are you tired too?”

🎧 Thanks for listening to Using Your MelLin.

Song choice felt obvious to me for this piece.

Hurtin’ Albertan by Corb Lund isn’t some political anthem… No Sir, this song, you need to live and love Alberta to feel it’s true meaning.

Pride, frustration, exhaustion, loyalty, heartbreak… all wrapped into one song.

And honestly? That’s exactly how this piece feels to me.

Because I wasn’t born here… I chose here. And I love this province enough to ask harder questions about what it’s becoming.

Am I alone in what I am seeing? Is it me, or have you found yourself wondering when Alberta turned into Lil America? Something feels really wrong Alberta. And, I don’t mean just politically, socially, emotionally or economically.

I know I can’t be alone in this. People can feel it even if they cannot fully explain it yet. I can hear it when talking to people everyday, while out and about.

The tension. The anger. The exhaustion. The actual sense that ordinary people are working harder, while becoming less secure. The feeling that every public conversation now turns into a fight before anyone even finishes a sentence. That some people have made up their minds on YOUR life, just by simply taking a look at you.

And Alberta, through all of it, I have one question that keeps surfacing behind all of this:

How on earth, did one of the richest provinces in one of the richest countries in the world, yes Alberta, that is us… become a place where so many ordinary, everyday people, feel financially strained, emotionally burned out, and guys… increasingly divided from one another?

Because Berta’, this is not simply about one politician. One political party. One election, or… one ideology.

All of this, is about systems. The things I have been trying to explain to you, over this past year.

Systems of power. Systems of influence. Systems of messaging Systems that shape how Albertans think, what they fear, who they blame, and what the believe is possible. And Guys, increasingly, those systems do not operate only through government.

They also operate through entire ecosystems:

Through political branding, think tanks, media personalities, algorithm-driven outrage, consulting firms, lobbying groups, cross-border ideological networks and infrastructure, and the worst one, in my opinion, emotionally charged narratives designed to keep citizens reacting instead of reflecting and asking questions, the government does not want to answer.

Organizations like:

• Atlas Network - A global network connecting free-market and libertarian think tanks. They promote deregulation, privatization, reduced government spending, and market-oriented reforms. Connected to many partner organizations worldwide.

• Heritage Foundation - Major U.S. conservative think tank tied to Republican policy development. Known recently for Project 2025, but influential for decades in shaping conservative policy agendas.

• Fraser Institute - Canadian free-market think tank influential in Alberta policy conversations around taxation, deregulation, healthcare privatization debates, and public sector reduction… meaning selling off our assets, and claiming it a win.

• International Democracy Union (IDU) - International alliance of conservative and centre-right political parties. Includes major conservative figures and facilitates networking and strategy exchange internationally.

• Canada Strong and Free Network - Conservative networking and training organization founded around Preston Manning’s political ecosystem. Hosts conferences connecting politicians, activists, strategists, donors, and media voices.

• Manning Centre - Predecessor to Canada Strong and Free. Historically influential in conservative movement-building and political training.

• Frontier Centre for Public Policy - Western Canadian think tank frequently involved in debates around deregulation, healthcare reform, education policy, and government spending.

• Canadian Taxpayers Federation - Advocacy organization focused on taxation, government spending, and public sector criticism. Highly influential in conservative media and policy ecosystems.

• Macdonald-Laurier Institute - Ottawa-based think tank influential in conservative and neoliberal policy discussions, including energy, governance, foreign policy, and institutional reform.

• Fairness Alberta - Advocacy group involved in Alberta autonomy, equalization, and anti-Ottawa messaging campaigns.

• Take Back Alberta - “Grassroots” (heavy eye roll) political movement that became influential inside conservative organizing in Alberta, especially around populist and anti-establishment rhetoric.

• Republican Party - Relevant not because Alberta might become Lil America (that is what the government wants), but because many modern culture-war narratives, messaging tactics, and populist political strategies increasingly cross the border through our American owned media ecosystems… and not to mention, responsible for the biggest data breach of Albertans private information in history.

• United Conservative Party (UCP) - Central political actor in Alberta’s current, and past governance landscape and deeply connected to many of the debates around privatization, provincial autonomy, and political identity.

These organizations openly advocate for specific ideological visions around governance, economics, deregulation, privatization, and political culture. Their influence operates through conferences, publications, networking, media ecosystems, policy papers, donor relationships, and political framing. These networks, are public-facing ideological and political ecosystems that openly advocate for specific economic and governance models.

Alberta, I want you to note that distinction, because it absolutely matters to real Albertans. Why? Because ideas travel, and thanks to the inter-web, rhetoric flies out the door faster than facts.

Increasingly, Albertans are watching that same rhetoric, same outrage cycles, same anti-institution narratives, same “freedom” branding, same anti-media language (while collectively buying up the media), and the EXACT SAME CULTURE WAR FRAMING JURISDICTIONS.

Alberta, this happens because modern political influence operates through shared systems of ideology, funding, strategy, media amplification, and emotional targeting.

Alberta - may I introduce you, to the machine.

Now that you know and can see it, the strategy in the political environment begins to look VERY different. Suddenly, the endless outrage starts making more sense.

Every week there is another emotional trigger: immigration, Ottawa, pronouns, books (yes books, apparently by offering us “freedom,” they took our freedoms away… I remember when Albertans were adults enough to be able to make decisions on their own), carbon tax, this “wokeness” bs that was ABSOLUTELY imported from the U.S., urban vs. rural resentment, federal overreach, separatist baloney, or another carefully amplified cultural conflict designed to keep people emotionally activated with fear and anger.

Meanwhile Alberta, ordinary citizens continue to struggle with things far more immediate, IN THE RICHEST PROVINCE IN CANADA like:

• housing costs (Provincial responsibility)

• Utility bills (Provincial responsibility)

• Insurance (Provincial responsibility)

• Healthcare access (Provincial responsibility)

• Education strain (Provincial responsibility)

• Economic insecurity (Provincial… come on guys, the math is not adding up)

• and finally exhaustion. (I feel it, I am sure you do too)

That contradiction is the point Alberta!! Because, emotionally activated populations rarely stop long enough to follow systems of power… just their feelings. They don’t audit procurement contracts. They do not examine lobbying influence. They don’t track donor ecosystems. They don’t investigate privatization pipelines. They do not ask who profits from all of this instability. Instead, they fight each other. I don’t know about you Alberta, but I have just about had it up to my roots with all of this.

And Guys, while they have you fighting over separatists court rulings, they are literally shoving legislation through that takes your freedom, while you cheer it on. Don’t shoot the messenger, prove me wrong instead.

Public trust has eroded… our institutions have been weakened, all while private influence expands across the province. It is all connected interests consolidated into power…. all while everyday Albertans, like you and me, absorb more risk, more stress, and more uncertainty… salivating in the fear and division, that was never ours to begin with. That is not now, nor has it ever been Albertan.

This pattern is done by design, and Alberta.. we have fallen for it… hook, line and sinker (literally).

Modern political systems increasingly rely on emotional management as much as governance itself (and they say women are emotional, insert HEAVY eyeroll here).

It’s all to keep you angry, fearful of things you do not know or understand, keep you divided, and exhausted… all while you keep on scrolling, reacting, rage farming… instead of getting out and meeting your neighbours… volunteering with the local food bank… even sitting down and having a beer with someone, just to get to know them… seeing someone’s blinkers on -40 on the highway, and stopping to make sure they are ok. That’s the Alberta I have grown to love and cherish. Where I get to enjoy Chinese food, Mexican food, Japanese food, and Polish delights all in the same strip at the mall. Where people apologize first, then ask why later… that is very Canadian, take it from the American expat… who has been warmly welcomed in this beautiful province for over 30 years.

Guys, flooding the zone keeps you distracted, because a distracted public doesn’t investigate deeply, or believe that meaningful change is possible.. It has taken many peoples ability to see a future, past their hurt…or who is really at fault for our province sufferings….

But Guys, we are already making multiculturalism work… not trying… doing. Look in your doctor’s office, your grocery store, the mall…. sports and so many other things that immigrants have brought to us. So many great Scientists and academics… innovators…

We can not choose who we are, where we were born, the colour of our skin… but we can choose to see each other. Really see that we are not all that different.

And Alberta, I think, perhaps, the normalization of hopelessness and anger is one of the most dangerous shifts we are experiencing up to this point.

People are beginning to internalize that dysfunction is inevitable. That overcrowded healthcare, political cruelty, institutional instability and permanent outrage is the new normal. As though, this is simply what modern life has to become.

But Alberta, I need you to remember, systems do not decay in isolation or without provocation.

They are shaped by incentives, policies, influence networks, and political choices made over long periods of time.

One of the clearest patterns emerging in Alberta is the slow erosion of shared public trust alongside the expansion of privatized influence and ideological polarization.

Guys, what that means is, public systems have weakened… citizens have become frustrated for years, and even decades.

Government is framed as inherently broken and private alternatives become the answer. The question becomes though, for whom? Who benefits?

Identity politics are intensifying, blame is getting redirected downward and sideways, and us Albertans are left looking at one another like “WTF was that?”

Immigrants, teachers, public workers, cities, the vulnerable… basically anyone who doesn’t fit the concentrated political and economic power itself… are told they do not matter… they aren’t “real Albertans.”

That political redirection is politically useful to the current governing administration because, divided populations ask fewer structural questions, and become easier to manipulate.

But Alberta, I do have a bit of good news. I truly think Albertans are starting to notice the contradictions (and there is a lot).

We are starting to notice when “small government” rhetoric coincides with growing political interference in public institutions. We notice when deregulation produces instability instead of affordability. We notice when public systems are called “failures” after YEARS of deliberate destabilization. We notice when billion-dollar industries receive protection while the rest of us are told to pound sand. We are noticing when emotional outrage increasingly replaces actual governance… and boy oh boy, are we missing real governance.

Perhaps most importantly Alberta, we are beginning to notice just how tired we all are. Not just financially but psychologically as well. Because Guys, the collapse of shared reality may be one of the defining political crises of this era.

We are no longer simply arguing over solutions… but increasingly, people are arguing over reality itself. Different media ecosystems, different “facts,” different enemies, different fears, different narratives about what Alberta even is anymore.

That break weakens democratic culture profoundly because, democracy depends on at least some shared understanding of truth, accountability, and collective responsibilities. Guys, without that foundation, politics becomes pure emotional tribalism, and I think we can all agree, that is exactly what has happened… no matter which side you consider yourself to be on. And Berta’ once politics becomes primarily pure emotional tribalism.. we all lose. Why? Because, once politics becomes about being on a specific side or team, citizens stop evaluating outcomes and start cheerleading their favorite party.. without looking at the consequences. And, it is all done through normalization.

One outrage cycle at a time. One distraction at a time. One erosion of trust at a time. One justified exception at a time. Until, eventually, we adapt to conditions that were once considered unacceptable.

In this upcoming series, we are going to be asking the harder questions, that our current government, seems to be blinded to…

Who benefits? Who profits? Who gains influence? who shapes the narrative? Who funds the messaging? Who benefits when we become exhausted, divided, and distrustful of one another? And, Alberta, why does so much of modern politics increasingly feel designed to keep people emotionally reactive instead of critically engaged?

Because Berta’ we are not simply experiencing political disagreement right now. We are experiencing a struggle over identity (real Albertan), power, and the future of democratic culture itself…. and whether we realize it or not… the choices being normalized today will shape this province for generations to come… so, if you are like me, and worried about your kids future… time to step up and get knowledgeable. Learn the functions of government, so when something is done or said, you will have the first hand knowledge to help you make an informed decision rather than being emotionally controlled.

Believe it or not Alberta, I love this province fiercely. I wasn’t born here… I CHOSE here… I decided that Alberta was where I wanted to work, have kids, raise a family and enjoy my grands. I have worked through my adult life, contributed to taxes, schools, organizations… been involved in community outreaches… and invested personally as well as financially to this province… if that doesn’t make me Albertan by proxy… I don’t know what would. Over 30 years my husband, an immigrant as well, and myself have fought, argued and sacrificed for Alberta, and if you think we are about to stop out of fear or intimidation, you seriously have another thing coming. Am I angry? Yes, I am. But, that anger, for me, only fuels knowledge more… because with knowledge, comes power to actually change the trajectory that we are heading in.

Your Muslim neighbour, just wants to work, come home and raise their families, just the same as your Jewish neighbour on the other side… and your Christian neighbour across the street, and your atheist neighbour behind you. Empathy and compassion are not dying… we’ve just been sold a bill of goods, that we are better. We aren’t.

If you liked this piece, please like, comment and share, to keep the algorithms flowing in the right direction. If you haven’t subscribed yet… hit that little button the top of the page. I promise, you won’t regret it. If you think my writing has value, consider becoming a paid subscriber, as that is what allows me to keep this publication free for everyone.. In the meantime, I will still be here, connecting the dots to the rot.

In an increasingly violent world, choose kindness. When the world is trying to pit us against each other, remember… empathy. And when you realize you have been hoodwinked… organize. Get involved.. and remember we really are stronger together. Have a great day Guys! Bye!!

As someone who grew up Republican in the bible belt of Oklahoma during the 80’s and 90’s, I recognize the political machinery, outrage cycles, institutional distrust strategies, and culture war tactics that are increasingly showing up here in Alberta and Canada in general.

In this piece, I talk about:

-the Alberta voter data breach,

-separatist political ecosystems,

-imported grievance politics,

-democratic erosion,

-algorithmic outrage,

-cross border ideological influence,

-and why I believe too m any Canadians are dangerously underestimating this moment.

This is not about right vs. left... it’s about whether democratic institutions still matter before trust is poisoned beyond repair.

Today’s song choice is “Land of Confusion” by Genesis. Because the older I get, the more I realize this piece is not really about left vs. right anymore. It is about whether we still recognize what healthy democracy, healthy institutions, and healthy societies are supposed to look like before outrage, division, and distrust consumes all of it. There’s too many men, too many people making too many problems…”

Yeah, that part!!

This is not my normal total information type piece. I warned you, I give my opinion sometimes. It may not be the most professional, or “analysis” you usually get from me, but the more I learn about this data breach, and the absolute lack of leadership from this province, has me fuming today.

This is NOT normal politics.. not in any way, shape, size, or form and if you think it is, then I really don’t know what to tell you. Now, is not the time to party cheerleaders, because none of them are really doing what they should, but damn it, I am in Alberta, and I know ours is lacking brutally.

Guys, we have:

• voter data tied to separatist political ecosystems,

• reports the information may have crossed into U.S.- linked systems,

• people publicly IGNORING cease-and-desist demands regarding our information,

• American-style grievance politics infecting Canada,

• “51st state” rhetoric being normalized here in Alberta,

• and the same outrage-driven culture war machinery that ripped apart Oklahoma and the United States, now being repackaged as Conservative “grassroots.” It isn’t!

And, you guys want to scream TDS to those of us who are calling it out? Are there any Albertans or Canadians, who still think this is all random?

No.

I grew up Republican in the Bible Belt of Oklahoma in the 80’s and 90’s. I KNOW this machinery.

I know the messaging. I know the outrage cycles. I know the “government is the enemy” blame game. I know the constant manipulation through fear, anger, religion, identity, and division.

I watched politics in Oklahoma stop being about governance and slowly become about emotional warfare. Most of us have watched it happen in a broader sense, to the border south of us.

And Berta’, I am watching pieces of that exact same machinery show up here in Canada while people keep pretending this is just normal conservative politics. Ask yourself, really… is this really what you want? For your kids? Your grandkids?

And, before someone comes at me screaming “conspiracy theorist” or “partisan” - calm the hell down and actually look at the timeline.

For years now we have watched:

• imported culture war narratives,

• attacks on public healthcare,

• attacks on education,

• attacks on institutions,

• anti-media rhetoric,

• anti-expert rhetoric,

• anti-science rhetoric,

• growing separatist movement,

• rage driven political branding,

• and coordinated distrust campaigns designed to convince people that every public institution is corrupt except the political movement telling them to stay pissed off all the time.

That is not accidental… that is strategy!

It means that ideological ecosystems exist. Political influence networks exist. Think tanks exist. Donor influence exists. Algorithmic radicalization exists. And politicians absolutely learn from successful political models used elsewhere.

We are not isolated from any of that.

Now, we find our voter information, tied to almost 3 million Albertans has been exposed inside political ecosystems connected to separatist organizing while some of the people involved are effectively telling authorities to pound sand.

How are we NOT at a five-alarm fire stage? Seriously?

How are Albertans and Canadians still acting like this is just another normal partisan fight?

Because this stopped being funny a long freaking time ago. This is no longer “left vs. right,” oil vs. renewables,” “conservative vs. liberal.” This is about whether democratic institutions themselves, still matter. Because once citizens lose trust in:

• elections,

• media,

• public healthcare,

• courts,

• schools,

• oversight systems,

• and democratic processes,

society becomes easier to manipulate. That Guys, is literally how democratic erosion works.

You do not destroy trust all at once. You slowly poison it until citizens stop believing anything except the political tribe feeding their anger.

And yes, I am angry right now too… Because I watched this happen in Oklahoma, and we all have watched it in real time in the United States.

We have seeing families ripped apart. Communities ripped apart… Reality itself, ripped apart. We have watched people become so addicted to outrage and identity politics that governance has stopped mattering.

And, now, I am watching Alberta especially, but the broader Conservative party drift toward the same cliff while too many people still think this is all exaggerated.

Look around you!!

People are exhausted. Angry. Radicalized. Suspicious of each other. Suspicious of institutions. Living inside algorithmic outrage loops 24 hours a day.

That is not a health democracy. It is social destabilization. Now, on top of that, we are mixing that environment with exposed voter data, separatist rhetoric, cross-border ideological influences, and politicians who increasingly treat accountability as optional.

We all should be ALARMED!!

The biggest mistake we could make right now is pretending this cannot happen her simply because we are in Canada. Alberta is ground zero, but Ontario, Saskatchewan and others are not far behind.

That arrogance is exactly how societies sleepwalk into damage they never really thought was possible.

Write your MLA, Premier, Prime Minister - get involved in organizations trying to stop this. Get loud!!! Because this is coming for us, whether we acknowledge it or not. At least, if you are aware, you can combat it.

This is the part where I ask for your support. My paid subscribers are what helps keep this publication free. Thank you Guys!!

To everyone else, thank you for reading all the way through. If you found this piece spoke to you, share it. Comment and tell me if I am being an alarmist or if you can see my genuine concern… and don’t forget to like it. It truly does help get the piece to travel further. If you aren’t a subscriber yet… come on now!! Hit that button at the top of the page!! You’ll be glad you did.

Remember, in a world full of hate, choose kindness. In a world trying to drag us all down, choose to uplift one another. That is really what will make a difference. Have a great day Guys! BYE!