When a rather small and motley group of angry, frightened Albertans decides to march on the #ableg, carrying and wearing symbols of Trumpist racism, how should we react? Especially if what they are really seeking is attention and martyrdom?
Rather than giving oxygen to a tiny rump of misguided would-be martyrs, rather than letting them define Alberta, this morning I want to turn the conversation to how we shape, sustain and celebrate the courageous, welcoming multicultural Alberta the rest of us know & love.
Listen to the words of Indigenous Grande Prairie physician @AlikaMD, as he talks about ways to reach out to Albertans who reject masks & vaccines & discusses ways to build trust and community. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-1…
Listen to the experiences of @bmorishita, the mayor of Brooks & president of @TheAUMA, as he talks about historic racism & the challenges of building inclusive multicultural communities. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-3…
Multiculturalism isn’t an idea dreamt up by “Laurentian elites” & imposed by Ottawa. It was born in Alberta - and it had a surprising champion: Harry Strom. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-2…
And we should be leery of importing American political discourse here, as Chaldean Mensah explains: senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-6…
The future of Alberta does not belong to a handful of copycat yahoos with tiki torches. It belongs to people such as impassioned Calgary philanthropist & entrepreneur @lourdesmjuan. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-7…
It belongs to people like entrepreneurial Calgary journalist @TomiAjele. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-3…
And if conservatives are smart, they’ll plug into the energies of the likes of @PonNatalie, instead of catering to the paranoia of the political fringe. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-5…
My Edmonton and my Alberta aren’t defined by a disgruntled few. They’re defined by community champions such as @avnishnanda senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-8…
And led by the likes of @aaronpaquette - leaders with a new vision. senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/s2-episode-9…
So yes - I just exploited yesterday’s dank protest to tweet about @AlbertaUnbound. But I want all of us - and all the world - to see the Edmonton and Alberta I know and love. And I want to push back against fear and anger, and to celebrate our courage, creativity & compassion.
Rather than curse the darkness? Let’s light a blaze of candles.

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More from @Paulatics

19 Feb
Some context, perhaps. About 10 years ago, maybe longer, folks noticed that @edmontonjournal reporter @keithgerein made a habit of wearing purple shirts on Thursday. And thus, with affectionate humour, we all began wearing purple on Thursday.
It was our newsroom inside joke. The purple didn’t stand for any cause. It wasn’t a political statement. It was a way of gently teasing and honouring Keith, and of showing newsroom solidarity in stressful testing times.
It went on for years. And as people were laid off, or left for other gigs, some of us went on wearing purple on Thursdays as a memory of our time in the newsroom together. (Watch any time I speak in the Senate on a Thursday. I’m almost always wearing purple.)
Read 6 tweets
29 Dec 20
Elaine McCoy was an icon of Alberta politics. She followed in the footsteps of Peter Lougheed, succeeding him as MLA for Calgary West. She was a cabinet minister in Don Getty’s government, handling some tricky portfolios in a time of transition.
When I first started work as a journalist, she cut a stylish swarth through Alberta political culture. She was beautiful, elegant, always fashionably groomed. She brought glamour and charisma to the Getty government, when neither was in abundant supply.
When Don Getty stepped down, Elaine McCoy ran for the Tory leadership. It’s intriguing to think that in an alternate timeline, she, instead of Ralph Klein, might have become premier. But that was not to be.
Read 9 tweets
21 Nov 20
A dear friend of mine was scheduled to have a significant surgery next week. A surgery so important and time sensitive, that it was set to go ahead, in spite of all the Covid restrictions and despite a Covid outbreak at the Alberta hospital where the operation was booked. But...
The surgery has just been cancelled. (I’d say postponed - but until when?) This is the hidden cost of letting Covid spread unchecked in Alberta. We may never know how many people’s suffering will be extended, cruelly, because hospitals were too overwhelmed to care for them.
And we’ll likely never know whose health might be permanently compromised because they couldn’t get essential treatment in a timely fashion. This isn’t just about those suffering from Covid. It’s about the swamping of our hospital system.
Read 8 tweets
21 Jun 20
On #NationalIndigenousPeoplesDay - I wanted to share the story of Jane Flett MacKay, the matriarch you in the the centre of this photo, a remarkable Edmontonian, whose story may not be one you know. #yeg #yegheritage
She was born in 1857. Her father was from the Orkney Islands in the far north of Scotland. Her mother was a member of thr Geich’in First Nation, in the Mackenzie Delta.
In 1874, Jane married William Morrison MacKay, a Scottish physician who was working as a Hudson Bay Company doctor. Eventually, he became Chief Factor of Fort Chipewyan. Jane became his nurse and surgical assistant.
Read 10 tweets
31 May 20
Many years ago - more than 30 - I was lucky enough to earn a post grad fellowship to the @Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. I was, I think, the first, or one of the first, Canadian students to study there.
I had to find a place to stay - so I was delighted when one of my fellow incoming students called me up. She was from Atlanta, and she and her brother were driving down to St. Petersburg to look for an apartment for her. She asked if I might want to be her roommate.
We chatted on the phone and hit it off, and I said sure! So she found us a great place to share.
Read 10 tweets
13 May 20
Just got off the phone with the union that represents Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors, including those who inspect Alberta's big beef packing plants. As of today, 40 CFIA inspectors have tested positive for Covid-19, including 21 in Alberta.
According to the union, there are 37 federal inspectors assigned to the Cargill beef packing plant in High River, near Calgary. Of those 37 inspectors, I'm told 18 were diagnosed with Covid-19.
The good news, is that among CFIA staff, there have been no fatalities to date, although at least one Alberta inspector was so sick they needed to be put on a ventilator.
Read 12 tweets

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