A thread about death threats - prompted by the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie, and by the horrible online hate campaigns targeting female journalists, particularly those of colour in Canada. Bear with me. This may take awhile. I will always remember my first “credible-sounding” death threat from my days with the @edmontonjournal. It was the early 2000s, and Edmonton had just passed a strict new smoking bylaw, which I had publicly supported.

Last Friday, I visited Rosy Farms, about 45 minutes northwest of Edmonton, to u-pick haskap berries. What are haskaps? Watch this mini-mini doc to learn all about these "hot" new prairie berries. (Picking season lasts till mid August.) #yeg #yegfood #SenCa #AGFO My haskaps have all been baked into muffins, churned into homemade ice cream, eaten fresh on cereal, or popped in the freezer. They are a delicate berry, and don't last. But that's OK. You'll want to eat them ASAP anyway. (Sorry, I forgot to share with you all.)

There is so much misinformation floating around about Bill S-233. The discourse is so toxic, I almost hate to weigh in. But in all honesty, I feel I have a duty to address some of the misunderstandings - and disinformation - about this bill. #SenCa parl.ca/DocumentViewer… The false claim out there is that this is a government bill, now at third reading, which will take away people's rights to various social supports such as OAS, EI, and others, unless they conform to government health and social edicts. That is absolutely untrue.

Sen. Patti Laboucan-Benson ask Sen. Plett if he thinks the government should have given in to the demands of protestors and lift all mandates. Is that the kind of precedent we want? Sen. Plett said he never agreed with the Memorandum of Understanding. Says he thought it was silly, but that nobody took it seriously, and it didn't come from the Alberta leaders, anyway.

Sen. Michele Audette, one of our newest senators, is speaking now. This is her first-ever Senate speech. She is an Indigenous senator from Quebec, and a long-time activist for Indigenous and women's rights. She says, speaking in French, that she believes profoundly in the right to peaceful protest. She enumerates some of the many protests in which she, herself, has taken part, beginning with Idle No More.

Sen. Coyle asks Tannas a question about a poll he cited that said 39 % of Canadians oppose the act. Is that fair, she says, when many Canadians are misinformed and believe that this is the War Measures Act. Sen. Tannas says the Emergencies Act has never been used and we've gone more than 30 years without it, despite difficult times for this country.

Sen. Tannas says the majority of trucks parked on Wellington Street were from Ontario & Quebec. Says he couldn't find an Alberta truck. Says this was a national protest, with groundswell of support from across this country. Says millions of Canadians identified with this protest. Sen. Tannas says people came to protest government intrusion in their lives. Now, they are facing even more intrusion via the Emergencies Act. Tannas says we need an unflinching inquiry into the failures that led to this occupation.

Good morning! The Senate is back in session, for a second full day of debate on Motion 17, the confirmation of the Emergencies Act. Starting a new thread this morning, as ISG senator David Arnot continues the speech he started yesterday. #SenCa #cdnpoli The occupation of Ottawa, says Sen Arnot was not protected political protest. It was a well organized, well funded attempt to overthrow the government of Canada #SenCa #cdnpoli

Up now with ISG Senator Kim Pate. The urgent events of the last week could have been prevented, she said. It didn't start as an emergency but became one. White supremist, populist ideas filled the minds of organizers. But, Pate says, many of those who protested are people who feel left behind, abandoned and disenfranchised. The EA she says won't address the plight of the most marginalized or the divisions in our country.

Hello! This is a NEW THREAD - now that Marc Gold's presentation is over. We are hearing now from Raymonde Saint-Germain, the facilitator (aka leader) of the @ISGSenate is speaking now. She receives 45 minutes in total speaking and question time. #SenCa #cdnpoli Sen. Saint-Germain begins by speaking movingly about her memories of the FLQ crisis and the impact of the War Measures Act in her province of Quebec. #SenCa #cdnpoli

First day of debate in the Senate on the Emergencies Act begins now. You can live stream the debate at the link below. #SenCa #cdnpoli

https://twitter.com/SenateCA/status/1496107820185444353

Normally, we would begin with Senate statements and question period. Today, we begin without the usual preambles, and jump straight into debate on the Emergencies Act. Senate Marc Gold, the government representative in the Senate, begins the debate. #SenCa #cdnpoli

So. The Emergencies Act was confirmed by the House of Commons this evening. Tomorrow morning, at 7 AM MST, the Senate will begin its own debate. Expect it to be long - and, with luck, both thoughtful and thorough. Thing to note:
1) The Senate is far less partisan a chamber. Most of the Senators are independents. Sixteen are Conservatives. The rest of us are unwhipped, and vote without party loyalty or discipline. So we have a little more freedom to speak our minds.

A thread about....things.
I was bullied a fair bit in school. No shock there. I was a fat, bespectacled bookworm, a perfect nerd. I was terrible at sports. I was a total klutz. And to be honest, I was also a stuck-up prig - a bit of a teacher's pet & an occasional tattletale. I'm early GenX. And back then, seems to me, schools were pretty lackisadical when it came to dealing with bullies. Our teachers rarely intervened. They seemed to think it was good for our characters to fend for ourselves and work things out on the playground.

For those who asked...I am ALSO paying close attention to the supply chain issue, which I have been meeting with industry reps and govt staff/ministers about for weeks now. We have had supply chain issues for months, now, due in part to Covid & BC climate disasters. But as I mentioned earlier, we also have long-standing & serious supply chain issues due to port capacity, rail line congestion, a lack of competition in international shipping and a global container shortage. I've been working on these issues for months, now.

Welcome back! Here are your next brackets, in our quest to find the ultimate Alberta song. Some giants have been slain. Some stereotypes have bee upended. What comes next? That's for you to decide. Here are your contenders. Buckle up. Voting closes in 24 hours. #AltaIcon Our first match-up pits north against south, urban against rural. Two very different songs. Who will come out on top? Northern Cree's Smilin has defied all expectations. But Feist's 1234 has racking up big numbers. Now, it's up to you. Who goes on to the next round? #AltaIcon

Thank you to @CanTruck, the Canadian Trucking Alliance for this timely statement, and thank you to all the thousands of Canadian (and American) truckers who are following the rules & working hard to bring us all the things we need, in difficult times.

https://twitter.com/CanTruck/status/1484960832001818627

It’s important to underline that the vast majority of professional Canadian long haul truck drivers are, in fact, vaccinated - and that they’re on the road, in tough winter conditions, in the midst of a pandemic, making sure our supply chains don’t snarl and fray.

Sweet 16, and never been missed! Here comes the next round in our quest to find the most iconic Alberta song. Please vote, please share, please rant, please rave! #AltaIcon Match up #2 #AltaIcon

#15 - Two great anthems. First, Asani's spinetingling rendition of O Canada. Then, @CorbLund with special guests @TerriClarkMusic @BrettKissel @paulbrandt and some astonishing Indigenous musicians including some Asani crossovers singing This is My Prairie. #AltaIcon Here are Asani, with the most Albertan rendition of O Canada. I get chills every time I listen. #AltaIcon

And so it begins. Welcome to the launch of my entirely unofficial effort to find Alberta's most iconic song: not necessarily Alberta's best song, but the song that most speaks to us as Albertans. Today, I will present our 32 contenders - with two added bonus tracks. I've relied on nominations from people on Twitter and Facebook - and on my own utterly biased and partial GenX judgment. But I have tried to curate a quirky but representative cross-section of songs, from across generations, genres and geographies.

We in the Senate have lost a remarkable colleague and Canadian, the brilliant and beautiful Josée Forest-Niesing. Witty, graceful, a passionate champion of Franco-Ontario, and of human rights and social justice, she brought intellectual rigour and compassion to every debate. She was a gifted Senator and a wonderful human being. We were sworn in together as part of the same group of appointees, and our whole cohort was warmed by her charm, her humour and her fierce intelligence.

I am grateful to representatives of both CP Rail and CN Rail who took time from their very busy schedules to update me and my office on the pace of track and bridge repairs in BC. Those calls left me cautiously optimistic. It was heartening to hear how cooperatively the companies are working with the BC government, with Transport Canada, and with each other, to get the rails and roadbeds fixed & to support hard-hit local communities and First Nations.