For generations, scrapping Equalization has been a silly preoccupation for separatists and frustrated federalists in Alberta. In our latest LeadNotLeave.ca article, we argue it's time to stop threatening to throw the baby out with the bathwater. thehub.ca/2026/07/07/e...

Equalization has its problems, but it also has its benefits—even for Alberta

Albertans love to hate equalization. But four provincial experts — including a longtime skeptic — say the program actually benefits the province. Here's why.

thehub.ca

I support the PM’s plan to revive 24 Sussex Drive. Canada needs to preserve and take pride in our historical institutions. They are owned by us all and are important monuments that unite us. They are critical pieces of our national identity. Partisan politics should not enter into these projects.

Alberta’s grievances with Ottawa are mostly manufactured, always exaggerated and, often, completely illusory. Now it's time for the people who spent the last decade amplifying and weaponizing them to put out the fire they helped create. #cdnpoli #abpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/26/o...

Albertans are addicted to their grievances. It’s time to break the cycle

nationalobserver.com

Got around to reading the recent edited volume on Mackenzie King: www.ubcpress.ca/the-enduring..., happy to see it. I do wonder if any non-white, non-male authors were asked. Every single author is a white man afaik. Doesn't help dispel notions of who Cdn politics and pol history are really for.

I will be voting for Alberta to stay in Canada. The idea that we would leave is abhorrent. #ForeverCanadian #ForeverCanada www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/art...

Alberta government adds separation-related question to fall referendum

Albertans will vote on whether the province should remain a part of Canada when they head to the polls this fall.

ctvnews.ca

UK leadership chaos resonates in debates here over PM and caucus power. Not sure it's a shining example of benefits of empowering caucuses. Often it's overreaction to short-term losses. Research shows leadership changes don't improve electoral performance (eg So 2026, Pederson and Schumacher 2015).

So someone made this. And in a time when no one seems to be fighting back against these awful, racist, useless referendum(b) questions, this gave me a glimmer of hope. #ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli #referendumb #Alberta

Alberta Referendum 2026 | Referendum Reality Check

Not because Albertans are dumb. Because this government thinks you are. Independent political commentary on Alberta’s 2026 referendum and the politics behind it.

albertareferendumb2026.ca

Really looking forward to the upcoming @ubcpress.bsky.social book on JL Ilsley, by Colin Campbell: www.ubcpress.ca/a-wartime-fi... The CD Howe and Turning Point Elections series have really revitalized the writing of Canadian political history imo. I hope this keeps up @ubcpress.bsky.social !

Once again asking people not to post about poll results without links to the surveys, and not to repost anything that cites poll results without links to the surveys. This is not (primarily) about credit, it's a data credibility check.

Left my podcast app playing and when I come back it's Peter Mansbridge talking about ways of cooking eggs. Amazing.

Don't have kids, been a long time since I was in school, but even the pre-covid stats are astounding to me. I know it's "back in the day" but in high school we just went to school, that was it. Wake up, school, after-school extracurriculars, homework, was our lives. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Attendance for high schoolers, elementary students is plummeting in Ontario: data | CBC News

Data reveals attendance is plummeting and comes on the heels of Education Minister Paul Calandra announcing sweeping changes to English school boards that includes tying class attendance to final high...

cbc.ca

I get partisan messaging is what it is, but serious Q for Ottawa-plugged in folks: what are the "backroom deals" for the floor-crossers besides "join the winning team"? Haven't seen reports of any tangible perks or promises, perhaps other than Ma joining the China trip, but maybe I just missed it.

The four humans who have traveled the furthest from Earth. (Via NASA.)

Excellent piece by @aaronwherry.bsky.social on the Liberal party. Consistently one of the best at incorporating research into journalism. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

1/3 - Posting data on faculty diversity in Canadian political science I'd collected a few years ago with intention to do a dashboard or paper. Never quite got back to it, and very skeptical now that people much care about this issue, so I'm just posting as is: tinyurl.com/47bpj3rt

Also: Not a single Cabinet Committee is chaired by a female minister (3 female ministers serve as Vice-Chairs, Anand 2 times)

Just got Jocelyne Bourgon's book tinyurl.com/538byujb Great that recently we're getting more accessible accounts from senior civil servants (also see Michael Wernick and Kevin Lynch's recent books). Memoir is especially welcome; a bit of a gap since the days of Robertson, Pickersgill, Heeney, etc.

A Public Servant’s Voice - University of Toronto Press

Through the Words of the First Woman Clerk for the Privy Council of Canada

utppublishing.com

Concentrated losses and widely distributed gains means if we rely on anecdotes and stories - which is what the media naturally does - the focus is on the costs and not the benefits.

Steve Lafleur@stevelafleur.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The problem with these stories is you see the one guy whose business will be affected, but not the thousands of people whose lives will be improved. Moreover, property owners will be compensated, while the public isn't compensated if the project is blocked. www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...

Notice how the popular media narrative has moved on, while people on the ground in Minneapolis are still struggling and crying out that things are as bad as ever. This is how fascist regimes operate — overreach, recalibration, normalization. Get louder, not quieter.

Good reality check for those who have sympathies for secession, from Stéphane Dion. In short: There's no such thing as a sovereign Alberta - neither within nor outside of Canada. Sovereignty is always shared. The only question is how. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Man behind the Clarity Act has choice words for Alberta separatists and Danielle Smith | CBC News

Former Liberal cabinet minister Stéphane Dion is lambasting the brewing separatist movement in Alberta and demanding Premier Danielle Smith clarify her position and lay out the next steps depending on...

cbc.ca

This quote also reminds me of something that we wrote in our paper on path analysis (journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...). People are just expecting *way* too much of a single study, literally new discoveries exceeding Gregor Mendel's.

A reminder that Albertan independence is not popular Pollara found Albertan independence at 19% Ipsos found it at 28% Research Co found it at 31% (Which I covered below) All had strong majorities against independence Read it here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/albertan-i...

Albertan Independence? Meet Reality

UCP voters are split, while NDP voters overwhelmingly oppose leaving Canada

canadianpolling.substack.com

Should Ottawa address legitimate grievances from Albertans? Absolutely Should Ottawa, or the Albertan government, entertain separatism? No

Polling Canada@canadianpolling.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A reminder that Albertan independence is not popular Pollara found Albertan independence at 19% Ipsos found it at 28% Research Co found it at 31% (Which I covered below) All had strong majorities against independence Read it here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/albertan-i...

🌈 We are very happy to announce the first session of 2026! Next week, on February 5, @angeliawagner.bsky.social and @joannaeveritt.bsky.social will present their amazing work on queer Canadian candidates and social media. 📆 Be sure to join us!

Where was Le Monde when Forever Canada collected half a million signatures from Canada faithful Albertans? Make no mistake, if there is a referendum it will be defeated utterly. Let’s not give MAGA more unearned credit

All of this is fucking senseless. Minnesota did not have an immigration problem. Trump sent his Nazi thugs here because he's racist against Somali people and to own libs like Tim Walz. Now two Minnesotans are dead and Minneapolis is on the verge of going up in flames. None. Of. This. Was. Necessary.

Reminder: All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dems to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump — 3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.

Alberta separatist sentiment is real, but greatly amplified by media and pols selling conflict and drama. The 'Forever Canada' referendum petition was wildly successful. The vast majority of Albertans are not separatists. Focus on that. Tell those stories.

❄️publication! In IPSR, @karenlynnbird.bsky.social, @joannaeveritt.bsky.social, @angeliawagner.bsky.social, @mireillelalancette.bsky.social & I show that racialized Canadians strongly prefer contexts with (more) in-group candidates when asked to consider elected office. More here tinyurl.com/45eemt6x

Where to run? Racialized minority affinities for in-group candidate districts in Canada - Kenny William Ie, Karen Bird, Joanna Everitt, Angelia Wagner, Mireille Lalancette, 2025

Drawing from an original survey quasi-experiment presenting respondents with fictional candidate slates varying in ethnic composition, this study examines the i...

tinyurl.com

📝 Do patterns of coalition management affect governance outcomes in multiparty presidential regimes? Chaisty & Power examine how cabinet proportionality predicts accountability and public goods. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/v9ivWYQ @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social #polsci #PSNotes