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Alberta Politics & News

@abpoli

News & politics from the Wild Rose country and beyond. Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer them! she/her Currently residing on Beaver/Dene Tha' land (Treaty 8 Territory) main blog: queenalia
Members of New Brunswick’s transgender community say Premier Blaine Higgs’ comments on gender dysphoria are “insulting” and “harmful.” On Thursday, the Premier told the legislature: “We’re seeing a rapid onset of gender dysphoria. It’s expanded in the last several years and it’s becoming popular and trendy.” Gender dysphoria is a phenomenon some transgender people experience in which the difference between their gender and the one assigned to them at birth causes distress. It has been recognized by the medical community since 1980, first under the name “gender identity disorder,” before being changed to “gender dysphoria” in 2013. Nicki Lyons-MacFarlane, a trans non-binary person and queer and trans rights advocate in Fredericton, has experienced it. [...]

the "it's popular and trendy" talking point is obviously bullshit for many reasons

but we can explain that to people like blaine higgs as much as we want, the truth it that the truth doesn't matter to them. they can and will regurgitate any disproven argument that they can think of, and truth and logic won't matter. because they hate trans people, and they will say anything at all to justify that hatred

An officer who participated in a "Freedom Convoy" rally, thanked protesters and posted a video suggesting vaccine mandates were "unlawful" and "unsafe" will keep her job after all. A disciplinary hearing for Edmonton Police Service Const. Elena Golysheva wrapped up on Wednesday, more than a year after she was first "relieved of duty without pay." Instead of being fired, she will now return to "active duty following her involvement in a reintegration program," an EPS spokesperson confirmed to CTV News Edmonton Thursday. The video of a tearful and uniformed Golysheva first surfaced on Facebook and Instagram in February 2022. It was shared thousands of times by people upset about vaccine mandates and COVID-19 public health restrictions. [...]

It is actually way better for 100 addicts to get their fix on pain pills than a single person in pain go without. I call this the "Torture is bad" principle. You should be able to get the good stuff forever after a single doctor's visit. If you're worried about addicts fund rehab centers and needle exchanges instead of torturing people.

Among other things if you can't use the legit market you turn to the black market anyway.

if you're worried about addiction, build a society where people get their basic needs met, including pain management.

CTV LONDON (The Canada London, not the UK one) aired an interview with Bubba Pollock. They really are out there thinking there are two equally valid sides to his story.

Says he had good intentions”. Really, CTV? You just take his word for it and publish this shit?

I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. CTV are closing down so many local stations and sacking so many of their employees and almost all of their good journalists are gone.

Reminder, Bubba is known in London (ONTARIO), for having been a pest in high school, a boy scout for the Tories, a Canadian MAGA, a sexual predator, a homophobe, an associate of PPC candidates, and a violent white supremacist:

Mainstream media is really going down the shitter in Canada. From broadcasting unverified "leaks", to airing Pierre Poilievre without fact-checking him, to giving airtime to transphobes and fascists ... the consolidation of our media and the sale of a lot of it to a handful of US conservatives has truly become a boost for the far right and a danger to our democracy.

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For non-Canadians needing context, this man was recently arrested for threatening a queer woman who was involved in the pride parade.

He was released from jail and is still pending court for that.

He then drove 200 KM to this women's father in the hospital, went into said hospital and room without permission from anyone in the family, and took selfies to threaten her more. Her father who is on palliative care and hours drive away. This is target harassment and a threat.

He's also been arrested and charged before and known for protesting against the pride parade and other queer events, including a drag queen story time event and promised to bring "patriots" and made threats although police showed up to that one as a counter protest was not letting his protest enter.

He is currently now pending charges for criminal harassment as well as the previous charges.

CTV LONDON (The Canada London, not the UK one) aired an interview with Bubba Pollock. They really are out there thinking there are two equally valid sides to his story.

Says he had good intentions”. Really, CTV? You just take his word for it and publish this shit?

I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. CTV are closing down so many local stations and sacking so many of their employees and almost all of their good journalists are gone.

Reminder, Bubba is known in London (ONTARIO), for having been a pest in high school, a boy scout for the Tories, a Canadian MAGA, a sexual predator, a homophobe, an associate of PPC candidates, and a violent white supremacist:

Mainstream media is really going down the shitter in Canada. From broadcasting unverified "leaks", to airing Pierre Poilievre without fact-checking him, to giving airtime to transphobes and fascists ... the consolidation of our media and the sale of a lot of it to a handful of US conservatives has truly become a boost for the far right and a danger to our democracy.

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For non-Canadians needing context, this man was recently arrested for threatening a queer woman who was involved in the pride parade.

He was released from jail and is still pending court for that.

He then drove 200 KM to this women's father in the hospital, went into said hospital and room without permission from anyone in the family, and took selfies to threaten her more. Her father who is on palliative care and hours drive away. This is target harassment and a threat.

He's also been arrested and charged before and known for protesting against the pride parade and other queer events, including a drag queen story time event and promised to bring "patriots" and made threats although police showed up to that one as a counter protest was not letting his protest enter.

He is currently now pending charges for criminal harassment as well as the previous charges.

Alberta RCMP is warning of what it describes as a “spike” in hate incidents against the LGBTQ2 community and is encouraging residents to report anything that could be considered a hate crime.
RCMP said a hate incident or crime are actions committed against a person or property, motivated partly or entirely by prejudice, bias or hate against a group or community.
[...]
So far in June — marked as Pride Month by LGBTQ2 communities across the world — there have been two Pride crosswalks vandalized in Alberta towns.
Continuous masking will no longer be required in Alberta hospitals, treatment centres and long-term care facilities starting next week.  Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced Thursday it will drop the masking requirement for staff, patients and visitors in all its hospitals and contracted sites. The change is set to go into effect Monday.  The dropping of one of the last remaining COVID-19 restrictions in the province comes weeks after AHS made mask wearing optional for health care workers when in areas not accessible to patients.  Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta, said nurses in the union expected the continuous masking restrictions to be lifted, anticipating it would likely happen sometime after the provincial election.  "It's hopefully a safe time to do it," she said. "I guess we will find out over time whether or not this was the right moment." [...]

I think somewhere people got confused and now think that "privileged" equals "oppressor" and "having privilege" equals "has the power to oppress".

It doesn't.

Would love to hear more about this, because I understand the first part, that privileged doesn’t automatically equal oppressor, but I don’t think I know enough to understand how having privilege doesn’t equal having the power to oppress.

Having privilege does not automatically grant you power.

I have working legs. This does not mean I am systemically oppressing people who need mobility aids, and it doesn't mean I have the power to do it, either. If I got elected to government and passed legislation that removed elevators and ramps on the basis of "Well I don't need them", then I'd be systemically oppressing people based on walking privilege.

It's exactly what I was saying on the other post; existing doesn't mean oppression.

You do not have mobility problems with your legs at the time of this posting. I do, but I can still walk with relatively little assistance as long as my pain is low and the terrain is not actively working against me. That doesn't mean the stairs in your house or apartment are oppressing me, or that your ability to climb them with no negative effects is oppressing me. You have the privilege of not needing to worry if you can actually make that climb and thus more avenues are open to you- you don't have to worry about the expense of buying a house with no stairs, you don't secondguess if you can actually take the flight, entire venues and employment/schooling oppurtunies and city streets and businesses aren't completely inaccessible to you because they exist on the third floor with no fucking elevator, you don't suffer sleepless at night when you were forced to take stairs you shouldn't have climbed. But unless *you*, specifically YOU, designed these stairways in these places with no other way to access the upper floors... it's not like you not needing to worry about that is directly oppressing me.

You CAN contribute to it- "why should stairs need to be accessible" "who even needs ramps and elevators" "I mean if you can walk you should be able to take a couple steps" "why do I need to make room for you on the elevator or wait for you to catch up" and my favorite "wow the world's youngest senior citizen" usually said when walking with my cane. But until that line is crossed, you existing as someone who can walk without pain unassisted is not directly oppressing me.

And that's the thing. Actions are oppression. Existing as someone with privilege does not mean you automatically oppress people.

"Having privilege" is morally neutral. Society is what bestows you privilege. That is completely out of your control.

"Oppression" is morally repugnant. Actions that contribute to the harm of others are terrible and bad and you should not do them.

Too many people conflate the two.

Ban Fox News from TV, CRTC hears as thousands of Canadians write to regulator.

OTTAWA — Thousands of Canadians have weighed in on whether cable companies should be prohibited from distributing Fox News in Canada — and many of them appear to be in favour of a ban.
The CRTC launched the consultation after LGBTQ rights group Egale Canada asked it to ban the channel from Canadian cable packages in response to former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s comments about transgender individuals. The deadline for comments was Friday.
The CRTC heard from a number of LBGTQ and other rights groups criticizing Fox and supporting a ban. A random sample of 100 submissions from individual Canadians reviewed by the National Post found 70 per cent were anti-Fox or in favour of banning the channel.
“Fox is a propaganda outlet which undermines the democratic ideals of Canada,” one comment said. “This is not censorship, this is shielding intellectually vulnerable people from brainwashing.” [...]

Reading a selection of the over 7000 responses (interventions) re FOX News was illuminating. The responses I read, against removing the channel from the List of authorized channels, boiled down to variations of "free speech (freedom of expression)", "stop censorship", "blame Trudeau," "Tucker Carlson no longer works for FOX News so it no longer matters", "culture wars", and/or "FOX News is the only right-wing voice in Canada."

Not one of the responses I saw against removing FOX News considered the Television Broadcasting Regulations which govern what can be broadcast on Canadian airwaves, and which CRTC has stated that non-Canadian services must meet in order to be distributed in Canada.

In comparison, many of the responses in support of removing FOX News, including Egale Canada's original submission to CRTC, did review the Television Broadcasting Regulations and addressed how FOX News may have contravened them in this case:

5 (1) A licensee shall not broadcast
(a) anything in contravention of the law;
(b) any abusive comment or abusive pictorial representation that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability;
(c) any obscene or profane language or pictorial representation; or
(d) any false or misleading news.

When the CRTC removed Russia Today in 2022 for spreading misinformation, it pointed out in its decision that non-Canadian services do not have a right to be distributed in Canada. They can be removed from the Distribution List if found to no longer be in the public interest; being found in violation of Canadian regulations was cause for removal.

Submissions closed June 2. Now we wait for the decision.

A new elective class offered by St. Albert Public Schools aims to offer students perspectives on 2SLGBTQ issues.

This is the first course of its kind in Alberta's history, said Kristopher Wells, Canada Research Chair for the public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth and an associate professor at MacEwan University.

I’m very tired. you probably heard that Russia destroyed the Kakhovka Dam to slow Ukraine’s counter offensive. here’s something I didn’t quite realize: since this February, the Russians operated the dam in juuuuust the right way so that as much water would build up as possible when the snow melted and spring showers started. and then they blew the whole thing up.

40,000 people may need to be evacuated. I don’t really have the energy to say anything else right now.

Hospitallers Medical Battalion: actual angels can confirm. they’re combat-zone medical services - you know how humanitarian groups like MFS and Red Cross have to pause operations due to the Russians fucking shooting at humanitarian zones? yeah, these guys don’t pause for bullets, they fucking walk into them and they bring out anyone they can.

Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation: you can choose from a number of various fundraiser projects here, if you’re feeling particularly picky. for those of you who balk at the idea of supporting anything military just please remember that things like vehicles and drones aren’t just for military use, they’re also for evacuation and finding the wounded and they’re fucking vital.

KSE Foundation: similar to the above, KSE has multiple projects you can choose from to donate to. looking at it right now, one of the projects with the lowest amounts of money raised thus far - despite being started in April - is Seeds for Ukraine, which will help Ukraine recover from the ecological devastation Russia has been wreaking (and with Ukraine, the countries that rely on Ukraine’s grain exports that Russia keeps trying to steal).

Come Back Alive: do these guys even need the introduction? they’re Come Back Alive. I’m kissing all of them.

United24: Zelenskyy’s brain child, and the official fundraising platform of Ukraine. Mark Hamill recommends the fundraisers for drones in particular.

UAnimals: Nova Kakhovka’s zoo got… pretty much completely swept away. all zoo residents except the birds have drowned. UAnimals has tried throughout the occupation to keep the animals safe, and they’ve been reporting on the status of the zoo. I don’t really know what to say except that I hope they’re able to save the pets and strays in the towns along the river.

  1. Ukrainian FireFighters Foundation
  2. Helping To Leave
  3. VOSTOK SOS

And another good list, every name here will put your money to good use.

@copperbadge, this is the general “help for Ukraine for ppl that don’t know where to donate outside of Ukraine”.

Had a rare request to reblog outside of RFM and the issue seemed urgent enough I wanted to do so. This is post two of two; thanks for notifying me and collecting these resources!

hey can u please take a moment to stop scrolling and watch this

even if u cant do anything personally this info needs to be known so please boost this

link to the tiktok

link to their bio

link to the website they mention

link to their instagram

and here’s some article links to what’s talked about in the video x x x x x

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[Text ID :

A TikTok video made by @shinanova shows a woman in a black sleeveless shirt, dangling white (feather? fur?) earrings, and a gray fur cuff on her wrist pointing to captions between still photos illustrating the issue. Soft electronic music plays on the background.

Captions read : "Did you know how insanely expensive food costs in indigenous communities?"

Cartons of strawberries are shown on grocery shelves for 14.39. Kraft smooth peanut butter jars for 11.19. Bottles of Heinz ketchup for 16.79. Bags of green grapes for 28.19. Photos of protestors follow : Two tall men in ball caps and a third, shorter person in a fur lined hood. The man in the middle holds two signs on pieces of cardboard that read "Stop the crazy prices!" and "I have to feed my family!" The third person also holds a sign on a large yellow piece of posterboard, but the text is cut off by the framing. Two more people holding signs on orange and yellow posterboards, respectively. Posters read "High cost food in Nunavut" and "Food is expensive in Nunavut". Returning to the woman making the video, she points to more captions : "What can you do? Spread awareness about the issue. Support Indigenous People's and donate. Share the causes you find most important at Www.UnwreckTheFuture.Com to fight food insecurity" followed by an emoji of a solidarity/fight the power fist (hand closed into a fist, viewed from the thumb curled in front of the knuckles)

/end text]

An Alberta sheriff who was convicted of assaulting his ex-wife continued to work for the Alberta Sheriffs Branch after his conviction.
According to court documents, Chad Exner was found guilty of assaulting his then-wife Jaime McKenzie in October 2020.
Exner was convicted in January and court heard he has been employed as a sheriff throughout the entirety of his trial and after his conviction.
Edmonton defence lawyer Tom Engel, chair of the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association's policing committee, said by keeping Exner employed despite his conviction, the reputation of law enforcement in the province is "badly damaged." [...]
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Police are investigating after the United Church in Ponoka was vandalized on Thursday.
Mounties say someone threw eggs and splattered tar and an unknown substance on the rainbow sidewalk leading to the church.
"I was gutted, shattered, just really demoralized," said Jessica Jones of the Ponoka Pride Society.
Members of the church congregation first painted the steps in 2020, to show solidarity with the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Graham Boys of the church said he's disappointed someone would vandalize the steps, particularly during Pride month. [...]