This is not the episode you think it is. It's difficult to imagine a more divisive time in living memory than what the world experienced in the first years of COVID. There's no question that the measures that were put in place saved lives, but there's also a reality that the manner in which they were implemented not only contributed to the division but also weren't implemented consistently. If you don't learn from your mistakes, you're bound to repeat them, so we sat down with Chad...

With Danielle Smith and the UCP making moves to bring in publicly funded but for profit delivered acute care in Alberta, we sat down with Chris Gallaway from "Friends of Medicare" to try and get a better understanding of not only these moves, but their impact and implications on Emergency healthcare in Alberta! Don't forget, we have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider...

Opioid Crisis Part 2? On an important follow up to last weeks round table discussion with advocate Guy Felicella and columnist Adam Zivo, we're sitting down with an expert in addictions and addiction treatment, Dr. Monty Ghosh to fact check what was said as well as ensure the context of our episode is set where it should be!! From his U of C bio where he is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Cumming School of Medicine, "Monty Ghosh is an Internist and Addiction Specialist who works at...

With the UCP making major changes to how "problem" bears are "managed", in that they're allowing anyone with a hunting license to enter a lottery to win the opportunity to kill a grizzly bear, we're sitting down with Bear Expert and NDP MLA Dr. Sarah Elmeligi to find out why this is a terrible idea and most importantly, why it won't work! Don't forget, we have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The...

What's the deal with the Skybox Scandal? Alberta Politics moves fast, and that's made it hard to keep up with everything that goes on! instructor and effort to try and make sure that the more complex stories don't fall through the cracks, we're trying a new "rapid response" mini episode format, where from time to time, we'll do a quick but deep dive on a story that's making waves in Alberta Politics. For our first one, we take a look at the skybox and gifting scandal currently plaguing the...

With provincial and national politicians using the work of columnists and writers to justify their policy decisions, particularly in the realm of addictions and mental health issues, we put together a panel that you won't want to miss with opinion columnist Adam Zivo and public speaker Guy Felicella! In this conversation we try to unpack how it is that there can be a great deal of shared reality, but the conclusions and strategies that people come to can be wildly divergent. Don't forget,...

Is private, for profit healthcare now starting to infiltrate the Alberta healthcare system? We chat with concerned community member Sarah Zagoda to find out more! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we're trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/ thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at...

It's another live episode with an open mic! What do guitars, soccer, expertise and twitter bots all have in common? Alberta politics of course! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab and we can now accept e-transfers at...

Danielle Smith made news on June 25th when she announced that she was going to "opt out" Albertans from the federal dental plan. Which leads to a lot of questions, like what are the current programs that are available, what are the criteria for them and how does the federal program match up? Which is to say nothing of the question if she even can opt Albertans out. On this episode, we try and unpack all of that, and we take a look at why Smith and the UCP are threatening the healthcare of...

We're pushing our dental episode back a few days to bring you this special conversation with none other than Jeromy Farkas! With the city of Calgary finally getting into the homestretch of the water crisis, Naheed Nenshi winning a landslide victory in the NDP leadership race, an impending ecological disaster and the Calgary Stampede all being things, we sat down with Jeromy to try and make sense of all of these things in an nuanced, thoughtful and occasionally lighthearted manner! Don't...

To call the last Alberta legislative session a whirlwind is certainly an understatement! Where the Kenney government introduced single bills that were full of changes, making it hard for Albertans to follow, the Smith administration has instead just turned on a firehose of bills... Making it hard for Albertans to follow. So to try and make sense of all of the legal changes the UCP made in the last few months, we sat down with political scientist Dr. Duane Bratt in an episode that you...

In case Alberta politics isn't a hot enough topic, we're spending this episode on the intersection of religion and the machinery of public governance! In 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada decided in the Saturday Decision that prayer at municipal governments violates the states duty to neutrality, but is that decision being followed? To take this on, we sit down with Ian Bushfiled, the executive director of the BC Humanist Association and one of their main researchers Dr. Teale Phelps...

It's another Alberta Politics roundup and open mic! We take a look at David Staples spreading right wing astroturf propaganda, the Western Standard making bank off of the feds decisions, the healthcare voucher system, the UCP's noncologist event and the condem,national of it from the medical community, Shannon Phillips retiring from politics, Smith seemingly wanting to cash out the Heritage Savings Trust fund on high risk investments, we fact check her chat with Real Talk and a whole lot...

On this episode we take a look at Derek Fildebrandts new criminal charges, we do a deep dive on coal mining and who's behind it, we talk about insurance costs, the state of healthcare in Alberta, Alison Redford new appointment and more! Look for Part 2 with our open mic soon! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider...

With NDP members receiving their ballots across the province, we've put all of our conversations with the remaining leadership candidates together in one marathon episode! It starts with Kathleen Ganley, followed by Sarah Hoffman at 31:19, Naheed Nenshi at 1:20:42 and ending with Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse at 2:25:00! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here...

With the Western Standard episode out of the way, we’re back with a conversation with Jeremy Appel to talk about his book "Kenneyism"! In this chat we get into why Jeremy wrote the book, we unpack the mind of Kenney a bit and we talk about the future of Alberta politics with a contrast between Smith and Kenney! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at...

In 2019, Derek Fildebrandt revived Ezra Levant's former publication th Western Standard and set about building a media empire out of Western Canada that was predicated on (among other things) not accepting any government funding. But can they really say that they don't accept any government funding and that they don't get taxpayer money? Over that last 6 months we've completed a series of FOIP's that show that The Western Standard has indeed been getting taxpayer funds. Not only has the...

It's time for a conversation with new Alberta Party leader, Lindsay Amantea! With more than a few pundits and political scientists making it clear that they believe Alberta is now inexorably a two party state, you have to wonder why the Alberta Party and it's leader believe that they have a place in the political conversation, and we pose exactly that question (and a whole lot more) in this upbeat and humorous conversation! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca,...

Welcome to Episode 6.31, an in depth deep dive on Bills 18 & 20 with Political Scientist Dr. Lisa Young! In this conversation that is quite the ride, we hear from Dr. Young on what Bills 18 & 20 do and also what the implications are for the province of Alberta in both the short term and the long term, including an important call to action! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content...

It's our final interview of the NDP Leadership race, and we're sitting down with non other than Gil McGowan! In this conversation, we get Gil's thoughts on the economy, healthcare, the future of the NDP and a whole lot more, including his reaction to Bill 20 and the UCP's chronic overreach! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please...

Here's the Speakers Corner from our April 28th show! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a spring lineup! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our Patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab. If you’re listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a rating, and don’t forget to like and follow...

Time for another Alberta Politics roundup! On this episode we take a look at the saga of the anonymous letter to the UCP alleging conflict of interest in the halls of Edmonton CIty Hall, Danielle Smiths 2nd (!) $2 million COVID panel, the recent appointment of one of Danielle Smith's mentors to the Alberta Energy Regulator before we do a deep dive on what some are arguing is the most Un democratic and even authoritarian piece of legislation to come out of the Smith government yet, Bill...

Dr Wesley is a political scientists and professor at the Univeristy of Alberta who specializes in taking a look at not only how Albertans see themselves, but also how they believe other Albertans see the world around them as well! Dr. Wesley does these investigations through his organization, Common Ground and recently he and his team completed some important research taking a deeper look at not only how Albertans view some of the big issues facing our province but also how they believe...

Welcome to episode 6.27, a conversation with Harm Reduction and recovery advocate Guy Felicella! Guy made headlines recently when he was barred from a recovery conference in Calgary, and he generously sat down with us to explain what happened, but we get into a whole lot more than that, including the nature of recovery, the crossover of BC and Alberta politics and a whole lot more! Don't forget, we now have merch that's available at www.abpoli.ca, including a cold weather lineup! As...

Time for another panel! With the political temperature in Alberta reaching a rolling boil over Calgary and Edmonton initiating blanket rezoning (even though Edmonton has completed the rezoning already), particularly to access federal housing funding, we decided it was time for another deep dive! To make sense of this we’re joined by Robert Tremblay of the Calgary Climate Hub, Kathryn Davies of “More Neighbours” and Edmonton City Councillor Micheal Janz! To learn more about the climate hub...