The Breakdown With Nate Pike

With the Danielle Smith bringing forward her new Bill of Rights and her long feared anti-Trans, anti-parental choice legislation, we sat down with lawyer and legal scholar Dr. Lorian Hardcastle to get a sense of what the legal implications of this legislation is and perhaps most importantly, how can it be challenged! You can donate to skipping stone at https://www.skippingstone.ca/legalfund Don't...

We're back with another Live Alberta Politics Roundup! With the confluence of Danielle Smith's leadership review, the UCP AGM and the Legislature returning to session, there's no shortage of things to talk about! We start with our regular look at the events of the week before we do a deep dive on several of the new pieces of legislation, including the Bill(s) of Rights and the three anti-trans pie...

On October 26, 2024 the new grassroots org "Alberta Resistance" held their first event and invited our host Nate Pike to close out the evening. ABR has generously provided the audio of Nate's speech to us as there have been more than a few requests by people who were unable to attend. This is not an "official" Breakdown episode, so we're presenting it as a bonus episode! To learn more about the fo...

What are all of the hidden connections in the skybox photo from the Vancouver Semi-Finals? Tonight, we finally peel back as many layers as we (legally) can and explore the vast network that ties together the infamous Tylenot debacle, the sub par Vanch masks from the beginning of he pandemic and the trails that lead into the offices of multiple ministers and even the Premier of Alberta, Danielle Sm...

As Alberta continues to see Danielle Smith and the UCP put forward polices that don't appear to be based on what's best for the province but rather that cater to the extreme right wing of the UCP, many people are asking what can possibly be done... And a grassroots org called Alberta Resistance is apparently stepping forward to try and present Albertans with some options! To learn more about their...

With labour shortages plaguing healthcare and the Alberta government taking a stunningly rigid and inflexible approach to negotiations, particularly in ensuring that Alberta's healthcare workers are paid fairly, we sat down with Health Science Association President Mike Parker for a deep dive on negotiating with Smith's UCP, the dangers of uberizing health care and the lack of an evidence based ap...

With the healthcare crisis only worsening, we sat down with former Alberta Medical Association Dr Paul Parks for an unleashed conversation on healthcare in Alberta! In this conversation we cover the recent healthcare announcements from the UCP claiming to address the healthcare crisis (they don't), the priorities that the UCP is choosing to pursue, the worsening crisis in Edmonton hospitals, force...

It's time for another Alberta Politics Roundup and FOIP reveal! We run through some of the bigger and more embarrassing moments in Alberta Politics, including the Western Standards new government funding, Vote tabulators, the marching on of the Free Alberta Strategy before we take a look at the FOIP we recieved back that again appears to prove on other lie in th ongoing skybox scandal! Don't forge...

It was another whirlwind week in Alberta Politics and we're back to try and break it all down! With the facade dropping on why healthcare workers aren't getting paid, the announcement that Danielle Smith considers the Sheriffs her own provincial police force, vote tabulators, anti-trans policies and more there's no shortage of things to talk about! Plus what's the deal with the Free Alberta Strate...

With Danielle Smith announcing over $8 billion dollars to go towards building new public, charter and private schools, we sat down with Alberta Teachers Association Local 38 President to get her read on Smith's announcement, Smith's claims that education has only been in crisis for the last 18 months and the state of classrooms in general! Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://ww...

By special request! We've split off our segment from Sunday where we begin the deep dive on Danielle Smith's Skybox Scandal, starting with our recent FOIP that appears to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that while the UCP wrote new "ethics" rules, it didn't take them long at all before they completely violated them! Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpoli.ca/categ...

Not only is this another Alberta politics roundup, but we're also starting to peel back the layers of the UCP Corruption onion, and it's a lot worse than you think! We start with our regular run down of the week in Alberta politics, including The Rebel's official designation as being part of the 1%, Danielle Smith's week of dogwhistles, the recent school construction announcement and a lot more! F...

Hold my hand is an advocacy organization that works to build community for families with disabled kids and also to advocate for changes to prevent those kids from falling through the cracks! In this extremely important conversation, we chat with Hold My Hand leaders about their work, the challenges faced by disabled kids and their parents, the lack of supports available and the difficulties in acc...

It seems like last week everyone was in court! The Coutts Convicts got sentenced, a former justice minister got sanction and the published of the Western Standard, Derek Fildebrandt was in court facing allegations of threatening kids with death! Plus there was the continued Green Line drama and Danielle Smith leaned heavily into xenophobic and racist dog whistles on the immigration file! Don't for...

Can you deal with bad faith actors in good faith? On this breakdown of Alberta Politics, we take a look at the Western Standards latest taxpayer funded funding, the seeming cronyism continues in the war room, changes to accessing education, Jennifer "Poop Cookies" Johnson's impending return to caucus and cabinet and... We do a semi deep dive on both the Green Line debacle in Calgary and Danielle S...

It's time for another Alberta Politics Roundup and this one is an absolute MONSTER! There's all kinds of news with "Take Back Alberta", Alberta is rolling out a new Bill Of Rights (of some kind?), healthcare is in crisis and so much more! Plus we break down Danielle Smith's recent exclusive town hall in Drayton Valley and we dissect the extraordinarily bad and revealing fiscal update that ended up...

We’re solving education in Alberta with ATA President Jason Schilling! (We come up with solutions at least, there's still a "political will" problem...) In this episode we get into the challenges that students and teachers are facing as they return to school, including a very intense discussion on Danielle Smith's new outing polices. Don't forget, we have merch that's available at https://www.abpo...

We're back with another live Alberta Politics Roundup! With summer ending, we've got a review of some of the biggest stories that are coming down the pipes in Alberta, including they state of education, healthcare, coal mining, the UCP's attack on charter rights and Smith's incoming attack on trans rights, access to health care and parental choice! Plus oh yeah, we get into that whole thing with J...

On January 31, 2024, Danielle Smith shocked many Albertans with a suite of policies designed to insert her personal beliefs into doctors offices across the province. Not only did these policies limit access to health care for trans youth, they also attacked trans participation in sports and will override the rights of parents to make decisions on their children’s medical care. 
Smith defended thes...

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...

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 apprec...

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 Cu...

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....

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 Politi...

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,...