Author: Tim Platnich Date: November 4, 2026 There has been a lot of press lately on the recently proposed Alberta electoral map. It has been called 'US-style gerrymandering' by any press quoting the Alberta NDP. But is it? Every 8-10 years the Alberta government must appoint an independent Electoral Boundaries Commission under the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act. The timing cannot be shorter than 8 years or longer than 10 years. The last Commission was appointed by the ND

Author: Tim Platnich Date: September 2, 2026 In an article published in 'The Tyee' on September 2, 2026, it was stated that " ... Alberta's so-called deregulated electricity market ... has foisted the most expensive electricity rates in Canada on Albertans." The article was referencing research conducted by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) from two years ago concerning the impact of the deregulated electricity market in Alberta. The Tyee article was more specifically de

Author: Tim Platnich Date: August 25, 2026 Oh my. The world is on fire. Just review the headlines both in media and in scientific publications: "The world is on fire: True scale of devastating wildfires wreaking havoc across the globe" - The Independent, August 2026 "A World Ablaze: The Climate Future We Feared is Here" - Union of Concerned Scientists, August 3, 2026 "Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?" - Euronews, August 13, 2026 "Worsening drough

Author: Tim Platnich Date: August 17, 2026 It's just a question. Don't get me wrong. As a place and culture, I like Québec having visited there many times. But this wouldn't change if it were a separate country. Let's consider how Canada might be better off without Québec as one of its provinces. First, let's consider the financial picture. The Globe and Mail reported on April 3, 2026 that 'the province received $13.9 billion in equalization transfers from Ottawa. That sum is

Author: Tim Platnich Date: August 17, 2026 Zionism was a movement that began in the 1800s. At that time, Zionists were Jews who believed, for various reasons, that the Jewish people needed a homeland. Jews, in that period, were a diaspora living all over the world with concentrations in both Western and Eastern Europe. Increasingly, they were being subjected to persecutions and pogroms, particularly in Eastern Europe. The Zionists were of the view that Jews would never be acc

Author: Tim Platnich Original Date: April 1, 2026 Revised: May 2, 2026 This is not an April fools day joke, but some may think it is! The press has been ripe with rhetoric about how s. 33 of the Charter, the dreaded 'notwithstanding clause', will lead to tyranny when Charter rights are overridden by provincial legislatures. [1] This follows from the recent proceedings before the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) concerning Quebec's Bill 21 in the case of Hak, et al v. Procureur

Author: Tim Platnich Date: February 12, 2026 Oh, oh. This sounds like a philosophical debate. What does it have to do with modern controversies? First, let's roughly define some terms. I say roughly, because these terms are loaded and have a long historical pedigree. Truly detailed definitions would involve us in deep philosophical debate. Roughly, rationalism promotes the use of logic and reason to identify truth. The scientific method is an off-shoot of rationalism. Convers

Author: Tim Platnich Date: February 12, 2026 One of the attributes that makes Canada great, supposedly, is the rule of law. There are rules. People are expected to follow the rules. For those that do not follow the rules, there are consequences. Though most people follow the rules out of a sense of public or, perhaps, moral duty, some do not. We have significant infrastructure in place for dealing with the rule-breakers: police; prosecutors; criminal courts; and prisons, for

Author: Tim Platnich Date: January 30, 2026 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in the news again. As usual she is being criticized by the media. The current issue is her opinion about the judiciary. Essentially, Premier Smith says that judges need to stay in their lane and leave policy decisions to the elected representatives in the legislature. My, how scandalous! Kevin Martin, in a piece published in the Calgary Herald on January 29, 2026, took umbrage with Premier Smith's v

Author: Tim Platnich Published Date: January 18, 2026 Revised Date: November 6, 2026 As the title of this post suggests, the following is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. For more serious readers, see the links in the notes. Just the name 'ultra-processed' sends a shiver down one's back. But should it? Did you know that the following foods are considered in some of the literature to be ultra-processed:[1] sweetened orange juice low fat yogurt, especially flavoured yogurt virtuall

Author: Tim Platnich Date: January 5, 2026 There is much press these days concerning provincial use of the 'notwithstanding clause'. This clause is part of the Canadian Constitution. It is section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is as much a part of the Constitution as are the sections of the Charter that can be overridden with its use. Section 33(1) says: "Parliament or the legislature of a province may expressly declare in an Act of Parliament or of th

Author: Tim Platnich Date: October 31, 2025 On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the Alberta government passed Bill 2 - Back to School Act. [Please note that the link provided is to the Bill before it was assented to. I was unable to find the actual legislation online]. This legislation has three main components for our purposes in this post. First, it orders the teachers back to work. Second, it imposes a four year collective agreement between the various school boards (defined as

Author: Tim Platnich Date: October 23, 2025 In this post I question whether the rule of law in Canada is a fiction. In law, according to Black's Law Dictionary, a fiction is "an assumption that something is true even though it may be untrue .... ". Legal fictions are used by legislatures and judges when they deem it necessary to do justice. Here, the untrue assumption (the fiction) may be that in Canada, we are ruled by law and not by capricious decision makers. I am talki

Author: Tim Platnich Date: October 12, 2025 Revised: October 13, 2025 Alberta K-12 teachers have grievances which include: pay and working conditions. Regarding pay, they argue they are underpaid. Let's analyze that a bit. Teachers argue that their pay has not kept up with inflation. Their existing pay scale was negotated and set by a collective agreement ratified in June, 2022 covering the school years of 2020/21 to 2023/24 (three years). According to a news article by CBC ,

Author: Tim Platnich Date: October 10, 2025 It strikes me that 'right-wing' and 'left-wing' are weaponized labels used to smear someone...

Author: Tim Platnich Date: October 6, 2025 I suppose it is not surprising that people support cancel culture provided that, and this is a...

Author: Tim Platnich Date: October 3, 2025 Do you feel, from time to time, that political parties seeking election pull a bait and switch with their campaign? They make promises that, when elected, they make no effort to put into effect through legislation or otherwise. If elected, we will eliminate the GST? Hmm, GST. Too lucrative to give up. Elbows up! Where are the elbows? Or, they omit to mention a planned policy, say a carbon tax, in their campaign only to implement the