#pc: strathcona

[battle-of-alberta]

Who speaks the most languages? Also who has the best French?

well this just might be my most ambitious ask in a while :) shout out to the 1.5 francophones who may or may not follow this blog. And also for those 1.5 francos...

Clause de non-responsabilité

J'ai étudié 6 langues mais je suis toujours monolingue. :'(

Je ne suis pas franco-albertaine et je ne peux pas commenter sur le dialecte.

Mon éditrice @randomoranges n'est pas franco-albertaine, elle est québécoise*. Ah, et elle dit, avec plus d'élegance:

"nous pouvons répondre en français, mais svp demandez-nous pas d'le faire trop souvent, sinon notre pauvre artiste ira en burn out, malgré le fait que ses efforts feront rire sa consultante"

*cependant, selon le Lego, mon éditrice n'est même pas considérée québécoise haha >>;

more info below!

I already expect this piece to get less engagement because it's (mostly) not in English, and I'm afraid I'm still going to be more annoying and not provide a translation. As previously I will lean into making a statement Windex-style by purposefully not translating what I've written above into English just because the point of celebrating Franco-Albertan heritage month is, well, acknowledging the unique status of French in this country and how there is an expectation to conform to English in this province that needs a little challenging. I hope if nothing else, it strikes your curiosity enough to painstakingly type it into google translate so you can get half of the banter.

Another question that languished at the bottom of the box for over a year! This was because I felt I should make a real effort to write in French, of course, but also because I struggled with the wording of the question and ultimately didn't answer it. The "most" or the "best" are very loaded terms, so I avoided answering them entirely particularly because we have several languages that risk losing native speakers and because there's a lot of bs wrapped up in what "good" french is that I'm not skilled enough to unpack (though you can read what Windex wrote on this matter earlier on this blog... And here as well).

I have to strike a balance between representing the gang here as individuals (and immortals to boot) who have a lot of time on their hands and some interest and investment in learning languages on one hand... but also as representations of "average" people on the other. Francophone travellers aren't going to find many French speakers outside of airports, national parks, or government services in this province, but it still might surprise you considering all the "everyone outside of Quebec hates French" rhetoric that politicians like to fling around. It's more complicated than that, obviously, but I can mostly talk about my own personal experience with French here. I tried to represent both the reality that Franco-Alberta exists (represented by Ed) and the stereotypical resistance to French here (represented by Calvin, though clearly he understands enough to respond here. I also just think he tries to play dumb on purpose so that others underestimate him, it's all part of the image!)

Finally, I don't speak any of the languages (Michif, Tagalog, Punjabi, Cree) represented here so I hope they pass muster for the purpose of this little comic! ;~;b I have also represented Calvin speaking Mandarin previously on this blog!

oh yeah, and that "english and business" quote is from kevin o'leary who is from montreal so make of that what you will.

#Anonymous #projectcanada cities #boab ask #pc: edmonton #pc: jasper #pc: grande prairie #pc: calgary #pc: strathcona #edward murphy #calvin mccall #jasper swift #josephine cardinal #edith garneau #hapo art #digital art #clip studio paint #i had to handwrite all the diacritics so i apologize if they've moved accidentally #this font doesnt come with accents so i decided to just manually add them

[allbeendonebefore]

If you feel down for it, I would love to see a small crossover between your Canadian and Ancient Greek characters

since you asked so nicely p:

occasionally i think about how they're actually contemporaries today, but it's hard for me to say anything significant about Canada-Greece relations from here because most of them are based in Eastern Canada (Montreal and Athens are the only sister cities between the two nations, which certainly would make an interesting dynamic! but one may have to ask @randomoranges)

so the primary connection I know is from the University of Alberta; we have a dig site near the modern village of Kallithea (in Thessaly, south of Larissa). I do regret not going to field school when I had the opportunity; I did hear secondhand that the post-dig ice cream was excellent. Since Edith is the representative for the university, she's standing in for Ed here. If I remember correctly, which nationalities can dig where is strictly controlled by the Greek government, so I think Canadians typically work on sites in northern Greece.

The only other connection I can think of off the top of my head would be the torch lighting ceremony for Calgary's Winter Olympics...

#projectcanada cities #pc: strathcona #athens and sparta adventures #aasa: athens #aasa athens #hapo doodles #digital art #clip studio paint #edith garneau #flyingkickapow #update the citation for athens and mtl being sisters is dead #so im struggling to find info on the bond #but i imagine either its a reference to greek immigration in the 1840s #or to assistance from canada in wwii #further update i did find the declaration in the montreal archives #however its basically like We should be friends because....... culture? #they're like economic and cultural cooperation! #and im like sooo you're bonding over poor econ high culture hey #my french isnt fantastic but even i can see theres like net zero info in this document lol

[acetechne]

Edith H1

her mood is how i feel about these pencil crayons tbh

#projectcanada cities #pc: strathcona #edith garneau #ink #mixed media #traditional art #pencil crayon #hapo art #expression challenge #art challenge #expression meme #art meme #anonymous #it might be time to switch media

[randomoranges]

a bit nsfw for discussions about sex - or lack thereof haha

rock band au part 30

It was the start of the third week of lockdown and Edward, somehow, was slowly getting used to Étienne’s presence around the house. He was surprisingly easy to get along with and they were learning to navigate around each other. It was still – a little too polite and awkward for Edward’s liking, but he supposed it was better than being at wits end with Étienne and regretting having him over.

 At the time being, Étienne had gone out for a walk of his own and so Edward had the house to himself for a rare moment. It was almost weird to think that this no longer was his norm and with so much time at home, he seriously needed to make himself a list of things to do, before he became completely bored.

 The list was put off for a while longer, when his phone rang, and he saw that it was his sister calling. He settled on his couch and accepted the call, glad for the distraction.

 “So, have you gone completely bat shit insane yet?” Edith asked as a form of greeting.

 Edward rolled his eyes, not even surprised, “Not exactly – keeping – busy,” He said, even if it was a different kind of it.

 “Decided to remodel the kitchen after all?”

 “No – I might just if this goes on, but – well, I may have found myself with a roommate.” He said, cautious, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

 Edith was silent for a moment, “How the hell did you manage a roommate during a Global Pandemic?”

 “Well – he’s a friend – he needed a place to stay – and I wasn’t going to let him live on the streets!” He could just imagine the headlines now; famous Canadian musician – darling prince of music of Québec, found homeless on the streets of Edmonton. No. He couldn’t let that happen.

 “That’s – awfully generous of you. Anyone I know?” She sounded skeptical and he couldn’t say he blamed her.

 Edward was very glad his sister hadn’t yet hopped on the whole Zoom bandwagon and hadn’t asked for a video chat. She would have never let him live the sudden tomato-soup look of his face.

 “Sort of?”

 “Tell. Edward tell!” She demanded, suddenly excited at the prospect of hot gossip.

 Edward looked at his ceiling and wondered why he’d even told his sister any of this. She didn’t need to know, but – then again, part of him had been itching to share the fact that Étienne M Maisonneuve was rooming with him. This wasn’t an everyday thing, after all.

 “Remember Les Maisonneuves?”

 Edith was silent for a moment, “Who?”

 “The band I really like,” He said, exasperated.

 “Oh – yeah, your merry group of nobodies. Yeah, what about them?”

 For her information, they were not a merry group of nobodies. They were gaining traction and had even been nominated for a few awards after their last album had come out – thank you very much.

 “Well – one of the members – he was in town and got stuck – so – yeah, he’s here.”

 “Oh, I see.” Edith told him flatly and for one brief, glorious moment, Edward dared to hope that it was the end of this conversation. “Wait – is it the one you fucked?”

 “Edith!” He near shouted, sputtering, appalled, and embarrassed all at once.

 “Oh my God, it IS!” She sounded way too gleeful about this.

 Edward tried to form an answer, but the only things that came out of his mouth were series of incomprehensible sounds that did nothing to convince his sister otherwise.

 “So that’s why you haven’t gone off the deep end with cabin fever – you’re having the gay sex.”

 “Good Christ, Edith! Don’t be crass.” He could feel his face heat up even more. It was one thing discussing sex with a partner, another when his sister made a joke of it. Or reminded him that he was not, in fact, “having the gay sex” and that he would have very much liked to have “the gay sex.”

 “Well – you’re both guys. You’ve fucked each other. Call a boot a boot.”

 “I’m going to hang up.”

 “Oh – hang on – wow, so do you realise that if I hadn’t insisted and threatened you to go to the stupid concert and live a little you would not even be in this situation at the moment. Like you wouldn’t even be getting pandemic laid. You better fucking thank me.”

 “For the love of – we’re not fucking! There is no pandemic gay sex!” He yelled, unable to handle anymore of this. It was a really good thing Étienne was out at the current moment. It would have been even more mortifying otherwise.

 “Wait – you’re telling me you’re actually living some shitty porno plotline and somehow or other you’re not taking advantage of it? How much do you actually hate your life, Edward?”

 “It’s not that!” He defended. “I’m very much well aware of the situation and the – opportunity – but, I’m not just gonna pounce on the guy either. I have class. I’m not that desperate. Plus – I don’t want him to think I’m some weird fetish groupie or something. It’s strange enough we even slept together once – let alone on multiple occasions. Like – the fact that we met because I had a VIP ticket sounds fucking strange on itself. I don’t want to make it weirder.”

 “But you want to.” She stated simply and obviously. “Have the gay sex with him,” She clarified, as if it was really necessary.

 “I’m not stupid, Edith. Sure, it would be great. Yes, I would like to. But – he hasn’t – exactly – made a move either!”

 “What is this? The eighteenth century? You don’t have to court or wait for him to drop his hanky for you. Just talk to him, good God – it’s a miracle you even got each other naked once.”

 “Please stop talking.” He bemoaned.

 “Edward – do me a favour; stop living like an ostrich and live a little.”

 “It’s a Global Pandemic, or did you forget?”

 “I have not, thanks – but please stop being a sad mop.”

 “Fine, but keep out of my business and my sex life!”

 “Fine – but you’re missing an opportunity.” She practically sing-songed and Edward had heard enough. Had been put through the ringer enough. He didn’t need his younger sister to give him “relationship advice.” He was a grown assed man. He would – figure it out on his own.

 “If I tell you I’ll talk it over with Étienne, will you leave me alone?”

 “Only until I remember to bug you about it next time.”

 “How bored are you if you’re that invested in my life, all of a sudden?”

 “For your information, I am living my best quarantine life, thank you very much. You’re the one who brought your boy toy up.”

 “I did not!” He yelled, “And he is not my boy toy!”

 “Maybe we should have a little family Zoom next time – you could introduce me to him.”

 “I swear, I will hang up for real this time!” He said, even though they both knew he most likely wouldn’t.

 “Well, lucky for you, you won’t have to – I gotta run anyways – bye!” She cheerfully hung up and Edward flopped back on his couch, winded and exhausted. He really did need to talk with Étienne. If anything he could – let him know that – if ever he had an itch he needed to scratch – no, that sounded lame. How the hell was he even supposed to tell his celebrity-crush-turned-pseudo-friend-and-roommate that he very much wanted to sleep with him again? And then – how awkward would it be if Étienne had moved on? Obviously, Edward would respect that, but – he didn’t want things to be weird, considering they were living together and had nowhere else to really go to.

 This would be a problem for a different day – his head hurt and he’d given it enough thought for the day.

--

PREVIOUS: XXIX

CURRENT: XXX

NEXT: XXXI

#pc: edmonton #pc: strathcona #edward murphy #edith garneau #ficlet #au #3 sentence fic meme thing #rock band au

[quatschmachen]

Fresh Powder

Here’s a nice 2000′s fic.

Starring an Edward Murphy and his fam. A part one of sorts.

XXX

He did not think he had any tears left in him.

After Calvin had left him, Edward had realized what a fool he had been to even think that a new century could mean a new him, a new future, a new reality, a new hope.

He had watched Calvin grow over the years, become a (somewhat) capable man. From the spoiled child to the awkward teenager to someone who he could view as an equal, someone he could talk to beyond their competitive games. Where their rivalry was one that lifted the other person up – but with the tacit knowledge that when shit hit the fan the other would have their back. Or that’s what he had thought. Where Calvin was person he could trust – he had made the mistake in viewing him as a genuine friend. The fact that Calvin had dropped and broke his cup in shock, said some hurtful shit and just… left, had torn open a gaping wound in Edward.

Everything that he had been certain of, the stuff he had felt slightly hopeful for, gone like smoke in those actions. A true betrayal. All those times where he had supported the other man through the toughest of times, their decades of friendship, meaningless. He had expected Calvin to be shocked, sure, but he thought you know, maybe after a bit of shouting or disbelief, the other man would stick around. Swallow his pride, realize that just because he discovered Edward was gay – which he had always been for the entirety of their friendship - didn’t actually change anything. It felt as if Edward’s entire identity had become subsumed into the nebulous concept of “Gay,” and that Calvin had purposely forgotten who the hell Edward was – is. The exact thing Edward hadn’t wanted to happen had happened. He was no longer an autonomous person, but simply the outcast.

Somewhere, rambling in the deepest pits of feeling sorry for himself, Edward felt a slow burning anger. Something he didn’t want to acknowledge, something he purposely was drowning to death with his own tears. Instead he fell into what he knew, the grooves of self-pity he felt most comfortable in, drawing it around him like a heavy damp protective blanket.

It had been an absolute fucking mistake to come out.  All the crushing anxiety and depression which he had thought would magically disappear if he would be goddam honest for once in his fucking life fell upon him like the walls of Erebus. The rest of his plans, his next steps were in disarray all around him.

The plans of coming out, trumpeting across the land that he was here, he was queer, and yes he was a homosexual, had crumbled. The plans of telling Étienne that he was coming out finally, after years of prodding, offhand comments, seeing the other man’s frustration as Edward kept dragging the other man into the closet with him, that the plan of saying those words would somehow magically heal that rift between them. That rift created by him – it was entirely his fault. By him not coming out. He could see how each interaction, as their relationship became more entangled, was slowly hollowing the other man out, turning Étienne into his personal closet. Here he was fucking it up again, and the other man didn’t even have to be in the same province. The space he had carved out with the other man, where he thought he could step outside, had vanished with the first step he had taken, and he feared that turning around, telling Étienne what a failure he had been, would seal that door forever.

All he could think about was the North Saskatchewan during the winter. Where each tension between them had turned them into a separate ice flow. Like crystalized scabs upon the surface of the fast running river, where once they had been jammed up beside each other, almost as if one sheet of ice. Those tense gaps between them, the words he could never say, had grown from a splinter to something more where the current was tearing them apart. And soon with the spring, or perhaps a false spring, when the weather gets warm in February and the rift between the two ice sheets grow, and you think maybe the thawing is a good thing, where instead of being brittle you can turn into the water and bend into each other --- that doesn’t happen. The river refreezes and between them instead of the water, it’s a new sheet of ice, whose growth shoves one and the other to opposite sides of the shore, one towards the slow moving inner bend, the other to be lost completely under the fast moving outer bend, to be subsumed and drowned, communication between them gone.

Edward knew which one he was, hell he was drowning in his own tears.

Edith had stopped by, but he hadn’t wanted to let her in, instead ignoring her persistent knocking. She had come in anyway and tutted over him. “Why are you laying on the floor like a dead baby seal?” she was crouching beside him. In response he turned his face further into the blue shag carpet.

“Edward…” she fully sat on the ground beside him, her fingers carding into his hair as she gently stroked. “What happened?”

He simply grunted in response.

“It didn’t go so well, huh?”

She sat beside him for a while, allowing him to roll into her thigh and ugly cry.

“And a no to you having a birthday party?”

He let out a sniffle in response.

Edith began to hum, as she played with his hair, “Are you planning to lay here all day and night like a lump?”

Her brother did not respond, “So this again huh? Do you need me to get you some more chips or something?”

Edward gave a small grunt, which Edith interpreted as a yes.

“Look, I gotta go, but I will return with chips,” Edith gave Edward a small pat, as she finally began to move, grumbling about her legs falling asleep and needing to pee.

When she had left, Edward suddenly felt even more lonely. As if the one piece of hope had left the room, and the misery fully descended upon him again.

In some ways it was like when Gretzky had left. That was another time when he had turned into a useless lump, but at least that time Étienne had visited and made him feel better.

Étienne wasn’t visiting now.

No one was visiting now.

He was fairly certain he had not moved for days, but to be honest he had no sense of time, other than the fact Edith had returned and restocked his favourite comfort foods. An hour felt like a century, a minute an hour, it could have simply been a day. Simply gone dormant, wake up enough to cry, but that’s about it.

This was perhaps why he nearly shit himself when out of the blue he heard Mac’s voice not even a foot away from him.

“Lord jaysus to the sun and moon and back what de hell is ‘appenin’ here?”

It was interesting how over time Mac’s language had simply accommodated, or perhaps incorporated Atlantic turns of phrase, Edward mulled over. Mac used to speak his English slower, more measured, probably because he spent most of his time thinking in his odd mix of Chipewyan, Cree and French.

<My imminent death,> Edward joked in Cree.  

“Yer speakin’ tongues, me son.”

Edward rolled over, rubbing his eyes, and sighed, “Mac, for the last time, you are not from Atlantic Canada and don’t need to put on this… fake accent.”

Mac frowned, “I have an accent now?”

“Yeah and its like the bastard child of everyone who ever decided to live in you.”

There was the sound of a plastic bag crinkling, and the sound of the couch springs straining as Mac sat down. Edward heard the sound of the beer can being popped open.

A few minutes of silence passed, until Mac gently ventured, “So I takes it ye don’t want to do the usual New Year cross country skiing?”

Edward frowned. How could he forget? It was a ‘tradition’ started god knows when. Probably when travel between his and Mac’s got easier, where sometime with the New Year’s snow, they would arrange a time to ski together. Strange perhaps, but having someone who instead of bitching about the snow and cold took absolute delight in it was refreshing. There were times where Edward didn’t want to pretend to hate where he lived, and being with Mac was one of those times.

“I think I need to eat first… and maybe wash.”

It was as if with Mac’s arrival the strings to the puppet master had got reattached, and Edward found himself once more able to get up, go through the motions of ‘human.’

They did not go skiing that first day. It was as if by Mac’s arrival, Edward suddenly became conscious of how disgusting he had been living, so instead, he recruited Mac to help him clean up.  The other man didn’t comment much, only asked on how to clean certain items, and once, got his hand trapped in the vacuum cleaner while trying to change the bag.

It was rather obvious to Edward that while Mac was competent in many aspects of his life, cleaning was not his forte. But maybe that was fine – he hadn’t laughed in ages, and seeing how stricken the other man looked, hand trapped in machine and bag, had acted as a medicine he hadn’t known he needed.

And somewhere between here and there Edward remembers that between the broken parts, sometimes there are still pieces worth picking up.

XXXX

The cool crisp air, the shhh shhh of the skis slicing the fresh snow, their breath hanging behind them like airplane trails. That feeling of being in another world with the snow-laden pine trees, the magpies laughing in the distance, the slow rush of the river, the water running under the large ice sheets, propelled by necessity to continuously flow.

The powdery snow all around them like the powdered drug they had taken before leaving for a small buzz, a shared bad habit ‘between men’.

Both of them bundled up, Edward could only find his bright blue ski suit, but Mac hadn’t said anything – hell the other man had brought a bright orange one, which he had joked had been assigned from ‘OH&S’.

His cheeks fresh with the cold, Edward felt his mouth become unhinged, as suddenly the words began to flow out of him. Stuff he usually would never consider telling Mac.

Mac, a man who was hard to read, hard to determine what he was thinking, (or Edward knew, many people wondered if Mac even thought), where assumptions were made without even meeting the man.

However, Mac in his own quiet strange way, was one of the people closest to him (not that a lot of other people would know that, it wasn’t like he brought the other man up in conversation all that much, specifically for the fact he did not want to spend his time listening to tired refrains of how bad the other man was).

“I’ve fucked up, really fucked everything up and I can’t un-fuck it.” The words were flowing, and he could tell the other man was listening.  “And it’s something I can’t go back on and once it’s out it’s out. I don’t even know where to go from here.”

“Tells me, do ye wanna un-fuck it?” Mac slowly asked.

Edward closed his eyes, breathing deep, “So so badly.” Tears were freezing on the edges of his lashes as he took a gulp of air, attempting to pretend it was the exercise making it hard to breathe.

Their skis had come to rest at a small out of the way overlook next to the river. Mac took out a small mickey of whiskey, took a swig, and passed it to Edward.

“Can ye un-fuck it?”

“I told you I cant.”

Mac shook his head, “I means like, whatever it is, is this sometin’ that would be out regardless?”

Edward sighed miserably, “Mac, I’m a dick-sucking faggot, and I made the irreversible confession to Calvin on New Year’s thinking… I dunno… he would be fine knowing I’m a homo? And obviously he wasn’t, he just lost it and no one wants to be near me because- because I’m who I am and--- Why the hell are you sniggering?”

“Wells, Chucky boy, did ye just tells Brisy that yer a dick-suckin’ fag? Like was those the words you said? Ye knows how he’s a bit of a prude—I thinks he was just shocked by you mentionin’ dick.”

Edward took another swig of the whiskey, “No! I just said I was gay!” He glared over at Mac and then added, “Why the hell are you so fucking fine with this?”

Mac shrugged, and took the whiskey back, “Chuck, I knews sometin’ was up wi’ ye for aaaaages.” He switched into Cree as he teased, <No girl’s ever interested you, your eyes always wandered.>

<Are you saying I was always obvious to you?>

<We’ve known each other since before the current laws, we like as we do, I may not be central in social life but that does not mean I don’t see.> Neatly tucking the bottle into his jacket, Mac switched back to English, “Ye been assumin’ I just am some brainless rig pig? Be tossing ye into the river just cuz y’ve left me more women to fuck?”

Flushing from embarrassment, and realizing, that yes, on some level, he had been making such assumptions about the other man, Edward was silent. The knot in his stomach had begun to loosen, as he realized that perhaps he was not quite all alone. He looked out at the river, calm, heavy with the ice, and his eyes drifted to the open gaps around the legs of the bridges, where it never did quite freeze over, the pillars disrupting expected flow, uplifting something different, new. Bridges where before there were ferries, and where once existed the makeshift pully gondola; to pull the horses and goods up the cliff like walls of the river valley.  Those continuous changes built by men like Mac, whose hard labour uplifted the walls of the fort into the towers of the city. The working-class who broke their bodies to support their family, to support their bad habits to support their broken bodies, and whose narratives were stolen by the more eloquent rich. He should have known better. Hell, he and Mac had often held the same job. He let out a shaky breath, not sure what to say or even how to apologize.

“Anyways, as I sees it ye owes me a case of beers for bein’ a stupid as shit idiot,” Mac grunted as he set out on the trail again.

Edward took a moment to watch as the other man moved away from him, not even arguing this fact.

#quatschfic #pc: edmonton #pc: ft mac #pc: fort mcmurray #pc: strathcona #pc: calgary #pc: montreal #fresh powder

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

July 7, 2020

Ms Glasgo: And the Leader of the Official Opposition, the MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona, wears a Che Guevara watch. Like, come on. You want to talk about democracy? These are people whose values and whose authority fly in the face of the will of the people.

Mr. Eggen: Don’t talk about – she does not wear a watch. You can’t just make stuff up, right?

Ms Glasgo: Oh. Well, you know, it’s interesting that the members opposite like to say that we’re making stuff up or accuse us of these things. It’s reported in very major newspapers, but facts are inconvenient for the members opposite, I guess.

Okay, I’m taking the commentary out of the tags for this one because this is just...unbelievable. This is the level that we’re dealing with when it comes to Conservative politicians in Alberta right now. I tried to research this claim and here’s what I found: In 2015 former PC MLA Thomas Lukaszuk tweeted “Rock Star with a Che Gavera watch. Exactly what Alberta needs. NOT!” about Notley, and the watch was allegedly identified in a picture. I can’t find that picture. That’s it. And this scant evidence has been repeated as fact by Conservative “news” outlets and political figures ever since as a means of painting the NDP as scary socialists. So Michaela is in fact fucking lying here. There’s no reason to believe Rachel Notley wears a watch with Che Guevera on it, and this was not something “reported in very major newspapers.”

So remember to fact check, kids. Because most of our elected representatives sure as fuck don’t. Facts are inconvenient, all right. 

#alberta #alberta politics #ableg #Michaela Glasgo #Brooks-Medicine Hat #David Eggen #Edmonton-North West #cdnpoli

[mikemortgage]

Kevin Libin: If the NDP loses Alberta, they’d better pray Notley sticks around

CALGARY — For the past three-and-a-half weeks, Rachel Notley has been campaigning like she’s the leader of Alberta’s Opposition and not the premier. Her election campaign has focused relentlessly on attacking the political record of her rival — the actual Opposition leader — Jason Kenney, formerly of the federal Harper Conservative government, rather than running on her own government’s record. That’s understandable given that, after four years of intense economic suffering in the province, it ain’t much of a record to run on. But if, when votes are tallied on Tuesday night, Kenney’s United Conservative Party ends up winning, as is widely expected, Notley may just end up being the best opposition leader the province has had in a generation. If so, Alberta NDPers can only hope against hope that she agrees to stick around. Because, if she doesn’t, their party is very likely to sink back into the politically irrelevant obscurity that Notley rescued it from.

Now, the odds of Notley sticking around if she loses have got to be low. Almost no leader who once held power lingers afterward to try for it again, and when they do, they almost never succeed. John Diefenbaker and John Turner tried it federally, and never won power again. Robert Bourassa had to wander in the wilderness for seven years after his Liberal party lost the 1976 provincial election to the Parti Québécois before he returned to lead his party again to victory in 1985. And as Pierre Trudeau biographer Bob Plamondon notes, PET was just lucky that his resignation from the federal Liberals was still fresh enough, with no leader yet to replace him, when Joe Clark’s PC government unexpectedly fell, that Trudeau was able to return to lead the Liberals again to victory.

For Notley, there have got to be better alternatives than returning to the leadership of Alberta’s opposition. Polls do suggest that with her NDP poised to hang on to perhaps two dozen or so seats out of 87 it would be the most potent opposition that Albertans have seen since 1993, save for the current United Conservative Party opposition, which was able to combine most of the Wildrose and PC seats, totalling 25. In between, opposition parties in Alberta usually amounted to not much more than a handful of MLAs.

As of Wednesday, Alberta could be a rather lively two-party democracy, and Notley, as one of the NDP’s strongest performers even before she became premier, would be just the kind of Opposition leader that could effectively hold government to account. One senior member of the Kenney team even confided that it would be better for them if someone did. Without an effective opposition, he said, governments lose their hunger and grow complacent, while the government ends up bedevilled by internal intrigues like infiltration and leadership rivals. These things led to the eventual collapse of the hegemonic Alberta Progressive Conservative dynasty.

Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party, greets supporters during a campaign rally in Calgary on April 11, 2019.

Meanwhile, Kenney, if he wins, will be leading a government made up largely of rookie members facing four years of painful budget decisions to control a ballooning deficit and an underdog battle to get the rest of Canada to let Alberta export more of its oil. There’s no guarantee the UCP will live up to its promise of rescuing the province’s beleaguered economy, and any backlash from potential public sector cuts (although the UCP hasn’t talked of any) could keep them from a second term. Notley is already a very different leader than the one who readily admitted she was surprised to find herself elected premier in 2015 after a split conservative vote gave her a majority government with a minority of the popular vote. She spent the past four years gradually replacing the socialist idealism she espoused in opposition with a more realistic understanding of investor economics and the importance of energy exports to the livelihoods of average Albertans. Too gradually, it may turn out, to save her government this time. But in an interview the other day with Maclean’s magazine, Notley chattered on about the need to attract investment, rejecting further tax increases, and regretting her opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline, which had given the federal Liberals additional cover for cancelling it. She almost sounded conservative. Even today, even after her many serious missteps, her personal popularity numbers among Alberta voters are higher than Kenney’s and her disapproval is lower, even though support for his party overall is stronger than for the NDP.

Rachel Notley’s personal popularity numbers are higher than Jason Kenney’s and her disapproval is lower, but support for his UCP party overall is stronger than for the NDP.

Yet Notley’s star outside of Alberta surely shines even brighter. Where many Albertans are revolting against her carbon tax, oilsands emissions caps, a forced shutdown of cheap coal power and expensive subsidies for renewables, a lot of CBC listeners elsewhere probably see a progressive and palatable climate plan. There are surely some bank boards on Bay Street that would love to open up a director’s chair paying a healthy six figures to a female former leader of Alberta with credentials just green enough to look serious on the climate file, but reasonable enough to understand the vital need for energy infrastructure in a resource-based country.

Still, there are far more interesting possibilities than that. The federal NDP just happens to have a fairly safe seat coming open in Edmonton Strathcona, held for the past eight years by Linda Duncan. Duncan is one of the many New Democrat MPs who decided to leave the party after Leap Manifesto extremists amassed enough power inside it to throw overboard the pragmatic leadership of Thomas Mulcair in favour of college-campus socialism and a new leader, Jagmeet Singh. If the new strategy ends up going as badly for the NDP as polls suggest it will in the October election, and Notley is lured to the Edmonton Strathcona riding in time, a possible return by the party to more pragmatist policies could come in the form of a Notley campaign for federal leader just a few months from now.

Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, left, shakes hands with Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party, at a rally in Calgary April 11, 2019.

The biggest loser in that scenario, of course, would be Notley’s own Alberta NDP. It was almost certainly her firm leadership and discipline that kept the party from being dragged completely into Bernie Sanders territory, as she kept her grip on a caucus heavy with environmental activists, labour organizers and even the occasional unabashed communist. It was probably a far closer scrape than it appeared and there aren’t many in the Alberta NDP today besides Notley who could do it. If the NDP loses power on Wednesday, and Notley with it, the party could easily fall to the same hard-left revolutionaries that have consumed the party federally and elsewhere, virtually guaranteeing it a return to political irrelevance in the province. The party would be poorer for it, but so would Alberta’s democracy.

• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: kevinlibin

Kevin Libin: Calgary wants to fight back. 'Turning off the taps' is a punch

Kevin Libin: Trudeau’s carbon plan is so much worse than just a tax

Kevin Libin: The pessimists have it right, the assassination of Trans Mountain looms

from Financial Post http://bit.ly/2URmjMH via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

#IFTTT #Financial Post

[battle-of-alberta]

Battle of Alberta Timeline pt. 1: 17th-19th Centuries

[ Alberta Story ] [ part 1 ] [ part 2 soon ]

Phew.

This was an ambitious little project for such a short time period.

I don't have much to say about it other than that, it is just supposed to be a crash course in the broad strokes of what Alberta considers to be its history. It glosses over a lot and is mostly about the foundations and incorporations of the characters (i.e. the municipalities that I have personified thus far) and a few contextual clues to the worlds they grew up in. It's basically a big cheat sheet for me since I'm both a stickler for consistency and also very inconsistent... Of course, each character could easily have their own personalized timeline on top of this, so I tried to leave room for that possibility.

(missing is St. Albert, who would be featured at 1861 if I ever intended to draw him)

And, of course, it's supposed to provoke your curiosity a little since it is of course an ask blog, I can't just explain everything down here much as I would like to :)

Enjoy!

#historical hetalia #aph oc #hws oc #hetalia oc #projectcanada cities #projectcanada #iammatthewian #pc: edmonton #pc: jasper #pc: calgary #pc: fort mcmurray #pc: lethbridge #pc: grande prairie #pc: red deer #pc: medicine hat #pc: banff #pc: strathcona #pc: cardston #pc: bowness #pc: alberta #pc: saskatchewan #iamp: alberta #iamp: saskatchewan #edward murphy #jasper swift #calvin mccall #reginald buffalo #lilith sheran #josephine cardinal #elaine hartley

[allbeendonebefore]

(Edward/Edith) BACKGROUND

1.Where were they born? What was their childhood like?

3.What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold?

4.How do they fit into their “story”?

1. Where were they born? What was their childhood like?

EDWARD

Ed popped out of the ground or washed up on the shore of or was at least found on what is now the Rossdale flats. This is a spot in Edmonton that has been a meeting place and a burial ground for thousands of years, where the river met the site of what is now a modern city and connected it to a much much larger world. This is a controversial place nowadays because settler and indigenous histories and modern lifestyles are all trying to be recognized and we need to figure out how to treat this area in a respectful way and maybe not build ferris wheels on it and whatever.

Ed's childhood was a lot more mobile to the point he'd be almost unrecognizable - I think today his stubbornness and his attachment to the house he bought in the 40s is a surprising contrast. He spent a lot of time moving with the fort as well as moving far outside the fort, occasionally even as far as Red River. He also had a lot of mobility within the fort, which was divided down the middle with a pallisade between the rival companies for the first few decades of his life. I wouldn't call his childhood carefree by any means, but I think ironically he spent a lot less time trying to survive than he does now and had a lot of time off to learn skills and to pursue art, music, dance, etc. He didn't meet that many avatars in his youth so he was less stressed about "catching up" to them.

EDITH

I haven't entirely figured out where Edith would have emerged from, she might have had a similar emergence near the Walterdale flats on the other side of the river. I like the early connection to the river because I like origin stories with mythological elements and the idea of the river as the closest thing they have to a "mother", and it also parallels the major elements of Cree and Blackfoot creation stories.

Edith is much younger than Edward and grew up in a very different time period (Late Victorian) and thus has very different attitudes. I think she was a lot more demanding, entitled and fast paced as a kid, more business minded, and also much more competitive with both Edward and Calvin. She was also more interested in getting herself known on the national stage and would not hesitate to send angry telegrams or try to take what she wanted. I think nowadays she is technically "retired" from all the hustling she did in her youth and is mostly just coasting and enjoying the fruits of her labour as much as possible.

3.What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold?

EDWARD

Ed I've introduced as working for the City basically as "Mascot", but I haven't thought extremely deeply about who actually knows who and what he is. I think by default the municipal governments grew up "around" the avatars; there's room for them to slot in but whether they think of it as a useful position or an archaic relic is up to the individual.

He also has the additional responsibility of capital of the province and I feel that his role there is even more rigid and archaic because it was built in the image and tradition of British parliaments, so if he has a role or a title it's largely symbolic and something that he could easily get kicked out of the room if he breaks form. I think he prefers sitting in the gallery as a private citizen, ultimately, when the space is being used by humans. (Related but there's a room set up for mock debates for school groups and I like the idea of the avatars meeting there and having heated debates that ultimately mean nothing, haha)

Ed is also a member of numerous clubs and organizations that have sprung up in the last half-century in the wake of the 1967 centennial and the rise of the internet that parallel existing human organizations. (For example, our Mayor was chair of the Big City Mayors caucus and thus Ed would parallel that authority). (There's also new organizations of prairie municipalities springing up in the wake of the provincial governments constantly getting in their way lol)

EDITH

While Edith might fall into a loose organization of "former municipalities", she no longer carries official political weight and exists purely out of spite. She will take charge or take over for Edward in the cases where he has to be in two places at once and she does keep up on local issues, but she's also much more direct and combative when she does. She doesn't bother making other people feel comfortable and will verbally slice and dice people up if she doesn't agree with them.

Her actual day to day life is very mysterious and she always seems to have a full event calendar despite giving the impression of living an indolent, hedonistic lifestyle. While Edward is the reluctant leader, Edith is the unofficial leader who people might follow because of her (terrifying) personality rather than her title. This doesn't exactly make either of them good at leadership.

4.How do they fit into their “story”?

Because of my context/lived experience and resulting bias, I obviously of course think of Ed as the main character of the story. However, Edith is a closer reflection of the bit of the city I actually grew up in - if history had turned out a little differently she probably would have been the main character xD;

Instead Edith is kind of a foil to Edward in a similar-but-different way to how Calvin is a foil to Edward. I think Edith represents the side of Edward that just wants to go apeshit (which mostly means the ability to abdicate all responsibility but immediately be able to run back, pick it up and bludgeon someone with it when needed).

#projectcanada cities #pc: edmonton #pc: strathcona #boab meta #edward murphy #edith garneau #ed notes #edith notes #hapo replies #roniebuttercups

[acetechne]

LoL Now that you’ve drawn Edith and Étienne in the same shirt Im just imagining them competing in a round of “who wore it better?” And Ed trapped in the middle of a situation he Cannot Win

#projectcanada cities #pc: strathcona #pc: montreal #pc: edmonton #hapo doodles #edith garneau #étienne maisonneuve #edward murphy

[randomoranges]

drag meeting au part 15

--

 “So,” Edith, Edward’s younger sister started, a few days later, when she was in town for a brief visit, “Let me get this straight,” She went on, perched on her brother’s rather luxurious couch as she filed her nails, “You somehow or other managed to meet a “really hot guy” but – while you were dressed up as Kate – but not because of one of your shows?” She addressed the lump that was meant to be her brother.

 Edward had spent the few days after the metro debacle feeling terrible and had currently decided that laying on his floor, despite having a very nice and comfortable couch, and bemoaning his woes was the best course of action. Étienne had, somehow or other, never mentioned the metro incident and so, even if Edward liked to believe that he hadn’t been found out, and even though Étienne had kept texting Kate like normal, he was having the worst of times. Edith’s arrival had done nothing to stop him from his plight and his sister had finally decided to take matters into her own hands to get to the bottom of this after forty-eight hours of watching her brother be a sad sack. (She was in it mostly for the laughs.)

 Edward let out a miserable sounding hiccoughing sound that she was starting to associate with the sounds of a dying whale and he nodded in the affirmative.

 “And he has no idea you’re actually not a woman. Wow – you sure he’s not completely stupid? I mean, I’ve seen a few shows and photos – it’s not exactly the greatest of passes. Like, you can tell – to a point...”

 “Ediiiiiiiiiiiith, my life is ruiiiiiineeeeeeed.” Edward said instead, ignoring her comment.

 Edith rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she wondered who was supposed to be the older sibling.

 “I still don’t see why you can’t just tell him. You’ve only been on like – what? Three dates? If he can’t accept it then it’s so sad too bad. You flush him and move on. He’s nothing important.”

 The dying whale noise amplified and Edith had to make sure it was actually coming from her brother, “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re already infatuated with the guy! You barely know him!”

 “But he’s so nice and kind and pretty and sweet and considerate! You don’t get it! Not everyone’s heart is a block of ice!”

 Quite honestly, Edith was convinced she was listening to Edward’s first heartbreak after some guy he’d been crushing on had turned him down. When he’d been sixteen. Which was a literal lifetime ago. This is why she usually stayed in hotels. She liked drama – but this was beyond ridiculous. Her brother was usually good for a laugh when he was going through something, but this was just too much.

 “So then just – fucking invite him over to a show! Invite him as Kate, tell him to meet you there and then text him you’re running late, make sure you pass first and then done – problem solved. He’ll see it’s you and he’ll – hopefully – make the connection. If he doesn’t, dump him. We don’t need any more idiotic people in the family.”

 Edward rewarded her brilliant plan with an affronted and revolted gasp and actually sat up. At least he’d sat up. “Are you out of your mind?! That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard!”

 “Well, d’you have anything better other than mope and feel sorry for yourself?!”

 “What if he doesn’t want to come? Or what if he’s disgusted by drag?!”

 Edith blinked and stared at her brother.

 Clearly, she had inherited the family’s brains.

 “Then your problem is fucking solved, because then at least you’ll know he was only a pretty face, but a complete asshat. And you fucking move on. God, it’s not complicated.”

 Edward had the decency to look broken-hearted as though she had just stepped on a puppy’s paw. On purpose.

 “But I really like him,” He added for good measure in his smallest of voices.

 “Then tell him! Don’t tell him! I don’t care anymore!” She threw a pillow at him, which Edward didn’t even bother catching and then she did her best to ignore him as he continued wailing and moaning about his tragic life. She hoped, that just with small children, if she pretended she wasn’t paying attention, that he would eventually stop on his own and move on.

 Instead, Edward decided to do the next best thing. He decided and figured that if he got more aloof and distant in his responses to Étienne (as Kate), that maybe Étienne would get a clue and stop texting “her”. Eventually, they would slowly drift away and the relationship would come to a natural break. He wouldn’t propose any other dates, hopefully neither would Étienne, he wouldn’t have to admit to his gaffe, he wouldn’t really break any hearts and the world would go on. Plus, he honestly was extremely busy with work and his schedule was packed solid, what with performances, previous engagements and such.

 Of course, he never took into account Étienne’s extremely persistent attitude when it came to things he really liked and wanted.

--

PREVIOUS: XIV CURRENT: XV NEXT: XVI

#pc: edmonton #pc: strathcona #edward murphy #edith garneau #au #ficlet #3 sentence fic meme thing #drag meeting au

[battle-of-alberta]

Me again! Since it's now the spooky month, why not have some spooky-themed asks? Starting with one for Edward and Edith. In honour of Edmonton being home to the only dedicated foley stage in Alberta, what's the spookiest sound you two can make?

totally having a normal one over here as usual (and we are especially bitter because our token billionaire basically held Edmontonians hostage to pay for our stupid arena that did Not improve the downtown core because arenas don't ever do that and we did NOT get help from provincial tax money but you know what it's Fine we're Fine)

other than that this is a cool fact that I did not know o: thanks! I think slashing fruit with a machete will help him calm down...

#fragmentaryremains #projectcanada cities #boab ask #pc: edmonton #pc: strathcona #edward murphy #edith garneau #hapo doodles #ink #traditional art

[battle-of-alberta]

Hey, did I say something like Texans don't look up to us as the Texas of Canada? Well, hold your horses folks. It turns out Edmonton is making changes to improve traffic safety that Dallas is taking notes on as a similarly sized city!

To quickly summarize, Dallas has an average of 228 traffic fatalaties a year while Edmonton has 14, despite both having similar populations of around 1 million each. While having automatic cameras is illegal in Texas, there are some other ways they could slow traffic such as installing temporary curbs on dangerous areas, painting crosswalks bright colours, or more scramble crosswalks in places like these.

This particular scramble crosswalk is on Whyte Ave in Old Strathcona on the south side, which is why they're meeting Edith for lunch (I was just here today and the smell wafting from Meat was sooo tempting this afternoon)

meanwhile...

someone's jealous of our urban planning networking swag for once p:

guest starring Bradley Brooks (Dallas, TX) who belongs to my dear friend @thisnameisquitequeer (@sams-scribbles) who neglects her OCs to the point that I have squatters rights until she sends in a swat team to kick me out.

#projectcanada cities #pc: edmonton #pc: calgary #boab omake #digital art #clip studio paint #hapo art #oc: dallas #edward murphy #calvin mccall #bradley brooks #pc: strathcona #edith garneau

[battle-of-alberta]

I went to the cutesy market in St. Albert for the insta demographic and I saw the hetero dynamics play out in true stereotypical fashion it was fascinating from an anthropological perspective (so of course I drew it)

Quatsch remarked that the Enjoy Centre is where Caro and Edith set aside their differences and it's accurate.

#projectcanada cities #pc: bowness #pc: fort mcmurray #pc: strathcona #hapo doodles #traditional art #ink #caroline cochrane #reginald buffalo #edith garneau

[battle-of-alberta]

tries yet another unusual style. this has an early mid aughts feel to it i guess? it’s a clunkiness that i like hehe.

#projectcanada cities #pc: bowness #pc: strathcona #hapo art #digital art #clip studio paint #caroline cochrane #edith garneau #sorry i dont draw them enough even though i really love their colour schemes #boab illustration #oh no do you think they can see the sonic adventure influence in my art lol