ICYMI: May 14-20

This week in The Orchard and more.

I decided to try something new and provide a weekly rundown of what I’ve published this week, and the articles I’ve been reading that I didn’t have a chance to discuss in this week’s newsletters.

Do you think this is valuable? Let me know in the comments.

Mohammed el-Kurd receives Calgary Peace Prize

Alberta NDP, UCP and Greens face off in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain

With Alberta on fire, Jason Kenney’s rage-driven politics still haunt us

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What I’ve been reading

Alberta

• Residents of Chateh, Alta., flee their homes again as fire encroaches, Emily Pasiuk, CBC News (May 14)

• They’re not coming for your furnace: Alberta needs a grown-up conversation on climate, Drew Anderson, The Narwhal (May 15)

• Take Back Alberta Leaders are Training ‘Scrutineers’ to Infiltrate Campaigns and Act as ‘Security’ on Voting Day, Stephen Magusiak, PressProgress (May 16)

• Endless RCMP Probes Keep UCP Scandals off Voters’ Minds, Charles Rusnell, The Tyee (May 16)

• Danielle Smith’s Chief-of-Staff: Governments Should Not Listen to ‘Addicts’ About Drug Treatment Policies Because They’re ‘High’, Rumneek Johal, PressProgress (May 16)

• An Indigenous person was nearly 19 times more likely to get a transit ticket than a white person in 2020-2021 in Edmonton, Duncan Kinney, The Progress Report (May 16)

• The Bully Who Haunts Alberta’s Election, Charles Rusnell, The Tyee (May 17)

• Heckling of NDP MLA at St. Albert meeting by UCP candidate’s supporters had a nasty Trumpian tone, Davids Climenhaga, Alberta Politics (May 17)

• Bam! UCP's Danielle Smith sounds off on NDP's Rachel Notley, Rick Bell, Calgary Sun (May 17)

• UCP Runs a Racist Candidate in Calgary, Times of Asia (May 17)

• Alberta UCP candidate apologizes for comparing transgender students to feces in food, Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press (May 17)

• Anti-transgender protestors confronted outside Calgary school, Bill Kaufmann, Calgary Herald (May 17)

• Fact checking the Alberta Leaders' Debate, Timm Bruch, CTV News (May 19)

• A ‘Canadian Armageddon’ Sets Parts of Western Canada on Fire, Dan Bilefsky, New York Times (May 19)

• This is a strange place for Alberta conservative supporters to be, Naheed Nenshi, CTV News (May 19)

Canada

• Dreaming of a four-day work week? Only the white collars will realize its benefits, Todd Hirsch, Globe and Mail (May 15)

• Interview: Labour Against The Arms Trade Organizes For Peace And Solidarity, Alex Cosh, The Maple (May 16)

• Peel Region divorce: Sources say Doug Ford will split up Mississauga and Brampton within three years, Robert Benzie, Toronto Star (May 17)

• King Charles’s coronation a reminder that it’s time Canada quiet-quit the monarchy, Taylor Noakes, Toronto Star (May 18)

World

• Ayman Odeh, Leader of Arab Jewish Party Hadash, Says He Won't Run for Next Knesset Term, Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz (May 16)

• Naomi Klein has new, more personal book out in September, ‘Doppelganger’, The Associated Press (May 17)

• Florida is set to arrest people in restrooms regardless of legal gender status in sweeping bill, Reckon May 18)

• Feinstein Suffered More Complications From Illness Than Were Publicly Disclosed, Annie Karni and Carl Hulse, New York Times (May 18)

• Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein, Matthew Goldstein and Ryan Mac, New York Times (May 18)

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The A/V Corner

Listen: I went on the PressProgress Sources podcast to talk to Stephen Magusiak about Take Back Alberta and how it’s transforming Alberta politics.