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Alberta

Election follow up: A proud Canadian’s heartbreaking breakup letter with Canada

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6 minute read

Submitted by Mark Meincke of Okotoks

Dear Canada,

When I was a child, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was our Prime Minister, and when he instituted the National Energy Program, Alberta was devastated. My Dad was a successful business owner, who employed dozens and dozens of people. All his employees lost their jobs. We declared bankruptcy, and were foreclosed on. My Dad lost everything, so my parents, my sister and I lost our home.

Our family went from being successful, to living in our Uncles basement for a year. Our family spent a full year, with 10 people in a house that only had one bathroom. It was rough for all of us…but we made it through. Alberta eventually recovered, but our family never fully bounced back, and we still feel the pain to this day.

On October 21rst, you re-elected Justin Trudeau to be your Prime Minister.

Like you, I’m a proud Canadian, and have proven my loyalty by risking my life in a war zone to protect our country. I was wounded there, and have been suffering from those wounds for over 20 years. My family has also suffered from those wounds, and is still suffering today.

Canada, you elected a Prime Minister who said that Veterans were asking for more than the government is willing to give….so every day another Veteran who is desperate for help, takes their own life. Their cries for help continue to go unanswered.

Canada, you elected a Government who has openly declared they will destroy the Alberta energy sector, which will destroy Alberta. Your response…”Well, I guess Alberta should have diversified their economy…so tough luck”. You don’t seem to understand, that it’s more than the oil sector you’ve shut down. Hundreds of restaurants have already shut down, with hundreds more about too.. Downtown Calgary high rises are vacant, property values are dropping, and businesses of all sorts are evaporating with no end in sight.

Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs, have gone bankrupt, and have lost their homes. Suicide is on the rise, and mental health is on the decline. All of this pain…and you don’t seem to notice. Still…somehow it is US who is paying YOU equalization payments. How is this possible? If you won’t help us by sending the cash back in our direction, at least stop taking our money until we can get back on our feet….please!

Canada, you chose to replace the cleanest, most ethical oil in the world with Saudi oil. By doing so, you are supporting a dictatorship that kills homosexuals, and subjugates women. How can you be in favor of human rights, gay rights, and women’s rights….and yet support Saudi oil?

The result of your decision, is LESS clean, ethical oil, and MORE dirty, unethical oil. ZERO improvement will occur with carbon emissions, instead there will be MORE emissions, and LESS progress on human rights. Destroying the Alberta energy sector goes against all of your beliefs and morals…yet somehow you still justify your decision.

When we pleaded for help, you rolled your eyes. When Alberta warned you that our separtist sentiment was on the rise, you scoffed. When Justin Trudeau…the man who openly hates the west won the election…you cheered. You cheered for the devastation of the west.

I love you Canada..I love you so very much. I love you so much that I’ve given all that I have to give to you. I love you, but we are in an abusive relationship.

There is no pain so great as unrequited love.

A good marriage is one where each has an equal say. A good marriage is one where each respects the opinions of the other, even if they disagree. In a good marriage, each spouse not just allows for the individuality of the other, they support and encourage individuality.

Alberta has done all that we can to be a good partner to you. We have put bread on the table, paid your bills, put your kids through school, and supported your freedom to be whoever you want to be. But still, …you don’t love us back. You don’t even want to treat us as casual friends. Alberta feels more than just left out, we feel despised.

Dear Canada, the time has come for us to go our separate ways. We love you…SOOOO MUCH, but we now realize that you will never love us back. For most of my life, Separation was not a possibility, but now I realize it’s the only way we can survive.

Heart broken,

Alberta

(Written by Mark E. Meincke, blending his real life story with the persona of Alberta)

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Alberta bill would protect freedom of expression for doctors, nurses, other professionals

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

‘Peterson’s law,’ named for Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, was introduced by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Alberta’s Conservative government introduced a new law that will set “clear expectations” for professional regulatory bodies to respect freedom of speech on social media and online for doctors, nurses, engineers, and other professionals.

The new law, named “Peterson’s law” after Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, who was canceled by his regulatory body, was introduced Thursday by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

“Professionals should never fear losing their license or career because of a social media post, an interview, or a personal opinion expressed on their own time,” Smith said in a press release sent to media and LifeSiteNews.

“Alberta’s government is restoring fairness and neutrality so regulators focus on competence and ethics, not policing beliefs. Every Albertan has the right to speak freely without ideological enforcement or intimidation, and this legislation makes that protection real.”

The law, known as Bill 13, the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, will “set clear expectations for professional regulatory bodies to ensure professionals’ right to free expression is protected.”

According to the government, the new law will “Limit professional regulatory bodies from disciplining professionals for expressive off-duty conduct, except in specific circumstances such as threats of physical violence or a criminal conviction.”

It will also restrict mandatory training “unrelated to competence or ethics, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion training.”

Bill 13, once it becomes law, which is all but guaranteed as Smith’s United Conservative Party (UCP) holds a majority, will also “create principles of neutrality that prohibit professional regulatory bodies from assigning value, blame or different treatment to individuals based on personally held views or political beliefs.”

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Peterson has been embattled with the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) after it  mandated he undergo social media “training” to keep his license following posts he made on X, formerly Twitter, criticizing Trudeau and LGBT activists.

Early this year, LifeSiteNews reported that the CPO had selected Peterson’s “re-education coach” for having publicly opposed the LGBT agenda.

The Alberta government directly referenced Peterson’s (who is from Alberta originally) plight with the CPO, noting “the disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Jordan Peterson by the College of Psychologists of Ontario, demonstrate how regulatory bodies can extend their reach into personal expression rather than professional competence.”

“Similar cases involving nurses, engineers and other professionals revealed a growing pattern: individuals facing investigations, penalties or compulsory ideological training for off-duty expressive conduct. These incidents became a catalyst, confirming the need for clear legislative boundaries that protect free expression while preserving professional standards.”

Alberta Minister of Justice and Attorney General Mickey Amery said regarding Bill 13 that the new law makes that protection of professionals “real and holds professional regulatory bodies to a clear standard.”

Last year, Peterson formally announced his departure from Canada in favor of moving to the United States, saying his birth nation has become a “totalitarian hell hole.” 

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Alberta

‘Weird and wonderful’ wells are boosting oil production in Alberta and Saskatchewan

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From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Deborah Jaremko

Multilateral designs lift more energy with a smaller environmental footprint

A “weird and wonderful” drilling innovation in Alberta is helping producers tap more oil and gas at lower cost and with less environmental impact.

With names like fishbone, fan, comb-over and stingray, “multilateral” wells turn a single wellbore from the surface into multiple horizontal legs underground.

“They do look spectacular, and they are making quite a bit of money for small companies, so there’s a lot of interest from investors,” said Calin Dragoie, vice-president of geoscience with Calgary-based Chinook Consulting Services.

Dragoie, who has extensively studied the use of multilateral wells, said the technology takes horizontal drilling — which itself revolutionized oil and gas production — to the next level.

“It’s something that was not invented in Canada, but was perfected here. And it’s something that I think in the next few years will be exported as a technology to other parts of the world,” he said.

Dragoie’s research found that in 2015 less than 10 per cent of metres drilled in Western Canada came from multilateral wells. By last year, that share had climbed to nearly 60 per cent.  

Royalty incentives in Alberta have accelerated the trend, and Saskatchewan has introduced similar policy.

Multilaterals first emerged alongside horizontal drilling in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Dragoie said. But today’s multilaterals are longer, more complex and more productive.

The main play is in Alberta’s Marten Hills region, where producers are using multilaterals to produce shallow heavy oil.

Today’s average multilateral has about 7.5 horizontal legs from a single surface location, up from four or six just a few years ago, Dragoie said.

One record-setting well in Alberta drilled by Tamarack Valley Energy in 2023 features 11 legs stretching two miles each, for a total subsurface reach of 33 kilometres — the longest well in Canada.

By accessing large volumes of oil and gas from a single surface pad, multilaterals reduce land impact by a factor of five to ten compared to conventional wells, he said.

The designs save money by skipping casing strings and cement in each leg, and production is amplified as a result of increased reservoir contact.

Here are examples of multilateral well design. Images courtesy Chinook Consulting Services.

Parallel

Fishbone

Fan

Waffle

Stingray

Frankenwells

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