From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Hailey Gomez

Actress Gina Carano reached a settlement with Disney and Lucasfilm Thursday after filing a lawsuit against the company in 2024 following her firing from the show “The Mandalorian.”

In February 2024, Carano filed the lawsuit, alleging she had been wrongfully terminated and discriminated against. Posting a statement Thursday on X, Carano announced that the more-than-year-long legal battle had officially ended, calling the settlement the “best outcome for all parties involved” and thanking billionaire Elon Musk and her lawyers.

“I hope this brings some healing to the force,” Carano wrote. “I am humbled and grateful to God for His love and grace in this outcome. I’d like to thank you all for your unrelenting support throughout my life and career, you’ve been the heartbeat that has kept my story alive. I hope to make you proud.”

“I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me,” Carano added.

Carano posted her initial announcement of the lawsuit last year on X, stating that Musk would provide lawyers for her after he said he would offer legal representation to those who “had been fired from using the platform (X) for exercising your right to free speech.”

The lawsuit stemmed from Carano’s February 2021 firing from Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series “The Mandalorian.” The actress had been promptly let go from the show after “sharing a post on social media implying that being a Republican today is like being Jewish during the Holocaust,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

At the time of her termination, Lucasfilm released a statement saying there were “no plans for her to be” employed by the company in the future.

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,” the statement read.

In addition to being let go from the show, Carano’s representation, United Talent Management, also dropped her. In response to the company’s statement at the time, Carano called out the “smear campaign ” against her, alleging she had been “hunted down from everything” she posted and liked on social media.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time,” Carano wrote in 2024. “My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me.”

While details of the settlement have not been released, a Lucasfilm spokesperson told Variety that they “look forward to identifying opportunities to work together” with Carano.

“The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies. Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect. With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said.

From the Fraser Institute

By Austin Thompson

The per-person municipal government spending levels in Calgary and Edmonton—Alberta’s largest and most populous cities—are near the average
spending level of the province’s major municipalities, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“While there’s always room for improvement, the municipal governments in Calgary and Edmonton have done a better job at restraining spending than many other municipalities in Alberta,” said Austin Thompson, senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute and author of Comparing Per-Person Expenditure and Revenue in Major Albertan Municipalities, 2009-2023.

According to the study, which compares the finances of 25 Alberta municipalities, in 2023 (the latest year of comparable data), Edmonton ($3,241) and Calgary ($3,144) spent close to the per-person spending average ($3,239) among the 25 municipalities, and significantly less than the highest spenders, which include Grande Prairie County ($5,413), Red Deer County ($4,619) and Lethbridge ($4,423).

Subsequently, in terms of per-person spending, Edmonton ranked 12th highest and Calgary ranked 13th highest.

Moreover, despite significant population growth, both cities restrained spending. From 2009 to 2023, Edmonton’s population grew by 38.2 per cent and Calgary’s population grew by 33.7 per cent, yet per-person spending (after adjusting for inflation) grew by 4.8 per cent in Edmonton and 2.1 per cent in Calgary.

“It’s ultimately up to Albertans to decide if they get good value for their municipal tax dollars, but it helps to compare spending levels among municipalities across the province,” said Jake Fuss, director of fiscal policy at the Fraser Institute.

Municipal government spending per person in Alberta (2023)

Municipality spending per person rank of 25

Grande Prairie County      $5,413 1
Red Deer County                $4,619 2
Lethbridge                           $4,423 3
Canmore                              $4,154 4
Strathcona County             $4,106 5
Red Deer                              $3,788 6
Cold Lake                             $3,646 7
Leduc                                    $3,452 8
Rocky View County           $3,419 9
Grande Prairie                    $3,342 10
Fort Saskatchewan            $3,259 11
Edmonton                           $3,241 12
Calgary                                 $3,144 13
Parkland County                $3,141 14
St. Albert                              $3,129 15
Sylvan Lake                         $2,859 16
Spruce Grove                      $2,760 17
Camrose                               $2,744 18
Stony Plain                          $2,695 19
Beaumont                            $2,626 20
Foothills County                 $2,570 21
Okotoks                                $2,456 22
Airdrie                                  $2,187 23
Cochrane                              $2,142 24
Chestermere                        $1,652 25
Municipal government average         $3,239

Note: This ranking excludes Medicine Hat due to its unique status as the only Alberta municipality operating both an electricity and natural gas utility. Further details are available in the study.

Comparing Per-Person Expenditure and Revenue in Major Albertan Municipalities, 2009–2023

• This study found substantial variation in the per-person expenditure and revenue of 26 major Albertan municipalities between 2009 and 2023.
• On average, inflation-adjusted per-person spending increased by 12.9% across the studied Albertan municipalities, rising from $3,001 in 2009 to $3,389 in 2023.
• Medicine Hat had the highest per-person municipal spending in 2023 at $7,132. The next highest spenders in 2023 were Grande Prairie County ($5,413) and Red Deer County ($4,619).
• Chestermere recorded the lowest per-person spending in 2023 at $1,652, followed by Cochrane ($2,142) and Airdrie ($2,187).
• Municipal expenditure grew faster than population growth and inflation from 2009 to 2023 for 21 of the 26 municipalities in the study. Five municipalities were able to reduce their inflation-adjusted per-person spending: Chestermere (-37.6%), Cochrane (-15.9%), Camrose (-13.2%), Airdrie (-2.1%), and Foothills County (-2.0%).
• From 2009 to 2023, average inflation-adjusted per-person revenue decreased by 1.9% across the studied municipalities, falling from $4,007 in 2009 to $3,933 in 2023.
• Medicine Hat had the highest per-person municipal revenue in 2023 at $8,081, followed by Canmore ($6,317) and Grande Prairie County ($5,530).
• Chestermere had the lowest revenue per person in 2023 at $1,939, followed by Beaumont ($2,498) and Foothills County ($2,583).

Read The Full Study

Austin Thompson

Senior Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute