While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Adrienne Tanner.
Apart from Alberta’s no vote on separation, this month’s elections and referendums have given progressive Canadians who care about climate little to cheer about. The country’s biggest oil and gas booster, Premier Danielle Smith is still ruling Alberta and her recent anti-immigrant referendum win, as narrow as it was, hasn’t totally dampened her intent to make new arrivals pay for...
To the group of masked white-nationalist cowards who trespassed on the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation to strike fear into the hearts of people living there: we can only hope the full force of the law catches up to you in short order. It should happen quickly. The group of flag-waving thugs with their white face masks and black uniforms...
It’s easy to see why BC Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay canceled a caucus meeting planned for Monday. It’s tough to rally what’s left of your troops when there’s still a flood of them beating it to the door. Since Findlay became leader, seven Conservative MLAs have left the party, although this number could well be out of date by publication...
You know things are getting a bit desperate when a politician starts cutting $100 “affordability” cheques to buy back a bit of political goodwill. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s decision to pass on a slice of the province's recent gas tax windfall directly to residents smacks of a payoff, and a paltry one at that.
Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault was, for a time, the right man for the moment. That moment was 2019 and a few years that followed, before the worst polarizing effects and economic shockwaves of the COVID pandemic took hold and climate change still rates as a top political concern for Canadians. Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace activist turned Liberal politician, based much...
It doesn’t take much to see how badly Premier Danielle Smith’s broadside against immigrants in Alberta could go.
Another week, another great big beautiful ask from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. This time, she is demanding a say in federal judicial appointments and is threatening to withhold some provincial funding to help pay for them if Prime Minister Mark Carney says no
Like many on the Canadian left, I am disappointed in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response to the US kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro. “The removal of illegitimate, corrupt, repressive, government leader — uh, Mr. Maduro — is welcome news,” he said this week.
Narcissists: we’ve all come across them. They are the person at the table that makes every story — even the one you are telling — about them. When your narcissist is just a bad friend or an annoying acquaintance, it’s easy enough to dump them once you realize they have zero empathy and no interest in you, except for what...
NDP leadership hopeful Avi Lewis earlier this month released his shoot-for-the stars climate policy, titled A Green New Deal for Canada. It’s a retooled shopping list of laudable ideas, starting with a complete ban on new fossil fuel extraction projects, which we know are the single biggest contributor to global warming. Lewis proposes investing billions in “clean energy, building retrofits...
As the dark days of winter descend, the thoughts of anti-government libertarians have once again turned to convoys. This year’s truck protest, planned for Saturday, is being organized to defend the rights of farmers against Big Government in the wake of a recent controversial cull of ostriches on a farm in southeastern BC.
So, this is how it ends for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Not with a bang but with a trickle of MPs slinking away from his side of the House — one defecting to the opposing Liberals, the other bailing out of politics altogether. First one to bolt was Chris d’Entremont, a Nova Scotia MP whom the Liberals have been courting...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was thoroughly outfoxed last week. Her adversary Thomas Lukaszuk, a former conservative deputy premier, handed his “Forever Canadian” petition to Elections Alberta, signed by more than 456,000 Albertans expressing their desire to stick with Canada.
Tech bros and crooks are no doubt livid, but the BC government’s proposal to bump them down on the priority list for future electricity allocation is a template all Canadian provinces should follow. BC’s Energy Minister Adrian Dix last week announced plans to ditch the first-come, first-serve model which currently exists for all industrial power users except new power-sucking cryptocurrency...
Another week, another gambit by Pierre Poilievre to whip up outrage with one of the oldest, cheapest political tricks in the book. It goes like this:. Find one or two egregious crimes that resulted in seemingly outrageous prosecutorial or sentencing decisions and use them as proof that Canada’s justice system is fatally flawed. Present your examples as a growing trend...
Three cheers for Elizabeth May, Canada’s longstanding federal Green Party leader and number one champion for our climate and the environment. Since becoming the first Green elected to Parliament in 2011, May has also unfailingly pushed for justice for Indigenous people, human rights and peace. She is an MP respected by members of all parties for her intellect and contributions...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre once again has a seat in the House of Commons after losing his long-held Ottawa riding in April’s federal election. Little surprise there. But the four-month hiatus should have been plenty of time for him to chart a new offensive against Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal minority government. That would require imagination Poilievre has never exhibited...
So now we see how the takeover by US President Donald Trump will unfold. It will happen one city police force at a time, perhaps slowly, or not, depending on the extent of the blowback elicited by this latest power grab. The US president started Monday by ordering the National Guard to displace the local police force in the nation's...
How do Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith really feel about Indigenous rights? Look no further than last week’s snub — a deplorable letter asking the federal government to bury the clean water act along with other environmental protections.
When Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the feds would be interested in pipeline projects for “decarbonized oil,” the folks at the Pathways Alliance must have felt their hearts skip a beat. The oilsands consortium took it as a sign that the federal government might embrace a pitch by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to approve a new pipeline to the...
Canada is weakening environmental safeguards and threatening relationships with the country’s First Nations in a mad rush to generate new resource-extraction developments. If steps aren’t taken quickly to bring First Nations onside with major projects, Canada should prepare for strained relations and a barrage of court injunctions and blockades with enormous power to slow industry.
If there is one thing BC and Alberta can’t see eye to eye on, it’s oil pipelines. The incessant demands by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for another oil pipeline to the West Coast spells nothing but trouble for her BC counterpart, David Eby. Compared to folks on the Prairies, British Columbians aren’t keen on pipelines carrying heavy crude cutting across...
In the rush to grow Canada’s economy by exploiting more of our natural resources, moves are afoot to pare back environmental impact assessments that slow or sometimes even block resource and industrial development. During the election campaign, the now-ruling Liberals promised to cut the decision time on projects from five years to a maximum of two. Similarly, BC is about...
With Jagmeet Singh out and the federal NDP’s seat count now so low that the party is begging for official party status, the choice for the party’s next leader could make the difference between death and survival. Canada’s social democratic party needs someone who can recapture the loyalty of blue-collar voters snatched by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in the most recent...
To hear Pierre Poilievre talk, as I did along with about 5,000 others in a steamy Surrey warehouse last night, the Conservative leader is running against two opponents in his bid to become prime minister: Mark Carney, Canada’s current PM and Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s former environment and climate change minister. Although Poilievre referenced the ongoing trade war and sovereignty threats...
Betrayed. Angry. And above all, anxious. That’s the general feeling among Canadians this week as the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods kicked in. A good friend of mine, a usually unflappable high-placed business person, woke up to a panic attack Monday morning. Another friend’s blood pressure spiked and has been put on medication until it calms down. Yet another friend...