The powerful Katz Group is suing Boyle Street Community Services due to a supposed “breach of contract”. The Katz Group is chaired by its billionaire founder, Daryl Katz, the richest (and almost certainly worst) man in Edmonton and owner of the Edmonton Oilers. Boyle Street is the largest provider of services to homeless people in Edmonton.

On Jan. 11, the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) voted in favour of strike action to demand an increase in wages and student funding. This was quickly followed by single day strikes on Jan. 16 and on Jan. 22, and rotating strikes beginning on Feb 1. Saskatchewan’s labour movement must mobilize in support of the STF! 

On Friday, Dec. 29, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) began tearing down the first of eight homeless encampments that had been deemed “high risk” by the municipal government. The city and the EPS had hoped it would be a quick, business-as-usual operation. Instead, it has been a pointless endeavour, failing even to get rid of the encampments and only succeeding in exposing the most vulnerable population in the city to the coldest, deadliest climates that Edmonton is capable of experiencing.

On Nov. 10 2023, two student members of Fightback at the University of Calgary (UofC) were harassed by campus security, on spurious charges related to putting up posters on public bulletin boards with the slogans “Intifada Until Victory!” and “Communists Stand with Palestine!”

“We recognize that our communication in the past has not met communities’ expectations and we are working with communities to improve our communications.” This is the response from Imperial Oil’s spokeswoman Lisa Schmidt to the revelation that Imperial Oil has been hiding toxic leaks from the public; not for nine months as was previously reported, but for years—as early as 2019.

Given the skyrocketing price of electricity, and the inevitable loss of jobs in renewable energy that will result from this ban, Danielle Smith’s moratorium on renewable energy projects economically hurts the vast majority of Albertans. The only group that stands to gain from this are the competitors to renewable energy: oil and gas companies. 

The industrial struggle is heating up in the Prairies, as momentum is building in a drive to unionize workers at an Amazon warehouse in Nisku, Alberta just south of Edmonton. 

The election result, although closer than any result in Alberta’s history, is a disappointment to all those who wanted to discard the UCP. Hatred for the party has been building since they first took power in 2019. A huge portion of the population was motivated to see the end of the UCP’s reign. In the end, the NDP failed to capitalize on this sentiment, and stand holding the silver medal in a two-horse race once again. This has posed the question “What now?” for everyone involved in the struggle against the UCP.

A deal to build a new hockey arena in Calgary has been struck. After years of negotiations, the ageing Saddledome will be replaced with a new, modern arena, thanks to the intervention of Premier Danielle Smith. But while the Flames’ owners—led by billionaire oil baron Murray Edwards—are toasting their success, not everyone is happy. The deal has been criticized on social media as a corporate handout.

After four catastrophic years of UCP rule, many assumed that the NDP would be elected in a landslide. However, in a surprise to many, things have turned around and polling for the 2023 Alberta provincial election has the NDP in a dead heat with the UCP.