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.

As of May 9, 86 wildfires are burning throughout the province of Alberta—this total is down from over 100 a few days prior, but perhaps not for long. There is a sense of dread among Albertans, not just because of the inherent horror of wildfires, but because of the feeling that the province can’t get the situation under control.

When the UCP was first elected in 2019, cuts were immediately on the menu. One of the government’s first acts was to assemble a team of capitalist representatives to “investigate” the impacts of the $15 minimum wage. But when the investigation concluded, the government hid its report for three years.

Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands facility has been leaking tailings wastewater, which risks seeping into the groundwater and nearby streams. The initial leak was ignored by the company for nine months without any notification of the incident to the public.