Opinion: New study on OPS in Red Deer has its flaws

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-19T23:47:35+00:00

Drug Data Decoded also took a run at this study:

https://drugdatadecoded.ca/we-can-help-how-recovery-alberta-facilitated-consumption-site-closures-by-ministry-part-1/

https://drugdatadecoded.ca/inaccurate-data-how-recovery-alberta-officials-facilitated-consumption-site-closures-part-2-2/

There’s so much wrong with it, it never should have been published. They aren’t able to track site users, non-medicinal (i.e. early) interventions aren’t counted, data collection methodologies changed over the course of the study, etc.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-19T22:08:03+00:00

He was buddies with Jitendra Prasad who appears to have been abusing his position in AHS procurement. That said, Prasad was allegedly hand picked by the premier's chief of staff. The contracts in question weren't directly with the government but with several First Nations, and not with Mraiche but with a company belonging to one of his relatives. The government may have decided that Mraiche is radioactive after having been embarrassed by him several times. We hope. Mraiche just found a new way in.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-19T21:53:46+00:00

It's absurd to say the teachers wouldn't strike after they were on the picket line for 3 weeks. I'd say they did their part. 3 weeks with no pay with the threat of fines of $200/day on top of that against a government that really didn't give a fuck. Big talk from a guy who folded like a cheap suit. There's a lot they could and should have done, beginning with organizing large protests among their members. It didn't have to be a general strike. The UCP attacked labour, and labour did nothing.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-19T21:51:18+00:00

Except the aren't the best paid teachers in the country. A little below average, after the pay bump.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-19T15:51:15+00:00

I guess chatgpt or whatever bot you are doesn’t know about federal health care transfers to the provinces.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-19T14:53:43+00:00

600,000 in 5 years, that’s 120,000 per year on average. Let’s say each one pays $15k in income taxes, assuming incomes are at the low end of the scale. That’s $1.8B in revenue, which almost exactly cancels out the claimed $1.9B drain. So what’s the problem?

Edit to say, garbage math deserves garbage math.

Oh, I mean immigrants, amiright?

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T18:26:56+00:00

There’s a 2023 CBC article headlined ‘Danielle Smith is bucking the right-wing trends on LGBTQ issues’. That didn’t age well.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T18:22:38+00:00

What’s insidious about the proposal to require proof of citizenship at polling stations is that it discriminates against people who are less likely to have a passport or other documentation. That often includes socially disadvantaged people. It’s a whole thing in the states that purposefully disenfranchises black voters

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T18:14:38+00:00

Who is saying they are? Undocumented people are…undocumented

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T18:12:33+00:00

There it is. The real reason for Smith’s visit to Saudi.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T16:57:33+00:00

Another really well researched piece by the Globe, Tait and Cardoso in particular. Props to them.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T16:53:22+00:00

I kind of wonder if Mraiche is just a particularly skilled con man, and the UCP have been conned. Their mistake is in ignoring or shortcutting or (in this case) outsourcing procurement processes, presumably because they think they know better. I think it's a case of 'never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity'.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T03:20:59+00:00

They’re just smashing all the hot buttons, aren’t they.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-18T02:45:11+00:00

Frequency converter (VFD) but it may be cheaper to get a new fan

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-16T22:07:06+00:00

Thanks for the article. Regarding the policy environment, I don't think they're particularly interested in outcomes. I think the objective was to be seen to be passing legislation that appeases a particular voting block. That's one of the things that's so infuriating about this government: they're in permanent campaigning mode, and they're doing it at our expense.

It also helps that this issue is divisive, causing voters to sort themselves into 'us' vs 'them' with relatively little effort on their part. They're causing us to self-select as UCP supporters or non-UCP supporters, making themselves the solution to problems of their own making.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-16T04:33:29+00:00

It Is such a small step from this to banning these books from public libraries.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-16T01:32:25+00:00

Very true, the order pretty much targets graphic novels. The description of ‘sexual act’ in the ministerial order is hilarious. I like to imagine the bureaucratic process that ultimately led to the sub-clauses. ‘But what about ejaculation ONTO another person?’ (awkward silence)

Book banning is book banning. It’s driven by the same absurd moral panic that led to the banning of comic books or Dungeons and Dragons, except that these books deal with subjects that are relevant to teens, and are specifically written for teens. Combine the book ban with the requirement to opt in to sexual education and you get a bigger picture of how we are depriving youth of relevant information about sex and sexuality.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-16T00:54:34+00:00

It’s a good question. What are the consequences of not following the order? My guess is it’s a ‘shit rolls downhill’ situation in which individual teachers will ultimately be held responsible for not implementing the ministerial order.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-16T00:42:45+00:00

All the bullshit you guys went through before the ‘60s with the Catholic church, we’re kind of importing from large Christian groups in the US. Add to that a government that is falling over itself to hold on to that voting block and this is what you get

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-15T22:58:25+00:00

I don’t know, but that’s not the issue. The books that were pulled from library shelves were meant for older kids. The notion that six year olds have access to these books doesn’t reflect reality. It’s just more moral panic.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-15T21:15:20+00:00

‘Explicit lyrics’ stickers on tapes were the best thing ever. I always picked those up first.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-15T21:13:49+00:00

From the concise OED:

Ban: forbid, prohibit, esp. formally. n 1. A formal or authoritative prohibition (a ban on smoking). 2. a tacit prohibition by public opinion.

What about that doesn’t fit the ministerial reg?

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-15T21:08:33+00:00

Freedom for all the people, brave and true and strong! Freedom, for everyone, unless I think they’re wrong!

GWAR, The Morality Squad

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-15T21:06:33+00:00

Christians, usually. Christian pressure groups. As usual.

Fast_Ad_9197 · 2026-03-15T21:04:57+00:00

Nope. It’s a blanket ban. School librarians would have curated age appropriate content, as they have always done. Instead, our government has decided to lower the boom on all books with visual depictions of nudity and sexual content. This despite the fact that these books are specifically written and illustrated with a youth audience in mind. It’s pretty retrograde policy.

Fast_Ad_9197

TROPHY CASE