Tag: Alberta Anti-Immigration Referendum

The Online News Act is causing more harm then help

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 20, 2026

I have seen little evidence that federal and provincial elected officials understand this threat or take it seriously. It would probably require more heavy government regulation of the corporations that own the social media platforms and AI generators.

The failure of the Online News Act probably means the federal government has lost the ability to meaningfully regulate the tech giants that own the major social media platforms.

It seems clear that the federal government’s attempts to pressure social media companies like Meta to compensate mainstream media companies for the right to share links on their platforms has failed. Meta’s retaliatory banning of links to news websites on Facebook and Instagram has caused more harm than help in Canada.

A flood of AI-generated disinformation in Alberta politics

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 19, 2026

Misinformation and disinformation isn’t new, but the speed it can travel and audience it can reach has exploded through social media platforms.

There is a flood of misinformation and disinformation about Alberta’s separation from Canada, commonly found in the form of social media influencers and Artificial Intelligence-generated videos, images and charts, pouring into social media feeds. It’s unclear who runs many of these anonymous social media accounts that publish this AI-generated content or where in the world they are posting from.

It has never been easier for malicious actors at home and aboard to interfere and attempt to destabilize our politics and society — and the deeply divisive issue of separation and the increasingly troubling divided opinions about immigration — are easy targets.

Fighting misinformation and disinformation needs to be a national priority in Canada

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 18, 2026

An AI-generated image of Premier Danielle Smith and US President Donald Trump celebrating an “Independent Republic of Alberta” shared by the anonymous pro-separation “Rise of Alberta” Instagram account (source: riseofalberta / Instagram)

Alberta is barrelling towards a separation referendum and there’s no sign our leaders are taking the threat seriously

Albertans will soon be faced with a series of referendum questions ranging from limiting the access immigrants have to health care and education, abolishing the Canadian Senate, allowing the provincial government to appoint federal court judges, and the big one — separation from Canada.

These questions, which are expected to be put to Alberta voters on October 19, 2026, are already accompanied by a storm of misinformation and disinformation that is dominating many peoples main sources of information — their social media feeds.

Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is shared without harmful intent. Disinformation is deliberately shared false information that is intended to deceive.

With the referendum questions in mind, I shared concerns in a recent episode of the Daveberta Podcast that it feels like there is a real lack of urgency from our elected leaders about the level of misinformation and disinformation being spread and targeting Albertans from at home and abroad on social media.

Nate Horner’s big deficit budget — another year, another Alberta budget at the whim of oil and gas royalties

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date February 27, 2026

Alberta Minister of Finance Nate Horner in his pre-budget promotional video (source: Government of Alberta / YouTube)

There’s a baked-in analysis in every Alberta provincial budget that is impossible to ignore: Alberta relies too much on revenues from oil and gas royalties to fund the daily operations of government.

The other baked-in part of the analysis is what Albertans want: well-funded public services without having to pay more taxes for them.

From a first glance, it sure looks like that’s what Albertans got in Minister of Finance Nate Horner’s budget tabled today in the Legislature.

The budget doesn’t appear to include any big spending cuts, but it does include something Conservatives in this province used to like saying they wouldn’t do: run a deficit. This budget runs a big deficit of $9.4 billion and projects deficits for the next two budgets.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Anti-Immigration Referendum, Alberta Budget 2026, Alberta NDP, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta School Board Association, Alberta Teachers' Association, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, Canada Election Substack, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Chris Gallaway, Coal Mining Referendum, Corb Lund, Court Ellingson, Dale McFee, Danielle Smith, Darren Hedley, Daveberta Substack, Deborah Yedlin, Deficit in Alberta, Edmonton Police Service, Enyinnah Okere, Friends of Medicare, Jan Gorski, Jason Schilling, Jeromy Farkas, Jim Prentice, Justin Krikler, Justin Trudeau, Katherine White, Kris Sims, Montreal Economic Institute, Naheed Nenshi, Nate Horner, Natural Resource Royalty Rates, No New Coal Mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Paul de Jong, Pembina Institute, Pierre Poilievre, Progressive Contractors Association, Rachel Notley, Raj Uppal, Rakhi Pancholi, Ron Anderson, Sandra Azocar, Shali Baziuk, Taylor MacPherson, United Conservative Party, United Nurses of Alberta

Alberta Politics

Rakhi Pancholi takes the lead – NDP deputy leader takes centre stage, again, in response to Danielle Smith’s nine referendum questions

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date February 24, 2026

Edmonton-Whitemud NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi (source: Alberta NDP Opposition / YouTube)

“Cut the bullshit. Call the election.”

Those were the words Alberta NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi directed at Danielle Smith the morning after the Premier took to the television waves to blame immigration for the provincial government’s budget problems and announce a suite of nine referendum questions to be put to Albertans on October 19.

The 38-MLA NDP opposition has struggled to gain traction and define itself since former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi replaced former premier Rachel Notley as leader a year and a half ago, but those six words from Pancholi last Friday cut through the noise and were a blunt reminder that she is one of the party’s most effective voices.