Tag: St. Albert-Sturgeon River

Manufactured rage-baiting erodes trust in government

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 20, 2026

But the threat is on the radar of some municipal elected officials in Edmonton.

The City of Edmonton’s 2025 Corporate Strategic Risks analysis identified misinformation and disinformation and the adverse impact of artificial intelligence as “risks that can shift public opinion and erode trust in authority.”

Edmonton City Councillor Michael Janz referred to the volume of online misinformation and disinformation on social media as “manufactured rage-baiting” when asked about it after last fall’s municipal elections in Edmonton.

“I think this actually represents a bigger question of how much of what we saw was manufactured rage-baiting,” Janz told Edmonton Journal reporter Eric Bowling in October 2025. “I think we have a real problem with misinformation being spread through social media posts.”

Social media platforms and the echo-chambers their algorithms create not only amplify controversial and divisive topics but they can distort and corrupt the information environment.

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.

“We win by being more New Democrat, not less,” says NDP leadership candidate Gil McGowan

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 6, 2024

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Longtime labour leader joins the Daveberta Podcast to explain why he’s running for the Alberta NDP leadership

Labour leader Gil McGowan joins the Daveberta Podcast to share why he’s running to succeed Rachel Notley as leader of Alberta’s NDP.

The full interview with Gil McGowan is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack

McGowan was first elected as President of the Alberta Federation of Labour in 2005 and is an outspoken advocate for working Albertans, especially when it comes to the impact of the incoming energy transition on the province’s workforce. He has been one of the most vocal critics of the United Conservative Party government’s plan to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on April 30, 2024 in comfort of the fully-furnished bank vault-turned-podcast studio in the basement of the Homestead building in beautiful downtown Edmonton.

The full interview with Gil McGowan is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack

New and recent episodes of the podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for an annual or monthly subscription to listen to the whole episode.

Extra! Paid subscribers can also read a federal nomination update accompanying today’s podcast about former Enoch Cree Nation Chief Billy Morin being acclaimed as the federal Conservative candidate in the new Edmonton Northwest riding.

Read more on the Daveberta Substack

Read more on the Daveberta Substack