Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Slava]

Originally Posted by getbak

On Family Day, I'm reminded that Don Getty at least bribed us with a new holiday in the middle of February when he didn't want to resign due to a scandal.

Where's our new holiday, Danielle? I want a new holiday.

Preferably in June when we can have another long weekend and enjoy the weather a little more!

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

The Alberta government has succeeded in shutting down Nate Pike and The Breakdown. I guess he’s hitting too close to the truth. I hope it’s up again soon but until it is here’s Nate’s emotional announcement.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1891326248233627682

Ah, the bedrock of strong democracy. Having government use the courts to silence critics. Meanwhile, The Western Standard and Counter Signal get front seats and privileged access to spread bull#### propaganda brainwashing citizens so they can remain in power.


Gee, if only someone had been warning about how bad these things are getting. Gee, if only ####ing morons hadn't elected this lying deceitful gang of libertarian criminals for a tax cut...if only.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ah, the bedrock of strong democracy. Having government use the courts to silence critics. Meanwhile, The Western Standard and Counter Signal get front seats and privileged access to spread bull#### propaganda brainwashing citizens so they can remain in power.


Gee, if only someone had been warning about how bad these things are getting. Gee, if only ####ing morons hadn't elected this lying deceitful gang of libertarian criminals for a tax cut...if only.

To be accurate, this is Sam Mraiche doing the suing, not the government, and please don’t suggest that the courts are doing the government’s bidding. We haven’t sunk that low yet surely.

Here’s the link to donate to the defence: https://thebreakdownab.ca/save-the-breakdown

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by edslunch

To be accurate, this is Sam Mraiche doing the suing, not the government, and please don’t suggest that the courts are doing the government’s bidding. We haven’t sunk that low yet surely.

Here’s the link to donate to the defence: https://thebreakdownab.ca/save-the-breakdown

It’s not the government, it’s just the guy the government has allegedly enriched for political favours (allegedly).

Allegedly. By other people. Not by me.

[Fuzz]

Ah, my mistake. I'm sure there is zero conversation or coordination of actions between government and this criminal as they try to prevent facts being discovered, and force Nate to remove access to all of his research and information. Just a coincidence this helps the government, I'm sure.

[puffnstuff]

I do wonder how the court deciding that stifling Pikes free speech came about.
What exactly was argued by Mraiche for that order?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ah, the bedrock of strong democracy. Having government use the courts to silence critics. Meanwhile, The Western Standard and Counter Signal get front seats and privileged access to spread bull#### propaganda brainwashing citizens so they can remain in power.


Gee, if only someone had been warning about how bad these things are getting. Gee, if only ####ing morons hadn't elected this lying deceitful gang of libertarian criminals for a tax cut...if only.

I at least value and still believe that our courts and judges are free and independent and have judicial integrity which you obviously don't. The courts deemed it necessary that certain aspects of The Breakdown's reporting be temporarily removed while the lawsuits (either the AHS suit or the defamation suit) play out. He couldn't comply with the specific request so he shut it down altogether.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I at least value and still believe that our courts and judges are free and independent and have judicial integrity which you obviously don't. The courts deemed it necessary that certain aspects of The Breakdown's reporting be temporarily removed while the lawsuits (either the AHS suit or the defamation suit) play out. He couldn't comply with the specific request so he shut it down altogether.

Sure, the courts are doing what they are supposed to, but this is clearly a SLAPP lawsuit, and you'd have to be on the naive side to not believe the government and Sam didn't discuss what Sam would be doing, and that they all aren't 100% panicking to cover their asses on this one. This is an abuse of the judicial branch to silence reporting.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Sure, the courts are doing what they are supposed to, but this is clearly a SLAPP lawsuit, and you'd have to be on the naive side to not believe the government and Sam didn't discuss what Sam would be doing, and that they all aren't 100% panicking to cover their asses on this one. This is an abuse of the judicial branch to silence reporting.

I hope you've stocked up aluminium foil because it is going to get expensive next month with the new tariffs.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I hope you've stocked up aluminium foil because it is going to get expensive next month with the new tariffs.

Well it seems you are well stocked up on cluelessness and naivety, two excellent attributes to support corruption.

[edslunch]

On the positive side, the Breakdown’s $80k GoFundMe for legal fees is almost at $150k

[edslunch]

I’m curious how government employment contracts work. If the AHS CEO had a 4 year contract but was fired without cause (according to the minister) what would she be entitled to? In her suit she’s claiming she was fired in bad faith and asking for her full contract value so I assume they either fired her with cause and denied her severance (and lied about it) or the contract has a severance clause that’s less than the full contract value. I’m on her side but I’m curious how this plays in court regardless how embarrassing this is to the government.

[puffnstuff]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...arts-1.7427189

The frequent leadership changes are proving costly for Alberta.

AHS compensation disclosures reveal Yiu's termination resulted in $660,000 in severance pay and#Chies#was entitled to#nearly $1.4 million.

Mentzelopoulos is not#listed on the so-called sunshine list but a#four-year AHS contract, published#online, reveals her base salary was $583,443 per year.

Depending on the timing and circumstances of her departure — and if she was terminated without just cause — she could be entitled to one year's salary in severance.

From the news in January, looks like a years pay, 583K

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by edslunch

I’m curious how government employment contracts work. If the AHS CEO had a 4 year contract but was fired without cause (according to the minister) what would she be entitled to? In her suit she’s claiming she was fired in bad faith and asking for her full contract value so I assume they either fired her with cause and denied her severance (and lied about it) or the contract has a severance clause that’s less than the full contract value. I’m on her side but I’m curious how this plays in court regardless how embarrassing this is to the government.

There's probably a termination clause; but bad faith would get you additional damages and a small chance to argue repudiation of contract.

If the termination clause is weak, then you could claim all 4 years of contract.

Edit:

I havent read the full claim, but the SOC doesnt say whether she received any payment for severance; so perhaps she wasnt provided any when originally terminated.

The claim is essentially 500K+ for severance - roughly a years worth of pay, it seems.

Then there is about 1.1m for bad faith and additional damages.

In the alternative, there is a claim for 1.7m, the balance of the contract.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Cappy

There's probably a termination clause; but bad faith would get you additional damages and a small chance to argue repudiation of contract.

If the termination clause is weak, then you could claim all 4 years of contract.

Edit:

I havent read the full claim, but the SOC doesnt say whether she received any payment for severance; so perhaps she wasnt provided any when originally terminated.

The claim is essentially 500K+ for severance - roughly a years worth of pay, it seems.

Then there is about 1.1m for bad faith and additional damages.

In the alternative, there is a claim for 1.7m, the balance of the contract.

If she didn’t get severance then it would prove Lagrange lied about it being a planned move, which it pretty obviously wasn’t

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by edslunch

If she didn’t get severance then it would prove Lagrange lied about it being a planned move, which it pretty obviously wasn’t

Marlaina's Razor: UCP actions are always explained by malice AND incompetence

[WideReceiver]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1891967850241310897

[puffnstuff]

Duane Bratt on Bsky
I read the affidavits on the injunction yesterday. I am no lawyer, but the evidence looks pretty flimsy. I mean I also receive hateful phone calls, emails, and mean tweets, but have not hired security. And no evidence that Nate is urging that type of behaviour.

More significantly, with the injunction, Mriache got what he wanted with the defamation suit in December: the shutting down of the Breakdown, but without proving the allegations in court.

According to the MHCare affidavit, this hostility retched up after the Globe and Mail stories in early February. And which the Breakdown linked to and commented upon. Yet, the Globe and Mail is not being sued. Only a small independent outlet. The very definition of a SLAPP Suit.

[aaronck]

https://www.reddit.com/r/alberta/com...ed_by_the_usa/

Saw this on Reddit this am, sign is just outside of Bowden- God I hate this timeline...

[undercoverbrother]

Alberta is really starting to suck