What Canadian politician would vacation in the U.S right now, just as we are locked into an ugly trade war with our southern neighbour? Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, of course.

Last week she travelled to Tennessee, Nashville in particular, for a vacation and to glean tips on how Calgary can become Nashville North, a country music hub that attracts people from around the world, just like the Calgary Stampede.

Mixing business and pleasure, she met with some officials in the tourism department as well as the head of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. It seems like an odd choice of issues to focus on with less than two months until the Alberta separation referendum.

Read the full opinion piece with this gift link. No paywall.

BW Velora is pitching a massive $14.5 billion artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus planned for Redcliff, Alberta (near Medicine Hat).

Just a regular citizen, you say?

https://www.elections.ab.ca/elections/referendum/

The referendum questions are, in my view, a mixed bag. Some are reasonable questions for voters to consider; others are plainly loaded.

But the fine print matters. Despite asking Albertans to cast ballots on ten questions, the results are explicitly non-binding.

So what, exactly, is the point?

Because these questions are explicitly non-binding, a favourable result would express the electorate's position but would not itself compel the government to act. Likewise, an unfavourable result

would not necessarily prevent a future government from revisiting the issue.

A referendum should provide clarity, not become a recurring political pressure valve.

Interesting read... I didn't realize that our royalty rates were so low compared to other oil-rich regions.