For more than two years, Albertans have had to endure “Freedom protests” with increasingly alarming behaviour from some of the primary figures. With their behaviour growing more bold and more threatening, it’s also becoming increasingly clear there is more going on than what they claim. To learn more about the dark undercurrents of these movements, We sat down with Kurt Phillips of the Anti Racist Collective and Canadian Anti Hate Network to chat about freedom rallies and the predators who are t...
Jan 12, 2022•51 min•Season 4Ep. 2
On our weekly live Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us navigate the big political stories of the last week and this one is a spicy week! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab, and if you’re listening to the audio version of our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 13 min
We’re starting of the new year with a spicy conversation that we recorded with the host of the Cross Border Interview Podcast, Chris Brown! This conversation was recorded at the very end of November and covers provincial politics, Calgary municipal politics, how the Cross Border Interview Podcast came to be and a whole lot more! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon sit...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Season 4Ep. 1
On a special (and last of 2021) episode of our weekly live Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us count down our totally subjective top 10 of the biggest events in Alberta politics of 2021! There’s a few of the obvious contenders as well as a few surprises! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 13 min
On our weekly Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us navigate all of the events of the week, and this week we talk the massive changes to health restrictions in Alberta, the confusing launch of rapid testing, the announcement police will be facilitating IOAT (Injected Opioid Antagonist Therapy) in municipal jails, curriculum changes, the ongoing saga of the Brian Jean nomination and a VERY spicy conversation on Quebecs Bill 21 and Calgary Mayor...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 22 min
The recent announcement by the UCP that they would be (somewhat) taking the social studies curriculum back to the drawing board has given some Albertans hope, but as has been pointed out there are still many problems with the framework that will be used, and many other parts of the curriculum draft. In our final conversation with advocates from the Albertans Reject Curriculum Draft advocacy group, we chat with parent, teacher and advocate Wade Hutchinson about what drew him to an advocacy role, ...
Dec 19, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Season 3Ep. 40
On our weekly Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us navigate all of the events of the week, and this week we talk about Alberta’s newly appointed status as the most Canadian Province, the UCP Board seemingly dismissing the Leadership review request from 23 UCP Constituency Associations, EMS Red Alerts, Angela Pitt, The newly announced Safe supply panel, Curriculum NDA’s expiring and more! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that w...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Is EMS in crisis and failing across Alberta? With reports all across Alberta of EMS in crisis and being pushed past the breaking point every day, we sat down with President of HSAA (the union that represents paramedics) Mike Parker to try and tell the story of the EMS crisis in Alberta, how we got here, what can be done and also addressed some of the blatantly false information that has been presented by the provincial government in what appears to be an attempt to minimize the extreme severity ...
Dec 10, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 39
On our weekly Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us navigate all of the events of the week, and this week we talk about our recent Harm Reduction Episdode, Matt Wolfs departure from his government role, the many lawsuits of Jason Kenney, The Schweitzer flip-flop, our upcoming episodee on the EMS crisis in Alberta and more! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signi...
Dec 06, 2021•1 hr 4 min
The Street Cats are a grassroots harm reduction group that has formed as a reaction to what aren’t cracks in the system, but gaping chasms in it that all too many vulnerable Calgarians are at risk of falling through. With a commitment to radical compassion and the principles of harm reduction, the street cats are reaching out to vulnerable Calgarians in incredibly effective ways. We not only sat down with them to learn more, but we also were grateful to be able to join them as observers for one ...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Season 3Ep. 38
On our weekly Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us navigate all of the events of the week, and this week we talk curriculum, Matt Wolfs departure from his government role, the ongoing conversation around the UCP Leadership review and more! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab, ...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 2 min
We’ve done a few episodes on the proposed UCP curriculum now, but all of those have been on the level of academic critiques by subject matter experts. But this proposed curriculum has also mobilized everyday Albertans in tremendous ways. To get a better understanding of what their concerns are, we reached out to the Albertans Reject Curriculum Draft Facebook page and had conversations with 3 of the members, which we’re presenting in 3 separate episodes. In Part 3, we chat with Dr. Angela Grace, ...
Nov 27, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 37
On our weekly Breakdown of the week in Alberta Politics, PR specialist and politico Sarah Biggs helps us navigate all of the vents of the week, including the UCP AGM, their conscience rights policy (with a surprise appearance by a ex-UCP press secretary Payman Parseyan), the leadership review and the discussion on the people who want Jason Kenney’s job heating up, the shortfalls of the new childcare deal with some very important perspective from Dr. Stephanie Cooper and more! As always, if you a...
Nov 22, 2021•58 min
We’ve done a few episodes on the proposed UCP curriculum now, but all of those have been on the level of academic critiques by subject matter experts. But this proposed curriculum has also mobilized everyday Albertans in tremendous ways. To get a better understanding of what their concerns are, we reached out to the Albertans Reject Curriculum Draft Facebook page and had conversations with 3 of the members, which we’re presenting in 3 separate episodes. In Part 2, we chat with Andrea Willman, a ...
Nov 21, 2021•58 min•Season 3Ep. 36
The UCP AGM is starting, so we wanted to break down what all the controversy is about (including the stuff that involves us) and we also got to catch up with none other than Dave Khan to talk about some of the peaceful protests going on this weekend!
Nov 20, 2021•14 min
We’ve done a few episodes on the proposed UCP curriculum now, but all of those have been on the level of academic critiques by subject matter experts. But this proposed curriculum has also mobilized everyday Albertans in tremendous ways. To get a better understanding of what their concerns are, we reached out to the Albertans Reject Curriculum Draft Facebook page and had conversations with 3 of the members, which we’re presenting in 3 separate episodes. Dustin Archibald is an admin for the Faceb...
Nov 18, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 35
It’s our second livestream where we breakdown the events of the week, including our Aheer interview, the changes around the UCP AGM, the good things about nazis doc, leadership review requirement change, John Carpay getting sued and what started the whole week of abpoli off, the pub presser! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab, a...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 1 min
November is Family Violence Prevention Month. In order to better understand what Family and Domestic Violence is, what causes it and what can be done, we sat down with Lana Bentley, an social worker and advocate with extensive experience in dealing with family and domestic violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing family or domestic violence, please reach out for help. Calgary 24-Hour Family Violence Helpline: 403.234.7233 (SAFE), Toll-free: 1.866.606.7233, TTY: 403.262.2768. email at...
Nov 14, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 3Ep. 34
In what is a significant first for us here at the Breakdown, we are proud to present our very first conversation with a UCP MLA. First elected in 2015 under the Wildrose banner and then again in the 2019 election under the UCP Banner, MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore Leela Aheer is the Deputy Leader for the UCP and was appointed as Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women. After photos of Jason Kenney and some of his cabinet were leaked (cough, cough) showing them disregarding th...
Nov 12, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Our first live episode! We’re joined by politico and PR professional Sarah Biggs ( to breakdown some of the biggest stories of the week in Alberta Politics! We’ll be doing these every Sunday at 7 and then making the audio available shortly after! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab, and if you’re listening to the audio version of...
Nov 08, 2021•54 min
There’s a lot of people who are highlighting the lukewarm equalization referendum results as a reaction to Jason Kenney and the UCP government, but there’s also an argument that a better measure is the sweeping election of school board trustee candidates who campaigned against the new UCP curriculum. With these new developments, we sat down with Dr. Carla Peck to recap how we got to where we are with the curriculum, and perhaps more importantly what can be done going forward. To keep up to date ...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 32
It’s been way too long since we’ve done a roundup episode, so we went up to Edmonton to do exactly that! Not only that, but we have an exclusive interview with one of the candidates from the recent municipal elections! Plus some exciting announcements! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab, and if you’re listening to the audio vers...
Oct 24, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 31
If there is a silver lining to be found in the current UCP government in Alberta, it’s the way that creatives have risen to push back! On this episode, we sit down with two of the creators of The Jason Kenney Poetry Project Jackie Seidel and Darlene St. Georges. The Jason Kenney Poetry Project is a book and a research project based around “found poetry” left in the wake of Jason Kenney and the UCP. The book is a combination of statements made by the Jason Kenney and the UCP and presented here as...
Oct 17, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 30
There’s been a lot of speculation as to the future of not only Jason Kenney but the UCP itself over the last weeks, and we wanted to try and make some sense of things. To help us do that, we sit down with Duane Bratt, political science Professor in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University, and we cover a lot of ground! We break down Jason Kennedy’s response to COVID, what’s likely going on in the back halls of the legislature and try and nail down what t...
Oct 10, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Season 3Ep. 29
With the new measures that have been introduced by the Alberta Government, we figured it would be a good time to sit down with a legal expert on health law and dispel some of the misinformation out there, so we reached out to Lorian Hardcastle (@lorian_H) to break down… CMOH powers! The Best Summer ever! Vaccine passports! (What are they and how do they work) Legality of making vaccines a condition of employment! Forced vaccinations Personal Freedoms! Freedom of Speech! Protests at hospitals! He...
Sep 19, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Back in January, we released a boatload of information that we obtained through a FOIA request that we submitted to try and find out how a company owned by a donor to Adriana Lagrange got awarded a major contact for mask for schools. That FOIA triggered an investigation by the Ethics Commissioner, the results of which were released on August 18th. While many media outlets reported that Lagrange had been “cleared” in their headlines, that wasn’t at all accurate. So to start this episode, we break...
Aug 29, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 27
With protests and a government that seems to demand more activism, one of the questions facing concerned Albertans is how can they better coordinated their efforts to maximize their impact? Enter Albert Nobbs and the Alberta Activist Collective! Albert sat down with us to discuss the formation of the Alberta Activist Collective, explain what brought him and his team to make it a reality and chat about what the future looks like! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying ...
Aug 03, 2021•28 min•Season 3Ep. 26
On this episode of The Breakdown we catch up with Robert Tremblay and Dr. Joe Vipond from the Calgary Climate Hub. A few months back we chatted with Rob and Joe about the Cliomate Hub’s efforts to get Enmax to commit to a net zero carbon footprint, and they’re back to share an important update! As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a monthly supporter at our patreon site at www.patreon.com/thebreakdownab...
Jul 18, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Each and every is a grassroots association of business who fly in the face of the assertions that all businesses hate Supervised Consumption Sites. With a growing number of businesses, particular in Calgary stepping forward to be a part of this important network, it’s clear that the conversation around Supervised Consumption Sites isn’t as cut and dry as some want people to believe. To learn more, we sat down with @sup_beebah and @Shanabeysinghe to learn more about this amazing organization and ...
Jul 03, 2021•41 min•Season 3Ep. 24
There has been an alarming increase in hate crimes towards Muslims, particularly Muslim women. Saima Jamal is an activist, community leader and advocate for marginalized people and especially refugees. She is also Muslim. Saima generously agreed to sit down to talk about what she sees as the roots of the problem as well as what’s needed to combat it going forward. As always, if you appreciate the kind of content that we’re trying to produce here at The Breakdown, please consider signing up as a ...
Jun 22, 2021•57 min•Season 3Ep. 23
