RIP
'Extraordinary' elephant that survived poaching dies in drought-hit Kenya

Agence France-Presse
September 29, 2022

Older elephants and young calves are the first to succumb to prolonged drought, experts say Fredrik Lerneryd

 AFP


An "extraordinary and resilient" African elephant who defied all odds to give birth despite being shot five times by poachers has died in Kenya's drought-ravaged north, conservationists said on Thursday.

"Monsoon" was euthanised by veterinarians after collapsing several times in poor health in Samburu, an arid expanse that like most of northern Kenya is suffering the driest conditions in 40 years.

The great matriarch was believed to be in her mid-60s, at the upper reaches of life expectancy for an elephant in the wild.

"It's estimated her ill health was brought on by old age and exacerbated by the drought," read a statement from Save the Elephants, a Kenya-based wildlife conservation group.

A mother of seven calves, Monsoon survived being shot five times during a rampant poaching crisis about a decade ago that sent Africa's wild elephant populations into freefall.

During the wholesale massacre of elephants for ivory, Monsoon lost two of her own calves to poachers, and scientists believed she would never give birth again after the trauma of being shot.

But in 2018 she delivered a calf in Samburu, nine years after her ordeal.

It was not the first time she had defied the experts.

In 2006 she led her family to safety up one of the biggest hills in Samburu, shortly after Save the Elephants published a study asserting that elephants tended to avoid steep terrain.

Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, an unprecedented climatic event that has pushed millions across the Horn of Africa into extreme hunger.


Older elephants and young calves are the first to succumb to prolonged drought, experts say.

"Sadly the outlook for rain later this year is grim and there are fears the drought may stretch well into 2023, which is a major worry," said Save the Elephants founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton.

"We are working with our partners, local communities and government in Kenya to address the long-term problems the drought will bring to wildlife and communities alike and doing our best to prevent more elephants like Monsoon from dying."


© 2022 AFP

Gavin Newsom says Joe Biden is 'hard-wired for a different world' of 'compromise' that's gone

ngaudiano@insider.com (Nicole Gaudiano) - Yesterday

President Joe Biden has "learned the hard way" that attempts to unite MAGA Republicans and Democrats around common values won't work right now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on MSNBC.

Asked whether it's a "fool's errand" to try and bridge the gap between the left and right, Newsom said it is at the moment.

"I mean, he's hardwired for a different world, but that world is gone and he's acknowledged that very publicly on multiple occasions," Newsom said during a wide-ranging interview with host Alex Wagner.

Newsom, who's been calling out hardline Republican governors, said Biden's decency, honor and character make it hard for him to take the fight to Republicans.

"He wants to compromise, he wants to find our better angels, and he wants to find that sweet spot in terms of answering our collective vision and values," he said. "But that's not how the system is designed."

Newsom said this isn't what the Supreme Court, redistricting efforts, or voter suppression efforts represent right now or "the rights that are being rolled back in real time."

After campaigning on finding unity, Biden has more recently blasted MAGA Republicans as a threat to American democracy.

Newsom said his late mother might tell him to just model better behavior. "Well, we've been doing that, and people are losing their rights," he said. "We've got to hold them accountable and, yes, we prepare ourselves for a great reconciliation."

That's coming, he said, because "for no other reason, we can't live like this."

Newsom has drawn attention recently for taking aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in particular.

He invited Floridians to California, "where we still believe in freedom," in a $105,000 ad buy over the July 4 weekend, fueling national speculation about whether he's considering his own 2024 bid.

He says he will not run for president in 2024, in part due to surviving a recall election last year.
Read the original article on Business Insider

NOT RACIST AT ALL👿

Trump told guests he wasn’t using same White House toilet as Obama: ‘You understand what I’m talking about’

Raw Story - Yesterday 
By Travis Gettys

Donald Trump speaks to the press inside the White House/Screenshot

Donald Trump mistook a racially mixed group of Democratic staffers for domestic aides and asked them to serve the hors d’oeuvres, according to a new book.

The recently sworn-in president turned to the staffers for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others during a January 2017 meeting and asked them to get the canapes, according to excerpts from a forthcoming book from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman published by Rolling Stone.

"Why don't you get" the food, Trump told the staffers, and then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus rushed to correct him, but he made another bigoted comment in the same meeting by claiming Hillary Clinton had won the popular vote in 2016 due to ballots cast by "illegals."

“I don’t believe so, Mr. President," Pelosi said.

Trump periodically told visitors that his White House workspace had a "secret bathroom," and explained that he'd completely renovated the restroom after taking over for Barack Obama, but staffers would correct him and explain that only the toilet seats had been changed, which is customary during presidential transitions.

”You understand what I’m talking about," Trump said to one visitor, according to Haberman.

The guest, Haberman reported, “interpreted [the remark] to mean Trump did not want to use the same bathroom as his Black predecessor.”

MPs should investigate high food prices as Canadians ‘losing faith’ in system: expert

Anja Karadeglija - Yesterday - CBC


The federal government should investigate the soaring cost of groceries to get to the bottom of unexplained price hikes of goods like meat, and to address the “dangerous” number of Canadians who believe wrongdoing is to blame, according to food policy expert Sylvain Charlebois.

A wide selection of fresh produce is seen at a Dundas Street grocery store in London, Ont.

“Is there profiteering going on? There is a possibility, because we have concerns with some verticals in the grocery store,” he said. “Some of the increases we can explain. But a portion we just can’t.”

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor is set to introduce a motion at the House of Commons agriculture committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, asking MPs to study the profits large grocery stories are making while grocery prices increase.

Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University, said “it’s important to look into this for the Canadian public,” citing an August Angus Reid study in which 78 per cent of Canadians said they believe grocery stores are taking advantage of inflation to make bigger profits. He said makes for a “dangerous threshold” of Canadians who believe there is abuse.


“A lot of people are losing faith here. And that’s a problem. And I think Parliamentarians should actually look into this,” he said.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters Tuesday corporate grocery profits and bonuses are “clear evidence” that “something beyond the understandable” is driving the price hikes.

Singh said if the prices were simply increasing to “match the increased costs, you wouldn’t be seeing the bonuses and the record profits.” He added that while there are other areas where inflation is coming down, that’s not happening with food prices.

“All these things paint a picture that clearly there’s something going on,” he said. Singh pointed to the 2018 bread-price-fixing scandal as precedent.

But, Singh said, “it could just be as simple as corporate greed. It doesn’t have to be any more nefarious, but that is deeply a problem.”

Related video: Business Report: Canada slipping in grocery affordable ranking
Duration 3:39  View on Watch


The price of food is rising at the fastest rate in 40 years

cbc.ca

Charlebois said there have now been “thirteen straight months, when the food inflation rate exceeded the general inflation in Canada. People are spooked at the grocery store. They’re wondering what’s going on.”

He added that given the bread price-fixing scandal, “there’s baggage there, which certainly would make some of the criticism deserved.”

Asked what profits the NDP is using as a basis for its claims, a spokesperson pointed to numbers from the most recent financial reports from Loblaw Companies, Empire Companies and Metro. They said Loblaw had $901 million in net profits in the first two quarters of 2022, up from $769 million in 2021. In the first three quarters of its 2022 fiscal year, Metro reported $680.8 million in 2022, up from $631.7 million in 2021. In its fiscal 2022, Empire reported a profit of $745.8 million, compared to $701.5 million the year before.

Loblaw has pointed to its drug retail division, which includes Shoppers Drug Mart, as the profit driver.

Charlebois said he looked into grocery chains’ profits and found that while profit numbers are going up, the percentages have been consistent over the past five years. “Two per cent five years ago does not look like two per cent today,” he said. He said that his study, which looked at Empire, Loblaw and Metro, didn’t find any evidence of “greedflation or abuse or profiteering at all in the last five years.”

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t questions about why prices of specific foods are going up, such as seafood, meat and bakery goods.

For example, future prices of beef have been down for a while, but retail prices are still going up. “That’s highly unusual,” he said. “Is it profiteering? Well, then let’s talk about this. Is it transportation? Is it consolidation?”

But he said a study needs to be holistic, looking at the whole system from farm to retail.

Rod MacRae, a retired associate professor at York University said Canada “has the most corporately concentrated food system in the Western world,” and it’s especially concentrated at the retail level.

He said that “creates the possibilities for the retailers to control price.”

MacGregor said he wants to committee to hear from the major grocery chains, a variety of economists, unions, and consumer advocates on the issue.

“I think the onus is on the grocery chains to be a little bit more upfront with Canadians,” he said. “All Canadians can see is basically what’s in front of them, week in, week out. They can see the huge… increases.”

The motion could have support from the other parties on the committee. Asked whether Conservative MPs on the committee will support the motion, the office of committee vice-chair John Barlow said he couldn’t comment on a motion he hasn’t yet seen, but that agricultural committee members “have had a long history of supporting studies proposed by members, regardless of party affiliation.”

Liberal MP Kody Blois said that he would hold his opinion until he’s seen exactly what’s included in the motion, but that there is “merit” to the issue that’s being raised.

When it studies an issue, a parliamentary committee’s primary role is to make recommendations to government, Blois noted. “But there’s nothing stopping the committee, if it felt that there was some type of behavior that was requiring further investigation, to have letters sent…trying to encourage federal agencies to take action.”

Charlebois said Parliament can “politicize the issue, and make sure that penalties are operationalized through agencies, like in this case, the Competition Bureau.”

Palestinian authorities denounce the death of a child while «fleeing occupation forces».

Daniel Stewart -

Palestinian authorities denounced Thursday the death of a seven-year-old boy after he fell from a high point while "fleeing from the occupation forces" on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Tekoa.


File - Israeli soldiers near the separation fence on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin. - 

Ilia Yefimovich/dpa© Provided by News 360

The Municipality of Tekoa indicated in a brief message on its Facebook account that the boy is Rayan Yaser Ali Suleiman and added that he was fleeing from soldiers "of the occupation army" who were "chasing students".

The death was confirmed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which said through Facebook that the boy was admitted to the Beit Jala Public Hospital, where he died "after falling from a high point while being chased by occupation forces".

According to information provided by Israeli Army Radio, the boy had thrown stones at several soldiers and fell when the soldiers were trying to stop him. The Army has stressed that it is investigating the incident.

Granddaughter's handcuffing haunts Indigenous man, even as police settle rights case


VANCOUVER — Maxwell Johnson is still haunted by the helplessness he felt watching his then 12-year-old granddaughter get handcuffed outside a bank almost three years ago, even after accepting a settlement in their human rights complaint against the Vancouver Police Board.



Johnson signed a deal to settle the case at a news conference on Wednesday.

The Heiltsuk Nation artist and his granddaughter, now 15, were wrongly detained and handcuffed by police after visiting a Bank of Montreal branch in Vancouver in December 2019 to open an account for the girl.

A bank employee phoned 911 after mistakenly suspecting that their Indian status cards were fake.

A statement from the Heiltsuk Nation called it a "unique and impactful" settlement that involves an apology for discrimination, undisclosed damages to Johnson's family and a $100,000 payment to fund the nation’s restorative justice department.

The police board will hold an apology ceremony at the Heiltsuk’s big house in Bella Bella on B.C.'s central coast next month, and develop a plan over two years to improve police training on anti-Indigenous racism, "cultural humility" and competency.

The statement says the police board will also hire an anti-Indigenous-racism officer to review complaints.

Johnson said he was pleased with the resolution of the Human Rights Tribunal case, but his family is still in a healing process.

“One of the things I kept seeing is my granddaughter standing on the street, crying while she's been handcuffed," he said.

“I don't think any parent or grandparent should ever see that in their lifetime … all I could do was just stand there and not do anything. I will never get that image out of my head,” said Johnson, who wept after speaking.

Related video: Heiltsuk man, granddaughter handcuffed outside Vancouver bank settle with police
Duration 3:25 View on Watch

Johnson’s granddaughter, Tori-Anne, said she hoped her story could encourage more people to stand up against injustice and discrimination. Johnson's lawyer, Sabrina Zhu, asked the media not to use the girl's surname.

Tori-Anne said the handcuffing occurred during a family trip to Vancouver "when we were supposed to be making good memories together."

"Instead, what happened to me and my grandfather traumatized me. I'm still healing from that day," she said.

“I also want to tell everyone, especially Indigenous kids, to be strong and speak out when they face discrimination. I hope that my grandfather and I helped you feel like you can speak up and be heard when you experience injustice.”

As part of the settlement, the police board admitted officers had discriminated against Johnson and his granddaughter based on their Indigenous identities.

The police board's payment to the Heiltsuk First Nation's restorative justice department will fund community programming for at-risk young women.

An additional $20,000 payment will be made to reimburse the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs for expenses related to the case.

The Vancouver Police Board said in a statement that it was committed to taking positive and collaborative steps to "create a more meaningful relationship with Indigenous communities."

“The Board recognizes the significance of the settlement we have reached with Mr. Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter," it said.

"We are looking forward to this opportunity to work in partnerships with the groups involved by reviewing and improving a range of culturally sensitive and relevant practices and policies, in particular those focused on Indigenous people."

Johnson will give an artwork to the police board at the Bella Bella ceremony on Oct. 24.

The Union of B.C. Indian Chief's legal counsel, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, called the settlement "historic and path-breaking".

Johnson announced in May that he had reached an agreement with the bank that included an undisclosed payment from BMO, a private apology and a pledge to update the bank's policies on how status cards are handled.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2022.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press

Less than half of the over $200M requested for burial searches at residential schools funded

Ka’nhehsí:io Deer - 4h ago -CBC


As the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approaches, stakeholders say more needs to be done to address barriers communities face in identifying unmarked burials tied to former residential school sites.

The federal government has funded a total of $89.9 million in support to communities and organizations for research, commemoration, and field investigation work.

However, it marks less than half of what's been requested.

"This is priceless work," said Kisha Supernant, director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archeology at the University of Alberta.

"A child's life, a child's burial place. Trying to find that is priceless. You can't put a dollar amount on that."


Kisha Supernant is the director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology and an associate professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Alberta.© Omayra Issa/CBC

Supernant works directly with Indigenous communities to support and advise on how to approach investigations, and has conducted surveys at eight different school sites using technology to investigate the grounds for potential unmarked graves.

"It's a really big burden on many nations to have to try to carry out the full investigation," said Supernant.

"There's all these sorts of barriers that communities are facing, and I'm just not sure if there's been enough to address those barriers."

The federal government announced the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support funding in June 2021 to support Indigenous communities to locate missing children at residential schools as identified in the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.

106 applications received

According to a response to an order paper question last week, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Jaime Battiste said the program has received 106 applications totalling $214,180,918 in requested funding from Indigenous communities and organizations.

To date, 84 applications have been approved for a total of $89,994,897 in funding, while the department is assessing 15 applications.

A total of four requests were denied funding, two were withdrawn, and one was redirected to another federal program for funding.

The numbers don't add up for New Democratic MP Niki Ashton, who penned a letter to Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller this week outlining her concerns.

"We're now on the eve of the second annual National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, and the answer from the government with respect to this specific initiative is just not good enough," said Ashton, who represents the Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding in Manitoba.

"We need to see much greater resources and to support communities in terms of what they need, for both searching the ground and the records, and healing and mental health supports."

Crown-Indigenous Relations has yet to respond to questions from CBC News.

'It's going to take decades'

The Survivors Secretariat, a non-profit organization searching for unmarked burials of Indigenous children on over 240 hectares of land associated with the former Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ont., received $10,259,975 over three years through the program.

Laura Arndt, the secretariat lead, said the organization had requested $10.9 million for initial work in addition to funds from Ontario.

"We know we're going to end up needing in the ballpark of $25 million," said Arndt.

"It's going to take decades to analyze and truly understand the data we're looking for."

The Mohawk Institute operated for 136 years with several sites associated with the school. Arndt said she's concerned about how the program works as grants-based funding for two to three years. She described it as having to "beg" for funding resources.

"Each community has to do it and based on their capacity to do it well, or do it to get a little bit of funding for something that we're trying to address that was caused by the very state we're having to ask for money," she said.

"It's an atrocity that we're having to beg for time-limited funding to undo a history of record destruction."

Supernant has similar concerns. She said she'd prefer to see a government program that provides the necessary funds in an easy and effective manner without time limits or funding caps.

"The only way that we'll know this work is done is when the nations and the communities say it's done," she said.

"I just would really like to see an approach that was more about finding those answers."

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

ATA organizing Oct. 22 rally to support public education

The Alberta Teachers Association and Alberta School’s Councils’ Association are working together to organize a rally that will take place on Oct. 22 between 1-2 p.m. in Edmonton on the grounds of the legislative buildings.

The rally is being held for anyone who supports and cares about education, giving an opportunity to let the legislature know public education is important and needs to be supported, says organizer Heather McCaig.

“We’ve seen an erosion over the years in the support for schools and what’s going on in schools,” stated McCaig of the ATA. “Class sizes this year are extremely large in lots of centres and we are having more supports needed and there is less funding that is available for the kids. We need to put more dollars back into education, we need to fund for growth and we need to make sure every child has the right and accessibility to programs that benefit them.”

Buses are being organized and those interested in attending can register at standforeducation.ca, which will let the ATA know how many people from each area in the province want to go to the rally. The busses will travel to and from Edmonton on the same day.

“We (the ATA) really believe (after hearing from teachers, parents, and businesses) how important public education is and we know people support it and people want to have their kids enrolled in public education. This is an all-out focus to try and ensure the education our children get in the future is the best possible,” said McCaig.

If you have questions or need more information, email Heather McCaig at heather.mccaig@ata.ab.ca.

SAMANTHA JOHNSON, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Medicine Hat News

Notley criticizes UCP for ‘chasing doctors’ away in visit to Medicine Hat

NDP leader Rachel Notley spoke outside Medicine Hat Regional Hospital Tuesday about the state of health care in Alberta, touching on the dozens of rural hospitals that have partially closed, Albertans who don’t have access to a family doctor, and the lack of continuity of care.

“We know that here there are currently no physicians accepting new patients in Medicine Hat,” stated Notley. “The total number of physicians in this city has dropped by 20 per cent over the past two years. We understand there is a shortage of doctors right across the country, but only in Alberta has the provincial government been so openly hostile and so intent on chasing doctors and other health-care professionals out of their clinics.”

Notley says the NDP wants to work with communities and city councils to foster an environment that encourages physician retention, adding they feel it is vital to re-establish a relationship between the government and all health-care workers, and to restore stability to the healthcare system. Notley stressed the push for privatization needs to end and the system must be appropriately funded.

If elected as premier in the election next year, Notley says she will attempt to reverse as many of the privatization contracts as possible.

“The plans they (UCP) have made with respect to privatization is going to have a negative impact on our overall health-care system. I suspect we would have some capacity to reverse those contracts depending on how far along they are. We would do everything we can to stop those contracts and we would not move forward with privatization.”

Not having enough front-line health-care workers is currently a primary issue, and Notley said it is a recipe for disaster to set up a private model in the middle of a public one.

Notley added the privatization of lab services is one of the more complicated matters. The NDP planned to build a public lab and the ground was being broken when the UCP was elected and work stopped, putting thousands out of work- which Notley said was a tremendous loss to the province.

The problem with privatizing labs, Notley says, is when the contracts come up for renegotiation, the price will go up and the testing capacity down.

“We don’t know the current contract or how far along it is, or the path to undoing the damage,” said Notley. “We would certainly make that a focus to try to do as much as we can in a cost-effective way because testing and diagnostics is a critical part of our health-care system,” said Notley.

SAMANTHA JOHNSON, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Medicine Hat News

Bell: Danielle Smith, can she beat Rachel Notley? More numbers
Rick Bell - Yesterday


UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith speaks at a campaign rally in Chestermere on Tuesday, August 9, 2022.© Provided by Calgary Sun

One minute you’re thinking about whether these UCP leadership hopefuls can defeat the NDP and their leader Rachel Notley.

The next minute some numbers appear as if from the political gods.

They’re actually numbers from the well-respected ThinkHQ Public Affairs.

It is a poll of adult Albertans.

Let’s roll. What are individuals asked?

Does the prospect of Brian Jean as UCP leader make you more or less likely to vote for the UCP in the next provincial election?

More likely 21%. Less likely 28%. That’s a minus 7.

What about voting for a Travis Toews-led UCP?

More likely 17%. Less likely 22%. That’s a minus 5.

Now, Danielle Smith.

More likely to vote for the UCP with Smith at the helm 20%. Less likely 39%.

That’s a minus 19.

Now let’s look at different parts of the province, starting with battleground Calgary.

The city of Calgary.

More likely to vote for a Jean-led UCP. 17%. Less likely 33%. Not so good.

In the city of Calgary, more likely to vote for Team Toews, 16%. Less likely 22%.

Smith? You want to know about Smith?

Within the Calgary city limits, 18% are more likely to vote UCP with Smith running the show. Less likely 44%.

Ouch.

Of the three candidates, where does Smith have the highest number of people less likely to vote UCP, compared to more likely to vote UCP with her in charge?

As well as Calgary, there’s the area around Calgary, and in the city of Edmonton, and surrounding the capital, and in small urban areas, and in northern Alberta.

Yes, Smith fares better in rural Alberta, but Jean and Toews are strong there as well.

You want some more, I know you do.

Related video: UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith outlines her proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act
Duration 5:51  View on Watch

Just one more helping of the political calculus.

For those identifying themselves as supporting the UCP, 35% are more likely to vote for the party in the next election with Smith in the top job and 22% less likely, numbers in the same neighbourhood as Toews and Jean.

As for those supporting the NDP, the intensity against Smith is greatest.

59% are less likely to back the UCP with Smith.

40% are less likely to back the party with a Jean-led UCP and 30% less likely with Toews holding the reins.

Of course, there is a margin of error and this is a snapshot in time, so handle the arithmetic as you see fit.

There is no conspiracy here. The numbers are the numbers.

Remember, this scribbler was the one rolling out the nose counts showing Smith as the frontrunner in the UCP leadership race by a healthy margin.

A little dessert? Who doesn’t like dessert?

Premier Jason Kenney has the approval of 30% of Albertans sampled, with 67% disapproving and few unsure how they feel.



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Jean has the approval of 33% and the disapproval of 49%. The rest are unsure.

Toews is at 29% approval and 38% disapproval with a full third of those polled unsure about him.

He’s a quiet guy.

Smith?

She has 27% approval and 58% disapproval.
Brian Jean seen as UCP candidate most likely to win next election: poll
Bell: UCP race, more poll numbers, is it all over but the shouting?
Bell: Kenney unpopular to the end, a lesson for Pierre Poilievre

Now let’s bring in Marc Henry from ThinkHQ.

If the polling of UCP members is on the money and Smith wins the party leadership Oct. 6 to become premier, Henry says the following.

“There may be some real unintended consequences.

“She’s extremely divisive. She definitely has her supporters, her strong supporters. But she’s got more detractors and they’re strong detractors.”

And …

“She will absolutely invigorate NDP turnout. They’re more motivated against Smith than the others. Danielle Smith is a lightning rod for that vote. She becomes a rallying cry.”

The pollster finally points to those unsure of who they will vote for in the next provincial election.

With these folks, 16% are more likely to vote for a Toews UCP, 19% less likely.

If Jean is UCP leader it’s 18% more likely to vote UCP, 29% less likely.

With Smith as UCP leader, 10% are more likely to vote for the party and 39% are less likely.

We are told these are individuals who probably voted UCP in the last election and are sitting out there waiting to see what unfolds.

And to end this day …

The UCP without a leader and it’s a coin toss with the NDP, says the poll. The governing party is very much in the running.

With a leader?

“With Jean or Toews, you know, they have some work to do but certainly that base is there,” says Henry, the noted nose counter.

“With Smith, they are going to be facing a headwind.”

Knowing some of the Smith team now on board, if their candidate becomes premier, they will be pulling out all the stops to win the next election.

It promises to be a fight for the ages.

Meanwhile in Medicine Hat, with this race to be premier headed for the last lap on the track, Notley the NDP leader talks to families who do not have a family doctor.

rbell@postmedia.com