Alberta Unbound

Political strategist Stephen Carter, academic Jared Wesley and human rights lawyer Avnish Nanda on their campaigns to defeat Alberta’s “noxious nine” referendum questions. Need a refresher on the nine questions? Listen to our podcast episode, "Just Say No: 9 Questions, 5 Voices" , Read the Senator's latest Alberta Views article, Alberta's Referendum Questions: The Noxious Nine and Jared Wesley's, Ten Questions, One Real Decision Or visit kNOw the nine Get involved: 5X for Canada: Stop Separation. Crush the 9 Questions. Defeat Danielle Smith. Alberta Referendumb 2026

This month's episode takes us out of Alberta bounds and into space. Astronomers Samantha Lawler and Aaron Boley, and political philosopher Daniel Munro, discuss the impacts of satellite debris and satellite congestion. To learn more about Senator Paula Simons' satellite inquiry in the Senate, see this link here: Senator Paula Simons Topic Intervention 689271 - 37 and Senator Paula Simons Topic Intervention 689271 - 41 Or watch the full speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH-FDPCtiXM&t=20s Curious to know more? Read these articles here: SpaceX satellites would outshine the stars | The Narwhal SpaceX Dropped Space Junk on My Neighbor’s Farm. Here’s What Happened Next https://www.cigionline.org/publications/for-all-humankind-a-framework-for-responsible-spacefaring/

The 2026 Kreisel lecturers, Richard Van Camp, Shani Mootoo and Lise Gaboury-Diallo, join Paula Simons onstage to discuss place, truth, and story as community medicine You can listen to Part 1 & 2 of the lecture here: https://senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/the-kreisel-lecture-part-1-the-lust-for-lightning/ https://senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/kreisel-lecture-pt-23-the-call-of-place/ Curious to learn more about the lecture and the authors? Visit these links below: The Kreisel Lecture: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/literatures-in-canada/programming/kreisel-lecture-series/index.html Richard Van Camp: https://richardvancamp.com/books/ Shani Mootoo: https://www.shanimootoo.ca/ Lise Gaboury-Diallo: https://ustboniface.ca/lgaboury/page.aspx?pid=12004 Photo credits to Anindita Mukherjee

In Part 2 of the Kreisel Lecture, Authors Shani Mootoo and Lise Gaboury-Diallo reflect on place, identity, and the purpose of narrative. You can listen to Part 1 of the lecture here: https://senatorpaulasimons.podbean.com/e/the-kreisel-lecture-part-1-the-lust-for-lightning/ Curious to learn more about the lecture and the authors? Visit these links below: The Kreisel Lecture: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/literatures-in-canada/programming/kreisel-lecture-series/index.html Shani Mootoo: https://www.shanimootoo.ca/ Lise Gaboury-Diallo: https://ustboniface.ca/lgaboury/page.aspx?pid=12004

Every year, the Centre for Literatures in Canada at the University of Alberta hosts the Kreisel Lecture, where authors are invited to deliver a lecture on a topic of their choosing. To celebrate their 20th anniversary, the centre broke the lecture into three parts, featuring authors Richard Van Camp, Shani Mootoo, and Lise Gaboury-Diallo. Senator Paula Simons was invited to open the lecture series and moderate a panel featuring the three authors. The first episode of this special three-part series includes the introduction from Senator Simons on Henry Kreisel, followed by Richard Van Camp's lecture on living in Fort Smith, Indigenous literature, and begging to be struck by lightning over and over again. Curious to learn more about the lecture and the authors? Visit these links below: The Kreisel Lecture: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/literatures-in-canada/programming/kreisel-lecture-series/index.html Henry Kreisel: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/henry-kreisel Richard Van Camp: https://richardvancamp.com/books/

The fate of Alberta’s separatist referendum is up in the air. But Alberta’s premier and Alberta separatists aren’t the only ones who want a vote to go ahead. There’s mounting evidence of foreign-backed social media campaigns, trying to influence the outcome of the sovereignty debate. Edmonton author and analyst Patrick Lennox assesses the risks to Alberta democracy - and national security. You can read his latest Walrus articles here: Can Alberta Protect Its Secession Vote from Trump? | The Walrus How Did an Alberta Separatist Group Get Its Hands on the Voter List? | The Walrus

Edmonton playwright, documentary-maker and award-winning children’s author Marty Chan on growing up Chinese-Canadian, book bans, Bill 28 and racism’s revival tour. To see more of Chan's work, visit his website https://martychan.com for more details.

Political scientists Melanee Thomas and Yasmeen Abu-Laban, political strategists Ken Boessenkool and Zain Velji, and former Director of the Centre for Constitutional Studies at the University of Alberta Patricia Paradis, dive into the nine referendum questions and how Albertans should respond. Here are the nine referendum questions below: 1. Do you support the Government of Alberta taking increased control over immigration for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities? 2. Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an Alberta-approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially funded programs, such as health care, education and other social services? 3. Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for social support programs as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring all individuals with a non-permanent legal immigration status to reside in Alberta for at least 12 months before qualifying for any provincially funded social support programs? 4. Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for public health care and education as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta charging a reasonable fee or premium to individuals with a non-permanent immigration status living in Alberta for their and their family’s use of the health care and education systems? 5. Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card, to vote in an Alberta provincial election? 6. Have provincial governments, and not the federal government, select the justices appointed to provincial King’s Bench and Appeal courts? 7. Abolish the unelected federal Senate? 8. Allow provinces to opt out of federal programs that intrude on provincial jurisdiction such as health care, education, and social services, without a province losing any of the associated federal funding for use in its social programs? 9. Better protect provincial rights from federal interference by giving a province’s laws dealing with provincial or shared areas of constitutional jurisdiction priority over federal laws when the province’s laws and federal laws conflict?

An Alberta Unbound special episode: a live recording of a panel discussion titled "Alberta and the New World Disorder," happened on February 6th, 2026, as part of the University of Alberta's International Week. Panelists the Hon. Anne McLellan, Dr. Rickey Yada, and Dr. Charlie Mballa discussed trade, geopolitics, and a tad-bit of Alberta separatism, in their discussion moderated by Sen. Paula Simons.

Pilar Martinez, outgoing CEO of the Edmonton Public Library, on the role of libraries in the age of AI and book bans.

Acclaimed Metis scientist David Wishart, a pioneer in the study of metabolomics, and Debby Waldman, an award-winning Jewish-American children's author and journalist, talk about the alchemy that brought them together, and made and kept them Albertans. To read more about Debby's latest work, see her substack here: https://debbywaldman.substack.com/ And to learn more about the Gerhard Herzberg award and David's research, see this link: David Wishart - Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering - NSERC

Born in Toronto. Raised in Khartoum. Launched in Lethbridge. Calgary-based stand-up Faris Hyttia has a life story, and a comic sensibility, like no other. His parents sent him from Sudan to Alberta to become an engineer. But fate had other, funnier, ideas. More of his comedy can be seen here: Homesick Just for Laughs: Dog People vs Cat People Telus Storyhive: Send Help Instagram & TikTok : @farrooossi More information: https://linktr.ee/farrooossi Recordings of Faris' shows were provided by the comic himself and OK Dope Productions.

Once, Thomas Lukaszuk was the Conservative deputy premier of Alberta. Today, he's leading the campaign to keep Alberta in Confederation. So is his anti-separation petition a great way to drum up Canadian patriotism? Or is he playing right into the separatists' hands? Thomas sits down with Alberta Senator Paula Simons to explain his strategy - and his passion for the country that granted his own refugee family asylum.

Award-winning spoken word poet Nonso Morah on growing up Nigerian-Canadian in rurban Alberta - and on what it means to be an Albertan in Canada today

Former Deputy PM Anne McLellan, former Alberta NDP Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and CPC strategist Ken Boessenkool examine the entrails of the federal election - and confront the threat of Alberta separatism

Chief Conroy Sewepagaham of the Little Red River Cree Nation talks about “making noise up north” as he works to lead his community through recovery from not one, but two, devastating wildfires.

Bloomberg’s White House correspondent Josh Wingrove reports in from the front lines of Trump’s trade war.

Activist and author Jesse Lipscombe on Alberta’s Black history, the power of radical patience, and building coalitions of resistance. Link to Return to Amber Valley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsRkZz1KJB0

Political pundit Graham Thomson on why and where Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland and Pierre Poilievre are all playing up their Alberta roots.

Dishing the dirt on soil health and regenerative agriculture with Kimberly Cornish, Shorty Fensky and Yamily Zavala.