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Capping off One Hell of a Summer

ARTIFACT: Hats off to Jason Kenney’s marketers for this baldly ironic memento.

David Beers 1 Sep 2021TheTyee.ca

David Beers is founding editor of The Tyee.

The United Conservative Party of Alberta invites you to purchase the item above for $40.

For the record, Alberta’s summer of 2021 saw...

More than 1,100 wildfires scorching the province since spring...

Plummeting employment among young men...

A brain drain of “young talent” exiting the province...

And Alberta’s job economy rejected as too retro. Consider: The province has Canada’s worst jobless rate. Yet employers scrape for workers. The Business Council of Alberta diagnosed in July “a mismatch of skills coupled with increased interest in career changes among workers.”

The golden rays of summer just kept shining. An Aug. 10 report noted Alberta’s opioid overdose deaths were streaking for a new record.

And right on cue, as Premier Jason Kenney lifted health precautions, the Delta variant doffed its cap. Since June, Alberta has seen 132 deaths due to COVID-19 and now has over 1,000 cases daily.

On Tuesday, an emergency doctor warned hospitals were filling up with unvaccinated patients due to fear and misinformation.

Where was Kenney to speak life-saving truth to his citizens? No one seems to know, as he hasn’t been seen or heard from in weeks. Apparently he’s spending Alberta’s Best Summer Ever somewhere else.

Into the vacuum have stepped volunteer health pros who issue their own COVID-19 updates, tabulating the misery Kenney dumped on their unprotected heads.

Time is running out, Kenney’s party agrees. Specifically, those Best Summer Ever Alberta 2021 caps are available for a “Limited Time Only!” exhorts the UCP website.

Then again, if you do miss out, there are plenty of these still to be had. Perfect wear in Alberta, any season.

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Read more: Politics, Coronavirus

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