Charles Rusnell

Charles Rusnell

@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Independent investigative journalist in Edmonton, Alberta. Ex Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Contact in confidence at journalismtips@protonmail.com

7.9K followers1.2K following639 posts

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Very keen to hear Mickey Amery explain how the hiring of his cousin Sam Mraiche's nephews would square with this DEI policy, and for Danielle Smith to explain what experience Michaela Frey, who stepped aside to give her a seat in Brooks, had to be hired in the premier's office as a policy advisor.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Garrett Koehler doesn't speak for journalists. The UCP established the one question, one follow-up rule to stop journalists from pursuing a natural line of questioning. Generally, reporters are happy to let a colleague ask a series of questions that pin down a fact. This is how it's done everywhere.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Isn't it wrong for a premier to serve as a headliner for a for-profit commercial business? The Rebel is using her to sell tickets. Is she paid by The Rebel for her services? www.rebelnews.com/premier_smit...

rebelnews.comPremier Smith set to headline Rebel News LIVE! in CalgaryRebel News LIVE! is coming to Calgary on October 31 and will be headlined by a special keynote address and fireside chat with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in front of our live audience.
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Read this story. Danielle Smith's UCP scapegoated immigrants for the healthcare mess. Emergency room doctor Warren Thirsk tells the truth about what the UCP have done to our healthcare system.

Jonny Wakefield@jonnywakefield.bsky.social

New from me: A doctor testifying at an inquiry into the death of a man in an Edmonton emergency room says stories like Prashant Sreekumar’s are more common than the public is aware of amid a rolling “disaster” in emergency medicine. edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...

edmontonjournal.comEmergency doctor describes health care breakdown at fatality inquiry for man who died waiting in Edmonton ERA doctor testifying at an inquiry into the death of a man in an Edmonton emergency department says stories like Prashant Sreekumar's are more common than the public is aware of amid a rolling "disaste...
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Excellent analysis of why and how the referendum came to happen and what comes next.

Jared Wesley@jaredwesley.ca

Disagree. Same cleavage, different issue. Far right populists vs mainstream conservatives. The latter are abandoning the sinking ship because the party is ungovernable. drjaredwesley.substack.com/p/congratula...

drjaredwesley.substack.comCongratulations, Canada! Alberta, this isn’t over.Federalists can rest easier after Alberta’s referendum result. Pluralists should rest up for a longer struggle against far-right populism.

Charles Rusnell reposted

Robson Fletcher
@robsonfletcher.com

A striking series of results in the latest Abacus Data poll I worked on, depicting another post-referendum challenge for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Most Albertans want the government to turn the page from the separation debate. The cost of living, health care, & housing are top concerns. 🧵

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

The 8 per cent figure comes from this column by Don Braid of the Calgary Herald, which is a vivisection of the cynical, self-serving politics behind the referendum. calgaryherald.com/news/braid-a...

calgaryherald.comBraid: That referendum sure as hell wasn't worth $70 millionDanielle Smith's hugely expensive referendum divided Albertans but did solve the crisis in her own party.
Charles Rusnell@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

The Alberta Prosperity Project believe they "moved the needle" and that "a large and growing number" of Albertans want a binding referendum. In reality, they gained nothing in voter percentage and polling showed only about 8 per cent of Albertans would vote to separate.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

The Alberta Prosperity Project believe they "moved the needle" and that "a large and growing number" of Albertans want a binding referendum. In reality, they gained nothing in voter percentage and polling showed only about 8 per cent of Albertans would vote to separate.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

This minister and the timing of his DC visit.... BTW, Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams and Environment Minister Grant Hunter refuse to say who paid for their flights to the Republican Prayer Breakfast in February.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

With winds of up to 100 km/h forecast, the separatist rally at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton scheduled to begin at 3pm MST today is going to be a trial for supporters and speakers. Portentous? It is an ill wind... etc.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Another must-read column by @keithgerein.bsky.social about how immigrants view their scapegoating by Danielle Smith and the UCP.

John MacKinnon 🇨🇦@bustersmart.bsky.social

To Danielle Smith and the UCP in Alberta, who is 'we' and who is 'they?' The Edmonton Journal's Keith Gerein examines Smith's immigration aversion in this piece. tinyurl.com/jn2xkefh

tinyurl.comKeith Gerein: Smith’s immigration distortions may have created a new adversary for the UCPOne evening last week, I attended what you might call a summit of sorts in which

Charles Rusnell reposted

David J. Climenhaga
@djclimenhaga.bsky.social

‘On Treason’ – an essential quick guide to the plots and politics of Alberta’s separation referendum. albertapolitics.ca/2026/10/on-t... #ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli

albertapolitics.ca‘On Treason’ – an essential quick guide to the plots and politics of Alberta’s separation referendum - Alberta PoliticsCometh the hour, cometh the book! Actually, On Treason: Alberta Separatism, Foreign Interference, and Canada’s Survival in a Revolutionary Age is more than a little late. It rolled off the presses onl...

Charles Rusnell reposted

Christy Somos
@christysomos.bsky.social

Reuters: Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House Absolutely shocking confirmation www.reuters.com/world/europe...

reuters.comEXCLUSIVE: Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources sayThe order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine ​for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefe...
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Sorry, I can't gift this video. @markjacob.bsky.social takes @nytimes.com to task for its soft-pedaling/normalization of Trump's behaviour. Jacob clearly makes the point that cowardice is being passed off as neutrality. www.nytimes.com/video/inside...

nytimes.comVideo: A Reader on What He Thinks We Get Wrong About TrumpIn this first installment of “Sound Off,” Patrick Healy, assistant managing editor for The New York Times, speaks with Mark Jacob, former metro editor for The Chicago Tribune, who shares his criticism...
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

The moderator makes a completely biased, subjective statement based on no evidence to which the Green Party leader is forced to respond on live TV. This was grossly unprofessional and unfair. The moderator should apologize.

Sean Tucker@seantucker.bsky.social

What a ridiculous question: “What happens to the BC economy when those ultra wealthy [$50m+] individuals move themselves and their money out of the province?” Jesus.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Meanwhile, US ambassador Pete Hoekstra is warning/threatening Canada not to interfere in US elections.

Brad Johnson@climatebrad.hillheat.com

Military patrolling the Columbia Heights ballot box at 6:44 pm "It's a public sidewalk" the lead soldier said when reminded of the law. Photo by self

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

This Sept. 4 story by @rorywhite deserves reposting. Keith Wilson and Tanya Clemens need to explain their connection to disinfo websites run by a Florida Trump supporter. A US-linked network of fake websites is promoting Alberta separatism to AI chatbots www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/04/i...

nationalobserver.comA US-linked network of fake websites is promoting Alberta separatism to AI chatbotsThe websites present crude, AI-generated slop disguised as the voice of real Albertans. But they're made in Florida — and they're not even targeting Albertans directly.
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Must read here via @keithgerein.bsky.social.

Jonny Wakefield@jonnywakefield.bsky.social

From @keithgerein.bsky.social: "It takes some gall for Smith and her heavily rural cabinet to disregard all that and declare they know the issue better than Edmontonians after a few weeks of listening to the NIMBY crowd that lost the last election." edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

edmontonjournal.comKeith Gerein: Premier Smith's edict is in — Edmonton is not allowed to be EdmontonAlberta Premier Danielle’s Smith decision to force Edmonton to throw out its zoning bylaw is the latest move by her UCP government to rein in municipal autonomy
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Boggles the mind, or jaw dropping, sounds trite but this story.

PressProgress@pressprogress.ca

BC Conservative leader silent as additional Islamophobic posts surface from campaign manager BC Conservative campaign manager facing backlash for Islamophobic posts and reposts pressprogress.ca/bc-conservat...

pressprogress.caBC Conservative leader silent as additional Islamophobic posts surface from campaign managerBC Conservative campaign manager facing backlash for Islamophobic posts and reposts
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Listen to this and exchange Alberta for the UK, and Danielle Smith for that ReformUK person, and all the arguments made by this person would be equally valid for Alberta and the UCP at this moment.

GylesNaMopaleen@gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social

This is quite extraordinary. I don't think I have heard a more coherent, articulate and accurate deconstruction & demolition of Nigel Farage's ReformUK, Tory & Restore policy than this. In under 85 seconds! @rafaelbehr.bsky.social is on here folks and worth a follow.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Last week, Danielle Smith stomped on Edmonton City Council for allegedly disrespecting homeowners affected by zoning. But ramming through AI Centres that affect thousands of homeowners is ok? The Making of an AI Data Centre Warrior via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/09...

thetyee.caThe Making of an AI Data Centre Warrior | The TyeeBek MacIntosh helped rally her Alberta town to kill a megaproject. The wider fight, she vows, is ‘just getting started.’
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Here is the edited text of Senator Simons' statement. thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026...

thetyee.ca‘Defeat These Questions’: A Senator’s Fiery Rebuke to the UCP Referendum | The TyeePaula Simons stood to urge fellow Albertans to reject ‘a scurrilous smear campaign’ against newcomers.
Charles Rusnell@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Take 10 minutes to listen to Alberta Senator Paula Simons' denunciation of the UCP's racist anti-immigrant referendum questions. It's a tour de force. www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7o...

youtube.comWatch: Senator Paula Simons denounces Alberta's anti-immigrant referendum questionsYouTube video by Senator Paula Simons
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Reposting this when people may have more time to listen but also because it is a masterful display of rhetoric by Senator Paula Simons

Charles Rusnell@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Take 10 minutes to listen to Alberta Senator Paula Simons' denunciation of the UCP's racist anti-immigrant referendum questions. It's a tour de force. www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7o...

youtube.comWatch: Senator Paula Simons denounces Alberta's anti-immigrant referendum questionsYouTube video by Senator Paula Simons
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

If those of you in other provinces ever wonder how Alberta ended up in the situation it now faces, this post is authored by one of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's most trusted advisors.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

From Dec. 2025 podcast Jeffrey Rath: We've moved from introductory meetings to high-level policy discussions about communication plans. Suffice it to say, those plans are being made. I don't want to comment further, but people will see the communication as it rolls out.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Financial Times in January verified Jeff Rath, Dennis Modry and Mitch Sylvestre met with American officials in Washington. For months before that, they boasted about it. Did Danielle Smith, her cabinet ministers or senior staff ever openly condemn Rath et al before the Globe's most recent story?

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Calgary's mayor understands political messaging.

Jeromy Farkas@jeromyyyc.bsky.social

With the latest provincial overreach, Danielle Smith is now ordering me how to vote at Calgary City Council. If I refuse, I risk losing my job. I want to work constructively with the province, even when we disagree. But we must be free to listen to residents and make fair decisions.

Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

In overruling Edmonton's elected council, Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams actually said that those who supported the bylaw were "unAlbertan and UnCanadian." The hypocrisy of Danielle Smith complaining about federal overreach at the news conference was next level.

Jared Wesley@jaredwesley.ca

The UCP wants you to get bogged down on the policy debates around infill. Don't be fooled. Their intrusion into local democracy reveals something far more troubling to folks across the political spectrum. drjaredwesley.substack.com/p/this-isnt-...

drjaredwesley.substack.comThis isn’t about infillThe UCP government’s intrusion into municipal authority raises much deeper concerns
Charles Rusnell
@charlesrusnell.bsky.social

Paul Godfrey alleges in court filing that Ford's chief of staff essentially said Godfrey's son's company wouldn't get a big government contract unless PostMedia ran an op ed by Ford in advance of the election call and PostMedia ran the op ed.

Sherry Lee@bella-andme.bsky.social

Exhausting. Everything about Doug Ford - true or alleged - is exhausting. #onpoli