Canada's National Observer delivers vital reporting on the defining crisis of our time: climate change. Through rigorous investigation and compelling storytelling, we expose the forces shaping Canada's climate future. www.nationalobserver.com/newslettershttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myiectxyvk2rNEW: A company that was recently responsible for gas wells on CFB Wainwright has issued a blistering statement condemning the Orphan Well Association and Alberta Energy Regulator for not closing wells before the fire that killed four soldiers on Saturday. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/22/news/operational-gas-wells-cfb-wainwright-aer-owa-sumerian22 Oct 2026 19:07 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myiectxyvk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myhswobfdk27Eby and his team haven’t really presented a good reason for electing them, @maxfawcett.bsky.social writes. And after years of scorn toward the Greens' priorities, he's reduced to begging them for their strategic votes. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/21/opinion/david-eby-might-have-played-himself22 Oct 2026 13:56 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myhswobfdk27https://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myhpy7htn227As Smith frames this week’s referendum results as a mandate to wrest more control over areas of existing federal jurisdiction to provinces, she finds herself in a weakened position that could reshape relations between Alberta and Canada. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/21/news/weakened-danielle-smith-conservative-movement-united22 Oct 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myhpy7htn227https://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myhpjmp6y227Polls located in Indigenous communities consistently posted results where the "remain" option won by over 90 per cent. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/21/news/first-nations-reject-alberta-separation22 Oct 2026 12:55 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myhpjmp6y227https://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myg2553hms2rOntario’s struggling manufacturing and critical minerals sectors will get a $9-billion bump over the next five years, with billions earmarked to support steel companies as hundreds of workers face imminent layoffs. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/21/news/carney-ford-throw-canadas-steel-auto-critical-mineral-industries-9-billion-lifeline21 Oct 2026 20:59 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myg2553hms2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myfmntqcl22cAt a referendum watch party, signs emerged of where the separatism movement is going next. @readtheorchard.org reports from Edmonton https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/20/news/albertas-separatists-arent-done-some-are-done-danielle-smith21 Oct 2026 16:58 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myfmntqcl22chttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myfl5bvfr22cTo date, the organization has been instrumental in conserving 25 million hectares of wildlife habitat — an area roughly the size of Peru. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/16/news/y2y-conservationists-earthshot-prize-finalists21 Oct 2026 16:31 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myfl5bvfr22chttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mydnlh7dcc26“Alberta will never be independent as long as Danielle Smith remains premier of the province of Alberta." https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/20/news/albertas-separatists-arent-done-some-are-done-danielle-smith20 Oct 2026 22:09 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mydnlh7dcc26https://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mybvxvmpvs2d https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/19/news/albertans-vote-remain-canada20 Oct 2026 05:34 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mybvxvmpvs2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mybs4jsmgk2d@zoemas0n.bsky.social toured the oilsands from the air on referendum day.20 Oct 2026 04:25 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mybs4jsmgk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mybjdbp72k2dThe oilsands are at the centre of the separatist conversation, but the people who live and work there say they are on the periphery of Alberta's politics. @zoemas0n.bsky.social travelled to Fort McMurray to gauge the appeal of separatism in Alberta’s oilpatch. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/19/news/albertas-north-fortunes-are-tied-fate-oilsands-so-referendum-vote20 Oct 2026 01:48 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mybjdbp72k2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myahjqcils2aIn so many ways, Alberta’s political culture bears the hallmarks of unfinished adolescence: reflexive defiance, the yearning for freedom without consequences and the tendency toward whining, @maxfawcett.bsky.social writes, and the separatists are merely the logical expression of that reality. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/19/opinion/alberta-separatism-referendum-grievances19 Oct 2026 15:43 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myahjqcils2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myahgjtops2aWith respect to the climate crisis, the future of Vancouver’s climate leadership hung in the balance in this election. Sim’s defeat means his multiple efforts to roll back Vancouver’s nation-leading climate policies are mercifully done, @sethdklein.bsky.social writes. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/18/opinion/vancouver-has-re-secured-its-climate-leadership19 Oct 2026 15:41 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myahgjtops2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3myaagrblrk2uCNO's @rorywh.bsky.social compared more than 11,600 Facebook and Instagram ads from 603 candidates in 2022 and 676 in 2026. The language and messaging of local elections has changed dramatically in four years. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/19/analysis/ontario-municipal-elections-ads-spending19 Oct 2026 13:36 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3myaagrblrk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3my5zqudmoc2aBREAKING: Carney confirms 4 service members are dead and "dozens more" are seriously injured.18 Oct 2026 16:31 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3my5zqudmoc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3my5y6phfb22aEarly media reports say a gas explosion may be responsible for the incident at CFB Wainwright. DND has yet to confirm the cause. But documents reviewed by Canada's National Observer point to gas infrastructure in the immediate area of the fire. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/18/news/documents-show-gas-infrastructure-near-wainwright-explosion18 Oct 2026 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3my5y6phfb22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3my4rss7ows26Our reporter @zoemas0n.bsky.social is in Wainwright with photojournalist @arlyn-mcadorey.bsky.social. We will be updating this story as more information becomes available. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/17/news/casualties-arrive-hospital-after-serious-incident-military-base-south-edmonton18 Oct 2026 04:36 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3my4rss7ows26https://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3my3gqof6dc2bThe videos careen between awkward camera angles and scales, archival footage and clips of The Simpsons to paint Pete Fry as the candidate best placed to give the city a new start. What they lack in policy discussion they make up for in chaos. Will they get Fry elected mayor of Vancouver today? https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/16/news/whos-behind-high-risk-campaign-videos-vancouvers-progressive-mayoral-candidate17 Oct 2026 15:45 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3my3gqof6dc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mxzpgplcok2aSpeaking at the Canadian Club Toronto on Friday, Joly says the government “will apply the full force of the law and every tool in the toolbox” to ensure the steel manufacturer remains operational in the face of decreased export demand caused by US tariffs on Canadian steel exports. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/16/news/joly-sense-urgency-no-set-timeline-legal-action-stelco16 Oct 2026 23:16 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxzpgplcok2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mxzbbur42c2oPrime Minister Mark Carney was in Calgary on Thursday to galvanize pro-Canada voters ahead of Alberta’s referendum next week — and took a rare shot at Premier Danielle Smith’s government along the way. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/16/news/carney-calgary-nine-alberta-referendum16 Oct 2026 19:02 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxzbbur42c2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/nationalobserver.com/post/3mxz6qp3lh22oFor many Canadians in a crisis, the first instinct is to call 911. But not on British Columbia’s central coast. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/15/news/bc-central-coast-911-service16 Oct 2026 18:17 +0000at://did:plc:zh5dfrgucq2td5ngz2wtlzle/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxz6qp3lh22o