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A Meeting with Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf

A friend’s wife recently met with the MLA for Lethbridge East, the so-called honourable Nathan Neudorf. Here are the notes she shared on Facebook about the meeting:

Reflections from my recent Meeting with Nathan Neudorf

On November 10, I sat down with MLA Nathan Neudorf to discuss my concerns about Public Education and his vote in favour of legislating teachers back to work using the Notwithstanding Clause.

I’ll be honest—I wasn’t sure how the meeting would go. But I was grateful for the chance to speak directly with him.

During the meeting, I shared many concerns (which I will list below), but the main concern regarded the use of the Notwithstanding Clause.

Nathan’s explanation: He told me he wasn’t personally in favour of the clause, but said that “due to the Democratic Process” he had to vote yes with his party. When I pressed him, he admitted that if he voted against, he would be removed from the UCP.

My response: That’s not the Democratic Process—that’s Party Policy/Solidarity. Democracy means representing the people who not only elected you, but who are in your constituency, not simply following party orders. If Neudorf had stood up for what was right, he could have remained as an independent MLA and kept his integrity intact.

As someone who teaches about democracy and Canada’s government systems, I find it deeply troubling when elected officials confuse party loyalty with democratic responsibility.

A Quick Refresher on Democracy (for anyone who needs it. Maybe some MLA’s out there?):

• Democracy = power of the people (Greek “demos” + “kratia”).
-which Nicolaides should be aware of. Just saying.

• In Canada, we use representative democracy: citizens elect MLAs to represent them, not their party bosses.

True democratic participation includes:

  • Voting
  • Paying taxes & jury duty
  • Petitioning & protesting
  • Staying informed

The Charter of Rights protects our right to protest, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly—unless a government invokes the Notwithstanding Clause to override those rights.

Why this matters: Democracy only works if citizens are informed and engaged. Without proper funding for Public Education, we risk raising generations of voters who don’t understand their rights—or how easily those rights can be taken away.

Democracy isn’t perfect, but it gives us the power to demand change. That power is lost when elected officials put party loyalty above the people they represent.

My takeaway: I want MLAs who understand democracy, have the courage to stand up for what’s right, and who put integrity above party politics. Albertans deserve nothing less.

The Gist of My Concerns Raised with MLA Nathan Neudorf

  • Government tried to strip away teachers’ pensions.
  • Removed ATA’s disciplinary measures that were working.
  • Rolled out a flawed curriculum with zero resources—teachers left to buy/create their own.
  • Cut PUF funding for children with severe needs in public schools, but kept it for private schools.
  • Changed funding models so schools aren’t funded based on actual students in classrooms.
  • Forced mandatory assessments (Bill 6)
    • For Kindergarten–Grade 5:
    • Not designed by experts
    • No diagnosis or supports provided
    • 30–90 minutes per child, no funding for subs
    • Kindergarten assessments required, even though KG isn’t mandatory
  • Used the Notwithstanding Clause to legislate teachers back instead of bargaining in good faith.
  • Undermining teachers by lowering education requirements, risking quality and salaries.
  • Ignored class sizes and complexity until now, after excluding them from negotiations.
  • Alberta = highest funding for private schools + lowest funding for public schools in Canada.

Bottom line: Alberta’s government is undermining teachers, underfunding public schools, and misrepresenting democracy. OUR KIDS DESERVE BETTER!

I tried to get a meeting with Nathan Neudorf myself but was told he was too booked up to meet at this time.

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Rules of the Recall

The Edmonton Journal has a story by Michele Taylor called, “What you need to know about Alberta’s recall law“.

From the article:

Under the law, any eligible voter who has lived in a constituency for at least three months can apply to start a recall petition. The applicant must pay a $500 fee, show identification, and submit a statement of no more than 100 words explaining why the MLA should be recalled. The chief electoral officer, who oversees Elections Alberta, has seven days to approve or reject the application.

If approved, organizers have 90 days to gather signatures from registered voters in that constituency. Only registered local canvassers can collect signatures, and each must swear an affidavit confirming that they personally witnessed every signature. To succeed, the petition must collect valid signatures from at least 60 per cent of the voters who cast ballots in the most recent provincial election, which was changed from 40 per cent of total registered voters.

If that enormous threshold is met, Elections Alberta verifies the petition and publishes the results. The Lieutenant Governor in Council — effectively, the provincial cabinet — must then declare a recall vote within four months. If a simple majority of voters say “yes” to removing the MLA, the seat is declared vacant, and a byelection follows.

I’ve been talking with other concerned residents of Lethbridge East and learning how to enact a recall for our representative that voted to strip teachers’ charter rights away with Bill 2 when there were many other options to get teachers back in the classroom. Stay tuned.

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Remembrance Day

My grandfather, Ellsworth Scoville, was too young to join the war effort1 but he decided to try anyway. He went to the Canadian Navy and told them that he had experience in the Merchant Marines. They asked what his rank was and he responded, “just an ordinary sailor”.

It’s been a running joke in our family to answer, “just an ordinary sailor” whenever you don’t know the correct answer but are faux pretending that you know what you’re talking about.

They let him in anyway and he was awarded four medals for his service2

  1. During the Second World War[↩]
  2. I’ve shared a photo of them before.[↩]
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The Poppy Problem

It’s the year 2025 and an improved design of Canada’s iconic Remembrance Day poppy is nowhere to be seen. As a country are we really never going to improve on the straight pin through plastic into chest configuration? Something as simple as a safety pin MUST be possible, but I also think a magnet backing would be a game changer.

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Home Run Balls

John Bains
John Bains holding his caught home run ball.
Matthew Bains holding his caught home run ball.

These photos are of John Bains, a Toronto Blue Jays fan, and his son Matthew, who caught back-to-back home runs during Game 7 of the World Series.

The father and son were attending Game 7 when they each caught separate home run balls hit by Los Angeles Dodgers Miguel Rojas and Will Smith.

The first home run, caught by the father, John, was a 387-foot blast from Rojas that tied the game.

The second, a home run hit by Smith, was caught by his son, Matthew.

While watching the game, I thought Bains threw Rojas’ ball back because that’s what it looked like on screen, but apparently he threw a decoy which was waiting in his pocket. The real one never left his hand.

From a report by Darren Rovell:

“I had a feeling I might have had to do it,” Bains said.

Bains said he had a regular major-league ball in his right pocket, and that’s the one he threw back.

“It wasn’t even a World Series ball,” he said, laughing.

He said Matthew also did the same thing, and the two Blue Jays fans are now in possession of the two pieces of history. MLB will not authenticate baseballs that leave the field of play, unless they are specially marked.

He says he’s leaning toward keeping the balls as a keepsake but when asked what price might change his mind he was quick to say:

“I’d take $1 million for the Rojas ball and $1.5 million for the Smith ball,” he said. “They were both game-changing baseballs.”

They will certainly be life-changing balls when he sells them and it sounds like the price he’s asking isn’t totally out to lunch:

Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam ball from the 2024 World Series sold last year at SCP Auctions for $1.56 million. It’s the third-highest price paid for a baseball behind Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from the 2024 season ($4.39 million at Goldin Auctions) and Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball ($3.05 million at Guernsey’s in 1999).

(via cllct)

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The Silent Crowd

I could have used this advice last month when I was running for the local public school board: Sam Harris on public speaking. He shares some of his own hang-ups getting into public speaking and how to get over your fear.

Needless to say, I am not a born performer. Nor am I naturally comfortable standing in front of a group of friends or strangers to deliver a message. However, I have always been someone who had things he wanted to say. This marriage of fear and desire is an unhappy one—and many people are stuck in it.

At the end of my senior year in high school, I learned that I was to be the class valedictorian. I declined the honor. And I managed to get into my thirties without directly confronting my fear of public speaking. At the age of thirty-three, I enrolled in graduate school, where I gave a few scientific presentations while lurking in the shadows of PowerPoint. Still, it seemed that I might be able to skirt my problem with a little luck—until I began to feel as though a large pit had opened in the center of my life, and I was circling the edge. It was becoming professionally and psychologically impossible to turn away.

The reckoning finally came when I published my first book, The End of Faith. Suddenly, I was thirty-seven and faced with the prospect of a book tour. I briefly considered avoiding all public appearances and becoming a man of mystery. Had I done so, I would still be fairly mysterious, and you probably wouldn’t be reading these words.

It’s crazy to me that Sam Harris ever felt nervous speaking in front of an audience. When I was asked to create a two minute campaign video that was to be done without teleprompter or notes, I was terrified. I still feel embarrassed about how stilted I sounded.

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Tesla in the Age of Musk Partisanship

Progressives are much more likely to buy electric cars than conservatives, I’ve always thought it’s because they are more concerned about the environment and climate change and want to use renewable energy sources. It follows that, at least until about 2020, most people buying Teslas were left leaning. But then, Musk became a vocal supporter of Republicans.

As this was happening, you might have been wondering, how will this affect Tesla’s bottom line? I sure did.

One could’ve imagined that perhaps Tesla had fully saturated the Democratic market and Musk’s hard right turn would win Republican sales…

But that doesn’t appear to be the case: “The Musk Partisan Effect on Tesla Sales” is a report out of Yale by Kenneth Gillingham, Matthew Kotchen, James Levinsohn and Barry Nalebuff that, using science, explains the effect Musk’s right wing politics has had on its business:

Using county-level, monthly data on new vehicle registrations, we leverage how changes in vehicle sales over time diverge across counties with differing shares of Democratic and Republican voters. Without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla sales between October 2022 and April 2025 would have been 67-83% higher, equivalent to 1-1.26 million more vehicles. Musk’s partisan activities also increased the sales of other automakers’ electric and hybrid vehicles 17-22% because of substitution, and undermined California’s progress in meeting its zero-emissions vehicle target.

A million lost vehicle sales! All because of the perception that owning such a vehicle might reflect that you support the CEO’s politics.

Now, of course it’s not Tesla owners’ fault and yet some have been placing stickers to cover their perceived ostracism.