Amber Valley and Wildwood – home of the first Black settlers on the Canadian prairies

Amber Valley and Wildwood – home of the first Black settlers on the Canadian prairies

Feature In 1909, when segregation laws and the Ku Klux Klan were terrorising the southern United States, a group of 160 African-American homesteaders travelled north to Alberta to find freedom and opportunity. These pioneers settled the land, creating an African-American outpost in the heart of Canada’s prairies. By 1911, almost a thousand had made the […]

‘The Sleeping Car Porter’ writer Suzette Mayr wins 2022 Giller Prize

‘The Sleeping Car Porter’ writer Suzette Mayr wins 2022 Giller Prize

Suzette Mayr has won the $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Calgary-born and of German and Bahamian background, Mayr received the honour for her novel “The Sleeping Car Porter.” “I think today I’m officially done with my feelings of impostor syndrome as a writer,” Mayr told the crowd assembled at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. “The […]

Toddler’s need for stem cell match highlights lack of Black donors

Toddler’s need for stem cell match highlights lack of Black donors

  An Alberta father is in Winnipeg this weekend as a national search for a stem cell match for his two-year-old son with cancer continues — and he’s raising awareness about the desperate need for Black stem cell donors along the way. Ezra Marfo was born in Lac La Biche, Alta., in 2020 and was […]

Black history in Alberta brought to life          

Black history in Alberta brought to life          

  A new online exhibit aims to demonstrate how learning Black history is essential to understanding the formation of Alberta. The new exhibit by Edmonton City as Museum Project explores the formation of Alberta’s Black communities from the late 1800s to the early 1970s. “What I want people to take away is the activism, the […]

Alberta ends carding but brings in new rules on random checks

Alberta ends carding but brings in new rules on random checks

EDMONTON — The Alberta government has banned the practice of carding by police and is bringing in new rules on when officers can randomly stop and question people. Justice Minister Kaycee Madu says members of Black, Indigenous and other communities have expressed concerns that they are unfairly targeted and harassed. “It creates distrust and alienation […]

Alberta to limit temporary foreign worker program

Alberta to limit temporary foreign worker program

EDMONTON — The Alberta government is hoping to open jobs in the province for local people by closing some of them to foreigners. On Monday, provincial Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping said the United Conservative government will limit the number and type of temporary foreign workers it allows into the province. Copping said the […]