Byron Hackett

5 days ago | reddeeradvocate.com | Byron Hackett

In the middle of a health care crisis and health reorganization, what better position to leave open than the Chief Medical Officer of Health? Alberta’s government, which routinely likes to argue that it uses little or no intervention in the workings of Alberta Health Services, let Dr. Mark Joffre’s contract casually expire on Monday without hardly a word. Joffre had seemingly been a good soldier for the province, taking over a tumultuous position in November of 2022. And yet, he’s out of a job.

2 weeks ago | reddeeradvocate.com | Byron Hackett

I was about 7 years old when I had my tonsils removed. I still remember it like it was yesterday, struggling and crying through 12 shots of medicine that was disgusting and hurt my throat to swallow. It was the promise of a popsicle that got me through that day. I was just a kid and there are plenty of people in hospitals who have worse days than I did, but that sticks in my mind all these years later. And all these years later, popsicles are at the centre of a government controversy.

1 month ago | reddeeradvocate.com | Byron Hackett

The words were on the page. All 900 or so of them, ready for you to read in Saturday's Red Deer Advocate. And then tragedy struck – a first-world, extremely not serious problem that most people probably won't care about, but can likely can relate to. In an instant, the words were gone. The program I was using to type the column, a Pulitzer prize-winning column, I'm sure, crashed. And the column was gone.

1 month ago | reddeeradvocate.com | Byron Hackett

This will come as no surprise to most people, but Donald Trump and JD Vance are petulant children. It became crystal clear if it wasn't clear before Friday (which, my goodness, you simply haven't been paying attention if it wasn't).

1 month ago | reddeeradvocate.com | Byron Hackett

“This paper has gone to hell in a hand-basket” I was told by a frustrated reader on Monday morning, just five minutes after arriving into the office. Top notch way to start the week. We made a mistake with the horoscopes. It’s on me, I’ll own it. We have made our fair share of them since I started as Managing Editor nearly three years ago and I can’t guarantee the mistakes will disappear in year four.