While Hollywood actors and directors mill around the streets of Alberta's picturesque Canmore, the very storefronts they use to film their Hallmark movies are closed down.

Businesses are empty and dying, while Hollywood thrives. Now, I don't begrudge them for the hustle, but what happened to putting Albertans first? During Premier Jason Kenney's strict lockdowns — that seem to disproportionately affect the bottom line of small, family-operated businesses — Albertans are struggling to put food on the table.

This is what Nicky Scott, an esthetician and entrepreneur in Canmore, calls blatant “hypocrisy.” Her viral video that she posted after seeing the close-quarters, hustle and bustle of a Hallmark film being shot in her small town drove the point home. It was aptly titled, “Welcome to the land of bullshit.”

Scott operates a small studio in Canmore that deals in all sorts of personal health and beauty services. The very sort of business that Alberta's premier in fact praised for not having any traceable viral spread. Despite that recognition, her business was lumped in with the shutdown.

It doesn’t make sense, until you realize that the shutdown isn't about public health — it is about Kenney collapsing under the tremendous weight of the media, who will accept nothing less than the abject destruction of Alberta's economy. It is almost as if they revel in seeing single mothers like Scott struggle.

Despite all odds being against her, Nicky Scott pledged to open her doors to clients in spite of the lockdown — so naturally, we had to pay her a visit. Who knows, maybe she’s the next Adamson BBQ joint?