This weekend Ms Soapbox was going to write a breezy little blog saying she was taking the summer off. She was going to wish everyone a safe and pleasant summer and ask them to check back here on September 5, 2021, to resume the battle of trying to stay ahead
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Susan on the Soapbox: Kenney and the Autocrat’s Handbook
The Alberta Legislature ended the 2021 Spring Session on a particularly disturbing note. Members of the Opposition asked Jason Kenney to apologize for his role in pushing the niqab ban, a policy that contributed to growing Islamophobia, while he was a federal cabinet minister. Instead of an apology, Kenney stood
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Fighting Racism in Kenney’s Alberta
Sometimes it pays to sit through a 53 minute 42 second Kenney press conference because something unexpected will happen at the very end. In this case it happened at the 46:24 mark. Last week in the wake of the horrific attack on the Afzaal family in London, premier Kenney and
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s Thoughts on Residential Schools
The only reason I’m going to mention the Sky Palace scandal in the same post as the deaths of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school in Kamloops BC is because the Sky Palace scandal pulled our focus away from Jason Kenney’s utterly inappropriate response to the history of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Reopening Plan: “The Best Alberta Summer Ever”
“Today we are truly near the end of this thing. We’re finally getting back to normal, and I think it means the best Alberta summer ever.” – Premier Jason Kenney Last week Premier Kenney, Dr Deena Hinshaw, and Health Minister Shandro (collectively KHS) unveiled Open for Summer, Alberta’s reopening
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Happy Victoria Day
It’s Victoria Day tomorrow. Ms Soapbox is taking a break this weekend to celebrate the occasion with her family. So far I’ve visited with those in our bubble, ordered in from a local restaurant, played Rummikub, cribbage and a weird Hungarian card game that no one knows the rules
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Um, Uh, You Know, Reopening Plan
Alberta is a train slowly emerging from a tunnel, we see the light, the vaccines are coming and most of us will be vaccinated soon. Unfortunately, Alberta is a runaway train and Jason Kenney is the engine driver (also known as the loco pilot in some jurisdictions). Alberta’s loco pilot
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Happy Mother’s Day
I’m afraid I’ve lost it. This was going to be a cheery little non-political post wishing all the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day…but it went sideways when I saw Jason Kenney’s Mother’s Day news release and YouTube clip. The YouTube clip got me steamed up when Kenney said
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: It Must Be Nice, Alberta
It must be nice to live in a bubble where Covid-19 is a hoax created by those who want to infringe your Charter right to swill beer in a pub and Covid vaccines are a plot perpetrated by multi-billionaires who want to track your movements from your house to the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney vs Freeland: National Child Care
“…this is going to be the most powerful step change in the Canadian economy since we did the NAFTA deal. It will really drive our economic productivity, our growth.” – Chrystia Freeland describing the Feds $10/day child care plan.* You’d think Jason Kenney, the premier who says the economy is
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Man of Half-Measures
“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”—Winston Churchill. Lives and… When he’s not on the front line fighting covid, Dr Joe Vipond is busy analyzing the data and
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Does Mr Kenney Lie Awake at Night?
“With respect to MLAs who have stated their position, in this province we believe in freedom of speech. We believe in democracy.” – Jason Kenney after 16 UCP MLAs challenged his public health measures. Does Premier Kenney lie awake at night wondering how he got here? He should, because
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Easter in Alberta
Whether you observe Easter, Passover, or the rising of the first full moon after the spring equinox, this is the time of year when we emerge from the gloom of winter with renewed hope for the spring. Sadly, some of us are crawling out of a pit that is darker
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mr Kenney Responds to the Supreme Court of Canada
“Parliament acted within its jurisdiction.” – Supreme Court of Canada Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act On Mar 25 Premier Kenney issued a statement followed by a press conference to respond to the Supreme Court of Canada’s (SCC) ruling that the federal carbon tax is constitutional. My first thought
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Bigfoot Blog
“Here’s a Hollywood production that depicts an oil company … as wanting to murder children to oppose environmental progress…The NDP, that’s who they’re defending…They’ve always been against our largest industry.” – Jason Kenney doubling down on the War Room’s anti-Bigfoot campaign Sigh. Here we are, bracing for the third wave
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Hey Doc, Ya Wanna Work in Alberta?
“Nice business you got here, be a shame if something happened to it.” – Gangster in a B-grade movie Alberta’s doctors are tired. They’ve been fighting covid for over a year while at the same time fighting with the Health Minister, Mr Shandro, who has filled their lives with
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mr Toews Advises the Feds on Economic Recovery
The UCP government is nothing if not brazen. Having failed to explain how the UCP government was going to set Alberta on the path to economic recovery Mr Toews, Alberta’s finance minister and treasury board president, decided to lecture the federal government what it must do to get the country
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Budget 2021
“…if you don’t mind my sayin’ I can see you’re out of aces. For a taste of your whiskey, I’ll give you some advice”—Kenney Rogers, The Gambler If there is one thing we should take away from Finance Minister Toews’ budget presentation last Thursday it’s this: the Kenney government has
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: It’s been one of those weeks
This has been one of those weeks, full of highs and lows, birthdays (yay) and covid tests (boo). The Soapbox family came through it all just fine, but as a result of the ‘distractions’ there is no blog this week. Have a safe week everyone and we’ll talk again next
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Minister Savage on Coal Policy
What did we learn from Energy minister Savage’s press conference announcing the so-called reversal of the government’s unbelievably bone-headed decision to cancel the 1976 Coal Policy? Well, Ms Savage has some good speech writers. The “thank you for your passion” and “we made a mistake” bits were nice touches,
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