We’re still trying to make sense of this election. There’s no question Rachel Notley’s NDP made phenomenal gains against the UCP. They pulled in 776,000 votes (157,000 more than they received in 2019) and gained 39 seats (15 more than they had in 2019), but it still wasn’t
Continue readingAuthor: susanonthesoapbox
Susan on the Soapbox: Election Day
We’ve said everything there is to say. We’ve done everything we can do. Vote wisely Alberta.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: No means No: Smith and the Ethics Commissioner’s Report
Yes, I watched the debate. No, I’m not going to write about it except to say Danielle Smith’s closing comment illustrates how slick she is. Smith said, “My commitment to each of you is to serve you with everything I have and to the best of my ability, however imperfect
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Thoughts on Danielle Smith’s Latest Comment
When is a person old enough to know better? I ask because Danielle Smith was 50 when she said 75% of the public who took the covid vaccine would support a tyrant like Hitler. She also said she wasn’t wearing a poppy because the politicians “ruined it for me this
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Wildfires and Gordon Lightfoot
“Do the best with what you’ve got.”—Gordon Lightfoot News of Gordon Lightfoot’s death, while not unexpected, still came as a shock. We didn’t think he’d live forever; truth be told we didn’t think about him very much anymore, then boom! he was gone. And I’ve been thinking about him
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Flames Arena Deal (What’s my vote worth?)
Last week the City of Calgary. the Province of Alberta and the billionaire owners of the Calgary Flames signed a nonbinding MOU for a new arena and related improvements. The tab is $1.2B with $800M for the arena and $400M for related improvements in the entertainment district. It looks like
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Gondek, Notley and Smith: An important conversation
Last week Calgary Economic Development presented its Report to the Community. The highlight of the event was Mayor Jyoti Gondek’s conversations with Rachel Notley and Danielle Smith. Gondek asked each leader 4 pre-set questions and 2 questions from the audience. She talked with Notley first and Smith second. It was
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Hiding From the Fourth Estate
Last week Danielle Smith announced her new “one question, no follow up” rule for journalists asking questions at her press conferences. She said the “one question” rule would apply to everything, not just the ethics commissioner’s investigation into whether Smith interfered with the administration of justice in her 11
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Happy Easter!
Readers of this blog know that we take a break from politics on holidays. They also know that the Soapbox family is not terribly religious, but we do love our traditions. One of our favourites is the Easter egg decorating competition. This year in addition to usual categories–the prettiest egg,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Smith’s 11 Minute Phone Call with the Pastor
“That’s an astounding thing to say from the Premier of the province.” – Law prof Eric Adams On May 29 Danielle Smith issued a press statement to pre-empt a CBC story about a conversation she had with street-pastor Artur Pawlowski. People thought she was bracing for renewed accusations that she
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Simple Question (well, three simple questions)
Something is happening with Alberta’s anesthesiologists and it’s not clear what. Last week, David Shepherd, NDP health critic, asked Jason Copping, the UCP health minister three simple questions: will surgeries in AHS publicly funded hospitals be postponed because AHS is redeploying anesthesiologists to for-profit chartered surgical facilities (CSF)? has
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Who Do You Trust?
In less than 70 days Albertans will decide whether Daniel Smith’s UCP or Rachel Notley’s NDP will form the next government. Political junkies like me have pretty much made up our minds about who’s getting our vote, but we’re always interested in what others are thinking. which was why I
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Reno
Ms Soapbox is on week six of an eight week renovation. The sad little room in the photo is what is left of her writing room. She’s taken to working in the basement wrapped in a blanket and her energy is flagging. While this situation lends itself to all sorts
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Budget ’23: The Same Old Razzle Dazzle (with sprinkles on top)*
I’m not sure what Trevor Tombe did that caused Danielle Smith to say he was becoming one of her favourite economists, but it certainly wasn’t this. In a recent article about Budget 2023 Tombe said the budget moved Alberta into a “new fiscal reality where we are more reliant on
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Day Premier Smith Lost All Credibility
Albertans are asking a lot of questions about RStar, the $100 million pilot program designed to give owners of inactive wells a royalty credit on new wells if they clean up their old wells which they’re legally obligated to clean up in the first place. The question asked by a
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The UCP Government Responds to Justice Paul Rouleau’s Report on the Emergencies Act
On Friday Justice Paul Rouleau released his report of the inquiry into the Trudeau government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to the convoy protests in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada. Rouleau determined the Feds’ decision met the “very high threshold” necessary to invoke the Act. The Alberta
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The RStar Debacle (Who’s going to clean up this mess?)
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” — opening scene, Star Wars The first thing I thought of when I heard the word RStar was the opening sequence in the first Star Wars movie: yellow letters scroll up the screen and the audience learns about the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Woke? What?
Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK): adjective: aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)—Merriam-Webster I don’t read publications like the Western Standard or the Dorchester Review as a rule but thanks to the imbroglio over Law Society Rule 67.4, I made an
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Shandro’s Disciplinary Hearing
The “boiling frog syndrome” is a metaphor used to describe the failure to act against a problematic situation which will increase in severity until reaching catastrophic proportions.—Wikipedia. Let’s talk about Tyler Shandro’s disciplinary hearing. While it’s easy to get drawn into the melodrama and pathos (key elements in a
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: “Too Many Gotchas”
“Nothing to see here, move along.” – Movie trope Last week the CBC published a story saying that a staffer in Danielle Smith’s office sent a series of emails to Crown prosecutors challenging their assessment and direction on criminal cases arising from the Coutts border blockades and protests. You remember
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