It finally happened.* Despite the UCP government changing the law to allow the purchase of party memberships without someone’s knowledge or consent, the UCP executive changing the rules setting out when, where, and how Jason Kenney’s leadership review would take place and Kenney’s announcement that an approval rating of 50%
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Susan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Insulin Pump Debacle
On May 2, the Kenney government announced it would avail diabetic Albertans of newer, more technologically advanced insulin pumps. Then 10 days later it announced it was “pausing” this decision to allow for more consultation. The decision and its reversal happened so quickly it was like a snippet of time-lapse
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: More on Kenney’s Leadership Review (God, it never ends)
Have you noticed how corrupt and mediocre our government has become? Yesterday we learned that Elections Alberta is investigating the bulk buying of UCP memberships—4,000 new memberships were purchased by six credit cards sometime before March 19—this was roughly two weeks before Bill 81, The Elections Statutes Amendment Act (2021)
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Let’s Talk About Insurance
While Jason Kenney is running all over the province trying to convince UCP members he’s there for them, the actions of his government in the House last week tell a different story. But before we go there, let’s play a game. I’ll say a word and you say the first
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Happy Easter
The Soapbox family is not terribly religious but we do love our traditions. Last night we gathered to colour eggs. Mr Soapbox bought a couple of egg colouring kits, we filled six mugs with warm water and vinegar and plopped in the colour tablets that wouldn’t dissolve completely no matter
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Dr Yiu is fired, Jason Kenney is “Under Review”
Two people were fired this week. Dr Yiu was fired without cause on Apr 4. Jason Kenney is being ‘fired’ in slow motion, his dismissal will be confirmed on May 18, 2022 when the mail-in ballots are counted, or a year later on May 29, 2023 when the results of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Poisoning Democracy: Jason Nixon’s Outburst
“Unfortunately, our politicians are not only contaminating the minds of the public but poisoning our democracy at the same time.” Gary Mason, Globe & Mail columnist commenting on the two Conservative MPs who accused Prime Minister Trudeau of running a jackboot dictatorship. A quick check of Hansard this week demonstrates
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Leadership Review: The Bedlam Continues
“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” – The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats It’s been a long time coming, but it will be over eventually, not on Apr 9 and not necessarily on May 18, but eventually. And no amount of maneuvering with mass membership drives or last-minute
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Short Break
Given world events it’s become a little more difficult to focus on those squawking about their freedoms being trampled and not getting a fair deal from Ottawa. So Ms Soapbox is taking a short break. Talk to you in 2 weeks. Take care, everyone. Susan
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Ukraine Under Attack
My parents fled Hungary in 1950. They met on the boat coming over to Canada and were married a couple of years later. I’m a first generation Canadian. Ever so grateful to have been born here. I can’t write about what’s happening in Ukraine. But I do know this, we
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Traffic Ticket and a Phone Call
On Feb 25, 2022, Premier Kenney issued a misleading press release setting out his rationale for a Cabinet shuffle. Two cabinet ministers, who should have been (back) benched a long time ago, will swap ministries. Kaycee Madu will “step aside” from his role as Minister of Justice and Solicitor
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney Reacts to the Emergencies Act
“We needed to see it to believe it.”—Ottawa resident talking about police clearing out Ottawa’s downtown core after 22 days of occupation. Our trust in government was at such an all-time low that when the Federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, many of us didn’t believe the police would enforce
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Quick comment on the Illegal Occupation & Blockades
Ms Soapbox is under the weather, as such there will be no blog post today. I expect to be fully functional next week, at least physically. It will take longer than that to restore my mental equilibrium given the ongoing mismanagement of the occupation of Ottawa, the blockade at Coutts,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney and the Coutts Blockade Public Health Strategy
In the week of Feb 7, 2022, we expect Jason Kenney to cave to a band of anti-everything protesters staging an illegal blockade at Coutts, Alberta and start lifting public health restrictions. This decision came about at lightning speed considering what Kenney said about the timeline for lifting restrictions just
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney Condemns (sort of) the Actions of the Freedom Convoy
I didn’t want to write about the Freedom Convoy, aka the yahoos who converged on Ottawa to protest the federal government’s truckers vaccine mandate (and everything else covid related) and created a blockade around Edmonton’s Legislative buildings and blocked the international border at Coutts. These bone heads don’t deserve any
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Kenney Style Fireside Chat
On radio, [Franklin D Roosevelt} was able to quell rumors, counter conservative-dominated newspapers and explain his policies directly to the American people. His tone and demeanor communicated self-assurance during times of despair and uncertainty.—Wikipedia Roosevelt used radio, a “nascent media platform” to explain complex issues such as the Great Depression,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Kids Go Back to School (it’s a matter of “balance”)
“We’re on the cusp of a generational catastrophe. We need to prioritise children. And yet, for some reason, children are never prioritised. They’re the afterthought of a pandemic.” – Dr Tracey Vaillancourt, Chair, COVID-19 Task Force, Royal Society of Canada On Jan 5, 2022, after a one-week delay, Education Minister,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s New Modus Operandi: Goodbye Peter Lougheed; Hello Donald Trump
There was a time when Jason Kenney pretended to be the modern-day manifestation of Peter Lougheed, notwithstanding his conviction that Lougheed’s programs were akin to “neo-Stalinist make-work projects.” He’s since dropped the charade. He no longer pretends to be anything other than what he is. A Trump admirer. Recently he’s
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
A choir is singing something vaguely classical on the radio. Rudy the rescue dog is chilling in front of the Christmas tree. And the Soapbox family is almost ready for Christmas (although Ms Soapbox will be scrambling around at the eleventh hour as usual). Have a safe and happy
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Bill 81: The ‘what the hell was that’ Bill
“Bill 81 has always been about strengthening the democratic process in our province.” – Kaycee Madu, Justice Minister. “[Bill 81 is] one of the most overt antidemocratic moves we’ve seen from the current government in this place.” – Sarah Hoffman, NDP MLA This is your lucky day! An unknown
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