We’ve been so focused on Jason Kenney’s public rhetoric that we didn’t see him transform the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose MLAs into a bunch of hush puppies ready to recite whatever speaking notes he gives them. The transformation took less than two years. This probably says more about the integrity
Continue readingAuthor: susanonthesoapbox
Susan on the Soapbox: CAPP Meet Mr Kenney
Recently Mr Kenney told municipal leaders in Cochrane that in addition to multi-billion dollar deficits and rising debt levels Alberta was drowning in red tape. To illustrate his point Kenney said it takes a week to approve a conventional oil well in Texas but a year or more to approve
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: An Election is Coming, Some Policies Would Be Nice
UCP leader Jason Kenney wants Rachel Notley to call the election on Feb 1, 2019 so Albertans can go to the polls in the first week of March. He has scheduled an election readiness conference from Feb 15 to 17, after that it’s full steam ahead…except for the fact the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Coincidence?
Ms Soapbox has spent the last two days poring over Hansard. Now she’s sick in bed. Coincidence?
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta Separatism Rears its Goofy Head
Ms Soapbox was thinking about the fog of words when she received a mass mailout letter from someone she’ll call Mr X urging her to join him and thousands of others (who shall remain nameless because their names were not provided) in an effort to motivate Canadians to make the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Politics in the Age of Bewilderment
The historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari says we’re living in the Age of Bewilderment, the old stories have collapsed and the new stories have not yet been written. Ms Soapbox thinks some politicians are trying to bridge this gap by pretending it doesn’t exist. They hope to turn this
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Dignity and Respect
Two remarkable things happened this week. One remarkably good, the other remarkably bad. Let’s start with the remarkably good. Ricardo Miranda, Alberta’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, got married to journalist and communications specialist, Christopher Brown, this week. Premier Rachel Notley officiated at the wedding and had the privilege of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Merry Christmas!
The politicians are on break and so are we. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Soapbox family. Wishing you and yours the very best for 2019! Oh, and here’s the newest addition to the Soapbox family…meet Rudy the rescue dog!
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Shakespearean Analysis of Jason Kenney
How many books and articles have we read about the rise of Donald Trump in America, Doug Ford in Ontario and Jason Kenney in Alberta? How many more historians, political scientists and armchair experts do we need to tell us how we got into this mess and how to get
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Has Jason Kenney Evolved?
The Up Series is an amazing documentary that follows the lives of 14 British children over five decades. The children were interviewed every seven years starting in 1964 when they were seven years old. The next instalment, 63 Up, will be released in 2019. The children came from the working
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Day the Market Broke
It finally happened. Someone broke the free market and the NDP government has to fix it. Weird, eh? Albertans spent the last few weeks being whip-sawed between companies (Cenovus) who said the market was broken and companies (Imperial, Husky, Suncor) who said the market was just fine, thank you very
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Albertans Aren’t Feeling the Love
Last week Ms Soapbox wrote an article for CBC in which she called out the hypocrisy of the energy industry and various conservatives who want the Alberta government to impose temporary industry-wide production cuts to prop up oil prices. Isn’t government meddling in the free market a big no-no?
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Why Carpay’s Comment About the Rainbow Flag Matters
“History can familiarize, and it can warn.” – Timothy Snyder On Thursday Mr and Ms Soapbox attended Rachel Notley’s Octoberfest in November event. In her speech, Premier Notley mentioned that Jason Kenney, the leader of the UCP, is still supporting John Carpay, who in a speech at a conference organized
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Two Minutes on Novermber 11th
Today is the 100th anniversary of the end of hostilities in the Great War. Canadians will mark this day as they have for the last century with two minutes* of silence. We will remember the 61,000 men and women who died in uniform, most of whom are buried overseas in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Hello Ottawa!
Ms Soapbox is on her way to Ottawa. There’s a good chance she’s in the air right now squashed into a tiny little seat trying to figure out why her WestJet onboard entertainment app isn’t working (luckily, she’s brought along her youngest daughter “Mini” who will fix the glitch in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Razzle Dazzle ‘Em: Part Two
Last week Jason Kenney unveiled his Fight Back Strategy. No longer would Alberta be apologetic about the energy industry. From now on Alberta, the federal government and the industry were going to fight back. Prepare to be razzle dazzled! War Room Kenney will set up a war room in the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Razzle Dazzle ‘Em: Part One
“Give ‘em the old Razzle Dazzle…how can they see with sequins in their eyes?” —Richard Gere as a corrupt criminal lawyer in the musical Chicago Prepare to be razzle dazzled! Jason Kenney spoke at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the Energy Relaunch conference recently. This post will cover the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: How a Party’s Nominees Reflect a Party’s Values
Racists, homophobes and xenophobes do not feel at home in the New Democratic Party consequently NDP nomination meetings are not derailed by bozo eruptions and do not attract much media attention. This radio silence means many Albertans are uninformed about the quality of the nominees the NDP considers of sufficient
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Political Discourse in Alberta: Seen through Orwell’s Lens
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”—George Orwell It was fascinating to consider Jason Kenney’s comments on two issues that arose this week in the context of George Orwell’s commentary on political discourse. George Orwell
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: HAPPY THANKSGIVING
It’s been an intense week (aren’t they all). Today let’s pause and reflect. We have much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. A turkey to serve cranberry sauce. Perfect.
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