“In terms of who is responsible we all need only to look in the mirror. Basically all of us have had the best of everything and haven’t had to pay the cost.”—Premier Jim Prentice musing about Alberta’s $7 billion budget deficit Those four little words—look in the mirror—swept Jim
Continue readingAuthor: susanonthesoapbox
Susan on the Soapbox: A Modest Proposal for Cooperation Among Progressives in Alberta
“I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection” — Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (1729) Relax. Ms Soapbox’s modest proposal does not involve devouring children in order to ease Alberta’s economic problems. It builds on an excellent cooperation
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Ralph Nader’s Open Letter to Stephen Harper
February 18, 2015 The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P. 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister: Many Americans love Canada and the specific benefits that have come to our country from our northern neighbor’s many achievements (see Canada Firsts by Nader, Conacher and Milleron). Unfortunately, your latest proposed
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What Happens to the Eloi When the Morlocks Leave Town: A Lesson for Jim Prentice from H.G. Wells
“History is a race between education and catastrophe.” — H G Wells HG Wells may not have had a time machine, but he was certainly prescient. In The Time Machine the narrator, known simply as the Traveller, invents a contraption that takes him to 802,701 AD. There he finds
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mr Prentice: Premier or CEO?
“We have to do more with less. That will apply across the board. It will have to apply to the very good work [of the child advocate], it will have to apply to my office, it will have to apply to the auditor general’s office. That’s the way it’s going
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Six Political Personalities: Which One is Jim Prentice?
The only thing worse than a political strategist spouting theories on how to beat the competition is a blogger discussing a political strategist’s theories on how to beat the competition. But Ms Soapbox is going to do it anyway because the events of the last few weeks made her cranky
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Prentice Takes a Pay Cut and You Should Too. Um, What???
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” – Anatole France “Burden-sharing” When Mr Prentice announced the 5% cut in MLA pay he sanctimoniously declared: “The term I’ve used is ‘burden-sharing’…no
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta: Government By Trial Balloon
“The chickens are coming home to roost, and you live in the chicken house.”– General MacArthur to President Kennedy during the Bay of Pigs crisis. Mr Prentice, like President Kennedy, managed to get elected just in time to confront the nasty consequences of decisions made by his predecessors. Albertans are
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Steven Salaita to Speak at University of Alberta, January 13th
Originally posted on Arts Squared: View original
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Anatomy of a Homicide Investigation
Just as Ms Soapbox was fretting over Prime Minister Harper’s decision to appoint former CSIS director Richard Fadden to the newly created post of National Security Advisor she received an invitation from Assentio Mentium. Assentio Mentium is a program offered by the U of C law school to engage lawyers,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta Needs Charlie Hebdo
Wednesday’s massacre of eight journalists, five of whom were political cartoonists, at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo unleashed a torrent of “We are Charlie Hebdo” editorials across the world. Newspapers fell all over themselves in an effort to demonstrate solidarity with the slain cartoonists—but they had a concern. Was
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: When Politicians Lie…er, Misspeak Themselves
“How do you know when a politician is lying? His lips are moving.”—Political joke. Politicians don’t lie. They misspeak, they overstate, they understate. And the press distorts, takes out of context, twists, exaggerates or does something equally heinous to what they’ve said. Poor dears. Over the past few months Premier
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Soapbox Family’s Christmas Tree
Ms Soapbox spent Boxing Day reading, playing Battleship and wondering what to do about the Christmas tree. The Soapbox family has a fake tree. Every couple of years Ms Soapbox yearns for a real one. Ms Soapbox has had an uneasy relationship with Christmas trees ever since she was a
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith Betrayed the Wildrose; Jim Prentice Betrayed the Rest of Us
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” —Abraham Lincoln Premier Prentice gave every member of his caucus a copy of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals. No doubt to help them “decide” whether to let Danielle Smith, the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: OPEC Sets Up the Rollercoaster, Albertans Take a Ride (Again)
“You come from capitalist nations. You know what the market does. For any commodity it goes up and down, up and down”—Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi* Contrary to the expectations of many analysts, OPEC (read Saudi Arabia) decided it would not reduce its 30 million-barrel-a-day production quota in order to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Fortress Calgary: The “Gate” in Mahogany Manor
What is it about gated communities that sends us into orbit? Calgary Planning Commission (CPC) just approved the construction of a “gate” in the southern Calgary to keep the hoi polloi out of Mahogany Manor despite the fact that the Planning Department recommended refusal. The “gate” is actually a seven
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What if Prentice Issued an FAQ to Explain Bill 10…?
Premier Prentice likes corporate-speak (“under new management”, “price takers, not price makers”, etc) so let’s apply a corporate communication tool, the FAQ, to explain the government’s rationale for Bill 10. And let’s assume for a wild and crazy moment that the answers his spokesperson provides are the unvarnished truth. Frequently
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Lessons Prentice Learned at Harper’s Knee
Somewhere between the time that Premier Hancock stepped down and Premier Prentice ascended to the throne, the PC caucus turned into a bunch of sniveling crybabies. Not to worry, Mr Prentice will save the day with a maneuver befitting his mentor, Mr Harper. Apparently the Liberal’s Bill 202 wedged the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Who Has The Worst Job in Alberta Politics?
Why does the public go bananas when Danielle Smith, the leader of the Official Opposition, criticizes the PC government? They say she’s too negative, too shrill, too something. Can’t she be more positive they ask? More supportive? Clearly they haven’t a clue about the role of the Opposition. A thankless
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mouseland (why do people vote against their self-interest?)
“All the laws were good laws. For cats.”—Tommy Douglas The other day I called Telus to cancel my campaign phones and internet service. Groan. After listening to canned music for 17 minutes I was transferred to a customer service rep. He took my information, argued with me when I
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