In the last three months Albertans have witnessed a shocking display of raw power. The Redford government calls it “delivering the responsible change Albertans voted for.” The rest of us call it the abuse of majority power to crush the rights of environmentalists, land owners and labour unions. Black November
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Susan on the Soapbox: “What Makes Canada So Great?”
Michaela Pereira, CNN television personality and news anchor (I use the term loosely) asked a member of the Canadian Olympic skiing team this question: “What makes Canada so great?” My immediate reaction was: What a goofy question. Luckily the Canadian athlete had more tact. He replied: “Teamwork”. He may be
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: CSEC Exonerated
Mr Jean-Pierre Plouffe, CSEC watchdog, has determined that CSEC is off the hook,it did not direct any activity at Canadians or persons in Canada. He’s hanging his hat on the distinction between “collecting metadata” and “tracking Canadians”. I guess if CSEC activity isn’t “directed” at Canadians, then CSEC bears no responsibility
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: “I Am A Canadian” (Reader Discretion is Advised)
The Soapbox does not publish rants that appear uninvited in one’s inbox but this one raises some interesting questions for the 2015 federal election. Here it is: I AM A CANADIAN I am in the minority in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and every casino in this country. I was born in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: CSEC Letter from Wayne Easter Liberal MP
Last week I sent a letter to Justin Trudeau and Liberal MP Wayne Easter expressing support the Liberal bill that would impose parliamentary oversight over CSEC. Here is Mr Easter’s reply. I copied my letter to the Prime Minister, his Defence Minister and my MP, Joan Crockatt. Not a peep
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Forget “Angry Birds” Where are the Angry Canadians?
Saturday’s headline in Canada’s “newspaper of record”, The Globe and Mail, was not “Harper government caught spying on Canadians” but “Rob Ford admits jaywalking ticket in Vancouver”. Are you kidding me??? Let’s review the week, shall we? Angry Birds It started with Edward Snowden revealing that American and British spy
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Trouble with Ezra Levant…
Mr Ezra Levant Ezra Levant is a Canadian media personality, an ultra-conservative political activist, author and lawyer who has made a brilliant career out of being half right. In a recent episode of The Source, Mr Levant outlined the flaws in Neil Young’s rationale for the Honour the Treaties Tour.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Buck Stops Here — Privacy 101 for Minister Horne — A guest blog by lawyer Brian Thiessen
Susan on the Soapbox welcomes her first guest blogger. Employment and privacy lawyer Brian Thiessen has a few words to say about a privacy breach that impacts 620,000 Albertans. The title says it all. The Buck Stops Here–Privacy 101 for Minister Horne–Incompetence is not a defence Like most Albertans, I
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Does Fort Mac Look Like Hiroshima?
Neil Young said many provocative things about the oilsands, but the one that became a lightning rod for criticism was this: “The fact is, Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima”.* He later explained that the reference to Fort McMurray was meant to symbolize all of the oilsands operations in northern Alberta.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Neil Young is Right
“Take a second to really look at what you hear.” – Neil Young, singer/songwriter Neil Young knows how to rile up a crowd. In a 15 minute press conference* to kick off his Honour the Treaties Tour with Diana Krall he said some things that sent Big Oil and a
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Minister Bhullar’s Revelation: 741 Children Die in Government Care
Last week Human Services Minister Manmeet Bhullar made a shocking announcement—741 children died in government foster homes or other forms of government care since 1999. This is 13 times higher than the 56 reported by the government in its annual reports and five times higher than the 145 uncovered by
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Progressive Conservatives Prepare for War–Really!
“Our organization cannot lose the grassroots donation battle to our opposition if we hope to win the war in 2016.”—Ron Renaud, PC Chief Financial Officer Win the war in 2016??? The “war” metaphor Before we get sucked into the “war” metaphor let’s pause and consider what George Orwell taught us—thought
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Susan on the Soapbox Wins a Clawbie!
As some of you may know, Susan on the Soapbox was nominated for a Clawbie (the Canadian Law Blog Awards) by ABlawg, an excellent law blog produced by my alma mater, the University of Calgary law school. This morning while I was cleaning out the basement, I learned that the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: CNRL’s Primrose Problem: A Slow Motion Blow Out
When King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson it was scandalous. When the Alberta government abdicated the regulation of Alberta’s natural resources to an industry-led agency nobody raised an eyebrow. The new Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is 100% funded by industry. It’s chaired by an industry lobbyist,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Traditional Christmas Blog
The Soapbox family, like your family, does not live in a Norman Rockwell painting. Our Christmas traditions run the gamut from Dolly Parton Christmas carols (don’t ask) to an amazing Christmas dinner prepared to perfection by his nibs, Mr Soapbox. We thought we had all our traditions down pat…and then
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Wolves and Rabbits: The $3 billion RFP for Lab Services
I was slogging through Alberta Health Service’s Request For Proposals (RFP) for a 15 year $3 billion contract to provide lab services in the Edmonton area when the words of a former boss popped to mind…The world is divided into wolves and rabbits. Wolves or rabbits? Care to guess what
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Redford’s Performance Appraisal: The Building Alberta Plan
Alison Redford’s performance appraisal document landed on my doorstep a week ago. It’s called “The Building Alberta Plan 2013 Edition”. In the real world a CEO undergoes an annual performance appraisal with the Compensation Committee of the board of directors. If a CEO presented Redford’s Plan to the Comp Committee
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Redford and Mandela: Hypocrisy and Hope (Part 2)
“He would continually bring people back to the table. That was his greatest strength”—Ms Redford on Nelson Mandela* Sadly, Ms Redford never learned how to bring “people back to the table” here in Alberta. So she resorted to the meat hammer—ramming through Bill 46 for force a “settlement” on the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Redford and Mandela: Hypocrisy Meets Hope and Learns Nothing
The Redford government’s capacity for hypocrisy knows no bounds. In the same week that Redford’s PC government passed two corrosive pieces of anti-labour legislation, Ms Redford reflected on what she’d learned as a young lawyer working with Nelson Mandela to reform South Africa’s legal system. Nelson Mandela “He taught me
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: 145 Children Die in Government Care; but 89 Don’t Count
“WHEREAS the Government of Alberta recognizes that children and youth are our greatest resource…blah blah blah”—Child and Youth Advocate Act One hundred and forty five children died in government care since 1999. The government reported 56 deaths. The rest sank below the radar because they were the result of
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