“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 readingAuthor: susanonthesoapbox
Susan 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
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Who’s On First: Jason Kenney’s Response to the 4th Wave
Abbott and Costello’s comedy routine “Who’s on First” was performed in the late 1940s. It’s based on a skit Abbott heard in an episode of a radio comedy show called “It Pays to be Ignorant.” Premier Kenney performed his own version of this routine in the Legislature last Thursday, only
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: It’s my birthday (sort of)
I celebrated a birthday earlier this week and in the Soapbox household birthday celebrations go on forever. Which is why there is no blog today. I’ll be back next week. In the meantime I’d like to leave you with a thought. This comes from an interesting new book called Bucking
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s Last AGM
A political party’s AGM tells you a lot about the party. What we learned after the UCP AGM is the UCP’s big tent isn’t big enough to hold all its members. But first a quick recap relating to the small matter of Jason Kenney’s leadership review. The proposal to make
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Department of Education: The Nazis were good people too (or some such BS)
This week we learned that in 2020 the Dept of Education published a document recommending that teachers discussing Nazi atrocities also include material showing the Nazi’s policies strengthened Germany’s economy. Why? Because it’s important from a diversity and respect perspective to “reveal both the positive and negative behaviors and attitudes
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Government or Frat House? Either Way Kenney Can’t Lead
Ariella Kimmel, former chief of staff to Jobs Minister Doug Schweitzer, filed a lawsuit this spring alleging the Premier’s office fostered a “poisoned work environment,” it failed to address her concerns about the sexual harassment of another employee, and she’d been fired for raising it. She’s suing for just under
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Halloween in Alberta
In its Halloween message the Kenney government said today is a day filled with costumes, pumpkin carving, scary movies, and tasty treats. They encouraged everyone to follow the advice of our health officials so we can all enjoy the spookiest time of the year. Sounds nice but the rest of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Allan Report: Foreign Funding of Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns
First, we had Steve Allan’s Report on the (not so public) public inquiry’s findings with respect to the role of foreign funding into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns. Then we had the Kenney government’s press release which said the Allan Report confirmed “hundreds of millions of foreign dollars were used to block
Continue reading