This has been one of those weeks, full of highs and lows, birthdays (yay) and covid tests (boo). The Soapbox family came through it all just fine, but as a result of the ‘distractions’ there is no blog this week. Have a safe week everyone and we’ll talk again next
Continue readingTag: Alberta Health Care
Susan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney: A Failure to Communicate?
On Jan 1, 2021, Jason Kenney held a press conference to respond to the alarming news that some of his MLAs, political staff and senior government officials decided it was just fine to fly off to places like the UK, Mexico and Hawaii over the holidays notwithstanding the federal and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: When it comes to COVID-19, our premier talks like Churchill but walks like Chamberlain
Alberta’s efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic with Jason Kenney in the driver’s seat are a lot like stand–up comedian Billy Connolly’s iconic routine about union negotiations, only without the profanity and without actually being funny. What’s going to happen tomorrow? Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw at
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Restrictions: A Jekyll and Hyde Story
A couple of months after Mr Kenney lost control of Covid-19, he lost control of his party. Consequently on Dec 13 Albertans find themselves here: our covid testing system is overwhelmed, contact tracing has collapsed, hospitals are at 120% capacity, ICU beds are filling up, the Red Cross and hospital
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenny: Rights and Responsibilities During a Pandemic
Last week when Alberta’s covid infection rate spiked to record highs, the positive-test rate climbed to 10.5%, and doctors across the province begged for more restrictive public health measures to avoid the refrigerator trucks, Mr Kenney appeared on Facebook to answer questions about the restrictions he had imposed on Nov
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s ‘Data-Based’ Covid Restrictions
There are some leaders you’d follow to hell and back, and then there’s Jason Kenney. On Nov 24 Mr Kenney declared a second covid related public health emergency and outlined restrictions that would go into effect immediately because despite his fervent belief that Albertans would do the right thing, they
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Covid-19 and Jason Kenney is MIA
Remember Nov 13, 2020 when Jason Kenney said “Covid is starting to win and we cannot let that happen…This two-week push is, I believe our last chance to avoid more restrictive measures.” Just for context that same day Dr Rosenblum, an Edmonton ER doc, said the healthcare system was within
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Premier Kenney Takes A Road Trip
On Nov 13, 2020 when: The number of confirmed covid cases in Alberta smashed through the 1000 cases a day threshold and covid threatens to swamp Alberta’s healthcare system, and 430 doctors and three healthcare unions are desperately calling for a targeted “circuit breaker” lockdown, and Albertans are (still)
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Halloween Tale: Jason and The Mirror
For obvious reasons the usual batch of Halloween witches and vampires, pirates and princesses did not ring our doorbell this year. So to mark a different kind of Halloween Ms Soapbox would like to tell you a story. It’s about a magic mirror and a provincial premier named Jason
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: UCP AGM 2020: Awards Night
The UCP AGM is such a bizarre event. Sure, there were the typical UCP policies to create an Alberta Pension Plan, collect Alberta taxes here in Alberta, replace the RCMP with a provincial police force, “so there” referendums to show the Feds Alberta is miffed about transfer payments, and policies
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Decision Day for Dr Day
Mr Justice Steeves’ decision in Cambie Surgeries Corporation v. British Columbia (Attorney General) reads like a Scott Turow novel, albeit at a slower pace. It includes all the major elements of a legal thriller: a law suit with white hats and black hats, ordinary people desperately searching for ways to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s School Re-Entry Plan: It is what it is
These are unprecedented times, and they’re not being made any easier by Jason Kenney’s callous justification for his government’s half-baked School Re-Entry Plan, or Dr Hinshaw’s Order 33-2020 which was intended to clarify questions around masking and social distancing in schools but muddied the waters even more. “It’s inevitable” On
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What Alberta’s School Re-entry Plan Teaches Us About Trust
On July 21, the UCP government announced 750,000 students will return to school in September under the government’s re-entry plan Scenario 1. Scenario 1 means in-class learning under near-normal daily operating conditions with health measures. These measures include two free reusable masks per student (mandatory for grades 4 and up
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A “Marathon Session”
The Alberta Legislature is adjourned for a month. For this we are truly grateful because no matter how Jason Kenney tries to dress up his performance—he says he’s well on his way to delivering on almost 70% of his campaign promises—he has not delivered on the promise of “jobs, economy,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta is Not for Sale
“Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works.” — Gordon Gekko in the movie ‘Wall Street’ Our Covid numbers are rising, GDP is falling and the UCP government is burying us in a blizzard of announcements promising a relaunch strategy that will return us to “normal”. The challenge for Albertans
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s Miniscule Pandemic Bump
He’s tried everything from rolling up his shirtsleeves and pointing at graphs to quoting Franklin Roosevelt (“we have nothing to fear but fear itself”), but still Albertans refuse to give him his due. Jason Kenney’s pandemic performance gave him a one point bump in approval ratings (from 47 to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney Rejects Notley’s Request for a Public Inquiry. Why?
At last count there have been 1,550 Covid-19 infections and three deaths connected with the Cargill, JBS and Harmony Beef meatpacking plants in Alberta. This is frightening in a province that prides itself on having the highest testing levels in the country and was so comfortable with its Covid-19
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Leadership in the Post-Pandemic World
It’s been two and a half months since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic; infections and deaths will continue until a vaccine is found. Economists and global thinkers may disagree on what the new world will look like, but they’re aligned on one thing: it’s not too soon
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s Fight with Alberta’s Doctors
“The crisis we have in health care, rural included, is a void of leadership by the UCP government. They were voted in with a majority government, but do not seem to understand the difference between leadership and power.” — Dr Ed Aasman The Greeks defined hubris is a character flaw,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Leader and His Team
It’s been a tough week for everyone; especially that “young, energetic and diverse team with deep experience” that Jason Kenney (his words by the way) appointed to Cabinet. Health Minister Shandro took it upon himself to turn up at a Calgary doctor’s house and yell at him for reposting a
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