Question: What do Stephen Hawking and Shamsia Husseini have in common? Answer: They both know the power of personal will. Ms Soapbox has been thinking a lot about “personal will” since she heard the term used by Sally Armstrong in a speech at the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
Continue readingTag: Crime and Justice
Susan on the Soapbox: The Country is Broken!
Just when Albertans thought things couldn’t get any worse, Jason Kenney declared the country was broken. What? Did Trumpism seep across the border while we were sleeping? Canada survived the FLQ Crisis and the War Measures Act, the bitter negotiations over the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution, and the Quebec
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: An Unfathomable Darkness — The Gerald Stanley Verdict
“There is a darkness that exists in this country and I believe we are going to have to feel our way out of it.” — Chris Murphy, lawyer for the Boushie family The verdict that found Gerald Stanley not guilty of any crime, not even manslaughter, in the shooting death
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Who’s the Real Enemy?
“You’re either with us or against us.” — Benito Mussolini First the UCP demanded the Premier ignore the rules of the House, then they accused her of being against rural Albertans and siding with the criminals because she refused to ignore the rules of the House. Do these guys even
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: How Do We Talk About the Edmonton Terrorist Attack?
A police officer is stabbed and four people are injured when a man drives a U-Haul into a crowd of pedestrians in Edmonton. The suspect is identified as 30-year-old Abdulahi Sharif. An ISIS flag is found in the vehicle. Edmonton’s mayor, Don Iveson, Premier Notley and Prime Minister Trudeau issue
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Marie Henein’s Take on Kellie Leitch
Last Friday Ms Soapbox attended the 2017 Milvain Lecture at the U of C Law School. It was given by Marie Henein who recently made headlines by successfully defending CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi on sexual assault charges. While Ms Soapbox and Ms Henein do not see eye to eye
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Calgary Police Service: Allegations of Harassment and Intimidation
If you’ve ever wondered why women are reluctant to bring forward allegations of sexual harassment, look no further than the furor unleashed when 15 female police officers contacted city councillor and police commissioner Diane Colley-Urquhart to discuss sexual harassment and the culture of intimidation and retaliation they’d experienced at the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Wildrose and PCs Weigh In On Medically Assisted Dying
We’ve seen a lot of fireworks in the Alberta Legislature but nothing can match the rhetoric and misinformation that characterized the response of the Wildrose (and to a lesser extent the Progressive Conservatives) to the government’s motion to regulate medical … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Ghomeshi’s Apology
It’s over. Yesterday Jian Ghomeshi signed a peace bond and apologized to Kathryn Borel. The Crown dropped the sexual assault charge. Here’s Mr Ghomeshi’s apology and Ms Borel’s reply. Ghomeshi’s apology I want to apologize to Ms. Borel for my … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Catholic Church’s Last Chance
Suing the Catholic Church is like throwing Jello at the wall, it’s a mess but not much sticks. Thousands of Canada’s First Nations, Metis, Inuit and Inuvialuit joined in a class action seeking compensation for the abuse they suffered in … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Ghomeshi Verdict: We Deserve Better
“Violence against women is not about the behavior of the women.”–Gillian Hnatiw, lawyer for Lucy DeCoutere By his own admission Jian Ghomeshi likes rough sex. The legal question is whether the three women who met Ghomeshi in 2002 and 2003 … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: “Kudatah”: It’s not a joke
Ms Soapbox is deeply troubled by last week’s failed Kudatah. The Kudatah (or “coup d’etat” for those who know how to spell) was George Clark’s attempt to overthrow the NDP government. George blames the NDP for the economic downturn. He … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Refuges? Paris? Wait, what?
What’s the difference between these two sentences? Sentence “A”: “You terrorist, you don’t belong here.” Sentence “B”: “You might be a terrorist, you don’t belong here.” Sentence “A” was uttered by two white males who attacked a 31 year old … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: How to Stay Under the Radar When Bill C-51 Becomes Law
Bill C-51 is an omnibus anti-terrorism bill that grants CSIS new information sharing powers and converts CSIS from a covert intelligence gathering organization to a covert enforcement agency. No wonder Canadians don’t know what the heck is going on! Ms Soapbox is here to offer four simple suggestions to
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: 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: 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: The Conservative Government Responds to the Deaths of Two Canadian Soldiers
Two Canadian soldiers were killed this week. The first, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, was run down by a car in a parking lot in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. The second, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was killed while standing guard at the National War Memorial. Both were unarmed. On Saturday a small group of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Gift from Chief Justice McLachlin: The Tsilhqot’in Decision on Aboriginal Rights*
On June 26, 2014, in a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin gave the First Nations (and the rest of Canada) a treasure map. Chief Justice McLachlin It wasn’t a crumpled piece of paper covered with a cryptic scrawl, but a comprehensive legal analysis
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s “Traffic Court Reform”: One Step Closer to a Police State
Justice Minister Denis is touting “Traffic Court Reform” as a “citizen-friendly” dispute resolution process to “resolve” traffic tickets. It’s also the first step into a quagmire that erases our civil liberties in order to save money (and help the minister meet his 2014 budget targets). The Justice minister requested “feedback”
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