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 readingTag: General Health Care
Susan 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: 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: Kenney’s Recovery Plan: A Failure to Launch
Pfffft! That’s the sound of Jason Kenney’s recovery plan as it sputters and lands like a limp balloon in the corner of the room. Mr Kenney promised Albertans a “bold and ambitious plan,” a “game-changer” that will send a clear message to the world that Alberta is the best place
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: When Jason Kenney Told Off China and It Backfired
Covid-19 upended everything. No one knows whether the world will snap back to “normal” like an elastic band or be gone forever. Economists, futurists, and historians are all over the map when it comes to what to expect in the future. Some, like conservative historian Niall Ferguson, suggest we
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: Checking In
How are you? Are you okay? The Soapbox family is fine. We’re the lucky ones, we’re doing reasonably well under the circumstances. We check in with each other every day. We go for walks and play more board games than we’ve ever played before (I still suck at Rummikub).
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Impact of COVID-19 on Democracy
James Madison said tyranny arises “on some favourable emergency”. The COVID-19 pandemic is today’s “favourable emergency.” It’s being used by unscrupulous politicians as a smokescreen for undemocratic behavior in Alberta’s Legislature and an excuse for Jason Kenney to enlist the crème de la crème of right-wing conservative thinkers to reshape
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Magical Ms M and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Finances
When Jason Kenney asked former finance minister Janice MacKinnon “to conduct a deep dive into Alberta’s fiscal situation” he told her to deliver recommendations to balance the budget by 2023 and develop a plan to retire the province’s debt without considering the revenue side of the equation. Ms M
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Don’t Look Away
We’re on the cusp of the election and many moderate conservatives still don’t know who they’ll support. Will they ignore the allegations of vote tampering in the UCP leadership race and the slate of unfit candidates stacking up “25 deep” to support Jason Kenney or will they follow the lead
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Day Jason Kenney Edited the UCP Policy Document…
The UCP policy document opens with a letter from Jason Kenney which cribs Ronald Reagan’s well known question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Kenney’s answer is no, and he lists a number of reasons why it’s time for a change. The “time for a
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney and the Pope
Is there a limitation period after which we can safely disregard a politician’s scary comments? In 2000 Jason Kenney, then a 32 year old federal MP, gave a disturbing speech* at the St Joseph’s Community Catholic Home School Conference. It’s disturbing because it foreshadows how Kenney will govern if he
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Politics in the Age of Bewilderment
The historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari says we’re living in the Age of Bewilderment, the old stories have collapsed and the new stories have not yet been written. Ms Soapbox thinks some politicians are trying to bridge this gap by pretending it doesn’t exist. They hope to turn this
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The UCP Runs Away from the Bubble Zone
Last week the NDP government introduced Bill 9 which will create a 50-metre bubble zone of safety and privacy for women accessing healthcare, including abortions and other reproductive health services,* in Calgary and Edmonton. Jason Kenney and the UCP caucus bailed on the debate, sending their colleague MLA Angela Pitt
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Susan on the Soapbox 2017-06-18 21:57:30
Unsolicited Advice from a Conservative Pundit This week Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party, offered some advice to the yet to be formed United Conservative Party (or whatever it’s going to call itself after the Wildrose and the Progressive Conservatives merge). A vision of sorts Since neither
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Physician Assisted Dying: How the SCC got there
It’s a paradox. Your right to die is an affirmation of your right to live. In a unanimous decision of astonishing clarity the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decided that the Criminal Code prohibition on physician-assisted dying violates your Charter … Continue reading →
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