“Nice business you got here, be a shame if something happened to it.” – Gangster in a B-grade movie Alberta’s doctors are tired. They’ve been fighting covid for over a year while at the same time fighting with the Health Minister, Mr Shandro, who has filled their lives with
Continue readingTag: Politics and Government
Susan on the Soapbox: Mr Toews Advises the Feds on Economic Recovery
The UCP government is nothing if not brazen. Having failed to explain how the UCP government was going to set Alberta on the path to economic recovery Mr Toews, Alberta’s finance minister and treasury board president, decided to lecture the federal government what it must do to get the country
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Budget 2021
“…if you don’t mind my sayin’ I can see you’re out of aces. For a taste of your whiskey, I’ll give you some advice”—Kenney Rogers, The Gambler If there is one thing we should take away from Finance Minister Toews’ budget presentation last Thursday it’s this: the Kenney government has
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Minister Savage on Coal Policy
What did we learn from Energy minister Savage’s press conference announcing the so-called reversal of the government’s unbelievably bone-headed decision to cancel the 1976 Coal Policy? Well, Ms Savage has some good speech writers. The “thank you for your passion” and “we made a mistake” bits were nice touches,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s “Dead Letter” Coal Policy
Dead letter: something that has lost its force or authority without being formally abolished – Merriam Webster On Feb 3, 2021 Jason Kenney said he rescinded Lougheed’s coal policy which blocked open-pit mining on the eastern slopes and the Rockies because it was “a dead letter.” He said the eastern
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Coal Facts and Myths
The Economist considered a number of cover illustrations for its Making Coal History edition before settling on a lump of coal on display under a bell jar like an artifact in a museum. While The Economist was chronicling the demise of coal the Kenney government was busy cancelling Lougheed’s Coal
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s (Bombastic) Response to Biden Cancelling KXL’s Permit
On January 20 when the rest of the world was congratulating President Biden on his inauguration, Jason Kenney was attacking Biden’s character and threatening trade wars because Biden revoked Trump’s executive order approving KXL. Not satisfied that he’d made his point, Kenney appeared on Fox TV and other media outlets
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney Reverses Peter Lougheed’s Coal Policy
Remember 2017 when Jason Kenney continually invoked Peter Lougheed’s name in his quest for the UCP leadership? Well, it’s 2021 and Mr Kenney isn’t wrapping himself in Mr Lougheed’s mantle any longer. He’s ripping it to shreds. Next week the Kenney government is going to court to defend
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What Albertans Can Learn From the Attack on the Capitol
Federal Judge Damon Keith said democracy dies in the dark, but as we’ve learned over the last four years, it can also die in broad daylight if it is abused by power-mad leaders like Donald Trump and, it should be noted, equally determined leaders like Jason Kenney. Trump tried to
Continue readingSusan 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 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: The Auditor General’s Report: $1.6 Billion is NOT a Rounding Error
By a miraculous coincidence the Auditor General’s report on the Kenney government’s first year in office landed smack in the middle of the American election. Well, the election is over. Mr Biden won. Agriculture minister Devin Dreeshen can put away his MAGA hat and we can turn our attention back
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: Chris Champion and the Curriculum Review
Mr Kenney handpicked Mr Champion, a historian, as a subject area expert to provide recommendations for the Kenney government’s revamp of the social studies curriculum for kindergarten to grade 4 students. Mr Champion’s education and experience, while interesting, are utterly irrelevant. He obtained an MA in philosophy from Magdalene College,
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: Thoughts on the Death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday Sept 18, 2020 at the age of 87. She was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and had been battling cancer in one form or another since 1999. She vowed to remain on the bench as
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