What lunacy is this? Maxime Bernier’s twitter rant condemning Justin Trudeau’s “extreme multiculturalism” policies ended with Bernier exiting stage (far) right, Andrew Scheer promising to fight asylum seekers who jump the queue and Michelle Rempel announcing the “Pathway to Canada” tour to consult with Canadians about immigration issues. Assuming Mr
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Susan on the Soapbox: Fifteen Bucks an Hour
The government is gradually increasing Alberta’s minimum wage from $10.20 in Oct 2015 and to a cap of $15/hour in Oct 2018. Fifteen bucks an hour. This increase is not going to land anyone in the lap of luxury–$15/hour is $3.14/hour below the living wage for Calgary which currently sits
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Money or Mission? A Simple Test of Policy
In a discussion about politics in America, Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short and Moneyball, said the rift isn’t between Republicans and Democrats, it’s between the people who are in it for the mission and the people who are in it for the money. This “mission” or “money”
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Art of Civil Discourse (or why your comment didn’t get published)
Commentators on The Soapbox are generally a well-behaved lot, however Ms Soapbox has noticed an uptick in off the wall comments lately and would like to review why some Soapbox comments are published and others die on the wrong side of the firewall. The Soapbox has never had rules telling
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Fildebrandt’s Freedom Conservative Party: Joke or Threat?
It is said that Jason Kenney is a shrewd politician but recently he made a mistake that might prove fatal. We didn’t catch it at first, what with Kenney going into whack-a-mole mode smacking down one bozo eruption after another, however Kenney’s mistake became clear when he dismissed Derek Fildebrandt’s
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Girls Just Want to Have Fun…at the Calgary Stampede
“When the working day is done. Oh girls, they wanna have fun.”—Cyndi Lauper After a rough few weeks Ms Soapbox and her family dug out their cowboy hats, found some denim shirts and went stampeding. Ms Soapbox decided to retrace the steps of the all-time Stampede champion, Premier Rachel Notley,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Overheard at Rachel’s Cocktail Party
It was packed, absolutely packed, at Rachel Notley’s cocktail party at Hotel Arts in Calgary last Wednesday. The event was billed as an evening of cocktails and conversation with Rachel Notley and her caucus. Tickets were available with a minimum $250 donation and the place was jammed. Ms Notley gave
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Attack Ad: Yes or No?
Just for the record progressive voters really don’t care where Jason Kenney lived when he served in Harper’s government or whether he visited Alberta often enough or whether he’s using Alberta as a stepping stone in his quest for the Prime Minister’s office. What progressives care about is Kenney’s track
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Ontario Elects Doug Ford; Alberta Unleashes the Valkyries
Valkyrie: from Norse mythology, meaning “chooser of the slain”; female figures who choose who will die in battle and who will live. Ms Soapbox has a message for all the politicians who “know” what their female constituents need but can’t be bothered to ask them; who condescendingly brush aside
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What do Jason Kenney, John Horgan and Elizabeth May have in Common?
This just in from the “strange-bedfellows” department: When it comes to the Trans Mountain pipeline, Jason Kenney, BC premier John Horgan and Green Party leader Elizabeth May are singing from the same song sheet. They all agree that the federal government’s decision to buy Trans Mountain changes nothing. Elizabeth
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney: When a Dog Whistler Loses Control of the Dogs
Ever wonder what happens when a dog whistler loses control of the dogs?* Jason Kenney is beginning to discover that his supporters are way ahead of him on his “conservative values” ideology and it’s going to be hard to rein them in because once the hounds get out, good luck
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mr Kenney Runs Away
The last two weeks have been particularly tiring for Mr Kenney, the leader of the UCP, he spent most of it running away. Mr Kenney hightailed it out of the Legislature, not once but six times, to avoid debating Bill 9 which would create protective bubble zones around abortion clinics
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Handmaids For Kenney Attend The UCP Policy Convention
This would be funny in the ironic ha-ha sense if it wasn’t so damned serious. While the rest of us were watching UCP members debate policy resolutions in a conference hall in Red Deer, Handmaids for Kenney stood silently outside the convention hall and quickly discovered just how unprincipled and
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Personal Will, Anyone?
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 readingSusan 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: 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: The Attack on Gay-Straight Alliances Continues
Last week the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) brought a court application challenging the constitutionality of changes to the School Act which are intended to support the establishment of gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in Alberta schools. Just to get our bearings, the JCCF is a non-profit legal organization run by
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Thoughts on Politics at Easter
Easter is not usually the time to reflect upon grumpy whiners; but given Jason Kenney’s mission to rebuild the conservative movement in Alberta this might be a good time to consider where the conservative Roman Catholic leader of the Opposition would take Alberta if given half a chance. The Conservative
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney Debates a Motion
An update from the Kenney-channelling-Trump department. After weeks of flooding the airwaves with demands for an emergency debate on a motion condemning BC’s interference with the Trans Mountain pipeline Jason Kenney finally got a chance to demonstrate what he meant when he called for the government to speak with “one
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Flaubert’s Conservative Dictionary
Watching Doug Ford become the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives and Jason Kenney taking shots at Justin Trudeau and gender neutrality in his congratulatory speech, Ms Soapbox’s mind drifted to Flaubert’s Dictionary of Accepted Ideas. (Well, not initially, but after the incredulity wore off). The Dictionary is Flaubert’s satirical
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