The government calls it MWF-009. Darby Allen, the regional fire chief of Wood Buffalo, calls it The Beast. Regardless of what it’s called the Fort McMurray wildfire is erratic, unpredictable and extremely dangerous. It was spotted on Sunday May 1; … Continue reading →
Continue readingTag: Politics and Government
Susan on the Soapbox: The Wildrose Sips Leninade. Really?
Just when you thought you’d seen it all the Wildrose Official Opposition upped the ante on red-baiting. They’re using Members’ Statements, a part of the Legislature’s Daily Order of Business, to push their “NDP-are-commies” narrative. Members’ Statements Members’ Statements give … 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: Notley’s Budget: Myths and Facts
The NDP government unveiled its budget on Thursday. The conservatives reacted as if the government dropped a neutron bomb on the people. Wildrose leader Brian Jean worried that parents driving their kids to hockey practice would end up in the … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: How the Conservatives Spun Murray Edwards and Vicki Kaminski
This week the conservatives spun Murray Edwards’ decision to move to England and Vicki Kaminski’s decision to leave Alberta Health Services for a job in Australia to convince Albertans to ditch the NDP. The spin looked like this: Facts [Edwards/Kaminski … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: It’s Time for the Soapy Awards!
Ms Soapbox was trolling through Hansard searching for signs of intelligent life under the Dome when she discovered (sandwiched between the Wildrose Opposition’s accusation that the Premier appointed a Soviet-era communist to serve as her deputy chief of staff and … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Let’s Make Alberta Great Again: Elect Donald Trump!
Donald Trump’s scary lead in the Republican nominee race led Ms Soapbox to wonder whether The Donald’s promise to Make America Great Again! with a mishmash of protectionist, racist ideas grafted to a fiscally conservative and socially conservative platform would … 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: Ezra Levant: Once a lawyer always a lawyer?
Ms Soapbox is grateful to Ezra Levant (and that’s not an easy thing to say). Thanks to Ezra she’s discovered that journalism is not a profession (actually she suspected it all along); she’s also learned that “once a lawyer always … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: B.C. “attacks” Alberta. Really?
Thirty-six little words. That’s all it took for the media to whip Albertans up into a “how dare you” frenzy. It started with the BC government’s Throne Speech in which Premier Christy Clark took her new election slogan—Say YES—for a … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Trudeau On Pipelines: Maybe
Last week Justin Trudeau walked into the lion’s den—a boardroom filled with the country’s top oilpatch executives—and got it half right. Luckily he had the good sense to take Premier Notley with him. Mr Trudeau, Ms Notley and Big Oil … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Notley’s Approach to Trans Mountain (boys, get with the program)
“Projects like pipelines shouldn’t pit one province against another—they should stimulate conversations that recognize the economic needs and positions of all provinces.”—Alberta premier, Rachel Notley It doesn’t matter what Rachel Notley does to support interprovincial pipelines it’s never enough—at … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Five Resolutions for Rachel Notley
Ms Soapbox’s first round of New Year’s resolutions for a politician (Alison Redford) were ignored, but she’s a persistent soul and will try again. This time she’s prepared five resolutions for Premier Rachel Notley. Stay the course on your climate … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Value of Money
Dr David Dick is fascinated by money. Ms Soapbox isn’t…or wasn’t until she tried to understand why Albertans kept telling pollsters they’re okay with the NDP’s plans for greening the environment, funding education and healthcare and protecting paid farm workers … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Bill 6: What are we really talking about?
“Between what was explicitly stated, and what was intended, fear and miscommunication has filled the gap.” – Rachel Notley on Bill 6 Safety is paramount. Everyone says so. And yet all hell broke loose when the NDP government tried to … Continue reading →
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Notley Reads the Tea Leaves: The Climate Leadership Plan
Last Sunday hell froze over, or so it seemed to many Albertans. Alberta’s NDP premier, Rachel Notley, unveiled her government’s Climate Leadership Plan. She was surrounded by representatives from NGOs and aboriginal groups as well as the CEOs of Suncor, … 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: Brian Jean Embarkes on Post Truth Politics
“Fact-checking was a great development in accountability journalism…[but] one-off fact-checking is no match for the repeated lie.” Brian Jean, leader of the Wildrose opposition, published an article in the Calgary Herald last week. It was heavy on the repeated lie and light on everything else. Jean’s premise is: pipelines
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: POTUS Kills Keystone XL
On Friday Barack Obama refused to issue a presidential permit allowing TCPL’s Keystone XL pipeline to cross the border between Canada and the United States. POTUS Obama rejected KXL because it wouldn’t meaningfully contribute to the economy, reduce gas prices or enhance America’s energy security. He described the urgent need
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Budget 2015: The Neutrino Problem
Scientists solved the problem of the Ghost Particle in less time than it’s taken the Alberta government to come up with a creative approach to economic diversification. For 40 years Tory premiers talked a good line about diversification but with the exception of Premier Lougheed, they failed to deliver. Now,
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