“Nothing to see here, move along.” – Movie trope Last week the CBC published a story saying that a staffer in Danielle Smith’s office sent a series of emails to Crown prosecutors challenging their assessment and direction on criminal cases arising from the Coutts border blockades and protests. You remember
Continue readingTag: Politics and Government
Susan on the Soapbox: Political Interference in the Administration of Justice (Again!)
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”—Proverb, originated 1562 Did you catch all that? Premier Smith has been all over the airwaves saying that regardless of what it looks like she wasn’t trying to interfere with the administration of justice. On Thursday Jan 12 in a discussion
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Free Money? No Thank You!
Many years ago the (then) Progressive Conservative government offered energy companies bags of money if they undertook projects the government thought were necessary. The CEO I worked for told us to create such a project (even though it would be of little value to the company) and apply for the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Tale of Two Strategies (okay, one strategy and one gong show)
Congratulations to all of you for surviving the Smith government’s first session in the Legislature. It started on Nov 29 and ended on Dec 15 and it felt like an eternity. Smith has been premier for two months. she sat in the Legislature for 15 days and already she’s created
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: What Just Happened?
“…the folks who literally spent seven days telling us that what was written in their bill was not written in their bill [will] determine what is…unconstitutional on the part of the federal government…” Rachel Notley, Hansard, Dec 7, p 235 What happened over the last 7 days in Alberta politics
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith’s Bill 1: The Wrecking Ball Effect
Wrecking ball: A heavy steel ball hung from a crane, used to demolish large buildings. Commonly used during the 1950s and 1960s. Considered one of the most common forms of large-scale coarse demolition.—Wikipedia Last week, Premier Danielle Smith unveiled the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act (Bill 1).
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Letter to my Conservative-voting Neighbour: A Guest Post by Lloyd Lovatt
Lately Ms Soapbox has been thinking about how to talk to her conservative friends without falling even further down the rabbit hole of polarization. Then a friend sent me this letter which acknowledges the sadness a Lougheed conservative must feel at the loss of their party and suggests we reach
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Reign of Misinformation
The last six months have been hell and the next six months will be worse. By election day, May 29, 2023, we’ll have transitioned from Jason Kenney, the politician who went to great lengths to convince ‘the people of destiny” that their sense of victimhood was justified to Danielle Smith,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: “Hold the Line” and other malarkey
The Public Order Emergencies Commission was convened to determine whether the federal government erred by invoking the Emergencies Act. It will be months before we have a decision, but it only took a week of testimony for many Canadians to decide the organizers of the trucker convoy are a bunch
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: When the UCP Government Ran Amok
“There is no room for the unilateral assumption of authority in a constitutional democracy.” – Nigel Bankes, U of C emeritus professor of law, on the government’s decision to rescind masking in schools. Last week an Alberta court ruled that the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s Order rescinding masking in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith: Alberta’s Very Own Liz Truss
In less time than it took Liz Truss to crash and burn, Danielle Smith transformed the United Conservative Party into the Libertarian Populist Party. And that’s why they’ll lose in the next election. Smith has been the LPP’s leader for just over two weeks. In that time she’s demonstrated that
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Letter to UCP MLAs
Dear UCP MLAs: I’m a constituent without an MLA because your new leader decided I don’t need one. Apparently urban issues (unlike rural issues) are the same all across the city and I can take my concerns to the UCP MLA in the next riding. Anyway I’m just checking in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith’s Victory Speech: Backtracking Big Time
Did anyone catch Danielle Smith’s victory speech? In it she did three things: She started to back away from her key campaign promise, the Sovereignty Act She characterized the UCP as the party that is both fiscally responsible and compassionate (entrepreneurs with a heart and a soul) She repositioned herself
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: And the Winner is…?
Ms Soapbox is draped across her fainting couch anxiously awaiting the outcome of the UCP leadership race and is too distraught to post a blog.* She would welcome her readers’ thoughts on: Will Danielle Smith become the next UCP leader? If yes, what percentage of the vote will she garner?
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Legacy: Lessons from Alice
Alice laughed. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ ‘I dare say you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen…’Why, sometimes I’ve believed in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’—Lewis Carrol, Alice Through the Looking-Glass Jason Kenney is on the final lap of his political career. He’s working hard to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Pierre Poilievre and the Politics of Brutalization
“The word ‘brutalize’ is now employed quite wrongly to mean harsh or cruel treatment meted out by the strong to the weak…but in fact it means something subtler, namely the coarsening effect that this exercise of cruelty produces in the strong.” – Christopher Hitchens In his book, Why Orwell
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s “Breaking Bad” Press Release
Last week, the feds granted BC a 3-year exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act decriminalizing the possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain illegal drugs for personal use. Judging by Jason Kenney’s response, you’d think Breaking Bad had set up shop next door. Leaving aside Kenney’s hypocritical
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mr Kenney Goes to Washington
May 26, 2022 marked Jason Kenny’s last appearance in the Legislature as Alberta’s premier (we think). His final week was replete with members’ statements applauding his leadership, his legacy, and everything his government had accomplished over the last 3 years. He was especially proud of one achievement: his appearance before
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: 51.4% (the end of Jason Kenney?)
It finally happened.* Despite the UCP government changing the law to allow the purchase of party memberships without someone’s knowledge or consent, the UCP executive changing the rules setting out when, where, and how Jason Kenney’s leadership review would take place and Kenney’s announcement that an approval rating of 50%
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Insulin Pump Debacle
On May 2, the Kenney government announced it would avail diabetic Albertans of newer, more technologically advanced insulin pumps. Then 10 days later it announced it was “pausing” this decision to allow for more consultation. The decision and its reversal happened so quickly it was like a snippet of time-lapse
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