Ted Morton, the former Finance Minister and unsuccessful PC leadership candidate, was holding court at the Manning Foundation. He was going to give a speech on how a bunch of lefty carpet baggers (aka the “Two Minute Tories”) hijacked the PC leadership selection process to the enduring detriment of the
Continue readingTag: Redford
Susan on the Soapbox: Janet Davidson is appointed Deputy Minister of Health
Janet Davidson The Redford government just passed an Order in Council appointing Janet Davidson Deputy Minister of Health. This decision has many implications, not the least of which is this: Will Ms Davidson continue in her role as Official Administrator of Alberta Health Services? Is she legally allowed to perform
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: “Show me the money”: The Alberta Medical Association Channels Jerry Maguire
Dr Giuffre & Minister Horne To borrow a phrase from Renee Zellweger in the movie Jerry Maguire, Dr Michael Giuffre had me at hello. He battled Health Minister Fred Horne for months, finally getting the Health Minister’s signature on the AMA Agreement settling doctors’ compensation. We were pleased. Tensions eased…
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Home Care Consolidation Debacle: Fred Horne’s Mission Impossible
Like Tom Cruise in Ghost Protocol, Health Minister Horne is tearing through the building trying to stay ahead of the explosives he’s set to detonate. The big question is will he make it out in time. So far Fred has successfully blown up the AHS board, slashed the number of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Auditor General’s Report: Alberta’s “Enron” Moment
God bless Merwan Saher, Alberta’s Auditor General! He grabbed the government by the scruff of the neck and gave it a shake for dragging us into the abyss of “Enron” accounting. Sadly, the government refuses to budge and opaque financial reporting will continue. Merwan Saher has been a government auditor
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Health Minister Fred Horne: The Puppet Master
The Google search engine connecting a reader to the Soapbox spat out this query: “Is Fred Horne as stupid as he looks?” Yikes! That’s bit harsh. But I must admit the question had crossed my mind (without the reference to Mr Horne’s looks—Ms Soapbox tries to maintain a modicum of decorum
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: We’re all in this together–sort of. The Alberta Flood 2013
Nobody said it better than the Dairy Lane Cafe and the Blue Star Diner in a sunny (literally) little poster announcing that on Canada Day every penny received from sales and tips would be donated to flood relief. The blue banner “We’re All in This Together” epitomized the can-do attitude
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Will Platts Pop Alberta’s “Bitumen Bubble”?
Platts, a global company with a remarkably flaccid name, finds itself smack in the middle of an international price fixing scandal and I really hope the Alberta government is paying attention! Last week the European Commission storm troopers, sorry, inspectors, raided the offices of BP, Shell and Statoil, three of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Conrad Black and Danielle Smith
Conrad Black, the Canadian media mogul and convicted felon* was in Calgary last week to have a “conversation” with the Calgary business elite (and me) over lunch at the Calgary Petroleum Club. The big question is why does Baron Black of Crossharbour—oh let’s just call him Conrad—continue to draw sell-out
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta Health Services Executive Bonuses: The joy of friends in high places
Ogden Nash To paraphrase Ogden Nash (actually Mr Nash did not utter this famous phrase, but for some reason we all think he did), “Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where my bonus is?” It is indeed bonus time. Executives in the private sector watched their bonuses
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Price of Justice in Alberta: One Free Crime
On March 17, 2013, Alison Redford’s PC government broke the back of justice…and none of us saw it coming. Lady Justice, or Justitia, is the personification of the justice system. Her blindfold symbolizes objectivity, her scales symbolize the balance between truth and fairness and her double-edged sword demonstrates that reason
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Redford’s Keystone Ad in the New York Times: The St Patrick’s Day Blunder
So it’s come to this has it? Premier Redford has officially abdicated responsibility for the Canadian natural resource strategy to her communications director, Stefan Baranski, who persuaded Ms Redford to place an ad in today’s New York Times. The ad, entitled Keystone XL: The Choice of Reason, was meant
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Budget 2013 (If you want to play with the Big Boys, you play by Big Boy Rules)
“Opening new markets across Canada and around the world has become job one for this government.”—Finance Minister Horner on the 2013 Budget priorities, Alberta Hansard p1440. That simple sentence tells you all you need to know about Budget 2013 and how your tax dollars are going to be spent in
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: And Now…A Message from your Premier-In-Waiting: Mr Lukaszuk
We interrupt our regular programming—the PC spin on the cause of the $4 billion budget shortfall—to bring you an important public service announcement from the Premier-In-Waiting, Mr Lukaszuk. Mr Lukaszuk steps up to the microphone and says: Listen up you pesky union types, and this includes all you doctors who
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Power of the Carbon Bubble
The Carbon Bubble has arrived. It has finally emerged as a subject for consideration and debate. Hardly a day goes by that there isn’t some discussion of the Carbon Bubble. In case you’re not familiar with it, the Carbon Bubble arises out of the calculation, based on pure physics, of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Who do you trust? Premier Redford or Alberta’s Doctors?
“How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can’t even trust his own pants.”—a line from the spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West. If the government’s attacks on Alberta’s doctors are any indication, anyone up for contract renewal this year
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Tar Sands Compromise, One They’ll Have to Refuse
Today’s bitumen trafficking contemplated by Enbridge, Redford and Harper is beset by indefensible problems. The proponents are making it far worse than it needs to be. A huge part of their problem is dilbit, the stuff that still lines the riverbed of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. It’s truly noxious
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper’s Pipes May Be Backing Up
There are signs that the fight for the coast may have new impetus. As reported recently in the Associated Press, the United States could soon come into a bounty of oil. Part of it comes from newly discovered reserves, part from the Gulf of Mexico and a huge new source
Continue readingLeft Over: Crusty Does Alberta…
B.C. premier heads to Alberta for pipeline talks Christy Clark and Alison Redford to discuss Northern Gateway concerns CBC online, Saturday Sep[t. 29, 2012 I cannot believe how delusional this woman truly is..why would she go to Alberta to discuss this issue when she knows that the majority
Continue readingFive of Five: Calgary Diabetic Pressuring Ab Govt on Promises
A local man suffering from diabetes is hoping a facebook page will start a movement to hold the government accountable.Brent Whitford has dealt with the Type 1 diabetes since he was three years old, and remembers clearly when premier Alison Redford pr…
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