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…
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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’s Royalty Review
Rachel Notley is driving Brian Jean and Ric McIver crazy. Every time they think they’ve backed her into a corner on the energy file she comes out with a creative…
Down for the count
Ms Soapbox went on a blitz trip to Vancouver Island. She got home late this afternoon and discovered that her brain is capable of nothing more taxing that deciding whether…
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…
Bishop Henry Pontificates on Gay Straight Alliances
On January 13, 2016 The Most Reverend Frederick Bernard Henry, the seventh Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Calgary well and truly lost it. Henry wrote a pastoral letter denouncing…
The Fly Report: Why TCPL Sued Obama and the US Government
TransCanada Pipelines (TCPL) just announced it is going to sue the US government for $15 billion under NAFTA and while they’re at it sue President Obama for exceeding his power…
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…
The Art of Conversation
The Soapbox family had Christmas dinner at a friend’s house this year. The guests included a former federal cabinet minister, an HR executive, two city planners, a philanthropist, a lawyer,…
The Rules-of-the-Universe-Do-Not-Apply Christmas List
The politicians on a break and so are we… Ms Soapbox is curled up in front of the fire playing with her Christmas List. Like most of us she has…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Brian Jean Embarkes on Post Truth Politics
“Fact-checking was a great development in accountability journalism… one-off fact-checking is no match for the repeated lie.” Brian Jean, leader of the Wildrose opposition, published an article in the Calgary…
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…
Sunny Ways?
“If it were in my power I would try the sunny way…Do you not believe that there is more to be gained by appealing to the heart and soul of…
The Globe and Mail Jumps the Shark
We’ve reached that point in the election cycle where the mainstream media peppers us with political endorsements telling us who, in their learned opinion, we should vote for on Oct…
If Not Harper, Then Who?
“I’ve seen issues come up before that get a lot of press attention, and sometimes a photograph or sometimes a side issue can move votes, but I always believe that…