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…
Politics and Government
The Role of the Political Journalist
“The journalistic mission remains at its simplest: know your patch and use your knowledge to try to tell readers what’s actually going on.”– Katharine Murphy, Journalism Professor & Guardian Australia’s…
The Magical Thinkers: Horgan and Kenney
I’m not sure what’s more bizarre, BC Premier John Horgan’s rationale for asking the BC Supreme Court to rule on whether BC can limit the amount of diluted bitumen flowing…
Jason Kenney’s Non-Partisan Request
This just in from “the train-has-left-the-station” department. Let’s see, how should Alberta respond to BC’s announcement that it will limit bitumen shipments from Alberta until it completes consultation on more…
Huffing and Puffing “Leadership”
Last week BC Premier John Horgan said BC would ban any increase in shipments of diluted bitumen (dilbit) to BC until a scientific advisory panel determined whether shippers can adequately…
#Metoo?
Can we talk? Many men (and some women) worry that the #metoo movement has morphed into a man-hating witch hunt where innocent men will be publicly humiliated and deprived of…
Why Do We March?
Of the 120,000 people who attended the Women’s March in Canada, 10,000 marched in Alberta and 3,500 marched in Calgary. They were repeatedly asked, “Why do you march?” They replied…
Thank You Alberta Party!
When Greg Clark stepped down as the leader of the Alberta Party Ms Soapbox wondered whether the party had lost its mind. When Rick Fraser and Stephen Mandel, two former…
The Rule of Law in An Age of Fear
“He who puts security before liberty deserves neither.” –Dennis Edney Q.C. quoting Benjamin Franklin Last week Dennis Edney Q.C. delivered the 2018 Milvain Lecture at the University of Calgary. His…
Something is Seriously Wrong
How fitting. The UCP will close 2017 with yet another bozo eruption. Bozo eruptions were mildly entertaining in the past, but they’re occurring with increasing regularity and have taken on…
Merry Christmas!
While Ms Soapbox was trying to get the dog to sit still for his annual Ziggy under the Christmas Tree photo Mr Kenney was busy telling The Sun how he…
Jason Kenney’s “Big” Win
Jason Kenney and the media describe Kenney’s win in the Calgary-Lougheed byelection with 71.5% of the votes as a “landslide” and the final tick in the box before Kenney cruises…
When They Go Low: the Kenney by-election debate
On Sunday afternoon Mr and Ms Soapbox were jammed into an overheated community hall listening to five politicians explain why they were the best choice to represent the good citizens…
Who’s the Real Enemy?
“You’re either with us or against us.” — Benito Mussolini First the UCP demanded the Premier ignore the rules of the House, then they accused her of being against rural…
Politics and the Debate Club
I know, I know, you’d rather watch the Grey Cup game, so I’ll make this quick. Yesterday, Ms Soapbox and a friend judged the final round in the Sir Winston…
The UCP Vote on the GSA Bill: Free Vote or Rubber Stamp?
It started innocently enough… The NDP government introduced Bill 24, an act to prohibit teachers from informing parents their kids had joined a gay-straight alliance (GSA) unless the kids consented.…
Question Period? Really?
How much longer do we have to put up with this nonsense? The Alberta Legislature has been in session for eight days and the UCP is using Question Period to…
Who will fight a bear for you?
The forces at play in the upcoming 2019 provincial election are reflected in how you react to this banner. The banner is a part of Calgary’s bid for Amazon’s second…
Meet your “new” leader: Jason Kenney
Well done UCP! Your new leader is Jason Kenney, the candidate least likely to beat Rachel Notley in 2019. You could have saved yourself the bother and elected ET for…
Jason Kenney Was Just Kidding about Peter Lougheed…really?
In 1999 a young Jason Kenney told the National Post that “Klein realized Alberta could no longer afford the neo-Stalinist make-work projects of the Lougheed and Getty years, and he…