Last week in pursuit of her “parental rights” agenda, Premier Smith announced a set of policies that limited medical treatment for transgender youth and did a whole lot more. I tried to imagine what it would be like to explain these policies to someone not living in cloud cuckoo land.
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Susan on the Soapbox: Guest Blog: An Open Letter from WCPH
I know I said we were taking a break during the month of December but last week I received a copy of a letter written by Lloyd and Linda Lovett on behalf of the Whitemud Citizens for Public Healthcare that eloquently expressed the concerns that many of us have with
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Here We Go Again: Restructuring AHS
According to Danielle Smith, AHS isn’t “truly accountable” and it’s been a “management problem” for quite some time. So she’s going to blow it up. This week some brave soul leaked a 36-page slide deck asking cabinet to approve a “package of reforms to refocus the health care system to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Political Leadership in Crisis
“We’d like to know why we have not heard from you. Surely the suffering of our children merits more communication than a single tweet.” – Open letter to Danielle Smith from the parents and supporters of children infected in the E. Coli public health crisis The only thing worse
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Thoughts on Danielle Smith’s Latest Comment
When is a person old enough to know better? I ask because Danielle Smith was 50 when she said 75% of the public who took the covid vaccine would support a tyrant like Hitler. She also said she wasn’t wearing a poppy because the politicians “ruined it for me this
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Simple Question (well, three simple questions)
Something is happening with Alberta’s anesthesiologists and it’s not clear what. Last week, David Shepherd, NDP health critic, asked Jason Copping, the UCP health minister three simple questions: will surgeries in AHS publicly funded hospitals be postponed because AHS is redeploying anesthesiologists to for-profit chartered surgical facilities (CSF)? has
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: 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: 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: 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
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney and the Coutts Blockade Public Health Strategy
In the week of Feb 7, 2022, we expect Jason Kenney to cave to a band of anti-everything protesters staging an illegal blockade at Coutts, Alberta and start lifting public health restrictions. This decision came about at lightning speed considering what Kenney said about the timeline for lifting restrictions just
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Who’s On First: Jason Kenney’s Response to the 4th Wave
Abbott and Costello’s comedy routine “Who’s on First” was performed in the late 1940s. It’s based on a skit Abbott heard in an episode of a radio comedy show called “It Pays to be Ignorant.” Premier Kenney performed his own version of this routine in the Legislature last Thursday, only
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Happy Thanksgiving…?
I was composing a short Happy Thanksgiving blog when a UCP government press release appeared in my inbox. Today is World Mental Health Day and Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Mike Ellis, said “Right now it might seem like a lot of things are out of our
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney the Anecdotal Policy Maker
“Anecdotal” (anəkˈdōdl) adjective: an account not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research. And the gong show continues. On Sept 30, we learned Jason Kenney puts more weight on random anecdotal stories than the expert opinions of healthcare professionals. At last Thursday’s
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: On Liberty and Alberta’s Covid Crisis
This is for the woman who yelled “Do you feel safer now?” when my daughter stepped off the sidewalk to give the woman and her rambunctious dog room to pass. Do you feel safer now? My daughter stepped off the curb to give the woman and her dog some space.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Awesome Summer and Disastrous Fall
“So, no, I don’t apologize for the decision to relax public health restrictions in the summer.” – Jason Kenney Let’s recap what’s happened since July 1 when Kenney waxed eloquent about a new day dawning and the future looking brighter because we’d “crushed” covid and were officially open for summer.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Reopening Plan: “The Best Alberta Summer Ever”
“Today we are truly near the end of this thing. We’re finally getting back to normal, and I think it means the best Alberta summer ever.” – Premier Jason Kenney Last week Premier Kenney, Dr Deena Hinshaw, and Health Minister Shandro (collectively KHS) unveiled Open for Summer, Alberta’s reopening
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta’s Um, Uh, You Know, Reopening Plan
Alberta is a train slowly emerging from a tunnel, we see the light, the vaccines are coming and most of us will be vaccinated soon. Unfortunately, Alberta is a runaway train and Jason Kenney is the engine driver (also known as the loco pilot in some jurisdictions). Alberta’s loco pilot
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Does Mr Kenney Lie Awake at Night?
“With respect to MLAs who have stated their position, in this province we believe in freedom of speech. We believe in democracy.” – Jason Kenney after 16 UCP MLAs challenged his public health measures. Does Premier Kenney lie awake at night wondering how he got here? He should, because
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney: A Failure to Communicate?
On Jan 1, 2021, Jason Kenney held a press conference to respond to the alarming news that some of his MLAs, political staff and senior government officials decided it was just fine to fly off to places like the UK, Mexico and Hawaii over the holidays notwithstanding the federal and
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