Category Archives: Economy

Bill 1 and Freedom of Assembly

What do the Wet’suwet’en First Nations blockades have to do with Alberta’s Budget 2020? Everything. The blockades are the rationale (flimsy as it is) for Bill 1, Critical Infrastructure Defence Act which the Kenney government will use to quell protests … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Justice, Economy, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Teck Withdraws the Frontier Application

Let’s try to have a sensible conversation about Teck, shall we? On Sunday, Feb 23, 2020 Teck Resources Ltd pulled its application for the Frontier oil sands project.  The federal government was supposed to give Frontier the green light, or … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , | 53 Comments

Family Day Alberta Style

Tomorrow is Family Day in Alberta. While we wait for Jason Kenney’s Family Day announcement extolling the virtues of the family and maybe throwing in a reference to Albertans as “people of destiny” (he hasn’t rolled out that hoary chestnut … Continue reading

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Economy, Education | Tagged , , , , | 27 Comments

The Teck Decision Provides a Lesson on Handouts

For a long time Ms Soapbox has been trying figure out what Mr Kenney and the UCP mean when they talk about a “hand up” and a “handout”. She knew from the context that a “hand up” was good and … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , | 73 Comments

Why Is It Always Someone Else’s Fault?

When Jason Kenney convinced Albertans that our economy is solely dependent on fossil fuels (diversification is a luxury, remember) and government policy, not the global marketplace, drives our economy; he needed a scapegoat when our economy failed to grow. Cue … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , | 55 Comments

In the Eye of the Storm

Here we are in the eye of the storm, a place of relative calm surrounded by a ring of thunderstorms (known as the eye wall). We passed through one eye wall to get here and we’ll have to pass through … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , | 64 Comments

Is This a Time for Hope?

It’s hard to find hope when so many Albertans are hurting.  It’s even more difficult when you realize Alberta’s own government is the source of their pain.         Nevertheless, there is cause for hope.  I saw that eye-roll.  Let me … Continue reading

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Economy, Education, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments

The Day We Demonstrated Outside the UCP AGM

“Public services are under attack.  What do we do? Stand up, fight back!” – Protest cheer Ms Soapbox, her husband and her good friend from Edmonton joined the public school teachers, healthcare workers, and deeply concerned Albertans at the huge … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Environment, Politics and Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 47 Comments

How did we get to Wexit?

“Is this democracy’s death spiral? Are we falling, in this and other countries, into a lethal cycle of fury and reaction, that blocks the reasoned conversation on which civic life depends?” – George Monbiot The cycle of conservative fury and … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Environment, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , , , , | 70 Comments

Greta Visits Alberta

“So today is Friday and as always, we are on Climate Strike, young people all around the globe are today sacrificing their education to bring attention to the climate and ecological emergency.”—Greta Thunberg On Friday my friend Elaine and I … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Disasters, Economy, Energy & Natural Resources, Environment, Politics and Government, Science | Tagged , , , | 48 Comments