Tuesday Post

On Saturday, Andrew Scheer, something of a dark horse, was chosen to lead the Tories.

Soon after, the attacks began:

Scheer, arguably a political moderate, has promised to do the same and concentrate on issues that mean more to Canadians – like lower taxes, smaller government, and the creation of economic policies that do not kick millennials to the curb while pretending to help them succeed as the Trudeau Liberals do.

Not that it matters to the NDP.

They need ink. They are in the middle of a leadership race to replace Thomas Mulcair that no one gives a damn about.

So out trots leadership contender Peter Julian at a leadership debate Sunday in Sudbury – were you tuning in? – to tag Scheer with every social-conservative label he could think of in a few short seconds of microphone time.

"Mr. Scheer has opposed same-sex marriages, he's opposed the right of women to choose, he's opposed transgender rights of Canadians," said Julian.

"He may be a relatively young man, but he's a dinosaur in terms of attitude."

But no debate from the left worth its self-righteousness would be complete without some reference to the bogeyman.

So up stepped NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton, claiming that Scheer's victory shows what "Trump-like politics and Trump-like ideas look like in our country."

So be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

It's total bunkum, of course, but the NDP will reach for any trigger-switch to get noticed rather than face the fact that no leader among them will ever bring back Jack Layton.

What detractors of Andrew Scheer were doing, in fact, was making a mockery of his religious views.

If Scheer were an observant Muslim rather than a Roman Catholic, social media and all the politically-correct progressives within it would be scalding them beyond recognition.

This is inarguable.

Worried that maybe some voters are bothered by governmental mismanagement and financial waste, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne appeals to the stickiest of voters:

One year before a general election, Ontario’s Liberal government is promising sweeping changes to labour laws that would benefit millions of workers, including raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2019, ensuring equal pay for part-time employees and increasing vacation entitlements.

Yes, Kathleen, however ... :

Small businesses were “blindsided” by the Ontario government’s decision to hike the hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2019, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says.

“You’ve got a small business and they don’t have the wiggle room to absorb more direct business costs,” Julie Kwiecinski, CFIB’s director of provincial affairs, said. “Higher CPP, higher EI, hydro, cap and trade, minimum wage already being increased at the rate of inflation.

“What is the last straw? How much more can small businesses shoulder?” she said.

Also - maybe the "beer and popcorn" guy was just before his time:

It was widely noted that Bill Morneau’s spring budget imposed a two per cent hike in beer taxes, adding 5¢ to a case of 24 bottles.

Less widely noticed was that prices will increase on beer, wine and spirits every year thereafter at the rate of inflation.

Let that sink in.

Also in "good luck with that wacky plan" news:

NDP government, backed by the Greens, would do everything it could to kill the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, to hold a referendum in 2018 on proportional representation, to eliminate Metro bridge tolls, to increase the carbon tax, to bring in a $15 minimum wage and to put the Site C dam project before an immediate review, according to details of the power-sharing deal between the two parties.

Yeah. Okay. Sure:

Canada’s political fundraising rules are getting another overhaul, as the Liberal government is set to introduce a bill that will force all parties to follow stricter standards on transparency in fundraising events.

The federal legislation, coming on Wednesday, is expected to include largely the same measures the Liberals brought in for their own party following controversy over “cash-for-access” events, where well-heeled donors paid hefty ticket prices to mix with cabinet ministers behind closed doors.

Democratic Institutions Minister Katrina Gould outlined the broad scope of the bill earlier in May.

“We will be bringing forward legislation to give Canadians information about fundraisers involving cabinet ministers, party leaders, and leadership contestants,” she said in the House of Commons on May 1.

“Canadians will know about the events in advance, where they are being held, the cost to attend, and they will know who attended them.”

(Sidebar: like Chinese businessmen, for example? Aga Khan, maybe?)






The Indian government is bothered by the Liberals' love affair with Sikh extremists:

When Prime Minister Trudeau headed to the stage at the Sikh-Canadian community’s annual Khalsa Day celebration last month, he was thronged by a cheering, photo-seeking crowd.

It was little surprise, given the Liberal leader is not only a staunch supporter of multiculturalism but also has four MPs of Sikh origin in his cabinet.

Thousands of kilometres away in New Delhi, however, Trudeau’s appearance struck a decidedly more sour note.

The appearance was the latest irritation for an Indian government reportedly worried that the Liberals are too cozy with a peaceful but “growing” Sikh-separatist movement in Canada.

It came three weeks after the Ontario legislature passed a private-member’s motion — introduced by a Liberal MPP — that called the 1984 Sikh massacre in India an act of genocide, a politically explosive label. ...

The Sikh separatist cause had largely fallen quiet after years of turmoil that culminated in the bombing of an Air India flight from Canada in 1985, killing 329 people.

When trolling for votes, moral qualms only stand in the way of sweeping a voters block.





Yeah, Pope Francis will get to that, Justin:

Post-meeting stories followed the same script: “Trudeau asks Pope for apology.” The prime minister emerged to tell reporters that the Pope seemed open to an apology. “He reminded me that his entire life has been dedicated to supporting marginalized people in the world,” Trudeau said, though according to the Canadian Press, he “pointed out he could not compel the pontiff to agree.” The prime minister allowed that, on some issues, the Pope is already sufficiently enlightened to agree with him, like climate change. So not an entirely unpromising pupil. And the CBC quoted Trudeau as saying that, “I also had an opportunity to have a deeply personal and wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation with the leader of my own faith.”

It’s nice that a Catholic meeting with the Pope didn’t totally neglect that religion stuff. But I wonder whether Pope Francis raised abortion, same-sex marriage, or euthanasia — all vital issues where Trudeau blithely defies his church. Or even humility. If so, it apparently wasn’t newsworthy.

I keep saying this: get a map and check which country one lives in:

Ontario will have a law limiting protests outside abortion clinics this fall, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi promised Monday.

(Sidebar: This Yasir Naqvi.)

It's bad enough that Iqra Khalid soils her shorts every time someone points out how completely incompatible Islamism is with normal people but that every instance of an ostensibly free citizen exercising his or her rights must be controlled or otherwise stamped out is simply asking for civil disobedience.

And that is exactly what should happen.

People have to pay for this. They should have every g-d- right to speak out against it.


And:

Under Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, everyone has the freedom to hold beliefs that run contrary to those of the majority, and to express those views in peaceful assembly with other like-minded individuals. If we are to live in a truly pluralistic and tolerant society, the content of these beliefs (short of actual incitement of violence or hatred) shouldn’t be the target of the type of political and legal censorship that was on display in Ottawa.

The principle of state neutrality shouldn’t prohibit minority special interest groups from participating fully in public life. Watson and his colleagues would do well to remember this important constitutional principle as they reassess their city’s flag policy.

 Also - why I will never call these people "pro-choice":

A new undercover recording exposes abortion staff illegally telling an underage victim of incest not to contact authorities and directing her to Medicaid so she can get a late-term abortion at taxpayer expense.

North Korea appears to be progressing in its missile technology:

North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test involved a new rocket with a precision guidance system that landed within seven metres of its target, its state-controlled news agency said Tuesday.

Leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of the missile early Monday from the country’s east coast. Preparations before the firing were more automated than for the previous “Hwasong,” or Scud, rockets, the Korean Central News Agency said, adding that this “markedly” reduced the launching time.

The accuracy claims, if true, would represent a potentially significant advancement in North Korea’s missile program. KCNA said Kim called for the continued development of more powerful strategic weapons, though the report didn’t mention whether the missile could carry nuclear warheads.

  
The Australian government plan on introducing legislation that would ban child molesters from travelling overseas to commit their crimes:

Australia plans to ban convicted pedophiles from travelling overseas in what the government said Tuesday is a world-first move to protect vulnerable children in Southeast Asia from exploitation.

Australian pedophiles are notorious for taking inexpensive vacations to nearby Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries to abuse children there.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would cancel the passports of around 20,000 pedophiles on the national child sex offender register under legislation that will be introduced to Parliament soon.

Poland hears you. Poland doesn't care:

It is one of the last significant tracts of the primeval woodlands that once carpeted northern Europe, but now swathes of Poland’s Bialowieza Forest are being systematically cut and cleared.

Backed by the Polish government and in defiance of repeated warnings by the European Commission, foresters have this year radically increased their operations, slicing down trees in areas that had remained free of human intervention for centuries.

Land once covered by a near-impenetrable canopy of trees and thick undergrowth, rich with flora and fauna, has been reduced to muddy fields of tree stumps.

After “a final warning” that the clear-cutting risks causing “serious irreparable damage” to one of Europe’s unique natural environments, the European Commission last month gave the Polish government 30 days to call a halt to the logging or face prosecution for breaching EU conservation regulations.

When one's art work says "pretentious @$$", one is just asking for an acerbic retort: