Canada 150 Week: On a Tuesday

Much to discuss ...


 
Why does anyone care what a has-been thinks?

It’s been a year since U.S. President Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet to Justin Trudeau in his speech to the House of Commons, repeating the slogan that “the world needs more Canada.”

The Brexit vote was only a few days old. And the RNC convention, confirming Donald Trump as the nominee, was still to come. But Obama clearly knew the world was changing.

The outgoing president used his visit to Ottawa to pass the torch to Trudeau, telling him he would bear great responsibilities after Obama left office, becoming the world’s new progressive-in-chief.

How has Trudeau so far lived up to the call for more Canada? Downright frivolously, if judged by recent headlines.

Both national and international media have spread the word that Trudeau wore Ramadan socks to Toronto’s Pride parade over the weekend, and even sported them at a Christian church service kicking off Pride.

Then there’s that over-the-top hug-fest he got into with CBC rainbow puppet Gary the Unicorn, which will provide ammo in the online meme wars for years to come. “Oh boy, I’m going to do what I want to do all the time when I meet people – give them the biggest, squeeziest hug I can,” Trudeau said.

Now, everyone needs a bit of levity in their day and one reason Trudeau was so popular with the electorate in 2015 is that his lighter mood contrasted with Stephen Harper’s.

The bigger problem is the serious policy approach he’s projected to the world isn’t all that weightier.

He’s clearly chosen gender equality as his signature issue, having recently unveiled a new feminist development policy that reallocated $150 million in funding.

And shortly after Canada Day, before a G20 conference, he’ll participate in a concert in Hamburg called “Global Citizen,” alongside Coldplay and Shakira.

"The issues we face globally — climate change, poverty, and disease — disproportionately affect women and girls," Trudeau says, as reported by the Canadian Press. "This is the message I'll bring with me to Hamburg."

This would have been brave decades ago. But a Canadian male telling a gathering of Germans, who have elected a woman to lead their country since 2005, that women’s issues are important is the lightest of foreign policy fare.

The problem is, Trudeau doesn’t seem to have much else up his sleeve.

No doubt Obama was furious that term limits prevented further efforts to dismantle the American economy. Not content with sitting on the sidelines or retiring as other presidents have, Obama continued talking to anyone who would listen and turned his attention to a government that mimicked the one he just left: one where a dilettante defended a Chinese takeover of a Canadian company, repeated the demonstrably false election lies of supporting the middle-class and procuring investment (from a dictatorship he openly admitted to admiring), blaming the previous government for deficits he raised (can't blame everyone else enough), catering to businesses instead of Canadians who have lost files to spammers, and walking back on promises of electoral reform when he realised that no one would stand for it.

Yes, Obama certainly found a soul-mate in the snowboard instructor.

It's like dealing with Al Gore's relentless attention-seeking:

 
But ... but ... Couillard is right!

The Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) has responded with outrage to an Islamophobic comment made by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard on June 22. He said, “(We cannot) disconnect these types of events — terrorism — from Islam in general.” 

Couillard’s remark came in response to the stabbing of a Flint, Mich. security officer by Montrealer Amor Ftouhi, who reportedly yelled “Allahu akbar!” just before the attack.

“Is it really necessary to remind everyone that not all terrorists are Muslim and the vast majority of terrorists are not Muslim?” wrote the FFQ in a press release. They ask that Couillard apologize for and correct his statement as soon as possible, so as to not contribute to a racist and Islamophobic atmosphere. 

I would regard it necessary to remind these bints that: (a) Islam is NOT a race  (b) that when people shout "Allah Akbar!" before stabbing or running someone down, chances are this is completely unrelated to Lutheranism  (c) that denying the totally obvious will not erase previous incidents of terrorism nor will they prevent future ones  (d) that if Muslims are truly appalled by these terrorists acts, it is incumbent on them to reform their culture.

Islam was created long after Judaism and Christianity were in existence. Indeed, what Sharia law prescribes is completely unlike what was written and currently practised as modern Judaism and Christianity.  Forcing Couillard (or anyone) to apologise for what has been demonstrated time and time again serves only to mute the truth.


Also:

For Canada to truly be “back,” as our government is so fond of claiming, we need to ensure that our citizens are secure with effective laws at homes. It means standing up for our beliefs abroad, supporting our allies when asked, and not leaving others to fight while we step back to train those who do the heavy lifting. It means making sure our military, intelligence and law enforcement personnel have the tools and training to do their jobs. We cannot “punch above our weight”—to use that oft-repeated phrase—if we never throw a punch, or always have one hand tied behind our back. The world is a safer place when Canadians are forward deployed, and it is a moral imperative that we confront evil wherever it’s found. We also have the advanced skills to play a meaningful part.

The American government urges China to let a Nobel laureate choose his own physicians while being treated for cancer:

The United States on Tuesday urged China to grant Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and his wife "freedom of movement" and let him choose his own doctors after the cancer-stricken activist was taken from prison to a hospital.

Liu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 while serving an 11-year sentence for subversion, was released on medical parole after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer last month, his lawyer said Monday.

Prison authorities in the northeastern province of Liaoning confirmed the democracy activist had been taken to a hospital in Shenyang city where he was being treated by a team of "eight renowned Chinese oncologists".

His wife Liu Xia has been held under house arrest in Beijing since 2010.

 
Noble words but that won't happen.

How long has it taken China to complete freeze (for now) its coal imports to North Korea?




Now Moon's done it:

With liberal President Moon Jae-in in power, South Korea’s education policy is set to shift away from elitism toward equality. And the nation’s most coveted schools are first to take a hit.

Elite private high schools, which in their heydays were gateways to prestigious universities here and abroad, are facing an existential crisis, as education chiefs in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province have vowed to rescind their autonomy in school curriculum and admissions. 

Seoul and Gyeonggi Province are home to nearly half of the nation’s 51 million population, and 23 of the nation’s 46 “autonomous” high schools as well as many other elite private schools.

Seoul’s liberal education chief Cho Hee-yeon has long campaigned for a removal of those schools, emphasizing equal opportunities for students and negative side effects such as excessive competition.

Superintendent Lee Jae-jung of Gyeonggi Province recently went a step further, stating that elite schools in his province would “lose their special status starting from 2020.”

The two regional chiefs’ egalitarian vision is likely to receive a major boost from the Education Ministry, which holds the final say on the fate of the elite institutions, as President Moon has nominated Kim Sang-kon, a champion for liberal educational ideals. 

It is not uncommon for parents to work two or more jobs to put their kids through school. Unlike in Canada, education is a culture, not lip service, in South Korea. Where it would make sense to offer generous tax benefits to lower income families, encourage competition or punish school managers who run scam institutions, Moon has elected to be Marxist about this.

Not in the southern half of Korea, 친구.

And now, is there a better way to eat watermelon?