For a Monday

A lot to talk about ...




If Justin were to call for an early election,  he can no longer pretend that whatever celebrity status he thinks he has will carry him forward. He may have to actually do some work:

Justin Trudeau will skip Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill this year.

Instead, the prime minister will be on the road, celebrating Canada's 151st birthday in three cities in three different regions.

Trudeau is scheduled to visit Leamington, Ont., Regina and Dawson City, Yukon — all on July 1.

He will still put in an appearance on Parliament Hill, but it will be via video from Leamington.

Spokesman Cameron Ahmad says Trudeau wants to spend Canada day with "Canadians and their families" in parts of the country he doesn't often get a chance to visit.

(Sidebar: what a lying sack of sh--. It's not like he even likes Canada, anyway.)

But in at least two of the three cities, the tour seems designed to reflect the looming trade war between Canada and the United States.

Trudeau will meet steelworkers in Regina, who've been hard-hit by President Donald Trump's imposition of crippling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

(Sidebar: these tariffs.)

And in Leamington, he'll be meeting workers at the factory that produces the tomato paste used in French's ketchup.

(Sidebar: this Leamington.) 

Also - you disappoint me, Andy:

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he’s in favour of Quebecers filing a single tax return to be overseen by the Quebec government.

And:

The Liberals — without consultation or provincial input — extended federal equalization payments to 2024 without a single change to the formula, a decision that will placate Quebec and infuriate the West.

Breadcrumbs would never have led to it because searchers looking through an eye-glazing 369-page budget PDF would have found the word “equalization” only three times and little indication the West was about to be stiffed.

Expect, therefore, that Tuesday’s meeting with federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau and his provincial counterparts will devolve into a verbal dustup, particularly since oil patch hostilities are not exactly subsiding because of the Liberals’ derailment of various pipeline projects.

Expect Alberta and Saskatchewan, both designated as “have” provinces, and again claiming their pockets are being picked by Quebec, to take issue with Morneau.

This is the same Quebec whose ex-Montreal mayor, Denis Coderre, his concern for the environment so deep-seated that he dumped eight-billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence in 2015 in order to fix failing pipes nevertheless saw the Energy East pipeline too fraught with eco-danger to give his approval.

Ditto with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard who, despite the tragedy of a runaway oil train killing 47 and almost wiping the town of Lac Megantic off the face of the earth in 2013, wanted no part in helping get Alberta’s oilsands bitumen more safely to Canada’s east coast for refinement.

Yet he’ll take the nearly $12 billion in equalization payments — the lion’s share of the $19-billion assistance program — from the so-called “have” provinces of Newfoundland & Labrador, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C.

Oops:

A disturbing moment during a NAFTA roundtable seems to have revealed the true state of NAFTA negotiations.

While the government has been trying to put a positive spin on things, Canada’s chief NAFTA negotiator let slip what’s really happening.

The negotiator was asked, “Do you still meet your counterparts? Do you still have committees that are working? What is the status of the…”

At that moment, the chief negotiator responded and said “We don’t have any active negotiations.”
He added, “I haven’t talked to them in a little while.”

When asked how long it was since he’s talked to the other NAFTA negotiators, he said “since two or three weeks. I’ll have the odd conversation, but no real engagement, no real negotiating session.”

That is huge news, since the Trudeau government has been saying that negotiations are ongoing.

After this was revealed, Chrystia Freeland – showing that usual Trudeau government “openness and transparency” – said in French “We’ll talk later, but not here.”

It's just money:

Trudeau and his family took a vacation there in December 2014. Sophie, her friend and their children took a vacation without Justin in March 2016. Then finally the whole Trudeau clan plus a cabinet minister, assorted Liberal officials and their families all took the infamous December 2016 vacation.

Three vacations to a tropical paradise from a man that actively lobbies for millions and the penalty is what?

A chastising report from the Ethics Commissioner.

Shouldn’t we all be more worried about this kind of thing than  a pair of sunglasses?

**

With well controlled borders, it is possible to provide for social welfare, even with a relatively low tax burden. That’s because a government can raise and lower immigration levels and welcome people based on the economic needs of the nation. That allows a country to ensure that the vast majority of people are contributing to the system.

Additionally, people have a higher willingness to support social welfare programs when they know it’s being directed towards their fellow citizens in need of help.

But with open, uncontrolled borders, that support will evaporate, as people see their hard-earned tax money going towards people who are either in the country illegally, or are unable to contribute for a long time. The patience of taxpayers will not last forever.

As long as the money didn't go to a camp for children with special-needs:

(Sidebar: anyone who voted Liberal, you voted for this and you are horrible. Also, you are an anti-Semite. See below.)

According to a report by Global News, the Trudeau government has given over $50,000 in taxpayer dollars to the Islamic Humanitarian Service in the past two years.

The leader of that group – Sheikh Shafiq Hudda – has made horrendous comments at the anti-Semitic Al Quds Day rally.

At the rally, Hudda called for “the eradication of the unjust powers, such as the American empire, such as the Israeli Zionists.”

He added, “The same body bags that you have caused for the Palestinians, your army, the Israeli Defense forces will leave from Palestine in those same body bags.”

Vaguely related - Prince William visits Israel:

Prince William arrived in Israel on Monday for the first-ever official visit of a member of the British royal family to the tumultuous region London once ruled.

Arriving from neighbouring Jordan, the Duke of Cambridge landed at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport and then departed to Jerusalem, where he will stay at the elegant King David Hotel, site of the former administrative headquarters of the British mandate.

Three decades of British rule between the two world wars helped establish some of the fault lines of today's Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Britain's withdrawal in 1948 led to the eventual establishment of Israel and Jordan.

Britain has since taken a back seat to the United States in mediating peace efforts, and the royal family has mostly steered clear of the region's toxic politics.

For the 36-year-old William, second in line to the throne, it marks a high-profile visit that could burnish his international credentials.

Though the trip is being billed as non-political, and places a special emphasis on technology and joint Israeli-Arab projects, William will also be meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and visiting landmark Jerusalem sites at the heart of the century-old conflict.

On Tuesday he will visit Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, where he will meet two survivors who escaped Nazi Germany for the safety of Britain. The memorial has recognized Prince William's great-grandmother, Princess Alice, as Righteous Among the Nations for her role in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.

Hudda must be grinding his teeth by now.




By now, it should be abundantly clear to Middle Eastern Christians that no Western power really cares about them and they alone are responsible for their defense.

Case in point:

But when it comes to persecution against other faiths, particularly Christianity, Trudeau is silent.

That was seen once again in Trudeau’s response to a question about why the government is failing to recognize the fact that Christians in the middle east have been subjected to a genocide at the hands of ISIS.

Justin can be the enormous douchebag that he is because people who despise special-needs children, Jews and Christians will keep him in power. These terrible people put this entire country into disrepute.




Because he is an actual servant of the public, Doug Ford declined to watch perverts simulate sex acts in front of children and opted instead to devote himself to the needs of the province that elected him.




Moving on ...




It really is a form of madness to not only decline service (which is a private institution's right, granted) but then follow someone elsewhere:

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday that recent "calls for harassment and push[es] for any Trump supporter to avoid the public is unacceptable" days after she was kicked out of a Virginia restaurant over the weekend.

**

The owner of a restaurant in Virginia who asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave her establishment on Friday night followed Sanders' family across the street to "harass" them at the other restaurant they went to, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told conservative television and radio talk show host Laura Ingraham on her radio show Monday.

What is wrong with people? 




How could this go wrong?:

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan won sweeping new executive powers on Monday after his victory in elections that also saw his Islamist-rooted AK Party and its nationalist allies secure a majority in parliament. 

And now, Japan leads by a good and gentle example:

During the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Japanese fans attracted international praise when they were seen stuffing trash into large blue bags they’d brought with them after the conclusion of a game. It was a classy example of Japanese society’s value of cleanliness and consideration, and after Japan’s win against Colombia, Japanese fans in attendance started cleaning up once again…but this time they were joined by Colombian supporters.