Monday Post

Faisal Hussein has been identified (finally) as the man who allegedly shot fifteen people, killing two along the Danforth in Toronto.


Predictably, the excuses for his vile actions are circulating:

“Our son had severe mental health challenges, struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life,” the statement reads.

“The interventions of professionals were unsuccessful. Medications and therapy were unable to treat him.”

The family claims they worked hard to get Hussain treatment, but never imagined “that this would be his devastating and destructive end.”

(Sidebar: when one says predictable, one is not being sarcastic or melodramatic - An Ontario judge has ordered a mental health assessment for a Toronto-area woman facing terror charges in an alleged attack at a Canadian Tire store. ; Is “mental illness” the new cover for jihadist attacks on the West?

It certainly seems that way, says a noted expert on jihad. ;  Mental illness has become a convenient scapegoat for terrorism) 

However convenient that oft-used excuse is, it crumbles in the light of some actual investigation:

Files being reviewed by police include concern Hussain expressed “support” for a web site that was seen as “pro-ISIL,” says a law enforcement source.

Sources say police in Toronto and CSIS officials in Ottawa, as well as the RCMP, are looking into his past which sources say include his residence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hussain apparently had been spoken-to by authorities about his online activities. Sources say Toronto Police, the OPP and the RCMP have all had an interest in the now-deceased alleged shooter.

What law enforcement is saying is that the attack was planned, and Hussain was “well known to Toronto Police” for investigations into past crimes “involving weapons and violence.”

Well, that crushes the Narrative.


 
There is not a moment to lose here. It may not be maligning an acquitted Saskatchewan farmer but promising swift but impractical action against gun violence (and what a sore point that is!) is just what is needed to score some much needed political points:

The new federal minister responsible for tackling gun violence, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, was scheduled to meet Tory Monday afternoon after earlier tweeting that Ottawa was looking at ways to support the city's efforts "to end the violence."

The federal government proposed legislation in March to tighten the sale and tracking of firearms, and has set aside $327 million over the next five years to fund programs designed to address criminal gun and gang activities.

But Toronto Mayor John Tory, who has previously criticized what he believes are holes within Canada's gun laws, went even farther on Monday as he asked why anyone in Toronto would even need a gun.

(Sidebar: to shoot people with, stupid.) 

Also - quite a busy day for the "mentally unstable":

Ottawa police are investigating and a 24-year-old is in custody after an incident involving the Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill on Monday.

However, the Parliamentary Protective Service now says the man was not carrying a knife as initially reported.

“Reports of an individual carrying a knife during the incident are inaccurate,” the service Tweeted on Monday. “A small pocket knife was discovered in proximity to the subject following the arrest. The Ottawa Police Service is investigating.”

(Sidebar: or, rather, he did have a knife. If one could not take it on the plane, why should one be able to stab a guard with it?)

And: 

A report released Monday called on countries to bring back and rehabilitate children from the so-called Islamic State, warning that otherwise, they could pose a significant future threat.

They can't be rehabilitated. Don't bring them back. 

In other news ...

It's just money:

The nanny caring for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s kids has been given a full-time salary and a slight pay increase compared with the reported hourly rate she was paid shortly after Trudeau took office in 2015.

An order in council issued earlier this week indicates Marian Pueyo’s annual pay has been set in a range that starts just below $40,000 and caps off at slightly more than $45,000.

It’s also retroactive to the beginning of April this year.

At its top range, the order works out to a rate of $21.79 per hour, assuming a 40-hour work week.

(Sidebar: it's nice that Justin is treating his foreign nanny as real people.)

**

Rising provincial minimum wages have cut into the reach of the Liberal government’s oft-touted increase to summer jobs spending by reducing the number of weekly hours being funded this year.

The Liberals have doubled spending on the politically popular program to approximately $220 million in order to boost the number of available jobs to 70,000 from about 35,000.

Newly released documents show the government was aware in late winter that there would be a drop in the number of hours funded through the program to meet the Liberal government’s summer jobs target.

**

The federal government is set to become the official owner of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion after failing to quickly flip the project to another private-sector buyer.

Pipeline owner Kinder Morgan had been working with the government to identify another buyer before July 22.

But with that date set to pass without a deal, it was expected the pipeline company will now take Ottawa's $4.5-billion offer to purchase the project to its shareholders.

Pending their approval, the sale, which includes the existing pipeline, the pumping stations and rights of way, and the Westridge marine terminal in Burnaby, B.C., will be approved sometime in August or September.

The $4.5-billion purchase price does not cover the construction costs of building the new pipeline, which previous estimates have pegged at around $7.4 billion.

Finding another buyer for the project before Sunday's deadline was widely considered a long shot because of the project's risks.

**

One of two audits ordered by Premier Doug Ford’s ministers this week is supposed to settle a long-standing dispute as to the true state of Ontario’s finances.

A second line-by-line budget audit is expected to come with a path back to balanced books by offering up savings or cuts, depending on one’s point of view.

Peter Bethlenfalvy, president of the Treasury Board, said the line-by-line audit will provide an “open, thorough and transparent” look at all the ways the government spends money.

“All provincial programs, including provincial agencies and transfer payment programs are within the scope of the review,” Bethlenfalvy said. “The results of the line-by-line review will be used to develop a responsible plan to achieve efficiencies and deliver results for taxpayers.”

If one is a fat-@$$ who smokes and drinks too much then it is a fairly valid opinion that one's choice of lifestyle is the reason why one is unwell and a burden to taxpayers who at least try to get a walk in every now and then:

A Nova Scotia MLA is apologizing for a social media post that appeared to blame rising health care costs on the “lifestyle choices” of the province’s residents.

Hugh MacKay, who represents Chester-St. Margaret’s for the governing Liberals, said in a Facebook post Sunday that Nova Scotia is plagued by chronic diseases that are “often linked to lifestyle choices.”

“Smoking, over-consumption of alcohol, poor diet, and inactivity all greatly increase the risk of developing heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer,” he said in the post, which has since been deleted.

“The treatment costs for these oft-preventable diseases is immense and is a source of great frustration for our health care professionals and for your government.”

MacKay urged people to “think about the immense wasted costs in treating the results of our lifestyle choices” before questioning why there isn’t more money for other services.

Don't think about it. Do it:

President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of six former top national security officials who have been critical of his administration, a move that opponents and experts say would be an unprecedented politicization of the clearance process.

(Paws up)