For a Monday

Today in "the Liberal government is crammed to the rafters with people so stupid that they would screw up Velcro" news:

Spy chiefs from the Five Eyes intelligence network briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on two occasions this year about the national-security risk from Chinese high-tech giant Huawei − meetings that took place months before Canada’s arrest of a top Huawei executive severely strained relations with Beijing.

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For many years, a lot of smart people have been warning our federal government about drawing too close to China. Canada is a trading nation, and an open society, and of course we must engage with the world, even those nations that disagree with us on fundamental issues. But Canada must still have its eyes wide open to the true nature of the regimes we’re dealing with. The Canadians who’ve been sounding that alarm regarding the unscrupulousness of China’s communist regime all these years look even wiser this week in light of Beijing’s petty and vindictive attacks against us, although they’re likely not much in the mood for a victory lap.

Yes, about that:

The future prime minister’s odd answer: “You know, there’s a level of admiration I actually have for China ….”

“Because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime ...

Does that sound like a world leader bothered by China's abuses of human rights and its utter indifference to the rule of law people scream Canadians prize above all else?

Does this sound like a leader who prizes rule of law and the practice of democracy?:

The prime minister says his government will amend the Parliament of Canada Act — the law that spells out the powers and privileges of MPs and senators — to better reflect the new reality in the upper house, where most senators now sit as independents unaffiliated with any political party. ...

Just this week, however, Trudeau appointed two new senators with strong Liberal connections: a former Liberal premier of Yukon, Pat Duncan, and Nova Scotia mental-health expert Stanley Kutcher, who ran for the Liberals in the 2011 election and lost.

Why does someone who claims to want an independent Senate staff it with Liberals?

Justin, like his dad, loves communism. Feel free to prove me wrong. He moves unilaterally. Who appoints a body that is meant to be and act independently? Why not elect these senators? Hell, why not impose term limits? Why not elect judges who won't reward criminals or transfer them to minimum-security prisons? What is Justin scared of? A country that works?


Also:

President Trump’s decision to yet again negotiate with China, instead of imposing across the board tariffs, will empower his critics and undermine American prosperity.

The White House reported that Mr. Trump emerged from his Dec. 1 meeting in Buenos Aires with President Xi with an agreement to discuss reforms in China’s nontariff barriers, requirements that U.S. subsidiaries in China transfer technology and state-enabled intellectual property theft and cyber espionage.

That is hardly a full list of American grievances — others include its high tariffs, export subsidies, requirements that U.S. multinationals take domestic joint-venture partners to sell in China, arbitrary treatment of U.S. investors by Chinese courts and regulators, and Beijing’s 2025 Program to achieve global dominance in chip making and software that define artificial intelligence.

The policies enumerated and omitted are so mutually reinforcing in the tyranny they impose on U.S.-based businesses and workers that all are likely fair game, at least in the minds of U.S. negotiators.

True to form, Chinese officials emerged from the Dec. 1 meeting refusing to admit accepting the U.S. agenda and characterized the agreement as focusing on eliminating the limited recently imposed U.S. tariffs in exchange for beefing up purchases of U.S. agricultural products and energy.

Trump’s decision to suspend broader tariffs — advocated by doves on his trade team — simply continues the Bush-Obama policy of appeasement veiled in endless bilateral talk.

He was for it before being against being for it ... or something:

Canada was looking for a way out of a US$13 billion deal to export armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a televised interview Sunday.

Yes, about that:

Mr. Trudeau said that because of terms in the military-equipment sale negotiated by the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada could face a prohibitive charge if it suspended or walked away from an agreement brokered by Ottawa to furnish the Kingdom with hundreds of weaponized light-armoured vehicles (LAVs). The 14-year deal was signed in 2014 under Mr. Harper, but it was the Liberal government in 2016 that green-lit exports to the Saudis under Canada’s arms export-control rules.

His comments, aired on Tuesday in a Toronto media interview, stand in contrast to statements he made the day before in which he said his government is willing to freeze exports of the armoured vehicles.

Carbon taxes are a money grab but I repeat myself:

The chamber of commerce report said environmental regulations that force specific actions can force companies to spend to meet regulations, instead of allowing businesses to figure out the cheapest and easiest ways to cut emissions – and therefore lower their carbon tax costs.

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If one is going to repeatedly screech about fear-mongering, it's a good idea to actually prove that the other side is making things up:

During a wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press, Trudeau said he believes a broad Canadian consensus holds that immigration is good for the country, in the face of growing opposition to it in other places.

The Liberal leader’s line suggests a theme for next year’s election campaign.

“The decision that the Conservatives have taken recently to, for example, go after the global compact on migration in a way that is deliberately and knowingly spreading falsehoods for short-term political gain and to drum up anxiety around immigration is irresponsible, is not the way we should be moving forward in a thoughtful way on one of the big issues that is facing our country,” Trudeau said.

Yes, Justin, about all of that:

A majority of Canadians give the federal government bad marks for the way it has handled asylum seekers entering Canada between official border crossings, a new poll suggests.

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents believe the government is handling the issue of irregular asylum seekers poorly, according to the DART Insight poll prepared for Postmedia. In contrast, 65 per cent of respondents feel the federal government is doing a good job managing the regular immigration system.

The survey found that 89 per cent of likely Conservative voters, 55 per cent of likely NDP voters and 47 per cent of likely Liberal voters believe the Liberals are mishandling the influx of more than 36,000 people who have crossed the border illegally from the United States into Canada since January 2017.

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The new Coalition Avenir Quebec government says it will cut immigration to the province by roughly 20 cent next year.

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A letter from Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to the Canadian Bar Association published by National Post shows even the minister acknowledges there are problems when he isn’t in front of a microphone.

“Without changes to improve efficiency and productivity of the asylum process, wait times and backlogs will only continue to grow,” Hussen writes in the Aug. 14 letter, addressed to the Canadian Bar Association. “This situation is not sustainable, nor is it fair to the people who need Canada’s protection.”

It was just over a month ago that Hussen wrote an op-ed in the Toronto Star saying there were no problems except in the minds of conservative politicians.

“Conservative politicians have been peddling false information to stoke fear when it comes to those seeking asylum in Canada,” Hussen wrote on July 17.

“The fact is that Canada has a strict and efficient immigration and border-control system — one that ensures both compassion for people seeking refuge and protects the safety of Canadians.”

So in public Hussen claims that Canada has an efficient system that is compassionate. In a private letter to Canada’s lawyer lobby group he says it is inefficient, can’t be sustained and is not fair to those in process.

Is it fear-mongering when even your immigration minister admits that the system is messed up, Justin?





As this article does not state the entire number of respondents nor does it make mention of how people voted for Ford because of his promise to repeal the sexual education program designed by a convicted child pornographer or that fifty-one percent (in one poll alone!) wanted it repealed but why let facts get in the way?:

An overwhelming majority of those who weighed in on Ontario's sex education on the first day of public consultations opposed Premier Doug Ford's repeal of a modernized curriculum introduced by the previous Liberal government.

Respondents identifying themselves as students, parents and social workers flooded the ForTheParents.ca website with messages hours after it opened in late August, following weeks of controversy over the fate of the curriculum.

Roughly 1,600 submissions obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom of information request show the vast majority called for the modernized 2015 curriculum to be reinstated. About two dozen messages spoke in favour of the Progressive Conservative government's decision to repeal the document and temporarily replace it with one based on the 1998 curriculum.

"With the changes you have made to the curriculum you are putting children at risk. Not all parents are comfortable teaching their children the proper anatomical names and body safety but this is crucial," wrote one person who said they were a parent and a child protection worker for the Children's Aid Society.

Another person noted that their child attends an elementary school that has a trans student and worried about children not receiving lessons on acceptance.

"They will lack understanding and acceptance of all people regardless of sexual orientation. Please do not allow this to happen," they wrote. ...

Some singled out Ford, accusing him of promising changes to appease social conservatives within the party's base.

"Please don't turn back time," one wrote. "Our kids deserve better — they need to learn consent, diversity, how to navigate social media. This is bullying the majority to satisfy a religious minority. It's not OK to harm our kids for political gain."

Dozens of respondents used the forum to mock the Ford government and the consultation process itself, which Ontario's Elementary Teacher's Federation had dubbed a "snitch line" that encouraged parents to report teachers who refused to teach the 1998 curriculum.

Why, there seems to be a pattern to these comments. Almost partisan.

Also - polls are good when they support what a handful want to here (SEE: above article, below article):

Handgun homicides continued to rise after Canada’s 1995 ban on more than half of all legally registered handguns. Americans tried to completely ban handguns in Chicago and Washington D.C., and saw murder and violent crime soar. Gun control advocates argued that these aren’t fair test cases because criminals could bring in guns purchased outside of city limits. But that argument can’t account for why rates of violence exploded in both places.

Murder rates have increased even when all guns or all handguns are banned in entire countries, even entire island nations. Murder rates more than tripled after Ireland’s 1972 ban. In Jamaica, they went up six-fold after a 1975 ban.

The reason is simple. When guns are banned, it is law-abiding citizens rather than criminals who turn in their firearms. And criminals can continue buying arms from drug gangs. If governments can’t enforce drug bans, there’s no reason to think that they can enforce gun bans.

And - will Ford's detractors mock a "snitch line" for the cutting of unbelievable waste?:

The Ontario government is slashing millions of dollars in funding for programs that are aimed at providing students with extra skills and support, leaving school boards to figure out how students will be affected.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Lisa Thompson said $25 million was slashed from the budget after the government reviewed the "Education Programs - Other" fund.

"Despite only accounting for less than one per cent of school board funding, this fund has a long track record of wasteful spending, overspending and millions of dollars of unfunded commitments," Kayla Iafelice said in an emailed statement.

The fund, which will now total $400 million for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, gives schools money for things like tutors and leadership programming.

A fifth victim of a known wolf has died:

The Paris prosecutor's office said on Sunday that a fifth person had died from their wounds following Tuesday's Strasbourg Christmas market shooting.

An official with the prosecutor's office said the victim was a Polish national and gave no other details.

The gunman, Cherif Chekatt, was killed on Thursday night after firing on police, ending a two-day manhunt that involved more than 700 members of the security forces.

But ... but ... harm reduction!:

Toronto police say a harm reduction worker has been charged after he allegedly assaulted a woman and injected her with an unknown substance over a period of several weeks.

Police say a 65-year-old woman would meet the man at a home, where he would allegedly assault her.

Investigators allege that when the woman went to sleep, the 49-year-old man would inject her with a unknown substance.

Christmas is for everyone:

A picture with Santa is a Hallmark holiday moment for many, but for some children, it can be a difficult experience.

Special accommodations were made Sunday morning at Edmonton's Londonderry Mall to make the moment more enjoyable for children with autism.

Lights were dimmed and mall music was shut off for the third annual Silent Santa event. The goal is to create a sensory-friendly experience for children with autism to enjoy a visit and picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Parents pre-booked their photos with Santa, which took place between 9  a.m. and the mall opening time of 11, to ensure minimal noise and traffic.

"We do all of that to help children have better experiences," said Iryna Bajraktari, spokesperson for Autism Edmonton. "Usually loud noises, crowds of people, unfamiliar songs, distracting lights are very overwhelming for their sensory system."

It's not everyday one finds a tomb 4, 400 years old:

Archaeologists have discovered a well-preserved, 4,400-year-old tomb of a royal priest and his family in Egypt, in a “one of a kind” find, Egyptian authorities announced Saturday.

The tomb was unearthed in Saqqara, a city south of Cairo and a vast necropolis from ancient Egypt.

The discovery dates from the rule of Neferirkare Kakai, the third king of the fifth dynasty of ancient Egypt, according to Khaled al-Anani, Egypt’s minister of antiquities. The fifth dynasty governed for less than two centuries, from 2,500 B.C. to about 2,350 B.C., according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The tomb had remained untouched, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s supreme council of antiquities, according to Reuters.

Its near-perfect condition makes it “one of a kind in the last decade,” Waziri said.