Mid-Week Post

The world is off the rails ...




It's an election year!:

Amid threats to the safety of Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed, who was granted asylum in Canada, the Toronto agency helping her has hired a security guard to ensure "she is never alone" as she starts a normal life, its executive director said on Tuesday.

(Sidebar: this Rahaf Mohammad.)


To wit:

Nada is a Yazidi woman from Sinjar, Iraq, now age 31. On Aug. 3, 2014, ISIL came for her people. The Kurdish Peshmerga, tasked with protecting them, fled, leaving them helpless. Nada and her two children — a boy, eight months and a girl, two — were separated from her husband and father-in-law, whom she never saw again.

The girls and women were taken to Mosul. As a married woman, Nada should not have been grouped with the girls, but she was. Their photographs were taken, overseen by an ISIL sex-slavery organizer (I’ll call him X; as you’ll learn, he remains newsworthy). They were taken to Raqqa in Syria, where Nada and her children were bought by an ISIL emir. For 10 days Nada was enjoyed by his soldiers. ...

Canada accepted Nada and her children, but not her father or sister. She has been living in London, Ont., for eight months. Recently, on a bus, she recognized X — the slave-market boss who had owned her and used her for months. They got off at the same stop. X saw her, covered his face and ran off.

Nada went to the refugee centre and told them the man’s real name and his ISIL name. The official there responded that she was too traumatized to be sure of what she saw. And then that person reportedly told her, “Don’t tell anyone.”

**

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale offered few details on what to do with followers of the so-called Islamic State and their family members who want to return to Canada following a report by Global News, revealing at least a dozen Canadians being held in northern Syria for suspected ties to ISIS.

**

Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, CPC):  

Mr. Speaker, Nada is a young Yazidi mother from Iraq. When ISIS invaded her community, she was sold as a sex slave. She recently recounted coming face to face with Abu Tawfiq, the man she says sold her and bought her. He was not in jail. He was not in Iraq. He is a free man in London, Ontario. We need to believe victims, and the Liberals let this guy into our country.

Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for allowing ISIS terrorists to walk our streets freely and finally send these war criminals to The Hague?

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.): 

Mr. Speaker, in regards to the Yazidis, our government has proven to be a global leader in welcoming refugees and we have more than doubled Canada's refugee numbers. We have provided a new home to more than 1,300 women and their families who endured the brutality of Daesh, 85% of whom are Yazidi.

Our government's commitment to supporting vulnerable women and girls is unwavering. We announced $20 million to expand our refugee program, specifically targeting women and girls.

(Sidebar: the Liberal government was embarrassed into allowing a trickle of Yazidi refugees into Canada and refused to call what ISIS has done to the Yazidis genocide.)

We will continue to expedite applications so that their family members who escaped Daesh can join their relatives in Canada.

Hon. Michelle Rempel (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC): 

Mr. Speaker, after sitting with a Yazidi woman who survived sexual slavery, one leaves awed by her strength, concerned for her welfare, and left with a deep, white-hot desire to bring her justice. When we wax eloquent about #MeToo, we cannot forget our obligation to bring justice to women who have had their bodies used as tools of war.

Why does the feminist Prime Minister continually refuse to commit to refer Canadian ISIS terrorists to the International Criminal Court?

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.):  

Mr. Speaker, our security agencies take all potential threats very seriously and use the full tool kit of measures, including surveillance, the no-fly list, revoking passports, and laying criminal charges when sufficient evidence exists. We trust our police forces and intelligence services to do their work and to do it well.

(Sidebar: examples of the government's diligence: A person of "national security concern" was granted permanent residency "due to a series of failures" by the Canadian border agency and immigration department. ; A Liberal bill that would make it easier for people to become Canadian citizens has passed the Senate, after over a year of back-and-forth in Parliament. ...
Among other things, the legislation repeals a provision that strips dual citizens of their Canadian status if convicted of terrorism, treason or espionage. ;
A day after India described as “baseless” the allegations by a senior Canadian national security official that “rogue” elements in New Delhi had used convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal to embarrass Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Canadian leader doubled down on having faith in such accusations on Thursday.;
By having senior security advisor Daniel Jean deliver the narrative that subversives in the India government may have been behind a convicted would-be assassin showing up at two official functions in India, Trudeau not only passed the buck, but he strung up a 35-year veteran of the federal civil service by having him accuse the Indian government of possible sabotage.)

I find it troubling that the Conservatives seem to want elected officials to directly intervene with police officers and tell them who should be arrested and when they should be arrested.

(Sidebar: ahem ...)

We will continue to trust those responsible for the safety of Canadians to do their jobs.

But no arrest of the accused or any ISIS terrorist and no bodyguard for Nada. 

The faith in the frat-boy is slipping:

Six-in-ten Canadians feel the country is in crisis over its lack of new energy pipelines, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The Angus Reid Institute questioned more than 4,000 individuals between late December and early January. The findings show about half place blame on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government for not doing enough to move projects forward.

If only someone had warned Canadians that budgets don't balance themselves.

Oh, wait ...

China doesn't care what Justin or any Canadian thinks. That's what happens when a murderous dictatorship grows too big and when people pander to it:

China denounced Canada on Tuesday for “irresponsible” remarks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused it of “arbitrarily” sentencing a Canadian to death for drug smuggling, aggravating already icy relations.

(Sidebar: don't talk back to your boss, Justin!)

**

In response to Canada’s advisory, China issued a laughable advisory against Canada, saying there are risks of being “arbitrarily detained at the request of a third nation.”

China just copied the ‘arbitrary’ wording from Canada’s advisory, just like they copy technology from other nations.

**

Opposition members are calling on Canada’s ambassador to China to appear before Parliament’s foreign affairs committee to give emergency testimony as hostilities between the two countries intensify.

Four opposition members on the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development issued a request late last week asking John McCallum to appear before the committee on Friday, in light of souring relations between Canada and China following the arrest of a high-level Chinese tech executive.

The committee will meet Thursday to vote on whether McCallum will be asked to appear before the committee.

Speaking of China:

Singh had a disastrous appearance on CTV’s Question Period this past weekend that led to a viral video of him mumbling and bumbling his way through an answer on a serious topic.

Host Evan Solomon asked Singh about China’s ambassador accusing Canada of “white supremacy” over the arrest of a Huawei executive on an extradition request from the Americans.

This was big news reported across Canada and around the world.

We also have two Canadians being detained by China in retaliation and a third Canadian had his 15-year sentence for drug smuggling upgraded to the death penalty.

This is the type of news that anyone who wants to take on the job of prime minister should be up to speed on.

Yet, when Solomon asked Singh how he would respond if he were prime minister, the answer was telling.

“Sorry. Who accused who of white supremacy,” Singh asked.

He hadn’t heard of the accusation, the smear against Canada in one of the biggest diplomatic fights in the world right now.

After Solomon laid out the basics of the story and asked Singh again how he would respond if he were PM and China accused Canada of “white supremacy,” things got worse.

“I don’t know if there is any evidence of that suggestion,” Singh said before launching into an attack on Donald Trump.

Oh, the circus gets better:

Liberal candidate Karen Wang – running in the Burnaby South by-election – is stepping down.

While Wang is saying she decided to step down, it’s pretty clear that the party told her to go after she made a racist appeal against NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

Using the Chinese social media app WeChat, Wang made an explicit appeal to her race as the reason to vote for her, while also mentioning Jagmeet Singh’s background.
Here’s what Wang had said in Chinese:

“If we can increase the voting rate, as the only Chinese candidate in this riding, if I can garner 16,000 votes I will easily win the byelection, control the election race and make history! My opponent in this byelection is the NDP candidate Singh of Indian descent!”

Wang was slammed by people across the political spectrum, including former Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella:

“Suggesting that your race is superior to your opponent’s race should disqualify you from running for Parliament. Will the #LPC get rid of their race-baiting candidate in #BurnabySouth? #cdnpoli #ndp”

Maybe people should vote for ideas and not colours.

Just a suggestion.

Members of Parliament are entitled to their entitlements and are awfully cross when they don't get them:

The tale of the latest cabinet shuffle can be told in two contrasting pictures: in the first, from the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall just over three years ago, Justin Trudeau can be seen gazing in patronizing fashion into Jody Wilson-Raybould’s eyes, his hands grasping her arms, while she beams back at him, bursting with joy and optimism at being named justice minister, the highest office in the government of Canada ever attained by an Indigenous Canadian.

The second, from Monday’s ceremony, shows Wilson-Raybould trying to cover her disappointment as she is demoted to veterans affairs minister. She offers Trudeau a curt handshake and he gives her a rather sheepish peck on the cheek.

**

Seamus O’Regan is widely seen as among the worst – and probably the worst – performing member of the Trudeau cabinet. While other cabinet ministers are also highly unpopular, like Bill Morneau and Ahmed Hussen, Morneau and Hussen are generally seen as doing Trudeau’s bidding efficiently – with negative consequences for Canadians. 

But when it comes to O’Regan, his performance as Veterans Affairs Minister has been widely panned. ...

And now, O’Regan has been inexplicably rewarded for failing at the Veterans Affairs Department by being put in charge of another complex ministry ...

Jody Hyphenated-Name and Seamus O'Regan have proven to be utterly worthless at what they've done so far. They are lucky to have anything at all.

(Insert own comment here):

Dozens of First Nations leaders are meeting this week to discuss a plan that could make them the next owners of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline.

Indigenous leaders will debate Wednesday which financial model is ideal if they are able to purchase the pipeline project, which would boost the amount of oilsands bitumen shipped from Alberta to the B.C. coast.

After a private "high level" meeting with the federal government was held in Calgary last month, the Indian Resources Council of Canada (IRCC) is optimistic it will be able to present a proposal to Ottawa to acquire the pipeline project in the coming months. The IRCC represents 134 First Nations that have oil and gas resources on their land.

Just shoot the b@$#@rd:

The latest Canadian captured in Syria was the commander of more than a dozen fighters who clashed with U.S.-backed forces in the last remaining ISIS enclave, according to a local official.

The former Toronto resident, Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed, was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun when he was detained on Sunday by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

While he was not carrying any identity documents, Mohammed allegedly told interrogators he was a 31-year-old Canadian citizen of Ethiopian origin, and a former student at Toronto’s Seneca College.

Under questioning, he said he had joined ISIS over the internet and left Canada in 2013 with the aim of spreading the Islamic faith in the world, a local commander said.

Why did the authorities keep this under wraps?:

Toronto police officers searching the bedroom of gunman Faisal Hussain after his deadly mass shooting in Toronto’s Danforth neighbourhood discovered a large trove of ammunition and magazines for more powerful guns than the pistol found after the rampage, newly released police documents say.

Also recovered in Hussain’s bedroom were several DVDs in the conspiracy theory genre, including by Alex Jones, the right-wing conspiracy buff behind the Infowars website.

On July 22, 2018, Hussain shot and killed 10-year-old Julianna Kozis and 18-year-old Reese Fallon along the popular stretch of cafes and restaurants; 13 others were injured, some seriously.

When the next mass casualty event occurs, what will the reasoning be then?

It's like Doug Ford wants a second term as premier:

Ontario will not reverse the cancellation of a proposed French-language university despite a federal commitment to extend funding for a team working on the project, the provincial government said Monday.

Merrilee Fullerton, the minister of training, colleges and universities, said the Progressive Conservative government was not in a financial position to support the Universite de l’Ontario francais project at this time.

“As a result, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities will not provide further funding to support the development of the new university while the initiative is on pause,” she said, adding that the working group could access private and public funding from other entities.

Fullerton’s comments came after Federal Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie Melanie Joly informed the Ontario government that Ottawa had provided $1.9 million in funding to a team developing the school called the Francophone Knowledge and Innovation Hub. 

The provincial funding for the hub and its staff was to expire on Jan. 15.

(Sidebar: 20.6% of Canada's population has French as a first language.)

** 

Ontario is set to announce that it is cutting tuition fees for college and university students by 10 per cent.

The government says that means the average university arts and science undergraduate student would save about $660 and the average college student would save $340.

Why keep bailing out a failed industry?:

Ontario and federal politicians have walked away empty-handed from meetings with General Motors about the company’s plans to close the Oshawa Assembly Plant.

Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains met briefly with GM CEO Mary Barra on the sidelines of an auto show in Detroit Monday and Ontario Premier Doug Ford met with GM president Mark Reuss Tuesday morning.

Both politicians said they urged the company to reconsider its decision to close the plant and are disappointed that GM did not budge on the closure.

Good: 

A former Liberal premier’s chief of staff who was sentenced to four months in jail for a plot to wipe government hard drives has abandoned his appeal, but it’s unclear if he has served his time.

David Livingston, who was the top political aide to former premier Dalton McGuinty, was released on bail pending appeal after his sentencing in the spring.

But when reached by phone Tuesday, his lawyer refused to say if Livingston ultimately served that sentence after dropping his appeal.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley hints that she may delay a provincial election:

It looks like Alberta won't have an election in March.

A spokesperson for Premier Rachel Notley confirmed on Tuesday the legislature will open for a spring session on March 18 with a speech from the throne.

Assuming the government sticks to that plan — and given that election campaign periods in Alberta last 28 days — the next provincial election wouldn't be held until mid-April at the earliest.

If Maxime Bernier was serious, he would recommend ending equalisation payments:

Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, spoke at the Regina Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Monday, just a few days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a town hall meeting at the University of Regina.

Bernier discussed issues he says are "important to people here," like inter-provincial trading, pipelines and equalization money.

"The equalization payment is too generous," he told CBC before the event.

"We must give less money to these provinces, like my own province of Quebec, and give them the right incentive to develop their own natural resources and their economy."

Quebec is set to recieve a $13.1 billion equalization payment next year — $1.4 billion more than its last payment.

Fourteen people are killed in a hotel attack in Kenya:

Kenya's security forces have killed the Islamic extremist gunmen whose assault on a luxury hotel and shopping complex took 14 "innocent lives," the country's president said Wednesday.

"All the terrorists have been eliminated," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in announcing an end to the overnight operation to secure the complex in the capital, Nairobi.

Korean people have seen the enemy and it's Moon Jae-In:

The Defense Ministry does not directly refer to North Korea as an enemy and takes a less hostile tone toward the communist state in its 23rd white paper published Tuesday.

The ministry’s latest biennial white paper -- the first to be published since the Moon Jae-in administration came to power in 2017 -- addresses security threats, military policies and the regional security environment. 

Perhaps most notably, the Defense Ministry eliminated the phrase specifically describing North Korea as South Korea’s “enemy,” a move that appears to reflect South Korea’s efforts to maintain a more peaceful mood in its dealings with the North.

The white paper defined the term “enemy” as a force that threatens and encroaches on the sovereignty of the Republic of Korea, and later said that North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction constituted such a threat, but it stopped short of explicitly labeling North Korea as an enemy. 

**

North Korea cannot afford to be slapped with additional international sanctions over the development of nuclear weapons, experts here said Tuesday, following a media report that the country might have produced material for more atomic bombs in 2018.

Citing satellite-imagery analysis and leaked US intelligence, Bloomberg on Monday reported that Pyongyang has been strengthening its nuclear arsenal by churning out rockets and warheads as well as adding several intercontinental ballistic missiles and pursuing nuclear proliferation in the year since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un halted weapons tests.

Oh, yes, North Korea is clearly not an enemy.