But Wait! There's More!

(SEE: grave, shovel, digging, stop):

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went on the offensive Tuesday evening after former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould’s sudden resignation from cabinet.

In his strongest statement to date, Trudeau repeatedly said he was “surprised and disappointed” by Wilson-Raybould’s decision, which came amid allegations she was pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to help construction giant SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution.

Trudeau claimed her resignation was “not consistent” with conversations they had recently.

(Sidebar: yes, about that ...)


That is not all Justin would like hidden from the public eye:

The Liberal platform was equally clear: “Stephen Harper has also used omnibus bills to prevent Parliament from properly reviewing and debating his proposals. We will … bring an end to this undemocratic practice.”

Apparently, the prime minister’s view changed. Last year, the 556-page Budget Implementation Act included a change to the Criminal Code to allow for the possibility of remediation agreements instead of prosecutions for companies accused of corruption.

Only a few were alert enough to see the problem.

“Because this is an omnibus bill, no experts have given evidence about the Criminal Code amendments,” wrote defence lawyer Michael Spratt. “(A separate bill) would allow every MP to know what the heck is in the government’s legislation … And it would probably result in a better law.” ...

Essentially, the Trudeau government snuck in a loophole to help corporations evade criminal prosecutions and deliberately shielded the measure from the scrutiny of elected officials.

**

A substantive amendment was made to the criminal code that can significantly alter how large Canadian corporations are treated under the law when they’re charged with crimes like fraud and bribery. Yet the change was rushed through Parliament with very little scrutiny and in a highly irregular and inappropriate manner.

The federal government did do some low-key public consultations in late 2017 as part of a larger “corporate wrongdoing” review. But it was mostly businesses and other non-government organizations that participated. Not too many ordinary Canadians were involved. The 22-page report from that was released Feb. 22, 2018 with no indication government planned to make any immediate changes. In fact, the report said it would continue to consult and assess whether any changes should be made. But a month later, the so-called deferred prosecution agreement provision was introduced in Parliament, buried deep in a budget bill. Which means government had likely been working on the legislative text for some time.

The question is, what was the rush? There was no need to make this change right away, or at all. However, we also know SNC-Lavalin had its criminal prosecution delayed last fall in anticipation of these changes.

So, why is government rushing important criminal code changes through Parliament, hidden in a budget bill, that appear to be geared towards satisfying the needs of a particular corporation?

This particular corporation:

Quebec prosecutors are working with the RCMP on the possibility of new criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin tied to a contract to refurbish Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge, court documents show.

In other news ...



The province of Saskatchewan expects to take its fight against the carbon tax to the judicial activists Supreme Court:

Saskatchewan’s attorney general says he has no doubt the province's constitutional challenge of Ottawa's imposition of a carbon tax will end up in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Don Morgan notes both the province and Canada have the right to appeal a ruling from the Saskatchewan Appeal Court, which is to hear two days of arguments starting Wednesday.

Morgan said the provincial government will urge Ottawa to hold off on imposing the levy while the issue is before the courts, but will not seek an injunction to stop it.  

The federal carbon tax is set to take effect in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba in April.

"We think it's the right thing to do," he said Tuesday of the constitutional challenge.  

"We think the proper position for our province to take is not to have a carbon tax that singles out our province."

The Saskatchewan Party government argues a federally imposed carbon tax is unconstitutional because it will not apply evenly across all of the provinces.

Also:

A new survey shows that small and medium-sized companies are concerned that they won’t be able to pass on the cost of the tax to consumers through price increases, meaning that slashing jobs and wages is all they’ll have left.

According to BNN Bloomberg, a survey of 3,527 members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found “About 80 per cent of the respondents said they didn’t think it would be easy for them to forward costs on to their customers. The poll found 55 per cent of those surveyed didn’t expect to pass on any of the additional costs, while 25 per cent said they would only be able to pass on less than 25 per cent of the extra costs.”

The CFIB pointed out the obvious consequence of that:

“These findings should be deeply worrisome to public policy makers. It means small firms will be forced to find the resources to pay the tax from the business itself, which means it may come at the expense of wages, jobs or future business growth.”

Leave that worthless cow there:

A Canadian ISIS bride is desperate to come home and is begging not to be “judged too harshly.”

The woman — who goes by the name Kimberley — told ITV News she was in the dark about “all the politics” when she travelled to Syria on what she calls a “humanitarian” mission.

The 46-year-old claims she was imprisoned by the death cult and recently escaped their remaining sliver of territory in Baghouz.

“I knew that they were fighting but I didn’t know all the politics,” she told ITV. “I came as a humanitarian, I came wanting to help, to offer the skills that I had to help mainly women and children here.”

Is she stupid because she didn't know what was happening in the Middle East or is she stupid because she thinks that people are gullible enough to rescue her?  

You decide.




Last year, Justin sought more trade opportunities with a country he openly admitted that he admired and has since put him in the dog-house for not releasing Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou:

As automation curbs the hunt for cheap labour, Asian countries consume more of what they produce and manufacturers locate closer to their customers, Canada’s best trade opportunities are likely to be found outside China’s vast economy — and in some instances, much closer to home, according to researchers at the McKinsey Global Institute.

“Our data certainly shows that China won’t provide as much opportunity to Canada as other parts of the world,” said Susan Lund, a partner at the institute and one of the researchers on the report. “China has a very competitive and vibrant set of companies that are now satisfying the needs of its domestic value chains. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of other opportunities for Canada. There are.”

 Speaking of cheap labour:

Jim Rogers, a renowned investor and chairman of Rogers Holdings, plans to visit North Korea next month at the invitation of Chairman Kim Jong-un, according to sources Tuesday.

The Singapore-based investor, who once said he would “put all of my money” in North Korea if he could, received the US government’s approval for the trip with his wife. 

Yes, you do that. Exploit that cheap North Korean labour and lose as much cash as the South Koreans did at Kaesong.




Now Trump has something else to address during the summit later on this month: 

North Korea is believed to have produced up to seven nuclear weapons worth of fissile materials even while the regime engaged in denuclearization negotiations with the United States last year, an American scientist said.

What can one expect from a country that runs death camps?


Also:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a further increase in South Korea's share of the cost of stationing American troops on the peninsula.

Trump's remarks came only days after the allies signed a preliminary agreement renewing their cost-sharing deal for the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea.

"As you know, South Korea -- we defend them and lose a tremendous amount of money," the U.S. president said at a Cabinet meeting, repeating a signature refrain.

"Billions of dollars a year defending them. They agreed, at my request. And working with Secretary (of State) Pompeo and (National Security Adviser) John Bolton, they agreed to pay, yesterday, (US)$500 million more toward their defense," he claimed. "Five-hundred million, with a couple of phone calls. I said, 'Why didn't you do this before?' They said, 'Nobody asked.' So -- it's got to go up. It's got to go up."

The cited numbers don't align with the formal announcement that South Korea agreed to increase its contribution by 8.2 percent to some 1.04 trillion won ($920 million) under a one-year deal.

(Kamsahamnida)




Oh, dear:

A fire broke out at a warehouse in Tokyo’s Ota Ward on Tuesday afternoon leaving three men dead and another man injured, while some flights at nearby Haneda airport were also disrupted by the incident.

Firefighters received an emergency call at around 1:25 p.m. reporting a fire at a warehouse of a subsidiary of major seafood company Maruha Nichiro Corp.

The warehouse, located in an industrial area along Tokyo Bay, has been used by Maruha Nichiro Logistics Inc. for storing frozen food products, according to its parent company.

Four other people were rescued from the roof by helicopter, the Tokyo Fire Department said. More than 50 fire engines and other vehicles arrived at the scene to extinguish the blaze, which appeared to have started on the fifth floor of the building.

A resurgence of the Church in Iceland:

On a dark, bitterly cold night in Reykjavik this winter, worshippers were scattered in pews for evening Mass at the Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King, an eye-catching local landmark in the western section of Iceland’s capital. Iceland’s Catholic Church is booming as fast as the domestic economy, and on the vigil of All Saints, one of the curiosities — and the most obvious characteristics of that growth — is how the young outnumber older people in the pews.