For a Thursday

So much going on ...




From the most "transparent" government in the country's history:

An internal report obtained by the National Post reveals details of how the federal government launched an investigation spanning six departments and agencies to hunt for who leaked information about a reported $10.5-million settlement with Omar Khadr in July 2017.

But the Privy Council Office is refusing to say whether it ever referred the probe to the RCMP, as it did with the leak investigation into Vice-Admiral Mark Norman.

The internal report, obtained through an access-to-information request, also shows that payment of the out-of-court settlement to Khadr was delayed by a day after public servants made a coding error that caused the transfer to be rejected by the Bank of Canada, through which the payment flowed to a bank account held by an unnamed third party. Public servants scrambled to fix the error and spent the next day monitoring the payment step-by-step until it properly transferred through the banks.

To recap: the same government that gave half a billion dollars in insurance money for bribes in Angola and could still be allowed to bid on contracts even though it is mired in one of the biggest scandals in the country's history (guess the company. Just guess.) spent a considerable number of resources trying to find the source of a leak that revealed a convicted terrorist was being rewarded $10.5 million, and anonymously, too. Public servants also worked feverishly to make sure that Omar Khadr had the money in his bank account anonymously and quickly.

Disgusting doesn't even begin to describe this.




The scandal that just won't die:

Liberal MPs — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — tried for weeks to broker a compromise with Jody Wilson-Raybould over the SNC-Lavalin controversy, but the talks ultimately failed when it became clear they could not reach an agreement with the former attorney general, sources tell CBC News.

(Sidebar: I'll just leave this right here.)

Over the course of the secret discussions, it emerged that Wilson-Raybould had a list of at least five conditions that could help end the civil war that has been tearing the government apart, multiple Liberal sources say.

The first three conditions involved staff changes at the very summit of the government. The sources said Wilson-Raybould wanted Trudeau to fire his principal secretary, Gerald Butts, along with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick and PMO senior adviser Mathieu Bouchard.

(Sidebar: but didn't they resign and only after some rather damaging evidence?)

 

Sure, she did.

Just as with her damning recording, this proves that no Liberal should ever occupy a seat in the House of Commons.

Liberal Party delenda est.

** 

If Justin had a choice between apologising for his disgusting behaviour or chewing off his leg, he would be short one leg the next day. Trudeaus just don't apologise (SEE: Trudeau, Pierre Elliott, Canada, ruin) :

Jane Philpott was "stunned" to be turfed from the Liberal caucus, and says the SNC-Lavalin controversy could have been contained much earlier with an apology from the prime minister for alleged political interference in a criminal trial and a promise that it would not happen again.

Also - I've heard that marijuana can make one forgetful:

Not even a day ago, Trudeau booted Philpott and Wilson-Raybould out of the Liberal Caucus, in a despicable act that represents Trudeau doubling down on corruption and punishing those with integrity.

And while speaking in the House of Commons, Justin Trudeau already seems to be having trouble remembering Philpott’s name ...

And - oh, just give up, Groper:

Justin Trudeau is defending his feminist credentials as the two women he ejected from the Liberal caucus say they have no regrets about standing up to the prime minister on principle.

Trudeau announced late Tuesday he had ejected Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from caucus, saying that trust had been broken with the former top cabinet ministers.

Facing accusations today of hypocrisy regarding his equality agenda, Trudeau pointed to the important work of key female ministers, including Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, Labour Minister Patty Hajdu and Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould.

Idiots who haven't abandoned you yet don't count, Justin. 

Also people who abandoned Justin, this guy:

In a scathing letter, Louis Maurice De Jaeger – a 2015 Liberal candidate, and current Vice-President of the Chilliwack-Hope Liberal Riding Association – has resigned.

De Jaeger, who was also seeking the nomination in the constituency, says he will no longer seek to run.

Moving on ...




Good luck with that, Chrystia:

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is linking the lifting of "absurd" U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel to the ratification of the new North American free-trade deal.

Dealing with the tariffs — imposed by President Donald Trump under a controversial national-security provision of U.S. law — is a key part of the ratification process, Freeland said Wednesday.

Freeland says she's heartened by the recent comments of American lawmakers who say the new trilateral trade agreement can't be ratified with the "Section 232" tariffs in place.

"I am very glad to be hearing both in private meetings and in public statements from a number of U.S. senators, members of Congress, that they share Canada's view that the 232 tariffs should be lifted," the minister said in Ottawa before departing for a NATO summit in Washington where she was expected to press the issue further. 

"And that very much needs to be a part of the NAFTA ratification process."

 It's just an economy:

Frustrated by regulatory delays, Canadian pipeline companies have submitted a solitary natural gas pipeline proposal in the last two years, according to a new report that blasts Canada’s competitiveness.

The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, a lobby group, and management consultancy Ernst & Young released a report Wednesday that is sharply critical of regulatory overlap, uncertainty and timelines in Canada relative to the U.S., which the report states is now a more attractive place to build pipelines.

The report notes that since 2016, Canadian companies have submitted only one new project for National Energy Board (NEB) approval compared with 14 equivalent applications to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC.

Also:

The economic problem with a “tax on everything” is precisely that it leaves few options outside of the “everything” for consumers to make changes in their behaviour. Alberta has a carbon tax on furnace oil and natural gas for home heating; there are not really many alternatives to heating one’s home in the prairie winter.

This is what happens when judges aren't elected:

Andrea Giesbrecht, found guilty of disposing of six infants' remains in a Winnipeg U-Haul storage locker, will return home shortly after she won an appeal reducing her prison sentence.

Giesbrecht was ordered released on Tuesday, her lawyer Greg Brodsky said, after a panel of Manitoba judges reduced her original 8½-year sentence to three years.

**

A Kingston, Ont., youth facing terrorism charges has been released on bail under strict conditions following a hearing Wednesday.

How could that go wrong?




The flight crew of the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines that crashed and killed one hundred and fifty-seven people followed procedures but could not prevent the disaster:

A preliminary report released Thursday by Ethiopia’s government has found the crew of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed shortly after takeoff last month performed all of the procedures recommended by Boeing when the plane started to nose dive, but they could not control it.

The report was based on data from the recorders of the Boeing 737 Max 8. Boeing declined to comment pending its review of the report.

The entire education system needs a re-haul but I repeat myself:

The Ontario government is considering to implement mandatory annual math testing for all teachers in the province.

Senior government sources have told The Canadian Press that teachers would be required to pass the test in order to continue to teach.

The test would apply to teachers at both the primary and secondary level even if the educator did not primarily teach mathematics.

**

Some Ontario school boards have written to the education minister with concerns that planned increases to class sizes will mean they can offer fewer elective courses, such as in the arts and skilled trades.

Yes, about that:

One paper surveyed more than 400 construction workers in the Greater Toronto Area and found that 96 per cent felt that stigma and negative parental influences are causing a shortage of workers. Many perceived a bias among the public against jobs that are seen as physically challenging or involve working with your hands. A majority of trade workers surveyed felt that the public ultimately lacked knowledge about what construction work truly entails.

“There is a stigma against skilled trades that was strongly reflected in the research. We need to change that narrative,” said Richard Lyall, the organization’s president.

The red herring of losing trades and potential skilled workers is already happening because blue-collar jobs are seen as unsophisticated.

Why don't people who support harm reduction house drug-users themselves?:

A balance between providing “wrap-around” rehabilitation supports and community safety was behind a decision that will see provincial funding disappear from several safe injection sites, Ontario’s Tories say.

Premier Doug Ford said he spoke with members of a Cabbagetown residents association who were concerned about the number of sites opening up in their community.

“There’s no reason to have four within a kilometre,” Ford said Monday.

Smart people don't fall for trends and other reasons why white liberals are a bane on society:

After reviewing what scientific data exist on the subject, Canada’s pregnancy specialists are encouraging any woman considering eating or drinking her placenta to please refrain from doing so.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada has found no evidence of benefit from human maternal “placentophagy,” but potential risks of harm, including the transfer of serious bacterial infections from mother to newborn.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 mothers in the U.S. and Canada found a quarter said they had consumed their placentas. In November, actress Hilary Duff revealed in a parenting podcast that, although she was a “little wigged out” by the idea at first, she drank a berry-and-raw-placenta blended smoothie hours after her at-home water birth in October.

 

A Canadian miner stakes a claim on an island disputed by the Danish:

A longtime mining geologist and developer has come up with his own solution to Canada’s long-running Arctic sovereignty dispute with Denmark.

John Robins has filed and been granted a mineral exploration claim under Canadian law to Hans Island — a remote pimple of rock between Ellesmere Island and Greenland that lies exactly on the international border.

“It was done on a bit of a lark,” said Robins, who’s involved with a number of Vancouver-based mining companies. “The reason I applied for it is more just to stir the pot a bit.”

Hans Island, an uninhabited 1.3-square-kilometre knuckle of rock in the middle of the Kennedy Channel, has been the focus of a half-jocular, half-serious boundary quarrel between Canada and Denmark that began in 1973.

Back then, the two countries set out to draw a conclusive border between Ellesmere and Greenland — at the time a Danish territory. They couldn’t decide what to do about Hans and left it until later.

Later came in 1984. Canadian soldiers landed on the island, dropped off a bottle of Canadian whisky and erected the Maple Leaf.

Soon after, the Danish minister of Greenlandic affairs invaded. He left the Danish flag, a bottle of schnapps and a note that said: “Welcome to the Danish island.” Diplomats are silent on the fate of the whisky.

Oh, I'll bet they are.




A Chinese boy carries his disabled friend to class everyday:

A disabled boy in China has been able to go to class for six years without a problem thanks to his classmate and best friend who piggybacks him every day.

Xu Bingyang, 12, carries Zhang Ze to school come rain or shine. The kind-hearted boy also helps his friend to fetch lunch and move between classrooms to attend different lessons. …

Xu, who is much taller and stronger than Zhang, told reporters that it was his pleasure to be his friend's 'walking stick'. 

He added that it wasn't difficult to lift Zhang.

'I weigh more than 40kg (88 pounds) and Zhang Ze only weighs about 25kg (55 pounds), so it's okay for me to carry him,' Xu said. 

On the other hand, Zhang said he couldn't thank Xu enough for his benevolence. 

'Xu Bingyang is my best friend. Every day, he studies with me, chats with me and plays with me. [I] thank him for looking after me like this every day,' Zhang told Sichuan Online.