Mid-Week Post

Four more shopping days until Easter ...




Having wiped the floor with an astounding sixty-three out of eighty-seven seats, Alberta Premier-elect Jason Kenney vows to undo what Justin and now-former Premier Rachel Notley did to the oil sector:

Kenney’s election may herald big changes for Alberta’s energy industry, which produces more oil than most OPEC members and has the world’s third-largest petroleum resources. He’s vowed to get stalled pipelines built, scrap the province’s carbon tax, and create a “war room” to hit back at anti-oil-sands campaigners. He also pledged to cut corporate taxes and balance the province’s books in his first term. ...

For Trudeau, the most immediate impact of Kenny’s victory will be on climate change, Notley had proven to be an occasional ally of the prime minister’s environmental ambitions by implementing a provincial carbon tax and capping oil-sands emissions. The United Conservative leader has already promised to scrap the levy. That will force Trudeau to impose his own federal tax in the province. 

Kenney has also pledged to join other provinces fighting Trudeau’s carbon pricing plan in court.

Kenney is also a philosophical foe of Trudeau’s energy policies, which are based on the idea the nation must secure a “social licence” to develop its resources by being more pro-environment and supportive of indigenous concerns. 

Kenney plans to create a $30 million “war room” to hit back at anti-energy campaigners and investigate their sources of funding. He’s also threatening to have Alberta cease doing business with banks that boycott energy projects, cut oil shipments to provinces that fight pipeline development and press Trudeau to kill Bill C-69, which overhauls the approval process for pipelines.

Also:

Trudeau damned Notley. He was Kenney’s strongest argument against her. If the PM had worked with the same zeal he exerts on “global warming” for Alberta jobs and a pipeline she would have had more than a chance.

Notley screwed over the Albertans who worked in the oil sector. She played into the hands of Pierre's idiot son. She must have known there was a price to pay.


While Kenney's victory was Notley's crushing defeat, a warning to Justin in October and a snub for the bribed popular press who doubted he could win, this provincial election still seems like any other election in this country; an election where critical thought and foresight hold no ground. Albertans ejected Notley because she cost them jobs and sided with a prime minister whose antipathy to the West (both Canadian and otherwise) could be felt from space. Did no one question why she should have been elected in the first place? Was the lure of "free stuff" (a misnomer - nothing is free - someone paid for it) too strong? Did the policies of X or Y candidate seem reasonable and doable? Or were voters flitting from tribe to tribe and made their choice based on who bothered them the least?

It is the latter.

Until Canadians truly start to objectively scrutinise their candidates, we will have more Notleys and Trudeaus to ruin what remains of this dominion that began with so much promise and now peters out with a squeak.




Oh, dear ... :

The Federal Court has ordered the lobbying commissioner to take another look at whether the Aga Khan broke the rules by giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a vacation in the Bahamas.

In September 2017, then-commissioner Karen Shepherd said there was no basis to a complaint that the Aga Khan, a billionaire philanthropist, had violated the code for lobbyists by allowing Trudeau and his family to stay on his private island in the Caribbean.

She found no evidence the Aga Khan was paid for his work as a director of a foundation registered to lobby the federal government, and therefore concluded the code did not apply to his interactions with Trudeau.

Ottawa-based group Democracy Watch challenged the ruling in Federal Court.

In its newly released decision, the court calls Shepherd’s ruling unreasonable because it was a narrow, technical, and targeted analysis that lacked transparency.

The court directed Nancy Belanger, who has since become lobbying commissioner, to re-examine the matter.

It's a good thing we have aircraft in tip-top condition.

Oh, wait ... :

Russia will deploy anti-aircraft missiles in the Arctic for the first time since the Cold War as Moscow builds up its military presence in the far north.

S-400 missiles, which can shoot down planes and cruise missiles from up to 400 km will be stationed on the Arctic coast and islands by the end of 2020, the Izvestia newspaper reported.

The defence ministry, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment, said in December that units in the Arctic would be among those to receive S-400s.

New infrastructure is being constructed for anti-aircraft units along the north-east passage.

The installations are meant to protect the northern sea route to Asia, which Russia has been promoting as global warming melts Arctic sea ice faster each year.

What has been saved from Notre-Dame:

Relics and art were saved
Despite the speed with which the fire appeared to spread across the cathedral, a standing emergency plan was in place to save the most important relics and artwork in case of a disaster, and it appears as though that plan was largely executed effectively.
The majority of the relics were rescued from the fire in what the Paris mayor described as a “formidable human chain.”

Fr. Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Department, accompanied firefighters into the cathedral to rescue the crown of thorns and the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle.
There were, however, several relics stored in the spire of the cathedral, including one of the thorns from the crown of thorns. These are believed to have been destroyed along with the spire.

The Rose Windows survived
As images of the fire spread, many assumed to worst for the cathedral’s three stained glass gothic rose windows. Dating from the 1200s, the windows are some of the most recognizable images not just of Notre-Dame but of Gothic architecture, still containing some glass from their original construction.

Initial reports all but assumed their destruction severe damage in the fire, with many fearing that the lead used to set the windows must melted due to the heat, or that the glass would have been shattered by the water pumped in to try to control the blaze.

Despite these fears, pictures published Tuesday appear to show all three windows are intact. They will be inspected for any damage, but appear to be relatively unscathed.

The organ was untouched
The cathedral’s grand organ, which was built in the fifteenth century, was not touched by the flames. While it is not yet known if it remains in playable condition, it may have been damaged by the firefighting efforts, hopes for restoration were given a significant boost by the news.

The altar and cross are still standing
In what has become one of the more breathtaking images of the cathedral’s destruction, the gold cross behind the main altar remained standing throughout the inferno. The area around the altar appears to be relatively untouched, and some photos even show rows of chairs still neatly stacked.

The bells and bell towers are intact
As emergency responders worked to fight the blaze, firefighters warned that there was an imminent risk that fire could compromise the north belfry of Notre-Dame’s historic front edifice. The overwhelming danger, they warned, was that the main bell could crash through the body of the building, fatally compromising the stonework.

At one point, officials said there was only a 90 minute window to save the towers. These efforts were successful.