For a Friday

 A lot happening ...




Unelected judges rule that a tax based on fraud is constitutional:

A split Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled the federal government does have the constitutional power to implement a carbon tax in provinces that don’t meet Ottawa’s minimum price.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the province will appeal a decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In a 3-2 decision, the court said the carbon tax falls within the legislative authority of Parliament.

Chief Justice Robert Richards wrote in the 155-page decision that establishing minimum national standards for a price on greenhouse gas emissions falls under federal jurisdiction.

He wrote Ottawa has the power to impose its carbon tax under a section of the Constitution that states Parliament can pass laws in the name of peace, order and good government.

Two of the five Appeal Court justices differed in their opinion and ruled the federal government’s actions are not a valid use of that section of the Constitution.

So a centralised government can enforce a tax that can bankrupt a province?

Good to know.

Now, will Saskatchewan separate?

It should.

Remaining in a plutocratic banana republic isn't worth it.


Also:

Conflicts of claim are more difficult because they involve disputes over “sharing the wealth” (as opposed to building wealth together). These arise when a smaller, richer region is called on to transfer wealth to larger, poorer regions within a federation. The obvious example is the way that Alberta and other resource-rich parts of the West have been made to subsidize the rest of Canada through equalization, tax and numerous other net contributions to the federal system.

And:

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney visited Ontario on his fourth day on the job to meet with Premier Doug Ford and discuss their mutual opposition to the federal carbon tax.

Oh, this could be bad:

Former star candidate and now outgoing Liberal MP Andrew Leslie is on the witness list to testify if called, against the government on behalf of suspended Vice-Admiral Mark Norman in the high-profile case about the alleged leak of cabinet documents, CTV News has learned.

Leslie, who represents the Ottawa riding of Orleans and was previously a lieutenant-general in Canadian military, would not comment. But sources tell CTV News that he informed the Prime Minister's Office more than a year ago that he would testify on behalf of Norman. Sources confirm that he is listed on the defence witness list.

He is not running and has to testify against the mafia government?

What could Leslie have to say in open court?




The scandal that will never die:

The Senate is still debating whether or not to invite former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify about the SNC-Lavalin affair and at least one senator wants former prime minister Stephen Harper to show up, too.

In a new twist to the weeks-long deliberations Thursday evening, one senator proposed expanding a committee study to discuss inappropriate interference by the Prime Minister’s Office in general, and inviting witnesses, including Harper and former aide Nigel Wright, to be questioned about the scandal around Sen. Mike Duffy, who still sits in the Senate.

Given that unelected judges make the law in this country and never fail to disappoint their friends, it is unlikely that this will happen or happen smoothly.


Also:

The watchdog who enforces Canada’s election laws says no one from the Prime Minister’s Office tried to help SNC-Lavalin avoid being charged with breaking campaign-financing rules.

In a rare written statement, elections commissioner Yves Cote said Thursday that no minister, political staffer or public servant attempted to “influence or interfere” in any of his decisions “that did not directly involve them as the subject of the investigation.”

Sure. Everyone believes that, too.




Today in "we're earning our bribe money" news:

For Trudeau, there's a risk of real trouble in this talk about national unity. Many voters outside Alberta might want Trudeau to be the prime minister who counterbalances a figure like Kenney. Other voters might worry that Trudeau's presence is the reason for the angst.

It's easy to hear Kenney's complaints and assume that he'd much rather be working with Prime Minister Andrew Scheer. But for as long as there is a Prime Minister Trudeau, Kenney has someone to blame, someone to fight. In politics, scapegoats can come in handy.

The pundit who wrote this defense of Justin did not include Justin's antipathy towards Alberta or that he is a f---ing moron.

For some reason, those facts did not make it into that opinion piece.

**

Vancouver-based lawyer Gary Botting has written several books on extradition and constitutional freedoms, including one focused on the law surrounding extradition to the United States.

He believes Meng has a strong case, in part because her treatment could be seen as "unjust or oppressive" given the nature of her job and the way in which she was apprehended.

"The vice-president of an international corporation doing business hither and yon has to know they're going to be safe from being arbitrarily arrested at an airport at the behest of a rival state," he said.

"It's just common sense that shouldn't be allowed to happen."

If Miss Meng is not hiding anything, then she should relish in defending herself in open court where her innocence is presumed and where she can appeal.

She can't do that in China.

(Sidebar: who will equip Big Brother?)

**

Barack Obama’s former envoy to Ottawa has pulled back the veil on how the previous Conservative government of Stephen Harper froze him out over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Bruce Heyman, who was the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017, offers an on-the-record insider account of one of the worst-kept secrets in Ottawa diplomatic circles in a new book penned with his wife, Vicki.

Harper had staked a lot of his government’s reputation on getting U.S. approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, which he saw as critical to getting Alberta oilsands crude to foreign markets through the United States.

But Heyman made it clear there was little he could do push the project during his initial April 2014 meetings with John Baird, then the foreign-affairs minister, and Harper and his wife, Laureen, because of internal U.S. reviews.

Heyman writes that began an “ice age in relations” between his office and Conservative cabinet ministers until he, Harper and their spouses were able to build new bridges in a long delayed dinner in July 2015.

Let's remind the skittish electorate that "Harper bad man!" is an issue for this election.


I'll just leave these here:

According to the Globe & Mail, “The PMO initially refused to state whether Liberalist was also used for senators. On Thursday, however, the government confirmed the Liberalist database is used to conduct background checks for almost all appointments, including federal boards, tribunals and positions such as senators.”

**

The federal Conservatives want the RCMP to look into whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke the law by accepting family vacations on the Aga Khan’s private Caribbean island.

Fat, ugly, unpleasant b!#ch pleads guilty to assault but will not have a criminal record because we have unelected judges in this country:

A woman caught on video last fall attacking two pro-life advocates at Toronto’s Ryerson University pleaded guilty in court Monday to assault with a weapon.

Gabby Skwarko, 23, also apologized for her October 1 attack on Katie Somers and Blaise Alleyne of Toronto Against Abortion (TAA), saying she had let down her family. Her parents, her brother and uncle were in court, reported Global News.

The judge accepted a joint recommendation from Crown and defence lawyers that Skwarko be given a conditional discharge and 18 months’ probation, which means she will have no criminal record.

Also - they're called borders:

The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld an American Indigenous man’s right to hunt in Canada because his ancestors traditionally did so.

What bullsh--. 




A woman accused of murdering Kim Jong-Nam has been released:

A Vietnamese woman who spent more than two years in a Malaysian prison on suspicion of killing the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was freed on Friday, her lawyer said.

Doan Thi Huong, 30, was charged along with an Indonesian woman with poisoning Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with liquid VX, a banned chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.

Ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Peter Mayhew: