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| Seventy-four years today ... |
The other albatross around Justin's neck has landed and perched itself all over his re-election campaign:
The trial was set to be a far bigger controversy than #SNCLavalin and currently is scheduled to take place during the election. The defence was/is expected to call a parade of high profile witnesses and expose other cabinet leaks as standard operating procedure in Ottawa— Mercedes Stephenson (@MercedesGlobal) May 8, 2019
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Also that awkward stuff about another person being charged with the same alleged crime but no suggestion of coordination... plus potential political damage of the trial... not appealing for a govt hoping for reelection #cdnpoli #MarkNorman #CAF— Mercedes Stephenson (@MercedesGlobal) May 8, 2019
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The whole #SNCLavalin controversy massively upped the stakes for the govt on this trial because of the allegations of political interference in the justice system. #cdnpoli #MarkNorman #CAF— Mercedes Stephenson (@MercedesGlobal) May 8, 2019
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The first signs of trouble for the government came in the summer of 2018, when Norman’s lawyers Marie Henein and Christine Mainville started pressing for a waiver of cabinet privilege over all documents relevant to the case. The government had the right, if it chose to use it, to assert privilege over all of those documents — which would have kept them secret from Norman’s team.
In the early fall, the court heard evidence from Norman’s lawyers that the government was being mysteriously slow in providing a clear answer on the question of a waiver. Finally, in November, the government revealed it would not issue a waiver — but would also not assert its privilege. Instead, it would let the judge decide what should be secret. Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick later testified to the House of Commons justice committee that he personally made this decision.
(Sidebar: this Michael Wernick.)
At the time it appeared to be a minor victory for the defence. But Henein was cautious in her response, warning that the government could change its mind. “I just want to make clear for the record that Vice-Admiral Norman is not further ahead today,” she told the court on Nov. 2.
It turned out to be a major victory for the defence, as in the following months the judge repeatedly took their side over what documents should be disclosed. Though a written decision has still not been released, the judge commented earlier this year that the defence was getting much of what it asked for. ...
The application also revealed some of the defence’s strategy, including their intention to go after then-Treasury Board President Scott Brison. (The details are complicated, but essentially Norman’s lawyers argued that Brison was too close to Irving Shipbuilding — the arch-rival of Davie Shipbuilding, the firm that was poised to receive the $700-million contract. Irving has denied any attempt at political interference.) They wanted any document that showed Brison’s communications with Irving, formal and informal.
(Sidebar: this Irving.)
Brison has steadfastly denied he ever did anything improper in the Norman case, and he independently lawyered up to prepare to defend himself as the case proceeded. But the defence’s subpoenas successfully got Brison’s name into the headlines, and began stirring up political trouble for the Liberal government.
The more important accusation in the third-party records application, however, was that the prosecution of Norman was from the beginning tainted by political motivations. Furthermore, as the case proceeded, Henein and Mainville relentlessly argued that the government was interfering in Norman’s ability to defend himself, alleging everything from obstructing disclosure to having justice department lawyers inappropriately coach the prosecution’s witnesses.
The defence team subpoenaed every document they thought might show inappropriate political involvement in the case. It was these document requests that caused the most headaches for the government. Henein and Mainville specifically ensured that the personal phones and email accounts of the top figures in government — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself and his top staff — were included in the subpoenas.
Most spectacularly, Norman’s lawyers brought a witness to the stand in December who testified that “codenames” were sometimes used for Norman internally in the Department of National Defence, meaning computer searches for Norman’s name might not turn up all the relevant documents. ...
(Sidebar: doesn't the use of code names break the promise of transparency? Is that what a government with nothing to hide does?)
Throughout the winter and spring, Norman’s defence launched new allegation after new allegation against the prosecution. In February, they alleged Privy Council lawyers were discussing trial strategy with federal prosecutors in a manner that showed worse political interference than the SNC-Lavalin affair. (The prosecution service strongly denied that any of the discussions were inappropriate or compromised their independence.)
In April, Norman’s lawyers challenged redactions on a series of memos involving staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, arguing they likely weren’t covered by solicitor-client privilege, as claimed.
All of this was leading up to a pre-trial motion that would allege abuse of process, arguing political interference had irreparably damaged Norman’s right to a fair trial. But it appears that motion will never come, nor will the two-month trial that was scheduled to start in August.Oh, do tell, Vice-Admiral Norman. Do tell.
Exactly what caused the prosecution service to drop the charge isn’t yet known — including whether it was caused by anything specific uncovered by Norman’s defence team. It is possible the entire case simply became too unwieldy.
It is also possible that if Norman ever files a civil lawsuit, the public will eventually find out what might have caused the case to be abandoned by the state.
More on "political corruption and incompetence are what the Liberals are good at" news:
The release of the interim Auditor General’s report Tuesday has given the opposition parties five new avenues from which to assault this beleaguered Liberal government.
The performance audits of government programs unveil shortcomings that most emergent nations would kill to have. Not being able to reach an agent at a government call centre or having a sales tax system that is unable to keep pace with the evolving digital market are first-world problems, to be sure.
(Sidebar: these call centres from the most transparent government in the country's history.)
But we are five months away from a general election and each chapter of interim auditor Sylvain Ricard’s report is a damning indictment of the government’s lack of command of the details of governing — as if the actual running of the country is less important than setting bold visions.
In at least two cases, the problems are less a matter of neglect than the direct consequence of weak and wrong-headed decisions.
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Late on Tuesday, senators agreed to consider a package of amendments put forward by Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald, deputy chair of the committee studying Bill C-69.
Taken together, the roughly 70 proposed amendments to C-69 would represent a deep and structural reconfiguration of a bill that has been met with scorn by the oil and gas sector. The committee will now discuss whether those amendments will be included in its final report, though observers say it is unlikely the federal government will accept any extensive alterations.
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The Liberals are now trying to claim that Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives will cut the Child Benefit, despite having zero evidence upon which to make that claim.
And it’s even more dubious considering the history of the Canada Child Benefit.
It was brought in by the Conservatives, and at the time, the Liberals attacked it and said the money would be ‘blown on beer and popcorn.’
That arrogant and dismissive attitude was widely seen as a factor in the Liberals 2006 election defeat.
The Liberals are now so desperate that they’re reduced to lying about a benefit they once opposed.
(Sidebar: it should be repeated that on December 4th, 2017, the Liberals, among other minor parties, voted against a motion to condemn ISIS and its genocidal acts. All the Liberals voted against this motion. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.)
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Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, following the AG report, said the crisis is because of “half-baked reforms” which the Conservatives brought in.
Really?
After almost four years in office Hussen is still blaming the previous government?
Making this more absurd is that Hussen spent years attacking critics of his pro-illegal immigration policy ‘bigots,’ and ‘un-Canadian,’ yet the Trudeau Liberals just recently implemented some of the exact changes the Conservatives had been calling for for years to end the illegal border crossing crisis.
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During a recent hearing on Parliament Hill, Finance Minister Bill Morneau was asked about the fact that $250 MILLION Canadian taxpayer dollars are being given away to the Communist-China controlled ‘Infrastructure Bank.’
The ‘Infrastructure Bank’ funds infrastructure in other countries, and is controlled by China. It is used to expand their influence and power.
Canadians are rightfully asking why we are paying for any of that?
Conservative Finance Critic Pierre Poilievre brought the issue up at the hearing, and unsurprisingly, Bill Morneau’s response was arrogant and condescending.
He called critics of the giveaway to China “uneducated.”
This China:
Canadian leaders have been unable to communicate with Chinese decision-makers in the midst of the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries in decades, with Beijing not responding to Ottawa’s entreaties to talk amid mounting damage to trade with the world’s second-largest economy.Five different Canadian federal ministers have requested conversations with top-level Chinese officials since the Vancouver arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Dec. 1. None has been successful.
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Chinese telecom giant Huawei, is expected to make a brief appearance, with a judge slated to set key dates for her hearing on extradition to the U.S.
Huawei Canada’s vice president of media affairs is expected to make a brief statement at the courthouse following the appearance.
Yes, Bill, people are certainly uneducated about China.
Also - so that's where he's been hiding:
A leaked group email sent this morning by Gerald Butts, former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Trudeau reveals that he is involved in a new venture called Eurasia Group, an advising company that Butts writes is doing “important work on geopolitical risk on four continents, advising some of the world’s largest companies and financial institutions.”
Eurasia Group has a mandate to put “politics first”—a curious business model. Using climate change to make money is not a novel idea, but there’s no doubt that Gerry Butts and his friends will elevate this concept to an art form, especially given the past experiences of Mr. Butts.
For example, before leading the Trudeau brain-trust, he advised the Dalton McGuinty team in Ontario. That Liberal government was notably plagued with scandals and green mismanagement.
It's an election year!:
Pakistani officials and others involved in the case said Wednesday that Aasia Bibi had left Pakistan to be reunited with her daughters in Canada, where they had been granted asylum. Her lawyer, Saif-ul Malook, said she had already arrived in Canada. ...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would not discuss the case Wednesday."I have no comment," Trudeau said. "Obviously, there are sensitive privacy issues and security issues on this and unfortunately I can't comment at this time."
How to look like a total @$$ on the international stage, the Trudeau way!:
(Sidebar: outsourcing garbage to another country can be a smelly business in more ways than one.)Canada has agreed to pay the full cost of bringing 69 garbage-laden shipping containers back across the Pacific Ocean to Vancouver — but it remains unclear how much it will cost and when it will happen.The Canadian government made a formal offer to bring back the garbage last month but has remained tightlipped about what the offer contained.
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Canada’s claim over the Northwest Passage is “illegitimate,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday in a major speech to the Arctic Council that Canadian experts called both provocative and frequently inaccurate.
Pompeo offered his characterization during a wide-ranging speech in Finland in which he also warned against China’s increased Arctic presence, saying it threatens North American security and could be harmful to the environment.
Pompeo reiterated long-held concerns about Russia’s military build-up in the Arctic and how that, too, is viewed as being counter to American security interests.
“No one denies Russia has significant Arctic interests,” Pompeo said in a transcript of remarks circulated by the U.S. State Department. “We recognize that Russia is not the only nation making illegitimate claims. The U.S. has a long-contested feud with Canada over sovereign claims through the Northwest Passage.”
I'll just leave these right here:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Friday the government will install two new military facilities in the Arctic to boost Canada's sovereign claim over the Northwest Passage and signal its long-term commitment to the North.
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Stephen Harper embarked on a five-day tour of the Arctic region Monday, a trip that has become an annual event for the prime minister to demonstrate Canada's sovereignty there.Harper left Ottawa on Monday morning, stopping first in Churchill, Man., to make an announcement of $13.4 million dollars for upgrades to the local airport.
The prime minister made clear that the trip is not just about funding announcements.
"The first and highest priority of our northern strategy is the protection of our Arctic sovereignty," Harper said, speaking to reporters. "And as I have said many times before, the first principle of sovereignty is to use it or lose it."
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is flying to China on Monday, adding to the long list of countries he has visited since winning last year's federal election. Yet there's one place closer to home that Trudeau hasn't set foot in since forming a government: Canada's Far North.
Would Pompeo make this claim if he faced a determined and capable leader who cared less about China and more about the furthest regions of his country?
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stan Rogers:
Also - Andrew Scheer veers into this territorial dispute:
A Conservative government would move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, party leader Andrew Scheer said in a sometimes fiery foreign-policy speech on Tuesday that took personal aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Scheer’s speech in Montreal was a table-setter for the upcoming federal election, the first of several major policy statements the Conservatives say he will make in advance of the fall campaign.
“I will re-open the Office of Religious Freedoms and stand up for religious minorities all around the world. And I will recognize the fact that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” Scheer said, in a portion of the speech not included in the prepared text his office distributed.
It's just money:
According to the ‘Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index,’ consumer confidence fell from 55.4 to 54.9. Bloomberg notes that this recent fall follows small gains in the previous two months. However, those small gains didn’t come close to offsetting the trend from 2018, which was an almost uninterrupted fall in confidence.
Now, with the most recent decline, the trend from 2018 appears to be reasserting itself – just as the carbon tax is imposed more widely throughout the nation.
Also - perhaps people would prefer Justin waste their money:
The government recently posted its travel expenses from Oct. 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019.Premier Scott Moe took four trips during that period. His travel mission to New Delhi and Mumbai, India in November and December cost $59,514. Moe was accompanied by MLA Everett Hindley and four other government staffers.Moe took three other trips: to Washington, D.C., Montreal and Toronto. The visit to Toronto was Moe's first to see Ontario Premier Doug Ford, where the two signed a memorandum of understanding on interprovincial trade.Government officials also met with the Canada-India Business Council. Deputy premier Gord Wyant accompanied the premier to Toronto. The total cost of the two-day visit was $7,047. The government's expense report focused mainly on objectives related to the province and India.
MP Mark Warawa says good-bye to Parliament after cancer diagnosis:
Conservative MP Mark Warawa used his emotional farewell address to the House Commons on Tuesday to call for changes that will ensure more Canadians have access to palliative care.
Warawa, who is facing his own battle with cancer, also urged parliamentarians “to love one another, to encourage each other, because God loves us.”
A truly marvelous human being:
Jean Vanier, whose charity work helped improve conditions for the developmentally disabled in Canada and multiple other countries over the past half-century, has died at 90.
A charity he founded, L’Arche, said Vanier died Tuesday in Paris after suffering from thyroid cancer.
Vanier, son of former governor general Georges P. Vanier, worked as a Canadian navy officer and professor before turning to Catholic-inspired charity work.
Pope Francis was informed of Vanier’s death and is praying for him and the community, according to Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti.
A visit to a psychiatric hospital prompted him to found L’Arche in 1964 as an alternative living environment where those with developmental disabilities could be full-fledged participants in the community instead of patients.
The first Canadian community, L’Arche Daybreak, was founded in Richmond Hill, Ont., and 29 communities are spread across Canada from Comox Valley, B.C., to Cape Breton, N.S.
Worldwide, there are 154 residential communities in 38 countries on five continents.
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