Mid-Week Post

And he was expecting to skate:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated Canada’s conflict of interest law by improperly seeking to influence a criminal prosecution, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion has concluded.

Dion’s investigation concerned allegations raised by former Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould that senior government officials put pressure on her to defer the prosecution of construction firm SNC-Lavalin on bribery and fraud charges.

The report focuses particularly on the role of Trudeau, saying that he “directed his staff to find a solution that would safeguard SNC-Lavalin’s business interests in Canada.”

Dion calls the tactics used “troubling,” and says the evidence “abundantly shows that Mr. Trudeau knowingly sought to influence Ms. Wilson-Raybould both directly and through the actions of his agents.”

“As Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau was the only public office holder who, by virtue of his position, could clearly exert influence over Ms. Wilson‑Raybould,” the report says. “The authority of the Prime Minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. Wilson‑Raybould as the Crown’s chief law officer.”

It concludes Trudeau violated section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act, which says public office holders are prohibited from using their position to seek to influence a decision to improperly further the private interests of a third party.

“Because SNC‑Lavalin overwhelmingly stood to benefit from Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s intervention, I have no doubt that the result of Mr. Trudeau’s influence would have furthered SNC-Lavalin’s interests. The actions that sought to further these interests were improper since the actions were contrary to the constitutional principles of prosecutorial independence and the rule of law,” the report says.

The full report is here.

This would be the second time he has done this (that we know of).


There is more:

Canada’s ethics watchdog says he was hampered in his investigation of the SNC-Lavalin affair by a decision of senior government officials to withhold information relevant to the case.

In a scathing rebuke near the beginning of his 63-page report, released Wednesday morning, ethics commissioner Mario Dion detailed how he fought to access confidential information related to the affair, but was denied by the Privy Council Office — one of the offices involved in the scandal he was investigating.

That doesn't sound too transparent.


What does this mean?

Well, it's a vindication for Jody Wilson-Raybould. So there's that.

It could also mean one of two things: the Liberals, realising that their re-election chances are slim at the moment (one hundred candidates are not even running as of this writing), are attempting to re-invent themselves as impartial and not above the law (because everything is a "learning experience" for the heavily contrite Justin though he refuses to resign). Well, when are they going to speak out against their erstwhile leader, the same one who is souring their chances at re-election? Or would that in-fighting be an optics nightmare?

This leads to the second point: the Liberals have grown tired of Justin's ineffectual dancing-monkey ways and are turfing him but slowly. It was all very well and good to love China from a distance but with the industrial espionage and imprisoned Canadians and the soon-to-be-tanked canola oil industry, there are only so many lies MPs can tell constituents facing bankruptcy.

Also - good:

What started as a billboard campaign asking voters to oust Liberal MP Ralph Goodale in Regina has expanded to target Liberal MPs throughout Canada, with its latest focus being battleground ridings in Ontario.

WestWatch is a campaign launched this spring by the Canada Growth Council (CGC), a non-profit Political Action Committee (PAC) incorporated in January and based in Regina. 

The campaign recently appeared in Alberta targeting Edmonton Liberal MPs Amarjeet Sohi and Randy Bossionnault and Calgary MP Kent Hehr. Billboards in Winnipeg focused on Liberal MPs there will be up soon.

Derek Robinson, a spokesperson for CGC, said the Liberal government has done "significant damage to Western Canada, its industries and way of life." He said oil and gas based industries in southeastern Saskatchewan and Calgary have been "devastated" and are feeling "alienated".

Robinson said Ontario battleground ridings will see "hard-hitting" billboards aimed at the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"He's probably the most scandal ridden prime minister in history," said Robinson.

No, it won't be Trump's fault that there will be a recession. It will be due to poor leadership on Canada's part and the fact that everyone was bloody keen on handing their economies and debt to China:

Schamotta thinks Trump’s bark is bigger than his bite and says a bigger shock than already announced tariffs are needed to push Canada into a recession. He puts the odds of a recession this year below 30 per cent, rising closer to 50 per cent by early 2021. He says Canada also has its own issues that can’t be ignored.

I didn't hear Harper blame the Americans when he kept this country afloat during a downturn.




But I thought that there was no compulsion:

The organisation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has sounded the alarm at the increasing number of cases of forced conversion of Christian and Hindu women to Islam, Vatican News reported. ACN indicated that young women, and even teenagers from religious minorities, are the key targets of the perpetrators.

It is claimed that newly-developed Ebola drugs cured a mother and child:

A mother and young son with Ebola who were treated with new drugs in the city of Goma in eastern Congo have been declared “cured” and returned to their home.

Top doctors fighting Ebola quickly used the case on Tuesday to press the message that people can recover from the potentially deadly disease if they seek proper care.

Ebola is dangerous but it is also curable with correct treatment, said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research.

I'm not sure how China's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees makes it eligible for a more preferred trade status:

China has detained about 60 North Korean defectors and begun repatriating them back to North Korea where they could face punishment, including execution, according to South Korean sources.
The defectors fleeing the brutal rule of Kim Jong Un have been held in detention facilities in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning bordering North Korea, according to a South Korean missionary, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
"I believe the repatriation of North Korean defectors held in detention facilities in Liaoning province has begun recently,” the missionary told RFA’s Korean Service, adding that the 60 North Koreans were arrested in various parts of China and imprisoned in Liaoning as of last month.
The missionary, who has been involved in helping defectors for the last two decades, as well as other activist and human rights groups believe defector arrests have spiked this year following appeals by the Kim Jong Un regime to Beijing to thwart those fleeing North Korea, especially military personnel or dignitaries. 
The number of arrests of North Koreans fleeing to South Korea via China has increased significantly this year, according to human rights activists and other groups involved in efforts to help those leaving the hardline communist state in search of a better life.

**

South Korea on Wednesday started the legislative process to exclude Japan from its list of preferential trading partners, as part of the snowballing trade row between the two neighbors.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has posted an advance legislative notice to revise its whitelist of trade partners, removing Japan from the top-tier list. ...

Countries in the second group will face the same level of export restrictions as China and North Korea, but may be partly exempted from trade processes when it comes to key strategic materials that “contribute to world peace and Korea’s national security.”

Because North Korea is all about South Korea's peace and security, like when they invaded on June 25th, 1950.




(Paws up and kamsahamnida)