Mid-Week Post

Your middle-of-the-week snack break ...




Of course they did:

The Liberal majority on the House of Commons ethics committee has voted down an opposition motion to call Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion to testify about his report concluding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act over the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Liberal MP Steven MacKinnon said he and the other Liberal MPs sitting on the committee today voted down the motion because, following Dion's report and hours of testimony on the scandal over a five-week period, there was nothing new to add to their understanding of the SNC-Lavalin affair.

"The opposition's claim to simply wanting the facts is contradicted by the fact that what they seek is found in the commissioner's report," MacKinnon said.

Then what will be wasted by investigating further? Time? Money? Since when did that bother you, you filthy crime organisation? 

Also - don't forget Scott Brison:

The federal government has written off the balance of two multimillion-dollar loans given to Irving-owned Atlantic Wallboard in Saint John.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency closed the file on the two loans in March after deciding that the full amount "has not been and likely will never be repaid," according to a memorandum obtained by CBC News. 

The two loans, called "conditionally repayable contribution agreements," were worth a combined $7.4 million. They were made under ACOA's Saint John Shipyard Adjustment Initiative.

Vaguely related:

Eyre takes over as army commander from Lt.-Gen. Jean-Marc Lanthier, who himself was installed as vice-chief of the defence staff only last month following the surprise resignation of Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk.

Wynnyk linked his decision to leave the Forces to an aborted attempt to reinstate Norman as the military’s second-in-command before Norman reached a confidential settlement with the government and announced his plan to retire.

Who does Trudeau's government work for today?:

The federal government announced on August 9, 2019, that it will be granting full duty remissions on illegally dumped fabricated steel from China to supply two liquid natural gas (LNG) projects located in British Columbia. Their recent action was announced with their assurance that “trade barriers would not be permitted to stand in the way of these historic private sector investments”.

This China:

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday that the consulate worker, Simon Cheng, was being held under a 15-day administrative detention process in the mainland city of Shenzhen. Geng said the issue was a domestic matter and not a diplomatic dispute, saying that Cheng, 28, is a Hong Kong citizen.

Cheng was revealed to be missing Tuesday after failing to return from an Aug. 8 meeting in Shenzhen and hasn’t contacted his family since. The U.K.’s foreign office said Tuesday that it was “extremely concerned” and was seeking information from authorities in Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, which includes Shenzhen.

Also:

The defence team for a Huawei executive wanted on fraud charges in the United States is alleging Canadian officials initially planned to arrest Meng Wanzhou when her plane landed, but instead questioned her for nearly three hours before arresting her. ...

The court documents include a solemn declaration from Acting Supt. Sanjit Dhillon of the Canada Border Services Agency, who says that Meng repeatedly asked why she was selected for secondary inspection after she got off the plane.

Dhillon says in his declaration that he asked Meng what she did for work, whether her company sold products to the U.S. and whether it sold products in countries that it should not.

Meng appeared confused by the question and he rephrased it, asking if the company sold products or did business in Iran, to which he says Meng initially replied, “I don’t know,” he says.

“I reminded the subject that she is the CFO of a multibillion-dollar company, and that it would be hard for me to believe that she wouldn’t know these details about her company,” Dhillon’s declaration says. “The subject stated that her company does have an office in Iran.”

I'm sure the Chinese have an expression for "full of sh--" but I cannot think of it right now.




It's just an economy:

A big jump in the number of guest workers is hurting low-wage employees and others across Canada, according to economists.

The number of non-permanent foreign workers arriving in Canada each year has doubled in the past decade, escalating particularly after the federal Liberal government was elected in 2015.

Partly as a result of the increasing flow of guest workers, UBC economist David Green and Carleton University’s Christopher Worswick say in a paper that new immigrants are doing “worse and worse” in regards to earned incomes. And it’s Canada’s low-wage workers who are suffering the most.

Even though businesses frequently lobby politicians to allow more guest employees, Green says the latest hikes are putting downward pressure on wages and threatening respect for workers. They’re exacerbating the kind of scenario, he said, that lead to the rise of Donald Trump and Britain’s Brexit movement.

Saying it’s “truly dumb” for the federal government to continue boosting low-skilled guest workers in the country, Green emphasized the vast majority of Canadians don’t appear to be aware of the labour-market shift. “It’s totally under the radar.”

While temporary workers were initially billed as a way to rescue businesses that needed to make up short-term skill shortages in certain sectors, low-skill guest workers from overseas are now increasingly being brought in to staff fast-food restaurants, fill shelves at supermarkets and perform basic kitchen duties.

What could Canada lead the world in? Financing child rapists and pilot-burners?:

Canada could prove itself an enlightened world leader if it brought Jack Letts here from Syria after British authorities stripped the alleged ISIL member of his citizenship, his father told the National Post Monday.

It would be too disastrous, even for the Liberals and their terrorist-sympathetic voters, to let Jack Letts return before October but believe me, such a plan is in the works.




It's not like we need to worry about the Russians or anything:

The delivery of the first of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships has been delayed once again, but Defence department officials are hopeful the vessel will arrive some time this year.

Before the election, right?




How is it that people were able to marry and have children without the "benefit" of sexual education programs penned by Kathleen Wynne's friend, convicted child pornographer, Benjamin Levin?:

Religious and conscientious exemptions were available under the previous Liberal government, though those instances were addressed on a case-by-case basis and school boards were not required to have a codified policy in place. Some school boards also refused to allow exemptions for issues covered by the human rights code, such as sexual orientation.

From one's lips to God's ears:

If you think that Rob Ford Road has a nice ring to it, then you can vote on it. The City of Toronto is letting locals pick the names of three new streets in Etobicoke, and the controversial late mayor made the cut.

 
(Merci and paws up)