And the Rest of It

A lot going on ...




It's an election year!:

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wants to revive two more of Stephen Harper’s boutique tax credits axed by the Trudeau Liberals.

Scheer was at a park in Kelowna, B.C. on Monday to announce that if he is elected, parents would receive up to $150 back on their taxes per child up to the age of 16 for enrolling their kids in sports and fitness classes, and another $75 for putting them in arts and learning programs, including dance classes, drawing or after-school tutoring.

The Children’s Fitness Tax Credit and Children’s Arts and Learning Tax Credit are a throwback to the Harper government that implemented identical tax credits during their decade in office.

Maxime Bernier could very well split the vote between his party and the Tories.

He still should have a place at the debates. It's not like he will steal air-time from Justin because Justin won't show up:

The Leaders’ Debates Commission has invited Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, to two debates on Oct. 7 and Oct. 10.

Although the PPC was deemed last month to be ineligible for the debates, the commission said the party has now satisfied all the criteria.

Bernier’s party was not invited to the recent CityTV/Maclean’s debate held on Thursday, and which Liberal leader Justin Trudeau declined to attend.

“With the benefit of more recent information, I am of the view that the PPC has attracted a significant number of party members, has established a notable presence in the media and on the political landscape and, based on recent polling data, has achieved a reasonable chance of success in more than one riding,” said debates commissioner David Johnston in a press release announcing the decision.

 Also - just because the Trudeau government didn't bribe Ezra Levant with our money, it doesn't mean he shouldn't be allowed to attend events and debates:

Indeed, the Parliamentary Press Gallery – the reporters’ guild that controls access to many media conferences – has banned us without notice, explanation or any appeal. China’s state broadcaster, Xinhua, is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. But we’re banned.

Not everyone appreciates our point of view. But we clearly speak to many Canadians. Our reporters have been accredited by governments around the world, in places such as Sweden, the Netherlands and India, and even in partly free countries such as Iraq and Morocco. Only Canada has banned us.

I’m not surprised the Liberals don’t like us. We ask prickly questions. But that’s part of our democratic system. If you need help understanding the problem, imagine if former prime minister Stephen Harper had banned liberal journalists from his government events.

Ms. Freeland’s conduct is remarkable given her former career as a journalist.

Liberals need to know how freedom of the press works – it’s a gift you have to give to your opponents, if you want it for yourself.

Justin's handlers need to protect his fragile ego from the sorts of things a normal leader would be expected to brook like meeting people, answering questions or not being fawned over. The bribed press are willing to oblige and even remove embarrassing footage (like saying that the Liberal Party supports the state-funded CBC).  

Surely Justin knows that the CBC can't cover a multitude of sins in an era when everyone has a cellphone and most people tweet even compromising footage.

And - given Justin's record of treating women, I'm sure he just wanted to look under her skirt:

The Liberals have been attacking the Conservatives, because a current Conservative candidate happens to have been friends with Faith Goldy.


Yet, the Liberals have now been forced onto the defensive, after Scheer brought up allegations that Justin Trudeau once bought Faith Goldy drinks at the Chateau Laurier.

Why does this sound familiar?:

The Canadian Forces and Global Affairs Canada are facing criticism after honouring members of Ukrainian organizations that helped the Nazis in the Second World War.

Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk spoke at an Aug. 21 ceremony that unveiled a monument in Sambir to honour members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), two groups that are linked to the killing of tens of thousands of Jews and Poles.

Oh, yeah:

Veterans Affairs has reviewed how it approves videos for posting on social media "to ensure rigour and accountability," following an embarrassing incident last May that saw Minister Lawrence MacAulay apologize for a Second World War tribute that "erroneously" included footage of German, not Canadian soldiers.

The US is quite displeased:

Global energy prices spiked on Monday after a weekend attack on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia caused the worst disruption to world supplies on record, an assault for which U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. was “locked and loaded” to respond.

U.S. officials offered satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom’s crucial Abqaiq oil processing plant and a key oil field, alleging the pattern of destruction suggested the attack on Saturday came from either Iraq or Iran — rather than Yemen, as claimed by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels there.

Iran for its part called the U.S. allegations “maximum lies.”