There Are More Organised Circuses Than This One

Getting good and hard the government we deserve:

The Department of Public Works released an internal report that claims there is cronyism in the hiring process. A number of unnamed employees have complained to an ombudsman over what they believe to be preferential hiring and sweetheart appointments for members of management’s family, bordering nepotism according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Andre Latreille, the department’s mental health ombudsman wrote, “Many employees are afraid to speak openly about their situation in the workplace.” he added, “The confidential meetings helped them to explore potential situations.”

The number of managers that have been demoted for misconduct remains unknown but Latreille wrote in his 2019 Annual Report To The Deputy Minister, “Based on feedback from the ombudsman and on other information, senior management decided to terminate the acting assignments of employees in positions of authority because of conduct considered inappropriate by subordinates.”

Amongst the complaints listed are “favouritism, unfairness and lack of transparency in staffing” in department offices nationwide, he said: “Various employees across Canada expressed their frustration regarding staffing decisions that lacked transparency. Employees perceive favouritism in staffing, while others have even reported nepotism.”

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Canada slid to its lowest level in at least a decade on a global index of corruption, driven down by the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. scandal, a new report shows.

The country was ranked 12^th of 180 countries on Berlin-based Transparency International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index, an annual worldwide list from least corrupt country to worst issued Thursday. Canada ranked ninth in 2018 and sixth in 2010.

Also:

The Teck Frontier proposal is one of the largest oilsands mines ever proposed in Alberta, and the federal cabinet has until the end of February to decide whether the project will be approved.

“If the decision is made by the federal government either to delay or cancel the Teck project, I can see this province going ballistic and I think that’s going to be a real stab in the heart of the province,” said Jack Mintz, president’s fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy.

“It’s actually going to be a really interesting test of their policies because they do believe in responsible resource development, so the question is, does this fall into the category of what they believe in?”

Struggling to get something, anything, done before people figure out that there is more productive roadkill than the government:

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is urging opposition parties to support an updated free trade deal “without undue delay,” as the Liberals seek to notch an early victory under their weakened minority government.

Yes, about that:

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants a thorough review and debate in Parliament of the new NAFTA agreement before deciding if the deal gets his party’s support. 

 
Let them fight.




Yes, Canada, let Iran squirrel you around:

Iran said it had asked the U.S. and French authorities for equipment to download information from black boxes on a downed Ukrainian airliner, potentially angering countries which want the recorders analyzed abroad.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, which lost 57 of the 176 people killed in the crash, said Iran did not have the ability to read the data and he demanded the cockpit and flight recorders should be sent to France. Kiev wants the recorders sent to Ukraine.

The U.S.-built Boeing 737 flown by Ukraine International Airlines was shot down in error by Iranian forces on Jan. 8 during a period of tit-for-tat military strikes that included the killing by the United States of a senior Iranian general on Jan. 3.

Tehran, already embroiled in a long-running standoff with the United States over its nuclear program, has given mixed signals about whether it would hand over the recorders.

Free markets do this, not governments that see bogey-men where none exist:

In their election platform, the Liberals pledged a reduction in “some of the highest prices in the world” at the expense of telecom companies that are “among the most profitable in the developed world”.

It was a soft target – pummelling unpopular telcos by offering savings of nearly $1,000 to the average family of four, based on 2018 prices.

It is inconvenient then, that the market has already done its work by reducing prices. Unlimited plans from Rogers, Telus and Bell currently offer 20GB at maximum speed for $75, down from $95 – a reduction close to the government’s 25 per cent target.

Meanwhile, the Tories are either backing off or jumping head-first to see who will lead a party that cannot defeat the village idiot:

And if there is anything that even his critics and supporters can agree on, it’s that Stephen Harper was always a shrewd and calculating operator. Why any of them think a political return would be a shrewd move likely to improve Harper’s lot in life is baffling.

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Manitoba MP Candice Bergen is seriously looking at launching her own bid for the Conservative leadership, a change of heart that comes after three high-profile candidates decided last week not to run.

Bergen had told reporters earlier this month that she wouldn’t be running for leader, in part because she already has a busy job as Opposition House Leader — a particularly important role in a minority parliament where every vote is subject to negotiation.

But after Jean Charest, Rona Ambrose and Pierre Poilievre all announced over the past week that they would not be entering the race, Bergen changed her mind and is gauging support, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The decisions of Ambrose and Poilievre in particular caused Bergen to take another look.

“The field just became very small very quickly,” said the source, who would only speak on condition they weren’t named. “Circumstances have changed.” The source said Bergen has not yet made a final decision.

There is some brightness in this era of darkness.

Justin's fattest cheerleader has not been rewarded for her toadying:

Amid what CBC is calling ‘negative audience feedback,’ Rosemary Barton is being dropped from ‘The National’.