Your middle-of-the-week martini ...
(Sidebar: a martini recipe. Please don't drink and drive.)
From the most corrupt government ever re-elected:
Parliament’s Budget Office can find no evidence of 20,000 projects subsidized with billions in federal tax dollars. Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna’s department would not document where funds were spent, the Commons government operations committee was told: “I don’t have proof that they exist.”
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Federal failure to stock up on pandemic supplies will cost taxpayers $1.8 billion, budget documents disclosed yesterday. The expense reflects pandemic price markups of three to nine times the regular rates charged by Chinese suppliers after the Public Health Agency ignored successive warnings to stock up: “We would have saved a lot of money.”
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Cabinet’s $2,000 pandemic relief cheques are paid out with “very little oversight” and appear generous enough to attract bogus claims, says Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux. Payments can be “much more attractive” than finding work, he said: “The numbers keep rising.”
Why should this corrupt and opaque government be accountable?:
TV pandemic updates by cabinet ministers are a poor substitute for parliamentary accountability, says the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Daily televised news conferences see ministers read scripts and take questions from media selected by political aides: “There’s no question there’s an absence of accountability.”
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On June 17 MPs will meet for what may be the most expensive half-day shift in the Canada’s history. They will have four hours to debate and approve $150 billion in emergency spending.**
Parliament has effectively been cancelled and the Liberals, with the backing of the NDP, have the free rein of an unaccompanied child with a bag full of cash in a candy store.
Liberals “need to get money quickly into the pockets of newspapers” facing job cuts and closures, Unifor president Jerry Dias yesterday told the Commons human resources committee. First payouts under a $595 million federal bailout are expected by Labour Day: “Stop the carnage.”
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Publishers who take federal press subsidies should demonstrate “fair balance” in content, says the New Democrats’ House leader. MP Peter Julian yesterday told the Commons finance committee a media bailout should ensure editors are “not just right-wing voices”.(Sidebar: since when was the
Also - why would we need to stand up to Trump? He is our ally, is he not? I don't remember his caving into China or hiding a certain Huawei executive's trading with Iran. Did he refuse to condemn the bombing of Air India 182? Did he shut down Parliament? How is our ally our enemy?:
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has accused the prime minister of hypocrisy for calling on Canadians to do more to combat racism but refusing to condemn inflammatory remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump.
RE - Chinese overlords:
Champagne refused to say he would give a warning, while once again pushing for ‘engagement’ with China, the same pathetically weak attitude that puts Canadians at such risk by giving China impunity to mistreat our People.
This China:
A Canadian legal activist is warning the federal government to grant asylum to democracy activists in Hong Kong and expanded settlement to those with links to Canada before China prevents them from leaving.
(Sidebar: that won't bloody happen.)
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Emily Lau used her interview with Mercedes Stephenson on "The West Block" to ask Canada and other countries to help Hong Kong as China's interference on the city will almost certainly destroy the system that has established democratic autonomy in the special administrative region, according to Global News.In describing the effects of the new national security law, Lau said that "They are creating offences of subversion, of liaison with foreign forces, with terrorism, and with secession, which I think people in Canada should know... so these offences, the details have not yet been worked out ,but they could be very very broad. So people in Hong Kong are frightened that it could restrict our freedom of expression, including my ability to talk to you right now, and also freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience, academic freedom."She went on to encourage the west to take a stand. "I certainly hope the Canadian government, the US, the British, the Australians, I hope they will all speak out," said Lau, former chairperson of the Hong Kong Democratic Party. Those nations have all come out vocally against China's action.
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The death of a doctor at Wuhan’s “whistleblower hospital” has prompted a wave of anger at hospital authorities for not protecting frontline health workers in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.Hu Weifeng, 42, a urologist at Wuhan Central hospital where the whistleblower ophthalmologist Li Wenliang worked, died of the virus on Tuesday after a four-month battle. Hu is the sixth doctor from his hospital killed by the virus.Another doctor who spoke out, Ai Fen, said authorities told hospital staff not to wear protective gear so as not to cause panic and reprimanded her for “harming stability” when she tried to warn others of the virus. Li Wenliang also tried to warn friends and colleagues in December, and was punished – only to die of the virus in February, causing an unprecedented wave of public anger at authorities.
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China said on Wednesday a news report that said it delayed sharing COVID-19 information with the World Health Organization (WHO) is totally untrue.Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks during a daily briefing in response to a question about the report by the Associated Press, which said the WHO was frustrated by significant delays in information sharing by Beijing as the coronavirus outbreak took hold in China in January.
In the mean time, this has been going on:
The Commons industry committee yesterday by a 6-4 vote agreed to review measures to preempt any fire sale of cash-strapped Canadian energy companies to China. “Are we allowing authoritarian countries and government to purchase strategic assets in Canada?” asked Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill).
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The Liberal government has disturbingly voted against a motion that would study takeovers of Canadian companies by foreign state owned enterprises (AKA China).
The motion was proposed by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel.
(Sidebar: quelle surprise.)
And:
The owner of Atlas Tube, an Ontario steel company is frustrated after being left out of an Albertan solar project worth $200 million. The contract for the Claresholm solar project was instead given to a company from China, according to the Windsor Star.
It's just an economy. I'm sure it will right itself as easily as Justin thinks on his feet and provides timely and coherent answers to forthright questions:
Rates have never been this low and federal government borrowing has never been this high. The government can borrow at 0.28 percent per year for one to three years. It can even lock-in lending for 30 years at 1.1 percent—half the normal rate of inflation of 2 percent. Lending your money to government at interest rates that are half the normal inflation rate guarantees that the money you get back will be worth less than what you lent out. Who would lend so much for so little?Maybe someone who can print money.
(Sidebar: what can go wrong there?)
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There is a possibility that Canada will face the prospect of negative interest rates, something that is being discussed in many countries. If governments respond to the surge of debt by simultaneously raising taxes and cutting spending (even though tax cuts, more economic self-sufficiency, and pro-growth policies are a better way out of debt), we will end up with even more long-term economic damage and a huge decline in demand.
If that happens, the Bank of Canada may be forced into imposing negative interest rates in a desperate attempt to get people to spend money. Of course, that will be devastating for savers, and could easily backfire – leading to a temporary surge in demand followed by an even bigger decline after the initial response.
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Cabinet will “absolutely ensure that pensions are protected” under federal bankruptcy law, Labour Minister Filomena Tassi said yesterday. The remarks came in the Commons amid fears the pandemic will trigger a wave of insolvencies: “Will the government fix the laws, yes or no?”
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The Canada Revenue Agency is opening up its snitch line to tips about fraud in COVID-19 federal aid programs amid reports of illicit applications and double dipping.
See, it's okay when some people do it:
As we know, the Liberals and NDP voted to basically shut down Parliament over the summer, giving themselves a long summer vacation at your expense amid this health & economic crisis.
Yet, the elitist fools still seem to have time to go kayaking on your taxpayer dime:
“Social distanced kayaking! This morning, we were honoured to host Ministers @cathmckenna, @PattyHajdu, @HarjitSajjan, @MonaFortier, and David Lametti. During these crazy times, there’s nothing like a little socially distanced R&R out on the water. Thanks for everything!!”
**
Consider what many politicians – including top Canadian politicians – threatened when it came to CCP Virus lockdowns.**
They threatened massive fines and even jail time if Canadians violated government orders to stay inside.
People were fined and punished for going on walks. ...
Meanwhile, look at how the authorities are treating the protesters who are looting, destroying property, and committing violence.
Many politicians – including Justin Trudeau, Catherine McKenna, Ahmed Hussen, and more – continue to praise the protests, while saying nothing about the division between the legitimate peaceful protests, and the hijacking of many of the protests by radical elements like Antifa.
A three-year study of 130 Quebec municipalities has found 70 per cent of them are continuing to pollute their waterways.
The conclusion, unveiled Monday by the Fondation Rivières, examined water treatment systems in 130 cities and towns — 15 per cent of the 846 systems in operation in Quebec. The municipalities studied are along the Richelieu, Bécancour, Châteauguay and Assomption Rivers as well as Missisquoi Bay and are home to almost 1.5 million Quebecers.
Damn you, Alberta!
What can go wrong here?:
Nearly half of candidates for Parliament would lower the voting age to 16, Elections Canada said yesterday. A survey of candidates in the 2019 campaign found seven percent of elected MPs – the legislators were not named – are “dissatisfied” with democracy in Canada: “How satisfied are you?”
What could fuel this potential electoral train wreck?:
Apparently, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario had killed video chatting before it had even been born. As the world slipped further into chaos and economic uncertainty, teachers were being told not to teach. ...
What I can tell you is that Steve works in public education and has done so for more than two decades and holds a fierce belief in its importance. Politically speaking, Steve is as left as you can get without veering into totalitarianism, and he’s not afraid to say so. As he put bluntly it to me, “I hold deep, socialist, big-government beliefs.” ...
Steve had a point. So I put it him bluntly. Was it true that the teachers’ unions were actually putting the brakes on children’s education?
“Yes,” he said, sounding frustrated and angry. “During the March Break, they put out an order telling teachers to pull back on virtual education.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I’m not privy to the union network,” he said. “But in general, they wanted to control the situation,” he continued. “So, while the world was coming apart, instead of turning to school districts and saying, ‘How do we help?’ they went the opposite route. They did the union thing and treated the government like some monolithic force that must always be opposed.”
Now one knows why people want to home-school.
Wow. People really have a handle on this coronavirus:
Sweden’s top epidemiologist has admitted his strategy to fight COVID-19 resulted in too many deaths, after persuading his country to avoid a strict lockdown.
“If we were to encounter the same illness with the same knowledge that we have today, I think our response would land somewhere in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” Anders Tegnell said in an interview with Swedish Radio.
Idiot.
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Despite the systemic vulnerabilities of long-term care and the frailty of those who need it, Grinspun saw ways to mitigate the risk to residents and staff. Her association quickly called on government and public-health officials to implement widespread testing, as well as a simple but important protective measure to reduce the risk of asymptomatic healthcare workers spreading the virus: Masking. “We started to say we need universal masking—and it needs to start in nursing homes,” Grinspun told The Capital.
About 8% of Canada’s seniors live in long-term care. “The only way to save their lives, in our view, was to keep the virus out,” she said.
That didn’t happen. The virus swept through Canada’s long-term care homes with ferocity. By the end of May, it had hit 18 percent of the country’s care homes, infecting 26,600 residents and staff and killing more than 5,500, accounting for 81 percent of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths.
“It’s a policy-made tragedy,” said Grinspun.
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The report released by the military this week on the state of several long-term care homes in Canada was grim: cockroaches, underqualified and overtaxed front-line workers, no personal protective equipment, residents choking on food. Patients dying.
In the wake of the damning report, which found that many long-term care facilities did not have adequate infection control practices in place, did not provide proper nutrition for residents and failed to keep many patients safe, Canadians are left seeking answers about the state of care in this country.
The revelations have prompted experts to call for new federally-led strategy on how long-term care facilities are operated and managed.
From the same idiots who are screwing up now?
Oh, that will work! Those people are as good as dead.
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Another Ontario nursing home has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging negligence over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged long-term care facilities.
The families of elderly residents who died after contacting COVID-19 at the Altamont Care Community filed a $20-million case against the facility on Monday.
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On May 22 the president of the Campbellton Regional Hospital in northern New Brunswick praised the “efforts and sacrifices” allowing the 163-bed facility to start lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Elective surgery and medical imaging were restarting, Gilles Lanteigne announced, adding: “Despite boasting the lowest contagion rate in the country, we must avoid letting our guard down.”
Last week, however, a COVID-19 outbreak shut the hospital’s emergency department, with ambulances diverted to a facility an hour away. The region is now the only one in the province pushed back into orange alert on the province’s recovery scale — with patient zero being a doctor at Lanteigne’s hospital, who returned from a personal visit to Quebec and failed to self-isolate, officials said.
Maybe it's time to seal off Quebec and put up a big billboard reading "DEAD INSIDE".
Canada's unemployment rate stands at 13%. Why not ask unemployed Canadians to fill in the blanks?:
Canada could see 170,000 fewer new immigrants this year, serving another blow to the country that has relied on the influx of immigrants to drive housing and consumption sectors.
Royal Bank of Canada said travel restrictions and border closures due to the pandemic saw permanent-resident additions drop 30 per cent in March compared to the previous year.
(Sidebar: what border closure?)
“If these restrictions last all summer, we expect to see 170,000 fewer permanent residents entering the country in 2020 than planned — all in a year in which Canada was supposed to welcome a record number of newcomers,” RBC said.
Also - not teaching immigrants the language of commerce (which is English and will not change in the foreseeable future) is keeping them in a serf-like state that will stunt them professionally, academically and personally and will further create division in an already fractured country. Keep in mind who bars ESL and why they might do that:
Across Canada, community organizations, advocates, researchers and health workers are filling gaps in information about COVID-19 in languages other than English.
Manzano-Leal is volunteering as member of the Alberta International Medical Graduates Association while she’s on maternity leave from her job as the director of care at a supported living facility in Calgary.
Alberta Health Services asked the organization, whose members speak about different 80 languages, to help support workers at the Cargill meat-packing plant, the centre of Canada’s largest outbreak of COVID-19.
Manzano-Leal said she talked to about 50 workers who understood English fairly well, but some had more difficulty expressing their concerns in English, especially when it came to health and well-being.
Once she began speaking in Tagalog, Manzano-Leal said the workers opened up.
“They were scared of transmitting the disease to their families because they’re at home, and so we eased their worries and told them the proper way of isolating themselves.”
Imagine if they had learned English and what could easily have been communicated and prevented.
A poll suggests that one in four people believe that post-traumatic stress disorder is the biggest issue facing Canadian veterans:
One in four Canadians believe mental health is the biggest issue facing veterans, says a federal study. Research by the Department of Veterans Affairs contradicts perceptions ex-military are prone to suicide or long-term mental health effects of service: “What do you think is the biggest issue facing veterans today?”
I'll just leave this right here:
“Why are we still fighting against certain veterans’ groups in court? Because they are asking for more than we are able to give right now,” Trudeau said to some shouts and boos from the crowd.
Canadians voted for Trudeau to sue veterans.
And when were you going to tell people?:
The RCMP has quietly outlawed hundreds of rifles and shotguns over the past month, adding to the list of 1,500 firearms already banned by the Liberal government on May 1.
The list has been expanded without public notifications from either the RCMP or the federal government, raising concerns among gun sellers and owners that they could have unknowingly bought, sold or transported illegal firearms in recent weeks. The recently banned firearms have all been deemed illegal retroactively, as of May 1.
There is something in a Russian loves an autocrat:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday set a July 1 date for a nationwide vote on constitutional amendments allowing him to extend his rule until 2036, even as the nation is continuing to record high numbers of new coronavirus cases.
John Wick, we need you!:
Rioters stole
this little puppy from a rescue yard and abused it live on TV in
Memphis. It is dead now, found strangled to death. pic.twitter.com/NEyeT2ya97
—
Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June
3, 2020
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