Seventeen more shopping days until Halloween 🎃💀👻 ...
Justin is furious that no one will let him get away with wrong-doing:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has blasted opposition parties for continuing their effort to dig into the WE Charity issue, and says his government is instead focused on helping Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The comments follow Conservative calls for a new anti-corruption committee in the House of Commons to take over several parliamentary probes into a multimillion-dollar federal program for students that the government chose WE Charity to manage in the spring.
New Democrats have also proposed a special committee that would dive into the government’s various responses to COVID-19, including the now-defunct Canada Student Services Grant.
(Sidebar: funny that they should bring that up ...)
Both parties' calls come as opposition parties have indicated they plan to resurrect the earlier probes at the Commons’ finance and ethics committees, among others, which were suspended for months when Trudeau prorogued Parliament in August.
(Sidebar: this.)
The prime minister sidestepped questions Tuesday about whether he would support having one special committee continue the investigation into WE, suggesting instead that the issue is closed for the government and its priority is dealing with COVID-19.
"We are entirely focused on this second wave of COVID-19," he said. "We will continue to stay focused on what we need to do to support Canadians facing a very difficult time right now."
(Sidebar: yes, about that particular squirrel ...)
Justin, instead of remembering that he serves the public and, therefore, owes it an answer, insists that he and his party have absolutely nothing to hide:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told media on Tuesday that his government has remained "open and transparent" in the WE Charity investigation.
Trudeau said that while the Conservatives continued to focus on the charity scandal, wherein Trudeau attempted to give the Trudeau family-tied WE Charity $912 million, that his government would continue to focus on Canadians.
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A cabinet filibuster to block disclosure of corporate sponsorship fees paid to the Prime Minister’s family is now in its second week. Liberal MPs on the Commons ethics committee have delayed a vote to release records detailing hundreds of thousands paid to Trudeaus: “We’re not talking about $1 or $200, we’re talking about a lot.”
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The Liberal chair abruptly ended a Zoom meeting with the Finance Committee on Thursday. Wayne Easter announced he was ending the meeting just as Pierre Poilievre moved to have a motion on the WE scandal.
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UPDATE: The WE scandal meeting at Finance Committee that 11 MPs attended last night NEVER HAPPENED.
— pierrepoilievre (@PierrePoilievre) October 9, 2020
Look at the Parliamentary telescreen, where video of the meeting just vanished. Repeat in unison: “It is no more and never was.” pic.twitter.com/XugG6egWX0
None of that sounds like a government that knows it is accountable to the public and is willing, even if for no other reason than to put this matter to rest, to co-operate and make the documents available, unredacted.
But no.
Now, Justin is ready for yet another scandal:
The Canadian government has gone to the Federal Court in an attempt to protect “sensitive” information about the raid of a Quebec company that was searched by the RCMP as part of an investigation into the alleged diversion of technology with military uses to China.
In a speech to accept the James A. Van Fleet Award from the Korea Society, a New York-headquartered non-profit that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and South Korea, last week, the Boy With Luv hitmaker mentioned South Korea’s shared “history of pain” with the U.S. over the 1950-53 conflict, in which the two countries fought together.
“We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations shared together and the sacrifices of countless men and women,” he said, but his comments riled Chinese fans, as Beijing backed the North in the conflict.
“They should not make any money from China,” one user commented on Weibo, reported Reuters. “If you want to make money from Chinese fans you have to consider Chinese feelings.”
“If you want to make money in China you should consider the feelings of Chinese fans,” wrote another user on Twitter, as others accused the group of “humiliating” the Dynamite group’s Chinese followers.
(Sidebar: the North Koreans beg to differ ...)
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China can no longer credibly use the “excuse” of COVID-19 to continue keeping Canadian diplomats from visiting Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the Conservative foreign affairs critic says.
Conservative MP Michael Chong also says this past week’s virtual consular visits to Kovrig and Spavor should have happened much sooner.
(Sidebar: whatever, Sock Boy.)
**
China on Monday denied that two Canadian citizens held for almost two years had been “arbitrarily” detained in response to Canada’s arrest of an executive of technology giant Huawei.
A judge has upheld the majority of Canada’s privilege claims over documents sought by lawyers for Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in her U.S. extradition case, Canada’s justice department said late on Thursday.
**
Members of the Canada-China business establishment in Beijing applauded a senior Chinese official who demanded the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and held Ottawa solely responsible for problems between the two countries.
Ahem:
“The Canada-China Business Council is a private, non-partisan, membership-based business association, with members from both Canada and China. Members include large multinational corporations such as Barrick Gold, BlackBerry, Bombardier, BMO Financial Group, Caisse de Depot, CITIC, Export Development Canada, Huawei Technologies, Manulife Financial, Molycorp, Power Corporation, SNC Lavalin, and Sun Life Financial. The CCBC draws its members from different industries, including manufacturing, oil and gas, education, public sector and professional services. The CCBC works closely with the China Council for Promotion of International Trade(CCPIT)”
The CCBC founder was the late Paul Desmarais (brother in-law of Jean Chretien). The current Chairman is Olivier Desmarais, the Honourable Chairman is Andre Desmarais, the Vice-Chairman is Martin Cauchon (former Liberal Cabinet Minister). New board members were elected for 2019-2020 include Scott Brison (former Liberal Cabinet Minister), Morgan Elliott (VP-Gov’t Affairs for Huawei Canada and former official in the Chretien’s & Martin’s PMO), Pierre Pyun (VP, Bombardier).
**
The extradition case of Meng Wanzhou has raised troubling questions about undue U.S. political influence on the hearings in Vancouver. Let's be clear about one thing: Meng's case is anything but normal, and its unusual nature risks compromising the integrity of Canada's justice system.
To resolve this conundrum, intervention by Canada's Attorney General is needed.
Yes, prove what Canadians have already known, that the judiciary is simply a wing of the federal government and that its actors are nothing more than judicial activists who make the law.
Speaking of the judiciary ...
The Americans are in the process of determining whether the embattled Amy Coney Barrett is a suitable replacement for the late Ruth Ginsberg.
Because Canadians cannot resist an opportunity to prove how self-conscious and petty they are subdued they are, Mr. JJ McCullough takes a moment to prove what a shambles the Canadian judiciary is as compared to the American judiciary (when one opens one's self to comparisons, one will certainly put one's foot in it).
(Sidebar: the comments section of McCullough's well-drafted articles prove that most of his detractors know nothing of Canada and are products of sibling marriages for whom Mr. McCullough lives rent-free in their skulls.)
Back to Canada ...
In 2016, Justin assumed his father's former office:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged problems at the Public Health Agency on Tuesday, after two top doctors criticized an erosion of funding and scientific capacity for hindering its ability to confront a pandemic.
(Sidebar: lie a little better, @$$hole.)
Yes, it's always someone else's fault.
New Democrat MPs yesterday served notice they seek first-ever parliamentary hearings on the troubled Canada Infrastructure Bank. The chair and CEO abruptly resigned last April. Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna has promised to “get shovel-ready projects built quickly” though none have been completed since the Bank was established three years ago: “Well, that’s unacceptable.”
Why does everyone assume that Liberals are sleaze?
Well ... :
A Liberal MP who apologized for vulgar tweets about Indigenous women, Chinese-Canadians and others yesterday invoked Nelson Mandela in decrying racism. MP Jaimie Battiste (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.) told the Commons Indigenous affairs committee he was upset by intolerance in Canada: “Why do I assume every skinny aboriginal girl is on crystal meth?”
"People are innovative," says frat-boy who has never worked a hard day in his life:
“People are very innovative in terms of that. What Canadians know is that there is far too much plastic going into our landfills and not being recycled. That needs to be cleaned up. It’s a commitment we made two years ago,” Trudeau added.
Ahem:
A federal report says Canada accounts for about 0.4% of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
You voted for the decline in 2015. Now, you can own all of it, Canada:
As provinces impose second lockdowns and Trudeau pledges more assistance for those affected, a majority of Canadians are becoming concerned about Canada’s finances, with this year's deficit being around $380 Billion.
A new poll conducted by Maru/Blue, which surveyed 1,515 Canadians, found that 67 percent of respondents were concerned about the growing deficit, and believed that it was time for the Trudeau government to reduce spending.
The poll also found that 51 percent of Canadians believe that the Liberals are just looking after their base, and not all Canadians. For example, Western Canada, who overwhelmingly rejected Trudeau’s Liberals during the last election, has barely gotten any federal support for its struggling oil and gas sector during the pandemic.
**
Electric car rebates are the costliest federal climate change program, according to Department of Transport figures. The department estimated cuts to greenhouse gas emissions as a direct result of cash rebates cost taxpayers nearly $900 per tonne in the first year of the program: “An audit has not yet been completed.”
**
More than 240,000 Canadians applied for a new federal coronavirus relief program that kicked off Monday, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
(Sidebar: how many are not working?)
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While the Canadian housing market may be roaring, two resourceful RBC Capital Market analysts pored through the numbers to determine Canadian banks’ exposure to mortgage debt, and concluded that while the industry would be able to weather the storm, these were some of their biggest concerns:
“We believe 10% to 20% of mortgages under deferral are at a higher risk of defaulting. We are most concerned about borrowers on a deferral program who are unemployed (and were receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB) and borrowers on a deferral program who are employed but are earning less than what they earned pre-COVID,” wrote RBC analyst Darko Mihelic and senior associate Sanly Li in a report earlier this week.
“We are also concerned about borrowers not on a deferral program but are facing some form of financial hardship. If 20 per cent of mortgages under deferral eventually become delinquent in Canada, this equates to a mortgage delinquency rate of 2.3 per cent which is almost 4 times higher than the peak Canadian mortgage delinquency rate over the past 30 years; however, we have reasons to be optimistic that this high level of default will not occur.”
Currently 11 per cent of mortgage borrowers from large Canadian banks — representing around $175 billion of mortgage debt — are not making payments, according to RBC.
**
Parliament must impose a surtax on excess corporate profits, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday told reporters. Singh stopped short of threatening to withhold twenty-four NDP votes from any minority Liberal budget bill: “This is fundamental.”
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Nice day for a 2% hike in Hydro rates in #Ontario. Would’ve been 4% but rebate will be added to Ontario’s big debt. Disturbingly, no media wants to mention the reason for the increase: GREEN ENERGY ACT of 2010. And it’s the very thing Trudeau wants to impose on the rest of Canada
— Dan McTeague (@GasPriceWizard) October 13, 2020
I'm sure that these are nothing to be concerned about:
Elections Canada says it has identified roughly 3,500 cases of people who voted in 2019's federal election where there was conflicting evidence about their citizenship, CBC News has learned.
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Canadian Security Intelligence Service employees see the spadework needed to obtain a judicial warrant as “a necessary evil” that detracts from more valuable activities, says an independent review that calls for a cultural shift inside the spy agency.
The review, obtained by The Canadian Press, found that ineffective training, excessive secrecy and a generally poor understanding of responsibilities contributed to CSIS failing to meet its obligation of full and frank disclosure to the Federal Court when seeking investigative warrants.
**
The problem is that the parent/grandparent program has always been massively oversubscribed. The first-come-first-served process was responsible for building up a backlog of 165,000 applications under the Conservatives. The Harper government froze applications in 2011 and increased intake targets for two years before returning to more traditional levels of admission and capping applications at 5,000.
The Liberals saw an opportunity in that policy and in the 2015 election, promised to double applications to 10,000 a year.
“Family reunification is important for family success and the Conservatives have shut the door,” Navdeep Bains, then the Liberal candidate in Mississauga Malton told me during the 2015 campaign.
Bullsh--.
It's more about voters blocks and they know it.
Let someone take the blame:
The federal government is pressing ahead with plans to allow municipalities to ban handguns, a proposal that has angered some provincial governments even as many cities appear uninterested in putting in place local firearms prohibitions.
**
It’s not like Canada’s cities and provinces are preoccupied with more urgent matters these days (can you think of anything?), so now looks like the perfect time for Ottawa to press ahead with an absurd proposal to make municipalities, rather than the federal government, do the job of banning handguns.
It’s an idea no one thinks will work, very few want and which is guaranteed to cause federal-provincial antagonism.
Canadians do not trust whatever vaccine comes their way nor do they expect any borrowed money to land on their laps any time soon.
I do:
The coalition government of the Netherlands has moved to make euthanasia legal in the case of terminally ill children under the age of 12.
Health Minister Hugo de Jonge has said he will draft legislation to allow the practice. The government, made up of four parties, had long been split on the matter, with Christian parties the Christian Democrat Appeal party and ChristenUnie initially united against the move.
How astonishingly little we actually know about the woman who inspired the myth of Cleopatra was immediately brought into focus on social media by the news that Gadot, a white actress, would be playing an Egyptian monarch. Some outraged commentators accused her of white-washing ...
Despite the refusal of the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, to release any DNA results which might indicate the racial ancestry of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, the leaked results reveal that King Tut’s DNA is a 99.6 percent match with Western European Y chromosomes.
And now, some happy things:
Unlike most who are experiencing bubbles for the first time, Nathan has yet to meet a lot of very important people — his extended family.
“They help us by dropping things off on my doorstep, if I need something because I can’t really go out. I can’t do anything unless I desperately need anything. It’s hard that he is stuck to the four walls inside my house unless I take him for a walk,” said Costante..
She is looking forward to their first Christmas at home as a family and for Nathan to eventually play with other children instead of keeping distant. “He spends his days chasing his dog around the house and I spend my day chasing him around with his vent!”
In a recent Instagram caption, Costante wrote, “Today was another first. We made arrangements with our local NoFrills to pick up pumpkins safely … He was so happy, he’s never been in a store before and he was mesmerized by the lights, people and beeping.”
“It’s lonely and it’s difficult but we get through it because we have to. We have to make it out of this pandemic and hopefully one day we can really start experiencing life because that’s why we went through this transplant journey,” Costante said.
**
While battling the darkest monster from the pit of hell, known as "COVID," Donald the Orange fell to his doom several days ago, sacrificing himself to save America from the deadly demon.
So Americans were ecstatic to learn that Donald the Orange had returned in a new, better form, now known as Donald the White. A brilliant white light shone from Walter Reed Medical Center as Donald the White emerged just in time to save America from COVID, Antifa, and the Deep State.
"I come back to you now at the turn of the tide!" he cried as he rode triumphantly out in the presidential limousine, codenamed "Shadowfax," cutting right through the ravenous hordes of Antifa counterprotesters blocking the way.
"Donald! Donald the Orange!" cried his supporters outside Walter Reed Medical Center.
"Yes..." he said as he sat in the back of Shadowfax. "Yes... Donald the Orange... that is what they used to call me." The newly revived president has a newfound passion for life and even more energy than before, though sources say he's also taken up smoking.
Donald the White says he will use his newfound powers to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, shouting at would-be immigrants, "You shall not pass!"
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A rescue dog at Toronto Pearson Airport forced multiple flights to delay take-off and led her foster handlers and airport staff members on a 12 hour chase after she broke free of her cage.
That silly beast!
Where did she think that she was going?
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In Wales, a disembodied spirit was thought to be sitting on every crossroad and stile on All Hallow’s Eve.
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