Your middle-of-the-week tipple ...
It's just money:
Federal agencies yesterday declined comment on a $120 million housing loan to one of Canada’s wealthiest developers. Cabinet earlier defended the loan as critical: “Companies, given their financial statements, don’t seem to be worthy recipients of taxpayers’ largesse.”
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Net wealth taxes: The NDP is pushing for a one per cent annual net wealth tax on fortunes more than $20 million. The Parliamentary Budget Office predicts the tax would raise 0.2 per cent of GDP ($5.6 billion). The virtue is in supposedly making a few wealthy Canadians pay “their fair share” — even though the top 1 per cent already pays close to 20 per cent of personal income taxes. The extra revenue won’t make much of a dent in $500 billion in federal spending this year. Of the 12 countries that had general net wealth taxes in 1990, only four still do today (Colombia, Norway, Spain and Switzerland) and they collect only small amounts of revenue. Many countries have annual property taxes on housing that raise much more revenue.
(Sidebar: the NDP also like censorship, so there's that.)
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In its most recent Fiscal Sustainability Report, the PBO warns that the federal government will not return to a balanced budget until 2070 under the status quo.
In its estimate, the PBO says the government is projected to tack on an additional $2.7 trillion in debt before balancing the budget in 2070. Interest charged will cost Canadians approximately $3.8 trillion by 2070.
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The newest entry is the Pay Equity Act requiring federally regulated employers and the federal public sector to pay the same wages to women as to men for work of the same “value.” Indeed, we have a brand-new Pay Equity Commissioner, with a host of highly paid bureaucrats under her, to ensure compliance.
Now, how can I be so churlish as to object to any of this, beyond its expense?
Because we live in a capitalist society where the price of labour is measured by a combination of competitive pressures and supply and demand. If our trucking companies have to pay their office staff the same as their truck drivers because a zealous government bureaucrat deems them to be of “equal value,” then our trucking companies’ wage burden will ascend dramatically. They will be unable to compete with U.S. trucking companies and eventually go out of business.
Also - wow. You know it's bad when even leftists who have no idea how a national economy works point out your crippling shortcomings:
The Liberals are pushing forward with the cuts even though the party acknowledges that many of the jobs wiped out by the pandemic aren’t coming back at the same rate of pay. In place of additional worker supports, however, the party is instead doubling down on its commitment to tech entrepreneurialism.
It’s yet another sign that Justin Trudeau’s party is reconciling itself to a post-pandemic austerity regime in which employers will impose a new regressive standard on working people across Canada, leading to widening inequality and rising precarity in the labor market — all in the name of innovation.
Did someone think that no one would notice this?:
The RCMP in Nova Scotia has replaced two members of the team assigned to provide information to the public inquiry into the April 2020 killing spree, after claims of a potential conflict of interest were raised.
Chief Supt. John Robin was assigned to lead the team. He’s married to Chief Supt. Janis Gray, who leads the Halifax RCMP.
The Quebec government has refused to approve construction of a liquified natural gas (LNG) facility in the Saguenay, north of Quebec City, following years of opposition from citizens, Indigenous communities and environmental experts.
The decision, announced Wednesday by Environment Minister Benoit Charette, effectively kills a $14-billion project that would have carried natural gas from Western Canada across Quebec to the Saguenay port, then shipped it to markets overseas.
Premier François Legault's government had initially been a proponent of the project, which it hoped would diversify the economy in a region largely dependent on the aluminum and forestry industries.
But the government also set out three criteria for approving the natural gas facility: it had to help with the transition toward greener forms of energy, lower greenhouse gas emissions and have sufficient public support.
Charette said an analysis by his ministry determined the Énergie Saguenay project couldn't meet the first two criteria. Ministry officials didn't bother analyzing the third.
Rather than be sensible and apologise to the potentially or perpetually offended later, the Liberals (who have screwed up and keep screwing up this Chinese-made crisis) opted to plow through everyone:
Canadians fault cabinet for waiting too long to ban international flights as a pandemic precaution, says in-house federal research. Canada did not restrict air traffic until ten weeks after the first Covid death was reported in Wuhan: “We remain concerned about social anxiety, misinformation and discrimination in the Chinese-Canadian community.”
Also - was it something China said?:
Canadians see the Communist Chinese regime as the biggest threat to Canada’s national security, according to a recent report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
“A clear majority, 58%, see China as the biggest threat to Canada,” said a report titled Attitudes To CSIS. “It is followed distantly by Russia (18%), North Korea (10%) and Syria (4%).”
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Canadians rate China a more serious threat to national interest than Russia or North Korea. The findings follow in-house research by a federal agency: “Sometimes you have to face a crisis before you truly understand there is a problem.”
Because f--- human rights. That's why:
As part of its standard proposal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1969, Canada as the host was expected to welcome all IOC recognized member countries to the 1976 Montreal Games.
Its diplomatic ties to the PRC — which started in 1970 — also forced Canada to not recognize Taiwan as the “Republic of China.” It was then Taiwan’s preferred and recognized name to the dismay of the PRC, as both parties wanted to be viewed as the one and only China amid their Civil War aftermath.
The problem wouldn’t be solved in Pound’s office, but instead would unravel on centre stage days before the 1976 Olympics were to begin, with Taiwanese athletes not being permitted into Canada, or to compete, using the “Republic of China” name.
For Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s Canadian government, they were met with criticism from their own Olympic committee and the IOC, who talked of cancelling the games. The U.S. considered boycotting, as presidential candidates in an election year lambasted Canada for playing politics with sports — especially with one of its allies involved.
Back home, newspapers like the Ottawa Citizen called out the “shame and almost universal condemnation for Canada.” It was just another example of how politics interfered with sports, amid the belief that they shouldn't. But this time, Canada was putting itself in the position of becoming the first host nation to refuse entry to a recognized National Olympic Committee.
“Canada got a black eye through this scandal,” says Guoqi Xu, the author of Olympic Dreams: China and Sports. “Canada was seen as the bad guy violating the rules.”
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David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, paid a courtesy call on the Chinese Embassy six weeks after MPs censured China for genocide and voted to petition Olympics organizers to relocate the 2022 Winter Games from Beijing. Chinese diplomats “asked to stay in touch.”
This China:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made a rare visit to Tibet as authorities tighten controls over the Himalayan region’s traditional Buddhist culture, accompanied by an accelerated drive for economic development and modernized infrastructure.
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The Department of Foreign Affairs spoke highly of Cuba’s Communist government, praising the government for “strong commitment to economic and social rights” in a briefing note obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The note reportedly predates the mass arrests during Cuba’s crackdown on anti-government protests and internet censorship last week, which Amnesty International called a violation of human rights law.
“Under President (Miguel) Diaz-Canel, there has been some modest improvements in freedom of movement and expression until the impacts of COVID began to raise tensions in the country, and saw authorities begin to crack down on public dissent,” wrote staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“Canada recognizes Cuba’s strong commitment to economic and social rights, particularly in the areas of education and health,” said the briefing note dated March 19.
“Canada and Cuba maintain strong diplomatic relations,” the note said. “We hope to advance regional collaboration and enhance trade and investment ties.”
Also - China's other vassal state:
“We all feel for the people of the DPRK, who are indeed facing all the most difficult circumstances given the pandemic, and what it means as well for their food security,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told reporters in Seoul, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We only hope for a better outcome for the people of the DPRK,” she said.
Then get Kim ousted.
South Korean president Moon Jae-In is considering pardoning former president Park Geun-Hye:
President Moon Jae-in is considering a pardon for jailed ex-President Park Geun-hye and Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong on the occasion of Liberation Day on Aug. 15, sources said Wednesday.
Korea faces a protracted lockdown amid the collapse of the government's vaccination plans as new infections as new infections reached 1,650 as of Friday morning.
Why, it's like even the Europeans know that their governments have gone too far and are willing to resort to the old ways of ousting a government:
Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine-passport protests erupted across Europe on July 24, according to media photos and videos.
Thousands upon thousands of demonstrators came out in London, Dublin, Paris, Rome, Athens, and other cities across Europe, according to footage and news reports.
Also - the French warned the Americans about the lab in Wuhan:
The U.S. federal government should have stopped funding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2015 when China reduced its cooperation with the French in building and operating the lab, according to the leader of an investigation into COVID-19’s origins by the State Department under the Trump administration.
If one is going to lie, make sure that one does not get caught:
Oops.
Also - more on the US government's losing battle with reality:
The Department of Justice concluded in an opinion that federal law doesn’t prohibit public agencies and private businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccines under the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization.
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A top U.S. health agency on Tuesday altered its COVID-19-related guidance once again, telling people to wear masks in some areas even if they are fully vaccinated against the virus that causes the disease.
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B@$#@rds:
A terrible day for thousands of families. In a letter to @SteveScalise, @TheJusticeDept wrote that they were dropping the nursing home investigations in all states including New York. There will be no justice for our loved ones, and it feels like we’ve lost them all over again. pic.twitter.com/DV7uNRMr9D
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) July 23, 2021
And:
For his defiance, Pastor Artur was jailed for three days — one of four Christian pastors thrown in prison by the Alberta government, which had the most vicious anti-Christian lockdown in the world.
Well, the lockdown is finally over in Alberta. But incredibly, the government isn’t done yet with Pastor Artur.
They want to send him back to prison for 21 more days — all because he refuses to admit he was wrong.
There is no more lockdown.
Opening his church is no longer illegal.
But because he won’t apologize for doing so earlier, he is being prosecuted for “contempt” — and the government is demanding he serve 21 days of hard time.
Because the Narrative!:
New federal data confirm school, playground and rink closures negatively affected more Canadian schoolchildren than the pandemic. The Public Health Agency cited “significant disruptions” to daily life for the 99.9 percent of children who were never hospitalized with Covid: “Children generally experience mild symptoms if they do become infected.”
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In Canada, the number of under-18 deaths is 14, roughly 0.1 per cent of the country’s total COVID-19 death toll. Since the pandemic began, at least five times that number of Canadian children have died of drowning.
(Sidebar: but don't tell resident stupid b!#ch Chrystia Freeland that because, you know, priorities.)
Yes, let's not upset the easily offended:
The Saint John Police Force has informed its officers to stop wearing thin blue line patches following social media posts of officers sporting the controversial patch.
Tweets posted on Thursday show Saint John police officers wearing the patches at King's Square on July 3, while present at a protest being held by members of the community.
The patch has acquired various connotations, with some supporters saying wearing the patch is a sign of solidarity between officers while critics say it fosters a dangerous attitude of opposition between police officers and civilians.
Community members say the protest on July 3 was about bringing awareness to the damage being done by colonialism, following ongoing news of the graves of Indigenous children being found at the sites of former residential schools.
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Dancers, dramatists, and even circus performers are part of a “white supremacist” system, a leading UK conservatoire has claimed.
“Power is held by white people” at the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama (CDD), the institution has said, and this “white supremacist” structure must be “dismantled”.
Shut up.
One is saying to every performance artist (good ones, you know?) that their natural talents and ambition must disappear to serve your flimsy and emotionally stunted political purposes.
See Spock's response above.
It took a long time for this:
The families of the 11 athletes killed had long asked the International Olympic Committee to hold a minute's silence at a Games opening ceremony but had been turned down for almost half a century.
"We, the Olympic community, also remember all the Olympians and members of our community who have so sadly left us, in particular, we remember those who lost their lives during the Olympic Games," said an announcer during the opening ceremony.
"One group still holds a strong place in all our memories and stand for all those we have lost at the games - the members of the Israeli delegation at the Olympic Games Munich 1972," the announcer added as the stadium darkened and a soft blue light illuminated parts of the arena.
On Sept. 5, 1972, members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage at the poorly secured athletes' village by Palestinian gunmen from the Black September terrorist group.
Within 24 hours, 11 Israelis, five Palestinians and a German policeman were dead after a standoff and subsequent rescue effort erupted into gunfire. The IOC at the time decided not to stop or interrupt the Games
"Justice has finally been done for the husbands, fathers and sons who were murdered in Munich," widows Ilana Romano and Ankie Spitzer, who watched the ceremony in the stadium, said in a statement. They lost their husbands – weightlifter Yossef Romano and fencing coach Andre Spitzer –in the attack.
"We went through 49 years of struggle and never gave up. [We] can't stop the tears from flowing. For this moment we waited," they said.
Also:
Saeid Mollaei won silver in judo at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, then used his victory to honor the enemy of his home country.
Mollaei, who is originally from Iran but is competing for Mongolia, dedicated his silver medal to Israel. Iran and Israel have been in a proxy conflict since 1985.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Mollaei told an Israeli sports channel, "Thank you to Israel for all the good energy." He added, "This medal is dedicated to you as well, and I hope Israelis is happy with this victory, todah," which means "thank you" in Hebrew.
Mollaei's abandonment of Iran stems from an incident at the 2019 World Judo Championships in Tokyo.
There, Mollaei represented Iran and advanced to the semifinal. He was looking to defend his championship after winning gold at the previous year's event in Azerbaijan. But Iranian authorities ordered him to intentionally lose the match to ensure he wouldn't have to face the Israeli champion Sagi Muki in the final, he said.
The International Judo Federation this year called Iran's tampering "a serious breach and gross violation of the statutes of the IJF, its legitimate interests, its principles and objectives" and suspended the country from the event for four years.
After exposing what Iranian authorities had forced him to do, Mollaei fled the country and went into hiding. He found asylum in Germany in August 2019 on a two-year visa, then became a citizen of Mongolia in December 2019.
aaaaaa
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