Mid-Week Post

For the last day of August (sigh) ... 

 

Nowhere in Canada can Crime Minister @JustinTrudeau go without a heated confrontation. After a meeting with @fordnation, the Premier of Ontario, Trudeau was confronted by people at Queens Park. Isn't he the most hated politician in Canada's history?#TrudeauIsDestroyingCanada pic.twitter.com/1dPFbm2urB

— Salman Sima (@SalmanSima) August 31, 2022

 

 

No, PM Blackface, this is the bigotry and vitriol one expects of you, your paid underlings and your supporters (ie - voters): 

A Montréal anti-Semite was able to “slip through the cracks” in successfully applying for taxpayers’ grants, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. Cabinet to date has not explained why federal managers failed to conduct routine checks on the contractor: “It has to stop.”

 

Rex explains it all:

Prime Minister Trudeau, as usual, responded with his automatic “this is not what Canada is about” speech. But we didn’t need the reminder.

(Sidebar: this Canada.)

Of course it isn’t what Canada is about. Trudeau wished to inflate a stupid moment by an oddball protester into an indictment of Canadians.

(Sidebar: this indictment.)

Well, “Canada” didn’t shout at Ms. Freeland. One guy did. The guy who did is not “Canada.” Not any taste of what most Canadians are like.

Regardless, Trudeau leaped on this singular incident to preach his always-ready sermon about hate and language.

(Sidebar: this language -  Justin Trudeau caused uproar in the House of Commons today after he called Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent a “piece of shit” during a heated question time debate over the Kyoto Protocol.)

 

Yet where has he been on Laith Marouf? Have we heard one comment, one clear statement from the prime minister on how the federal government’s “anti-hate” ministry funded an “anti-racism” consultant with a long history of hateful, antisemitic messages?

 

Don't demand the high road when you yourselves have crawled out of a sewer.

Why not just censor everything? You're going to do that anyway.

 

 

But these aren't the voters blocks Justin and his Nazi b!#ch want: 

The Department of Immigration yesterday said it will book millions’ worth of hotel rooms to house Ukrainian refugees. Canada to date has approved 216,000 of 515,000 Ukrainian applications to come to Canada. Taxpayers will cover any room damage, it said: “The contractor must ensure additional room services or features typically available such as, but not limited to, in-room mini bars.”

That is because the government does not care about you:

Auditors at the Department of Veterans Affairs are questioning millions spent on an old navy cemetery. The department billed taxpayers $4 million for graveyard upgrades like plots that were never sold and trails that were never used: “There is no plan.”

 

I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned with:

Have you ever heard of seven doctors dead in a 14-day period (from July 13 through July 28)? How about five dead doctors in a few days, in one city (Toronto)? How about 14 dead doctors in the past nine months? And these dead doctors were mostly YOUNG.

Do these headlines catch your attention? Because they're all true. Confirmed. Fact. It all just happened in Canada, a small country of 30 million (one-tenth the size of America).

In Canada they're obsessed with the COVID-19 vaccine. The government is ruthless to the point of appearing criminally insane. If you don't get vaccinated, it's difficult to live a normal life. And you absolutely can't practice medicine anywhere in Canada.

And they don't count you as vaxxed if you took one or even two COVID-19 vaccines. Nope. In Canada, you need four vaccines.

Virtually everyone is vaccinated. There is no choice — if you want to avoid arrest, keep your money, keep your dog, keep your job and participate in society. I think there's a country music song in there somewhere!

So, we know all the Canadian doctors are triple- or quadruple-vaccinated. That's a certainty.

And yet we also know five doctors died in a matter of a few days in one city — Toronto. FIVE.

We also know seven Canadian doctors died in one 14-day period.

 

Also - Ford is a monster:

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has passed legislation that would force hospital patients awaiting long-term care into nursing homes not of their choosing on a temporary basis.

But Premier Doug Ford says patients who refuse to move will not be charged an uninsured rate of $1,800 per day.

 

 

Get used to the North Korean diet, Canada:

Measuring greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) caused by using synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is a tedious and unreliable process that will exponentially raise the cost of growing crops—which will inevitably be passed on to consumers, say farmers in Northern Ontario.

The Epoch Times spoke with several farmers in the region who expressed concern about adhering to the federal government’s proposed fertilizer emissions targets.

 

 

Poland is proactive and not taking any more crap from anyone:

One of the world’s largest and most modern tank arsenals will soon belong to … Poland.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish government is embarking on a multi-billion dollar upgrade of its ground forces. The improvements are designed to deter, and if necessary, defeat Russia if it continues its march west. Poland has a history of being a stomping ground for larger, more powerful countries, and Warsaw’s purchase of nearly 1,300 new American and South Korean tanks is a strong signal those days are over.

Last week, Sterling Heights, Michigan-based General Dynamics Land Systems announced a contract with the Polish government to build 250 M1A2 System Enhancement Program version 3 (SEPv3) Abrams main battle tanks. The contact is worth $1.15 billion, or $4.6 million per tank. It’s part of an even larger $6 billion deal that includes 26 M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicles, 17 M1110 Joint Assault Bridges, 776 tank machine guns, and about 33,000 rounds of tank gun ammunition. The deal also includes training simulators, technical manuals, and funds for paying 74 U.S. government and civilian contractor personnel over the next five years.

The 250 Abrams tanks will go to the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade, part of the newly-raised 18th Mechanized Division. The first tanks, Defense News reports, will arrive in 2025. In the meantime, the U.S. Army is loaning the Polish Land Forces 28 M1A2 tanks, used at the new Abrams Tank Training Academy at Poland’s Biedrusko Training Area.

 

 

When the Eastern Bloc was gone, Gorbachev should have known to cut and run.

But he did not:

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who presided over the implosion of the Evil Empire — and not only presided, but had a hand in setting it off — was a Soviet patriot: Soviet, not just Russian. He had a higher regard for the Marxist monolith he became instrumental in pulling down than his predecessors who had done everything to put it on the map. He assumed his fellow citizens liked being Soviet just as he did.

Gorbachev did come to see that the Soviet empire was flawed, but not that it was evil. He wanted to fix it, not nix it. Yet within six years after he assumed leadership, to the astonishment of all, the mighty system that ruled one sixth of the Earth and influenced much of the rest, suddenly folded. Liquidated on Gorbachev’s command, the Soviet Union went out of business. It surrendered, virtually without firing a shot. Considering its coercive might, including its fearsome apparatus of internal repression, the Soviet realm became probably history’s first empire to give up so much with so little resistance.

 

There was no saving or reforming communism. How do you reform evil?

 

Speaking of which:

The Hong Kong government has defended its charges against a Canadian critic of the regime, saying anyone who violates the city’s widely condemned national security law — “regardless of their background or where they’re located” — will be prosecuted.

The comment drives home what has been a fear of overseas activists since the law was enacted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2020 – that it could be used as a threat, at least, against dissidents anywhere in the world.

 

The Whole EV Idea Needs to Be Scrapped

To wit:

1. EVs are powered by fossil fuels. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), fossil fuel-based power plants — coal, oil, or natural gas — create about 60% of the nation’s electrical grid, while nuclear power accounts for nearly 20%.

2. The batteries of EVs rely on cobalt. An estimated 70% of the global supply of cobalt emanates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country with deplorable working conditions, especially for children.

3. A study released earlier this year by an environmental group showed that nearly one-third of San Francisco’s electric charging stations were non-functioning. The population of San Francisco represents roughly two percent of California.

4. Supporters of the California law admit there will be a 40% increase in demand for electricity, adding further strain to the grid and requiring increased costs for power and infrastructure.

5. According to one researcher, the strain of adding an EV is similar to adding “1 or 2 air conditioners” to your home, except an EV requires power year-round.

6. Today, 20 million American families, or one in six, have fallen behind on their electric bills, the highest amount ever.

7. Utility companies will need to add $5,800 in upgrades for every new EV for the next eight years in order to compensate for the demand for power. All customers will shoulder this cost.

8. The average price for an electric vehicle is currently $66,000, up more than 13% in just the last year, costing an average of $18,000 more than the average combustible engine. Meanwhile, the median household income is $67,521. For African American families, the average is $45,870, and for Hispanic households, $55,321.

9. A 2022 study found that the majority of EV charging occurs at home, leaving those who live in multi-family dwellings (apartments) at a real disadvantage for charging.

10. The same study also noted that many drivers charge their EVs overnight when solar power is less available on the grid.

Israel Helps Japan's Military Build-Up

Israel, too, knows what it is like to be surrounded by enemies (or a Chinese enemy, as the case may be):

Israel predicted increased defence exports to Japan on Tuesday as the Asian economic powerhouse signals intent to boost military spending amid more assertive Chinese conduct in the region.

Tokyo has been reviewing post-World War Two caps on its armed forces budget amid growing concern Russia's invasion of Ukraine will embolden China to threaten neighbouring self-ruled Taiwan, an island it claims as its own.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to double defence spending to 2% of GDP, which would make Japan's military budget the world's third-biggest.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz noted the shift in Japanese policy as he wrapped up a two-day visit to Tokyo with the signing of a bilateral defence cooperation memorandum.

"There will be real-world ramifications to this, both on the military level and in research and development, and also on the level of defence industries down the line," he told reporters.

Gantz did not elaborate. Israeli defence attache Alon Yehoshua said Japan had voiced special interest in cooperating on cyber technologies.

In a separate briefing, a Japanese defence ministry official said Gantz and his hosts had "agreed to continue looking at ways that the two countries can cooperate in defence" but that they had not discussed any specific projects or procurement deals.

American Government Loses Its Case Against Religious Healthcare Providers

In this country, no one would be brave enough to challenge the government that would enforce these things anyway:

In an 18-page opinion filed Friday, the three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the permanent injunction by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Wichita Falls.

The Franciscan Alliance, a Catholic hospital network in Indiana and Illinois, and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations and their 19,000 members nationwide sued to block the Biden administration from enforcing ACA provisions they feared would require them to perform abortions or gender-transition treatment.

In his ruling last August, O’Connor interpreted regulations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as forcing the plaintiffs to choose between their beliefs and their livelihood, resulting in “irreparable injury.”

The 5th Circuit ruling came in an HHS appeal of the O'Connor injunction and applied only to the plaintiffs in the case. However, the plaintiffs hailed the decision as protection for health care professionals nationwide.

“This victory in Texas against government coercion means healthcare professionals can continue to exercise medical judgment and ethical care based upon sound medical evidence and Hippocratic standards of patient care instead of any ideology," said Dr. Mike Chupp, chief executive of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.

It Was Never About a Virus

People can admit that to themselves now:

In a remarkably candid interview with The Spectator, Rishi Sunak has blown the gaff on the sheer superficiality of the decision-making process of which he was himself part. The fundamental rule of good government is not to make radical decisions without understanding the likely consequences. It seems obvious. Yet it is at that most basic level that the Johnson government failed. The tragedy is that this is only now being acknowledged.

Sunak makes three main points. First, the scientific advice was more equivocal and inconsistent than the government let on. Some of it was based on questionable premises that were never properly scrutinised. Some of it fell apart as soon it was challenged from outside the groupthink of the Sage advisory body. Second, to build support, the government stoked fear, embarking on a manipulative advertising campaign and endorsing extravagant graphics pointing to an uncontrolled rise in mortality if we were not locked down. Third, the government not only ignored the catastrophic collateral damage done by the lockdown but actively discouraged discussion of it, both in government and in its public messaging.

That is the truth in black and white.

Now, let's admit and move on.

The Process Is the Punishment

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber — two of the main organizers of the so-called “Freedom Convoy — are expected to face trial in September 2023 for charges related to the massive demonstration that gridlocked downtown Ottawa earlier this year.

My vote for whoever defunds every g-d- media organisation in this country.

Your Corrupt, Disgraceful, Dictatorial and Stupid Government and You

Never forget that these people couldn't fail upwards anywhere but Canada:

Cabinet is “leaning in” on a pending bill to censor legal internet content and will introduce the legislation as soon as possible, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said yesterday. The effort has stalled since first proposed in 2019: “Others within our government are leaning in on this and will bring forward the legislation as quickly as possible.”

As was described of Brian Stelter I now describe Marco Mendicino:

He was a fattish but active man of paralysing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms -- one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended. 

**

Given Trudeau/Liberal outrage over harassment of Chrystia Freeland, have they forgotten Trudeau said of real terrorists: 'There is no question this happened because of someone who feels completely excluded, someone who feels completely at war with innocence, at war with society"

— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) August 30, 2022

** 

I honestly understand now how revolutions are nourished. The blatant hypocrisy, the "fuck the little people" is stunning. Who votes for this callous shallow awful person? https://t.co/XXsZh0R79a

— Les Segal (@VadymFS on GETTR) (@les_segal) August 30, 2022

**

Someone should remind the moron that people cannot afford houses because of his government's failures. Throwing money around is all that this moron can do:

Canada is moving ahead with a "rent-to-own" housing program, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday, as he set out C$2 billion ($1.53 billion) worth of spending toward a previously announced plan to double homebuilding over the next decade.

The funding, earmarked in previous budgets, would go toward creating some 17,000 new homes across the country, including more rapid housing for the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless, along with affordable and market-rate housing projects.

The program would also help housing providers develop and pilot a new rent-to-own model, aimed at creating a path for Canadians transition from renting to buying their first home, Trudeau said at a news conference in Kitchener, Ontario.

We Don't Have to Trade With China

Yet we do:

Disturbing to see wealthy British Columbian David Choi, of the Institute of Asian Research at #UBC and CEO of the Royal Pacific Realty Group, taking a distorted pro-Beijing position on #Taiwan.
Same goes for #Vancouver's Chinese Benevolent Assoc.#BCpolihttps://t.co/iqzMN9d6BR

— DouglasTodd (@DouglasTodd) August 27, 2022

** 

Taiwan’s military fired warning shots at a Chinese drone as it buzzed a small Taiwanese island on Aug. 30. The incident came shortly after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that she ordered “strong countermeasures” against China’s ongoing military provocations.

The drone returned to China following the shots, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s military said.

A Rigged Game

Ahem:

Saw @RealAndyLeeShow discovered Pollara, the polling firm who sent a biased "anger index" poll to the Toronto star today is in fact privy council funded.

I dug a bit further, Pollara staff has direct ties to the liberal party & Trudeau's office directly.

This douchebag:

Records show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official residence spent more than $12,000 on groceries, dining, a chef and boutique goods in one single month last year.

An Access to Information package obtained by True North gives an inside look into the luxurious lifestyle at the official residence as Canadians struggled to pay their bills or afford basic goods. 

Hundreds of receipts and invoices released by the Privy Council Office (PCO) show that from Mar. 2021 to Sept. 2021, the average monthly cost on groceries and dining for the prime minister’s household reached $7,861. 

Many of the specifics on invoices and receipts were redacted; however, costs and locations were still included. A vast majority of the over 500 pages in documents were for grocery retailers. 

Just months before the last federal election, costs ballooned to an astounding $12,125 in Jul. 2021. Trudeau’s itineraries from that month show the prime minister spending much of his time in Ottawa and parts of Ontario. 

Prior to that, the residence reported a $10,095 bill for food or related expenses in May 2021.

True North spoke to Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director Franco Terrazano about the expenses.

“This is a ton of money that they’re spending and it’s way more than families are spending on groceries and dining,” Terrazzano wrote in an emailed statement. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to immediately explain to taxpayers how they’re racking up such a huge bill and what value taxpayers are getting for all that money.”

To wit:

Families in Canada spent an average of $936.40 a month on food costs in 2021. 

$936.40 (average groceries cost per month for a family) x 12 (months) = $11, 236.80 yearly

Even Marie-Antoinette would not suggest that people eat brioche.

It's Called Fear

This wretched excuse for a government has destroyed the economy, most vehemently the oil and gas sector.

It thinks it can ward off public anger if it does what it always does - rely on the Americans.

Read the cheerleader's ghost-written plea not to shut down Enbridge Line 5:

The Canadian government is invoking for the second time in less than a year a 1977 treaty that will force the American government to negotiate over the fate of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced the invocation of the treaty in a statement on Monday, pointing to the “significant” impact shutting down the pipeline would carry for Canadian jobs and bills.

“The economic and energy disruption and damage to Canada and the U.S. from a Line 5 shutdown would be widespread and significant. This would impact energy prices, such as propane for heating homes and the price of gas at the pump,” she said.

“At a time when global inflation is making it hard on families to make ends meet, these are unacceptable outcomes.”

(Sidebar: and whose fault is that, bobblehead?)

Winter is coming.

Drunken Mistakes Killed Three Children

But don't let that factor into your decision:

A drafting error by the Department of Justice will save a convicted drunk driver from a six-year license suspension, a judge has ruled. “Mistakes happen,” said the Ontario Court of Appeal: “They happen everywhere. One appears to have happened here.”

Why Would They Believe That, I Wonder

Indeed:

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the largest federal union, never challenged vaccine mandates in court because they “would have little chance of success,” it said. The comments came in a labour board hearing on the Alliance’s representation of members: “It was decided the best approach would be to handle files case by case.”

Or not have a large enough group sue and scare the establishment.

We Don't Have to Trade With China

The country with which the anti-semites will argue for the soul of the nation:

The Vancouver Logistics Park opened its doors at the end of July in Surrey, British Columbia after years of planning between the Chinese and provincial governments. 

To date, only 80,000 square feet of the facility has been completed but the entire project will be a massive 470,000 square feet centre and will house exhibition arenas, warehouses and business spaces. 

Beijing first proposed the project as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to spread China’s economic power via infrastructure developments and partnerships abroad. 

Not Your Predecessor's Anti-Semitism

This is YOUR government, Canada.

Own it and defend it:

Honourable Minister: Four months ago in April you were listed back-to-back on the same press release with vile antisemite Laith Marouf, praising his anti-racism inclusion diversity strategy building, but suddenly you don't even know his name and he's just “this individual.” https://t.co/H13m3P4f8d pic.twitter.com/T31njgaE3Z

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 21, 2022

**

What? That didn't work?:

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller’s office approved a Canada Summer Student grant application by a Montréal group linked to anti-Semitic slurs. Cabinet at the time required applicants to swear an oath to “respect individual human rights.”

**

A federal contractor paid as a media consultant by the Department of Canadian Heritage for years claimed Zionists controlled newspapers in Canada. Friends of Jews “monopolize North American media,” wrote Laith Marouf: “The majority of Canadian media is owned by two Zionists.”

But don't call out your fat, greedy, slobbish, bigoted incompetent, tyrannical government any names because it hurts them right in the feelz.

Who Did You Vote For, Canada?

Get used to no light, heat and the North Korean diet:

A new report by University of Toronto (U of T) researchers found that almost six million Canadians experienced food insecurity in 2021.

The Household Food Insecurity in Canada 2021 study, led by U of T nutritional sciences professor Valerie Tarasuk’s research group PROOF, used data from 54,000 households in Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey.

The report found that 5.8 million people, including 1.4 million children, lived in households facing food insecurity. The total number amounts to the equivalent of 15.9% of households across the 10 Canadian provinces.

(Sidebar: instead baffleglab, why not just call things as they are, like food shortages or poor consumer choices or prime rib for the slobs on Parliament Hill but none for taxpayers?)

**

Well, this explains some things:

One in four Canadians confessed to taking on debt in 2022 to pay for higher costs of living, a new survey has found. It’s a trend that has some experts sounding the alarm.

Don't Confuse Inaction With Sympathy

By hands-off, one means Justin simply doesn't care.

If nothing else, he can always live off of his family's money:

Unlike many of his global peers, Trudeau has avoided taking new measures recently to ease the burden of rising prices, even with inflation at its highest level since the early 1980s. ...

(Sidebar: when his dad was running the country into the ground.)

That may reflect a growing political sensitivity to criticism his government overspent during the pandemic, leaving the country with less fiscal room to tackle big future challenges like climate change. But there is also a wariness that doling out money to ease price pain may only wind up stoking more inflation.

Staying on the sidelines, however, has become increasingly difficult.

Trudeau is riding low in opinion polls after nearly seven years in power. And the likely election next month of Pierre Poilievre as new leader of the Conservative Party will add more urgency to the inflation debate. Poilievre has focused relentlessly on the cost of living during his leadership campaign, using the label “Justinflation” as he pins the blame on Trudeau.

That is what will launch Poilievre into leadership of the federal Tories but only foreign interventionists can remove Justin as puppet-head.

If only were like those "silly" Americans with their checks and balances and term limits!

Saint Brendan Discovered North America

 Deal with it:

Quebecers are more inclined to say Jacques Cartier – or even Christopher Columbus – “discovered Canada,” compared to the rest of the country, which points to Indigenous people, a new survey suggests.

You can all be wrong.

It's the Oil, Stupid

 One day, we'll have to come back to it:

"Wouldn't you guys rather buy some hydrogen nobody uses? Here's a field where we're probably going to make it some day." https://t.co/4vSLwadxyY pic.twitter.com/GDc352KsPH

— Tristin Hopper (@TristinHopper) August 24, 2022

**

"So we're planning to collect wind energy, somehow store it, convert it to ammonia, then ship it to you for later conversion to hydrogen, which can be used to power non-existent things that run on hydrogen. All this will maybe be ready by 2030. Have a great winter!"

— Mike (@surebro85) August 24, 2022

A blown opportunity:

South Korea has signed a 3 trillion won ($2.25 billion) contract with a Russian state-run nuclear energy company to provide components and construct turbine buildings for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, officials said Thursday.

The South Koreans hailed the deal as a triumph for their nuclear power industry, although it made for awkward optics as their American allies push an economic pressure campaign to isolate Russia over its war on Ukraine.

South Korean officials said the United States was consulted in advance about the deal and that the technologies being supplied by Seoul for the project would not clash with international sanctions against Russia.

According to South Korea’s presidential office and trade ministry, the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power was subcontracted by Russia's Atomstroyexport to provide certain materials and equipment and construct turbine buildings and other structures at the plant being built in Dabaa. The Mediterranean coastal town is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Cairo.

 

It's Just Food

 Get used to being hungry:

This is where climate targets get interesting.

A report released this month suggests Canadians must cut meat and dairy consumption by 50% by 2050 to reach federal climate targets. The report was published by both @MoveTheWorldCA and @NaviusResearch. 1/2

— The Food Professor (@FoodProfessor) August 26, 2022

**

Apparently, this guy doesn't know that North Korea and its history of starvation exists:

A bizarre assertion made by scientists in South Korea suggests that if the global population starts eating burgers and other food made out of earthworms, then world hunger would be greatly reduced.

The New York Post reports that Dr. Hee Cho of Wonkwang University led a research project which concluded that mixing cooked mealworms, or beetle larvae, with sugar can produce a substance that resembles and allegedly tastes like meat.

“Recently, eating insects has become of interest because of the increasing cost of animal protein, as well as the associated environmental issues,” Cho said in a press release after the project’s conclusion. “Insects are a nutritious and healthy food source with high amounts of fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, fiber and high-quality protein — which is like that of meat.”

“Mealworm contains beneficial essential amino acids and is high in unsaturated fatty acids,” Cho claimed.

You first, Mr. Cho.

**

Who did you vote for, Canada?:

More than half of Canadians say they can’t keep up with the rising cost of living, according to a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute.

The survey, published on Aug. 22, found that 56 percent of Canadians say they are struggling to keep pace with soaring prices as high inflation continues to force them to pinch their pennies.

“The level of month-to-month price increases was the lowest so far this year. However, prices have risen by 7.6 per cent since July 2021, meaning there is much work for the Bank of Canada left to do to return the country to its target rate of two percent,” the polling firm said.

“Through it all, many Canadians are responding to price increases with spending decreases.”

On July 20, Statistics Canada released data that shows the country’s annual inflation rate rose to 8.1 percent in June—the highest since January 1983.

On Aug. 16, the agency reported that while gasoline prices declined on a monthly basis in July, food prices were up by almost 10 percent compared to a year ago—and at the fastest pace since August 1981, the institute noted.

The online survey, conducted with a randomized sample of 2,279 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum, indicated that three-quarters (76 percent) of the respondents were stressed about money.

Four in five Canadians said they’ve cut spending in recent months, with 57 percent reporting they’ve cut back on discretionary expenses. The poll also shows 42 percent of Canadians delaying major purchases and 41 percent driving less.

Vacation takes a back seat too, as 32 percent have either cancelled or scaled back their travel plans. Another 19 percent chose to defer contributions to their tax-free saving accounts or registered retirement savings plans. When it comes to donations and charitable giving, one-quarter (27 percent) said they’ve trimmed those back as they adjust their budget.

Half of the respondents (52 percent) said they would not be able to manage a sudden expense of more than $1,000, including 13 percent saying any surprise expense would be “too much.”

If they were to receive a surprise bonus or gift of $5,000, nearly half of Canadians said they would use it to address financial obligations, with 10 percent addressing immediate obligations and 38 percent addressing long-term ones. The other half would save the money (43 percent) or make a pricey purchase (9 percent).

Angus Reid conducted the online poll from Aug. 8 to 10. The survey has a margin of error of +/-2.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

It Was Never About A Virus

Quite:

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health allegedly withheld evidence alluding to the possible dangers of mandating mask requirements for children, according to a new court application by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).

Deena Hinshaw, who has served as Alberta’s chief medical officer since 2019, allegedly received a memo in February 2022 from then-Premier Jason Kenney’s office stating a number of possible adverse health effects that children could suffer as a result of masking.

The Justice Centre, a legal advocacy organization, says Hinshaw withheld the memo’s evidence when she was cross-examined in an April court challenge questioning if her health orders violated Albertans’ Charter rights.

The government memo stated that masking children can “disrupt learning,” “interfere with children’s speech development,” and “impair verbal and non-verbal communication,” along with several other possible adverse health effects.

“During her cross-examination in April, Dr. Hinshaw was specifically asked whether she was aware of any evidence of harms to elementary school children from being compelled to wear masks,” reads a JCCF news release, to which Hinshaw “answered … in the negative.”

The Justice Centre further states that, based on knowledge obtained from the recently-released memo, Hinshaw’s “answers to this line of questions were false, and that she failed to disclose her knowledge of the harms to children from forced masking.”

Hinshaw admitted during her cross-examination that some of Alberta’s COVID-19 measures had “unintended consequences,” but “had to be weighed against the benefits of certain Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions,” according to the Justice Centre.

When questioned about the efficacy of masking and whether there was sufficient evidence supporting it, Hinshaw said it’s important to “look at the totality of that evidence,” and also said she believed masking to be a proven method of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

“Masks, when worn properly, are a valuable tool in reducing the transmission of [COVID-19],” she stated in a July 2021 affidavit, but then proceeded to say that “masking, on its own, is not sufficient to control the spread of COVID-19.”

The Alberta government memo also said that mandating masks for children can “interfere” with their social and emotional development and harm their “emotional signalling” and “facial recognition.”

But the parents agreed to this stunting, so ...

**

Mothers on maternity leave who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 working in the BC Public Service are not only at risk of losing their jobs but repaying the entirety of their maternity leave top-up benefit as well.

Their stories all share similar key points:

• For these women, maternity leave started before October 2021, and before provincial vaccine mandates were announced for BC Public Service workers.
• They all decided to accept the government’s top-up benefit, which pays about 80% of the usual salary in a given position, expecting to go back to their job on their pre-determined return to work date. This is agreed to with the knowledge that if you quit, find another job, or otherwise miss your return to work date, you will be liable to pay back that amount. This return to work date cannot be postponed.
• The province instituted its vaccination policy for employees on November 8th, 2021, requiring employees to be vaccinated in order to be hired, or continue to work.
• If a mother on maternity leave is unvaccinated and is denied an exemption, they are in a position to miss their return to work date and be liable to have to pay back the entirety of the top-up benefit, from $20,000 all the way up to $50,000 in some cases. Or, they can prove vaccination and return to work without a problem.

When signing the contract agreeing to take this benefit, these mothers had no idea that the Government’s policies and terms of their employment could change while on leave.

A statement from the Provincial Government to My PG Now reads: “The vaccination policy stipulates that BC Public Service employees who do not receive two doses of vaccination against COVID-19, or refuse to disclose their vaccination status, and do not have an approved exemption request, are to be placed on a leave without pay for a period of at least three months, after which they may be terminated.”

**

So the President of Western University, which instituted a mask and booster mandate for the University, Alan Shepard, is expecting a federal grant of more than $28 million from Canadian Institutes of Health Research and over $35 million from the federal government?

Case closed. https://t.co/lFOPTi2uys pic.twitter.com/o9Zwq29vqF

— The Real Andy Lee Show (@RealAndyLeeShow) August 22, 2022

Dividing Is What They Do

But don't take my word for it:

The unseemly rush by governments to vilify Canadians refusing to be vaccinated as the root of all evil ignores the fact government actions throughout the pandemic have contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

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To begin with, it is a myth to claim everyone who refuses to be vaccinated is irresponsible, reckless, racist, misogynist, throws stones at the prime minister or demonstrates outside hospitals.

As Abacus Data pollster Bruce Anderson wrote in Maclean’s in August after surveying 30,000 adult Canadians on their attitudes toward vaccines, the “typical ‘vaccine hesitant’ person is a 42-year-old woman who votes Liberal.”

Anderson estimated 2.1 million people — 7% of adult Canadians — were hesitant to be vaccinated, as opposed to an equal number who refuse to be vaccinated and will not change their minds no matter what.

“The hesitant are not conspiracy theorists,” Anderson wrote.

“They aren’t angry at the world. They don’t think COVID-19 is a hoax. They aren’t radicals of the left or the right — 61% of them say they are on the centre of the spectrum. Two-thirds have post-secondary education.

“About half (46%) live in Ontario and well over half (59%) are women. A quarter were born outside Canada. Their average age is 42 … If they were voting in a federal election today, 35% would vote Liberal, 25% Conservative, 17% NDP, 9% Green.

“However, compared to the vaccinated, they don’t have a lot of trust in government. They also try to avoid prescriptions, dislike putting anything unnatural in their bodies and 83% say they are reluctant to take any vaccines. Most worry that COVID-19 vaccines haven’t really been tested for a long time.”

(Sidebar: take THAT, Scott Aitchison.)

**

Over the summer, supporters of the Freedom Convoy movement have continued to hold anti-mandate demonstrations across the country, attracting anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred people in places like Sudbury, Ont., Acheson, Alta., and Regina.

Like the protests in Ottawa last winter, these smaller demonstrations featured big rigs, pickup trucks and honking — though they tended to last only a few hours and kept to parking lots or slow-moving convoys on highways.

But they also featured a new — and perhaps surprising — symbol: The flag of the Netherlands was being waved alongside the more familiar Maple Leaf and F--k Trudeau banners. 

The red, white and blue flag is meant to be a show of solidarity with Dutch farmers protesting their government's efforts to halve emissions linked to nitrogen-based fertilizers by the end of the decade.

(Sidebar: yes, this WAS written by a total moron. How could you tell?)

**

Trudeau didn't stop at smearing the truckers. He created political prisoners. Trudeau had Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich arrested and charged with "counseling mischief" for the crime of setting up a GoFundMe to support protestors living in sub-freezing temperatures. Those funds were later redirected away from the Freedom Convoy under pressure from leftists. Lich was famously brought to court in handcuffs and leg shackles, as if this slender grandmother was some kind of dangerous terrorist.

 Trudeau's response to the Convoy will forever be a deep stain on his record.

**

According to an article from The CounterSignal, a team of government employees under the title “Enforcement Officer – Environmental Pollution Enforcement” are presently being recruited from coast to coast.

“The plans,drawn up by a firm in Winnipeg, open a window into Trudeau’s future plans for Climate Enforcement. Down the hall from the proposed ‘Firearms Storage’ rooms are several evidence rooms, interrogation suites, and adjacent recording rooms.”

**

It would have been charitable to think that The Atlantic’s appalling recent piece likening the rosary, the popular Catholic devotional, to an AR-15 rifle and painting a dark picture of armed, rosary-praying Catholics ready to unleash papal mayhem on the peaceful citizenry was the product of a writer with no ideas and a looming deadline. As it turns out, however, the author of the piece, Daniel Panneton, wasn’t just throwing something at the wall and hoping it would stick long enough for him to collect a paycheck. On the contrary, he does this sort of thing for a living.

Mia Cathell over at Townhall revealed Tuesday that when he isn’t cowering in fear over praying Catholics, Panneton is Manager of the Online Hate Research & Education Project, which is, notes Cathell, “an 18-month venture funded by a generous $340,000 grant from the Canadian government’s Anti-Racism Action Program.” When you’ve got that kind of government funding, you’ve got to come up with the goods. Can’t find enough actual hate? Well, any old thing will do. Even rosaries.

(Sidebar: it also doesn't help that Canadians are as gullible as anything.)