Your Vile Government and You

"See you in hell, candy-boys!"

 

 

Just a reminder that Justin's dad didn't fight in the Second World War, at the end of which Canada had the third largest navy in the world (not bad for a country of eleven million).

Now, we won't afford helmets for the men we put into harm's way:

There's a phrase soldiers use to describe equipment they've bought themselves to augment what the army gives them.

They call it Gucci gear, after the luxury fashion designer.

For Canadian troops deployed in Latvia, those private purchases have been decidedly more practical than luxurious — given the fact that they're taking part in more live fire training exercises meant to deter Russia from setting foot in the Baltic country.

They've been buying their own modern ballistic helmets equipped with built-in hearing protection that doubles as a headset. They've also personally purchased rain gear and vests and belts to carry water and ammunition. And the number of complaints about the ill-fitting body armour issued to female soldiers has been growing.

These purchases — usually made through online retailers — involve brand-name tactical gear or weapon accessories that make soldiers' existing gear more personal or more comfortable to wear.

 

It is no wonder that no one wants to join the armed forces. 

 

Also:

Newly released documents say the intelligence community’s relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a “level of resistance” to scrutiny.

The assessment appears in briefing materials prepared for Canada’s top public servant in advance of a late January meeting with the chair of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.

The notes were disclosed to The Canadian Press in response to a request to the Privy Council Office under the Access to Information Act.

This is just the latest indication of serious tensions between the spy watchdog and the federal intelligence agencies it monitors.

It follows the recent release of intelligence review agency records that lamented a culture within the Communications Security Establishment of “resisting and impeding” independent review, frustrating efforts to ensure the cyberspy service is obeying the law.

The latest notes surface amid an RCMP investigation into leaks of classified information to the media – including details of Canadian Security Intelligence Service reports – concerning allegations of foreign interference by China in Canadian political affairs.

The arrogant Trudeau family friend, David Johnston, may insist that he is above even common decency but the real problem is his ersatz nephew who planted him in the position of a well-paid scapegoat:

The lead counsel for special rapporteur David Johnston, who oversees the government-appointed probe into Chinese foreign interference, has not only donated exclusively to the Liberal Party but also attended a private fundraiser where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the guest of honour.

Elections Canada records show that Toronto lawyer Sheila Block participated in a private Zoom webinar fundraiser in late March, 2021, billed as a “Virtual Conversation with Anita Anand and Justin Trudeau.” Ms. Anand, now Defence Minister, was minister responsible for public services and procurement at the time.

Ms. Block, a senior lawyer at international business law firm Torys LLP, donated $7,593.38 to the Liberal Party between 2006 and 2022.

Ms. Block was chosen by former governor-general David Johnston to act as his lead counsel in March, 2023, when he accepted the appointment from the Prime Minister to assess how the government handled Chinese state interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

**

Here is evidence there was a state-sponsored campaign against Erin O'Toole.

This outlet connected to PRC diplomats which denigrated O'Toole was started by a student here on a CSC scholarship.

Records show they would have received $280000 RMB from the Chinese Communist Party. https://t.co/8yPxkZpVRm pic.twitter.com/SJ1xevvtdl

— The Real Andy Lee Show (@RealAndyLeeShow) June 6, 2023

 **

David Johnston is unable to answer why the findings in his report conflict with the CSIS briefings given to Erin O’Toole.

He repeats several times that the information he used to come to conclusions in his report were “based on the information we had at the time.” https://t.co/8FU5il9X9J pic.twitter.com/oT2NOc1oIY

— The Real Andy Lee Show (@RealAndyLeeShow) June 6, 2023

 

How interesting:

The Trudeau Foundation has investments in Chinese companies Baidu and Tencent, a former board member told MPs on a parliamentary committee. Both companies have been subjects of security warnings.

The Trudeau Foundation was created with a $125 million endowment from the federal government in 2001 in memory of former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, to provide grants and academic scholarships.

Madeleine Redfern, a businesswomen and the former mayor of Iqaluit, says that 0.07 percent of the foundation’s portfolio is invested in Chinese tech giants Tencent and Baidu.

Redfern, who sat on the finance and investment committee of the Trudeau Foundation, testified before the House of Commons ethics committee on June 2 as part of its study on foreign interference. She said she inquired with the foundation a year ago about whether it had investments in China.

“When you wanted to know more on foreign investments, did they work with you, or did they make things difficult for you?” asked Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure.

“I definitely had some concerns around the possibility of Chinese investments depending on where those investments were,” said Redfern.

Redfern had taken stances critical of Beijing and its investments in Canada in previous testimony before the national defence committee in November 2022.

She said it was “very concerning and problematic to see Chinese telecommunications infrastructure being provided to Canada’s north,” in reference to Beijing-linked telecom giant Huawei.

“It is a massive—not only personal but regional and national—security risk,” Redfern said on Nov. 29, 2022.

After learning about equities in Tencent and Baidu, Redfern said she researched them and found there were privacy issues.

“Two Chinese firms with privacy concerns indeed, and they’re known to be close to the government from the People’s Republic of China,” Villemure said of Redfern’s disclosure.

Tencent is the developer of the widely popular WeChat application. Its use for surveillance and censorship has been documented by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. The Lab has also found privacy issues with Baidu’s browser. U.S.-based cyber defence firm Unit 42 previously reported on Baidu apps on the Android platform leaking sensitive user data.

“I had a fulsome discussion with the members of the committee and the investment firm about how we invest and was told that we have ESG [environmental, social, and corporate governance] principles that guide the investments and that quite a lot of work had been done before my arrival to sort of help direct the firm on how we make investments,” Redfern said.

She confirmed the investment firm she referred to is Willis Towers Watson. Redfern did not provide a dollar amount for the value of the Chinese investments, but the foundation reported over $141.5 million in total investments at fair value in its 2022 annual report. This would represent a little under $100,000 if the 0.07 percent is applied to that amount.

Most of the foundation’s operations are financed by returns on the invested endowment. The foundation didn’t return a request for comment on the Chinese investments.

 

Temporarily moving on ...

 

I would call that doing one's job:

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to put up procedural roadblocks and delays to prevent the Liberals’ budget bill from passing, unless they scrap proposed carbon tax increases and lay out a plan for a balanced budget.

Poilievre delivered his ultimatum Monday, with just three weeks left in the House of Commons sitting before a summer recess. Poilievre argued high interest rates and inflation are being driven by government debt, making it imperative that the government provide a plan to balance the budget.

“We will use all procedural tools at our disposal to block the budget from passing including 900 amendments, lengthy speeches, and other procedural tools that are in our tool kit,” he said.

 

Filibuster away! 

Go nuts.

Do explain why private companies don't fund this themselves: 

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions have what they need to make a decision on a proposed electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.

A spokeswoman for Stellantis says the two companies received a “written offer” and are currently analyzing it.

The companies put the brakes on construction of the plant in May after their talks with Ottawa stalled.

The original deal was signed in March 2022 but was reopened after the United States passed the Inflation Reduction Act which put billions of dollars on the table for clean tech manufacturing, including EV batteries.

Champagne has said Canada would match those subsidies and says today the size of the offer should not surprise anyone.

Volkswagen is lined up to get up to $13 billion in production subsidies for a plant it is building in St. Thomas, Ont., and while the Stellantis/LG plant is half the size, it is to be up and running three years earlier, so the total dollar figure attached could be even higher.

  

A well-maintained power system that doesn't rely on wind or solar energy needn't collapse no matter the weather:

Ontario is singled out in an electricity regulator’s report warning two-thirds of North America is “at risk of energy shortfalls this summer” should temperatures spike.

The MiniTrue CBC should be the only one broadcasting government information:

The Privy Council in an Access To Information memo proposed a legal requirement that the CBC broadcast government messaging in a “national crisis.” Cabinet aides complained they had to buy advertising during the pandemic: “There could be new possibilities to create partnerships to respond to future crises.”