Mid-Week Post

Your middle-of-the-week road salting ... 

Winter is coming ...

Damn!:

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas’s original founders, on Tuesday called on Israel to set a time limit for the terror group to release all Israeli hostages, and to assassinate his father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, and other Hamas leaders if they don’t.

Well, there you have it, Hamas supporters in Canadian universities.

The co-founder of Hamas' own son wants him gone.

Never mind that Hamas raped women and then murdered them. Never that they kidnapped the children they did not slaughter. Never mind that they even murdered dogs.

They eventually released a female hostage with a cute puppy!

Isn't that something?!:

The terror organization is apparently trying to show a humanitarian face, after murdering 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, including children, often in brutal fashion.

During one attack recorded on Hamas GoPro videos, terrorists were seen shooting a dog to death on October 7. But suddenly, they are animal lovers, according to the photo.

Israel is making a mistake thinking that it can reason with Hamas or even the Gazans.

Turn it all into dust:

No matter how well treated by Israelis, both employers and others who offered every kindness (some of the people who were murdered on October 7 used to pick up and drive Gazans to Israeli hospitals for treatment), some of those laborers harbored in their hearts homicidal hatred of “the Jews.”

Many of them worked in the very kibbutzim where Hamas operatives rampaged, beheading babies, burning children alive, raping and murdering young girls, gouging out eyes, slicing off breasts, murdering children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children. Some of those Gazans working in southern Israel provided Hamas with information as to the best entrance points into Israel, and detailed layouts of the kibbutzim, information as to the size and makeup of each family, the layout of houses, the placement of home shelters, even where the guards — where there were security guards — were placed.

**

Yair Rotem told the AP that he has to remind his niece Hila that she can speak freely again. “They always told them to whisper and stay quiet,” Rotem said, “so I keep telling her now she can raise her voice.”

Yaffa Adar, 85, counted 50 days she was in captivity, her granddaughter Adva Adar told AP. But Yaffa’s release is bittersweet, as she found out that her home had been destroyed by Hamas.

“For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes," said Adva. “She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. She mentioned that it is tough for her.”

These accounts of conditions in captivity come after initial details were shared by 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released back in October.

She told reporters she went through “hell” when she and her husband were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz, saying that the militants beat her in the ribs with sticks and she was held in tunnels that resembled a “spider web.”

**

 

Hamas, the brutal terrorist group that massacred Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 and provoked a war with the Jewish state, over the last few days let some of its hostages go as part of a ceasefire deal. Released hostages have described hellish conditions and torture while they were in Hamas captivity.

"The hostages were beaten with sticks as they were abducted," while "many of them had bleeding wounds" when Hamas finally released them, the Yeshiva World reported Tuesday.

Among those beaten was 12-year-old Israeli-French dual citizen Eitan Yahalomi, the Times of Israel reported. Yahalomi's aunt told a French broadcaster that Hamas "monsters" and other Gazans "beat him" when the terrorists first took him to Gaza. Hamas then forced the boy to watch videos of its Oct. 7 massacre and threatened him and other children "with rifles to shut them up," Yahalomi's aunt said.

A medical official told the Israeli newspaper Maariv that the released hostages arrived in hospitals "suffering from malnutrition and electrolyte imbalances," according to the World. "Some have substantial weight loss, sensitivity to light, and instinctively talk in whispers," the Times reported.

The hostages "slept on rows of three chairs tied together, like benches in a waiting room, and had to knock on the door to gain their captors' attention when they needed to use the bathroom," the Washington Post reported. "The wait sometimes lasted several hours."

Also - some happier news:

The Brodutch children - Ofri, Yuval, and Oriya - are reunited with their dog, Rodney.

The three children and their mother were abducted by terrorists and held hostage for 50 days. pic.twitter.com/MhnxUWjJUa

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 28, 2023

No one can ask if China interfered in the Canadian electoral process.

Case in point:

The House affairs committee yesterday rejected an investigation of Liberal Party records concerning Independent MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.). The MP quit the Liberal caucus after admitting to repeated contacts with Chinese authorities: “Did you ask if the Prime Minister knew?”

Canadians aren't taxed enough.

Just ask the Liberals:

The Liberal government announced legislation Tuesday that will pave the way for the implementation of a digital services tax, but it contains no date for when the tax will come into effect.

The government first pledged in 2020 to bring in a digital services tax (DST) on big tech companies. The tax would apply to revenues of large firms providing digital services such as e-commerce, social media and online advertising.

Businesses were told at the time that Canada would not impose the DST before Jan. 1, 2024, although when the tax was levied it would impact revenues as of Jan. 1, 2022, according to Finance Canada.

The Liberal government said that it agreed to delay implementing its DST to give time for an international treaty between members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to settle how the tax will be structured.

"We can act unilaterally," Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday. "We have also always said if [the treaty] did not come into force at the end of this year, then Canada would have no choice but to introduce our own [digital services tax]."

Explanatory notes for a draft version of the tax published in August explain that a three per cent tax will be imposed on companies that have a total annual revenue of more than 750 million euros, or about $1.1 billion Cdn.

Firms facing the tax would also be required to have "Canadian digital services revenue" of more than $20 million in a fiscal year.

No one pays for Canadian news because they want it, Chrystia.

This coming from a government that won't balance a budget or stop spending taxpayer money:

 Treasury Board President Anita Anand says the government needs to refocus “unnecessary spending” like executive travel amid revelations the former head of Canada’s nuclear watchdog expensed $288,000 in business trips in 19 months. 

“It is extremely important for all of us to be very judicious about the choices we are making relating to travel,” Anand told reporters after a cabinet meeting Tuesday. 

 

Pay it all back, Anita.

**

It appears the Government is preparing for hard times and bounced checks for Canadians this Christmas.

Today, Anita Anand announced they are asking Canadian Banking institutions to drop NSF fees and default penalty payments.

The writing is on the wall, hunker down and get… pic.twitter.com/BivIObVNYt

— Wiretap Media (@WiretapMediaCa) November 28, 2023

Also:

The contentious farm-heating bill that would provide yet another carve-out to the Liberal government’s flagship carbon tax scheme is once again delayed, while various senators blame each other for the painfully slow progress of the private member’s bill.

The bill has provoked controversy in the Senate for weeks, with accusations of bullying, government interference and cynical delay tactics as it awaits a vote on third reading.

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Just hours after senators voted 42 to 36 to defeat a controversial amendment on Bill C-234 that had previously been rejected by the red chamber, Sen. Pierre Dalphond tabled another amendment late Tuesday evening that was nearly identical to one previously voted down earlier this month.

Dalphond’s amendment, which would exclude every use of fuel except grain drying from the bill, reignited accusations that some senators are being instructed by the Trudeau Liberals to prevent C-234 from passing, fearful of legislation that would further weaken the carbon pricing scheme.

Saskatchewan Sen. Denise Batters told National Post she’s pleased the previous amendments had been defeated, describing them as little more than a delay tactic.

“There could be more game-playing by the opponent Senators of this bill, who have been constantly getting called by Liberal ministers, including (Environment Minister) Steven Guilbeault,” she said.

And:

An overwhelming majority of Canadians have told the Bank of Canada in consultations they would not use an eventual central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The Bank of Canada (BoC) released the results of extensive consultations on the matter on Nov. 29.

In its public consultation survey with 89,423 participants, 85 percent of respondents said they would not use a digital Canadian dollar. Another 12 percent said they would “potentially” use it, whereas 3 percent said they didn’t know.

Being a Liberal means never having to answer a question:

MPs on the Commons government operations committee yesterday were unable to identify who awarded a sweetheart contract to an ArriveCan consultant. They asked 32 times. “Nobody wants to take responsibility,” said Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.): “While everything is broken nobody ever takes responsibility.”

Also:

Blasting the ordinary workers who made up the protests as extremists, misogynists and racists, and capping off that strident love-letter with the (purely rhetorical) question — Do we tolerate these people? — hardly squares with the claim to “support people even when we disagree with them.”

He publicly slammed the truck drivers’ legitimate protest and refused to even meet or speak with his citizens which, even with the most generous interpretation, will never square with “respecting and supporting” those with different views.

This was unique. Name any other protest we have seen in this country where Mr. Trudeau responded in public with rebuke and scorn. There is none. The “right” causes always have his support and praise, and even in non-protest times, federal money for their organizations. There is deep inequity here.

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That inequity is epitomized by the jailing and legal pursuit of Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich (strange that a misogynistic protest was led by a woman). Stranger still that our male-feminist prime minister didn’t take that into account in his intentionally divisive rant. The entire treatment of Ms. Lich from the beginning, to her jailing, to her harassment by prosecutors (which is how I see it) and to this now ongoing, belaboured trial is simply a disgrace to the idea of Canadian democracy.

I shall not mention freezing the bank accounts of citizens exercising their civil liberties, though I am still puzzled about where the authority to do so came from, and even more puzzled why in a huge caucus and a fat cabinet there were not a few stray MPs who said “Enough! The cabinet post is not worth it, and being a Liberal even on the backbench does not leave me blind to grand overreach and vindictive actions.”

However, in balance, I must report that Trudeau did respect and support the Black Lives Matter protests, even to the point — never before done by any prime minister — of joining one of their demonstrations, and further freezing himself into full genuflection mode as a signal of his deep concordance with this dubious and at times riotous manifestation.

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Liberty of conscience was obviously not on his forgivably forgetful mind when he banned from candidacy to his caucus anyone for whom abortion is an issue of conscience and religion. Like Barack Obama did on same-sex issues, Trudeau has “evolved” on this theme.

Just a footnote — when a politician says he’s evolved, he is not referring to natural history or Darwin. Rather, he means he’s found a bigger voter pool.

Respect for other viewpoints? Surely Alberta and Saskatchewan are deeply respected, especially now. Steven Guilbeault — odd that so frantic a one-issue personality from Greenpeace should hold a cabinet seat — must be falling over himself with respect these days for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Jagmeet Singh is holding on until he can het get his pension.

Then it's all Versace, all the time:

Cabinet yesterday reneged on a 2022 vote pact with New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh. A written promise to pass pharmacare legislation by December 31 will not be met, said ministers: “Well, yes, I don’t think we’re going to get it passed by the end of this year.”

It's still a show trial:

Planning a protest, even one as massive and long-lasting as the Freedom Convoy, is not an illegal act, the lawyer for one of the demonstration’s organizers told an Ottawa courtroom on Wednesday.

The early 2022 demonstrations gridlocked streets in the capital’s downtown in protest against COVID-19 public-health restrictions, led to declarations of emergency and provoked a massive police response.

Before they were removed by police, protesters vowed they wouldn’t leave the decampment in front of Parliament Hill until the federal government met their demands.

Now two of their most high-profile ringleaders, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, are answering charges of mischief and intimidation, among several other charges. Barber is also charged with counselling others to disobey a court order.

The Crown has said it intends to prove that Lich and Barber worked together so closely that evidence against one should apply to both.

But to do that, the Crown would have to prove the two were conspiring to break the law, the organizers’ lawyers argued

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with people saying they’re going to protest until they get what they want,” Barber’s lawyer Diane Magas told the court Tuesday.

“They can stay six months if they do it peacefully, lawfully.”

How many pro-Hamas supporters have been arrested for blocking Ontario roads?

The National Assembly in Quebec declares that Christmas is not at all racist and will celebrate it with jingle bells on:

The Quebec National Assembly has rejected the assertion that Christmas is an example of discrimination against religious minorities.

Christopher Skeete, a member of the provincial legislature representing a district in Laval, Que., moved the motion. Skeete, part of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec, is also the minister responsible for fighting racism in the francophone province.

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“Au Québec, on célèbre Noël, on célèbre notre patrimoine,” Skeete tweeted Wednesday. In English, the post reads “In Quebec, we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate our heritage.”

The motion comes in response to a discussion paper on religious intolerance from the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The paper, published in late October, says that discrimination “against religious minorities in Canada is grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism.”

Quelle dommage, Canadian Communism Human Rights Commission.

An Ontario court has ruled that new teachers must take a math test in order to teach:

Ontario's top court has upheld the validity of a mandatory math test for new teachers.

The Appeal Court decision released today quashes a lower court ruling that found the test was unconstitutional because it had a disproportionate impact on racialized teachers, infringing on equality provisions in the charter.

The Ontario government fought that ruling and the Appeal Court today sided with the province, saying that decision was based on preliminary and incomplete data.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he is pleased with the decision and wants to assure parents that the people educating students have fundamental math skills.

Premier Doug Ford’s government introduced the test as part of an effort — including a new curriculum — to improve students’ scores on standardized math tests.

Teachers’ unions objected to the test being applied broadly to all teachers, questioning why a kindergarten teacher needed to be tested on secondary school math concepts or why an art teacher needed to pass a math test.

Why?

Because it's your job.

And I should be given a unicorn because I'm so darn cute!:

Forget the resume — Gen Z thinks you should hire them for their personalities.

According to the youngest generation in the workforce, their humor and wit provides a certain vibrance older employees apparently lack.

They’ve even invented a term — “personality hire” — to describe their self-perceived function in a corporate setting: to provide all the jokes, banter and playfulness needed in order to “set the vibes.”

TikToker and corporate America employee Bella Rose Mortel, a 22-year-old self-proclaimed “chief vibes officer,” told Business Insider that her previous managers have appreciated her “energy,” calling it “the nicest compliment” she’s received.

After her series of TikToks calling for an “unserious” workplace and the integration of Gen Z lingo into office parlance went viral, Mortel said her manager at software company Beehiiv found the videos hilarious.

“In a team call yesterday, he was like, ‘Before we get started, Bella Rose, do you want to set the vibes today for our call?'” the social media strategist told Business Insider.

Mortel’s videos have sparked realization among fellow so-called “personality hires,” who feel their mission is to lighten things up, not lighten someone else’s workload.

What will these "vibe-skill" hires do once the apocalypse hits and no cares how many emojis one can send?

Karina Gould Had Her Photo Taken With a Ukrainian Nazi

Right here:

 

She also tried expunging that event from the records:

“For all of us as parliamentarians on all sides, it is very important that we collectively work together to strike this recognition from the record. I will work with my colleagues to do that,” she said.

She then moved a motion Monday afternoon seeking unanimous consent to have Hunka’s recognition struck. It was denied.

To strike something from the official record would mean to remove it from Hansard, the official name of the records in the House of Commons, said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.

Hansard is publicly accessible, and anyone can go through it to see what was said in the House on any given day.

“It would be like it didn’t happen. One could look at that as the ultimate punishment … being removed from the House of Commons in every way that it could be removed,” he said.

“It could be looked at in another way as somebody trying to eliminate something that was shameful from their own record, and the government trying to hide the fact that this had happened.”

 

How embarrassing!

Now:

Government House leader Karina Gould says she'll speak to a B.C. Liberal MP about a social post that questions whether there was a connection between Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and a deadly shooting in Manitoba over the weekend.

On Monday Ken Hardie, who represents Fleetwood-Port Kells, responded to the Winnipeg shooting that left four people dead calling it "beyond troubling" to see another mass shooting in Canada.

"Might it be the anti-social 'burn everything down' far-right attitude we're seeing creeping in from the U.S.?" he posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"And the 'creep' on the Canadian side? Pierre Poilievre?"

Gould told reporters Tuesday morning that she plans to speak to her caucus colleague. As House leader, Gould is responsible for co-ordinating her party's day-to-day business in the House and managing the overall legislative agenda of the government.

"It is absolutely inappropriate and that's not something that anyone should be suggesting from any political party," she said before a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill Tuesday.

 

Way to cover your party's @$$, Karina!

 

The Liberals, one must understand, have a record of mediocrity to outright failure. This calls for the most vexing form of mud-slinging when challenged on that record.

But don't take my word for it:

Had the Trudeau Liberals been smart, and they obviously weren’t, they would have defined Poilievre before he could define himself in the minds of voters. Now, down 15 points in the polls, Trudeau and his team are trying to fight back, but they look desperate in doing so.

This past week they tried to blame Poilievre for sparking fears of terrorism after the Niagara Falls bridge incident, tried to claim he doesn’t back Ukraine’s fight against Russia and attempted to say the 1,600 workers coming from South Korea was due to the Harper government. None of these things are true, and it doesn’t matter how many times Trudeau or his ministers run before the cameras and or post to social media, that won’t change.

Trudeau accused the Poilievre Conservatives of adopting “a right-wing, American MAGA-influenced thinking” and turning their backs on Ukraine. His evidence, the Conservatives voted against updating the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal, which the Harper government originally negotiated and signed.

The truth is the Conservatives objected to language in the trade deal, inserted late by the Liberals, that they feel enshrines Canada’s carbon tax in an international treaty. That and language around a carbon tax that isn’t in our free trade deals with the United States, Europe or the Pacific Rim but that the Liberals insisted putting into a trade deal with a country we don’t do much trade with.

Then, they ran to the microphones to say any opposition is proof the Conservative don’t support Ukraine, while darkly hinting at CPC support for Trump and even Putin. It’s ridiculous, it’s desperate, but desperation is all they have left.

 

Indeed.

Justin even dragged out domestic politics in front of the Europeans in hopes that they would side with him.

Well, no one in Europe likes Justin. It made him look toxic and weak. 

An old schtick.