But Wait! There's More!

There often is:

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said his province had already considered alternatives to the federal carbon tax in the past, but decided against them because they were all too costly for Saskatchewan families and industries.

Moe was invited to a House of Commons committee on Wednesday to make the case for why the federal government should cancel the planned increase to the federal carbon tax on April 1 or, better yet, in his opinion, scrap the tax entirely.

Article content

Article content

Since Jan. 1, Saskatchewan has refused to collect the federal carbon tax for natural gas and electric home heating.

The federal government has been insisting that provinces and territories are free to come up with their own system of carbon pricing if it complies with the federal benchmark in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If it doesn’t, the federal carbon tax applies.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated to premiers that his government remains “open to proposals for credible systems that price pollution that reflect the unique realities of your regions and meet the national benchmark.”

When asked by Liberal MP Charles Sousa if Saskatchewan had ever considered replacing the federal carbon tax with a system of its own, Moe answered in the affirmative.

“Yes, we did. All of them were costly to our industry, as is the federal backstop that we’re experiencing now, as well as costly to Saskatchewan families,” he said.

Sousa shot back: “It sounds like (kicking) the can down the road for the next generation to deal with. What we need is to take initiative and ensure that we are prepared to do what’s necessary for future generations.”

... says the idiot whose party drove up inflation, taxes and unemployment.

Way to hand a future to the next generations.

Speaking of which:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new measures he says will help protect Canadian renters and help them break into the housing market ahead of the 2024 budget.

He said Wednesday that the proposed three new reforms will “make the playing field fairer for renters” amid an affordability crisis making homeownership out of reach for many.

“It’s too hard to find an affordable place to rent, especially for younger Canadians. That’s why in Budget 2024, we’re taking action to protect renters, make the rental market fairer, and open new pathways for renters to become homeowners,” Trudeau said in a press release.

The proposed measures aim to amend the Canadian Mortgage Charter to allow tenants to count on-time rent payments toward their credit score, and propose $15 million in new funding to provincial legal aid organizations to better protect tenants against unfair rent payments, renovictions or “bad landlords,” the release says.

Where are you getting the money, Justin?

Will the 41 million hand it over to you?

We need a Milei here:

Argentine President Javier Milei plans to fire 70,000 government workers in the coming months in one of the clearest signs yet of how the libertarian’s chainsaw-style approach intends to slash the swollen state.

Beyond the job cuts, Milei boasted Tuesday at an event that he’s frozen public works, cut off some funding to provincial governments and terminated more than 200,000 social welfare plans, which he labeled as corrupt. It’s all part of his strategy to reach a fiscal balance at any cost this year.

“There’s a lot of blender,” Milei said in an hour long speech at the IEFA Latam Forum in Buenos Aires, referring to the erosion of wages and pensions by 276% annual inflation. “There’s a lot more chainsaw.”

Audio released of what transpired before a container ship careened into the Francis Scott Key Bridge:

Audio from the moments before a massive cargo ship smashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge reveals how little time first responders had to stop traffic before the bridge collapsed.

The call, between several first responders, paints a dramatic picture of how quickly the incident happened.

“Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. … There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic,” one official is heard saying, warning of the incoming disaster.

“Make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. There’s a crew up there. … You might want to notify the foreman to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily.”

Another voice is heard, saying he was about to drive onto the bridge to “grab the workers,” but at that point it was too late, and the vessel plowed into a support pillar.

Why?

Because it's Israel:

The Israel Defense Forces conducted an operation at al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas terrorists recently, once again taking unique precautions as it entered the facility to protect the innocent; Israeli media reported that doctors accompanied the forces to help Palestinian patients if needed. They were also reported to be carrying food, water and medical supplies for the civilians inside.

None of this meant anything to Israel's critics, of course, who immediately pounced. The critics, as usual, didn't call out Hamas for using protected facilities like hospitals for its military activity. Nor did they mention the efforts of the IDF to minimize civilian casualties.

In their criticism, Israel's opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set. In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the U.S. military, I've never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy's civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings. In fact, by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history—above and beyond what international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The international community, and increasingly the United States, barely acknowledges these measures while repeatedly excoriating the IDF for not doing enough to protect civilians—even as it confronts a ruthless terror organization holding its citizens hostage. Instead, the U.S. and its allies should be studying how they can apply the IDF's tactics for protecting civilians, despite the fact that these militaries would almost certainly be extremely reluctant to employ these techniques because of how it would disadvantage them in any fight with an urban terrorist army like Hamas.