For a Monday

A lot going on ...



Unbelievable:

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau did not benefit from insider information when he sold shares in his company, according to the results of an investigation, putting an end to a case that caused the government grief last year.  

Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson dismissed opposition allegations that Morneau was guilty of a conflict of interest when he sold shares in family firm Morneau Shepell Inc in late November 2015, a week before Ottawa formally announced a hike in taxes for high earners such as himself. 

Then why did he sell his shares when he did, Mary?


Also - no, those criticisms were very warranted, Mary:

Criticisms that she let too many politicians off scot-free were “unwarranted,” she said. “There are some activists that want to push further, but I’m following the law. … I feel that I make the proper decisions, and I feel confident in myself that I’ve done a good job.”

The Magna Carta was and still is a document that revolutionised the relationship between man and his government.

The Charter is simply toilet paper written by a communist.

So there's that:

On the 31st anniversary of the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Justin Trudeau extolled the principles of “democracy, equality and fairness” embodied in the Charter. ...

(Sidebar: not a convincing liar, Justin.)

A case filed in the Federal Court last week by a Toronto anti-abortion group, as reported last week by my National Post colleague Brian Platt, makes clear there is a hierarchy of rights in this country: at the apex are those rights the Liberals find agreeable, at its base are those they find abhorrent.

The case revolves around funding applications for the Canada Summer Jobs program, which provides grants to small businesses, non-profits and public-sector organizations to hire full-time students. In the application guide, organizations seeking funding must check a box affirming that they respect the values underlying the Charter, including women’s reproductive rights and the rights of gender-diverse and transgender Canadians.

Failure to do so invalidates the application.

Canadians have hard time defining and defending rights. In fact, they would rather not have them.

Entitlements, sure, but rights - no.

That would mean that they would have to understand what it is they expect of themselves and of their government. They would have to acknowledge that no elected body can give them rights, nor take them away. Canadians would also have to acknowledge that they have responsibilities that go with these rights but that means work.

It is much easier for Canadians to cede everything to a moron like Pierre's son and let him arbitrate what they believe and what money they should be getting.

If Canadians felt otherwise, there would be no question of any government dangling funding over an intern's head. The idea that the government could legislate one's beliefs would be unthinkable.

But here we are.




Who raised the minimum wage, Kathleen?

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Labour Minister Kevin Flynn are riled up over businesses that thwart the “spirit” of new labour laws or worse.

A team of 175 new government inspectors is being added to Flynn’s ministry to crack down on businesses, like the Scarborough Tim Hortons that allegedly asked workers to put their tips in the till to compensate for higher wages, Flynn said.

The nerve.

When Flynn and Wynne are finished, small businesses in Ontario will be a thing of the past.

People voted for this, by the way.




Who did you vote for, veterans?

The National Council of Veteran Associations, which represents more than 60 veterans’ groups, is the latest to come out against the pension plan, which Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan unveiled just days before Christmas.

The new scheme was meant to fulfil the Liberal campaign promise to reinstate lifelong pensions for disabled veterans, which were replaced in 2006 by a lump-sum payment and other targeted financial assistance.

But while the government says its plan will provide more compensation than the current system, the National Council of Veterans Association says most disabled veterans will not see any real benefit.

Senator Lynn Beyak is fighting back:

Senator Lynn Beyak is accusing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer of misrepresenting the facts after she was booted from caucus last week and she questions whether he has the experience to lead.

Beyak now sits as an independent after refusing to remove offensive content in letters posted to her Senate website, according to Scheer’s account. The letters, which are still online, express support for Beyak’s earlier comments describing positive aspects of the residential schools system. In announcing her dismissal from caucus, Scheer quotes from one of the letters that suggests Indigenous Canadians are lazy and calls the remark “simply racist.”

“I demanded Senator Beyak remove this content from her website. She refused,” Scheer said in a statement announcing Beyak’s ouster on Thursday.

“As a result of her actions, the Conservative Senate Leader Larry Smith and I have removed Senator Lynn Beyak from the Conservative National Caucus.”

Beyak said in a statement Monday that Scheer never asked her to remove them, effectively accusing the leader of not telling the truth.

“Contrary to his statement, that he asked me to remove content and I refused, neither I nor my staff ever spoke with Andrew Scheer or anyone from his office, at any time,” Beyak said, claiming she learned about her ousting from a media report.

Beyak also said that Scheer falsely claimed that she “admitted that she intentionally posted racist correspondence about Indigenous Canadians to her parliamentary website.”

“That statement is completely false,” she said. “I would never say or do such a thing.”

Beyak remained unapologetic Monday, opining that her website “has given Canadians a voice for free speech.”

Though Scheer said in his statement that “I demanded Senator Beyak remove this content from her website,” a senior Conservative staffer told the Post on Monday he delegated this job to another person, whose identity the staffer would not share. 

So Andy didn't have the guts to confront her.

Wow.



Justin's new best friend made an appearance in court today:

Joshua Boyle, the Canadian who was held captive in Afghanistan for five years with his wife and now faces more than a dozen criminal charges, made a brief court appearance via video link Monday morning in Ottawa.

The 34-year-old was seen in court via a video link from the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, wearing a chinstrap beard and an orange jumpsuit with papers in the breast pocket. He has been held at the jail since he was arrested in Ottawa on New Year's Day.

He is being represented by lawyers Lawrence Greenspon and Eric Granger.

(Sidebar: this Lawrence Greenspon.)



 
If one has ever visited Panmunjon, it can be described as tension layered thickly with imminent violence:

The village, also known as the Joint Security Area, is the only point along the demilitarized zone at which South Korean soldiers directly face their North Korean counterparts.

The centerpiece of the village is five drab buildings — three painted in United Nations blue — that straddle the border. Inside one of these, the Military Armistice Commission Conference Room, North and South Korean delegates are able to meet over a conference table which the border precisely bisects. ...

“Visitors will not point and make gestures or expressions like scoffing, abnormal action(s) which could be used by the North Korean side as propaganda material against the United Nations Command,” reads a waiver signed by visitors.

There’s a reasonably good explanation for the South being so uptight: The North Korean soldiers in Panmunjom do indeed have a history of unpredictable spasms of violence.

The most infamous incident was in 1976. A U.S. team set out to trim a tree near the border, prompting a crowd of North Korean soldiers to ambush the unit and murder two Americans with axes. More recently, in November a North Korean soldier dramatically defected to the South through Panmunjom, drawing a hail of gunfire from comrades attempting to kill him.

And when South Korean soldiers open meeting room doors that connect to the North, there is always a fellow soldier holding onto them from behind — ostensibly because North Koreans have in the past tried to abduct Southern guards.

And now, this cat is and always shall be your friend:

Spock showed up on the couple's porch a few days ago, scratching at their door, crying for help. They opened the door for the little grey and white cat to come in. It was incredibly cold at -25°C (-13°F) in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The sweet kitty was so glad to be in a warm home.

"He was skinny, and curled right up to us. We gave him food and he inhaled it like he was starving," reddit user thejesscat said.

It didn't take long for the couple to notice something very special about the cat. His right paw is deformed, resembling the Vulcan salute from Star Trek, hence his name, Spock.