Sunday Post

 

The scandal that just won't die:

In an extraordinary 17-minute phone call on Dec. 19, 2018, Wernick can be heard telling Wilson-Raybould that Trudeau was “determined” to find a way for Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin to get a deferred prosecution, despite Wilson-Raybould’s insistence that it was wrong to overrule the prosecution service’s decision to proceed with a trial.

“This is not a great place for me to be in,” Wilson-Raybould tells Wernick near the end of the phone call. “But what I am confident of is that I have given the Prime Minister my best advice to protect him and to protect the constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence.”

“Alright, but … I am worried about a collision then because he is pretty firm about this,” Wernick replies, referring to Trudeau. “I just saw him a few hours ago and this is really important to him.”

I'll bet Wernick wished he recorded the conversation now. Jody had no compunction doing so.


(Read the text here and listen to the audio here.)


This recording does the following: confirms what Jody said about being pressured (Wernick: "Um...I am not calling you about litigation directive. I am calling about the other important one - the Deferred Prosecution thing / SNC and so one - I wanted to pass on where the PM is at... So it seems to be real and not a bluff. Um, there is another rising anxiety as you can imagine about a signature firm and job loss and all that coming after the Oshawa thing and what is going on in Calgary and what not."), that the possible loss of jobs was used to convince Jody about the deferred prosecution agreement even though it interfered with prosecutorial independence (Raybould: "Does he understand the gravity of what this potentially could mean - this is not about saving jobs - this is about interfering with one of our fundamental institutions – this is like breaching a constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence."), that Justin wanted her to agree to the deferred prosecution agreement (Wernick: "Well...it is not a good idea for the Prime Minister and his Attorney General to be at loggerheads.") and that the claim that Justin was never briefed is a total fabrication (“The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the clerk of the Privy Council Office (PCO) never briefed Justin Trudeau on his talk with ex-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, that was captured on a recording released on Friday. In a statement to Global News, the PMO also said it was “unaware of the full contents of this recording before today.” ... “I find this claim very hard to believe. After failing to persuade JWR in that phone call, Wernick states “Well I’m going to have to report back before he leaves.””)


And, really, do clerks of the privy council just step down for the sake of stepping down?:

Michael Wernick will officially step down as the country's top bureaucrat in April, one month after he announced plans to step down in the wake of being drawn into the explosive SNC-Lavalin affair.

The federal government announced Friday that Ian Shugart will take over as clerk of the Privy Council on April 19, which also marks the last day of Wernick's nearly 38-year career in the public service.

Wernick's political career is finished after this whirlwind amateur attempt at deception, though I am sure he has wealthy friends in high places in the private sector where he may peddle his total bullsh--.



Moving on ...



Why does this sound somewhat familiar?:

A nurse in Moncton was fired after allegations that labour was induced without consent, Horizon Health Network confirmed Saturday.

A press release from Horizon Health said it fired the labour and delivery nurse after an internal investigation revealed "strong evidence" the nurse administered Oxytocin, which caused two patients to require an urgent caesarean section. Horizon said it took immediate action to launch an investigation.

Oxytocin is a drug that causes contractions and is used to induce labour, speed up labour and stop bleeding following labour. If it's not administered properly, contractions can become too strong.

Seeing as this nurse (allegedly) could have killed patients who are not regarded as people, anyway, has been doing this for a while and will probably be defended by some crackerjack lawyer who will either have the charges lessened or dismissed, one wonders why people bother. Someone who (allegedly) should never have been a nurse in the first place (allegedly) committed a crime against people no one really cares about and in a broken institution no one will fix.



What would we do without arbitrators?:

A family law arbitrator has upheld an Ontario mother’s refusal to have her children vaccinated, citing a leading advocate in the U.S. anti-vaccination movement who claims vaccines do more harm than good.

Also:

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ordered Christian activist William Whatcott to pay $55,000 to trans activist Morgane Oger.

Mr. Oger must be pleased with the legalised vendetta system.



Oh, I'm quite sure:

For the first time since that high-profile arrest in June 2006, Abdelhaleem is hoping to slip from behind bars on an escorted temporary leave; just for a few hours, accompanied by a guard, to attend a meeting on de-radicalization.

This was his first appearance before the Parole Board of Canada, despite being eligible for parole on his life sentence since 2016.

Abdelhaleem answered that awkward question as plainly as it was asked by parole board member Veronique Buisson.

“Not any more,” he said.

After a pause, he elaborated.

“I’ve adjusted my way of thinking,” he said. “It was — not to use foul language, but — it was a shitty thing to do… It was the wrong thing to do, I realize that.”

He was dangerous back then, he admitted, but no longer.

“I would rather die than re-offend,” he said empathically, before realizing that — with his distinct past — he must be careful with words. A board member asked if he was referencing martyrdom or suicide attacks.

Also - Justin has some rather freaky friends:

Former hostage Joshua Boyle wrote up a list of rules his now-estranged spouse Caitlan Coleman had to live by, including that she please him sexually twice a day, every day, and that she refer to their children as sir and madame to remind her of her lowest place in the family.

Why, that sounds like a challenge to hold an outdoor Mass/free speech/tank block jamboree right across from the closest Chinese consulate:

A Chinese diplomat in Montreal tried to shut down an event at Concordia University featuring an exiled Muslim minority leader this week, says an organizer, marking China’s third recent attempt to influence activities on Canadian campuses.