On a Monday

The story so far ...




Canada - a country where the rule-of-law means absolutely nothing and (paid) malcontents can put an entire economy at a stand-still, much to the latent indifference of a government that wants a major export tanked anyway:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cancelled his planned trip to the Caribbean this week amid criticism over his government’s handling of a series of anti-pipeline protests that have disrupted rail service in parts of Canada.

How noble of him to do his job! All of those voters in the GTA will certainly appreciate his impotence in this matter.

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Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says he believes sending in police to break up the blockade in Tyendinaga, Ont. by force would only result in more disruptive protests in the future.

Bullsh--.

This is the same government that arrests pro-life grandmothers and confiscates their placards, the same government that interrogates authors who pen books embarrassing to it, the same government that  seizes legally owned guns in the middle of a natural catastrophe.

Just as the Soviets still had their firing squads on the Eastern Front and the Chinese are seizing property in the middle of a crippling epidemic, the impotent government refuses to stand up to (paid) law-breakers. Instead, the government that has since 2015 sought to tank Canada's oil industry (and even paid its American-funded stooges to do so) will let these malcontents be foot soldiers in their mission and if it results in civil liberties being done away with, so be it.




Peace was never an option:

The company behind a contentious pipeline in northern B.C. says building through traditional Wet’suwet’en territory was the most feasible way forward for the project.

Coastal GasLink’s approved 670-kilometre route from west of Dawson Creek, B.C., to a planned LNG export facility in Kitimat has come under scrutiny as protests spread across the country in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the project.

Before and after the RCMP enforced a court injunction against the chiefs and their supporters who were blocking access to a construction site near Houston, B.C., many protesters and politicians suggested an alternate route proposed by the chiefs and rejected by the company could have avoided the years-long dispute.

Which would have been countered, as well.

Show me where they haven't opposed a pipeline.

I'll wait.




Blockages have consequences:

CN Rail announced on Thursday it was shutting down its entire network east of Toronto because protesters near Belleville, Ont., are maintaining their blockade across the main line. Now the company is laying off some of its Eastern Canadian staff.

Railway blockades are being felt across the Maritime provinces as propane runs low and pressure builds on trucking companies to make crucial deliveries.

Demonstrations and blockades have been taking place across the country in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs fighting the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C.

Alexandre Boulé, who speaks for CN Rail, said temporary layoffs notices were sent to employees working in Eastern Passage, N.S., Moncton, N.B., Charny, Que., and Montreal.

"Our shutdown is progressive and methodical to ensure that we are well set up for recovery, which will come when the illegal blockades end completely," he said in an email.

That won't happen.

I'm sure Justin will borrow some money for a "relief package". 

To wit: Colten Boushie and his friends stole a car that contained a firearm. That firearm was used to hold up farmer, Gerald Stanley, and his family. When Stanley attempted to protect himself, the firearm he used went off and killed Colten Boushie. No aboriginal person was chosen for jury duty because they had either known the victim, were otherwise engaged or would not be impartial.

So there's that:

An online petition calling for a public inquiry into the shooting death of Colten Boushie has garnered thousands of signatures — but the provincial government says the incident has already been thoroughly covered during a criminal trial.

Yes, yes, all the details are known, but when was the chance to wave about feathers, claim that Colten was a good boy and then bring up missing girls because that's relevant somehow?

It must be all that global warming: 

Sub-zero temperatures forced tenants out of their homes in Atlantic Canada this weekend because of damage from burst pipes.

The Canadian Red Cross says it assisted people in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island after their apartment units were flooded from frozen water pipes that burst.

Eight people were evacuated from a three-storey complex in St. John's, N.L., at 4 a.m. on Sunday after five apartments were damaged by flooding.

The organization says people expect to be out of their apartments for several days as the apartments are cleaned and inspected for safety.

A woman and two children were evacuated from their townhouse apartment in Summerside, P.E.I., at 4 a.m. on Saturday due to flooding.

The Red Cross says volunteers have assisted the affected residents with emergency lodging and food.

Has anyone heard of Cardinal Zen or does persecution only matter when it's the flavour-of-the-month?:

Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County: their religion and their family ties.

This has been going on since 1949 and no one has given a sh--.

Stop pretending to care now.

There are Canadians in prison. Does anyone care about them?




The time to do to something about epidemics was after the SARS outbreak:

The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions is warning that the federal public health agency's guidelines to protect front-line health-care workers from outbreaks of diseases like the novel coronavirus don't go far enough, and might be putting them and patients at risk.

The standards, which the Public Health Agency of Canada updated last week, lay out the precautions health-care workers should take when assessing and treating a patient with a possible case of the coronavirus, including what protective equipment should be used.

The public health agency has committed to updating the guidelines as they learn more about the disease the World Health Organization has named COVID-19, which has sickened more than 64,000 people worldwide.

Linda Silas, president of the labour organization, says the safety protocols are inadequate compared to those in Ontario and some other countries.

Silas said the standards assume the coronavirus can't spread through the air — rather than through droplets — but she contends the science isn't settled on that front and the government should be taking greater care until they can be 100 per cent sure.

"When we do not know, we have to go for the best precautions for workers," said Silas.

Nurses, doctors and other medical staff who come into contact with patients must be protected, not only for their own health but to stop the potential spread of the virus, she said.

Now that it affects fat, white, unionised Canadians, it's time for the government to act, right?