MORE MILLIONS WASTED

Psssst! Want a smart thermostat . . . for free?

Ontario is offering them, installed, also at no cost, along with free home energy reviews to 100,000 households in a bid to help cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Chris Ballard unveiled the $40-million program Wednesday through the new Green Ontario Fund, which was launched with $377 million in revenues from the province’s cap-and-trade program.

EUROPEAN UNITY IS A MYTH

A deeper look shows that the much vaunted European unity is a myth. Europe is getting increasingly divided between political alliances. Southern European countries tend to integration. The Visegrad Group, made up of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic  and Slovakia (the V4), is a bloc within the EU. In its turn, the European Union is on the verge of being divided into a «two speed» or «multi-speed» Europe. The idea of a «Federal Union» has been floated. It is expected that the final decision on the future functioning of the community will be made in December. The coming months are likely to see further turbulence. Germany holds legislative elections in September.
Multi-speed Europe would create rival blocs and perpetuate divisions, with France and Germany setting the rules and others left to catch-up. Countries outside the core will be marginalized being kept outside of the decision-making process. The EU is to become a loose alliance, a patchwork of blocs within blocks

EXPLOSIONS AT TEXAS CHEMICAL PLANT

When the CEO of Arkema America, Richard Rowe, warned late Wednesday that the company is powerless to prevent an imminent explosion at its Crosby, TX chemical plant, all we could do was wait for the inevitable. We didn't have long to wait, because just a few hours later, on Thursday morning, Arkema said it has been notified about two explosions at its plant in Crosby, Texas.

GENEROSITY & SPIRIT OF AMERICANS

As Texas deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, duck hunters and fishermen-turned-rescuers are using their personal boats to navigate flooded parts of Houston and search for survivors.

TRUDEAU'S DOUBLE STANDARDS

But Tootoo got no compassion whatsoever from the Trudeau overseers, just the proverbial kick in the ass with a frozen mukluk and banishment back to Nunavut.
So why has Calgary MP Darshan Kang, 66, escaped immediate exile from the Liberal caucus?
Is it because the federal Liberals have only four seats in Alberta, and therefore each is too vital to let moral standards apply? Or is it because Kang is a visible minority, and important to holding on to the large and growing Indo-Sikh voting bloc of nearly 500,000?

HURRICANE HARVEY UPDATE

HOUSTON, Texas — Houston area shelters filled to capacity as hundreds of thousands of people flee catastrophic flood waters in the ongoing tragedy of now-Tropical Storm Harvey.

TAX CHANGES INFURIATE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

On July 18, Finance Minister Bill Morneau released a detailed package of tax changes affecting small businesses.

Daniel Lauzon, a spokesperson for the minister, said the strong negative reaction was expected given the effect the changes will have on high-income earners.

    Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Perrin Beatty made his own fairness case Tuesday, suggesting that the circumstances of a salaried employee and a small-business owner, each earning $80,000, do not make for an apples-to-apples comparison. The salaried employee likely has a generous pension and paid vacation time, Beatty pointed out, while the business owner may have pledged personal assets as collateral and has other stresses not borne by employees.

 

ONTARIO'S 17.5 MILLION HYDRO 'PICK & PAY"

The new hydro packages in the pilot will be tailored to different lifestyles, with peak and off-peak pricing options that accommodate different schedules for cooking, doing laundry and entertaining.

One option is "The Overnight" which would include a "super off peak rate" that would be much lower between midnight and 6 a.m.  Another called "Dynamic P" would introduce variable peak prices between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., with all other usage times billed at an off-peak price that is 25 per cent lower than the current off-peak price.

OMAR KHADR

Wants unsupervised contact with his sister Zaynab.

Who knew Khadr recently got married?

1900: THE GREAT GALVESTON HURRICANE

The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h), which made landfall on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas in the United States, leaving about 6,000 to 12,000 dead. It remains to the present day the deadliest natural disaster in US history.

MEANWHILE IN CORNWALL,ONTARIO

The tent city.

The federal government has informed the City of Cornwall that they are not sending any more asylum seekers to Nav Centre — at least for the time being.

With no more new people being sent to Cornwall, the government expects all the asylum seekers who are already staying at the Nav Centre will have their applications processed and be moved to more long-term housing in the Montreal area by the end of this week.

TIDE TURNING AGAINST ANTIFA

After the media lashed out at right-wing extremists in the aftermath of the tragic violence in Charlottesville, the tide now appears to be turning against the all-black-clad "Antifa."
For the first time since the campaigns began late last year and protests broke out, The Washington Post unleashed this shocking headline:
Black-clad antifa members attack peaceful rightwing demonstrators at Berkeley.

AMERICA'S TRILLION DOLLAR WAR

16 years since the Bush administration launched its military intervention in Afghanistan, President Trump has announced his intention to increase the U.S. military presence in the country. As Statista's Niall McCarthy notes, there are approximately 8,400 U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan and reinforcements could start arriving within days. Trump's new strategy is set to extend the longest war in U.S. history and add even further to its already staggering cost

EXPLAIN THE PLAN PRIME MINISTER

So, when Mr. Labeaume tells his provincial and federal counterparts grappling with an influx of asylum seekers that they've got a communications problem on their hands, they need to listen. "Quebeckers have always been generous. They're still generous," Mr. Labeaume insisted last week. "It's just that they want to understand the plan. Where does it begin and where does it end? How many [migrants] to start with and how many in the end? Explain the plan."

LIBERALS KILLING ENERGY INDUSTRY

Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer told an Edmonton business luncheon Monday that the Liberals are out to end the energy industry.
The opposition leader said he has no faith that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will be built, because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has politicized the decision-making process.

HURRICANE HARVEY UPDATE

HOUSTON, Texas — As Tropical Storm Harvey marches back to the Gulf where it is expected to strengthen again, emergency planners in Houston’s neighboring Fort Bend County ordered the mandatory evacuation of about 110,000 people from areas that will be flooding by the Brazos River. The river is expected to hit a record 800-900 year flood mark at 56.1 feet.

LIBERAL FISCAL TRAIN WRECK

In his four-year term of office, covering the fiscal years 2016-17 to 2019-20, Trudeau projected during the 2015 election that his deficits would total $24.1 billion, including a $1 billion surplus in 2019-20.

According to Trudeau’s March, 2017 budget, these deficits are now projected to total $102.3 billion with a $23.4 billion deficit in 2019-20, and no end to projected deficits if he's re-elected.

That means Trudeau’s projected deficits for the four-year lifespan of his government are now $78.2 billion higher than the $24.1 billion he predicted in 2015, or 224% higher than he projected.

LIBERALS CHOOSE GREEN VIRTUE OVER CHRONIC NEED

On the surface, the announcement is good news for residents in Toronto’s dilapidated social housing homes and apartments, and for the City of Toronto, which has a $2.6-billion social housing repair backlog and unsolvable social housing crisis.
All the money, the minister’s office confirmed, is earmarked for green energy renovations, not what’s actually needed — cash to fix units and buildings so run down from neglect and abuse that they are uninhabitable.

HURRICANE HARVEY UPDATE

HOUSTON, Texas — Texans are facing what may become the worst flooding event in the state’s history as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump record levels of rainfall on the central and upper Gulf Coast region. Houston emergency management officials have run out of boats and other rescue equipment used to respond to people trapped in their flooded homes. Houston 911 officials are adding additional staff to handle the overwhelming number of calls being received.

THREATENING CANADIAN JOURNALISTS

The extremist Alt-Left group Antifa have threatened further violence against journalists in Canada after members of the group attacked a camera crew of one of the country’s largest broadcasters in Quebec.

ARCHEOLOGISTS SIFT THROUGH RUINS IN MONTREAL

   Pothier was standing over a 1.5-metre deep pit where workers using trowels, buckets and backhoes were digging around the foundations of a building that burned down during a riot on April 25, 1849.
   An English-speaking mob, goaded by Tory politicians and English newspapers, including the Montreal Gazette, set fire to Canada’s first permanent Parliament building. They were angry about a plan to compensate those whose property was damaged in the 1837-38 rebellions, including property owners who had not remained loyal to the government

REUNITING A FAMILY AND SAVING A LIFE

This story spans more than three-quarters of a century and includes a deeply hidden family secret that was discovered just in time to turn a tragedy into a miracle.
At the centre of it is 33-year-old Patrick Hennessy, who has a rare, genetic disease called X-linked Alport syndrome that almost inevitably leads to kidney failure.

PURGING CANADA'S OFFENSIVE HISTORY

They’re not wrong that Macdonald has a pretty dismal record on Indigenous relations, but if Canada is going to be pulling down every name associated with some uncomfortable aspect of history, the purge has only just begun. It turns out that, when judged through the prism of our enlightened era, almost everybody from Canada’s past — from famed reformers to Indigenous icons to notable women — comes off as an extremist maniac.

NATO'S POCKETKNIFE RATTLING

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 was more than a little unsettling to the Poles.
That was bad enough when, in the middle of July, China sent one of its most advanced destroyers and a missile frigate to the Baltic to exercise with 10 Russian ships.
Now, the Washington Post reports Russia is preparing to send 100,000 troops to the very edge of NATO territory, read Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and the like, for exercises scheduled to last several months.
Who can fault the average man or woman in Poland for feeling uneasy?

LONG TERM PAIN IN WYNNE'S HOUSING PLAN

Our recurring survey of developers in Canadian municipalities identifies variations in the cost and ease of development in different municipalities.
The shortest approval timelines for building permits in the GTA (Burlington) are 10 months shorter than the longest (Georgina).
The per-unit costs for regulatory compliance in Hamilton ($21,000) are half what they are in Toronto ($46,500).
Given that recent research by the province found only a small percentage of property transactions involved foreign buyers, local governments would likely make more progress on home prices by eliminating undue housing supply restrictions.

TRUDEAU'S "WORKING" REFUGEE SYSTEM

Upwards of 10,000 queue-jumpers seeking refugee status have already waltzed into Canada via unofficial border points.
Sieves are less porous.

TIME TO REJIG EQUALIZATION PAYMENTS

Equalization is a federal government program that aims to provide Canadians in all provinces with access to reasonably comparable public services at comparable levels of taxation. It attempts to achieve this objective by providing cash payments from the federal government to governments of provinces that have a lower fiscal capacity—the ability to raise revenues. In recent years, largely as a result of economic slumps in several non-recipient provinces, disparities between the fiscal capacity of recipient and non-recipient provinces have generally shrunk significantly.

CANADIAN CONSUMER TAX INDEX 2017

The Canadian Consumer Tax Index tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian family from 1961 to 2016. Including all types of taxes, that bill has increased by 2,006% since 1961.

Taxes have grown much more rapidly than any other single expenditure for the average Canadian family: expenditures on shelter increased by 1,527%, clothing by 677%, and food by 639% from 1961 to 2016.

The 2,006% increase in the tax bill has also greatly outpaced the increase in the Consumer Price Index (718%), which measures the average price that consumers pay for food, shelter, clothing, transportation, health and personal care, education, and other items.

TIME FOR A TAX REVOLT

This country badly needs a tax revolt.
According to a report released this week by Vancouver’s Fraser Institute, the average Canadian family earned just over $82,000 in 2016 and paid taxes of just over $35,000.
That means the typical family saw 42.5% of its income gobbled up by one level of government or another.

HURRICANE HARVEY

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Harvey spun deeper into Texas and unloaded extraordinary amounts of rain Saturday after the once-fearsome hurricane crashed into vulnerable homes and businesses along the coastline in a blow that killed at least two people and injured up to 14.
Throughout the region between Corpus Christi and Houston, many people feared that toll was only the beginning. Authorities did not know the full scope of damage because weather conditions prevented emergency crews from getting into the hardest-hit places.

SOMEBODY HAS TO PAY FOR JUSTIN'S BILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAYS

Proposed changes to taxation of private corporations, as they are currently worded, are bad news for the estimated 25% of farm businesses across Ontario and Canada that are incorporated.

THE NEXT WAVE

Officials in Canada and the U.S. are concerned that the next wave of asylum seekers at the border could be a population far bigger than the Haitians crossing now.

More than 260,000 El Salvadorans are facing deportation from the United States if their temporary protected status there is lifted in March — four times the number of Haitians covered by the program.

COSTS ALOT TO BE A DIVA

French President Emmanuel Macron spent €26,000 - over $30,000 - on makeup in his first three months as leader of the country.
Macron’s personal makeup artist put in two claims for payment, one for €10,000 and another for €16,000, for doing his makeup during his travels and ahead of press conferences.

FOOLISH NEVER ENDING REVISIONISM

NP,  Ivison:  The reaction of people like me to the suggestion by Ontario’s elementary teachers’ federation that Sir John A. Macdonald’s name be removed from public schools was one of scorn, with added vitriol.
That’s because people like me view history as a record of things past that should not be altered or rewritten in Orwellian fashion by some Ministry of Truth to suit its own political ends

SENIORS FACING FORECLOSURE

Across the nation, an increasing number of seniors are facing foreclosure after taking out reverse mortgages, either because they fell behind on property charges or failed to meet other requirements of the complex mortgage loans, according to federal data and interviews with consumer and housing specialists.
    More than 18 percent of reverse mortgage loans taken out from 2009 to June 2016 are expected to go into default because of unpaid taxes and insurance, according to the HUD report. That compares with less than 3 percent of federally insured loans that are considered seriously delinquent in the traditional mortgage market

AWAN/SCHULTZ SAGA CONTINUES

Wasserman Schultz has rejected concerns about Imran as “absurd” and “laughable,” even though he had access to all of her congressional emails and files, as well as her iPad password, is suspected by police of cybersecurity violations, and had long been accused of defrauding people for financial gain.  Meanwhile, she has maintained all along that Awan is being “persecuted” by the Capitol Police and FBI and even went so far as to threaten the Capital Police Chief earlier this summer.

HURRICANE HARVEY BARRELS INTO TEXAS

Hurricane Harvey slammed into southwestern Texas Friday night as the storm's "eyewall" - the area where storm-related damage is typically the heaviest - battered communities along the coastline as the storm headed straight toward densely populated Corpus Christi, according to the National Weather Service. The storm arrived  more quickly than some expected, leaving hundreds of thousands of Texans scrambling to evacuate from towns and cities in the storm's path.

CUBAN SONIC ATTACK UPDATE

  American and Canadian diplomats in Cuba have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury - and central nervous damage - after an apparent attack with a sonic weapon targeted their homes.

SELLER BEWARE IN TORONTO REAL ESTATE

Some homeowners and realtors are making a case for stronger seller protections — specifically, who gets to keep the deposit when a buyer backs out. 
 A recent drop in Toronto region home prices — after months of frenzied buying — has caused a spike in buyers looking to exit or renegotiate purchase agreements. It's widely considered to be part of the fallout from the Ontario Liberal government's housing market cooling policies launched on April 20.

CANADIANS' FRUSTRATION WITH BORDER FIASCO

Let’s be clear on one thing: Once refugees or asylum claimants have arrived in Canada, we must look after them and treat them with compassion.
We offer migrants a certain standard of care because it speaks to who we are as a decent, caring people.
That doesn’t mean there are no gates on our borders.

SHERIFF JOE PARDONED

President Donald Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday evening, citing his record of service to his country.
 “Arpaio’s life and career, which began at the age of 18 when he enlisted in the military after the outbreak of the Korean War, exemplifies selfless public service,” read a statement from the White House.

OUR VERY EXISTENCE IS UNBEARABLE TO JIHADISTS

The Islamist attacks against Spain, Finland and Germany unmasked the central problem: Pacifism will not protect Europe from either Islamization or terror attacks. Spain and Germany were, in fact, among the most reluctant countries in Europe to take an active role in the anti-ISIS coalition.

WELFARE FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

A spokesman for Quebec's employment minister says the provincial government will hand out welfare cheques to several thousand asylum seekers next week.
Simon Laboissonniere says an estimated 4,000 people will get money for the month of September.
The minimum basic monthly payment will be $623, while there will be an additional sum depending on the recipient's family status.

LIBERAL FEAR MONGERING

This week I found out I was an alt-right, white supremacist. Needless to say I was shocked.
This appalling bit of information came courtesy of the Ontario Liberal party.
They sent out an email they said revealed the alt-right leanings of Ontario Progressive Conservative party members.

DUFFY SUES

Mike Duffy, the Senate and the RCMP are heading back to court with the senator seeking more than $7.8 million in damages stemming from the high-profile investigation, suspension, and court case about his expenses.
Duffy filed a claim in Ontario Superior Court on Thursday that alleges his 2013 suspension by the Senate was unconstitutional and a violation of his charter rights and that the federal government is liable for the RCMP’s alleged negligence in its investigation.

ETFO MOTION A DISGRACE

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario motion calling for retroactively banning public schools from being named for Sir John A. Macdonald is absurd and a disgrace.
Absurd because it comes from a profession supposedly interested in promoting our understanding of history, not censoring it.

HURRICANE BEARS DOWN ON TEXAS

Weather officials warn of possible catastrophic rainfall as Hurricane Harvey bears down on the central Texas coast. The storm is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane by the time it makes landfall Friday afternoon.
 Hurricane Harvey would be the first Category 3 hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in the past 12 years. It is expected to bring up to 30 inches of rain in parts of the central Texas Coastal Bend region. Heavy seas and tidal surges could also cause significant damage along the shoreline. Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall Friday afternoon near Corpus Christi, Texas.

CONSTIPATED BORDER RUNNERS

Normally, “irregular” arrivals who cross the border illegally first go through a security check and then go through a second screening to determine whether they are eligible to make a refugee claim. These two checks are usually done within a matter of hours or days.

But according to Denise Otis, a protection officer with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Montreal, the eligibility interviews are taking months to arrange. “The situation right now is for people unless you are very vulnerable, at this moment we are the 21st of August, you will have your eligibility interview in January.”

LIBERAL FOCUS ON TAXING WEALTH

The Liberals had already upset the small-business community by promising higher payroll levies to expand the Canada Pension Plan and by reneging on the pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate to 9 per cent.
As such, they probably felt they had little to lose politically by sticking it to the same group again with their proposal to crack down on the use of tax “loopholes” by small business owners and professionals like doctors and accountants.

TORNADO TOUCHDOWN, LACHUTE QUEBEC

Tornado leaves a path of destruction in Lachute, Que.

DAVIE VS IRVING SHIPBUILDING CONTRACT

Quebec shipbuilder Chantier Davie Canada Inc. suspected Treasury Board President Scott Brison of doing the bidding of its Halifax rival when the Liberal cabinet hit pause on giving final approval to a $667-million contract to provide the navy with an interim supply vessel, according to RCMP affidavits.

WHEN LIBERALS GET SMACKED BY REALITY

Borders are an area where liberals stumble into the swamp of hypocrisy.  Walls and fences are fine around their homes, but not around their country.  Armed security can keep troublemakers away from their personal space, but similar measures on the American border are somehow racist, xenophobic, or (the latest insult) white supremacist.
   Last January, in response to President Trump's travel ban, Trudeau tweeted, "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada."  Hashtag and all.  The only thing missing is a multicolored lapel ribbon proclaiming Canada's diversity.

HANNITY CONFRONTS FAKE NEWS

Sean Hannity rose to the challenge of confronting the MSM’s fake news Wednesday night and dealt a serious blow to the lies, misrepresentations, and omissions of the nation’s press. The vehicle was the opening monologue on his nightly Fox News show. Using a mixture of facts based on real video clips and humor, Hannity stood out once again as a defender and practitioner of fair and balanced reporting.

GORE: BREXIT CAUSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE

There are plenty of theories about what led to the Brexit vote. Now, Al Gore, has a new one to add to the pile. The former vice president – who has been busy promoting his new film by labelling those who question him ’deniers’ – says the EU referendum result was brought about because of… climate change.

INVESTIGATING THE AWAN INDICTMENT

Now, Andrew McCarthy III, the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who led the prosecution against Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, says there is "something very strange" about the recent indictment filed against Imran Awan and his wife Hina Alvi in the District of Columbia.
In a National Review article, McCarthy points out that it's not what's in the indictment that is necessarily surprising but rather what is seemingly intentionally omitted.  For instance, McCarthy points out that "the indictment appears to go out of its way not to mention" that Imran was apprehended while in the process of fleeing the country, a fact that would seem to be the best evidence available to prove the fraud charges.

LA SUES FEDS OVER SANCTUARY CITY CRACKDOWN

Justice Department spokesman Devin M. O’Malley said that violent crime in Los Angeles is up since 2014, so it is “baffling that the city would challenge policies designed to keep residents of L.A. safer, especially from the scourge of transnational gang activity,” such as those associated with groups like MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang.
O’Malley said that the goal of “reversing sanctuary city policies is about more than just enforcing federal immigration law by detaining criminals here illegally — it’s about re-establishing a culture of law and order, where crimes are punished and people are deterred from committing them.”

WYNNE'S GAMBLING ON BIG REVENUE GROWTH

A new report from the government’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO) shows that the government’s fiscal plan relies on several optimistic assumptions of tax revenue.
If those rosy assumptions don’t come to pass and the government proceeds with its spending plans, the province is at risk of quickly returning to operating deficits.

MORNEAU'S TAX REFORM PLAN

  A wide range of professionals — doctors, farmers, plumbers, landscapers, convenience store owners, dentists, veterinarians, and many more — are set to take a big tax hit if the proposals go through, and industry groups have been organizing to fight back against the government’s plan.

UNION VS NOVA SCOTIA GOVERNMENT

Nova Scotia's Liberal government finally moved on a contentious piece of labour legislation Tuesday, effectively imposing a wage package on the province's 75,000 public sector employees and drawing a fiery response from the union representing the majority of them.
Premier Stephen McNeil said the proclamation of the Public Services Sustainability Act was being done in the "best interests of Nova Scotians," but the union president called that insulting.

LOOKING AFTER YOUR FRIENDS

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top aide says paying one of Canada's newest diplomatic appointees nearly double what the going-rate is “completely in line” with other federal appointments from the private sector.
The posting makes the Liberal-appointee, and former Liberal candidate, one of the highest-paid Canadian diplomats

THE GOOD JUDGE WAS PACKING HEAT

Later he said, “Every judge should be armed today in America. Prosecutors need to be armed. It was a cold-blooded attempted murder on a judge.”

Regarding the judge, who is an avid sportsman, the sheriff remarked, “If any judge could do it [use a firearm defensively], it is him. There are so many nuts running around seeking retaliation.” And thankfully the probation officer was near the incident. “If the probation officer was not there, the shooter would have kept shooting until the judge was dead,” Abdalla said.

REVIEWING THE APPOINTMENT

A board member with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, an arms-length federal government agency with a mandate to combat racial discrimination, is in jeopardy of losing her post over her writings on the controversial website Jihad Watch.
Christine Douglass-Williams has been writing for the site almost since she was appointed to the foundation's board in 2012. But multiple sources have told The Canadian Press that the government is reviewing that appointment in the wake of an essay that appeared on the site in May.

TRADITIONS OF DAWOODI BOHRAS

A local member of the Bohra community, writing to a Canadian senator about the issue at the time, said the Canadian Dawoodi Bohras had questionable practices, including “actively enforcing” female genital cutting. The writer alleged that “a lady with medical background or qualifications visits Ontario regularly to conduct these procedures on little girls of the community.”

In April 2016, a sermon leaked to the media shows the current Sayedna talking about khatna and, according to the federal documents, reportedly saying: “The act has to happen. If it is a man (male circumcision), then it is right, it can be openly done, but if it is a woman then it must be done discreetly, but then the act has to be done.”

PRO-DEVELOPMENT FIRST NATIONS

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansions, a $7.4 billion project, which got the green light from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last fall, now faces an uncertain future in the face of vehement opposition from some anti-pipeline protesters, which count many First Nations peoples among their ranks.
But there are voices on the other side of the divide who want to stake their claim in this fractious debate: Indigenous peoples who are decidedly pro-development. These groups see pipeline projects as a potential boon for communities eager to lessen dependence on the federal government and its control over their financial destiny.

CONSTIPATED BORDER RUNNERS

According to PM Trudeau:
"Entering Canada irregularly is not an advantage."

BARCELONA TERROR CELL PLANS

The terror cell that struck Barcelona on Thursday originally intended to target the city's famed Sagrada Familia cathedral with a massive truck bomb, as investigators have revealed they've discovered 120 gas canisters that are believed to have been intended for the attack

EUROPOLS CHIEF'S WARNING

Europol chief Robert Wainwright warned on Twitter yesterday that terrorism is the "highest threat in Europe for a generation."
From 2014 to 2016, jihadist terror attacks in Europe increased from 2 to 30, and the pace of attacks this year is becoming unrelenting.

HURRY UP AND WAIT

The $42-million B.C. headquarters for the Department of National Defence was officially opened by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan last September.
Yet, nearly a year after the official opening, the four-storey headquarters remains empty. Sure, there’s a nice plaque on it, but most days, the gates are locked with a weathered and curled notice advising who to call regarding security. 
One can’t help asking: If DND, Public Services Canada and Shared Services Canada can’t even manage to get phones, filing cabinets and computer networking in place on land in a purpose-built facility, how on Earth will they manage to get the more complicated stuff for the air and sea done on time and on budget?

NEVER A GOOD IDEA

Burnouts at a funeral.

1740 SHIPWRECK OFF BRITISH COAST

Divers are racing against time to preserve the wreck of a Dutch treasure ship which sank off the British coast.

The Dutch merchant ship De Rooswijk carrying chests of silver ingots, silver dollars and pieces of eight hit treacherous sandbanks in January 1740.

The ship, on its way to buy nutmeg and pepper in the East Indies sank, killing all on board - some 250 men, women and children.

WAIT TIMES AT OTTAWA'S HEART INSTITUTE

With eight months to go until a long-awaited expansion is complete, cardiac surgery wait times at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute are the longest in Ontario — more than triple the provincial average in the case of elective bypass surgery.
Despite its struggles with long wait times, the heart institute received the highest patient satisfaction rating in the province, according to one survey. And when offered a chance to go to another hospital rather than stay on the waiting list in Ottawa, patients generally say no.
The heart institute has seen a nearly 20-per-cent increase in cases in the past nine years, which means emergency surgeries more frequently bump elective surgeries.

BC PREMIER SUED FOR DEFAMATION

Former B.C. LNG advocate Gordon Wilson has filed a lawsuit against Premier John Horgan and Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston after Horgan and Ralston implied Wilson had not done any real work during his tenure.
The suit claims public comments made by Horgan, Ralston and Blaney were politically motivated and have damaged Wilson's reputation.
Wilson is seeking $5 million in damages, according to his lawyer Robert Hainsworth.

IMRAN AWAN INDICTED ON FOUR COUNTS

Imran Awan, a former IT aide for Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was indicted Thursday on four counts including bank fraud and making false statements.

The grand jury decision in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia comes roughly a month after Awan was arrested at Dulles airport in Virginia trying to board a plane to Pakistan, where his family is from.

PROTECTING CANADIANS FROM DANGEROUS MEDS

Specifically, Young says Health Canada is not going to require the reporting of all serious adverse drug reactions, a measure at the heart of the bill Parliament passed.  Scaling back that requirement, he said, means Health Canada won’t be in any position to better understand what prescription drugs are harming – and killing – Canadians.

PUBLIC OPINION SHAPING JUSTICE POLICY

OTTAWA — The Justice Department wants to know what Canadians think of changing some of the former Conservative government's controversial tough-on-crime sentencing legacy — including mandatory minimum penalties — before the Liberals bring in their promised reforms.
An online survey asks respondents to judge several scenarios involving mitigating circumstances surrounding a crime
Ottawa-based criminal defence lawyer Michael Spratt said he is concerned the survey suggests the Liberal government is looking to public opinion, rather than evidence, when it comes to shaping its justice policy.
"Governing your justice policy based on the popular opinion is a dangerous game that potentially could undermine the rule of law and important constitutional protections," Spratt said.

RAE DAYS IN ALBERTA

When Premier Notley took office two years ago in Alberta, her new government faced severe fiscal challenges. The province had a large and growing budget deficit and was headed towards net debt status for the first time in approximately 15 years.
When Premier Notley took office, there were at least two broad historical models of NDP fiscal management from which she could have drawn. One of these was the Bob Rae model of higher spending and increased taxes. The other was the Roy Romanow model from Saskatchewan characterized by spending discipline.

SAFETY OF OIL & GAS TRANSPORT

A contentious road lies ahead for the construction of three recently approved oil pipelines (Trans Mountain, Line 3, and Keystone XL). Given continued opposition to oil and gas infrastructure, we have examined the latest data on the safety of oil and gas transport. In general, the transport of oil and gas is quite safe by all modes we examine: pipeline, rail, and tanker, though there are differences between the modes that should be considered when developing infrastructure

VENEZUELAN TANKER STRANDED OFF VIRGINIA

A tanker loaded with 1 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude has been stranded for over a month off the coast of Louisiana, not because it can't sail but as a result of Venezuela's imploding economy, and its inability to obtain a bank letter of credit to deliver its expensive cargo. It's the latest sign of the financial troubles plaguing state-run oil company PDVSA in the aftermath of the latest US sanctions against the Maduro regime, and evidence that banks are slashing exposure to Venezuela across the board as the Latin American nation spirals into chaos.

MEANWHILE IN CORNWALL, ONTARIO

Cornwall is preparing to play host to hundreds of asylum seekers crossing into Canada from the United States.

Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced Thursday a 300-room temporary shelter is being set up at the city's NAV Centre.

There is also the capacity to add tents outdoors.

REFUGEES IN POSSESSION OF CHILD PORN

Multiple refugee claimants have been found in possession of child pornography at or near the Quebec border crossing where an influx of hundreds of asylum seekers crossing from New York state has led the Canadian government to set up a border camp

THE GENEROUSITY OF HYDRO ONE

The program, known as Demand Response, allows companies and large energy consumers to auction off chunks of time — during periods of high demand — when they would be willing to cut back on their power consumption. These companies “bid” this capacity into an auction to determine how much the province’s electricity customers would have to pay them for offering this service each year. 

MIXED OPINIONS ON SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

First, Trump’s statements have changed. Not only did he tell American farmers in April that “People don’t realize Canada’s been very rough on the United States. I love Canada. But they’ve outsmarted our politicians for many years,” in reference to the softwood lumber file, but he also said, “Canada, what they’ve done to our dairy workers, it’s a disgrace.”
Led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the Americans released their negotiating objectives last month, and they left little room for ambiguity. The objectives state that eliminating “non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural imports” is an official priority when renegotiations get underway in Washington, DC. There is no doubt: Canada’s supply management system is in the US’s crosshairs.

BROADCASTERS COMPETE WITH STREAMING SERVICES

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has asked Canada's broadcast regulator to review its decision earlier this year allowing some Canadian broadcasters to cut spending on the creation of Canadian content.
In May, as part of the five-year licence renewals of broadcasters Bell, Corus and Rogers, the CRTC set the new minimum for how much the trio had to spend creating "programs of national interest" to five per cent of a broadcaster's revenue.
The broadcasters were spending from nine to 10 per cent of revenues creating programs of national interest.

CALEDONIA'S BARRICADES ARE BACK

This fight was born in 2006, in the desperation of the McGuinty government to make the mess go away without offending the indigenous community and at whatever cost
Now, these negotiations, as with much else, were done in secrecy, so it’s not clear to whom Peterson, a Liberal mediator,  promised the lands.
But the Haudenosaunee says it was them, and they did have the native lead in negotiations for about three years.
At the end of March this year, the Ontario government transferred the land, not to the HCCC, but to the Six Nations council.
So this is an internecine fight, with the town and townspeople having no dog in the race.

CANADIAN FARMERS MAY TAKE A HUGE TAX HIT

But the change that could really hit farmers is the narrowing of the lifetime capital gain exemptions for qualified farm property, which applies up to $1 million. Currently, farmers can use family members in a variety of ways to reduce capital gain taxes when selling shares or farmland, including to their own children.

LIFE IN A FOSSIL FUEL FREE UTOPIA

The drumbeat for a fossil-fuel-free energy utopia continues. But few have pondered how we will supposedly generate 25 billion megawatts of total current global electricity demand using just renewable energy: wind turbines, for instance. For starters, we’re talking about some 830 million gigantic 500-foot-tall turbines – requiring a land area of some 12.5 billion acres. That’s more than twice the size of North America, all the way through Central America.

AL QAEDA BLUEPRINT FOR TRANSPORTATION ATTACKS

The al Qaeda terror group's chief bomb maker has published a blueprint for new attacks on U.S. transportation systems, including planes, trains, and boats, which the terror group views as "prime targets," according to a copy of a lengthy manifesto that provides a guide for would-be terrorists to launch attacks.

KIM BLINKS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has delayed a decision on firing missiles toward Guam while he waits to see what the United States does, the North's state media reported on Tuesday as the United States said any dialogue was up to Kim.

CHINA-CANADA TRADE DIALOGUE ON THE QUIET

The second China-Canada Foreign Ministers Dialogue was held in Beijing last week, Canada’s Chrystia Freeland sitting down with her counterpart Wang Yi to “explore ways to further consolidate Canada-China ties,” as Xinhua news agency put it. Upcoming Canada-China trade talks would have topped the agenda.
But despite anxiety across Canada over China’s demands in any new deal, and what is really at stake, we know little about what was even discussed. Freeland flew home with no post-meeting press conference held, no communiqué issued.

PROPOSED SALES TAX HIKE REJECTED

“We will not be increasing the HST,” said Jessica Martin, a spokesperson for Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa, in an e-mail. Ms. Martin said Ontario has already promised to double its gas-tax transfers to municipalities beginning in 2019.

HORSE THIEVES

While the owners all suspect the men are out to steal their horses, no one has proof and neither man has been caught holding a horse. Instances have been reported to the OPP, however the men need to be caught in the act to be charged.

MUSKRAT FALLS

Ever since Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949, con men and credulous politicians have pushed misguided projects to reduce its dependence on natural resources. 

COMPLAINING ALREADY

After being bussed into sanctuary city Montreal after illegally crossing the Canada-U.S. border, illegal refugees are now complaining about lack of housing there.

CLINTON'S ROUGHING IT IN QUEBEC

TheManoir Hovey, where they will stay, ranks 27th in the Travel + Leisure magazine’s top 100 hotels in the world.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN SCAM

Ottawa police are warning residents about an alleged swarming involving a woman who faked distress on the side of the road to lure a Good Samaritan back to her car, where he was robbed by her accomplices.

WHY SOME PHARMACEUTICALS ARE SO EXPENSIVE

Enter “outrageous drug prices” into Google and you will receive plenty of examples. As reported here, Marathon Pharmaceuticals planned to charge $89,000 per year for its Emflaza brand of the corticosteroid deflazacort. Deflazacort was introduced in 1969 and is available outside the U.S. for less than $2 per tablet. US patients with muscular dystrophy have been obtaining the drug for around $1,500 per year from foreign sources.

CANADA'S GAME PLAN FOR NAFTA

Chrystia Freeland has given Canadians a look at their government's strategy as it prepares to go nose-to-nose with the country's biggest trading partner in crucial NAFTA talks.
The foreign affairs minister laid out Ottawa's core objectives Monday, two days before negotiations on a new North American Free Trade Agreement are to begin.

SHORTAGE OF RCMP OFFICERS

OTTAWA -- A significant shortage of RCMP officers is raising concerns about their safety and the safety of the communities in which they work, according to several Mounties speaking out from across Canada.
With more than 12 per cent of positions unfilled, RCMP members, speaking on the record and on background, tell CTVNews.ca that they're worried about the number of vacancies.
The lack of front-line officers is leading to stress, burnout and even to departures for other police forces, these members say.

OKA UPRISING 2.0

Kanesatake Mohawks are continuing to oppose a housing development on what they claim is part of their ancestral territory--the same land that was at the heart of the 1990 Oka Crisis.

HISTORY OF CANADA'S REDPATH SUGAR

Success was sweet for the Scots-born stonemason, John Redpath.

THE CINDERELLA WORLD OF CARBON ACCOUNTING

Called “Carbon Counting,” McGrath reveals how many nations that signed the Paris accord are inaccurately reporting and/or hiding their greenhouse gas emissions from the United Nations.
Reporting is done once every two years, but the accord doesn’t require independent verification of the numbers.
This “Cinderella world of carbon accounting”, McGrath warns, is a greater threat to the credibility of the Paris agreement – which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed in Dec. 2015, along with the leaders of 194 other countries – than the U.S. withdrawal from the accord by Donald Trump.
Why should Canadians care? Because if global emissions are being under-reported and hidden, then the Paris accord is a fraud and carbon pricing in Canada, which raises our cost of living to reduce our emissions, is just a cynical government cash grab.

INSURANCE CO. PROFITS VS ONTARIO TAXPAYERS

Let me be the first to congratulate the Ontario government for reducing automobile insurance premiums by increasing taxes.
What’s next? Reducing hydro bills by increasing taxes, or has that already happened, too?

QUEBEC OUTPERFORMING ONTARIO

By kicking the can down the road, the Wynne government is not doing Ontarians any favours. Continuing to accumulate debt means more tax dollars will go to servicing the debt — about $1 billion each month.
Instead of delaying the tough choices, Wynne should follow the example of her Quebec Liberal counterpart and take concrete and immediate action to reduce the province’s dangerous debt burden.

NEW ORLEANS OFFICIAL BLAMES FLOODING ON CLIMATE CHANGE

New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board director Cedric Grant blamed widespread flooding over the weekend on “climate change,” but it wasn’t long before news broke that broken water pumps were actually to blame.
Throughout the week, media reports have shown that New Orleans’s antiquated water pumping system failed to keep flooding at bay, and the problem hasn’t been resolved.

IPCC KNEW FROM START CLIMATE DATA INADEQUATE

In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences, the research arm of the National Research Council, released a study expressing concern about the accuracy of the data used in the debate over climate change. They said there are,
“Deficiencies in the accuracy, quality and continuity of the records,” that “place serious limitations on the confidence that can be placed in the research results.”
Karl chaired the study, so he knew better than any that to achieve the results they wanted, namely a steadily increasing temperature over the 120 + years of instrumental record, was made easier by the inadequacy of the data. They ignored the fact that the inadequacy of the data negated the viability of the work they planned and did. For example, the extent, density, and continuity of the data are completely inadequate as the basis for a mathematical computer model of global climate. In short, they knew they would have to create, make up, or modify data to even approximate a result. The trouble is the data was so inadequate that even with their actions the results could not approximate reality.

MOSCOW GRABBING VENEZUELAN OIL ASSETS

Venezuela’s unraveling socialist government is increasingly turning to ally Russia for the cash and credit it needs to survive – and offering prized state-owned oil assets in return, sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.
As Caracas struggles to contain an economic meltdown and violent street protests, Moscow is using its position as Venezuela’s lender of last resort to gain more control over the OPEC nation’s crude reserves, the largest in the world.

URBAN RENEWAL, SAUDI STYLE

While Saudi Arabia is framing its actions in terms of necessary counter-terrorism police action, other regional media outlets and local activists now report over 500 homes flattened in Almosara by military bombardment and subsequent bulldozers that entered the town, with estimates of 8,000 families having fled the area. Evacuation notices were also issued to Shia residents in the area by the Albarahim private property developer, and stamped by the government's National Joint Counterterrorism Command (NJCC), which was formed in 2003.
So it appears there is a two-fold motive for the Saudi state's aggressive military takeover: forcibly change the Shia demographic - a form of religiously motivated genocide, while at the same time claiming the area is needed for "property development" in a land grab that is sure to enrich developers close to the Saudi royal family.

SOCIAL SECURITY RUNNING OUT OF MONEY

  A few weeks ago the Board of Trustees of Social Security sent a formal letter to the United States Senate and House of Representatives to issue a dire warning: Social Security is running out of money.

THE LOGIC ESCAPES ME

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh announces her crime-fighting initiative last Wednesday; her answer to a homicide rate that is doubled Chicago’s is free community college for Baltimore youth.

CHINA'S WARNINGS

BEIJING – China won’t come to North Korea’s help if it launches missiles threatening U.S. soil and there is retaliation, a state-owned newspaper warned on Friday, but it would intervene if Washington strikes first.
The Global Times newspaper is not an official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, but in this case its editorial probably does reflect government policy and can be considered “semi-official,” experts said.
China has already warned both Washington and Pyongyang not to do anything that raises tensions or causes instability on the Korean Peninsula.

CANADA STRUGGLING TO ABSORB IMMIGRANTS

Canada is ranked third out of the 31 countries that welcome immigrants.
Despite Canada’s strong ranking, the Immigration department’s report notes another disturbing finding, which could have long-term repercussions.
Second-generation visible minority immigrants, compared to first-generation immigrants, are more likely to “perceive” they’ve been subject to discrimination.
Poll results suggesting 43 per cent of Canada’s second-generation visible minority citizens are convinced they’re being treated unfairly may point to an expanding crack in the dream of cultural integration.

BC - ALBERTA PIPELINE RUMBLES

After the B.C. government stepped up its fight against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, there were new calls for the federal and Alberta governments to consider retaliation over a divisive project that has cleared major regulatory hurdles.
While mechanisms are available to either override B.C. opposition or punish the province, several observers said Friday few options are palatable to federal or provincial governments.

TYING UP CANADA'S WARSHIP BIDS

The federal government's plan to buy an off-the-shelf design for the navy's new frigates is facing significant pushback from at least one of Canada's allies, which appears to question timelines and the fundamental structure of the high-stakes $60-billion project.
Documents  show one of the 12 companies competing to design and help construct the warships has been blocked from handing over "supporting data and services."
The unidentified bidder says one of Canada's allies, which owns the rights to the sensitive electronics embedded in the warship, is refusing permission to include the information and instead wants direct negotiations with the federal government.

COUILLARD CORRECTING CERTAIN PERCEPTIONS

Without naming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre directly for saying on twitter that refugees can count on Canada creating the impression the doors are wide open, Couillard said he felt the need to correct certain perceptions
“Yes we are a society with a compassionate, welcoming tradition that we are proud of but we also a society that believes in the rule of law and fairness,” Couillard told reporters Saturday.
“This (obtaining asylum status) is very demanding, and difficult and success is far from guaranteed.”

THE GENEROUSITY OF HYDRO ONE

Free stuff for First Nations!

SENTENCING BLACKMORE, CHILD BRIDE PROVIDER

NP:  CRANBROOK, B.C. — A former husband and wife from the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., are going to jail for taking a 13-year-old girl into the United States to marry the now-imprisoned leader of their sect.

RECORD WATER RELEASE FROM LAKE ONTARIO

As Lake Ontario's water level continues to fall, the U.S.-Canadian panel that manages the lake will continue with record out-flows at the Moses-Sanders dam in Massena for at least a few more days "provided conditions remain safe to do so."
At its Aug. 1 meeting, the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board, which is affiliated with the International Joint Commission, noted the water level has dropped rapidly compared to average rates through the months of June and July.

BRAD WALL RETIRES FROM POLITICS

What legacy does Brad Wall leave? He broke the back of the New Democratic Party in Saskatchewan, and that is no small thing. Other “conservatives” had tried to tackle the power of the socialist government-Crown-corp-labour spider’s web woven by Tommy Douglas and his successors. All bungled the job, despite the obvious strength of the potential right-wing vote in the province’s hinterland. Wall had to complete the creation of an anti-socialist alternative in Saskatchewan, unite it behind him, and out-campaign a political machine that was in the hands of its third generation.

NUMBNUTS FILDEBRANDT

A United Conservative Party MLA is taking a leave of absence from his role as finance critic in the wake of a controversy over renting out his taxpayer-subsidized apartment on Airbnb for months.

IRANIAN BLOGGER SAFE IN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Iranian blogger who wrote for an Israeli news website and who left her country for exile after threats of imprisonment arrived in Israel on Thursday, saying she feels "safe now" after finally reaching the Jewish state.

THE SNOWFLAKES OF GOOGLE

What do Google, Evergreen State College, and Middlebury have in common?

A lot, apparently.  They're filled with "snowflakes" -- those students (in Google's case, employees) who have such a high sensitivity to -- or is it inability to tolerate -- diversity of thought, they dissolve like so many, well, snowflakes.  (Unlike real snowflakes, however, that are different one from the other, these snowflakes tend to be monotonously the same, spewing the same slogans and even wearing, basically, the same clothes.)

 

TWO FACES OF JUSTIN TRUDEAU

Instead of telling all asylum seekers from Haiti that they will very likely be deported, the Trudeau government is setting up impromptu welcome stations along the border and shuttling asylum claimants to Montreal – a self-styled sanctuary city.
But Canada routinely rejects most asylum claims filed by Haitians. In the first half of 2015, the last year data is available, the acceptance rate for asylum claimants from Haiti was only 38%.

OSPCA LOSES

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- All animal cruelty charges against Marineland have been dropped after prosecutors said there was no reasonable chance of conviction on most of the 11 counts.

KEEPING CANADIAN SOLDIERS BUSY

SAINT-BERNARD-DE-LACOLLE, Que. -- Teams of Canadian soldiers stretched canvas across the metal frames of tents at a camp site near the Quebec-U.S. border Wednesday as they helped fellow authorities cope with the crush of asylum seekers crossing into Canada.
The site, located on a flat stretch of grass behind the building where asylum claimants are bused in from the border, was expected to accommodate up to 500 people.

INNER WORKINGS OF LARGE BANKS

The episode involving the London Whale illustrates how difficult it is to learn the truth about the inner working of large banks.  Big banks profit by exploiting information and conflicts found between the world of credit and the world of securities.  Indeed, the CIO's office generated big returns for JPM over the decade or so that Iksil was with the bank. 
But the London Whale episode also shows in graphic terms why the Volcker Rule prohibitions against banks trading for their own account need to be preserved and strengthened.  There is a fundamental conflict between a bank acting as a lender and trading credit derivatives.

THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE LIBERAL VOTER

A report earlier this year found Ontario to be the second-worst economy for young people in Canada. It’s a province where the full trappings of adulthood – even moving away from home – are being delayed.
Everyone 35 and older thinks the PCs are the ticket in 2018. But there is still one cohort backing Wynne: those aged 18 to 34.

HORSE BREEDERS SUING PROVINCE & OLG

Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and his one-time finance minister, Dwight Duncan, must answer questions under oath from a group of horse breeders regarding a controversial 2012 decision to end a slot machine revenue-sharing program with the horse racing industry.
The breeders allege that powerful individuals had secretly resolved to scrap the slots deal before it was raised at a key cabinet meeting on Feb. 8, 2012.

AMERICANS AGING IN PLACE

Like much of his generation, Yanoviak is desperate to get a piece of an increasingly scarce commodity: prime American real estate. Millennials are finding themselves out in the cold because building has slowed, and longer-living baby boomers are staying put, setting up a simmering conflict between the two biggest generations in U.S. history.  People 55 and older own 53 percent of U.S. owner-occupied houses, the biggest share since the government started collecting data in 1900.

U OF GEORGIA'S STRESSED SNOWFLAKES

A University of Georgia professor has adopted a “stress reduction policy” that will allow students to select their own grades if they “feel unduly stressed” by the ones they earned.

TRUDEAU SEWING SEEDS OF UNITY CRISIS

NP:  “The cumulative effect of this and the carbon tax mean we are heading toward an unhealthy debate, just as we did when another Trudeau introduced his energy policy. How is this different from a National Energy Program, in terms of the reality of what it will do to jobs and pipelines and so on? That is starting to sink in,” the Saskatchewan premier said in an interview.
The Liberals are putting the finishing touches to what will be one of their most controversial policies going into the next election – the environmental assessment regulations that will govern natural resource development.

ONTARIO'S HYDRO DEAL WITH QUEBEC

La Presse reported Tuesday that it obtained a copy of a draft deal that says Ontario would buy eight terawatt hours per year from Quebec – about six per cent of Ontario’s consumption – whether the electricity is consumed or not.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRISIS IN CANADA

This crisis of illegal immigration along the Canada – U.S. border has reached a new pinnacle.
According to Customs and Immigration Union President Jean-Pierre Fortin, who represents Canada’s border guards, as many as 500 people are illegally crossing into Quebec every day.
More than ten thousand migrants have walked across the border this year, choosing deliberately to cross at unofficial crossings to avoid the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S.

OLD TECHNOLOGY RETURNS FOR SHIP NAVIGATION

The risk of cyber attacks targeting ships' satellite navigation is pushing nations to delve back through history and develop back-up systems with roots in World War Two radio technology.

Ships use GPS (Global Positioning System) and other similar devices that rely on sending and receiving satellite signals, which many experts say are vulnerable to jamming by hackers.

South Korea is developing an alternative system using an earth-based navigation technology known as eLoran, while the United States is planning to follow suit. Britain and Russia have also explored adopting versions of the technology, which works on radio signals.

 

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT PM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that he wants climate change, reducing emissions and moving to a low-carbon economy to be written into the new NAFTA when Canada, the U.S. and Mexico begin renegotiating the deal later this month.
"We are certainly looking for a better level playing field across North America on environmental protections,"Trudeau said.
However with Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate change agreement, referring to climate change as a "hoax" and pledging to return the U.S. coal industry to its glory days, the White House and the Canadian government are pretty far apart on many environmental issues.

MERKEL'S GERMANY IS NOT A GREEN CHAMPION

Sure enough, German emissions crept up 0.7 percent last year. Some analysts are pinning that increase on the growing German economy, but the country’s biggest brown problem is its reliance on coal. Coal is just about the dirtiest fossil fuel around, but it’s been in increased demand in Germany following all these nuclear shutdowns. Germany imports hard coal to supply 17 percent of its power, and sources another 23 percent of its electricity from domestically produced lignite, an especially dirty variety of coal. All of that adds up to a lot of emissions.

EPA ETHICS PANEL

Back in March, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt questioned the human contribution to climate change. The Sierra Club immediately raised an ethics complaint against Pruitt’s climate heresy.

TORONTO'S 500% PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

It looks like this: one landlord in attendance showed me the tax bill on his building in the 500-block of Yonge. In 2016, he paid just over $22,000 in property tax. In 2017, he was asked to pay more than $48,000. And that increase was the first year of a four year phase in — so he was told to expect similar increases every year until 2020.

WYNNE'S FINANCIAL HOUSE OF CARDS

 As the Fraser Institute explained in a report last week on Ontario’s finances, all is not rosy for Ontarians on the deficit front.
That’s because the Liberals accumulated debt for this year is projected at $311.9 billion, almost 125% higher than the $138.8 billion debt the Liberals inherited from the Progressive Conservatives when they came to power in 2003.
Interest still has to be paid on that $311.9 billion by taxpayers, at a rate of almost $1 billion a month, or $11.6 billion annually.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: EXPENSIVE & INEFFECTIVE

Germain Belzile, a senior research associate at MEI, and Mark Milke, an independent policy analyst, did a thorough analysis of where the electricity to recharge these cars could come from, how much greenhouse gas could be eliminated from the environment by replacing fuel-powered cars with battery-powered electrics, how much this would cost, and how effective government subsidies to this end could be.
The results of the study make the correct policy clear — there is no hope for electric cars to achieve any of the goals their proponents make for them, and your tax dollars are being profligately wasted.

20% BIODIESEL BLEND

Minnesota is set to double its biodiesel standards to a 20% blend, following endorsement from the commissioners of the state's agriculture, pollution and commerce departments
According to a statement from the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, biodiesel currently adds 63 cents to a bushel of soybeans. When B20 goes into effect, that value could double. Minnesota’s biodiesel industry annually contributes more than 1.7 billion to the economy.

TURNING BACK ASYLUM SEEKERS

The latest spate of asylum seekers crossing the border over dirt paths in Quebec has once again sparked some, including Conservative politicians, to ask why Ottawa doesn't press Washington to allow those people to be turned back to the United States.

There is, after all, a deal in place with the Americans that allows Canadian border guards to turn back asylum seekers who arrive at official border crossings from the United States – but not in between them. Many have called for the Canadian government to close that "loophole."

 

 

BRITISH COLUMBIA WILDFIRES

Last week, there were 150 wildfires still actively burning in British Columbia. The fires have displaced thousands of people, with an estimated 6,000 still on evacuation order and more than 300 buildings destroyed. More than 840 fires have burned through 4,260 square kilometres since April 1, at a cost of $172.5-million to fight the flames, despite the province just now starting to enter what is typically the wildfire season. According to the Canadian Red Cross, 50,000 people in the province have registered to receive assistance.

PILE DRIVING AFFECTING WELLS

Less than two days after pile driving began to construct industrial turbines near Jessica and Paul Brooks' home in Chatham Township, their once crystal-clear water well has become clogged with sediments.  H/T SDA

FLEEING VENEZUELA

Venezuela is in a crisis now, chiefly fueled by that curse of all socialism, what Lady Thatcher described as "running out of other people's money."
Refugees are pouring out of that country at a furious pace, in their millions, with some ten percent of the country's 28 million people already out. Venezuela is the number one country for asylum claims in the U.S. now, and a very high number of refugees.