OTTAWA'S BORROWING & SPENDING

 During the pandemic, government budget deficits have grown substantially across Canada—at a time when interest costs are at historical lows. If interest costs return to the slightly higher levels of 2019, deficits would increase by billions for governments across the country.

And yet, several governments (including the Trudeau government) show little concern over their high levels of borrowing and instead simply point to current low interest rates. But this is a flawed and short-sighted approach.

Consider this. For the federal and nine provincial governments (except New Brunswick), if interest costs—that is, the total amount of interest paid relative to the amount of gross debt outstanding—returned to 2019-20 levels, combined interest payments in 2021-22 would rise from the current projection of $53.6 billion to $70.6 billion, an increase of $17.0 billion (or 32 per cent).

NOT-SO-GREEN RESULTS OF GREEN ALTERNATIVES

Whatever one thinks of the climate change/global warming theory (and I don’t think much of it), the practical problem of converting developing countries to low-carbon (or net-zero) economies is far more daunting than eco-obsessed politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will admit, even to themselves.

For the most part, the technology doesn’t yet exist to keep the lights on, the heat heating, and goods and people moving using mostly “green” energy. It’s a matter of engineering, not of too few subsidies.

 Perhaps no government in the world is better than the Trudeau Liberals at virtue-signalling environmental measures (like plastics bans, carbon taxes and stopping pipelines) that cause tens of billions of dollars in self-inflected economic damage, while achieving few environmental benefits.

RCMP NEEDS LESSONS IN ACCOUNTABILITY

 After years of headlines about toxic behaviour and sexual harassment in the ranks, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is reporting it's falling far behind on hiring women and visible minorities.

The police service says it needs to hire more than 5,100 women to the regular ranks to make up for a 27 per cent shortfall.

When it comes to hiring visible minorities, the Mounties are reporting a shortfall of around 1,140 regular members, or 6 per cent of the total.

"Until there's some major changes ... they're going to be hard-pressed to recruit new people," said Janet Merlo, a former RCMP constable who quit in 2010 and became one of the lead plaintiffs in a multi-million dollar sexual harassment class-action lawsuit.

5 COVID JABS MAY BE NECESSARY

    Numerous European countries are planning a 3rd round of COVID “booster shots” in September, and the FDA also indicated that vaccinated individuals will be given another shot in the fall.

    After receiving the second dose, the immune response slowly subsides. Within a year, many may have lost their protection. We do not know yet, but if you get a third dose, it will be activated again,” Karolinska Institute Professor Matti Sällberg said. “Biology says that a fading immune response is not unlikely. Then it’s time for a third, fourth, maybe fifth dose”.

One wonders whether Sällberg holds a conflict of interest given that he is also chairman of the board at vaccine company SVF.

Meanwhile, in Israel, a doctor warned that “the effectiveness of the vaccine is waning/fading out” and that “85-90% of the hospitalizations are in fully vaccinated people.”

CONSEQUENCES OF CATCH & RELEASE JUSTICE SYSTEM

 PENHOLD — Canada’s flawed catch-and-release justice system had fatal consequences Monday in this central Alberta town 16 kilometres south of Red Deer that has left a family of four “permanently traumatized” and left a repeat home invader dead.

The unidentified man who was shot and killed inside a rural home on C & E Trail had broken into the home two times previously just days earlier, traumatizing the family who lived in the rental home on a large acreage in this normally bucolic community of 3,200 people.

“If he had been arrested and held instead of released twice, he would be alive and I wouldn’t look like this,” said the resident, whose shattered right arm was in a cast and who had numerous visible scabs and stitches on his head and ears after he was bludgeoned repeatedly with a wooden baseball bat by the intruder.

CDC DIRECTOR: VACCINE PASSPORTS ARE FUTILE

The Director of the CDC made an important admission during an interview today on CNN. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky stated the vaccine does not prevent COVID-19 infection, nor does it stop the vaccinated person from transmitting the infection or the delta variant. According to Director Walensky, the only benefit from the vaccine now is presumably that it reduces the severity of symptoms.

If a vaccinated and non-vaccinated person have the same capacity to carry, shed and transmit the virus – with or without symptoms – then what difference does a vaccination passport or vaccination ID make?

According to the CDC TODAY, both the vaxxed and non-vaxxed person walking into a restaurant, store, group, venue or workplace present the exact same risk to other people there, so how does the presentation of proof of vaccine make any difference?

POLITICAL AMBITIONS OF SOME ONTARIO DOCTORS

 Dr. Nathan Stall, a Toronto based geriatric specialist has announced he’s running for the Ontario Liberals in the next election.

Stall is doing this after spending months courting media attention on a range of topics well outside of his specialization but where he dutifully repeated Liberal talking points and attacked PC Premier Doug Ford without revealing his partisan ties.

The case of Stall is even worse because he’s also a member of Ontario’s Science Table, even acting as “assistant scientific director” for the body. Close observers of politics will know that the Ontario Science Table is a self-appointed, and self-important, body of doctors and researchers who pushed themselves into the discussion of how to handle COVID in Ontario.