Now it's the lobster

First it was the decimation of elvers (baby eels), now it's lobster.  This is what is happening mainly in New Brunswick, where  Fisheries officers just intercepted another 4,000 illegal live lobsters being shipped for sale out of province.  They have been returned to the ocean.

Illegal lobster harvest by the Indigenous in New Brunswick.

The problem is dishonesty, flagrant law breaking and, of course, money.

The Indigenous are permitted to harvest eels and lobster out-of-season, but only if they are being used for ceremonial purposes or food for their own households and not to sell they.  Naturally, that's being ignored.  I mean, how many households need 4,000 lobsters?!  And who uses lobster or elvers in ceremonies?!

(I blogged the illegal elvers harvest, see "Still at it", July 4th, 2025)

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I have been following the Ottawa mayoralty race and I am amazed that Mark Sutcliffe has the nerve to run again.  Any stroll down Rideau, Elgin or Bank Streets will tell you that it is a disgrace to any city, let alone a capital.  There are bums, drunks and drug users everywhere urinating and defecating in broad daylight!  

What does the guy do, besides swan around parties getting his picture taken?  When I was a child, my Mother used to take me shopping to Freiman's and Ogilvie's and it was a real treat.  Now, I wouldn't let my child near any of them. 

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A word about the Quebec election.  The PQ has won, but with only 28% of the vote, it's hard to figure out why?  I guess it's the first-past-the-post system, but it may be time to change that.  

I love the way the new premier, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, promises he will only focus on Quebec and work towards separation.  Separation won't happen and all the polls tell you that because Quebec has an historical habit of threatening separation, but never goes.  

Why?  Because last year they received $13.9 billion in transfer payments, or 51% of all the equalization money.  Guess who gives most of that?  Alberta, that's who!  So, Paul, you had better look outside your borders and show a little respect for this province.  

But he won't.  Truly pathetic.

Typical

"They need more money."  That's what a young Indigenous server told me when we were eating lunch at a Calgary restaurant.  

This is typical of the ignorance of natives everywhere.  "Have you been to Morley lately?" I asked this young lady.  Morley is a reserve on the Trans Canada between Calgary and Banff about 50 kms from here and it's a complete dump.  

Part of the Stoney Nakoda "Nation", its elected leaders gave themselves hefty 20 percent raises of $3.3 million in salaries alone -- twice what they billed last year.  However, figures are unclear because the overall total of $34 million appears in a handy, undefined line item called “other expenses.”

That's a lot of "other expenses".  According to Wikipedia, "...Revenues for the band west of Calgary were significantly larger than expected in the fiscal year ending March 31 at $108 million, but Morley still posted a larger-than-forecast deficit of nearly $17 million, according to numbers released under the 'First Nations Financial Transparency Act'.

So, they don't need more money.  What Indigenous people like our server need to ask themselves is, "What are our leaders doing with the money?"  As I said, they don't need more of it, but that's the ubiquitous default narrative.

This is Morley, just down the road.  The leaders gave themselves hefty raises, but no one knows where the $34 million went??

Every chance I get, I try to point out the facts.  Sadly, no one wants to hear them.

Not gonna happen

I don't care what Carney and Smith say about a new pipeline to the West coast, it ain't gonna happen.  Carney has no intention of approving one and I think, although she knows that, Smith has to say it'll happen to satisfy her base and claim she's getting it done.  Smith wants a pipeline, but knows Carney will block it with unreachable conditions.  He's so cynical. 

Such conditions are vast, such as getting private-sector buy in before it begins construction -- which won't happen.  And then, of course, the Indigenous have already chimed in saying they'll oppose it.  That was a given.

Carney's also given a year for the 'Major Projects Office' to approve it, after he's taken 18 months to even put it on the table.

So no, it's not gonna happen and everyone knows it except the cloth heads who keep blindly supporting Carney.  Watch Elie Cantin Natel interview Georgeanne Burke on YouTube for the latter's analysis about Carney and his supporters.

For a country as rich in raw materials as Canada, it's a sin we can't get anything done to get our riches to eager markets.

The phantom pipeline that won't materialize.

 

I morphed

Yesterday, I morphed from writer and commentator to happy little hausfrau.  Made a batch of carrots and celery, like I did when my kids took lunches to school, and also made apple crisp in honour of my Grandmother and Mother.  

 It's apple season, so I  made apple crisp in honour of my Grandmother and Mother.

Handy snack.

  

$500 million

That's what the Jays have given Vladimir Guerrero in a 13-year deal.  That's $38 million a year, $3 million a month and $250,000 a day.

That's absolutely ludicrous!

"They aren't paying me for what I can do, they're paying me for what I did," said Vlad in defence of his absurd and obscene contract.  Seriously?!  Yep, that's what Keith Pelley, CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and Ted Rogers, executive chair, agreed to.  That's sort of like a party favour you're handed when the party's over and you're heading out the door.  "Thanks for coming.  Here's $500 million."

Guerrero is only 27 years old, but he's already a spent force, judging by his poor performance this year.  And look at the guy, all trussed up and taped in like a Thanksgiving turkey and using his bat as a crutch:

Guerrero's entire left side is a mess.

Baseball's numbers have become farcical.

Sad, but true

Reading about a four-year-old child who was murdered by her father during a custody dispute, I always have the same thought:

It's probably the mother who is the problem.

Granted, to have killed his daughter, the father was deranged, but when I read the words, "Long, protracted custody dispute", I know it's because the mother is blocking access.  That's what happened to B and I, 46 years ago when custody was being decided in his case.  

"I have confidence the father will grant access, but I do not have the same confidence in the mother.  Therefore, I recommend majority custody to the father."  That's what the judge wrote in his decision about who should have majority custody in our case and back then it was very rare for a father to have been given custody.  Still is.

In this case, the little girl in question was the victim of a father who had fought long and hard for access to his daughter, but had finally given up.  "If I can't see her, then she won't", would have been going through his mind when he shot her.  So he killed her and himself.

This poor, sweet child paid an unthinkable price in her parent's custody dispute.

Evidently, many mothers obviously believe in "immaculate conception" because they fight and block the father's access at every turn.  I remember it well! 

It's all so tragic and unnecessary.  May this little one rest in peace.

Is everyone OK with this stuff?

I regularly post what I think is important information on my facebook site, but no one else seems to agree.  With the exception of two fb friends, no one comments or reacts at all.  Does everyone think that what Carney is doing to Canada and the economy is fine?

If so, they're not thinking.  Carney is destroying the country.  He has even proposed a new currency to replace the American dollar in international markets.  Is he insane?  Is no one concerned?  He's sent billions to other countries since he was anointed, while telling Canadians we have to tighten our belts and our debt and deficit explode!

He just appointed his wife as some sort of "ocean envoy" and handed her $82 million to get started -- sort of a Poseidon job.  As for Zelensky, his entire inner circle has been either charged, or arrested, on corruption charges and no one bats an eye?!  He himself has been outed as a drug user by his press secretary -- the one he just fired.  And just to top it off, another $140 million was found hidden in refrigeration boxes in his former defence minister's basement.  WTF?! 

These should be mug shots.

I don't get it??!!  No one bothered about this?  People post inane stuff about puppies and ditties, but nothing about the deliberate destruction of our country.

It's very depressing.  Think I'll have to again cull the herd.