Absolutely no objectivity

 Watching 'The Sunday Scrum' this morning, the panelists were asked about their thoughts on the lobster fishery mess in Nova Scotia, where licensed fishermen and local natives are literally at war.  One of the panelists was a black woman, the other a native.  Predictably, both reverted to standard and predictable positions:  The Black woman blamed colonialism and the native blamed the Whites and RCMP.  

Why is it that people from these demographics are incapable of being objective?  That was a rhetorical question.  Moving onto the Julie Payette scandal, in which taxpayers have been fleeced for more than $100,000 in legal fees to defend an incompetent governor general from a lawsuit alleging she mistreated staff and created a toxic workplace, my first question is, "Why do we have a governor general whose imperious behaviour puts her in this position?"  My second question is:  "Why did Trudeau appoint a woman who disgraces the Queen and tarnishes the position?"  My third question is:  "Why did the PM's staff not properly vet this woman to find out what was in her background?"

In commenting, the Black "expert" actually said, "Frankly, I don't think we need a governor general."  Wow!  How ignorant.  The governor general is Canada's Head of State, representing The Crown in Canada.  To eliminate this position, Canada would have to become a republic, which would involve a massive overhaul of the constitution and impossibly complicated negotiations with Britain, the provinces and territories.  Never going to happen.  Why do uninformed people just throw comments like that around willy-nilly?  And why do the other journalists and moderator on the panel not say something?  Do none of them know how the constitution works?  Another rhetorial question.  

To the third question, it is well-known that when she was still married and living in a Washington suburb, police were called numerous times to her residence to respond to "domestic disturbances".  That I know for a fact because I have a friend who was one of the officers on the force at the time.  My overall assessment, shared by those in-the-know, is that she is an hysteric, out-of-touch and insane.  (Reminds me of B's ex.  Thank G-d we no longer have to deal with that lunatic; 10 years was more than enough of that bull-sh-t.)  

But back to native issues.  Got a feed about the 'First Nations Child and Family Services" program and just for fun, googled the numbers and annual reports -- my favourite hobby horse on this file.  The budget for this nonsense was a whopping $1.1 billion in 2018-19, rising to $1.4 billion over the next six years!  First of all, why are such an inordinate number of native children in care in the first place?  (Another rhetorical question.)  This money is to, "ensure the safety, security and well-being of Indigenous children."  Isn't this the parents' responsibility?  Ah, but let's not quibble about fundamentals. 

The organization's principle aim is to reduce the number of native children in care, yet the budget is going up?!  Again, let's not quibble.  

The report says the funding is to be managed and controlled by First Nations.  That's an issue, in my view, allowing the inmates to manage the asylum, as the expression goes.  The problem has steadily grown worse since the program was introduced.  Instead of improving the situation, funding has exploded from $449.5M to what it is now.  That's a 69.7% increase with no apparent improvement in the lives of native children.  

In 1998, 7,220 children were in care.  Now that number is up to 9,078, with average annual maintenance costs per child a ridiculous $41,353.10!  And that does not include post-adoption costs and other expenditures on prevention and operations.  Think about it:  A majority of entire Canadians families live on much less than what is forked out for one native child.  And I'm not even going to get out the calculator to figure that one out.  Too depressing.

Folks, it's your money, but Cindy Blackstock sure has done well hasn't she!  The program's home page contains a big, conspicuous "donate" button.  With their track record and the tax dollars they already chew up, I wouldn't give them one cent.