Unintended conquences

That's what colonialism has brought Britain.  Throughout the ages, Britain colonized many countries whose riches it wanted to plunder.  In doing so, the Commonwealth was created, consisting of many poor, Caribbean, African and South Asian countries which became richer in many ways via Britain's history, governance and infrastructure, but which in other ways became poorer, as Britain looted them.  What did this result in?  It's all documented in 'Caught on Camera', a hugely revealing and at times hilarious look at Britain today through the objective eyes of a vast CCTV network -- more than six million cameras in all.

We've been enthralled with this Netflix documentary series, which consists of a host treating viewers to hundreds of hours arbitrary and unfiltered coverage of the most unimaginable images of crooks and bandits running amok through the country's shops and streets in wanton acts of crime and destruction.

The sheer brazenness of the crimes amazes me.  Gangs storm their way into small shops and large department stores smashing, grabbing and shoplifting their way through in broad daylight -- often using small children to stash items, knowing that underage kids cannot be prosecuted.  

Watching it, I began to notice who most of the crooks were.  It became clear to my eye that approximately 90 percent were people of colour, but mainly Blacks.  "Wow, do that many Blacks now inhabit Britain?!" I asked myself, presuming that because most of the criminals were Black, Britain must now be teeming with folks from Caribbean commonwealth countries.  Now, before anyone screams RACISM! I want to assure you I immediately consulted the neutral and unbiased numbers on google.  

While comprising only 6 percent of the total population, Blacks make up 38.2% of all those incarcerated in Britain.  That's a problem.  I mean something is terribly wrong here.  The unintended consequences to which I refer have been caused, in my unscientific opinion, by the fact that any commonwealth citizen can emigrate to Britain quite easily.  So, Britain has a problem it caused itself by looting all those countries those many years ago because, guess what?  Many of those citizens are now returning the favour.

Ah, karma.  If you don't believe me, watch a few episodes.

      

Maybe I'll get a column?

 Do you think, now that Margaret Wente has retired and the great Christie Blatchford has died, 'The Globe and Mail' will offer me a column?  It would be nice because there are no sensible, no bullsh-t female columnists in it these days.  Here's a letter I had in yesterday:

As I have said many times, my cohort invented "feminism" in the late sixties; too bad it hasn't taken.  Women are still being penalized in the workplace for having the biological function of bearing children.  

An acquaintance of mine, the widow of an old friend of B's, was head of the Commission on the Status of Women for quite a few years.  Not long ago, she told me how much she enjoyed my letters to 'The Globe and Mail' and what a good writer I was.  So I sent her the link to my blog.  Haven't heard from her since, hahahaha!  And boy, she sure won't like this letter because it basically trashes her entire career and life's work.  She never had children, which makes her incapable of understanding the dilemma of those of us who did and who had to navigate a hostile workplace to get back into it after going on leave.  

When I had my kids, you didn't get maternity leave, you got unemployment leave.  And you didn't get your job back when you returned after your measly six months.  You got a job back and had to endure the sight of someone else sitting in your office, doing your job.  It was demoralizing and insulting, but "We've come a long way, baby" -- or have we?

It took 60 years

Finally, the Siksika people agreed to accept....wait for it.....$1.3 billion in a land settlement that they held out on for 60 years!  That's for 3,500 souls who are going to share the bounty.  Frankly, I can't even do the math on how much that is per person, but it's a hell of a lot!

So, what does the chief say?  "This settlement is not reconciliation," said Ouray Crowfoot.  "We will never be restored to the same as before these breaches took place, but it will offer financial opportunities, open many doors and help us move to financial sovereignty and a better standard of life for our people."  Does "financial sovereignty" mean they will no longer accept the annual grants given by Canadians?  Ya, right.  And does his claim that it is not reconciliation mean the door's still open to going for more cash?  That was a rhetorical question because it leaves it wide open.    

What everyone fails to grasp is that all reserves are located on Crown Land, given for a tribe's exclusive use.  But it is still Crown Land, so what I fail to grasp is why they are given more than a billion dollars for land they don't even own?!  Help me, someone, please!

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On another greedy note, Calgary's newly-elected mayor Gondek was one of those voting against a salary freeze for councillors.  She would not even table the motion, claiming it had not been studied enough.  Really?  Does she mean that more than $200,000 -- her annual salary -- isn't enough and that it needs to be further studied to see just how much she can up it?  At the same time, she's pushing for Calgary to donate $100,000 to help cover the legal fees for those fighting Quebec's Bill 21.  Hey, your worship, dig into your own bank account if you want to fork over that kind of money in a fight that has nothing to do with your dilapidated jurisdiction of Calgary.

As I keep bleating, Bill 21 is not discriminatory.  It simply upholds the principle of the "Separation of Church and State" that ensures the neutrality of public officials when dispensing a public service.  The public must not know the religion of a public servant when accessing such a service, hence no hijabs, yarmulkes, kirpans, crucifixes or any other religious symbol.

But the nasty spoke in the wheel of public service neutrality is the funding of separate schools.  If I were the lawyer representing those opposed to Bill 21, that's the card I'd play.  Boy, what an ugly Pandora's Box that would open!  Yikes! 

Getting sick of it.

Getting sick of her

Wrote a letter to 'The Globe and Mail' today about a typical column of disinformation by the  always-outraged native writer Tanya Talaga.  I tried to make it as objective as possible, but you can bet your last dollar it won't get in -- just as a similar one I wrote to 'The Cochrane Eagle' didn't.  

Dear Editor,

 With widespread coverage of Indigenous children and residential schools, I started to do research on what was leading to their deaths.  It was pre-vaccine diseases such as tuberculosis, yellow fever, scarlet fever, influenza, pneumonia and gastrointestinal infections – the same diseases that took the lives of non-Indigenous children at the time.  These diseases did not discriminate based on culture, race or background; they were equally deadly to all.  According to the Truth and Reconciliation Report, approximately 150,000 children attended residential schools from 1883 to 1996.  During that time, 4,100 died, or 2.73 percent.  In contrast, the mortality rate for all children during the same time period was far higher at 25 percent.

 Although sensational claims garner lurid headlines, it is disingenuous and misleading for politicians, special interest groups and columnists to claim Indigenous children were “killed” by those operating residential schools and buried in secret graves.  A little research will tell anyone who wants to know what happened and why.

Nancy Marley-Clarke

As to schools actually "killing" students, that is the exact word that came out of Jagmeet Singh's mouth the other day.  He said the Catholic Church (always open season on that bunch) killed students and buried them in hidden, secret graves.  A total crock, but as easy as it is to do the research, no one ever seems to do it!  

Here's another that hasn't yet been published, this one to 'The Calgary Herald':

Dear Editor,

 Say what?!  The mayor wants to spend Calgarians’ money in a law suit against Quebec’s Bill 21?  What has been completely forgotten in this debate is the democratic principle of “The separation of Church and State”  This principle enshrines secularism for all those dispensing a service at public expense.  Teaching at a public school falls into this category, which means that the public must not know the religion of a public employee when accessing such a service.  The wearing of any religious symbol, regardless of affiliation, contravenes this principle.

 The other detail that has been overlooked is that all municipalities are creatures of the province.  In other words, the City of Calgary has no jurisdiction in the Bill 21 debate.  If Mayor Gondek or other councillors want to personally contribute $100,000 they have every right to do so, but don’t spend the city’s money.   

 The separation of church and state applies to all religions and is the reason, for example, the crucifix was removed from the Quebec legislature a few years ago.  This principle ensures that the face of government remains neutral in all matters when serving the public.

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

Alas, I continue to whistle truth to the wind.....sigh.....

That would be $2,842

 If you bought everything advertised by 'Golf World' in 'The Herald' today.  That would get you a wedge, a driver, a putter, shoes, a couple of half sweaters and a push cart.  Wow, that's expensive -- one reason I don't play, the other being I can't hit the ball because the club shaft is too long and the ball too small.  The physics don't work for me.

But, oh how I loved being a social member of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club for so many years.  Frankly, it was the best deal around because if you were a golfer, you could play the back nine twice a week.  For me the attraction was that gorgeous verandah and the swanky parties held every year at Christmas and New Year's.  

Here in "Cowtown" there's nothing like that lovely place.  One reason we social members were (barely) tolerated at the Royal was because our fees kept the "real" members' fees down.  One club we were invited to join here was 'The Ranchmen's Club', to which I loved going.  Until we quit a few years ago.  Why?  Because at one dinner, Nenshi was the speaker (ugh!) and I asked in a stage whisper whether he would be passing the hat to cover his legal fees?  He was in a fight at the time with a local developer he had slandered in the media.

The next day, B was called by a club "official" who asked that he speak to his "guest", me, about my remarks.  I was flabbergasted!  Reminded me of when B was on the board of our condo and was asked by the president, "Can't you control your wife?"  This was because I had written a letter to 'The Citizen' about all the trees they kept cutting down instead of simply spraying them for insects.  "No, can you," replied B.  He quit the board.  

We also quit the Ranchmen's after that phone call.  Just to wrap it up nicely, I wrote the board members one of my scathing letters about how they treated women.  Hard to believe, but male chauvinism remains alive and well in some prehistoric quarters.           

$40 billion!@#$%^$#!!%$%^!!!!

That's what Canadians are going to give natives for "injustices" in the child welfare system!!!!!?????

That's insane!!!!!  That's over-and-above the billions natives are already handed every year.  I cannot believe this!!!  Where is the money going to come from??!!  Our children and grandchildren, that's where!!!!

Just heard the Manitoba chief, someone Woodhouse, say all that money should be given to natives to determine what to do with children taken into care.  Really?!?!  They've been running a foster kinship program, which places kids-at-risk with their extended families -- the same families that raised the incompetent parents.  How'd that go?  Obviously, not well.  Natives don't like it when they are fostered to white families, but giving them to kith and kin didn't work either.  Again, my question remains:  Why were they taken into care in the first place?  

That's a question neither asked, nor answered.  So, I guess $40 billion will cover and fix it.  NOT.

_________________________

Speaking of f-ck-ups, I refer to Theresa Tam.  As you know, I have been calling for her to be fired, charged and jailed for her incompetent and deadly handling of the pandemic.  Now, in a breathtaking display of idiocy and delusion, she has come out and written her own performance appraisal.  "Canada (isn't that you, Dr. Tam?) was not prepared for this pandemic," she said.  "Gaps in Canada's ability to collect data about the pandemic hindered the country's response."  Isn't that your data Tam??!!  

Incredibly, she went on to say, "This fragmentation, alongside outdated technology, has especially pronounced consequences during health emergencies when access to data for real-time decision-making is paramount.  There are still unacceptable delays in getting the right data to inform public-health decision-making.  These vulnerabilities could weaken Canada's resilience to future health threats."

OMG!  How can you say that when you are the chief officer of public health, er, "death"?  Thanks to her, mayhem and utter chaos also reign among travelers desperately trying to get somewhere for Christmas.  As I keep saying, no one knows anything because Tam has totally and repeatedly dropped the public-health ball.  Blood on hands. 

        

Even though she isn't blood...

I received her annual Christmas card yesterday.  I am talking about the wife of one of my late birth uncles, Charlie.  As an adoptee, I started to wonder about my birth family about 43 years ago (Wow!!)  Back then, there was no internet so it was an unrelenting slog through city directories and phone books, but I was lucky that mine had been a private adoption through a lawyer.  The Children's Aid helpfully would not grant my parents a child because theirs was a mixed marriage; Daddy was Catholic and Mum Protestant.  Feature that!  You can't.

Anyway, I casually asked my Mother one day, apropos of nothing, who had handled the adoption.  After she told me, I wrote the firm a letter and forged my Father's signature to get my file released.  It worked, but all that was there was her name and occupation -- no address, nothing.  But at least I had a surname, which allowed me to send $5 to the Ontario government to obtain her birth records for geneological purposes (you used to be able to get this easily).  This gave me her mother's maiden name, McKegney, and where she had been born; that turned out to be Marysville, a small town just outside Kingston.  At a dinner in Kingston a while later, I met an older woman with the same name as my grandmother's maiden name, so I asked her if she knew a Catherine McKegney.  "No, but I did know a Katie Latimer," she replied.  Bingo, I'd found my family!  

I told her my tale of search and she gave me the names of two maternal uncles saying, "They'll be so pleased to meet you."  So, I called and eventually met up with them and learned all about my mother, who had died just a year before at the age of 49.  Let me tell you, that hurt.  Nevertheless, I eventually found and met Shirley's (my birth mother) brothers and sisters.  

All this to say, Shirley's sister thought I was just after money and warned her kids to stay away from me.  One brother was civil, but the other effusive and thrilled because he had worshipped Shirley and considered me the closest thing to her.  (Apparently, when she did marry, she was unable to have any more kids, so I was her only issue.)  

So, long story short -- or is it short story long? -- Helen, Charlie's widow, and I always exchange newsy Christmas cards and I received hers yesterday.  That made my day.  She is the last connection I have with Shirley, for which I am very grateful.  So, Merry Christmas!

Shirley Latimer, my birth mother, taken about the time she had me.

Her obituary, above.

The search for my birth father wasn't as successful.  Talking to Shirley's best friend, I learned he had been a semi-professional baseball player in the border circuit -- which is how he had met my mother.  They had only one date, but that resulted in me, a scandal at the time.  So, off Shirley was shipped to the Salvation Army Bethany Home in Ottawa, where I was born.

Learning he had been an umpire in the American League of Baseball and armed with his name, I sent a request to the League's office in New York for some information about him.  I learned he had been married at the time he was with my mother -- oops! -- was living in Buffalo and had four children -- five, including me.  Sadly, he had no interest in meeting me, so that was that.  But my search allowed me to learn from whence I came and that was something.  

   

   

Do they suffer from too much money?

With all the super-wealthy professional athletes taking "mental health" breaks these days, I began to wonder what the problem was.  And then it hit me, it must be caused by the one thing they have in common:  Lots and lots of money!  If that's the case, they might try giving a bunch of it away, no?

The latest to suffer from this affliction is Bianca Andreescu, who just announced she was withdrawing from the Australian Open to, "reflect".  On what?  What to do with all that dough?  After winning the US Open, she bounded into the Australian last year full of vim and vigour, only to get clocked by an unknown in the second round.  Was she spooked by that?  What if it were to happen again?  So, she punted the tournament and will be reflecting for the foreseeable future.

Then there was Naomi Osaka, who needed a mental-health break and pulled out of the French Open, after losing the US, because of all those annoying pressers professional athletes are required to give after a match.  Hey, them's the rules, if you play professional anything, you are required to face the annoying media and answer bothersome and pesky questions.  When asked what happened today?  A simple, "I lost, or she played better than I today," would have covered it.  Unlike Pete Sampras, who used to say he had stomach troubles, or wasn't up to his normal game, whenever he lost.  The words, "He was the better player today," never left his lips.  Never.  In any case, it all proved too much for Naomi, so she too bolted.

Now, Robin Leher, goalie for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, has announced he can't face playing in the Olympics and won't be going.  Apparently, his psychiatrist recommended he take a pass.

Sticking with sports, the Vancouver Canucks just fired the GM, assistant GM, head coach and assistant coach in one fell swoop.  Boom, just like that.  Well, I guess if your team has been skunked in the last 15 games and sits in last place, any owner would have done the same.  Me?  I would have simply traded the goalie because he's the one on the ice not stopping the pucks.  Apparently however, according to B, it's more complicated than that.  He says it's the defence's problem because they aren't stopping pucks from getting to the net, where the goalie still can't seem to stop them getting in.

What about the players' jobs here?  Aren't they supposed to play their best for all the money they're paid?  Apparently not.  One was quoted as saying, "We were waiting for something to happen in the locker room and it didn't, so the coach had to go."  Waiting for something to happen in the locker room?!  The only thing that should be happening in the locker room is a shower.  The rest needs to happen on the ice.  

I'd still get a new goalie.  But now a veteran of the game over many years, Bruce Boudreau, will run the bench.  His ultimate stated goal?  "We just want to get into the division finals."  He actually said that his goal was not to win the Stanley Cup, just to get into the division finals.

Hard to believe, but there you are.  No Canadian team now expects -- or even aspires -- to win the cup.  Jean Beliveau and his ilk are spinning in their graves.

Note:  In case you think I am hard and unsympathetic, you're right. In many cases I can be.  

  

 

Brilliance at the school board

In a stunning moment of virtuosity, the director of learning services at the Calgary Board of Education said, "Literacy and numeracy are the building blocks of a successful educational journey for our children.  We need to set them up with a strong foundation."  (My first question is, are we setting up "literacy and numeracy", or does he mean "our children"?  He means the latter, but actually said the former.  You'd think a guy with his job would at least have had that right, but he didn't.  Sorry, I digress.)

Wow!  What a revelation!  Frankly, that explains everything that's wrong with most school boards today:  Too many "experts" being paid too much money to sit around, think up and spew out new hair-brained strategies such as "Discovery Math".  When someone explained that one to me, I nearly fell off my chair!  Apparently, kids learn how to "discover" correct answers, while getting marks for parts they may stumble upon and get right, even if the answer is wrong.

Beat that!  You can't, or maybe you can.  A while back, these same "experts" did away with phonetics in teaching kids to read.  "Sound it out," was what every teacher I had said when one of us stood up to read aloud in class.  Now, however, kids are supposed to just read whole words without bothering to know what sounds make them up.  Huh@!%#$%^##!@!?

When my kids were in elementary school, I had to tutor them in grammar because they didn't get it in class.  If you can't read or write your native tongue, you are in big trouble for the rest of your life.  During my career -- well, not really a "career", just a string of jobs -- the fact that I could write was a huge asset.  Even though something might not have been my job, someone would say, "Give that to Nancy, she can write."  

When I was head of consultations for GST, I was asked to write the departmental consultation policy.  The fact that it only took me a day or two stunned my boss so much he had to crap on it.  "These are just words on a page," he said, implying that no one could have come up with anything that good in such a short time.  (Seriously, everything one writes is made up of words on a page, but hey, why not insult someone with the remark?)  Much to his chagrin, when it was shopped around the branch for comment, it got nothing but praise; not a word was changed.  He emerged looking the dunderhead he was.

Another gesture I am convinced helped put my name forward for that job was when I sent the ADM a sympathy card when his very odd wife died.  To me, that was the normal thing to do, but when the position in question came open, he must have remembered the card and said to the DM over a round of golf, "Why not put Nancy Marley-Clarke into that job?"  I also went to the funeral parlour to pay my respects to the DM when his sister died.  I believe that paid off too.  These gestures show respect and civility -- all assets when you are doing consultations with pissed off merchants who don't like the GST.

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A word about the sham of panels, working groups, Royal Commissions and white papers.  Read today that the ombudsman -- or it is "ombudsperson"? -- for Canadian veterans has released a report slamming the federal government for leaving so many broken vets hanging out to dry.  The government didn't want to help them in the first place, so someone came up with the tried-and-true, sleight-of-hand known as the ombudsperson to "look into the mess" and come up with immediately-to-be-shelved-and-ignored recommendations.  

Same thing happened with the sad journey of Murray Sinclair and his incestuous band of roving investigators schlepping around the country holding "hearings" known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Girls and Women Inquiry.  They came up with 99 urgent recommendations -- or was it 199?  Anyway, no one's done anything about any of them because they never had any intention of doing anything in the first place.

Same thing happened with the report five years ago into why there was so much sexual harassment and assault in the military.  What did they do?  Appoint yet another judge to do yet another inquiry into yet another mess.  Sexual assault and harassment happens in the military because, hey, it's the military.  Get it?  

The cynicism of this government is breathtaking and yet, Canadians put them back in.  As for the Conservatives, poor old misguided O'Toole's latest move is to demand an investigation into allegations of harassment and bullying in Conservative MP Shannon Stubb's office.  Doesn't he have other things to do -- like proving to Canadians he is ready to govern?

Now, the new defence minister, Anita Anand, is declaring she is going to revolutionarily change the culture of the military and the perfect guy to do this is General Wayne Eyre.  He may be, and good luck to him, but why did it take months to confirm him from his acting role?  Oh yeah, they had to interview every, single person he had ever worked with to be sure there were no salacious lurking female skeletons in any of his past closets.  It's all such a mess.             

    

He was the Chancellor

 I'm talking about Carleton University, where they named a building after him.  Now, the dunderheads who run the institution -- including the president, Benoit-Antoine Bacon -- in a breathtaking display of "cancel culture", have decided to remove Gordon Robertson's name from the building.

This is outrageous and led by a group of knuckle-headed students, natives and rabid devotees of the victimhood industry who can't even use google to see all the good work the Honourable Mr. Robertson did when he served as Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.  He followed his boss Prime Minister Mackenzie King's instructions and travelled there to see how and where best to ensure the Inuit (Eskimos back then) got an education.  This meant relocating them, which was logical at the time.  Now, it's apparently an outrage and the man who served as clerk of the privy council from 1963 to 1979 is being vilified -- along with every other Canadian leader who tried to educate the natives, including Canada's founder Sir John A. Macdonald.

This has to stop.  B worked for Mr. Robertson, as he always called him, in federal-provincial relations from 1977 until the latter's retirement in 1979 and was part of the elite team put together to patriate and write the 1982 Constitution Act -- no small feat because it involved working with all the provincial premiers, as well as constitutional lawyers from Britain.  Now, that would have been a real pandora's box to figure out, but it is one of B's proudest achievements.

Wouldn't it be nice if students stuck to the kniting and simply got an education, instead of trying to re-write history and cancel everything that's good about this country.

   

   

Christmas story

 My friend, Bob, sends the most wonderful stories at Christmas every year.  I will share a few, here's one:

_____________________________________

Unexpected Christmas by Marguerite Nixon

We were well over half way to our farm in East Texas when the storm broke. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and a tree fell with a great ripping noise. When the rain poured in such a flood that we could not see the road, my husband drove on to what seemed to be a bit of clearing deep in the piney woods.  As we waited I sensed we would not get to the farm that night to celebrate Christmas with our family. We were sitting there, miserable and dejected, when I heard a knocking on my window. A man with a lantern stood there beckoning us to follow him. My husband and I splashed after him up the path to his house.

A woman with a lamp in her hand stood in the doorway of an old house; a boy of about twelve and a little girl stood beside her. We went in soaked and dripping, and the family moved aside in order that we might have the warmth of the fire. With the volubility of city people, my husband and I began to talk, explaining our plans. And with the quietness of people who live in the silence of the woods, they listened.

"The bridge on Caney Creek is out. You are welcome to spend the night with us," the man said. And though we told them we thought it was an imposition, especially on Christmas Eve, they insisted. After we had visited a while longer, the man got up and took the Bible from the mantle. "It's our custom to read the story from St. Luke on Christmas Eve," he said, and without another word he began:

"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger . . . "

The children sat up eagerly, their eyes bright in anticipation, while their father read on: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night." I looked at his strong face. He could have been one of them.

When he finished reading and closed the Bible, the little children knelt by their chairs.

The mother and father were kneeling, and without any conscious will of my own I found myself joining them. Then I saw my husband, without any embarrassment at all, kneel also. When we arose, I looked around the room. There were no bright-wrapped packages or cards, only a small, unadorned holly tree on the mantle. Yet the spirit of Christmas was never more real to me.

The little boy broke the silence. "We always feed the cattle at 12 o'clock on Christmas Eve. Come with us."

The barn was warm and fragrant with the smell of hay and dried corn. A cow and a horse greeted us, and there was a goat with a tiny, wooly kid that came up to be petted. This is like the stable where the Baby was born, I thought. Here is the manger, and the gentle animals keep watch.

When we returned to the house there was an air of festivity and the serving of juice and fruitcake. Later, we bedded down on a mattress made of corn shucks. As I turned into a comfortable position, they rustled under me and sent up a faint fragrance exactly like that in the barn. My heart said, "You are sleeping in the stable like the Christ Child did."  As I drifted into a profound sleep, I knew that the light coming through the old pine shutters was the Star shining on that quiet house.

The family all walked down the path to the car with us the next morning. I was so filled with the Spirit of Christmas they had given me that I could find no words. Suddenly I thought of the gifts in the back seat of our car for our family.  I began to hand them out. My husband's gray woolen socks went to the man. The red sweater I had bought for my sister went to the mother. I gave away two boxes of candy, the white mittens and the leather gloves while my husband nodded approval.  And when I was breathless from reaching in and out of the car and the family stood there loaded with the gaiety of Christmas packages, the mother spoke for all of them. "We thank you," she said simply. And then she said, "Wait."

She hurried up the path to the house and came back with a quilt folded across her arms.  It was beautifully handmade; the pattern was the Star of Bethlehem. I looked up at the tall beautiful pines because my throat hurt and I could not speak. It was indeed Christmas.

Every Christmas Eve since then, I sleep under that quilt, the Star of Bethlehem, and in memory I visit the stable and smell again the beauty of that Christmas once more.

These letters didn't get in.....

 These letters didn't get into 'The Calgary Herald'.  In my opinion, they should have.....

Dear Editor,

 When checking out last December with my purchases, my mouth fell open when the cashier wearing a Hijab wished me a lovely, warm “Merry Christmas”.  To be greeted in this way by a non-Christian was heart-warming and yet shocking in this day of the secularization of this feast.

 Seeing my surprise, she explained that with my purchases this close to Christmas, she presumed I was Christian and therefore celebrated Christmas.  She added that she simply wanted to wish me Merry Christmas in honour of December 25^th.  That is a true story and if it doesn’t show mutual respect and honour for all in our multi-religious community, I don’t know what does.         

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

____________________________

 Dear Editor,

 I agree with the letter writer who lamented the absence of any mention of Advent in current media coverage of the upcoming festive and Holy Season.  The use of the word “Xmas” has also always puzzled me because it erases the word “Christ”, for whom the season was originally celebrated.  Why is that?  Cancel culture at work again?  December 25^th is actually Christmas Day.  It is not “Holiday” day or “Season” day, but happily the infectious joy Christmas exudes has spread and been embraced by all religions and creeds.

A few years ago, a friend gave me a lapel button which says, “Jesus is the reason for the season”.  I wear it to remind me that December 25^th celebrates the birth of the central figure in Christianity.  I am also grateful this date has spread to all corners of Western society, but I would welcome some acknowledgement that “Merry Christmas” need not be offensive, even if you aren’t a believer.

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

___________________________

 Dear Editor,

 Calgary’s new mayor Gondek came to office with a PhD in Urban Sociology -- an accreditation that would seemingly equip her well to come up with a solution to homelessness.  Yet she claims she doesn’t know what the answer to this chronic problem is and is looking to the provincial and federal governments to “get this right”.  Really? 

 Please don’t begin your tenure by playing the same tired, old game of shifting blame to other levels of government.  I would posit finding a solution to homelessness in the city you lead is your job, Madame Mayor.

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

____________________________

Just sent this into 'The Cochrane Eagle'.  Whaddya bet it definitely WON'T get in?.....

Dear Editor,

 It is wonderful every Christmas when Tom Jackson performs his Huron Carol.  In this article, Stoney Nakoda elder Tina Fox states that thousands of Indigenous children died while attending residential schools.  While this is true, we must be careful to put this number into the overall Canadian context.  According to the Truth and Reconciliation Report, approximately 150,000 children attended residential schools from 1883 to 1996 and during that time, 4,100 died, or 2.73 percent.  In doing some research, I learned that the mortality rate for all children in Canada for the same time period was a whopping 25 percent.

 Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children died principally from pre-vaccine diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza, yellow fever, pneumonia and gastrointestinal infections.  None of these diseases discriminated based on culture, race or background.  Further research indicates that many Indigenous families brought or sent their children to residential schools in the hope they would get better care than could be given in the isolated areas in which they lived.  As to why many were buried on school property, this wasn’t an attempt to hide the truth, but because many families could not afford to bring their remains home.

 So, as we mourn Indigenous children being honoured by the Rotary Club’s efforts and the Huron Carol, let’s not forget the many more non-Indigenous who died during the same perilous time. 

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

The usual

Now the natives are complaining they aren't given enough money to operate and maintain the expensive water treatment systems they are given because they insist on living in remote communities with no water service.

We know why they insist on living on reserves, money, but with all the billions they are handed every year, why can't they hire people to maintain the treatment plants without demanding yet more funds be put in their bank accounts to do so?

Just as he ludicrously promised to bring in 40,000 Afghan refugees without having a clue how they would be processed under existing rules and laws, Trudeau recklessly vowed to eliminate all water advisories in his first five years in office without any idea about how that would happen and what it would cost.  Forty eight are still in place.  And with a nod to the "new math", they claim to have lifted 119 advisories, but failed to mention that 62 more have been added.  

All in all, they're $138 million short.  Thing is, without maintaining them properly, they will need fixing again and again.  Seems to be no problem finding billions for other countries, but Trudeau can't find the money to fulfill his phony campaign promises.  And speaking of maintenance, Indigenous water technicians -- trained using your tax dollars -- often leave as soon as their training is complete for better-paying jobs off-reserve.  

So much for that strategy.  

Why oh why do people keep voting for Trudeau??!!  

This is exactly how I was reared

 

EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIES

  Pasta had not yet come to Britain.
  Curry was an unknown entity.
   Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet.
    Spices came from the Middle East where we believed that they were used
for embalming
    Herbs were used to make rather dodgy medicine.
    A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
    A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.
    Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.
    The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, runner beans,
carrots, swede, parsnips, sprouts and cabbage; anything else was regarded as being a bit suspicious.
   All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the
salt on or not.
    Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar - and tomato or HP brown
sauce if we were lucky.
    Soft drinks were called pop.
    Coke was something that we mixed with coal to make it last longer.
    A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.
    Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.
    A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.
    A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie.
    Brown bread was something only poor people ate.
    Oil was for lubricating your bike not for cooking, fat was for cooking
   Bread, butter and jam was a treat; it was either bread and butter, or
bread and jam.
    Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves, not bags.
    The tea cosy was the forerunner of all the energy saving devices that
we hear so much about today.
    Tea had only one colour, black. Green tea was not British.
    Coffee was only drunk when we had no tea….. and then it was Camp, and
came in a bottle.
Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
   Figs and dates appeared every Christmas.
   Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town.
    Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist.
    Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake.
      The menu consisted of what we were given, and was set in stone.
    Only Heinz made beans, there were no others.
    Leftovers went in the dog, never in the bin.
    Special food for dogs and cats was rare.
    Sauce was either brown or red.
.  Mustard was only yellow and English.
    Fish was only eaten on Fridays.
    Fish and chips was always wrapped in old newspapers, and definitely
tasted better that way. We were not allowed to eat them in the street.
    Frozen food was called ice cream.
    Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one.
    None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.
   Jelly and blancmange were usually party food.
    Healthy food had to have the ability to stick to your ribs.
    Indian restaurants were only found in India .
    Cheese was usually Cheddar.
    A bun was a small cake that your Mum made in the oven.
    Eating out was called a picnic.
   Cooking outside was called camping.
    Eggs only came fried or boiled.
   Hot cross buns were only eaten at Easter time.
    Pancakes were only eaten on Shrove Tuesday – and on that day it was
compulsory.
    Cornflakes had just arrived from America.
    We bought milk and cream at the same time in the same bottle.
    Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being
white gold.
    Prunes were purely medicinal.
    Surprisingly muesli was readily available in those days, it was called
cattle feed.
    Turkeys were definitely seasonal.
    Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of
a real one.
    We didn't eat Croissants in those days because we couldn't pronounce
them, we couldn't spell them and we didn't know what they were.
    Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour bread.
    Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and
charging treble for it they would have become a laughing stock.
    Food hygiene was only about washing your hands before meals.
    Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all
called "food poisoning."

However, the one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties ….
ELBOWS!!!

Why isn't she there?

Why isn't Mary Simon in B.C?  During the WW II blitz in London, the King and Queen visited the desolation in the East End almost daily, walking through the ruins and rubble with the people who lived there.  They showed compassion, bravery and real leadership.  That's what Canada's representative of Her Majesty should be doing -- not sitting on her throne in Rideau Hall.  She should don a pair of mukluks and get her fat a-- out to places like drowning Abbotsford.  

Trudeau actually showed up there a couple of days ago, but as usual didn't seem to know where he was or what he was doing there.  He had his hands coolly stuck in his jeans and just waved and smiled at the poor serfs, peasants and victims as he strode around grinning.  Grinning!  His face should have at least have borne traces of fake concern, but he is completely inept and incapable of compassion of any kind.  Narcissism rules!

In his latest slight-of-hand move, he just announced he's going to spend millions and form a committee to look into flood mitigation.  Whaaaaat??!!  Experts have been predicting these floods for decades, predictions politicians of all stripes at all levels have completely ignored.  I'm waiting for the next level of puck-passing:  a Royal Commission on Floods.  Royal Commissions are what politicians create when they want to deflect the blame and chatter.  What happens to the reports?  They lie unopened, gathering dust in a filing cabinet -- just ask the Murray Sinclair's of this world, however in Murray's case, we could have scrapped the whole expensive exercise and instead simply googled the RCMP stats on who's killing native women and girls:  Their own relatives.

What's happening in B.C. reminds me of the 1954 movie 'Elephant Walk' about a tea plantation in Ceylon, built right in the middle of a centuries-old elephant migration route.  The plantation owners spent most of their time beating back the elephants who wanted to travel along their walk, but in the end, the elephants won.  In the last scene, the elephants finally triumph and crash and smash through the plantation in a successful reclamation of their territory.  Starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch, among others, it's a terrific movie.  Watch it if you can; you'll see what I mean.  

In B.C., residents have damned rivers and lakes in an attempt to dominate the land for centuries, but lakes want to be lakes and so they have taken back their territory in the form of the vast floods now in charge of their traditional lands.  That's my analysis of what's going on there.

Writing in 'The Calgary Herald' yesterday, Don Braid reported on the appallingly tragic state of child mortality among children in provincial care in Alberta.  Of 48 deaths in the period referenced, 41 were native children.  Forty-one out of 48 -- that's 85 percent!  What NEVER gets mentioned is why native children are taken into care in the first place.  Taking children into care is very expensive and not done lightly, so the parents by definition must be dangerously incompetent.  

The other lamentation was about the fact that young adults are now cut off provincial funding at age 22.  "That's too early," screamed the likes of Cindy Blackstock.  No, Cindy, it's way too late because by then these kids have developed drug and alcohol problems, thanks to the free money we have been giving them and the toxic environments in which they live.  In my view, this is more proof that the kinship program, whereby native youth are taken from their parents and given to the relatives who raised them, doesn't work.  I mean, why would you take a child from incapable parents raised by the grandparents who rendered them incapable and give them back to those same incapable grandparents?  Duh!  Thanks, Cindy.

This is the latest, we'll see how it works.

Speaking of incompetence, yesterday Theresa Tam actually said that cases of covid are transmitted among people shoved into quarantine hotels.  Unknowingly, she actually said that her policies of quarantining travelers in hotels have been a complete bust.  Amazingly, she didn't even realize she was admitting her failures!

Yet Tam remains in place.  Astounding.     

  

       

      

Lots today

Firstly, and I have said this many times, Chrystia Freeland's ONLY agenda is the Ukraine, so when I read that Canada, read "Freeland", is considering sending hundreds more troops to that country to ward off Russia, I had to laugh -- in a pissed off manner.  Well, of course we are!  Defense Minister Anand isn't running that file, Freeland is -- just as she runs Trudeau.  

Canada's "answer to the babushka" has been in a fight with Russia for decades, resulting in her being banned from that country permanently.  So, she is putting up her dukes to Putin via the Ukraine and, in a moment of complete hallucination, thinks she will get the guy to back off and pull his troops.  It is so laughable as to be beyond comment!

Moving closer to home, Her Worship Mayor Gondek is immediately revealing her true colours as a rabidly devoted Dr. of Urban Sociology by voting against increasing funding to the Calgary police force.  Well, of course she did!  She's a proponent of the ludicrous "de-fund the police" mob.  True to form, she also voted for maintaining funding for fixing hail-damaged houses from two years ago.  Why should taxpayers cover these people's cheap choice of housing?  A) because Gondek's the mayor, and B) because Gondek's the mayor -- that and the fact that insurance companies have dumped their financial accountability into her lap, where she happily accepted it on behalf of the rest of us who had nothing to do with it.    

And in another outbreak of lunacy, the head of some Arab/Muslim association or other wrote a column in 'The Globe and Mail' yesterday objecting to all the English street names in Toronto.  Last time I checked, Ontario and Toronto were settled by Brits, Scots and Irish, so hello, they gave the streets names from back home!  Evidently, either our ancestors should have given these streets Arabic names -- don't die laughing, please -- or the city burghers should now immediately change a bunch to Middle Eastern names to reflect all the immigrants living in Toronto.  I wonder how that would work if I went to Saudi Arabia and demanded a few streets be re-named "MacPherson" or "Somerset"?  

It's total madness and psychosis!

Sticking with the psychosis theme, apparently femicide is up in Canada, due to the pandemic.  Well, of course it is!  Force family members who often hate each other to stick together for two years and you're going to get more people killed, women being the easiest victims.  Did we really need someone to do a hugely expensive study to tell us that?!  Guess so!

After saying he regretted the actions by some in Catholic residential schools (most committed by older students, but let's not dare bring that up), the ever-put-upon Pontiff will now be invaded by a group of 30 chiefs and "survivors" in Rome demanding a formal apology.  If Francis is rationale, which at times he appears to be, he will point out that schooling decisions were made by governments of the day and delegated to the Catholic bishops who built and ran the institutions.  I mean, how could a guy in Rome be expected to decide everything in every country to which missionaries travelled?!  But that won't deter Fontaine and gang from trying it anyway -- Fontaine for the second time.  

And speaking of survivors, aren't we all?  If you went through a school, worked and made it to middle age, you're a survivor.  But "survivor" is a much more charged and sexy word than "graduate", so survivor it is.  My other question is, why are native leaders only travelling to spank the pope?  What about the head of the Anglican, Lutheran and other churches that also ran residential schools?  No lashings for them?

More scary news, Canada has the worst carbon emissions in the entire G20.  This is scary because Justin and his cracked sidekicks will use this to ramp up spending and debt even more to try to shine on the international stage.  No wonder Climate Barbie quit, it all went to hell on her watch!  

Now an American Indian group has written to an Australian rugby club to demand it change its name because it contains the word "chief".  OMG!  What has become of everyone??!!

I see that Wayne Eyre has finally been confirmed as chief of the defense.  The reason it has taken so long is because the vetters probably had to search out and interview everyone he had ever worked with to be sure no nasty, ghastly skeletons lurked in any hidden closets.  Happily, General Eyre has come out clean -- unless some female underling suddenly remembers his brushing past her in a crowded elevator.  

In another "I told you so" moment, I read that a professor of community health and epidemiology at Dalhousie University is calling for answers on why Canada was so ill-prepared when the pandemic hit.  Remember those days?  No PPE, faulty logistics, capacity shortages, problems with data quality, lapses in risk assessment and process, lack of integration of surveillance information and no viable or tested emergency plans.  That was how "prepared" Tam and Hadju left us.  

"Canada's risk is much, much lower than that of many countries," assured Tam when she addressed parliamentarians in January, 2020 -- in spite of the fact that she sat on the WHO committee who evaluated the mess and knew all about it!  Predictably, Tam's response was to "address identified shortcomings by incorporating learning from the pandemic into its (non)plans and test them as appropriate within two years at the end of the pandemic."

Who puts out that sh-t?  What does that even mean?  My editor, the late Mrs. Jean Portugal at Maclean Hunter, would have immediately dropped that back on my desk and instructed me to turn it into comprehensible English.  But not today.  Today, gobble-de-gook and bafflegab are press-released as covers for f-ck ups and incompetence.  And two years after the pandemic ends?!  How will we know it has ended?  Wow, that'll be a big help!  With all the variants now popping up, it doesn't show any signs of ending, only growing stronger.  By then-ever we could all be as dead as the Aztecs and Incas who probably suffered the same fate.  

So, folks, rest assured, we're in good, safe hands.  Not!       

      

  

  

    

B's meaning of the term

That might as well have been a speech from the other "throne", he said as we watched Mary Simon butcher both official languages while droning out Trudeau's meaningless re-hash of all the other hollow speeches from the other thrones he's trotted out as "policy".  

What struck and shocked me was that once again, Simon seems to be unaware that Canada has two official languages, French and English; Inuktitut is not one of them.  As for her French, in spite of necessarily having been coached about how to read and pronounce the French parts of the speech, she was totally unable to make herself understood -- certainly neither to this fluent speaker, nor also obviously to the poor guy whose job it was to simultaneously translate it.  

Her use of Inuktitut was inexcusable.  I don't care that that is her mother tongue, it is not one of this country's official languages and I doubt many people in Nunavut were tuned it to watch.  So why did she use it?  Obviously, some sort of Trudeau-esque stunt to show people she was bilingual, just not in our other official language.  Was it only I who noticed that the speaker's chair in which she sat had "E11R" emblazoned on the top of it?  Yep, Mary, you represent Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth -- Canada's Head of State.  This was why I was shocked -- but not surprised -- that all the portraits of Elizabeth II had been removed from Rideau Hall (See,"Who picked the Art", Oct. 26, 2021) 

 Puts me in mind of the lashing given Air Canada's president by always-offended Quebeckers.  Even Freeland piled on by  outrageously sending the guy an official letter of reprimand and an admonishment to learn French.  Huh?  Last time I checked, Air Canada is no longer owned by the federal government.  It is now independently-owned and answers only to shareholders.  Freeland had absolutely no business sending that letter, but Freeland being Freeland, there is no such thing as something that is not her business.  Read this morning that some female journalist is writing a puff piece book about her; if that isn't a clue that Freeland will be running to replace Trudeau, I don't know what is?

_________________________

A word about electric cars.  They run exclusively on lithium batteries and three impoverished countries in South America have the largest supplies of lithium.  Guess who owns 51% of the world's supply?  China.  Guess how China processes lithium?  In coal plants -- one of which is built every week in that country.  And guess what lithium mining is doing to the third-world countries that supply the product?  Ruining them and the people who live there.  But, hey, who cares?!  We're saving the planet!

So, while some of you are clapping yourselves on the backs about buying electric cars, the fossil fuels required to build them are enormous -- totally negating the supposed value and superiority of electric cars.  

Here's Mary.....

___________________________

    

      

Public safety?

Isn't Bill Blair the minister of public "safety"?  So, why is he neither seen, nor heard from while Rome burns on the west coast?  Actually, he is now called the minister of emergency preparedness -- an even worse moniker for how abominably he has performed.  The guy should put his fiddle down and get his a-- to what was formerly Lotus Land because the public is definitely not safe there and by all accounts there seems to be an emergency unfolding.  And, while I'm at it, why isn't RCMP chief Lucki there too?  Her job is also to protect the public.  Sadly, she doesn't do it.  Remember the shootings in Nova Scotia?  Exactly.

If ever there was a time for ensuring public safety it's right now.  And why is our feckless, good-for-nothing PM pathetically wandering around Washington with Freeland in tow begging for crumbs and trying to muscle Biden into flipping his entire political agenda?  Trudeau should also be in BC -- not groveling south of the border.  And hey, with water levels at record peaks, he could even get a little surfing in while he's there.

And here's something I couldn't believe when I heard it this morning, apparently the warning alert system -- so expensively built in BC -- has never, ever, ever been triggered!  Not even now, while the province disappears under the waves.  Come to think of it, we get lots of warnings and tests here in Alberta, but never an actual alert -- not even when fires ravaged Fort MacMurray.  Of course, it's all about money because when you activate alerts, you have to deploy stuff.  That costs money, so it doesn't happen.   

We elect these people, so we deserve the swill they serve us.  But if I could find someone who admitted to having voted for the bum, I would give him/her a piece of my mind.  Reminds me of the Rae days in Ontario, where in spite of having a majority, no one ever admitted they had put their X beside his name.  

           

This is obscene!

 As I said, this is obscene.......

Most Canadians have no clue how many Canadian politicians and bureaucrats travelled to Glasgow, Scotland to participate in COP26, not to mention Canadian main stream media reps as well.   I didn't know the figures until I read the report below. 

One has to wonder why main stream media didn't publish the stats (???). 

One has to wonder what the total costs came to for everyone to attend (??). 

How many aircraft did they require to fly everyone to and from the conference (??).

 CANADIANS AT COP26 - The list of Canadians who are registered participants of COP26 is available per attached- (scroll down to the entry for Canada).   Starts on page 124 and finishes on page 145

To save you time, I copied the list ... see below.  The total came to over 300.

(I have a suggestion of how to cut down on green house gases ... and maybe save the country some money !)

Canada 

H.E. Mr. Justin Pierre James Trudeau Prime Minister Government of Canada 

 H.E. Mr. Steven Guilbeault Minister Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Steven Kuhn Chief Negotiator, Director General of Multilateral Affairs Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 H.E. Ms. Christina (Chrystia) Alexandra Freeland Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada Finance Canada Government of Canada 

 H.E. Mr. Ralph Goodale High Commissioner High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 H.E. Mr. Jonathan Wilkinson Minister Natural Resources Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Thelma Christine Hogan Deputy Minister Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mme Patricia Fuller Ambassador for Climate Change Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Catherine Anne Stewart Assistant Deputy Minister Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Elias Abourizk Deputy Chief Negotiator; Director, Policy and Negotiations Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada Ms. Catherine Abreu Executive Director Destination Zero

 Mr. Andrew Nicholas Adamson International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Mr. Nahim Ahmed COP26 Canada Office Setup Support High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Mr. John David Akin Media Global News Canada COP26.PLOP 128 

Mr. Dan Albas Member of Parliament House of Commons, Conservative Party of Canada

 M. Marc-André Allard Conseiller au protocole Relations internationales et la Francophonie Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mr. Andrew Allingham International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police

 Ms. Vanessa Anstead Visits Officer Global Affairs Canada Government of Canada 

 Mme Claude Audet-Robitaille Cheffe d’équipe-climat et développement durable Relations internationales et de la Francophonie Gouvernement du Québec

 Ms. Syvanne Avitzur Project Officer United Nations Association in Canada

 Mme Seynabou Ba Conseillère spécialisée - Exportations, Europe, Afrique et Moyen-Orient Investissement Québec International 

 Ms. Stéphanie Badeau International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Mr. Matthew Baglole Senior Advisor Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada

 Ms. Céline Bak Board Member Emissions Reduction Alberta 

 Mr. Grégoire Baribeau Negotiator - Markets Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 M. Yvan Barrière Garde du corps Sûreté du Québec

 Mr. Chris Bayluk International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police

 M. Martin Beaudoin-Nadeau Fondateur et PDG Viridis 

Terra M. Benjamin Bélair Directeur des relations internationales et intergouvernementales Cabinet du premier ministre Gouvernement du Québec COP26.PLOP 129 

M. Simon Berthiaume Conseiller politique Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mr. Dale Beugin Vice President, Research Canadian Institute for Climate Choices 

 Ms. Abigail Johanna Grey Bimman Media Global News Canada 

 Ms. Madeleine Cassandre Blais-Morin Media Radio-Canada 

 Ms. Linda Louisa Blake International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 M. Marc-André Blanchard PVP et Chef Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec 

 Ms. Catherine Bloodworth Legal Officer Global Affairs Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Bertram Blundon Secretary Treasurer National Union of Public and General Employees 

 Mr. Giles Boden-Wilson Vehicle Dispatcher High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 M. Hubert Bolduc Président Investissement Québec International

 Mr. Sebastian Bonham-Carter Executive Assistant to the Minister Environment, Conservation and Parks Government of Ontario 

 M. Nicolas Bossé Chef Transition Énergétique BrainBox AI 

 Mme Julianne Bossé Conseillère en affaires internationales – climat et environnement Relations Internationales et de la Francophonie Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mme Isabelle Brais 

 Mr. Charles Brindamour Chief Executive Officer Intact Financial Corporation

 Mme Geneviève Brisson Directrice principale, Affaires gouvernementales mondiales Enerkem COP26.PLOP 130

 Ms. Sarah Bristow Manager, Policy and Negotiations Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. David Brock Assistant Deputy Minister Ministry of Environment Government of Saskatchewan 

 Mr. Geoffrey Brouwer Negotiator - Transparency Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Ian Burke Cameron Senior Communications Advisor Natural Resources Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Thomas Cameron Negotiator - Indigenous Engagement Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

Ms. Renée Carpentier Proulx Manager, Ministerial Services Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Lydia Cavasin Negotiator - Climate Finance Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 M. Benoit Charette Ministre Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques Gouvernement du Québec Mr. Gorav Chaudhry Finance/DPM Liaison High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Jayce Chiblow Toolkit Training Lead Indigenous Climate Action

 Mr. Benjamin Byung Kyu Chin Senior Advisor Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Leslie Frances Church Director of Policy Finance Canada Government of Canada

 Mme Audrey Cloutier Attachée politique Assemblée Nationale du Québec 

 Mr. David William Cochrane Media Canadian Broadcasting Corporation COP26.PLOP 131

 Mr. Bradley Steven Cotten Technician Privy Council Office Government of Canada

 Mr. Gerald Crane Director Environment and Climate Change Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 Mr. Ashton Cunje Lead Negotiator for Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada

 Mr. Neil Cunningham A/Assistant Deputy Minister Climate and Green Plan Implementation Office Conservation and Climate Government of Manitoba 

 Mr. François Joseph Albert D'Amours Media CTV 

 Ms. Joanna Dafoe Director of Climate Change, Office of the Minister Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Diana Davidovic Media Support High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Kathleen Helen Davis Senior Policy Advisor Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada

 Mr. Bernard Davis Minister Environment & Climate Change Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 

 Ms. Kayla De Nardi Media Support High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Lisa (Elisabeth) DeMarco Senior Partner and CEO Resilient LLP 

 Ms. Eriel Tchekwie Deranger Executive Director Indigenous Climate Action Mme Dominique Deschênes Sous-ministre associée Énergie et Ressources naturelles Gouvernement du Québec

 Mr. Alexandre Findlay Deslongchamps Deputy Chief of Staff Natural Resources Canada Government of Canada COP26.PLOP 132 M. Pierre Desrochers Sergent, Chef mission sécurité Sûreté du Québec 

 Ms. Claire Marie Doggart Senior Analyst, Prime Minister's Products Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Cory Doll Manager Climate Change and Air Quality Unit Government of the Northwest Territories 

 Ms. Geneviève Dompierre Analyst Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 M. Mathias Doyon-Fiset Vidéastre Conseil exécutif Gouvernement du Québec

 Mme Hélène Drainville Sous-ministre adjointe Relations internationales et la Francophonie Gouvernement du Québec M. Guy Drouin Président Biothermica Carbone Inc 

 Ms. Nathalie Dubé Minister-Counsellor for Trade and COP Mission Lead High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Maude Dufort-Labbé Negotiator - Adaptation, Loss and Damage Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 M. Sylvain Dumont Garde du corps Sûreté du Québec 

 Ms. Lezlee Dunn Assistant Deputy Minister Intergovernmental Affairs Government of Manitoba

Mr. Anish Dwivedi Special Advisor to the Premier Intergovernmental Affairs and Protocol Government of Ontario 

 Mr. Derek Ellis Director Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action Government of Prince Edward Island 

 Mr. Christopher Evans Deputy Director, Energy Transition and Finance Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada COP26.PLOP 133 

Mr. Patrick Fancott Director, Climate Change Policy Environment, Conservation and Parks Government of Ontario

 Mr. Michael Folkerson Ministerial Programme Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK

 Mr. Derek Foote COP26 Logistics Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Mme Marie-Noëlle Foschini Conseillère Assemblée Nationale du Québec 

 Mme Michèle Fournier Conseillère senior Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques Gouvernement du Québec 

 Ms. Shannon Franssen Executive Director Climate Action Network Canada 

 Mr. Darren Frisky International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Ms. Susanna Fuller Vice President, Operations and Projects Oceans 

North Mr. Andrew Furey Premier Office of the Premier Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 

 Mr. Jean-François Gagné Director, Low Carbon Energy Sector Natural Resources Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Chantal Gagnon Deputy Director of Communications Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Christopher Gall Chief Public Affairs Officer Métis National Council 

 M. Claude Garneau Garde du corps Sécurité publique 

 Mr. Vince Gasparro Managing Director, Corporate Development Vancity Community Investment Bank 

 M. Sylvain Gaudreault Député Assemblée Nationale du Québec COP26.PLOP 134

 M. Stéphane Germain CEO GHGSat M. Jean-François Gibeault Sous-ministre adjoint Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques Gouvernement du Québec 

 Ms. Leah Gilbert Morris Director of International Relations Export Development Canada 

 Ms. Diana Godoy-Smirnova IT Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Sarah Bess Goodman Senior Advisor Prime Minister's Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. William Goodon Minister of Housing and Property Management Manitoba Métis Federation Métis National Council

 Ms. Gillian Grant Transport Minister Liaison High Commission of Canada to the UK Mr. Mackenzie Clark Gray Media CTV Mr. Brian Grecco Technician Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Vincent Grenier International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Mr. Akshay Shawn Grover Videographer Prime Minister's Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Sarah Lyn Guillemard Minister Conservation and Climate Government of Manitoba

 Ms. Martha Hall Findlay Chief Sustainability Officer Suncor 

 Ms. Rachel Eva Hanes Media CTV Ms. Patricia Hearn Deputy Minister Intergovernmental Affairs Government of Newfoundland and Labrador COP26.PLOP 135 

Ms. Justine Hendricks Chief Corporate Sustainability Officer Export Development Canada 

 Mr. Jeremy Hewitt Assistant Deputy Minister Environment and Climate Change Strategy Government of British Columbia 

 Mr. George Max Heyman Minister Environment and Climate Change Strategy Government of British Columbia 

 Ms. Heather Robyn Hinton Media CTV Mr. Christian Donald Giovanni Holloway Policy Analyst Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Frédéric Huot -Bolduc Visits Coordinator Global Affairs Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Cael Husband Provincial/Territorial Delegation High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Mr. David Hutchens President & CEO Fortis Inc.

 Mr. Fred Hutton Senior Advisor Office of the Premier Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 

 Mr. Martin Imbleau President and CEO Montreal Port Authority 

 Mr. Stefan Innes Analyst Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Marie -Pierre Ippersiel Co -chair Net -Zero Advisory Body Mr. Sohail Iqbal Media IT Technician High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Bronwen Leigh Jervis Senior Communications Advisor Finance Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Cordell Johnson Special Assistant COP26.PLOP 136 Prime Minister's Office Government of Canada

 Ms. Lesley Jones Cultural Liaison High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 M. Guillaume Jumel Directeur Général, France Innergex Renewable Energy 

 Ms. Lori Kerr CEO FinDev Canada 

 Mr. Sean Cleland Kilpatrick Media Canadian Press 

 Ms. Sabrina Kim Director of Communications, Office of the Minister Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Lisa Koperqualuk Vice President, International Affairs Inuit Circumpolar Council, Canada Inuit Circumpolar Conference Ms. Astrid Krizus Lead Speechwriter Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada

 Mr. Stéphane L'Heureux International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police

 Ms. Rose LaBrèche Manager, International Oceans Policy Fisheries and Oceans Canada Government of Canada

 Mr. Julien Labrosse Visits Officer Global Affairs Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Marc-André Lafrance Negotiations Manager Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Peter Lamey Director of Communications Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mme Véronique Lamontagne Directrice Ville de Montréal 

 M. Pierre Langlois Président Econoler COP26.PLOP 137 

Ms. Anna Larson Negotiator - Agriculture Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Katherine Last Transportation Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Mairead Lavery President & CEO Export Development Canada 

 Mr. Michael Le Couteur Media Global News Canada 

 Mr. Jean Lebel President International Development Research Centre 

Ms. Jovonne Lee Accreditation Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK

 M. Yannick Lefort Garde du corps Sécurité publique

 M. François Legault Premier ministre Gouvernement du Québec

 M. Carlos Leitao Député Assemblée Nationale du Québec 

 M. Jean Lemire Émissaire aux changements climatiques et aux enjeux nordiques et arctiques Relations internationales et de la Francophonie Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mme Emilise Lessard-Therrien Députée Assemblée Nationale du Québec 

 Mr. Alexandre Lévêque Acting Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Karen Littlewood President Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation 

 Mr. Harvey Locke President Harvey Locke Conservation Inc.

 Ms. Christina Margaret Lynch Analyst Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Alexandra MacDonald COVID Measures Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK COP26.PLOP 138 

Mr. Stephen MacDonald CEO Emissions Reduction Alberta 

 Ms. Joanna MacDonald Climate Change Officer Inuit Circumpolar Conference 

 Mr. Kevin James Mackay International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Mr. Timothy Elliot Mackey Analyst Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Doriann Macmillan Coombs Assistant Deputy Minister Intergovernmental Affairs Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Ms. Brooke Taylor Malinoski Executive Assistant Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Dale Marshall National Climate Program Manager Environmental Defence 

 Mr. Paulo Martelli Chief Investment Officer FinDev Canada 

 Ms. Crystal Martin Inuit Circumpolar Council 

 Mme Elizabeth Evans May Member of Parliament House of Commons, Green Party of Canada

 Ms. Meghan McCabe Director of Communications Office of the Premier Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 Ms. Shawn McCann Deputy Secretary Indigenous and Intergovernmental Affairs Government of the Northwest Territories Ms. Susan McGeachie Head, BMO Climate Institute Bank of Montreal Financial Group

 Mr. Glen McGregor Media CTV 

 Mr. David McLaughlin Clerk of Executive Council Clerk's Office Government of Manitoba COP26.PLOP 139 

Ms. Julia McNeill Logistics Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK 

Mr. Gavin Menzies Lead Advance Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

Ms. Rebecca Merasty Research and Policy Analyst Indigenous Climate Action 

 Mme Kristina Michaud Member of Parliament House of Commons, Bloc Québécois 

 Mr. Peter Miles Chief of Staff Office of the Premier Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 

 Ms. Melanie Mitchell International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Ms. Elena Rose Mitchell Director of Operations, Office of the Minister Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Laura Anne Mitchell Director of Operations, Office of the Minister Natural Resources Canada Government of Canada 

 M. Mapi Mobwano Président et chef de la direction ArcelorMittal Exploitation minière

 Mr. Ashoke Mohanraj Environmental Advisor United Nations Association in Canada 

 Ms. Jacqueline Moore Vice President, External Relations Suncor 

 Mr. Stéphane Moran International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Mme Geneviève Morin Présidente Directice Générale Fondaction 

 Mr. Michael James Steven Morrice Member of Parliament House of Commons, Green Party of Canada 

 Mr. David Glenn Morrison Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Norman Wilfred Moss Technician COP26.PLOP 140 Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 M. Stavros Mourelatos Directeur des opérations et du protocole Cabinet du premier ministre Gouvernement du Québec 

 Ms. Sarah Murphy Accommodation Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Erin Myers Climate Change Advisor Environment Métis National Council

 Mme Emilie Nadeau Photographe Conseil exécutif Gouvernement du Québec Ms. Joyce Napier Media CTV 

 Ms. Mona Nemer Chief Science Advisor Government of Canada 

 Mme Lily Pol Neveu Directrice – affaires politiques et publiques Délégation générale du Québec à Londres Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mr. Nhattan Nguyen Director's Office Indigenous Climate Action 

 Mr. Christian Noël Media Radio-Canada 

 Ms. Katrina Nokleby Member of the Legislative Assembly Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly 

 Ms. Christine O'Nions Senior Analyst, Strategic Communications Privy Council Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Peter James Osborne International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 M. Pascal Ouellet Conseiller en communication Relations internationales et de la Francophonie Gouvernement du Québec M. Stéphane Paquet Président-directeur général Montréal International COP26.PLOP 141 

M. Jean Paquin Président-directeur général SAF+ Consortium 

 Ms. Tara Peel National Director Health, Safety and Environment Canadian Labour Congress

 Mr. Eduardo Luis Pérez International Climate Diplomacy Manager Climate Action Network Canada 

 Mr. David Piccini Minister Environment, Conservation and Parks Government of Ontario 

 Mr. Francis Pigeon Director, Climate Finance Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mme Magdalena Planeta Conseillère spécialisée, Stratégie et missions Investissement Québec International

 Mr. Scott Kevin Plante Media CTV 

 Mr. Brian Pottle President National Inuit Youth Council 

 Mr. Dennis Price Executive Director, Net-Zero Advisory Body Secretariat Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Mr. Albert Price Airport, Aircrew & Aircraft Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Mr. Paul Prosper Regional Chief Assembly of First Nations – Nova Scotia / Newfoundland 

 Mr. Philip Proulx Executive Assistant Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Retta Mia Rabson Simons Media Canadian Press Ms. Sandra Marie Lynne Rainbow Physician Prime Minister's Office Government of Canada

 Mr. Graeme Reed Senior Policy Advisor Environment Sector Assembly of First Nations COP26.PLOP 142

 M. Sidney Ribaux Directeur Ville de Montréal Ms. Melanie Richer Director of Communications New Democratic Party 

 Ms. Johanna Mae Robinson Senior Manager, Digital and Creative Communications Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

 Mr. Matthew Rogers Senior Policy Analyst Intergovernmental Affairs Government of Manitoba 

 M. Patrick Rondeau Conseiller syndical Fédération des travailleurs et des travailleuses du Québec *

 Mr. Scott Rothenberg Media CTV Mr. Larry Rousseau Executive Vice-President Canadian Labour Congress

 Ms. Melissa Royle-Critch Deputy Chief of Staff Office of the Premier Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 Ms. Camille Ruest PM Bilateral Meetings Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the 

UK Mr. Michael Jonathan Sabia Deputy Minister Finance Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Sari Sairanen Health, Safety, Environment Director Unifor 

 Ms. Kendra Sakaguchi Durrant Deputy Director, Strategic Policy and Innovation Sector Natural Resources Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Kelly Anne Sather Senior Ministerial Advisor Environment and Climate Change Strategy Government of British Columbia

 M. Yves Saulnier Garde du corps Sûreté du Québec 

 Mr. Jonathan Sauvé Media Coordinator High Commission of Canada to the UK COP26.PLOP 143 

M. Ewan Sauves Attaché de presse et conseiller politique Cabinet du premier ministre Gouvernement du Québec 

 Ms. Hannah Schaepsmeyer Program Manager United Nations Association in Canada 

 Mr. Jonathan Schurman Coordinator Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action Government of Prince Edward Island

 Ms. Heather Mary Scoffield Media Toronto Star 

 Mr. Adam Anthony Thomas Scotti Official Photographer Prime Minister's Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Kelly Sharp Policy Analyst Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Leanne Shewchuk Director, Stakeholder Relations and Reporting Climate and Green Plan Implementation Office Conservation and Climate Government of Manitoba 

 Ms. Erin Jennifer Silsbe Director, Multilateral Affairs Branch Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada

 M. Guillaume Simard-Leduc Directeur des communications Cabinet du premier ministre Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mr. Jagmeet Singh Leader, Member of Parliament House of Commons, New Democratic Party 

Mr. Davon Singh PM Programme Lead High Commission of Canada to the UK 

 Ms. Pratishtha Singh International Policy Analyst Climate Action Network Canada 

 Mr. Rick Smith President Canadian Institute for Climate Choices 

 Mr. Patrick Spicer Negotiator - Mitigation Environment and Climate Change Canada Government of Canada 

 Ms. Annabelle St-Pierre Archambault Media Advance COP26.PLOP 144 Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada 

 Ms. Eryn Stewart Managing Director Indigenous Clean Energy * 

 Mr. John Paul Tasker Media CBC Radio 

 Mr. Adam Taylor International Protection Officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

 Ms. Katherine Elana Telford Chief of Staff Prime Minister's Office Government of Canada 

Mr. Shane Thompson Minister Environment and Natural Resources Government of the Northwest Territories 

 Mme Ildiko Katalin (Katherine) Tokes Présidente, CEO Tokes Consulting 

 M. Dominic Toupin Directeur des affaires économiques et chargé d'affaires par intérim Délégation générale du Québec à Londres Gouvernement du Québec 

 Mr. Richard Patrick Travers Senior Global Affairs Advisor Prime Minister’s Office Government of Canada