That's why so few come forward

Reading about the grotesque trial of five former junior hockey players charged with raping a then 21-year-old girl they met at a bar, I was once again reminded of why no woman ever presses sexual assault charges.

They don't because they end up being charged with luring, "wanting it" and "asking for it".

This is what is happening to the women named "E.M." in a London courthouse, as she is subjected to seven days of intense grilling by defence lawyers for the accused -- right down to the "sexy" shoes she was wearing that were brandished about and waved for all to see!

It is ludicrous.

Apparently, she had consensual sex with one guy, but then he invited all his buddies to come in and have a go.  To this, she claims, she did not agree -- although her texts apparently belie this.  As for the truth, no one will ever know.  Her reputation, however, lies in tatters for the rest of her life.

That's why no woman ever presses charges.  The consequences are too grave.

I can relate to her predicament.  When I was 13, my orthodontist sexually assaulted me, but as my Mother was sitting in the waiting room, I did not make a scene.  I mean, that's how so many of us were reared.  "Don't make a scene, dear," she would say if a situation became heated or uncomfortable.

So, I said and did nothing.  

Reading his obituary a year ago, I was tempted to add a remembrance of those horrible days trapped in his chair of horrors.  I didn't, because I still didn't want to make a scene.  But maybe I should have?  I could not have been the only young girl he assaulted; there must have been many of us.  Why did no one ever report him?  For the same reasons I didn't.  But reading his glowing obituary about how Dr. B was such an upstanding member of the community and president of the Britannia Yacht Club....yadda, yadda, yadda.........I have kept on speaking about him to friends and family -- although never to my Mother.

Not always a safe seat.

Ever heard of "date rape"?  Ya, that also happened to me when I was 20 and visiting a friend's cottage with my cousin and her boyfriend.  Again, I said and did nothing because his parents were in the next room and, "I didn't want to make a scene".  

I did, however, get my revenge at a parent/teacher event at my children's elementary school, Rockcliffe Park Public.  Who was holding forth as the president of the association?  You guessed it, none other than Bill M. himself!  So I sauntered over and greeted him, as he was impressing the gathering.  "Hi, Bill, remember me?  I was the girl you assaulted at your parent's cottage in 1968."  He stopped dead in his tracks, turned red and then white, as a shocked hush fell over the group.  He bolted immediately, laughing to minimize what he had done.  

So, yes, I can relate to E.M.  And don't kid yourself.  It's still happening in doctor's offices and schools all over the world.  Men of authority should be carefully monitored and parents should always warn their daughters about inappropriate touching.  Always.  

 

  

The Emperor's New Clothes

That's what the "new" cabinet was wearing, as the same old, same old, tired, worn-out gang was trotted out and sworn in as Carney's cabinet for "change".

Carney and his minions.

Hard to believe, but there wasn't a new face in the front-bench bunch.  Not one!  Sure, there were a bunch of new ministers of state, but the main cast was still all there.  I was flabbergasted that Freeland was there!  After Trump called her a "horrible woman" and lambasted her in the Oval Office for her bombastic handling of the trade files, Carney has still given her a seat at the table!  Either her riding is key, or she has dirt on him.  Contrariness or stupidity are also possible reasons but there are no other to keep her.  

But the saddest spectacle was Rechie Valdez, the minister of women's something-or-other.  There she was taking the oath and crying.  Crying!  What a great look for the women of Canada!  Strength, force and might did not spring to mind, as I watched her shaking and bawling taking the oath.  Pathetic.

But Evan Solomon was right up there in the ludicrous category.  Here was a guy who was fired from the CBC for having a secret art brokerage business on the side.  Solomon actually brokered the sale of paintings belonging to Mark Carney.  I kid you not!  Then he buggered off to the States to earn the big bucks, but came right back when Carney dangled a juicy, cabinet carrot under his nose.  His portfolio is artificial intelligence.  That just describes the whole cabinet!  Do cynicism and hypocrisy know no bounds?

But there they all were, beaming and smiling smugly as the ceremony unfolded.  You could not find a more self-satisfied, smirking bunch if you hunted all day.  The only positive moments for me were when they all had to swear allegiance to King Charles the Third.  That surely stuck in the craws of all the francophones who had to utter that odious oath.  

Sorry, guys, but The Monarch remains our Head of State, so you have to grin and swear it.  

All in all, it was a dismal display of the future of our country.  Ruined by Trudeau for the last 10 years, the economy appears to be again in peril, with Carney keeping the whole, sorry mess on track for another dilapidated and ramshackle term.

Sigh.............

That went well

Or did it?  Carney looked very weak during his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.  Lots of  "pundits" on the airwaves and in opinion pieces have praised his restrained performance, but I thought he looked less than "in charge", as he sat beside The King.  

I was disappointed at Carney's choice of the henchmen (or should I say, "henchpersons") who accompanied him.  He obviously chose them because of their portfolios (same old same old), not because of their personas.  That was a mistake because Trump judges everyone on persona, not on portfolio or experience. Frankly, I would have walked in there alone.  That would have unsettled them. 

Speaking of personas, Trump really let loose on Freeland and Trudeau.  It was obvious Freeland was a disaster during the free trade mess with the U.S. and Mexico.  As I have blogged, I was part of the original team negotiating the first NAFTA in 1994 with the U.S. and it wasn't that difficult.  We all behaved professionally and comported ourselves as was due the magnitude of the task.  The politicians did their thing, but we did the deal.  I am very proud of my work on that.

Freeland didn't succeed.  She tried to bully everyone because that's her personality.  As for Trudeau, Trump smelled phoniness from day one.  He was not wrong. 

Once again, there was the rumpled LeBlanc, looking like he had slept in his suit for days and had forgotten his comb for his comb-over.  LeBlanc had already travelled to Trump's lair at Mar a Lago and returned with absolutely nothing.  Why Carney dragged him along, I have no clue?!

Then there was McGinty.  Frankly, he looked like the Howdy Doody of my childhood, except that Howdy actually had something to say.  McGinty just sat there mute and dumbfounded.

And as for Mélanie Joly, she looked like she had just rolled in from a boozy night out -- hair a mess and black roots everywhere.  Why will she never tie it back and try to look a tad professional, instead of someone desperately running for Prom Queen?!  

Trump keeps talking about the fake Canada/U.S. border and frankly, he may have a point.  The 49th parallel border was drawn according to the Treaty of 1918 and the Oregon treaty of 1846, but several parts were re-negotiated and are dubious.

Trump's talk about Canada becoming the 51st state is simply bluster.  Any such move would have to be approved by the House and Senate and would necessitate military intervention.  Never going to happen.  But Carney was not forceful enough and only committed to the two percent GDP for NATO in five years.  He also did not vow to bring down the trade imbalance more drastically.  Both would have been sufficient to get Trump to shut up for a while.  

Overall, unless Carney changes course, he laid an egg during the trip.  The aggressive rhetoric he spouted during the campaign didn't manifest itself during the meeting.  He was all thumbs-up and smiles -- totally at odds with his promises during the election. 

Despite the rhetoric, Carney came across as a buddy.

I feel very sorry for Pierre Poilievre.  The poor guy had his entire platform stolen by Carney and was robbed by the votes Singh's supporters transferred to the Liberals.  

Bottom line?  Carney won because he convinced everyone he was the tough guy to deal with Trump.  Didn't work.  Will it?  I doubt it.

Brilliant move

I am not a fan of Mark Carney, but inviting our head of state, King Charles, to deliver the upcoming Throne Speech is a brilliant move on two fronts:  First it cements and reinforces Canadian sovereignty in the face of Trump's 51st state nonsense and second, it one-ups the U.S. president who doesn't have a King or Queen.

Trump is an enthusiastic monarchist, but the U.S. doesn't have a King.  We do and it's about time we invited our head of state to fulfill the role and deliver the speech.  However, the ignorance of the average Canadian was on full and shameful display in 'The Globe' today, in which a letter writer said it was an insult for the King to give the speech, instead of the Governor General.  

How dumb can you be??!!  The GG is the representative of the Monarch -- not the other way around!  The Monarch is the Head of State, not the GG.  The latter gives the speech in the absence, and in place of, the Monarch.  Shows you how desperately Canadian children need to be taught civics.  Gawd!

A Monarch hasn't given the speech from the throne in Canada since 1977, when Queen Elizabeth was invited to the Senate chamber to deliver it.  Pierre Trudeau was prime minister back then and he invited her -- not, however, for the same reasons as Carney.

The last Monarch to deliver the Canadian throne speech.

Trudeau did it to give the finger to the Separatists -- something he loved doing at every opportunity because he was an avowed contrarian.  Carney, on the other hand, is a dedicated monarchist who believes in the Commonwealth.  In fact, he went to Oxford on a Commonwealth scholarship, something he celebrates.

(Note:  One of my offspring also went to a Commonwealth university in Australia to obtain a post-graduate teaching degree, after earning an honours degree at Queen's University.  Special consideration is always given to students from Commonwealth countries seeking entry to universities in other kindred countries.)   

As for his upcoming visit to Trump, I hope Carney has taken careful steps to avoid the kind of ambush the former pulls on every head of state and president who steps under the lintel and over the threshold of the oval office.

Zelensky got a hiding during that turkey shoot, as both Vance and Trump ganged up and mercilessly pilloried him.  Zelensky -- a brigand of the first order -- deserved it, but I don't think Carney should be subjected to the kind of beating to which the Ukrainian bandit and outlaw was subjected.   

But if not the oval office, where else would they meet?  Sadly, it'll be "come into my lair" for Carney.  I only hope his years as a global banker and celebrity will stand him in good stead and steel him during that encounter. 

Hopefully, Carney won't find himself under Trump's heel.

Carney will be a disaster

Read his book, 'Values'.  That'll tell you everything about his agenda.  His economic policies will be much worse that Trudeau's -- if that's possible!  

As I have been saying, he is a rabid greenie and zero zealot.  But Danielle Smith has his number and she will fight back with zeal and vigor!  Alberta is the key to the country's financial health and that means oil and gas.  

This is what's in store.  Replace the word "could" with "will" and that's the picture.

  

We all know who won this election...

...Donald Trump.  That's the card Carney played relentlessly, as he scared Canadians into submission, claiming he was the only guy who could save us from this threat.  He reminded me of Kenneth Lay, the president of the doomed Enron Corp., who always said he was, "The smartest guy in the room."

Our new leader.

I get my economic advice from B, who went to 'The London School of Economics' on a Leverhulme fellowship to do post-graduate work.  According to my in-house expert on macro economics, Carney doesn't have the chops.  Remember, his PhD is in Philosophy -- not economics -- yet he was the guy running Finance behind the scenes for the last five years.

But Carney's strategy paid off.  Frankly, however, I think Carney is as big a malefactor as was Lay, but he hid it well and it paid off.  He is now the prime minister.  But let's not forget who ran this country into the ground over the last 10 years.  Not Donald Trump in just two months.  No, the Liberals managed that all on their own.  He has said he will not repeal Bill C-69, which means no money will be forthcoming from investors.

The other problem is, without a majority, Carney will be negotiating from a position of weakness and Trump will make him pay because Carney simply doesn't have the cards.  

Poilievre?  He's gone, but not out.  One loyal MP is giving up his seat so Poilievre can try to get a seat.  But why did he lose in his own riding?  I doubt it was because his entire campaign revolved around slagging Trudeau and dumping the slag onto Carney.  I think the voters of Carleton finally tired of giving Poilievre chance after chance, only to come up afoul of the Liberals at every turn.  After 20 years, they'd had enough.  He took his victory for granted, so Carleton voters finally decided they'd been losers long enough.

The late Pierre Poilievre.

Singh?  Remember, he was elected head of the NDP purely because a large number of hitherto uninvolved Sikhs joined the party at the last minute and elected him.  Then they all disappeared.  Why did he want to head the party?  I have no clue because any guy who wears $2,000 suits, sports a Rolex and drives a high-end, luxury car is not, in his heart of hearts, a supporter of your average GM line worker.  

Maybe his career as a lawyer wasn't going so well?  Not to worry, he held on long enough to secure a fat pension.  Oh, and let's not forget his involvement in the pro-Khalistan movement, a semi-terrorist gang dedicated to the formation of a separate Sikh state in India.  Hey, Jagmeet, you were running in Canada as head of a Canadian political party.  What T-F were you doing pushing that agenda?!  You can't serve two masters, but now, of course, you won't have to.  

So Singh lost the race.  Lost his seat.  And cried.  Frankly, Churchill didn't pop into my mind as I watched.

Churchill he isn't.

Elizabeth May?  Well, what can one say about this abomination?  She won her seat, but her co-leader didn't.  Why oh why do the electors of Saanich-Gulf Islands keep returning her to Ottawa?!  Is it a hippie thing?  So she'll squat in Ottawa for the next four years -- or how ever long this government lasts.

So, that's my amateur's analysis of the election.  Take it for what it's worth, but I usually manage to channel "George and Martha", as the late Ralph Klein used to describe the average voter.

Ah well, let the pundits pundit, but I think I've nailed it.

 

If you don't vote, you have to shut up

This is a message to everyone who doesn't bother to vote, but has a lot to say about outcomes.  I know a couple of people who are not in Canada at the moment and will miss the election (one of whom is a political junky, by the way) but as I say, if you don't vote, you have to zip it until the next election because you are not entitled to an opinion on this one.  Period the end.

No matter where you are, or what your work hours, the system gives you ample time to have your say and cast your vote.  No excuses allowed.

Cast your vote!

From what the pundits and pollsters say, most people make up their minds within the last 48 hours before they enter the ballot box -- many waiting until they're standing in it, pencil in hand.  That being the case, I wonder if the unspeakable tragedy in Vancouver will sway anyone?  Will the fact that a mentally ill man, who had had many run-ins with the law over the years, drove down a busy carnival street and mowed down and killed 11 people, make any voters switch to a law-and-order candidate?

Maybe.

The Liberals were in power the whole time this lunatic was marauding around town threatening neighbours and getting arrested.  He was so bad, his poor mother attempted suicide.  He should have been in jail, or at the very least a mental institution, but he was released time and again until he snapped, taking many innocent lives with him.

As far as this election is concerned, Licia Corbella had an interesting column in today's 'Globe and Mail'.  She wondered how Ontario or Quebec would react if the federal government treated them the way it treats Alberta?

"Alberta's grievances, along with those of Saskatchewan, are ignored entirely by the rest of the country or passed off as unjustified whining," she writes.

Preston Manning says a vote for the Carney Liberals is a vote for Western secession and the breakup of Canada as we know it.  The fact is that Alberta contributes billions to the rest of Canada.  The net figure is $20 billion handed over to the rest of the country.  Where would Quebec be if it separated?  Impoverished.  When Premier Legault boasted a couple of years ago that he had balanced his budget, I burst out laughing.  He balanced it, thanks to Alberta's billions.  What a laugh.

"The Liberal Bill C-48 bans tanker traffic on B.C.'s north coast and is designed to prevent Alberta crude from making is way to Asia.  Oil tankers from Saudi Arabia, however, travel freely along our east coast."

This is bullsh-t.

"Bill C-69, dubbed the 'no more pipelines act' has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada, yet Mr. Carney has said he will not repeal it," writes Corbella.

More bullsh-t.

Imagine the feds blocking provincial wealth in any other province?!  Imagine a new law vetoing already-announced battery plants in Ontario?!

Would never happen.  Now you understand why Albertans hate the Liberals.

Please vote

This federal election on April 28 is crucial.  Pierre Poilievre was way ahead, until Mark Carney swooped in and ate his lunch.  Sadly, I think Carney is going to take it -- maybe even in majority government territory.  That's a sad reflection on just how ill-informed the average Canadian is.

I've done a few blogs on Carney, so you know what I think.  Not much.  But he has hoodwinked the public into thinking he is going to save Canada from the mess Trudeau has made of it.  That mess, however, was created by Carney, who was Trudeau's "finance whisperer" for the entire time he was in power.

So, it's critical that people get off their asses and vote for Pierre Poilievre.  Yes, he's not as physically appealing to most people, but that's not the point.  Right now he is our only hope.  Another term for the Liberals will see the same clowns that ruined us back in power to continue ruining us.

The 'Globe and Mail' actually ran a letter about the billions wasted in giving natives water-treatment systems.  I was surprised because 'The Globe' is a bit of a bed-wetter these days, but here it is:

Canadians have given natives $4.61 billion since 2015 to install water treatment facilities to lift 147 boil-water advisories.

This letter-writer asks the right questions:  Who installed these systems?  Who is charged with repairing them?  The answers are, of course, unknown because no one dares ask the natives for accountability.  But I think that $4.61 billion could have been put to far better use.  But it wasn't.  Here's what I blogged about this mess in 2015 -- ten years ago!!

___________________________

"Another sad tale", October 14, 2015:

"The other outrage is the lack of safe drinking water on 133 reserves, with 93 boil-water advisories in place for more than two years.  Some, in fact, have been in place for more than 10 and a few since the 1990s.  Naturally, it's our fault.  But the truth of the matter -- which few people ever look into or acknowledge -- is that although drinking water on reserves is under federal jurisdiction, the more than $3.5 billion (yep, that's "billion") transferred to reserves from 1995 to 2008 still does not find its way to the solution, i.e., to provide safe drinking water on reserves.  This is the fault of native leaders and it is chronic. 

"Why?  Because local councils are required to build and maintain the water purification systems for which the money is earmarked.  And this is where the whole ugly mess sits because obviously, local bands have not used the money for water. 

"It's outrageous and even more outrageous that natives continue to put the blame squarely on "Ottawa".  It's getting more than tiresome to keep transferring monies to natives and having to sit by and watch it squandered to the detriment of their own people. 

"I'm really sick of it." 

_______________________

A couple of close relatives of B's are currently in the U.S.  One lives there, the other is visiting.  Both claim they want to vote, but each is woefully ill-informed about how Canadian citizens can go about it.  According to one sibling, "I can't vote because Harper passed a law that says Canadians who have lived in the U.S.  for more than five years can't vote."

Are you kidding me?!!!  What nonsense.  All you have to do is google the question and the answer pops up immediately.  Of course non-resident Canadians can vote, regardless of how long they have lived in the U.S.  And as if one prime minister could change this on his own!  Ludicrous.

The other sibling doesn't know when the election is happening because he claims he wants to be back in Canada by mid-May so he can vote.  Hey, buddy, the election is this Monday!  It'll be over by the time you get back.  To be helpful, I sent each the official info on how to vote from outside Canada.  Naturally, neither responded because, if you're never wrong, you can never listen to truth.

It is the duty of every Canadian to vote in every election.  Millions and millions have died around the world fighting for the privilege.  We have it.  We must exercise it.

Shame, shame on anyone who doesn't vote.

 

It'll be never-ending

The late Pope Francis

I'm talking about the palaver surrounding the death of Pope Francis.  It's front-page, worldwide news and will continue until he is put in the ground and a replacement chosen.  There are 1.5 billion Catholics in the world and they all contribute money to the Church, so the coverage will never stop.  At a minimum, the Catholic Church is worth about $73 billion, but estimates are it has many more stashed away here and there.

Of course, the Catholic Church is not a patch on the Mormons (LDS).  That bunch has an estimated $265 billion in its coffers!  $265 billion for 17 million members.  That's what disciplined and rigorous tithing'll get you.  (I've done a number of blogs on the Mormons; have a read of a couple.)

Remember when John Paul died?  Ya, that was another weeks-long media ennui of garment rending.  Don't get me wrong, I am a Catholic, but I have always kind of ignored the Pope and the Vatican.  I was, however, a very busy volunteer at our local parish, Our Lady of Fatima, where I was chair of the pastoral council and B served as chair of the temporal (financial) council for many years.  

I was also the coordinator of the eucharistic ministers and assigned them Masses every week.  Then there was my work taking communion to Catholics in the Civic Hospital every Sunday morning before Mass for years.  In addition to all that, I took home, hand-washed and ironed all the sacristy linens after each Mass.  So, I had credibility because I was a world-class sinner in some respects, which meant I could relate to anyone.

So, I was a very involved member of the Catholic community, doing what Francis said we should all be doing -- helping our fellow man in service.  Funny thing, however, I did not see a lot of homeless and suffering people living and being looked after in Francis's many palaces.  Somehow, when you're elected Pope, you get caught up in the trappings of the gold-encrusted Vatican and its vicious politics.  Your street ministry takes a back seat -- except for the money part.

So, I'm looking forward to the election of a new Pope, so we can all get back to "normal".   

 

Will the real Michelle Obama.....

....please stand up.  

Actually, I think she just did.  She now has a podcast, hosted by her brother (could she not get anyone else?  Guess not.) and watched by almost no one.  Do yourself a favour and watch Megyn Kelly's podcast on this disaster with Maureen Callaghan on YouTube.  I love both those women!  They are brilliant and not in the least politically-correct.  I can relate!

During the podcast, Michelle did nothing except blame and slag Barack for everything that had gone wrong in her life.  Wow!  Kelly and Callaghan both pointed out that without Barack, Michelle would be a nobody.  Indeed she would.  She was a quota student at Harvard and joined a nothing law firm, Sidley and Austin, where she met Barack.  

He was her ticket to ride.  But she trashes him, saying that after more than 30 years of marriage, at least 10 were terrible.  Really?!  Living in the White House and being the First Lady, thanks to your husband, your life was terrible??!!  

Note:  I can relate to being tarred with the same brush if you take a husband's name.  I decided to take B's name, Marley-Clarke, and many people asked me if I was related to Brian.  They also asked me if I was related to Diana, the second wife who opted to keep his name -- after she divorced him because, "Even though I can't stand to be your wife, I'm keeping your name."  

Thank God we no longer live in Ottawa -- the ingrown toenail of the country.

But back to Michelle.  Now she has revealed what she really is:  A Black girl with a chip on her shoulder from "The Hood".  Here she is, in all her glory, on her podcast.  Do yourselves a favour, watch the podcast to discover the "real" Michelle Obama:

What's with the Mickey Mouse hairdo?!  When she was First Lady, she straightened her hair to make it "white".  And what's with the killer knife nails?

A new Indian scam

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we all go to day schools?  Unless we went to boarding school, we went to school in the morning and came home after classes to our own homes.  

Well, the Indian Industry has hatched a new scam.  Apparently, if you're a native and you went to school during the day, but came home at night, you're entitled to money.  Yep, this apparently was abuse, according to the lawyers and Indigenous leaders who have dreamt it up.  So, evidently we were all abused because we went to day schools.

Huh?!  How absurd.

First, they turned residential schools into houses of horror, claiming children had been sexually and physically abused from morning 'til night.  Now they are claiming that day scholars were victims of unspeakable abuse too.  Here are the financial facts:

Ads currently running for natives who went to day schools.

The federal government has agreed to give them $57 billion since 2015 to address "past harms" -- whatever that means?  Since then, the annual Indigenous budget has tripled from $11 billion to more than $32 billion per year.  That's for 1,800,000 natives.  I can't do the math, but that's a lot of money per native. 

The other facts are that most of the abuse of native children at residential schools was perpetrated by older students on younger -- not by teachers, administrators or priests.  The other inconvenient fact is that Indigenous parents wanted their children to attend residential schools to escape poverty, disease and starvation at home.  They weren't dragged kicking and screaming from their tepees.  They were willingly given over to be cared for and educated.  

Sorry, Tanya Talaga, but them's the facts.

Frankly, I can't even imagine what new charges will be trumped up to extract more money from the beleaguered Canadian taxpayer.  You can blame Trudeau-the-Elder and Jean Chrétien for all this because they were the ones who promoted and romanticized Indigenous culture in the first place, which started all the money cascading into the pockets of corrupt chiefs.  

  

Letters

These letters to 'The Globe and Mail' did not get in, but one did yesterday -- the one about Don Cherry and how much he is missed.

Dear Editor,

I thought the ultimate goal was to win the NBA championship — not merely get in the playoffs.  But, according to Scottie Barnes, the target is just to be "really good and have a great run".  Huh?  These players make millions and millions, so why have they lost the plot?  Why do they think just getting better is good enough?

Reading the list of the injured and walking wounded, I thought I had stumbled into a hospital emergency ward — not the Raptor's dressing room.  President Masai Ujiri seems to have a great excuse.  Afterall, the team is, "In the middle of a three-to-five-year rebuilding project", so that lets him off the hook.  No one's going to look for results for at least a couple more.

Seems to me, everyone's given up, everyone's just going to sit back and see what happens.  Apparently in Toronto, that's called success for all professional teams.

_____________________________________

Dear Editor,

"Look into your heart," as one politician said to a reporter the other day.  Does anyone actually think signing Guerrero to a 14-year, $500 million contract is going to win them the World Series?  Exactly.  I'm no expert, but with the sorry shape the Jays have been in for years, one guy isn't going to turn the tide.

________________________________________

Dear Editor,

So, Danielle Smith has kicked duly-elected Peter Guthrie out of the UCP caucus for asking questions about possible meddling by the Premier's office into contract letting at the AHS.  That's akin to blatantly repudiating the decision of the electors of Cochrane-Airdrie for deciding Mr. Guthrie was the candidate they wanted to represent them.

Frankly, Ms. Smith, who do you think you are?  Once again, you are demonstrating your true colours and they're not "leadership".  They're dictatorial.  This move will not make the simmering questions over meddling go away.  If anything, Mr. Guthrie's firing will accentuate the issue.

At their peril, politicians always try to bury unpleasant issues.  But, as the late balladeer Leonard Cohen so eloquently wrote, "There's a crack in everything.  That's how the light gets in."

The elephant in the room

Tasha Kheiriddin, national columnist at Postmedia, had an excellent column this week, just before the debates. She was referring to the defence file, which is being completely ignored this election.

"Canada is facing the most perilous global environment in our lifetimes.  War continues to rage in Ukraine and Israel's still battling Hamas.  Tensions are rising in the Pacific as China flexes its military muscles.  Add to that a belligerent U.S. president eyeing our Arctic and the situation is stark.  If Canada won't take its own security seriously no one else will," writes Kheiriddin.

For me, Canada is most exposed on our Arctic border, where Russia and China could very easily invade and take us over.  Astoundingly, no one running for PM has noticed this!  Singh is still raving on about free bandaids and tooth fillings, Blanchet just wants everything-French-and-Quebec-to-be-everything-French-and-Quebec.  Carney is oblivious and May, well, she's locked in an ideological, green mystery closet somewhere banging on the door.

I cottoned onto this elephant a while ago and wrote a letter to 'The Herald' about it:

My letter pointing out the neglect of our military.

Poilievre has at least said he will beef up our Arctic defence and build a permanent military station there.  But still, all we would be able to do is watch while drones invade us.  Isn't that what NORAD is supposed to be doing?  Want to join the armed forces?  You'll have to wait years for a security clearance.  Think you'll get a good pension?  Take a look at all the homeless veterans sleeping on sidewalks.  Talk about deterrents!

This is the reality.  

It's all insane!  

Oxymoron

How can you have co-leaders?  There is only one leader of anything, but Elizabeth May can't accept that.  Her Green Party, if you can call it a party considering it only has one seat, elected Jonathan Pedneault as leader, but May refused to accept the results and go, so she anointed herself "co-leader".  

She did the same thing to previously-elected leader, Annamie Paul.  Remember her?  She quit in frustration with the ever-meddling May who just could not keep her yap shut and her mitts off policy.  

How stupid and petty.  However, I can attest to May's egomania because I was once trapped in conversation at a cocktail party by her.  It was unbearable!  She preached at me until I excused myself to go to the bathroom just to escape her maniacal tirade.

So, May will hang on and hang on until poor, beleaguered Pedneault will also throw in the towel.  What was the name of that Monty Python movie, in which the knight kept yelling even though his limbs were being hacked off one by one?  'Life of Brian'?  Can't remember, but that'll be May -- tilting at windmills and yelling into the abyss for the rest of time. 

How I hope she loses her seat!

Reminds me of how a psychiatrist described B's intrusive and noisy ex.  "This is a dog barking," she explained.  Well worth noting, as we are always surrounded by so many! 

By the way, The Green Party was rightly excluded from both debates, but the BLOC was allowed in.  Why was that?  The latter is not a national party, so it should also been excluded, but wasn't.  Both are irrelevant nationally, yet there was Blanchet, yapping away about subjects about which he has no business talking.  At least we were spared the odious May.   

Speaking of dictators, our premier, Danielle Smith, has kicked duly-elected MLA Peter Guthrie (our representative for Cochrane-Airdrie) out of caucus because he is calling for a public inquiry into the shenanigans surrounding inflated contract letting at the Alberta Hospital Service.  Smith won't hear of it, so she kicked him to the curb.  

That was a very dumb move because any whiff of scandal never goes away.  The smell just gets stronger.

We'll see how this plays out, but if Bev Oda can be fired for charging a $16 glass of orange juice to the public purse, big contracts handed to UCP friends will most certainly be Smith's downfall.  In vain, politicians always try to deny away scandal.  It never works.

Then there's the ludicrous Neil Young -- the ex-pat Canadian "balladeer" living in New York -- who has come out in favour of Mark Carney.  Huh?!  Sit down and be quiet, Neil.  Stay in New York with Daryl Hannah and don't bother people.  No one cares what you think. 

The irrelevant Young.

New heights of lunacy

Apparently, the school board in Fairfax County, Virginia, is introducing a course on  "Gender Studies" into elementary schools.

Yep, you read that right!  Gender studies will now be debated by eight-year-olds!  Instead of exploring and learning, these young children will now have to decide if they are boys or girls.

That's insane!  Never mind that parents overwhelmingly rejected this lunacy, the board went ahead and approved it anyway by a vote of 16 to zero.  Who cares about parents?!  Apparently, they know nothing and have simply been shoved aside.

Who's behind this madness?  Someone called Dr. Michelle Reid, a devotee of wokery who has waved her demented magic wand and decreed that six and eight-year-olds will now be subjected to sex and gender education.

Her Supreme Wokeness, Michelle Reid.

Fairfax Country is no stranger to controversy.  In 1954, when segregation was banned in the U.S., Fairfax staged an aggressive opposition and instituted a policy against desegregation, closing any schools that attempted it.  Now, however, it appears the pendulum has swung 180 degrees and the woke mob has run amok.

I don't even know where to start?!  I was decidedly a tomboy when I was a kid.  Would I have been encouraged to become a boy?  Probably.  As I always say, if you have a PhD, you are doomed to hoard thinking, DEI and wokeness.

Monty Python, but real

I am a dedicated viewer of 'Plank of the Week', a British YouTube program featuring brilliant journalists who take the mickey out of everyone and anyone to come up with the dumbest things that have been said or done over the last week.  

Mike Graham, host of the hilarious'Plank of the Week'.

The latest featured the University of Nottingham, which actually has a full-credit course on Telephobia, i.e., to help people who have a fear of talking on the phone.

I kid you not!  They ran a clip of the professor at work, sympathetically helping university students answer the phone.  They were actually serious!!$$!!  Think 'Monty Python', but real.

Naturally, they won the Plank.  Wouldn't it be nice if Canadian journalists hosted a show like this, where you would get truth instead of propaganda.  Can you imagine the pompous Andrew Coyne ever making fun of himself!?  Never.  B wants us to stop watching the CBC and I think we will.  Thinking that giggling ninny Rosemary Barton will impart any wisdom is ludicrous.

An unfortunate outfit for national television.

During the election, she and regular panelists Coyne, Althia Raj and Chantal Hébert are travelling across Canada -- at your expense -- to impart "wisdom" to the great unwashed gathered to soak up a few brilliant crumbs.

I watch just to groan and laugh at the magisterial gang pontificate on everything.     

Things to ponder

Trump's dereliction of duty is astounding -- so is the Congress's.

Am posting a couple of excerpts from 'The Globe and Mail' and 'The New Yorker'....

Good questions posed by 'The Globe and Mail'.  Can Carney answer them?  So far, he refuses.

This is an excellent portrayal of Trump's M.O. from 'The New Yorker'.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Who does he think he is?!

Mark Carney was in Edmonton yesterday and insulted our duly-elected premier, Danielle Smith, by making a joke about how he thought Doug Ford would be fine negotiating with Donald Trump, but "....certainly not Danielle Smith."  Then he laughed uproariously. 

Well hahaha.  How could a prime minister running for re-election have the gall to make fun of a democratically-elected premier of the very province upon whose back the wealth of every other depends!  It's appalling.  Does Carney not know who saved our oil and gas from ruinous tariffs?  It was Danielle Smith!  He should be getting on his knees thanking her -- not making fun of her.

Now, there's a male chauvinist pig if ever there was one.

Smith countered by saying that it's sad that a prime minister had such a problem with a strong Conservative women.  You go girl!  It's not only sad, it's unacceptable.  Carney is a fraud and he should never be handed the keys to the Kingdom of Canada.  Never.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith

Who the hell is advising this moron?  Shouldn't he know better than to insult a sitting premier?!  As I keep saying, please inform yourselves about who this guy really is.  He's a fop for China, he has stashed all his billions in tax havens in Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, thus avoiding millions in Canadian taxes owed and he doesn't even identify as a "Canadian".

Speaking of elections, B and I went to cast our ballots at an advance poll and boy, was it difficult!  We found the general area, but then wound our way though mini-plazas, car dealerships and country roads to no avail.  Despairing of ever finding the poll, we luckily happened upon a postal worker who was filling up rural boxes.  "Excuse me, but do you know where the advance poll is?" we asked.  "It's hard to find, but you turn here, then go straight, then turn left, then a quick right......and it's in a daycare centre just beyond," she told us.

Whaaat?  A daycare centre?  Sure enough, it was.  So, up we trudged two flights and finally found the poll!  I approached the scrutineer and presented my passport to prove I was a Canadian citizen.  "Oh, we only need an official document with your address.  We don't need a passport," she offered.  "So, anyone could claim they were a citizen and you wouldn't bother to ask for proof," I said.  At that she was speechless.

So, as usual, any non-citizen can actually just wander in, show an address and cast a ballot.  That's appalling, but it happens in every election.  I plan to write to the chief electoral officer and point this out because it means elections are not just skewed by foreign interference, but also by non-citizens voting. 

Note:  I did write and two days later, I actually received a phone call from 'The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer'.  I was floored!  I told her the issues I had and she was very sympathetic, but said she couldn't change the system and suggested I contact our local candidate.  So I will.  Imagine, a personal phone call two days after my complaint!   

Trouble was, they didn't have any ballots.  Whaaat?  That's right.  They open polls, but don't have proper ballots.  Ludicrous.  "You have to write the name of the candidate on the blank ballot correctly because we haven't received our official ballots yet," said the scrutineer.  So, we did.  Then we had to put our ballots in two envelopes, seal them, tick a box that said we understood what we were doing and put our ballots into the box.

Man, what a way to run a railroad! 

  

How about zero?

That's what Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy suggests, that Canada remove tariffs for all US products imported into Canada.  Zero tariffs.  

The wise and wily Senator Kennedy.  Catch him on YouTube.

Revolutionary?  Crazy?  Of course.  The main sticking point for Trump are the ridiculous dairy and egg marketing boards -- mainly in vote-rich Quebec -- that prevent US product into the Canadian market by imposing 200 and 300 percent tariffs on foreign imports of those commodities.  Will the next PM get rid of those trade barriers?  Don't make me laugh.

But Kennedy argues that Trump would have to drop those levied against Canada in response.  A great fan of Canada, Kennedy thinks it might work.  You know, it just might.  "I called Prime Minister Carney and suggested it to him personally," he said.  Wouldn't it have been great to have been on a party line for that conversation!

Naturally, Carney will never do it, because he thinks he is the smartest-guy-in-any-room-on-any-call-anytime-anywhere, but I think it would be worth a try.  Hey, but what do I know?  However, I do know human nature, am a very good judge of personality and character and my gut tells me it would be worth a try.  It would certainly shock and disarm Trump and throw a wrench into his plans.  So far, the only Canadian leader who has had any effect on Trump is our premier, Danielle Smith.  Thank G-d for her!

A word about Carney's campaign.  I cannot fathom why he included Freeland, Sean Fraser, Stephen Guilbeault and Anita Anand in his cabinet.  Those moves tell me he is not nearly ruthless enough for street politics.  He still thinks he is in the velvet boardrooms of polite bankers.  Here's a bulletin, Mark:  You're in the street fight of your life and so far, you're dropping. 

Freeland's problem is she is a know-it-all; Guilbeault's is he's a green fanatic, a felon who destroyed our economy.  And as for Anand and Fraser?  They had declared they weren't running again because they saw the doomed writing on the wall.  But the minute they saw Carney's fortunes start to ascend, they jumped back in, eager to stick their noses back into the public trough.

Obviously, they have no principles.

A word about Elon Musk.  When NASA couldn't rescue those two astronauts who were stranded in space, who brought them back?  Elon Musk.  NASA, with all its money and might, couldn't do it, they were left floating in peril for almost a year.  That was appalling and inexcusable.  So, to everyone who thinks Musk is a lunatic, think about that for a minute before you dump all over him.    

 

Please heed this warning!

Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie has a dire warning for Canadians as we go to the polls:  Don't fall for Mark Carney's economic blarney.  My husband has a post-graduate degree from 'The London School of Economics'.  He was awarded a fellowship to gain entry to that venerable institution -- quite the feat because even money can't get you in.  Only marks.  

Asking B what a central banker does, he told me a central banker has one job:  To maintain price stability.  That's it.  That means adjusting interest rates accordingly.  That's all you have to do.  And he even has seven deputy governors to help him figure it out.  Seven!  Yet Carney is painted as some kind of genius who saved two economies with his mysterious monetary super powers and mumbo jumbo.  

Please have a read of Balsillie's take and cast an informed vote.  As I've said, his policies are all tucked secretly into a Trojan Horse which he will open with dire consequences if elected:

Don't be fooled.

Balsillie's take.

   

He always looks as if.....

.....he is delivering a eulogy.  I'm talking about Mark Carney.  There he is, shoulders stooped, mouth drooping and speech dull and monotonous.  He has absolutely no enthusiasm whatsoever in the positions he iterates.

That guy needs a course in dealing with the public and the media.  Mr. McL, are you listening?  Watching his many gaffes shows I was absolutely correct when I said he will not be able to cast off his 'Sun King' cloak and don that of a dirty, scrappy politician.  How off-side can you be when you actually defend Paul Chiang as a candidate?!  Chiang suggested his opponent be kidnapped and taken to Beijing for prosecution and maybe death. 

That was insane, but there was the hapless Carney, calling it a "teachable moment"!  I mean seriously!  His team must have finally convinced him to drop the candidate, which he finally did today -- not admitting he was wrong to defend him, however, just saying Chiang had tendered his resignation and Carney had accepted it.

Carney demonstrated a complete lack of leadership and that does not cut it.  The problem is, Canadians are so desperate for a change from Trudeau that they are overlooking all Carney's faults, weaknesses and missteps.  They see him as some kind of savior.  So, for the moment, he remains a Harvard/Oxford, platinum member of the Davos Supper Club masquerading as a prime minister. 

___________________________

Had an interesting encounter yesterday with B's doctor.  Asking him about his background and speciality, I learned he was a child psychiatrist filling in for B's regular physician.  "How can children need a psychiatrist?" I inquired.  "It's really the parents who need one," he replied.  Then we got onto children's atrocious diets.  He told me that many of his little patients are served only chocolate milk and noodles.  "What?!!" I exclaimed.  "The parents tell me that's all they will eat," he replied.

Insane, I replied.  I agree, he said.  "When I was a kid, I ate what was put in front of me.  I remember once sitting in front of a plate of liver 'til 11 o'clock at night.  I finally ate it and it only had to happen once.  If it got too late, it came out cold for breakfast," I explained.

His eyes widened and he replied -- quite seriously, "I am going to encorporate that into my practice."  So there you have it.  I may have saved many children from mental illness by changing their parents' feeding habits.  Made me quite proud, actually.

_______________________

Trump's flauting and ignoring of the American Constitution has gone too far.  But no one will impeach him because they are scared sh-tless of him.  Bill Clinton, on the other hand, was impeached for having consensual sort-of sex with a White House intern.  How does that make any sense!?

If you think Clinton was the only powerful politician to have had sex with an underling you are sadly mistaken.  Frankly, it's one of the reasons men run for office:  So they can get away from their wives and live the Life of Riley in Ottawa.  I worked for one of Trudeau senior's ministers and I was regularly propositioned and pressured to have sex with him.  I didn't, but the pressure was routine and no one batted an eye.  He finally gave up and moved on to some other victim.

If you don't want that kind of life, don't work for a minister.  But it wasn't all bad.  There were many delicious perks -- like flying to exotic places in a government challenger and dining with other rich and powerful people.  No one raped anyone and frankly, I loved it!

Happily, I landed a job in the department so didn't have to deal with fending off that minister again.

_________________________

A word about immigration.  Why do we even need immigration lawyers?  There are clear rules and laws governing immigration, so if illegals get into Canada, they should be rounded up and deported.  They should also be housed in less luxurious settings than five-star hotels while they await their ride home; they should never need lawyers.  Countries have borders for a reason. 

Illegals being welcomed into Canada.

There is also something called 'The Immigration and Refugee Board', but we shouldn't even need that.  Giving them asylum means there is now a four-year waiting list to hear a case.  Wrong.  If you come to Canada illegally, you are by definition, a criminal.  They need to go before they can have children and plead their case.

Call me a right-wing radical, but I believe in a rules-based system with laws and borders that are actually obeyed.  Guess these days that makes me one.

 

Why?

Why is Manitoba spending millions trying to find the remains of Indigenous women who went missing from downtown Winnipeg in a local landfill?  I know, I know, this sounds callous, but why?   

The precious, immortal souls of these women are now with God.  That's the important thing; the bodies in which they were housed are not.

A number of years ago, a loved one was travelling alone in Europe.  When I could not reach her for a number of days, I assumed she had been killed somehow.  This is due to my natural anxiety, which is always high.  I decided then and there I would not scour Europe to find her remains.  I decided to focus on knowing she was in Heaven with The Lord because that's what I believe.  (Note:  She was fine; just a temporary phone glitch.)    

The four Manitoba women, however, led very dangerous lifestyles on the streets, so knew the lives they were living carried huge risks.  Take Ashlee Shingoose.  She was the 30-year-old Indigenous mother of three, whose kids had been removed because of the neglect and harm her lifestyle was causing them.

Shingoose's parents on the front page of 'The Globe and Mail' today.

The guy who murdered her has been caught, tried and incarcerated, so continuing with the torture to her family by dragging it out is pointless, in my opinion.  Naturally, no one will ever say this, but, as usual, I do.  

Note:  That's why I have a blog -- so I can express taboo opinions.  As I said to a woman I met at a cocktail party a few years, who haughtily looked down her nose and told me she didn't agree with a lot of my blogs, "If you don't like them, don't read them."  By the way, I didn't even know this woman, so her disdain made me burst out laughing!

______________________________

Speaking of taboo, why is Donald Trump continuing his assault on Canada?  Worse, how can he get away with ignoring legal contracts and treaties with impunity and gay abandon!?  It seems no one -- and I mean no one -- can stop him.  There's something very wrong when the president of the United States can turn into a dictator while laws, governments and courts are powerless to stop him.

As for our "saviour" Mark Carney, I predict Trump will take an instant dislike to his elite, buttoned-down persona.  That's just the way Trump is:  He either likes you or he doesn't.  And God help you if he doesn't.  What began as a bit of a giggle, is now getting very scary.

I also predict that Bob Fife's words of a few years ago will come true.  "The NDP are toast," he said on 'Power Play'.  It's taken a while, but Singh should have stopped supporting the Liberals a year ago and triggered an election.  At least then he might have at least held onto his seat.  He won't now and the NDP will go the way of the Conservatives in 1993, when the latter's huge majority crumbled to just two seats and they lost official party status.  That's what's in store for Singh, thanks to his determination to hang on until he was eligible for a multi-million-dollar pension.

That was dumb.

_______________________

A word about the verbose and turgid Andrew Coyne.  Slogging through his tortuous column today, I alit (or is it "alighted"?) on one word:  "Arguably".  Why use this word?  Either you stand behind your point, or you don't.  Saying something is "Arguably a cause for.....", as he wrote today, weakens your point and turns it into a puzzle.

Ah well, that's the sonorous, bombastic and pompous Coyne for you.  All his columns appear to be defending some sort of PhD thesis.  Please, Andrew, pare your thoughts down to one or two clear sentences, have a point and push yourself away from the keyboard.  With his work, I read nothing but the last paragraph to get his point -- if he has one.  

Oh how I wish I were his editor!