What's the issue?

Why is this so difficult?  The principle of the division of Church and State must apply when anyone is dispensing a public service because the public must not know the religion of a public servant when accessing such a service.  Plain and simple.  This does, of course, not apply to those work in the private sector; only the public.

Two different things that must be kept separate.

Naturally, religious groups are hysterically up-in-arms, charging the government with discrimination and all manner of nefarious intentions.  No, people.  It's just separation of Church and State and I wholly embrace it.

But it's going to the Supreme Court anyway.  Look the principle up, if you don't get it. The separation of church and state is:

"A legal and philosophical doctrine that prevents the government from establishing a state religion which favours one faith.  This wall of separation ensures religious freedom and secular governance."  How much clearer can it be?

Anyway, the debate rages and the only people benefiting are the lawyers.

I have blogged this countless times, but it still rears its unnecessary head.  Oh well, it give Richard Wagner and his gang something to chew on.  Going to post an old blog about this because it still applies.  (See above)  

Can't get one anymore

I'm talking about a great, old-fashioned club sandwich.  When was the last time you found an edible variety on any menu?  For me, the absolute best club sandwich I have ever eaten was at the 'Miss Cornwall' restaurant in Cornwall, Ontario.  

It was spectacular!  Ordinary white bread stuffed with real chicken, real cheddar, ordinary bacon, lettuce and tomato -- all smeared with plain mayonnaise.  So delicious I still remember it with my mouth watering 20-odd years on!

If you order one anywhere today you'll get ciabatta bread, fake chicken and aioli mayo.  Ridiculous.  I also can't stand cilantro and arugula -- all favourites with today's chefs.  They put that sh-t on everything!  Why?!

"You can't speak to a chef," I said to one waitress a while ago, while asking for plain Hellman's.  Because you can't.  They know everything and to h-ll with the customer.  They just can't be spoken to.  

I googled the 'Miss Cornwall' and found it closed.  It was huge and tacky and perfect!

Here it is in all its glorious tackiness.

The fact of the matter is that you can't get good food anywhere these days.  It's all ruined with silliness.  Wait, I take that back.  You can still get a great club at 'The Texas Gate' hotel here in Cochrane.  They also have liver and onions on the menu, so I order either when we go.  It's another tacky, perfect spot on the main drag.

Here is another great spot to get ordinary food.

So, if you're ever in Cochrane, stop in at the last remaining restaurant for ordinary food.  Sigh...........

  

I know this place well

...Hulse, Playfair and McGarry, the premier funeral parlour establishment in Ottawa.  "Death is part of life, dear," my Mother used to say when she started taking me there.  I was no more than six years old.

When someone she knew died, she took me along and I remember large, quiet rooms, smelling of flowers, with Kleenex boxes on every table.  I also remember gazing at the corpses lying in repose and thinking they didn't look asleep, they looked dead.

A familiar sight for me from a very young age.

That's where I learned what you do when someone in your circle dies.  You send a note, you call, you show up at the funeral home.  You show concern.  

That's why I read the obituaries every day in 'The Ottawa Citizen'; there's often someone I know in there.  That's how I learned that Louis Huneault's wife had died.  Louis was the deputy minister to whom I reported when I worked at Customs and Excise and he was the best boss I have ever had.

During my weekly meetings with him, my rule was one minute per item.  Very smart and savvy, that's all the time he needed to make a decision.  Because they were so short, my meetings were never cancelled.  He didn't like people who babbled and prattled.

Not to brag (well, OK, I'm bragging), but I was the one tapped to pen all the cab docs and issue papers.  I could always find and articulate the issue, which, contrary to what you might think, was not an ability everyone possessed.  Instead of capturing the issue in one, succinct sentence, most people ramble on with all sorts of background and blah, blah.  Ask me to state and articulate the actual issue and I always did it.

I also wrote all the deputies' and ministers' speeches for the same reasons:  I was bloody good at it.

But back to funeral homes.  I quickly posted a condolence and then picked up the phone and called him.  He answered -- shocked, but probably not surprised.  I had done that when the late Dick Fulford's wife died; I immediately sent a sympathy card, even though I did not know her.  That's just what you do, that's how I was reared.

I think that sympathy card played a role in why I was tapped for the job of manager, Communications and Client Relations for the GST.  Louis told me he and Dick had been out playing golf and when Louis talked about who would be good at the job, Dick said, "What about Nancy Marley-Clarke?"  I got the job.  Was it because of that card?  Could have been.

Funeral homes are part of my background and heritage.  My great-grandfather, Charles Lord, was an undertaker in Brockville, when my grandmother was growing up.  Their name was "Lord" and she used to be teased: "The Lord came down to bury the dead," her classmates would chant.

Back then, the deceased was laid out in the front room of the home, which is why they became known as funeral parlours.  If you've ever watched 'Mon Oncle Antoine', a beautiful film by Claude Jutras, you'll know how it was done before the advent of commercial parlours.

Writing a condolence, I checked for others by people who worked for him.  I was the only one, at least in 'The Citizen'.  Where was Suzanne Parent?  What about Marie-Josée Martel?  Why didn't they write in sympathy?

Guess they weren't fortunate enough to have had a Mother like mine.

Rest in peace, Rachel.

I think Cathal Kelly reads his mail

Sent this (see letter, below photo) to 'The Globe and Mail', the other day, but it didn't get in because I've had too many lately.  Also sent the same suggestion to Cathal Kelly, sports columnist.  He didn't reply, but he did write about what I had suggested in today's paper and went even further, suggesting they dump him altogether.  Here's the letter I wrote to Mr. Kelly a few days ago: 

"Dear Mr. Kelly,

"I am a huge fan and was just thinking about the Leafs.  I know it sounds insane, but were I the coach, I would bench Matthews and Nylander indefinitely.  I mean, wouldn't that be perfect?!  

That would get their attention and maybe spur the team from somnolence to inspiration and serious play.  They can't be traded and are doing nothing for the team, so why not?  I would also restore Tavares as the captain.

"Yours in admiration,
Nancy Marley-Clarke"

Cathal Kelly's column today.  Did I influence him?  Could be. 

Part of his column, saying it would be smart to trade Matthews.

Here's the letter I wrote to 'The Globe and Mail', which didn't get in:

"Dear Editor,

"If the Leafs can't convince Matthews to waive his no-trade clause, they should bench him — maybe even make Tavares captain again.  That shocker might humiliate him into leaving, but even if it doesn't, the team couldn't get any worse.

"I'm no hockey expert, but I grew up in the era of the original six, where mesmerizing stars dazzled on every team.  Matthews certainly isn't in that league.  He looks bored and unhappy every shift.  Time for him to pick up his marbles and go home."

Nancy Marley-Clarke

______________________________

I would not have done it

I wondered why the Irish Ambassador to Canada held his St. Patrick's Day celebration on March 10th, instead of on the actual day, March 17th?  Apparently, it was to accommodate the busy international globe trotting of our never-here prime minister.

In case the Irish ambassador has forgotten, it's on March 17th

Were I the ambassador, I would not have done such a thing.  I would have said I was sorry the PM couldn't attend and would he please send someone else.  But no, the Irish ambassador threw his party on the day the PM told him to.

Did I mention that this is the Irish ambassador we're talking about?  Did I mention this is the most famous day in the entire Irish calendar?  How could the guy change the date?!  That's sacrilege in my book.  

Speaking of out-of-line ambassadors, I am worried that the U.S. ambassador to Canada is a tad over his skis these days.  He has actually demanded an apology from the brilliant 'Globe and Mail' sports columnist Cathal Kelly (pronounced kaHAL) for a column the latter wrote about the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team.  Apparently, Bully-in-Chief Pete Hoekstra (just my opinion) found Kelly's column insulting.

Really?!  Could the U.S. ambassador's completely inappropriate intervention have had something to do with Kelly's fewer appearances?  I certainly hope not.  You don't get to intervene in a columnist's views, Mr. Hoekstra.  This is not Russia and Kelly doesn't write for Pravda.  

Columnists are paid to express their views.  That's how it works.  Kelly is not appearing as often as he usually does in that newspaper and it better not be over this.  I don't follow sports, but I read him every day because he is simply a brilliant writer.  Maybe he's taking a holiday?  I sure hope so because that newspaper would suffer greatly were he to leave.  (He's always in on Saturday's, so I'll let you know.  Yes, he's in today.  Whew!)

__________________

Speaking again of Carney, apparently the brilliance of our economic genius of a PM has landed our economy at number 19 in the G20.  Way to go!  He's also presided over the loss of 108,000 mostly fulltime jobs in the last two months.  108,000!  Wow, spectacular job, Mr. Uh, uh, Carney!  (His "uh's" are worse than Trudeau's!)

Trump's tariffs have contributed to this disaster because "elbows up Carney" and his sidekick Leblanc haven't managed to get his promised, guaranteed US deal done.

As I have repeatedly said, if you voted for him, you were had.   

Harmless flirtation

That's what I'd call it, but a director of administration in a B.C. law firm decided it was sexual harassment and sued one of the lawyers in her firm.  It happened at a Christmas party -- I mean, where else?-- and Ashley Chand has effectively ruined her career.  Not his, hers.  Forever.

Ah, the innocent office Christmas party, where booze flows and tongues loosened.

Apparently the lawyer told Ms. Chand she was attractive and bright asked if she'd considering dating him, were she working for another firm.  When she objected and officially complained, the firm offered her an apology and money if she signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).  She refused and immediately sued the guy and the firm.

How dumb.

She has kissed her career goodbye, along with any hope of getting a job in any other firm in the province.  She has applied to many law firms, but her reputation precedes her.  No one will hire her for fear of being accused of sexual harassment while casually bantering at the water cooler.

Frankly, back in my glorious salad days, when a male colleague said I was bright and attractive, I was flattered.  Whatever happened to flirting and flattery?  Sadly, it's been ruined by woke "feminists".  And what are they getting out of their behaviour? 

Nothing.

I was subjected to real sexual harassment and criminal assault by a Minister of the Crown in Trudeau senior's cabinet, Jean-Pierre Goyer, back in 1976.  That was a case where I should have sued, but didn't.  I needed the job, I was vulnerable, so I stayed quiet, did nothing and kept my job.    

In this case, instead of laughing off the compliment delivered in public, which it definitely was, she dug in and sued.  Could it be her culture influenced her?  She is East Indian and perhaps prone to interpreting everything as an affront, or racism.  I'd wager that played a part in her aggressive position.

Girls, if anyone compliments you, accept it gracefully.  Don't sue.  It'll be the end of your career.  If you are raped, however, as I was, you will win, but it will still be the end of your career.

Sad, but true.  If you sue over a compliment, you will dissuade women who are actually raped from bringing charges.  That's the problem.

Complicated, but true.   

  

"Ask not what your country can do for you..............

.........ask what you can do for your country."

The brilliant "Ask not" speech.

Remember that profound phrase written by Ted Sorensen and uttered by JFK in his inaugural speech in 1961?  Carney has borrowed the famous line, but changed it to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Brookfield."

That about sums up Carney's policies.  If you dig deeply enough, you will discover that all the contracts and "deals" he has pursued benefit Brookfield -- either directly, or by way of companies it controls.  

Sadly, the media are too lazy to look into anything that matters.  They just spout government press releases and buy into the hype.  Just to make sure no one finds out how this country's finances (don't)work, Carney has not named a new head of the Parliamentary Budget Office.  

With the departure of the highly-competent interim leader Jason Jacques, Carney is leaving the office empty and cutting off all enquiries and requests for documentation it needs to do its job.  Basically, he has muzzled it.  Again, the media ignores this completely.  

___________________________

Now we hear that thousands of Canadian citizens living in the Middle East are demanding that Canada evacuate them.  Guess what?  Anita Anand is already complying, securing planes and seats back to Canada.  I'm sick of people who come to Canada, stay just long enough to get citizenship and then return to Lebanon, or wherever, to resume the life they had always led.  It's not the first time; the Lebanese are very good at this gig.  (See "Here we go again," August 20, 2020.)

___________________________

And why are we sending Dominic Leblanc back down to Washington to "negotiate" a trade deal?  He's the guy who hasn't been able to get it done for an entire year.  Just to ensure it fails, Carney has appointed former PCO Clerk Janice Charette as another negotiator.  As I keep saying, Trump operates on instinct.  He'll take one look at Charette and walk out of the room -- if he even walks in in the first place, which I doubt.

Clearly, Carney doesn't want a deal with the U.S.  He prefers to deal with China and India.  Someone needs to tell him no deals will ever come close to what we are losing with the U.S.  

American Senator John Kennedy made a brilliant suggestion:  Canada should cancel all tariffs with the U.S.  I agree.  He, a Republican, believes that would force Trump to back down.  You know, it just might.

Flip flop

Now Carney is claiming he supported the U.S. bombing of Iran, but "with regret".  Huh?!  What does that mean?  Either he supported the decision, or he didn't.  And if he supported it, "with regret", then he didn't support it, in which case he should not have supported it.  (Sorry, getting tongue-tied here.)

Incoherence reigns.  He may be the worst prime minister in living memory.

Another pile coming out of his mouth.  And now he is siding with Kier Starmer, claiming the move was against international law and did not have the backing of the UN Security Council.  Anytime you side with Starmer, the most reviled and unpopular prime minister in British history, you can bet you're on the wrong one.

As for international law, doesn't exist -- as witnessed by the fact that no one pays a whit of attention to it.  The court, headquartered in The Hague, comprises 15 members, 13 of which hail from corrupt countries, so, so much for listening to their decrees?  At any rate, Canadian law trumps the impotent international variety; Carney should quit quoting it to excuse his cowardice. 

As for the Security Council, although sitting on the most expensive real estate in the world, it is a completely ineffectual organization and everyone knows it.

Meanwhile, as Carney backtracks on his support for Trump's move, the "brilliant" lifelong backbencher and now Minister of Defence, David McGinty, is enthusiastically confirming it.  Folks, it's "duh" all around this cabinet table.

Carney's current position on Iran.

Carney will pay for his about-face with Trump.  He should have heeded his own advice and worked with, "The world as it is, not how we would like it to be."  And we all know how Trump is.

Get set for more tariff fun!

 

Baffling

We're coming up on a year of Carney's vacant reign and still people support him.  Why?  He has achieved absolutely nothing, save maybe a couple of memoranda of understanding.  Do his supporters have no brains?  No ability to think?  No critical faculty to analyze?  What other reasons can there be?

Now he's off to India to.....to.....what?  India has already said they will take every drop of oil and natural gas we will sell them, so why go there?  To avoid the House of Commons, a place where he is decidedly at sea?  To steer clear of Question Period where he has to remove his self-anointed crown?  He consistently thumbs his nose at Joe Blow Canadians -- people currently struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table.

Carney is exactly like Trump.  The latter bypasses and ignores Congress; the former does the same with Parliament.  For those who automatically despise Trump and blindly venerate Carney, give your heads a shake.

My question is, why does Carney have to be the star of every trip?  Doesn't he have ministers to do some of this?  Where are they?  Shockingly, he cancelled a press conference because, "There was no time."  That was complete BS.  He cancelled because he didn't want to answer questions about India's political interference in our elections.  The headline confirming the Indian consulate's hand in the assassination of a Canadian citizen didn't help either.

Ah yes, here's why he's in India.

And there was his wife, along for the ride.  Diana, if you insist on accompanying your prime minister husband, at least put on a decent outfit and fix your hair.  She looks like she just grabbed the nearest tablecloth on her way out the door!  Or perhaps she feels looking fashionable is vacuous and beneath her intellectual brilliance.

Diana Carney's dress on arrival in India.

The reality is dragging your wife along doesn't make you look strong.  It makes you look weak.  It makes you look like you have to have your Mummy along to hold your hand. 

Genders unknown

Whatever, woman, make an effort, or stay home in New York.  She needn't have tagged along at all.  I mean, why?  And why was Champagne on the plane?  The guy's the minister of finance, why did he need to be there?!

Heard Vassy interview Champagne before he left and he blabbed a stream of word salad nonsense, after which B and I looked at each other and said, "What did he just say?"  Neither of us could conjure a thing.

Carney may be the worst prime minister in recent memory.  He gives not a hoot for this country with his fruitless, vain voyages around the globe.

Speaking of incompetent "leaders", Britain's Kier Starmer is currently giving him a run for his money.  Currently voted the most unpopular prime minister in the country's history, he just refused to allow American planes to re-fuel at a British air base, meaning they have to fly longer and more dangerous sorties to accomplish their mission. 

Britain's stunned PM

What a dumb move!  Almost as dumb as the Indigenous group in B.C. who are trying to close off the air space above the Crown land on which their reservation sits.  How brilliant of Starmer to alienate Trump in the latter's determination to rid Iran of a leader who has killed at least 40,000 of his own people because they spoke out.  As usual, the stuffed-shirt devotee of international law said he couldn't because Iran wasn't "an imminent threat" to Britain.

Frankly, Trump should follow through on his earlier musings about leaving NATO altogether.  I mean, he is getting absolutely no support from other members, so what's the point?  

As far as Iran is concerned, never mind Ayatollah Khomeini's followers have carried out many murderous attacks on British citizens on British soil.  No, Starmer is sticking to his guns, so to speak, and adhering to the impotent international laws that threaten the entire world.  And what's the response of the EU?  Ursula von der Leyen has called an emergency meeting to.....to.....hold another gab fest.

As I said, what thick, dumb moves by both Starmer and Barbie Ursula.

 

One word

When a young student asked me what reconciliation with the Indigenous meant, I replied, "Money".  She stood there shocked because there she was, writing what she thought would be a complicated analysis of land claims and traditions and I had just destroyed her entire thesis.  I mean, what would she be writing about when it can all be summed up in that one word?

'The Globe and Mail' tiptoed into the subject today with its editorial, "The high (and rising) cost of reconciliation".  They went on about ways of life and traditional territories, but after all is said and done it boils down to that one word -- especially after the Cowichan decision, giving all of Richmond, B.C. to the Indigenous it'll only get worse.

Can you imagine owning property in Richmond and finding out the title belongs to the Cowichan?  Good luck trying to sell it.  (See, "Everyone's effed", August 25, 2025)

Tanya Talaga weighed in on another Indigenous reality:  The preponderous of Indigenous inmates in Canadian prisons.  In Thunder Bay, for instance, it's 100 percent.  Tanya's analysis, however, is brilliant.  

She claims that the high rates of recidivism of natives are due entirely to the lack of librarians in correctional institutions.  Huh?!  Yep, it's all because there are no librarians helping them learn.

"What did we teach them in there?" she asks.  She never, however, asks what their upbringing might have had to do with their fates.  No, it's all the librarians' faults -- never the parents.

I'm getting sick of the blame game being completely dumped into the laps of everyone but the parents and the community.  Hey, look into yourself, as Mark Carney implored Rosemary Barton.  

Will anything change?  Rhetorical.

How can communities like this foster civilized behaviour?

Another shining example of a pristine reserve.  We spent $63 billion on Indigenous funding last year -- 12% of the entire budget -- for a population of 1.8 million.  Get out your calculator and weep.

  

War crimes

Zelensky has just celebrated four years of a senseless war he cannot win, but wages yet.  'The Globe and Mail' had this tragic photo on its front page, the headstones of just a fraction of the 50,000 killed in addition to another 500,000 wounded.  When you see actual graves, it hits hard:

Every grave represents a senseless death.  As well, there are probably 10 relatives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who will forever weep and mourn.  

Apart from outrageously enriching himself personally out of the billions countries have given him -- Canada alone has sent $24 billion down the black hole of his atrocity -- he continues to sacrifice the lives of young men and women in his personal quest to.....to......what?!

And guess who else is profiting from this mess?  Brookfield.  Gee I wonder how that happened?  Carney's personal wealth is estimated to be $96 billion.  $96 billion!  Something smells to high heaven here.

Why does it continue?  Canadians are suffering, vets are living on the streets.  Zelensky has to be stopped.  And so does Carney.

 

Is it "sleigh" or "sled"?

...as in "Bob".  I'm not sure, but at any rate, who cares and who does it?  By my count, there are six disciplines:  Single, two-man, four-man, luge, skeleton and relay. 

Death wish because....?????

Frankly, who does this in real life?  No one I know or have ever seen, even though we live 15 minutes from the 1988 Olympic track.  A few years ago, two teenaged brothers literally lost their heads when they took a run on that track when it was closed.  A very sad day, but it stopped other kids from trying such a very dangerous sport.

Apart from this "sport", the Olympics have wrapped and I watched snippets here and there.  What it did do, however, was motivate me to switch over and binge-watch the Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir series, 'Tessa and Scott' on YouTube.  Now, there was magnificence!  

Their intimacy convinced me they had to be lovers in real life, but they're not.  Each is married to other people and each has kids.  They were, however, perfection.

Do yourself a favour and tune in to this breathtaking couple making magic on the ice.

The hockey gold match was heartbreaking, as Canada fell to the U.S.  Frankly, I think Canada was the better team, but clearly Crosby was missed.  I think he had to weigh this game in favour of the entire season with the Penguins.  Obviously, he chose the Penguins.

The most insulting and ridiculous part was the presentation to the players of dolls!  Dolls!  WTF was that about?  Absolutely ludicrous and whoever came up with that idea needs to be fired.    

Finally some sense

Re-printed from 'The Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy', a Calgary-based organization dedicated to a civil, common sense approach to public discourse:

"News out this past week that the University of Alberta might be ending so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). If that's true, it's positive. After all, despite the pleasant-sounding words, DEI as policy is an anti-merit, anti-individual, illiberal way of awarding jobs or university student spots based on race, ancestry, or ethnicity.

"However, we've seen institutions announce such things before. What often happens is the name changes but the discriminatory policies stay. It used to be called "affirmative action" and then it was changed to "employment equity." Then it became Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).  A very counter-productive, anti-meritorious policy. "We'll keep an eye on developments at the University of Alberta and let you know what we see in the coming months.  "Also news this past week that the federal government is shutting down its own "Islamophobia" office, one headed up by a former Toronto Star journalist." But it might be replaced with a new office dedicated to tracking what Ottawa considers hate speech.  "The problem with an office dedicated to policing speech is that it injures free inquiry and free expression, which are necessary for getting to the root of problems. You can't solve a problem if you can't critique others' views. That's as true of religious beliefs as it is when it comes to ideological beliefs.  “I’m glad to see a journalist-activist—which is what Ms. Elghawaby’s skillset was—is no longer receiving taxpayer funds to promote a radical, illiberal view of how Canadians should think, i.e., that any critique of Islamic fundamentalism, is wrongly equated with hatred of Muslims.  "We shall see if the new government body is any improvement though. The core issue is that Canadians should be free to critique each other’s belief systems and out-workings of the same, religious or atheist, without being hounded by taxpayer-financed bureaucrats about their views.”  _________________________ If adopted, I agree it would be a positive move.

What a brilliant appointment. Not.

Carney has just made another "brilliant" appointment:  Janice Charette as chief negotiator for CUSMA.  

Charette was the clerk of the Privy Council Office who recommended Trudeau invoke the Emergencies Act during the truckers' convoy -- an invocation just ruled unlawful by the courts.  As I said, what more brilliant person to send to deal with Trump!  Doesn't even know the law.  

I predict he'll take one look at her and walk out of the room, if he walks in at all, which I highly doubt.  Like it or not, looks count to Trump.  

Any hope here?  And that hair!  Please.

He's also leaving Dominic Leblanc in there as another sterling "negotiator" -- the same guy who hasn't been able to get a single thing done in a year.  Charette's appointment and Leblanc's continuing involvement signal one thing:  Carney doesn't want the CUSMA re-negotiation to succeed because he remains committed to his globalist agenda.

It's just one dumb move after another with this gang.

 

I forgot my flip flops

We decided to spend Valentine's Day weekend at the venerable Palliser Hotel in downtown Calgary.  Naturally, we booked the Gold Floor -- which is very expensive.  

I, of course, brought my best outfits, but I forgot my ripped jeans and flipflops.  Can you believe that so many people with money frequent the lounge there in the WORST outfits I have ever seen!  Here are a few beauties:

How do you get that big so young?!

  

At last count, this guy went to the trough 10 times!

Sweats down to the pubic bone with flipflops.  Charming!

Nothing like ripped jeans in the Gold Lounge!

Me trying to look decent. 

Farewell to another Valentine's Day.

What are they eating up there?

 Mark Carney is creaming Mary Simon in the race for who can gobble more goodies on flights.  In 2022, Simon wasted what turned out to be a mere $93,000 on such delights as beef wellington when she took a trip to the Middle East and dragged along her Crocodile Dundee wanna-be husband (Note to Whit: lose the ridiculous hat) and 29 of her closest friends.  Carney, however, topped that excess by a country mile.  He spent $300,000 in the air alone!

Never mind that the governor general is the King's representative in Canada.  Never mind that the Commonwealth has nothing to do with the Middle East.  What the h-ll!  Simon went anyway and gorged on gourmet delights in the air alone.  (Frankly, she doesn't need to eat so much, judging by her ample girth, but I digress.)

Not to be outdone, Carney has relegated her to the bush league.  Last year, his lordship spent (rounded off) $300,000 on inflight catering and another $472,000 gourmandizing when he got where he was going.

He dropped $39,000 in Paris, $48,000 in Washington, $36,000 in London, $133,000 in Rome, $141,000 in The Hague, and $73,000 in Brussels for a grand total of:

$472,293.20!!! 

Wow, that's staggering when you consider that Canada's food banks are struggling to keep up with demand.  Frankly, it's obscene.  As I have said, Carney governs like a CEO, not a PM, with nary a thought to the poor serfs beneath him.

____________________________

A word about the 'fairer" sex.  Women are at in again running to women-only conferences.  "You never went in for that stuff, did you," one DM I reported to said.  I took it as an enormous compliment because I didn't hang around doing "women's issue/feminist/liberated" things.  I hung around the power, which in my day, usually meant men.

The latest 'Globe and Mail' woke conference.  Some women have been at this for 60 years.  I got over it decades ago.

___________________

When I heard a female had been the shooter in Tumbler Ridge, I was shocked.  Women don't do this.  Of course, it wasn't a women, it was a male in a dress, but the CBC couldn't bring itself to say it.  How does this help?  Rhetorical.
And, by the way, what was Carney's wife doing laying flowers?  No one elected her, so please stay at home in New York.

What a piece of work

Years ago, when B was newly-married to his ex, she took a solo trip to Winnipeg.  While she was away, B suffered a near-fatal ulcer bleed on the aorta and was rushed to hospital.  It was so bad, he was actually given the Last Rites.  

"Please let me know if he dies," she said off-handedly when called by a mutual friend.  Click buzz.  That was it!  Didn't return home.  Didn't call B.  Couldn't have cared less.

This has come to mind because my stepson recently fell down a flight of stairs and broke his neck.  The son lives in Ottawa and the mother lives in Ottawa, but when informed of another near-fatality in her family said, "I'll keep him in my thoughts, thank you."

That was it!  Her own son lies in a coma near death and all she can muster up is a perfunctory ho-hum.  Click buzz.

What kind of a mother does that?!  I can't even fathom!  They are estranged, for obvious reasons, given the kind of mother she is(n't).  But still, would a mother not react and immediately visit a son who is close to death in intensive care a 15-minute drive away -- even if only to put on an act?

Yep, folks.  That's the kind of ex and mother I have been dealing with for 46 labourious and relentless years.  This is the same person who claimed she was so devoted to her children she had to have full custody, which forced us to spend tens of thousands on lawyers and psychologists to get joint custody!  What happened to the "devoted mother act?"  

Thankfully, we no longer have to, except in times of emergency when we are contacted by authorities in case we have to pull the plug.  Horrors!  (Thankfully, he is recovering.)  

I consider her a demonic, malignant narcissist; her deeds confirm it.

Underneath the dyed-blonde hair and beatific smile lurks this.

       

He's such a sh-tty writer

I've never understood the reverence and indulgence the hunourless Andrew Coyne is afforded in 'The Globe and Mail' and on 'At Issue'?  The guy is a really sh-tty writer.  Here are a few of today's superfluous examples in italics:

• "The procurement process, what is more, is so bureaucratic....."
• "Notionally, it is in Canada too."
• "I was struck, again, by how often we were -- quantifiably, in many cases -- the outlier.....the most disproportionate and (therefore) regionally divisive electoral system, and so on."
• "Arguably, a political community is formed, in part, by......"
• "Canada, almost uniquely, does not...."
• "As I've said in other contexts:......
• "We have framed the national-security debate, in short, too narrowly."
• "On all these fronts and more, Canada has....."

He writes as if he were defending some sort of complicated scientific thesis, instead of simply penning a garden-variety opinion piece. Talk about turgidity!  The guy has mastered it!

Watching him on 'At Issue', I am always stuck by the juxtaposition of the ludicrously giggling Barton and the dour, morose Coyne.  I know, I know, why read or watch the guy?

The Prince of turgidity.

Can't help myself because I love to edit the h-ll out of him.  If only the late Jean Portugal, the most brutal and brilliant editor who ever had the misfortune of red-penning me, had had a go at him.....sigh.

A Constitutional examination of the ICE issue

 

Re-printed from the 'Catholic League Newsletter', by Bill Donohue.  It deserves a look from the TDS cohort.  I am neither a supporter, nor a denigrator, of Trump.  As a former journalist, I simply try to cast an objective look at events:

February 5, 2026



The church invasion that took place at Cities Church on January 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota was a flagrant violation of constitutional law, federal law and common decency. It is the kind of behavior associated with totalitarian regimes, not democratic polities. Yet the outcry from all quarters—government, religious, civic, educational, the media—has been miniscule. To say this is a bad omen is a gross understatement.

The purported cause for action was to register disapproval of David Easterwood, one of the pastors of this Southern Baptist church; he heads the local office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Those who want to voice their opinion about any member of the clergy associated with any religion have a First Amendment right to do so outside the house of worship. No one has a right to disrupt church services and harass its congregants. To do so violates the “free exercise of religion” provision in the First Amendment, the congressionally passed Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) of 1994 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

The U.S. Constitution

The FACE Act makes it illegal to injure, intimidate or interfere with those seeking to exercise their religious liberty right at a place of worship. The Klan Act makes it illegal to terrorize people or to deprive them of their constitutional rights through intimidation or force.

Nine of the 20-40 church invaders are being charged with entering the church “in a coordinated takeover-style attack,” and for engaging in “acts of oppression, intimidation, threats, interference, and physical obstruction.” The indictment, filed in the Federal District Court of Minnesota, alleges that “the pastor and the congregation were forced to terminate the Church’s worship services,” and had to flee out of fear for their safety.

One of the defendants, William Scott Kelly, a.k.a “DaWokeFarmer,” disrupted the church service by screaming, “This ain’t God’s house. This is the house of the devil.” He got in the face of a mother and her two young children, chiding her for not supporting the church invasion. He said to child congregants, “Do you know your parents are Nazis? They’re going to burn in hell.”

Much has been made of the presence of Don Lemon. The former journalist and failed CNN pundit (he was fired for sexist behavior and remarks, as well as lousy ratings), claims he was a disinterested observer, and not part of the organized protest. “I’m not a protester, I went there as a journalist.” Inside the church, he said, “We’re not part of the activists, but we’re here just reporting on them.”

The indictment says otherwise. Lemon met at a shopping center with all the other defendants to make plans about invading the church. He did not just stumble on the scene of the crime. Instructions were given by Nekima Valdez Levy-Armstrong and another female on how the operation would be conducted once inside the church.

Lemon told his livestream audience that congregants were “frightened,” “scared,” and “crying,” saying their response was understandable given that their experience was “traumatic and uncomfortable.” Perversely, he admitted that this was the purpose of the invasion. He also tried to intimidate the pastor and obstructed congregants from leaving the church. In short, he was an active participant in the church invasion.

The list of politicians, all Democrats, and civil rights organizations, all left-wing, that have nothing but contempt for the right to worship is astounding. This should be the lead story in every media outlet, yet it is being treated as a side story. 

Notice that none of them even gives a nod to the egregious violation of the “free exercise of religion.” They are framing this as purely a free speech issue when it is first and foremost a matter of religious freedom. But religious liberty has never been of any interest to the Left, and many have actively sought to disable it.

In our correspondence with the Religious Freedom Commission, the Department of Justice and President Trump, we will stress the fact that almost all homicides that have occurred in recent times in houses of worship have been in Christian churches.

In a paper released by two criminologists studying violence against houses of worship in the United States between 2000 and 2024, it was found that “Ninety-seven percent of deadly incidents occurred at Christian churches.” This settles the issue—Christian haters are a major threat that demands immediate attention.

 

Offer your support of the House Resolution by contacting the chief of staff to Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA): chris.crawford@mail.house.gov