Rough, tough Rob was right

Toronto City Hall was a cushy cesspool of excess and privilege when the late Rob Ford stormed into the mayor's office.  Bloated and corrupt, the place was due for a clean-out and Rob did it with gusto.  He cut the number of councillors by half and did away with a number of unnecessary perks and goodies that were eating up taxpayer dollars -- including slashing councillors' $200,000 office budgets, eliminating private club memberships and doing away with limos and chauffeurs.

He left office in 2014 due to illness and died in 2016.  Yes, Ford was a crazy son-of-a-bitch, but his base loved him.  The guy who succeeded him, John Tory, was the polar opposite.  Descended from a upper-class, patrician family, he ran on a platform of restoring "decorum and dignity" to the office, but he has just slipped on a carnal and unseemly banana peel and fallen flat on his letter of resignation.  Seems Tory, the suave devoted "family man", has been caught with his pants down secretly entertaining a female staffer.  Oops!  

Of course, he wouldn't have resigned, had 'The Toronto Star' not got wind of his peccadillo.  And his "apology" actually threw his paramour under the bus, as he said it was wrong for "me to allow this relationship to continue", implying that she was the aggressor.  Typical.  It's all so familiar and indecorous.  The sad part is that he was a fantastic mayor on so many files, but those (monkey) business trips and late nights at the office cadoodling with his "Girl Friday" tripped him up.  

I mean, come on.  Everyone knows office romances and affairs happen all the time; some with married participants, others not -- or as Catherine Deneuve put it, "Some men are available, others not, but it has nothing to do with marital status."  Office affairs are ubiquitous and bound to happen.  As I have said, it I could have a dollar for every co-worker who hit on me, I'd be much richer.  But he did the prudent thing and resigned immediately, cutting off continuing coverage of the mess.  However, now I hear he is being pressured to stay on.  I hope he does for the city's sake.  In the meantime, it may unfortunately be bye bye Mayor Tory....

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Next we have Mary Ng, federal minister of small business, export and international development.  Her transgression, which she claimed (gasp!) she had no idea she was committing, was to let a lucrative contract to her BFF, Amanda Alvaro of 'Pomp and Circumstance Communications'.  Yep, it seems Mary was absent the day they gave all new MPs the ethics course on the do's and don'ts of life as a minister with money to hand out.  

And what does Ms. Ng say?  I made a mistake and it won't happen again.  Of course she should resign, but she won't and Trudeau -- master diddler and ethics breacher himself -- will never ask her to.  His own transgressions are too varied and vast to list.  The other reason, of course, is that Ms. Ng is an ethnic woman and he is a inclusive "feminist".  So, Mary gets to slip one by the boss again.

All these transgressions have been investigated and called out by Ethics and Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion, to neither avail nor consequence.  My question is, why do we even need an ethics commissioner in the first place?  Do people no longer know the difference between right and wrong -- a difference one would hope is learned at a mother's knee?  Apparently, politicians don't, which is why they seek office in the first place.  Power, influence, the chance to reward your friends and have extra-marital affairs seem to trump ethics at every turn.  

Here's Mary testifying to her innocent ignorance of rules at a parliamentary committee this week, all smiles and smugness.  What me worry?!

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A word about Vicky Mochama, a freelance columnist who penned a doozy in today's 'Globe and Mail'.  She actually bragged about how she has been a non-filer of taxes for many years and didn't think she'd file this year either.  

I guess Vicky is another who doesn't get the connection between filing taxes and the law.  She also doesn't get that tax money is what pays for societal infrastructure and health care.  Taxes are what make the country tick.  That she could write in a national newspaper about her illegal behaviour is stupefying.  I sent her an email:

"Good morning, Ms. Mochama.  I was shocked to read your column in ‘The Globe and Mail’ today, bragging about being a non-filer.  As a retired employee of the Canada Revenue Agency, I am a staunch supporter of Canadians paying their taxes.  Afterall, where do non-filers think the money comes for community infrastructure, health care and all the other benefits that make living in Canada so attractive?  Taxes, that’s where – not the nefarious underground economy.

"It always astounded me that those we had to chase to pay their fair share never made these financial/societal connections.  I was disappointed at your glib treatment of not paying your taxes; I hope it won’t encourage others to be similarly delinquent and laissez-faire.

"I always enjoy your appearances on television, but I will now watch through a new lens.

"Sincerely

Nancy Marley-Clarke"

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I'll let you know if she responds.  Miss Vicky:

  

      

You could not make this up

So, here we have a 16-year-old high school student, Josh Alexander, barred from attending school for the rest of the year because he dared to stay close to his Catholic faith by saying there are only two genders:  Male and female.  This was greeted with the usual outrage by trans students and parents, who leaned on un-principled principal Derek Lennox to kick the kid out.

So he did.  I kid you not!

To up the fantasmagorical thermometre, the school in question is a Catholic one -- St. Joseph's High School in Renfrew, Ontario.  Correct me if I've missed something, but doesn't Catholic doctrine teach that there are only two genders?  Weren't there only Adam and Eve, two genders?  I don't recall any he/she's, she/he's, he/he's or she/she's in Genesis.  Maybe it was principal Lennox who missed that classs, so Alexander is not allowed to attend school for the rest of the year after saying he would continue to express his belief that God created only two genders. The school told him his presence would be “detrimental to the physical and mental well-being” of transgender students.

“Offence is obviously defined by the offended, said Josh.  "I expressed my religious beliefs in class and it spiraled out of control,” Alexander said. “Not everybody’s going to like that. That doesn’t make me a bully. It doesn’t mean I’m harassing anybody. They express their beliefs and I express mine.  Mine obviously don’t fit the narrative.”

As I said, it's a Catholic school, not a public, secular one.  Did someone re-write the bible or the catechism?  Did I miss something?  It's so insane I can hardly believe it.

In a display of real courage, Mark Searson, director of education for the Renfrew County Catholic School Board, declined to comment.  He declined to comment!  One parent of a trans called Alexander's comments "bullying".  Bullying!  After saying this, however, she also declined to comment.

When Alexander showed up to attend class, he was actually arrested.  Arrested!@!$#$#!@!!!

It's a sad, sad day when a 16-year-old student is forced to stand up and defend Catholic doctrine, while those who run the institutions hide under the bed.  Here he is, Defender of the Faith:

  

Would never happen in Texas

I'm talking about allowing prisoners who self-identify as transgender to be incarcerated in a prison of their choice, either a men's institution or a women's -- anatomy be damned.

Has the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) completely lost its mind??!!  I'd say yes.  In other words, if a male offender says he's a woman, he gets to serve his sentence in a female prison.  And vice-versa.  The CSC officially released this new CD 100 policy in 2022, but guess what?  It's not working as the woke hysterics who envisioned it planned.  Why?  Well heck, anatomy reared its ugly head (sorry for the pun).

In this brilliant move by the Laurentian Elites -- Commissioner Anne Kelly, I'm looking at you and your buddy Trudeau --  CSC decided to place actual males in female prisons.  The result?  Physical and sexual violence and rape.  Well, obviously!  Some public places in Canada also allow men to use women's washrooms for the same reason, but this takes it to new heights.  

Not to be outdone, The Church of England is currently exploring ways to refer to God as a woman.  And if that's not enough, research is underway to transplant uterus' into transgender women -- or it is transgender men?  I can never figure that out.  Anyway, it's uterus' into biological males.  It's all so insane.

"There is no substantial evidence to support a prison placement policy that permits transgender prisoners to choose the prison in which they will serve their time,” argues British Professor of Criminology, Jo Phoenix. “But we do have a mounting number of specific instances where women have been directly harmed as a result of such policies.”

According to Phoenix, the offences of many women who end up in the criminal justice system take place against a backdrop of economic inequality (relative to men), disproportionately high rates of violent victimization and hugely disproportionately higher rates of sexual assault. Thus, CD100 creates a new layer of vulnerability for an already vulnerable group.

“Women prisoners who are re-traumatized by the presence of male-bodied individuals – especially in rehabilitation programs that may well be discussing male violence – cannot simply leave and find another group to attend,” writes Phoenix.

The author concludes that the main driver for the change in Canadian prison placement policy wasn't evidence or even legal necessity.  It was pure politics. The implication of this report is that Canadian law and policy-makers need to consider whether prisons are (or ought to be) seen as places where the bona fide exemption clause in the Canadian Human Rights Act applies.

I get a lot of my information on this file from my husband, B, who was director general of staff training and development at CSC for a number of years.  He oversaw the training of all corrections officers and knows of what he speaks.  He thinks it's ridiculous; he's right.

I am so sick of affirmative action appointments going awry.  Ms. Kelly, I am afraid, is just another example.  This policy might work in a place like California, but I doubt it would hold even there.  Biology has a funny way of getting in the way of "enlightened" philosophy.  A potential cell-mate:    

  

Roxham Road Debacle

So many things don't jive in Canada.  Some much is broken.  So much doesn't work.  And it can all be laid at the fancy-socks feet of the incompetent Justin Trudeau.  

At the top of the list is the Roxham Road mess, where thousands of illegals cross into Canada via this open rural road in Quebec.  The 'Globe and Mail's editorial today confirms what I am saying:  We're being had.

Hope you're sitting down because last year....wait for it.....60,000 illegal asylum seekers strolled over the border and sauntered into Canada.  Now it appears that because Texas is loading these illegals into buses and shipping them to New York, the mayor there is giving them free tickets to travel to Platsburg, from whence they simply take taxis into Canada via Roxham.

It's unbelievable and intolerable, but, as I have blogged, it won't stop because these people get money, health care, an address and guess what?  They all vote Liberal.  Yes, you have to be a Canadian citizen to vote, but when was the last time you were asked to prove it at a polling station.  

Never.  Are you listening Stéphane Perrault, chief electoral officer?  Why don't you do your job and crack down on illegal voting?

And Trudeau knows this.  The RCMP issues summons to all these illegals, telling them they must report to authorities and wait for a hearing, but guess how many simply disappear?  Exactly.

What doesn't jive for me is that four Syrian women in refugee camps are being told their Canadian children can be sent to Canada, but they can't because they aren't citizens.  Their children are only Canadian because their Syrian-Canadian fathers, who went to Syria to support brethren terrorists, are Canadian.  This makes them Canadian, but not their wives.  

My question is, why are we allowing foreign illegals to meander into this country and bring their illegal children, but we won't allow the Syrian mothers to accompany their children?  It's illegal to allow the non-Canadian Roxham Road mothers to enter, but we do, while at the same time we enforce laws in the case of the Syrian mothers?  

As I say, it's all complete chaos and nobody seems inclined to do anything about it.

Canada is a deep mess and we're all paying millions for it.  The joys of Roxham Road:

 

Unreal

There is only one good restaurant in Cochrane; everything else is a chain joint, or fast food.  Before "Fence and Post" (above) opened, we used to have to drive to Calgary for a decent meal.  Needless to say, we have frequented this new spot many times -- even inviting friends from Calgary to join us.

So, it's too bad this place is now off our list.  Why?  Because they actually asked us to free up our table and finish at the bar.  They actually did that!  Greedy, they had over-booked as usual and people were lining up.  We had finished our meal and I was lingering over a second glass of wine -- my two for the week, hahaha -- a glass they were only too happy to sell me, so we weren't ready to leave.  We had, however, paid the bill, their que to kick us out.

I was completely shocked.  "You've over-booked and that's not my problem," I said to the waitress (sorry, I'm not into "server"), a woman who had served us many, many times.  "We have a flow problem tonight," she replied.  "That's not my problem," I said again, but with a big smile and not aggressively.  She then went into a long blah-blah about the inadequacy of their on-line booking system -- like I care -- and said they were changing it the next day.  Like I care!  

She then asked what time we had booked and I replied, 5:30.  "Well, it's 6:45, so an hour and 15 minutes should be enough," she actually said!  At my astonishment she said she didn't want to have this conversation and left.  If she hadn't wanted to have it, she should have told the manager to have it instead.  The upshot was that we stayed until I had finished my wine and left. 

As I said, after countless enjoyable visits, we won't be back.  Once home, I filled out the on-line review.  Wanna bet I'll never hear back?  Rhetorical.  But they've lost a couple of good customers and we're back to driving into Calgary.

Pisses me off.  

        

Both shameless

Trudeau's reasons for appointing an unnecessary, special representative to fight Islamophobia in Quebec are shameless, but so are Almira Elghawaby's for accepting the nod.  "The noxious effects of identity politics have been on full display in Canada since Justin Trudeau's nomination of Almira Elghawaby as his government's special representative on combatting Islamophobia," writes Konrad Yakabuski in today's 'Globe and Mail', adding that it's all about votes.

Trudeau is doing it to get special interest votes in Quebec and Elghawaby is accepting it for the money -- all $162,500 per year.  Elghawaby, you'll recall, is -- or, as she now claims, was -- a rabid anti-Quebecker, who regularly calls out the province for it's anti-Muslim views.  She bases this on Bill 21, which prohibits provincial public servants from wearing religious symbols that ensure the principle of the Separation of Church and State and the impartiality and objectivity of employees paid out of the public purse.  The principle states that the public must not know the religion of a public servant when accessing goods or services.  

This principle is widely held, but has been attacked by Muslims and other religious spokespersons who accuse the government of prejudice -- mainly against women who wear the hijab.  It is, of course, nothing of the sort.  It bans all religious symbols and has even gone so far as to remove the historic crucifix from the provincial legislature.  Kirpans, crosses and yarmulkes are also banned.  So much for singling out Muslims. 

Bernie Farber, ex-CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, for some bizarre, out-of-character reason, co-wrote a 2019 op-ed piece with Elghawaby that claimed 88% of Quebeckers were anti-Muslim or anti-Semitic.  Naturally, premier Blanchet is calling for Elghawaby's removal, claiming (rightly, in my opinion) that Quebeckers are among the most tolerant and welcoming people in the world, citing immigration and refugee figures that prove it.

Eghawaby actually had to issue a public apology to the people of Quebec for her defamatory columns and opinion pieces over the years, but Trudeau -- true to his (non)principles -- is doubling down, saying he has full confidence in her objectivity.

Really?!  How can he have?  Moreover, how can Ms. Elghawaby promote understanding and tolerance of Muslims among Canadians if she starts out from the defensive crouch she has taken in her writings? Asks Yakabuski.  He adds, "Ms. Elghawaby's job mainly involves preaching to the converted.  She has already shown herself to be very good at that."  

It's all ludicrous, bare-faced, naked and crass politics.  Oh, that and money.  As the marvelous Cathal Kelly wrote in 'The Globe and Mail' today, "Not everyone loves their job, but everyone loves money."  He was talking about Canada Soccer coach John Herdman, who is rumoured to be moving to New Zealand to coach for more money, but he could as well be talking about Elghawaby's miraculous Pauline Conversion since her lucrative appointment.

As the saying goes:  Money talks, but bullsh-t walks.  As I said, shameless:

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A word about another shameless move by our inept PM.  In late 2020, he announced a $173 million grant to Quebec pharmaceutical company 'Medicago' (vote-rich Quebec, of course) to develop a COVID vaccine.  Health Canada approved the vaccine, but the World Health Organization did not because of Medicago's ties to tobacco giant Philip Morris.

Duh!  Would you not think Health Canada would have checked with the WHO before it started manufacturing the vaccine?  Wouldn't that have been a first, basic step?  Oh yeah, forgot, Theresa Tam is at the helm, so I guess not.  Another of her brilliant moves during COVID!

Now Medicago has announced it is closing the plant and throwing 300 people out of work.  Yep, another fiasco wherein the feds hand a company millions just before it closes.  So appalling. 

         

My Bobby Hull story

Well, it's not really my story, it's B's.  When he was working in downtown Toronto in the late sixties, he, his colleagues and clients used to frequent the Royal York Hotel's famous lobby watering hole, through which anyone who was anyone strolled or imbibed.  It was there one evening that he spotted Bobby Hull, who invited him to his table.  

Naturally, since he was a huge hockey fan -- the Leafs, not the Blackhawks -- he accepted.  There they sat and shot the sh-t for a couple of hours., eventually joined by two lovely young ladies.  Not sure if they were working girls, but having heard that the Habs used to send call girls up to Bobby's room the night before a game to tire him out, they were probably sent by Harold Ballard for the same reason.  Funny thing, though, it never seemed to work.

As the night wore on, Bobby suggested they adjourn to his room for a little more private fun.  "C'mon, Brian, join us," said Bobby.  For some reason, B declined the invitation to a foursome, but lived to tell the tale.

Recently, I heard a great line Bobby delivered:  "My ex-wife made me a millionaire; I used to have three million."  Very funny!

A few years ago, we were at a hockey fund-raiser in Calgary and the guest speaker was Dennis Hull, Bobby's younger brother and also a retired hockey great.  You have never heard a funnier guy, as he regaled us with behind-the-scene tales of hockey life in the sixties and seventies.  Wild would be putting it mildly.  I blogged about this evening (See "A little wild!, Apr. 26, 2016).  I just re-read it, it's a great blog with hilarious quotes from his speech.  Me and Dennis: