Wokeness and the Last Bastion of Free Speech...Comedy Clubs?

 https://nationalpost.com/opinion/a-trans-person-a-christian-and-a-feminist-walk-into-a-comedy-bar-full-comment-with-anthony-furey

Canada Once Was a Widely Respected, Revered Military Force; Now Under NDPLiberal Rule and Apathy Our Peace Keeping Missions Alone Have Become This...

 "...Meanwhile, Canada’s total contribution to the UN has sunk to historic lows.

Canada had 57 soldiers and police officers on peacekeeping missions at the end of September, according to the UN. While that was up from the record low of 34 in August 2020, it was still less than half the number when the Liberals took power in 2015.

Richard Gowan, who serves as UN director for the International Crisis Group, an independent organization, said there has long been disgruntlement at United Nations headquarters over the pace of Canada’s contributions — particularly after it lost its bid for a seat on the Security Council.

“Canada made a lot of quite big pledges and then started to slow-walk them,” he said..."

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/u-s-presses-canada-to-make-good-on-promised-200-soldier-peacekeeping-force

Political Correctness Never Ceases To Amaze: Naming of Next Corona Viruses

 https://nationalpost.com/news/who-skipped-over-nu-and-xi-to-avoid-causing-cultural-offence-in-naming-new-variant

Environmental Terrorism: Only in Canada You Say?

 https://nationalpost.com/opinion/np-view-inciting-lawless-environmental-activists-is-something-david-suzuki-may-come-to-regret

Perhaps the Liberals Are Capable of Learning From Pandemic Mistakes: Canada Shuts Border to Southern Africa Fkights/Travel

Or maybe the same case of optics versus flying in from another country or more connections. 

"....For once, on border policy, we’re not miles behind the rest of the world.

Alghabra elicited groans of derision from the opposition benches when he claimed the government, “from day one, took decisive action at our borders to protect Canadians.” The groans were entirely appropriate. For many days in early 2020, after much of the rest of the world had declared “day one” and closed their borders, the Liberals rolled their eyes at the very notion: it wouldn’t work; it was against World Health Organization rules; it was probably racist; certainly it was terribly, terribly un-fancy...."

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-for-once-the-federal-government-acts-decisively-at-the-border

Canadian Immigration Up, Canadian Wages Not So Much

 As Immigrants Pour In, Wages Stagnate in Surging Canadian Economy  https://assets.bwbx.io/s3/readings/R2FCSVDWLU6A1637825914974.mp3

Wokeness, Mandated Equity and Diversity Are Killing Merit and Innovation

 Finally..."Kambhampati said he didn’t go public after the first grant was rejected but decided to speak out now because the increasing use by the government of equity, diversity and inclusion, aka “EDI,” provisions, as well as woke culture, are killing innovation, harming science and disrupting society."

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/minority-professor-denied-grants-because-he-hires-on-merit-people-are-afraid-to-think

It's Not China's "One Belt, One Road" Initiative; It's Also an "Infrastructure War" To Gain Toeholds in Resource Countries

 Offers to build airports? Wants to buy an abandoned naval base? Who else could do this?

https://www.mining.com/web/greenland-strips-chinese-mining-firm-of-licence-to-iron-ore-deposit/

Things Are Becoming "Normal", Canada's Illegal Border Crossings Are "Officially" Open Again

 https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/first-reading-at-least-the-illegal-border-is-open-again

"...While Canada’s legal border crossings remain a quagmire of weird and contradictory COVID-19 restrictions, the process is much smoother at Canada’s most popular illegal border crossing, which officially reopened this week. Under Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, refugee claimants are denied entry to Canada if they try to cross from the United States — the reasoning being that they’re already in a “safe country.” Since 2017, however, thousands of people have sidestepped this measure by first illegally crossing into Canada and then making their refugee claim within Canadian borders. One of the most well-trafficked of these crossings, Roxham Road, reopened this week after it was shut down in early 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. (A note on terminology: It is indeed illegal to enter Canada at Roxham Road, but the infraction is waived if it eventually turns out that the crosser is a legitimate refugee, which is why the Immigration and Refugee Board refers to Roxham Road entries as “irregular” border crossings.)..."

And More Reasons Why The "Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship" Should Be An Independent Body With "Data and Science" To Determine Its Path Rather Than a Whimsical, Reckless Government Platform

 https://nationalpost.com/opinion/sabrina-maddeaux-lacklustre-liberal-throne-speech-promises-to-worsen-economic-problem

And more reasons why the " Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship"  (yes, Citizenship is last in that  lengthy official title) should be an independent body with "data and science" to determine its path rather than a whimsical, reckless government platform trying ever so hard for a one-time majority government. 

"..Simon also confirmed the government plan to continue its ambitious immigration plans, no matter how unsustainable those may be. “The Government will continue increasing immigration levels and reducing wait times, while supporting family reunification and delivering a world-leading refugee program,” she read.

It’s clear Canada doesn’t currently have the infrastructure, whether it be healthcare or housing, to support the large targets set by the Liberals. Population growth has been definitively tied to the country’s housing shortage, particularly in major cities. While family reunification sounds lovely in theory, it risks flooding the country with senior-age immigrants we have little ability to support. Unbalanced immigration also results in poor outcomes for immigrants themselves, and too often exploitation.

That the Liberals have no inclination to put in the work and funding needed to properly support their immigration goals reveals a lack of seriousness and foresight that should worry Canadians and those considering a move here alike. There’s still no sign their lofty ambitions are backed by adequate planning...."

Throne Speech: This Is What Liberals Were So Zealous About Voting For During A Pandemic?

"...It’s difficult to imagine a less-inspiring throne speech. By their very nature, these occasions aren’t exactly the most lively of events, but Governor General Mary May Simon’s version was downright painful. Delivered in a stilted monotone, with her nose in a binder, it was almost as though Simon was reading the speech for the first time. She barely made it through the acronym “LGBTQ” when speaking to the long-awaited ban on conversion therapy. Fifth graders regularly deliver more engaging, articulate presentations..."

"... Now, to those promises. The 32-minute speech was more or less a retread of the Liberals’ major platform promises. There was a large focus on reconciliation, climate change, and ending the pandemic. There hasn’t been much change on any of these files since the election, and so there wasn’t an expectation to hear anything new.

...Ultimately, the throne speech’s lacklustre delivery suited its content, making it hard to feel optimistic about what lies ahead and our government’s ability to fix the problems at hand. It was a missed opportunity to justify the summer election and re-energize Canadians and Parliament at a crucial time. Rather, it was pretty darn depressing..."

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/sabrina-maddeaux-lacklustre-liberal-throne-speech-promises-to-worsen-economic-problems

The New Terrorist: David Suzuki Fans the Flames of Bringing Deliberate Pipeline Vandalism...To Fight For Climate Change With Terrorism

"...It’s official: David Suzuki has jumped the shark. At a protest by the extremist anti-fossil fuels group Extinction Rebellion and a subsequent interview with CHEK News, Suzuki said “We’re in deep, deep doo-doo … This is what we’re come to. The next stage after this, there are going to be pipelines blown up if our leaders don’t pay attention to what’s going on.”..."

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/tasha-kheiriddin-david-suzukis-blown-up-pipelines-comment-is-a-winking-incitement-to-eco-terrorism

David Suzuki, Now Environmental Kamakazi: "Pipelines Will be Blown Up” If Political Leaders Do Not Act On Climate Change

 And this individual five years ago was thought to be a potential Governor General candidate at one point? Now his threatening approach is: government of Canada, fix the environment otherwise we will blow up pipelines...to fix the environment...what the...????

https://nationalpost.com/news/david-suzuki-foundation-disavows-suzukis-warning-that-pipelines-will-be-blown-up-if-there-is-no-climate-change-action

The Nonsensical Justification of Canada's US Border Policy When it Comes to Refugees Versus Tourists

 https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canada-ends-covid-19-policy-turning-back-asylum-seekers-between-border-crossings

"...Canada turned at least 544 would-be refugees back to the Unites States between March 2020 and mid-October. The government did not immediately respond to questions regarding why it was ending the policy now and what if any quarantine rules would apply to asylum-seekers who are not vaccinated.

...Silcoff said it did not make sense to allow tourists entry, as Canada has begun to do, while barring people seeking protection..."

Linamar, After a Poor Third Quarter Report, Wants to "Bring People In", Even Unskilled Workers To Train and Educate Them Here in Canada

More Reasons Why The Ministry of Immigration Should Be An Independent Body and Whimsical Control Taken Away From the Government Of The Day (And How Thr NDPLiberals Are Reducing Canadians' Wage Growth)

http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canada-open-to-ramping-up-record-immigration-new-minister-says-1.1684120

More reasons why the ministry of immigration should be an independent body and whimsical control taken away from the government of the day.  An ill thought, reckless election target of 401,000 in 2021, (mostly permanent residents), not full citizenship) with no regard for the 6.7% unemployment rate (4.6% in US as a comparison, or 50% higher in Canada), the tens of thousands of small businesses that have and will go bankrupt, a health care system currently operating beyond capacity, 20 yr high inflation nevermind among the hottest, most speculative, the most inflated housing markets in the world....but at least "high levels of foreign-born workers, for example, have helped to mitigate wage pressures in Canada.".  How do Canadian workers put up with the NDPLiberals?

Meanwhile, for such a significant institution and portfolio, heading into December 2021, there is NO TARGET yet for 2022 and beyond ! 

"...As flows slowed during the pandemic because of travel restrictions, the government adapted by turning more temporary foreign workers and students already in the country into permanent residents, giving them a path to citizenship. There are more than 1 million people in the country with neither citizenship or immigrant status..."

"...High levels of foreign-born workers, for example, have helped to mitigate wage pressures in Canada in recent months at a time when inflation has been surging..."

"...As flows slowed during the pandemic because of travel restrictions, the government adapted by turning more temporary foreign workers and students already in the country into permanent residents, giving them a path to citizenship. There are more than 1 million people in the country with neither citizenship or immigrant status..."

The Congo (and China) Will Rule the Battery World, As It Relates to Cobalt

 https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/electric-vehicles/first-cobalt-reinvents-itself-as-battery-metal-middle-man

Canada's Housing Market: Inflation Up and Talk of Interest Rate Hikes On Again; If Interest Rates Won't Get You Then (Carbon) Taxes, BC Flooding Disaster, No Growth AND Inflation Will Anyway

Maybe the Bank of Canada does not have to do anything...?

https://financialpost.com/news/economy/canadas-annual-inflation-rate-hits-4-7-in-oct-highest-since-feb-2003

Canada's Housing Market: These Two Articles Appeared Consecutively In the Financial Post This Morning

What does this say? Real Estate investors (Canadian, permanent resident or not even in Canada) are presently buying property (ies) ahead of interest rate hikes and locking in rates ? Or have we have had a record sales and speculation level just in time for those who recently purchased and are on the verge of financial instability with higher rates, to be knocked out of the housing market entirely and forced to sell? 

In the meantime, inflation will be significant without the demonstration of growth. A dangerous place to be.

Liberals' Energy Policy: Take Down Alberta and Its Oil amd Gas Industry, Yet the "Plan" (or Lack of One) Is To Be "Determined By The Market"

 

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberals-leaving-nuclears-future-to-the-market-while-other-countries-bet-big

Thanks to Liberal Voters, a NDP Government Has Been Voted In: Another NDP-Liberal Government?

"...The Liberal-NDP coalition would be a disaster for the Canadian economy and cause devastating financial impacts for workers and communities from coast to coast to coast,” he said..."

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/a-liberal-ndp-pact-liberals-searching-for-common-ground-with-parties

Buy the Banks...2

 http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canada-s-banks-cleared-to-hike-dividends-repurchase-shares-1.1677118

Central Bank Speak: Inflation is "Transitory But Not Short Lived" Or In Other Words, Temporsry But Not....(???)

Now that US Fed J. Powell (last week) and BOC Governor Macklem this week creating their own definitions of what temporary inflation means to fit their definition, inflation will always "be under control".  Just like US Fed's 1.6% inflation estimate, the markets' 2.6% inflation estimate and in reality higher actual inflation rates.  

But the real scary part - if there is no economic growth behind it no matter the inflation number. 

http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/transitory-but-not-short-lived-macklem-maintains-boc-has-inflation-under-control-1.1678767

The Most Wasteful of Resources: A Study on Inflation And....Climate Change?

 http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/bank-of-canada-to-monitor-how-climate-change-impacts-inflation-1.1676556

Of all the other factors the Bank of Canada could focus on that are more immediate and impactful - chip shortages, housing,  pandemics, logistics and supply chain issues, subsidized industries like dairy, hiring practices of trucking companies, port capacities, energy and pipeline shortages to heat homes and run factories...

This independent body, supposedly taking no cues or influence from government and other bodies, looking more and more like a Trudeau Liberal caucus.

Canada's Arctic Continues to Be Overlooked Militarily

 https://nationalpost.com/opinion/jeffrey-f-collins-without-plan-for-new-submarines-canada-faces-defence-gap-in-the-arctic

Now We Know Why An Election Was Called In September

Ahead of Glasgow COP26, Parliament would not be sitting until the end of November.  As such, lacking all public House of Commons debate, lacking consultation with Alberta and other provinces/Territories, lacking public disclosure of caucas meetings or committees (there were none) thoroughly discussing such policies of current energy versus a plan for future renewables, lacking an overly priced consultant study usually held up high from a podium. Trudeau knew that and (as they say "in the dead of night") was allowed (ie. could not pass the opportunity) to make the most reckless, whimsical, dictator-like policy statements uncontested, problem-free, unilaterally and with no obstacles in trying to further out-Green, out-NDP the opposition in solidifying his majority government, no matter the costs (for Alberta and before the ensuing energy fallout...see "Europe") in probably two years.  Your "transparent" Liberal Party (oh wait, that was two elections ago). Thanks Rex

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-on-flags-and-climate-trudeau-rules-by-fiat

What Does A Flag Mean to Canadians Versus Others

 National Post platformed Nov 5 2021

"...THE ESCAPE HATCH OPENS

This morning the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) made its much-anticipated move in the chess game that has developed over the display of the Canadian flag on federal government buildings. As you will recall, the flags on all these buildings, including those abroad, were lowered to half-mast in May, when unmarked graves were discovered on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., and have stayed there ever since. The prime minister said then that, although the lowering of the flags is his exclusive responsibility, he wouldn't allow them to be flown normally again until “Indigenous communities and leadership” agreed that they could go back up. 

Was this elliptical, confounding phrase intended to refer to the AFN? We wondered at the time who was capable of giving the necessary permission, if not the AFN: it appears, quite naturally, to have accepted the position, which is bound to be controversial if made explicit, that it is the exclusive political instrument for Indigenous communities. 

In any case the AFN announced its solution to the stalemate this morning. Its executive committee, after consulting with elders, suggests raising the Maple Leaf on Sunday alongside an orange “Every Child Matters” banner. Both flags would go to half-mast on Monday, Nov. 8, this being Indigenous Veterans Day. The flags then go back up, and the Canadian one comes down again on Nov. 11, according to the usual tradition. From then on, both flags fly until “all of our children are recovered, named and symbolically or physically returned to their homelands with proper ceremony.” 

There are Canadians who have no use for a national flag; some, no doubt, dream of carrying national self-abnegation to the point of having a fully transparent flag. But even these progressives would have to admit that it is hard to imagine a sequence of events allowing some future prime minister and some future AFN executive to get together and say, “Great job, everybody, the orange one can come down now.” This is a proposed permanent adoption of two national flags (and who is to say it won’t catch on among private citizens?). Yet it could still be argued that the AFN is letting the prime minister off the hook lightly, in exchange for a symbolic political victory of its own. 

With the approach of Remembrance Day, the flag flying at half-mast was becoming a symbol, not of Canadian remorse, but of one politician's daft impulsiveness and inability to act with even the immediate future in mind. As much as some approved of the original gesture, the prime minister should never have been allowed to treat the flag as personal property or as a subject for political negotiation. 

In what other country would this be contemplated? Where else could a head of government do something like this without being warned or grimaced at or, outside the pages of the National Post, castigated very much? Indeed, how was this particular power of jerking the flag up and down on government buildings ever assigned to a prime minister in the first place? It is a little anomalous that this file doesn't belong to the Governor General, who wrangles other flag-like symbols like medals and heraldry. 

This isn't really about First Nations, and nobody should criticize the AFN for exploiting the political opportunity that the prime minister handed it. (Its right to represent First Nations as a single collectivity is a separate question.) NP Platformed would call attention to the constantly growing number of occasions on which the flag is lowered, including annual fixed dates in honour of firefighters, police, victims of violence against women, victims of terrorism and “persons killed or injured in the workplace.” 

Each one of these exceptions was carved out by some politician creeping around for votes: these were small insults to the permanence and status of the flag made in exchange for temporary goodwill long since expended. Now the AFN is making its own withdrawal from the fund. Who would dare tell them that their bona fides might command less in compensation than those of cops or injured workers? How can the rule that the flag should normally be flown as other countries' are be retrieved or re-established when we abandoned it through apathy long ago?

(Last-minute update: As we were preparing to attach winglets to this newsletter so that it can make its way to your inbox, CBC’s Olivia Stefanovich inconveniently reported the next move in the chess match. If Stefanovich’s information is correct, the flags will do the up-down-up-down shimmy that the AFN requested between now and Remembrance Day, and will go back up for good on the 12th. But the prime minister is not surrendering altogether; he has apparently undertaken to “find a place in the parliamentary precincts” for permanent display of a “survivors’ flag” endorsed by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. This falls short of the AFN’s condition, so all we can do for now is await another chess move. Don’t you love government by impulse?..."

Rex Murphy To The Rescue of Sober And Questioning Thought Yet Again

 https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-on-flags-and-climate-trudeau-rules-by-fiat

Why did we have an election again ? So Trudeau could in the dead of night without Parliament sitting, without consultation to provinces and without debate go to Glasgow and announce such dictator like, baseless, whimsical policies.

Covid Recovey: A Tale of Two Countries

In the US, unemployment is down further to 4.6% and 520,000 jobs added. 

Meanwhile in Canada we are supposed to be happy about 6.7% and jobs before covid being recovered.  With spending continuing at a drunken sailor rate. 

https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2021/11/05/the-labor-market-s-recovery-in-one-chart

https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/unemployment-rate

Once Again, English Canada Does Not Understand Quebec: If The Tables Were Turned...

What if a unilingual, French only speaking CEO running BCE, RBC, Shopify, Canadian Tire spoke to a Vancouver crowd only in French? 

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-air-canadas-ceo-just-made-quebecs-french-language-crusade-even-weirder

Remember the Cineplex Takeover Proposal? The Saga Continues...In The Courts

 http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/cineplex-decision-will-be-one-to-watch-for-companies-eyeing-covid-litigation-experts-1.1677216

Hello Higher Interest Rates

The Fed has begun Tapering.  The Fed has also redefined what "transitory" means and it is not good for inflation. Monthly bond purchases will decline. Bank of Canada has forecasted sooner hikes in 2022. 

https://financialpost.com/news/economy/higher-interest-rates-are-coming-are-canadian-households-ready

Quebec's Domestic Energy Supply and Demand Irony

 Ironic that "no domestic pipelines/flow of energy in our backyard" Québec is more interested in powering the US with its cheap power...

"Tuesday night, voters in the state of Maine held a referendum on a ballot proposition to prohibit the construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a joint project to run a heavy transmission line from Hydro-Quebec’s dams to the New England electrical grid through the forests of the state’s western half. At the moment, with close to 90 per cent of Maine’s precincts reporting, the “Yes” vote on the proposition — a vote to stop work on the line, which is already underway — is winning nearly 60-40."

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/colby-cosh-americans-dont-want-quebec-hydropower-excuse-me-while-i-wipe-away-tears-of-laughter

Canada's Flags Have Been Half Mast For Months and Remembrance Day Is Around the Corner: The One Time a Year Where Flags Are Scheduled to be Lowered To Half Mast For Those That Died in the Various Wars...Including Indigenous

 https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-fracas-over-our-flag-is-a-distraction-entirely-of-trudeaus-making

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/pm-says-talks-may-offer-solution-to-raising-then-lowering-flag-to-honour-war-dead

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-trudeau-too-busy-saving-the-planet-to-raise-the-flag

In thr First Half of Its Fiscal Year Canada Bkew Through $57 Billion Deficit

 http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/federal-deficit-hits-57b-nearing-halfway-of-fiscal-year-1.1674097