ionelv | Entries tagged with canada

The Globe, TorStar, CBC and the Canadian Press did not cover it (yet). Here are the news orgs that work weekends (according to Google News):

JNS.org: Protesters ‘demand intifada’ at Toronto mall
NOW Toronto: Boxing Day Pro-Palestine protest at Toronto's Eaton Centre raises questions about where protests belong
National Post: Matthew Taub: Eaton Centre mob wasn’t a protest. It was a warning
TorontoToday.ca: Pro-Palestine activists return Indigo books en masse at Eaton Centre in economic protest
THEJ.CA: Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Disrupt Boxing Day Shopping At Toronto Eaton Centre
Toronto Sun: LILLEY: Hamasniks disrupt Boxing Day shopping at Eaton Centre
VINnews: Pro-Palestinian Protest Disrupts Boxing Day Shopping at Toronto Eaton Centre

Canada Detained This Legal Scholar En Route To Palestine Conference - Richard Falk and Hilal Elver were detained for approximately three hours at Pearson airport by CBSA (CBC reports almost four hours). Excerpts from The Maple:

Richard Falk, a prominent international legal scholar and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, was invited to Ottawa last week to speak at a “people’s tribunal” on Canadian complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

A longtime advocate for Palestinian human rights, Falk is no stranger to hostility from Israel and its allies against his work. But what he and his wife and fellow scholar Hilal Elver experienced upon their arrival at Toronto Pearson Airport on November 13 was a first.

The couple were detained and questioned by Canadian border agents for approximately three hours. One immigration officer told Falk that he needed to determine whether or not Falk posed a national security threat to Canada.

November 13 also happened to be Falk’s ninety-fifth birthday.

Eventually, Falk and Elver were released and continued their journey to the conference in Ottawa.

From the CBC article:

Asked about the incident, a Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson said they could not comment on specific cases, citing privacy legislation, but went on to say that all travellers entering Canada are subject to “secondary inspection.”

“This is a normal part of the cross-border process and should not be viewed as any indication of wrongdoing,” the spokesperson said.

“There are many reasons why a border services officer may determine that an individual, or the goods they are carrying, require further processing or inspection.”

But based on the questions he was asked, Falk said he suspects he was detained because of his participation in the event. Falk was there to speak about the relevance of international law in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

“It's disappointing that Canada — after having acknowledged Palestinian statehood — would take such a hostile attitude toward a very forthright conference that really explained to a public, that hasn't been so well-informed, the nature of the objections to what Israel has been doing,” he said.

“One expects Canada to be a model of free speech and liberal democracy and it's not as bad as the U.S., but it's not as good as I would hope.”

This BBC headline ~~reads like~~ is an international cospiracy:

That hospital – once the home of a Scottish shipping magnate – would be her home for a month in April 1958, after a judge ordered the then-16-year-old to undergo treatment for "disobedient" behaviour.

It was there that Ms Ponting became one of thousands of people experimented on as part of the CIA's top-secret research into mind control. Now, she is one of two named plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit for Canadian victims of the experiments. On Thursday, a judge denied the Royal Victoria Hospital's appeal, paving the way for the lawsuit to proceed.

According to her medical files, which she obtained only recently, Ms Ponting had been running away from home and hanging out with friends her parents disapproved of after a difficult move with her family from Ottawa to Montreal.

"I was an ordinary teenager," she recalled. But the judge sent her to the Allan.
Once there, she became an unwitting participant in covert CIA experiments known as MK-Ultra. The Cold War project tested the effects of psychedelic drugs like LSD, electroshock treatments and brainwashing techniques on human beings without their consent.

Over 100 institutions – hospitals, prisons and schools – in the US and Canada were involved.

My wife and I are part of the dark chunk at the bottom of 2006 bar (as the US to CA immigration spiked above 10,000 per year for the first time since 1981, during Dubya's presidency and his two overlapping wars):

Longer trend of immigration to Canada going back to 1901:

Older high-level timeline going back to 1776 can be found here. Excerpts:

1776: 3,000 Black Loyalists, among them freemen and slaves, fled the oppression of the American Revolution and came to Canada.

1781: Butler’s Rangers, a military unit loyal to the Crown and based at Fort Niagara, settled some of the first Loyalist refugees from the United States in the Niagara peninsula, along the northern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

1783: Sir Guy Carleton, Governor of the British Province of Quebec, and later to become Lord Dorchester, safely transported 35,000 Loyalist refugees from New York to Nova Scotia. Some settled in Quebec, and others in Kingston and Adolphustown in Ontario.

1789: Lord Dorchester, Governor-in-Chief of British North America, gave official recognition to the “First Loyalists” – those loyal to the Crown who fled the oppression of the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

1793: Upper Canada became the first province in the British Empire to abolish slavery. In turn, over the course of the 19th century, thousands of black slaves escaped from the United States and came to Canada with the aid of the Underground Railroad, a Christian anti-slavery network.

The Northern Miner is running an old-fashioned CA$1,000,000 gold coins treasure hunt. Here is the clue poem:

In a land crowned cold and vast
Old riches whisper through the past
A mirror hides what veins once bore
The verdigris behind the lore

Beyond the clouds where glaciers reign
Gold sighs beneath the mountain’s strain
Yet peaks mislead with gilded hue
The path lies where the birch trees grew

Salt air once bore a copper song
But brittle roots don’t guide for long
The brine remembers, but forgets
The current pulls where moss still wets

Where fire stitched a northern name
And red seams sparked a fleeting flame
No ember now ignites the track
The phoenix flew and won’t look back

A giant coin reflects the sun
But circles lead where none begun
Its gleam is but a siren’s light
No miner’s truth is held in sight

Where chalco fever gripped the east
Where Flinty’s claim once never ceased
The water hums an ancient code
But silence marks the current road

The Shield bends low through sleeping trees
Where sunken whispers told of ease
But breaks don’t speak nor faults confess
What roots may hold in quiet press

Where iron sings and cedars lean
The northern call remains unseen
A truth not loud, but forged to be
The strong, the silent, and the free

One marker stands, by shore and pine
Its message dulled by passing time
What once declared, now disappears
Beneath the weight of growing years

Where warm the zinc-toned waters fell
And Bathurst rang its deepest bell
The sounds now fade but echo trails
In folds where even memory pales

Where suits and stones have struck accord
And Bay Street crowned the mining hoard
No gilded desk nor numbered share
Will point to where the birches stare

Step not in haste where paths align
But where the trail forgets design
Beyond the mark the tall grass grows
And buried speaks what no one knows

Not marked by gold but core alone
A sliver rests in overgrown
Look past the script, behind the brush
The compass turns, and all is hush

Documenting the “Palestine Exception": An Overview of Trends in Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian and Anti-Arab Racism in Canada in the aftermath of October 7, 2023.

In the aftermath of October 7, 2023, Canada saw a rise in anti-Palestinian racism (APR), Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism (AAR) and antisemitism that affects many areas of life and work for Canadians. Findings:

1. “Palestine exception” to democratic rights and freedoms: Incidents involving censorship, discipline and punishment of those speaking out against Israeli state violence and for Palestinian human rights indicate the further shrinking of civic space, intellectual curiosity and critical thinking, especially as it relates to Israel and Palestine.
2. Vilifying and targeting youth in Canada: Young people in our education systems, on post-secondary campuses, and young professionals are facing Islamophobia, APR and AAR across a range of experiences. These include employment discrimination, doxing, hate-motivated violence, bullying, discipline and suppression of democratic rights and freedoms based on their identities or their support for Palestinian human rights.
3. Elusive justice for hate-motivated crimes: Many victims across different jurisdictions are facing challenges to reporting and obtaining justice for hate-motivated crimes and threats, raising concerns about underreporting, and perceptions of futility and biases in law enforcement.
4. Complicity and shortcomings of political leadership and governments: In addition to the frustrations with reporting hate-motivated crimes, many political leaders failed to denounce Islamophobia, APR and AAR and stand up for democratic rights and freedoms.
5. Systemic biases in media: Reports of biased silencing and censorship of reporters, producers, guests and other staff in Canadia news media production call attention to the threat of a deteriorating “free press” as a key pillar of Canada’s democracy.
6. Gendered dimensions of discrimination: Many of the incidents of hate and discrimination outlined in this report exemplify gendered dimensions of Islamophobia, APR and AAR.
7. Far-reaching impacts: The incidents included in this report raise concerns about the impact of Islamophobia, APR and AAR on building a fair, equitable and free society.

Recommendations:

1. Recognition and adoption of a definition of Anti-Palestinian Racism at all levels of government alongside related curriculum development, training and education.
2. Clear denunciation of APR, AAR and Islamophobia by political and institutional leaders and strengthening commitments to the rights and freedoms of impacted individuals and communities.
3. Address foreign interference and political disinformation by the Israeli government.
4. The Office of the Ethics Commissioner should develop a clear and enforceable policy on how parliamentarians are to be held accountable when they disseminate disinformation targeting marginalized communities.
5. Establish APR Advisory Tables at university and college campuses.
6. Independent reviews of post-secondary institutional responses to APR.
7. Initiate proceedings for the extradition of the London, Ontario arson suspect currently believed to be in Israel.
8. Create a National Victims of Hate Support Fund to provide emergency support for victims of hate-motivated crimes.
9. Establish hate crime accountability units to provide an avenue for complainants who believe that law enforcement agencies have mishandled their cases. Establish a dedicated, independent Hate Crime Accountability Unit across provinces to which complainants can report directly about the mishandling of hate-motivated crime cases by law enforcement agencies.
10. Implement recommendations from Patrick Case’s “Final report on the review of the Toronto District School Board’s excursions policy and procedure” related to the TDSB’s Grassy Narrows field trip.
11. Province-wide reviews of how schools and school boards have handled reports of APR in schools.
12. Affirm Palestinian identities and histories by recognizing May 15 as “Nakba Day” at all levels of government.
13. Independent review of implementation of Canadian Broadcasting Company’s journalistic standards as they relate to coverage of Palestinian perspectives.
14. Develop tort to protect against doxing.
15. Canada must keep its promises to Gazan refugees.

Given the opposing China trade priorities between (Ontario) steel/aluminum/EVs and (Western) agricultural exports, it is obvious that the Western provinces (e.g. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) and Ontario can't really cohabitate within the federation if they want to both export to China and protect local industry. From FinPost/Bloomberg (with my [] clarifications around "Canada" when it is certain provinces that are favored over others):

Some senior officials in Canada say it’s time to repair trade relations with China, arguing US tariff policy is pushing them to deal with Asia’s largest economy.

Last year, the Canadian government put tariffs of 100% on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25% on steel and aluminum products, aligning with what the Biden administration had done. The move also protected [Ontario] Canada’s auto industry.

China struck back with retaliatory 100% tariffs on Canadian [Western provinces] canola oil and pea products, and a 25% levy on pork and seafood — a move that underscored the sharp deterioration in ties between Beijing and Ottawa in recent years.

I was reading about the 1867 Paris Crew and the tragic 1871 death of one of the English rowers, James Renforth. Excerpts from a Newcastle paper at that time:

Dr. Johnson, of St. John, who had now arrived, made a careful examination of our patient, and ordered him a little brandy and water, and directed that hot bottles should be put to his feet.
Dr. MacLaren also shortly came to us, and, taking out his lancet, he opened a vein in each arm. But for a considerable time the blood would scarcely flow, and it became obvious that poor Renforth was sinking fast. After a brief consultation, the two doctors gave us all to understand that our countryman was dying

This is quite close to an Onion headline: US lawmakers write to Canada to complain its wildfire smoke is spoiling summer. Excerpt from the letter:

In our neck of the woods, summer months are the best time of the year to spend time outdoors recreating, enjoying time with family, and creating new memories, but this wildfire smoke makes it difficult to do all those things

I wonder if they think more raking can fix the issue or maybe more ivermectin or praying?

Tranziția 1-2

După trenuri, autobuze si o Volgă rablagită,
Ne-am găsit transportați de la JFK la Chicago
Īntr-un van fermecat cu minitelevizor ...
And fast food stops along the way...

First Super Bowl, World Cup on Lake Erie,
College graduation, first job, marriage,
Florida, Italy, Romania, Canada, West coast trips,
Yada, yada, yada, blowback: nine-eleven.

Transition 2-3

Dubya turned out to be the 2nd horseman of 4.
Cornwall, Uhaul, SquareOne, Bronte harbor.
Lakeshore walks in winter with Eddie,
Cancer, Niagara, heartache, ponies, Millie.

A pond with muskrats, turtles, blackbirds,
Swallows and starlings nesting and brooding,
Garter snakes, deer mice, coyotes, foxes,
Bunnies galore, "cheap monkeys", plovers too.

T'karonto khoh Onguiaahra, Skanadario, Kanata.

On this morning’s CBC Metro Morning just after 6:20 am, I heard Alex Neve have a quick chat with David Common about the June 9 open letter to PM Carney. Here are the five priorities mentioned by the letter (with my emphasis on some sections that I think would have more effect long term):

Work actively towards an immediate, permanent ceasefire and the release of all Israeli and Palestinian captives.

Insist on full humanitarian access to Gaza and demand that the Israeli ban on the UN Relief and Works Agency be completely lifted.

Publicly support the role of and fully comply with international courts in holding to account those who violate international law.

Pursue all possible domestic measures, including immediately withdrawing from the free trade agreement between Canada and Israel, imposing sanctions on Israeli leaders, initiating investigations under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, enforcing a full and comprehensive two-way arms embargo, and stripping charitable status from organizations found to be complicit in crimes under international law.

Without further delay, join the 149 states who recognize the State of Palestine and support all efforts for Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the United Nations.

Within the recommendations, this part stood out for me:

request the RCMP to launch investigations into allegations that Canadian citizens and organizations incorporated in and based in Canada have committed, or aided and abetted the commission of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity in Israel or Palestine, including while serving with the Israel Defense Forces, with the specific aim of prosecuting alleged perpetrators;

If you count FVEY, CAFTA/NAFTA/USMCA, NATO, NORAD, NEXUS, and their other treaties and agreements, Canada and US are closer to what a federation is and should be than what the US is by itself (with the feds heavily meddling in internal state affairs and strong arming the states into staying within the federation).

Sidebar: It might be interesting to study the origin of the root word via history: Foederati. tldr: The Roman Republic became an empire due in large part to its uneven treaty and tension with the foederati which led to a civil war that greatly destabilized the republic and precipitated its transformation into an empire. A few centuries later, one of the foederati, Alaric and his Visigoths sacked Rome and precipitated the fall of the Western Roman Empire (which was symbolically marked by another foederati leader: Odoacer at Ravenna).

The simple math: NDP lost 1.8 million votes (vs last election), Greens lost 150k, BQ lost 100k, PPC lost 700k, Liberals gained 3million and CPC gained 2.3 million votes. Turnout was 68.7% (6.4pp higher than last election or 2.5 million more votes: 19.5 vs 17).

Some analyst was commenting on CBC Radio 1 that many previous NDPers voted PC this election (especially blue-collar white men 18-34). If we assume a gross 100% NDP/Green/BQ switch to Liberal and 100% PPC switch to CPC, then Liberals took 40% of new voters and CPC took 60% which should not be all that surprising given the post-COVID/post-trucker era and F*ck Trudeau rhetoric ratcheting.

At this rate, next post-Trump election might bring CPC to power, especially if Carney fumbles the ball or NDP reverts to the mean. Of course, all this assumes that all of 47's Northern wet dreams evaporate by the next election and bilateral US/CA relations return to somewhat normal. Potential disruptors: global recession, RE market collapse, high unemployment, low oil prices, high tariffs, runaway AI, worsening weather events, high inflation, stingy bank lending, one or more Big 6 bank collapses/down-spirals.

Prima olimpiada scolara de matematica din Romania de care stiu este cea internationala de matematica din 1959. Dupa cate stiu, erau 3 (poate 4) olimpiade scolare in Romania in anii 80: mate, fizica, romana (si poate si chimie). Acum sunt zeci. In anii 80 am participat la cele de mate si romana, iar la romana am ajuns chiar la faza nationala in clasa VII-a (la Braila cred), unde am avut un rezultat mediocru. Imi aduc aminte ca in liceu, eu eram in clasa A, dar clasa B era cea de matematicieni si profesorul lor de mate (Ilie Olaru) facea pregatire pt olimpiada in afara orelor. Cred ca am fost o data sau de doua ori la pregatirea lor si am fost complet depasit de nivelul problemelor discutate, ca de altfel si de majoritatea problemelor din Gazeta Matematica ce erau recomandate pt pregatire.

Dupa 1990, am participat la competitii matematice in liceu si universitate in SUA. In liceu am castigat premiul intai de cateva ori la CCML, am luat premiul doi o data la ICTM (cu echipa de doi, cu Igor P?) si am fost la faza nationala la ARML de doua ori: cu echipa de rezerva in 1990 si cu echipa Chicago A in 1991 (cu care am luat locul 2 pe SUA/Canada cu echipa, in urma echipei din Ontario A care a luat primul loc). Am amintiri placute din excursiile facute pentru ARML la PSU (la University Park cred) si excursia cu masina sotilor Z pt ICTM (la Normal, Bloomington sau Urbana).

La universitate am luat locul 3 intr-un an la competitia locala si am participat o singura data la Putnam.

I was wondering if any of the three would voluntarily let themselves be annexed by US if Trump made a decent offer, e.g. statehood, a signing bonus and a decent enforceable exit clause. The threat and enactment of some economic pressure would probably flip a few votes in any target state’s referendum. In theory at least, any Canadian province could secede and join the Sith Empire, just like any US state could secede and join the Great White North federation.

Imagine this reorg 50 years from now:
* Canadian United Naughty Kittydom (as a looser federation of Atlantic provinces, QC and BC, HI, PR, CA, OR, WA, New England, MN, IL, WI),
* Midwestern Union of Squarish Kingdom (a kingdom of all square US states and CA provinces)
* Freeish United Noble Kingdom (a kingdom of the rest of current US and Canada).

Ionel posts meme of road sign with "Welcome to CANADA: We don't have S. Africans telling us what to do".

Sean mumbles something about the scenario in which Canada becomes the 51st state.

Ionel: You are right: there is a non-zero chance that Canada could become the 51st state and if that shit-show does happen, a South African telling us what to do is probably not going to be even in the top 5 list of my worries 🙂 If that happens, I will likely activate my EU citizenship and keep it on standby just in case...

Sean: I’m really hoping Congress is rethinking that War Powers Act thing. Just when you think he couldn’t come up with something even more unimaginable…

Ionel: Well, after taking the Gish Gallop to new heights, and elevating its use to the real world on Jan 6 (by reversing its implications while rewriting history), the Stable-Orange-Genius-Giving-Young Simps-Order-Cum-Kicking is (in)advertently expanding its uses in the realm of statecraft as well.

As to the War Powers Act of 1973, presidents have 60 or 90 days to use military force without Congressional authorization. One could argue, that neither limitation applies to Canada, Panama or Greenland, as they could all be sacked or cowed in less than 14, 7 and 1 day respectively. If by some remote chance, more time is needed, POTUS could hit pause on his military "maneuvers", reset the game clock and start over as many times as needed and/or transfer command to its patsy NATO as Obama/HRC have done in 2011 in Libya and/or simply ignore or veto any Congressional performative attempt to block his actions, as ALL presidents have done since 1973 whenever they needed more than 60 days to clean up whatever military "activity" they started all on their own.

As to strengthening Congress' war powers, some might argue that Congress has done the opposite in 2002 with AUMF (which is increasingly used to run over the comatose WPA) and more importantly, that Congress has virtually no backbone or legal muscle on taking on POTUS, especially the incoming one given the MAGA-style GOP spine self-removal or that it has any clue on how to circumvent SCOTUS from laying down even more decisions to bolster its quid-pro-quo decades-long unitary executive theory course.

Me and mom were trying to go somewhere in Canada by train (either East Coast or Prairies) for a medical reason for mom. We were at the main train station outside and the tickets were sold at a small desk outside the station itself. There was a 12-15 deep queue. There were two trains going to where we wanted that day: one in quarter hour or so and another in about one hour. Mom was on the phone. I got in line and by some miracle I reached the head of the line with only a few minutes to spare. When clerk asked what tickets do I want I could not remember the town, so I tried asking mom (who had her back against mine and was still on the phone). She cut me off quickly with: "I am still on the phone with someone. Wait."

Fast forward. It's almost 2 minutes to closing, the first train left the station and clerk is hurrying to get inside the station and lock up. I chase the clerk and ask how to get tickets to second train. Clerk is waving me away because it's closing time, and I suddenly remember that I could get e-tickets online for second train. There might be an issue with printing the tickets myself as backup in case they require printed tickets to board the train.

Fast forward. We are at our destination (even though I did not realize during the dream) and I am chatting in English with some people to which I declare without blinking: "Do you speak Canadian?" (meaning the Canadian dialect of English, I think), to which I get stares and the conversation continues. I then add, "Whatever you're speaking is not Torontonian."

Dream ends.

Background:

1. Way back in the 80s, we owned one AT&T style landline (no voicemail, or caller ID). Mom fashioned me into her caller ID 2.0 module for her phone: whenever someone called, I would pick up, ask who it was and their business, I would cover the handle speaker, whisper the caller's name and business to mom and she would instruct me whether to pass her the phone, or most often tell the caller that mom was unavailable for various bogus reasons.

2. Mom loves going to Amara, for medical reasons at a spa that is renown for their mud baths. Her mom had debilitating rheumatism and used to go there frequently. Mom has severe chronic low back pain (compressed and shifted vertebrae) and has been going there yearly for the past 10 years or so, a few times with her sister, but alone lately. She even took us (me and my brothers, before the youngest was born) at least once there in the early 80s (there are pics). I can attest that the placebo effect works well.

3. Fast forward: last time I talked to mom on the phone was in the fall. I tried calling her twice from my personal phone using WhatsApp (as international calls from Canada are still ridiculously expensive without an additional monthly fee). She tried to call me back once (on my work phone which goes straight to voicemail, so she left one which I learned of by accident only days ago and have not called her back yet). Her voicemail stated that she saw me calling but could not pick up because she was cooking (literally she actually said "she had something on the fire", which I can guess that meant she was frying, simmering or boiling something that needed close supervision).

Jon Allen, former Canadian ambassador to Israel from 2006-2010, called for Canada to immediately recognize Palestinian statehood (during an appearance before the House of Commons standing committee on foreign affairs yesterday). Excerpts (with my emphasis):

"Recognizing a Palestinian state now is about sending a message of hope and commitment to Palestinians and sending a clear message to Israel and others that simply managing the conflict, Israel's policy for the last 17 years, is not an option and never was."

Allen told the committee that he and his wife are Jewish and he has a sister who lives just south of the Lebanon-Israel border with his nieces and nephews, where they are within the range of Hezbollah rocket fire.

He said he strongly supports Israel's right to exist in peace and security but he believes that can only happen if Palestinians have "a horizon for peace" and a clear path forward.

Recognizing a Palestinian state, Allen said, also would demonstrate that Canada and the international community do not believe all Palestinians are Hamas supporters or terrorists.

"Hope and a path forward to end the conflict can do much to reduce violence and offer the next generation of Palestinians and Israelis an alternative future," he said.

Allen said Canada also needs to signal that while Israel should have a strong voice, it does not have a veto over the future of Palestine.

"Hamas does not want to see the existence of Israel. Recognition of two states is contrary to what Hamas, and contrary to what radical right ministers in Israel, want," he said. "They both want one state: their own."

There was an interesting CBC oped a few days ago about Canada's Indian Act. The list:

Denied women status

Introduced residential schools

Created reserves

Renamed individuals with European names

Restricted First Nations from leaving reserve without permission from Indian agent

Enforced enfranchisement of any First Nation admitted to university

Could expropriate portions of reserves for roads, railways and other public works, as well as move an entire reserve away from a municipality if it was deemed expedient

Could lease out uncultivated reserve lands to non-First Nations if the new leaseholder would use it for farming or pasture

Forbade First Nations from forming political organizations

Prohibited anyone, First Nation or non-First Nation, from soliciting funds for First Nation legal claims without special license from the Superintendent General. (this 1927 amendment granted the government control over the ability of First Nations to pursue land claims)

Prohibited the sale of alcohol to First Nations

Prohibited sale of ammunition to First Nations

Prohibited pool hall owners from allowing First Nations entrance

Imposed the "band council" system

Forbade First Nations from speaking their native language

Forbade First Nations from practicing their traditional religion

Forbade western First Nations from appearing in any public dance, show, exhibition, stampede or pageant wearing traditional regalia

Declared potlatch and other cultural ceremonies illegal

Denied First Nations the right to vote

( Read more... )

In light of recent events and general quality of service, two provinces are exploring their options re: establishing their own provincial police to supplant the RCMP despite their 20-year contracts that expire in 2032 (but only need two year notice to cancel): NB and NS. Only Ontario and Quebec currently have a provincial police force and AB (since 2019 going as far as costing it and issuing a final report) and SK (since late 2021) are exploring this route as well. It should be noted that both AB between 1917 and 1932 and SK between 1917 and 1928, used to have a provincial police force and NL's ranger force got absorbed into RCMP in 1949 when it joined the federation.

MB is contemplating significant changes to its Provincial Police Act (although none that would impact its RCMP contract).

In 2020, BC established a committee to reform its Police Act (and the effort has not generated any output since April 2021).

Building on my 2011 Canadian federal election script and elections.ca's raw election data, I calculated various combined ticket scenarios for all elections between 2006-2019. Not surprisingly, an LP+NDP coalition would have won every time (with majority governments save for 2004 and 2006 elections when they would have won only minority governments). Interestingly, in 2006 a LP+NDP+GP coalition would have won a majority government.

Obviously, the assumption is that people that voted for LP or NDP would have voted for a LP+NDP coalition as well which I am guessing that would hold for 95+% of voters.

BBC has some details about the harrowing story of the Patels who were found frozen to death on Jan 19, only 12m from the border. That a middle class family of four from Gujarat will fly to Canada and then attempt to cross the border on foot in -35C weather with poor visibility is simply tragic.

Wikipedia live entry: Freedom Convoy 2022.

Leaders:

* Organizers: JAMES BAUDER, TAMARA LICH, BJ DICHTER, CHRIS BARBER

* Influencers: BRIAN PECKFORD, ROGER HODKINSON, RANDY HILLIER, PAUL ALEXANDER

* Ops: TOM QUIGGIN, DANIEL BULFORD, PAT KING, BRIAN DENISON

Miscellaneous news: honking stop order lead plaintiff, residents flee downtown Ottawa, protester wood shack tow trucker getting death threats, Mark Carney thinks protest has evolved into "sedition" at this point.

I Forgive Me (album: Tongues)

Tanya Tagaq

I only work from the waist up
Psychological epidural
Numb

I was entered too young
We were entered too young
Cast in a pit of tar
We sink
We sink
We sink

Take me back up
And then take me back
To that time I could protect myself
Take care of your children
They can't protect themselves
We were taken too young
I was entered too young

Get out, get out
Get out, get out
Get out, get out
Get out, get out

Protect me
I need help
I'm unravelling
I'm afraid

Forgive me
Forgive myself
Forgive them, they say
Forgive those that have hurt you
Don't hang on to the past, they say
You will only hurt yourself
I was entered too young

The past has birthed the bricks that build my bones
The past divided all my cells into this muscle I flex
Into this muscle I flex
Into this skin that I've stretched
The past is the house of these breaths
The past is the house of these breaths

I was entered too young
I do not forgive and forget
I protect and prevent
I protect and prevent
Make them eat shame and repent
I was entered too young

Source: Musixmatch

I wonder what the full connection is between the SNC-Lavalin affair and the Huawei executive detention. The timing overlapped enough that the blowback from the SNC-Lavalin affair would have severely hampered the PMO's efforts to intervene in the Huawei case if inclined to do so. Also, the conclusion of the Huawei affair days after the election reeks of political timing. The fact that the release was done through a DPA with the US AG raises additional questions.

So the election changed nothing: the Liberals will still form a minority government. More interestingly, the major party leaders are more disliked than liked save for NDP's Jagmeet Singh:

Abacus Data, too, in their final poll, had Trudeau actively disliked by more Canadians than liked him (44 per cent negative impression to only 39 per cent positive), a margin of unpopularity exceeded by O’Toole (43 per cent negative to 31 per cent positive) [...]. Jagmeet Singh, the most well-liked of the major national party leaders (a net 21 per cent positive) was on track to place a distant third in the voting. Of course.

The only real change was Bernier's People Party getting 6+% of the vote (compared to <2% in 2019), but should not be a shocker given that he was the only one courting the anti-vax, climate change deniers, anti-LGBTiQ, anti-multiculturalists and the MAGAts. To be fair, they picked on some worthy causes not championed by others: equalization payments, public finance.

Interesting find about Canadian history, re: the Fenian Raids:

Nevertheless, the raids had an important effect on all Canadians. Ironically, though they did nothing to advance the cause of Irish independence, the 1866 Fenian raids and the inept efforts of the Canadian militia to repulse them helped to galvanize support for the Confederation of Canada in 1867. Some historians have argued that the affair tipped the final votes of reluctant Maritime provinces in favour of the collective security of nationhood, making Ridgeway the "battle that made Canada."

Cornelia Dean wrote in the NY Times, about beavers and other wildlife:

Wild turkeys, once extirpated, now go one-on-one with suburban pedestrians in what biologists call misguided efforts to establish their dominance in a pecking order.

Today, we stumbled upon a Panera Bread franchise at Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill. So, Panera is finally expanding into Canada : three stores so far, all in GTA opened since October 2008: one at Square One, and the other two in York, RH being the first Panera in Canada. I think that only Artisano can really compete with Panera in their target demographic. It turns out that the RH location used to be a Krispy Kreme location which partially explains the cheap ceiling and wall tiles.