Canadian Politics

[HardCoreBlue]

27 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Wow, this is brilliant.

[blue_gold_84]

[JCon]

1 minute ago, blue_gold_84 said:

The corruption and depravity of the right knows no end. Top to bottom. Barf. 

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poec-report-released-friday-1.6750919

Quote

Commissioner Paul Rouleau says the federal government met the "very high" threshold needed to invoke the Emergencies Act last winter, citing "a failure in policing and federalism."

"Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency," he wrote in his highly-anticipated report, tabled Friday in the House of Commons.

"Invocation of the Emergencies Act is a drastic move, but it is not a dictatorial one."

The document sheds new light on one of the most controversial decisions made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. On Feb. 14, 2022, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to end the protests that had blocked downtown Ottawa's streets for nearly a month.

"In my view, there was credible and compelling information supporting a reasonable belief that the definition of a threat to the security of Canada was met," Rouleau wrote in his executive summary, which runs to more than 200 pages.

"I have concluded that cabinet was reasonably concerned that the situation it was facing was worsening and at risk of becoming dangerous and unmanageable."

His report makes 56 recommendations to improve intelligence sharing, police response to wide-scale protests and the Emergencies Act itself. 

Rouleau reserved some of his most blistering remarks for the Ontario government.

He wrote that moments of urgency require leaders of governments at all levels "to rise above politics and collaborate for the common good."

Rouleau said he accepts that COVID-19 had a profound impact on Canadians and they had a right to to lawfully protest what they saw as government overreach. 

"I do not accept the organizers' descriptions of the protest in Ottawa as lawful, calm peaceful or something resembling a celebration," Rouleau wrote.

"The bigger picture reveals that the situation in Ottawa was unsafe and chaotic."

He also dismissed the organizers' claims that they were unaware of the harassment and intimidation.

Rouleau's report largely exonerates Trudeau's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. But the prime minister does not escape criticism.

For example, Rouleau said Trudeau's reference on Jan. 27 to some protesters as a "fringe minority" likely inflamed the situation and hardened protesters' resolve. 

"It is regrettable that such a situation arose here, because in my view, it could have been avoided," he said.

Rational, objective, impartial, and well-articulated.

I'm sure the hysterical narcissists are going to keep crying about that evil, oppressive dictator in the PMO, though.

[HardCoreBlue]

56 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poec-report-released-friday-1.6750919

Rational, objective, impartial, and well-articulated.

I'm sure the hysterical narcissists are going to keep crying about that evil, oppressive dictator in the PMO, though.

Knuckle draggers are unable and unwilling to read reports such as this to help inform them. They just use these factually driven reports to support their 'cause'.

We've got to the point in history where factually driven reports actually embolden factually resistant people to keep doing what they're doing led by people like PP, Theo Fleury, Jamie Sale etc etc.

It's weird and bizarre that reliable and valid facts coming from the best sources of truth with limited bias helps entrench 'it's a lie if it doesn't fit into the way I see the world' people even more.

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by HardCoreBlue

[blue_gold_84]

20 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Knuckle draggers are unable and unwilling to read reports such as this to help inform them. They just use these factually driven reports to support their 'cause'.

We've got to the point in history where factually driven reports actually embolden factually resistant people to keep doing what they're doing led by people like PP, Theo Fleury, Jamie Sale etc etc.

It's weird and bizarre that reliable and valid facts coming from the best sources of truth with limited bias helps entrench 'it's a lie if it doesn't fit into the way I see the world' people even more.

Their worldview is broken because their brains are broken, despite the fact most label themselves as free-thinkers and truth-seekers. Critical thinking and coherent communication skills were ostensibly never cultivated and instead of seeing the world as an incredibly complex system of geopolitical and socioeconomic elements, "easy" answers generally made up of nonsensical conspiracy theories and opinions steeped in ignorance, delusion, fear, and manufactured outrage are the typical responses we see from them. And all social media has done is given every single one a platform to broadcast that garbage to the rest of the world.

There's a reason they're called useful idiots. And we know who's taking advantage of their useful idiocy.

[17to85]

25 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

the fact most label themselves as free-thinkers and truth-seekers

Yeah they're so lost they think they are enlightened but the way they all parrot the exact same talking points is all the evidence you need to see they're just idiots rejecting concepts they can't understand. 

[Tracker]

47 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Their worldview is broken because their brains are broken, despite the fact most label themselves as free-thinkers and truth-seekers. Critical thinking and coherent communication skills were ostensibly never cultivated and instead of seeing the world as an incredibly complex system of geopolitical and socioeconomic elements, "easy" answers generally made up of nonsensical conspiracy theories and opinions steeped in ignorance, delusion, fear, and manufactured outrage are the typical responses we see from them. And all social media has done is given every single one a platform to broadcast that garbage to the rest of the world.

There's a reason they're called useful idiots. And we know who's taking advantage of their useful idiocy.

And their useful and vital money.

[JohnnyAbonny]

There’s a group of around 20 freedom convoy Nazis at the corner of Plesis and Kildare today. Faaaar too close to home for my liking. I immaturely did a very slow flip off while passing them. чортів Russian assets. Smfh. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by JohnnyAbonny

[Mark H.]

5 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poec-report-released-friday-1.6750919

Rational, objective, impartial, and well-articulated.

I'm sure the hysterical narcissists are going to keep crying about that evil, oppressive dictator in the PMO, though.

Absolutely.  They can state that 'the judge is just another Liberal' and keep fueling the fire

[HardCoreBlue]

4 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Absolutely.  They can state that 'the judge is just another Liberal' and keep fueling the fire

And even if was a conservative leaning judge, they would refer to their Trump handbook and scream Conservative in name only.

[WildPath]

8 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

He wrote that moments of urgency require leaders of governments at all levels "to rise above politics and collaborate for the common good."

He's putting way too much faith in the premiers. You just have to look at Stefanson silently requesting federal help for the convoy situation while publicly criticizing the Feds for shutting down the convoy.

 

3 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

There’s a group of around 20 freedom convoy Nazis at the corner of Plesis and Kildare today. Faaaar too close to home for my liking. I immaturely did a very slow flip off while passing them. чортів Russian assets. Smfh. 

They are having a little playdate weekend at a farm "Camp Hope" in Dugald. World Unity rally 🙄, so watch out, you're about to be unified... by a population backed by Russian attempts to destroy Canadian democracy.

[JohnnyAbonny]

38 minutes ago, WildPath said:

 

 

They are having a little playdate weekend at a farm "Camp Hope" in Dugald. World Unity rally 🙄, so watch out, you're about to be unified... by a population backed by Russian attempts to destroy Canadian democracy.

My WWII vet Grandfather is rolling in his grave every time these fuckers are causing problems. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by JohnnyAbonny

[Mark H.]

3 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

And even if was a conservative leaning judge, they would refer to their Trump handbook and scream Conservative in name only.

The truth is, his report is more than fair and perhaps too gracious - to both sides. 

[Mark H.]

13 hours ago, WildPath said:

They are having a little playdate weekend at a farm "Camp Hope" in Dugald. World Unity rally 🙄, so watch out, you're about to be unified... by a population backed by Russian attempts to destroy Canadian democracy.

Just heard on the news this morning - they have been warned about unlawful behaviour.

[Wideleft]

Year's ago, I'd never say "This Tom Brodbeck column is a must read", but he has seemed to have gained his senses now that he's out of the Sun bubble.

This is a must read (I have highlighted what I feel is the the most important point being made):

Too many Canadians don’t understand that freedom has to have limits 

Tom Brodbeck Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023

 

Freedom. It was probably the most commonly uttered word during the COVID-19 pandemic: freedom to ignore public-health orders, freedom to abstain from vaccine mandates, freedom to visit dying loved-ones in nursing homes, freedom to protest government interventions.

Anger over how those freedoms were curtailed during the pandemic boiled over in 2022, resulting in dozens of large-scale protests across the country, including a three-week occupation of downtown Ottawa. For many, freedom was on trial.

It’s no surprise, then, that Justice Paul Rouleau — in his voluminous report released last week on the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act — devoted an entire chapter to the subject of freedom. It should be required reading in every school across the country.

“Tensions between order and freedom sit at the heart of our system of governance,” Rouleau wrote in his near-2,000-page report. His chapter on the relationship between freedom and order is a master class on how individual liberties work in a free and democratic society.

“Freedom cannot exist without order, because the machinery of order — such as procedures, laws, police, and courts — create the conditions for the protection of freedom, the enjoyment of freedom, and the mediation of conflicting freedoms,” Rouleau wrote. “While order constrains freedom — laws, for example, limit the range of permissible actions — without order’s constraints, freedom cannot exist.”

The relationship between order and freedom is not always well understood, especially among those who believe freedom is an unfettered right. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre exploits that ignorance, pledging to eliminate all “gatekeepers” to create the “freest country in the world.” His insinuation is that freedom can exist in a vacuum. It can’t.

Freedom needs order to exist. It’s a prerequisite to a properly functioning democracy. It’s not unique to emergency measures, such as those used during natural disasters or public-health emergencies. It’s a tradeoff that exists in everyday life — most people just don’t give it much thought.

“The fundamental and inevitable tension between order and freedom is a constant; it is simply more visible, and more stark in a time of emergency,” wrote Rouleau. “In times of emergency, however, freedoms that are usually unconstrained may suddenly be curtailed. This puts a spotlight on the clash of values.”

That’s when self-professed freedom fighters jump into action, believing — wrongly — that government is trampling on their constitutional rights.

That’s not to say people don’t have a right to protest measures employed by governments during emergencies. Quite the contrary, Rouleau points out. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of expression, even if that means disruption to society. Sometimes disruption is necessary to effect change, especially when it comes to marginalized segments of society, Rouleau wrote. The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy.

But it’s also subject to reasonable limits as prescribed by law. When the exercise of those rights causes undue harm to society — including putting the safety and health of society at risk, as it did during the Ottawa occupation — order trumps freedom. If it didn’t, the broader freedoms enjoyed by all Canadians would be in jeopardy.

“When the use of emergency powers becomes necessary, this is generally because the order necessary to freedom is under a special threat,” wrote Rouleau. “The threshold for invocation is the point at which order breaks down and freedom cannot be secured or is seriously threatened.”

That’s a concept some Canadians have trouble understanding. They have been misled into believing freedom has no limits.

Part of the reason for that misconception is we don’t do a good job of teaching those principles of democracy in school as part of a broader social studies curriculum. Many Canadians don’t have a good grasp of how our parliamentary democracy works, including the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments and the application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That was evident during many of the protests throughout the pandemic.

Rouleau’s report was a stark reminder of that.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

Edited February 22, 2023 by Wideleft

[Tracker]

55 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Year's ago, I'd never say "This Tom Brodbeck column is a must read", but he has seemed to have gained his senses now that he's out of the Sun bubble.

This is a must read:

Too many Canadians don’t understand that freedom has to have limits 

Tom Brodbeck Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023

 

Freedom. It was probably the most commonly uttered word during the COVID-19 pandemic: freedom to ignore public-health orders, freedom to abstain from vaccine mandates, freedom to visit dying loved-ones in nursing homes, freedom to protest government interventions.

Anger over how those freedoms were curtailed during the pandemic boiled over in 2022, resulting in dozens of large-scale protests across the country, including a three-week occupation of downtown Ottawa. For many, freedom was on trial.

It’s no surprise, then, that Justice Paul Rouleau — in his voluminous report released last week on the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act — devoted an entire chapter to the subject of freedom. It should be required reading in every school across the country.

“Tensions between order and freedom sit at the heart of our system of governance,” Rouleau wrote in his near-2,000-page report. His chapter on the relationship between freedom and order is a master class on how individual liberties work in a free and democratic society.

“Freedom cannot exist without order, because the machinery of order — such as procedures, laws, police, and courts — create the conditions for the protection of freedom, the enjoyment of freedom, and the mediation of conflicting freedoms,” Rouleau wrote. “While order constrains freedom — laws, for example, limit the range of permissible actions — without order’s constraints, freedom cannot exist.”

The relationship between order and freedom is not always well understood, especially among those who believe freedom is an unfettered right. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre exploits that ignorance, pledging to eliminate all “gatekeepers” to create the “freest country in the world.” His insinuation is that freedom can exist in a vacuum. It can’t.

Freedom needs order to exist. It’s a prerequisite to a properly functioning democracy. It’s not unique to emergency measures, such as those used during natural disasters or public-health emergencies. It’s a tradeoff that exists in everyday life — most people just don’t give it much thought.

“The fundamental and inevitable tension between order and freedom is a constant; it is simply more visible, and more stark in a time of emergency,” wrote Rouleau. “In times of emergency, however, freedoms that are usually unconstrained may suddenly be curtailed. This puts a spotlight on the clash of values.”

That’s when self-professed freedom fighters jump into action, believing — wrongly — that government is trampling on their constitutional rights.

That’s not to say people don’t have a right to protest measures employed by governments during emergencies. Quite the contrary, Rouleau points out. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of expression, even if that means disruption to society. Sometimes disruption is necessary to effect change, especially when it comes to marginalized segments of society, Rouleau wrote. The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy.

But it’s also subject to reasonable limits as prescribed by law. When the exercise of those rights causes undue harm to society — including putting the safety and health of society at risk, as it did during the Ottawa occupation — order trumps freedom. If it didn’t, the broader freedoms enjoyed by all Canadians would be in jeopardy.

“When the use of emergency powers becomes necessary, this is generally because the order necessary to freedom is under a special threat,” wrote Rouleau. “The threshold for invocation is the point at which order breaks down and freedom cannot be secured or is seriously threatened.”

That’s a concept some Canadians have trouble understanding. They have been misled into believing freedom has no limits.

Part of the reason for that misconception is we don’t do a good job of teaching those principles of democracy in school as part of a broader social studies curriculum. Many Canadians don’t have a good grasp of how our parliamentary democracy works, including the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments and the application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That was evident during many of the protests throughout the pandemic.

Rouleau’s report was a stark reminder of that.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

Damn that Brodbeck for becoming a left-wing radical. 

[bigg jay]

1 hour ago, Wideleft said:

Year's ago, I'd never say "This Tom Brodbeck column is a must read", but he has seemed to have gained his senses now that he's out of the Sun bubble.

It's funny how things change, depending on who's signing the paycheck.

12 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Damn that Brodbeck for becoming a left-wing radical. 

Charles Adler is another one who has done a sharp left turn over the years.

[Wideleft]

17 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

It's funny how things change, depending on who's signing the paycheck.

Charles Adler is another one who has done a sharp left turn over the years.

Adler's employer hasn't changed though.  It was the overt racism he was seeing on the right that made him realize that he needed to change his outlook.

[Noeller]

I'm not sure Adler and Broadbeck changed, so much as the Right went really far to the right, and Moderate Con's were left looking like Lefties when it was all said and done...

[Tracker]

1 minute ago, Wideleft said:

Adler's employer hasn't changed though.  It was the overt racism he was seeing on the right that made him realize that he needed to change his outlook.

Correct. A couple of months ago, I was driving home around 11:00PM and the radio host was trying to slag the global climate change consensus by complaining that the terms being used by climatologists were inflammatory.  Specifically- "river of storms" affecting California and "severe storms". 

[Mark H.]

6 hours ago, Noeller said:

I'm not sure Adler and Broadbeck changed, so much as the Right went really far to the right, and Moderate Con's were left looking like Lefties when it was all said and done...

If you follow Larry Updike on Facebook, he has written extensively about this. 

[Noeller]

10 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

If you follow Larry Updike on Facebook, he has written extensively about this. 

a great follow with some great music covers as well

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:56 PM, JohnnyAbonny said:

There’s a group of around 20 freedom convoy Nazis at the corner of Plesis and Kildare today. Faaaar too close to home for my liking. I immaturely did a very slow flip off while passing them. чортів Russian assets. Smfh. 

Was this guy there? he's there every Saturday.

 

[bigg jay]

1 hour ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

Was this guy there? he's there every Saturday.

 

I live near his hangout spot... he's out there almost every day.   He has 4 at least different signs that he rotates through.  I'm still wating for this one though:

Edited February 23, 2023 by bigg jay
poor spelling