It was a lamentable spectacle, watching the once-admired David Johnston, glassy-eyed and defiant, struggling to see the obvious conflicts
A recent episode of the excellent podcast The Rest is History explored the world of freemasonry, debating whether the masons are “a secret cabal of devil worshippers that run the world” or a “fraternity of like-minded individuals who enjoy eccentric rituals.”
Johnston did not interview Han Dong for foreign interference report
… David Johnston, a former governor general appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to review allegations of foreign meddling, told a House of Commons’ committee Tuesday that he did not interview Don Valley North MP Han Dong during his two-month probe.
That’s despite finding that “there clearly were strange practices, unusual practices going on” during Dong’s 2019 nomination contest in the safe Liberal riding. Johnston said his team did not conclude that those “strange practices” could be attributed to the People’s Republic of China, though his report noted suspicions that they could be.
The US-China “Space Race” is but one dimension of the ongoing Cold War between the two superpowers. The national space programs of both countries are comprehensive in scope, running across the entire scientific spectrum. Both America and China are focused on scoring space spectaculars to influence the world as to which superpower will inherit the future. Each rival is seeking to be the first to land a human on Mars.
Far more significant than scoring space spectaculars, however, is the question of which nation will achieve military dominance in the domain of near-earth space. Chinese international media deceitfully stresses the peaceful, cooperative, and scientific nature of its national space program. However, the ambitious nature of China’s space program indicates that Beijing’s primary objective is to dominate near earth space.
As mentioned this will be a couple of hours of how dare you question my integrity blah blah blah …
David Johnston’s lead counsel on foreign interference probe attended Trudeau fundraiser in 2021
The lead counsel for special rapporteur David Johnston, who oversees the government-appointed probe into Chinese foreign interference, has not only donated exclusively to the Liberal Party but also attended a private fundraiser where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the guest of honour.
Elections Canada records show that Toronto lawyer Sheila Block participated in a private Zoom webinar fundraiser in late March, 2021, billed as a “Virtual Conversation with Anita Anand and Justin Trudeau.” Ms. Anand, now Defence Minister, was minister responsible for public services and procurement at the time.
h/t DM
The Trudeau Foundation has investments in Chinese companies Baidu and Tencent, a former board member told MPs on a parliamentary committee. Both companies have been subjects of security warnings.
The Trudeau Foundation was created with a $125 million endowment from the federal government in 2001 in memory of former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, to provide grants and academic scholarships.
David Johnston is set to appear at a House of Commons committee investigating claims of foreign interference as calls continue for his resignation as the government’s special rapporteur.
The 81-year-old former governor general will be at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) for three hours on Tuesday, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
This will be 3 hours of “How dare you impugn my integrity” mixed with “That information is unable to be released to the public” and “China been berry berry good to me.”
Newly released documents say the intelligence community’s relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a “level of resistance” to scrutiny.
The assessment appears in briefing materials prepared for Canada’s top public servant in advance of a late January meeting with the chair of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says that despite special rapporteur David Johnston’s personal credibility, the appearance of bias in favour of the Liberal government is undermining the very work that he’s trying to accomplish.
“I believe he’s a person that is very credible and has worked for the country in a way that is really honourable,” Singh said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live Sunday.
“The problem we’re up against, though, is the work he’s supposed to do is restore confidence in our electoral system, and the appearance of bias is so strong now that he can no longer do that work. The trust necessary is eroded because of the appearance of bias,” Singh told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is defending his party’s decision not to make its motion calling for David Johnston to step down as special rapporteur binding and says an election does not “make sense” if the goal is protecting Canada’s democracy.
Singh told The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday that he wants to get a better understanding of the full extent of allegations of foreign interference.
Thirty-four years ago this weekend, China’s communist dictators sent tanks into Tiananmen Square to end seven weeks of student-led protests pushing for democratic reforms. Secret cables sent at the time from Beijing by the British ambassador put the death toll at “at least 10,000.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal New Democrats (and Waylon Smithers to Justin Trudeau’s Montgomery Burns), says he will not force a federal election over China’s attempts to subvert Canadian democracy until faith has been restored in our elections.
Footage has emerged showing a Chinese warship almost colliding with a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Taiwan Straits as tensions strain between Washington and Beijing.
The video, published by Canadian outlet Global News and widely shared on social media, shows the Chinese vessel approach the U.S. ship and passing within 150 yards of the destroyer.
📹 China sends 'aggressive' warship to cut across US Navy vessel
Video captured the close call between a Chinese warship and an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait 👇https://t.co/NyiTIeTpfM pic.twitter.com/IzoFem8J9w
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 4, 2023
Senators Yuen Pau Woo and Victor Oh have ramped up efforts against enacting a foreign agent registration act as the Canadian government considers the legislation to combat foreign influence.
Both senators brought up the issue again at a conference that marked the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act, held at the Splendid China Mall in Scarborough, Ont., on Saturday, May 27.
The act, introduced on July 1, 1923, is commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, as it resulted from an effort to stop Chinese immigration, stated a May 30 federal government news release recognizing “the national historic significance” of this legislation.
Not trusting these two for some reason.
Let us take a moment to remember what our bought-and-paid-for government would rather we forget with this number here by Sue Medley:
Also, because it feels appropriate:
Longtime B.C. politician Dave Hayer knew his campaign people. And his people included Chinese Canadians. They volunteered for him. They voted for him. And then in his 2021 campaign to become a federal Conservative MP, they vanished.
The former MLA was running to represent the riding of Fleetwood-Port Kells, drawing on the same base of volunteers from past elections in the populous and culturally diverse Metro Vancouver city of Surrey.
By the end of the campaign, most volunteers of Chinese descent had dropped out, fearing for themselves and their families, Hayer said.
