Bob Rae has spent a lifetime in public life railing against injustices and invasions.
Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations has been fearless since arriving in New York in 2020 — lashing out at Russian aggression in Ukraine and condemning China’s human rights abuses.
Now, our most fiery envoy finds himself on the firing line.
If the current trend is to hold, total arrests could be 2,150 by the time the statute of limitations on Jan. 6 crimes expires in early 2026, according to Jacob Rugh, associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Mr. Rugh and researcher Isabella Felin have been publishing Jan. 6 statistics and data visualization on X and Instagram since August 2022.
h/t Mauser
“While the report says it covers geopolitical factors, references to geopolitical challenges appear to be among the passages redacted. Two pages of the report are entirely blank, with the exception of a picture of a globe.”
I read that as “Don’t make the Muslims angry”.
‘United by music” is the Eurovision Song Contest’s motto. It’s never quite been true, of course: political squabbles are part of what makes the annual jamboree such a guilty pleasure. But usually the camp fun and wacky performances end up taking centre stage.
This year may be rather different. The contest, to be hosted by Sweden in May, has already been swept into the vortex of the war in Gaza. For the organisers, preventing their beloved contest from being engulfed by acrimony is proving more challenging than Cyprus giving a maximum douze points to any country but Greece.
One potential solution to the Canadian Armed Force’s recruitment issues is to simply pay people more, says former chief of the defence staff retired Gen. Tom Lawson.
“Nobody complains about what the Canadian Air Forces are being paid, nobody says the Canadian Air Forces are overpaid,” Lawson told The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson.
Can’t hurt to have extra cash for a 2nd pair of high heels and a feather boa.
In this edition of our Canadian politics tracking, we report on our usual metrics along with some updated data comparing perceptions of the Trudeau government’s performance in areas such as housing, healthcare, managing the economy, and managing government finances.
Conservatives lead by 18 over the Liberals. It’s been 658 straight days that the Conservatives have led the Liberals in Abacus Data polling.
President Joe Biden has said he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The US leader expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the October 7 attack, but said of Mr Netanyahu that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions take”.
When Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault suggested it was “immoral” for the government of Saskatchewan to deliberately defy the federal carbon pricing law, the allegations of hypocrisy followed quickly.
Had Guilbeault himself not been arrested for breaking the law? Hadn’t he proudly climbed the CN Tower in 2001 to protest Canadian climate policy?
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a picture of Guilbeault being taken into custody by police in 2011 and later asserted that what was really “immoral” was the Liberal government increasing the carbon tax while also flying to international summits.
Pope Francis has been criticised after saying Ukraine should have the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
Some politicians and commentators in Europe reacted with anger after the pontiff appeared to stay silent on Russia’s crimes as aggressor in the invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, and placed the onus on Ukraine to make peace.
The Latvian president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, wrote on X: “My Sunday morning take: One must not capitulate in [the] face of evil, one must fight it and defeat it, so that the evil raises the white flag and capitulates.”
One of the three suspects brought into custody for the “targeted” double shooting in Bowmanville last year appears to have been charged in other violent incidents across jurisdictions shortly after.
Illia Ayo, 22, is facing two counts of first-degree murder charges in connection with the Feb. 4, 2023 shooting that left Rafad Alzubaidy, a 26-year-old pregnant woman, and her 28-year-old husband, Aram Kamel, dead.
Haiti is “in a state of chaos” as brutal gang members attack police officers with machetes, a journalist in Port-au-Prince has claimed.
Violence has plagued the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince for years, but the situation has escalated drastically as gangs demand that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry resign. A state of emergency has been declared in the country after gangs attacked two prisons, setting many criminals free. It is now thought that 80% of the Haitian capital is controlled by these gangs.
h/t Mauser
A beauty consultant, a chef and a musician who claimed to be stuck in China.
B.C. Housing filed 14 new lawsuits this week against a wide range of people accused of abusing a program designed to get affordable homes into the hands of people who need them.
After days of questioning following CBC stories about alleged violations of an Affordable Home Ownership Program, B.C’s Housing Minister released figures suggesting as many as a third of the 135 units in Victoria’s Vivid condominium project went to buyers who never lived in the building.
Expanding evidence of Toronto Method fraud capturing BC Affordable Housing program- this adds corroboration to the assessments from my HSBC whistleblower investigation that a China connected fraud network is significantly impacting Canadian housing https://t.co/HIikRWefuj
— Sam Cooper (@scoopercooper) March 10, 2024
The federal government is reducing its national beer tax that was set to increase on April 1, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Saturday.
For an additional two years, Freeland told reporters that the federal government will extend its inflation adjustment cap at two per cent for beer, spirit and wine excise duties.
h/t Mauser
A counter-protestor carrying a banner condemning Hamas as a terror group was arrested after holding the sign aloft as pro-Palestine activists filed past him on Saturday.
Niyak Ghorbani, who was holding a banner reading “Hamas is terrorist”, was pulled to the ground and handcuffed by officers after an incident took place close to the march through central London.
Mob of Palestinian activists savagely assault an Iranian man for carrying a “Hamas are Terrorists” sign in London today.
As the man is attacked by the mob, police move in and arrest HIM.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) March 9, 2024
Fixed comments.
Agility by Pink, the border collie. Don't blink.. pic.twitter.com/5T6Fp7bbTC
— o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) March 9, 2024
