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[soultron]

And now we know why they refused to reveal where he went during the Christmas break.



http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...of-the-aga-khan-on-his-private-bahamas-island

I don't know much about the AK, but is this a negative thing (financial expenditure for the trip aside, since it's being "reimbursed") because he had private access to the PM for an extended amount of time without full disclosure to the public until now?

The AK seems to have a pretty clean online presence. Is he involved in the pipelines at all?

(Sorry for dumb questions. I'm trying to get more involved and literate when it comes to our own politics this year, especially after how the US election went.)

 

[killer rin]

Looks like annual deficits will be the norm until 2050-2051 according to some report by the finance department.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/decades-deficits-morneau-1.3923060

No surprises there, the world economy is shit, will continue to be shit and will get even shitier as demographics and world events continue to shift. Especially since nobody has any political will to attempt to solve anything over covering the symptoms with bandaids

 

[Sean C]

I don't know much about the AK, but is this a negative thing (financial expenditure for the trip aside, since it's being "reimbursed") because he had private access to the PM for an extended amount of time without full disclosure to the public until now?

The AK seems to have a pretty clean online presence. Is he involved in the pipelines at all?

(Sorry for dumb questions. I'm trying to get more involved and literate when it comes to our own politics this year, especially after how the US election went.)

I don't think there's anything about it other than the issue of payment. The Aga Khan is a major global philanthropist and even gave a joint address to both houses of Parliament a few years ago.

 

[~ Zyzomys ~]

The AK has been a major partner of Canadian Foreign Aid for decades and continues to work with Canada and many other large donors with the Global Fund.

 

[gabbo]

I don't know much about the AK, but is this a negative thing (financial expenditure for the trip aside, since it's being "reimbursed") because he had private access to the PM for an extended amount of time without full disclosure to the public until now?

The AK seems to have a pretty clean online presence. Is he involved in the pipelines at all?

(Sorry for dumb questions. I'm trying to get more involved and literate when it comes to our own politics this year, especially after how the US election went.)

The article seems to be leaning hard on the idea that it's much ado about access to the PM, to try and throw more gas on the embers of that dwindling fire. Since his organization has received foreign aid money for their projects in the past, I guess the Post assumes he's going to be getting a lot more in the future?

 

[SRG01]

Just ignore everything the National Post and related papers put out. The job numbers came out yesterday and there was barely a blip in their papers.

 

[KernelPanic]

Feel like this is only going to get worse.

Watching the shitshow in the US I'm scared that Trumpism will find it's way here. Guess I should be wary of Breitbart.ca appearing

 

[CazTGG]

Watching the shitshow in the US I'm scared that Trumpism will find it's way here. Guess I should be wary of Breitbart.ca appearing

We call that the Sun in these here parts.

Spoiler

I'm both angry and terrified of the potential of Kellie Leitch/Kevin O'Leary-lead leadership.

 

[matthewwhatever]

Just ignore everything the National Post and related papers put out. The job numbers came out yesterday and there was barely a blip in their papers.

It'd be a lot easier to lament or worry about the decline of Canadian media if Canadian media weren't such an absolute joke. I'll feel a little bad for some journalists there, but Postmedia's bankruptcy can't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[SRG01]

It'd be a lot easier to lament or worry about the decline of Canadian media if Canadian media weren't such an absolute joke. I'll feel a little bad for some journalists there, but Postmedia's bankruptcy can't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

At some point they're going to whine for a government bailout, at which point I'll laugh at their hypocrisy...

 

[killer rin]

It'd be a lot easier to lament or worry about the decline of Canadian media if Canadian media weren't such an absolute joke. I'll feel a little bad for some journalists there, but Postmedia's bankruptcy can't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

We just have to make sure we don't let certain politicians get their grimy hands on the CBC. As long as we have a public broadcaster which is doing its job, it brings up the reporting quality of everybody else since they actually have to compete.

 

[gabbo]

We just have to make sure we don't let certain politicians get their grimy hands on the CBC. As long as we have a public broadcaster which is doing its job, it brings up the reporting quality of everybody else since they actually have to compete.

They usually just complain that the CBC gets ad money and tax money, and shaw-global/bell-ctv/etc simply can't make due on their paltry billions.

 

[Heshinsi]

Yikes, refugees walking to the Manitoba/ND border in deep snow / -18C temperatures





Feel like this is only going to get worse.

Somalian refugees going through the US to claim refugee status in Canada has been an ongoing thing for over two decades now. There was a lot more of it happening in the 90s.

 

[matthewwhatever]

We just have to make sure we don't let certain politicians get their grimy hands on the CBC. As long as we have a public broadcaster which is doing its job, it brings up the reporting quality of everybody else since they actually have to compete.

CBC doesn't even get a pass. Their foray into opinions has been a pretty massive failure, and even though I like the Baroness Von Sketch show, they're spending way too much time and money on comedy. They still provide a valuable service in small communities, but the quality of the stuff on Newsworld is pretty abysmal.

Just about the only Canada-based outlet I respect at all at this point is iPolitics. They're propping up the long-past-her-prime career of Susan Delacourt, which is a huge mark against them, but they also go further down into the weeds on policy stuff than anyone else. If they just hired Kady O'Malley away from Postmedia, they'd basically have a monopoly on it.

 

[SRG01]

CBC doesn't even get a pass. Their foray into opinions has been a pretty massive failure, and even though I like the Baroness Von Sketch show, they're spending way too much time and money on comedy. They still provide a valuable service in small communities, but the quality of the stuff on Newsworld is pretty abysmal.

Just about the only Canada-based outlet I respect at all at this point is iPolitics. They're propping up the long-past-her-prime career of Susan Delacourt, which is a huge mark against them, but they also go further down into the weeds on policy stuff than anyone else. If they just hired Kady O'Malley away from Postmedia, they'd basically have a monopoly on it.

Ehhh, iPolitics has been going downhill since the summer. Their op-eds used to be a lot better, but they're really lacking as of late.

Their news aggregation and reporting are top-tier though.

 

[CazTGG]

CBC doesn't even get a pass. Their foray into opinions has been a pretty massive failure, and even though I like the Baroness Von Sketch show, they're spending way too much time and money on comedy. They still provide a valuable service in small communities, but the quality of the stuff on Newsworld is pretty abysmal.

Speaking of the CBC and opinions, there was this hilariously bad piece that can be best summed up as "you kids better get off my lawn with your social issues and consciousness on historical bias": http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/tone-down-the-snark-1.3924275

I don't know much about the AK, but is this a negative thing (financial expenditure for the trip aside, since it's being "reimbursed") because he had private access to the PM for an extended amount of time without full disclosure to the public until now?

The AK seems to have a pretty clean online presence. Is he involved in the pipelines at all?

(Sorry for dumb questions. I'm trying to get more involved and literate when it comes to our own politics this year, especially after how the US election went.)

Aside from musings about Trudeau being a closeted Muslim whose Sharia law will destroy western civilization by the usual crowd (See: Sun, Rebel Media), I very much doubt it.

Also, if you're interested in getting more involved and engaged in Canadian politics (and you can excuse my shameless plugging), I recently put together an informative video on Kellie Leitch as a sort of response to the ongoing "that could never happen in Canada" crowd's smug dismissal of a Leitch-lead CPC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PHcVc08W3Y

On the subject of Leitch, I saw an ad for her campaign on YouTube not too long ago. I don't know what I did to deserve this.

Also there's this...confusing proposal: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/anti-canadian-values-test-leitch-1.3925420. I say confusing since it's not clear on what she means by bringing back this fee since, so far as I can tell, said fee is still around so...what is she bringing back? Or is the plan to charge people to take her (asinine) test?

 

[lacinius]

Aside from musings about Trudeau being a closeted Muslim whose Sharia law will destroy western civilization by the usual crowd (See: Sun, Rebel Media), I very much doubt it.

How very strange that there weren't similar musing back in 2014 when Harper signed the Protocol of Understanding and a commitment of $216million with AK.

The Government of Canada is committed to enhancing relationships with key partners in order to further promote issues of common interest. To this end, on February 27, 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and His Highness the Aga Khan signed a Protocol of Understanding committing both sides to regular, high–level consultations on a range of global and regional issues...

 

[KernelPanic]

Meanwhile Kellie Leitch continues to try and copy Trump:

http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/new...ellie-leitch-wants-to-drain-rideau-canal.html

A Conservative party leadership candidate adept at drumming up media headlines is again channelling U.S. President-elect Donald Trump — and taking aim at an Ottawa city icon.
In a Saturday email to supporters, Kellie Leitch pledges to be "a leader who will drain the Canal of the influence paddlers and lobbyists."

 

[PumpkinSpice]

Meanwhile Kellie Leitch continues to try and copy Trump:

http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/new...ellie-leitch-wants-to-drain-rideau-canal.html

#StopTheGravyCanal

 

[fin]

 

[CazTGG]

How very strange that there weren't similar musing back in 2014 when Harper signed the Protocol of Understanding and a commitment of $216million with AK.

"Yeah well that was different because we liked Harper,d-I mean because it put to rest our economic anxiety!"

Meanwhile Kellie Leitch continues to try and copy Trump:

http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/new...ellie-leitch-wants-to-drain-rideau-canal.html

Not in any way surprising. She's talked about "knocking the elites down a peg" or something along those lines for a while, mostly due to, as I mentioned in that video earlier, having the same campaign manager as Rob Ford and John Tory, Nick Kouvalis, who's had her campaign hit those same notes of "the elites/gravy train" that got Ford elected.

Speaking of John Tory, can we talk about his scummy "secrecy meetings request" (I couldn't find any coverage via the usual sources but I remember seeing on the news last night)?: https://www.thestar.com/news/city_h...torys-secrecy-request-is-anti-democratic.html

 

[matthewwhatever]

Meanwhile Kellie Leitch continues to try and copy Trump:

http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/new...ellie-leitch-wants-to-drain-rideau-canal.html

If Leitch & Kouvalis had ever been clever in their lives, they'd get a mild chuckle out of me over the "influence paddlers" line. But seeing as they're both profoundly stupid people, it's probably safe to assume it was a dumb typo amidst a whole bunch of other idiocies.

Speaking of the CBC and opinions, there was this hilariously bad piece that can be best summed up as "you kids better get off my lawn with your social issues and consciousness on historical bias": http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/tone-down-the-snark-1.3924275

That piece was definitely at the top of my mind when I said that their opinion stuff had been a failure. It's a pretty prime example of everything wrong with Canada's whole op-ed writing class.

 

[gutter_trash]

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/p...niement-ministeriel-prevu-demain-a-ottawa.php

Breaking:
Trudeau's first cabinet shuffle scheduled for tomorrow,

I hope they put in somebody tougher to handle Foreign Affairs; Stephen Dion is tooo weak IMO, Canada needs a Good Cop, Bad Cop going.

We need someone who stands his ground and doesn't stutter or stammer as Foreign Affairs Minister.

IMO, Dion has poor judgment, if he even thought he was ever Leader material and decided to run for Liberal leadership when we all knew he was not Leadership material.


I would promote either Marc Garneau or Ralph Goodale as Foreign Affairs Minister

 

[matthewwhatever]

I really like Dion, but he's a little too pedantic to be FA minister, I guess.

I think Freeland gets moved over to there. No idea who takes over an International Trade...maybe François-Philippe Champagne? The problem with speculating is that I can't imagine just booting Dion from cabinet entirely, but moving him to another ministry creates a domino effect, and I can't see Trudeau going back on the gender equality pledge right now. So if it's a shuffle, he must be bringing in at least one woman to balance bringing in Champagne/creating new ministers.

 

[pr0cs]

We just have to make sure we don't let certain politicians get their grimy hands on the CBC. As long as we have a public broadcaster which is doing its job, it brings up the reporting quality of everybody else since they actually have to compete.

Insanity...
Seems to me they should be treated like any other industry.. If you can't compete you don't deserve to be in business.
Doing your job does NOT cut it in this economy, CBC shouldn't be given a free pass

 

[gutter_trash]

I have a really harsh opinion of MPs who actually believe they could ever become Party Leader and lack maturity to look at themselves in the mirror and admit that they are not Leader material.

Being a realist also demonstrates intelligence and judgment to make focused strategic decisions

we are up against a dark world in 2017, we need a tough and smart cookie as Foreign Affairs Minister.

 

[djkimothy]

Meanwhile Kellie Leitch continues to try and copy Trump:

http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/new...ellie-leitch-wants-to-drain-rideau-canal.html

As the twitter community pointed out, we do that at least once a year. Go back to Simcoe.

 

[firehawk12]

The anti-establishment thing doesn't work when your party was in power for a decade just a year ago.

 

[Sean C]

IMO, Dion has poor judgment, if he even thought he was ever Leader material and decided to run for Liberal leadership when we all knew he was not Leadership material.

Dion was one of the best ministers of the Chretien/Martin years.

It's also a bit of a rewrite to say that everybody knew he wasn't leadership material. At the time, a lot of people thought his strong reputation for integrity was the perfect antidote to the whole sponsorship scandal, etc.; and, of course, his leadership election coincided with a boomlet of environmentalist energy (which quickly dissipated afterward, particularly once the Great Recession began).

It will be interesting to see who gets moved around, though the G&M article on this was offering up various ministers they consider weak who could be dropped, one of whom was Kent Hehr, which is not happening, since he's from Calgary and Darshan Kang, while well-liked, isn't generally considered ministerial material.

Freeland getting promoted is something I could definitely see happening. She appears to be one of the people in government closest to Trudeau. I was on the verge of typing that she'd be the first female foreign minister, before remembering Flora MacDonald (and, on Wiki-ing it, Barbara McDougall). So she'd just be the first in almost a quarter century.

 

[matthewwhatever]

RE: Dion, a lot of pundits at the time were suggesting he'd be an interesting choice as leader. Of course, a lot of those same people immediately attacked the Liberals for picking, which should show how much faith you should ever place in Canadian pundits. Besides, as Chretien's intergovernmental affairs minister, Dion almost single-handedly destroyed the separatists, so he earned his reputation for being an outstanding minister. The problem was that what made him a great minister -- his love of policy minutiae and general wonkishness -- was what made him a lousy leader, and I think people either didn't foresee that or ignored it at the time. And I say that as a massive fan of the man.

 

[mdubs]

Well, it's good that Monsef is going to go at any rate.

 

[Sean C]

Well, it's good that Monsef is going to go at any rate.

That hasn't been confirmed, it's purely speculative.

 

[Boogie]

Just ignore everything the National Post and related papers put out. The job numbers came out yesterday and there was barely a blip in their papers.

Oh come on, that's a legitimate story and criticism to be making of the PM.

Look, even the Star is calling Trudeau out for that vacation:

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/edi...id-no-to-holiday-with-aga-khan-editorial.html

The National Post may be conservative-leaning, but they still do some good work worth reading. (just, not on the subject of
Israel.)

 

[Simon Belmont]

Oh come on, that's a legitimate story and criticism to be making of the PM.

Look, even the Star is calling Trudeau out for that vacation:

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/edi...id-no-to-holiday-with-aga-khan-editorial.html

The National Post may be conservative-leaning, but they still do some good work worth reading. (just, not on the subject of
Israel.)

Hey Boogie! I have a hypothetical off topic question for you - let's say I have a medical weed liscence. Can I smoke that shit in public? Am I just subject to smoking bylaws at that point?

 

[bremon]

Insanity...
Seems to me they should be treated like any other industry.. If you can't compete you don't deserve to be in business.
Doing your job does NOT cut it in this economy, CBC shouldn't be given a free pass

Isn't the CBC fairly gutted compared to years past thanks to the Harper regime, or are they sitting flush now? On the radio side of things I spend every working minute on the job with Radio One on in the background and the least appealing part of the day is Tom Power on Q (and that isn't a bad show!). Between that and their general website coverage they don't seem undeserving of being in business. Maybe the TV side of things is dreadful but years of my childhood was spent with 2 channels so outside of hockey and the news I don't feel the need to get a fix of CBC on television.

Also, re: Leitch, the canal comment is cringeworthy. He low-hanging fruit isn't always meant to be taken.

 

[gutter_trash]

Shuffle
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-government-cabinet-shuffle-2017-1.3928723

Freeland, who leaves the International Trade portfolio, will replace Stéphane Dion, who is leaving politics to take a diplomatic post.

Immigration Minister John McCallum is also leaving politics and will be named Canada's ambassador to China.

Other changes to be announced today, confirmed by CBC News:

François-Philippe Champagne will become minister of International Trade.
Patty Hajdu will move from Status of Women to Labour.
Maryam Monsef will transfer from Democratic Institutions to Status of Women.
Karina Gould will be named minister of Democratic Institutions.
Ahmed Hussen become minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Freeland makes sense since the Trump admin will be all about Trade Wars and Protectionism.
Need someone who knows about international trade as Foreign Minister to be able to talk to those Republican morons

 

[Sean C]

McCallum was a highly effective minister (he probably had the toughest initial challenge of any member of the cabinet), so I'd guess this is less about his performance than wanting something new (and maybe genuinely wanting him in Beijing as ambassador, which is an important job). It doesn't state what diplomatic post Dion is getting, though elsewhere it's been rumoured to be ambassador to France.

First wave of promotions for people upward. I'm not clear if this is the full extent of the changes, but from a regional perspective this is mostly a draw, except that Ontario gains a minister at the expense of Manitoba, which drops from 2 to 1.

 

[gutter_trash]

I hope Dion gets France

 

[matthewwhatever]

Assuming that's all final -- which seems like a safe assumption, though we won't know until they actually hold the ceremony at Rideau Hall (and still no announcement about that yet, which seems odd if it's happening today) -- those are all pretty decent picks. Impressive jumps for Hussen and Gould, for sure. It's too bad that Monsef has been so relatively disappointing, particularly after she got that Obama shoutout when he addressed Parliament.

And I'm sad to see Dion go. I was always a huge fan of his. Apparently he had turned down the appointment to France last year, but I guess he's changed his mind.

 

[Silexx]

CBC News Alerts ‏@CBCAlerts 9m9 minutes ago

Stéphane Dion to become Ambassador to the European Union and Germany. Previously they had been separate positions.

 

[Sean C]

CBC News Alerts ‏@CBCAlerts 9m9 minutes ago

Stéphane Dion to become Ambassador to the European Union and Germany. Previously they had been separate positions.

LOL, we're just doing away with any pretense that Angela Merkel doesn't run Europe.

Also, this means two new by-elections in solidly Liberal seats. The nomination fight over Saint-Laurent, one of the most Liberal places in the country, should be epic indeed.

 

[killer rin]

Kind of sad to see Dion go, he was a good minister

 

[Razorskin]

Hopefully Freeland can protect us from math like her predecessor.

 

[CazTGG]

Maybe Gould will get electoral reform pushed through in time for the next election instead of what seems to be the current plan: Abandon it and blame it on "we won big ti-I mean the general public didn't show the interest we were expecting so we'll leave reform for the time being".

EDIT: O'Leary is being a sleazy bit of scum as usual and trying to skip out on the French leadership debate: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kevin-oleary-conservative-leadership-1.3927823

 

[Dr.Acula]

Freeland is a hardcore Ukrainian, I like it.

 

[gutter_trash]

Freeland is a hardcore Ukrainian, I like it.

I just learned today that her Mother is Ukrainian

 

[Silexx]

Hopefully Freeland can protect us from math like her predecessor.

Uh what?

Freeland is taking Dion's position, not Monsef's.

 

[Sean C]

EDIT: O'Leary is being a sleazy bit of scum as usual and trying to skip out on the French leadership debate: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kevin-oleary-conservative-leadership-1.3927823

That should be encouraged, since that'll just cut his support lower. Quebec is almost a quarter of the points in the nomination fight.

 

[CreeperBlocks]

Wow, watching CBC, Stephane Dion is leaving politics altogether. Not taking a Ambassador Job

 

[PumpkinSpice]

January 10th, 2017

For one year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave me the honour of being his Minister of Foreign Affairs. As is his privilege, he has just entrusted this great responsibility to another person. I wish Chrystia the best of luck.

On January 25th 1996, I entered politics at the request of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. I was envisaging a brief parenthesis in my life. It has been, in fact, an incredible adventure. For this, I am indebted to the prime ministers and Liberal leaders who placed their confidence in me, to my colleagues in Parliament, to the public servants who supported me with competence and professionalism, to the members of the Liberal Party of Canada, to my political teams who, in Ottawa as in Saint-Laurent – Cartierville, placed their talents and their enthusiasm at my service. With all my heart, I thank the voters of Saint-Laurent – Cartierville who, a full eight times, placed their confidence in me and gave me the honour of representing them in the House of Commons. Of course, I could not have accomplished anything without all the sacrifices made by Janine and Jeanne. I thank them for all their love.

Over the last twenty-one years, I have devoted myself to my riding, to my fellow citizens, to Québec, to all of Canada, to the role that we must play in the world, and to the Liberal Party of Canada. Now, I shall deploy my efforts outside active politics. I have enjoyed political life, especially when I was able to make a difference to benefit my fellow citizens. I emerge full of energy…renewable! But politics is not the only way to serve one’s country. Fortunately!

http://sdion.liberal.ca/en/news-nouvelles/statement-by-the-honourable-stephane-dion/