MPs hold emergency debate to respond to Wilson-Raybould's testimony

February 28, 2019, 7:43 pm

≫ Next: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shuffle cabinet Friday

≪ Previous: Michael Cohen's testimony just piled more pressure on Trump to win in 2020 — or risk prison

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks truth is stranger than fiction Anyone can easily Google "David Amos Federal Court file No.T-1557-15" in order to sort out the truth from fiction for themselves N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/02/mps-hold-emergency-debate-to-respond-to.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/emergency-debate-wilson-raybould-1.5038146

MPs hold emergency debate to respond to Wilson-Raybould's testimony

'Somebody is lying, and I would say that it is not the former attorney general': Conservative House leader

CBC News· Posted: Feb 28, 2019 5:35 PM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

MPs are holding an emergency debate in the House of Commons to address issues arising from former attorney general and Justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould's testimony to the Commons Justice committe yesterday. 0:00

The House of Commons is holding an emergency debate tonight on the subject of former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould's testimony before the justice committee Wednesday.

Conservative House leader Candice Bergen asked for the debate early Thursday, a request that was supported by the NDP.

"Somebody is lying, and I would say that it is not the former attorney general," Bergen said.

Emergency debates are held to discuss urgent matters and must take place on the day the request is approved unless the Speaker rules otherwise.

CBC.ca is streaming the debate live.

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

Analysis
SNC-Lavalin dispute deepens as Wilson-Raybould testimony at odds with PM's take

Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

The debate comes as the NDP and the Greens continue to push for the government to call a public inquiry into allegations made by Wilson-Raybould that she is improperly pressured by 11 Prime Minister's Office and other government officials in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Wilson-Raybould told the committee that she experienced sustained and improper pressure to allow the Quebec-based infrastructure company to avoid a trial on bribery charges through a deferred prosecution agreement.

The corporation faced a 10-year ban on bidding on government contracts if convicted of the criminal charges of bribery.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, meanwhile, continues to call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down over the affair.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

2392 Comments at Midnight

David Amos

Methinks truth is stranger than fiction and anyone can easily Google "David Amos Federal Court file No.T-1557-15" in order to sort out the truth from fiction for themselves. Its blatantly obvious that Mr Trudeau had a duty to talk to Harper's Minister of justice and Peter MacKay and had them pay particular attention to info found within statement 83 of my lawsuit long before the election in October of 2015

Everybody knows why I am about to put the aforementioned matter before the Supreme Court and file several more lawsuits in the Federal Court against the RCMP and the CRA etc and also run for a seat in Parliament again N'esy Pas?

Jim Karr

A Liberal MP is claiming that referring the matter to the RCMP is illegal:-)hahahahahahah

David Amos @Jim Karr I got bored with this sideshow so here is a little info you may enjoy I am posting one last comment then of to bed Please check my work and good night sir

Trust that Gerald Butts, Jagmeet Singh, Andrew Scheer, Maxime Bernier, Elizabeth May and everyone else who sits in opposition know that Jody Wilson-Raybould may have lost her mandate as Justice Minister because of her failings in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal within my lawsuit against the Crown that was filed when Harper was the Prime Minister and Mr Scheer was the Speaker. Need I say that it irritated me big time when Jody appointed her Deputy Minister to the bench of Federal Court not long after I argued their minions in the Federal Court of Appeal?

Methinks anyone can check my work by simply Googling two names "Jody Wilson-Raybould David Raymond Amos" before she speaks her truth tomorrow N'esy Pas?

Jim Karr

Jim Karr

Too bad the CBC "live debate" feed doesn't work for Canadian based browsers.

David Amos

@Jim Karr What a relief I thought it was just me

Jim Karr

@David Amos

I tried 4 different browsers on the wifi and none works.
But I can watch it on a cellular connection.

David Amos

@Jim Karr Me Too

Rick Guthrie

So, according to the Liberals, it's ok to allow large companies to get away with crimes as long as it saves jobs. Ridiculous and sad.

Thomas Magnum

@Rick Guthrie
have you looked up what a DPA is?

Troy Mann

@Rick Guthrie

You don't understand what a DPA so stop pretending you are smart

Sid Taylor

@Troy Mann
Another bumper sticker slogan from Troy. We all know you support ethics violations Troy

Francis Lee

@Rick Guthrie : It depends how you define "crimes". At that time in history the only way to obtain lucrative contracts in a place like Libya was through bribery. Every company did it.

John Hawkwood

@Rick Guthrie
As long as it saves jobs ... in Quebec.

Rick Guthrie

@Rick Guthrie
It's very easy to understand what a crime is. But if your a Liberal sometimes crimes are ok. I think their moral compass is broken.

Rick Guthrie

@Francis Lee
No, sorry. Not every company did it.

Troy Mann

@Rick Guthrie

US, UK, Australia and EU companies have all used DPAs

David Fletcher

@Rick Guthrie

I am glad that pragmatism wins. All our major competitors allows DPA's so for Canada to tie it's hands behind it's back and leave money on the table for some idealistic nonsense that ignores reality would have been outrageous.

The behavior of JWR was childish and petulant. If she can't look at the bigger picture then she has no place in leadership.

Andy. Radtke

@Francis Lee - Of course, and also apparently in La Quebec also!

Jenna Collins

@David Fletcher
You don't find it odd that SNC-Lavalin survived all these years without DPA's? You don't find it odd that the Liberals brought in DPA legislation by giant omnibus bill in 2018?

Clement Attlee

@Rick Guthrie Someone made that precise argument RE one of my comments earlier on. I asked him how he did not see SNC's role in their own potential demise.

Paul Holden

@Rick Guthrie and of course it had nothing to do with the 110,000 of under table money from the Liberals

David Fletcher

@Jenna Collins

In the past, both political parties were smart enough to overlook bribery claims in parts of the world where bribery is as common as air. The cost of self-righteous ideology will be paid for by the Canadians employed by SNC and by the Canadian taxpayer.

Walter Rogers

@David Fletcher But that's what what our holier-than-thou leader likes to do, tie Canadian's hands behind their backs.

John Dunn

@Francis Lee If one examines "bribery" charges against SNC, considering that it was Libya that they were dealing with, one has to wonder about the validity of the charges. Sadly, bribery is a way of life in many countries and is the only way contracts are awarded. Given it was Gaddafi, one of the world's biggest criminals, is bribery a surprise to anyone. Now if SNC was bribing someone in Canada to receive contracts, I could understand the righteous pursuit if prosecution.

Stanley Baird

@Rick Guthrie apparently the top civil servant also holds this political view. This guy should resign today to protect reputation of the rest of the civil service who uphold the law. Shameful.

Richard Sharp

@Rick Guthrie

Totally uninformed post, Rick, as usual. DPAs are all the rage to deal with white collar crime, in the USA, the UK, all over. Canada is just catching up and SNC is about as qualified for one as any company in the world.

Darren MacDonald

@Rick Guthrie According to the legal people on the news, the Libs wrote their own legislation wrong.

Darren MacDonald

@Paul Holden I'd like to see the Lib staffers and SNC connection.

david mccaig

@Rick Guthrie

another day another Trudeau is horrible blah blah blah

David Amos

@Rick Guthrie Mais Oui

David Amos

@Troy Mann "stop pretending you are smart"

You Too

David Amos

@Troy Mann "US, UK, Australia and EU companies have all used DPAs"

So what?

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "DPAs are all the rage to deal with white collar crime"

Do tell Why is that?

Robert Long

Wow, I can't believe this thread. After what we saw yesterday, people are still supporting Trudeau. Just like Donald Trump's base, it doesn't matter whet evil Trudeau does, his base still supports him. And judging from the ratio of pro Trudeau to anti Trudeau comments here, that base is very large.

Show 17 older replies

Troy Mann

@Phil Mein

Personal attacks yet you are unable to substantiate anything you disagree with me on.

Scotty Davidson

@Richard Sharp And yet he is supporting regime change in Venesuala, and getting Freeland to ask other countries to increase sanctions. Pretty sad you are defending such behavior.

David Amos

@Troy Mann I am not anonymous yet you won't go down to Federal Court to check my work WHY?

Richard Sharp

@Scotty Davidson

I have always been against the foreign policies of Trudeau and especially Freeland. Her INSANE support for Canadian troops and weapons on Russia’s borders is a disgrace to our long history as an honest broker.

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "I have always been against the foreign policies of Trudeau and especially Freeland."

Yea Right Do tell us another one

Dave MacDonald

She has no reason not to tell the truth while Trudeau has lots of reasons not to tell the truth .

Troy Mann

@Dave MacDonald

No crime was committed
I was the decision maker as AG

You say you believe her but not those two statements?

Richard Sharp

@Dave MacDonald

It’s all about her, as her bizarre public letter shows when she was moved to Veterans Affairs. She kept secret book on her own Cabinet colleagues and staff, and instructed her staff to do likewise. JWR is totally untrustworthy and must be removed from the Liberal caucus.

Don Cameron

@Richard Sharp said,
"She kept secret book on her own Cabinet colleagues..."

Or, in other words, she kept notes of meetings just like many competent professionals.

Richard Sharp

@Don Cameron

In the words of Donald Trump, she’s a rat, but not to expose wrongdoing. To make herself look good.

Don Cameron

@Richard Sharp said,
"In the words of Donald Trump..."

You seem to be channeling Donald Trump a lot lately.
The media are spreading fake news.
Political foes are disgusting jackels.
Anyone who stands up to your hero is 'a rat'.

Just like a Trump supporter. The similarities are remarkable.

Don Cameron

@Richard Sharp said,
"she’s a rat, but not to expose wrongdoing. To make herself look good."

She took a stand on a legal issue, as was her right. For that she was harassed and threatened. She refused to cave, so she was fired from the AG position. She's informing people of what happened, and will likely pay a huge price politically for doing so.

It was the opposite of doing it to 'make herself look good'.
You should be ashamed for making such a claim.

Kris Stec

@Richard Sharp Fact: not one reputable news reporter has anything positive to say about you boy wonder. You can continue to post your nonsense but he has lost the media and they won't forget. Game over...

Scotty Davidson

@Kris Stec He gave them 600 million dollars to report the "truth" so um yeah he might get some positive press...

David Amos

@Troy Mann "I was the decision maker as AG"

Federal Court file no T-1557-15 in case you forgot

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "In the words of Donald Trump, she’s a rat, but not to expose wrongdoing. To make herself look good."

Oh My My Methinks desperate liberals do say desperate things N'esy Pas?

Jim Dandee

I'm with Scheer: Trudeau needs to step aside.

David Magner (YYC)

@Jim Dandee

JWR said no law was broken. Trudeau was assertive, rude, disrespectful, etc. and I'm very disappointed in him for that but the punishment should fit the offence. A stern talking to is called for. That's about all.

Don't pretend Scheer would be all pleasant, happy and delightful if he were trying to get his AG to waive prosecution of a big oil co. in a Con riding. Of course a con AG would probably waive that without having to be asked.

Darnell Rockmart

@David Magner (YYC) A stern talking to? Do you have the liberal party logo tattooed on your face or something?

Troy Mann

@Darnell Rockmart

What more should he get, all that happened is Jody got irritated... Big deal, if MPs cant irritate someone who is flushing 10,000 jobs down the drain we have big problems

Richard McDonell

@Jim Dandee
It would not trouble me if he did step aside (in favour of PM Freeland?), but having said that, I don't think it would solve anything. Election coming up in eight months - let the people decide -they're (we're) the ones that elected him.

Darnell Rockmart

@Troy Mann Big deal if we have politicians trying their best to allow large companies to bribe people for financial windfall! Let's elect some more MP's willing to do big corporations bidding for them!!

Stanley Baird

@Jim Dandee the top civil servant who testified to protect Trudeau needs to go too

Troy Mann

@Darnell Rockmart

The people who committed the crimes have all been charged leaving the innocent Canadian workers and investors left. They did nothing wrong, why dont conservatives understand that in their lust to bring down SNC and Canadian jobs.

John Dunn

@Jim Dandee Scheer is of course grandstanding with glee at the opportunity to make hay on the issue. Nothing more, nothing less. JWR said "improper" not "illegal". The opposition is having an "emergency" session purely for the purpose of "pumping the story".

John Dunn

@David Magner (YYC) Assertive yes. Rude and disrespectful, "etc". naw.

Richard Sharp

@Jim Dandee

For what? No unlawful act, even according to JWR’s betrayal yesterday.

Darren MacDonald

@Jim Dandee Most would agree.

Darren MacDonald

@John Dunn "Scheer is of course grandstanding with glee at the opportunity to make hay on the issue. "
Was he drinking a $16 glass of orange juice at the time?

David Amos

@Troy Mann "Big deal, if MPs cant irritate someone who is flushing 10,000 jobs down the drain we have big problems"

Methinks the work will still get done just Justin's Quebecois cohorts won't be able to make a big score form it tis all N'esy Pas?

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "No unlawful act, even according to JWR’s betrayal yesterday"

Methinks you need to Google "David Amos wiretap" again N'esy Pas?

Vernon Shein

Trudeau, he's just not ready.

Kris Stec

@Richard Sharp Cut and paste the same erroneous interpretation of the facts. You never learn.

Richard Sharp

@Don Cameron

The Libs have done more in 3.5 years than Harper did in ten. In fact ten times more because Harper drove this country in reverse.

Peter Beaulieu

@Vernon Shein He's ready with great hair!

@Vernon Shein

Lowest unemployment rate in 40 years is the Trudeau legacy

Harper and Sheer are still working on their 2015 election platform

Nicholas Jones

@Vernon Shein

He's ready for getting kicked out of office.

Andy. Radtke

@Peter Beaulieu - LOL, yup seemed to get darker recently?

David Chambers

@Vernon Shein

He is ready for jail!

Richard McDonell

@Troy Mann
Troy, cherry picking your stats doesn't prove anything. Look hard enough and you will find something terrible on every leader of every stripe. If you want us to look at the unemployment rate, I'll ask you to look at the deficit increase since he took office.
Do we judge Churchill by Gallipoli and his stand on Indian independence, or by his leadership in WW2?

Stanley Baird

@David Chambers maybe he can share a cell with Kadar

Troy Mann

@Richard McDonell

Our deficit is small in comparison to our GDP and our debt to GDP ratio is declining.

Why would you not want to look at our unemployment rate? Because it shows Canada is succeeding? It is ok to be proud of Canada you know, even if you dislike the PM.

Richard Sharp

@Vernon Shein

The Trudeau Libs put together a remarkable 354 campaign promises in 2015, and have delivered on 91% of them, in part or in whole. Transformational reforms of child benefits, the Senate, FNs relations, climate action, elections (yep) and on and on. Trudeau is ready all right and when Canadians come to realize his SPECTACULAR achievements vs. Scheer the Harper retread, it will be an easy choice.

Darren MacDonald

@Vernon Shein It'a all a matter of reordering his thoughts.

Darren MacDonald

@Troy Mann So deficits in "good" times is a good thing?

Don Cameron

@Richard Sharp said,
"and have delivered on 91% of them, in part or in whole. "

Now, keeping promises 'in part' counts for something? Which part?

I promised to be faithful to my wife, forsaking all others. I wonder how she'd feel if I only kept my promise 'in part'? Lol...

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "Trudeau is ready all right and when Canadians come to realize his SPECTACULAR achievements vs. Scheer the Harper retread, it will be an easy choice."

Methinks you should take a long walk in the snow and think about quitting as a political pundit N'esy Pas?

David Amos

@Troy Mann "It is ok to be proud of Canada you know, even if you dislike the PM."

At least that part is true

Harold Peters

Securing jobs does not ever over ride justice, that is a very lame excuse.

David Fletcher

@Harold Peters

Most Canadians believed that. Then they grew up and realized the world is a complex place and that we compete against others with far more pragmatic outlooks.

David Amos

@David Fletcher "Most Canadians believed that"

I still do

Demeter Khol

Trudeau and Macron belong to the same breed of politician. When they open their mouths, they appear to be the very antithesis of the likes of Donald Trump, who displays his monstrous nature for all to see. But the Macrons and the Trudeaus of the world are monsters in disguise — and they are just as dangerous

Brock Samson

@Demeter Khol Politics 101.

David Amos

@Demeter Khol Welcome to the Circus

Eric Tred

Will Trudeau have the guts to show up or will he have someone else answer for him like this afternoon.

Reid Fleming

@Eric Tred Why bother? In response to any question, he'll just keep parroting the same scripted talking points about "Canadian jobs."

Stanley Baird

@Eric Tred he a tried to throw a woman under the bus and she crushed it, Today another woman had to take heat for him in the House of Commons. And then there is that female reporter in BC. This guy is not a man or a feminist.

David Amos

@Eric Tred Trudeau loves centre stage Hence he will show up

Brock Samson

I find it righteously funny that amidst all of this; the C won't let us (me?) say the word cor**pt or any version of it.

Classic.

Brock Samson

@Brock Samson I mean its been that way for ages now but it gets increasingly funny.

Ricky Tarr

@Brock Samson

Been there done that.
It's your and my tax money at work.

Marvin Gross

@Ricky Tarr good old fake news North

Darnell Rockmart

@Brock Samson It reminds them that they are too, and thus it can't be allowed.

David Amos

@Brock Samson Mais Oui is often blocked too for some strange reason

David Amos

@Brock Samson Better yet try to post the name of New Brunswick's Green Party leader and see how far you get with that

Jenna Collins

This is turning into the biggest government scandal in Canadian history. I can't believe that some Liberal supporters are still defending them and have turned against Jody Wilson-Raybould. Unbelievable!

Stephen David

@Jenna Collins

Their done and most Canadians know it.

Robert Morris

@Jenna Collins
Trying to save 9000+ jobs at SNC-Lavelin is not scandalous......it is standing up for canadian workers......

Paul Mason

@Stephen David *they're

rex king

@Jenna Collins a few die hards if it werent hilarious it would be embarrassing

rex king

@Robert Morris LOL this has nothing to do with jobs. so I wont mention the oil patch.

Chantelle Robideaux

@Robert Morris At the expense of the rule of law that Trudeau keeps talking about.

Jenna Collins

@Robert Morris
So you think that there are no other companies in Canada that would love to handle government contracts?

Richard McDonell

@Jenna Collins
Haven't read much Canadian history have you?

David Amos

@Jenna Collins "This is turning into the biggest government scandal in Canadian history."

Methinks you have never heard of the doings of Sir John A. MacDonald N'esy Pas?

David Amos

@Jenna Collins How about Mulroney and bag money?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilson-raybould-freeland-trudeau-snc-lavalin-1.5036795

Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

MPs to hold emergency debate tonight on the former justice minister's testimony

Kathleen Harris· CBC News· Posted: Feb 28, 2019 10:54 AM ET

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters in St. Hubert, Que., on Thursday. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is considering whether Jody Wilson-Raybould can remain in the Liberal caucus, as the Conservatives make a formal request for the RCMP to launch a criminal investigation following her testimony in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Taking questions from reporters Thursday after an event at the Canadian Space Agency in St. Hubert, Que., Trudeau again took issue with Wilson-Raybould's version of events, and said he was taking time to consider her status.

"I have taken knowledge of her testimony and there are still reflections to have on next steps," he said.

MPs will hold an emergency debate tonight on Wilson-Raybould's damning testimony before the Commons justice committee, where the former justice minister alleged improper political interference and "veiled threats" by the Prime Minister's Office and government officials. That debate begins at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

Justin Trudeau 'doesn't deserve to be the prime minister any longer,' says Lisa Raitt

CBC EXPLAINS
What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has asked for Trudeau's resignation and for a police investigation.

Today, he wrote to the RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki formally requesting an investigation into possible Criminal Code offences related to provoking fear in an attorney general and obstructing or defeating the course of justice.

"She confirmed veiled threats of consequences if she did not bend to the political wishes of the Liberal Party and the financial interests of the shareholders of SNC-Lavalin. It was also clear that these actions rose to the highest ranks of the government," Scheer wrote.

RCMP reviewing request

The RCMP acknowledged receiving the letter and said the commissioner is reviewing it.

Meanwhile, late Thursday, two former federal attorneys general — Peter MacKay, who served in the role under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Douglas Grinslade Lewis, who served under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney — penned a letter to the RCMP asking for a police investigation into the matter.

The letter was also signed by three provincial attorneys general: Jonathan Denis, Progressive Conservative, from Alberta; Cecil Clarke, Progressive Conservative, from Nova Scotia; and Colin Gableman, NDP, from British Columbia.

"We write today to urge you to ensure that you use all resources at your disposal to fully and fairly investigate any potential criminality and provide Canadians with the truth in this crucial matter, as it strikes at the core of the rule of law and independence of our justice system," the letter said.

CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has called for a public inquiry.

During a raucous question period today, Scheer expressed outrage that Trudeau was not in the House of Commons to answer questions as the controversy rages, calling it "disgusting."

During her committee appearance, Wilson-Raybould offered few details on why she resigned from Trudeau's cabinet.

"I resigned from cabinet because I did not have confidence to sit around the cabinet table, that's why I resigned," she said.

She declined to explain why she quit cabinet or disclose details of her conversations with the prime minister prior to her resignation. But she described experiencing "heightened anxiety" as she waited for the "other shoe to drop."

She said that one week before a Jan. 14 cabinet shuffle, she received a call from Trudeau advising her she was being moved from the justice portfolio.

"I will not go into details of this call, or subsequent communications about the shuffle, but I will say that I stated I believed the reason was because of the SNC matter. They denied this to be the case," she testified.

Trudeau cites Brison's departure

Today, Trudeau again denied her accusation

"Had [former treasury board president] Scott Brison not stepped down, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general of Canada," he said.

Trudeau repeated his line from last night, when he insisted he and his staff acted professionally and appropriately at all times in dealing with Wilson-Raybould and that he completely disagrees with her characterization of events.

He pointed to two processes to get more answers that are now underway, the justice committee investigation and the ethics commissioner's probe.

Wilson-Raybould says she faced pressure, 'veiled threats' on SNC-Lavalin; Scheer calls on PM to resign

Top civil servant denies 'inappropriate' pressure against Wilson-Raybould in SNC-Lavalin case

Read Jody Wilson-Raybould's opening statement on the SNC-Lavalin affair

Wilson-Raybould spoke 'her truth:' Freeland

Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she believes Jody Wilson-Raybould spoke "her truth" during stunning testimony before the Commons justice committee in Ottawa on Wednesday, but Freeland maintained the prime minister would never exert inappropriate pressure on the former attorney general.

In an interview with CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Thursday, Freeland was asked who she believes: Wilson-Raybould or Trudeau.

After Wilson-Raybould delivered a blistering, four-hour account of sustained, intense efforts by the Prime Minister's Office and other government officials that she feels were designed to sway her decision on prosecuting SNC-Lavalin, Trudeau refuted her version of events and insisted he and his staff did nothing wrong.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says she always considered Jody Wilson-Raybould a 'valued colleague.' (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

"I believe that she spoke, as she said she wanted to do, her truth," Freeland told host Robyn Bresnahan.

"Having said that, I am clearly of the view that the prime minister would never apply improper pressure, that the prime minister has always been clear about the unique role of the attorney general, and would respect that."

SNC-Lavalin had been lobbying for a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid criminal prosecution on bribery charges related to contracts in Libya. A conviction would mean a 10-year ban on bidding for federal procurement projects.

Key moments from Jody Wilson-Raybould's SNC-Lavalin testimony

Analysis
SNC-Lavalin dispute deepens as Wilson-Raybould testimony at odds with PM's take

Freeland said she has always considered Wilson-Raybould a valued colleague. She was asked what she thought, as a feminist, about the characterization of Wilson-Raybould as "difficult."

"I have never found her to be anything other than a thoughtful colleague whose perspective I have valued," she said. "She is a woman of strong views. I like to think that I am too."

Power and Politics

Cabinet minister on JWR's testimony

'I know her to be a very thorough, meticulous person,' says Min. of Public Works Carla Qualtrough. 7:24

Trudeau apologized to Wilson-Raybould on Feb. 20 for what he called "absolutely unacceptable" comments and cartoons about the former justice minister, saying he wasn't quick enough to condemn them in "unequivocal terms."

Disparaging characterization

He didn't specify which comments inspired his apology.

Recently, The Canadian Press ran a story quoting anonymous sources who described Wilson-Raybould as someone who had "become a thorn in the side of the cabinet" before she was shuffled to Veterans Affairs. She was also described as "someone ... [who] was difficult to get along with, known to berate fellow cabinet ministers openly at the table, and who others felt they had trouble trusting."

Several political cartoonists portrayed Wilson-Raybould bound, gagged and beaten — a reference to her refusing to comment on the scandal publicly because of solicitor-client privilege.

'Play as a united team'

Asked if Wilson-Raybould should remain in the Liberal caucus after delivering the damning testimony, Freeland said caucus is a "broad church" with diverse views. Cabinet and caucus can share and debate them behind closed doors, but must emerge united.

"At the end of the day, when you leave the room, you have to play as a united team," she said. "I feel very strongly about that because I think being united when we left the room has been extremely important for us on issues like NAFTA."

Freeland was also asked if the controversy might affect the consideration of Canada as a "rule of law" country and other cases, such as the extradition proceedings against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

"In the Meng case, our government has been scrupulous," she said. "Decisions that are correctly taken at the official, ie. non-political level have been scrupulously taken at the official, non-political level, and there has been no interference, political element to the decision."

Watch cabinet minister Carla Qualtrough discuss the testimony on Power & Politics

CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content

About the Author

Kathleen Harris

Senior Writer

Kathleen Harris is a senior writer in the CBC's Parliament Hill bureau. She covers politics, immigration, justice and corrections. Follow her on Twitter @ottawareporter

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has called for a public inquiry.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

During a raucous question period today, Scheer expressed outrage that Trudeau was not in the House of Commons to answer questions as the controversy rages, calling it "disgusting."During her committee appearance, Wilson-Raybould offered few details on why she resigned from Trudeau's cabinet."I resigned from cabinet because I did not have confidence to sit around the cabinet table, that's why I resigned," she said.

Former Canadian Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould arrives to give her testimony about the SNC-Lavalin affair before the justice committee hearing on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 27, 2019. (Lars Hagberg/AFP/Getty Images)She declined to explain why she quit cabinet or disclose details of her conversations with the prime minister prior to her resignation. But she described experiencing "heightened anxiety" as she waited for the "other shoe to drop." She said that one week before a Jan. 14 cabinet shuffle, she received a call from Trudeau advising her she was being moved from the justice portfolio."I will not go into details of this call, or subsequent communications about the shuffle, but I will say that I stated I believed the reason was because of the SNC matter. They denied this to be the case," she testified.Trudeau cites Brison's departureToday, Trudeau again denied her accusation"Had [former treasury board president] Scott Brison not stepped down, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general of Canada," he said.Trudeau repeated his line from last night, when he insisted he and his staff acted professionally and appropriately at all times in dealing with Wilson-Raybould and that he completely disagrees with her characterization of events.He pointed to two processes to get more answers that are now underway, the justice committee investigation and the ethics commissioner's probe.

Wilson-Raybould says she faced pressure, 'veiled threats' on SNC-Lavalin; Scheer calls on PM to resign

Top civil servant denies 'inappropriate' pressure against Wilson-Raybould in SNC-Lavalin case

Read Jody Wilson-Raybould's opening statement on the SNC-Lavalin affair

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said today he never approached Wilson-Raybould about SNC-Lavalin, but his staff "appropriately" reached out to her staff to underscore that job losses and pensions were at stake with her decision."My chief of staff's job is to make sure that we engage with other parts of the government to ensure that they understand economic consequences of decisions," he said during a media availability in Toronto.Wilson-Raybould spoke 'her truth:' Freeland Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she believes Jody Wilson-Raybould spoke "her truth" during stunning testimony before the Commons justice committee in Ottawa on Wednesday, but Freeland maintained the prime minister would never exert inappropriate pressure on the former attorney general.In an interview with CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Thursday, Freeland was asked who she believes: Wilson-Raybould or Trudeau.After Wilson-Raybould delivered a blistering, four-hour account of sustained, intense efforts by the Prime Minister's Office and other government officials that she feels were designed to sway her decision on prosecuting SNC-Lavalin, Trudeau refuted her version of events and insisted he and his staff did nothing wrong.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says she always considered Jody Wilson-Raybould a 'valued colleague.' (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)"I believe that she spoke, as she said she wanted to do, her truth," Freeland told host Robyn Bresnahan."Having said that, I am clearly of the view that the prime minister would never apply improper pressure, that the prime minister has always been clear about the unique role of the attorney general, and would respect that."SNC-Lavalin had been lobbying for a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid criminal prosecution on bribery charges related to contracts in Libya. A conviction would mean a 10-year ban on bidding for federal procurement projects.

Key moments from Jody Wilson-Raybould's SNC-Lavalin testimony

Analysis
SNC-Lavalin dispute deepens as Wilson-Raybould testimony at odds with PM's take

Freeland said she has always considered Wilson-Raybould a valued colleague. She was asked what she thought, as a feminist, about the characterization of Wilson-Raybould as "difficult." "I have never found her to be anything other than a thoughtful colleague whose perspective I have valued," she said. "She is a woman of strong views. I like to think that I am too."

know her to be a very thorough, meticulous person,' says Min. of Public Works Carla Qualtrough. 7:24

↧

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shuffle cabinet Friday

February 28, 2019, 8:55 pm

≫ Next: Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

≪ Previous: MPs hold emergency debate to respond to Wilson-Raybould's testimony

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Methinks the Liberals, the Conservatives and Maxime Bernier are gonna look forward to me running in Fundy Royal again N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/prime-minister-justin-trudeau-to.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cabinet-shuffle-friday-liberal-1.5038439

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shuffle cabinet Friday

Shuffle will be small, involving handful of ministers, in bid to fill Veterans Affairs

David Cochrane· CBC News· Posted: Feb 28, 2019 7:39 PM ET

A small cabinet shuffle will happen Friday morning as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seeks to fill the vacant post of Veterans Affairs. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will shuffle his cabinet on Friday to fill the vacancy created by Jody Wilson-Raybould's departure over the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

A high-level government source tells CBC News that the shuffle will be small, involving no more than a handful of ministers. The source also said that the shuffle will be internal, and there will be no new ministers added to cabinet.

A second government source says some ministers have been called back to Ottawa to prepare for a Friday morning shuffle.

Trudeau has to fill Wilson-Raybould's post at Veterans Affairs. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has been acting in that role since Wilson-Raybould's resignation.

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

Live
MPs hold emergency debate to respond to Wilson-Raybould's testimony

The Veterans Affairs ministry was left vacant when Wilson-Raybould resigned from the position Feb. 12.

The former justice minister and attorney general of Canada only held the post for a month, having been moved there Jan. 14 after Scott Brison, the former president of the Treasury Board, retired from federal politics.

Wilson-Raybould told a parliamentary committee this week she believes she was shuffled out of the Justice Department because she refused to buckle to pressure from 11 officials — from the Prime Minister's Office and other departments — who wanted her to give SNC-Lavalin a way out of bribery and corruption charges.

The Quebec-based engineering and infrastructure company was seeking a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, or DPA, that would allow the firm to avoid criminal prosecution, providing it met a number of conditions.

About the Author

David Cochrane

CBC News

David Cochrane is a senior reporter in CBC's Parliamentary bureau. He previously wrote for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

1021 Comments

Kim Luciano

Why bother. Resign and call an election. This is over for the Liberals.

Show 5 older replies

Dan Cooper

@Kim Luciano

LOL at the partisan Conservative theatrics

I can't wait to see the looks on all of the whiny conservative faces when they lose even worse next election.

This is the biggest bump you are getting...it is february lol.

It is a nothingburger to anyone that isn't a partisan lemming to begin with. It isn't even as big of scandal as all of the corruption between the Senate and Harper minions and Canadians didn't care about the CPC openly stealing from taxpayers to fund their party.

Our conservative media is doing its best to get their stooges back into power though.

Sadly there are no realistic voting options beyond Liberal or Conservative and Conservatism is in a sad and pathetic state right now and has lost its way by appealing to the lowest common denominator at every turn

Murray Joah

@Dan Cooper
So according to you, if one has "charisma", all is good?!?!
I think we are seeing just what "charisma" is bringing to the political table...

Content disabled.
David Amos

@Dan Cooper "It is a nothingburger to anyone that isn't a partisan lemming to begin with."

Yea Right Methinks the All knowing Gerry Butts would not quit over a"nothingburger" N'esy Pas?

Richard Smith

Canadians to shuffle government in October.

bryan cassidy

@Richard Smith
Very NICE.

Stanley Baird

@Richard Smith cabinet shuffle - are their more ministers who showed integrity and have to be demoted?

Kay McLeod

@Stanley Baird Good one, Stanley!!!! Too bad there isn't a laugh button on this forum. You win the internet tonight!!

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Richard Smith "Canadians to shuffle government in October."

Heres Hoping

Methinks the Liberals, the Conservatives and Maxime Bernier are gonna look forward to me running in Fundy Royal again N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276

Chris Hatherley

Trudeau needs to shuffle himself out of cabinet and out the door.

David Amos

@Chris Hatherley Good luck with that

bryan cassidy

There is no short term fix for incompetence. Trudeau must resign.

Show 5 older replies

Henry Starfield

@bryan cassidy Yes, he must, but this is not incompetence, this is breaking the law.

Ed Hole

@bryan cassidy

Not just resignation.
We need to tear down the whole crooked system and install blockchain democracy.

David Amos

@bryan cassidy "There is no short term fix for incompetence."

Methinks Harper 2.0 and his minions are suffering from the same affliction N'esy Pas?

Leslie Kirby

Too little, too late. He should do the right thing and resign. People are sick of his arrogance, buffoonery, shameless self promotion and his need to spend our hard earned dollars for his personal agenda. For goodness sake man, the jig is up.

David Amos

@Leslie Kirby "People are sick of his arrogance, buffoonery, shameless self promotion"

Methinks most folks are but not all N'esy Pas?

Anthony Kennedy

Justin is all about Justin. Canadians are seeing through his act.

David Amos

@Anthony Kennedy Welcome to the Circus

Kevin Delaney

Who’s he going to pick to be PM? Surely he knows his brand is done?

Jim Karr

@Kevin Delaney

Scanning your old posts, it appears that you have jumped ship like most other Liberal comrades.

Kevin Delaney

@Jim Karr
Actually I’m a political omnivore. Little use for Harper. Scheer has a long way to go to be credible. I have written in the name of my dead cat last time. Depressed now politically. Freeland just dropped several notches today as well.

Jim Karr

@Kevin Delaney

Hum...no worries, you'll be cheering your new dear leader Jameet soon. At least he has a seat now.

Kevin Delaney

@Jim Karr
If Jack had been graced wth a longer life I might have given him a try. If Bob Raye had been more than a Liberal interm leader he might have gotten my vote. Looks like the dead cat is back in.

Jim Karr

@Kevin Delaney

Funny how you lot never reveal your hard left tendencies.
Why is that?

Kevin Delaney

@Jim Karr

Actually I’m more center right. My Red Tory roots go back to th days of Robert Stanfield. I was Progressive Conservative. Then Brian destroys the Party & tosses the keys to Kim who burnt the place down.

Ken Likness

@Jim Karr
Because all Canadian politial parties are right wing.

David Amos

@Jim Karr "Scanning your old posts, it appears that you have jumped ship like most other Liberal comrades."

I noticed that too

David Amos

@Ken Likness "Because all Canadian politial parties are right wing."

Tell that to the NDP

Gordon More

Cool, does the Shuffle include the position of PM?

Cheryl Prosyk

@Gordon More If only! If we could I would like the PM shuffled to China, because he really admires them and maybe they would give him a job in their parliament.

David Amos

@Gordon More Good Point

allen piper

How are the polls today CBC.....I see they haven't been posted......

Peter Bolivar

@James Whiting
Jeez. Give it time. They don't do polls every day. Plus, doing polls DURING a crisis is useless, as the polls are really volatile. Wait a few days...

Taking them now would be a waste of resources.

bren hynes

@Peter Bolivar poll on the east coast showed that over 30% of respondants would change their vote based on the SNC allegations

John Dagome

@bren hynes Yup, they would change it from NDP to Liberal.

Peter Bolivar

@bren hynes
I am not denying that. Jeex; obvious the Liberals are going to tank. Seriously tank. But a poll right now won't reflect that. When there is a major change in the political landscape, the polls take time to reflect that. There is a lag time of many DAYS, not hours.

A poll right now would underestimate how low the Liberals are.

Down vote all you want, but I am right on that. You guys seem to want instant gratification. It takes time for a change in views to be accurate.

Kay McLeod

@allen piper LOL

Kay McLeod

@Peter Bolivar They may just be joking around.

David Amos

@bren hynes Of that I have no doubt

Charles Smith

My MP (liberal) was on the radio today and said he had not watched the JWL testimony yet. How is that possible. It's your job dude...be better.

John Smith

@Charles Smith they saw it. They just don't want to talk about it because answering hard questions is hard

Kay McLeod

@John Smith How could they watch all that and still give the BS answers they've prepared for them? Safer not to watch. Kind of like skaters. If you have to follow the one that just got 6.0's straight across and got a standing ovation, you hide in the dressing room with strong headphones and go out and do your very best as if it never happened. Clean slate. It's the best they have. Too busy working for the people of Canada to watch.

David Amos

@Charles Smith "How is that possible."

Its not but he was incredibly dumb to claim such a thing on the radio

↧

Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

March 1, 2019, 7:59 am

≫ Next: Stop NB Power deal with mysterious Florida startup, Green leader says

≪ Previous: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shuffle cabinet Friday

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Methinks Trudeau the Younger's "Team" are all part of his beloved peoplekind but NONE of them were blessed with a conscience or even common sense N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/trudeau-mulls-wilson-rayboulds-fate-in.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilson-raybould-freeland-trudeau-snc-lavalin-1.5036795

Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

6327 Comments

Commenting is now closed for this story.

David Amos
Rank 77075

Methinks truth is stranger than fiction Anyone can easily Google "David Amos Federal Court file No.T-1557-15" in order to sort out the truth from fiction for themselves N'esy Pas?

Daryl McBride Rank 0

The majority of Canadians believe Jody.

Show 54 older replies

John Dunn Rank 0

@Aaron Morris Oh brother, Next it will be JWR for PM. lol

Ken Likness Rank 0

@Daryl McBride
What does Trudeau think he can do to her? She has already cleaned his clock without any damage to her reputation. In fact, she has bolstered her status greatly in the eyes of the public. Wait for the shock to actually settle in. Its over now for those Jody herself doesnt choose to save.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Daryl McBride True but ask yourself what she is NOT telling us

David Amos Rank 77075

@John Dunn "Oh brother, Next it will be JWR for PM. lol"

Methinks many a true word is said in jest N'esy Pas?

David Fraser Rank 0

I believe Jody, a person with great integrity. Freeland appears to be another of JT's clapping seals.

Show 29 older replies

Neil Turv Rank 0

@Matt Thuaii

So other than the colour of their tie you are saying they are essentially mirror versions of yourself?

Matt Thuaii Rank 0

@Neil Turv

My problem isn’t that I’m a Liberal Party supporter. Quite the contrary. My problem is my memory is longer than 3 years, and because of that I take nothing anyone in politics says at face value...

...that includes Jody Wilson Raybould.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Neil Turv Of that I have no doubt

David Amos Rank 77075

@Matt Thuaii "I take nothing anyone in politics says at face value"

Methinks you cannot deny that I gave you the benefit of my doubt even though you are a diehard Trudeau supporter N'esy Pas?

Dary Moed Rank 0

JWR has emails, texts and witness corroboration. Freeland has what?

Show 19 older replies

Stanley Baird Rank 0

@Dary Moed yep, this is no longer a debate - the facts have been established and Trudeau is toast unless he actually has real evidence to the contrary and/or will go under oath publicly before the committee or court.

Neil Turv Rank 0

@David Allan

Not this specific article, but yes, most of them include a reference to text messages, (which JWB claimed to be reading verbatim yesterday), phone calls, I haven't seen anything about witness corroboration yet personally.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Dary Moed "JWR has emails, texts and witness corroboration. Freeland has what?"

Methinks everybody knows that Freeland has the very same emails plus many more Furthermore she is the one dealing with the Yankees, the Chinese and the Russians et al N'esy Pas?

David Amos Rank 77075

@Neil Turv "I haven't seen anything about witness corroboration yet personally."

You should have Googled two names by now

Jody Wilson-Raybould David Amos

Jennifer DeBruyn Rank 0

Well, Freeland has lost my respect.

Show 8 older replies

Jim Karr Rank 0

@Kevin Delaney

Reading your history it looks like you are jumping ship, like most who populate the LPC, ready to throw your own ilk under the bus.

Darnell Rockmart Rank 0

@Jennifer DeBruyn This government should have lost your respect.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Jennifer DeBruyn "Freeland has lost my respect."

Methinks everybody knows Freeland never had my respect long before she won the by-election within the 41st Parliament N'esy Pas?

David Amos Rank 77075

@Jim Karr "Reading your history it looks like you are jumping ship, like most who populate the LPC, ready to throw your own ilk under the bus."

Have you checked my history yet?

Just Google Federal Court File No T-1557-15

Sean Adams Rank 0

Freeland summed it up. They all have to be on the same path and on the same team. Clearly Jody didn't like the idea of cheating so she was pushed out. And let's all just hope that this is the end of Trudeau and the Liberals

Show 6 older replies

Aaron Morris Rank 0

@Colin Martin

She is human, they are not. That's all there is to it.

Stanley Baird Rank 0

@Sean Adams time for Liberals to clean up the team. Kicking out the person with integrity would be a very bad start, but go ahead destroy yourselves. This is want happens when you there to defend corruption, fired the person who wouldn't got along with it, and then try to pretend that everything is fine.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Sean Adams "Freeland summed it up. They all have to be on the same path and on the same team. "

Methinks many folks should disagree Parliament it is not supposed to be a wicked game played by "teams". Each riding elects one person to go to Ottawa to speak and act ethically on behalf of the folks in their neck of the woods and their rights and interests.

The political parties want to folks to think that we have elected a King for four years merely because their "Team" has more votes in the house. However if just one member of Parliament told the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth on the public record the jig would be up. Jody didn't even come close

I watched Jody's testimony and her fellow members of the bar Lisa Raitt and Elizabeth May asking questions I just shook my head at the nonsense of it all. It should be a small wonder to those lady lawyers in particular as to why I sued the Her Majesty the Queen in 2015 and ran for public office against them all again N'esy Pas?

David Amos Rank 77075

@Aaron Morris "She is human, they are not. That's all there is to it."

Methinks they are all part of peoplekind but NONE of them were blessed with a conscience or even common sense N'esy Pas?

Ashley Kelly Rank 0

"...but Freeland maintains the prime minister would never exert inappropriate pressure on the former attorney general."
Not a Trudeau yesman, but a Trudeau yeswoman. Or would that be a yesperson?

Show 11 older replies

Neil Turv Rank 0

@Troy Mann

To be clear, nobody is giving you downvotes because they hate Canadian jobs, you get downvotes because nobody buys your "SNC would fail if they don't get a DPA." rhetoric.

Alex Norris Rank 0

@Troy Mann

Now we're up to 10,000 jobs? What will it be tomorrow 50,000?

That whole line is complete hogwash.

They are more concerned with liberal votes, not jobs.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Neil Turv Methinks you should speak for yourself I know why Mr Mann does not get my upvotes and so should you but I did elect you to speak on my behalf N'esy Pas?

David Amos Rank 77075

@Alex Norris YUP

David Speed Rank 0

Trudeau's puppets at this point are completely damaging their own reputation as well.

JOHN CHUCKMAN Rank 0

@David Speed

I don't think Freeland could damage her reputation. Where do you go from zero?

Jack Cochrane Rank 0

@David Speed what amazes me, after just seeing Morneau's press conference is that I don't really think that the Liberals really expected this massive nuclear detonation by Jody Wilson-Raybould. They are doing more and more damage to their own selves every time they speak into the camera and I love it

Stanley Baird Rank 0

@David Speed Freeland would be wise to back away from Trudeau and Morneau as the ship sinks.

David Amos Rank 77075

@David Speed I Wholeheartedly Agree Sir and I am enjoying that fact.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Jack Cochrane Google two names

Bill Morneau David Amos

Bill Haughton Rank 0

Freeland is nothing more than a lemming apologist for her party's corrupt behaviour. She would protect Trudeau no matter what.

Slim Gillott Rank 0

@Bill Haughton You know not what you say. You are forgiven.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Bill Haughton YUP

David Amos Rank 77075

@Slim Gillott Trust that I don't seek anyone's forgiveness

Owen Juhlke Rank 0

Trudeau needs to resign! Does she know every action the PM makes? Seriously, how can anyone take the Liberals seriously.

Show 5 older replies

Troy Mann Rank 0

@Owen Juhlke

Conservatives want Trudeau to resign because they are afraid to face him in am election

David Allan Rank 0

@Owen Juhlke

Harper and his Cabinet were found in Contempt of Parliament.

Odd, I didn't hear you or Scheer calling for their resignations then.

David Amos Rank 77075

@Troy Mann "Conservatives want Trudeau to resign because they are afraid to face him in am election"

Methinks you know as well as I why I look forward to running again N'esy Pas?

David Amos Rank 77075

@David Allan "Harper and his Cabinet were found in Contempt of Parliament."

Methinks you forgot that Harper won his first an only majority mandate immediately afterwards It was not rocket science to understand that Iggy's snobby incompetence created an Orange Wave because not many folks wanted to vote for Iggy and his beloved "Natural Governing Party of Canada" N'esy Pas?

Verne Gerchin Rank 0

Everyone should be emailing / calling the PMO and their MP demanding Justin resign.

Show 3 older replies

Werner Braun Rank 0

@Verne Gerchin —-> Done

John Douglas Rank 0

@Verne Gerchin

millions of Canadians demanded Harper to resign for these sort of things but every con kept voting Con in each election

David Amos Rank 77075

@Verne Gerchin "Everyone should be emailing / calling the PMO and their MP demanding Justin resign."

Methinks they should at least call their MP in order to register their indignation N'esy Pas?

David Amos Rank 77075

@John Douglas Oh So True

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilson-raybould-freeland-trudeau-snc-lavalin-1.5036795

Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

MPs to hold emergency debate tonight on the former justice minister's testimony

Kathleen Harris· CBC News· Posted: Feb 28, 2019 10:54 AM ET

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

Justin Trudeau 'doesn't deserve to be the prime minister any longer,' says Lisa Raitt

CBC EXPLAINS
What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair

RCMP reviewing request

CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content

Trudeau cites Brison's departure

Wilson-Raybould says she faced pressure, 'veiled threats' on SNC-Lavalin; Scheer calls on PM to resign

Top civil servant denies 'inappropriate' pressure against Wilson-Raybould in SNC-Lavalin case

Read Jody Wilson-Raybould's opening statement on the SNC-Lavalin affair

Wilson-Raybould spoke 'her truth:' Freeland

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says she always considered Jody Wilson-Raybould a 'valued colleague.' (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

Key moments from Jody Wilson-Raybould's SNC-Lavalin testimony

Analysis
SNC-Lavalin dispute deepens as Wilson-Raybould testimony at odds with PM's take

Power and Politics

Cabinet minister on JWR's testimony

'I know her to be a very thorough, meticulous person,' says Min. of Public Works Carla Qualtrough. 7:24

Disparaging characterization

'Play as a united team'

Watch cabinet minister Carla Qualtrough discuss the testimony on Power & Politics

CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content

About the Author

Kathleen Harris

Senior Writer

Kathleen Harris is a senior writer in the CBC's Parliament Hill bureau. She covers politics, immigration, justice and corrections. Follow her on Twitter @ottawareporter

↧

Stop NB Power deal with mysterious Florida startup, Green leader says

March 1, 2019, 10:02 am

≫ Next: Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

≪ Previous: Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks the Joi Scientific CEO Traver Kennedy could use a friend perhaps he and should talk N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/stop-nb-power-deal-with-mysterious.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-florida-start-up-1.5037917

Stop NB Power deal with mysterious Florida startup, Green leader says

63 Comments

David Amos

Methinks the Joi Scientific CEO Traver Kennedy could use a friend perhaps he and should talk N'esy Pas?

David Amos

Methinks if one were to ask the University of Moncton professor Olivier Clarisse or the NB Power CEO Gaetan Thomas who invented the AC induction motor I bet they would claim it was George Westinghouse However the students of Nikola Tesla know different N'esy Pas?

David Amos
Methinks It ain't rocket science to understand what Thomas and Kennedy are alluding to in this "News' item. Any student of John Ernst Worrell Keely will tell you that separating water is easily done byway of sonic frequencies That fact is no secret It is just not taught in Universities merely because the "Powers That Be" don't want folks to have free energy That why they smeared Tesla's reputation long ago N'esy Pas?

"Joi Scientific CEO Traver Kennedy says the agreement will lead to "the ending of net new carbon emissions in the province.""Every once in a while, there's a major innovation that resets a whole new area of inquiry, and we believe that our discovery will prove to be something that creates a whole new area," he said. But to avoid revealing too much to potential competitors, "we need to keep it secret for a little bit longer."

Thomas said that Joi Scientific's process is not electrolysis.
"I can't tell you what it is, but it's not electrolysis," he said. "What we're saying is that it is much more efficient than electrolysis."

Roy Nicholl

@David Amos
It is rather unlikely that is the process being used.

David Amos

@Roy Nicholl Of that I have no doubt

Shawn McShane

@David Amos And Joi Scientific Director Gaetan Thomas aka CEO of NB Power says what?

David Amos

@Shawn McShane Methinks you should ask his lawyers Madame Harrison and Mr Furey they are the ones I emailed because they work for you N'esy Pas?

Stop NB Power deal with mysterious Florida startup, Green leader says

Clean-energy company says its 'major' technology has to stay secret for now

Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Mar 01, 2019 6:00 AM AT

NB Power confirmed that it has struck a deal with Joi Scientific, a Florida-based clean-energy startup, to develop power stations that would convert seawater to hydrogen electricity. (Michael Heenan/CBC)

The leader of the Green Party is calling on Premier Blaine Higgs to halt NB Power's dalliance with a Florida startup and its mysterious, unproven clean-energy technology.

Earlier this week, NB Power confirmed it has struck a deal with Joi Scientific, a Florida-based clean-energy startup, to develop power stations that would convert seawater to hydrogen electricity.

Joi Scientific CEO Traver Kennedy says the agreement will lead to "the ending of net new carbon emissions in the province."

Turning seawater into electricity: NB Power's untested idea for Belledune

"Every once in a while, there's a major innovation that resets a whole new area of inquiry, and we believe that our discovery will prove to be something that creates a whole new area," he said.

But to avoid revealing too much to potential competitors, "we need to keep it secret for a little bit longer."

CEO Gaetan Thomas said the technology is "proven at the laboratory level. … The issue will be scaling up" to an industrial-level generation of electricity.

Thomas wouldn't say how much money the utility has committed to the project, though the newspaper L'Acadie Nouvelle quoted Kennedy saying it's $13 million. Kennedy wouldn't repeat that in an interview with CBC News.

NB Power's payment includes a licence fee for exclusive rights to build Joi-designed hydrogen power stations and then help market the technology to other utilities while sharing in the profits.

'No mandate'

Green Leader David Coon said the venture goes beyond the utility's legislated role.

"It has no mandate as a public entity to be spending ratepayers' money on [research and development], to be acting like an angel investor in someone's project in Florida. It's not their mandate.

"They're way beyond the bounds of their mandate. The premier needs to have a discussion with the board of NB Power."

Thomas said the utility is not an investor and does not own a stake in the company.

Green leader David Coon says NB Power has "no mandate as a public entity to be spending ratepayers' money on [research and development], to be acting like an angel investor in someone's project in Florida." (James West/Canadian Press)

He said NB Power is looking at two options for plants that would convert abundant seawater to hydrogen energy.

One would see a large plant alongside an existing gas plant to keep the gas plant's emissions below federal regulatory limits.

We want some proof. Just because you say something, it's not necessarily true. - Olivier Clarisse, University of Moncton

Another is a network of up to 30 smaller "mini-plants" around the province that would reduce the cost of transmitting the electricity.

Besides a share of the profit from selling the technology to other utilities, Thomas said it would reduce NB Power's carbon-tax bill.

"It has zero carbon," he said.

Mystery technology

But Coon questions whether the technology is viable.

"It still remains a mystery," he said. "No one in the hydrogen world is talking about this.

"There's no buzz that I can see about it, mainly because the company has yet to reveal exactly what it is. This remains in the realm of mystery, and it's still at the level of laboratory prototypes."

"The proof of concept is not available to anybody. We want some proof. Just because you say something, it's not necessarily true," said Olivier Clarisse, a chemistry and bio chemistry professor at the University of Moncton. (Tori Weldon/CBC)

University of Moncton chemist Olivier Clarisse said he and his colleagues scoured scientific journals for evidence that the company's method is viable and could not find anything.

"We were expecting to see some papers from the scientific world about this major discovery, but we didn't see that," he said.

"The proof of concept is not available to anybody. We want some proof. Just because you say something, it's not necessarily true."

In a joint news release, NB Power and Joi Scientific said that their agreement comes after "successful third-party verifications … by scientific institutions and experts."

Studies will be released ... eventually

Kennedy said the company is looking forward to releasing peer-reviewed studies eventually.

Water is split into hydrogen and oxygen through a process called electrolysis, but Clarisse said so far no one has found a way to do that without burning more energy than what is produced.

"It's not workable to produce hydrogen in an economic sense," he said. "You receive less energy than what you have used to produce it."

Thomas said that Joi Scientific's process is not electrolysis.

"I can't tell you what it is, but it's not electrolysis," he said. "What we're saying is that it is much more efficient than electrolysis."

"I can't tell you what it is, but it's not electrolysis," said NB Power CEO Gaetan Thomas. (CBC)

Thomas said NB Power hopes to have a prototype ready in two or three years, with commercial operations five years from now.

He said the utility will eventually have to provide more detail when it appears before the Energy and Utilities Board.

NB Power has been unlucky with major investments in new ventures in the past.

It spent $700 million refurbishing its Coleson Cove station to burn Orimulsion, only to see its supply agreement with a Venezuelan state-owned fuel company fall apart. The utility's lawsuit was eventually settled for $338 million.

And the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station, the first upgrade of its kind, went $1 billion over budget and was three years late.

About the Author

Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. Raised in Moncton, he also produces the CBC political podcast Spin Reduxit.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

---------- Original message ----------
From: Newsroom <newsroom@globeandmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2019 17:11:12 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Re Joi Scientific, David Coon and NB Power
We just talked Correct Ms Harris?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Thank you for contacting The Globe and Mail.

If your matter pertains to newspaper delivery or you require technical
support, please contact our Customer Service department at
1-800-387-5400 or send an email to customerservice@globeandmail.com

If you are reporting a factual error please forward your email to
publiceditor@globeandmail.com<mailto:publiceditor@globeandmail.com>

Letters to the Editor can be sent to letters@globeandmail.com

This is the correct email address for requests for news coverage and
press releases.

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2019 13:11:05 -0400
Subject: Re Joi Scientific, David Coon and NB Power We just talked
Correct Ms Harris?
To: vicky@joiscientific.com, wharrison@nbpower.com,
mike.holland@gnb.ca>, David.Coon@gnb.ca
Cc: david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com, Traver@joiscientific.com,
Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca, David.Akin@globalnews.ca,
news@kingscorecord.com, Newsroom@globeandmail.com,
steve.murphy@ctv.ca, oldmaison@yahoo.com, andre@jafaust.com,
kris.austin@gnb.ca, brian.gallant@gnb.ca, blaine.higgs@gnb.ca,
pm@pm.gc.ca

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-florida-start-up-1.5037917

Stop NB Power deal with mysterious Florida startup, Green leader says

Clean-energy company says its 'major' technology has to stay secret for now
Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Mar 01, 2019 6:00 AM AT

40 Comments

David Amos
Methinks the Joi Scientific CEO Traver Kennedy could use a friend
perhaps he and should talk N'esy Pas?

https://www.joiscientific.com/pressrelease/joi-scientific-and-new-brunswick-power-to-develop-worlds-first-hydrogen-powered-distributed-electricity-grid/

Joi Scientific and New Brunswick Power to Develop World’s First
Hydrogen-Powered Distributed Electricity Grid
New Brunswick could see up to 30 distributed Hydrogen 2.0 production
stations deployed for zero-carbon baseload generation

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL & FREDERICTON, NB ― February 26, 2019 ― Joi
Scientific,™ whose mission is to make clean and affordable hydrogen
energy available to all, is to co-develop with New Brunswick Power a
hydrogen production system to enable the world’s first electricity
grid that uses hydrogen as a baseload.

The major electric utility in Canada’s Eastern Maritime province, NB
Power is re-architecting its operations to create a highly efficient
and green electricity grid. The collaboration envisages the deployment
of Joi Scientific’s proprietary Hydrogen 2.0™ production system at
multiple distributed stations alongside wind turbines, hydro, and
nuclear power to create a net-zero carbon-generating power operation
while maintaining low and stable rates in a jurisdiction that does not
benefit from large storage hydro capacity. The joint commercial
development between Joi Scientific and NB Power foresees the utility
offering its emissions-free grid architecture, which combines
distributed Hydrogen 2.0 baseload generation with smart grid
management, to other utility operators across North America and
beyond.

Joi Scientific’s Hydrogen 2.0 technology uses a high efficiency, high
throughput system to liberate hydrogen from untreated seawater.
Hydrogen 2.0 will enable the localized production of hydrogen on-site,
on-demand, meaning that it can be generated when and where it is
needed closer to where customers are located. In the province of New
Brunswick ― where significant progress has already been made towards
contributing to Canada’s 2030 goal of cutting emissions by at least 56
percent below 2005 levels ― Hydrogen 2.0 has the potential to
transform the transmission and distribution of electricity with a
feedstock generated from readily available coastal seawater.

“NB Power has long been committed to investing in the sustainability
of our province’s energy future. We are encouraged with the progress
made to date on Hydrogen 2.0 and are looking forward to the next phase
of co-development,” explained Gaëtan Thomas, President and CEO, NB
Power. “Hydrogen 2.0 has the potential to provide a localized,
on-demand hydrogen production capability which, when mixed with other
renewable sources such as wind and hydro, gets us closer to our
customers by delivering zero-carbon loads at lower cost and greater
efficiency.”

This new development phase follows successful third-party
verifications of Hydrogen 2.0 technology efficiency and throughput by
scientific institutions and experts. Both companies are planning to
work closely together to co-develop and test a commercial prototype
unit at Joi Scientific’s labs at the Kennedy Space Center. This
development phase follows an initial license agreement that was signed
in 2016, granting NB Power the rights to develop, manufacture, use,
and sell hydrogen and hydrogen generation systems for large and small
electric utility applications using Joi Scientific’s Hydrogen 2.0
technology.

“This historic agreement with NB Power signals the transition of our
Hydrogen 2.0 technology from the laboratory into full-scale
development and commercialization,” said Traver Kennedy, CEO, Joi
Scientific. “New Brunswick is a prime example of what can be achieved
by a far-sighted, ecologically-minded institution. Their innovative
approach for realizing a new zero-carbon distributed grid architecture
could provide the blueprint for the way the world generates and
consumes electricity going forward.”

About NB Power

New Brunswick Power (www.nbpower.com) is the primary electric utility
in New Brunswick, Canada, and was established in 1920. It serves over
400,000 direct and indirect customers with safe, reliable and
efficient electricity. The utility is focused on promoting the
efficient use of energy in customers’ homes and businesses through its
smart grid efforts while enabling and providing new, value-added
energy efficient solutions in order to help reduce carbon, better
integrate renewable energy and stimulate the economy. Based on the
current generation mix, NB Power is well positioned to provide its
customers with electricity generated with consideration for the
environment. Currently, 37 percent of its energy is from renewable
sources and 74 percent is non-emitting when the Point Lepreau Nuclear
Generating Station is added. NB Power is on track to achieve the
provincial target of 40 percent of in-province electricity sales being
provided from clean, renewable energy sources by 2020 and when coupled
with nuclear generation this will result in a 75 percent non-emitting
grid for New Brunswickers.

About Joi Scientific

Joi Scientific (www.joiscientific.com) was founded by a group of
global business leaders, technologists, and social entrepreneurs who
believe that plentiful hydrogen holds the key to giving the world a
viable, no-compromise energy alternative. The company’s Hydrogen 2.0
technology has the potential to be the world’s first hydrogen
production process that is on-demand, economically competitive, and
environmentally neutral. The company is licensing its Hydrogen 2.0
technology to a wide range of major power industries including
electrical generation, heat generation, transportation, and specialty
power. Joi Scientific is headquartered at the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida.

# # #

Joi Scientific™ and Hydrogen 2.0™ are trademarks of Joi Scientific,
Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of
their respective owners.
Save
Social Media

Joi Scientific on Twitter
Joi Scientific on Linkedin
Joi Scientific on Facebook
Joi Scientific on Youtube
Media Contacts

Vicky Harris
Joi Scientific
321.506.4592
vicky@joiscientific.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2019 18:18:40 -0400
Subject: Methinks David Lametti should go back to law school too N'esy
Pas Pierre Poilievre?
To: David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca, "Jody.Wilson-Raybould"
<Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca>, "pierre.poilievre"
<pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>,
"michael.chong"<michael.chong@parl.gc.ca>, "Michael.Wernick"
<Michael.Wernick@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>, Newsroom
<Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, "Jacques.Poitras"
<Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "serge.rousselle"<serge.rousselle@gnb.ca>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2019 15:44:16 -0400
Subject: Jagmeet Singh says that maybe Jay Shin should go back to law
school??? Too Too Funny Indeed EH Karen Wang and Laura-Lynn Tyler
Thompson?
To: info@jayshin.ca, jay@lonsdalelaw.ca, karenwang@liberal.ca,
lauralynnlive@gmail.com
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>,
jmaclellan@burnabynow.com, kgawley@burnabynow.com

Jagmeet Singh on Tory opponent: 'Maybe he should go back to law school'
Conservative candidate Jay Shin said Singh was 'keeping criminals out
of jail' during his days as a criminal defence lawyer
Kelvin Gawley Burnaby Now January 13, 2019 10:27 AM

Julie MacLellan
Assistant editor, and newsroom tip line
jmaclellan@burnabynow.com
Phone: 604 444 3020
Kelvin Gawley
kgawley@burnabynow.com
Phone: 604 444 3024

Jay Shin
Direct: 604-980-5089
Email: jay@lonsdalelaw.ca
By phone: 604-628-0508
By e-mail: info@jayshin.ca

Karen Wang
604.531.1178
karenwang@liberal.ca

Now if Mr Shin scrolls down he will know some of what the fancy NDP
lawyer has known for quite sometime

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Singh - QP, Jagmeet"<JSingh-QP@ndp.on.ca>
Date: Fri, 19 May 2017 16:39:35 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Re Federal Court File # T-1557-15 and the
upcoming hearing on May 24th I called a lot of your people before High
Noon today Correct Ralph Goodale and Deputy Minister Malcolm Brown?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

For immediate assistance please contact our Brampton office at
905-799-3939 or jsingh-co@ndp.on.ca

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kennedy.Stewart@parl.gc.ca
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 18:18:35 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Attn Minister Ralph Goodale and Pierre
Paul-Hus Trust that I look forward to arguing the fact that fhe Crown
filed my Sept 4th email to you and your buddies
To: motomaniac333@gmail.com

Many thanks for your message. Your concerns are important to me. If
your matter is urgent, an invitation or an immigration matter please
forward it to burnabysouth.A1@parl.gc.ca or
burnabysouth.C1@parl.gc.ca. This email is no longer being monitored.

The House of Commons of Canada provides for the continuation of
services to the constituents of a Member of Parliament whose seat has
become vacant. The party Whip supervises the staff retained under
these circumstances.

Following the resignation of the Member for the constituency of
Burnaby South, Mr. Kennedy Stewart, the constituency office will
continue to provide services to constituents.

You can reach the Burnaby South constituency office by telephone at
(604) 291-8863 or by mail at the following address: 4940 Kingsway,
Burnaby BC.

Office Hours:

Tuesday - Thursday: 10am - 12pm & 1pm - 4pm
Friday 10am - 12pm

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Cohen <mcohen@trumporg.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2018 05:54:40 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: ATTN Blair Armitage You acted as the Usher
of the Black Rod twice while Kevin Vickers was the Sergeant-at-Arms
Hence you and the RCMP must know why I sued the Queen Correct?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Effective January 20, 2017, I have accepted the role as personal
counsel to President Donald J. Trump. All future emails should be
directed to mdcohen212@gmail.com and all future calls should be
directed to 646-853-0114.
________________________________
This communication is from The Trump Organization or an affiliate
thereof and is not sent on behalf of any other individual or entity.
This email may contain information that is confidential and/or
proprietary. Such information may not be read, disclosed, used,
copied, distributed or disseminated except (1) for use by the intended
recipient or (2) as expressly authorized by the sender. If you have
received this communication in error, please immediately delete it and
promptly notify the sender. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed
to be received, secure or error-free as emails could be intercepted,
corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late, incomplete, contain viruses
or otherwise. The Trump Organization and its affiliates do not
guarantee that all emails will be read and do not accept liability for
any errors or omissions in emails. Any views or opinions presented in
any email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of The Trump Organization or any of its affiliates.
Nothing in this communication is intended to operate as an electronic
signature under applicable law.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Justice Website <JUSTWEB@novascotia.ca>
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 14:21:11 +0000
Subject: Emails to Department of Justice and Province of Nova Scotia
To: "motomaniac333@gmail.com"<motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Mr. Amos,
We acknowledge receipt of your recent emails to the Deputy Minister of
Justice and lawyers within the Legal Services Division of the
Department of Justice respecting a possible claim against the Province
of Nova Scotia. Service of any documents respecting a legal claim
against the Province of Nova Scotia may be served on the Attorney
General at 1690 Hollis Street, Halifax, NS. Please note that we will
not be responding to further emails on this matter.

Department of Justice

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Eidt, David (OAG/CPG)"<David.Eidt@gnb.ca>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 00:33:21 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Yo Mr Lutz howcome your buddy the clerk
would not file this motion and properly witnessed affidavit and why
did she take all four copies?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

I will be out of the office until Monday, March 13, 2017. I will have
little to no access to email. Please dial 453-2222 for assistance.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Marc Richard <MRichard@lawsociety-barreau.nb.ca>
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2016 13:16:46 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE: The New Brunswick Real Estate
Association and their deliberate ignorance for the bankster's benefit
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

I will be out of the office until August 15, 2016. Je serai absent du
bureau jusqu'au 15 août 2016.

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos motomaniac333@gmail.com
> Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2017 09:32:09 -0400
> Subject: Attn Integrity Commissioner Alexandre Deschênes, Q.C.,
> To: coi@gnb.ca
> Cc: david.raymond.amos@gmail.com
>
> Good Day Sir
>
> After I heard you speak on CBC I called your office again and managed
> to speak to one of your staff for the first time
>
> Please find attached the documents I promised to send to the lady who
> answered the phone this morning. Please notice that not after the Sgt
> at Arms took the documents destined to your office his pal Tanker
> Malley barred me in writing with an "English" only document.
>
> These are the hearings and the dockets in Federal Court that I
> suggested that you study closely.
>
> This is the docket in Federal Court
>
> http://cas-cdc-www02.cas-satj.gc.ca/IndexingQueries/infp_RE_info_e.php?court_no=T-1557-15&select_court=T
>
> These are digital recordings of the last three hearings
>
> Dec 14th https://archive.org/details/BahHumbug
>
> January 11th, 2016 https://archive.org/details/Jan11th2015
>
> April 3rd, 2017
>
> https://archive.org/details/April32017JusticeLeblancHearing
>
>
> This is the docket in the Federal Court of Appeal
>
> http://cas-cdc-www02.cas-satj.gc.ca/IndexingQueries/infp_RE_info_e.php?court_no=A-48-16&select_court=All
>
>
> The only hearing thus far
>
> May 24th, 2017
>
> https://archive.org/details/May24thHoedown
>
>
> This Judge understnds the meaning of the word Integrity
>
> Date: 20151223
>
> Docket: T-1557-15
>
> Fredericton, New Brunswick, December 23, 2015
>
> PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Bell
>
> BETWEEN:
>
> DAVID RAYMOND AMOS
>
> Plaintiff
>
> and
>
> HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
>
> Defendant
>
> ORDER
>
> (Delivered orally from the Bench in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on
> December 14, 2015)
>
> The Plaintiff seeks an appeal de novo, by way of motion pursuant to
> the Federal Courts Rules (SOR/98-106), from an Order made on November
> 12, 2015, in which Prothonotary Morneau struck the Statement of Claim
> in its entirety.
>
> At the outset of the hearing, the Plaintiff brought to my attention a
> letter dated September 10, 2004, which he sent to me, in my then
> capacity as Past President of the New Brunswick Branch of the Canadian
> Bar Association, and the then President of the Branch, Kathleen Quigg,
> (now a Justice of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal). In that letter
> he stated:
>
> As for your past President, Mr. Bell, may I suggest that you check the
> work of Frank McKenna before I sue your entire law firm including you.
> You are your brother’s keeper.
>
> Frank McKenna is the former Premier of New Brunswick and a former
> colleague of mine at the law firm of McInnes Cooper. In addition to
> expressing an intention to sue me, the Plaintiff refers to a number of
> people in his Motion Record who he appears to contend may be witnesses
> or potential parties to be added. Those individuals who are known to
> me personally, include, but are not limited to the former Prime
> Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper; former
> Attorney General of Canada and now a Justice of the Manitoba Court of
> Queen’s Bench, Vic Toews; former member of Parliament Rob Moore;
> former Director of Policing Services, the late Grant Garneau; former
> Chief of the Fredericton Police Force, Barry McKnight; former Staff
> Sergeant Danny Copp; my former colleagues on the New Brunswick Court
> of Appeal, Justices Bradley V. Green and Kathleen Quigg, and, retired
> Assistant Commissioner Wayne Lang of the Royal Canadian Mounted
> Police.
>
> In the circumstances, given the threat in 2004 to sue me in my
> personal capacity and my past and present relationship with many
> potential witnesses and/or potential parties to the litigation, I am
> of the view there would be a reasonable apprehension of bias should I
> hear this motion. See Justice de Grandpré’s dissenting judgment in
> Committee for Justice and Liberty et al v National Energy Board et al,
> [1978] 1 SCR 369 at p 394 for the applicable test regarding
> allegations of bias. In the circumstances, although neither party has
> requested I recuse myself, I consider it appropriate that I do so.
>
>
> AS A RESULT OF MY RECUSAL, THIS COURT ORDERS that the Administrator of
> the Court schedule another date for the hearing of the motion. There
> is no order as to costs.
>
> “B. Richard Bell”
> Judge
>
>
> Below after the CBC article about your concerns (I made one comment
> already) you will find the text of just two of many emails I had sent
> to your office over the years since I first visited it in 2006.
>
> I noticed that on July 30, 2009, he was appointed to the the Court
> Martial Appeal Court of Canada Perhaps you should scroll to the
> bottom of this email ASAP and read the entire Paragraph 83 of my
> lawsuit now before the Federal Court of Canada?
>
> "FYI This is the text of the lawsuit that should interest Trudeau the most
>
>
> ---------- Original message ----------
> From: justin.trudeau.a1@parl.gc.ca
> Date: Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 8:18 PM
> Subject: Réponse automatique : RE My complaint against the CROWN in
> Federal Court Attn David Hansen and Peter MacKay If you planning to
> submit a motion for a publication ban on my complaint trust that you
> dudes are way past too late
> To: david.raymond.amos@gmail.com
>
> Veuillez noter que j'ai changé de courriel. Vous pouvez me rejoindre à
> lalanthier@hotmail.com
>
> Pour rejoindre le bureau de M. Trudeau veuillez envoyer un courriel à
> tommy.desfosses@parl.gc.ca
>
> Please note that I changed email address, you can reach me at
> lalanthier@hotmail.com
>
> To reach the office of Mr. Trudeau please send an email to
> tommy.desfosses@parl.gc.ca
>
> Thank you,
>
> Merci ,
>
>
> http://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.ca/2015/09/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html
>
>
> 83. The Plaintiff states that now that Canada is involved in more war
> in Iraq again it did not serve Canadian interests and reputation to
> allow Barry Winters to publish the following words three times over
> five years after he began his bragging:
>
> January 13, 2015
> This Is Just AS Relevant Now As When I wrote It During The Debate
>
> December 8, 2014
> Why Canada Stood Tall!
>
> Friday, October 3, 2014
> Little David Amos’ “True History Of War” Canadian Airstrikes And
> Stupid Justin Trudeau
>
> Canada’s and Canadians free ride is over. Canada can no longer hide
> behind Amerka’s and NATO’s skirts.
>
> When I was still in Canadian Forces then Prime Minister Jean Chretien
> actually committed the Canadian Army to deploy in the second campaign
> in Iraq, the Coalition of the Willing. This was against or contrary to
> the wisdom or advice of those of us Canadian officers that were
> involved in the initial planning phases of that operation. There were
> significant concern in our planning cell, and NDHQ about of the dearth
> of concern for operational guidance, direction, and forces for
> operations after the initial occupation of Iraq. At the “last minute”
> Prime Minister Chretien and the Liberal government changed its mind.
> The Canadian government told our amerkan cousins that we would not
> deploy combat troops for the Iraq campaign, but would deploy a
> Canadian Battle Group to Afghanistan, enabling our amerkan cousins to
> redeploy troops from there to Iraq. The PMO’s thinking that it was
> less costly to deploy Canadian Forces to Afghanistan than Iraq. But
> alas no one seems to remind the Liberals of Prime Minister Chretien’s
> then grossly incorrect assumption. Notwithstanding Jean Chretien’s
> incompetence and stupidity, the Canadian Army was heroic,
> professional, punched well above it’s weight, and the PPCLI Battle
> Group, is credited with “saving Afghanistan” during the Panjway
> campaign of 2006.
>
> What Justin Trudeau and the Liberals don’t tell you now, is that then
> Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien committed, and deployed the
> Canadian army to Canada’s longest “war” without the advice, consent,
> support, or vote of the Canadian Parliament.
>
> What David Amos and the rest of the ignorant, uneducated, and babbling
> chattering classes are too addled to understand is the deployment of
> less than 75 special operations troops, and what is known by planners
> as a “six pac cell” of fighter aircraft is NOT the same as a
> deployment of a Battle Group, nor a “war” make.
>
> The Canadian Government or The Crown unlike our amerkan cousins have
> the “constitutional authority” to commit the Canadian nation to war.
> That has been recently clearly articulated to the Canadian public by
> constitutional scholar Phillippe Legasse. What Parliament can do is
> remove “confidence” in The Crown’s Government in a “vote of
> non-confidence.” That could not happen to the Chretien Government
> regarding deployment to Afghanistan, and it won’t happen in this
> instance with the conservative majority in The Commons regarding a
> limited Canadian deployment to the Middle East.
>
> President George Bush was quite correct after 911 and the terror
> attacks in New York; that the Taliban “occupied” and “failed state”
> Afghanistan was the source of logistical support, command and control,
> and training for the Al Quaeda war of terror against the world. The
> initial defeat, and removal from control of Afghanistan was vital and
>
> P.S. Whereas this CBC article is about your opinion of the actions of
> the latest Minister Of Health trust that Mr Boudreau and the CBC have
> had my files for many years and the last thing they are is ethical.
> Ask his friends Mr Murphy and the RCMP if you don't believe me.
>
> Subject:
> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:02:35 -0400
> From: "Murphy, Michael B. $DH/MS$"MichaelB.Murphy@gnb.ca
> To: motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
>
> January 30, 2007
>
> WITHOUT PREJUDICE
>
> Mr. David Amos
>
> Dear Mr. Amos:
>
> This will acknowledge receipt of a copy of your e-mail of December 29,
> 2006 to Corporal Warren McBeath of the RCMP.
>
> Because of the nature of the allegations made in your message, I have
> taken the measure of forwarding a copy to Assistant Commissioner Steve
> Graham of the RCMP “J” Division in Fredericton.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Honourable Michael B. Murphy
> Minister of Health
>
> CM/cb
>
>
> Warren McBeath warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca wrote:
>
> Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 17:34:53 -0500
> From: "Warren McBeath"warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
> To: kilgoursite@ca.inter.net, MichaelB.Murphy@gnb.ca,
> nada.sarkis@gnb.ca, wally.stiles@gnb.ca, dwatch@web.net,
> motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
> CC: ottawa@chuckstrahl.com, riding@chuckstrahl.com,John.Foran@gnb.ca,
> Oda.B@parl.gc.ca,"Bev BUSSON"bev.busson@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
> "Paul Dube"PAUL.DUBE@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
> Subject: Re: Remember me Kilgour? Landslide Annie McLellan has
> forgotten me but the crooks within the RCMP have not
>
> Dear Mr. Amos,
>
> Thank you for your follow up e-mail to me today. I was on days off
> over the holidays and returned to work this evening. Rest assured I
> was not ignoring or procrastinating to respond to your concerns.
>
> As your attachment sent today refers from Premier Graham, our position
> is clear on your dead calf issue: Our forensic labs do not process
> testing on animals in cases such as yours, they are referred to the
> Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown who can provide these
> services. If you do not choose to utilize their expertise in this
> instance, then that is your decision and nothing more can be done.
>
> As for your other concerns regarding the US Government, false
> imprisonment and Federal Court Dates in the US, etc... it is clear
> that Federal authorities are aware of your concerns both in Canada
> the US. These issues do not fall into the purvue of Detachment
> and policing in Petitcodiac, NB.
>
> It was indeed an interesting and informative conversation we had on
> December 23rd, and I wish you well in all of your future endeavors.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Warren McBeath, Cpl.
> GRC Caledonia RCMP
> Traffic Services NCO
> Ph: (506) 387-2222
> Fax: (506) 387-4622
> E-mail warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>
>
>
> Alexandre Deschênes, Q.C.,
> Office of the Integrity Commissioner
> Edgecombe House, 736 King Street
> Fredericton, N.B. CANADA E3B 5H1
> tel.: 506-457-7890
> fax: 506-444-5224
> e-mail:coi@gnb.ca
>

On 8/3/17, David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> wrote:

> If want something very serious to download and laugh at as well Please
> Enjoy and share real wiretap tapes of the mob
>
> http://thedavidamosrant.blogspot.ca/2013/10/re-glen-greenwald-and-braz
> ilian.html
>
>> http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/06/09/nsa-leak-guardian.html
>>
>> As the CBC etc yap about Yankee wiretaps and whistleblowers I must
>> ask them the obvious question AIN'T THEY FORGETTING SOMETHING????
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vugUalUO8YY
>>
>> What the hell does the media think my Yankee lawyer served upon the
>> USDOJ right after I ran for and seat in the 39th Parliament baseball
>> cards?
>>
>> http://archive.org/details/ITriedToExplainItToAllMaritimersInEarly200
>> 6
>>
>> http://davidamos.blogspot.ca/2006/05/wiretap-tapes-impeach-bush.html
>>
>> http://www.archive.org/details/PoliceSurveilanceWiretapTape139
>>
>> http://archive.org/details/Part1WiretapTape143
>>
>> FEDERAL EXPRES February 7, 2006
>> Senator Arlen Specter
>> United States Senate
>> Committee on the Judiciary
>> 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
>> Washington, DC 20510
>>
>> Dear Mr. Specter:
>>
>> I have been asked to forward the enclosed tapes to you from a man
>> named, David Amos, a Canadian citizen, in connection with the matters
>> raised in the attached letter.
>>
>> Mr. Amos has represented to me that these are illegal FBI wire tap tapes.
>>
>> I believe Mr. Amos has been in contact with you about this previously.
>>
>> Very truly yours,
>> Barry A. Bachrach
>> Direct telephone: (508) 926-3403
>> Direct facsimile: (508) 929-3003
>> Email: bbachrach@bowditch.com
>>
>

http://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.ca/2017/11/federal-court-of-appeal-finally-makes.html

Sunday, 19 November 2017
Federal Court of Appeal Finally Makes The BIG Decision And Publishes
It Now The Crooks Cannot Take Back Ticket To Try Put My Matter Before
The Supreme Court

https://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fca-caf/decisions/en/item/236679/index.do

Federal Court of Appeal Decisions

Amos v. Canada
Court (s) Database

Federal Court of Appeal Decisions
Date

2017-10-30
Neutral citation

2017 FCA 213
File numbers

A-48-16
Date: 20171030

Docket: A-48-16
Citation: 2017 FCA 213
CORAM:

WEBB J.A.
NEAR J.A.
GLEASON J.A.

BETWEEN:
DAVID RAYMOND AMOS
Respondent on the cross-appeal
(and formally Appellant)
and
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Appellant on the cross-appeal
(and formerly Respondent)
Heard at Fredericton, New Brunswick, on May 24, 2017.
Judgment delivered at Ottawa, Ontario, on October 30, 2017.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY:

THE COURT

Date: 20171030

Docket: A-48-16
Citation: 2017 FCA 213
CORAM:

WEBB J.A.
NEAR J.A.
GLEASON J.A.

BETWEEN:
DAVID RAYMOND AMOS
Respondent on the cross-appeal
(and formally Appellant)
and
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Appellant on the cross-appeal
(and formerly Respondent)
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY THE COURT

I. Introduction

[1] On September 16, 2015, David Raymond Amos (Mr. Amos)
filed a 53-page Statement of Claim (the Claim) in Federal Court
against Her Majesty the Queen (the Crown). Mr. Amos claims $11 million
in damages and a public apology from the Prime Minister and Provincial
Premiers for being illegally barred from accessing parliamentary
properties and seeks a declaration from the Minister of Public Safety
that the Canadian Government will no longer allow the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police (RCMP) and Canadian Forces to harass him and his clan
(Claim at para. 96).

[2] On November 12, 2015 (Docket T-1557-15), by way of a
motion brought by the Crown, a prothonotary of the Federal Court (the
Prothonotary) struck the Claim in its entirety, without leave to
amend, on the basis that it was plain and obvious that the Claim
disclosed no reasonable claim, the Claim was fundamentally vexatious,
and the Claim could not be salvaged by way of further amendment (the
Prothontary’s Order).

[3] On January 25, 2016 (2016 FC 93), by way of Mr.
Amos’ appeal from the Prothonotary’s Order, a judge of the Federal
Court (the Judge), reviewing the matter de novo, struck all of Mr.
Amos’ claims for relief with the exception of the claim for damages
for being barred by the RCMP from the New Brunswick legislature in
2004 (the Federal Court Judgment).

[4] Mr. Amos appealed and the Crown cross-appealed the
Federal Court Judgment. Further to the issuance of a Notice of Status
Review, Mr. Amos’ appeal was dismissed for delay on December 19, 2016.
As such, the only matter before this Court is the Crown’s
cross-appeal.

II. Preliminary Matter

[5] Mr. Amos, in his memorandum of fact and law in
relation to the cross-appeal that was filed with this Court on March
6, 2017, indicated that several judges of this Court, including two of
the judges of this panel, had a conflict of interest in this appeal.
This was the first time that he identified the judges whom he believed
had a conflict of interest in a document that was filed with this
Court. In his notice of appeal he had alluded to a conflict with
several judges but did not name those judges.

[6] Mr. Amos was of the view that he did not have to
identify the judges in any document filed with this Court because he
had identified the judges in various documents that had been filed
with the Federal Court. In his view the Federal Court and the Federal
Court of Appeal are the same court and therefore any document filed in
the Federal Court would be filed in this Court. This view is based on
subsections 5(4) and 5.1(4) of the Federal Courts Act, R.S.C., 1985,
c. F-7:

5(4) Every judge of the Federal Court is, by virtue of his or her
office, a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal and has all the
jurisdiction, power and authority of a judge of the Federal Court of
Appeal.
[…]

5(4) Les juges de la Cour fédérale sont d’office juges de la Cour
d’appel fédérale et ont la même compétence et les mêmes pouvoirs que
les juges de la Cour d’appel fédérale.
[…]
5.1(4) Every judge of the Federal Court of Appeal is, by virtue of
that office, a judge of the Federal Court and has all the
jurisdiction, power and authority of a judge of the Federal Court.

5.1(4) Les juges de la Cour d’appel fédérale sont d’office juges de la
Cour fédérale et ont la même compétence et les mêmes pouvoirs que les
juges de la Cour fédérale.

[7] However, these subsections only provide that the
judges of the Federal Court are also judges of this Court (and vice
versa). It does not mean that there is only one court. If the Federal
Court and this Court were one Court, there would be no need for this
section.
[8] Sections 3 and 4 of the Federal Courts Act provide that:
3 The division of the Federal Court of Canada called the Federal Court
— Appeal Division is continued under the name “Federal Court of
Appeal” in English and “Cour d’appel fédérale” in French. It is
continued as an additional court of law, equity and admiralty in and
for Canada, for the better administration of the laws of Canada and as
a superior court of record having civil and criminal jurisdiction.

3 La Section d’appel, aussi appelée la Cour d’appel ou la Cour d’appel
fédérale, est maintenue et dénommée « Cour d’appel fédérale » en
français et « Federal Court of Appeal » en anglais. Elle est maintenue
à titre de tribunal additionnel de droit, d’equity et d’amirauté du
Canada, propre à améliorer l’application du droit canadien, et
continue d’être une cour supérieure d’archives ayant compétence en
matière civile et pénale.
4 The division of the Federal Court of Canada called the Federal Court
— Trial Division is continued under the name “Federal Court” in
English and “Cour fédérale” in French. It is continued as an
additional court of law, equity and admiralty in and for Canada, for
the better administration of the laws of Canada and as a superior
court of record having civil and criminal jurisdiction.

4 La section de la Cour fédérale du Canada, appelée la Section de
première instance de la Cour fédérale, est maintenue et dénommée «
Cour fédérale » en français et « Federal Court » en anglais. Elle est
maintenue à titre de tribunal additionnel de droit, d’equity et
d’amirauté du Canada, propre à améliorer l’application du droit
canadien, et continue d’être une cour supérieure d’archives ayant
compétence en matière civile et pénale.

[9] Sections 3 and 4 of the Federal Courts Act create
two separate courts – this Court (section 3) and the Federal Court
(section 4). If, as Mr. Amos suggests, documents filed in the Federal
Court were automatically also filed in this Court, then there would no
need for the parties to prepare and file appeal books as required by
Rules 343 to 345 of the Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106 in relation
to any appeal from a decision of the Federal Court. The requirement to
file an appeal book with this Court in relation to an appeal from a
decision of the Federal Court makes it clear that the only documents
that will be before this Court are the documents that are part of that
appeal book.

[10] Therefore, the memorandum of fact and law filed on
March 6, 2017 is the first document, filed with this Court, in which
Mr. Amos identified the particular judges that he submits have a
conflict in any matter related to him.

[11] On April 3, 2017, Mr. Amos attempted to bring a motion
before the Federal Court seeking an order “affirming or denying the
conflict of interest he has” with a number of judges of the Federal
Court. A judge of the Federal Court issued a direction noting that if
Mr. Amos was seeking this order in relation to judges of the Federal
Court of Appeal, it was beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Court.
Mr. Amos raised the Federal Court motion at the hearing of this
cross-appeal. The Federal Court motion is not a motion before this
Court and, as such, the submissions filed before the Federal Court
will not be entertained. As well, since this was a motion brought
before the Federal Court (and not this Court), any documents filed in
relation to that motion are not part of the record of this Court.

[12] During the hearing of the appeal Mr. Amos alleged that
the third member of this panel also had a conflict of interest and
submitted some documents that, in his view, supported his claim of a
conflict. Mr. Amos, following the hearing of his appeal, was also
afforded the opportunity to provide a brief summary of the conflict
that he was alleging and to file additional documents that, in his
view, supported his allegations. Mr. Amos submitted several pages of
documents in relation to the alleged conflicts. He organized the
documents by submitting a copy of the biography of the particular
judge and then, immediately following that biography, by including
copies of the documents that, in his view, supported his claim that
such judge had a conflict.

[13] The nature of the alleged conflict of Justice Webb is
that before he was appointed as a Judge of the Tax Court of Canada in
2006, he was a partner with the law firm Patterson Law, and before
that with Patterson Palmer in Nova Scotia. Mr. Amos submitted that he
had a number of disputes with Patterson Palmer and Patterson Law and
therefore Justice Webb has a conflict simply because he was a partner
of these firms. Mr. Amos is not alleging that Justice Webb was
personally involved in or had any knowledge of any matter in which Mr.
Amos was involved with Justice Webb’s former law firm – only that he
was a member of such firm.

[14] During his oral submissions at the hearing of his
appeal Mr. Amos, in relation to the alleged conflict for Justice Webb,
focused on dealings between himself and a particular lawyer at
Patterson Law. However, none of the documents submitted by Mr. Amos at
the hearing or subsequently related to any dealings with this
particular lawyer nor is it clear when Mr. Amos was dealing with this
lawyer. In particular, it is far from clear whether such dealings were
after the time that Justice Webb was appointed as a Judge of the Tax
Court of Canada over 10 years ago.

[15] The documents that he submitted in relation to the
alleged conflict for Justice Webb largely relate to dealings between
Byron Prior and the St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador office of
Patterson Palmer, which is not in the same province where Justice Webb
practiced law. The only document that indicates any dealing between
Mr. Amos and Patterson Palmer is a copy of an affidavit of Stephen May
who was a partner in the St. John’s NL office of Patterson Palmer. The
affidavit is dated January 24, 2005 and refers to a number of e-mails
that were sent by Mr. Amos to Stephen May. Mr. Amos also included a
letter that is addressed to four individuals, one of whom is John
Crosbie who was counsel to the St. John’s NL office of Patterson
Palmer. The letter is dated September 2, 2004 and is addressed to
“John Crosbie, c/o Greg G. Byrne, Suite 502, 570 Queen Street,
Fredericton, NB E3B 5E3”. In this letter Mr. Amos alludes to a
possible lawsuit against Patterson Palmer.
[16] Mr. Amos’ position is that simply because Justice Webb
was a lawyer with Patterson Palmer, he now has a conflict. In Wewaykum
Indian Band v. Her Majesty the Queen, 2003 SCC 45, [2003] 2 S.C.R.
259, the Supreme Court of Canada noted that disqualification of a
judge is to be determined based on whether there is a reasonable
apprehension of bias:
60 In Canadian law, one standard has now emerged as the
criterion for disqualification. The criterion, as expressed by de
Grandpré J. in Committee for Justice and Liberty v. National Energy
Board, …[[1978] 1 S.C.R. 369, 68 D.L.R. (3d) 716], at p. 394, is the
reasonable apprehension of bias:
… the apprehension of bias must be a reasonable one, held by
reasonable and right minded persons, applying themselves to the
question and obtaining thereon the required information. In the words
of the Court of Appeal, that test is "what would an informed person,
viewing the matter realistically and practically -- and having thought
the matter through -- conclude. Would he think that it is more likely
than not that [the decision-maker], whether consciously or
unconsciously, would not decide fairly."

[17] The issue to be determined is whether an informed
person, viewing the matter realistically and practically, and having
thought the matter through, would conclude that Mr. Amos’ allegations
give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. As this Court has
previously remarked, “there is a strong presumption that judges will
administer justice impartially” and this presumption will not be
rebutted in the absence of “convincing evidence” of bias (Collins v.
Canada, 2011 FCA 140 at para. 7, [2011] 4 C.T.C. 157 [Collins]. See
also R. v. S. (R.D.), [1997] 3 S.C.R. 484 at para. 32, 151 D.L.R.
(4th) 193).

[18] The Ontario Court of Appeal in Rando Drugs Ltd. v.
Scott, 2007 ONCA 553, 86 O.R. (3d) 653 (leave to appeal to the Supreme
Court of Canada refused, 32285 (August 1, 2007)), addressed the
particular issue of whether a judge is disqualified from hearing a
case simply because he had been a member of a law firm that was
involved in the litigation that was now before that judge. The Ontario
Court of Appeal determined that the judge was not disqualified if the
judge had no involvement with the person or the matter when he was a
lawyer. The Ontario Court of Appeal also explained that the rules for
determining whether a judge is disqualified are different from the
rules to determine whether a lawyer has a conflict:
27 Thus, disqualification is not the natural corollary to a
finding that a trial judge has had some involvement in a case over
which he or she is now presiding. Where the judge had no involvement,
as here, it cannot be said that the judge is disqualified.

28 The point can rightly be made that had Mr. Patterson been
asked to represent the appellant as counsel before his appointment to
the bench, the conflict rules would likely have prevented him from
taking the case because his firm had formerly represented one of the
defendants in the case. Thus, it is argued how is it that as a trial
judge Patterson J. can hear the case? This issue was considered by the
Court of Appeal (Civil Division) in Locabail (U.K.) Ltd. v. Bayfield
Properties Ltd., [2000] Q.B. 451. The court held, at para. 58, that
there is no inflexible rule governing the disqualification of a judge
and that, "[e]verything depends on the circumstances."

29 It seems to me that what appears at first sight to be an
inconsistency in application of rules can be explained by the
different contexts and in particular, the strong presumption of
judicial impartiality that applies in the context of disqualification
of a judge. There is no such presumption in cases of allegations of
conflict of interest against a lawyer because of a firm's previous
involvement in the case. To the contrary, as explained by Sopinka J.
in MacDonald Estate v. Martin (1990), 77 D.L.R. (4th) 249 (S.C.C.),
for sound policy reasons there is a presumption of a disqualifying
interest that can rarely be overcome. In particular, a conclusory
statement from the lawyer that he or she had no confidential
information about the case will never be sufficient. The case is the
opposite where the allegation of bias is made against a trial judge.
His or her statement that he or she knew nothing about the case and
had no involvement in it will ordinarily be accepted at face value
unless there is good reason to doubt it: see Locabail, at para. 19.

30 That brings me then to consider the particular circumstances
of this case and whether there are serious grounds to find a
disqualifying conflict of interest in this case. In my view, there are
two significant factors that justify the trial judge's decision not to
recuse himself. The first is his statement, which all parties accept,
that he knew nothing of the case when it was in his former firm and
that he had nothing to do with it. The second is the long passage of
time. As was said in Wewaykum, at para. 85:
To us, one significant factor stands out, and must inform
the perspective of the reasonable person assessing the impact of this
involvement on Binnie J.'s impartiality in the appeals. That factor is
the passage of time. Most arguments for disqualification rest on
circumstances that are either contemporaneous to the decision-making,
or that occurred within a short time prior to the decision-making.
31 There are other factors that inform the issue. The Wilson
Walker firm no longer acted for any of the parties by the time of
trial. More importantly, at the time of the motion, Patterson J. had
been a judge for six years and thus had not had a relationship with
his former firm for a considerable period of time.

32 In my view, a reasonable person, viewing the matter
realistically would conclude that the trial judge could deal fairly
and impartially with this case. I take this view principally because
of the long passage of time and the trial judge's lack of involvement
in or knowledge of the case when the Wilson Walker firm had carriage.
In these circumstances it cannot be reasonably contended that the
trial judge could not remain impartial in the case. The mere fact that
his name appears on the letterhead of some correspondence from over a
decade ago would not lead a reasonable person to believe that he would
either consciously or unconsciously favour his former firm's former
client. It is simply not realistic to think that a judge would throw
off his mantle of impartiality, ignore his oath of office and favour a
client - about whom he knew nothing - of a firm that he left six years
earlier and that no longer acts for the client, in a case involving
events from over a decade ago.
(emphasis added)

[19] Justice Webb had no involvement with any matter
involving Mr. Amos while he was a member of Patterson Palmer or
Patterson Law, nor does Mr. Amos suggest that he did. Mr. Amos made it
clear during the hearing of this matter that the only reason for the
alleged conflict for Justice Webb was that he was a member of
Patterson Law and Patterson Palmer. This is simply not enough for
Justice Webb to be disqualified. Any involvement of Mr. Amos with
Patterson Law while Justice Webb was a member of that firm would have
had to occur over 10 years ago and even longer for the time when he
was a member of Patterson Palmer. In addition to the lack of any
involvement on his part with any matter or dispute that Mr. Amos had
with Patterson Law or Patterson Palmer (which in and of itself is
sufficient to dispose of this matter), the length of time since
Justice Webb was a member of Patterson Law or Patterson Palmer would
also result in the same finding – that there is no conflict in Justice
Webb hearing this appeal.

[20] Similarly in R. v. Bagot, 2000 MBCA 30, 145 Man. R.
(2d) 260, the Manitoba Court of Appeal found that there was no
reasonable apprehension of bias when a judge, who had been a member of
the law firm that had been retained by the accused, had no involvement
with the accused while he was a lawyer with that firm.

[21] In Del Zotto v. Minister of National Revenue, [2000] 4
F.C. 321, 257 N.R. 96, this court did find that there would be a
reasonable apprehension of bias where a judge, who while he was a
lawyer, had recorded time on a matter involving the same person who
was before that judge. However, this case can be distinguished as
Justice Webb did not have any time recorded on any files involving Mr.
Amos while he was a lawyer with Patterson Palmer or Patterson Law.

[22] Mr. Amos also included with his submissions a CD. He
stated in his affidavit dated June 26, 2017 that there is a “true copy
of an American police surveillance wiretap entitled 139” on this CD.
He has also indicated that he has “provided a true copy of the CD
entitled 139 to many American and Canadian law enforcement authorities
and not one of the police forces or officers of the court are willing
to investigate it”. Since he has indicated that this is an “American
police surveillance wiretap”, this is a matter for the American law
enforcement authorities and cannot create, as Mr. Amos suggests, a
conflict of interest for any judge to whom he provides a copy.

[23] As a result, there is no conflict or reasonable
apprehension of bias for Justice Webb and therefore, no reason for him
to recuse himself.

[24] Mr. Amos alleged that Justice Near’s past professional
experience with the government created a “quasi-conflict” in deciding
the cross-appeal. Mr. Amos provided no details and Justice Near
confirmed that he had no prior knowledge of the matters alleged in the
Claim. Justice Near sees no reason to recuse himself.

[25] Insofar as it is possible to glean the basis for Mr.
Amos’ allegations against Justice Gleason, it appears that he alleges
that she is incapable of hearing this appeal because he says he wrote
a letter to Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien in 2004. At that time,
both Justice Gleason and Mr. Mulroney were partners in the law firm
Ogilvy Renault, LLP. The letter in question, which is rude and angry,
begins with “Hey you two Evil Old Smiling Bastards” and “Re: me suing
you and your little dogs too”. There is no indication that the letter
was ever responded to or that a law suit was ever commenced by Mr.
Amos against Mr. Mulroney. In the circumstances, there is no reason
for Justice Gleason to recuse herself as the letter in question does
not give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.

III. Issue

[26] The issue on the cross-appeal is as follows: Did the
Judge err in setting aside the Prothonotary’s Order striking the Claim
in its entirety without leave to amend and in determining that Mr.
Amos’ allegation that the RCMP barred him from the New Brunswick
legislature in 2004 was capable of supporting a cause of action?

IV. Analysis

A. Standard of Review

[27] Following the Judge’s decision to set aside the
Prothonotary’s Order, this Court revisited the standard of review to
be applied to discretionary decisions of prothonotaries and decisions
made by judges on appeals of prothonotaries’ decisions in Hospira
Healthcare Corp. v. Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, 2016 FCA 215,
402 D.L.R. (4th) 497 [Hospira]. In Hospira, a five-member panel of
this Court replaced the Aqua-Gem standard of review with that
articulated in Housen v. Nikolaisen, 2002 SCC 33, [2002] 2 S.C.R. 235
[Housen]. As a result, it is no longer appropriate for the Federal
Court to conduct a de novo review of a discretionary order made by a
prothonotary in regard to questions vital to the final issue of the
case. Rather, a Federal Court judge can only intervene on appeal if
the prothonotary made an error of law or a palpable and overriding
error in determining a question of fact or question of mixed fact and
law (Hospira at para. 79). Further, this Court can only interfere with
a Federal Court judge’s review of a prothonotary’s discretionary order
if the judge made an error of law or palpable and overriding error in
determining a question of fact or question of mixed fact and law
(Hospira at paras. 82-83).

[28] In the case at bar, the Judge substituted his own
assessment of Mr. Amos’ Claim for that of the Prothonotary. This Court
must look to the Prothonotary’s Order to determine whether the Judge
erred in law or made a palpable and overriding error in choosing to
interfere.

B. Did the Judge err in interfering with the
Prothonotary’s Order?

[29] The Prothontoary’s Order accepted the following
paragraphs from the Crown’s submissions as the basis for striking the
Claim in its entirety without leave to amend:

17. Within the 96 paragraph Statement of Claim, the Plaintiff
addresses his complaint in paragraphs 14-24, inclusive. All but four
of those paragraphs are dedicated to an incident that occurred in 2006
in and around the legislature in New Brunswick. The jurisdiction of
the Federal Court does not extend to Her Majesty the Queen in right of
the Provinces. In any event, the Plaintiff hasn’t named the Province
or provincial actors as parties to this action. The incident alleged
does not give rise to a justiciable cause of action in this Court.
(…)

21. The few paragraphs that directly address the Defendant
provide no details as to the individuals involved or the location of
the alleged incidents or other details sufficient to allow the
Defendant to respond. As a result, it is difficult or impossible to
determine the causes of action the Plaintiff is attempting to advance.
A generous reading of the Statement of Claim allows the Defendant to
only speculate as to the true and/or intended cause of action. At
best, the Plaintiff’s action may possibly be summarized as: he
suspects he is barred from the House of Commons.
[footnotes omitted].

[30] The Judge determined that he could not strike the Claim
on the same jurisdictional basis as the Prothonotary. The Judge noted
that the Federal Court has jurisdiction over claims based on the
liability of Federal Crown servants like the RCMP and that the actors
who barred Mr. Amos from the New Brunswick legislature in 2004
included the RCMP (Federal Court Judgment at para. 23). In considering
the viability of these allegations de novo, the Judge identified
paragraph 14 of the Claim as containing “some precision” as it
identifies the date of the event and a RCMP officer acting as
Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor (Federal Court Judgment at
para. 27).

[31] The Judge noted that the 2004 event could support a
cause of action in the tort of misfeasance in public office and
identified the elements of the tort as excerpted from Meigs v. Canada,
2013 FC 389, 431 F.T.R. 111:

[13] As in both the cases of Odhavji Estate v Woodhouse, 2003 SCC
69 [Odhavji] and Lewis v Canada, 2012 FC 1514 [Lewis], I must
determine whether the plaintiffs’ statement of claim pleads each
element of the alleged tort of misfeasance in public office:

a) The public officer must have engaged in deliberate and unlawful
conduct in his or her capacity as public officer;

b) The public officer must have been aware both that his or her
conduct was unlawful and that it was likely to harm the plaintiff; and

c) There must be an element of bad faith or dishonesty by the public
officer and knowledge of harm alone is insufficient to conclude that a
public officer acted in bad faith or dishonestly.
Odhavji, above, at paras 23, 24 and 28
(Federal Court Judgment at para. 28).

[32] The Judge determined that Mr. Amos disclosed sufficient
material facts to meet the elements of the tort of misfeasance in
public office because the actors, who barred him from the New
Brunswick legislature in 2004, including the RCMP, did so for
“political reasons” (Federal Court Judgment at para. 29).

[33] This Court’s discussion of the sufficiency of pleadings
in Merchant Law Group v. Canada (Revenue Agency), 2010 FCA 184, 321
D.L.R (4th) 301 is particularly apt:

…When pleading bad faith or abuse of power, it is not enough to
assert, baldly, conclusory phrases such as “deliberately or
negligently,” “callous disregard,” or “by fraud and theft did steal”.
“The bare assertion of a conclusion upon which the court is called
upon to pronounce is not an allegation of material fact”. Making bald,
conclusory allegations without any evidentiary foundation is an abuse
of process…

To this, I would add that the tort of misfeasance in public office
requires a particular state of mind of a public officer in carrying
out the impunged action, i.e., deliberate conduct which the public
officer knows to be inconsistent with the obligations of his or her
office. For this tort, particularization of the allegations is
mandatory. Rule 181 specifically requires particularization of
allegations of “breach of trust,” “wilful default,” “state of mind of
a person,” “malice” or “fraudulent intention.”
(at paras. 34-35, citations omitted).

[34] Applying the Housen standard of review to the
Prothonotary’s Order, we are of the view that the Judge interfered
absent a legal or palpable and overriding error.

[35] The Prothonotary determined that Mr. Amos’ Claim
disclosed no reasonable claim and was fundamentally vexatious on the
basis of jurisdictional concerns and the absence of material facts to
ground a cause of action. Paragraph 14 of the Claim, which addresses
the 2004 event, pleads no material facts as to how the RCMP officer
engaged in deliberate and unlawful conduct, knew that his or her
conduct was unlawful and likely to harm Mr. Amos, and acted in bad
faith. While the Claim alleges elsewhere that Mr. Amos was barred from
the New Brunswick legislature for political and/or malicious reasons,
these allegations are not particularized and are directed against
non-federal actors, such as the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick and the Fredericton Police Force. As such,
the Judge erred in determining that Mr. Amos’ allegation that the RCMP
barred him from the New Brunswick legislature in 2004 was capable of
supporting a cause of action.

[36] In our view, the Claim is made up entirely of bare
allegations, devoid of any detail, such that it discloses no
reasonable cause of action within the jurisdiction of the Federal
Courts. Therefore, the Judge erred in interfering to set aside the
Prothonotary’s Order striking the claim in its entirety. Further, we
find that the Prothonotary made no error in denying leave to amend.
The deficiencies in Mr. Amos’ pleadings are so extensive such that
amendment could not cure them (see Collins at para. 26).

V. Conclusion
[37] For the foregoing reasons, we would allow the Crown’s
cross-appeal, with costs, setting aside the Federal Court Judgment,
dated January 25, 2016 and restoring the Prothonotary’s Order, dated
November 12, 2015, which struck Mr. Amos’ Claim in its entirety
without leave to amend.
"Wyman W. Webb"
J.A.
"David G. Near"
J.A.
"Mary J.L. Gleason"
J.A.

FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD

A CROSS-APPEAL FROM AN ORDER OF THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE SOUTHCOTT DATED
JANUARY 25, 2016; DOCKET NUMBER T-1557-15.
DOCKET:

A-48-16

STYLE OF CAUSE:

DAVID RAYMOND AMOS v. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

PLACE OF HEARING:

Fredericton,
New Brunswick

DATE OF HEARING:

May 24, 2017

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY:

WEBB J.A.
NEAR J.A.
GLEASON J.A.

DATED:

October 30, 2017

APPEARANCES:
David Raymond Amos

For The Appellant / respondent on cross-appeal
(on his own behalf)

Jan Jensen

For The Respondent / appELLANT ON CROSS-APPEAL

SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Nathalie G. Drouin
Deputy Attorney General of Canada

For The Respondent / APPELLANT ON CROSS-APPEAL

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/power-promising-untested-belledune-1.4475563

Turning seawater into electricity: NB Power's untested idea for Belledune

Utility with uneven record on innovation puts $7M into researching seawater's potential

Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Jan 08, 2018 7:00 AM AT

NB Power is helping fund research into converting the Belledune generating station to hydrogen power to the tune of $7 million. (CBC)

NB Power is betting $7 million on a promising but untested new way to generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases: turning seawater from the Bay of Chaleur into energy.

CEO Gaëtan Thomas talked last month about converting the Belledune generating station to hydrogen power by 2030, after coal is phased out.

But the public utility is tight-lipped so far on its collaboration with Florida-based Joi Scientific, a start-up headquartered at the Kennedy Space Centre.

NB Power facing tough choices from climate change report

Belledune closure might not hurt ratepayers as much as previously thought

Legislate reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions in N.B., says auditor general

"Unfortunately, it is too early in the process to be discussing details of this research and development project," said NB Power spokesperson Marie-Andrée Bolduc.

Joi Scientific's vice-president of marketing, Vicky Harris, said in an email statement that the company is "involved in multiple research projects, in many different sectors, but, as I am sure you would understand, we are not sharing details of our proprietary research and development work at this time."
On its website, the company calls hydrogen "the universe's most abundant element and the world's cleanest source of energy."

Once considered too difficult

NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas has suggested a hydrogen-powered Belledune plant could lead to lower power rates for the utility's customers. (CBC)

Extracting hydrogen from water and storing and transmitting it has been considered too difficult and too expensive, but Joi Scientific says in a promotional video that it "has solved the problems that have kept hydrogen from being widely used for energy."
The company says on its site that its "hydrogen 2.0" process is "a very efficient extraction technology that will enable the localized production of hydrogen gas from water — safely, affordably and with no carbon emissions."

The $7 million is paying for further research into how Joi's technology would apply at NB Power's Belledune generating station, which sits less than 200 metres from the Bay of Chaleur on New Brunswick's north shore.

Thomas said last month that converting Belledune could cost "hundreds of millions" of dollars, but the eventual fuel supply would be a bargain.
"What's cheaper fuel than seawater?" he said. "There's plenty of it in New Brunswick."

The CEO even suggested a hydrogen-powered Belledune plant could lead to lower power rates for NB Power customers.
He called hydrogen "a very promising new fuel" but acknowledged the technology is still in the research and development phase. But he pointed out NB Power has 12 years to come up with a replacement fuel for Belledune.

What to do with Belledune?

The Belledune plant has to phase out its use of coal. (CBC)

The federal government has set 2030 as the deadline for provinces to phase out coal-powered electricity under its national climate plan.

Green Party Leader David Coon said last month that it was "news to me" that hydrogen power could be generated affordably enough to use in a power plant.

University of New Brunswick chemical engineering professor Willy Cook says turning hydrogen into energy is simple, but it's not necessarily cost-effective because the process itself requires a lot of electricity.

"You can't get something for nothing," he said. "Using electricity to produce hydrogen to go back to the process to produce electricity--that in itself probably isn't economically viable."

But he said he's not familiar with Joi Scientific's technology and it's possible the company has come up with "a more efficient process."

He also said if NB Power earned carbon credits for reducing emissions, hydrogen technology might become competitive with other energy sources.

"I have faith in the NB Power engineers to come through and do that assessment properly," he said.

Some costly efforts

The refurbishment of Point Lepreau, the first upgrade of its kind, went $1 billion over budget and was three years late. (CBC)

Thomas claimed in December there is "a solid history at NB Power of being leaders in many areas," including the first Candu 6 nuclear generating station at Point Lepreau and the first-of-its-kind high-voltage direct-current converter station in Eel River.

But some of the utility's forays into new technologies have been costly.

NB Power spent $700 million refurbishing its Coleson Cove station to burn Orimulsion, only to see its supply agreement with a Venezuelan state-owned fuel company fall apart. The utility's lawsuit was eventually settled for $338 million.

And the refurbishment of Point Lepreau, the first upgrade of its kind, went $1 billion over budget and was three years late.

New Brunswick governments invested $4.7 million in a Saint John company, Atlantic Hydrogen, that went bankrupt in 2015. The company was trying to develop clean-energy technology but wasn't able to make it commercially viable.

Minister favours 'new direction'

Still, investors in the U.S., including Dean Woodman, a wealthy tech investor whose son founded GoPro, have put money into Joi Scientific.

"I was comfortable with my investment over two years ago and am even more so today," he told CBC News in an email.

NB Power's only alternative to converting Belledune would be to sign an equivalency agreement with Ottawa that would let it burn coal past 2030 in exchange for equivalent emissions reductions elsewhere. Nova Scotia signed such a deal in 2016.

But Energy Minister Rick Doucet said last month that the province prefers to "move in a new direction [with] something that's very innovative, and we've got a great opportunity right on our doorstep."

About the Author

Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. Raised in Moncton, he also produces the CBC political podcast Spin Reduxit.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

March 1, 2019, 12:21 pm

≫ Next: Property taxes going up for 179,000 New Brunswickers

≪ Previous: Stop NB Power deal with mysterious Florida startup, Green leader says

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Gerald Butts and everyone else who sits in opposition know that Jody Wilson-Raybould may have lost her mandate as Justice Minister because of her failings in Federal Court against me.

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/trudeaus-former-top-adviser-to-testify.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gerry-butts-justice-committee-testify-1.5037823

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

1929 Comments

Commenting is now closed for this story.

David Amos
Methinks Gerry Butts and his unnamed lawyer know truth is stranger than fiction and that anyone can easily Google "David Amos Federal Court file No.T-1557-15" in order to sort out the truth from fiction for themselves. Its blatantly obvious that Mr Trudeau had a duty to talk to Harper's Minister of justice and Peter MacKay and had them pay particular attention to info found within statement 83 of my lawsuit long before the election in October of 2015

Gerry Butts and everybody else knows why I am about to put the aforementioned matter before the Supreme Court and file several more lawsuits in the Federal Court against the RCMP and the CRA etc and also run for a seat in Parliament again N'esy Pas?

David Amos
Trust that Gerald Butts, Jagmeet Singh, Andrew Scheer, Maxime Bernier, Elizabeth May and everyone else who sits in opposition know that Jody Wilson-Raybould may have lost her mandate as Justice Minister because of her failings in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal within my lawsuit against the Crown that was filed when Harper was the Prime Minister and Mr Scheer was the Speaker. Need I say that it irritated me big time when Jody appointed her Deputy Minister to the bench of Federal Court not long after I argued their minions in the Federal Court of Appeal?

Methinks anyone can check my work by simply Googling two names "Jody Wilson-Raybould David Raymond Amos" before Gerry butts speaks his truth next week N'esy Pas?

Randy A. Selkirk

bill chagwich

Gerald is Trudeau's best friend, be kinda hard to believe what he has to say

Show 15 older replies

Guy Stone

@bill chagwich mr butts to the rescue - lol

David Amos

@bill chagwich Methinks truth is stranger than fiction Anyone can easily Google "David Amos Federal Court file No.T-1557-15" in order to sort out the truth from fiction for themselves N'esy Pas?

Randy A. Selkirk

86 % of Canadians support JWR and her truth !

Show 25 older replies

Anne Clarke

@Randy A. Selkirk
Not even remotely true ! Trudeau has boat loads of integrity and JWR has stated her truth but don't forget there are 10 "other" truths lol

David Amos

@Randy A. Selkirk Need I say BS?

Leslie Russell

Gerry, the only MP I think you should talk to is the RCMP.

Show 11 older replies

Neil Turv

@Troy Mann

Again.... not the issue, you are deflecting,

How it was implemented, when it was implemented... both are suspect and in direct contradiction to Trudeau's stated platform during the last election.

Couldn't care a less about the "should" care about the "how".

David Amos

@Troy Mann Methinks the cat must have your tongue when it comes to arguing me N'esy Pas?

Carl Street

Why did you resign?

Show 5 older replies

Robert Jacksteit

@Carl Street So he could go in and attack JWR now as an independent outsider. They think they have her set up and hopefully the Canadian people can see through it.

David Amos

@Carl Street Good question

Rick Hughes

Canadians coast to coast should be proud of Mrs. Wilson-Raybold, and we should count our blessings that we have someone like her "standing on guard for Thee".

Show 8 older replies

Ewan Cameron

@Jennie Adkins
SNC doesn’t qualify for a DPA, the law is very clear in that regard, you should read it.

David Amos

@Rick Hughes Dream on

Konrad Martynes

Save the company from Quebec. Destroy Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Show 7 older replies

Peter Manchak

@Konrad Martynes Strange ups and downs.

David Amos

@Peter Manchak Methinks you must have heard of a dude called Humpty Dumpty N'esy Pas?

Hamish lawrence

Trudeau says "we are always about saving jobs". What about Alberta or the pipeline. Wanted to abandon Lav factory in London. Only for his friends I guess.

Show 7 older replies

Ewan Cameron

@James Fitzgibbon
Using our taxpayer dollars to purchase the pipeline hasn’t added a single job

David Amos

@Ewan Cameron True

David Speed

The only Liberal that has any credibility is Jody!

Show 3 older replies

Aaron Morris

@David Speed

I thought the chair of the justice committee was quite fair, but the other liberals only seemed to attack an indigenous women's credibility...

David Amos

@David Speed I know why I am enjoying the circus and it has nothing to do with a sneaky lady lawyer's perceived credibility

Joe Desantis

Gerald, will you please start by apologizing to the people of Ontario for totally disregarding the future of our kids, and grandkids. You were the architect behind this province having the biggest debt per capita in a non-sovereign state!!!!!

Show 1 older reply

Aaron Morris

@Carter McDonald

Because of Gerry we have Dougie.

David Amos

@Aaron Morris Oh So True

Tim Mason

umm yeah, who to believe, Jody or Gerald... there's a real dilemma for ya LOL

Show 2 older replies

Tim Mason

@James Fitzgibbon... well based on his history, his only valuable evidence has already been shredded or wiped from hard drives.

David Amos

@Tim Mason "umm yeah, who to believe, Jody or Gerald... there's a real dilemma for ya LOL"

I second that remark

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

Gerry Butts says his evidence can assist MPs after hearing testimony from Jody Wilson-Raybould

Kathleen Harris· CBC News· Posted: Feb 28, 2019 3:32 PM ET

Gerry Butts, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will testify at the Commons justice committee probing the SNC-Lavalin affair. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former top adviser will testify at the Commons justice committee probing the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Gerry Butts, Trudeau's close friend and former principal secretary, wrote to the committee chair, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, stating that after watching the testimony of Jody Wilson-Raybould, he believes his evidence would be of assistance as the committee considers alleged interference into the decision to prosecute the Quebec-based engineering and construction company.

Gerald Butts ✔@gmbutts
I just made the following request of the Justice Committee Chair.

1,965
4:08 PM - Feb 28, 2019

"I need a short period of time to receive legal advice concerning my evidence and to be able to produce relevant documents to the committee," the wrote in the letter.

The committee agreed to hear from Butts and will invite him to appear next Wednesday. MPs will also call on Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick and Nathalie Drouin, the deputy minister of justice, back to testify.Wernick and Drouin appeared last week.

Butts resigned from the PMO on Feb. 18 amid allegations he and others exerted political interference on Wilson-Raybould to override the Public Prosecution Service director's decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin.

"At all times, I and those around me acted with integrity and a singular focus on the best interests of all Canadians," Butts said in a statement at the time.

Need for 'solution'

He said the swirling accusations were distracting from the "vital work" the prime minister and his staff were doing for Canadians.

"My reputation is my responsibility, and that is for me to defend. It is in the best interests of the office and its important work for me to step away," he said.

Gerald Butts resigns as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's principal secretary

Wilson-Raybould says she faced pressure, 'veiled threats' on SNC-Lavalin; Scheer calls on PM to resign

Top civil servant denies 'inappropriate' pressure against Wilson-Raybould in SNC-Lavalin case

Trudeau was asked about his recent dealings with Butts today, and he confirmed that the last time the pair spoke was last Wednesday.

In her testimony to committee Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould detailed a meeting with Butts on Dec. 5, 2018. She said she wanted to speak about several things, including the barrage of people "hounding" her and her staff about the impact of prosecuting SNC-Lavalin.

"Towards the end of the meeting I raised how I needed everyone to stop talking to me about SNC as I had made up my mind and the engagements were inappropriate," she testified. "Gerry then took over the conversation and said how we need a solution on the SNC stuff — he said I needed to find a solution."

Trudeau faces calls to resign after Wilson-Raybould’s testimony

Jody Wilson-Raybould’s bombshell testimony prompted calls from the Conservative Party and the NDP to resign. 2:14

Wilson-Raybould said she was pressed by 11 PMO and other government officials, who continued to remind her of the economic and political consequences after she had made her independent decision as attorney general to proceed with the prosecution.

Michael Cooper, MP✔@Cooper4SAE
Conservatives have more questions regarding the #SNCLavalinScandal. I intend to move these motions at the next Justice Committee meeting.

351
4:53 PM - Feb 28, 2019

Liberal MP and justice committee chair Anthony Housefather issued a statement saying the committee needs more clarification after reviewing Wilson-Raybould's testimony.

"We believe that it is important that Mr. Butts respond to the account of the meeting of the 18th provided by Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould, in addition to the other allegations about him and PMO colleagues mentioned in her testimony," the statement reads.

Given that Wernick and Drouin appeared prior to cabinet confidence, and solicitor client privilege on the SNC file was waived for testimony before the Committee, and the fact they were mentioned by Wilson-Raybould in relation to the December 19 phone call and subsequent events, the committee wants to hear their recollection of events and conversations, Housefather wrote.

"We will consider next steps following hearing from these witnesses," he said.

Conservative MP Michael Cooper tweeted that he wants to call Trudeau to testify for two hours. He also wants Wilson-Raybould to return to testify, without any constraints due to solicitor-client privilege or cabinet confidence.

The government tabled a broad waiver, but Wilson-Raybould said it still limited what she could say about her resignation from cabinet, as well as her time as veterans affairs minister.

Read Jody Wilson-Raybould's opening statement on the SNC-Lavalin affair

Key moments from Jody Wilson-Raybould's SNC-Lavalin testimony

Analysis
SNC-Lavalin dispute deepens as Wilson-Raybould testimony at odds with PM's take

Watch the Power Panel dig into Butts' offer to testify before the justice committee on Power & Politics

Power and Politics

Gerry Butts wants to testify | Power Panel

Jen, David, Brad and Melissa discuss the fallout Jody Wilson-Raybould's bombshell testimony. 9:44

About the Author

Kathleen Harris

Senior Writer

Kathleen Harris is a senior writer in the CBC's Parliament Hill bureau. She covers politics, immigration, justice and corrections. Follow her on Twitter @ottawareporter

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Property taxes going up for 179,000 New Brunswickers

March 1, 2019, 1:05 pm

≫ Next: Cannabis, liquor stores best kept out of private sector, say Liberals, Greens

≪ Previous: Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Methinks at least we may rest assured that Mr Higgs will be Happy Happy Happy that he will have more money to balance his budget with N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/property-taxes-going-up-for-179000-new.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/property-tax-going-up-1.5039511

Property taxes going up for 179,000 New Brunswickers

3 Comments

David Amos

Surprise Surprise Surprise

John Pokiok

This is crazy officially my assessment is now higher than what I can sell my house for easy money grab.It just never ends here just got my bill today not happy.

David Amos

@John Pokiok Methinks at least we may rest assured that Mr Higgs will be Happy Happy Happy that he will have more money to balance his budget with N'esy Pas?

Property taxes going up for 179,000 New Brunswickers

38 per cent of properties around the province will see increase

Robert Jones· CBC News· Posted: Mar 01, 2019 4:16 PM AT

Resort towns like Saint Andrews, Cap Pelé and Shediac have seen increases. (Submitted by the Canadian Institute of Planners)

About 179,000 New Brunswick properties are getting tax increases starting today — but exactly where is a mystery.

Popular resort towns like Saint Andrews have seen the largest increase in property values, and tax bills connected to them.

Property tax bills began landing in mailboxes around the province Friday.

Although most landowners will not pay any more than last year, there are hints of pockets of tax increases in some areas — including several popular summer communities — that won't be fully revealed until next week.

Service New Brunswick not hunting for properties stung by tax scandal

Service New Brunswick to spend $1M to fix property assessment flaws

Property tax reform not likely anytime soon, finance minister says

Service New Brunswick has revealed that nearly 179,000 properties around the province, 38 per cent, will see an assessment and tax increase this year. About 28,000 of those increases will see tax bills rise five per cent or more, but the exact location of those are not yet known

Executive director of assessment Stephen Ward said Thursday the largest increases probably belong to newly built or renovated structures, not existing properties.

A comprehensive street-by-street list of where property values and taxes have jumped the most will not be released by Service New Brunswick until next week.

"When you see an [assessment] increase greater than 10 per cent, that's typically due to new construction — a new building , a new residential home, a new office structure," Ward told reporters.

But typically, property tax increases also hit in clusters where communities are growing, have recently been visited by assessors or have land that is in high demand.

Heads up

Last fall New Brunswick municipalities were given some information on where property values in their communities were headed. Based on those estimates, full-time and seasonal residents of several popular provincial vacation spots will want to check property tax bills closely as they begin arriving as early as today.

Saint Andrews in particular was told property values in the town were up $18.7 million this year (6.2 percent), more than double the provincial average of 2.5 percent.

That may be the result of significant new construction in the town, but may also hint at higher assessment and tax bills coming for average residents.

Moncton leads cities in assessment growth

Other popular summer communities with higher than average increases in property values this year include Lac Baker (5.5 percent), Cocagne (4.6 percent), Cap Pelé (4.2 percent) and Shediac (4.2 percent).

Among New Brunswick's larger communities, Moncton continues to lead in the growth of property values. It added a projected $309.7 million in assessed value this year (3.8 percent) bringing the total worth of all taxable property in the city to $8.37 billion.

That's $1.1 billion more than Fredericton and $1.4 billion more than Saint John.

About the Author

Robert Jones

Reporter

Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the adoption of price regulation in 2006.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Cannabis, liquor stores best kept out of private sector, say Liberals, Greens

March 1, 2019, 4:09 pm

≫ Next: As RCMP lies in wait, legal minds ponder whether SNC-Lavalin scandal warrants criminal probe

≪ Previous: Property taxes going up for 179,000 New Brunswickers

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Methinks all supporters of SANB and "Canada"s Natural Governing Party" truly believe that they are entitled to their entitlements N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/cannabis-liquor-stores-best-kept-out-of.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-liqour-cannabis-crown-corporation-1.5037310

Cannabis, liquor stores best kept out of private sector, say Liberals, Greens

152 Comments

Commenting is now closed for this story.

Travis Thériault

Let's be real here; the only reason Kris Austin and the PANB care about and want ANBL privatized is because their party and their supporters get triggered every time they're greeted with "Hello/Bonjour".

Arnold Stone

who privatized health care, who tried to sell NB Power to Quebec, how about ambulance NB, the list goes on and on, who else but the Liberals, I am not saying it is the right thing to do but the Liberals complaining, about it, it is like a pig rolling in :::: and complaining about the smell.

David Amos

@Arnold Stone All the political parties are in on the wicked game

Shawn McShane

Every province is in debt. When any provincial crown corporation makes profits the government du jour raids those revenues to balance their budget. Then they raise the rates and they get raided again. When the debt at the crown corp gets big enough to cause public outrage due to rate increases they wash their hands of it and sell it then those governent du jours get a cush job at the privatized corporation. Keep your eye on NB Power...and the CEO.

David Amos

@Shawn McShane Ask yourself why the EUB just barred me from another rate increase hearing

Jason Inness

Why is it so many people are against this idea? It is not the job of government to take our tax dollars and give large wages and benefits to some citizens. The job of government is to provide SERVICES with our tax dollars. Any wonder we are in such a mess. People think that the answer to everything in this province is more government, more tax, more granny state telling us what to do.

The most ironic part is... government does NOTHING well. It is barely functional. We get better service at WalMart than the government.

David Amos

@Jason Inness Why not run for public office like I do? At least you can get to embarrass them now an then Maybe someday enough folks will quit voting for the crooks..

David Amos

The political parties and their media buddies did not have enough sand to talk to me during six elections thus far Hence whatever they say in the media between elections should be irrelevant to me except I cannot ignore humourous entertainment factor That why I often say Welcome to the Circus

Seamus O'hern

@David Amos ...thank You Sir...."my kind" never feel welcomed...

David Amos

@Seamus O'hern Enjoy the show Pass the popcorn and I will share my peanuts

David Amos

@David Amos FYI I you wish a good chuckle Google 3 words

Fundy Royal Debate

Seamus O'hern

@David Amos ...I have in the past, thank you. I live in two Canadian provinces at the best of time...but the "Arkansas of Canada"(NB) has learned well how to manipulate NBer's, just like their neighbour does to CANADIANS.... me thinks.

David Amos

@Seamus O'hern Methinks that I am living proof that the FBI and the RCMP/GRC know that not all of us are easily manipulated

If you were to Google David Amos Sussex RCMP then David Amos Wiretap I am certain that you will enjoy the Circus some more N'esy Pas?

Seamus O'hern

@David Amos ...will do...thank you

William Reed

This sort of despicable attitude that wants to treat everything that is collectively owned as something that should be in the hands of select private citizens is the cause of our greatest societal problems. You end up with monopolies and billionaires when the private sector seizes the profits. With the proceeds they then buy up government by funding parties they shape ideologically that further the rot. For crying out loud, deny the richest more revenue streams before they are owners of absolutely everything. It's already getting there when a fraction of a percent of the population has more than 70% of us. They won't want to pay tax on any profit they make, and you' ll not be able to afford to prosecute them.

David Amos

@William Reed "They won't want to pay tax on any profit they make, and you' ll not be able to afford to prosecute them"

Nay not so

David Peters

@William Reed

Ban monopolies and break up the ones that exist. Then let free market competition handle it.

Changing from one form of monopoly to another only helps a select few.

David Stairs

isn't it funny how we continue to keep our heads in the sand..let's not move forward like all other provinces..let's just keep going in the hole for spite...wow....the Liberals have already proven that they cannot run this province anywhere, except into debt...it's time for a new approach...and oh yea..let's start being democratic and let the majority have control...no more special interest B.S.

William Reed

@David Stairs

Alward ran this government into debt to the tune of an 800 million dollar deficit with Higgs as his minister of finance. The Liberals pared it down to what, 160 million? This is the same old exact tactic that the right does in the US--attack the other side for what it does and never stop repeating it. It should be noted that much of the debt incurred during the Cons years went to tax breaks to special interest. No effort was made to address revenues. It took the Liberals to come in and address that with what is the least attractive of all options when special interests are getting tax breaks. We had to all pay more sales tax to make that up.

David Amos

@David Stairs "no more special interest B.S"

Good luck with that

Seamus O'hern

@William Reed ....and what flavour kool-aid is your favourite.??..lol

Rosco holt

@Seamus O'hern
Let me guess yours?
Blue....

James Reed

@William Reed

Are you serious - Graham a liberal, inherited a government that had run a surplus for 5 of the 7 years in office and had paid down the debt or debt was smaller than when they took office - Graham ran 750 and 800 million dollars deficits his last two years in office... Alward trimmed that down 250 million dollars his first year but couldn't eliminate the deficit... he was back up to 500 million by the end of his term, which is still 300 million less than the previous Liberal government. Part of the problem was the structural deficit created by Graham... the civil service jumped from 46,700 to 48,700 a 2000 employee increase in just two years.

Seamus O'hern

@Rosco holt ....nope....Shamrock Green....meaning, I go with what may be the best at the given time and you know that's not easy, because of the given options usually....I never win.

Bob Smith

Perhaps the Green Party should announce that they are merging with the Liberal party to speak on environmental issues mostly. The Greens don't seem to function well either provincially or federally without the Liberals helping or instructing them.

William Reed

@Bob Smith

Save your complaining for when we have Green governments. It won't happen soon enough. If the Liberals are paying attention they will move to be the Greens of the future by another name. The Green party is a party pd social responsibility that couldn't care less about what individualists see as best for them.

David Amos

@William Reed Dream on

Arnold Stone

@William Reed the green's want to control how much we drive, by raising taxes on gas, what we eat by adding 20 cents per liter on sugared beverages, so after that what is next, anything they think is not good for us,

Lou Bell

Liberals , more gov't jobs, more higher paying jobs to their SANB base.

David Amos

@Lou Bell YUP

Seamus O'hern

@Lou Bell ...absolutely....truthyness hurts ...

Pierre Cyr

Funny that Chris Austin wants to see hundreds of good paying jobs become minimum wage no benefit and thus taxpayer subsidized jobs for the private for profit sector when he complained his wife was starving at 13$ an hour in homecare and that homecare workers needed a good raise. That was on Terry Seguin's radio show last year. Lets hope his wife decides to get into retail work.

Dave Peters

@Pierre Cyr Wow, personal attack on the Austin family, attack the private sector mom & pop shops. Did you leave anyone out. :(

Jef Cronkhite

@Pierre Cyr So, you would rather see unskilled people overpaid at our expense, rather than allowing small business people to make a bit of profit? No one handing out booze DESERVES to make over $20/hour as a base wage!! Some good servers may average that much, with tips factored in, but those people have to work VERY hard. How hard do NB Liquor employees have to work?
Let me guess, you're in a union job, aren't you?? I can practically SMELL the entitlement......

Rosco holt

@Jef Cronkhite
You prefer paying more in taxes, have services cut, so you friends in the private sector can fleece NBers.

Lou Bell

@Jef Cronkhite Pete, Marc , and Maggie , the smell of entitlement from all 3.

Colin Seeley

@Lou Bell

Comment of the day.

Marc Martin

@Pierre Cyr

Exactly well said, but what do you expect with someone who has no experience in any finance department.

Marc Martin

@Dave Peters

Maybe it is but its actually true.

Marc Martin

@Jef Cronkhite

*you would rather see unskilled people overpaid at our expense*

The salary they are paid is going back into the economy unlike if it was private with the minimum salary.

*rather than allowing small business people to make a bit of profit?*

NB Liquor made a total profit of 150 $$ last year after all expenses and that's not even counting the taxe revenue...Are you saying the small business owners will re-invest 150 million in our economy ?

Marc Martin

@Rosco holt

Exactly

David Amos

@Lou Bell Methinks all supporters of SANB and "Canada"s Natural Governing Party" truly believe that they are entitled to their entitlements N'esy Pas?

Seamus O'hern

@Marc Martin ...class act as usual

Seamus O'hern

@Colin Seeley ....indeed

Marc Martin

The government will never sell it only profitable crown corporation to satiny a few alcoholics in NB.

David Amos

@Marc Martin Methinks everybody knows they won't do it because of your Union N'esy Pas?

Rosco holt

@Marc Martin
It's the reason why government will sell.

Marc Martin

@David Amos

You seem to have a problem with unions Davis, maybe you should have gotten an education like I did ?

Seamus O'hern

@Marc Martin ...you certainly don't carry yourself as "educated"...edgemacated maybe....

Mario Doucet

Cannabis NB will never turn a profit.

Colin Seeley

@Mario Doucet

Agreed. Too much overhead. Too much staff and too many stores for the market.

There are 20 stores.

Close 10 .

David Amos

@Mario Doucet How can they not?

Mario Doucet

SANB has spoken, got to keep those civil service jobs no matter what even if the government is losing money.

Marc Martin

@Mario Doucet

The problem is they are not losing money at al, NB Liquor total profit after all expenses 150 million and that's not even taking into account the taxe they got on top of this.

Dave Peters

@Marc Martin Why is it that money is better in the hands of government than the private sector. Do you always bite the hand that feeds you.

Rosco holt

@Dave Peters
Because it's money that you'll know will stay in the province and it helps to pay for services such has healthcare and education.

Marc Martin

@Dave Peters

That 150 million is going to several provincial department including health and education , are you saying that the small business industry will be investing that money into our economy instead of buying bigger cars and houses ?? We know where your kind stands..

*Do you always bite the hand that feeds you.*

By the way none of them feed me, I have work hard all my life over 30 years by the way.

James Reed

@Marc Martin

the gross profit on sales is about 420 million, the actual product only costs 190 million, so government's mark up is about 230 million on the product. They have other sales and revenue in there so they give about 170 million back to the province. Their administrative costs are actually about 70 million. That's where the argument for privatization comes in - it would not cost the private sector 70 million to run these stores... the cost of the front line staff, although the greatest expense is only 21 million - and that's at a starting salary of $19.40. The argument is that there may be a more efficient way than to run this sector. Under the current model there is no incentive to innovate - in Alberta they saw thousands of new products being brought in mostly in wine a specialty spirits which have a much higher profit margin. In Alberta every private vendor buys their product from the government, which is still marked up.

David Amos

@Mario Doucet "SANB has spoken"

Don't they always?

Seamus O'hern

@Marc Martin ....bahahaha....

Rosco holt

@James Reed
So you want to sacrifice 170 mil because of what the employees gets paid?

The province will get allot less from the private sector.

Guess where the government will get the money that they're missing?

Nicolas Krinis

@Rosco holt Both pretty much in disarray. Have you seen the scores of our kids compared to others across Canada? As for healthcare Soviet style, our outcomes are getting worse every year.

Nicolas Krinis

@Rosco holt NB Power?

Marc Martin

@James Reed

This is all about the greed of a few privateers who wants a piece of the pie, and then the government will have to compensate by taxing us elsewhere, we are not in Alberta by the way we don't have the same population if you have not noticed.

Marguerite Deschamps

Shouldn't the good pastor be against all these vices, period?

Rosco holt

@Marguerite Deschamps
He is a failed pastor.

Dan Lee

@Rosco holt
A wanna be............

Lou Bell

@Marguerite Deschamps So you want to mix government and religion !!

Marc Martin

@Lou Bell

Who rang your bell ?

David Amos

@Marguerite Deschamps Methinks even you must admit that you have not met a pastor or a politician who did not love money and Austin is both N'esy Pas?

Dan Lee

@David Amos
Austin loved the collection plate

Seamus O'hern

@Dan Lee ...so he does have something in common with the sanb....

Seamus O'hern

@Marc Martin ....Your Kind....

Marc Martin

@Seamus O'hern

My kind is the best around, there should be more of me in NB and less of you.

David Amos

@Marc Martin "My kind is the best around, there should be more of me in NB and less of you"

Hmmmm

Seamus O'hern

@David Amos ....says a lot.

Jarrod Yeo

As a consumer, privatization sounds great - competition generally drives innovation, better value, etc. As it stands I find prices to be more nauseating than the booze itself.

But on the other hand, the greater availability of alcohol (and other controlled substances, probably) is causally associated with increased consumption. Violence, drunk driving, domestic abuse and a laundry list of health problems are just some of the things that happen when we increase the number of outlets where alcohol is sold with longer hours of sale and an enhanced strong profit driven interest in the alcohol market.

There's balance in nature.

Barb Scott

@Jarrod Yeo how would you feel if the privatization had restricted hours? maybe booze and drug purchases only between 9am and 7pm. still a sensible restriction yet allowing small business (mom & pop shops) to share a piece of the pie.

Marguerite Deschamps

@Jarrod Yeo, you can't state this here, it makes too much sense.

Lou Bell

@Jarrod Yeo They're already there , whether you 've noticed or not !

David Amos

@Marguerite Deschamps "you can't state this here, it makes too much sense."

Since when did you care about anyone making sense or not?

Pierre LaRoches

@Jarrod Yeo Who says there needs to be more outlets? Who says they have to be open longer? The government can still regulate all those things when private industry runs something. Way less hassle, sit back and collect taxes.

Joseph Vacher

"Melanson also said Austin can't compare the two economies, since Alberta is larger and people have more disposable income."

Then why are the taxes and the cost higher in NB then the rest of the country if we are so poor

Shawn McShane

@Joseph Vacher We are so poor in NB BECAUSE we pay the highest taxes in Canada and have the lowest median income in Canada.

Rosco holt

@Joseph Vacher
"Then why are the taxes and the cost higher in NB then the rest of the country if we are so poor"
NB has the most seniors.

Wages are the lowest, while the cost of living is the same, if not hire in some instances.

Alberta's refineries pay more taxes, while here the refinery pays less tax than the Timmies that's close to it.

More government sweet generous deals to the private sector.

David Amos

@Joseph Vacher "Then why are the taxes and the cost higher in NB then the rest of the country if we are so poor"

Good question Can you understand what the crickets are trying to tell us?

Joseph Vacher

Dont let the government be your drug dealer

David Amos

@Joseph Vacher Methinks they already are N'esy Pas?

Evan Day

Sell NB Liquor and Cannabis NB. As for the "good jobs" argument, why should taxpayers pay someone almost double the going rate (i.e. 2 x minimum wage) to work what is basically a retail job? I'd rather the government direct my tax dollars into providing decent health care than paying someone $20 an hour to ring in my beer. As for the profits, there's no reason the government can't continue to collect tax on both products. It can also continue to regulate them to the same level they are now. Allowing ordinary retailers to sell cigarettes seems to work just fine, and they're arguably regulated more strongly than either alcohol or pot.

Marc Martin

@Evan Day

*As for the "good jobs" argument, why should taxpayers pay someone almost double the going rate*

Because last year after all expenses including these good paying jobs the government made a profit of 150 million and that is not counting taxes.

Beer is not a necessity but a privilege.

David Amos

@Evan Day I wholeheartedly agree

daryl doucette

@Evan Day 20 bucks an hour is peanuts. And the government takes back half of that in taxes. Let the poor working stiffs at the liquor stores keep their jobs. Leave them alone.

Shawn McShane

Are Albertan consumers better off after privatization? When it comes to prices a bottle of liquor is now being marked up twice. Albertans are worse off after two decades of privatization because they are paying higher prices at private liquor stores and the government is receiving less tax revenue. (But if you want a liquor store on every corner that pays minimum wage you can stumble up the street....)

-Liquor privatization: Did Albertans get what was promised? Edmonton Journal

James Reed

@Shawn McShane

I'm not arguing for privatization, I'm not sure that is the way to go - but if you read the methodology used to come up with the conclusion Alberta pay higher prices I think it's a little flawed... actual example, price of a bottle of a certain brand of vodka varies from $18 at the big retailers, loblaws to $28 for the same bottle in a small corner shop - the average price in Alberta is $23... that bottle is $22 on average in the rest of Canada... it ignores the fact many more bottles are purchased for $18 than for $28... and I think that in the study he only used 60 data points whereas immediately after he published that report someone ran the numbers with over 1000 samples and found the opposite to be true. That being said, there would be more stores in the south and people in the north would probably be paying higher process.

David Amos

@James Reed I wish folks cared so much about the price of cigarettes

Shawn McShane

@James Reed There is a big monopoly of private liquor stores in Alberta. They are the only ones that offer the cheaper prices because they can afford to buy bulk and have loss leaders. When the rest go bankrupt the price will go up. The same thing will happen in NB with Circle K Irving.

Gary MacKay

There is an excellent article in the TJ on this very subject (Feb 26). "Time to put NB Lqr. to pasture" the title says it all.

Tim Locke

@Gary MacKay I don't trust anything Irving says.

Marguerite Deschamps

@Gary MacKay, time to put the purple pastor to pasture, I say.

Rosco holt

@Gary MacKay
You miss the part were taxes would need to be raised to make up the short fall.

David Amos

@Gary MacKay Methinks Norbert Cunningham and the Irving Clan would have it no other way N'esy Pas?

"NB Liquor’s monopoly has long been a sore point for the public. An internal 2012 study – a "strategic review"– of whether privatization is desirable offered only crumbs to ease taxpayer pressure while making moves to protect its own jobs.

The news on Feb. 20, 2012 was that NB Liquor wasn’t privatizing, but was willing to give the private sector a larger role. The corporation argued, without sign of irony, that this would make it more profitable.

The report’s own numbers required considerable pretzel-like logic to reach its obviously foregone conclusion. Public servants seldom suggest their own jobs are unnecessary."

Shawn McShane

Frank Hood

I once was told: if private sector WANTS to buy something from public sector = money making machine. If they don't want a part of a government branch = 0$
So sale is immediate money in pocket of government but long term means we will need to pay more taxes to pay for other services such as hospitals. Funny no one from private sector is asking to buy hospitals or schools , wonder why, yet they are a necessity! let's think long term please!

David Amos

@Frank Hood I always do and look back as well. Methinks the government should oversee booze and dope but not sell the stuff just like they don't sell cigarettes but tax the hell out them anyway N'esy Pas?

Fred Brewer

@Frank Hood
Why not wait for the proof of which model puts more money into government coffers? Private or government?

Joshua Jackson

Thank you CBC for posting the podcast with the story this week at the same time. I know my comment last week might have been a little harsh to the person handling the content. I do hope you take my other recommendations to have a dedicated space on the CBC NB news page for the political panel, and start uploading the videos again. Thanks for listening.

David Amos

@Joshua Jackson Why not that them for editing things as well?

Richard Riel

Total control of taxes is at the forefront of this discussion.

David Amos

@Richard Riel Methinks everything political is always about the money N'esy Pas?

Paul Bourgoin

If political influence would be stopped at the Store door, Friends of Friends stopped at the Store Door, also an accurate accounting of what comes in the store and what leaves. The sold goods audits balances with the cash in the register at the end of the day. I am certain this could be a great source of revenue for New Brunswick. Also no Political Influence involvement in the store finances. A daily inventory and a weekly Auditor Inspection.

Marc Martin

@Paul Bourgoin

Corruption is everywhere, do you remember when Harper told the public he would cut 30 000 Federal jobs ? Well all these jobs he cut he had them contracted and paid more for the employees. Now the Federal service is a mess with the phenix fiasco and it will cots us billion.

Paul Bourgoin

@Marc Martin
You can thank Harper for the mess with the Phenix fiasco and for a long time!

Joseph Vacher

@Paul Bourgoin
the pay system that was designed by the cons, but put in force by the liberals after being advised that it had problems? yea....,

Marc Martin

@Joseph Vacher

WRONG , they had no choice to roll it out Harper already laid off over 2000 pay advisors across Canada, comment on thing you have knowledge about.

David Amos

@Marc Martin "Corruption is everywhere"

Methinks you should know N'esy Pas?

James Reed

@Marc Martin

actually Marc, the payroll clerks didn't get laid off until they started to switch to the new system, which took place in Feb 2016 - 4 or 5 months after the election. The first round of jobs cut did happen earlier, 700 payroll positions were transferred from various departments to NB - most people didn't want to move here so 550 new people had to be hired... this compounded the problem, because experience people were being replaced by new hires, but the elimination of the 2,700 payroll clerks happened later once they switched to the new system - which they were told had over 100 deficiencies in January, but they decided to go ahead with the initial roll out any way even after the problems in Feb, in April they then decided to decommission the old systems even though the problems were apparent - the Lib Minister at the time admitted this was a huge mistake.

Marc Martin

@David Amos

I'm sorry I dont only you do with all your conspiracies.

Marc Martin

@James Reed

* the payroll clerks didn't get laid off until they started to switch to the new system*

WRONG they went trough the Workforce adjustment years before that, they where notified of this way before 2016.

*most people didn't want to move here so 550 new people *

WRONG the center was suppose to run with less then 300 people, when the troubles started they went across Canada and ask all the Pay advisors if they wanted their job back most said NO, I know this because I know a bunch that works across NB and NC. Next time inform yourself more when it comes to government services.

Shawn McShane

daryl doucette

I disagree with Mr. Austin on this one. The folks that work at the liquor stores make a living wage and good benefits. Leave it be.

Marc Martin

@daryl doucette

We finally agree on something..

Evan Day

@daryl doucette Maybe the government should take over Walmart too? Maybe all the retail? Certainly those retail workers deserve a living wage and good benefits just as much...

Joseph Vacher

@daryl doucette

its a great time to be a bilingual cashier in NB

Marc Martin

@Joseph Vacher

All the ones I talk to in Fredericton are English bilingual, they took the time to learn maybe you should too.

David Amos

@daryl doucette I disagree Check how much money goes into Alberta's tax coffers sourced from alcohol, gambling and cigarettes without while private companies do most of the work.

Shawn McShane

Liquor stores were already there, the mistake was spending millions for stand alone pot stores, from what I have read NB charges the highest prices for the stuff and has supply issues.

Nova Scotia on the other hand put the pot in the already existing liquor stores.

daryl doucette

@Shawn McShane I agree. I wonder who built the cannabis stores, and how much the lease payments are to them?

Marc Martin

@Shawn McShane

I agree on this, I would have sold it at the liquor store also..

Graeme Scott

@Shawn McShane Separate issue to privatization but I agree. Building a chain of stand alone stores for pot was ridiculous. I wonder how much was spent and who got the money?

Colin Seeley

@Marc Martin

Agreed.

David Amos

@Graeme Scott Exactly

Jeff LeBlanc

Increase in social harms eh? Prove it. I don't buy that at all. It's not pot smokers breaking into your car or home or robbing stores looking for that next fix although Anne Berube would try to convince you otherwise. It is the devil's lettuce after all.

David Amos

@Jeff LeBlanc True

Richard Dunn

Let's get out of NB Liquor, Cannabis NB, NB Power and ALC.

The revenue from selling these would pay off a tremendous amount of our debt, and would also help to shrink the civil service and the related liability.

I trust that the current government will look closely at all of these options, and make informed decisions. We are a very small province and need to fix our financial situation.

David Amos

@Richard Dunn Oh So True

Joseph Pierre De Grandmont

Serious reviews of Government involvement in the private sector clearly show that
1- Government operations are generally ineffective, inefficient and more wasteful and costly.
2- Government operations should be limited to essential public needs like roads, health, etc...
3- Governments have no business competing against the private sector in this democracy.
4- Governments can impose controls by regulations far more effectively than by monopolizing sectors
5- Private enterprises must be responsive to the needs of the public or go bankrupt.
6- Private enterprises produce tax revenues with no up-front costs to the public purse.

Marc Martin

@Joseph Pierre De Grandmont

NB liquor made over 150 million last year after all costs and that's not counting the tax revenue.

Graeme Scott

@Marc Martin Not a particularly impressive feat when you have a monopoly.

Marc Martin

@Graeme Scott

150 miilons of profit even after they have paid all the good paying jobs associated to NB Liquor..150$ is not good ?? lol..How much would the private generate more ? Giving minimum salary with practically no benefits ?

Joseph Vacher

@Marc Martin revenue....... not profits. REvenue that was shelled back out to the employee's at double their worth

Marc Martin

@Joseph Vacher

NO its profit.

Rosco holt

@Joseph Vacher
When you check NBLiquor's government web page, it's 168.4 million in net profit, not revenue.

David Amos

@Graeme Scott True

Paul Bourgoin

Why sell the sacred cow when the problem is miss-management?

Rosco holt

@Paul Bourgoin
Government is mismanagement.

Paul Bourgoin

@Rosco holt
There you go Rosco you got it!

David Amos

@Rosco holt BINGO

Colin Seeley

Social Responsibilty they say. About buying a beer in a grocery store.

Lol.

David Amos

@Colin Seeley Who cares?

Fred Brewer

Yup. We live in NB where nothing ever changes. We are soooo afraid of change.

Jeff LeBlanc

@Fred Brewer remember how long it took to get Sunday shopping? In NB we like our things run by big brother and our stores closed!

David Amos

@Fred Brewer YUP

Nicholas Dippler

@Fred Brewer I think most residents understand the adage: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Aren't there more meaningful things to look at then our booze and weed in this province?

I'd guess this is just an agenda of the money behind the political parties. Another way to bilk the provincial taxpayer of more money, and cash in on the investment of supporting whatever party they wanted in power.

I'm not sure this is for the people.

Fred Brewer

@Nicholas Dippler
" I think most residents understand the adage: If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

And I think most residents would agree that insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

But more to the point. NB Liquor and Cannabis NB are broke, and are in need of fixing as far as I am concerned.

Cannabis, liquor stores best kept out of private sector, say Liberals, Greens

Kris Austin suggests higher tax to make up for lost revenue under the private system he wants

CBC News· Posted: Feb 28, 2019 7:07 PM AT

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he's already brought up his privatization idea with the Progressive Conservative government. (CBC)

Listen to the full CBC New Brunswick Political Panel podcast by downloading from the CBC Podcast page or subscribing to the podcast in iTunes.

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin met pushback from other opposition parties Thursday over his call to privatize liquor and cannabis sales.

On the CBC's New Brunswick Political Panel, Austin argued that reducing the overhead for distributing liquor and cannabis could allow government to spend less and still make money from selling those products by "adjusting" the sales taxes.

But Liberal MLA Roger Melanson and Green MLA Kevin Arseneau argued the revenue coming from NB Liquor and Cannabis NB is already steady, and allows money to be put back into the province's education and health systems, for example.

Information Morning - Fredericton

Should NB Privatise Liquor and Cannabis Sales?

Peoples Alliance leader, Kris Austin, pushes for a privatised system he thinks will boost efficiency, increase revenue and create jobs. 11:24

Privatization in Alberta has resulted in lower revenue for the government "and an increase in social harms," Arseneau said.

Austin began speaking out about privatization after Brian Harriman, the CEO of NB Liquor and Cannabis NB, announced last month that he was stepping down to join a private cannabis company.
Austin said it's "kind of ironic" that Harriman left the Crown corporation to go to the private sector in Alberta.

Kent North MLA Kevin Arseneau says privatization could cause social harm. (CBC)

"Alberta does it better, New Brunswick is behind on that," he said. "Government should have nothing to do with retail, especially with retail of alcohol and marijuana."

However, Melanson said Alberta has a privatized distribution of liquor and cannabis, but it is still responsible for regulations and procurement.

Brian Harriman resigns as boss of NB Liquor and Cannabis NB

People's Alliance pushes for private liquor, cannabis retail system

"Mr. Harriman is … not going to Alberta in the distribution side, he's actually going on the production side of the business," he said.

Melanson also said Austin can't compare the two economies, since Alberta is larger and people have more disposable income.

Liberal MLA Roger Melanson says it's incorrect for Austin to assume that what may work for Alberta will work for New Brunswick. (CBC)

"It's not apple to apple in terms of revenue being generated," he said.

Arseneau said government can't only look at policies from an economic standpoint but should also focus on social responsibility and public safety, and privatization could cause harm on that end.

Silence from government

No one from the Progressive Conservative government was available to participate in this week's panel.

Austin said he's had some discussions with the government about privatization, but it's unclear where the conversations were left off.

"We've certainly pushed the file with government," Austin said.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

As RCMP lies in wait, legal minds ponder whether SNC-Lavalin scandal warrants criminal probe

March 1, 2019, 6:20 pm

≫ Next: 2 new judges appointed to provincial court

≪ Previous: Cannabis, liquor stores best kept out of private sector, say Liberals, Greens

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Methinks Jody Wilson-Raybould, Irwin Cotler and Michael Bryant should agree Peter MacKay, Jonathan Denis and Cecil Clarke made a major faux pas when they sent that letter to Commissioner Brenda Lucki N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2015/09/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-investigation-obstruction-quetions-1.5037252

As RCMP lies in wait, legal minds ponder whether SNC-Lavalin scandal warrants criminal probe

5833 Comments

Henri Bianchi

Legal or not legal, under no circumstances in a democracy should politicians have the power to direct the work of prosecutors.

The court system must remain independent and at arms length.

Show 52 older replies

Richard Ade

@Henri Bianchi As much as getting the PM, the privy clerk and members of the PMO to resign is appropriate, the bigger thing here is that we fix our justice system so that it is truly free from political interference so that this kind of thing will never be able to happen in the future under any future government regardless of their political party. We need more independent oversight.

Jennie Adkins

@Richard Ade

Oh the hypocrisy! I do recall Harper trying to put an unqualified judge on the supreme court. Dissed the Chief Justice soundly . . .

John Harold Herbert

@Jennie Adkins
Worshipful handmaidens aside, what does that have to do with the current issue?

Klaus Offermann

@Henri Bianchi
One courageous Indigeous woman backed up by a courageous team took a stand to begin to re-establish Canada's tarnished legal reputation:

1] EXTRA! EXTRA! OF EIGHT 8 CHARGED - NOT ONE SNC-LAVALIN EMPLOYEE CONVICTED OF FOREIGN BRIBERY - SINCE 2012!
"Seven of those accused have had their cases tossed out of court due to delays or problems with evidence".
"Roy, the SNC-Lavalin money man detained briefly in Mexico in 2011, also walked out of court free this month."".. a judge tossed all charges due to "unreasonable" delays by the prosecution."
"Canada has a very poor record of enforcement,"
"Canadian companies who engage in corruption have sadly been playing the odds that they will not get caught."

2] Canada's foreign Anti-Bribery effort now has INSUFFICIENT DETERRENCE.
According to 'Transparency International', since 2015 Canada has dropped from "Moderate" to "Limited Enforcement" in respect to enforcing the (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention.

1 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-bribery-snc-lavalin-case-1.5031712
2 https://www.transparency.org/files/content/publication/Download_a_short_version_of_the_report.pdf
the large graphics on p.4 & 5 especially "Classifications"/ P. 6 Executive Summary, paragraph5

Ted Jenkins

@Henri Bianchi IMHO a spirited discussion with the A-G in cabinet about defining the "public interest" involved in deciding whether to prosecute or nor is not obstruction of justice.

Ted Jenkins

@Henri Bianchi And so the court system DOES remain at arms length. The argument in cabinet was about how the government would PRESENT the issue to the courts. The criminal charges had not been laid. .

Scotty Davidson

@Henri Bianchi Our laws should not be allowed to change in omnibus budgets. That is not democracy. No matter what party is in power.

David Amos

@Henri Bianchi Methinks Jody Wilson-Raybould, Irwin Cotler and Michael Bryant should agree that Peter MacKay, Jonathan Denis and Cecil Clarke made a major faux pas when they sent that letter to Commissioner Brenda Lucki N'esy Pas?

Phil Mein

@Richard Sharp Are you and Troy "man" the same person or do you guys have opposing shifts ?

David Amos

@Ted Jenkins Methinks truth is stranger than fiction Anyone can easily Google "David Amos Federal Court file No.T-1557-15" in order to sort out the truth from fiction for themselves N'esy Pas?

As RCMP lies in wait, legal minds ponder whether SNC-Lavalin scandal warrants criminal probe

'It's not clearly not obstruction,' says an Ottawa-based defence lawyer

Catharine Tunney· CBC News· Posted: Mar 01, 2019 4:00 AM ET

Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould prepares to testify about the SNC-Lavalin affair before a House of Commons justice committee hearing on Wednesday. (Lars Hagberg/AFP/Getty Images)

Many words have been tossed around to describe the allegations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould in the SNC-Lavalin affair: bombshell, shocking, explosive, inappropriate.

But one word could take this scandal from a House of Commons committee room to a courtroom: illegal.

In the mad dash following Wilson-Raybould's dazzling testimony before the House of Commons justice committee Wednesday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer held a news conference calling for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to launch a criminal investigation into the government's actions.

"I was sickened and appalled by her story of inappropriate and, frankly, illegal pressure brought to bear on her by the highest officials of Justin Trudeau's government," he told reporters Wednesday night.

Scheer followed up Thursday with a letter to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, citing sections of the Criminal Code related to provoking fear in an attorney general and obstructing or defeating the course of justice.

CBC EXPLAINS
What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair

Trudeau mulls Wilson-Raybould's fate in Liberal caucus as Scheer makes formal bid for RCMP probe

"She confirmed veiled threats of consequences if she did not bend to the political wishes of the Liberal Party and the financial interests of the shareholders of SNC-Lavalin. It was also clear that these actions rose to the highest ranks of the government," he wrote.

While clearly upset by her government's handling of the file, Wilson-Raybould, who was at one point Canada's most senior lawyer, clearly disagrees something criminal occurred.

In front of the committee she was asked multiple times if the pressure exerted on her broke the law.
"In my opinion, it's not illegal," she told the committee.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign and for the RCMP to investigate, at a news conference Wednesday following Wilson-Raybould's testimony. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

For legal animals in Ottawa, it's been a neck-aching round of whiplash trying to figure out who is right.

"Neither opinion settles the matter," said Ottawa-based defence lawyer Michael Spratt. "It's not clearly not obstruction."

According to the Criminal Code, obstructing justice covers "everyone who wilfully attempts in any manner … to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice."

In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould said she faced intense political pressure and veiled threats related to the SNC-Lavalin affair, and was warned directly by Trudeau about the negative consequences if the company faced prosecution. SNC-Lavalin was facing corruption charges for contracts in Libya and was lobbying for a remediation agreement as an alternative to criminal prosecution.

Examine the case, Conservative MacKay says

Former Conservative justice minister Peter MacKay said there's enough from Wilson-Raybould's testimony to warrant further examination — either through a public inquiry or a criminal investigation.

Key moments from Jody Wilson-Raybould's SNC-Lavalin testimony

"What's happened here is that somebody in the office gave her the impression there would be consequences if she was not to follow the instructions, and when that didn't happen we know that she did lose her job," he said.

"I come back to the definition of the Criminal Code section which speaks of perverting justice, it speaks of interference, it speaks of in some way trying to shape the outcome of a prosecution, and the elements appear to be there."

Criminal defence lawyer Joseph Neuberger said an obstruction of justice charge wouldn't be hard to prove in court. He pointed to a meeting Gerry Butts, the prime minister's former principal secretary, had with Wilson-Raybould's trusted chief of staff Jessica Prince where he allegedly said, "There is no solution here that doesn't involve some interference."

"If that is not a smoking gun when it comes to actual interference and obstruction, I don't know what is," said Neuberger.

"This has stepped over the bounds of inappropriate; it has certainly crossed into the realm of criminal conduct."

Spratt said he doesn't think the case is a "slam dunk," for police and prosecutors, but "it's starting to sound a lot like obstruction."

Analysis
SNC-Lavalin dispute deepens as Wilson-Raybould testimony at odds with PM's take

Trudeau's former top adviser to testify at committee probing SNC-Lavalin affair

Canadian Civil Liberties Association executive director Michael Bryant, who in the first few days of the scandal called for a police investigation, now says this issue isn't as clear cut.

"The evidence for obstruction of justice requires evidence of intent. So you need to have evidence of the prime minister intended to obstruct justice, and we didn't hear any of that," he said Thursday.

"I don't think that we should politicize a criminal investigation by the RCMP any more than we should criminalize a prosecutorial decision against SNC-Lavalin. I don't think it's for Parliament to be telling the police what to do."

Nothing criminal, Liberal Cotler says

It's a view shared, in part, by Irwin Cotler, another former justice minister.

"I don't see anything criminal going on," the former Liberal cabinet minister said. "I do think that what's been happening here is really a reflection of the ongoing dynamics between the offices of the minister of justice, the other members of cabinet and her responsibilities as attorney general."

Trudeau told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday he disagreed with Wilson-Raybould's view that she was inappropriately pressured over SNC-Lavalin. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

Cotler, who has advocated for the roles of attorney general and justice minister be separated, said it's possible officials with the Prime Minister's Office, Privy Council Office and minister of finance didn't intend to exert inappropriate direction on Wilson-Raybould, but over time if felt like concentrated and sustained pressure.

During her testimony, Wilson-Raybould referred to it as "a barrage of people hounding me and my staff."

"I know this may sound somewhat, perhaps, speaking paradoxically when I say that both sides may be telling the truth, but that was my feeling that she was really telling it as she saw it, as she experienced it," said Cotler.

Watch the explainer below on the key players in the SNC-Lavalin controversy:

Power and Politics

Who's who? The key players in the SNC-Lavalin controversy

00:0002:26

A Power & Politics explainer. 2:26

The RCMP, as expected, won't comment on the calls for an investigation, but the force did acknowledge it's reviewing Scheer's letter.

"The RCMP does not confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation unless charges would be laid," said a spokesperson.

For his part, Trudeau said no one from his team has been questioned by RCMP officers.

"We have confidence in the processes in place. The justice committee is pursuing its study, and we will of course respect the independence and indeed the work of the committee" he told reporters Thursday.
"We will also look very closely and participate fully in the ethics commissioner's investigation into this."

Former AGs weigh in

Meanwhile, late Thursday, two former federal attorneys general — MacKay, who served in the role under former prime minister Stephen Harper, and Douglas Grinslade Lewis, who served under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney — penned a letter to the RCMP asking for a police investigation into the matter.

The letter was also signed by three former provincial attorneys general: Jonathan Denis, Progressive Conservative, from Alberta; Cecil Clarke, Progressive Conservative, from Nova Scotia; and Colin Gableman, NDP, from British Columbia.

"We write today to urge you to ensure that you use all resources at your disposal to fully and fairly investigate any potential criminality and provide Canadians with the truth in this crucial matter, as it strikes at the core of the rule of law and independence of our justice system," the letter said.

About the Author
Catharine Tunney
Reporter
Catharine Tunney is a reporter with CBC's Parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. She previously worked with CBC Radio's The House and CBC Nova Scotia. She can be reached at catharine.tunney@cbc.ca or @cattunneyCBC.
Twitter: @cattunneycbc
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

2 new judges appointed to provincial court

March 2, 2019, 4:20 am

≫ Next: P.E.I. government silent amid growing concern over corporate land ownership

≪ Previous: As RCMP lies in wait, legal minds ponder whether SNC-Lavalin scandal warrants criminal probe

---------- Original message ----------
From: Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2019 11:44:27 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: YO Andrea Anderson-Mason why is it nothing
surprises me anymore when it comes to sneaky self serving lawyers?
To: motomaniac333@gmail.com

Thank you for writing to the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Member
of Parliament for Vancouver Granville.

This message is to acknowledge that we are in receipt of your email.
Due to the significant increase in the volume of correspondence, there
may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured that your
message will be carefully reviewed.

To help us address your concerns more quickly, please include within
the body of your email your full name, address, and postal code.

Thank you

-------------------

Merci d'?crire ? l'honorable Jody Wilson-Raybould, d?put?e de
Vancouver Granville.

Le pr?sent message vise ? vous informer que nous avons re?u votre
courriel. En raison d'une augmentation importante du volume de
correspondance, il pourrait y avoir un retard dans le traitement de
votre courriel. Sachez que votre message sera examin? attentivement.

Pour nous aider ? r?pondre ? vos pr?occupations plus rapidement,
veuillez inclure dans le corps de votre courriel votre nom complet,
votre adresse et votre code postal.

Merci

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-judges-new-brunswick-provincial-court-1.5039705

2 new judges appointed to provincial court

Luc J. Labonté will sit in Moncton, Cameron Gunn in Miramichi

CBC News· Posted: Mar 01, 2019 5:46 PM AT

Luc J. Labonté has been appointed to the provincial court and will sit in Moncton. (Radio-Canada)

Two new judges have been appointed to the New Brunswick provincial court Friday.

Luc J. Labonté has been appointed a sitting judge in Moncton, and Cameron Gunn has been appointed as a sitting judge in Miramichi, a statement said.

Labonté graduated from Université de Moncton and worked for the Office of the Attorney General as the assistant deputy attorney general of public prosecution services.

He will replace Judge Denise LeBlanc, who moved to the Court of Queen's bench last year.

Cameron Gunn has been appointed a provincial court judge in Miramichi. (Ben & Me)

Gunn graduated from the University of New Brunswick and has worked for the Office of the Attorney General as the executive director of public prosecution services. He will replace Judge Geri Anne Mahoney, who retired in January.

In the statement, Andrea Anderson-Mason, the justice minister and attorney general, said the two new judges have strong legal backgrounds and will make a significant contribution to the province's legal system.

The appointments were recommended by the provincial judicial appointment review advisers, who represent the bench, the bar and the general public, a news release said.

During the selection process, the chief justice of New Brunswick, the chief judge of the provincial court, and one of the appointment review advisers interview the judges.

There are now 24 full-time provincial court judges, as well as 12 supernumerary judges and three per diem judges.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

---------- Original message ----------
From: Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2019 11:44:27 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: YO Andrea Anderson-Mason why is it nothing
surprises me anymore when it comes to sneaky self serving lawyers?
To: motomaniac333@gmail.com

Thank you for writing to the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Member
of Parliament for Vancouver Granville.

This message is to acknowledge that we are in receipt of your email.
Due to the significant increase in the volume of correspondence, there
may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured that your
message will be carefully reviewed.

To help us address your concerns more quickly, please include within
the body of your email your full name, address, and postal code.

Thank you

-------------------

Merci d'?crire ? l'honorable Jody Wilson-Raybould, d?put?e de
Vancouver Granville.

Le pr?sent message vise ? vous informer que nous avons re?u votre
courriel. En raison d'une augmentation importante du volume de
correspondance, il pourrait y avoir un retard dans le traitement de
votre courriel. Sachez que votre message sera examin? attentivement.

Pour nous aider ? r?pondre ? vos pr?occupations plus rapidement,
veuillez inclure dans le corps de votre courriel votre nom complet,
votre adresse et votre code postal.

Merci

--- On Thu, 2/28/19, magicJack <voicemail@magicjack.com> wrote:

> From: magicJack <voicemail@magicjack.com>
> Subject: New VM (1) - 0:05 minutes in your magicJack mailbox from 5064444190
> To: "DAVID AMOS"
> Date: Thursday, February 28, 2019, 3:54 PM
> Dear magicJack User:
>
> You received a new 0:05 minutes voicemail message, on
> Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 02:54:02 PM in mailbox
> 9028000369 from 5064444190.
>

https://www.voixfemmesnb-voiceswomennb.ca/content/gnb/en/contacts/contacts_renderer.204839.html

MICHAEL HYNES
Litigation Group (Section)
Justice and Office of the Attorney General
Contact Information
Phone : (506) 444-4190
Fax : (506) 453-3275
Email : Michael.Hynes@gnb.ca

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Eidt, David (JAG/JPG)"<David.Eidt@gnb.ca>
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2019 11:44:29 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: YO Andrea Anderson-Mason why is it nothing
surprises me anymore when it comes to sneaky self serving lawyers?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

I am out of the office until March 11. For immediate assistance,
please dial (506) 453-2222.

Je suis absent du bureau jusqu'au 11 mars. Si vous avez besoin de
l'assistance immediate svp appeler 453-2222.

---------- Original message ----------
From: Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:50:01 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Attn Michael Hynes Remember me?
To: motomaniac333@gmail.com

Thank you for writing to the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Member
of Parliament for Vancouver Granville.

This message is to acknowledge that we are in receipt of your email.
Due to the significant increase in the volume of correspondence, there
may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured that your
message will be carefully reviewed.

To help us address your concerns more quickly, please include within
the body of your email your full name, address, and postal code.

Thank you

-------------------

Merci d'?crire ? l'honorable Jody Wilson-Raybould, d?put?e de
Vancouver Granville.

Le pr?sent message vise ? vous informer que nous avons re?u votre
courriel. En raison d'une augmentation importante du volume de
correspondance, il pourrait y avoir un retard dans le traitement de
votre courriel. Sachez que votre message sera examin? attentivement.

Pour nous aider ? r?pondre ? vos pr?occupations plus rapidement,
veuillez inclure dans le corps de votre courriel votre nom complet,
votre adresse et votre code postal.

Merci

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 10:49:45 -0400
Subject: Attn Michael Hynes Remember me?
To: michael.hynes@gnb.ca, "andrea.anderson-mason"
<andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>

, "david.eidt"<david.eidt@gnb.ca>,
david <david@lutz.nb.ca>, "Robert. Jones"<Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>,
ombudsman <ombudsman@gnb.ca>, "charles.murray"
<charles.murray@gnb.ca>, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>,
"martin.gaudet"<martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, andre
<andre@jafaust.com>, "steve.murphy"<steve.murphy@ctv.ca>, news
<news@kingscorecord.com>, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>,
"David.Coon"<David.Coon@gnb.ca>, "David.Akin"
<David.Akin@globalnews.ca>, "kris.austin"<kris.austin@gnb.ca>,
jbosnitch <jbosnitch@gmail.com>
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>,
"Jody.Wilson-Raybould"<Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca>,
"David.Lametti"<David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca>, "Michael.Wernick"
<Michael.Wernick@pco-bcp.gc.ca>, "Michael.Duheme"
<Michael.Duheme@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>

Michael L. Hynes
Solicitor, Litigation Group
Called to the bar: 2001 (NB)
Attorney General (NB), Office of the
Legal Services Branch
PO Box 6000, Stn. A
Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5H1
Phone: 506-453-2222
Fax: 506-453-3275
Email: michael.hynes@gnb.ca

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/auto-insurance-new-brunswick-1.5036346

Car insurance rate hikes hitting 25% for some New Brunswick drivers
Social Sharing

Wawanesa began issuing insurance renewals to customers with premium
increases as high as 25% in January
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Feb 28, 2019 5:00 AM AT

"Michael Hynes, a lawyer representing the Office of the Attorney
General, suggested Economical was mixing up isolated events such a bad
winter in 2015 with longer-term trends and as a result was
exaggerating likely future increases in claims. (CBC)"

14 Comments

David Lutz
There were soft tissue injury caps put in place to curb these high
cost. Now we can't sue for damages and get a fair settlement and still
paying high prices...

David Amos
@David Lutz So you say but you know as well as I why I do not believe
anything you claim. However I wonder if if your fellow member of the
bar Michael Hynes recalls the email I sent him September 21, 2015
Methinks I should give him another call N'esy Pas?

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:47:09 -0400
Subject: Yo Danny Boy Bussierres Who do ya think Serge Rouselle will
send to argue me about your actions in Federal Court???
To: "dan. bussieres"<dan.bussieres@gnb.ca>, Richard.Williams@gnb.ca,
"marc.chiasson"<marc.chiasson@mcinnescooper.com>,
Denis.Theriault@gnb.ca, "serge.rousselle"<serge.rousselle@gnb.ca>,
"sebastien.michaud"<sebastien.michaud@gnb.ca>,
pierre.ouellette@gnb.ca, tammy.moreau@gnb.ca,
isabel.lavoiedaigle@gnb.ca, Michael.Hynes@gnb.ca, maya.hamou@gnb.ca,
nancy.forbes@gnb.ca, david.eidt@gnb.ca, jean-francois.dupuis@gnb.ca,
"claude.poirier"<claude.poirier@snb.ca>, heather.doyle.landry@gnb.ca,
Krista.COLFORD@gnb.ca, brian.barnett@gnb.ca, sallybrooks25
<sallybrooks25@yahoo.ca>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>, "martin.gaudet"
<martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, "Wayne.Gallant"
<Wayne.Gallant@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, leader <leader@greenparty.ca>,
complaints@officiallanguages.nb.ca,
commissioner@officiallanguages.nb.ca, "andrew.scheer"
<andrew.scheer@parl.gc.ca>

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/contacts/dept_renderer.201794.1433.16683.html#employees

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/contacts/dept_renderer.173.11143.1768.html#employees

Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:23:18 -0300
From: "David Amos"david.raymond.amos@gmail.com
To: "Eidt, David (OAG/CPG)"David.Eidt@gnb.ca, oldmaison@yahoo.com,
t.j.burke@gnb.ca, police@fredericton.ca, danny.copp@fredericton.ca,
jacques.boucher@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, jeff.mockler@gnb.ca,
samperrier@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Hey Mr Eidt is it you or the RCMP I argue in order to get
my Harley and the wiretap tapes back?

Go cry a river to your boss T.J. Burke or his buddy Jeff Mockler I
know what I sent you and I understand your obligations as a lawyer and
a public servant . It is not harrassment tio expect a bureaucrat in
the justice dept to uphold the law. You are a liar sir please allow me
to tell your boss and the cops for you what I think of you. Please all
the cops I already have your false allegations in writing and you have
only some of my files. Can you think of any reason why I shouldn't sue
you personally someday after we argue professionally?

Veritas Vincit
Davidraymond Amos

On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Eidt, David (OAG/CPG) David.Eidt@gnb.ca wrote:

Mr. Amos,

You sent me two pieces of email on March 24, 2008. They have nothing
to do with me either personally or professionally. Please note that
your correspondence is unwanted. Any further such communications will
be considered harassing in nature. Please do not send me any more of
your communications.

Regards,

David Eidt
Legal Services
Office of the Attorney GeneralTel: (506) 453-3964
Fax: (506) 453-3275
david.eidt@gnb.ca

Notice : CONFIDENTIAL and PRIVILEGED. This document contains
privileged and confidential information and should not be distributed
or copied to anyone without prior consultation with the author. Thank
you.

Avis : CONFIDENTIEL et PRIVILÉGIÉ. Ce document contient des
renseignements privilégiés et confidentiels et ne devrait être copié
ou circulé sans consultation préalable avec l'auteur. Merci.

From: Advocacy Collective advocacycollective@yahoo.com
Subject: Charles LeBlanc Website Post - NB Justice Minister Burke
Defending False Conviction
To:
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 4:05 PM

I am personally aware of another very similar case involving the same
prosecutor-turned-judge, and so I have little reason to doubt that
this man helped to have Mr. Walsh wrongly convicted. Maybe instead of
looking into Walsh's track record, T.J. Burke should look into the
track records of his own prosecutors and appointed judges. We could
also look into Mr. Burke's own criminal past, since I understand that
he has been convicted of at least one offence. He is also arguably
guilty of obstruction of justice, not just in the Walsh case, but in
my own case, where he has refused to do anything about his own
department effectively banning me from court in order to maintain my
wrongful conviction for contempt of court. This is an issue of
corruption and hypocrisy that is much larger than Mr. Walsh's almost
certain wrongful conviction.
- Vaughn Barnett

First the Irving's Rags write this about the doings between T.J. Burke
and I last year. have my blog and emails killed then sing your praises
about your legal Bullshit next year? Have alook for yourself lady

Threat against Burke taken seriously

By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
dgleg@nb.aibn.com
Published Thursday May 24th, 2007
Appeared on page A1
An RCMP security detail has been guarding Justice Minister and
Attorney General T.J. Burke because of threats made against him
recently.

Burke, the Liberal MLA for Fredericton-Fort Nashwaaksis, wouldn't
explain the nature of the threats.

"I have had a particular individual or individuals who have made
specific overtures about causing harm towards me," he told reporters
Wednesday.

"The RCMP has provided security to me recently by accompanying me to a
couple of public functions where the individual is known to reside or
have family members in the area," said Burke. "It is nice to have some
added protection and that added comfort."

The RCMP provides protection to the premier and MLAs with its VIP security unit.

Burke didn't say when the threat was made but it's believed to have
been in recent weeks.

"When a threat is posed to you and it is a credible threat, you have
to be cautious about where you go and who you are around," he said.
"But again, I am more concerned about my family as opposed to my own
personal safety."

Burke said he doesn't feel any differently and he has not changed his
pattern of activity.

"It doesn't bother me one bit," he said. "It makes my wife feel awful nervous."

Burke served in an elite American military unit before becoming a
lawyer and going into politics in New Brunswick.

"(I) have taken my own precautions and what I have to do to ensure my
family's safety," he said. "I am a very cautious person in general due
to my background and training.

"I am comfortable with defending myself or my family if it ever had to happen."

Burke said it is not uncommon for politicians to have security concerns.

"We do live unfortunately in an age and in a society now where threats
have to be taken pretty seriously," he said.

Since the terrorism attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001,
security in New Brunswick has been
beefed up.

Metal detectors were recently installed in the legislature and all
visitors are screened.

The position of attorney general is often referred to as the
province's "top cop."

Burke said sometimes people do not differentiate between his role as
the manager of the justice system and the individual who actually
prosecutes them.

"With the job sometimes comes threats," he said. "I have had numerous
threats since Day 1 in office."

Burke said he hopes his First Nations heritage has nothing to do with it.

"I think it is more of an issue where people get fixated on a matter
and they believe you are personally responsible for assigning them
their punishment or their sanction," he said.

Is the threat from someone who was recently incarcerated?

"I probably shouldn't answer that," he replied.

Reporters asked when the threat would be over.

"I don't think a threat ever passes once it has been made," said
Burke. "You have to consider the credibility of the source."

Bruce Fitch, former justice minister in the Conservative government,
said "every now and again there would be e-mails that were not
complimentary."

"I did have a meeting with the RCMP who are in charge of the security
of the MLAs and ministers," said Fitch.

"They look at each and every situation."

Fitch said he never had bodyguards assigned to him although former
premier Bernard Lord and former health minister Elvy Robichaud did
have extra security staff assigned on occasion.

He said if any MLA felt threatened, he or she would discuss it with the RCMP.

Group studies its legal options
Early immersion | Reversal of decision wanted ASAP
By JENNIFER DUNVILLE
dunville.jennifer@dailygleaner.com
Published Tuesday April 8th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

"Lafleur, Lou"lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca wrote:

From: "Lafleur, Lou"lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca
To: "'motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com'"motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com,
"Lafleur, Lou"lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca
Subject: Fredericton Police Force
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:21:13 -0300

Dear Mr. Amos

My Name is Lou LaFleur and I am a Detective with the Fredericton
Police Major Crime Unit. I would like to talk to you regarding files
that I am investigating and that you are alleged to have involvement
in.

Please call me at your earliest convenience and leave a message and a
phone number on my secure and confidential line if I am not in my
office.

yours truly,

Cpl. Lou LaFleur
Fredericton Police Force
311 Queen St.
Fredericton, NB
506-460-2332

________________________________

This electronic mail, including any attachments, is confidential and
is for the sole use of the intended recipient and may be privileged.
Any unauthorized distribution, copying, disclosure or review is
prohibited. Neither communication over the Internet nor disclosure to
anyone other than the intended recipient constitutes waiver of
privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately
notify the sender and then delete this communication and any
attachments from your computer system and records without saving or
forwarding it. Thank you.

Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 07:56:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: "David Amos"motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
Subject: Who says they are ignoring me Chucky? Ask Barry McKnight why
the Yankees are researching him
To: news@dailygleaner.com, kcarmichael@bloomberg.net,
oldmaison@yahoo.com, advocacycollective@yahoo.com,
Easter.W@parl.gc.ca, Comartin.J@parl.gc.ca, cityadmin@fredericton.ca,
info@gg.ca, bmosher@mosherchedore.ca, rchedore@mosherchedore.ca,
police@fredericton.ca, chebert@thestar.ca, Stoffer.P@parl.gc.ca,
Stronach.B@parl.gc.ca, Matthews.B@parl.gc.ca, alltrue@nl.rogers.com,
Harper.S@parl.gc.ca, Layton.J@parl.gc.ca, Dryden.K@parl.gc.ca,
Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca
CC: brad.woodside@fredericton.ca, whalen@fredericton.ca,
david.kelly@fredericton.ca, cathy.maclaggan@fredericton.ca,
stephen.kelly@fredericton.ca, tom.jellinek@fredericton.ca,
scott.mcconaghy@fredericton.ca, marilyn.kerton@fredericton.ca,
walter.brown@fredericton.ca, norah.davidson@fredericton.ca,
mike.obrien@fredericton.ca, bruce.grandy@fredericton.ca,
dan.keenan@fredericton.ca, jeff.mockler@gnb.ca,
mrichard@lawsociety-barreau.nb.ca, cynthia.merlini@dfait-maeci.gc.ca,
jlmockler@mpor.ca, scotta@parl.gc.ca, michael.bray@gnb.ca,
jack.e.mackay@gnb.ca

Just Dave
By Location Visit Detail
Visit 1,013
Domain Name (Unknown)
IP Address 206.15.101.# (NEWS CORPORATION)
ISP NEWS CORPORATION
Location Continent : North America
Country : United States (Facts)
State : New York
City : New York
Lat/Long : 40.7605, -73.9933 (Map)
Language English (U.S.)
en-us
Operating System Microsoft Win2000
Browser Firefox 2.0
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.8.1.3)
Gecko/20070309 Firefox/2.0.0.3
Javascript version 1.5
Monitor Resolution : 800 x 600
Color Depth : 32 bits
Time of Visit May 23 2007 6:17:17 pm
Last Page View May 23 2007 6:17:17 pm
Visit Length 0 seconds
Page Views 1
Referring URL http://www.google.co...%22barry mcknight%22
Search Engine google.com
Search Words fredericton police department "barry mcknight"
Visit Entry Page http://davidamos.blogspot.com/
Visit Exit Page http://davidamos.blogspot.com/
Out Click
Time Zone UTC-5:00
Visitor's Time May 23 2007 5:17:17 pm
Visit Number 1,013

charles leblanc oldmaison@yahoo.com wrote:

Where are ya living now???? Since the media seem to ignore ya? I'll
sit down for a debate with a recorder for the blog...Now? Don't get
all exicted and send this all over the world.....lol

----- Original Message ----
From: David Amos motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
To: brad.woodside@fredericton.ca; whalen@fredericton.ca;
david.kelly@fredericton.ca; cathy.maclaggan@fredericton.ca;
stephen.kelly@fredericton.ca; tom.jellinek@fredericton.ca;
scott.mcconaghy@fredericton.ca; marilyn.kerton@fredericton.ca;
walter.brown@fredericton.ca; norah.davidson@fredericton.ca;
mike.obrien@fredericton.ca; bruce.grandy@fredericton.ca;
dan.keenan@fredericton.ca; jeff.mockler@gnb.ca;
mrichard@lawsociety-barreau.nb.ca; cynthia.merlini@dfait-maeci.gc.ca;
jlmockler@mpor.ca; scotta@parl.gc.ca; michael.bray@gnb.ca;
jack.e.mackay@gnb.ca
Cc: news@dailygleaner.com; kcarmichael@bloomberg.net;
oldmaison@yahoo.com; advocacycollective@yahoo.com;
Easter.W@parl.gc.ca; Comartin.J@parl.gc.ca; cityadmin@fredericton.ca;
info@gg.ca; bmosher@mosherchedore.ca; rchedore@mosherchedore.ca;
police@fredericton.ca; chebert@thestar.ca; Stoffer.P@parl.gc.ca;
Stronach.B@parl.gc.ca; Matthews.B@parl.gc.ca; alltrue@nl.rogers.com;
Harper.S@parl.gc.ca; Layton.J@parl.gc.ca; Dryden.K@parl.gc.ca;
Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 10:37:04 PM
Subject: I promised one of the Fat Fred City cop Randy Reilly that I
would try to make him famous

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=davidraymondamos&search=Search

A man is only as good as his word EH? To bad priests, bankers,
politicians, lawyers and cops can't claim the same N'est Pas?

Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 08:24:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: "David Amos"
Subject: Re: RE : What of the evidence of murder I just sent you?
To: robin.cantin@OCOL-CLO.GC.CA
CC: carl.urquhart@gnb.ca, mike.olscamp@gnb.ca, bruce.northrup@gnb.ca,
info@pco-bcp.gc.ca, bill.corby@gnb.ca, ken.cook@fredericton.ca,
brad.green@gnb.ca, bev.harrison@gnb.ca, Wayne.STEEVES@gnb.ca,
bruce.noble@fredericton.ca, Jody.CARR@gnb.ca, Keith.ASHFIELD@gnb.ca,
David.ALWARD@gnb.ca, warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca, Comuzzi.J@parl.gc.ca, Arthur.A@parl.gc.ca,
Kathy.Alchorn@fredericton.ca, Kim.Quartermain@fredericton.ca,
police@fredericton.ca, Harper.S@parl.gc.ca, info@gg.ca

Exactly

May I suggest that you call the RCMP/GRC and the Office of Public
Sector Integrity NOW?

Then perhaps you should have your lawyer contact me.

Veritas Vincit
David Raymond amos

Subject: RE : What of the evidence of murder I just sent you?
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 10:58:37 -0400
From: robin.cantin@OCOL-CLO.GC.CA
To: David Amos

I fail to see how that is something the Commissioner of Official
Languages could possibly investigate. Obviously, for criminal matters
you need a police force, not a language ombudsman.

Robin

-----Message d'origine-----
De : David Amos
Envoyé : 20 mai, 2008 10:49
À : Cantin, Robin
Objet : What of the evidence of murder I just sent you?
Importance : Faible

robin.cantin@OCOL-CLO.GC.CA wrote:

Ah yes, I did remember your message when you mentioned our Moncton
office and court intervention on the phone.

I assume you are aware that the issue has already been taken to court
- an application for judicial review has been filed to the Court of
Queen's Bench in Saint John. See

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/296686.

I believe the response you got from our office in Moncton makes sense.
On the topic of the AG's powers, jurisprudence is full of cases that
went to court (and some were won) despite the opposition of a
provincial AG.

Cordially,

Robin Cantin
Manager, Media Relations / Gestionnaire, Relations avec les médias
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages / Commissariat aux
langues officielles
Phone / Téléphone : (613) 995-0374
Cell. : (613) 324-0999
robin.cantin@ocol-clo.gc.ca

Please visit our Web site www.officiallanguages.gc.ca and read Beyond
Words, Canada’s official languages newsletter.
Veuillez visiter notre site Web www.languesofficielles.gc.ca et lire
Au-delà des mots, le cyberbulletin des langues officielles du Canada.

-----Message d'origine-----
De : David Amos
Envoyé : 20 mai, 2008 10:24
À : Cantin, Robin
Objet : Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file
something in Federal Court instead of him?

From: tclaw@nb.aibn.com
To: "David Amos"
Subject: Re: Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I
file something in Federal Court instead of him?
Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 17:22:57 -0400

Mr. Amos, thank you for your telephone message and the email attached.

Tom Christie

From: David Amos
Date: 2008/05/16 Fri PM 04:22:13 EDT
To: bureau@acpi-cait.ca, tclaw@nb.aibn.com
Subject: Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file
something in Federal Court instead of him?

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:36:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: "David Amos"
Subject: For the Record I just called and tried to alk to Graham
Fraser and Gilbert Taylor and was not allowed to do so
To: robin.cantin@ocol-clo.gc.ca

I was told by Taylor's assistant that he was in Ottawa today. whereas
you people do not wish to dicuss the Act that you were hired to uphold
we will argue it in Federal Court as the commissioner of Languages in
New Brunswick suggests. EH?

Veritas Vincit
David Raymond Amos

From: David Amos
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 4:55 PM
To: Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)
Subject: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file something
in Federal Court instead of him?

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowFullDoc/cs/O-3.01///en

Everybody knows that the Attorney General will stop any lawsuit that
does not suit him or his political party within the Province of New
Brunsick. Perhaps the Commissioner and I should have a long talk ASAP
EH?

Veritas Vincit

David Raymond Amos

"Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)"Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca wrote:

Dear Sir:

I acknowledge receipt of your email message below.

Rest assured that your comments have been passed on to the Commissioner.

For your information, please find below a statement that went out on
March 20th, 2008, from our office to the media all across the
province. This should answer your questions regarding what the
Commissioner has done and continues to do with respect to the issue of
French Second Language (FSL).

It is important to note that this issue will require more than the
Commissioner's position and unless parents and other members of the
public openly take issue and condemn the decision, the chances that
the plan will be implemented are quite high.

Thank you for your interest and for contacting our office.

Yours truly,

Patricia Parent
Manager / Gestionnaire
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for N.B.
Bureau du Commissaire aux langues officielles du N.-B.
440 rue King Street
Tour King Tower, Pièce/Suite 646
Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H8
telephone (TTY)/téléphone (ATS) : (506) 444-4229 toll free
(TTY)/aucuns frais (ATS) : 1-888-651-6444
facsimile/télécopieur : (506) 444-4456
www.officiallanguages.nb.ca / www.languesofficielles.nb.ca

Français ou anglais..C'est votre choix!
English or French..It's your choice!

From: David Amos
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 4:51 PM
To: complaints@officiallanguages.nb.ca; commissioner@officiallanguages.nb.ca
Cc: Colford, Krista (OAG/CPG); Doyle Landry, Heather (OAG/CPG); Gould,
William (OAG/CPG); Laflamme, Marcel (OAG/CPG); Volpé, Jeannot (LEG);
MacDonald, Kirk (LEG); Fitch, Bruce (LEG); Betts, John W. (LEG)
Subject: No need of a legal team to study the French question the
Commissioner should read the Charter He is a lawyer Correct?

On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 10:15 AM, Alison J. Menard menard@nbnet.nb.ca wrote:

Mr. Amos

Please stop communicating with me immediately by telephone, cellular,
and email and/or by any other means of communication. Your contacts
with me are unsolicited and unwanted and I am asking you to cease and
desist.

Please also take this as your notice that should you continue to
harass me, I will make a complaint to the police and pursue this
matter through the criminal courts. I am a criminal lawyer and I am
very aware of what constitutes criminal harassment and/or threats.

I also have an understanding of how you operate because of information
provided to me by my husband, Scott Agnew. I can tell you that I will
not tolerate it.

Yours truly

Alison Ménard

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:16:11 -0300
Subject: Fwd: Here is my latest complaint about the SEC, Banksters and Taxmen
To: Saint Croix Courier <editor@stcroixcourier.ca>, Duncan Matheson
<duncan@bissettmatheson.com>, infoacadie@radio-canada.ca
Cc: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

*https://player.fm/series/shift-nb/nursing-home-policy-change-and-federal-election
<https://player.fm/series/shift-nb/nursing-home-policy-change-and-federal-election>*

Michelle LeBlanc, Vern Faulkner and Duncan Matheson look at the big
political stories of the week. - See more at:
https://player.fm/series/shift-nb/nursing-home-policy-change-and-federal-election#sthash.RYRFiC5P.dpuf

https://twitter.com/mleblanc_RC
Keep up with Duncan

506-457-1627

*Editor:* Vern Faulkner
Phone: (506) 466-3220 ext. 1307; CELL (506) 467-5203
Email: editor@stcroixcourier.ca

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 10:43 AM
Subject: Fwd: Here is my latest complaint about the SEC, Banksters and
Taxmen
To: mattmastersburgener@gmail.com, ko.zepik@gmail.com,
kelly.christie@greenparty.ca
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:18:04 -0300
Subject: Fwd: Here is my latest complaint about the SEC, Banksters and
Taxmen
To: nicolas@allvotes.ca, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, brendan@brendanmiles.ca
Cc: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, Tim.Moen@libertarian.ca,
info@democraticadvancementparty.ca

ENJOY

https://www.scribd.com/doc/281544801/Federal-Court-Seal

https://www.scribd.com/doc/281442628/Me-Versus-the-Crown

- Hide quoted text -

On 3/2/19, David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> wrote:
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-judges-new-brunswick-provincial-court-1.5039705
>
> 2 new judges appointed to provincial court
>
>
> Luc J. Labonté will sit in Moncton, Cameron Gunn in Miramichi
> CBC News · Posted: Mar 01, 2019 5:46 PM AT
>
> Luc J. Labonté has been appointed to the provincial court and will sit
> in Moncton. (Radio-Canada)
>
> Two new judges have been appointed to the New Brunswick provincial court
> Friday.
>
> Luc J. Labonté has been appointed a sitting judge in Moncton, and
> Cameron Gunn has been appointed as a sitting judge in Miramichi, a
> statement said.
>
> Labonté graduated from Université de Moncton and worked for the Office
> of the Attorney General as the assistant deputy attorney general of
> public prosecution services.
>
> He will replace Judge Denise LeBlanc, who moved to the Court of
> Queen's bench last year.
> Cameron Gunn has been appointed a provincial court judge in Miramichi.
> (Ben & Me)
>
> Gunn graduated from the University of New Brunswick and has worked for
> the Office of the Attorney General as the executive director of public
> prosecution services. He will replace Judge Geri Anne Mahoney, who
> retired in January.
>
> In the statement, Andrea Anderson-Mason, the justice minister and
> attorney general, said the two new judges have strong legal
> backgrounds and will make a significant contribution to the province's
> legal system.
>
> The appointments were recommended by the provincial judicial
> appointment review advisers, who represent the bench, the bar and the
> general public, a news release said.
>
> During the selection process, the chief justice of New Brunswick, the
> chief judge of the provincial court, and one of the appointment review
> advisers interview the judges.
>
> There are now 24 full-time provincial court judges, as well as 12
> supernumerary judges and three per diem judges.
> CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
>

↧

P.E.I. government silent amid growing concern over corporate land ownership

March 2, 2019, 2:03 pm

≫ Next: Who is Telling the Truth: Jody Wilson-Raybould or Justin Trudeau?

≪ Previous: 2 new judges appointed to provincial court

---------- Original message ----------
From: Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2019 22:27:02 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: YO Wayne Easter you LIEbranos must admit
that farmers and unions were dumb to pick a fight with me this year
N;esy Pas?
To: motomaniac333@gmail.com

Thank you for writing to the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Member
of Parliament for Vancouver Granville.

This message is to acknowledge that we are in receipt of your email.
Due to the significant increase in the volume of correspondence, there
may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured that your
message will be carefully reviewed.

To help us address your concerns more quickly, please include within
the body of your email your full name, address, and postal code.

Thank you

-------------------

Merci d'?crire ? l'honorable Jody Wilson-Raybould, d?put?e de
Vancouver Granville.

Le pr?sent message vise ? vous informer que nous avons re?u votre
courriel. En raison d'une augmentation importante du volume de
correspondance, il pourrait y avoir un retard dans le traitement de
votre courriel. Sachez que votre message sera examin? attentivement.

Pour nous aider ? r?pondre ? vos pr?occupations plus rapidement,
veuillez inclure dans le corps de votre courriel votre nom complet,
votre adresse et votre code postal.

Merci

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2019 18:26:17 -0400
Subject: YO Wayne Easter you LIEbranos must admit that farmers and
unions were dumb to pick a fight with me this year N;esy Pas?
To: wayne.easter@parl.gc.ca, lawrence.macaulay@parl.gc.ca,
premier@gov.pe.ca, dkandt@pei.sympatico.ca, rphelan@pei.sympatico.ca,
combineboy@hotmail.com, byronpetrie@gmail.com, edithling@aol.com,
David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca, Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca,
Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca, Michael.Wernick@pco-bcp.gc.ca,
Alaina.Lockhart@parl.gc.ca, David.Coon@gnb.ca>,
Matt.DeCourcey.c1@parl.gc.ca
Cc: david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com,
mitchell.macdonald@theguardian.pe.ca, kerry.campbell@cbc.ca,
David.Akin@globalnews.ca, steve.murphy@ctv.ca,
Newsroom@globeandmail.com, news@kingscorecord.com,
sutherland.marie@brunswicknews.com, ttracy@clc-ctc.ca,
andre@jafaust.com, oldmaison@yahoo.com, COCMoncton@gmail.com

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/pei-government-silent-amid-growing.html

Saturday, 2 March 2019

P.E.I. government silent amid growing concern over corporate land ownership

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 othersM
Methinks Wayne Easter and his buddies Wade MacLauchlan and David Lametti should well understand why I have heard enough of the crybaby union people who talk big and do nothing N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/01/seed-royalty-proposal-irks-national.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-land-ownership-corporate-review-1.5038754

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/01/seed-royalty-proposal-irks-national.html

Saturday, 19 January 2019

Seed royalty proposal irks National Farmers Union

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks the LIEbranos must be nuts to pick a fight with farmers in an election year N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/01/seed-royalty-proposal-irks-national.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-seed-royalties-meeting-1.4983351

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2019 18:21:30 -0400
Subject: YO Wayne Easter are you LIEbranos nuts to pick a fight with farmers in an election year?
To: wayne.easter@parl.gc.ca, lawrence.macaulay@parl.gc.ca, ourfarmcsa@gmail.com
Cc: david.raymond.amos@gmail.com

, riley.demerchant@gmail.com, David.Coon@gnb.ca,
Alaina.Lockhart@parl.gc.ca, Matt.DeCourcey.c1@parl.gc.ca

Katie Ward
NFU President
ourfarmcsa@gmail.com
(613) 797-0601
Woodlawn, ON

Riley Côté-DeMerchant
Region 1 (Atlantic)
riley.demerchant@gmail.com

P.E.I. government silent amid growing concern over corporate land ownership

NFU complains of ‘loopholes’ allowing corporations to exceed land limits, but government info under wraps

Kerry Campbell· CBC News· Posted: Mar 01, 2019 12:37 PM AT

The National Farmers Union on P.E.I. is alleging 'loopholes' in the Lands Protection Act are being used by corporations, allowing them to exceed limits on land ownership. The union is asking the provincial government to step in. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

The National Farmers Union on P.E.I. continues to raise concerns about corporate land ownership in the province, alleging "loopholes" in the province's Lands Protection Act are allowing corporations to exceed limits on the amount of land they can own.

But it's a topic the provincial government isn't prepared to discuss, referring calls and questions to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.

And while IRAC receives annual reports from landowners whose holdings exceed 75 per cent of land limits, the commission says those reports are confidential.

Limits have grown

When P.E.I.'s Lands Protection Act was introduced in the 1980s it set limits on land ownership of 1,000 acres for individuals, and 3,000 acres for corporations.

Those limits have nearly doubled in recent years with allowances for leased land and non-arable land to 1,900 acres for individuals and 5,700 acres for corporations.

Cavendish Farms asks for doubling of P.E.I. land ownership limits

P.E.I. government orders review of land ownership to determine if any rules being broken

But for years the National Farmers Union has been raising concerns about government enforcement of the limits. On Saturday the group held a public forum with the title "Land Grabbing on P.E.I."

Doug Campbell of the National Farmers Union says his group is looking to make land ownership on P.E.I. an issue in the coming provincial election. (Nicole Williams/CBC)

"When we talk about the lands protection and the loopholes that are being violated or circumvented, what we mean is the spirit and the intent of the act is being violated," Doug Campbell, P.E.I. district director for the National Farmers Union told CBC.

"The letter of the law, we're not suggesting that's not being followed. But certainly the spirit and the intent of the whole act and what it was meant to achieve is definitely being violated."

The NFU and others have raised concerns about one particular series of applications currently before IRAC.

Application to purchase

According to filings on the IRAC website, three corporations have submitted 32 applications to purchase parcels of land totalling 2,221 acres in the Summerside area currently owned by Brendel Farms Ltd.

The three corporations which have made the applications include Galloway Farms Ltd., Long River Farms Ltd. and Indian River Farms Ltd. The newest of the three corporations, Galloway Farms, was registered as a corporation in the province on Feb. 5.

The three farm corporations each list one or more of the same members of the Irving family as shareholders and directors — including Mary Jean Irving and her two daughters, Rebecca and Elizabeth Irving.

Mary Jean Irving says she's been involved in farming on P.E.I. for 29 years, and her daughters are now getting involved in the industry. ((CBC))

Mary Jean Irving, president of Indian River Farms, spoke to CBC News.

"As you know there are applications before IRAC," she said. "All I can say to you at this point … is I've been on the Island and growing potatoes for 29 years. I'm blessed to have two daughters that are interested in farming and have been working. So their application is in that they have for their farms."

Irving said she did not want to discuss the operation of the three farm corporations publicly or provide any public comment as to whether the three corporations are connected.

CBC also contacted Mary Keith, vice-president of communication for J.D. Irving Ltd. In an email response she wrote that neither J.D. Irving nor its subsidiary Cavendish Farms are involved with the proposed land purchases.

Measures in place

P.E.I.'s Lands Protection Act does include measures to prevent corporations "directly or indirectly controlled by the same person, group or organization" from stacking up land limits in order to control more land. But neither the government nor IRAC agreed to an interview to talk about how the legislation is interpreted and enforced.

The legislation also sets out that corporations in which the same people own more than five per cent of the shares count together in terms of the land limits. The legislation requires corporations owning more than 2,250 acres to submit annual land holding declarations which include the names of shareholders who own more than five per cent of the shares.

Farmers union wants crackdown on land ownership rules

A spokesperson for IRAC told CBC the commission reviews each corporation filing a declaration each year, but said the results of those reviews are confidential. The commission also said the size of the land holdings of corporations who submit declarations are also confidential.

PC MLA Brad Trivers said he's been raising concerns about ownership as a member of the standing committee on communities, land and environment for the past two years.

PC MLA Brad Trivers says he's disappointed with what he considers a lack of progress on the issue of land ownership limits in the province since a provincial standing committee began looking into the issue two years ago. (Province of P.E.I.)

While the committee has heard from a number of witnesses — including representatives of Cavendish Farms last November — the committee has not delivered any recommendations on the issue.

"The most frustrating part of it is, it's such an important issue … and we've made very little progress," Trivers said.

Trivers said government needs to be more transparent with existing records on land ownership to let Islanders know how much land is controlled by corporations and non-residents.

"We need real data so we can look at this in an intelligent and informed way."

Farmers union worried about changes to land rules

Trivers said some Islanders are trying to figure out who owns what by scouring through cabinet approvals for land purchases, trying to link those to names in the provincial corporate registry and property IDs in the provincial land database.

"That's not the way we should be doing this. We need the government to come forward, and verify using their official records how much land is actually owned by corporations, how much land is owned by non-residents, and what are the connections between corporations.

"So it comes down to opening up."

One review complete, one pending

In April 2018 Minister of Communities, Land and Environment Richard Brown said he'd asked IRAC to conduct a major review of land ownership on P.E.I. to see whether anyone was breaking the rules.

At the time he said he hoped the review would be ready to present to committee by the fall of 2018.

Government says a report on corporate and non-resident land ownership has now been delivered and "will be released following a review by the department." However government says a separate review of the Lands Protection Act is yet to be completed.

The National Farmers Union says time is of the essence, and says it's trying to make land ownership an issue in the coming provincial election.

"We are in a crisis mode here with our land," said Campbell. "It has to be dealt with."

About the Author

Kerry Campbell

Provincial Affairs Reporter

Kerry Campbell is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC P.E.I., covering politics and the provincial legislature. kerry.campbell@cbc.ca

Twitter

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/islanders-question-if-pei-political-parties-would-have-too-much-power-in-selecting-mmp-candidates-278352/

Islanders question if P.E.I. political parties would have too much power in selecting MMP candidates

Premium content

Mitch MacDonald(mitchell.macdonald@theguardian.pe.ca)

Published: Jan 23 at 8:01 p.m.

Updated: Jan 23 at 8:14 p.m.

Laverne MacInnis speaks during the public information session Monday at Montague Regional High Monday on P.E.I.’s upcoming electoral reform referendum. MacInnis questioned how parties would select list candidates under a mixed-member proportional system and also wondered if hard feelings from the 2016 plebiscite have left some voters disillusioned with the process. - Mitch MacDonald

THREE RIVERS, P.E.I. - Skepticism of how parties would select its nine list candidates under a mixed-member proportional representation system (MMP) was a recurring theme during a recent public information session.

Both sides of the electoral reform debate were represented at Montague Regional High Monday during the second information session hosted by referendum commissioner Gerard Mitchell.

Some Islanders shared hope proportional representation will bring more diversity and co-operation to P.E.I.’s legislature, while others felt it would ultimately take power away from voters and give it to political parties.

Former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Pat Mella, who was not representing the party, was one of the first to raise questions on the proposed MMP system.

Mella said while MMP is not an uncommon form of government around the world, she questioned how well it would work in P.E.I.’s relatively small legislature.

She noted New Zealand is often cited as the prime example of MMP.

“But New Zealand has 120 seats in their legislature,” said Mella, adding she felt reducing the number of district seats from 27 to 18 would also take power away from the electorate.

Islanders will vote during the next general election on whether P.E.I. should stick to its first-past-the-post system or switch to MMP.

The proposed MMP system would see Islanders elects MLAs in 18 districts, while each party would also submit a list of nine candidates for a second ballot. The second ballot would then determine the number of seats each party has in the legislature.

Mitchell said list seats would not go to parties who won enough district seats to already reflect their share of the popular vote.

"With all due respect, I think a lot of people, I’m not sure if they prefer to give powers to the parties. I think they like to give the power to the people.”
-Pat Mella

Because parties would decide their list candidates based on their own constitutions, Mella shared concern that parties would opt to run candidates from urban areas where there are more voters.

“The nine (list candidates) are up to the parties. With all due respect, I think a lot of people, I’m not sure if they prefer to give powers to the parties. I think they like to give the power to the people.”

Leo Cheverie, a supporter of proportional representation, speaks during the public information session at Montague Regional High Monday on P.E.I.’s upcoming electoral reform referendum. Cheverie said studies show proportional representation systems often result in a more diverse and cooperative legislatures. - Mitch MacDonald

However, MMP supporters said the system would give more power to voters and parties would be held accountable by their membership to run a diverse set of candidates.

“If any party was just putting Charlottetown candidates on their list, they certainly would know they’d get punished at the polls,” said Leo Cheverie. “Right now, where we have 27 districts, the parties now (nominate) the candidates in every single district.

“(Proportional representation) is about power sharing and working together and it will actually reflect a more diverse legislature at the end of the day, including for rural P.E.I., which I think is hopeful.”

Laverne MacInnis, of Murray Harbour, also questioned how list candidates would be selected and whether it would be based on political favours.

“I think MMP is a good idea, but I also get a knot in my gut about really supporting it. Is it going to add to a political climate where everybody owes everybody something?” she asked.

With a little more than 20 in attendance, MacInnis also questioned whether the turnout was due to “leftover hard feelings” from the 2016 plebiscite.

“How many people might be staying home because of that experience? I understand people voted ‘yay’ for it and then government just said, ‘oh no, we’re not going to do that’,” said MacInnis, which saw some in the crowd dispute the statement.

Carol MacLeod, of Valleyfield, suggested parties would run their “best” candidates in districts and their “second best” on the second ballots.

“That is something to consider,” said MacLeod.

Mitchell said he had also heard the opposite argument, where parties would be more likely to run well-known candidates on the provincial list.

“But I don’t know, that’s party strategy so I’m not going there,” said Mitchell.

Twitter.com/Mitch_PEI

↧

Who is Telling the Truth: Jody Wilson-Raybould or Justin Trudeau?

March 3, 2019, 10:43 am

≫ Next: 'I feel cheated': Big telcos hike prices for $60 plans with 10 GB, sparking complaints

≪ Previous: P.E.I. government silent amid growing concern over corporate land ownership

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.howestreet.com/2019/02/28/who-is-telling-the-truth-jody-wilson-raybould-or-justin-trudeau/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuH99xVHq8g

February 28, 2019

Who is Telling the Truth: Jody Wilson-Raybould or Justin Trudeau?

The Goddard Report

The Goddard Report is an alternative media source that delivers informative stories that are often ignored or underreported by the mainstream media. Hosted by veteran investigative reporter Jim Goddard.

Spencer Fernando– SNC Hearings Tarnishing Trudeau Brand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuH99xVHq8g

Explosive Testimony in SNC Liberal Scandal. Bob Mackin - February 27, 2019

276 views

14 1 Share

talkdigitalnetwork

Published on Feb 27, 2019

Could BC be wrapped up in SNC-Lavalin questionable activity? Guest's website: https://thebreaker.news/

https://thebreaker.news/news/chin-deletes/

Exclusive: Former Clark aide involved in SNC-Lavalin meddling broke B.C.’s FOI law

Bob Mackin
Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s chief of staff, one of several officials that Jody Wilson-Raybould says wanted her to let SNC-Lavalin off the hook, broke British Columbia’s freedom of information law when he mass-deleted email while working as a senior aide to Christy Clark in 2017.
In her Jan. 29 decision, Information and Privacy adjudicator Celia Francis ruled that the Office of the Premier failed to respond “openly, accurately and completely” under the law.

Ben Chin watches Christy Clark at a voting station in Dunbar in May 2017 (Twitter)

Ben Chin was Clark’s executive director of communications when, on April 6, 2017, the Ombudsperson released a damning report about the unjust 2012 firings of drug safety researchers in the health ministry. theBreaker.news asked for all of Chin’s email for a 12-hour period on the day that the report dominated provincial news. But, after the provincial election, Clark’s office released only three pages: an op-ed ghost-written for Clark about softwood lumber exports to the U.S.
In mid-June 2017, theBreaker.news sought Chin’s message-tracking logs. The 17-pages of metadata contained proof that a “recover deleted items” folder included email that should have been disclosed to theBreaker.news. Nobody in Clark’s office searched the folder before its contents were deleted and saved to a backup server.
On July 18, 2017, the NDP’s John Horgan succeeded Clark as premier. In an awkward twist, Horgan’s staff went to work to defend the conduct of Chin, even though Horgan constantly skewered the BC Liberals for what he called a “culture of deception, a culture of deceit, a culture of delete, delete, delete.”
Francis noted that the government’s own guide on transitory records directs employees to preserve transitory records that are relevant to an FOI request or legal discovery. In her 2015 report, then-Commissioner Elizabeth Denham wrote that “once a public body receives an access to information request, it must keep all records, including both transitory and non-transitory records, in its custody or under its control. If these records are responsive, the public body must produce them unless specific exemptions to disclosure under FIPPA apply.”
The Office of the Premier argued that Chin properly disposed of the transitory email and, she wrote, “also suggested that the emails would be ‘of little or no value’ to the journalist. However, whether the emails were transitory or valuable to the journalist is irrelevant, in my view. The journalist did not request emails pertaining to a specified subject. He requested all of the Executive Director’s emails for a 12-hour period. As such, all of the Executive Director’s emails for that period were responsive to the request, whether transitory or valuable.”
Chin’s affidavit said that he regularly deleted emails he considered transitory, but would not have searched the recovered deleted items folder because he felt those emails were transitory and properly disposed.
Though Francis found the Office of the Premier broke the law, she followed the rulings of two previous commissioners and did not order the premier’s office to find the deleted email.
“The Office of the Premier’s evidence has persuaded me that it would be a complex, onerous and costly business to restore the requested emails. In the circumstances of this case, I am satisfied that it is not reasonable to require the Office of the Premier to restore the email backups in order to respond to the journalist’s access request.”
Chin left the B.C. government with a $159,533 golden parachute after the change of government and found a new job in October 2017 as Morneau’s senior advisor. He was promoted to chief of staff in May 2018.
Ex-Attorney General Wilson-Raybould testified Feb. 27 to the House of Commons justice committee that Chin contacted officials in her office four times between Sept. 6 and 20, 2018 to talk about SNC-Lavalin’s desire to avoid a trial over the payment of $48 million in bribes to the brutal Gadhafi regime in Libya. Chin’s last contact came the day after Wilson-Raybould told Morneau to leave her alone.

“[Morneau] again stressed the need to save jobs and I told him that engagements from his office to mine on SNC had to stop, that they were inappropriate,” said Wilson-Raybould.

theBreaker.news sought comment from Chin on both his email purge and Wilson-Raybould’s testimony. Instead of answering, Chin referred the query to Morneau press secretary Pierre-Olivier Herbert, who avoided the question about Chin breaking B.C.’s FOI law.
“It is Minister Morneau’s responsibility to protect and promote the creation of jobs across Canada and he will continue to raise such important issues with all his cabinet colleagues,” Herbert wrote. “At no time did Minister Morneau nor members of his office pressure the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General into making any decision regarding the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.”
Federal lobbying records show that SNC-Lavalin CEO Neil Bruce communicated with Chin on Sept. 18 and Nov. 19, 2018. Clark hired Chin, the former spinner for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, in late 2012.
Meanwhile, British Columbians keep waiting for Horgan to fulfil a 2017 campaign promise to enact a duty to document law and impose fines for those caught deleting or destroying government records.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Aff #1 Ben Chin Sworn July 27 2018 by BobMackin on Scribd

3 Comments

David Raymond Amos•a few seconds from now
Perhaps we should talk before I start talking about you?

JMacDuff•3 days ago
The creepy political criminals seem to find work with anyone. Morneau cannot remember he owns a Chateau, but can dig up shady characters for staff. Interesting. The corruption is deeper than even I thought.

Gerald Landry•3 days ago
Hm' Team Wynntarioweowe also vapourized e-mails of the multi-billion Gas-Plant cancellation to capture 2 NIMBY Seats! A trend with the Lie-Berals!

http://www.jimgoddard.ca/

Welcome!

Here you'll find links to my daily podcasts, as well as to other informative websites.

A little about me... I'm a freelance Vancouver broadcaster with more than 30 years in the radio industry.

It all began in 1974 at a small 10,000 watt radio station in Peace River, Alberta... CKYL, where I was a DJ and newscaster.

From there, I moved east, to Regina, Saskatchewan, where I was the Morning Newsman and Legislative Reporter at CJME.

I continued my trek east in 1976, where I did News at CFRWand at CKY/CITI-FMin Winnipeg.

I went back to Regina to be the Sports Director at CJMEin 1980, and, later, I worked at CHABin Moose Jaw.

In 1982, I headed west to Vancouver, where, over the next 28 years, I continued my career in News and Sports broadcasting at CKNWandCFMI, CKVU-TV, CKO, CJOR,CHRXandCJJR-FM, CKBD, and CKWX News 1130.

Along the way, I did character voices in ads on JACK-FMand KISS-FM; I taught Media Law at BCITand Broadcast Journalism at Columbia Academy, and, most recently, in 2011, I obtained a Certificate of Technology, with Distinction, from BCIT's Software System Developer Program Web Designer Option).

Over the course of my career I'm proud to have won several awards:

- CKWX Employee of the Month December 2007, for coverage of the Pickton trial
- Radio-TV News Directors Association Investigative Reporting Award 1996 - Honourable Mention, “Prior Street Fire”
- Dan McArthur Award (Investigative Reporting) 1997 - Canadian Association of Broadcasters -
Honourable Mention – “High Speed Pursuit”

I'm currently working as a freelance broadcaster for HoweStreet.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em0mCp5WE_I

Polls Show Trudeau in Trouble. Spencer Fernando - January 2, 2019

7,433 views

350 5 Share

talkdigitalnetwork

Published on Jan 2, 2019

Maxime Bernier and Andrew Scheer

Guest's website: https://www.spencerfernando.com/

by https://www.HoweStreet.com

Don't miss out - Stay Informed!

https://www.spencerfernando.com/2019/03/01/nathan-cullen-announces-he-wont-run-in-2019/

Nathan Cullen Announces He Won’t Run In 2019

March 1, 2019

382 Shares

It’s a big loss for the NDP and for Canadian Politics.Nathan Cullen’s announcement that he won’t be running in 2019 is bad news for the NDP.

He is the latest in a long-line of NDP MPs, including Murray Rankin, who won’t be running in the upcoming federal election.

Cullen – often seen as a potential leader of the NDP – is one of the NDPs most effective MPs. His skill in grilling the PM and government, and ability to logically define problems is quite rare in a hyper-partisan era, and even when his colleagues disagreed with him there was a level of respect.

Most recently, Cullen could be seen ripping the Trudeau Liberals over the PMO SNC-Lavalin scandIt’s yet another sign that – despite Jagmeet Singh’s win in Burnaby South – things aren’t looking good for the NDP and their candidates know it.

While Trudeau’s troubles may give Singh a lifeline, the more departures that get announced the tougher it will be for him to convince more people to run for his party.

Spencer Fernando

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-liberals-chief-of-staff-spencer-fernando-resigns-1.3479721

Manitoba Liberal chief of staff, Fort Whyte candidate resign

Spencer Fernando resigns as chief of staff; Stephanie Danyluk, Fort Whyte candidate, resigns

CBC News· Posted: Mar 07, 2016 2:29 PM CT |

Stephanie Danyluk (left) and Spencer Fernando both resigned from the Manitoba Liberal Party Monday. The two are also partners. (Spencer Fernando/Facebook)

The Manitoba Liberal Party leader's chief of staff has resigned, as has his girlfriend Stephanie Danyluk — the Liberal candidate in Fort Whyte.

Spencer Fernando has stepped away from the party just weeks ahead of the provincial election.

"I recognize that there's … really no good time to do it. The longer I waited, the worse it would have been," Fernando said. "Every day you get closer to the election it's worse, so better to do it now than obviously during the election, or closer to it."

It speaks to a tension in the campaign organization that should not be there this close to an election.- Royce Koop

Fernando resigned Friday; Danyluk resigned Monday. Both resigned via email. Fernando wouldn't comment on whether he and Danyluk co-ordinated their departures from the party.

"After dedicating nearly 10 years to political life, I have come to the difficult personal realization that politics is no longer the career path for me at this time," Fernando said in the resignation statement he sent to the party Friday.

"There is a big world outside of politics, which I look forward to exploring. I wish Rana Bokhari, my former colleagues and the Manitoba Liberal team all the best."

Fernando said he has spoken with the party president since submitting his resignation, but has yet to hear from Bokhari. Neither Fernando nor Danyluk attended the party's annual general meeting on Saturday, he added.

Liberals talk grassroots campaign and Jamie Hall controversy at Winnipeg AGM

'Hate to lose key staff'

"You hate to lose key staff this close to an election," said Mike Brown, Manitoba Liberal Party communications director. "But politics is politics and sometimes people leave for their own reasons. If I was a mind reader I could tell you what those reasons are, but I can't."

Royce Koop, a University of Manitoba political science professor, said losing a chief of staff and candidate so close to an election makes for "very bad" optics and is possibly a sign of party inner turmoil.

Mike Brown is the director of public relations and communications for the Manitoba Liberal Party. (CBC)

"It speaks to a tension in the campaign organization that should not be there this close to an election," Koop said.

Brown responded to Koop's comments, saying resignations at this point in the game typically do have more of an impact on smaller parties like the provincial Liberals.

"When you're a smaller party, it's harder to lose people — no doubt about that," he said. "By the same token, when you're a smaller party, you're nimble and you adjust."

Brown added the party is taking a step back now to figure out who can fill the void left in Fort Whyte by Danyluk.

"People have expressed interest over the course of time. I think it's time we need to go back and have a look at those people now."

Fernando's history in politics

Before joining the Liberals, Fernando worked for both the Conservative Party of Canada and the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives.

Spencer Fernando has resigned from his position as chief of staff of the Manitoba Liberal Party. (Courtesy Spencer Fernando)

Fernando previously worked as a staffer for Rod Bruinooge, the federal Conservative MP for the Winnipeg South riding from 2006 to 2015.

He moved on and worked for the PCs, but the party dropped Fernando after he wrote a blog post urging the federal Conservatives to consider changing the party stance on an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

The Stephen Harper-led Conservatives were against an inquiry at the time.

Fernando said he will be working with his father at his photography business. He hasn't completely shut out the possibility of re-entering the political arena down the line, but has a hard time imagining what it would take for that to happen, Fernando said.

"I would never say never, but at this point it's not something I contemplate any time soon," Fernando said.

Manitobans head to the polls April 19.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

https://www.canadalandshow.com/cbc-often-reports-competitors-scoops-without-credit/

CBC Often Reports Competitors’ Scoops Without Credit

“In our bureau, we tend to shake our heads and chuckle at how often CBC uses the ‘CBC has learned’ on other news organizations’ scoops," says Robert Fife, The Globe's Ottawa chief

Article

By Graeme Gordon

May 23, 2018

On Sunday, April 29, CBC’s The Weekly with Wendy Mesleyopened with a report concerning an American far-right paramilitary group that had expanded north of the border. “An investigation done by The Weekly can reveal that the Three Percenters have come to Canada,” Mesley declared at the show’s outset.
Not mentioned however, was that Vice Canada journalist Mack Lamoureux had already conducted an eight-month investigation into the same group, which culminated in an exhaustive exposé published last June. The Weekly rehashed much of the same information originally reported by Lamoureux. No significant new details were provided, yet the segment did not credit the Vice reporter or his work.

CBC can reveal it is way behind on reading this excellent story by @MackLamoureux that actually broke the news last year. https://t.co/gnkF1LvJgH https://t.co/POAehpkYb5
— Jeff Samsonow (@jeffsamsonow) April 29, 2018

But the public broadcaster’s repackaging of Lamoureux’s exclusive was far from the first time it had been accused of re-reporting another outlet’s scoop without credit. CANADALAND, through online searches and interviews with journalists at other outlets, has found that the CBC often appears to go out of its way to avoid crediting others’ scoops — by independently verifying information from another outlet, the CBC frequently sidesteps acknowledgement of the original source.
“They do it all the time. Just last week, [Globe and Mail reporter] Sean Silcoff had an exclusive on new IP policy two days ahead of the announcement,” Robert Fife, The Globe’s Ottawa bureau chief, said in a recent email. “The following day, it was ‘CBC has learned’ that same story that was published on the front page of Report on Business.
“In our bureau, we tend to shake our heads and chuckle at how often CBC uses the ‘CBC has learned’ on other news organizations’ scoops, which I assume is to impress management, because most Canadians wouldn’t care less.”

how many times does the CBC have to get called out for ripping off other outlets before they learn to link out? https://t.co/2DlPWDv17k
— Manisha Krishnan (@ManishaKrishnan) August 12, 2017

"CBC News has learned" jfc y'all are shameless https://t.co/XXjRBdLVJD
— Manisha Krishnan (@ManishaKrishnan) October 3, 2017

How long until CBC News picks up my Amazon Prime Video in Canada story and then doesn't credit it
— Patrick O'Rourke (@Patrick_ORourke) November 21, 2016

Hey @CBC we break a story and you don't give us credit. Shame.
— Rankandfile.ca (@rankandfileca) January 18, 2018

Anchor @tommurphycbc on the 6:00 news tonight, with a straight face:
"A CBC investigation uncovered the story of a mistaken cremation and a viewing that went terribly wrong"
The Mother Corpse continues to take credit for a Frank exclusive. You're cool with this, Nancy Waugh?
— Frank Magazine (@Frank_Mag) January 18, 2018

Shortly after The Weekly episode aired, Vice Canada editor-in-chief Josh Visser called out the CBC for its “CBC can reveal” packaging of the Three Percenters story:

1. There’s virtually no new information in this report that wasn’t first reported by @MackLamoureux last year. Why package it as ‘CBC can reveal’ or an investigation.
— Josh Visser (@joshvisser) April 30, 2018

Mesley responded by tweeting that Lamoureux “did an amazing job on this story last year.”
Three days after the show aired, and after receiving more complaints, Mesley defended the editorial decisions of her program by saying there were “exclusive new details” in the report and that they had credited a Vice documentary on the American faction of the paramilitary group:

Vice has done good work on this story and we are proud to have been able to advance the story with original journalism revealing exclusive new details. We'll keep focused on this important topic moving forward.
— Wendy Mesley (@WendyMesleyCBC) May 2, 2018

(The new details appeared to involve stating the occupations of some of the group’s members, as well as showing some new Facebook pictures and comments in the same vein as the ones in Lamoureux’s story.)
“Simply stated, our practice is to give credit to any news organization that has broken a story where it exists nowhere else in the public domain or where we have not sourced it ourselves,” CBC head of public affairs Chuck Thompson says in an email.
Thompson did not explain if the policy is provided to CBC employees in a guidebook or is an unwritten rule. CANADALAND could not find any formal policy for crediting others’ work in the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices, which states that “in our information gathering and reporting, we treat individuals and organizations with openness and respect.”
Lamoureux and Visser declined to comment for this story.
The Canadian Association of Journalists’ Ethics Guidelines state, “There is no copyright on news or ideas once a story is in the public domain, but if we can’t match the story, we credit the originating source,” and “If we borrow material from another source we are careful to credit the original source.” The Associated Press’ News Values and Principles reads, “When the material is exclusive, controversial, or sensitive, we always credit.”
“The CBC sold the funeral body-switcheroo story in [Berwick] as their own, despite the fact that Frank went big with it two weeks before their story came out,” says Andrew Douglas, editor of Halifax’s Frank Magazine, referring to a story from this past January about a Nova Scotia funeral home mistakenly cremating the wrong body. He also provided CANADALAND with a letter of complaint to the CBC ombudsman that was sent on January 22 and has gone unanswered.
Back in 2016, the Globe’s Fife reported a scoop that former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was imminently retiring from federal politics. CBC did its own follow-up report hours later, not crediting Fife.

"Hey, it's the CBC calling to confirm what Fife reported hours ago? It's true?"
CBC NEWS HAS LEARNED… https://t.co/hZrWxqHBdx
— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) May 25, 2016

CBC received enough backlash for omitting credit to Fife that then-freelance journalist Dylan Robertson wrote a piece for J-Source in which he surveyed Canada’s English-language newsrooms on their approaches. The results showed that “many media outlets across Canada lack a clear policy on when to credit a competitor’s scoop.” Two of the exceptions were BuzzFeed Canada and Vice Canada.

Not true! We always credit for original reporting, especially Mothercorp. Lots of other reporters do it.
— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) May 25, 2016

We also always credit the CBC, and link to the web story!
— Emma Loop (@LoopEmma) May 25, 2016

Several journalists contacted for this story were reluctant to go on the record criticizing the CBC, and the BBC declined to share its own policy with CANADALAND for comparison purposes.
“Rather than revisit the details, may I just say I’ve noted many occasions when large media and small have neglected to credit The Tyee for stories we’ve broken,” says its founding editor, David Beers. “The journalism community as a whole, including The Tyee, would gain in the long run by naming each others’ contributions more rigorously, as this would educate audiences to how the news media ecology really functions, and the little fish can’t replace the big ones but do play important roles.”
“I think all news organizations — and many individual journalists — are prone to pettiness when it comes to acknowledging the originator of an important story, or even just a good one,” says Carleton journalism professor and former Ottawa Citizen reporter Randy Boswell. “It is easy to be slippery and to not credit a competitor’s scoop by seizing upon some incremental advance on the original news break and casting that next story as your own ‘exclusive’ discovery — and thus ignoring the initial work of the journalists who made your secondary achievement possible.”
“All serious news organizations — i.e., the ones most likely to break stories, whether a legacy operation or a digital native — should at least initially credit the good work of their professional peers as a show of solidarity that will be (or at least should be) reciprocated when the next big scoop comes along,” he says. “It’s one small way for the keepers of the flame of high-level journalism — almost all of which are facing survival challenges — to collectively acknowledge and mutually support those reporters and newsrooms that continue to commit resources to the serious investigating, watchdogging, and storytelling that yield exclusive news in the first place.”
CBC’s Thompson declined to explain why the public broadcaster, which receives annual federal subsidies of approximately $1.2 billion, would feel a need to go out of its way to not credit others’ work.
In the past, private news outlets have voiced concerns about the CBC’s dominance and aggressiveness in competing against them. In a late 2016 meeting of the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage looking at the future of news media in Canada, iPolitics owner and publisher James Baxter called the CBC “an uber-predator” because of its “massive expansion into digital-only news in markets where there is already brisk competition” and called it “the single-biggest obstacle to there being a vibrant and innovative marketplace of ideas in the media space [in Canada].”
A week and a half after The Weekly’s report on the Three Percenters, CBC Radio’s Day 6invited Lamoureux on to discuss the group. CBC News also published a follow-up story on the far-right militia that gave Vice and Lamoureux credit: “Mack Lamoureux of the news site Vice first reported last spring that the Three Percenters had established a chapter in Alberta. Nearly a year later, CBC’s The Weekly has uncovered details about the group’s growing membership, including a newly established chapter in Ontario and members spanning every province.”

Ah, but where did CBC first hear this information to confirm… https://t.co/uxifPms9YW
— robert hiltz (@robert_hiltz) May 10, 2018

Could it perhaps have been this La Presse story? https://t.co/MYmEMVq3MB
— robert hiltz (@robert_hiltz) May 10, 2018

This is very inside baseball, but also extremely irritating. Our national broadcaster—for all its merits—is a leech, loath to give credit when it’s been beaten.
— robert hiltz (@robert_hiltz) May 10, 2018

Graeme Gordon has written several op-eds for the CBC in the past but has also been an open critic of Canada’s public broadcaster. If you’re a journalist who’d like to share an experience of the CBC failing to give credit, feel free to get in touch at graemecgordon@protonmail.com.
Top image: Vice’s Mack Lamoureux and the CBC’s Wendy Mesley.
Correction (May 23, 2018, 1:47 p.m. EDT): A quote originally misidentified the location of the Nova Scotia cremation error as Bridgewater. The incident, in fact, took place in Berwick.

https://www.canadalandshow.com/podcast/202-jody-wilson-raybould-aint-nuthin-to-fuck-with/

#202 Jody Wilson-Raybould Ain’t Nuthin To Fuck With

The former Minister of Justice testified before the House of Commons justice committee this week and it was like nothing we've seen in recent memory. And what did Howie Mandel do to make so many Canadian comedians so upset?

February 28, 2019

http://traffic.libsyn.com/canadaland/Short_Cuts_202_Jody_Wilson_Raybould_Aint_Nuthin_To_Mess_With.mp3

https://www.canadalandshow.com/everybody-loves-gerald-butts/

Everybody Loves Butts!

Canada's pundit class has been racing to heap praise on Justin Trudeau's bedraggled ex-consigliere

News Brief

By Jesse Brown

February 19, 2019

ottawa

You might think that yesterday’s surprise exit of Gerald Butts would have Canadian journalists tripping over each other to investigate the many questions raised by the resignation of the PM’s closest advisor, such as:
• If he’s done nothing wrong, why resign?
• Is this a strategic move to put space between himself and Justin Trudeau for the next round of this scandal, when Butts could face direct and specific allegations from Jody Wilson-Raybould?
• What the hell happened, anyhow?
But while some reporters are asking these questions, many members of Canada’s pundit class seem to be tripping over themselves in the opposite direction — racing to heap praise on the bedraggled ex-consigliere, whose actions around the Lavalin file remain shrouded in secrecy.
Former National Post / Maclean’s editor turned vanity-press dilettante Ken Whyte says Butts is a great guy and predicts he’ll come out of this all just fine, thanks!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/ontario-disaster-architects-1.3884108

Be afraid: The brains behind Ontario's energy disaster are now advising PM

Phasing out coal, a feverish pursuit of green energy, new tax regimes — where have we heard all this before?

Graeme Gordon· for CBC News· Posted: Dec 07, 2016 5:00 AM ET

Ontario's green energy gambit is migrating to Ottawa. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

It is uncontroversial to call Ontario's energy situation a disaster. As Premier Kathleen Wynne has herself conceded: Ontarians are now having to "choose between paying the electricity bill and buying food or paying rent."

Wynne's polling numbers suggest that most Ontarians know where to square the blame, with a pitiful 15 per cent approval rating and 58 per cent of the electorate believing she should resign.

However, Wynne alone shouldn't bear the burden for the fact that hydro bills for the average consumer have skyrocketed over recent years; it was former premier Dalton McGuinty and his Liberal team from 2003 to 2012 — including his former principal secretary and "policy guru" Gerald Butts — who set Ontario on this financially bleak, dead-end road. And now, Butts is headed on the same path, leading not the premier, but the prime minister, on the way down.

'The brains behind the operation'

Butts was, according to the Toronto Star, "the man they call 'the brains behind the operation'" and the "policy architect of the Liberal government since 2003." Butts departed from McGuinty's government in 2008, but not before he and the Ontario Liberal team set the stage for the ill-fated Green Energy Act, in part, by signing onto dubious wind power projects and its cripplingly inefficient Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP).

For those thinking Butts cannot be held responsible for the Ontario hydro plights of today and tomorrow, many past articles give — and Butts himself takes — credit for initially enacting and seeing through those energy policies. As the Toronto Star reported in 2012: "On his biography page at the WWF website, Butts cites how he was 'intimately' involved with the McGuinty government's environmental initiatives." Another Canadian Press article made it clear that Ontario's energy policy was Butts' design: "McGuinty's plan, which called for replacing coal with a combination of conservation, renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear power, came from his senior adviser, Gerald Butts."

Butts has himself taken credit for McGuinty's energy plan. (Canadian Press)

Butts has graduated to the halls of Parliament Hill as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's own principal secretary, leaving behind a province still paying the price, literally, for his tenure. His promise to eliminate coal, for example — a worthy gambit, if done fiscally responsibly— cost Ontario consumers an extra $37 billion between 2006 and 2014, according to an auditor general, and is expected to cost another $133 billion from 2015 to 2032.

Now he's doubling down, via the prime minister, on his green energy gambit by promising to enact carbon pricing regimes (read: tax) on all provinces by 2018 and phasing out coal by 2030, even as our neighbour and biggest competitor moves in the opposite direction. How team Trudeau sees a carbon-priced Canada competing against the U.S. on an off-kilter playing field confounds most people's common sense.

A carbon tax or cap-and-trade: every province must choose

The incoherence of the federal government's energy plans is further evidenced by its approvals of the Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas project — with a cap of 4.3 million tonnes of emissions per year — as well as Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge's Line 3, combining to pump out about a million more barrels of cheap oil a day into the world market. Although the approval of these projects is great news for Alberta's anaemic economy in particular (especially if they all actually come to fruition), they also create a conundrum: how can the government at once pledge to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, while simultaneously increasing them through new pipeline infrastructure? Does it not undermine the government's lofty goal of helping reduce overall emissions on the planet?

Running deficits

The federal Liberals, under the stewardship of Butts, has already run a projected $30 billion deficit in its first year in office. Phasing out all coal by 2030 will have a cost that will add to that deficit. (This sounds awfully familiar, no?) Forcing carbon taxes on all Canadians by 2018 will, in theory, be a revenue generator for Canada, yet it also promises to eat up more of Canadians' paycheques, and potentially trigger businesses to flee to greener (and cheaper) pastures down south — a phenomenon that is of real and pressing concern for Ontario's government.

The architects of Ontario's energy fiasco are now stationed in the PMO. The whole country should be wary of the financial disaster of that province being replicated nationwide.

This column is an opinion. For more information about our commentary section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.

About the Author

Graeme Gordon

Graeme Gordon is a freelance journalist writing for Loonie Politics and his blog, Raving Canuck.

@GraemeCGordon

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

https://www.canadalandshow.com/guide-to-new-popular-populist-political-media/

The CANADALAND Guide To New Popular, Populist Political Media

A wave of new operations will be looking to sway voters in the lead-up to this fall's federal election

Article

By Graeme Gordon

January 6, 2019

A new wave of alternative political media operations has been growing in Canada over the last few years, and these sites and groups will be looking to sway voters in the lead-up to the federal election this fall.
One of the first prototypes for success was Rebel Media, a wildly popular far-right outlet and hyper-partisan political advocacy group that rose from the ashes of Sun News Network’s early-2015 implosion. Despite highly publicized setbacks, The Rebel still boasts over a million monthly visitors to its website, according to SimilarWeb estimates, and racks up several million views on its YouTube videos each month.
But several other Canadian political media startups — although not nearly as incendiary or as big as The Rebel — have also grown popular online in very short order, largely flying under the radar of the mainstream media’s attention. Although we have covered a couple of these organizations in the past, we believe a one-stop guide would be a helpful resource for Canadians looking for background information on our country’s rapidly evolving political media ecosystem.
Below are six profiles of relatively new startups that continue to grow more influential by the day in shaping political discourse in Canada.
Jump to:
• The Nectarine
• North99
• Ontario Proud
• The Post Millennial
• PressProgress
• SpencerFernando.com

The Nectarine

What it is: Launched in the summer of 2018, The Nectarine is a conservative news website with politics, business, sports, and entertainment sections, mixing original reporting and Canadian Press wire copy. It also offers a daily newsletter, and much of its content is shared and cross-promoted by Ontario Proud on its Facebook page. In its first several months, The Nectarine has published the odd exclusive, such as reporting on the councillors of Alberta’s Bigstone Cree Nation quietly granting themselves $60,000 bonuses.
Where it’s physically based: Montreal
Who’s behind it: The Nectarine shares three of its founders with The Post Millennial (another site on this list): Matthew Azrieli, a property manager of commercial real estate; Ali Taghva, a former president of the NDP’s Richmond Hill riding association; and SEO consultant Madison Hofmeester. The fourth co-founder is Jeff Ballingall of Ontario Proud.
Who funds it: According to its website, The Nectarine funds itself through ads, Patreon support, hosting events, and “an agency side” of the business that involves handling web development and ad campaigns for clients. However, its Patreon page doesn’t show any patrons, and it’s unclear who provided the seed investment for the news outlet. In an interview, Taghva explains that The Nectarine shares back-end resources with The Post Millennial.
How far it reaches: The Nectarine has over 10,500 likes on Facebook and 1,600 followers on Twitter. SimilarWeb estimates that The Nectarine’s traffic fluctuates between 100,000 to 300,000 monthly visits, with 68 per cent coming from social media (93 per cent from Facebook, and another 7 per cent split between Twitter and Reddit).
What’s next for it: In addition to The Nectarine and The Post Millennial, Taghva says he, Azrieli, and Hofmeester are “preparing to set up a satire website” that he describes as “like The Beaverton but centre-right.”

North99

What it is:North99 appears to be a centre-left-progressive mirror-image response to Ontario Proud. A non-profit incorporated in August 2017, North99 creates shitposting memes mocking Ontario Premier Doug Ford, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, and other Conservative leaders, while contrasting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a competent and honourable world leader compared to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Similar to PressProgress (also on this list), they publish myriad critical articles about Conservative politicians and other right-wing figures. Some of the subjects they’ve covered have included the connections between the Koch brothers and Canadian Conservative politics, the relationship between the Manning Centre and a company that worked with Germany’s far-right AfD party, and The Rebel’s connections to Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette.
They also try to pressure governments to adopt progressive policies, such as creating petitions to shut down offshore tax havens and ban handguns, which also allows them to compile an email list of supporters like Ontario Proud. They’ve run campaigns to get Shopify to ban“hate groups from their platform, including the violent right-wing Proud Boys” and to discourage Rogers from broadcasting Faith Goldy’s ads in Toronto’s mayoral election.
North99 registered as a third-party advertiser in last year’s Ontario provincial election and ran a “Stop Ford” campaign advocating strategic voting to keep Ford’s PCs from winning.
Where it’s physically based: Toronto
Who’s behind it: The organization has four listed directors: former Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne campaign staffer, and co-founder of a “cannabis business accelerator” company, Taylor Scollon; former consultant for prominent public strategies and communications firm Navigator and digital manager for Wynne Geoff Sharpe; freelance writer and web designer (developing pages for the federal Liberals back in 2015) Tara Mahoney; and doctor Safi Sayeed.
Scollon says he and Sharpe run the day-to-day activities of North99, while also doing freelance digital marketing and web development for independent clients on the side. (Scollon has been CANADALAND’s web developer since early 2016.)
Scollon and Sharpe both host their own podcasts for their progressive media outlet The Cable, whose content is cross-promoted by North99’s Facebook page. While positions held by North99 and The Cable often align with federal Liberal policies on issues like carbon pricing and firearms, Scollon writes in an email that they “advocate for progressive policies and ideas, not political parties or politicians.”
Who funds it:“We are funded 100% by individual grassroots donors, with an average donation of $16,” writes Scollon. “Our largest donation was $500.” As of late last year, there were just under 300 donors contributing $5 or more monthly to North99.
The website’s About page also states that they don’t “receive any funding from large organizations, corporations, or foreign donors.” But North99’s website discloses a partnership with advocacy group Wellington Water Watchers and provides a contact (priority@north99.org) for “other organizations [who] help promote progressive issues” to inquire about partnering.
“Over the spring we partnered with Wellington Water Watchers on a volunteer basis to advocate for protection of Ontario’s freshwater from private corporations like Nestle, who extract public water and sell it off for a profit,” says Scollon. “It involved supporters sending letters to the Ontario Liberal government calling on them to ban the sale of public water by private corporations.”
How far it reaches: According to SimilarWeb data, North99 receives an estimated 102,000 monthly visits, of which two thirds come from social media: 71 per cent from Facebook, 21 per cent from Reddit, and 8 per cent from Twitter. Its Facebook page has over 78,000 likes, and Scollon says they have 60,000 email supporters.
What’s next for it: To inform a coming campaign focused on the 2019 election, North99 recently surveyed its community members to determine their top issues. Scollon says the organization aims “to push all parties and candidates to embrace a range of progressive policies. We will be calling attention to those candidates who refuse to do so.”

Ontario Proud

What it is: The third-party political advertiser has continued to steadily grow its influence in Ontario and across the country since we first profiled the group toward the end of 2017. Ontario Proud’s content used to mainly consist of shitposting memes and videos primarily targeting former Liberal Premier Wynne (and then Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, when she started polling well during the last provincial election). Since the Wynne government was ousted from power in June, OP has focused its crosshairs squarely on the PM. Ontario Proud also shares negative news stories on the Trudeau government, and is now promoting The Nectarine (further up this list), with which it shares a co-founder, Jeff Ballingall.
Where it’s physically based: Toronto
Who’s behind it: Ballingall previously worked for the Harper government, the Sun News Network, and Navigator. Ontario Proud’s other co-founders include personal-injury lawyer Ryan O’Connor and Chris Spoke, another Sun News alum.
Who funds it: Despite its self-portrayal as a “grassroots” group, the overwhelming majority of OP’s political advertising in the run-up to Ontario’s June 2018 election was funded by companies connected to the development industry, according to mandatory filings with Elections Ontario. However, the sources of funds spent on non-advertising-related activities — like phone and text message polling, staff salaries, and door-to-door campaigning — do not need to be disclosed, nor were there any legal limits placed on the funding of these activities. Last fall, PressProgress (also on this list) reported on a confidential Ontario Proud fundraising pitch to special interest groups, asking for upwards of $700,000 in contributions.
How far it reaches: Unlike most other populist political media on this list, Ontario Proud primarily focuses on pushing content on Facebook and building its page’s following, instead of driving traffic to its website. Ontario Proud’s Facebook page has over 425,000 likes, up almost 50 per cent over the last 14 months, and an October video about Tori Stafford’s murderer being moved to a healing lodge is shown by Facebook as having over one million views. By asking its audience to sign petitions and take a pledge to vote out Wynne last year, Ontario Proud has also built up a large email and postal code database, which Ballingall says is now up to more than 150,000 supporters.
Through the month of December, the third-party advertiser, on behalf of an undisclosed client(s), launched a #StopSaudiOil advertising blitz, which according to Ballingall included a $21,000 ad buy with the TTC that covered a streetcar inside and out for a month, as well as $69,000 on digital and radio advertising.
What’s next for it: When Ballingall is asked what Ontario Proud has planned for this year’s federal election, he gives a one-word reply: “Lots.”

The Post Millennial

What it is:The Post Millennial (TPM) was created in August of 2017 as an alternative Canadian news outlet with a right-of-centre editorial leaning. Editor-in-chief Ali Taghva, who also edits The Nectarine, says there are around 30 employees (and dozens of contributors) between the two sites, with almost two dozen on staff at TPM.
TPM includes articles that match (re-report) other outlets’ stories, with some writers posting several items a day. TPM also publishes many opinion pieces from columnists like Barbara Kay, Diana Davison, Lindsay Shepherd, and John Carpay.
“When we started TPM and the Nectarine, I would write seven to 10 articles a day. A single person can do a lot of work, especially when you’re doing op-eds,” says Taghva.
The big difference between TPM and The Nectarine, he says, is that the former publishes far less aggregated content.
Where it’s physically based: Montreal
Who’s behind it: TPM’s co-founders are Taghva, Matthew Azrieli, and Madison Hofmeester, all of whom are also co-founders of The Nectarine.
Taghva says that while TPM “doesn’t completely align with any party,” they “generally oppose big government and try to have the most freedom possible in a diverse society.”
Who funds it: Taghva says TPM’s funding is split between “advertisers, consulting clients, and investor cash,” with himself and Azrieli having provided the initial seed investment. (Canadian Business ranks Azrieli’s family at #13 on its list of the richest people in the country; he tells CANADALAND that no one else in his family is involved in TPM in any way.)
How far it reaches: TPM currently has over 14,000 likes on Facebook, and its posts receive hundreds or thousands of interactions. Taghva says his most popular piece, “Middle class families about to lose tax rebates,” received over 24,000 shares on social media and a quarter million hits. According to SimilarWeb estimates, The Post Millennial often gets more than 200,000 monthly visits, with more than half of its social media referrals coming from Facebook, another 45 per cent from Twitter, and most of the rest from Reddit.
What’s next for it: TPM is currently making a major shift to focus on video content, investing in a six-figure studio from which they intend to launch a channel that will be available on streaming devices. “We’re getting prepared to have a fairly large video foothold” in time for this year’s federal election, Taghva says. He also hopes to conduct polling and publish “a few breaking news stories in the works for the election cycle.”

PressProgress

What it is: Launched in 2013, PressProgress bills itself as “Canada’s most shared source for progressive news and information” and regularly reports critical stories about Conservative politicians, big business, and right-wing media organizations. Many of their reports involve access-to-information requests, fact-checking, and seeking comment from politicians.
In a 2017 interview with CANADALAND, PressProgress’ Luke Savage (who recently left to join Jacobin) called their work “advocacy journalism.”
PressProgress has broken exclusives like the Harper government ignoring its own internal research showing a connection between mental illness and terrorism, and was widely credited by mainstream media for being the first to report on The Rebel’s odd retirement savings “Freedom Fund.” But as a news organization, it’s conspicuously absent of any critical coverage of the NDP.
Whatever PressProgress is, it punches well above its weight — although expanding with new reporters in BC and Alberta, it has until recently gotten by with a staff of just two.
Where it’s physically based: Ottawa
Who’s behind it: PressProgress is the brainchild of former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent’s non-profit think tank, the Broadbent Institute.
On that same 2017 CANADALAND episode, PressProgress editor Luke LeBrun told Jesse Brown that there were no formal links between the federal NDP and the think tank. But Brown pushed back, reading part of an email from a listener who pointed out overlap between the NDP and the institute, and observed that PressProgress’ “news stories often run parallel with NDP talking points and never criticize the NDP for non-progressive choices like supporting a west-to-east pipeline.”
As a news organization, PressProgress doesn’t register as a third-party advertiser during elections. LeBrun has been accredited by the Parliamentary Press Gallery to cover special events.
Who funds it: The Broadbent Institute and, by extension, PressProgress are funded by NDP supporters and unions. PressProgress also independently solicits donations from readers and supporters, including a monthly donor program. The Broadbent Institute’s annual summits have also received sponsorships from major Canadian corporations such as Loblaw, Rogers, CN, Air Canada, WestJet, and Telus.
How far it reaches:“Based on data from a media-monitoring service we subscribe to, our stories regularly compete with bigger publishers like CBC News or the Toronto Star and quite often rank in the top 10 of all Canadian news content on a week-to-week basis,” LeBrun says in an email. “In July, we put out a piece spelling out the implications of Doug Ford’s sex-ed repeal that stood as the most shared piece of news content in Canada for about three months this summer.”
PressProgress’ scoops have led to the organization’s Facebook page growing to more than 126,000 likes, and many of its posts get hundreds to thousands of shares.
“Over the last five years, our original reporting has been cited by every major media outlet in Canada as well as major US outlets like The Washington Post, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, and Teen Vogue,” says LeBrun. “During one of the 2015 federal leaders’ debates, two original PressProgress stories were cited by two different party leaders — including one who would go on to become Prime Minister of Canada.”
SimilarWeb estimates that PressProgress gets an average of 140,000 to 220,000 visits per month, with around two thirds of social-media referrals coming from Facebook, 20 per cent from Twitter, and 11 per cent from Reddit. Much of PressProgress’ search traffic comes from searches for Canadian conservative figures.
What’s next for it:“Over the next few years, we hope to expand our capacity by hiring more reporters who can focus on additional regional and issue-based beats,” says LeBrun.

SpencerFernando.com

What it is:Spencer Fernando— who describes himself in his Twitter bio as “Canada’s best & most modest writer” — is the only individual included on this list, because of the noteworthy popularity of his articles among Canadian conservatives online, with many pieces racking up thousands of shares on Facebook and hundreds of retweets on Twitter.
Fernando is a prolific writer focusing on Canadian federal politics and general news, writing several stories daily for his eponymous website. His prime target is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with many of his tabloid-style headlines aggressively attacking the PM, such as: “DISGRACEFUL: Justin Trudeau Had Time For Joshua Boyle, But Not Tori Stafford’s Father”; “ARROGANCE: Justin Trudeau REFUSES To Answer Question On Why Criminal Who Never Served In Military Is Getting Treatment Covered By Veterans Affairs”; and “DIVIDING CANADIANS: Justin Trudeau Called Conservatives ‘Disgusting’ For Asking Questions About Government Ethics.”
In contrast, headlines about federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier read much more favourably: “Andrew Scheer Promises Conservative Government Would Recognize Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital”; “VIDEO: Andrew Scheer Rips Trudeau For Violating Ethics Rules”; and “VIDEO: Maxime Bernier Says ‘I Think We Have Too Many Refugees,’ And Must Focus More On Canada’s Needs.”
Where it’s physically based: Winnipeg
Who’s behind it: Despite his right-leaning editorial slant, it doesn’t appear Fernando is currently tied to any political party. He previously worked for former Manitoba federal Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge and then for the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives. He was fired from his staffer job with the PCs in 2014 after writing a blog post on his website that called for the federal Conservatives to consider supporting an inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, something the Harper government opposed at the time. He then went on to work as the chief of staff for the Manitoba Liberal Party leader, before resigning in early 2016. Shortly after leaving the latter job, he began writing prolifically and grew his online audience.
Who funds it: Fernando’s funding appears to come from ads (there are several per page) and Patreon crowdfunding (he currently has 31 patrons).
How far it reaches: According to SimilarWeb, Fernando’s website ranks 9,807th in Canada with an estimated average of over 300,000 monthly views. More than half of his overall traffic comes from social media, which consists of almost 70 per cent from Facebook, 25 per cent from Twitter, and a smaller portion from Reddit. Fernando also has 20,500 followers on Twitter and over 12,000 likes on Facebook.
Fernando did not respond to interview requests.

https://www.canadalandshow.com/ontario-proud-shitposting-king-jeff-ballingall/

The King Of Canadian Conservative Shitposting

How a former Navigator consultant is weaponizing Facebook against the Liberals

Article

By Graeme Gordon

November 24, 2017

“Listen up y’all. Let’s get one thing clear,” raps the large man dressed as Ontario’s premier, in a tightly-fitted red dress, pearls, glasses, and grey curly wig. “I’m Kathleen Chin, I run the racket here.”
Published Wednesday, the musical attack video — with the designed-to-go-viral refrain “Where’d my money go? It went to Hydro!” — was just the latest elevation of anti-Liberal shitposting from Ontario Proud, a registered non-profit whose primary activity is cranking out low-quality, highly shareable anti-Wynne memes on Facebook. The video also shows the Kathleen Wynne character stealing a wallet from, tying up, and gagging a “Joe Schmoe,” as well as basking in bundles of cash, smoking cigars, and drinking champagne alongside another actor portraying the Hydro One CEO as a villainous crook.

An official third-party advertiser in the upcoming provincial election, Ontario Proud knows how to weaponize social media platforms in the same way that has proven effective for the successful populist movements of Brexit and Trump. Its Facebook page now boasts over 289,000 likes, which — if the vast majority are indeed Ontarians, as founder Jeff Ballingall asserts — would translate to one in every 47 Ontario residents following the page. That’s more likes than the respective pages of Premier Wynne, the Ontario Liberal Party, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, the Ontario PC Party, NDP leader Andrea Horwath, and the Ontario NDP — combined. The Ontario Proud page also gets more Facebook engagement than the the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail pages together, something Ballingall is fond of gloating about.
Ballingall explains that he’s trying to reach people who are only “moderately interested” in politics.
“How do I reach the woman who works at the Honda dealership in Oshawa? You reach her through Facebook, not through Twitter,” he says in a sit-down interview.

The rapid growth of Ontario Proud

Thirty-two-year-old Ballingall has gained a lot of experience in the art of political messaging and communications over the past decade. Up until the middle of last year, he worked as a consultant for Navigator, the public strategies and communications firm known for behind-the-scenes crisis management work for high-profile clients including Michael Bryant and Jian Ghomeshi (the latter of whom they ultimately dropped). Before that, he worked as a political aide for the Harper government and Toronto city councillor John Parker, and for the now-defunct Sun News Network.
It was at Sun News that Ballingall says he learned about Facebook’s “power to reach the general public.” Ballingall ran the digital side of Sun News up until December of 2013, boasting that he “tripled their web traffic.” Canadian comedian and commentator Dan Speerin would later criticize Sun News’ Facebook likes as mostly fake clicks bought from India, but Ballingall says “there was huge confusion with Sun News in India, so I know that was a challenge after I left.” India has its own Sun News brand, which apparently led many Indians to mistakenly like the Canadian Sun News page. “I built it up, and then they ran with it when I left.”
(Ballingall says Facebook has completely changed since then and “you have to constantly adapt to beat its algorithm.”)
Despite his conservative bona fides, Ballingall claims that Ontario Proud “is nonpartisan and is promoting strategic voting.” He says he’ll vote for the NDP candidate in his own riding, because the NDP has the best chance of beating the Liberals there.
Ballingall says he created Ontario Proud back in February 2016 “just for fun,” after he saw a close friend had success with an Alberta Proud Facebook page. He says his page organically earned 100,000 likes in the first year. Then from April until November of this year, he says the organization spent close to $200,000 in advertising — primarily on Facebook — to promote further growth. He estimates that it now takes up 60 per cent of his time, the rest spent managing BC Proud and doing social media consulting.
Ballingall bought the rights to the rap video from a group of comedians calling themselves The Wack MC’s, based out of London, Ontario, who produced it and then sought out Ontario Proud in the hope of selling it to them. It was viewed 99,000 times and reached 218,000 people in the first 30 hours it had been up, but some of Ontario Proud’s previous posts have performed much stronger, with hundreds of thousands, over a million, or, in a few cases, several million views on the social media juggernaut. Beyond attacking Wynne, Ontario Proud also routinely goes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, interspersing the attacks with the odd upbeat video appealing to Canadian national pride.
CANADALAND reached out to BuzzFeed News media editor Craig Silverman — who’s been at the forefront of covering the spread of fake and hyper-partisan news and disinformation on Facebook since the tail end of the US election — to analyze Ontario Proud’s rapid rise over the last year and a half.
“It is possible and very easy to buy fake fans for a page, or fake members for a group. But if you do that, then you will not see engagement on your page that matches your number of fans. But [Ontario Proud] does seem to be getting engagement, and it ebbs and flows as if it’s real,” he says in an email, upon examining the page via CrowdTangle.
“It’s certainly possible that this page has grown thanks in part to running ads on Facebook to attract new fans. These result in real likes from real people, though fans who come via ads do tend to be less engaged than ones you acquire organically. This is a common strategy, and many page owners in fact will say that it’s increasingly hard to grow a page from scratch without paying for ads.”

Many successful Ontario Proud posts use a similar formula.

A new form of third-party political campaigning in Canada

Back on Monday of this week, Ballingall showed up at Wynne’s public town hall meeting at Toronto’s Concert Hall and sat in the front row. When questions were opened up to the floor, Ballingall made sure he got to spar with Wynne over how Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt got nearly $4.5 million in compensation last year.
Accompanying Ballingall was another Ontario Proud employee, filming footage of several disgruntled Ontarians questioning Wynne to be used for their page, and the Ontario Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Christine Van Geyn, who has been featured on camera in over a dozen Ontario Proud videos.
“I’m just friends with Christine Van Geyn. We have like-minded interests and mutual friends. But no, [the Canadian Taxpayers Federation] is not involved [with Ontario Proud] whatsoever,” says Ballingall.
It wasn’t the first time Ontario Proud has gone outside of Facebook to aggressively attack the premier. Earlier this year, they showed up at other public events Wynne attended and also paid for an airplane to fly over downtown Toronto during a marathon with a banner reading “ANYONEBUTWYNNE.COM.”
Ontario’s Liberal government put new restrictions on third-party advertising late last year in a bill reforming campaign finance laws. Unions took full advantage of the old rules, which allowed unlimited spending, and were responsible for 94 per cent of all third-party advertising in the last three elections, including the lion’s share of the almost $9 million spent in the 2014 election, largely aimed at the PCs. Under the new rules, however, third-party campaign groups can spend only $100,000 on advertising during an election period and a maximum of $600,000 on advertising in the six months beforehand.
Ballingall registered Ontario Proud as a third-party advertiser on the opening day of registration, November 9, ahead of the Ontario election coming on or before June 7, 2018. The name on the registration belongs to personal-injury lawyer Ryan O’Connor, who sits on the organization’s board alongside Ballingall and Chris Spoke, another Sun News alum, who works in tech.
Pressed on who funds Ontario Proud, Ballingall says, “No massive donors. It’s not like one group or another. Small businesses, a lot of people giving $100 or $200, $300, that kind of thing.”
Despite the tightening of the rules, third-party advertisers aren’t required to disclose donor contributions until after an election is over. The new campaign finance rules also don’t cap third-party spending on staff, polling, and door-to-door campaigning.
Ballingall says they intend to spend the maximum advertising amounts if they can raise that much.
Similar to Rebel Media, Ontario Proud has amassed a large email and postal code database of 88,000 supporters by asking viewers of their video content to sign petitions and take a pledge to vote out Wynne next year. The petitions and pledge require an individual to provide their email address and postal code. Also like The Rebel, Ontario Proud uses the popular campaign software NationBuilder to compile this information.
Ballingall also brags that the most recent videos on the Ontario Proud page are getting tens of thousands or over a hundred thousand views without any advertising spending.
“Facebook is incredibly important for getting around the media filter, to get around the political filter and speak to voters directly — and it’s so cheap to do so.”

The difficult act of gently stoking the anger of Ontarians

Back in June, Wynne’s office told CBC Toronto, “We’re not going to comment on a website that supports profane, hateful, and abusive comments.”
The spokesperson was referring to comments on Ontario Proud’s Facebook page at the time, documented by CBC’s Mike Crawley, which included: “That ugly nasty greedy no good money grubbing snot faced witch”; “The ugliest human dyke who ever existed”; and “I’m surprised that no one has shot her but maybe the bullets cost to much.”
Ballingall says that they’ve since curbed the use of slurs and derogatory comments by implementing a community guidelines policy, which “encourages respectful discussion. Personal attacks, racism, misogyny, homophobia, other forms of discrimination and harassment will be deleted without warning.” Ontario Proud also now filters out comments that contain any of the words on a list of over 900 banned terms.
In spite of this, Ballingall admits that obscene and inappropriate comments do get through the filter and that his team can’t monitor thousands of comments every day.

“Scum” is on the list of banned words, but “scumbag,” which appeared in this early Ontario Proud meme, is not.

“I’m not responsible for what other people say, I’m responsible for what Ontario Proud says. People say mean things on the internet, unfortunately.”
Wynne spokeswoman Jennifer Beaudry declined to comment on the “It Went to Hydro” rap video but referred CANADALAND to comments the premier made “about similar content in the past.”
“It’s not that I am worried about myself or being thin-skinned,” she told reporters in January about the river of hateful comments she gets on Twitter and Facebook, “but I do believe that the kinds of things we’re seeing on social media, as I say, undermine community, undermine civil debate, and you know, even more worrisome than that is that I think it discourages people from even entering politics.”

Ballingall describes his focus on attacking Wynne almost as a vendetta over how he believes the premier has hurt the province.
“Honestly, what is going on in Ontario is insane. I don’t like to see [that] in 2015, 59,000 families had their hydro disconnected… I grew up in Sarnia, and the last stat I saw they lost 20 per cent of their jobs in the last decade,” says Ballingall. “My wife’s family is paying egregious hydro bills. It’s personal to me.”
Premier Wynne intends to have more town hall events across Ontario, and Ontario Proud intends to encourage its supporters to attend. Whether or not all of their supporters will keep to civil discourse in non-virtual reality remains to be seen.

Top photo of Jeff Ballingall with a cardboard cutout of Obama courtesy of Ballingall.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-post-millennial/

The Post Millennial

RIGHT BIAS

These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage conservative causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Right Bias sources.
Factual Reporting: HIGH
World Press Freedom Rank: Canada 22/180

History
Co-Founded in 2017 by Matthew Azrieli and Ali S. Taghva, The Post Millennial is an alternative news and opinion website based in Montreal, Canada. According to their about page their mission is “To accurately and adequately report Canadian news events as they unfold and progress, and to share this reporting with as many Canadians and citizens of the World as possible.”
Funded by / Ownership
The Post Millennial is owned and operated by the Après le Millénaire / The Post Millennial Corporation. The website is funded through online advertising and donation links.
Analysis / Bias
In review, The Post Millennial covers Canadian news, Breaking News, Politics and Opinions. When reporting news there is moderate use of loaded words in headlines such as: 5 big Trudeau military failures. For the most part news articles are sourced properly and factually based, though there is a strong right leaning bias in story selection that denigrates the left and in particular PM Justin Trudeau. The opinion/editorial pages provide little balance and primarily support Conservative and Libertarian positions.
A factual search reveals they have not failed a fact check.
Overall, we rate The Post Millennial Right Biased based on story selection that favors the right and High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record. (D. Van Zandt 9/19/2018)
Source: https://www.thepostmillennial.com

https://thenectarine.ca/author/alitaghva/

Ali Taghva

Business owner, former riding President, and Bachelors in Industrial Relations from McGill. Interested in the intersection of politics and culture.

https://thenectarine.ca/politics/taghva-justin-trudeau-must-resign-for-the-good-of-the-nation/

TAGHVA: Justin Trudeau must resign for the good of the nation

byAli Taghva March 2, 2019

Trudeau says ethics watchdog to decide truth in SNC-Lavalin affair

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rejected the official oppositions request to resign while an RCMP investigation occurs into the government’s alleged pressuring of the former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould.That decision selfishly taken by the PM is a serious problem for our democracy, our faith in our institutions, and our standing on the world stage.

According to the statement released by Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer:

“The testimony Canadians have just heard from the former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould tells the story of a Prime Minister who has lost the moral authority to govern. A Prime Minister who allows his partisan political motivations to overrule his duty to uphold the rule of law. A Prime Minister who doesn’t know where the Liberal Party ends and where the Government of Canada begins. And a Prime Minister who has allowed a systemic culture of corruption to take root in his office and those of his most senior cabinet and public service colleagues.
Andrew Scheer

Scheer continues:

“Before Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s testimony, Canadians knew Justin Trudeau had engineered an unwanted, sustained, and co-ordinated attempt to get Ms. Wilson-Raybould to change her mind and stop the criminal trial of SNC-Lavalin. Today, thanks to Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s testimony, we now know just how intense those efforts were: ten meetings and ten phone calls involving eleven senior government officials relentlessly targeting Ms. Wilson-Raybould over a four month period – with the sole objective of bullying her into bending the law to benefit a well-connected corporation.
Andrew Scheer

The NDP leader has been more lukewarm, but he too has not minced words, noting that there were now “clear allegations of political interference & veiled threats by the PMO.”

Perhaps most interesting though, according to Jody Wilson-Raybould, much like the Saturday Night Massacre which led to the downfall of Nixon, the Liberals here were incentivized by the need to protect their re-election chances in key Quebec ridings, such as the riding of the Prime Minister in Montreal.

The allegations of multiple incidents of pressure from the PMO, the PM, and finance minister to protect a Liberal connected firm which in the past has broken election laws to donate to the Liberal party from criminal prosecution is outrageous.
It is therefore not surprising that five former Attorney Generals have signed a letter urging an RCMP investigation into the matter, whil citizens have begun to call for a resignation.

Andrew Coyne perhaps broke down the sentiment felt by many best in his article for the National Post, “for those in power to enable law-breaking by others is every bit as much of an assault on the rule of law as if they had broken the laws themselves
That is just the beginning.

The idea that this pressure was done to protect the Liberal government’s re-election in Quebec is nation-shattering. Of course, it now makes sense why more Albertans want to separate than Quebecors, the PM appears to be willing to potentially break the law to keep 3000 jobs in Quebec(9000 nationally) but does nothing when B.C. stands in the way of pipeline development.

Even if the B.C. governments stance make largely no sense when put into perspective the other projects they do support such as the carbon producing LNG project as well as the potentially environmentally damaging B.C ferries. In the case of SNC a company which spent $30,000 on prostitutes for for Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s son? It is worth manipulating the media and losing an Attorney General over.

I can’t help but imagine many in Canada are currently wondering to themselves, if the Prime Minister represents the national interest, or if instead, he has decided to become the Prime Minister of Quebec.

The one province to have magically been provided with a reduced immigration rate, even as the Trudeau government campaigns on the competitive advantages of expanded immigration for every other region.

I suppose that is ok as long as transfer payments cover the slowed down Quebec economy, and the Trudeau government is re-elected.

All of that is extremely worrying, not just for Canadian news outlets, but now even in the global press. The New York Post published the following as Editorial, Canada’s ‘anti-Trump’ doesn’t look so pretty anymore, while the Washington Post published, Canada is not the world’s ‘moral leader.’ Just look at our newest scandal.

The potential blow-back does not stop there. The allegations against the Trudeau government directly place them in sight of China for having a politicized judicial system, precisely when the nation faces serious diplomatic strain in its relationship with the nation due to the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

China has according to the CBC, already invoked the “SNC-Lavalin controversy to advocate for Huawei exec’s release.”

Looks like Canada’s back on the world stage!

While pundits, politicians, and news sites are an important part of the discussion, the most important are the Canadian people.

Their engagement level and over-all reactions are the key to deciding what really happens here given that the Trudeau government are in the majority.

For the most part, only a caucus push forced by grass roots members will force a quick response.

How do Canadians feel about the SNC-Lavalin Affair?

While there has been no legitimate and verified polling has been done on how Canadians feel about a potential Trudeau resignation, there are a few interesting points of data available.

Firstly, the overall support for the Liberal party has significantly dipped poll after poll during the SNC affair.

According to a recent Angus Poll. the Liberals have fallen to a low of 31% while the Conservatives have edged towards 38%.

That kind of shift has not been seen(outside of outlier polls) since the days before Mr. Trudeau’s nomination victory. Secondly, we can look at online polls done on large non-partisan websites.

One of these is the following Yahoo News poll which found out of 26,000 online voters 70% wanted the PM to resign. Yahoo News is by no means a polling organization, but the views of their readership could be relative to the country. Lastly, we can look at the closest official polling which exists around the SNC-Lavalin topic. According to a Forum Research poll, a majority (57%) of individuals who have heard about the SNC-Lavalin affair had a worsened outlook on the PM. Interestingly to 36% of voters it had no affect.

It would not be strange to see these kinds numbers considering that Conservatives and NDP members overwhelmingly oppose the scandal, while most Liberals continue to blindingly support their leader.
Now here is the good news for the Liberal party. If the Prime Minister resigns it could still very well be possible for another Liberal MP such as Jody Wilson-Raybould to win the 2019 election.

The 2015 Sunny Ways coalition may be bruised, but it is still the largest group of active voters within the country.

With the right potentially split, and the NDP literally a hollow shell of itself, a Liberal party led by someone other than the PM could very well still win. But only if the Prime Minister does the right thing and resigns providing enough time for a new leader to salvage this government and fight in a free and fair election.

For that to happen though, the PM must make a hard but needed choice.

For the good of his party, our institutions, and the nation’s global standing the Prime Minister should resign. If not this, than at the very minimum the PM must show that he still has the confidence of the canadian electorate, and call for an early election.

Canadians should not be governed by those who have lost the confidence of the electorate.
What do you think? Could this scandal end the Trudeau government?

Join the conversation by commenting below!

3 Comments

David Raymond Amos

To be fair to you I believe we should talk before I talk about you but you people have no contact numbers However I do know your email so watch or it

Alfred Schalm

You are correct in stating that JT should resign. But don't hold your breath! As it appears now, JT may go down as the worst PM in Canada's history to date.

Don JordanIf JT had any brains at all he would resighn. Like I said IF he had any brains.

https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/author/arshy-mann/

Arshy Mann

Arshy Mann is a staff writer for Canadian Lawyer and Law Times. After receiving his journalism education at the Ubyssey student newspaper, Arshy has worked at the Canadian University Press, the Toronto Star and Canadian Business. He can be reached at arshy.mann@thomsonreuters.com

https://twitter.com/ArshyMann/with_replies

Arshy MannVerified account

@ArshyMann

Journalist, displaced Vancouverite. Host of @CANADALANDCMNS. Bylines in @dailyxtra, @macleans, @globeandmail, @cbcnews, @torontostar, @cdnbiz, @canlawmag etc.

http://www.inquisition.ca/corr/vikander_mui_mann.htm

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Correspondence with Ms. Tessa Vikander, Mr. Arshy Mann and Mr. Michael Mui
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2018 10:03:31 -0400
From: Stefan Jetchick
To: Tessa.vikander (go away spambots!) metronews.ca,
arshy.mann (go away spambots!) dailyxtra.com,
michael.mui (go away spambots!) metronews.ca
CC: Whatcott, Bill

Good day Ms. Tessa Vikander, Mr. Arshy Mann and Mr. Michael Mui,

You recently wrote articles about Bill Whatcott and the
"Gay Zombies" of the 2016 Toronto Parade:

Toronto police charge anti-LGBT activist for 2016 Pride zombie stunt

and

Anti-gay activist wanted for promotion of hatred will surrender in Calgary, lawyer says

I was one of the "zombies", and was even sued
for it before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
(see correspondance with the lawyer leading the
lawsuit, Mr. Douglas Elliott, along with all court
documents available on that web page)

Shouldn't you be telling your readers that the Police
is not doing their job right? No arrest warrant has
been issued for me. What gives? Shouldn't the Left
Hand of the Police talk to the Right Hand of the Police?

Thank you and have a nice day!

Stefan Jetchick
[Usual contact info]

2) Mui, M. (2018-June-21)

Just got a phone call a few minutes ago (it's 13h37,
Quebec City time) from Mr. Michael Mui. I was taking
a nap, so I was totally confused when I answered!
Offhand, he seems like a nice guy and competent
journalist. I'm not sure what I said, because I was
trying to wake up, and trying to understand who this
voice was. Apparently this whole story about the
arrest warrant for Bill reeks of political meddling.
I wish Mr. Mui would write up what he told me over
the phone. I'll probably e-mail him that request.
I also tried to mention the weird things happening
in Quebec City with "Islamophobia", so-called "hate
crimes", and my Love Tubes.

3) S. Jetchick (2018-July-05)

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Minor update about Bill Whatcott arrest:
Stefan Jetchick tries to contact Toronto Police
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2018 08:20:55 -0400
From: Stefan Jetchick
To: Tessa.vikander metronews.ca, arshy.mann dailyxtra.com

Hello again Ms. Tessa Vikander and Mr. Arshy Mann,

Just to say I tried yesterday to contact the Toronto
Police Service:

	Open Letter to All Canadians
	(and the Toronto Police)
	about Bill Whatcott's arrest
www.jesus-eucharistie.org/en/polit/artic/toronto_police.htm

Spoiler: this is the flyer I hand out at all "gay pride"
events I go to:

www.jesus-eucharistie.org/gay

(It's not the same as Bill's. Actually, mine was written
over eight years ago, because I disagreed with Bill's
flyers. The content is roughly the same, but it is
presented in a very "boring" way, according to Bill!)

Cheers,

SJJ

https://www.chp.ca/candidates/louis-hebert

Stefan is a registered candidate for Louis-Hébert.
Louis Casgrain, Official Agent
1450, avenue des Grands-Pins
Québec, QC
G1S 4J6

About Stefan

Stefan Jetchick was born in 1964 in Pennsylvania, USA, of an American father and a Canadian mother. He has lived most of his life in Quebec City. He has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Laval University, and currently earns a living as a conference interpreter.
[Bio Under construction]
Web site: www.chp-quebec.ca

https://www.chp.ca/candidates/fort-mcmurray-cold-lake

Roelof is a registered candidate for Fort McMurray-Cold Lake.

You may also donate via cheque:

The Official Agent of Roelof Janssen
3317 Twp Road 624
County of Barrhead, AB
T0G 1R1

About Roelof

Roelof Janssen was born and raised in The Netherlands by godly parents. At the age of nineteen, in 1980, he immigrated to Canada and received his Canadian citizenship in 1985. He is owner of a Christian publishing company, focussing on historical novels and study materials. In 1992 he married Theresa Bootsma and they have been blessed with ten children. His work has allowed him to travel extensively throughout Canada and the USA and has brought him in contact with a great variety of people. His desire has always been to love and serve God with all his heart and to encourage others to do the same.
His priorities in politics are to be obedient to God in all things, including the protection of human life in all stages, building a strong economy with true free trade policies, clean and safe oil processing and transpiration, just and compassionate support to the first nation peoples in the recognition that the earth belongs to the Lord (Psalm 24:1), and transform depleted oilfields into green pastures and fishponds so that we together can be faithful stewards of the earth.
Send your questions to him at:

https://www.facebook.com/roelof.janssen.520

↧

'I feel cheated': Big telcos hike prices for $60 plans with 10 GB, sparking complaints

March 4, 2019, 7:23 am

≫ Next: Teacher shown door after Christian school discovers she had sex 'outside of a heterosexual marriage'

≪ Previous: Who is Telling the Truth: Jody Wilson-Raybould or Justin Trudeau?

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

John Brown said "An absolutely toothless and useless CRTC means these sleazy clowns can do pretty much what they want" and I welcomed him to the circus

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/i-feel-cheated-big-telcos-hike-prices.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/telus-rogers-bell-60-10-gb-plan-price-1.5039718

'I feel cheated': Big telcos hike prices for $60 plans with 10 GB, sparking complaints

1471 Comments

Commenting is now closed for this story.

Content disabled.
Miguel Sanchez

Maybe there shouldn't be a CRTC anymore.

Show 1 older reply

Content disabled.

Miguel Sanchez

And force the consumer to foot the bill for cancon that should never survive in a truly competitive free market

Content disabled.

Rembrandt Garland

@Miguel Sanchez - I wonder if someone in the CRTC is getting a "favour".....kinda like the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Content disabled.

Mitchell Irwin

@Miguel Sanchez

So you'd prefer a 3 year contract instead of the legislated 2, and you'd rather have locked phones, rather than locked phones?

Wake up.

Content disabled.

Steve Kirk

@Miguel Sanchez They just run interference for the telecoms and cloud the real issues.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Miguel Sanchez Nope what we need is an ethical CRTC

Content disabled.
Miguel Sanchez

The word feckless comes to mind when describing the CRTC.

They're fully empowered to needlessly micromanage human behaviour on things like content quotas, ratings etc., but seemingly powerless in its role as consumer watchdog.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Miguel Sanchez True

John Brown

An absolutely toothless and useless CRTC means these sleazy clowns can do pretty much what they want, when they want, and choose how they go about it...and yup, they're freaking good at it.

Show 9 older replies

Phil Mein

@Neil Gregory You got the corporate part right but you show your astoundingly partisan ignorance suggesting it's dependent on the party in office.

Scotty Davidson

@Phil Mein He is saying both parties are to blame. He is right.

David Amos

@John Brown Welcome to the circus

John Smith

@John Brown They do not do what they want when they want. They were following the directive given to them by the Harper government for facilities based competition.

The Liberals are now giving them a new directive to guide their actions: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf11484.html - Affordability and *real* competition and the CRTC is listening https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-television-telecommunications/news/2019/02/crtc-launches-comprehensive-review-of-mobile-wireless-services.html

Rory Wilson

Tracy Mann

Over here in Indonesia it cost $17.00 for 27 GB of wireless data.

CRTC wake up and stop protecting the monopolies.

Show 6 older replies

Eugene D Burles

@Mick Fontana

The conservatives, PPC, or whatever else they call themselves, want a free market that is unrestricted and unregulated. Excellent for profiteers and exploiters, but terrible for the commoners.

Rainer Schein

@Tracy Mann
Indonesia: 1,811,570 sq. km
Canada: 9,984,670 sq. km = 5.5 x larger than Indonesia
5.5 x $17.00 = $93.50
I'll take that deal if it was ever offered in Canada

Mitchell Irwin

@Rainer Schein Just look at ANY cell phone coverage map: the area of coverage represents the area of inhabitants. In other words, a fraction of Canada is populated compared to it's overall area.

@Rainer Schein Most of Canada does not have cell service - see your typical coverage map: http://www.thehappyhypocrite.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/koodo-mobile-coverage-maps-awesome-ideas.jpg

Those large swaths of Sask/Alberta are due to them being so flat - one tower can cover a huge area.

Tracy Mann

@Tracy Mann

4G, and good service.

Richard Mackay

@Tracy Mann Indonesia's average salary is $280 US a month!
Lets compare to some more realistic place!
UK $89 cnd unlimited data
Japan $100 cnd. 10GB

Artie Gibson

@Tracy Mann

I bet that Indonesia does not have Competition Bureau or an IRTC.

Rory Wilson

@Tracy Mann
Indonesia population is 260 million and the number of mobile cell users is 170 million. Just mainly island coverage no bigger than Southern Ontario to Quebec. Of course the price would be lower

Neil Gregory

@Tracy Mann

If you really want our government agencies to stop protecting corporate monopolies you first have to stop voting for the Liberals and the Conservative.

Mick Fontana

@Neil Gregory The conservatives (or at least the PPC) are the ones who want the free market you desire. More competition is better for the consumer and it creates more jobs at the same time.

David Amos

@Tracy Mann "CRTC wake up and stop protecting the monopolies."

Dream on

Nicolas Krinis

Unless this becomes part of a election issue and unless we get a real regulator and anticompetition laws that can be enforced, they will just keep on colluding to raise prices.
Another day, another story about gouging the Canadian consumer without any penalty.

Show 2 older replies

Scotty Davidson

@Sebastian Leblanc The scandal is he takes corporate money and allows them to break our laws. Perhaps this is part of the same scandal?

Rembrandt Garland

@Nicolas Krinis - I wonder if someone in the CRTC is getting a "favour".....kinda like the SNC-Lavalin affair.

David Amos

@Rembrandt Garland Methinks the CRTC does "favours" all the time it should be no surprise if we were to learn that they got a few in return N'esy Pas?

leonard g MacAulay

If ever there was an organization that needs a flush and fill it is the CRTC.

Rembrandt Garland

@leonard g MacAulay - I wonder if someone in the CRTC is getting a "favour".....kinda like the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Mitchell Irwin

@Rembrandt Garland

The CRTC is not a for-profit company, unlike SNC is. Explain the favours.

David Amos

@leonard g MacAulay YUP

James Dodd

How is the plan still a good deal when Canada has the highest cell phone plan prices out of almost every country on the planet? Infrastructure costs can’t be a good excuse when there are countries still building out cell infrastructure that have lower prices. We’re being gouged plan and simple. And the Crtc is complicent in the gouging. That’s what happens when the oversight body is made up of industry executives.

Rick Poulter

@James Dodd
Yes we are being gouged but the telcos are still building out the network at a cost of between a half and a million per cell site. With a range of 5 to 20 km per site depending on the terrain and much, much closer in cities , southern Canada requires a lot of sites.

David Amos

@Rick Poulter Cry me a river

Don McNairn

Time to get rid of your silly smartphones and go back to an affordable cellphone. And use it for important calls not as a source of entertainment. Much cheaper.

Show 5 older replies

Puba Belivèau

@Jim LaPalmier that's the problem with month-to-month unfortunately. Too bad you couldn't be contracted with your non data plan

Cam Zobak

@Don McNairn So if this article was about car insurance rate hikes, would your reply suggest that people get rid of their "silly" cars and go back to horse and carriage like the olden days? Because that would be cheaper too.
Not everyone uses their phones as entertainment, many (I would even say most) smartphone users require them for work (email, messaging, camera, video chat), school, etc. Just because your lifestyle doesn't require one, doesn't give you the right to be condescending to those who do.

David Amos

@Don McNairn True

daulton mckitty

Don't worry the CRTC is there for you. lol

Artie Gibson

@daulton mckitty

So is the Competition Bureau of Canada and so are our M.P.s and MPPs there for us as well.

Henry Starfield

@Artie Gibson Funny... they act like they're there for the corporations instead. Perhaps we've reached a stage of social development where by threatening to take jobs elsewhere, large corporations actually run the government.

David Amos

@Artie Gibson True

Ashley Zacharias

Canadian telcos ripping off their customers isn't news. It will be news when the CRTC starts protecting Canadians from predation by these monopolies, but I'm not holding my breath.

David Amos

@Ashley Zacharias "but I'm not holding my breath"

Nor I

'I feel cheated': Big telcos hike prices for $60 plans with 10 GB, sparking complaints

Telcos say they can change the price on these month-to-month deals

Sophia Harris· CBC News· Posted: Mar 03, 2019 4:00 AM ET

Howard Lorentz of Kitchener, Ont., calls the $10 price hike by Telus for his $60 10 GB plan a 'bait and switch.' (Submitted by Howard Lorentz)

When Telus, Rogers and Bell each briefly offered a monthly $60 phone plan with 10 GB of data, it sparked pandemonium as customers waited in long lines, determined to snag the deal.

Now, some of those customers feel burned because, a little more than a year later, the plans are going up in price.

"It's no longer a great deal," said Ravind Nanubhai of Brampton, Ont., after learning that his monthly $60 plan with Telus is jumping to $70 in March.

"I spent quite a number of my hours in the day trying to get this deal and now I feel just sort of duped."

For about a week in December 2017, the three telcos offered the $60 bring-your-own-phone plan with 10 GB to customers in Ontario, Alberta and B.C.

Steve Mann of Vancouver said the $5 price hike for his $60 10 GB phone plan isn't justified. (Submitted by Steve Mann)

Starting in March, Telus is upping the monthly price by $10.

Bell and its discount brand, Virgin, will hike the price by $5 a month, also in March.

Already this month, Rogers and its discount brand, Fido, raised the plan's monthly price by $5.

"It's such a customer-B.S. move," said Steve Mann of Vancouver who got his notice in January that his $60 Fido bill would soon climb to $65.

"These are fantastically profitable companies and you're telling me you have to impose an eight per cent increase?"

Braedon Bainbridge@B__Bainbridge

@TELUS @TELUSsupport This $10 increase to the $60/10gb wireless plan is BS! The is blatantly obvious #baitandswitch! Where is the #CRTC when you need them... @CTVNews @GlobalBC

10:27 PM - Feb 13, 2019

Christina Ngu@cngu

I'm definitely switching phone plans when I see this $5 increase for my $60 10gb plan.... BYEEEE @Fidomobile

1:20 PM - Jan 4, 2019

The big three telcos offered the deals in late 2017 after newer competitor, Freedom Mobile started marketing a $60 plan with 10 GB in an attempt to acquire their customers.

Consumer advocate Laura Tribe said customers' frustration with the price hikes is rooted in the fact that many Canadians believe they pay too much for their wireless plans.

She said the $60 deals made people feel they were finally getting a break from one of the major providers.

"It felt like they had won the lottery," said Tribe, executive director of Open Media, an advocacy group in Vancouver.

"To have that taken away feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth."

Once the cellphone plan wars began in December 2017, customers rushed to their local dealers to sign up for a cut-rate deal. (CBC)

Molly Schleihauf said even at $65 a month, her 10 GB Bell plan is still a good deal: in Ontario, the big three telcos' current rate for a phone plan with 9 GB is $110 a month

But she's still unhappy with the price hike, because she said she was under the impression the terms of her plan wouldn't change.

"I can't believe they can do that," said Schleihauf who lives in Rodney, Ont.

"I would call it gouging."

It's not a contract

Bell, Rogers and Telus said they can raise the price of the $60 offer because they aren't fixed-contract plans, but instead, month-to-month deals.

"In a highly competitive marketplace we occasionally adjust prices on these types of no fixed term plans," said Bell spokesperson Nathan Gibson in an email.

How some customers scored the $60 10-GB phone deal after the deadline

Big telcos offer bonus-data deals but 3 provinces get the best bargains

Rogers spokesperson Bill Killorn said in an email that the company regularly reviews and adjusts plans "to reflect ongoing network and service investments."

He said the current $65 plan with 10 GB still offers "great value."

Telus justified its $10 price increase in a letter to affected customers by explaining that it has been working hard to "dramatically improve" its network.

"We do not take the decision to increase the cost of services lightly," said spokesperson Liz Sauvé in an email to CBC News.

'I feel cheated'

Telus customer Howard Lorentz argues that, in his case, Telus had no right to hike the price.
He claims when he signed up for the plan at a Telus store in Kitchener, Ont., the employee he dealt with assured him the price wouldn't change.

"They have done a bait and switch," said Lorentz who gave up a cheaper plan with less data to take the $60 deal with 10 GB.

"I feel cheated."

Telus says its 'commitment period' where the price of a plan won't change lasts for 30 days on month-to-month contracts. (Telus)

Lorentz said when he called this month to complain about the $10 price increase, a Telus rep told him that she too had previously thought that the plan's price was permanent.

Lorentz also showed CBC News his plan agreement which states: "We guarantee that during your commitment period, your monthly plan services and rate won't change unless YOU say so."

30 days notice

Telus didn't address Lortenz's claims about his conversations with Telus employees. But it said that the "commitment period" referred to in Lorentz's agreement is only good for 30 days on a month-to-month contract.

"They told me that it never expired in the store. Now they say it expires every month. Who are you supposed to believe?" said Lorentz.

After complaining to Telus, he said he was offered five extra GB a month, which he declined because all he wants is his $60 deal back.

When Fido customer Mann complained, he said he was given a $30 credit and 3 GB of extra data per month for a year.

Proposed new CRTC rule changes could lead to cheaper wireless plans, upstarts say

All customers in this story have filed or plan to file a complaint about the price hikes with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services — an industry organization that resolves telecom customer disputes.

Open Media's Tribe said the best remedy is more competition which will help drive down prices — and keep them down.

The CRTC, Canada's telecom regulator, launched a review this week to examine the mobile wireless market and whether more action is needed to improve affordability for consumers. Canadians can submit comments until May 15.

About the Author

Sophia Harris

Business reporter

Sophia Harris has worked as a CBC video journalist across the country, covering everything from the start of the annual lobster fishery in Yarmouth, N.S., to farming in Saskatchewan. She now has found a good home at the business unit in Toronto. Contact: sophia.harris@cbc.ca

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Teacher shown door after Christian school discovers she had sex 'outside of a heterosexual marriage'

March 4, 2019, 8:24 am

≫ Next: Ford government fires OPP deputy Brad Blair, critic of Taverner appointment

≪ Previous: 'I feel cheated': Big telcos hike prices for $60 plans with 10 GB, sparking complaints

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks "The Powers that Be" should learn how to uphold the document that they created that Quebec has a little trouble believing in N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/teacher-shown-door-after-christian.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/christian-school-forces-resignation-over-community-standards-policy-1.5035804

Teacher shown door after Christian school discovers she had sex 'outside of a heterosexual marriage'

4885 Comments

Mike Hayley

Zero tax dollars should go to any private school....especially religious schools. Churches don't pay taxes, so they should fund their own schools.

Samual Johnston

@Matt Thuaii I agree to a point if it was 100% funding - but this system saves us a ton of money - that is why it is in place

Onager Smith

@Mike Hayley

Churches should pay taxes AND fund their own schools.

David Amos

@Onager YUP

Troy Mann

@Mike Hayley

People who go to church all pay taxes
People who send their kids to church based schools all pay taxes

Why should people pay taxes if they do not get the benefits from them?

Churches are not for profit, should we tax all not for profit organizations or just ones you dont like?

David Amos

@Troy Mann "Why should people pay taxes if they do not get the benefits from them?"

You are the highly paid bureaucrat Why not answer your question for us?

Scotty Davidson

@Mike Hayley Our tax dollars are being used to support regime change in Venesuala. What should outrage you more?

Troy Mann

@David Amos

I work in the private industry

Scotty Davidson

@Troy Mann No sanctions from our government is killing people. Freeland asking for more sanctions will kill more people.

Mike Hayley

@Scotty Davidson

Umm...a bit of a deflection no? It is ok for a school to fire a teacher because Venezuela?

Stephen McIntyre

@Mike Hayley - This is just one of many facets of two-tier justice in this country. Eliminating the problem here would be one of the easier fixes. Sooner is better. If not here, then what hope is there for bringing parity to gender, racial and economic disparities? Government should do the right thing instead of fearing for the loss of some support from conservative corners. It might make up the difference elsewhere, not that that should be driving this issue.

James Blake

@Scotty Davidson. I can see that Venezuela is a big issue for you. But, that situation and this article are two separate topics worthy of being argued on their own merits. Conflating the two, or trying to determine where they are on the scale of outrage is unhelpful.

Daniel Bunbury

@Mike Hayley -

For the record, I find the rule as set out by this school unacceptable, and I would deny public money to any school on the grounds that the school's employment contract violates the Charter of Rights.

But if you are happy for tax dollars to go to YOUR (presumably public) school, then why should the tax dollars of others not be allowed to go to the school of THEIR choice?

And churches are non-profit social organisations, with many members. Are you saying that only non-profit social organisations that YOU agree with should be untaxed?

Matt Thuaii

@Troy Mann

If it is receiving public funding, but pays no taxes, the institution is receiving benefit from taxes it isn’t paying. In this case, it is acting outside the standard of other publicly funded schools, which aren’t allowed to discriminate based on what someone claims an invisible sky man thinks.

Pretty simple concepts.

Matt Thuaii

@Troy Mann

The other problem is, our society demands a separation of church and state to function properly, and many religions get around that through their tax exemptions. An example would be the mega churches out of the US that subscribe the the perversion that is the “gospel of prosperity”, effectively the opposite of Christ’s teachings. While on a small scale, tax exemption seems ok...

...many of these large institutions specifically use tax exemption for obscene profit...which they often dump directly into politics.

Brian Cohen

@Troy Mann
What an absurd argument.

All adults in Canada pay taxes; why do ONLY catholic or “christian” schools publicly funded??

People who do not go to church pay taxes; why should we pay for YOUR kid to go to a religious school?

You want your kid to go to a religious school, no problem;YOU pay for it just like parents of kids belonging to all other religious have to.

Troy Mann

@Matt Thuaii "If it is receiving public funding, but pays no taxes, the institution is receiving benefit from taxes it isn’t paying"

The people pay taxes with in the church
The people send their children to these schools

Troy Mann

@Matt Thuaii "mega churches out of the US "

I live in Canada

Troy Mann

@Brian Cohen

If any religious school wants to follow the government based curriculum they should be funded equally

David Fletcher

@Troy Mann

Religious schools should be funded equally provided they follow the government based curriculum AND refrain from all forms of exclusion and discrimination.

Wendy Suiter

@Troy Mann Taxes pay for, among other things, public education. Public education benefits all of us whether we have children or not. Public education should be exactly that: public. Any kind of education above and beyond what is universally available to all of our children - including religious education - should be the responsibility of the parents. Public schools are still available to these kids whether their parents choose to utilize them or not.

Ernie Smith

@Troy Mann We all pay taxes to provide basic minimum services to all Canadians regardless of religion etc. If your religion or beliefs do not allow you to participate in these services that is your choice. The rest of us should not have to subsidize an additional system.

Jim LaPalmier

@Mike Hayley

Hear ! Hear !

Brian Cohen

@Troy Mann
Why are religious schools receiving ANY public funds??
You dance around the issue with nonsense like "because we pay taxes".

Either fund all religious schools, or better yet, fund none of them.

Zahava Goldfinkel

@Mike Hayley

Some of those tax dollars are from devil worshippers, whom their LORD, Satan the Fallen Morningstar, hath made unspeakably wealthy.

They deserve a say...

٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ All hail Satan, y'all.

Jim McAlpine

@Troy Mann - then they should also follow the secular laws that govern the conduct of the teachers in that school. That is what this entire discussion is about.

Samual Johnston

@Mike Hayley I do kinda agree in theory BUT to be practical they do save us tax payers a lot of money and people that do work there know what they are signing on for because they literally sign a contract stating all of these rules.

Janie Veston

@Troy Mann Yep like the Catholic Church is "non" profit. That's why they own billions of dollars in real estate. and the vatican has such opulence that it would make you puke! The sooner they tax religion, the better the world will be.

Matt Thuaii

@Troy Mann

I’m sorry, I must not have been clear. “The people” can send their kids to these religious institutions if they want, but the taxes they pay go into public funds, and public funds should not be used to support religious institutions that teach things counter to what is in the public interest...

...i.e., outdated, two-three thousand year old relationship and gender norms based on misguided interpretations of ancient teachings...which almost always cause harm to the very public many of these institutions claim to be trying to “save”.

Samual Johnston

@Matt Thuaii I agree to a point if it was 100% funding - but this system saves us a ton of money - that is why it is in place

ALEX Chiasson

@Troy Mann Of course the whole point of the current New World order is to destabilize the masses starting with religious persecution of the free citizens.

Matt Thuaii

@Troy Mann

That was an example. Are there mega churches in Canada? Yes, there are. Are there churches that exploit their tax free status in Canada for profit? Yes, there are. Is this church one of those? Maybe...maybe not...

...but they definitely should not be teaching religious views and enforcing religious rules with non-religious secular public money.

Matt Thuaii

@Samual Johnston

If you’re referring to the “charter/private school funded with public money” model, tell you what...

...get back to me about all the money we’re saving in a decade or two when the social and educational chickens come home to roost.

Samual Johnston

@Matt Thuaii private semi private religious schools have been around for a long time in Canada - we can survive it - probably a small percentage going to those schools are actually on board with the total religious teachings - they are there because their parents put them there and they put them there for the most part because they offer a very good education and they get into college

Alex Forbes

@Mike Hayley Schools shouldn't be publicly funded at all. Socialist indoctrination institutions.

Lori Cameron

@Mike Hayley
You will have to open up constitution to do that. Good luck!

colin smith

@Mike Hayley

Exactly!

They say these schools save the public system money is bunk. They are not private schools they are public schools that specialize in something. If they want to call themselves private school they need to accept no public money.

Jack Adam

@Mike Hayley Religion needs to be kept on a very short leash. They are just dying to control our lives and tell us how to live. All for our own good you understand. To "save" us. Religion is always 2 steps away from going all Taliban on us. So stop funding their schools.

Alex Forbes

@Jack Adam And the government isn't controlling our lives?

david mccaig

@Mike Hayley

"Surrey Christian School " There's the problem, not sex. Claustrophobic , intolerant, inflexible Christian schools that teach science fiction as fact to young inquiring minds, that's the true offense.

And a bunch mo as usual

Chris Spear

@Onager Smith Churches pay HST, source decustions for staff, etc. so there is a direct benefit to the community.

That said;
1) I'm willing to pay taxes for my church if museums, art centers, universities and YCMA are willing to pay.
2) Most of the above wouldn't show enough profit to pay the equivalent of a single worker's tax bill

Joe Renaud

@David Fletcher

Yep - render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. When you pay the piper to you get to call the tune. If they accept public money then they have to conform to public rules. If they want to step outside of that, and apparently they are allowed, then they can fund themselves 100%.

Brent Grywinski

If the churches have the right to discriminate against certain individuals, then they need to stop taking public funds from the government totally and fund the school from parents 100%. If these religious schools want government funding, they need to abide by provincial human rights codes.

David Amos

@Brent Grywinski Funding or not they need to abide by human rights codes

Troy Mann

@Brent Grywinski

Then the parents of the children going to these schools should pay taxes.

The funding these schools get is less than standard institutional schools, get rid of them then you pay higher taxes or divert money from elsewhere

David Amos

@Troy Mann Methinks that is just another standard strawman argument of yours N'esy Pas?

Myles Grant

Before 1977, private schools in BC received zero public dollars. Then Socred Bill Bennett got into power and discovered he could win Socred seats in the Fraser Valley by funding Christian schools with public money. The Fraser Valley has been a reliable BCSocred/BCLIBERAL power base ever since. Works with all private schools, not just the Christian ones.

Irv Millar

@Myles Grant A separate and distinct class of people being generated to impress their system of beliefs on all others. Graduating discrimination one year at a time.

John London

@Brent Grywinski

The catholic club in Ontario has its own school system where they are allowed to discriminate against LGBT staff and students. They neither deserve nor should receive one nickel of public funding.

Toni Scarfone

@John London

Two things,

1) Their are two separate school systems in the province of Ontario; Roman Catholic, and Protestant.
2) The Separate system in Ontario hires a entire cross section of employees; Straight, Gay, Trans, etc.

Than being said, I'd like to see funding end for these systems.

Samual Johnston

@Brent Grywinski are they really discriminating ? they sign a contract stating the rules so where is the discrimination? I think most people can live with this because of the money it saves the tax payers - though I do agree churches should have to pay taxes and not for profit orgs need to be looked at a lot closer.

Patrick Smyth

@Toni Scarfone

" Their are two separate school systems in the province of Ontario; Roman Catholic, and Protestant."

no Roman Catholic and SECULAR PUBLIC, not "protestant"...... Get it straight.

"The Separate system in Ontario hires a entire cross section of employees; Straight, Gay, Trans, etc. "

Don't care, religion has NO PLACE in schools. Religion belongs in one's home and place of worship.and NOT in publicly funded institutions.

Alex Forbes

@Brent Grywinski So you are violating freely made contracts? So much for freedoms in this country. Statism is all the rage these days.

Ben Bandalaut

@Brent Grywinski
Yet they don't mind accepting money from the government (taxpayers).

Most of whom they wouldn't accept as either students or teachers at their ethically pristine school.

If they don't approve of someone's (taxpayer's) lifestyle they shouldn't accept the money that person's (taxpayer's) lifestyles produced.

Alex Forbes

@Ben Bandalaut Exactly! Defund everything!

Eric Johansson

Religious orders of any kind should receive a whopping zero percent of tax payer dollars.

David Amos

@Eric Johansson I agree

Troy Mann

@Eric Johansson

They provide a service to the public and should be compensated for that service.

David Amos

@Troy Mann Yea Right

Trishia Allard

@Troy Mann . Religion provides a disservice to society. And all that "charity" they claim, it's simply marketing to attract believers and make themselves look good. As for the "services" some offer, it's service that should come from government, not biased churches.

Denny O'Brien

@Troy Mann then they should be held to the same nondiscriminatory rules

Troy Mann

@Trishia Allard "Religion provides a disservice to society"

How judgmental of you

Troy Mann

@Denny O'Brien

So we should scrap the Charter of Rights then

Samual Johnston

@Eric Johansson except in the case the tax payer is saving a ton of money and no one is forcing anyone to work here to go to school here -

Alex Forbes

@Eric Johansson No institution should.

Wendy Suiter

@Samual Johnston How exactly is the tax payer saving any money by funding religious schools? Have you been to a public school lately? The buildings are old and in disrepair. Most don't have air conditioning and most make use of portables because there isn't enough room in the main building. If so much taxpayer money wasn't diverted to religious schools, perhaps we could afford to address the problems in our public schools.

colin smith

@Troy Mann

They are compensated for that via the tax free status they enjoy.

Alex Forbes

@Wendy Suiter Religious schools are my public schools and I would rather have MY taxes going there.

David Amos

@Troy Mann "So we should scrap the Charter of Rights then"

Methinks "The Powers that Be" should learn how to uphold the document that they created that Quebec has a little trouble believing in N'esy Pas?

Aaron Jones

""it was sad" to lose Vande Kraats as an employee because she was a strong teacher."

... this is why you fail. Canada really shouldn't have ANY religious schools. Public education needs to be completely secular. Keep your "faith" at home.

Brian Hughes

@Aaron Jones
I strongly agree. Segregation of children based on religion is not just wrong, it's harmful to society.

Mark Hammer

@Aaron Jones
Yes and no. Our eldest attended a religious school, after moving to a big city from a small town where there were only a handful of kids of his religion. He needed to feel like he was "normal", and being surrounded by his religion and culture filled that need.

For kids like him, the additional language and liturgical curriculum can't fit in a standard public school 9:00AM-3:15PM timetable, without shortchanging the regular provincial curriculum. So the solution, where numbers warrant, is to have all the kids with those needs in a faith-based school that incorporates both the provincial and additional curriculum into a longer school day. We paid regular taxes that fund pubic schools as well as a substantial portion of the tuition for the parochial school.

But this is simply a solution for accomplishing something that is impractical to do within the public system, and not a shunning of the public system or a desire to reject the values of public education or the society at large, and segregate children. Most kids at his school switched over to the public system after grade 6.

So it's not a question of *whether* to have religious/faith-based schools, but rather their objectives and policies. I don't have a bone to pick with religious schools any more than I have a bone to pick with "magnet" schools in the public system, that specialize in this or that stream (e.g., the arts, athletics, etc.). Just use the specialization of the school curriculum as a means to do something better, or more efficiently, rather than to segregate kids and reject those dissimilar from you.

Tom Barry

@Brian Hughes

". Segregation of children based on religion is not just wrong, it's harmful to society."

It breeds division.

David Amos

@Aaron Jones I agree

Troy Mann

@Aaron Jones

It isn't public education it is religious education, the system that brought public education to Canada.

Who are you to tell anyone what to do?

This woman signed a contract and failed to live up to the agreement, the school lived up to their end.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Troy Mann "It isn't public education it is religious education, the system that brought public education to Canada"

Methinks that the same system that tortured the indigenous folks N'esy Pas?

Aaron Jones

@Troy Mann Who am I? A tax payer and I am not comfortable with my tax dollars going to a school system that discriminates against others based on religious beliefs.

Daniel Bunbury

@Aaron Jones - I am a tax payer too. Why shouldn't *my* tax dollars be directed towards the school I choose for my child? Why should *my* tax dollars only be allowed to be directed towards *your* school? Why should *your* opinion regarding secular education be imposed on *me*?

Furthermore, "discrimination" is a big word in this context. Lots of non-Christian parents send their children to Christian private schools, because of the discipline and education standards. They clearly aren't barred by those schools.

Troy Mann

@Aaron Jones

I am not comfortable with a lot of things that my tax dollars go to, shall our tax dollars only go to things we are "ALL" comfortable with.

i suspect you believe church should have no say in government, but yet you believe government should have say in church...

Samual Johnston

@Aaron Jones not really - when you think about it the teacher signed a contract and agreed to the rules - she broke the contract and failed to report it -- we may not agree with the contract but it is legal as far as we can tell --- so since no one is being forced to work here and they do save us lots of money I think we can live with it no?

Irv Millar

@Troy Mann You keep saying church. There are other religions that do not worship in a church. It seem to be that you think there are no others but your kith and kin. An awakening is in order. There are other systems of belief that do not inveigh themselves to governments, to become government and then to oppress all who are not of their faith?

Alex Forbes

@Aaron Jones Secular as in teaching unproven (macro)evolution as fact? Atoms to man theories that completely materializes all morality into obscurity? Secular indoctrination camps are what public schools are.

Aaron Jones

@Samual Johnston Just because it is in a contract doesn't make it legal. I find it hard to believe that someone has to sign away a basic Canadian charter right so they can land a teaching job at a catholic school.

The worst part of all of this is that the school and superintendent admit that she was a great teacher and yet use this excuse to not renew her contract. Can these people really have children best interests in mind when they fire a great teacher because they want to discriminate against her lifestyle?

David Amos

@Troy Mann "It isn't public education it is religious education, the system that brought public education to Canada"

Methinks that is the same system that upset so many indigenous folks N'esy Pas?

Charles Baker

Private schools shouldn't get a dime of taxpayers' money. And churches should not get tax breaks or reduced property taxes.
We seriously need to separate church and state.

Easton kerr

@Charles Baker then atheist "charitable" instituitions would have to be treated the same.

Darrel Braun

@Easton kerr
Please name an atheist charitable institution so I can immediately make my tax deductible donation.

Brent Grywinski

@Darrel Braun
Christopher Hitchens said he donated to Oxfam before he died.

John Jacobs

@Easton kerr
Atheism is not a religion

paul bryce

@Charles Baker
Can I stop paying my taxes which fund your Marxist public school which I dont send my children to?

John Watson

@paul bryce

Please tell me which schools are "Marxist" so I can go and volunteer.

Michal Scur

@paul bryce I dont think the word Marxist means what you think it means...

John Watson

@Michal Scur

Or he has no clue what goes on in a school. Likely homeschooled himself.

Darrel Braun

@Brent Grywinski
Do you know of any other charities that Christopher Hitchens turned into atheist charitable institutions by making a donation?

Tom Barry

@John Watson

"Please tell me which schools are "Marxist" so I can go and volunteer."

Universities.

Peter Day

@paul bryce It is snowing here. I can't wait for that Marxist snow plow to come by.

John Watson

@Tom Barry

Not the university I went to. Be more specific.

Tom Barry

@John Watson

Easy search.

David Amos

@Charles Baker "We seriously need to separate church and state"

Methinks that is never gonna happen as long as we continue to pay homage to the "Protector of the Faith" of the Church of England N'esy Pas?

Troy Mann

@Charles Baker

Why do people who tell the loudest about separation of church and state always demand the state impose upon the church?

Churches dont get tax breaks, they are treated like every other not for profit organization.

Taxpaying parents send their children to private schools, so why should they not get a benefit from that?

David Amos

@Troy Mann Methinks private schools serve the wealthy people who do not wish their children to mix with ordinary folks N'esy Pas?

Troy Mann

@David Amos

Christian schools do not have very high tuition fees

Denny O'Brien

@Easton kerr such as?

Daniel Bunbury

@Charles Baker - Separation of church and state simply means the State does not dictate what people must believe - i.e. there is no State-sanctioned church.

So the ability to school ones child according to ones own beliefs, *is* separation of church and state.

And if *your* tax dollars go to fund your child's (public) school, why should the state deny *my* tax dollars going to fund my child's private school?

Sandy Gillis

@Daniel Bunbury

The only institutions which should be receiving public funds to operate are ones willing to operate as though they were public institutions. A public institution would be in violation of Charter rights if they tried to make a person's legal relationships a qualification for employment, and any institution receiving public funds or other material support to operate should be held to the same standard.

As to the "why shouldn't my tax dollars be used for my choice of school" argument: the taxes collected from you by the federal and provincial governments are not earmarked by the dollar. The funds go into general revenue, and education is one of the things it pays for. Public education systems in Canada are designed to allow all students of any background to have an opportunity to succeed (they're still not perfect, but the goal is in line with the Charter). If you decide that you don't want to avail yourself of the services that your tax dollars help pay for, that's your choice. Pay for it yourself.

The same as you can't opt out of your taxes going towards policing because you hired private security, and you can't choose not to pay taxes towards the healthcare system because you're willing to go to a foreign country and pay to skip the line, you can't just opt out of being a Canadian citizen when it's convenient.

Alex Forbes

@Charles Baker That's exactly what is being done here. They have separate laws and regulations. Don't like it, stay out of it.

David Amos

@Troy Mann "Christian schools do not have very high tuition fees"

Methinks many would agree that any fee is too high when it comes to schools supported by taxpayer funds N'esy Pas?

John Watson

Common law marriage is acknowledged in this country. This is yet another example of an employer ignoring the law with the excuse of "religion." I'm upset that my tax dollars go to such a place and I shall inform my MLA of that. Hope everybody who feels that way will do the same.

David Amos

@John Watson Good luck with that

Troy Mann

@John Watson

So "Rights" based on our Charter and Constitution are now considered "excuses"

David Amos

@Troy Mann Methinks whereas you laugh too hard as I defend my rights under the charter you have no right whatsoever to use it in a dumb argument N'esy Pas?

Troy Mann

@David Amos

Not sure what rights you are trying to defend as you attempt to take away my right of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience

Denny O'Brien

@Troy Mann you cam have religion free of my tax dollars

Troy Mann

@Denny O'Brien

You can have education free of my tax dollars

Brian Cohen

@Troy Mann
Why should YOU get a pass on paying taxes to fund public schools??
We, as in every single other Canadian taxpayer have to pay taxes to fund YOUR religious school you hypocrite.

David Amos

@Troy Mann "Not sure what rights you are trying to defend as you attempt to take away my right of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience"

Methinks you religious dudes are quite upset by the fact that I sued Cardinal Law in Beantown in 2002. Now that I sued the "Protector of the Faith" of the Church of England while running in the election of the 42nd Parliament and asserting my rights under the Charter you wish to pay dumb N'esy Pas?

Alex Forbes

@John Watson Laws aren't infallible. It's illegal to harm animals unnecessarily. But when you tell people eating them is unnecessary, they decry it as silly. Laws are not the moral standard. God is.

Alex Forbes

@Sandy Gillis Yes, I am quoting Taliban...good grief.

Michael Dorosh

@John Watson Yeah, God forbid private institutions should set moral standards for their employees.

Rhea Montgomery

Make no mistake about it, Religion is Man made, and written in order to suppress people. We are not born with any misgivings about anyone. It has been known for a long time that the easiest way to manipulate the masses is through fear. Religion works that angle in a BIG way. Stephen Hawking said there is No God. I think I will take his word for it. This Teacher should enjoy her love and not feel any misgivings whatsoever about what comes naturally.

David Amos

@Rhea Montgomery If God did not exist, we would have to invent him: Voltaire

Troy Mann

@Rhea Montgomery "Make no mistake about it, Religion is Man made, and written in order to suppress people."

Prove it

David Amos

@Troy Mann Methinks I just did byway of a deep thinking French man N'esy Pas? Now show me your god.

Troy Mann

@David Amos

I am not the one making a statement of fact here

Manny Fredrick

@David Amos Youthinks not.

Jim LaPalmier

@Rhea Montgomery

Religion is all about power, control, manipulation, and ultimately that which ensures 'all of the above': MONEY.

David Amos

@Manny Fredrick Methinks therefore I am However it is your god that I my doubts about because you people have failed to introduce us yet expect folks to have faith in your beliefs N'esy Pas?

Alex Forbes

@Rhea Montgomery So you will take a MAN's word after saying you will discount other alleged man-made words? Okay then...

Rhea Montgomery

@Troy Mann I don't have to Prove it. Stephen Hawking did for me. And there's Science. The world was not Created 2000 years ago. Adam Did Not make Eve from his Rib. Noah did Not shove 2 of every animal in an ark he built (or if he did half would have eaten the other half), etc etc etc. All make believe. It's interesting, but not real.

Rhea Montgomery

@David Amos deep.

Rhea Montgomery

@Jim LaPalmier exactly. Still is. The Catholic Church has a ridiculous amount of real estate and money, ridiculous. Where is it all? Why aren't they feeding people? Taking care of the homeless? Power. Money. Control (a control they are starting to lose I'm happy to say).

Rhea Montgomery

@Alex Forbes I respect his genius. But like I also said "Science". Do you believe that Eve and therefor All woman, come from a man's rib? Or does that seem preposterous to you?

Alex Forbes

@Rhea Montgomery Even if you believe in evolution, unless they were breeding humans in litters, there would have been a "first" human...

Dennis Cooper

@Alex Forbes

Does that logic apply to gods as well? Created in gods image. What use did God have for a bellybutton?

David Amos

@Rhea Montgomery "deep."

And wide Google Federal Court File no T-15557-15 to see why

Robert Storch

Religion has absolutely ZERO place in the Education System.

Story-tales and invisible sky daddy is for bedtime with the little ones, not for serious business like becoming productive, well-educated members of society.

David Amos

@Robert Storch Methinks a little Zen wouldn't harm anyone and no doubt help with sky daddy's motorcycle maintenance N'esy Pas?

Troy Mann

@Robert Storch

Atheists and their superiority complex is showing once again

David Amos

@Troy Mann Methinks you should have a look in the mirror N'esy Pas?

Troy Mann

@David Amos

Where have I personally attacked any person?

mike wood

@Robert Storch then why are my children being forced to pray on a carpet to learn about "diversity"

Mark Wood

@mike wood

BULL!

Brian Cohen

@Troy Mann
"Atheists and their superiority complex is showing once again"

Are "atheists" demanding the public pay for an atheist school board??
No??

Then what the bleep are you on about.
Your arguments are devoid of logic

Jim McAlpine

@Troy Mann - it's doesn't take a superiority complex to not believe in unicorns and leprechauns, either. You may hate atheists because they are different than you, because they don't believe in a bronze age story, etc., but that doesn't mean atheists are the evil you've concocted in your mind.

David Amos

@Troy Mann "Where have I personally attacked any person?"

What am I chopped liver?

Ron Blackburn

Right wing Christians still living in the 1800s.

Troy Mann

@Ron Blackburn

I am a God loving Liberal with a graduate degree in engineering...

Thanks

Myles Grant

@Ron Blackburn And enjoying their publicly funded specialness and apartness.

Jim LaPalmier

@Ron Blackburn

Ahhh, the "good old days".

Brian Cohen

@Troy Mann
Then one would expect you to have a much larger grasp on logic and reasoning.
Your posts show you do not

David Amos

@Troy Mann I thought you were the bureaucrat with Vestcor

Alex Forbes

@Brian Cohen One would expect people claiming religious people of being immoral to be more civil. But your posts show that is not the case...

Rhea Montgomery

You don't even need to work the 'discriminatory' angle. Just leave. Teachers are needed everywhere. Religion is overrated and needs to just die off. I'm so fed up with the hypocrisy of religion.

Rance Mohammet

@Rhea Montgomery She signed a contract

David Amos

@Rance Mohammet Therein lies the rub

Irv Millar

@Rance Mohammet Signing a contract that is discriminatory is the equivalent to signing your name on a piece of tissue. You cannot sign away the rights of all Canadians to suit a personal choice from a well organized, well heeled political operation that uses religion to hide their money, while the unclean fund their system of beliefs? Build your own schools on your religious lands and pay your own bills. We are tired of supporting your nature in action.

Patricia Henderson

@Rance Mohammet Yes, she did. She was happy to sign up for the job under those conditions...then was upset when she contravened them and there were consequences. I feel sympathy for her, but she as one of their teachers perpetuated the code, including expectations of teachers and moral instruction of students. If nobody signed on for that moral code, that whole outfit would collapse.

Teacher shown door after Christian school discovers she had sex 'outside of a heterosexual marriage'

Education advocate questions why provinces fund schools that discriminate against employees

Erica Johnson· CBC News· Posted: Mar 03, 2019 5:00 PM PT

Stephanie Vande Kraats was told she couldn't continue to teach at Surrey Christian School because she had violated a school policy requiring employees to only have sex within a heterosexual marriage. (Erica Johnson/CBC)

A long-time teacher at Surrey Christian School in B.C. says she was told her contract would not be renewed after school administrators discovered she was living with her male partner, violating a clause in her employment contract that forbids "any sexual activity outside of a heterosexual marriage."

"When you're enforcing a policy like this you have to ask a teacher questions like, 'Who do you live with? Where do you live? Are you sexually active? Are you pregnant? Are you gay?... It was humiliating," Stephanie Vande Kraats told Go Public, tearing up as she recalled the meetings two years ago that led to her resignation.

Been wronged? Contact Erica and the Go Public team

Vande Kraats had worked at the school for almost 14 years as an English teacher and librarian.

She's angry that her former employer receives half of its annual funding — $5 million — from the B.C. government when the school discriminates against employees.

Go Public's Erica Johnson and teacher Stephanie Vande Kraats review a Surrey Christian School contract that discriminates against employees based on their marital status and sexual orientation. (Enzo Zanatta/CBC)

Surrey Christian School is among hundreds of religious schools across the country that receive public funding. Many are allowed to have discriminatory hiring policies because they have religious exemptions from human rights laws.

"It's enabling private schools that are using public money to operate to violate the human rights of their employees," says Patti Bacchus, who chaired the Vancouver School Board from 2008-14. "I think that's a big problem."

'It was traumatic for me'

Vande Kraats says she was married when she signed the Surrey Christian School's employment contract, which included a community standards policy, banning employees from having sex outside of a heterosexual marriage.

More than a decade later, after she had divorced and was living with her common-law partner, school superintendent Dave Loewen called her to his office and asked questions about her personal life.

He told her she could work six more months until the end of her contract, but Vande Kraats says she felt she had to resign.

"I didn't want to continue in a place where I already felt humiliated and judged," she said. "It was traumatic for me."

She says she also felt pressured to exit quietly, because she needed a good letter of reference. She is now working at another school in the Vancouver area.

"I think there are a lot more people who have been hurt by these policies than just myself, and I know exactly why they're not speaking up. They need those references as much as I did," Vande Kraats says.

'I don't think it's discriminatory'

Surrey Christian School superintendent Dave Loewen told Go Public, "it was sad" to lose Vande Kraats as an employee because she was a strong teacher.

"Having to have a difficult conversation with someone about personal choices is not my favourite thing to do," he said.

Surrey Christian School superintendent Dave Loewen says his school is transparent about the lifestyle choices it expects staff to follow. (Erica Johnson/CBC)

He disagrees that the school's community standards policy is discriminatory.

"I think the word 'discriminates' is too strong of a word," said Loewen. "I don't think it's discriminatory because it's not a requirement for people to work here. It's invitational and we're transparent about our values."

'Independent schools save taxpayers'

Surrey Christian School is a member of the Federation of Independent School Associations (FISA), which told Go Public in an email, "Independent schools save taxpayers nearly $430 million a year in operating costs and many millions more in capital costs" because parents pay tuition.

FISA executive director Shawn Chisholm said teachers "have the choice" of moving to another school, an argument that exasperates Bacchus, who writes on education issues for the Georgia Straight newspaper.

"To suggest that you can choose to go work somewhere else ... really is undermining the whole point of having those kind of protections," she said. "People shouldn't have to face discrimination in this country based on their marital status or their gender identity."

Controversial community contracts

Surrey Christian School is one of 35 schools that belong to the Society of Christian Schools in B.C., which provides its members a template for community standards policies that employees must follow.

Besides restrictions on sexual activity, there are recommended bans on things like using coarse language, public drunkenness and watching porn.

Surrey Christian School is one of 35 B.C. Christian schools that receive government funding while having policies that forbid sex outside a heterosexual marriage. (Daniel Beauparlant/CBC)

Human rights codes in provinces across Canada have similar exemptions that allow religious schools to set their own policies, if they're based on religious beliefs and their primary purpose is to promote the interests of a religious group.

The defining legal case dates back to 1984, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of a Catholic school that fired a teacher after she married a divorced man, saying non-profit religious institutions have the right to give preference to members of the group their organizations serve.

Court challenges

Challenges to those policies are few in number, and Go Public could not find any cases where employees had been successful in court.

In December, a former teacher and principal at a Catholic school took her case to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, alleging that she was pushed to quit because of her sexual orientation. That case is ongoing.

As a result of media reports, the Alberta government, which provided almost $1.7 billion in funding to Catholic schools last year, is now reviewing the employment contracts from all 16 Catholic school boards in the province.

A transgender man who was fired from a Catholic school in Alberta in 2008 lost his legal fight in 2017.

A Vancouver teacher decided not to pursue a legal case after she says she was pushed out of a Catholic school in 2010 when administrators discovered she was a lesbian after she asked for parental leave because her partner was having a baby.

Last June, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that B.C.'s Trinity Western University, an evangelical Christian school, could not get accreditation for a planned new law school because it has a policy demanding that students abstain from sex outside of heterosexual marriage — a code of conduct the court ruled to be discriminatory towards LGBT students.

"Interesting that staff weren't addressed in that ruling," says Vande Kraats, who told Go Public the Trinity Western decision prompted her to speak out about what had happened to her.

"I do wonder if the climate is changing now," she says.

When Vande Kraats asked the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal about her situation, she says she was dissuaded from filing a case.

"They were very sympathetic," she says, but told her that religious schools have the legal right to have discriminatory employment clauses.

B.C. religious schools get $300M a year

Surrey Christian School receives 50 per cent of the per-pupil funding given to public schools within its district.

In 2017-18, the school received $5 million in public funds — a portion of almost $300 million the provincial government allocated to faith-based schools.

Public education advocate Patti Bacchus says independent religious schools that want to have 'discriminatory' hiring practices should not receive government funding. (Dillon Hodgin/CBC)

Bacchus argues that people who want alternatives to the public education system can make that choice, but shouldn't have access to government funding.

"It's problematic to me that our provincial government in B.C. is providing funding to private schools that are including this kind of discriminatory language in employee contracts and discriminating against employees," she says.

Vande Kraats also wants the B.C. government to cut funding or demand religious schools change their employment policies.

B.C. government declines to comment

Go Public requested an interview with B.C. Premier John Horgan, but a spokesperson referred our request to the Ministry of Education.

A ministry spokesperson declined the interview request, and also refused to explain why the province provides funding to faith-based schools with discriminatory policies.

Communications manager Sean Leslie sent a statement reiterating that B.C.'s Human Rights Code provides certain exemptions that allow schools to have policies like the one that led to Vande Kraats' termination.

Time for a change?

Raji Mangat, a human rights lawyer with West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, says it may be time for the courts to re-examine the battle between religious rights and individual human rights.

"Society and our expectations around human rights and people's dignity change," Mangat says. "For instance, same sex marriage is now recognized.

Human rights lawyer Raji Mangat says it may be time for the courts and society to re-examine exemptions in the law that allow religious rights to trump an individual's human rights. (Dillon Hodgin/CBC)

"There are so many situations in which people are either forced to leave or told their [employment] contract isn't going to be renewed for reasons I think a lot of us, today, would find very troubling."

'This is a dark secret'

Vande Kraats hopes that speaking out will encourage provincial governments across the country to take a hard look at the funding provided to schools with discriminatory employment contracts.

"This is a dark secret for these religious independent schools," she says.

"What I've learned is that these policies are actually enforced. And they're enforced against people that have been long-time teachers who are respected. And it's very hurtful. I hope it changes."

Submit your story ideas
Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.
We tell your stories and hold the powers that be accountable.
We want to hear from people across the country with stories you want to make public.
Submit your story ideas at Go Public.
Follow @CBCGoPublic on Twitter.

About the Author

Erica Johnson

Investigative reporter

Erica Johnson is an award-winning investigative journalist. She hosted CBC's consumer program Marketplace for 15 years, investigating everything from dirty hospitals to fraudulent financial advisors. As co-host of the CBC news segment Go Public, Erica continues to expose wrongdoing and hold corporations and governments to account.

Go Public

With files from Enza Uda

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Ford government fires OPP deputy Brad Blair, critic of Taverner appointment

March 4, 2019, 11:26 am

≫ Next: Criticism mounts over government's 'biased' French immersion survey

≪ Previous: Teacher shown door after Christian school discovers she had sex 'outside of a heterosexual marriage'

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks Ford is doing things much differently but he is every bit as corrupt as the liberals ever were N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/ford-government-fires-opp-deputy-brad.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/opp-deputy-commissioner-fired-1.5041873

Ford government fires OPP deputy Brad Blair, critic of Taverner appointment

720 Comments

Guy D’Aramitz

Ford, the tin pot dictator of Ontario.

Show 8 older replies

David Amos

@Brian Bennie ."You need to develop a sense of humour before you attempt it .But do try again."

Trust that I am enjoying all the comments from the peanut galley at the circus and humour has nothing to do with it

Roger O' Malley

@Guy D’Aramitz A reminder, from coast to coast, Canada is a shytehole.

Nowhere worse than in Toronto and Ontario. Failing economies surviving on massive debt and a lack of civil liberties.

Fred Smith

Now that was a very big mistake. One of many he seems to be perpetuating.

Show 8 older replies

david mccaig

@Fred Smith

Wonde if citizen groups will put pressure on the opposition and judiciary to do investigatiins into Doug Fords administration.

David Amos

@Jack Adam "Its no mistake. Its how ford works. Best get used to it"

YUP

David Sampson

Oh Dougie, that’s so Trump like!

How do you like him now Ontario!

Show 9 older replies

Ron Brady

@Ron Brady Check the fund raising figures. Seems most agree with me.

David Amos

@David Sampson "How do you like him now Ontario!"

Survey Says?

Alex Laverick

The Trump of the north

Show 3 older replies

Dawn Lewis

@Alex Laverick I prefer Mini Trump.

David Amos

@Dawn Lewis I call him Trumpster

Ric Ferriby

how much is this going to cost Ontario taxpayers' in legal fees and pay-outs for wrongful dismissal this time?

Show 3 older replies

Andy Freeman

@Ric Ferriby

I'll let you know after I finnish paying off the gas plants, ehealth and ORNGE

David Amos

@Ric Ferriby Who cares at least Ontario is rid of a questionable top cop correct?

Doris Kannon

Extremely bad move - showing that even the police don't have freedom of speech as Mr. Blair has been very negatively vocal of Ford, as I have!!!!

Show 1 older reply

Amelia Blanchard

@Michael Furmaniak

That free speech matters, seems implied. But th right only likes free speech when it protects bigots, not hardworking citizens from dissenting.

David Amos

@Doris As Blair or Ford why I sued the Queen in 2015 if you think either of them are even remotely ethical

Louisa Walker

This Ford situation is going to get a lot worse.

Show 7 older replies

Dawn Lewis

@Angela Kung The only carbon Ford knows anything about is the carbon left in the bottom of his hash pipe.

David Amos

@Louisa Walker YUP

Don Pooley

Ford wants the OPP to do his bidding, plain and simple. Ford is doing everything he accused the Liberals of tenfold.

Show 4 older replies

David Novak

@Brian Houselander - Losing does not mean we have to stand back and watch an under-educated Premier wreak havoc with our legal system.

We elect Premiers in Ontario, not dictators. You clearly weren't paying attention in school.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Don Pooley Methinks Ford is doing things much differently but he is every bit as corrupt as the liberals ever were N'esy Pas?

Richard Evans

Civil servants losing their jobs, an"camper" van for Ford and now a cop who is critical of the P.C.'s pick for OPP leader ( read Ford) is fired. And the beat goes on.......

David Amos

@Richard Evans Welcome to the Circus

Josh Tanner

Keep it up Ford, take all the rope you need to hang yourself with.

Next election you cannot hide behind a non-platform. You will have to defend your wreaking ball policy.

David Amos

@Josh Tanner Time will tell the tale

Ford government fires OPP deputy Brad Blair, critic of Taverner appointment

Blair wanted Ontario ombudsman to investigate naming of Ford friend as OPP chief

Nick Boisvert· CBC News· Posted: Mar 04, 2019 11:31 AM ET

OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair has been critical of Ron Taverner's planned appointment as the next Ontario Provincial Police chief. (Ontario Provincial Police)

The Ford government has fired the outspoken Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner Brad Blair.

Blair has been a fierce critic of the Progressive Conservatives' appointment of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner as the next chief of the OPP. He was fired Monday morning.

Blair is asking an Ontario court to force the province's ombudsman to investigate the appointment of Taverner, who is a longtime friend of Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

He also recently revealed internal OPP documents about a plan to customize a van for Premier Ford.

Doug Ford's van customization has $50K price tag, documents show

The PCs say the decision to fire Blair was made by Mario Di Tommaso, the deputy minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and interim OPP commissioner Gary Couture. The firing was approved by the Public Service Commission.

The PCs have not said exactly why Blair was terminated.

During question period in the Ontario Legislature Monday morning, Opposition leader Andrea Horwath suggested Blair was fired for speaking out against Taverner's appointment.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Blair's 'bravery' may have led to his firing. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

"It's a chilling day in Ontario when a well-respected OPP deputy commissioner who dedicated his life to this province is fired for standing up for the integrity and independence of our provincial police," Horwath said.

"It was a brave thing for this person to do, to come forward, and it looks like that bravery has lost him his job."

'Private HR issue'

In response to Horwath's accusation, Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones said the decision was made "independently of the political process."

"I will not be commenting, nor should anyone else on private HR issues," she said.

Jones later told reporters the decision was made entirely at the discretion of the Public Service Commission and the OPP. She said any accusation that her government influenced the firing was "categorically false."

Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones said neither she nor Premier Doug Ford were involved in the decision. (Ontario)

"I wasn't asked for my advice, if I agreed with the decision that was made. [The Public Service Commission] made the decision to terminate," Jones insisted amid repeated questions about accusations of political interference.

However, Jones did not say who initially launched the review or investigation into Blair's performance, only that the Public Service Commission accepted the recommendation that Blair be fired.

An interim incumbent will be identified by the ministry.

PCs delay controversial appointment of OPP

In addition to his request to Ontario's ombudsman, Blair is also threatening to sue Ford, alleging that the premier damaged his reputation when Ford accused him of breaking the Police Services Act by speaking out against Taverner's hiring.

Taverner's appointment has been delayed until the integrity commissioner completes an investigation.

With files from The Canadian Press and Mike Crawley

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Criticism mounts over government's 'biased' French immersion survey

March 4, 2019, 2:38 pm

≫ Next: Jane Philpott resigns from cabinet, citing loss of 'confidence' over government's handling of SNC-Lavalin

≪ Previous: Ford government fires OPP deputy Brad Blair, critic of Taverner appointment

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Dominic Cardy knows there is no need for a long form answer. His cohorts know that on April, 2008 I explained the Charter to his lawyer buddies Kelly Lamrock and TJ Burke

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/criticism-mounts-over-governments.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/french-immersion-survey-biased-1.5039735

Criticism mounts over government's 'biased' French immersion survey

185 Comments

David Amos

"Cardy was not available for an interview to respond to the critics. He said last week he would not prejudge the outcome of the consultation. "That would undermine it if the minister said at the beginning what he wants to do," he said.

On social media, Cardy has rebutted complaints about biased questions. "If you don't like the questionnaire, send in long-form answers," he wrote. "That's why the option is there. Or get in touch with me directly."

YEA RIGHT

Trust that Dominic Cardy knows as well as I there is no need for a long form answer. He knows that on Thursday the 3rd of April 2008 I explained the Charter to his lawyer buddies Kelley Lamrock and TJ Burke. 11 years later I will argue it with Andrea Mason Anderson if enough folks want me to.

David Amos

@David Amos

The Charter clearly states the following.

23. (1) Citizens of Canada

a) whose first language learned and still understood is that of the
English or French linguistic minority population of the province in
which they reside, or

b) who have received their primary school instruction in Canada in
English or French and reside in a province where the language in which
they received that instruction is the language of the English or
French linguistic minority population of the province,

(2) Citizens of Canada of whom any child has received or is receiving
primary or secondary school instruction in English or French in
Canada, have the right to have all their children receive primary and
secondary school instruction in the same language

(3) The right of citizens of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to
have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction
in the language of the English or French linguistic minority
population of a province

a) applies wherever in the province the number of children of citizens
who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the provision to them
out of public funds of minority language instruction; and

b) includes, where the number of those children so warrants, the right
to have them receive that instruction in minority language educational
facilities provided out of public funds.

Get it?

George Smith

George Smith

Poor English was accepted to teach French Immersion but poor French was unacceptable. That's still a fact in New Brunswick. Hence the real reason for Anglophone angst over bilingualism. It's not bilingualism if French children can't even ride on the same bus as English children. That's separatism.

Joseph Vacher

@George Smith exacly!

level the playing fields and maybe i'll give it a shot

Rosco holt

@George Smith
It was already tried, but failed when some parents complained about their kids hanging around the other linguistic community.

David Amos

@George Smith Methinks to be fair to all Mr Higgs and Mr Cardy should offer English Immersion in the French schools N'esy Pas?

Rosco holt

@David Amos
Why?
They already have English courses integrated in their curriculum.

While on the English side, government keeps moving Immersion to please some people.

Shawn Tabor

This survey is like a test, they will take the results and all the comments and apply it to yet another survey to achieve there goal. The next time it will be a little different but ultimately lead to their means or what they really want to accomplish. If this story or article is even true, it’s hard to know any more. We saw this last week in the Federal government. They will go to great lengths to protect or give influential people or groups, companies what they want, at the expense of the average working, tax paying citizen. Law is a joke, when the Judges are appointed or the recovering Lawyer terminology. They have been doing this for a very long time. Might change someday.

David Amos

@Shawn Tabor Welcome back to the Circus

Criticism mounts over government's 'biased' French immersion survey

Questions designed to lead people to certain responses, say data specialists and other critics

Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Mar 04, 2019 4:00 AM AT

Education Minister Dominic Cardy says he wants to base decisions about French immersion on data and the public's response. (Gilles Landry/Radio-Canada)

There's a growing chorus of criticism that the provincial government's online survey on French immersion is biased and is designed to lead respondents to a specific result.

Experts and parents say the questions are misleading and incomplete, and some of them are accusing Education Minister Dominic Cardy of skewing the survey to justify moving the immersion entry point back to Grade 3.

"I feel that there is a plan in place that they hope to revert back to the third-grade entry point and they're looking for data to show that New Brunswickers want that," said Isabelle Agnew, a graduate student at the University of Alberta, who studies data and statistics.

"To do that, you word questions very particularly and you get the data you're looking for."

Sackville parent Rebecca Leaman, who plans to enrol her two children in French immersion, said the wording "kind of guides you to choose" answers that support the Grade 3 option.

"It was really just trying to reinforce a political agenda, which is fine, but they should state, 'This is our political agenda, do you agree with us or not?' rather than stating this is an unbiased survey."

Questions lacking information

Sandra Magalhaes, a research associate at the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training said the questions lack key information and that could lead respondents to choose answers they might not otherwise select.

"If I was to develop this survey, I definitely wouldn't word it that way," she said. "When I looked at the questions, I had a lot of questions about the data. When you're presenting data you need to be very complete about it."

CBC News

Is the provincial government's French immersion survey biased? Here's what a grad student had to say.

00:0000:56

Some New Brunswickers think the provincial government’s online survey on French immersion is biased and designed to lead respondents to a specific result. 0:56

She said someone filling out the online questionnaire is "assuming this is an accurate piece of data and you're not missing information."

Cardy announced a public consultation last week on French-second-language education. He said he's open to the possibility of moving the immersion entry point back to Grade 3 from Grade 1 to address teacher shortages and improve assessment results.

In opposition, the Progressive Conservatives loudly opposed a Liberal decision to move it from Grade 3 to Grade 1.

Do you have questions about New Brunswick's French immersion program?

French immersion entry point could switch again — here's what you need to know

Agnew said the online survey's questions cast the Grade 3 entry point in a positive light while using negative language for the Grade 1 option.

One question says that "only" 10 per cent of the students who entered immersion in Grade 1 in 2005 achieved advanced-level French or higher at the end of high school.

But that doesn't mention that many of those students didn't stay in immersion for the full 12 years, Agnew pointed out. Of the students who remained, 46.7 per cent were at advanced or higher, according to the province's 2017-18 assessments.

The question also doesn't say how many students reached an intermediate or intermediate-plus level.

But another question calls it a "documented success" that 92 per cent of students who started immersion in Grade 3 achieved the intermediate level.

Sandra Magalhaes, a research associate at UNB's New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training, says she would question data based on the questions used in the government survey. (McGill University Health Centre Research Institute)

The implication is that Grade 1 entry is a failure and Grade 3 entry is a success, Agnew said, even though it's based on different ways of measuring.

"You're comparing apples to oranges, and it's hard for the average person to take in that information correctly," she said.

Magalhaes agreed. "The benchmark is different for those two questions. … If you're comparing across questions and numbers, it would have to be the same benchmark."

And while the other relevant data is available online in various locations, few respondents are likely to search for it and find it while filling out the questionnaire, she said.

"The context in which the survey is presented doesn't provide people with all the resources they need to answer the questions [based on] their own beliefs, or what they think."

Increased complaints

Liberal MLA Chuck Chiasson said he has heard complaints from many of his constituents that the online survey has been crafted to give the PCs a rationale for moving it back to Grade 3.

"It's very obvious to a lot of people what's going on here," he said. "It's totally biased toward the outcome that Minister Cardy is looking for. … I think it's a joke."

Another parent, Kirsten McKnight of Fredericton, said it's "so very obvious that the questions were leading. It seems like a very blatant attempt to justify switching the [entry] point back."

One question says that only 10 per cent of the students who entered immersion in Grade 1 in 2005 achieved advanced-level French or higher at the end of high school. It doesn't mention that many of those students didn't stay in immersion for the full 12 years. (Sherry Vivian/CBC)

Cardy was not available for an interview to respond to the critics. He said last week he would not prejudge the outcome of the consultation.

"That would undermine it if the minister said at the beginning what he wants to do," he said.
On social media, Cardy has rebutted complaints about biased questions.

"If you don't like the questionnaire, send in long-form answers," he wrote. "That's why the option is there. Or get in touch with me directly."

But Leaman said it's unlikely that most respondents will make that effort.

"We all know from doing surveys that checking boxes is the easiest thing to do."

'I don't think it's credible'

Cardy's department said in a written statement Friday afternoon that it has already heard from more than 6,850 people on the issue.

Agnew, who went through the French immersion program in Moncton-area schools, said she was "increasingly infuriated" as she went through the survey last week.

She noted that another question, on the shortage of teachers with the required proficiency to teach immersion, offers no other options on addressing the problem.

Public consultation on French immersion not politically motivated, minister says

Higgs government considers moving French immersion entry point again

Take politics out of education, says teachers' union leader

"I don't think it's credible at all," she said. "I think any statistics that get pulled from this survey will be problematic at best."

Agnew said her own experience demonstrates how the statistics can be misleading: because of scheduling conflicts in high school, she was one course short of being considered an immersion graduate.

Even so, she has an advanced-plus assessment — but it doesn't show up in the statistics measuring the success of the program because she didn't officially finish immersion.

About the Author

Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. Raised in Moncton, he also produces the CBC political podcast Spin Reduxit.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2019 16:48:50 -0400
Subject: RE French Immersion versus the Charter Methinks my cousin
Megan Mitton and the Globe and Mail will ignore me a usual N'esy Pas
Mr Cardy?
To: alice.cotton@gnb.ca, letters@globeandmail.com, sfine
<sfine@globeandmail.com>, "andrea.anderson-mason"
<andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>, "Dominic.Cardy"
<Dominic.Cardy@gnb.ca>, "blaine.higgs"<blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>,
"hugh.flemming"<hugh.flemming@gnb.ca>, "charles.murray"
<charles.murray@gnb.ca>, "Michel.Carrier"<Michel.Carrier@gnb.ca>,
"kris.austin"<kris.austin@gnb.ca>, "rick.desaulniers"
<rick.desaulniers@gnb.ca>, "michelle.conroy"<michelle.conroy@gnb.ca>,
"David.Coon"<David.Coon@gnb.ca>, "Mitton, Megan (LEG)"
<megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, "Arseneau, Kevin (LEG)"
<Kevin.A.Arseneau@gnb.ca>, "Holland, Mike (LEG)"
<mike.holland@gnb.ca>, "brian.gallant"<brian.gallant@gnb.ca>,
"denis.landry2"<denis.landry2@gnb.ca>, "robert.gauvin"
<robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, "robert.mckee"<robert.mckee@gnb.ca>,
"bruce.fitch"<bruce.fitch@gnb.ca>, "bruce.northrup"
<bruce.northrup@gnb.ca>, David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>,
Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, news <news@dailygleaner.com>,
news <news@kingscorecord.com>, sutherland.marie@brunswicknews.com
Cc: oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>,
"Jacques.Poitras"<Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "steve.murphy"
<steve.murphy@ctv.ca>, "David.Akin"<David.Akin@globalnews.ca>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mitton, Megan (LEG)"<Megan.Mitton@gnb.ca>
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2019 20:14:34 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE French Immersion versus the Charter
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Bonjour,

Je suis absente du bureau, au retour le 12 mars 2019. Vous pouvez
communiquer avec ma coordinatrice de circonscription, Alice Cotton:
alice.cotton@gnb.ca.

Merci !

Hello,

I will be out of the office, returning March 12, 2019. You may
communicate with my constituency coordinator, Alice Cotton:
alice.cotton@gnb.ca.

Thank you!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Newsroom <newsroom@globeandmail.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2019 20:14:33 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: RE French Immersion versus the Charter
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Thank you for contacting The Globe and Mail.

If your matter pertains to newspaper delivery or you require technical
support, please contact our Customer Service department at
1-800-387-5400 or send an email to customerservice@globeandmail.com

If you are reporting a factual error please forward your email to
publiceditor@globeandmail.com<mailto:publiceditor@globeandmail.com>

Letters to the Editor can be sent to letters@globeandmail.com

This is the correct email address for requests for news coverage and
press releases.

On 3/4/19, David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> wrote:
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/french-immersion-survey-biased-1.5039735
>
> Criticism mounts over government's 'biased' French immersion survey
> Social Sharing
>
> Questions designed to lead people to certain responses, say data
> specialists and other critics
>
> Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Mar 04, 2019 4:00 AM AT
>
>
> 165 Comments
>
> David Amos
> "Cardy was not available for an interview to respond to the critics.
> He said last week he would not prejudge the outcome of the
> consultation. "That would undermine it if the minister said at the
> beginning what he wants to do," he said.
>
> On social media, Cardy has rebutted complaints about biased questions.
> "If you don't like the questionnaire, send in long-form answers," he
> wrote. "That's why the option is there. Or get in touch with me
> directly."
>
> YEA RIGHT
>
> Trust that Dominic Cardy knows as well as I there is no need for a
> long form answer. He knows that on Thursday the 3rd of April 2008 I
> explained the Charter to his lawyer buddies Kelley Lamrock and TJ
> Burke. 11 years later I will argue it with Andrea Mason Anderson if
> enough folks want me to.
>
>
> David Amos
> @David Amos
>
> The Charter clearly states the following.
>
> 23. (1) Citizens of Canada
>
> a) whose first language learned and still understood is that of the
> English or French linguistic minority population of the province in
> which they reside, or
>
> b) who have received their primary school instruction in Canada in
> English or French and reside in a province where the language in which
> they received that instruction is the language of the English or
> French linguistic minority population of the province,
>
> (2) Citizens of Canada of whom any child has received or is receiving
> primary or secondary school instruction in English or French in
> Canada, have the right to have all their children receive primary and
> secondary school instruction in the same language
>
> (3) The right of citizens of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to
> have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction
> in the language of the English or French linguistic minority
> population of a province
>
> a) applies wherever in the province the number of children of citizens
> who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the provision to them
> out of public funds of minority language instruction; and
>
> b) includes, where the number of those children so warrants, the right
> to have them receive that instruction in minority language educational
> facilities provided out of public funds.
>
> Get it?
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:09:20 -0300
> Subject: RE The Official Languages Act being reviewed in secret and
> yet much discussed in the social media etc
> To: "marie-claude.blais"<marie-claude.blais@gnb.ca>, oldmaison
> <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, law <law@stevenfoulds.ca>, "peter.dauphinee"
> <peter.dauphinee@gmail.com>, maryann4peace <maryann4peace@gmail.com>,
> police <police@fredericton.ca>, police <police@edmundston.ca>,
> "Wayne.Lang"<Wayne.Lang@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, carl.urquhart@gnb.ca,
> mike.olscamp@gnb.ca, bruce.northrup@gnb.ca, info@pco-bcp.gc.ca,
> bill.corby@gnb.ca, ken.cook@fredericton.ca, tclaw@nb.aibn.com,
> Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca, nbombud@gnb.ca, David Amos
> <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
> Cc: complaints@officiallanguages.nb.ca,
> commissioner@officiallanguages.nb.ca, infomorning
> <infomorning@moncton.cbc.ca>, infomorning
> <infomorning@fredericton.cbc.ca>, "terry.seguin"
> <terry.seguin@cbc.ca>, acampbell <acampbell@ctv.ca>, "Jacques.Poitras"
> <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, premier <premier@gnb.ca>, andre
> <andre@jafaust.com>
>
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/09/18/nb-official-languages-committee-review-secret.html
>
> http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2012/09/19/language-hearings/
>
> I have three questions to ask the CROWN that nobody will ever answer.
>
> They are as follows
>
> ONE
>
> If banishments of Chucky Leblanc and I from the Legislature properties
> are even remotely legal then howcome the documents that Bussieres and
> the Fat Fred City
> Finest served upon Chucky and I in June of 2006 are NOT EVEN written in
> BOTH ENGLISH AND FRENCH and NEVER recorded in the Royal Gazette?
>
> Check the documents PUBLISHED within the links for years by Chucky and
> his friends
>
> http://charlesotherpersonality.blogspot.ca/2010/06/it-was-four-years-ago-today-that-i-was_20.html
>
> http://qslspolitics.blogspot.ca/2008/06/david-amos-vs-fat-fred-citys-finest.html
>
> http://uncoverthefakeroots.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/david-raymond-amos-the-silence-indicates-you-got-schooled-in-the-law-7/
>
> TWO
>
> Howcome the Language Commissioners and the Attorney Generals have
> NEVER answered my emails about the obvious Charter violations?
>
> THREE
>
> Anybody remember the email posted within the website below?
>
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 08:24:06 -0700 (PDT)
> From: "David Amos"
> Subject: Re: RE : What of the evidence of murder I just sent you?
> To: robin.cantin@OCOL-CLO.GC.CA
> CC: carl.urquhart@gnb.ca, mike.olscamp@gnb.ca, bruce.northrup@gnb.ca,
> info@pco-bcp.gc.ca, bill.corby@gnb.ca, ken.cook@fredericton.ca,
> brad.green@gnb.ca, bev.harrison@gnb.ca, Wayne.STEEVES@gnb.ca,
> bruce.noble@fredericton.ca, Jody.CARR@gnb.ca, Keith.ASHFIELD@gnb.ca,
> David.ALWARD@gnb.ca, warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
> lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca, Comuzzi.J@parl.gc.ca, Arthur.A@parl.gc.ca,
> Kathy.Alchorn@fredericton.ca, Kim.Quartermain@fredericton.ca,
> police@fredericton.ca, Harper.S@parl.gc.ca, info@gg.ca
>
> Exactly
>
> May I suggest that you call the RCMP/GRC and the Office of Public
> Sector Integrity NOW?
>
> Then perhaps you should have your lawyer contact me.
>
> Veritas Vincit
> David Raymond amos
>
>
> Subject: RE : What of the evidence of murder I just sent you?
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 10:58:37 -0400
> From: robin.cantin@OCOL-CLO.GC.CA
> To: David Amos
>
> I fail to see how that is something the Commissioner of Official
> Languages could possibly investigate. Obviously, for criminal matters
> you need a police force, not a language ombudsman.
>
> Robin
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : David Amos
> Envoyé : 20 mai, 2008 10:49
> À : Cantin, Robin
> Objet : What of the evidence of murder I just sent you?
> Importance : Faible
>
> robin.cantin@OCOL-CLO.GC.CA wrote:
>
> Ah yes, I did remember your message when you mentioned our Moncton
> office and court intervention on the phone.
>
> I assume you are aware that the issue has already been taken to court
> - an application for judicial review has been filed to the Court of
> Queen's Bench in Saint John. See
>
> http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/296686.
>
> I believe the response you got from our office in Moncton makes sense.
> On the topic of the AG's powers, jurisprudence is full of cases that
> went to court (and some were won) despite the opposition of a
> provincial AG.
>
> Cordially,
>
> Robin Cantin
> Manager, Media Relations / Gestionnaire, Relations avec les médias
> Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages / Commissariat aux
> langues officielles
> Phone / Téléphone : (613) 995-0374
> Cell. : (613) 324-0999
> robin.cantin@ocol-clo.gc.ca
>
> Please visit our Web site www.officiallanguages.gc.ca and read Beyond
> Words, Canada’s official languages newsletter.
> Veuillez visiter notre site Web www.languesofficielles.gc.ca et lire
> Au-delà des mots, le cyberbulletin des langues officielles du Canada.
>
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : David Amos
> Envoyé : 20 mai, 2008 10:24
> À : Cantin, Robin
> Objet : Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file
> something in Federal Court instead of him?
>
> From: tclaw@nb.aibn.com
> To: "David Amos"
> Subject: Re: Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I
> file something in Federal Court instead of him?
> Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 17:22:57 -0400
>
> Mr. Amos, thank you for your telephone message and the email attached.
>
> Tom Christie
>
> From: David Amos
> Date: 2008/05/16 Fri PM 04:22:13 EDT
> To: bureau@acpi-cait.ca, tclaw@nb.aibn.com
> Subject: Fwd: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file
> something in Federal Court instead of him?
>
> Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:36:53 -0700 (PDT)
> From: "David Amos"
> Subject: For the Record I just called and tried to alk to Graham
> Fraser and Gilbert Taylor and was not allowed to do so
> To: robin.cantin@ocol-clo.gc.ca
>
> I was told by Taylor's assistant that he was in Ottawa today. whereas
> you people do not wish to dicuss the Act that you were hired to uphold
> we will argue it in Federal Court as the commissioner of Languages in
> New Brunswick suggests. EH?
>
> Veritas Vincit
> David Raymond Amos
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> Commissioner of Official Languages’ New Representative for the Atlantic
> Region
>
> The Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, is pleased to
> announce the appointment of Gilbert Taylor as the Commissioner’s
> Representative for the Atlantic Region.
>
> "Mr. Taylor will continue the dialogue with institutions subject to
> the Official Languages Act and with various organizations that play an
> essential role in the vitality of the two official language
> communities,” Mr. Fraser said. “I am convinced Mr. Taylor will serve
> the region well and that his experience in the Maritimes and across
> the country will prove to be very valuable.”
> Commissioner Fraser also thanked Claude Haché for the work he has done
> as his representative. The role of the Commissioner’s Representative
> is to support the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in
> the Atlantic region. In particular, this involves working with federal
> institutions and communities to ensure full respect for the language
> rights of the public, to promote the equality of the two official
> languages in an increasingly diverse society and to enhance the
> vitality of official language minority communities.
>
> This role is more relevant than ever in the context of implementing
> Part VII of the Official Languages Act, which requires that federal
> institutions take positive measures to promote linguistic duality and
> to contribute to the development of official language communities.
> Gilbert Taylor has rich and varied experience in several areas of the
> federal public service. He has proven his leadership in the area of
> official languages during his 28 years of experience. Mr. Taylor
> received recognition from the Prince Edward Island Federal Council in
> 2004 for his contributions to the province’s official languages
> program. Since 2005, he has worked as a consultant and National
> rehabilitation manager at the head office of Veterans Affairs in
> Charlottetown. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Queen’s
> University and studied anthropology at the University of Prince Edward
> Island.
>
> Mr. Taylor will assume his responsibilities on August 13, 2007. He
> replaces Mr. Claude Haché, who will become an investigator for the
> Atlantic region. You may contact the Atlantic regional office in
> Moncton at 506-851-7047 or 1-800-561-7109
>
> - 30 -
>
> For more information, contact:
> Robin Cantin
> Manager, Media Relations
> Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
> Telephone: 613-995-0374
> Cellular: 613-324-0999
> Toll-free: 1-877-996-6368
> Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages – Atlantic Region
> Heritage Place, 95 Foundry Street, Suite 410
> Moncton, New Brunswick
> E1C 5H7
> Telephone: 506-851-7047
> Toll-free: 1-800-561-7109
>
>
> Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:08:58 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Amos
> Subject: RE: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file
> something in Federal Court instead of him?
> To: "Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)"Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca
>
>
> You do understand who I am and of the fact I have sued an Attorney
> General and many politicians and lawyers in the past? I hope the
> commisssioner is aware of an answer I received from Bernie Richard and
> of his invitation to sue him.
>
> Veritas Vincit
>
> David Raymond Amos
>
>
> "Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)"Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca wrote:
>
> Dear Sir:
>
> I acknowledge receipt of your email message below.
>
> As explained in the press release, a copy of which was provided to you
> in our earlier email, the Commissioner has recommended that people who
> wish to contest the proposed FSL (French Second Language) Reform
> should contact the Ombudsman. Those who would wish to challenge the
> decision before the Courts should consult a lawyer in order to find
> out what remedies are available (injunction, order, etc… ) and also
> where the action should be filed. The matter of whether the Attorney
> General can stop such a lawsuit should also be discussed with the
> lawyer. While in cases where people which to issue a constitutional
> challenge, they must formally advise the Attorney General, this does
> not mean that the Attorney General has the power to stop the matter.
> Trusting this response will meet with your approval.
> Yours truly,
>
> Patricia Parent
> Manager / Gestionnaire
> Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for N.B.
> Bureau du Commissaire aux langues officielles du N.-B.
> 440 rue King Street
> Tour King Tower, Pièce/Suite 646
> Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H8
> telephone (TTY)/téléphone (ATS) : (506) 444-4229
> toll free (TTY)/aucuns frais (ATS) : 1-888-651-6444
> facsimile/télécopieur : (506) 444-4456
> www.officiallanguages.nb.ca / www.languesofficielles.nb.ca
>
> Français ou anglais..C'est votre choix!
> English or French..It's your choice!
>
> From: David Amos
> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 4:55 PM
> To: Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)
> Subject: Does the Language Commissioner suggest that I file something
> in Federal Court instead of him?
>
> http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowFullDoc/cs/O-3.01///en
>
> Everybody knows that the Attorney General will stop any lawsuit that
> does not suit him or his political party within the Province of New
> Brunsick. Perhaps the Commissioner and I should have a long talk ASAP
> EH?
>
> Veritas Vincit
>
> David Raymond Amos
>
> "Parent, Patricia (OL-LO)"Patricia.Parent@gnb.ca wrote:
>
> Dear Sir:
>
> I acknowledge receipt of your email message below.
>
> Rest assured that your comments have been passed on to the Commissioner.
>
> For your information, please find below a statement that went out on
> March 20th, 2008, from our office to the media all across the
> province. This should answer your questions regarding what the
> Commissioner has done and continues to do with respect to the issue of
> French Second Language (FSL).
>
> It is important to note that this issue will require more than the
> Commissioner's position and unless parents and other members of the
> public openly take issue and condemn the decision, the chances that
> the plan will be implemented are quite high.
>
> Thank you for your interest and for contacting our office.
>
> Yours truly,
>
> Patricia Parent
> Manager / Gestionnaire
> Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for N.B.
> Bureau du Commissaire aux langues officielles du N.-B.
> 440 rue King Street
> Tour King Tower, Pièce/Suite 646
> Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H8
> telephone (TTY)/téléphone (ATS) : (506) 444-4229 toll free
> (TTY)/aucuns frais (ATS) : 1-888-651-6444
> facsimile/télécopieur : (506) 444-4456
> www.officiallanguages.nb.ca / www.languesofficielles.nb.ca
>
> Français ou anglais..C'est votre choix!
> English or French..It's your choice!
>
> *************************************************************************************************************
>
> For immediate release
>
> Fredericton, March 20, 2008 - The Official Languages Act of New
> Brunswick states that it does not apply to the Department of
> Education. This in fact limits the power of the Commissioner of
> Official Languages to investigate complaints with respect to the
> operation of the education system. The Act, however, does provide him
> with the authority and the responsibility to promote the advancement
> of both official languages. It is based on this part of his mandate
> that Commissioner Michel Carrier became involved with FSL reform in
> the province, beginning with his own review, the details of which were
> included in his 2005-2006 annual report.
>
> The Commissioner has been speaking in favor of improving FSL for many
> years. He made presentations to the FSL Commissioners to this effect
> last fall and was instrumental in ensuring that the Federal
> Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, and others appeared
> before the FSL Review Commissioners as he believed these people had
> valuable information and insights to share. The Commissioner also
> spoke directly with the Minister prior to the launching of the
> department's FSL Review, following the release of the Review and prior
> to the announcement in the Legislature last Friday. Mr. Carrier
> attempted to convince the Minister that the abolition of the early
> Immersion program was not the right course of action. He pointed out
> that there are a number of expert recommendations that did not seem to
> have been given the proper attention during the review process.
>
> While the Commissioner does not take issue with the Minister's right
> to bring about needed changes in the education system, and while he
> recognizes the fact that the Minister has been available to meet with
> him on this subject, he cannot support the decision to remove the
> Early Immersion program from the FSL curriculum. "There is no doubt
> that the system is in need of reform", adds the Commissioner.
> "However, like many others who have come forward, I am not convinced
> that this is the way to go. Indeed, experts in the field have
> confirmed that there are many options that could have been considered
> other than slashing the early immersion program."
>
> As his mandate does not allow him to investigate complaints related to
> the ongoing FSL controversy, the Commissioner is encouraging New
> Brunswickers who are unhappy with the government's decision to contact
> the Office of the Ombudsman. While policy issues and decisions are
> generally in the domain of the legislators, the suggestion that the
> immersion changes are more administrative than legislative and,
> moreover, that the Commissioners' work was flawed, brings about
> questions of due process, an issue that falls squarely within the
> Ombudsman's purview. As well, the Ombudsman's role as Child and Youth
> Advocate mandates him to examine the impact of the changes on New
> Brunswick's children.
>
> "It is now essential that New Brunswickers share their concerns with
> their government," Mr. Carrier said. "In addition to letters to the
> editor, MLA's and the Minister, they can also contact the Office of
> the Ombudsman. For my part, I intend to continue exerting whatever
> influence I have to convince the provincial government of the need to
> re-think its decision."
>
> -- 30 --
>
>
> From: David Amos
> Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 4:51 PM
> To: complaints@officiallanguages.nb.ca;
> commissioner@officiallanguages.nb.ca
> Cc: Colford, Krista (OAG/CPG); Doyle Landry, Heather (OAG/CPG); Gould,
> William (OAG/CPG); Laflamme, Marcel (OAG/CPG); Volpé, Jeannot (LEG);
> MacDonald, Kirk (LEG); Fitch, Bruce (LEG); Betts, John W. (LEG)
> Subject: No need of a legal team to study the French question the
> Commissioner should read the Charter He is a lawyer Correct?
>
> Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 17:41:43 -0300
> From: "David Amos"
> To: nbombud@gnb.ca , kelly.lamrock@gnb.ca , wally.stiles@gnb.ca ,
> Ed.Doherty@gnb.ca , T.J.Burke@gnb.ca , roly.macintyre@gnb.ca ,
> John.Foran@gnb.ca , aleblanc.mla@nb.aibn.com , oldmaison@yahoo.com ,
> jonesr@cbc.ca , eugene.mcginley2@gnb.ca , christian.whalen@gnb.ca ,
> Thibault.L@parl.gc.ca , Casey.B@parl.gc.ca ,
> Barry.MacKnight@fredericton.ca , Danny.Copp@fredericton.ca ,
> Premier@gnb.ca , Hermenegilde.Chiasson@gnb.ca , Dion.S@parl.gc.ca ,
> scotta@parl.gc.ca
> Subject: Attn Kelly Lamrock and Bernie Richard and folks concerned
> about French Immersion and the Charter
> CC: carl.urquhart@gnb.ca , mike.olscamp@gnb.ca , bruce.northrup@gnb.ca
> , info@pco-bcp.gc.ca , bill.corby@gnb.ca , ken.cook@fredericton.ca ,
> brad.green@gnb.ca , bev.harrison@gnb.ca , Wayne.STEEVES@gnb.ca ,
> bruce.noble@fredericton.ca , Jody.CARR@gnb.ca , Keith.ASHFIELD@gnb.ca
> , David.ALWARD@gnb.ca , warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca ,
> lou.lafleur@fredericton.ca , Comuzzi.J@parl.gc.ca ,
> Arthur.A@parl.gc.ca , Kathy.Alchorn@fredericton.ca ,
> Kim.Quartermain@fredericton.ca , police@fredericton.ca ,
> Harper.S@parl.gc.ca , info@gg.ca
>
> First things first.
>
> The Charter clearly states the following.
>
> 23. (1) Citizens of Canada
>
> a) whose first language learned and still understood is that of the
> English or French linguistic minority population of the province in
> which they reside, or
>
> b) who have received their primary school instruction in Canada in
> English or French and reside in a province where the language in which
> they received that instruction is the language of the English or
> French linguistic minority population of the province,
>
> (2) Citizens of Canada of whom any child has received or is receiving
> primary or secondary school instruction in English or French in
> Canada, have the right to have all their children receive primary and
> secondary school instruction in the same language
>
> (3) The right of citizens of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to
> have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction
> in the language of the English or French linguistic minority
> population of a province
>
> a) applies wherever in the province the number of children of citizens
> who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the provision to them
> out of public funds of minority language instruction; and
>
> b) includes, where the number of those children so warrants, the right
> to have them receive that instruction in minority language educational
> facilities provided out of public funds.
>
> Get it? I quoted it out of the gate before my following rant that I
> doubt anybody but Kelly Lamrock will read. I did so so that the honest
> Maritimes amongst us can take the words of the Charter and run with to
> bitch to the lawyer Bernie Richard about the lawyer Kelly Lamrock's
> antics. Somebody should explain the meaning of those words. It ain't
> my job to do so.
>
> Read on if you are bored or just happen to care about the sad state of
> our Democracy today and what another pigheaded Maritimer is up to
> today in order to try to defend it and his protect his own dumb arse
> at the same time. The joke is on us if you don't. After all we always
> get the governments we deserve. Correct?
>
> You can find the rest of the email here. Just go to the link and read
> the last comment if you wish.
> FYI I made reference to you Bob Bernier but I did not name you in my
> rant because I am not certain that you are the same dude who just quit
> the liberals in Kings East. If you are that fella you certainly know
> who I am Correct?
> http://davidamos.blogspot.com/2006/05/mariitime-and-yankee-arseholes.html
>
>
> Excerpts of a letter to the Liberal party of N.B.
>
> April 3 was a sad day for the Liberal Party of New Brunswick. Premier
> Shawn Graham, along with his Minister of Education, Kelly Lamrock,
> have ignored the request of the provincial Ombudsman to halt the
> changes to the anglophone school system.
>
> This represents severe contempt for both the desires of the people of
> New Brunswick, as well as the Office of the Ombudsman. The past three
> weeks have seen a wave of dissent grow against the changes to our
> schools. The speed at which this wave is sweeping across New Brunswick
> has not been seen in a generation.
>
> The Liberal Party of New Brunswick is in danger of being swamped by
> this wave. Liberal Associations and MPs across the province have
> spoken out against the Lamrock Plan. The Globe and Mail and Montreal
> Gazette have slammed the Lamrock Plan.
>
> It's time to put an end to this nonsensical decision.
> Regardless of our political leanings, we can all share in the memory
> of Louis J. Robichaud, one of our province's greatest leaders. For
> young New Brunswickers, P'tit Louis represents the dream of a
> bilingual society. The Lamrock Plan denies our children these
> opportunities, and denies our province of this dream. Members of
> Liberal Party Executive, I trust you will hear our cries for help and
> do what is right for both New Brunswick and the Liberal Party. Speak
> to your MLAs, and talk them down off this political ledge.
>
> ROB HOADLEY
> Fredericton
>
> Group studies its legal options
>
> Early immersion | Reversal of decision wanted ASAP
>
> By JENNIFER DUNVILLE
> dunville.jennifer@dailygleaner.com
> Published Tuesday April 8th, 2008
> Appeared on page A1
>
> A lobby group opposed to the elimination of New Brunswick's early
> immersion program is weighing its legal options.
> Rob Hoadley, spokesman for Citizens for Education Choice, said the
> group's goal is to take legal action that will affect the upcoming
> school year.
>
> "We're consulting with lawyers on avenues of legal recourse," Hoadley
> said. "Our legal team is preparing a legal challenge to the decision.
>
> "At this point, we're just making sure we have all the documentation
> we need. Whatever we decide to do, it's going to happen fast."
> One of the options the group is considering is approaching the Court
> of Queen's Bench for a judicial review of the decision to eliminate
> the early immersion program.
>
> Hoadley said they've filed a request under the Right to Information
> Act for all documentation relating to the provincial government's
> decision to axe the program.
>
> "The New Brunswick ombudsman is doing this already, but we're also
> looking to get all the documents so we can review them too," Hoadley
> said.
>
> "I wouldn't want to comment yet on all the legal options we are
> weighing because I don't want to limit our group to one thing."
> Citizens for Educational Choice disagrees with the government's
> decision to implement a new French second-language model, which
> includes the intensive French program and excludes early exposure to
> the French language.
> It wants the decision reversed.
> "We want a proper consultation process," Hoadley said. "We know the
> system needs changes, but we want to make sure that those much-needed
> revisions are done with the research in mind."
>
> Alison Menard, president of the New Brunswick chapter of Canadian
> Parents for French, said she commends the citizens' group for fighting
> the decision through the legal system.
>
> But she said it's unfortunate it's been pushed to that point.
> "When we see the absolute, very quick refusal to the ombudsman's
> suggestion that this decision be delayed for a year while he
> investigates, that gives you an idea of what we're dealing with,"
> Menard said. "It's not likely that we're going to see the government
> back down or have sober second thoughts.
>
> "Citizens find themselves in the kind of situation where they don't
> have much of a choice but to undertake legal action."
> Menard said Canadian Parents for French won't get involved in legal
> action against the government because it's not part of the group's
> mandate.
>
> But she said she's pleased the citizens' group is trying to have the
> decision reversed.
>
> "I would think that citizens and governments would have better things
> to do than sue each other," Menard said. "It's unfortunate they have
> to do this, but Canadian Parents for French supports them all the
> way."
>
> Hoadley said he and other members of the group have been writing to
> MLAs, and Members of Parliament, along with sending opinion letters to
> newspapers throughout the province.
>
> "We're not going away," Hoadley said of the citizens' group.
> "If the government thinks we've been vocal to this point, they should
> know we're only just getting started."
>

↧

Jane Philpott resigns from cabinet, citing loss of 'confidence' over government's handling of SNC-Lavalin

March 4, 2019, 3:56 pm

≫ Next: SNC Lavalin affair: Philpott and Wilson-Raybould aren't lifelong Liberals, and some say that's the problem

≪ Previous: Criticism mounts over government's 'biased' French immersion survey

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks Trudeau's liberal puppet masters and his cabinet ministers are confused now that Gerry Butts has bailed on them again N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/jane-philpott-resigns-from-cabinet.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/philpott-resignation-trudeau-snc-lavalin-1.5042411

Jane Philpott resigns from cabinet, citing loss of 'confidence' over government's handling of SNC-Lavalin

5432 Comments

Content disabled.
donchip

Trudeau is in big, big trouble. Anyone with any degree of integrity should quit the Cabinet !

Show 5 older replies

Content disabled.
David Amos

@donchip Methinks to be fair to the liberals acting with integrity is not found in any political party's play book N'esy Pas?

Content disabled.
harry richard

@donchip ... big pension, easy retirement, cushy directors appointments. lots of teggrity there.

bill chagwich

WAY TO GO, the feminist PM is losing his feminist MPs, and top notch ones

Show 24 older replies

David Amos

@bill chagwich Surprise Surprise Surprise

Trevor Cole

@Brock Lester Oh my, we've got a true believer here!

Billy Burge

Uh oh. It's gonna be hard to keep gender parity at this rate.

Show 2 older replies

Perry Best

@Billy Burge
Let's sit back and enjoy the parade!
I wonder if it will be all the women resigning first or if some men will join in earlier.
I can't wait to see what Monsef does? She's just so thrilled to be in cabinet!

David Amos

@Billy Burge "Uh oh. It's gonna be hard to keep gender parity at this rate"

Thats because its 2019.

Jay Henryk

This is much bigger than Wilson-Raybould. Much bigger.

Show 4 older replies

Chun Ming

@Jay Henryk
Party/self interest versus Rule of Law. Trudeau finds it difficult to choose.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Chun Ming Methinks it Trudeau's liberal puppet masters who are confused now that Gerry Butts has bailed on them again N'esy Pas?

Edward Vella

@Jay Henryk The Treasury is responsible for all the money coming in and going out. Brison stepped down remember.

David Amos

@Jay Henryk "This is much bigger than Wilson-Raybould. Much bigger".

YUP

Federal Court File No T-1557-14 statement no 83 is wicked

David Amos

@David Amos opps T-1557-15

Kura Tiarney

Kudos to Jane Philpott for putting integrity, morals and Canadians' best interests first.

Show 4 older replies

Tony Hill

@James Alexander

It didn't really take that long. It has only been about 2 weeks since Justin Trudeau threw Jody Wilson-Raybould under the bus and even less than that since Cabinet has been able to hear WHY Ms. Wilson-Raybould is being thrown under the bus.

A week or so isn't that much time to wait to make a major career decision.

David Amos

@Joanne Smith "Strategic?"

YUP

Dade Murphy

Who's going to be our Prime Minister next week? I'm betting it won't be Trudeau.

Show 12 older replies

Norman Albert Snr

@Dade Murphy We should contact Kissinger to find out who is next up or does that go to David or Bibi?

David Amos

@Dade Murphy "Who's going to be our Prime Minister next week? I'm betting it won't be Trudeau."

Methinks it would not be wise to bet the farm on your wish coming true N'esy Pas?

Jim Clark

She knows the truth.Trudeau is sunk.Resign now for the sake of Canada JT.

Show 17 older replies

Jack O Hill

@Neil Turv

"Harper was quite upfront about his love for omnibus bills"

Not while he was in opposition. Only after he became PM.

Much like Trudeau.

David Amos

@David Allan "Patience. We have fixed election dates now. Do you know who made that law?"

YUP and I am running again Whereas you know so much about our democracy methinks you should too N'esy Pas?

Ric Smith

Uh-oh. There starting to figure out that JT is a complete disingenuous phony. Sunny Ways indeed.

Aaron Morris

@Ric Smith

They knew the whole time... but just now they know that we all know it too, so they can no longer be associated with the mad man at the helm.

David Amos

@Aaron Morris Its just politics no more no less

Thomas Collins

"There can be a cost to acting on one's principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them."

Not much reading between the lines needed on that statement.

Rich Fitzgerald

@Thomas Collins one of the best quotes I have ever read from a politician!

David Amos

@Rich Fitzgerald Methinks you should read more N'esy Pas?

Tyler Earl

Another cabinet minister resigns. The walls are closing in on Trudeau. Can he survive?

Show 2 older replies

Erika Harrison

@Scotty Davidson And thank goodness for that! Jag is too evangelican tv salesman for me, and as an Albertan, my vote will only help fund future elections (assuming that was brought back after Harper killed it), but not impact local results.

David Amos

@Tyler Earl "The walls are closing in on Trudeau. Can he survive?"

Methinks you should check out his opposition then you decide just like the rest of u will in October N'esy Pas?

Richard Dekkar

Read her letter of resignation from Cabinet: it's a scathing indictment on Trudeau's world.

How much more can the Liberals endure?

Show 1 older reply

Bob Ols

@Tony Belmore

Probably just as good and decent Leader! No gender preference.

Toni McMahon

@Richard Dekkar It is surprising what one can endure for the sake of Power and Money!

David Amos

@Toni McMahon YUP

Jane Philpott resigns from cabinet, citing loss of 'confidence' over government's handling of SNC-Lavalin

Treasury Board president leaves as controversy over political interference in criminal case intensifies

Kathleen Harris· CBC News· Posted: Mar 04, 2019 3:11 PM ET

Treasury Board President Jane Philpott, seen here with then-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould in 2016, has resigned from cabinet. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Jane Philpott, one of Justin Trudeau's most trusted ministers, announced today she has resigned from cabinet as the Liberal government's crisis over the SNC-Lavalin affair deepens.

"I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities and constitutional obligations," she said in a written statement.

"There can be a cost to acting on one's principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them."

Philpott, the MP for Markham-Stouffville, said she has been considering the events that have shaken the federal government in recent weeks and, after "serious reflection," concluded she must quit.

She said the constitutional convention of cabinet solidarity means ministers are expected to defend all cabinet decisions and other ministers publicly, and must speak in support of the government and its policies.

Jane Philpott✔@janephilpott
It grieves me to resign from a portfolio where I was at work to deliver an important mandate. I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations. There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them.

4,872
4:02 PM - Mar 4, 2019

"Given this convention and the current circumstances, it is untenable for me to continue to serve as a cabinet minister," she wrote.

"Unfortunately, the evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former attorney general to intervene in the criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin, and the evidence as to the content of those efforts, have raised serious concerns for me. Those concerns have been augmented by the views expressed by my constituents and other Canadians."

A statement from the PMO said Trudeau accepted Philpott's resignation and thanked her for her dedication and years of service to Canadians. Public Service and Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough will immediately take over her duties as acting president of the Treasury Board.

"The Prime Minister will have more to say at his event in Toronto this evening," reads the statement.

CBC EXPLAINS
What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair

Trudeau says no decision yet on whether Wilson-Raybould can stay in Liberal caucus

Wilson-Raybould says she's running as a Liberal in fall federal election

Philpott is a close ally of Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former justice minister and attorney general at the centre of the SNC-Lavalin scandal. Wilson-Raybould testified before a Commons committee last week that 11 officials in the Prime Minister's Office and other offices inappropriately pressured her to override a decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin on bribery charges related to contracts in Libya.

The Quebec-based global engineering and construction firm faces a 10-year ban on federal contracts if it's convicted.

Philpott said the principles that maintain an independent justice system are at stake in the SNC-Lavalin affair. A fundamental doctrine of the rule of law is that the attorney general not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases.

'Lost confidence' in government's response

"Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised," Philpott said in the statement.

Wilson-Raybould tweeted her response to Philpott's resignation late this afternoon.

Jody Wilson-Raybould✔@Puglaas
To the incomparable @janephilpott, truly the #MOC...For almost 4 years our country has witnessed your constant & unassailable commitment to always doing what is right & best for Cdns. You are a leader of vision & strength & I look forward to continuing to work alongside you. U.

3,122
5:48 PM - Mar 4, 2019

"For almost 4 years our country has witnessed your constant & unassailable commitment to always doing what is right & best for Cdns. You are a leader of vision & strength & I look forward to continuing to work alongside you," the Twitter post reads.

Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet on Feb. 12, just days after a Feb. 7 Globe and Mail report that said she was pressured as attorney general to overturn the decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin.

She remains in the Liberal caucus, and confirmed on the weekend that she intends to seek re-election under the Liberal Party banner.

Today, Trudeau said he is still considering whether to allow Wilson-Raybould to remain in the caucus.

Andrew Scheer✔@AndrewScheer
Justin Trudeau’s government is in chaos. He wouldn’t allow the former Attorney General to speak freely, so we don’t know her full story. Trudeau’s story changes daily and won’t come clean with Canadians. He needs to fully cooperate with any RCMP investigations and resign.

926
4:42 PM - Mar 4, 2019

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer tweeted that Trudeau's government "is in chaos."

"He wouldn't allow the former attorney general to speak freely, so we don't know her full story.

Trudeau's story changes daily and won't come clean with Canadians. He needs to fully cooperate with any RCMP investigations and resign," he said.

During a news conference in Toronto late Monday, Scheer rejected Trudeau's claim that the government was working to protect jobs, insisting that the pressure was imposed for political gain.

He challenged other Liberal ministers to follow Philpott's example in response to what he called a disgraced prime minister and a government engulfed in scandal.

'Stand up and be heard'

"Is this what you got into politics for, to prop up a prime minister who will subvert the law to win elections and benefit his friends?" he asked. "If not, it's time for them to stand up and be heard like Jane Philpott did today."

Scheer already has called for an RCMP investigation into possible obstruction of justice and has called on Trudeau to resign.

NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus called Philpott's resignation a "watershed moment."

"It is a sad day for Canada to lose a minister with such integrity. Nobody in government has done more to push reconciliation than Ms. Philpott. I have utmost respect for her," he tweeted.

Charlie Angus NDP✔@CharlieAngusNDP
News that @janephilpott quit cabinet over interference by PMO in SNC prosecution is a watershed moment.
It is a sad day for Canada to lose a minister with such integrity.
Nobody in government has done more to push reconciliation than Ms. Philpott.
I have upmost respect for her.

272
4:21 PM - Mar 4, 2019

After Philpott announced her resignation, she was praised online by Ontario Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, who announced Saturday she would not be seeking re-election this year.

Caesar-Chavannes posted on Twitter that she had informed the prime minister and whip of her "tremendously difficult" decision on Feb. 12, but stressed that it was not related to the SNC-Lavalin affair or Wilson-Raybould's testimony at the justice committee.

Praise for Philpott

Today, Caesar-Chavannes tweeted that women in politics can be expected to "make correct decisions, stand for what is right and exit when values are compromised.

"Thank you @janephilpott for articulating this beautifully."

On Wednesday, the justice committee will hear testimony from Gerry Butts, Trudeau's close friend and former principal secretary.

MP Celina

✔@MPCelina

When you add women, please do not expect the status quo. Expect us to make correct decisions, stand for what is right and exit when values are compromised. Thank you @janephilpott for articulating this beautifully. +1

Jane Philpott✔@janephilpott

It grieves me to resign from a portfolio where I was at work to deliver an important mandate. I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations. There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them

Butts resigned from the PMO on Feb. 18 amid allegations he and others exerted political interference on Wilson-Raybould to override the Public Prosecution Service director's decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin.

"At all times, I and those around me acted with integrity and a singular focus on the best interests of all Canadians," Butts said in a statement at the time.

In her testimony to committee last week, Wilson-Raybould detailed a meeting with Butts on Dec. 5, 2018. She said she wanted to speak about several things, including the barrage of people "hounding" her and her staff about the impact of prosecuting SNC-Lavalin.

"Towards the end of the meeting I raised how I needed everyone to stop talking to me about SNC as I had made up my mind and the engagements were inappropriate," she testified. "Gerry then took over the conversation and said how we need a solution on the SNC stuff — he said I needed to find a solution."

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

SNC Lavalin affair: Philpott and Wilson-Raybould aren't lifelong Liberals, and some say that's the problem

March 5, 2019, 4:28 pm

≫ Next: J. D. Irving Ltd. recruiting immigrants for work in village of Chipman

≪ Previous: Jane Philpott resigns from cabinet, citing loss of 'confidence' over government's handling of SNC-Lavalin

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

A senior government official said one of the options being discussed is for Trudeau to "show some ownership over the actions of his staff and officials"

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/snc-lavalin-affair-philpott-and-wilson.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/snc-lavalin-affair-philpott-and-wilson-raybould-aren-t-lifelong-liberals-and-some-say-that-s-the-problem-1.5043144

SNC Lavalin affair: Philpott and Wilson-Raybould aren't lifelong Liberals, and some say that's the problem

249 Comments

David Amos
"The prime minister refuted her testimony, saying "I completely disagree with the characterization of the former attorney general about these events."

Yea Right Methinks the dude may change his tune again N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-raybould-philpott-snc-lavalin-1.5043763

A senior government official said one of the options being discussed is for Trudeau to "show some ownership over the actions of his staff and officials" in their dealings with his former attorney general,
Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Content disabled.
Grace Mann

What a load of absolute tripe. "Philpott and Wilson-Raybould aren't lifelong Liberals, and some say that's the problem" - no stupid, it's the solution. Our political system is the mess it is because we put politicians in power! Canada ought to give JT at least some credit for choosing these upstanding women for service in his government. It's exposing how politics really works in Ottawa.

Content disabled.
Marty Richards

@Grace Mann No. Our political system is not in a mess and it has served us well since 1867. The job of a politician, particularly one in government, is to seek the widest consensus possible, and that could mean compromising some of your values. If your the type of person that will never compromise your values, then politics is not for you. You're better off as an activist and join MiningWatch Canada, or Friends of the Earth, or the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, or the Fraser Institute, etc.

Content disabled.
Brian Stephens

@Marty Richards seek consensus but not use a whip, cattle prod and bat to get it.. Maybe if politicians were actually to vote their conscience rather then the party line they would be respected...

Content disabled.
David Amos

@Grace Mann Welcome to the circus I am no politician but I did run 6 times thus far

Go Figure why nobody knows or cares

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276

Content disabled.
David Amos

@Marty Richards Methinks a lot of Proud Maritimers would love to see you run against me in the next election N'esy Pas?

Content disabled.
Colin Barrett

So lifelong liberals lack morals and integrity, got it. Thanks for the clarification CBC.

Content disabled.
John Adams

@Colin Barrett And don't like to work.

Content disabled.
David Amos

@Colin Barrett That was a rather telling thing

Content disabled.
Michael Dorosh

And here comes the spin.

Content disabled.
David Amos

@Michael Dorosh Don't ya just love the circus?

Jack Knox

Yesterday I predicted that it would take to CBC less than 24 hours to start spinning this story down in LPC favor and here we are.

Peter Kelly

@Jack Knox ... It's likely coming around this way because the overall consensus appears to find this isn't a game changer and Scheer is still seen as a larger threat to Canada than any of this. I've listened to a number of radio call in shows and this isn't flipping people over. CBC follows the trend. It's what media should do rather than influence the public.. Which is what American deregulated private media does deliberately do.. At least Canada hasn't deregulated the media.

daryl dixon

@Jack Knox

Yesterday you were Al and not Jack or Cyrus.

David Amos

@Jack Knox YUP

Keith Barry

"And long-time Liberals will tell you now you're seeing the problem of that."
Would that mean lifelong liberals naturally go with the flow when it comes to corruption?

Risteard O'Muireadhaig

@Keith Barry it would seem that is exactly the case.
However, I think CBC has flubbed this attempt to spin the story.

David Amos

@Keith Barry Apparently so

David Amos

@Risteard O'Muireadhaig YUP

Mark Stead

Oh CBC...how much for this op-ed? Did Katie Telford ask for this one? The ministers simply exercised integrity. Something that is completely foreign it seems to the other Liberal ministers and MP's.

Peter Kelly

@Mark Stead -- I think she exercised her commitment to friendship and set the nation aside. Still to be determined is what was scandalous. Discussing the prudence of a DPA (in which the defendant still may face ramifications for what has yet to even be determined.. here or in Libya) and the failure of a minister to adequately assess a situation and seek clarification within caucus... but hey, lets set the world on fire and get some attention. ---- I know this will sound sexist... but this wouldn't have happened if...

David Amos

@Peter Kelly Methinks some of Trudeau's beloved peoplekind should learn when to clam up N'esy Pas?

David Peters

'Life-long' liberals are not expected to think for themselves. They are to be seen, but not heard.

David Amos

@David Peters It in their DNA

Jack Knox

Political spins like this are exactly the reason why people do not trust the CBC.

John Nelson

@Jack Knox The funny part is that the CBC and the Liberal party think they can talk their way out of this. The more they try and spin with stories like this, the deeper the hole gets. Canadians aren't buying it CBC and Liberals. If either one paid attention to Canadians, they would know this.

Ken Sonnenberg

@John Nelson Liberals breed ignorance or does ignorance breed liberals?

David Amos

@Jack Knox Oh So True

Cathy Bowslaugh

Ohhhhh that must be the reason. Eye roll.

David Amos

@Cathy Bowslaugh LMAO

Graham Green

What a lame excuse. They aren't longtime Liberals so they aren't able to overlook the Liberals' dodgy ethics? You're saying it would have been much better for them to have thrown aside their principles for the good of the party? The CBC needs to hitch their wagon to another party because this one's going down

David Amos

@Graham Green Methinks CBC should check their mandate N'esy Pas?

SNC Lavalin affair: Philpott and Wilson-Raybould aren't lifelong Liberals, and some say that's the problem

Trudeau 'wanted the best and brightest from outside politics' for his cabinet, says Susan Delacourt

CBC Radio· Posted: Mar 05, 2019 8:00 AM ET

Jody Wilson-Raybould, left, and Jane Philpott have both resigned from the cabinet over the SNC-Lavalin affair. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

As the SNC-Lavalin affair prompts another cabinet resignation and intensifies scrutiny on political conduct, one commentator notes that the two women questioning political integrity aren't lifelong party politicians themselves.

"Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are not long-time Liberals. They were not working in the trenches back in the day," said Susan Delacourt, national columnist and Ottawa bureau chief with the Toronto Star.

Before entering federal politics, Wilson-Raybould was Crown prosecutor for British Columbia and an Indigenous leader in the province. Philpott was a physician and academic. Both were first elected in 2015, and appointed to the justice and health portfolios, respectively, in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's first cabinet.

Delacourt said putting them in prominent positions "sent a signal that Trudeau wanted the best and the brightest from outside the world of politics."
"This is not a government of long-time Liberals," she told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
"And long-time Liberals will tell you now you're seeing the problem of that."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Philpott at a cabinet reshuffle in Ottawa, Jan. 19, 2019. In assembling his first cabinet, Trudeau 'wanted the best and the brightest from outside the world of politics,' Susan Delacourt said. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Philpott resigned as president of the Treasury Board Monday, saying she has "lost confidence" in how the government has dealt with the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The Current requested an interview with Philpott, but she was not available.

Opposition parties close in with SNC-Lavalin affair, but Liberals 'haven't lost the election' yet: expert

CBC EXPLAINS
What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair

Her departure followed that of Wilson-Raybould, who resigned from cabinet on Feb. 12. Last week, she testified before the Commons justice committee, saying she faced intense political pressure and veiled threats to intervene in the case of SNC-Lavalin. The Quebec engineering company is facing allegations of fraud and corruption in Libya, but has pleaded not guilty.

The prime minister refuted her testimony, saying "I completely disagree with the characterization of the former attorney general about these events."

The National

How deep a political crisis is the SNC-Lavalin affair? | At Issue

In a matter of weeks, the Liberal cabinet has lost two key ministers, and things don't seem to be getting any better for Justin Trudeau and the PMO as the SNC-Lavalin scandal deepens. So, what do we make of these cabinet losses? How deep a political crisis is this? And what is the damage? The panel is here for another special edition of At Issue. 9:36

To discuss what the deepening crisis means for the federal Liberals, Tremonti was joined by:

Jason Markusoff, Alberta correspondent for Maclean's magazine.
Susan Delacourt, national columnist and Ottawa bureau chief with the Toronto Star.
Maureen Mancuso, professor of political science at the University of Guelph and author of A Question of Ethics: Canadians Speak Out.

Click 'listen' near the top of the page to hear the full conversation.

Produced by Samira Mohyeddin, Danielle Carr and Imogen Birchard.

↧

J. D. Irving Ltd. recruiting immigrants for work in village of Chipman

March 5, 2019, 6:31 pm

≫ Next: If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?

≪ Previous: SNC Lavalin affair: Philpott and Wilson-Raybould aren't lifelong Liberals, and some say that's the problem

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks everybody is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY again ce soir Yet some Anglos are still upset by my Chiac while CBC is doing a lot of editing as usual N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/j-d-irving-ltd-recruiting-immigrants.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/jdi-recruiting-immigrants-work-chipman-1.5039356

J. D. Irving Ltd. recruiting immigrants for work in village of Chipman

71 Comments after editing

David Amos

Methinks everybody is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY again ce soir Yet some Anglos seem upset by my Chiac N'esy Pas?

The whole thread that this comment was posted within was deleted before I could save it so I posted the last comment above and quit for the night

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Shawn McShane Methinks many folk must remember how much I enjoyed this news right after I ran in the election of the 38th Parliament N'esy Pas?

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/cocaine-found-hidden-on-csl-vessel/article655127/

Cocaine found hidden on CSL vessel
Tu Thanh Ha
Published July 2, 2004
Updated April 21, 2018

"To all the awkwardness that his shipping empire has brought Prime Minister Paul Martin, add the embarrassment of being a drug mule.

The day after his re-election this week, Canadian customs agents discovered a stash of cocaine hidden at the bottom of a Canada Steamship Lines coal carrier, one named after Mr. Martin's wife.

Drug smugglers apparently used underwater divers to plant the drug without the knowledge of the crew of the bulk cargo ship Sheila Ann during a stop in Venezuela.

The 83 kilograms of cocaine was discovered in a routine inspection after the ship arrived in Sydney, N.S.

"This is the first time that this type of incident has happened on one of our ships," said Martine Malka, CSL's director of corporate communications.

"Naturally, the company has zero tolerance for drugs. We'll take steps to make sure this won't happen again."

She said the packages must have been concealed while the Sheila Ann was at its last port of call before Sydney: Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it picked up a load of low-sulfur coal.

No charges are expected against the crew or the shipping company. The vessel was allowed to leave Sydney.

"This is not uncommon for a legit company to be exploited by organized crime when it comes to the movement of contraband," said Michel Proulx, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency."

Violet Wills

hire local why go out this province or country there are people who need jobs right here

Lou Bell

@Violet Wills If you read the story you would see there are none available . Either haven't the skills or just don't want to work .

daryl doucette

@Lou Bell I simply do not believe that.

Christopher J Cusack

@Lou Bell MANY locals apply but never even get a callback.

Jeff LeBlanc

@daryl doucette ever been to Chipman? The word "skill" does not apply to their citizens. Might as well be in the middle of Trump country.

Lewis Taylor

@Jeff LeBlanc
not true...lynchings were banned some time ago.

Lewis Taylor

@Christopher J Cusack
you need to leave a number to get a callback

David Amos

@daryl doucette "I simply do not believe that."

Nor I

David Amos

@Jeff LeBlanc I double dog dare you to come to Chipman and say that

Jim Cyr

@Lou Bell true, Lou.....so what ails NB society?? Thousands of unemployed.....with no skills??

Shawn McShane

@Lewis Taylor You can pay me now or you can pay me later but my advice to you is that you are too obvious. You don't give a whit for the people of this province. What is your vested interest?

Lewis Taylor

@Shawn McShame
I prefer not to pay you anymore. what is your interest in NB? easy question...hard answers...question yourself before questioning others.
your advice to me??? not interested.

David Amos

@Lewis Taylor "you need to leave a number to get a callback"

I have a number you will find it a the bottom of my lawsuits check Federal Court File No T-1557-15 byway of Google

Lewis Taylor

@David Amos
feeling lonely? Quesy pal?

daryl doucette

Why am I having a hard time believing that they cant find local people to make 60 to 80 thousand dollars a year? And how " skilled" do they have to be to work in the mill or drive the trucks? I'm sure your average joe/joline could be trained quickly for this type of work.....what would REALLY be interesting is to see how much tax payers money has been given to the Irvings bring in these so called " skilled" migrants , and to set up housing, etc. And lets see their " T4" slip at the end of the year, I highly doubt there will be any $80,000 dollar ones....

Marc Martin

@daryl doucette

*Why am I having a hard time believing that they cant find local people to make 60 to 80 thousand dollars a year?*

No jobs at a JDI sawmill pays over 70 000 and that is if you a millwright, an electrician or a foreman lol.

daryl doucette

@Marc Martin well well well methinks we agree on something n'est pas?

Clive Gibbons

@daryl doucette The guy they sucker on signing on the bottom line for a $700000 harvester gets to bring home "potentially" $60k for his salary (he's on call 24/7 to care and tender to said machine).

No way a grunt gets that much. The operator is in it for $18/hr, till he quits. Not if, when. There is a reason they are brining immigrants.

daryl doucette

@Marc Martin They are just importing slave labor.

Marc Martin

@daryl doucette

That's what most workers feel when they work under Irving in Mills.

David Amos

@daryl doucette "well well well methinks we agree on something n'est pas?"

Methinks it is not wise to confer with that sneaky SANB dude N'esy Pas?

daryl doucette

@David Amos heh heh good point

Lewis Taylor

@David Amos
the PANB guy is from Chipman, nesy pas??

David Amos

@Lewis Taylor C'est Vrai

Norman Albert Snr

@daryl doucette Far easier to control those from afar. "Keep your mouth sh** or your on your way home again and you won't be coming back"
There are 1000s in Canada that are qualified or trainable.

Lou Bell

Are these NEW jobs , or replacements for retirees ? I expect the latter .

Clive Gibbons

@Lou Bell

They are replacements for the ones who have had enough of the Empire's "do more then we'll cut the rate" tactics.

David Amos

@Clive Gibbons I suspect so

daryl doucette

What is a Labour Market Impact Assessment?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document that an employer in Canada may need to get before hiring a foreign worker.

A positive LMIA will show that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job. It will also show that no Canadian worker is available to do the job. A positive LMIA is sometimes called a confirmation letter.

If the employer needs an LMIA, they must apply for one.

Once an employer gets the LMIA, the worker can apply for a work permit.

To apply for a work permit, a worker needs:
•a job offer letter,
•a contract,
•a copy of the LMIA, and
•the LMIA number.

Shawn McShane

@daryl doucette Trudeau Liberals got rid of those "Pesky Labour Market Impact Assessments" that slow things down.

-John McCallum (former minister of immigration)

David Amos

@Shawn McShane You mean John McCallum the former Minister of Defense who assisted the Yankees in their war on Iraq and the same sneaky former bankster beancounter who just got fired from the job of speaking for us in China

Shawn McShane

@David Amos Yes, that creep.

Peter demerchant

Great to see chipman grow...... but this is nothing more than the typical smoke and mirror jdi propaganda dept. at work. Wonder how much this is costing the tax payer, I guarantee more than its costing slippery Jim.

Lewis Taylor

@Peter demerchant
Right...open minds can do wonders.

David Amos

@Peter demerchant YUP

David Amos

@Lewis Taylor Methinks I should feel honoured by the fact that my words enter your closed mind N'esy Pas?

Lewis Taylor

@David Amos
Better closed than a lunatic.

Robert Brannen

It appears that JDI wants to have skilled employees, but is not interested in investing in human capital here in New Brunswick.

David Amos

@Robert Brannen Go Figure

Robert Brannen

There are truck drivers in Alberta that may be willing to move to where the jobs are, so I have heard.

David Amos

@Robert Brannen I heard that too

cheryl wright

my husband who has been in the construction industry most of his life, who is more than capable of being a general labourer, and has ran many heavy duty machines was declined not even a month ago from this place without any indication as to why. so no... lets upgrade your skills, or start you at the bottom and work your way up.. no keep it local and keep nb'ers here... I guess JDI needed to have the feds pay for the wages and give them an avenue to boost revenues on the kent homes side of the equation. this makes me absolutely sick that good men and women are going without in this province or family being divided while their loved ones go out west and our major employer does this. shame on you !!

daryl doucette

@cheryl wright They are going to pay these people just enough to cover their rent ( in the mini homes Irving built and the province paid for probably) and have a few bucks left over for groceries....a WIN WIN for you know who...

David Amos

@cheryl wright I agree with your very justifiable disgust

David Amos

@daryl doucette "a WIN WIN for you know who"

The Irving Clan as usual

Jeff LeBlanc

Oh that's going to fly real well in Chipman which would be Trump country if NB was the 51st state.

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Jeff LeBlanc Methinks its interesting that CBC posts your comments but blocks my replies N'esy Pas?

Paul Bourgoin

I wonder if these foreign workers are what is called Government subsidized workers. Many New Brunswick workers, our own children are out west willing to come back home if they had jobs..

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin Many folks need to pay attention to this nonsense ASAP

Mark (Junkman) George

Too bad Irving seems reluctant to train folks from NB to fill these jobs? OH! Right, can't get government subsidies that way.

Marc Martin

@Mark (Junkman) George

the problem is no one wants to :

- Work for the Irving, your work on a production line and they absolutely care for their employees for them you are just a number.
- Work in Chipman ? well no French will wantto work their for sure, they are reknown to hate everything French.

David Amos

@Mark (Junkman) George YUP

Jim Cyr

@Marc Martin then I guess French people really don't want to work?? Bizarre reasoning on your part

Lou Bell

@Marc Martin You obviously have no clue about Chipman . If you did you would realize Chipman has many French families who have been there for many, many decades, going back to the coal mines. Without the mill ,there would be NO CHIPMAN as it is virtually the only employer in Chipman , and it employs a lot of people from Minto and the surrounding areas ! And you want to talk about production lines , what's your take on the 2 fish processing plants that burned to the ground in the last couple of months ?? How many SEASONAL WORKERS have been affected ? And who subsidizes them ?????????????

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Jim Cyr "Bizarre reasoning on your part"

Nope Methinks it is about par for the course for that SANB dude N'esy Pas?

David Amos

Methinks many New Brunswickers should be greatly offended by the strange claim that we do not have the skilled labour to fill these positions N'esy Pas?

Lewis Taylor

@David Amos
Being last in just about every category including education would point to the fact that we certainly do not have the skilled labour to fill the positions.
Also when will you learn to spell that ridiculous saying of yours? it proves my previous point.

Lou Bell

@David Amos They should be really offended because there are so many unemployed that want no part of these jobs ! Companies have been bringing in outside workers for years , especially truck drivers ! Check your newspapers or news channels !

Cory Kamermans

@David Amos Its N'est Pas. And what is with you and that anyway? You're catch phrase?

Cory Kamermans

@Cory Kamermans *your*

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Cory Kamermans Oh My My Methinks everybody is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY ce soir yet upset by my Chiac as usual Tis a small wonder why nobody votes for me N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276

David Amos

@Lou Bell "Check your newspapers or news channels !"

Methinks everybody knows why I ignore the Irving newsrags and I that I am obviously commenting a Crown Corp's "News" channel N'esy Pas?

M Joan Leuty

I do understand that the mill jobs are now high tech and there may not be New Brunswick residents currently able to fill those positions, but truck drivers? Really?
Even if there are not truck drivers available in New Brunswick, there are truckers and heavy equipment operators in Atlantic Canada who used to work in the oil patch who can be available.
Where has the company been advertising?

Lou Bell

@M Joan Leuty Trucking Companies throughout NB and the Maritimes have been recruiting people from outside Canada for many years now ! Where've you been ??

Shawn McShane

@Lou Bell On the frickin highway where they don't bother to clean the ice from the trucks? where they tailgate and speed like losers? where they ride the rumble strips till they wake up?

David Amos

@M Joan Leuty Welcome to the Circus

Rosco holt

Cheap labor paid in part by the taxpayers.

David Amos

@Rosco holt YUP

Jim Cyr

What's truly pathetic is that the Chipman area (and NB in general) can't fill these jobs with locals. Have to bring in people from other countries! NB unemployment is typically around EIGHT percent.....so what gives?? This "feel good" story is exactly the opposite: it's one more piece of evidence that NB is sick to its core. (By the way, I will expect the many crazed Irving haters to weigh in, saying how awful it is that Irving is doing this. Of course, that will be painful for them to do, because almost all Liberals and Greens also hold as a core value "open borders" and unfettered immigration....)

Rosco holt

@Jim Cyr
The foreign workers programs is being abused and this story feels like an abuse of that system. They've most likely turned down qualified Canadian workers.

Why should we be happy for a business that gets a subsidized workforce.

David Amos

@Rosco holt I agree

Lou Bell

For those complaining about NB having workers with the skills to take these jobs, perhaps the SUBSIDIZED SEASONAL workers of the 2 fish processing plants that were destroyed by fire should apply if you're so concerned !

Shawn McShane

@Lou Bell Have you seen people with lobster claw hands? They would love a job driving the JDI truck/millwork/equipment that pays 60, 70, 80 thousand dollars a year. Get real.

J. D. Irving Ltd. recruiting immigrants for work in village of Chipman

New residents are coming from Ukraine, Latvia, and Brazil

Shane Fowler· CBC News· Posted: Mar 05, 2019 6:00 AM AT

The Grand Lake Timber Mill is the largest employer in the village of Chipman. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

For the first time in years, the population of Chipman hasn't declined.

Councillors say it held steady last year because of an influx of skilled workers recruited by J.D. Irving Ltd. from around the globe for its local forestry operations in the Chipman area.

"For the first time in many, many years the population has stayed the same," said Deputy Mayor Keith West.

Eighteen new residents have already moved to the rural community, and a new subdivision is being built to accommodate newcomers.
In coming years, West expects dozens more to be added to the village's current population of about 1,000.

He says they're coming from Ukraine, Latvia, Finland, and Brazil.

Deputy Mayor Keith West says the rural community is experiencing a housing shortage. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

"Right now we have about 10 new families from abroad," said Paul Klassen, co-ordinator of Chipman's newcomer settlement program.

According to Klassen and West, workers will be operating in three different capacities for JDI: driving logging trucks, working with logging operations, or working in the Grand Lake Timber in Chipman.

"These are not minimum wage jobs," West said. "These are good-paying jobs. These people are making 60, 70, 80 thousand dollars a year."

CBC News

New Chipman residents are coming from Ukraine, Latvia, and Brazil

Many foreign workers will move to southern New Brunswick in the next year or two, to fill forestry jobs with JD Irving Ltd. 1:02

"So in a small town like Chipman that's big money."

West said it's his understanding that JDI is bringing in as many as 3,000 workers from outside of New Brunswick over the next three years to fill positions in southern New Brunswick because the company cannot find employees locally.

"Most of these jobs are skilled labour," he said. "And the people who say they would work, they don't have the skills and the company needs skilled labour. Working in a sawmill isn't like it was 50 years ago. You know, it's all skilled labour."

The J.D. Irving-owned Grand Lake Timber Mill has been expanding while the company recruits workers to fill positions. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

CBC News requested an interview with someone from JDI to speak on the specifics of the positions being filled and recruitment, but no interview was provided.

According to an email from JDI spokesperson Mary Keith, 17 workers and families are expected to move to the community next year as part of the company's plan to fill 7,500 jobs by 2021.

Keith also said the company established a director of immigration as of last year and is forecasting 400 immigrants for Canadian operations over the next three years.

The workers are coming through the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, a federal program for employers looking to recruit internationally for jobs they have been unable to fill locally.

Construction underway

In Chipman, so many workers and their families are expected that a new subdivision is being built.
Chipman Housing Authority Inc. was created in August 2018 and lists Mayor Carson Atkinson and JDI woodlands division vice-president Jason Limongelli as two of its directors.

According to West, incoming workers can't afford to buy a home and there are few spaces for rent.

JDI has been recruiting workers from abroad to fill positions in trucking, logging and mill operations. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

"So, we've created a non-profit housing authority and putting in mini-homes and renting them to the immigrants on a temporary basis until they can get their permanent residency and get their own place."

Built on eight acres of village land, the subdivision will host 25 mini-homes, with two expansions already planned.

The mini-homes are being built by Kent Homes, which is a division of JDI.

Atkinson said Limongelli was not a part of the tendering process that resulted in Chipman Housing Authority Inc.'s purchase of mini-homes from the Irving-owned company.

Construction on Chipman's new subdivision is expected to be completed this summer with two expansions planned for the near future. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

Mary Keith said Limongelli recused himself.

"He did not see any of the bids," she said in an email.

"We had four tenders, open tenders, and all that stuff and we took the lowest tender," Atkinson said. "And it turned out to be Irving."

"This was a public tender so we had to take the lowest tender anyway. But then they threw in some bonuses."

Atkinson said the bonuses include air-conditioning, with ductless heating and cooling systems, and the models are more esthetically pleasing.

Atkinson said he was not yet able to provide documents of the tender process or its results.

Nor was he able to disclose the amount the housing authority has received from the province.

"I don't think I'm at liberty to talk about the amount," he said. "But it's not enough to complete what we want and that is why we are approaching different banks."

The Chipman housing authority, run by the village mayor and a J.D. Irving executive, is working to build a subdivision on village land to house workers. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

But he said anyone questioning the relationship between the village and the company shouldn't worry.
"We are supportive of any group that comes in and offers us any kind of partnership that doesn't cost the village money and is a long-term benefit to the community," said Atkinson.

"Why wouldn't we? That's what's done in every other community across the world."

So far, the subdivision has five mini-homes, two of which already have immigrant workers and their families living in them.

Language barriers

For those helping newcomers settle into life in rural New Brunswick, the biggest challenge has been language.

"New Brunswick is quite well set up for providing French as a second language in small communities, but not really English," said Klassen. "So, we were kind of a test case."

Klassen said JDI has required that workers they bring in speak rudimentary English for work. But their families often do not speak any English and finding teachers to help them learn has been a struggle.

Paul Klassen, co-ordinator of Chipman's newcomer settlement program, says the biggest challenges bringing in so many foreign workers have been housing and language training. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

Many of those moving from Latvia and Ukraine speak Russian. For months, the community has been attempting to set up classes for families to learn or improve their English, but three weeks ago, Klassen said, the instructor quit, leaving them in a bind.

"We are currently working with the provincial government to provide training for these families that are coming in," said Klassen.

"We're going to see how that expands and who exactly will be funding all of the training, but at least we have a commitment now to get something up and running."

Respite for a 'dying' community

To hear it from those involved in the project, the incoming workforce is a godsend for a community in dire need of new blood.

"It's going to make all the difference," said Klassen. "Because it was another village that was just dying. And now this influx of people and work is going to turn it around."

In her email to CBC News, Keith said it is an "amazing story about a small rural community coming together to welcome newcomers."

In a later email, she wrote: "Our priority is to keep New Brunswicker's home and bring them home. However, understanding NB demographic challenges, immigration – make N.B. home – is also part of the strategy."

Deputy mayor Keith West says the jobs that JDI is looking to fill are logging, trucking, and mill working positions. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

The workers are seen as saviours by West, giving hope to a area that in recent years had begun to lose services, including its only bank. Many were starting to fear the village's elementary school and high school were next.

"When I went to school here, there were 500 kids in each school," said West. "There's barely under 100 kids in each school today. So, every kid that goes into that school is going to help save our schools. And it's imperative that we keep that."

About the Author

Shane Fowler

Reporter

Shane Fowler has been a CBC journalist based in Fredericton since 2013.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?

March 5, 2019, 8:28 pm

≫ Next: Kevin Vickers tours province, will make decision on Liberal leadership this month

≪ Previous: J. D. Irving Ltd. recruiting immigrants for work in village of Chipman

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks whereas CBC asked the question perhaps the Prime Minister will answer it N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/if-jane-philpott-doesnt-have-confidence.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/philpott-resignation-1.5042965

If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?: Robyn Urback

2382 Comments

Reid Fleming

Pro tip: If everyone around you is "experiencing it differently," then maybe the problem is you...

Show 3 older replies

Alex Forbes

@Reid Fleming Trudeau must experience reality completely differently than everyone else around him. But I wouldn't suspect differently since he is a Liberal.

Friday Jones

@Reid Fleming

Well, I don't care about SNC myself... big companies are dirty... that isn't news. What I am worried about is the recurring mention of "her truth" as if it's some kind of disease. When Trudeau was accused of sexually assaulting a young woman, he fell back to the "she must have remembered it differently" instead of sticking to the "she must be believed" mantra. (Now, I don't think that is necessarily 100% the way to go either, but I'm not the one that drew the line).

Now we have Trudeau tag-a-logs all saying the same... these women have their own "her truths" and therefore must have fallen ill to the same malady. This is immensely more damaging to Canada..

David Amos

@Reid Fleming Pro Tip Pretend that you are at the circus then you will understand the problem.

Stephen David

Spin any way you want but the bottom line is this....the Liberals are in serious doo-doo.

Show 14 older replies

James Timberly

@Lani Weber "You think the World Bank was merely part of partisan bickering? Wake up."

There's nothing partisan about a liberal voter complaining both about what the liberal PM appears to have done while also pointing out that the liberal led justice department also has done something wrong that contributes to the debacle. Accusing people who are making logical points of "partisan bickering" is ... partisan bickering in and of itself.

Wayne Underhill

@James Timberly When I asked my MP, what would you do to save jobs and pensions, he couldn't answer. So under the tories we can expect that Canadians will shoved under the bus, but that's what tories do!

David Amos

@Stephen David Oh So True

Edward Water

The Liberals seem intent to spin this story as one revolving around savings 1000's of jobs. That is not what this story is about at all. The issue is the alleged political interference AFTER the DPP had ruled that a DPA was not going to be offered to SMC-Lavalin AND the AG had determined not to overrule the DPP's determination. Once those TWO determinations had been made any further attempts to get the AG to change their mind was inappropriate at best and may be obstruction of justice.

Show 13 older replies

Kevin Routledge

@Edward Water Absolutely correct. And if jobs are to be lost, the fault lies at the feet of SMC-Lavelin management who decided to use bribery and graft as an acceptable means of doing business and not the AG for refusing to cut them slack for doing so.

Brad Mercier

@James Holden
And you base this opinion on what exactly?

David Amos

@Edward Water That is the issue they wish us to consider in a nutshell However there is much more to it that nobody will talk about. (Federal Court File No T-1557-15)

Neil Gregory

Gee, Robyn, you finally figured it out?

To suggest that we question the wisdom of trusting the inexperienced MP from the Liberal back benches, who had never, ever sat in a Cabinet meeting, and had no proven leadership abilities when he became PM on the strength of a famous name from a by-gone era, comes about four years too late.

Show 13 older replies

Guy Stone

@Neil Gregory The Liberals should kick Trudeau out. Remove the inexperienced MPs. Replace with high integrity business people (they do have lots)... Then I may vote for them. PS Judy and Jane should get top jobs - everyone in Canada (NDP, Conservative, or Liberal) will trust them. As soon as Trudeau says a female isn't telling the truth ... you know she is telling the truth

Wayne Underhill

@Guy Stone High integrity business people? Whew!!

David Amos

@Wayne Underhill ROTFLMAO

Tim O'Day

Open your eyes Canada. 33 remaining cabinet ministers believe in corruption, bribery, prostitution and ignoring the rule of law by trying to manipulate the AG. How can anyone vote for ANY of these MPs who continue to support Trudeau? They are in this only for,themselves. They will never serve Canadians best interests.

Jovian Monty

@Tim O'Day

It's not about Trudeau, it's about a system that serves Imperialism and the rich, while impoverishing people who actually work for a living, making us pay for their wars.

Vincent Mantooth

@Jovian Monty The Liberal's version of "the rich" are actually what we used to call the middle class. Our taxes are going to fund untenable spending levels and bloated social benefits such as the CCB.

David Rothery

@Vincent Mantooth CBC fixed it for you :)

David Amos

@Tim O'Day Hmmmm If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?

Methinks whereas CBC asked the question perhaps the Prime Minister will answer it N'esy Pas?

Richard Dekkar

Looking at the recent polls, I think the astonishing question is: how could 31% still be supporting Trudeau?

Show 20 older replies

Wayne Underhill

@Kate Laurie You have just taken the very first step in your personal freedom. Look sheep! You too can do it!

Dutch Diefenbaker

@Mark Walen Cooper Hey Mark, don't forget it was Trudeau who picked them for being such perfect Liberals, in his own likeness. Guess another "oops"!

David Amos

@Richard Dekkar"how could 31% still be supporting Trudeau?"

Methinks its because their opposition are not one bit better N'esy Pas?

carl boben

"If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?"

We shouldn't

Nick Cash

@carl boben
Freeland supports the PM. That all that matters and her support Trumps Philpott.

Nicolas Krinis

@Nick Cash I don't think so. It was quite the display of a sycophant listening to her speak about how loyal she is to Trudeau.

Dima Elman

@Nick Cash IF somebody resembles Trump , this somebody's name is Justin Trudeau - from very rich family, never needed to work in his life, having all needed connections since being born, does not understand meaning of rules (and laws), does not respect "regular joes".

David Amos

@carl boben Methinks Trudeau the Younger should answer that question N'esy Pas?

Roger Andrews

Trudeau must resign

Show 6 older replies

Dima Elman

@Nick Cash Trudeau is not a politician. If he were politician he would never allow to the scandal reach its current heights. Trudeau is never grown up spoiled kid. Younger version of Trump if you wish.

Steve Burton

@Dima Elman At least Trump made his way to the top of his field three different times (top real-estate tycoon, highest rated show for 7 seasons, winning the presidency against the combined DNC/MSM). Trudeau was a failed drama teacher/bouncer/snow board instructor.

David Amos

@Steve Burton If Trudeau The Younger is such a failure how to you explain the fact that he is the Prime Minister?

DANIEL YELLE

-Dozens of unkept electoral promises.
-Massive deficits, one after the other
-One billion for his ''refugees'' and 10 million for Omar Khadr.
-The appalling pipeline mess.
-Obstruction of justice with the Jody Wilson Raybould affair to protect a ''Too big to fail'' company. Which would be like putting in place a second justice system for the big companies,,
-And now some economists are saying a recession is coming......
-With his diploma in literature Justin Trudeau is surely the least qualified prime Minister in history.
Great Job Justin! Way to go champ!....

Show 3 older replies

Adam Gajewski

@Frederick Dainard
NO ONE should have any confidence in Mr. Trudeau after he FAILED to follow his election promise to scrap FPTP voting system.

Dima Elman

@DANIEL YELLE you cut your list of accomplishments too short - almost all foreign trips (starting with India trip and ending with Christmas at Bahamas at Aga Khan place) are to be added. Should i mention elbowing fellow MP?

David Amos

@Dima Elman Methinks you forgot a few as well N'esy Pas?

David Speed

Eventually people see there are only two truths - the real one and then the "alternative" Trudeau truth.

David Amos

@David Speed Do you really think Jody told the whole truth?

If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?: Robyn Urback

She can't be written off as a minister disgruntled about a demotion. Or an opposition leader out for blood.

Robyn Urback· CBC News· Posted: Mar 05, 2019 4:00 AM ET

The Liberals can deflect opposition attacks, spin Jody Wilson-Raybould's story and attempt to divert our attention literally to the moon all they want. But Jane Philpott's words ought to eclipse everything else. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

If your stomach can handle it, spend a few minutes listening to the interview Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland gave to CBC's Ottawa Morning last week, the day after Jody Wilson-Raybould testified before the House of Commons justice committee.

Wilson-Raybould, you'll recall, spent the previous afternoon meticulously filleting the prime minister's credibility on the SNC-Lavalin file, calling the pressure on her to seek a remediation agreement for the company in its criminal case "consistent and sustained." Wilson-Raybould manoeuvred the knife like a Michelin-star chef, placing Justin Trudeau at the centre of the alleged influence campaign.

That's why it was so off-putting to listen to Freeland, speaking to radio host Robyn Bresnahan the next morning, slobbering over the bones Wilson-Raybould had left behind when she exited the committee room last Wednesday.

"Of course I support the prime minister 100 per cent," Freeland said, adding she was "clearly of the view that the prime minister would never apply improper pressure."

CBC EXPLAINS
What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair

That was despite what the former attorney general described in assiduous detail the day prior.
Freeland lauded the decision for Trudeau to waive solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality as an "exercise in democracy." (Though it was only a partial waiver, which ostensibly should make it only a partial exercise in democracy.) And she dodged the question of whether she believed Wilson-Raybould's testimony, saying: "I believe that she spoke — as she said she wanted to do — her truth."

During nearly four hours of testimony last week, Wilson-Raybould said the pressure exerted on her in regards to SNC-Lavalin was 'consistent and sustained.' (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

You have to listen to the interview to appreciate the full effect, but suffice to say, it was the sort of sycophantic performance characteristic of — and perfected in — the early days of #TeamTrudeau.

Freeland didn't just pledge her allegiance to the prime minister (which, granted, you sort of have to do as a cabinet member), she actually extolled his handling of the affair — as if the conflicting messages, sloppy smear jobs and clumsy attempts at obfuscation never happened.

Freeland was gushing over a plate of bones, trying to convince us they still looked tasty.
Contrast that with the statement released by Philpott on Monday, when she announced her resignation as president of the Treasury Board and exit from cabinet.

Philpott said she had "lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised." Citing the need for cabinet solidarity, she said it would be "untenable" for her to continue to serve as a minister.

A million more Freeland-type ovations can't undo what Philpott did in a few hundred words: she told the doe-eyed #TeamTrudeau hangers-on that their faith in this government is misplaced. And she said she would not be able to fulfil her duties as a minister if it meant publicly defending the government.

That's a devastating message from her especially; Philpott is capable, venerable and widely respected both in and out of Liberal circles. She can't be written off as a cabinet minister disgruntled about a demotion or an opposition leader out for blood. Philpott is a Liberal — a widely admired one — and she doesn't have faith in the prime minister.

And if she doesn't, as someone privy to the conversations around the cabinet table about this whole affair, why should anyone else?

An RCMP officer walks onstage to keep an eye on a protester yelling from the crowd as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a Liberal climate action rally in Toronto on Monday. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

The panic alarms are no doubt going off in the Prime Minister's Office and Liberal caucus right about now — and it shows.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau responded to Philpott's resignation by implying that she resigned from cabinet because of some bizarre personal allegiance. "Jane Philpott is a close personal friend of Jody Wilson-Raybould," Morneau said. "She took a decision, I respect her decision." That is a more diplomatic way of saying: Women, eh? Always going to the bathroom and resigning cabinet together.

The Liberals can deflect opposition attacks, spin Jody Wilson-Raybould's story and attempt to divert our attention literally to the moon all they want. But Philpott's words ought to eclipse everything else.

When the message that this prime minister can't be trusted comes directly from one of the most respected voices (formerly) around the cabinet table, you pay attention. And ignore the obsequious blather on the radio.

This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read our FAQ.

About the Author

Robyn Urback

Columnist

Robyn Urback is an opinion columnist with CBC News and a producer with the CBC's Opinion section. She previously worked as a columnist and editorial board member at the National Post. Follow her on Twitter at:

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧

Kevin Vickers tours province, will make decision on Liberal leadership this month

March 6, 2019, 6:48 am

≫ Next: Trudeau's verbal porridge and serene smile have carried him along. Until now: Neil Macdonald

≪ Previous: If Jane Philpott doesn't have confidence in Justin Trudeau, why should anyone else?

---------- Original message ----------
From: "Fitch, Leanne"<leanne.fitch@fredericton.ca>
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2019 14:21:33 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: YO Chucky Crybaby Leblanc Where did your
video about Vickers go?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>

Due to a very high volume of incoming email to this account there is
an unusual backlog of pending responses. Your message may not be
responded to in a timely fashion. If you require a formal response
please send your query in writing to my attention c/o Fredericton
Police Force, 311 Queen St, Fredericton, NB E3B 1B1 or phone (506)
460-2300. If this is an emergency related to public safety please call
911.

En raison du grand nombre de courriels que reçoit cette messagerie, il
se peut qu’une réponse tarde un peu à venir. Si vous avez besoin d'une
réponse officielle, veuillez envoyer votre demande par écrit à mon
attention aux soins (a/s) de la Force policière de Fredericton 311,
rue Queen, Fredericton, NB E3B 1B1, ou composer le 506 460-2300.
S'il s'agit d'une urgence de sécurité publique, faites le 911.

This e-mail communication (including any or all attachments) is
intended only for the use of the person or entity to which it is
addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. If
you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, any use, review,
retransmission, distribution, dissemination, copying, printing, or
other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this e-mail, is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please
contact the sender and delete the original and any copy of this e-mail
and any printout thereof, immediately. Your co-operation is
appreciated.

Any correspondence with elected officials, employees, or other agents
of the City of Fredericton may be subject to disclosure under the
provisions of the Province of New Brunswick Right to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act.

Le présent courriel (y compris toute pièce jointe) s'adresse
uniquement à son destinataire, qu'il soit une personne ou un
organisme, et pourrait comporter des renseignements privilégiés ou
confidentiels. Si vous n'êtes pas le destinataire du courriel, il est
interdit d'utiliser, de revoir, de retransmettre, de distribuer, de
disséminer, de copier ou d'imprimer ce courriel, d'agir en vous y
fiant ou de vous en servir de toute autre façon. Si vous avez reçu le
présent courriel par erreur, prière de communiquer avec l'expéditeur
et d'éliminer l'original du courriel, ainsi que toute copie
électronique ou imprimée de celui-ci, immédiatement. Nous sommes
reconnaissants de votre collaboration.

Toute correspondance entre ou avec les employés ou les élus de la
Ville de Fredericton pourrait être divulguée conformément aux
dispositions de la Loi sur le droit à l’information et la protection
de la vie privée.

GOV-OP-073

---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2019 10:21:29 -0400
Subject: YO Chucky Crybaby Leblanc Where did your video about Vickers go?
To: oldmaison@yahoo.com, jp.lewis@unb.ca, Catherine.Harrop@cbc.ca,
andre@jafaust.com, David.Coon@gnb.ca, Kevin.A.Arseneau@gnb.ca,
megan.mitton@gnb.ca, kris.austin@gnb.ca, rick.desaulniers@gnb.ca,
michelle.conroy@gnb.ca, steve.murphy@ctv.ca, carl.urquhart@gnb.ca,
hugh.flemming@gnb.ca, denis.landry2@gnb.ca, brian.gallant@gnb.ca,
Stephen.Horsman@gnb.ca, blaine.higgs@gnb.ca, Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca,
robert.mckee@gnb.ca, robert.gauvin@gnb.ca, David.Akin@globalnews.ca,
Leanne.Fitch@fredericton.ca, Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca, Gilles.Blinn@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
don.darling@saintjohn.ca, mike.holland@gnb.ca,
sutherland.marie@brunswicknews.com
Cc: david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>, jp.quinn@rci.rogers.com,
Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca, Robert.Jones@cbc.ca, nick.moore@bellmedia.ca,
Newsroom@globeandmail.com, news@kingscorecord.com, news919@rogers.com,
news@dailygleaner.com

BTW why not ask the all knowing JP Lewis why Kevin Vickers was wise
enough not to speak to you ?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/kevin-vickers-liberal-leadership-race-decision-1.5044156

Kevin Vickers tours province, will make decision on Liberal leadership
this month
CBC News · Posted: Mar 05, 2019 6:48 PM AT

29 Comments

David Amos
"Vickers will speak to voters, experts to help him decide if he wants
to succeed Brian Gallant"

Methinks some folks must have noticed that Vickers would not talk to
Fat Fred City's infamous blogger N'esy Pas?

David Amos
"It really sounds like he's thinking this through," J.P. Lewis,
associate professor of political science at the University of New
Brunswick Saint John, said when asked about Vickers's actions."

Methinks Mr Lewis and Mr Vickers will never tell all that they know N'esy Pas?

http://charlesotherpersonalitie.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, 5 March 2019

Should Hopeful New Brunswick Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers sat down
with Pain in the Ass Blogger???

Posted by Charles Leblanc at 9:44 pm No comments :
Canadian Hero and New Brunswick Liberal Leader hopeful Kevin Vickers
denies Blogger an interview!!!
https://youtu.be/13vW5Ad7lpk

Posted by Charles Leblanc at 7:10 pm No comments :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cFOKT6TlSE

Fundy Royal, New Brunswick Debate – Federal Elections 2015 - The Local
Campaign, Rogers TV
6,691 views
Rogers tv
Published on Oct 1, 2015

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies

‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks Mr Lewis and Mr Vickers will never tell all that they know N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/kevin-vickers-tours-province-will-make.html

#nbpoli#cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/kevin-vickers-liberal-leadership-race-decision-1.5044156

Kevin Vickers tours province, will make decision on Liberal leadership this month

59 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.

David Amos

"I think it's still unfolding," Lewis said.

YUP

David Amos

"Vickers will speak to voters, experts to help him decide if he wants to succeed Brian Gallant"

Methinks some folks must have noticed that Vickers would not talk to Fat Fred City's infamous blogger N'esy Pas?

Marc Martin

@David Amos

Which blogger is that?

David Amos

@Marc Martin Your SANB buddy

Marc Martin

@David Amos

According to you I have a lot of buddies...

David Stairs

the truth needs to come out as to all the glory awarded him and how they shipped him off to Ireland and let the actual facts be misreported..it's amazing how gullible the media is and how all they care about is sensationalism...

David Amos

@David Stairs I agree

Pat Chambers-Dalpe

Welcome Home Kevin, I hope you do decide to take over Mr Gallant's position ..

David Amos

@Pat Chambers-Dalpe Me Too

Dan Lee

@David Amos
yup me too...wont vote for him but he should scare Higgs and the wanna be priest in a closet............

David Amos

"It really sounds like he's thinking this through," J.P. Lewis, associate professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, said when asked about Vickers's actions."

Methinks Mr Lewis and Mr Vickers will never tell all that they know N'esy Pas?

William Edwards

First you have to kiss the ring on the hand of the leader of SANB, then you can pretend to govern.

David Amos

@William Edwards He has been there done that

Dan Lee

@William Edwards
Is that what Higgs did with the Irvings??

Lou Bell

All we need , another Liberal/ SANB puppet with no experience as a leader.

Marguerite Deschamps

@Lou Bell, your anti-French rethoric is getting old.

Colin Seeley

@Marguerite Deschamps

He’s right. We don’t need leaders genu- fleckting to special interests or any cultures .

Voting Liberal is is what’s getting old .

Marc Martin

@Lou Bell

So you voted Liberal last election ?

Marc Martin

@Lou Bell

*All we need , another Liberal/ SANB puppet with no experience as a leader.8

Your right lets elect a fail pastor instead...

Marc Martin

@Colin Seeley

So you want to self impose our votes ? I know a country that does that RUSSIA...

Marguerite Deschamps

@Colin Seeley, go kiss up to queenee instead.

David Amos

@Marguerite Deschamps You do

Lynn Gilbert

@Marguerite Deschamps who are you referring to as queenee?

Marguerite Deschamps

@ Lynn Gilbert, the one on the other side of the pond!

Doug Leblanc

He is just another puppet paraded out by Trudeau and Butts to distract from the scandal in Ottawa. No matter how many times he tells his parliament hill story he always forget the other brave rcmp officers who stormed the shooter. Unfortunately, like Gallant he is all about him.

herbie derbie

@Doug Leblanc you are making a great story line lol.

Willy Wildewar

@Doug Leblanc
You're not wrong.

David Amos

@Willy Wildewar I agree

Matt Steele

@Doug Leblanc ......Very true ; folks should google " RCMP Officer Curtis Barrett " ; they may find a little different story other than what Vickers has claimed.....

Kevin Vickers tours province, will make decision on Liberal leadership this month

Vickers will speak to voters, experts to help him decide if he wants to succeed Brian Gallant

CBC News· Posted: Mar 05, 2019 6:48 PM AT

Kevin Vickers, a former ambassador and House of Commons sergeant-at-arms, is touring New Brunswick, speaking to voters and experts, while mulling a run for the provincial Liberal leadership. (Adrian Wyle/Canadian Press)

Kevin Vickers says he will decide before the end of March whether he will seek the New Brunswick Liberal leadership.

But the former ambassador to Ireland isn't pondering a future in politics while pensively staring through a window at his home in Trout Brook, northwest of Miramichi.

Vickers, who was hailed as a hero for helping end the 2014 attack on Parliament Hill, has been touring the province to speak with voters and experts.

It's a tour, Vickers said, that will ultimately shape his decision.

"If I'm able to help in some way, I probably will go for it, but if I think it's a job for greater people than I, then that will be that as well," he told Information Morning Fredericton.

Kevin Vickers considering run for New Brunswick Liberal leadership

National hero Kevin Vickers an 'unknown political quantity' in home province

Kevin Vickers says he is retiring as ambassador to Ireland, will return to N.B.

The former House of Commons sergeant-at-arms and native of the former town of Newcastle said he's carefully considering his skills and ensuring he has a grasp of all the major issues before deciding one way or the other.

He said does not have a team in place.

"It really sounds like he's thinking this through," J.P. Lewis, associate professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, said when asked about Vickers's actions.

Lewis suggested Vickers would also be considering the party apparatus and the support there. Vickers did not say during the interview whether he was speaking with party officials during the tour.

A request for comment from the Liberal Party was not returned Tuesday.

Politics 'all over the map'

Vickers said he was raised in a Liberal household, but his politics cross partisan boundaries.

"All over the map," he said, describing his varied views. He's leans Progressive Conservative when it comes to fiscal policy, NDP on social programs, and he's "more green than the Greens" on the environment.

The 62-year-old said his three grandchildren are the forces motivating him.

"I want to make sure when I leave this place they'll have a home in New Brunswick that they have vibrant future, both economically and environmentally," he said.

Information Morning - Fredericton

Will Kevin Vickers run for the NB Liberal Leadership?

10:2612:47

Terry Seguin spoke with Kevin Vickers, Canada's former Ambassador to Ireland, and asked him if his intention is to become the next leader of New Brunswick's Liberal party. 12:47

Lewis said "it kind of makes sense" that his politics don't adhere to a single party line, since a leadership run would be his first step in partisan politics and he appears to still be formulating opinions.
"I think it's still unfolding," Lewis said.

When questioned about his vision for New Brunswick, Vickers said his conversations with New Brunswickers will help shape it.

The party's top post was vacated by former premier Brian Gallant, who stepped down in February, a little more than three months after his government lost a Nov. 2 confidence vote in the legislature.

Longtime MLA Denis Landry is serving as interim leader until the party chooses its new leader June 22.

'Strongly considering it'

With the leadership convention around the corner, speculation over who will jump into the race has ramped up. Some individuals have said they're running, while some familiar names have officially taken themselves out of the running.

3 Liberal party members bow out of leadership race

Liberal leadership candidate presses on, despite citizenship woes

Whispers of a Vickers leadership run began in December, a few weeks after Gallant announced his resignation. He said friends of his in the Acadian Peninsula began urging him to run.

"The more I looked at it the more passionate I came to it and … now strongly considering it," he said.

Vickers says one of his talents is that he can bring people together. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

The potential high-profile candidate made headlines once it was confirmed he was mulling it over.

In early February, Vickers announced his retirement as ambassador. The decision was well met by some, including Liberal MLA and former cabinet minister Lisa Harris, who described Vickers as "premier material."

"I hope that in early March he'll make another announcement that he'll go forward with the leadership bid for the Liberal Party," she said at the time, adding she believes he can unite the party and province.

Vickers, who is fluently bilingual, said an ability to unify is among his talents. He said his approach helped bring an end to the Burnt Church fishing dispute, which saw clashes between Esgenoopetitj First Nation fishermen and non-Indigenous fishermen and the authorities.

Had long career

"I think one of my talents is bringing people together," he said.

"I was able to bring a balanced approach, a toolbox approach of communication, education, facilitation, respecting the dignity of people. Those were the drivers, not the rule of law, that resolved that issue."

That approach could help bridge the gap between anglophone and francophone New Brunswick, he said.

Vickers has a long career of public service, including 29 years in the RCMP. He also served as aide-de-camp for the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. He served as sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons between 2006 and 2015.

On Oct. 22, 2014, Vickers shot and helped take down a man armed with a .30-30 rifle. Michael Zihaf Bibeau had barged into Centre Block on Parliament Hill after killing honour guard reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial.

Information Morning Fredericton, Canadian Press

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

↧