Canadian Politics

[Tracker]

5 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

Guaranteed if they privatize segments of our health care system as Conservatives continually push to do, sooner or later money will begin to flow into deep American pockets and we will lose control of the ability to reform the system into anything other than a replica of the American health care model.  That extra 5.5% cost in their system you noticed, is the wealthy getting wealthier off the pain and misfortune of others.

Agreed, and once that universal healthcare is gone into American corporate pockets, it  will never come back, thanks to NAFTA.

[WildPath]

Singh threatening to pull support for the government if they fund provincial healthcare that expands privatization.

Quote

 

"In fact, the prime minister has the opportunity right now to protect medicare. While negotiating funding with the provinces, we all agree there should be strings attached," Singh said.

"I think one of those conditions has to be no privatization. No for-profit corporations taking over health care. No billing patients for anything. No cannibalizing hospitals, sending their nurses and doctors to for-profit clinics."

 

Canada's health-care system under threat from both Liberals and Conservatives: Singh | CBC News

[JCon]

45 minutes ago, WildPath said:

Singh threatening to pull support for the government if they fund provincial healthcare that expands privatization.

Canada's health-care system under threat from both Liberals and Conservatives: Singh | CBC News

That would be a gift to the Liberals. NDP strategy is befuddling. 

[CodyT]

On 2023-01-16 at 12:20 PM, Fatty Liver said:

Always wondered why we accept bribery when it's labeled as "lobbying" when it's a prosecutable crime with a direct paper trail of evidence?  The biggest flaw in government today is that wealthy donors, unions and corporations are allowed to buy influence with payouts and promises in order to maintain their position at the top of the heap, it goes against all democratic principles of fairness and equity. 

This 1000% times. Should be no private donors allowed. This goes against all things democratic and is widely swept under the rug.

There must be a way where the tax payers fund an allotted amount to each party to run and that's that. No outside money.

I am a capitalist but there should be a cap in my opinion. A billionaire has too much power to buy elections, laws, and decisions that positively affect them and **** everyone else. 

[Wideleft]

12 hours ago, CodyT said:

This 1000% times. Should be no private donors allowed. This goes against all things democratic and is widely swept under the rug.

There must be a way where the tax payers fund an allotted amount to each party to run and that's that. No outside money.

I am a capitalist but there should be a cap in my opinion. A billionaire has too much power to buy elections, laws, and decisions that positively affect them and **** everyone else. 

Jean Chretien brought in a per-vote tax subsidy to reduce outside influences, but Harper scrapped it.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/federal-government-moves-to-kill-per-vote-party-subsidy-1.707244

[WildPath]

6 hours ago, Wideleft said:

Jean Chretien brought in a per-vote tax subsidy to reduce outside influences, but Harper scrapped it.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/federal-government-moves-to-kill-per-vote-party-subsidy-1.707244

Wonder why he would do such a thing 🤔

[Mark F]

economic/oil business  Opinion article with some emphasis on future for Alberta and Suncor.

 

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/01/10/a-glimpse-into-the-post-oil-era-how-the-uneven-impacts-of-2025-2030-peak-oil-demand-will-shape-the-future-of-energy/

 

 

[Tracker]

Alberta premier's office contacted Crown prosecution about Coutts cases: sources

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Smith hasn't contacted Crown prosecutors and has no knowledge of staff doing so, premier's office says

Meghan Grant, Elise von Scheel · CBC News · Posted: Jan 19, 2023 4:52 PM CST | Last Updated: January 19

Anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators created a blockade at the U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., last January. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

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A staffer in Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office sent a series of emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, challenging prosecutors' assessment and direction on cases stemming from the Coutts border blockades and protests, CBC News has learned. 

The emails were sent last fall, according to sources whom CBC has agreed not to identify because they fear they could lose their jobs. CBC has not seen the emails.

Soon after Smith was elected leader of the United Conservative Party and sworn in as premier, her office asked for a briefing on the cases. Subsequent emails critiqued the prosecutors' assessment of the charges and pushed back on the characterizations of the protest.

"This is so improper on so many levels — it's pure interference with Crown independence," said one source with knowledge of the correspondence.

• Alberta premier says she was 'imprecise' when saying she contacted prosecutors

The revelation comes just days after Smith herself backtracked from comments about two instances when she said she had contacted Crown prosecutors, subsequently clarifying that "at no time" had she communicated directly with prosecutors.

In a statement provided to CBC Thursday evening, the premier's office said Smith has not been in contact with Crown prosecutors and has no knowledge of anyone on her staff doing so.

"This is a serious allegation," reads the statement. "If a staff member has been in touch with a Crown Prosecutor, appropriate action will be taken."

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

Alberta premier's office contacted Crown prosecution about Coutts cases: sources

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Smith hasn't contacted Crown prosecutors and has no knowledge of staff doing so, premier's office says

Meghan Grant, Elise von Scheel · CBC News · Posted: Jan 19, 2023 4:52 PM CST | Last Updated: January 19

Anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators created a blockade at the U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., last January. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

3712

comments

A staffer in Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office sent a series of emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, challenging prosecutors' assessment and direction on cases stemming from the Coutts border blockades and protests, CBC News has learned. 

The emails were sent last fall, according to sources whom CBC has agreed not to identify because they fear they could lose their jobs. CBC has not seen the emails.

Soon after Smith was elected leader of the United Conservative Party and sworn in as premier, her office asked for a briefing on the cases. Subsequent emails critiqued the prosecutors' assessment of the charges and pushed back on the characterizations of the protest.

"This is so improper on so many levels — it's pure interference with Crown independence," said one source with knowledge of the correspondence.

• Alberta premier says she was 'imprecise' when saying she contacted prosecutors

The revelation comes just days after Smith herself backtracked from comments about two instances when she said she had contacted Crown prosecutors, subsequently clarifying that "at no time" had she communicated directly with prosecutors.

In a statement provided to CBC Thursday evening, the premier's office said Smith has not been in contact with Crown prosecutors and has no knowledge of anyone on her staff doing so.

"This is a serious allegation," reads the statement. "If a staff member has been in touch with a Crown Prosecutor, appropriate action will be taken."

What that staffer did was stupid & once he/she are found out will probably be fired. If anyone thinks that this hasn't been done in the past with every government of every party federally & provincially then they're quite naive. Politicians have always interfered with the Rule of Law. These lawyers & academics huffing & puffing saying we're a country that relies on Rule of Law is a joke. We aren't equal & never have been. 

[17to85]

Yeah a staffer just took it upon themselves.... after Smith talked about the issue for ages...

[JCon]

44 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Yeah a staffer just took it upon themselves.... after Smith talked about the issue for ages...

Curious that. Given your imbecile premier already admitted to contacting them. 

[Fatty Liver]

18 hours ago, WildPath said:

Wonder why he would do such a thing 🤔

Cause he's the ****** that got this divisive shitball we find ourselves in today rolling down hill!  

[17to85]

2 hours ago, JCon said:

Curious that. Given your imbecile premier already admitted to contacting them. 

No no no, it was a misunderstanding! 

[JCon]

 

 

[Tracker]

 

                            

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-arrivecan-contracts-illogical-inefficient-1.6723202

Quote

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday it was "illogical and inefficient" for the public service to give millions of dollars in contracts to a two-person firm that subcontracted out its work on the ArriveCAN app.

Trudeau said he has asked Canada's top bureaucrat to probe the matter.

Trudeau made the remarks after a report by the Globe and Mail said that GCstrategies subcontracted out $8.3 million of $9 million in federal contracts related to the app's development to six outside companies.

Trudeau was asked why the public service couldn't hire those subcontractors or perform the work itself. "That's exactly the question that I just asked the public service," he said.

"Obviously, this is a practice that seems highly illogical and inefficient and I have made sure that the clerk of the Privy Council is looking into procurement practices to make sure that we are getting value for money and that we are doing things in a smart and logical way," he added.

"Of course, during the pandemic speed was at an essence, helping people quickly was at an essence, but there are principles that we make sure are sound moving forward."

The Globe and Mail reports the six companies that received the ArrriveCan contracts include Distill Mobile Inc., which was paid $5.1 million, and Macadamian Technologies Inc., which got $1.8 million. The other firms, which received much smaller amounts, are BDO Canada LLP, Optiv Security Inc./Optiv Canada Inc., KPMG LLP and Level Access. 

The Canada Border Services Agency says $54 million has been budgeted for the operation and development of the ArriveCAN app up to this coming March.

A glaring - and embarrassing - lack of oversight.

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/green-party-private-information-privacy-breach-1.6726416

Quote

The Green Party posted sensitive and personal information belonging to its members and supporters online, violating the party's own internal rules.

Tens of thousands of names, phone numbers, addresses and other sensitive items of information were left available online, accessible through the party's website.

It's not clear how long the information was available online. CBC was made aware of potential concerns about Green Party data on Tuesday. Access to the Google Drive document that contains the information closed down on Thursday after CBC contacted the party.

One privacy expert said posting the personal information online qualifies as a breach of trust.

Posting unsecured personal information online violates the Green Party's privacy policy. On its website, the party promises voters that it uses "safeguards" against the unauthorized use, sharing, loss or theft of its information. 

CBC did not find any credit card or financial information in the files — but names, addresses, postal codes, phone numbers, birthdates, internal party documents and training videos were all available for viewing and downloading. The information was stored in the cloud in a Google Drive.

[JCon]

12 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/green-party-private-information-privacy-breach-1.6726416

Political Parties are not subject to  privacy laws. 

This is not the first time the Green Party has been so reckless with personal data. 

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/cbc-stands-by-coutts-story-1.6728100

Quote

"The premier (Danielle Smith) calls on the CBC to retract its outrageous story, and further, that the CBC and the Official Opposition apologize to the premier, premier's office staff, Alberta Crown prosecutors and those in the Alberta public service for the damage caused to their reputations and that of Alberta's justice system," the statement reads, adding, "the CBC admitted that it had not seen any of the emails."

The premier's statement generated numerous complaints to CBC's ombudsman, questioning our motives and journalism. Many complainants accused CBC News of lying and inventing the story. Others suggested it was a politically motivated "hit job."

As is our practice, we responded as quickly as possible to those complaints. To be clear, CBC News stands by its journalism. 

...the response that was sent to complainants by Helen Henderson, manager of the CBC Calgary newsroom and a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the business:

The strict independence of prosecutors, judges and the justice system from political interference is a cornerstone of Canada's democracy. So allegations of interference by the Premier's Office in the prosecution and direction of the Coutts cases are extremely serious. (It was exactly this issue where the federal Ethics Commissioner concluded Prime Minister Trudeau had acted improperly and in contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act when he attempted to influence Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould's decision on the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.)

It may be worth recalling that Premier Smith has said publicly as recently as last month that she had contacted Crown prosecutors about the assessment of the charges and pushed back on their characterization, although more recently she has backtracked saying at "no time" has she communicated directly with prosecutors on the Coutts cases.

 

Those who told CBC they have knowledge of the matter consider the contact "inappropriate" and serious enough that they believe the information should be made public. Not surprisingly, however, the sources who provided the information – and I should emphasize here there was more than one source – asked CBC not to use their names in the story. 

That does not mean that they are anonymous. CBC knows the names of the sources, knows where they work, and has carefully assessed the credibility of the information they offered, but agreed not to use their names so as not to put their jobs at risk. CBC's journalistic policy explains it this way: "Our ability to protect sources allows people with important information to come forward and expose matters of public interest. If we do not properly protect our confidential sources, potential sources will not trust us. This compromises our ability to expose abuses of power."

Credibility, being trusted, is the most important attribute of any news organization. That is true of CBC News. So let me emphasize here that we were very careful not only to confirm the bona fides of the sources we spoke with, but to corroborate the information they gave us. It was only after we had spoken with multiple sources and were satisfied with its credibility and authenticity that we published it.

What the story did not say explicitly, but should have is that our journalists had not seen the alleged emails. It was an inadvertent omission. And when our editors realized the story didn't say that specifically, we included that information and added a prominent editor's note to advise readers of the addition.

 

Two days after the CBC story's publication, Premier Smith said she had asked public service employees to review emails sent between the Premier's Office and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service. On Monday, she said the weekend search of over a million emails had turned up no evidence of contact between the two offices. 

Does that mean the CBC story is inaccurate? It does not. The exchange of emails is alleged by sources to have taken place last fall. While the search extended back to October, the government has subsequently said that deleted emails are only retained for 30 days, in this instance, that is to December 22. The terms used in the search are confidential, it said, and would not say if the search included all government emails. The opposition has said the government's assurances are unsatisfactory and called for a full and independent inquiry that would include private email addresses.

Journalism is, by its nature, an iterative process. Reporters reveal information as it becomes known and as they can confirm facts to be true. That is the case here. Additional information was posted on January 25 under the headline, "Premier pressured Justice Minister's office to get rid of COVID charges, sources." The story describes the "pressure" felt by the attorney general's office to intervene in COVID-19 related court cases. That pressure, sources say, came from the premier's office. There is much more reporting to be done and stories in the coming days will include further information.

We remain committed to reporting this story and all the stories we carry with transparency, balance and impartiality.

Danielle Smith's gov't and its braindead supporters are a stain on this country.

[JCon]

No accountability. No matter what they call their party, that's the right in Canada. 

[blue_gold_84]

Speaking of which: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-trudeau-parliament-returns-1.6728295

Quote

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the Liberal government of plunging the country into "chaos" after eight years in office, blasting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a spike in crime, inflation woes and trouble at the country's airports.

"What's happening in our country? Seriously. Look around you," Poilievre said in a Friday speech to the Conservative caucus. "You told us better is always possible and yet everything is worse and you blame everyone else."

The speech to Tory MPs and senators revealed Poilievre's planned approach in the next sitting of Parliament, which resumes next week after the holiday break: blame the Liberals for the country's hardships while painting a bleak picture of the future under a Trudeau-led government.

A Poilievre government, the Conservative leader said, will restore order and bring the economy back from the brink.

Of course he just throws another tantrum in front of the cameras without offering any solutions or ideas.

This MAGAtesque rhetoric is so toxic.

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/cbc-stands-by-coutts-story-1.6728100

Danielle Smith's gov't and its braindead supporters are a stain on this country.

Smith should be encouraged to file suit against the CBC for such egregious lies. But wait- the trial  would mean the airing of all the research that the CBC accumulated and any rebuttal. Don't think the UPC would want that made public.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Tracker

[Noeller]

CBC made a statement today that they stand by all their reporting re: Coutts blockade nonsense. I have absolutely zero doubts Smith is the one in the wrong. She's a lunatic. 

[JCon]

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

CBC made a statement today that they stand by all their reporting re: Coutts blockade nonsense. I have absolutely zero doubts Smith is the one in the wrong. She's a lunatic. 

She promised she would do it. She said she did it. 

What ****ing morons think she didn't? 

[Noeller]

1 minute ago, JCon said:

She promised she would do it. She said she did it. 

What ****ing morons think she didn't? 

the ones who apparently make up the 50%+ that want to elect her in May..... rural AB is every stereotype you can possibly imagine and it is slowly killing me inside.