Canada In The News

[PlatinumPearl]

Air travellers must now provide medical proof when refusing to wear masks.

Canadians boarding flights without wearing a mask now have to provide medical proof showing that they are unable to wear one, says a federal travel order.

Since April 20, it has been mandatory to wear non-medical masks on flights unless passengers said they had “breathing difficulties unrelated to COVID-19,” according to CTV News.

Passengers are no longer able to simply say they can’t wear a mask under a revised Transport Canada order that was issued on Friday. The order states that travellers have to show a medical certificate proving they cannot wear a mask due to a medical reason.

Wearing a mask is also required while travellers are making their way through airports, other than when going through security.

Some exceptions include infants and people who do not have the ability to remove their mask by themselves.

The order defines a mask as: “Any non-medical mask or face covering that is made of at least two layers of tightly woven material such as cotton or linen, is large enough to completely cover a person’s nose and mouth without gaping and can be secured to a person’s head with ties or ear loops.”

The new update to the federal order is one of many that have been made throughout the pandemic. Mandatory temperature checks were also implemented under the order.



Source: thepostmillennial.com
Website: https://bit.ly/2PM15Me
Date: August 11, 2020

[PlatinumPearl]

Trudeau Liberals gave biomed lab $149 MILLION for faulty COVID-19 test kits.


The test kits were given the $149 million green light on March 27. By May 1,
the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg reported that the kits were testing poorly.

The Trudeau government dished out nearly $150 million in taxpayer dollars on COVID-19 test kits that did not work, the Department of Health admitted yesterday.

According to Blacklock's Reporter, the Department of Health, the "Spartan Cube," funded by the government and designed by Spartan Bioscience Inc., "successfully detected positive samples only 47 percent of the time using samples tested in three different provinces."

The test kits were given the $149 million green light on March 27. By May 1, the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg reported that the kits were testing poorly.

"This device will no longer be authorized for sale," said staff in a memo. "No distribution is allowed. The Cube is authorized for research use only."

The company was given high praise by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at his daily press conferences, telling reporters on March 20 that Spartan was among the "many businesses" that stepped up during the pandemic's starting phases.

Industry Minister Navdeep Bains also praised the company's potential, with the government hoping that the biomedical company would be able to design tests that would be used nation wide.

"If successful, its diagnostic platform and COVID-19 test could be used in airports and clinics," said Bains. "The device could read the test results within thirty minutes. We're working with Spartan to ensure Canadian supply of this equipment."



Source: thepostmillennial.com
Website: https://bit.ly/2Clky3j
Date: August 12, 2020

[Cin]

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is expected to mark a political milestone today: his final time rising in the House of Commons as leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

Today's Commons sitting is one of two scheduled for August, but the second comes after party members will elect Scheer's replacement, bringing an end to the long and sometimes painful process for Scheer that began just after last fall's federal election.

...His failure to defeat the Liberals was linked in part to Scheer's personal inability to clearly articulate his position on social conservative issues. There were also factors that ate away at his credibility -- a claim to being an insurance salesman when he never completed the licensing requirements and not disclosing he was a dual American-Canadian citizen.
It was also discovered that he had billed the Conservative party for his kids’ private Catholic school, private security, an extra housekeeper, his minivan and clothes for his family.

As leader of the Opposition, Scheer made about $264,000 a year. He also receives a $2,000 car allowance. He and his family live rent-free in the official Opposition leader’s residence, Stornoway, although they continue to maintain a home in Regina.

The vote for Sheer's replacement is taking place by mail, and all ballots must be back by Aug. 21. A winner is expected to be announced within days, and very likely before the next sitting of the Commons on Aug. 26.
Candidates Erin O'Toole and Derek Sloan are both MPs, so could easily slide into the Opposition leader's seat -- and the official residence of Stornoway -- if they win.

Neither of the other two candidates, Peter MacKay and Leslyn Lewis, currently holds a seat in the Commons. Should either of them win, they would likely appoint someone to lead the party in the Commons until they could win their own spot.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/andr...ader-1.5060754

[Cin]

Are the Liberals shopping for a new leader?

The Trudeau government's troubles arising out of its close relationship with WE Charity keep growing.

This past spring, the WE organization entered into a sole-sourced agreement with the government to manage nearly a billion dollars of public money. Then, Canadians found out WE had paid the prime minister's mother and brother to make speeches, and that the finance minister's daughter worked for WE.

WE pulled out of the agreement and reimbursed the government for any money it had received, while both PM Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau apologized for failing to recuse themselves when the cabinet made its decision on WE.

But the bad news kept on coming.

First, we learned that the agreement was not with the principal charity, WE, founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger in the 1990s, but with a recently formed spinoff organization, which has a very thin resumé of accomplishments.

Then, on Tuesday, July 22, Morneau revealed that he and his family had received more than $40,000 worth of paid travel from WE, which he only, belatedly, repaid last week.

Add to that the swirling concerns about the way WE manages its affairs -- mixing profit with charity and holding tens of millions of dollars in prime real estate in Toronto -- and you have the recipe for a political disaster for the governing Liberals.

Nobody wants to force an election
For the time being, the government seems to be safe, however, despite the opposition parties' rhetorical outrage. Nobody in Parliament seems to have the slightest interest in bringing down this minority government in a time of pandemic.

In fact, just as the WE scandal was reaching a boiling point, all parties in the House of Commons put partisan interests aside to quickly enact new government COVID-19 spending measures. Those measures include an extension of the wage subsidy, which enables struggling businesses to keep their staff working, and funds to aid Canadians living with disabilities.

While Charlie Angus of the NDP -- to choose one opposition party -- was effectively eviscerating Trudeau and Morneau for their ethical lapses, his leader, Jagmeet Singh, was taking credit for a number of the new spending measures the Liberals adopted.

On the Liberals' agreement to increase support for disabled Canadians, Singh explained his party's role this way:

"The earlier proposal by the government, if you recall, would only help about 40 per cent of Canadians living with disabilities. We were able to push them to include more help to more Canadians living with disabilities, which gets the number of a majority of Canadians that live with disabilities. It's still not enough but we're going to continue fighting."

On the new wage subsidy provisions Singh boasted that "we broadened the scope of the wage subsidy program so that more people would get the help they need to get employed or to stay at their jobs."

The Conservatives said that in exchange for their support for fast passage of the new spending measures they got the government to agree to continued sittings, throughout the summer, for the Commons' Canada-China and public safety committees.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet had been most vociferous in calling for Trudeau to step down because of the WE scandal, and yet the Bloc was the first party out of the gates to offer support for the Liberals' new spending measures, without, apparently, any conditions.

Opposition parties sincerely believe it is their role to hold the government accountable over its management of the WE fiasco -- and, naturally, they also hope to gain political advantage from it. But they're obviously not ready to push the crisis to its limit and vote non-confidence in the government.

Some Liberals are losing confidence in their leader
Indeed, if there is any threat to Trudeau's leadership, it comes from his own party. A good many Liberals are growing weary of the prime minister's questionable judgment, and of the -- at best, inadequate -- advice given by the members of his inner circle.

Disgruntled Liberals could not blame Trudeau's advisers for the vacation he and his family took at the Aga Khan's private Bahamas island, in the winter of 2016-2017, for which the ethics commissioner rebuked him.

But many Liberals were, privately at least, extremely unhappy with the entire management of the SNC-Lavalin affair prior to the last election. There did not seem to be any adults in the room when the prime minister and key cabinet ministers made some fateful choices, they said. They attributed the flaws in that process to Trudeau's shunning of seasoned political counsellors in favour of his youth brigade.

In the end, there was no effort at a coup before the 2019 election. Since then, and especially during most of the pandemic, the consensus is that Trudeau had been doing just about everything right. Opinion polls certainly bore out that view.

The entirely self-inflicted WE affair has severely shaken many Liberals' confidence in Trudeau. Some among them are starting to talk about getting themselves a new leader before the next election.

And who could that be?

Everybody mentions Chrystia Freeland, currently deputy prime minister. She has somehow managed to distance herself from the WE decision, even though she was sitting at the table when cabinet took that decision.

Few would doubt Freeland's intelligence and knowledge. She was a rookie in politics when she took over former interim leader Bob Rae's Toronto seat in a byelection before the 2015 vote that swept the Liberals back to power, but has come a long way since then. Her greatest success was in quarterbacking the renegotiation of the NAFTA agreement with the dysfunctional and irrational Trump administration.

Freeland is difficult to categorize, ideologically, and does not seem to belong to either the more progressive or more small-c conservative wing of the party. In her previous roles at trade and global affairs and her current role as, in effect, the government's chief operating officer, she has taken a managerial approach.

She does not give the impression that she has any deeply held ideals or that there is any great goal she wants to accomplish for Canada -- even as the pandemic forces many to reconsider their ideas of economic, environmental and social justice.

As a leader, Freeland would inspire confidence, but would not likely excite.

There are others in the cabinet and the Liberal universe who might be interested in the leadership, should the opportunity present itself.

Among those are Navdeep Bains, minister of industry and science, and Catherine McKenna, who had been environment minister and now heads the big-spending infrastructure ministry.

Current treasury board minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, an economist, might be convinced to run, if for no other reason than to have a Quebec candidate. He would more logically fit in the finance minister job, should the current minister, Bill Morneau, decide to fall on his sword.

A saviour from outside?
There is another name, however, someone outside of politics (for the time being), who does actually excite Liberal insiders: Mark Carney.

The last time the Liberals chose a non-politician they got Michael Ignatieff, and it turned out to be a disaster. But Ignatieff was a lifelong intellectual with zero managerial or leadership experience -- and he had cozied up to the George W. Bush regime in the U.S. He supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, for instance.

Carney headed both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, which gives him well more than a decade in senior managerial leadership roles.

At the Bank of Canada, he took bold action during the crisis of 2008, when, still new to the job, he slashed the interest rate by half a point to help make credit more available to a floundering economy. He was ahead of the curve then. His European colleagues were still raising rates.

Recently, Carney has moved somewhat to the progressive side of the political field, working on climate change for the United Nations. More important, he has written tantalizingly about how the current pandemic has made it necessary for us to radically rethink our ideas of equality, fairness, opportunity and of the sacrosanct market economy itself.

Carney outlined some of his thoughts in an article for The Economist magazine in April. A good deal of what he had to say is tantamount to heresy in the world of investment bankers, where he cut his teeth.

"We have been moving from a market economy to a market society," Carney wrote. "Increasingly, to be valued, an asset or activity has to be in a market. For example, Amazon is one of the world's most valuable companies, yet the Amazon region appears on no ledger until it is stripped of its foliage, and converted to farmland … In this crisis, we know we need to act as an interdependent community, not independent individuals, so the values of economic dynamism and efficiency have been joined by those of solidarity, fairness, responsibility and compassion."

Carney is a banker and an economist, and so one could not expect him to abandon ideas of "efficiency."

But when he evokes solidarity and compassion, Carney opens the door to a far more interventionist, even socialistic approach to governing than we would expect from a one-time denizen of the Wall Street behemoth Goldman Sachs.

He just might be a game changing leader for the beleaguered Liberals.

https://rabble.ca/news/2020/07/are-l...ing-new-leader

[Cin]

Passengers with COVID-19 keep arriving in Canada on international flights

TORONTO -- Eighteen flights arriving in Canada from international destinations since the start of August have had people on board with COVID-19.

According to the federal government, the flights landed in Canada between Aug. 1 and Aug. 4. They all had passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Canada.

Eight of the flights arrived in Toronto, while seven landed in Montreal, one in Vancouver and one in Calgary.

The government is still advising Canadians against non-essential international travel but for those who do, it is mandatory to self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of whether or not they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

Passengers are not notified directly by federal public health authorities to get tested, though the government acknowledges those onboard affected flights "may have been exposed to COVID-19."

Speaking to CTVNews.ca last month, Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said that anyone concerned they may have been exposed to the disease should contact their doctor.

"However, it is important to understand the incidence of individuals contracting a communicable disease inflight is very low. As evidence, consider what are called 'cluster outbreaks,' where a group of people contract a disease at the same time and location. These are rarely if ever tied to modes of travel, whereas you often see reports of outbreaks arising from funerals, bars or other gatherings," Fitzpatrick said.

An Air Canada fact sheet says, "the reasons for the apparently low rate of in-flight transmission are not fully determined but are thought to include a combination of the lack of face-to-face contact, and the physical barriers provided by seat backs, along with the characteristics of cabin air flow."

Pre-flight screening, temperature monitoring and mandatory face coverings are "also seen to be effective."

Both WestJet and Air Canada, two of the biggest airlines in North America, began selling their middle seats again on July 1 after months where the option was removed to aid in physical distancing.

The international flights since Aug. 1 with COVID-19 cases include:

Air Transat flight TS831 from Punta Cana to Toronto on Aug. 1
United Airlines flight UA375 from San Francisco to Vancouver on Aug. 1
Air Transat flight TS893 from Cancun to Montreal on Aug. 1
Air France flight AF034 from Paris to Montreal on Aug. 1
Air Canada flight AC1297 from Punta Cana to Montreal on Aug. 1
Air Canada flight AC1241 from Cancun to Montreal on Aug. 1
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK797 from Lahore to Toronto on Aug. 2
Etihad Airways flight EY141 from Abu Dhabi to Toronto on Aug. 2
Air Canada flight AC992 from Mexico City to Toronto on Aug. 2
United Airlines flight UA3488 from Newark to Toronto on Aug. 3
Qatar Airlines flight QR763 from Doha to Montreal on Aug. 3
Air Canada flight AC7682 from Chicago to Toronto on Aug. 4
Air Canada flight AC849 from London to Toronto on Aug. 4
Air Canada flight AC879 from Switzerland to Toronto on Aug. 4
Tap Air Portugal flight TP253 from Lisbon to Montreal on Aug 4.
Delta Airlines flight DL7203 from Atlanta to Calgary on Aug 4.
Air Canada flight AC870 from Montreal to Paris on Aug 4.
AeroMexico flight AM680 from Mexico City to Montreal on Aug 4.

The information posted to the government's website is provided by provincial and territorial health authorities, international health authorities and public website.

The data on the government's website is updated once a day.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/passenger...ghts-1.5058347

[PlatinumPearl]

Despite the federal debt surpassing $1.3 trillion dollars, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that the federal government would not raise taxes.

The Trudeau government borrowed more than $500 billion dollars in just 120 days, the Department of Finance said on Wednesday.

The report shows that between April 1 to July 31, the Trudeau government borrowed $511,400,000,000—more than the total GDP of the small African nation of Sao Tome and Principe.

Despite the federal debt surpassing $1.3 trillion dollars, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that the federal government would not raise taxes.

“We think that raising taxes would be exactly the wrong response to dealing with this sort of challenge,” said Morneau on July 8. “We want to actually increase demand, demand from people. We want to ensure we put money into the economy.”

When asked about a potential outline for when the government would balance the budget, Morneau said: “When do you think your government will finally balance the books? What year will that be? I’m not programmed in that way,” said Morneau.

The balance has not been balanced since the Harper-era, in 2007.

“Canadians know that we are in a situation where the ability to forecast is extremely difficult,” Morneau continued. “We will of course be intending to talk more about what the path forward is in the fall when we have more information.”



Source: thepostmillennial.com
Website: https://bit.ly/3anG43N
Date: August 13, 2020

[PlatinumPearl]

Contracts given to Baylis include $273,237 for the medical contract, and an additional
$422,946 "research contract" with the Department of Industry, totaling $696,183 in taxpayer dollars.

The Montreal-based Baylis Medical Company Inc., owned by former Quebec Liberal MP Frank Baylis, received nearly $700,000 in taxpayer dollars to make 10,000 pandemic ventilators. The machines, however, were never "approved in any jurisdiction to date," a memo from the Department of Health revealed.

"We now find out Frank Baylis, a former Liberal MP, has received an undisclosed value contract," Conservative MP John Brassard said in Commons. "While those governed are losing their homes, businesses, jobs and futures, the Prime Minister’s family and friends are doing just fine."

The biotech company was given a the go-ahead to make 10,000 ventilators by October 21. Baylis, who serves as chairman for the medical company, served one term as a Liberal MP from 2015 to 2019 and did not seek reelection.

"Will the Liberals tell us what the exact dollar figure was for the contract they gave to their friend?" Conservative MP Michael Barrett asked. “What was the amount?”

Contracts given to Baylis include $273,237 for the medical contract, and an additional $422,946 "research contract" with the Department of Industry, totaling $696,183 in taxpayer dollars.

According to Blacklock's Reporter, Baylis was a "generous donor" to the Liberal Party, having donated over $66,000 from 2005 onward.

Twitter Post
John Brassard @JohnBrassardCPC
This was the exchange in the the house yesterday with @MikeBarrettON
when the Minister said the contract was actually worth $237 Million. The
question was clear and it was specifically about the Baylis contract. The
answer comes at the end of the video. @mindingottawa #cdnpoli

Video

The contract raises immediate eyebrows, as the Conflict of Interests Act clearly states that former MPs should not "act in such a manner as to take improper advantage of his or her previous public office."

A memo from the department of health states that the ventilators, the VFC-560, are a "new" type of ventilator that "has not been approved in any jurisdiction to date."

The Baylis Medical Company website describes themselves as "a world leader in the conception, development, production and distribution of state-of-the-art medical products that improve the lives of people around the world."

A memo posted on the site published on July 17 states that "with the Health Canada approval, manufacturing of the 10,000 ventilators can begin, with the first shipment distributed shortly after that."



Source: thepostmillennial.com
Website: https://bit.ly/2Y2mc1s
Date: August 13, 2020

[PlatinumPearl]

Poilievre has submitted a motion to the Finance Committee that would suspend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's pay until he returns to work.

The Conservative Shadow Finance Minister Pierre Poilievre has submitted a motion to the Finance Committee that would suspend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's pay until he returns to work.

As first reported by Brian Lilley in the Toronto Sun, the prime minister has been lapping up the summer sun in Ontario. As of Thursday, Trudeau has taken five personal days in a row.

What may make this particularly irritating for Canadians is that Trudeau is choosing to take this holiday in the middle of a pandemic, economic collapse and an existential scandal.

On top of this, Trudeau decided to skip Andrew Scheer's last day in the House of Commons as leader of the Conservative Party—a move that has been criticized as disrespectful.

As a result of all this, Pierre Poilievre is adamant on pushing this motion through, saying "the chair [of the Finance Committee] tried to shut it down. I will bring it back."

In his motion, Poilievre wrote that "the prime minister has taken off 20 days in six weeks—meaning nearly half the calendar days have been days off."

No other leader has chosen to follow in Justin Trudeau's footsteps: NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, Andrew Scheer and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet are all worked yesterday, regardless of the prime minister's attendance.

Journalist Alex Pierson tweeted at the prime minister, saying "today you should show up for work and do your damned job. No other elected official in this county is vacationing."

Last month, Trudeau was criticized for taking a personal day during the height of the WE scandal. Scheer said that Trudeau was taking this vacation to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, saying "instead of showing up to answer questions, as he said he would last week, he's taking a personal day today."

Justin Trudeau has been criticized before for his Liberal use of personal days. In 2018, the Conservative Party created a website that highlighted whether the prime minister was on a vacation or not.

Similarly, in June of last year, the prime minister was lampooned for taking a personal day when he should've been attending the repatriation of a fallen Canadian soldier.



Source: thepostmillennial.com
Website: https://bit.ly/31Os7bw
Date: August 13, 2020

[C0LLETTE]

Trump’s tariffs on Canadian softwood breached global trading rules, says WTO


A World Trade Organization panel has found the United States broke international trade rules with some of its 2017 tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, which the U.S. set at 20.23 per cent after accusing Canadian federal and provincial governments of subsidizing softwood.

However, it is unlikely that the ruling will take affect since the U.S. is blocking the WTO’s dispute-resolution system.

The U.S. had claimed that the Canadian governments charged lower-than-market rates for companies to cut down trees on Crown land. South of the border, most lumber is on private lands. However, the WTO has found that the U.S. was wrong, and that the Canadian governments had taken measures to ensure prices were comparable to market rates. The panel wrote that the U.S. had improperly rejected those measures.

The ruling still needs to be upheld by the WTO’s appellate body before taking effect; however, the body currently cannot decide any cases at it is down to only one member since the Trump administration has blocked attempts to appoint new ones. Until the case can reach a conclusion, the tariffs will remain.


BULLY TACTICS AGAINST A MUCH SMALLER ALLY. THIS IS WHAT FEEDS RESENTMENT.

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