quote:

Good Thursday morning to you.

The wildfires have moved on from Fort McMurray, but there’s no doubt the effects of what they’ve left in their wake will be felt for some time. Although some say the impact won’t be as bad as expected, other reports estimate oil production shutdowns could end up costing the oil sands $760-million. The Globe’s Brent Jang looks at what lies ahead for producers.

As for evacuees, hundreds lined up yesterday for emergency funds. Adult residents forced to leave their homes “stand to individually receive almost $2,000 in direct aid from assistance programs engineered by the provincial government and the Canadian Red Cross.”

Back in Ottawa, “The Prime Minister’s Office is exploring various options — including hiring a second staffer — after Sophie Grégoire Trudeau publicly complained she is struggling to deal with the workload that comes with her duties.” The Globe and Mail has more.

With the reserve in the midst of a youth suicide crisis, NDP MP Charlie Angus was baffled by the fact that the Liberals didn’t know that Attawapiskat’s permanent mental health worker wasn’t available to residents under 18. Now the government says it’s going to fund two additional mental health workers and a case manager for youth on the northern Ontario reserve. Kristy Kirkup has the details.

Health Minister Jane Philpott also announced yesterday that the Canadian government is opening its wallet to shell out nearly $5 million for research and international aid to help fend off the Zika virus. Our Kyle Duggan has the details.

Although Rob Oliphant co-chaired the special committee study of medically assisted death, the Liberal MP says he can’t support the government’s bill to regulate it, even with minor amendments, as it doesn’t meet the standard of the Supreme Court’s decision.

“The Liberal government has advised its cabinet to oppose a private member's bill intended to increase the number of women running for Parliament, according to a document obtained by CTV News.” Laura Payton has the story.

Turning to aid targets, Bob Geldof says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s are ‘unambitious’. The musician and anti-poverty activist was in Montreal yesterday where he said Canada has no excuse for not living up to a promise to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on foreign aid. CP’s Giuseppe Valiante has the story.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay’s chief of staff, egg empire scioness Mary Jean McFall, is back in the Conservatives’ crosshairs. Our Kelsey Johnson has the details.

As Canada shares its mining expertise, critics are questioning the transparency of Global Affairs Canada. Our James Munson looks at why.

A letter from the NDP’s president, vice-presidents and treasurer and obtained by The Canadian Press is raising concerns that a leadership race is going to siphon away donations that would otherwise go to the party to help fill coffers that were drained by the federal election. Tom Mulcair says he expects to be replaced within the year.

The House of Commons may get the chance to vote on ailing Ottawa MP Mauril Belanger’s bid to tweak the words of Canada’s national anthem sooner than expected. Kady O’Malley has that story.

Here and there:

• Finance Minister Bill Morneau is the guest speaker at a breakfast event hosted by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal this morning. This afternoon, he addresses the Union des municipalities du Quebec Annual Conference in Quebec City.
  
• The Canadian Council for International Co-operation hosts its annual conference in Ottawa.
  
• The Mayor's Breakfast Series welcomes Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, as this month's keynote speaker.
  
• Statistics Canada releases the new housing price index for March, the gross domestic product by industry: provinces and territories, 2015 and job vacancy and wage survey, March.
  
• Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger delivers remarks at the 2nd Annual Digital Governance Forum.
  
• Postmedia president and CEO, Paul Godfrey, appears at Commons heritage committee to discuss the media and local communities.
  
• Commons privacy and ethics committee meets to discuss the Access to Information Act. Appearing are Duff Conacher, Open Government Coalition and Ezra Levant, TheRebel.media.
  
• Parliamentary secretaries Terry Duguid and Rodger Cuzner announce the EI Service Quality Review.
  
• Treasury Board President Scott Brison, makes an announcement regarding Government of Canada advertising and communications.
  
• Immigration Minister John McCallum appears at Commons committee to discuss the government's initiative to resettle Syrian refugees to Canada.
  
• International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau appears at Commons foreign affairs committee to discuss foreign relations and international trade generally.
  
• March for Life rally takes place on Parliament Hill, noon; followed by a march through the streets of Ottawa.
  
• Science Minister Kirsty Duncan announces the winner of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Group Award for Science Promotion.
  
• The Commons foreign affairs committee has a briefing with World Watch Monitor director Julia Bicknell.
  
• MP James Bezan and Senator Raynell Andreychuk announce the bills they tabled in the House of Commons and in the Senate, entitled Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act.
  
• Commons government operations and estimates committee hears witnesses on Main Estimates 2016-17. 3:30 p.m., Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra appears; 4:30 p.m., Public Sector Integrity commissioner Joe Friday. Same witnesses appear for Reports on Plans and Priorities 2016-17.
  
• Environment Minister Catherine McKenna appears at Commons Northern Affairs committee to discuss the ministerial mandate of the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.
  
• Jean Lebel, president, International Development Research Centre, appears at Commons to discuss the government’s countries of focus for bilateral development assistance.
  
• The Royal Canadian Mint participates in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum's Star Fleet Gala to unveil a silver collector coin commemorating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.
  
• Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion meets with Borge Brende, Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Topics include ISIL, Iraq and Syria, Ukraine and irregular migration in Europe.
  
• The Commons committee to co-ordinate federal contributions to recovery and rebuilding efforts for those affected by Northern Alberta wildfires meets.

For those of you who were taking some solace in the fact Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were both ahead of Donald Trump in the polls, there’s some unsettling news this morning: a new national poll has Trump and Clinton neck-and-neck.

Although Ted Cruz has suspended his campaign, he’s set to challenge Trump in Texas. 'We have a busy weekend planned,' one GOP operative says as big delegate selection opens.

Brazil's senate was more than 12 hours into a marathon session on the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff late last night, with the pro-ouster camp ahead by a wide margin. As the Globe’s Stephanie Nolan reports, the debate was expected to continue into this morning, with a vote coming some time after dawn.

In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull finds himself tangled up in the Panama Papers, but is denying any wrong doing.

In Featured Opinion this morning:

• The Liberals have taken heat in recent weeks for imposing time allocation on Commons debates. That the criticism was coming in part from Conservative MPs only proves that you can't count on a career in politics until you embrace your inner hypocrite.
  
• Brent Rathgeber — who knows a thing or two about how the Conservative bench thinks — argues tonight that C-14, the assisted death bill, needs time allocation more than most, given the deadline imposed by the Supreme Court to pass new legislation. And he says the Conservatives who voted against the bill on moral grounds are trapped in a contradiction: What they actually voted for was no law at all.
  
• Jonathan Manthorpe introduces us to the foreign leader who makes Donald Trump look like a sane person: Rodrigo Duterte, the populist newly-elected president of the Philippines with a political history that runs to death squads and jokes about gang-raping nuns.
  
• And Dan Woynillowicz, Merran Smith and Clare Demerse of Clean Energy Canada explain how developed and developing economies are on the cusp of a clean energy boom — and why Canada will have to scramble to catch up to the competition.

Looking for Paul Martin? You can now find him hanging in the halls of Parliament.

Finally this morning, Trump’s spouting are a little easier to take when it comes from these wee mouthpieces.

Have yourself a good one.
____________________

National

As Canada shares mining expertise, critics question GAC's transparency (iPolitics)
Health Minister announces funding package to help fend off Zika internationally (iPolitics)
Ag minister's chief of staff back in Conservatives' crosshairs (iPolitics)
Liberals keep final say in revamping Canadian elections (Toronto Star)
NDP leadership race could have significant impact on fundraising capacity (Canadian Press)
Under fire, Health Canada announces mental health workers for Attawapiskat (Canadian Press)
Bob Geldof says Trudeau 'unambitious' on aid targets; says Canada can do more (Canadian Press)
Former PM Paul Martin’s portrait the 21st to hang beside Confederation Hall (Canadian Press)
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant says he can't support assisted-dying legislation (CBC News)
Mauril Bélanger's bid to revise O Canada to get 2nd hour of debate May 30 (CBC News)
National daycare proposal to be ready by summer: Doug Currie (The Globe and Mail)

Quebec

Quebec tables bill to protect whistleblowers (CBC News)
Competition Bureau slams Montreal donation bin operators for 'deceptive marketing' (CBC News)

Ontario

ServiceOntario closing 3 offices in eastern Ontario (CBC News)
Kathleen Wynne promises to ban daycare waitlist fees (Toronto Star)
MPP Jack MacLaren not ready to return yet, PC leader Patrick Brown says (Toronto Star)

Prairies

Manitoba's PC caucus sworn in (CBC News)

British Columbia

Environmentalists worry more U.S. coal will come through B.C. after Wash. port proposal rejected (CBC News)
B.C. NDP says new 'shadow flipping' rules treat a symptom, not the problem (CBC News)
B.C. nurses approve 5-year agreement with 5.5% wage increase (CBC News)

Dreylad posted:

Back in Ottawa, “The Prime Minister’s Office is exploring various options — including hiring a second staffer — after Sophie Grégoire Trudeau publicly complained she is struggling to deal with the workload that comes with her duties.” The Globe and Mail has more.

Hexigrammus posted:

Gold plated, wifi enabled, hand forged, artisinal Truck Nutz.

I have to go fire up the forge now...

brucio posted:

The annual "right to life" rally is going on on Parliament hill today.

Anyone know if the Catholic school boards are going to be bussing kids there? Seems like a great use of public funds if so.

Jordan7hm posted:

It is sometimes very hard to tell when you're being serious and when you're being sarcastic ikantski.

Jordan7hm posted:

It is sometimes very hard to tell when you're being serious and when you're being sarcastic ikantski.

flakeloaf posted:

I'd be surprised if they weren't, but isn't Catholic school board taxation opt-in?

Ikantski posted:

First ladies in Canada have zero official duties. She is the embodiment of French culture but I wouldn't necessarily consider that a compliment. National treasure the movie.

Ikantski posted:

First ladies in Canada have zero official duties. She is the embodiment of French culture but I wouldn't necessarily consider that a compliment. National treasure the movie.

Ikantski posted:

First ladies in Canada have zero official duties. She is the embodiment of French culture but I wouldn't necessarily consider that a compliment. National treasure the movie.

PT6A posted:

I assume the chemtrails weren't working fast enough. I think Elizabeth May should look into this Very Important Issue!

jm20 posted:

I thought you were also referring to how hard she has it with only 2 child attendants and she still needs more assistants to deal with whatever she does.

smoke sumthin bitch posted:

the embodiment of french culture? lol whats that supposed to mean

quote:

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/12/strip-club-offers-fort-mcmurray-evacuees-a-free-lap-dance

Strip club offers Fort McMurray evacuees a free lap dance

EDMONTON -- Fire evacuees from Fort McMurray have been offered meals, clothing, places to stay and now an unusual gift -- a free lap dance.

An Edmonton strip club is waiving its $9 entry fee and offering one $30 lap dance to any customers from the evacuated city in northern Alberta.

As demonstrated in the days since the fire, the oilsands capital is home to many families.

But Chris Round, manager of a company that manages five strip clubs in Alberta including one in Fort McMurray, acknowledges the city also has a reputation as a party place for oil workers making loads of money and spending it in bars on their days off.

"Fort McMurray has been very good to our industry and to our business, that's for sure," Round said Wednesday

Fort McMurray clients are coming into the Edmonton club offering the promotion, Eden Exotic Entertainment, and are happy to take advantage, he said.

"It's been a stressful time for everybody. People just want to relax and get their mind off things for a little bit.

"If it's not for you, that's no big deal. But there's a lot of people that have been really appreciative -- they feel like someone cares."

More than 80,000 residents fled Fort McMurray on May 3 when a wildfire spread into the city and torched about 2,400 buildings.

In addition to three other strip clubs in Edmonton, Round's company owns Showgirls in Fort McMurray.

About 35 dancers and staff there are also evacuees. Some have been given shifts at the Edmonton clubs so they can keep earning money, Round said.

Showgirls wasn't destroyed by the fire, but some employees believe their homes are gone, he said.

Showgirls dancers will also be at a "strip-a-thon" fundraiser Sunday in Edmonton. Each will be doing a show and donating all wages and tips to help with fire relief, Round said.

Some Edmonton dancers have already been collecting tips and money from private dances for the relief effort, including one woman who has donated at least $4,000, said Round.

Most dancers travel a circuit, he added, and worked in clubs across the province -- including Fort McMurray.

They simply want to give back, he said.

"These are great, great people with big hearts."

mojo1701a posted:

No way anyone who buys Truck Nutz would go for anything labelled "artisanal".

Ikantski posted:

She was a famous television personality in Quebec right? She is walking, talking French culture.

Trees and Squids posted:

Why would anyone give a single poo poo about Trudeau needing nannies or his wife wanting some extra help dealing with whatever she does? It's so inconsequential and petty.

DariusLikewise posted:

If you ever used the abbreviation for social justice warrior unironically you are human trash

PK loving SUBBAN posted:

It's red meat for the base. The Conservative base. They're very petty and, frankly, idiots.

An Angry Bug posted:

Yes, using it is a good way for them to label themselves.

Trees and Squids posted:

Why would anyone give a single poo poo about Trudeau needing nannies or his wife wanting some extra help dealing with whatever she does? It's so inconsequential and petty.

DariusLikewise posted:

Neither voting base will be happy until the Prime Minister is a crime fighting superhero who can fly, take bullets with dying, piss on raging wildfires to put them out, handle running the country and family life with no extra money, live in an rundown apartment in poo poo area and be a person that you can just sit down and have a beer with.

Trees and Squids posted:

Why would anyone give a single poo poo about Trudeau needing nannies or his wife wanting some extra help dealing with whatever she does? It's so inconsequential and petty.

quote:

She said she is also fighting against the fact that people often tend to see her solely as Mr. Trudeau’s wife, arguing society needs to evolve and respect the decisions that professional women make for their families. Ms. Grégoire Trudeau is a former television journalist.

jm20 posted:

Jump start the local economy

jm20 posted:

Giving people money to spend as they see fit at retail (or gouging) cost is better than aid distributed by a NGO who is likely getting wholesale pricing due to bulk purchasing because

Helsing posted:

I never said it was "better" to give cash vs. other forms of assistance. It's just that direct cash transfers can be a very effective way to assist people. If you've just lost your house there are a lot of situations that could come up where having some petty cash on hand is going to be extremely helpful. Giving families money to help them deal with that contingency seems like a good move.

I'm not here to evaluate the opportunity cost of handing away that money because I'm not really qualified to evaluate what else the Red Cross could have done with those funds. All I'm saying is that it seems like a fairly logical and straight forward move to give monetary assistance to people who just lost their homes. Not everything that people want or need in that situation can be purchased in bulk.

quote:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/godfrey-bailout-postmedia-newspaper-1.3579215?cmp=rss

Postmedia's Godfrey wants lifeline of tax breaks, bigger government ad spending

In committee appearance Godfrey says he's 'asking the government to be an ally, not for a bailout'

The head of one of Canada's biggest media empires is calling on Ottawa to spend more on Canadian newspaper ads, and to give greater tax breaks to companies that do the same.

Postmedia president and CEO Paul Godfrey made the plea Thursday to a Commons committee examining the future of the country's struggling local media.

"Come back and advertise in our newspapers and on our websites," Godfrey pleaded, noting that government cuts to advertising in recent years have disproportionately affected newspapers.

"We're asking the government to be an ally, not for a bailout of the Canadian newspaper industry."

Godfrey pointed to federal statistics showing government advertising in newspapers was halved, while online advertising nearly doubled, between 2010 and 2015. The bulk of the money went to foreign-owned behemoths like Google and Facebook, which produce no original Canadian news content.

He called on the government to explore ways to encourage Canadian businesses to advertise locally, through higher tax write-offs for firms that buy ads in Canada.

Godfrey also suggested Heritage Canada's Aid to Publishers program be expanded to include daily publications and community newspapers, saying it could help support the creation of local news content.

Currently, the fund provides financial help to Canadian print magazines, non-daily newspapers and digital periodicals.

Godfrey's 'contradictions'

Godfrey warned that, without added revenues, many local news outlets will likely be shuttered in the next three years.

The Liberals on the committee were quick to accuse Godfrey of contradicting himself. Postmedia has been among the strongest critics of government spending on advertising, said Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.

"There have been no fiercer critics of subsidies to the media than the Toronto Sun and the National Post," Vaughan said of two of Postmedia's flagship papers. "How do you square your editorial position with your corporate position?"

Godfrey responded by saying Postmedia columnists are given leeway to write articles that contradict their own company's positions on political and other issues.

Postmedia buys Sun Media

Vaughan also questioned why taxpayers would want to bail out a failing company that is owned in part by a U.S. investment group.

Postmedia was formed in 2010 when the Canwest newspapers were bought while under court-supervised credit protection by an investment group backed by New York hedge fund Golden Tree Asset Management for $1.1 billion.

Last year it grew to become the largest newspaper chain in the country when it paid $316-million to buy Sun Media's English-language news properties, including 175 newspapers and digital publications, notably the Sun chain of papers in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg, plus The London Free Press.

The deal also included the free 24 Hours commuter dailies in Toronto and Vancouver, the English-language Canoe online portal and more than a million square feet of real estate.

But the sale also saddled Postmedia with massive debt obligations.

Editorial criticism

Godfrey told the committee that, while his news properties would benefit from government support, he was pitching the recommendations on behalf of Canadian newspapers at large, not just his own company, which he noted is still Canadian-controlled.

Vaughan also openly criticized Godfrey for allowing Postmedia newspapers to publish a full front-page Conservative campaign ad, bathed in the non-partisan yellow of Elections Canada, just two days prior to last year's Oct. 19 federal election.

The Liberals also bought up the home page of the National Post's digital operation during the campaign, Godfrey pointed out.

Conservative committee member Peter Van Loan offered advice to Godfrey for preventing a further decline in his company's advertising revenues — don't abandon local news.

"I've seen some recent trends where you're trying to do almost a Metroland model of centralizing editorial control," the York-Simcoe Ontario MP said.

"I warn you that I think that will harm some of your long-term competitive advantage."

Postmedia announced sweeping changes to its operations in January, cutting 90 jobs across the country and merging newsrooms from multiple newspapers into one each in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.

quote:

http://montrealgazette.com/news/profiling?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Ossie Michelin says two officers came to his door Tuesday afternoon and asked him if he’d seen any “homeless aboriginals” in the area. Later in their conversation the officer repeated his statement about aboriginals, specifying that St. Henri residents should be on the lookout for Inuit, Michelin said.

“He said, ‘We’ve had several complaints last year about homeless Inuit people,'” said Michelin, a freelance journalist. “At that point I said, ‘Well, I’m aboriginal, I’m half Inuit, I’m from Labrador.’ And he kind of went, ‘Oh! Well, we’re just being proactive and warning people’.”

The officer handed Michelin a flyer outlining the local police station’s efforts to target “reprehensible behaviour” including: public drunkenness, street fighting, public urination and loitering. The fact that the police associated this type of behaviour with a particular ethnic group is troubling to Michelin.

“I thought, ‘How many other doors did they knock on and warn people about Inuit?'” Michelin told the Montreal Gazette.

“Unfortunately we have aboriginal people who are vulnerable, we want to help connect them with the proper resources, help get them off the street, get an apartment,” said Carlo Deangelis, the Montreal police’s aboriginal liaison officer. “Police officers just want to make sure the person has care, that if there’s a specific resource that can help get someone off the street, we’ll do that.”

Last year, Deangelis helped facilitate sensitivity training for officers at PDQ 15, where a caseworker outlined some of the historical trauma that may lead indigenous people toward self-harming behaviour.

Michelin acknowledges that the police department is making an effort but he wonders whether the training and education has actually made its way to the officers who patrol St. Henri’s streets.

“I think this is more of an issue of insensitivity and improper training,” Michelin said. “There are homeless people from all kinds of different races, there’s no reason to single out Inuit and stoke fears.”

There are about 1,000 Inuit who live, study and work in Montreal but when people say the word ‘Inuit’ they often associate it with homelessness, according to Michelin.

jm20 posted: