quote:

Jason Kenney says he has Stephen Harper's support in uniting Alberta's right
'He believes it’s important to unite free-enterprise Albertans to get this province back on the right track'

Jason Kenney says his Alberta PC leadership aspiration — which involves reuniting the province's fractured right — comes with the support of his old boss Stephen Harper.

"You know I have discussed this with him and he, I shouldn't probably discuss our private conversations ... he's encouraged me to offer myself in either the provincial or federal leadership," Kenney told CBC Calgary News at 6 on Friday.

"He believes, I think, it's important to unite free enterprise Albertans to get this province back on the right track."

Kenney announced Wednesday his intention to run for the leadership of the struggling Alberta Progressive Conservative party, prompting an outpouring of support and opposition.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized Kenney's decision not to take an unpaid leave of absence from his position as a federal MP, while trying to woo Alberta conservatives over the summer.

"It's not appropriate for taxpayers to be paying for someone to campaign for a different job," Aaron Wudrick, a director with the federation, said.

There is no requirement for Kenney to step down or take leave and there is recent precedent for a member of Parliament staying in office while campaigning for a provincial leadership. In 2014, former Conservative MP Patrick Brown announced he would seek the Ontario PC leadership. He didn't resign his seat in the House of Commons until after he won the leadership.

Kenney, despite strong endorsements from many conservatives — both federal and provincial — faces opposition by some who say he is too far to the right on social issues.

Earlier this week NDP MLA Marie Renaud challenged Kenney to state his position on abortion.

"My position is consistent since I first ran for Parliament in 1997. I believe in the value of human life and I apply it to capital punishment and all bioethical questions, but in my 20 years in Parliament I haven't given a speech about this, let alone proposed a motion or a bill," Kenney told CBC News Thursday.

But in 2012, when he was the immigration minister, Kenney defied the wishes of then-prime minister Stephen Harper and supported a motion to set up a parliamentary committee to study when life begins.

Critics said the motion, defeated 203-91, was an excuse to reopen the debate on abortion in Canada and set limits on the procedure.

Another hurdle Kenney will face is the fact that not everyone agrees the right needs to be united or what that merger will look like.

When asked if he would run as an MLA if his leadership ambitions didn't pan out, he offered a qualified yes.

"I would certainly be open to that, but ... here is a new beginning for the free enterprise political forces in Alberta. I am not sure that things are going to be locked into this division. I hope they won't be," he said.

"I am not interested in running for the leadership of one of the two current centre-right parties. I am interesting in bringing them together and other like-minded Albertans."

Ikantski posted:

I like how the rumor turned from buying them drinks to sneaking them in and getting them blackout. One of you guys should just post the whole story.

namaste faggots posted:

But in 2012, when he was the immigration minister, Kenney defied the wishes of then-prime minister Stephen Harper and supported a motion to set up a parliamentary committee to study when life begins.

Ikantski posted:

I like Yakabuski provincially. If there is some supremely unlikely ONDP surge, I'd vote for them too, ABL.

I like how the rumor turned from buying them drinks to sneaking them in and getting them blackout. One of you guys should just post the whole story.

namaste faggots posted:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/welcome-to-the-country/article30820904/

This is a genuinely heartwarming story about mennos in Altona helping settle Syrian refugees. Great article and I felt that there was hope for canadians.

Then you read the comments.

and then you realize canadians all need to be exterminated

apatheticman posted:

Just people that read and comment on the globe and mail and any other news papers.

mik posted:

namaste faggots posted:

That's where you're wrong. It's really easy to imagine a utopian canada from the comfy confines of your university dorm while you complete your BA in gender arts but the majority of canadians are debt slaves living in the misery of declining wages and expanding unemployment pit of hell, wondering where they're going to move to when they default on their missisauga mcmansion, atv, bmw, boat, and cottage. These people are easily tweaked by any threat no matter how irrational, especially when their PM is completely unrelatable. Good looking, university educated, young and rich. It's just a lot easier to hate muslims and watch hockey.

namaste faggots posted:

That's where you're wrong. It's really easy to imagine a utopian canada from the comfy confines of your university dorm while you complete your BA in gender arts but the majority of canadians are debt slaves living in the misery of declining wages and expanding unemployment pit of hell, wondering where they're going to move to when they default on their missisauga mcmansion, atv, bmw, boat, and cottage. These people are easily tweaked by any threat no matter how irrational, especially when their PM is completely unrelatable. Good looking, university educated, young and rich. It's just a lot easier to hate muslims and watch hockey.

quote:

Uber drivers in two Canadian provinces are now insured, as Ontario joins Alberta in approving coverage that extends from when the app is turned on to when passengers exit the vehicle.

Ontario’s insurance regulator announced Thursday that it has approved a policy from Intact Financial Corp. for private vehicles transporting paying passengers through the ride-hailing service.

Last week, Intact began offering coverage for Uber drivers in Alberta and both companies are working with Quebec to get similar insurance in place.

“This new ride-sharing insurance approved by (the Financial Services Commission of Ontario) should serve as a practical solution designed for ride-sharing,” Uber Canada’s general manager, Ian Black, said in a statement.

“Both (Intact) and Uber remain engaged with regulators across Canada to bring new ride-sharing insurance policies that offer a smart, seamless and simple solution for driver-partners.”

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario said the “blanket fleet coverage” addresses a “critical insurance gap” for the industry.

CEO Brian Mills said in a bulletin posted to the regulator’s website that he anticipates new insurance policies that build on what has been approved for Intact will be filed in the future.

“Going forward, I want to emphasize that the sharing economy in general, and the automobile insurance implications in particular, will continue to evolve and will require innovative solutions and responses by all stakeholders, including FSCO, that respond to technological advances,” Mills wrote.

At the same time, I want to emphasize that approved solutions may also need to evolve and adapt as circumstances and legal requirements change. Therefore, any policy form or endorsement that I approve is also subject to ongoing review.”

Uber operates in more than 40 municipalities in Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, London, Windsor, St. Catharines, Kitchener, and Kingston.

The new policy covers all Uber drivers, passengers and vehicle owners when Uber is in use, and when the app is off the vehicle owner’s personal auto insurance policy applies.

The Ontario government approved a regulatory change under the Insurance Act to allow insurance companies to develop commercial fleet insurance policies for ride-hailing companies.

It says the regulatory change is an interim measure while the province works with FSCO and the insurance industry “to modernize the auto insurance system to develop a permanent solution for emerging transportation services.”

The Liberal government doesn’t appear keen to pass a private member’s bill from Progressive Conservative Tim Hudak to regulate Uber, Airbnb and other services in the so-called sharing economy. The bill passed second reading in last fall but has yet to go before committee to be studied.

But the government has set up a sharing economy advisory committee to look at policy, regulatory and legislative challenges associated with the emerging industry.

The Intact policy provides coverage that includes statutory accident benefits, uninsured motorist coverage and third-party liability of up to $1 million while the app is in use but no ride has been accepted and $2 million after a ride has been accepted.

For collision and comprehensive coverage to apply, the vehicle owner must be covered in that way under their personal policy.

eXXon posted:

It's okay, Uber drivers now have insurance in Alberta and Ontario:


Liberalism 101: When faced with a innovative new "technology" from barons of industry that just happens to erode workers' rights and public safety, give in to their demands entirely while giving a toothless finger wag and promising to have a committee study the consequences of your decision long after the fact. (Also blame John Tory for his equally meek acquiescence to Uber in Toronto).

Fluffy Chainsaw posted:

You should like a longshoreman who can't believe that the dock has the audacity to use cranes to unload ships.

PT6A posted:

If the drivers are carrying the proper insurance and the drivers have a commercial license, both things which I think are now the case for rideshare drivers in Alberta and possibly Ontario, where exactly is the risk to public safety, eXXon?

infernal machines posted:

Uber is poo poo for myriad reasons, regardless of what's wrong with the cab industry.

There are plenty of good ways to start reforming things, Uber and specifically UberX are none of them.

infernal machines posted:

I don't know where this idiotic dichotomy of "You point out how Uber is bad so you must love cabs" comes from, but it's facile at best.

Uber is poo poo for myriad reasons, regardless of what's wrong with the cab industry.

There are plenty of good ways to start reforming things, Uber and specifically UberX are none of them.

quote:

Ham radio tower frustrates Maple Ridge neighbours

For 10 years, residents of a Maple Ridge neighbourhood have been fighting to have an amateur radio tower taken down, but a coalition of ham enthusiasts says they're providing a valuable service.

The tower's next-door neighbours Al and Evelyn Shkuratomf say it's an intrusive and dangerous eyesore.

They also claim there are no engineering permits or papers to go along with the ham tower, and worry it could come down in a big windstorm or earthquake one day.

"We have this structure overhanging us with really no place to fall except on us," said Evelyn. "It's going to happen at some point in time."

To make matters worse, every time their neighbour starts broadcasting, they start getting strange sounds through their computer speakers from the radio interference, they say.

They've asked him to take it down, but say he has refused. So for ten years, the Shkuratomfs have been writing to Industry Canada in Ottawa for help.

But all they have received so far are generic replies from the faraway federal bureaucrats, with no offers of assistance.

"I've written a total of six or seven letters, pointed out the documentation they've created themselves and pointed out what they can do and what they should be doing and how the structure was built without following their guidelines, but nothing happens," she said.

Fighting from city hall

And it's not just the Shkuratomfs who want to see it taken down.

"It's annoying and it also just seems like an invasion," said Richard Cordes, who also lives in the neighbourhood.

"It's not properly tied down," agreed City Councillor Gordy Robson. "That thing is going to come over one day, and I don't know what the answer is going to be about why we let it stay there."

Robson also says he's heard complaints that it interferes with the 911 service in the area when the operator is broadcasting.

But like the Shkuratomfs, the city has been stonewalled in its efforts to remove it, he says.

"Our staff has taken it to everybody and we cannot find a way to do anything about that monstrosity."

'Don't hate us'

Amateur Radio Coalition co-founder James Fowler calls situations like these "frustrating."

"A lot of people just see it as an annoyance," he said. "That couldn't be further from the truth."

Fowler, who has also battled with his neighbours in Edmonton about his own 15-metre radio tower, admits that amateur radio operators are often "your typical geekier types" who admittedly do use the service to simply chat with people from all over the world.

But he says they also help with emergency situations when other forms of communications aren't available, like wildfires, earthquakes or even Maydays.

"We're not here to piss off the public," Fowler said. "Don't hate us. We're just trying to help."

"They don't realize fully what that amateur could be doing ... For all the neighbours know he could have saved somebody's life out there."

Fowler says the neighbours shouldn't be concerned about the safety of the tall towers.

"It's definitely not unsafe. These towers are built and engineered by professional engineers. They're anchored in such a way to be freestanding and withstand typical B.C. weather, even extreme B.C. weather," he said.

As for sound coming through the neighbour's speakers, Fowler said it's likely because of poor manufacturing that doesn't properly shield them against radio interference and isn't the operator's fault.

And he said there shouldn't be any interference with emergency operators because they work at a different frequency.

"If that was truly the case they would have legal grounds to actually pursue that," Fowler said.

No response from owner or regulators

CBC News emailed the federal government and has not heard back, and the owner of the radio tower also declined to speak to CBC as well.

Meanwhile at city hall, Robson attributes the tower's staying power at least in part to a historical legacy from days when ham radio operators and their towers were considered an important part of critical infrastructure for communities.

"I don't think that's the case anymore, but they use that power to override bylaws, provincial laws and they are their own law." he said.

And while the Shkuratomfs say it's time the tower is taken down, others in the neighbourhood are wondering if there is any hope.

"Nobody likes it, but you sort of feel helpless," said neighbour Jeannie Swanson.

namaste faggots posted:

haha MY HOME EQUITY vs some loving sperglord who is going to save everyone with his mad amateur radio skillz when the apocalypse takes out our phones.

Fluffy Chainsaw posted:

The odds of me having a worse experience in a licensed cab than I would in a fortnight stay in the ruins of the kowloon walled city are about 70-30.

namaste faggots posted:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ham-radio-maple-ridge-1.3668418


haha MY HOME EQUITY vs some loving sperglord who is going to save everyone with his mad amateur radio skillz when the apocalypse takes out our phones.

PT6A posted:

If the drivers are carrying the proper insurance and the drivers have a commercial license, both things which I think are now the case for rideshare drivers in Alberta and possibly Ontario, where exactly is the risk to public safety, eXXon?