vyelkin posted:

If Trudeau is smart, this is already the perfect spin for the story. "This is something Harper should have done ten years ago, but he didn't, and now we have to clean up his mess."

Furnaceface posted:

Yes.

Yes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/27/judicial-recount-ordered-in-barrie-ont-riding-after-narrow-election-win_n_8398906.html

I know they have to do it by law if the vote is super duper close just to make sure but whatever I hope it results in Nuttall being sent packing

MonsieurChoc posted:

We are!? Ohmigod, that's great news! That viaduc always felt to me like a little part of Detroit in Montreal.

Neil '' Macdonald posted:

Read this week's statement by the president of the Sûreté du Quebec police union if you're a lover of irony. Pierre Veilleux was commenting on the uproar over allegations made by aboriginal women of police abuse in the northern Quebec city of Val d'Or. "This crisis," he said, "brings to light a social issue in aboriginal communities living with great difficulties right across the country." Let's focus, he added, "on finding sustainable solutions for vulnerable people." Well, while it's certainly true that aboriginal women in Val d'Or qualify as vulnerable — it's actually hard to imagine anyone in Canada who is more vulnerable — let's be clear: the "social issue" under discussion in Val d'Or happens to be the behaviour of SQ officers.

According to several native women there who spoke to Radio-Canada, SQ officers have, for years, been assaulting them, or punishing them for being intoxicated by driving them out of town and stranding them in the cold. Sometimes, these women say, the officers would throw in a demand for oral sex. Refusing, they said, carried a painful price. As it turns out, authorities had been aware of such allegations for months. But, as usual, the provincial police force was being allowed to quietly investigate itself, even though it has a nearly perfect record of declining to lay charges against its own members.

It took the reporting of Radio-Canada's premiere investigative program to pour on some disinfectant, and when that happened, things moved fast.

'No crisis' here, move along

The province's public security minister, actually weeping at a news conference, announced that eight SQ officers were now suspended. Suddenly, Montreal's municipal police force took over the investigation. At that point, more aboriginal women started coming forward with similar stories. But the SQ, which came into being in the late 1930s as bullyboys and strikebreaking thugs in the service of then premier Maurice Duplessis, has a reputation for operating by its own rules. In this case, Val d'Or's detachment decided to punish the town by simply not showing up for work all weekend. The force's director general, evidently unbothered by that, declared there is "no crisis," ignoring the collective anger of aboriginal leaders. And an online petition, reportedly begun by an SQ officer, demanded the public security minister apologize for showing "a lack of control in her emotion and her words."

A singular weapon

In English Canada, such overt contempt for civilian authority would be shocking.

Imagine an entire RCMP or Ontario Provincial Police detachment simply refusing to report for duty; or that sort of open sneering at the minister in charge. But the SQ seems more in sync with New York City's force. Remember the hundreds of officers who publicly turned their backs on the city's mayor after he sympathized with an unarmed black man who was choked to death by a crew of police after he gave them some lip and refused to quietly kneel? A 1998 report by the provincially appointed Poitras commission concluded that the SQ simply cannot be trusted to investigate itself, and described a culture of willful blindness to members' misdeeds. Retired judge Lawrence Poitras concluded that officers accused of abuse often retaliate with criminal charges against the accusers in order to cover their tracks. What's more, as the force's many critics in Quebec have written, the SQ has a singular weapon against its political masters: it is the only force in Quebec authorized to investigate political corruption.

'Asses kicked'

Back in 1990, I was one of a cadre of reporters who learned what it meant to displease the SQ. That was during the Oka crisis.

The SQ, having triggered the crisis by attacking a group of unarmed Mohawk women who were defending an ancestral burial ground against developers, went wild with anger after the Mohawks fought back. (It was never determined who first used live ammunition, but an SQ corporal died during the assault.) Officers threatened reporters, and the SQ's press office actually blamed the English language media for fanning the flames of the dispute in retribution for the failure of Brian Mulroney's Meech Lake Accord. After the Canadian army stepped in and, to its enormous credit, ended the crisis with no further bloodshed, the SQ began laying charges against dozens of Mohawks.

And it didn't stop there. Freelance photographer Shaney Komulainen, who snapped the defining image of the crisis — the young soldier standing nose to nose with a masked Mohawk Warrior — was recovering in hospital after a traffic accident when SQ officers showed up at her bed to charge her with various weapons offences, and with participating in a riot. The charges were bogus. I was standing next to Komulainen when she shot the famous picture, and she was no more a rioter than I was. But she'd been publicly sympathetic to the Mohawks, and that was evidently enough. I happily testified when subpoenaed by the prosecution. It allowed me to set the record straight about Komulainen, and to describe how I'd been told that day by an SQ patrol to make sure I filmed "savages' asses getting kicked."

During a courtroom break, an SQ plainclothes officer scowled at me that if "I thought this was funny, I'd better be careful." Then a military photographer, a soldier, told the court he'd followed Komulainen's every move all day, and that she'd done nothing but her job. The judge tossed out the case. To no one's surprise, the police who laid the charges were not themselves charged with malicious prosecution. Since those days, I've tried to avoid the SQ. Their reputation is just too scary. But ask yourself this: If I, a charter member of the privileged white males society, find them frightening, imagine what must go through the head of an intoxicated young aboriginal woman on a cold night, alone in a squad car?

Jack of Hearts posted:

If a plebiscite on electoral reforms fails, isn't that democracy in action? I find the logic of "we must reform the system to be more representative/democratic, but we mustn't ask the people what they think of this plan" to be a little peculiar.

BattleMaster posted:

It's crazy that Harper, a guy with no personality or likability, has a cult of personality within the Conservatives. It still blows my mind that anyone, even his cronies, think that the guy should have been even more front and center in his campaign when all he has is being a power-hungry android

Sedge and Bee posted:

We've never had legal protections for trans gender people in Canada , so this isn't really reversing Conservative actions so much as it is a big step forward in human rights, especially considering the state of trans rights around the world generally.

quote:

Bill C-279 would add “gender identity” to the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code. It would make transgender people “an identifiable group in the hate crime and hate speech sections” of the Criminal Code as well as protect them from discrimination under the human rights act. It was passed in the House of Commons and has been stalled in the Senate for some 20 months.

An amendment introduced by Conservative Senator Don Plett this year is the sticking point right now. To paraphrase Senator Plett’s comments made in the Senate on May 12, (the) amendment offers the operator of sex-specific facilities in federal jurisdictions a legal protection if they are to restrict an individual from a sex-specific facility, on a case-by-case basis, for the purposes of protecting those in a vulnerable situation.

The amendment has provoked an outcry by many in the LGBT community as well as the media as being transphobic (i.e. discriminatory), and Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell has presented an amendment to overturn Senator Plett’s amendment.

CBC posted:

A Toronto-based company is selling the 'Dreamy Trudeau' sweater online for the not-so-conservative price of $59.99.

And believe it or not, the sweater has been a hot seller in Alberta, not generally known as a Liberal stronghold, a company spokesman says.

"We did some ads and we even excluded Alberta from the whole group, because we said, 'No one in Alberta would want the Dreamy Trudeau sweater,' " said Nicholas Montgomery, CEO of Shelfies - Outrageous Clothing.

"But it turns out that was the biggest market."

The sweater features a majestic scene: A windblown Trudeau in a tuxedo rides a stallion through lush, rolling hills with twinkling stars overhead.

Leofish posted:

I want to make this into a comedy movie. Paul Gross can play one of the Mounties.

Jordan7hm posted:

This story isn't even kind of new, we've talked about it a half dozen times already. Everyone seems to agree that it's really hosed for the RCMP to do that. I think even swagger did last time.

The Ottawa U thing is ridiculous, but totally par for the course. Student Associations are poo poo, and it sucks for the left that this is how most university students get introduced to "leftist" politics.

cowofwar posted:

People recently like Putin because he took a dump on refugees and told them that Russia doesn't need them etc.

Kafka Esq. posted:

Although the government has sent out letters to 33 people on the receiving end of plum patronage posts in the dying days of the Conservative government asking them to step aside voluntarily, Surinder Pal says despite being one of them, he’s not about to call it quits. As the CBC reports, the Winnipeg real estate appraiser is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, but says his appointment wasn't political. He also insists he’s qualified for the job. The appointees are welcome to apply for their jobs under a new, more open selection process, but Pal wants no part of it. "[It's] just a bad political game, in my mind," he says. "They want to put their own people in."

quote:

In his case, there's not a cushy job at stake. Work on the panel is paid by the hour, and since he was first appointed in 2013, he said he has been called upon to work only a handful of hours on one case.

"This is basically an insult, in my mind," he said.

"Because they are treating it as a political appointment. They are treating it as if we are not qualified to do the job when we are more than qualified for this job."

Pal's term was supposed to end in February 2016, but the Harper government recently extended it by three years.

Arivia posted:

Here's a good article: https://nowtoronto.com/news/is-camh-trying-to-turn-trans-kids-straight/

There's a lot more to the story, but that's a good introduction for lay people. Bill 77 passed in June I think? God, you'd think I'd remember talking to a Queen's Park committee about why I'm suicidal.

Arivia posted:

I'm not hopeful. Nothing's changed in the Senate, so Don Plett will just turn it into a mockery and kill it again.

quote:

Canada Post on Thursday sent out a letter of its own, delivering a stern rebuke to the government. In it, Sian Matthews, the chair of Canada Post's board of directors, lays out the process by which Chopra was chosen as the company's president.

"The rigorous selection process for this role included an international search conducted by a leading executive search firm," the letter says. "It was advertised publicly, [and was] competitive and merit-based."

Matthews goes on to list Chopra's qualifications for the job, pointing out he was formerly president and CEO for Canada and Latin America at Pitney Bowes, as well as holding several other executive positions at the company over the course of his career.
'Thoughtful leadership'

Matthews also dismissed any suggestion politics had anything to do with Chopra being named Canada Post president.

"He has no political affiliations," she writes.

After praising Chopra for his "thoughtful leadership," which she credits for turning the Crown corporation into "a modern post, meeting both the needs of Canadians and our statutory obligation to be financially self-sufficient," Matthews concludes the letter with a request to the new Liberal government.

"We respectfully ask you to withdraw the Dec. 7, 2015 letter. Responsible leaders, like Mr. Chopra, who commit to public service in this great country, should be celebrated, and not shamed."

Matthews was named to the Canada Post board in 2007 and became chair in 2014. The Liberal Party has, in the past, included her on a list of Conservative insiders who were granted federal appointments.

Matthews has donated to the Conservative Party over the years, and was Stephen Harper's official agent when he was elected as a Reform Party MP in Calgary in 1993. She declined comment to CBC News.

quote:

Canadian Press Biz ‏@CdnPress_Biz 2m

BREAKING: TransCanada says it intends to file a claim under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA in response to U.S. govt rejection of Keystone pipeline.

quote:

The largest independent daily newspaper in Canada has told staff it is removing reporter bylines "indefinitely," ahead of a possible lockout or strike, according to the paper's union.

The Chronicle Herald is negotiating a new collective agreement with the Halifax Typographical Union, which represents 61 newsroom staff. The union says management wants to lay off a third of the newsroom.

Reporters and photographers withheld bylines earlier this week to protest a decision by Herald management to file a lockout notice before two final days of negotiations with a provincially appointed conciliator. A work stoppage could come as a soon as Jan. 23.

Management emailed editors and union staff late Tuesday afternoon, union vice president and Herald reporter Francis Campbell said.

"It goes on to say, 'To avoid confusion, bylines will be withheld from all stories and replaced with The Chronicle Herald'," Campbell said of the emailed memo.

quote:

Farah has no criminal record, and in her eight years on the job at United Airways (now American Airlines) she’d never been formally disciplined. She was using her wages, in part, to help pay for her sister’s post-secondary education. When Transport Canada downgraded Farah’s security clearance in February 2014, it didn’t say she had done anything wrong. Officials said they were investigating Farah’s alleged connection to the Dixon Crew, which police describe as a street gang “primarily comprised of Somali males.” Police have not clearly demonstrated any link between Farah, who is of Somali heritage, and the unnamed convicted criminals it called “Subjects A, B, and C.”

The RCMP says two of the three men connected to Farah were passengers in a car leaving the funeral of an alleged gang member in 2014. The car is registered to Farah, but her father is its primary driver. Farah was not in the car when these passengers were spotted. When officials questioned her about the incident, she stumbled to describe an interaction she was not part of. Her hesitation was deemed suspicious and used as evidence against her.

Farah’s father, Mohamed Ali, is a well-respected figure in the Somali-Canadian community. He attends many funerals, and recalls one afternoon in 2014 when he was leaving a funeral, driving the same car identified as carrying “Subject B” and “Subject C,” and was stopped by Toronto police — they never told him why. “They asked me for my license and ownership of the car,” Ali told me in a phone interview — documentation that was later used to ruin his daughter’s career.

The other alleged connection involves another man with a serious criminal history, whom the ministry calls “Subject A.” Police claim they once contacted Farah and the man together in 2011 — no date of the interaction is given, nor any details of the nature, location, or context. Police say “Subject A” told them he knows Farah. However, they won’t identify him, and thus gave Farah no fair opportunity to verify or explain any connection to him.

In October, Farah’s clearance was suddenly restored without any communication from the ministry. “At that time I felt so good, and thought everything was resolved,” she told me this week. But a month later, Transport Canada revoked Farah’s clearance for good. The ministry concluded she “may be prone or induced to commit an act, or assist or abet an individual to commit an act that may unlawfully interfere with civil aviation.”

"[b posted:

Government Business[/b]"]No. 5 — May 10, 2016 — The Minister of Democratic Institutions — That a Special Committee on electoral reform be appointed to identify and conduct a study of viable alternate voting systems, such as preferential ballots and proportional representation, to replace the first-past-the-post system, as well as to examine mandatory voting and online voting, and to assess the extent to which the options identified could advance the following principles for electoral reform:

[...]

the Committee be composed of ten (10) members of which six (6) shall be government members, three (3) shall be from the Official Opposition, and one (1) shall be from the New Democratic Party; and that one (1) member from the Bloc Québécois, and the Member for Saanich-Gulf Islands also be members of the Committee but without the right to vote or move any motion

quote:

The man who represents one of the largest development industry groups in Canada wasted little time in criticizing Tuesday’s announcement, warning of bad news on the horizon for people living in the region.

“What this announcement means today is more intensification, more condos, more cranes, fewer housing choices for single-family dwellings,” said Bryan Tuckey, president of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). “The net effect will be higher housing prices across the board.”

Tuckey, who attended the announcement, says skyrocketing GTA home prices are the result of supply failing to meet demand, and that the province’s proposed new measures to curb sprawl by imposing zoning and land use requirements on municipalities will make things even worse.

He said further cuts to the supply of land to build single-family homes will cause prices to rise dramatically, even in an already overheated housing market.

vyelkin posted:

Watch the National Post write an incredibly condescending, mansplaining editorial about how FPTP is totally the best you guys.

Holy poo poo is our right wing scared of being marginalized under a PR system.

BattleMaster posted:

I did and I'm pretty sure the only reason I remember what a remainder is is because I've used the modulo operator in programming a lot

edit: like seriously, the concept of a remainder essentially never comes up once you stop doing long division except in specialized cases that I never had to cover from high school onward except in my hobbies

It's time for the aesthetics of upwardly mobile feminist respectability to make room for the aesthetics of survival- particularly trans survival. posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D9QIG36J9Q

Brannock posted:

News media begin characterizing Trudeau as a violent thug, former bouncer, boxer. Trudeau makes several apologies for his actions.

Dreylad posted:

The CBC posted:

Although the decals have been on London Police Service cruisers for at least nine years, a recent Facebook post about Arabic writing on patrol car has resulted in many angry phone calls from Americans upset over the apparent "Islamization of Canada." The post was picked up by a conservative American blog site that also published the phone number for London police.

"Headquarters has been getting calls like crazy," Const. Sandasha Bough said. "Some of them are being patched up to me and people are just screaming at me."


_{Using figures from Statistics Canada, officials selected the most
frequently used languages for the stickers, including Vietnamese,
Chinese, Persian and Polish. (London Police Service)}

Bough couldn't provide specifics on how many calls have come in, but said they've remained steady throughout the day Friday.

On May 30, a Facebook user from Quebec posted a photo showing Arabic writing on a London patrol car. The post included the statement: "So it starts. The little toes in the door already." The poster also asks the question: "Why is this acceptable?"

The writer also questioned why "police" is not spelled out in French, even though both French and English spell the word exactly the same.