RANDOM THOUGHTS

The scandals are so abundant I can’t even keep up with them.  News has come out today that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and Prime MInister Justin Trudeau interfered in the April 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting that killed 22 people to further a political agenda of banning firearms.  In a serious country, Trudeau, Lucki, and then Public Safety Minister Bill Blair would all be blown out the door for this corruption but Trudeau has gotten away with putting himself in criminal investigations before (SNC Lavalin, Mark Norman to name a couple) so why stop him now?  I recognize that demanding resignations from politicians is loosely done but there is a very real case to be made here against Trudeau and Blair as well as current Public Safety Minister Marco Mendecino, who has proven to have lied over and over about the evidence he used to enact the Emergencies Act.  In case you missed it, there was never a case for this very serious measure to be implemented.  Then you have Omar Alghabra, the Transport Minister, who has blamed passengers and airlines for the mess that is Pearson Airport despite the fact he’s the one in charge of a department that has continued to keep pandemic restrictions in place for political purposes rather than for safety.  We laso have airhead Melanie Joly, who mysteriously appears to be Trudeau’s personal favorite, and also who is the Foreign Affairs Minister.  She recently allowed one of her staff to attend a Russian embassy party.  What war in Ukraine?  These people are a mix of corrupt and incompetent.  For Canadian people that is a horrible mix but I don’t see any inclination that we care and until we do, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse.

How many public institutions have been destroyed because of government interference?  Sure, there are very good people who work on the frontlines of policing, health, education, and justice but so many have lost trust and faith in these crucial areas that I am not sure they can be repaired.  As far as the RCMP goes, provinces would be wise to start their own forces immediately despite the added costs.  But, having said that, how many of you trust your provincial government to create a police force independent of their interference?  Not me.  It would just be more of the same, just different snakes slithering into places they don’t belong.   

While the federal government gets serious about banning single use plastics (they didn’t care for two years about colossal plastic waste as they enforced masks that served no purpose other than to signify your political allegiance or humiliate those who are on the opposite side of the political center) the reality is that drug use and homelessness in Canada’s largest cities continues to worsen.  In British Columbia, it’s so bad that illegal drug use is no longer even illegal.  It’s officially okay to snort, inject, smoke, etc.  You just can’t deal.  Meanwhile, there are images of empty transit vehicles in Calgary and full transit shelters of people openly doing drugs.  These are real problems, real issues, and they are not easily solved and because of that, our ruling class chooses to turn a blind eye and will hope that it just magically goes away.  I’ve got news for you - it’s going to get worse.  As prices sky rocket and interest rates climb more and more people are going to have to give up their homes.  It’s a scary thought and there is nobody anywhere in a position that could offer some help that is actually trying to do so.

The price of gas is one of the main drivers of inflation and the carbon tax is part of that issue.  Corporate greed is also definitely a factor, but you have governments everywhere threatening to put an end to these energy companies and so what do you think is going to happen?  They’re going to rake in the profits while they still can.  They aren’t going to increase production and spend more money when politicians are pushing to make them extinct in the near future.  The answer would be for the Canadian government to signal that ethical production of oil and gas is something they will support, start greenlighting pipelines, and make some assurances they will stop attacking the industry.  Axe the tax and get rid of the stringent measures that are killing our economy and I think you’d start to see a turnaround.  But, the political ruling class who have a bottomless pit of financial resources and will never be personally affected by the pain being inflicted on the rest of us, are steadfast in their goal and (by and large) we as citizens are unopposed.  We just take the beating without offering resistance.

At The Forks in Winnipeg, organizers are modifying their Canada Day celebrations by eliminating some of the events and attractions of years past while adding certain events and attractions in an effort to be more inclusive and also in the spirit of Reconciliation.  I have no problem being more inclusive, but when it comes at the expense of being non inclusive to other groups, I feel you’ve lost the portion of the audience you most need to attract.  There’s no reason why they couldn’t have left everything alone as it was but, simply, added to it with pow wow dancers, drummers, dancers, and craft stations.  Meanwhile, in Yorkton, the local Tribal Council is undertaking a project to build a teepee in the downtown area all the while showing respect for a nearby mural so that it’s not obscured and also going out of their way to let people know that while the teepee symbolizes First Nation homes, it’s by no means off limits to people of other cultures.  There will be lights on the structure which can change color and will be lit up to signify special occasions and discussions are ongoing about potential signage that would be open for any group or organization to utilize.  Not to mention, this is a great opportunity for non indigenous people to learn about the 15 poles that make up a teepee and their meaning.  This is the real definition of all inclusiveness.