Next year in Moose Jaw!
I’m pissed. Measles outbreak in Vancouver is now up to 13. I have a whole rant in the anti vaxx thread in the pit about it but here is the Vancouver Sun article:
Usually the measles outbreaks are in the Fraser valley, full of fundamentalist Christians. It is in the city, actually in my neighbourhood (me and mine are immune but that isn’t the point. ) And the ER of children’s hospital was exposed, more than once!
Anybody else in western Canada fed up with this extended cold snap? Seems like we’ve had minus-double-digit highs all during February.
I am. Warmest day so far this month was the 1st, at -11. Average so far is a high of -20 and a low of -30, and there’s still nothing approaching seasonal temperatures (-6 or so) in the long range forecast. The only positive is that we’re so acclimated that when we get highs in the low teens it actually feels kinda nice out.
It’s been another mild winter but yeah, February has been consistently cold.
BAH, I’ve had enough of this crap. Bring on the Spring!
So Singh is in, the Tories held York, and the Grits reclaimed Outremont from Tom Mulcair.
I know, people living in Vancouver are not allowed to complain about a few days of cold and snow, but to be fair, I have lived in Thunder Bay, Longlac On, Montreal and Winnipeg, so I know cold miserable weathers. Still, this year has been rough. Between a chaotic work environment, the first year in 11 as a single person, and my seasonal depression hitting me harder than usual this year, I am ready for some warmer weather. At this point, even rain would be welcome.
Still it was nice that driving home after 6 pm on Monday did not mean pitch black. The increasing daylight is something.
First it was ungodly cold for days, followed by three days of freezing rain. Only to then deliver damaging winds for a couple of days.
Today? 8” of snow on top of iced everything. Walking the dog was a brutal slog.
Ugh.
Could be worse. Fort Erie has been attacked by GIANT WHITE WORMS!
Seriously, though, when the Niagara River gets ice constipation followed by a storm surge, the water has to go somewhere. There have been flood warnings on the Canadian side, flash flood warnings on the American side, and record breaking winds just to add to the problem. Getting flooded out by ice water during a deep freeze is bad. Very, very bad. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the folks living in the flood zone.
Anyone else getting annoyed with this SNC-L shit. Pretty much Pierre Elliot would have told everyone fuddle duddle and thats the way the world works outside Canada. I don’t like the idiot, but losing a shit ton of jobs if SNC-L takes a beating is a good enough reason to ignore legal niceties and at worst throw some C level exec into durance vile for a few years. But no, the Drama teacher has to appoint a believer to the AG\Justice slot and takes his first real body blow to the administration, cause rules are rules and no one is above the law. And some people are talking about this chick getting a leadership run, that would be a nightmare. If JT does get a second term, cause now we are in small majority at best territory, his next cabinet is going to get more closely vetted.
I cannot agree with that assessment. First of all, SNC Lavalin taking a huge hit would not result in a huge net loss of jobs. Any contract they don’t get is a contract someone else does get. Those someone elses would need just as many employees to fulfill those contracts. It would be disruptive if SNC dramatically shrank, but it wouldn’t really be any big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Second, rule of law is bloody important. Yes, I know there’s been political interference in the legal system since time immemorial, but that doesn’t mean it should be condoned. I find it rather distressing that you are arguing that a Minister of Justice with integrity is a bad thing.
Sorry but in my opinion, at that level the min justice and the AG are politicians first. Otherwise Justice should be like the American model and separate from the administration. Since her sticking her oar into the Boushie affair, I find it hard to use the word integrity and her name in the same sentence, which might be unfair to her, as I don’t know if she opined regarding her opinion of the case, or did Trudeau want to be seen and used the Justice minister.
Which for me is the sticking point, its quite possible that yes she would have played ball but did not trust Trudeau to not throw her under the bus if it went pear shaped, if Integrity is a big thing for her, then I would have expected her to resign from the cabinet the minute she was told she was going to Veterans, not after when she realizes that it might be a demotion.
Sorry just rambling
I’m not super convinced that JWR occupies some sort of superior high ground of integrity that automatically qualifies her as the leader in waiting of the LPC…as seems to be vogue right now in the media and comment section ”conversations".
If there is to be a leadership change (which I think is unlikely), I don’t want to see anyone who was involved in this fronting as the new face of the LPC.
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Declan, what you are suggesting is counter to the Rule of Law doctrine. Rule of Law demands that you do not “ignore legal niceties.” It means that you act in accordance with the published laws, in accordance with unpublished constitutional and professional doctrines that come down to us through centuries; and you do so ethically, without making stuff up as you go along. That’s a TLDR summary; entire papers and books have been written and published on the Rule of Law doctrine.
No. As a lawyer, JWR is responsible to her profession first. That means adhering to its code of ethics, before and after politics enters the picture. If somebody (politician, lobbyist, ordinary person) asks a lawyer member of the House to do something that would contravene that lawyer’s professional ethics, then that member is ethically-bound to deny the request. Rule of Law trumps politics, and it seems to me that today, JWR indicated how she upheld Rule of Law within the context of her professional ethics, at a most difficult time.
Just watching the news. Looks like this is the coldest February in 83 years, in our little city. Our average high has been -20C in February. The first week of March doesn’t look to be much better.
Spring, please come soon!
I posted a link earlier on a company that was penalized for breaking the law. Why should SNC be excused or given dispensations when other companies have already been prosecuted using those laws?
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The lame part with the SNC scandal is the way it seems so childish at times to me.
“Ha ha, I caught you being a political coward, so it’s my turn now!” “No you didn’t” “Yes I did” “No you didn’t” etc.
It’s not like any of our three main political parties has a monopoly on being weasels.
This whole SNC-Lavalin mess is because the company’s execs thought it was too big to fail, and politicians felt the same way.
This law that they would not be eligible for federal contracts in Canada because the company bribed Moammar Gadhafi’s son just seems weird. Not being eligible because they bribed executives in Montreal to build a hospital would seem more appropriate to me.
In any case, most of the people in the bribery cases have been convicted (save for a few who managed to dodge the bullet thanks to Jordan) and are no longer with the company.
It just seems stupid.
And so what if the company can’t compete for federal contracts? When companies can’t compete, they break up and the former employees go on to form new companies in the same field. We’ve just been through all this in Quebec after the Charbonneau Commission!
Although, having Scheer say anyone lacks moral authority the week after he went to a rally with Faith Goldy had me rolling my eyes.