Trudeau's Waning Brand Likely to Crash Completely in Corruption Trial This Summer

Brace yourselves — the Mark Norman trial is about to overtake Lavscam

Lavscam is the name given to the SNC Lavalin scandal where, it appears, Justin Trudeau attempted to interfere in the Canadian justice system for political benefits. He lost, perhaps, his two best cabinet ministers over the botched affair and has dropped in the polls to the point where if an election were held today, the Conservatives would likely form a majority government in Canada.

Waiting to deliver the death-blow to Trudeau's ambitions is another affair having to do with leaking information on military ship-building contracts. The man who should be the Minister of Defence, Andrew Leslie, eminently more qualified than the current, has been thwarted in his career because he is that most unfortunate of people - a white male. In Trudeau's cabinet that drastically reduces your chances.

Anthony Furey

Vice-Admiral Mark Norman arrives at the Ottawa Courthouse on on April 17, 2019. Errol McGihon / Postmedia

When Liberal MP Andrew Leslie announced on Wednesday that he wasn’t running for re-election, there was considerable speculation about his motivations.

Was the retired lieutenant-general leaving politics after only one term because he no longer cared for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s agenda?

Or was the man, previously touted as a star candidate, frustrated to have been left out of cabinet while those with fewer accomplishments under their belts leapfrogged over him?

Or, maybe, the 61-year-old who represents a riding in the east of Ottawa is in fact leaving because of news that just broke concerning a far more scandalous matter.

On Friday, CTV News reported that Leslie is on the witness list to testify in the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman case and that he will be testifying in Norman’s defence and therefore against the government.

LtGen Leslie

Norman is defending himself against one criminal charge of breach of trust, alleging that he illegally leaked cabinet confidence news of a shipbuilding contract to the media.

Not only is Norman vigorously denying this, but the case is believed to be the first time someone in Canada has ever been criminally charged for a leak.

Since there are leaks all the time in Ottawa, the notion that a decorated and respected former head of the Navy and vice-chief of the defence staff would be the first to be charged with something that (even if true) is so minor in the grand scheme of things has infuriated military and veterans circles.

To add insult to injury, the government is refusing to shoulder the costs of Norman’s defence, as is sometimes done in cases like this. Because of this, Norman has had to remortgage his family’s home to pay his mounting legal bills.

An online GoFundMe account though has already raised over $360,000 for Norman. It’s believed to be the largest such defence fund of its kind and saw a spike in activity on Friday following the news about Leslie’s plan to testify.

That a Liberal caucus member is planning to take the stand against his own government in support of Norman will serve a lot to rally public opinion to Norman’s side.

He’s not the only retired senior military figure speaking out. “Mark Norman is a personal hero of mine,” Gen. Rick Hillier said in March at the Manning Conference. “I would stand by him anytime.”

A source familiar with the case told the Sun that Leslie notified the Prime Minister’s Office about his decision to testify many months ago. Leslie perhaps figured that this would make it almost impossible to advance in cabinet even if he was re-elected in October and even if the Liberals continue to hold government.

The Norman trial has the potential to be even worse than Lavscam. First, there’s the timing of it. While no dates are yet set — the case is currently in pre-trial — it’s believed it will unfold in August, during the lead-up to the election.

But more importantly, there is what’s at stake. The allegation behind Lavscam was that the Prime Minister and those around him attempted to interfere with the justice system to prevent a corporation from having to face criminal prosecution.

That is certainly not good. But this is different. It’s worse.

Norman’s defence team, headed up by Marie Henein, is now arguing that the charge against Norman was politically motivated because of how the leak caused trouble for the PM.

Think about what that claim actually says: The PMO worked behind the scenes to put the head of the Navy behind bars because he inconvenienced Trudeau.

Brace yourselves for a case that’s just getting started.

Canada & the Saudis: Snowflake Versus Tyrant

BY RAHEEL RAZA Clarion Project

Canada’s ongoing spat with Saudi Arabia can be likened to a snowflake versus tyrant.

In a recent tweet, Canada reminded Saudi Arabia about its human rights record, specifically relating to the incarceration of liberal blogger Raif Badawi and now his sister, a women’s rights activist.

The kingdom responded by imposing trade restrictions, recalling its ambassador and declaring Canada’s ambassador persona non grata.

Small potatoes

Two points are worth noting about this incident:

First, Canada is operating from a very weak and isolated position. The Canadian government has steadily weakened all trade accords under NAFTA and has lost its position of authority among G7 nations after a series of diplomatic and trade gaffes, including a disastrous trip to India by Prime Minster Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau has come to be known as a man-child and after his trip to China, he was nicknamed “Little Potato.” The Trudeau government also has been appeasing Iran, which irks Saudi Arabia.

Such is the lure of oil. Yet even Western countries are not supporting Trudeau on the latter decision.

(On a side note, Pakistan has come out in support of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. What an interesting conundrum that none of Trudeau’s members of parliament of Pakistani origin have condemned Saudi Arabia. Talk about infiltration!)

Saudi Arabia probably has the worst human rights record in history. They have beheaded more people than ISIS. The day after they tried to defend their human rights record, they bombed a school bus in Yemen. The death toll is currently at 40.

And it was their second such atrocity in a week.

Second, the real reason the Saudis are paranoid about social media regarding human rights or any criticism of their attitude towards women is because most of the Arab Spring uprisings were started through social media.

If this is true, it is an indication of how vulnerable Bin Salman feels about criticism and social media. Reforms are necessary if another Arab Spring is to be avoided sometime in the future, but reforms are not welcome in fundamentalist Islam. 

While Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) speaks of reforms, Muslims have been struggling for reform for 1,400 years. And as much as they claim to have changed, the Saudis are by no means reformers.

Between their turf war with the equally evil regime of Iran and their constant export of their Salafi/Wahabbi ideology, they will eventually destroy the Muslim world if not the entire world.

As noted by J.J. McCullough in The Washington Post, “If Canada’s goal is a foreign policy oriented to endorse the spread of global liberalism, it is not at all obvious how a prolonged fight with Riyadh is more principled than tighter trade ties to Beijing or an embassy in Tehran.”

Just when I was beginning to believe that Foreign Minister Christia Freeland was a very capable minister, she pulls this trick out of her hat. Foreign policy by Twitter may work for bullies, and Christia may be a bully at heart but she cannot back up her bullying like Donald Trump can. Her only form of support is Trudeau and being known as 'Snowflake' or 'Little Potato' severely limits Justin's usefulness as an international heavyweight. Only another strongman can take on a strongman. Christia needs to find more traditional methods to practice diplomacy.

Ontario Premier Wynne's Approval Rating an Astonishing 12%

Hydro rates shock Ontario Premier

Kathleen Wynne’s approval rating

SHAWN MCCARTHY
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has seen a historic slump in her job-approval ratings as Ontarians continue to fret over increased hydro bills and the sale of the Hydro One utility, says new polling by the Angus Reid Institute released Friday.

With a 2018 election looming, the provincial Liberal Premier has the endorsement of only 12 per cent of voters, down from a 41-per-cent approval rating just 18 months ago, the Angus Reid Institute survey revealed.

It was 18 months ago that Wynne brought her far-left ideology into schools in Ontario. Her sex education program, probably written in part by her then Deputy Education Minister who is now in prison for child pornography. The program focused on LGBTQ2S rights and projecting homosexuality and transgenderism as normal and healthy, and ignored the real problem of child sex abuse.

That her slide in popularity began then was not reported by MSM outlets, nor was there any mention of the school sex education program. It is not an issue for MSM as they all agree with the far-left agenda. 

The institute’s executive director, Shachi Kurl, said Ms. Wynne has sunk to depths almost never seen among provincial premiers in recent history, with only former British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell dropping below 10 per cent before he resigned in November, 2010.

“There is no way to sugar-coat this, it’s not a good situation for the Premier,” Ms. Kurl said. “But clearly, based on what we’re seeing and hearing, there may be some continuing belief that the Premier herself, or the party can turn things around” before an election that is scheduled for June, 2018.

In surveying premiers’ approval ratings, the Angus Reid Institute polled 5,404 Canadians, including 804 Ontario residents. The survey was conducted between March 6 and March 13, just after Ms. Wynne’s government announced it would reduce hydro rates by an average of 25 per cent for households, and more for people in rural areas and small towns that were hardest hit by rate hikes over the past decade.

“I would suggest people really hadn’t had the opportunity to absorb whether or not they feel this is something that will credibly give them some relief, and whether or not it is enough at this stage,” Ms. Kurl said.

“You can reach a point with the electorate where a level of cynicism or a level of hardening sets in and no matter what is done, there’s no turning things around.”

Most premiers saw a decline in their approval ratings this month compared with last December.

Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall – who continues to rank as the country’s most popular premier – saw his support drop to 52 per cent from a recent high of 66 per cent last May. British Columbia’s Christy Clark – who faces an election in May – had an approval rating of just 31 per cent, down 4 percentage points from December amid revelations of her Liberal Party’s controversial fundraising tactics.

But none are even approaching Ms. Wynne’s 12 per cent. And Ms. Kurl suggests voters’ anger over soaring hydro rates is a big factor. Average residential rates have doubled in the past decade, and risen ever further in less-densely-populated and remote regions.

Three-quarters of Ontario respondents (74 per cent) describe their household energy bills as “unreasonable” and a similar number expect the Hydro One sale to increase their rates even further. (Hydro One is the province’s main transmission utility that also directly serves households in rural Ontario.)

Indeed, 27 per cent of respondents identified “energy/electricity” as the largest problem facing the province, with “the economy” a distant second at 16 per cent. And more than three-quarters of respondents said their household electricity bills and the sale of Hydro One would be important or somewhat important issues for them when they vote in the 2018 provincial election.

However, 62 per cent said they would factor in the Wynne government’s plan to reduce hydro bills when they go to the polls in the general election.

Look-out Canada, Tomorrow's Going to be Different Than Today

Election Day in Canada (Democracy in action, or Trudeaumania 2.0)

National party leaders (today). Left to right: Stephen Harper, Conservative;
Elizabeth May, Green; Justin Trudeau, Liberal; Tom Mulcair, NDP

A marathon 11 week federal election campaign ended yesterday as Canadians vote for a new government today. 11 weeks is twice the normal duration for an election; Prime Minister Stephen Harper gambled that his two main opponents would shoot themselves in the foot somewhere along the way, however, both emerged with all toes still wiggling. Harper also thought he had an advantage because the Conservative election vault was much more full than those of his opponents. That 'advantage' hasn't really materialized in any noticeable form, nor has it resulted in tipping the polls.


Change (Doesn't matter if it's good or bad)

The theme for this election campaign has been 'change'. Both the Liberals and the NDP convinced Canadians that change was needed. They had the assistance in this endeavour of the CBC - Conservative Bashing Corporation - Canada's public broadcaster whose budget was frequently a victim of Conservative budget cuts. But it wasn't just the CBC who were tired of Harper, Canada's 2 other national TV networks also wearied of the distance Harper put between them and himself, making it difficult to get interviews or inside information. Harper deemed this necessary to control the message, but it certainly did not win him any friends in the national broadcasters.

There are, at least, a dozen other areas where Stephen Harper could be soundly and justifiably criticized, and perhaps twice that many. So 'change' would certainly be a good thing in the minds of most Canadians. The environment, indigenous missing women, smothering scientific research by government researchers, First Nations, etc., etc., are all areas where it would not be difficult to improve on Stephen Harper's record. And while these are all important issues, are they worth 'change' in other areas?


Canada survives 2 global downturns

Canada survived the 2008 economic crash better than any major economy. We were the envy of the G7 and received many accolades because of it. It may have been Stephen Harper's destiny that the crash in oil prices happened when it did. The resultant downturn in employment and investment in the oil fields threw Canada into a brief and very limited recession from which it is already emerging.

The Liberals and the NDP, however, blame Harper for every aspect of that downturn, as if he controlled global oil prices. They also blamed him for all the effects of the 2008 downturn caused completely by American recklessness in mortgage and banking areas. I thank God a Liberal or NDP government was not in control for either of those downturns or this country would have been bankrupt long ago.

So prudent financing, if it were to suffer change would become reckless spending resulting in increased taxes. Canadians pay fewer taxes than we have for many years, but that is also liable to 'change'. A Liberal government would leave us at the mercy of foreign whims and failures even more so than now.


Election results 3 possible scenarios (none of which are good)

The most likely scenario for election results is a minority Liberal government. The Liberals and the NDP are both left-leaning parties and should have little difficulty working together for a couple years. A Harper minority is also possible. That would be an interesting situation since all the other political parties are left-leaning, so it would be a great challenge for Harper to work with any of them. In that case, either another election would be called, or the Governor General may turn to one of the other leaders and ask him to try and form a government.


Trudeaumania 2.0 (God save us)

There is also the possibility of a Liberal majority government. In spite of polls have all three major parties in nearly a statistical dead-heat for most of the campaign, the Liberals and their leader, Justin Trudeau, have been surging in the past two weeks to move very clearly ahead of the others. The surge is almost completely based on the popularity of Trudeau. This, should it continue today, could be called Trudeaumania 2.0.

Being old enough to remember Trudeaumania 1.0, I have to tell you that this is very disconcerting. TM 1.0 was the wave that Justin's father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, rode to become Prime Minister, some 50 years ago. He was, almost certainly, Canada's first rock star. He became more popular than the Beatles. 


Keynesian lunacy (or loonacy)

Trudeau, the senior, however, was a disaster for Canada. His Keynesian economics has left Canada in a position where it may never be able to pay off the debt he incurred. Canada's national debt is nearly $613 billion dollars and increases by 2 million dollars per day. Why is it increasing if the budget has been balanced? Because we are paying $86 million per day in interest on the debt. That's $31 billion per year. What a spectacular waste of money, and Trudeau wants to increase that considerably over the next 3 years, by the end of which we will likely be paying $100 million per day in interest. What could we do with an extra $36.5 billion dollars in our yearly budget?

Trudeau, the junior, seems to have adopted his father's economic philosophy. Keynesian economics is basically spending the money you expect to make next year because of the growing economy. It's kind of like running out and buying a new truck on payments because you are expecting to get a raise. It's all good if the raise come through, but if it doesn't, you're in trouble. You could end up selling the truck at a loss because you can't afford the payments, and then have to make payment on a debt with no truck to show for it.


NEP (Father of the Reform Party)

Keynesian economics makes no provision for possible downturns in the economy. The raise has to come through or our debt just gets bigger and bigger. Trudeau, the senior, used this same idiotic logic when he sent Marc Lalonde, his right-hand man, to negotiate the National Energy Program with Alberta. The policy laid out how much Ottawa would get out of the Alberta oil revenues. The amount was set on an ever-increasing scale with no provision for a drop in oil prices. Astonishing stupidity! So when oil prices dropped, Ottawa was collecting most of the profits from Alberta oil. It was estimated that the program cost Alberta between 50 and 100 billion dollars in the 6 years that it ran.


Vote

So, go out and vote Canada. But please, vote with your head, not your heart. Selecting a Prime Minister is not a romantic adventure, nor is it an entry-level job. God bless, and help, Canada.

Am I Nuts, or What?

This is for all my friends and family who can’t understand how I can vote for Stephen Harper

There are probably 100 reasons to not vote for Stephen Harper. I am very much aware of every one of them, and I don’t disagree with very many. I am sympathetic with those of you who will vote other than Conservative, and cannot fault you in any way; in fact, for most of you the desire for a Prime Minister with higher standards of character is very admirable.

There are just a few reasons why I will vote for Stephen Harper and, in my opinion, they trump (no Donald intended) all the other reasons for not voting for him.

The first reason requires a bit of a story:

In December 2007, I saw a year-end interview with Stephen Harper. He was asked if a national daycare program was on the horizon. Harper’s answer was that there was not, that it was a time to be cautious and prudent with our finances for there may be difficult times ahead.

In February or March 2008, Harper was interviewed about the budget that had just been presented to the House. Again he was asked about a national daycare program, which, by the way, would cost in the billions of dollars every year. His answer was the same as a few months before, they (the Conservatives) saw difficult economic times ahead and it was a time to reduce debt and deficit.

Fast forward now to the fall of 2008 – it is in the middle of a general election. The Liberals, the NDP, and even the Bloc Quebecois were hammering Harper for not starting a national daycare program. It was the main plank in the Liberal and NDP platforms.

Smack in the middle of the election campaign, the wheels fell off the American economy and it was obvious that Canada’s economy would be very much affected. On that fateful weekend, the opposition parties were still pushing their national daycare programs Friday and Saturday. It was a Sunday that the US economy tanked.

Suddenly, Monday came and there was no mention of a national daycare program by any of the opposition parties. Nor was there any mention of it the rest of the campaign. That centre plank in their platforms simply disappeared over the weekend.

So the point is the Liberals and the NDP did not see the downturn coming even 48 hours ahead. They, in fact, didn’t see it until it happened. They didn’t see it in spite of Harper telling them it was coming at least 9 months in advance. These are not the people we want running the economy of the country and we would be financially irresponsible to put them in charge of it.

Without financial stability, there can be little or no progress in so many of the areas where Harper is criticized, in fact, we could lose ground in many worthwhile portfolios simply because we can’t afford it.

That’s reason number one!

Reason number 2 is Harper’s commitment to Israel. We are the best friend Israel has right now, and it would not surprise me if in a couple years’ time, we were the only friend Israel has. I don’t want to be one of those countries that abandons the Jews again in their hour of need. Even if there is little we can do to help them, not abandoning them is the right thing to do for the sake of our conscience and for the sake of our souls. 

Thomas Mulcair, Justin Trudeau

While I’m not sure about Mulcair, I am sure Trudeau will align himself with the Palestinians against Israel. If you are pro-Palestinian, you have been duped, they are terrorists who do not want peace but only the annihilation of the Jews. If you align yourself with them, you are supporting terrorism.

Reason Number 3 – Harper is the only party leader with any understanding of the end-game that Islam is playing. Endless numbers of leaders in Islam have only one purpose in mind – a global caliphate where Sharia would be the law of the land and women would be invisible. In fact, it is the national goal for Iran. If you don’t believe me Google it; there is video after video of Muslim clerics and Imams preaching that very thing. While you are at it, check out some of my posts on Sweden and see what horrors Islam has brought to that once innocent country.

I know the vast majority of Muslim migrants are peaceful people who just want to get away from war and have a chance to get a job and raise their family. I know that! But, as the British have learned, the next generation of Muslims are far more religiously intense than their parents. And as I have documented on my blogs, even ordinary Muslims can be roused to hysteria in a matter of seconds. Harper is right to be cautious in letting Muslims into the country. We should peg the number of immigrants from Syria, etc. to the number that the Gulf States take in, which, right now, is zero. Does that seem odd to you? Or is it just me?