Nov 13, 2023
Not a joke: the UN hands Iran
a human rights job
These are sad times for democracy and liberty. The United Nations has failed us as an institution worthy of support. The cynical and dictatorial move to put the world’s most prolific purveyor of state terrorism in charge of the UN Human Rights Council is disgusting.
Does no one remember that Islam has embarked on a program for world dominance? "The Global Islamic Civilization: The Power of a Nation Revived is real. It plans to "wipe Christianity from the face of the earth," Islamize the West and establish an Islamic system of world government – placing those who resist "under a police state."
Efforts to eliminate the Egyptian Brotherhood led to a diaspora, and brotherhood members sought refuge in many nations, including Canada. The Brotherhood, founded in 1928, remains the most influential Islamic voice worldwide. Our failure to keep our borders secure has added to the Brotherhood's presence in our society. We have no idea how many asylum seekers and others who have entered Canada illegally are Brotherhood members.
Nov 3, 2023
The false promise
of pharmacare
Maintaining clinics, hospitals, and delivering health care is a provincial jurisdiction. For decades, the federal government, via the Canada Health Act, has stifled innovation in the healthcare delivery field while ignoring its constitutional healthcare obligations.
Given the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions that the Impact Assessment Act is mainly unconstitutional, premiers must insist that the Canada Health Act be rescinded and provinces given tax points compensating for the per capita grants currently offered.
Writing for a majority of the Court, Chief Justice Wagner ruled that the reference questions should be answered in the affirmative: the federal impact assessment scheme is unconstitutional in part. While the constitutionality of sections 81 to 91 of the Act was not challenged, Chief Justice Wagner said that the process set forth therein is constitutional. However, the balance of the scheme — that is, the “designated projects” portion — is ultra vires Parliament and thus unconstitutional for two overarching reasons. First, it is not directed at regulating “effects within federal jurisdiction” as defined in the Act, because these effects do not drive the scheme’s decision-making functions. Second, the defined term “effects within federal jurisdiction” does not align with federal legislative jurisdiction. The overbreadth of these effects exacerbates the constitutional frailties of the scheme’s decision-making functions, he said.
In short, in any area where the Impact Assessment Act infringes on a provincial jurisdiction, the Act is null and void – kaput!
In other areas, the federal government may exercise its options primarily under section 92(10) of the Constitution Act, the federal government assumes ownership and costs operations of the facility or infrastructure link.
by Catherine Swift
The Niagara Independent
October 20, 2023
Among all the other hot topics in our world today, the issue of pharmacare will likely be a key part of discussions in Ottawa at least until the end of this year. The reason is of course the demand of Jagmeet Singh’s NDP that the Liberals introduce a pharmacare program before year end. This demand is part of the so-called Supply and Confidence agreement between the Liberal Party and the NDP to ensure the NDP will continue to prop up the minority Liberals through until October 2025, as long as the Liberals satisfy NDP demands.
A look at the facts suggests that mucking around with the existing Canadian pharmacare system is a bad idea. First of all, a grandiose national government-run pharmacare system is a solution looking for a problem. Currently, about 90 per cent – and some studies have found higher percentages – of Canadians have sufficient drug coverage of one kind or another. Much of this is done through the provinces and the private sector with employers, insurance companies and others contributing to the mix.
It is not exactly the same for every Canadian, as some programs cover drugs other programs do not, but generally it is a pretty good system. As well, there are back-up agencies such as the Trillium Drug Program in Ontario, who can step in and provide coverage for lower-income people, the disabled and others that need assistance with drug costs. For the small minority of Canadians who truly lack drug coverage, it would be much more sensible to focus on them than upend the entire current system which is on balance working well.
The NDP, defying centuries of factual experience, continue to believe that government monopolies are the ideal way to deliver any service. They would like to see the creation of a massively costly government bureaucracy to oversee a one-size-fits-all pharmacare program for the country, no matter the different needs of the various regions and subsets of the population. And it will be expensive.
Estimates of how much a national government-run pharmacare program would be range from $11-30 billion annually and, as with most government program estimates, this is likely on the low side. Federal finances are already in a perilous state because of the massive overspending of the Trudeau government, and debt rating agencies are paying close attention to any worsening of our debt burden by the introduction of costly new programs.
The unions are of course gung-ho about the prospect of a new national program, as they foresee lots of new government unionized jobs for the big bureaucracy that will be needed with their overly generous salaries, rich pensions and other pricey benefits. Trudeau has already increased the unproductive federal public sector by 40 per cent, and an additional new bureaucracy will further worsen the government cost burden on the productive private sector.
Proponents of a national pharmacare system tout the notion that money will be saved by having one national entity obtain drugs at higher volume and a lower price, but much of that “bulk buying” is already taking place within and among the provinces. Furthermore, the notion of “free” drugs suggests that the over-prescription and use and abuse of unnecessary medications would be even worse than it already is if there are not some kind of costs attached to it. Furthermore, experience with these types of programs in other jurisdictions suggests that the range of drugs covered by the program would be significantly less than with the current system.
From the legislative standpoint, the likelihood of the Liberals presenting a piece of legislation acceptable to the NDP in the few weeks left that Parliament will be sitting in 2023 is slim to none. Any sensible pharmacare Bill would be very complex and detailed and will never be accomplished in a few weeks. If anything is produced, it will probably only be a rough overview put together to satisfy the NDP’s arbitrary deadline. And although the NDP loves to rattle the sabres occasionally and say that they will back out of their coalition agreement with the Liberals and force an election, no one believes that will happen as NDP leader Singh currently has the most power he will ever have, and even that isn’t all that much.
It’s also ironic that Jagmeet Singh, who loves to rail against large companies and their supposed rip-off of Canadians, will actually be benefitting the private sector by taking pharmacare off their hands. Employers would be foolish to offer drug coverage to their employees if the government steps in, despite the fact the employer-funded program is likely to be much superior to what the government will offer. It is also worth noting that if a national government pharmacare program does come to pass and is viewed to have failed in future, it would be impossible to go back to the previous system of primarily private sector participation.
Many Canadians may believe that a government administered national pharmacare program will be a great addition to our array of expensive and inefficient government social programs. Given the probable outcome, they should be careful what they wish for. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
https://niagaraindependent.ca/the-false-promise-of-pharmacare/
Nov 1, 2023
The quiet Liberal plan to strike King Charles III from the oath of allegiance
Tristin Hopper reports in the National Post that a Liberal MP has quietly introduced a bill that would remove the 156-year-old requirement to swear an oath to the King as a condition of sitting in Parliament or a provincial legislature. Ever since Canada’s founding, legislators must swear an Oath of Allegiance before they are allowed to take their seat in a legislative assembly.
Lunacy. The government of Canada has no authority to amend the constitution without the required consent of the majority of the ten provinces.
The current state of the Privy Council is unconstitutional. The Privy Council can't lawfully be part of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO):
Declaration of Executive Power in the King
9 The Executive Government and Authority of and over Canada is hereby declared to continue and be vested in the King.
Application of Provisions referring to Governor General
10 The Provisions of this Act referring to the Governor General extend and apply to the Governor General for the Time being of Canada, or other the Chief Executive Officer or Administrator for the Time being carrying on the Government of Canada on behalf and in the Name of the King, by whatever Title he is designated.
Constitution of Privy Council for Canada
11 There shall be a Council to aid and advise in the Government of Canada, to be styled the KIng’s Privy Council for Canada; and the Persons who are to be Members of that Council shall be from Time to Time chosen and summoned by the Governor General and sworn in as Privy Councillors, and Members thereof may be from Time to Time removed by the Governor General.
All Powers under Acts to be exercised by Governor General with Advice of Privy Council, or alone
12 All Powers, Authorities, and Functions which under any Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, are at the Union vested in or exerciseable by the respective Governors or Lieutenant Governors of those Provinces, with the Advice, or with the Advice and Consent, of the respective Executive Councils thereof, or in conjunction with those Councils, or with any Number of Members thereof, or by those Governors or Lieutenant Governors individually, shall, as far as the same continue in existence and capable of being exercised after the Union in relation to the Government of Canada, be vested in and exerciseable by the Governor General, with the Advice or with the Advice and Consent of or in conjunction with the King’s Privy Council for Canada, or any Members thereof, or by the Governor General individually, as the Case requires, subject nevertheless (except with respect to such as exist under Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) to be abolished or altered by the Parliament of Canada.
Application of Provisions referring to Governor General in Council
13 The Provisions of this Act referring to the Governor General in Council shall be construed as referring to the Governor General acting by and with the Advice of the King’s Privy Council for Canada.
Power to Her Majesty to authorize Governor General to appoint Deputies
14 It shall be lawful for the King, if His Majesty thinks fit, to authorize the Governor General from Time to Time to appoint any Person or any Persons jointly or severally to be his Deputy or Deputies within any Part or Parts of Canada, and in that Capacity to exercise during the Pleasure of the Governor General such of the Powers, Authorities, and Functions of the Governor General as the Governor General deems it necessary or expedient to assign to him or them, subject to any Limitations or Directions expressed or given by the King; but the Appointment of such a Deputy or Deputies shall not affect the Exercise by the Governor General himself of any Power, Authority, or Function.
Command of Armed Forces to continue to be vested in the King
15 The Command-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia, and of all Naval and Military Forces, of and in Canada, is hereby declared to continue and be vested in the King.
Seat of Government of Canada
16 Until the King otherwise directs, the Seat of Government of Canada shall be Ottawa.
The Clerk of the Privy Council is the head of the civil service, which must be politically neutral and prepared to serve whatever government the people of Canada elect.
The Prime Minister is not empowered to name members of the Privy Council. That is for the Governor General to decide. (see 12 above.) The Privy Council must be politically neutral. The primary reason is that in the event of an emergency where the sovereignty of Canada is at risk, the Privy Council will brief the Government and opposition party leaders on the situation. These briefings are ultra secret; no person attending may lawfully publicly comment on the briefing.
It is irrelevant what some tenured and unaccountable university professor thinks. We cannot accept governments that refuse to abide by the Constitution they are sworn to uphold. We operate in an era where the voices of the people are stifled and ignored by governments fixated on acquiring power over us.
The federal government ignores its obligations under the Constitution, section 91:
1A The Public Debt and Property.
2. The Regulation of Trade and Commerce.
2A. Unemployment insurance.
3. The raising of Money by any Mode or System of Taxation.
4. The borrowing of Money on the Public Credit.
5. Postal Service.
6. The Census and Statistics.
7. Militia, Military and Naval Service, and Defence.
8. The fixing of and providing for the Salaries and Allowances of Civil and other Officers of the Government of Canada.
9. Beacons, Buoys, Lighthouses, and Sable Island.
10. Navigation and Shipping.
11. Quarantine and the Establishment and Maintenance of Marine Hospitals.
12. Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries.
13. Ferries between a Province and any British or Foreign Country or between Two Provinces.
14. Currency and Coinage.
15. Banking, Incorporation of Banks, and the Issue of Paper Money.
16. Savings Banks.
17. Weights and Measures.
18. Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes.
19. Interest.
20. Legal Tender.
21. Bankruptcy and Insolvency.
22. Patents of Invention and Discovery.
23. Copyrights.
24. Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians.
25. Naturalization and Aliens.
26. Marriage and Divorce.
27. The Criminal Law, except the Constitution of Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction, but including the Procedure in Criminal Matters.
28. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Penitentiaries.
29. Such Classes of Subjects as are expressly excepted in the Enumeration of the Classes of Subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces.
94A The Parliament of Canada may make laws in relation to old age pensions and supplementary benefits, including survivors’ and disability benefits irrespective of age, but no such law shall affect the operation of any law present or future of a provincial legislature in relation to any such matter.
10. Local Works and Undertakings other than such as are of the following Classes:
(a) Lines of Steam or other Ships, Railways, Canals, Telegraphs, and other Works and Undertakings connecting the Province with any other or others of the Provinces, or extending beyond the Limits of the Province:
(b) Lines of Steam Ships between the Province and any British or Foreign Country:
(c) Such Works as, although wholly situate within the Province, are before or after their Execution declared by the Parliament of Canada to be for the general Advantage of Canada or for the Advantage of Two or more of the Provinces.
NOTE: Where the federal government elects to exercise its rights under 92 (10) it becomes wholly responsible for the costs associated.
Our federal governments repeatedly infringe on the powers given to the Provinces: 92 In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects next hereinafter enumerated; that is to say,
1 Repealed.
2. Direct Taxation within the Province in order to the raising of a Revenue for Provincial Purposes.
3. The borrowing of Money on the sole Credit of the Province.
4. The Establishment and Tenure of Provincial Offices and the Appointment and Payment of Provincial Officers.
5. The Management and Sale of the Public Lands belonging to the Province and of the Timber and Wood thereon.
6. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Public and Reformatory Prisons in and for the Province.
7. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions in and for the Province, other than Marine Hospitals.
8. Municipal Institutions in the Province.
9. Shop, Saloon, Tavern, Auctioneer, and other Licences in order to the raising of a Revenue for Provincial, Local, or Municipal Purposes.
10. Local Works and Undertakings other than such as are of the following Classes:
(a) Lines of Steam or other Ships, Railways, Canals, Telegraphs, and other Works and Undertakings connecting the Province with any other or others of the Provinces, or extending beyond the Limits of the Province:
(b) Lines of Steam Ships between the Province and any British or Foreign Country:
(c) Such Works as, although wholly situate within the Province, are before or after their Execution declared by the Parliament of Canada to be for the general Advantage of Canada or for the Advantage of Two or more of the Provinces.
11. The Incorporation of Companies with Provincial Objects.
12. The Solemnization of Marriage in the Province.
13. Property and Civil Rights in the Province.
14. The Administration of Justice in the Province, including the Constitution, Maintenance, and Organization of Provincial Courts, both of Civil and of Criminal Jurisdiction, and including Procedure in Civil Matters in those Courts.
15. The Imposition of Punishment by Fine, Penalty, or Imprisonment for enforcing any Law of the Province made in relation to any Matter coming within any of the Classes of Subjects enumerated in this Section.
16. Generally all Matters of a merely local or private Nature in the Province.
Non-Renewable Natural Resources, Forestry Resources and Electrical Energy
Laws respecting non-renewable natural resources, forestry resources and electrical energy
92A (1) In each province, the legislature may exclusively make laws in relation to
(a) exploration for non-renewable natural resources in the province;
(b) development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province, including laws in relation to the rate of primary production therefrom; and
(c) development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy.
Export from provinces of resources
(2) In each province, the legislature may make laws in relation to the export from the province to another part of Canada of the primary production from non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province and the production from facilities in the province for the generation of electrical energy, but such laws may not authorize or provide for discrimination in prices or in supplies exported to another part of Canada.
Authority of Parliament
(3) Nothing in subsection (2) derogates from the authority of Parliament to enact laws in relation to the matters referred to in that subsection and, where such a law of Parliament and a law of a province conflict, the law of Parliament prevails to the extent of the conflict.
Taxation of resources
(4) In each province, the legislature may make laws in relation to the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation in respect of
(a) non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province and the primary production therefrom, and
(b) sites and facilities in the province for the generation of electrical energy and the production therefrom, whether or not such production is exported in whole or in part from the province, but such laws may not authorize or provide for taxation that differentiates between production exported to another part of Canada and production not exported from the province.
Primary production
(5) The expression primary production has the meaning assigned by the Sixth Schedule.
Existing powers or rights
(6) Nothing in subsections (1) to (5) derogates from any powers or rights that a legislature or government of a province had immediately before the coming into force of this section.
Legislation respecting Education
93 In and for each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Education, subject and according to the following Provisions:
2 All the Powers, Privileges, and Duties at the Union by Law conferred and imposed in Upper Canada on the Separate Schools and School Trustees of the King’s Roman Catholic Subjects shall be and the same are hereby extended to the Dissentient Schools of the King’s Protestant and Roman Catholic Subjects in Quebec;
3. Where in any Province a System of Separate or Dissentient Schools exists by Law at the Union or is thereafter established by the Legislature of the Province, an Appeal shall lie to the Governor General in Council from any Act or Decision of any Provincial Authority affecting any Right or Privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic Minority of the King’s Subjects in relation to Education;
4. In case any such Provincial Law as from Time to Time seems to the Governor General in Council requisite for the due Execution of the Provisions of this Section is not made, or in case any Decision of the Governor General in Council on any Appeal under this Section is not duly executed by the proper Provincial Authority in that Behalf, then and in every such Case, and as far only as the Circumstances of each Case require, the Parliament of Canada may make remedial Laws for the due Execution of the Provisions of this Section and of any Decision of the Governor General in Council under this Section.
Old Age Pensions
Legislation respecting old age pensions and supplementary benefits
94A The Parliament of Canada may make laws in relation to old age pensions and supplementary benefits, including survivors’ and disability benefits irrespective of age, but no such law shall affect the operation of any law present or future of a provincial legislature in relation to any such matter.
Concurrent Powers of Legislation respecting Agriculture, etc.
95 In each Province the Legislature may make Laws in relation to Agriculture in the Province, and to Immigration into the Province; and it is hereby declared that the Parliament of Canada may from Time to Time make Laws in relation to Agriculture in all or any of the Provinces, and to Immigration into all or any of the Provinces; and any Law of the Legislature of a Province relative to Agriculture or to Immigration shall have effect in and for the Province as long and as far only as it is not repugnant to any Act of the Parliament of Canada.
CBSA says more than 29,000 foreign fugitives at large in Canada
From Postmedia News, Toronto Sun – The Canada Border Services Agency says more than 29,000 foreign fugitives are at large in the country, reports Blacklock’s Reporter. Another 10,041 foreigners banned from Canada were deported. MORE
Once again, we find one of our federal agencies unable to do its intended job. Our borders are insecure. Twenty-nine thousand criminals circulating in our society are a serious threat.
These are career criminals who prey on innocent Canadians. They are kingpins in drug dealing, prostitution, protection rackets, human slavery, loansharking, identity theft, blackmail, extortion and every other conceivable crime.
They are experts in laundering their untaxed profits, significantly dampening our economy. They get into turf wars over who has the right to an area and settle arguments with guns blazing, with innocent bystanders killed or seriously injured.
Police officers risk their lives apprehending these armed thugs or are injured and killed responding to another gangland shooting incident. The federal government is to blame for this threat to the peace and order of our society. This situation is unacceptable. We have to transform our legal system into a justice system without delay.
Police criticized for lethal takedown at busy Calgary strip mall
This is unbelievable. Tom Engel, chair of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association’s policing committee, has the audacity to criticize the Calgary Police Service. His organization is in a conflict of interest. Advocates for accused criminals are in no position to criticize our police.
This one-sided media report is not in the public interest. Police are put on the defence for doing their best to protect Calgarians. This is why police morale is low and why very few men and women want to join a police force. Police critics don’t care how many innocent lives are lost. They are lost in a dream world where they can fix crime by providing services to thugs. So far, their batting average is a dismal zero.
Calgary police have the option and right to arrest dangerous criminals when the odds are in their favour instead of responding to incidents where these criminals are employing weapons to commit crimes, and the police are responding to a volatile situation with no time to prepare.
Risks are involved, but there are risks to the public as long as armed criminals exist. Police have the duty to get armed thugs off the streets even though they risk their own lives in doing so.
Calgarians need to express their outrage at Tom Engles’ criticism. They want to return to the safety and security of days past. Criminal gangs are making our homes and streets unsafe, which is intolerable. We have to turn on the enablers and insist that dangerous, armed thugs go to jail instead of being released on bail to commit more crimes.
We don’t have any obligation to rehabilitate criminals. We need armed thugs in prison and out of circulation for the rest of their lives. If they disobey our laws prohibiting the taking of a life, they have no place in society. There are no valid excuses for murder. Our Criminal Code differentiates between first and second-degree murder and manslaughter, so the courts already consider the situation of a murder. Uneducated attacks on the police must cease. We are not governed by vested interests or the hysteria of the social media.
We are a nation of ethical, moral and principled individuals who lived in harmony and peace until recently. We know the solutions but are marginalized by political parties who serve themselves.
Questions are being raised about a Calgary police decision to conduct a high-risk arrest of armed men at a northeast strip mall that led to the shooting death of a suspect and wounding of an officer. A suspect was killed in the parking lot of the McKnight Village Shopping Centre and another man was arrested. See Bill Kaufmann’s full report in the Calgary Herald.
Our politicians are unclear about dealing with evil terrorists
23-10-23 – More than 30 MPs — including 23 Liberals — call for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war – CBC News
I have a response to these idiots:
This is disgusting. Two weeks into a major conflict, our politicians are unclear about dealing with shockingly evil terrorists devoid of ethics, humanity, compassion or decency. Their only objective is to annihilate Israel.
Are we so bereft of ethics and principles that we can accept the execution of 9.2 million Israelis? That is inevitable if Israel does not eliminate Hamas, Hezbollah and their sponsor, Iran. It is only a matter of when.
Hamas wants civilians in Gaza killed to blame Israel for the carnage, and our politicians don’t get it. Israel is dropping thumps on Gaza apartments – heavy weights to warn residents that the building is a target and to get out. Hamas orders the residents to stay inside – for safety!
Prime Minster Trudeau immediately blamed Israel for the bombing of a hospital in Gaza before several independent authorities concluded the blast was a result of a malfunctioned terrorist rocket.
We are at a turning point in history. This is a clash between good and monstrous evil. Those with a moral compass and principles understand that evil must be confronted and vanquished, irrespective of the lives lost. Recent experience makes the case for standing firmly by an ally and standing by one's principles and values. Politicians must make difficult, even brave, decisions if those are in conflict.
Hamas operatives tell themselves they can blend in with the civilian population and stay safe. People without hope will turn on Hamas when Israel invades and identify them for the army. Entries to tunnels and the whereabouts of hostages will be revealed. Cornered cats will come out with claws.
Qatar is brokering the release of Palestinian hostages and, at the same time, harbouring the chief of Hamas in five-star accommodations. Can any of these MPs spell duplicity?
US President Biden has provided $100 million in refugee relief to Hamas. The fool believes the aid will be provided to the Palestinians, but Hamas has complete control over Gaza. No one can stop Hamas from seizing the supplies for the use of its militia.
As US President Truman observed during WW II, there will always be timid souls who are convinced they can pick up a piece of s**t by the clean end. Didn’t happen then, won’t happen today.
It’s disgusting when politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, along with hysterical undergraduates and ill-informed leftists across America, Canada and the world, complain that Israel is an “apartheid state” illegitimately occupying territory West of the Jordan River from the Golan Heights down to the border of the Sinai Peninsula.
Responding to the terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas on October 7, Ocasio-Cortez decried “the occupation of Palestine” while Tlaib urged “ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system” that can “lead to resistance.”
It is a fact that depraved and inhuman Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli civilians, murdering families in their sleep, slaughtering partygoers, incinerating and beheading babies, raping and then murdering hostages. Tlaib ignores the facts and substitutes fantasy.
The Jewish people occupy the place that is
1) their ancestral homeland;
2) with which they were reinvested by the Balfour Declaration of 1917, by the victorious Brits after WW I explicitly to provide a “national home for the Jewish people,” and
3) by the creation of the state of Israel in 1948
In Gregorian Calendar terms, Judea originated in 1500 BC, about 3,500 years ago. In the thousand years prior to 500 BC, the people of Israel referred to themselves as Israelites or Hebrews.
But what is Palestine?
From time immemorial, Jews occupied the spot where they reside as “Judaea.” Historian Edward Gibbon said that (Roman Emperor) Hadrian, who ruled from AD 117 to 138, was one of the “five good emperors.”
Hadrian brutally put down the Bar Kokhba (Jewish) revolt of AD 132-136 and, in an effort to stamp out any remnants of Jewish nationalism, killed or exiled the entire population and renamed “Judaea” “Syrian Palestine.”
Jews usually respond to any mention of Hadrian with the curse, “May God crush his bones.”
This was one of the many diasporas (disbursements) the Jews suffered as various empires, invaders, and nations banned Jewish people from their precincts, forcing them to flee. In most cases, the property of Jews was confiscated and disbursed amongst the rulers.
Who are the Palestinians? That depends on the time period.
1. From 1500 BC to WW I, Syrian Palestine was occupied by nomadic tribes known by their tribal names. There were no Palestinians.
2. From 1917 to about 1945, the Jewish people living in what is now Israel were usually referred to by others as Palestinians. Incredibly through multiple diasporas, the Jewish people remained united by allegiance to one God, a sense of shared ancestry, a history, language and distinctive practices. Judaism is an ethnicity, a religion, and a culture, but also transcends those categories.
Throughout their long history, Jews have often lived in small enclaves on the fringes of societies that rejected them but always maintained a deep connection with Judaea and Jerusalem.
3. From 1964 to the present, Palestinians are an invention of the Russian KGB. In 1978, Ion Mihai Pacepa, the former chief of Romanian intelligence, defected to the US and wrote about the links between Yasser Arafat and the KGB: “Arafat was an important undercover operative for the KGB,” Arafat, an Arab of Egyptian origin devoted his life to murderous anti-American terrorism. (He arranged for the murder of Cleo Noel, the US ambassador to Sudan.) An internet search will reveal over a dozen terrorist events where Arafat led or had a hand.
In 1969 the KGB asked Arafat to declare war on American “Imperial-Zionism” during the first summit of the Black Terrorist International, a neo-fascist pro-Palestine organization financed by the KGB and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
In 1977, Zuheir Mohsen, a senior PLO leader, stated: “The Palestinian people do not exist. Creating a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel (and) for our Arab unity. (It is) only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people since Arab national interests demand that we suggest the existence of a distinct “Palestinian people” to oppose Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons.
“Imperial Zionism” was a Moscow invention. The KGB regarded antisemitism plus anti-imperialism as a rich source of anti-Americanism.
Before the release of the PLO Charter in 1964, no one referred to Palestinians with the intent used today. No mention exists because the KGB did not create the fictitious people until then.
Hitler Connection
Few people know that in 1941, Haj Amin al-Husseini (a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine) went to Germany and met with Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Joachim Von Ribbentrop and other Nazi leaders. He wanted to persuade them to extend the Nazis’ anti-Jewish program to the Arab world.
On November 28, 1941, the Mufti met with Hitler, who told him the Jews were his foremost enemy. The Nazi dictator rebuffed the Mufti’s requests for a declaration in support of the Arabs, however, telling him the time was not right.
The Mufti offered Hitler his “thanks for the sympathy which he had always shown for the Arab and especially Palestinian cause, and to which he had given clear expression in his public speeches. The Arabs were Germany’s natural friends because they had the same enemies as Germany, namely the Jews.” Hitler replied:
Germany stood for an uncompromising war against the Jews. That naturally included active opposition to the Jewish national home in Palestine. Germany would furnish positive and practical aid to the Arabs involved in the same struggle. Germany’s objective (is) solely the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere. At that time, the Mufti was the most authoritative spokesman for the Arab world. The Mufti thanked Hitler profusely.
Two German historians say that Hitler had a plan to extend the Holocaust to the Middle East and had forged an alliance with Arab nationalists. This is why Hitler met with the Mufti and provided him with a budget of 750,000 Reichsmark per month to foment a jihad (holy war) in Palestine. The alliance did not alter Hitler’s racist views toward Arabs, reflected in his refusal to shake the Mufti’s hand or drink coffee with him.
In 1945, Yugoslavia sought to indict the Mufti as a war criminal for his role in recruiting 20,000 Muslim volunteers for the SS, who participated in the killing of Jews in Croatia and Hungary. He escaped French detention in 1946 and continued his fight against the Jews from Cairo and later Beirut. He died in 1974.
The ultimate Irony
In our twisted world, the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East." Our politicians and the media avoid the long list of Arafat attacks on America and other Western nations.
At the end of WW II, US General Eisenhower insisted that films and pictures of the aftermath of the Holocaust be taken and preserved as he was convinced that, over time, people would forget. He was right. We have forgotten.
We naively believed we had crushed the effort to exterminate Jews as an objective of WW II. Twenty-nine years later, we find Arab attacks on Israel, America and Western nations continue unabated.
Our politicians starting to grapple with Israel-Hamas war
23-10-21 – This is disgusting. Ten days into a major conflict, our politicians are unclear about dealing with shockingly evil terrorists devoid of ethics, humanity, compassion or decency. Their only objective is to annihilate Israel. Are we so bereft of ethics and principles that we can accept the execution of 9.2 million Israelis? That is inevitable if we do not eliminate Hamas, Hezbollah and their sponsor, Iran.
Hamas wants civilians in Gaza killed to blame Israel for the carnage, and our politicians don’t get it. Israel is dropping thumps on Gaza apartments – heavy weights to warn residents that the building is a target and to get out. Hamas orders the residents to stay inside – for safety!
We are at a turning point in history. This is a clash between good and monstrous evil. Those with a moral compass and principles understand that evil must be confronted and vanquished, irrespective of lives lost. Recent experience makes the case for standing firmly by an ally and standing by one's principles and values. Politicians must make difficult, even brave, decisions if those are in conflict.
Hamas operatives tell themselves they can blend in with the civilian population and stay safe. People without hope will turn on Hamas when Israel invades and identify them for the army. Entries to tunnels and the whereabouts of hostages will be revealed. Cornered cats will come out with claws.
All the news as seen
through Palestinian eyes
23-10-19 – I was catching up on the news last Sunday eveningand tuned in to the CTV national news. At the 5:25 mark of the newscast, the anchor put on the Israel–Palestine Director of Human Rights Watch for 6 minutes 40 seconds.
He presented a devastating tirade on how Israel unlawfully treated Palestinians and that they had a “right? to water, electricity, fuel and humanitarian aid. He accused Israel of war crimes several times and insisted the bombardment of Gaza was unlawful.
Throughout, the anchor encouraged him with softball questions. It is extremely rare that a story gets that much airtime in a single show.
There was no mention that Hamas spends all its money on paying its officers and soldiers, munitions and terrorist activities while Palestinians are not cared for. Hamas spends nothing on a viable infrastructure for the region or fuel stockpiles for generators. The central electrical generating station has fallen into disuse.
Palestinians need foreign aid for clothing, food, medicines and other essentials. They are expendable Hamas hostages who might be murdered tomorrow so that Israel can be blamed for their deaths.
This is antisemitic propaganda presented as news. That is dangerous, irresponsible, misleading and unethical. What a shameful excuse for responsible journalism. This is support for genocide, thoughtlessly supported because the media is not targeted – yet.
Islamic Jihad (holy war) targets all people not of the Muslim faith.
When jihadist terrorists begin wreaking havoc in Western nations, remember who befriended and supported them.
Middle East has the potential
to turn into a world war
With many of you, I listened and watched weekend events unfold on TV in disbelief. The barbarism of the attack by Hamas was chilling, but only for a moment. Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip are hostages – human shields to protect remorseless savages without conscience, ethics or humanity. The price for disobeying Hamas is horrible. The disobedient is murdered along with his or her entire family.
Videos of the bombing of the Gaza Strip were enlightening. In many cases, the flash of a bomb hit was followed by a secondary (and larger) flash of munitions on the ground exploding. Buildings do not explode when hit.
Nations are dithering over whether Iran is implicated in planning and arming the Hamas massacre and awaiting verification. That is cowardly nonsense. Hamas did not suddenly acquire hundreds of long-range missiles, thousands of extra fighters, better small arms and vehicles by accident.
We are witnessing a seismic shift in geo-political power to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia aligned against the West. Avoiding and appeasing totalitarian regimes failed in 1914 and 1939. If we fail to confront and neutralize Iran and its terrorists, they will soon invade and try to overwhelm us.
The Islamic theocracy in Iran is dedicated to destroying Western civilizations. It funds terrorist organisations, including Hamas and Hezbollah, to destabilise democracies.
Our political leaders roundly condemned pro-Palestinian rallies celebrating the attack on Israel across Canada on the weekend. That is a limp-wristed response to alarming incidents. We should not have large enough numbers of terrorist supporters to hold rallies. Since we do, are some of them a threat to domestic peace? Are they rallying under threat by Hamas operatives in Canada?
Our educational systems have utterly failed us. Instead of preparing our youth to participate in society as productive citizens capable of critical thinking, reasoning, understanding principles and forming convictions, they are indoctrinated with ideologies they are not allowed to question. We are producing mindless robots willing to follow the dictates of totalitarian politicians. That is a bleak future.
Our society should question everything until we are satisfied that what we are told is true. Attempts by governments to limit our freedom of expression are heinous. The freedom of expression is our best and only defence against totalitarian rule.
Our society should be rallying in large numbers to demand accountability from our governments for the ideologies they adopt and the decisions they make. We are victims of bad political leadership. We are coping with rapidly escalating costs of living, inadequate housing, a looming depression, and unprecedented personal debt. The middle class will soon be wiped out.
The conflict in the Middle East is concerning and has the potential to turn into a world war. That is a distraction that must not stop us from holding our political leaders accountable for the mess they have created. We can’t support Israel, Ukraine, or our allies until we put our house in order. The pretence is over. Canada and Canadians are in deep trouble The day of reckoning is here.
MPs say the House of Commons has turned into a circus
When we are led by a government that disrespects the people it is sworn to serve, what else can we expect? We have known for decades that our parliament is dysfunctional and undemocratic.
Parliament, as an institution, should be a model of decorum, politeness and respect, a role model for all democratic institutions to follow.
Opposition parties have joined in the senseless bickering. The result is that our parliamentarians are correctly perceived as incapable of conducting the serious business of governance. They have turned our primary institution into an asylum for the mentally incompetent.
Enforcing House rules with strict penalties for infractions is only a start. Filibusters, procedural delays, obstruction and closure of debate must be eliminated along with ‘whipped votes’. Elected representatives exist to serve the people of their constituencies. Remote participation in commons and committee debates must end.
Parliament only sits for 135 days per year. Excluding weekends and statutory holidays, MPs are away from parliament for 114 days or just over 16 weeks. MPs should be required to be in their chairs for 200 days per year. In addition to weekends and holidays, they would still be away for an additional 49 days or 7 weeks.
The business of parliament must be seen to be done. The circus must close and be replaced with a model that tracks the progress of important legislation. Speeches in the House that are not truthful must result in a one-month unpaid suspension with stiffer penalties for repeated infractions.
Under those rules, there would be an impressive array of empty chairs, and several MPs would be removed from office.
Feds looking to cut $1 billion
from National Defence budget
23-10-05 – Prime Minister Trudeau is incapable of doing the right thing. He is confronted with an end to overspending and increasing the public debt. He failed to undertake a rational spending analysis to determine which spending can be cut with the least adverse effect.
Instead he tosses out a trojan horse, making cuts to the Department of Defence knowing that this will our draw ire and distract from his multiple failures to competently serve Canadians.
For example, this year's federal budget included $6.9-billion for foreign aid. That's down from more than $8-billion, but the Liberals said it remains higher than the $6.6-billion in 2019, before the pandemic. A $1 billion cut here would not arouse the ire of our NATO allies. The world is watching.
Trudeau is the most incompetent Prime Minster ever. He is thoughtlessly risking our sovereignty and world reputation to achieve his goals. The Ottawa loons are cynical and have lost touch with reality. They are crazy. That is not an allegation. They have provided us with indisputable proof.
Canada's descent into
ignorance shocks the world
23-10-03 – “Canadian society is filled with opinion yet utterly lacking in wisdom.” That neatly sums up our position on the world stage.
Our education system has ceased educating and is indoctrinating prepubescent children in sexual orientation. “Don’t tell your mom and dad about this; it’s our secret” is the common phrase used by child abusers and molesters worldwide and our Canadian teachers.
We have mobs of ignorant people tearing down statues of historical figures and demanding that we change the names of buildings and streets because they find their past actions offensive. With no knowledge of our history, they have no means of measure. Leaders of the past were flawed, as all humans are, but they built Canada into a prosperous liberal democracy envied around the world.
Canada’s political class is devoid of responsible adults. They set the stage, behaving like petulant adolescents intent on changing the world but lacking the experience and wisdom to do so. Today, October 3, is election day in Manitoba. I awakened to thunderstorms and heavy rain in Winnipeg, which expresses the mood of tens of thousands of Manitobans who no longer trust the political class and fear that nothing will change no matter how they cast their ballot.
Our parliament and legislatures are asylums for the mentally incompetent, smug in self-awareness and believing that their blunders are achievements. We will replace them with honest men and women we can trust. It is now a matter of how and when, not if, we do that.
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Douglas Murray’s commentary in the National Post today is very apropos of the situation.
Perhaps I should say straight away that I love Canada. Some of my best friends are Canadian. That minimal throat-clearing aside, let me say — as a friendly outsider — that Canada today looks like a nation of ignoramuses.
The incident in Parliament the other week is just one case in point. Standing ovations are very rare things. They should be very special things. When a whole House stands to applaud someone they had better be very sure who they are applauding.
I know that Speaker Anthony Rota has now resigned. But here is the thing. Anybody who knows anything about the Second World War knows that if you were fighting the Soviets in Ukraine in the 1940s you were most likely fighting with the Nazis. It does not require a fine-tuned expert in the era to know this. Almost anybody could have guessed this. If almost anyone knew anything.
It seemed to be the assumption not just of Speaker Rota but of the whole Canadian Parliament that there existed in the 1940s some proto-anti-Putin fighting force and that the great cause of this moment has some direct lineage back to the fight of the 1940s. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy almost certainly guessed this. But it was the Canadian Parliament who was hosting him, the Canadian Parliament who embarrassed him and the Canadian Parliament who have handed the most magnificent propaganda victory to the Kremlin. In a war which Putin pretended to start in order to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, how much help has Canada given by your entire Parliament standing to applaud an actual Nazi?
What makes this worse is that this all comes after a period in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been perfectly happy to call decent, ordinary Canadians Nazis. To use measures like the de-banking of his critics in moves that have horrified most of the other democracies in the West. When a bank in my country of birth — Britain — was recently found to have de-banked a politician (Nigel Farage) for what turned out to be political reasons not only did the head of the bank resign, but politicians in Britain from across the political system condemned the bank. Such moves are unlikely to be taken by another bank in Britain again. But in Canada it seems to be perfectly acceptable, because at any time the Canadian prime minister and deputy prime minister can claim that their critics are homophobes, xenophobes, racists, Nazis, misogynists and all of the rest.
The world — especially America — has looked on in horror as the Canadian government has tried to curtail speech in the country, and looked on with ever-more horror as Canadians seem willing to go along with this. It seems to be the view of the Canadian authorities that they are capable of deciding at the merest glance who is and is not allowed to speak, what is and is not acceptable speech, what any Canadians can and cannot read and who is and who is not a “Nazi.” These being the same authorities who apparently cannot even perform the most basic Google searches on their guests.
I know that Canadians often like to look down on Americans. But as someone who spends most of his time in America I can tell you that it is the American public who now wonder at what on earth is happening with our neighbour in the north.
The most famous public intellectual in the world right now is Professor Jordan Peterson. Canada should be proud of him. Yet every week we read of him undergoing yet another trial back home in Canada. It was an Ontario court which in August ruled that the college of psychologists could order Peterson to undergo mandatory “social media training” after Tweets which people who had never been patients of Dr Peterson’s objected to. I wonder who in Canada thinks they know more about social media than Jordan Peterson? But it is the professional bodies as well as the courts of Canada that have jumped right into this idiotic place. The governing body for Ontario psychologists thinks that Peterson has committed some crime for expressing his thoughts. It is also noticed — I can assure you — that a Toronto doctor who sexually abused four of his patients was only given a six-month suspension.
But it isn’t just double-standards, or the grotesque politicization of almost every institution in Canada that now catches the eye of the world. It is, as I mentioned at the start, the unbearable stupidity which seems to have trickled down from the top of government downwards.
Take that bizarre moment most in 2021 that I know most Canadians would wish to forget about. The moment when the country went into a bizarre moral panic after one totally unverified report claimed to have found numerous graves near residential schools run by the Catholic Church in areas with First Nations communities. That one unverified report was based on ground penetration radar that was wholly inconclusive. Nevertheless, the country went into one of the most disturbing moral panics since Salem.
Canadian media ran reports of the discovery of “mass graves” containing the bodies of children. How many churches were burned as a result? Some estimates say over 80, across the country. These included churches built by First Nations peoples. But it was Canadian authorities that fanned these fires. It was a Canadian law professor who called the burnings “resistance to extreme and systemic injustice.” It was a New Brunswick radio host who demanded “Burn the churches down.” It was the head of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and a former volunteer at the Newfoundland Canadian Bar Association who said “Burn it all down.” And it was Gerald Butts — friend and advisor to your Prime Minister — who said that although burning down churches may not be advisable it was certainly “understandable.”
These are the sort of consequences you get from a society wallowing in unutterable ignorance.
Why, at such a moment, were there not prominent figures with some guts and some knowledge of your country´s history even willing to stand in front of the mob and shout “stop”? Why was the mob not confronted by people saying “You know what — the residential schools were not in fact set up to murder Indigenous children.” Or at the very least saying “Let us wait to consider some evidence.”
None — or very little — of this happened. And all this in a society whose leaders seem to believe that they understand so much about “hate” and “hate speech” that they can actually put a stop to it once and forever if Canadians just put their shoulder to the wheel hard enough.
My suspicion is that very few Canadians are aware of quite how bizarre the rest of the world now finds the country. When it thinks of it at all it sees is a country that used to be renowned for its liberalism now most noted for its proto-authoritarianism. A country whose leaders think they can root out nastiness wherever they find it and are not even informed enough not to give a standing ovation to a former member of the SS.
I could go on. But this jeremiad is really just to say that the problems that Canada is now going through at home and on the world stage seem to come from one deep well-spring. Canadian society is filled with opinion yet utterly lacking in wisdom. This includes any knowledge of the world’s history — but most crucially an increasing ignorance of your own country’s history. I hope this can be turned around. Most things can be. But a country which used to be regarded as dull but decent now looks indecent and led by dullards.