Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Governments have already invested tens of billions into two EV battery manufacturing plants in southwestern Ontario. However, they come with the environmental dilemma of what to do with the millions of EV batteries when they reach the end of their life. "The rules are non-existent," said Mark Winfield, a professor at York University in Toronto and co-chair of the school's Sustainable Energy Initiative. "There is nothing as we talk to agencies on both sides of the border, the federal, provincial, state levels ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The Canadian Senate Today is a change of plans from what I had intended on day number eighteen of ’20 for 2020’ , and it was inspired after a post which I wrote yesterday regarding, regarding the BC Green Party still receiving extra government funds , after the leave taking of former leader Andrew Weaver. The post was picked up by the Armchair Mayor, where I am identified as ... a Kamloops resident and former member of the Reform Party of Canada and the B.C. Reform Party, and a past and current member of the BC Conservative Party. An individual named Joey Thomas, rather than actually commenting on the story, instead stated ... ‘ A former reform party member? No thanks. How's the whole triple E senate thing going Al ?’ So, yah ... I have never reversed my thoughts that Preston Manning, and the Reform Parties, call to have a Triple E Senate should become reality.   That is why I responded by stating: “You find it a joke that ANY Prime Minister ...

Montreal now has 7 Ministers serving in Cabinet On Wednesday Prime Minister Trudeau announced his new cabinet. Anyone who thought having less seats and a minority Government would in turn result in a smaller cabinet will be disappointed to learn otherwise. By the numbers the new cabinet now has 37 Ministers, in contrast to the 31 Minister's announced by the Prime Minister after the 2015 majority. In order to add so many new Ministers, in some cases a new Ministry had to be created. As an example we now have a Minister of Middle Class Prosperity. This is perhaps the first time where a well-known political talking point has now become a Ministry. At this point it is unclear what will be the mandate of this or any Ministry as the official mandate letters have yet to be released. Not counting Prime Minister Trudeau, of the remaining 36 Ministers, 18 are female and 18 are male as the gender quota policy of the Prime Minister remains unchanged. What has changed is...

UP UNTIL TODAY I have purposely decided not to comment on the election campaign we were just subjected too, and in particular the Conservative campaign. YES ... subjected! This morning however I was reading a few letters from readers of MacLean’s , and one in particular struck me.   In their letter they stated: " None of our political leaders are statesmen with clear and inspiring national visions that unite Canadians. Instead, voters are bartered in an open political market where myopic promises are traded for votes—a choice as appealing as a Big Mac to vegans. The choices before voters are stunningly vacuous, if not perilous ." While I am not so sure that ‘ vacuous ’ would be the best descriptive for Election 43 ... ‘ disappointing ’ would certainly fill the bill Leaders of all parties, to some degree, promised the moon and beyond in their spending promises –far too many of which intruded into provincial jurisdictions. What t...

I FEAR FOR OUR COUNTRY ...   We have become a country fragmented even worse, following last nights federal election, with regions now pitted on against the other in terms of party allegiance, and reasons for that allegiance. In the Maritimes with saw a virtual swath of Red for the Liberals once again ... while in Quebec the rise of the separatists Bloc Québécois , who along with most, if not all, continue to speak of the province of Quebec as a separate nation; that despite the fact that cannot survive without sucking on the teat of equalization payments – paid for in large part by BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.   This, is a province that is like a little child in a grocery store demanding the sweet treats, candies, and sugary cereals they see on the store shelves --- or elsewhere, the toys and video games they’ve seen in Saturday cartoons.  You know they ones I mean – they throw tantrums because they can’t get their own way—or until they do get it. Q...

The way I see it ... it’s all about power       The report of the federal Ethics Commissioner on PMO dealings with the Solicitor General of Canada is not a “bombshell”, except in the minds of the media. Many if not most of us suspected that was the case last February. Government stonewalling of all efforts to inquire into the SNC-Lavalin affair confirmed our suspicions that the PMO had some nasty dealings to hide. Now that the cat has escaped the bag, the Prime Minister has publicly stated that he accepts full responsibility for events that in his words “should never have happened”. However, he is lying again. Mr. Trudeau cannot accept responsibility for a breach of ethics and also refuse to apologize; refusal to apologize is a rejection of responsibility. Mr. Trudeau claims his action were honorable; to protect Canada and “save jobs”. He was trying to protect SNC-Lavalin from criminal prosecution and save future contacts w...

CALGARY — Today, the Fraser Institute released a new study, “ How Albertans Continue to Keep Federal Finances Afloat ” . That study indicated that the federal government’s deficit in 2017 would have reached a staggering $39 billion—instead of the $19 billion actually recorded—if not for the disproportionate net revenue contributions from Alberta. “ Canadians are aware of Ottawa’s recent large deficits, but it’s less well known that the financial contributions of Albertans every year keep those deficits from being much larger ,” said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of How Albertans Continue to keep Federal Finances Afloat . The study finds that between 2014 and 2017 -- even at the depths of Alberta’s recession -- the province sent Ottawa $92 billion more than it received in federal transfer payments and services. During the same three-year period, Ontario — the next highest contributing province — had a net contribution of $3...