Item: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants to steal Canadians’ pensions.
The premier released a report on her pea-brained idea to have Alberta withdraw from the CPP. With a straight face, the premier said the report concluded that Alberta was entitled to $334 billion, or 53 percent of the total assets currently in the pension fund. If you applied the same “math” to Ontario, it would be able to take out 63 percent, meaning that there would be nothing left for anyone else. Smith further lied when she said “Albertans pay too much for the benefits they receive.” Much like equalization, this statement is based on the made-up notion that something called “Alberta” contributes to the CPP - it doesn’t. Individual Albertans do, and they pay and receive benefits according to the exact same formula as any other Canadian.
As I wrote recently, the CPP is far and away the best managed pension fund in the entire world. About 80 percent of the money in CPP has come from the fund’s investments, not contributions. Why would Albertans fall for Smith’s lies? So far, according to the polls, they haven’t. But the Alberta government is already running ads touting how this new plan with the $334 billion would raise benefits and lower premiums for Albertans. Well sure, if you steal other people’s money, it makes it a lot easier to be generous. Suffice to say, there is absolutely zero chance Alberta gets anywhere near $334 billion – according to one economist, it’s more like $120 billion. How would Smith’s plan look with a third of the money? I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for an honest answer to that question.
Item: The House of Commons gives two standing ovations to a man who fought for the Nazis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Canada on September 22, and the Speaker of the House, Liberal MP Anthony Rota, decided it would be nice to have a Ukrainian veteran from WWII as a guest of honor. Problem? The man Rota brought to parliament, Yaroslav Hunka, had fought with a Waffen SS unit that committed numerous atrocities, including the murder of 500 Polish civilians in 1944. The gaffe made headlines around the world and caused Canada a ton of embarrassment. After some prodding, Rota resigned as Speaker, but that’s not good enough. He should resign his seat immediately and the Liberals should ensure he never runs again. The laziness and stupidity displayed by Rota in failing to vet Hunka has made Canada an international laughingstock. A five-minute phone call with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who have heaps of documentation on Hunka, would have been sufficient. But this was apparently too much bother for the former Speaker.
The story doesn’t even end with Hunka. Incredibly, another man who served in the same Waffen SS unit, Peter Savaryn, was given the Order of Canada in 1987. Mr Savaryn was a prominent Alberta Progressive Conservative who served as chancellor of the University of Alberta. There are also stories out about university endowments from former SS members as well as monuments to Ukrainians who fought with the Nazis. We need to clean this up. Yes, the war was complicated in Eastern Europe, as millions were caught between two of the vilest creatures in human history, Hitler and Stalin. Very young men had to make hard choices. But it should go without saying that we shouldn’t be honoring people who fought for the Nazis. Duh.
Item: A Canadian citizen is murdered on home soil by a foreign government, and nobody really gives a damn.
On June 18, 2023, masked gunmen shot and killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a temple in Surrey, BC. Mr. Nijjar was a prominent member of the Sikh community who was a well-known advocate for an independent Sikh homeland. The Indian government classified Mr. Nijjar as a “terrorist” and had issued a warrant for his arrest; they never presented any evidence to the Canadian government to back up these accusations. In September, Trudeau announced that the government had credible evidence linking the Indian government to Mr. Nijjar’s murder. India reacted angrily, expelling Canadian diplomats and cancelling travel visas.
So what was the reaction of Canadians to this situation? Well, I saw a hard-hitting bit on the local news with a bunch of people whining about their travel plans being impacted. Assorted stories featured business leaders worrying about ‘economic impacts.’ A tone deaf and clueless college president said he was “disappointed in the tension” and hoped it would be back to business as usual as soon as possible.
What I didn’t hear or see was much or any concern that Canada’s sovereignty had been grossly violated by a foreign government and that a Canadian citizen (likely innocent) had been murdered by said government. I certainly don’t want to make everything about race, but in this instance what other conclusion is there? If we were talking about a white mom gunned down outside her church, the outrage would be a veritable mushroom cloud. Well, sorry closet racists, but Mr. Nijjar had all the protections and rights of any other Canadian, full stop. The first job of any government is the protection of its citizens. If we meekly accept this behaviour by the Indian government, we cease to be a sovereign country. Figure out the ‘economic impacts’ of that.
Item: Trump says he will “dampen” California’s forests to prevent fires.
Last week Donald Trump gave a speech to his cult followers in Anaheim. Like trained seals, the crowd cheered wildly at the river of diarrhea running out of the former president’s gaping maw. Among the lowlights, Trump claimed he won California in the last election (he lost by 30 points), stated that shoplifters should be shot on sight (apparently, due process and trials are for sissies) and used the word “motherfucker” (Christian family values, amirite?). Then there was this:
“All the currently dry canals will be brimming and used to irrigate everything, including your own homes and bathrooms and everything. You’re going to be happy, and I’m going to get it done fast. They say that there’s so much water up north that I want to have the overflow areas go into your forests and dampen your forests. Because if you dampen your forests you’re not going to have these forest fires that are burning at levels that nobody’s ever seen before.”
It's rare that I’m at a loss for words, but what can anyone say to something like this? Unless he’s in jail, Trump is virtually guaranteed to be the GOP nominee for president, which means there’s a reasonable chance he will win again in 2024. If you’re optimistic about the future, please send me some of whatever it is you’re smoking.
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