…all is forgiven.
Hate Speech?
Pam Bondi is probably going to have to walk this statement back. The First Amendment actually protects hate speech, provided that no threat of physical violence was made against a specific individual. We already have laws against criminal threats, so there’s no need to conflate that with hate speech. You might not like someone’s advocacy of political violence or even assassination, but as long as no identifiable individual was mentioned, you can’t be prosecuted for it. At least not in the United States. And we’re all well aware of what happens in other nations when hate speech becomes a criminal offense all on its own.
“Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment,” Bondi wrote. “It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.”
Another less than encouraging comment from Bondi, this time over a business that did not want to print some posters for a vigil held to honor Charlie Kirk.
“Businesses cannot discriminate. If you wanna go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that,” Bondi said during a Monday appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
Dispatches from the Maple Gulag Truck Stop
In 2 minutes Gord Magill explains every problem with the trucking industry and why 80,000lb+ missiles are being launched into school buses and minivans.
Of course they had to clip me at my rantiest and angriest and dropping too many F bombs, but after spending the last 8 months doing nothing but reading intensely bad news about the industry three generations of my family have dedicated themselves to … I hope you understand. https://t.co/vypbInmByz
— Gord ‘Anti-Social Media Defluencer’ Magill (@GordMagill) September 16, 2025
This Time We’re Right
The Doctor Will Neglect You Now
Best health care system in the world, huh?
The family says he was triaged at 10 p.m., but it would be more than eight hours before he saw a doctor, despite his mother’s repeated requests for help.
“I kept worrying that they’re going to think I’m such a nuisance. And I don’t want them to think that I’d be making such a fuss, and then they ignored us more,” she told CTV News.
Circling The Drain
The fact of the matter is that John Q. Public is generally okay with the borrowing spree, no matter what the province or level of government. If there’s any negative consequences to an exponential rise in debt, most voters have pushed that concern to the back of their minds.
The province said its deficit is now projected to be $668.7 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, up from the $549 million forecast in the March budget. Revenues are expected to be $59.6 million lower than forecast in the budget, and expenses are projected to be $60 million higher than the March estimate.
Drunken Sailors
The fact of the matter is that most voters only want spending cuts for items that they consider non-essential. Of course, the definition of non-essential varies so widely that the preferences of each voting bloc pretty much creates a log jam effect whereby no significant spending cuts can ever be implemented.
The report, to be released Thursday by the C.D. Howe Institute, says the Carney government’s spending review will only include about one-third of all federal program spending and is expected to save no more than $22 billion by 2028-29. The think tank says that’s less than half the $50 billion in savings that are needed to return federal government coffers to “a fair and prudent path” that would see Ottawa’s debt-to-GDP ratio stop climbing.
The Experts Are Offended
My grandfather’s house, built in 1902, is still standing today despite having been built and later completely remodeled without any building permits at all. Yet statements like “You can’t construct a home without building permits” appear to ascribe metaphysical properties to legislative edicts; not having a building permit is treated as the equivalent of defying the law of gravity. In any case, the reason for skirting building inspection should be obvious: the moment you improve your property, your tax bill goes up.
The owners of a palatial home in West Vancouver, recently assessed at more than $6.7 million, have been ordered to demolish a building resembling a small residence and constructed without permits, at the back of their property.
“I can’t recall ever seeing a case like this,” West Vancouver District mayor Mark Sager told Global News in an interview Monday. “You can’t construct a home without building permits.”
It’s For Your Safety
Please stop what you’re doing for this important message from Susan Holt, the premier of New Brunswick.
BREAKING — The wildfire narrative has changed
Liberal leaders have realized the "hiking causes fires" isnt working
NOW
They are telling Canadians that "we're banning you from the woods because you could break your leg" walking your dog. WHAT?!? pic.twitter.com/rzY1tAhv4v
— Tablesalt (@Tablesalt13) August 11, 2025
@JohnLeePettim13: With $16.5 billion in revenue, Nova Scotia spends $1.1 million on wildfire equipment and training, $35 million on growing the green economy, and $80 million on school lunch programs. No wonder they can’t control their wildfires.
Never forget that they hate you.
Self Imposed Sanctions
Who knew that Elbows Up meant shooting yourself in the foot?
While the pickles are assembled in Green Bay, Wis., Oakland said the company buys 11 million pounds of Ontario cucumbers every year and said all the lids on the jars come from an Ontario manufacturer.
Now, the company finds itself in an awkward situation or — some might even say — a pickle.
Sales are down about 25 per cent in the last three months, according to Oakland, who said, going forward, the company will buy fewer pickles and lids from its Canadian partners.
Sparky Car Taxes
Aside from the alleged need to retaliate for Trump’s trade policies, there’s likely another reason for stiff tariffs on used cars imported into Canada from the US: since the federal government seems adamant that the EV sales mandates are here to stay, they have to close off the escape routes.
What was expected to be a $106,000 purchase, adding up to over $145,000 with taxes and tariffs included. And Gillespie said the unexpected costs won’t stop when the vehicle arrives.“My insurance is going to be based on $145,000,” Gillespie said.
The retaliatory tariff is aimed to de-incentivize Canadians from purchasing American-made cars.
Supply Mismanagement
Even for the CBC, I have to admit that they explain the supply mismanagement situation pretty decently, particularly regarding the troublesome import quota issue. So while it is possible for American dairy products to get into Canada tariff free, importers first have to convince Canadian processors to allocate production space to them. I’d hazard a guess that they would have to pay for that space, which is why it doesn’t happen very often. Overall production quantities are ultimately limited by the intricate Canadian dairy pricing mechanism; in other words, consumers must be prevented from getting a bargain.
CUSMA sets import quotas for 14 categories of dairy products. That allows an annual volume of each category to enter Canada tariff-free, and any imports exceeding the quota would get hit with sky-high tariffs of 200 per cent or more.
Much of the quota volume is allocated to major Canadian-owned dairy processing companies such as Saputo and Agropur. Industry analysts on both sides of the border say such companies have little incentive to import U.S. products that would compete with their own.
Sparky Car Circus
When the Liberals abruptly cancelled EV rebates, they apparently forgot about rebate claims that hadn’t yet been submitted. Guess who’s on the hook for that.
The program provided up to $5,000 toward the purchase of a new zero-emissions vehicle. But with the abrupt suspension of the program — only three days after the government suggested it would be paused when the funds were exhausted — hundreds of dealerships were forced to swallow the cost of any rebate claims they hadn’t yet submitted.
He said that, collectively, dealers are out about $11 million.
“If every storm or cloud is the storm of the century, none are.”
One of the many lies promoted (suspect the social media version of JournOlist was running hot and heavy) was that no warnings were given because of DOGE cuts, short staffing, etc. All were lies as any cuts don’t take place until the FY, the NWS had extra staff on hand per SOP, and warnings were given in a timely manner. Not once, but no less than three times.
But, there does lie part of the rub. Texas was indeed right to criticize the NWS, as Todd Starnes pointed out on X. Back after Katrina, the NWS was (rightfully) criticized for not updating warnings and giving accurate warnings. The bureaucratic mind being what it is, the decision was made to treat every storm as the storm of the century and warn accordingly such that they could never be criticized again for not issuing strong enough warnings. Besides, that is easier, and easier to justify, that in having people show mature judgment and professionalism and update warnings if and as warranted. No thought, no muss, and it totally screws disaster preparedness planning and actions right in the keester.
I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords
When the Drones are Coming, They Turn Off the Internet
Circling The Drain
In addition to the many reasons why DOGE failed, I would add this: John Q. Voter likes deficit spending and he will punish nearly any politician who begs to differ.
“The federal government is not a business, and the executive branch has very limited authority with respect to spending,” explained Ditch. “While there is tremendous waste and dysfunction within the federal budget, the largest problem is the government doing too many things it shouldn’t and subsidizing nearly everything under the sun. Congress has primary responsibility for the size, scope, and spending of the federal government.”
“The outcome fell short of expectations in European capitals…”
The intransigent European Union are hitting a dead end with immovable Trump on the issue of tariffs. The resulting dynamic is what we would expect given 75 years of the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Plan) as part of the EU’s only point of reference.
In order for the EU to maintain their socialistic form of government, they need to continue the economic benefits from one-way tariffs that exploits the American consumer market. President Trump’s plan to force reciprocity is against their entire economic foundation. The EU simply cannot fathom life without the status quo.
In many ways the EU is in the same position as Canada. From their perspective, economic reciprocity is not sustainable; they would have to change their social compacts. This is the core of the conflict.
The EU trade delegation hit a brick wall in Washington DC, as the U.S. trade team reiterated the baseline tariffs are not something within the negotiation dynamic.
Ain’t Gonna Happen
Despite all the promises to increase defense spending to not only replace what was shipped off to the Ukraine but to meet the new GDP targets, expect one of two outcomes: either the targets will be perpetually postponed or the definition of “defense spending” will be stretched to include funding for sewage treatment plants and community centers and anything else you might imagine.
In a new analysis released Thursday, the think tank said it expects Canada’s deficit to top $92 billion this fiscal year, given Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to meet NATO’s defence spending target of two per cent of GDP.
C.D. Howe expects deficit growth to slow after this year but predicts deficits will still average around $78 billion annually over four years — more than double the level forecast by the parliamentary budget officer before the spring federal election.
Common Pool Goods
It’s often said that certain services like public transit have to be publicly owned allegedly because they are “common pool goods”. Most of these services run at a considerable financial loss as well. Rather than turn a profit, the response is almost always to force taxpayers to cover the deficits, however much they grow. But it doesn’t have to be that way. As the folks at the Mises Institute point out, private ownership of mass transit was actually a reality at one time:
For example, the golden age of the New York City subways was at the beginning in 1904. That’s when a private management company built much of the system—because the city was at its debt limit and couldn’t do it—and made a lot of money, helped clear slums in Lower Manhattan, and created what was called “an engineering marvel” by author Robert Caro in the book The Power Broker, a biography of uber-builder Robert Moses.
Later the subway system was taken over by the government because the private management system—over 37 years—was never able to raise the nickel fare. The government took over and started to wreck the system.
Cartel Clout
If anyone wonders why Canada’s trade negotiations aren’t moving as quickly as hoped, the reason will become obvious before too long.
While Blanchet and his Bloc colleagues have remained focused on currying favour with Quebec dairy farmers, there has been a sea change in the geopolitical context, most notably a dramatic deterioration in the Canada-U.S. relationship, with Trump targeting dairy import restrictions among the many trade assaults he’s been directing at Canada. For Parliament to raise this protectionist fence higher is downright foolish — as was emphasized by experts over and over again during the debate on C-282 — and would seriously jeopardize our relations with the U.S. at this very sensitive juncture.