The White House- President Biden Calls for a Three-Month Federal Gas Tax Holiday
Trudeau’s Moronic Assertions Are Getting Noticed
Luck of the Irish
The Fraser Institute- The Accumulated Debt and Economic Performance of Industrialized Countries during COVID
From 2019 to 2021, Canada had the second-highest increase in its gross debt-to-GDP ratio out of 33 countries covered by the IMF, behind only Japan.
Despite leading our peers—save for Japan—in the accumulation of debt, Canada did not out-perform our peer group in economic growth during the pandemic. Canada had the 11th lowest real GDP growth (5.2%) in 2020 and the 12th lowest real GDP growth (4.6%) in 2021.
It is telling that the United States, which also had a marked increase in its gross debt relative to the size of the economy, markedly out-performed Canada on both measures in 2020 and 2021. Moreover, Ireland, which reduced its gross debt-to-GDP ratio, also outperformed Canada on both measures and, in fact, led the group of 33 industrialized countries in the growth of real GDP in 2020 and 2021.
In Vancouver, the Inmates are Running the Asylum
City of Vancouver apologizes for harm caused during daily street sweeps in the Downtown Eastside:
The City of Vancouver apologized for harm caused during daily “street sweeps” of the Downtown Eastside and vowed to find an alternative way to keep the streets clear in a statement sent to CBC Wednesday.
The apology follows a motion before Vancouver city council Tuesday evening calling for changes to the way sweeps are conducted.
During these sweeps, which occur daily from Monday to Friday, city workers accompanied by police officers clear debris from sidewalks of the Downtown Eastside.
Top comment: “Perhaps the people leaving the mess should be “encouraged” to clean up after themselves, if they want to avail themselves of all the tax-free services thrown mindlessly at them on a daily basis.”
It’s Thursday On Turtle Island
Today in Islam: More on the Rotherham sex abuse report. I wonder if it has anything to do with all the Muslim migrants flooding the country, as Britain announces a polio outbreak. Victims of the grooming gangs. They are simply following the example of their prophet.
Biden’s America: Chicago cops barred from chasing criminals. People who still support Biden. Old Joe making demands to Britain. Your morning meme.
Trudeau’s Canada: Tory leader doesn’t trust the NDP. Rex Murphy writes about Justin’s coalition partner. This is why we can never get pipelines built. Indians sue Mounties and Coastal Gas Link, for stopping them from terrorizing the project. The statue of Queen Victoria can’t be repaired. Dear Leader is having a wonderful time in Africa, talking about global warming.
Pride Month: Stigmatizing some things is ok. Hollywood actor condemns anti-gay bigots.
The Western World is in the Best of Hands
“America is a nation that can be defined in a single word. Asfutmsifwffutsh.”pic.twitter.com/4QTkDfTIvQ
— James Melville (@JamesMelville) June 22, 2022
June 23, 2022: Reader Tips
Tonight we travel back to 1978 to watch the Harlem Globetrotters in action.
Your bounciest, funnest tips are welcome.
A bridge too far
As the left-wing corporate media finally begins to admit that the economy is teetering on the edge of recession, it looks like one of the first casualties will be among investors in the housing market.
In some cases, people are turning to high-interest bridge loans to get themselves out of tough situations, according to Bruce Joseph, founding director of Trident Mortgage Investment Corp. His alternative lending firm, based in Barrie, Ontario, typically serves a niche market of high net worth business owners who can afford to pay interest rates around 7% for financing tailored to their needs. Now that borrowing costs across the board are up — the average of major banks’ five-year mortgage rates runs at 5% — some people who already bought new homes are struggling to offload their old ones. That’s when they turn to alternative lenders like Joseph.
Welcome To The Club
You may think putting the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and its nine government-appointed commissioners in charge of the entire online world is a good thing. Or you may think it’s a bad thing. But I’m guessing we can all agree that Bill C-11, the world’s most extensive internet regulation legislation so far, is a Thing.
And you’d think a thing that big would be deserving of respectful, honest debate and thoughtful review. If there’s something in the legislation that is bad in a way that isn’t intended, you’d want it caught and fixed, right? We are, after all, about to grant authority over 21st-century communications to people in charge of something called The Broadcasting Act. An act that was passed in 1993 to make sure nothing terrible — like people preferring NFL over CFL football or the Oscars over the Genies — results from watching too much American TV. Given that thousands of successful Canadian free enterprise Tik-Tokers and YouTubers fear new rules will disadvantage them in favour of the CRTC’s certified cultural broccoli, you’d think that’d be worth a think.
But you’d be wrong.
During hearings it appeared to be difficult for Liberal MPs like Chris Bittle and Anthony Housefather to tolerate anyone not dressed in matching political uniforms. I got off relatively easy when I testified before them. All I said was that by leaving the CRTC’s mitts off the online world, investment in Canada’s film and television industry had grown by 80 per cent in the past decade. In fact, it is enjoying the greatest period of prosperity in its history, so maybe take it easy on the panic button.
Others whose testimony could have been useful were cross-examined far more aggressively in an effort to delegitimize their expertise by diminishing them personally. Vancouver’s J.J. McCullough (self-described as Canada’s 398th most popular YouTuber) was asked about an opinion he had once expressed concerning bilingualism. Former CRTC commissioner Tim Denton, now chair of the Internet Society of Canada Chapter, suddenly had to account for some of his old commentary that once appeared in the Financial Post. Producer Scott Benzie of Quixote Media and the Buffer Festival got it even worse.
Suffice to say, the experience was made unpleasant and intimidating for anyone who might have had a point of disagreement. All showed up hoping they could help and be listened to respectfully; some left feeling labelled #enemiesofthepeople. (I am not aware of any who showed up to support the legislation that were made to feel the same way but, if they did, they have my sympathy.) MPs live in a friend-or-foe world. No quarter is given, not even to passersby.
With that ugly tone set early in the deliberations and despite particularly compelling presentations by Matt Hatfield of OpenMedia and Skyship Entertainment’s Morghan Fortier, it came as no surprise the bill wound up being pushed through, literally in the middle of the night.
We warned establishment journos like Peter Menzies what was coming, only to be shunned and defamed by these cowards as “dangerous freespeechers”.
It gives me no pleasure to say we told you so.
Well, maybe a little.
An Idea So Stupid It May Just Fail
The Biden administration is moving forward on a plan to mandate the elimination of nearly all nicotine in cigarettes, a policy that would upend the $95 billion U.S. cigarette industry and, health officials say, prompt millions of people to quit smoking.
Blog Notes
I’m currently in upstate New York, finishing off a dog show circuit that included Westminster Kennel Club. No, I didn’t win, but my dog looked and worked great and we left it all in the ring. I’ll be heading for home on Sunday, all 2,000+ miles of it driving solo. Ugh.
Many thanks to our guest bloggers for keeping things humming. It was a long two years away from my hobby and passion, it feels great to get off the porch and run with the big dogs again.
I spotted this in passing, it’s worth the smile.
Baseball is just the best, example 3,574,196: pic.twitter.com/1wKyKWQNWm
— MLB (@MLB) June 22, 2022
Entitled To Their Entitlements
Dear Leader is out of the country for 10 days. Expect plenty of glowing reports from his media, on how wonderful he is for spreading the word about global warming and the Ukraine war. No word yet on how much its going to cost for Trudeau, his staff, and the media to go on this trip.
BONOKOSKI: The Trudeau government’s entitled, outrageous and expensive behaviour
Pot meet Kettle
Topic of discussion the colour black.
National Post- Airlines must also be accountable for their role in flight delays: transport minister
Uvalde: When Will the Prosecutions for Incompetence Commence?
Not a Good Look
For Trudeau or the Mounties.
Sun- Trudeau interfered with RCMP in Nova Scotia shooting, says report
Halifax Examiner- RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki tried to ‘jeopardize’ mass murder investigation to advance Trudeau’s gun control efforts
The Insincerity of Chrystia Freeland is Appalling!
Fired for Being Woke
SpaceX’s recent decision to fire Woke activists is a thing of beauty:
You may have received an unsolicited request from a small group of SpaceX employees for your signature on an “open letter” yesterday and your participation in a related survey. Based on diverse employee feedback, this has upset many. That is, the letter, solicitations and general process made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views. Employees also complained that it interfered with their ability to focus on and do their work. We have 3 launches within 37 hours for critical satellites this weekend, we have to support the astronauts we delivered to the ISS and get cargo Dragon back to the flight-ready, and after receiving environmental approval early this week, we are on the cusp of the first orbital launch attempt of Starship. We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism — our current leadership team is more dedicated to ensuring we have a great and ever-improving work environment than any I have seen in my 35-year career.
…blanketing thousands of people across the company with repeated unsolicited emails and asking them to sign letters and fill out unsponsored surveys during the work day is not acceptable, goes against our documented handbook policy, and does not show the strong judgement needed to work in this very challenging space transportation sector. We performed an investigation and have terminated a number of employees involved.
A Somewhat Honest Canadian Discussion About Covid and the “Vaccines”
To ensure that the video isn’t pulled down from YouTube, Rupa and her guest appear not to have said certain things. Hopefully SDA commenters can fill in these gaps.
Wednesday On Turtle Island
Woke Britain: Woman goes to see comic, gets offended, calls police. Afraid of being called racist. The answer to every problem is to tax it.
Pride Month: Drag Queens and kids. The transgender fad.
Today in Islam: Teacher receives death threats. When Dracula terrorized Muslim terrorists.
Trudeau’s Canada: How to survive a visit to diverse Toronto. You can only say nice things about Justin now. Parliament passes internet censorship bill. Liberal/NDP coalition to decide what you can see on the internet. Justin and his RCMP. Dear Leader spends three million dollars on a tree planting campaign, that didn’t plant one tree. Another day, another name change on Turtle Island.
An interview with Donald Trump.
Biden’s America: Old Joe’s State Dept. is inept and anti-white. Your morning meme.
The Rampant Hypocrisy of the Open Borders Crowd
Canadian angle: Someone should ask Jenny Kwan, NDP MP for Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside, if she has room to welcome the poor and downtrodden into her multi-million dollar home in the chic Arbutus Ridge neighbourhood of the city.