All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[GoodBoy]

Vast iceberg looms over Canada's Newfoundland coast




http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-can...alflow_twitter

[GoodBoy]

WestJet to launch lower-cost airline subsidiary in late 2017


https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...y-in-l-436384/

[walkonby]

Donald Trump has his eyeball on Canadian Dairy farmers!! Watch out!!!

[Natalka]

Donald Trump has his eyeball on Canadian Dairy farmers!! Watch out!!!

and energy, and lumber

http://www.680news.com/2017/04/20/st...-lumber-dairy/

[Natalka]

Canadian couple arrested as part of human smuggling investigation

Victor Omoruyi is in U.S. custody while his wife Michelle faces charges in Canada

The husband of a Regina woman charged with human smuggling is in custody in the United States after arrests in that country as part of the same cross-border investigation.
U.S. immigration officials confirm that Victor Omoruyi, a Canadian citizen originally from Nigeria, was taken into custody on Friday evening for immigration violations.
He was picked up south of the border with two other people — another Canadian and a Nigerian — who were all apprehended.


His wife Michelle Omoruyi, 43, of Regina was arrested the same night just north of the border when she was found with nine people from West Africa in her vehicle.
Sources tell CBC that the nine people included five adults and four children.


The arrests were made after a four-month joint investigation in the Saskatchewan region.
Just before Christmas, Canadian border agents flagged a man who had been frequently using the North Portal entry for more investigation, and brought in RCMP investigators.
On Friday, U.S. border agents noted that the same man had crossed the border into North Dakota, and alerted the Canadians. That night, RCMP were flagged that a smuggling attempt may be in the works.
By 9 p.m. CST, the RCMP had pulled over Omoruyi as she was driving in an isolated area north of the border. The nine asylum seekers were in the vehicle, according to police.


The five adults and four children weren't harmed and were all taken into custody by the Canada Border Services Agency. They have since been released.
The group of asylum seekers are all from West Africa. Information on their ages and nationality is not being released.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskat...ling-1.4077163

[Natalka]

;

[Natalka]

UN declares first Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day - 31 years ago

http://www.un.org/en/events/chernobylday/index.shtml

#Chernobyl: the #membrane will protect the environment from any new releases of radioactivity from the old sarcophagus & destroyed reactor



The EBRD‏Verified account @EBRD 49m49 minutes ago

Following sliding of #NewSafeConfinement in #Nov, our work focused on installation of equipment & systems inside the confinement.

[Darth Penguin]

I thought it would be easier

President Donald Trump, reflecting on a first 100 days in office that has featured no major legislative wins and low approval ratings, said Thursday he thought the job would be easier.
"I loved my previous life, I loved my previous life. I had so many things going," Trump said in an interview with Reuters. "I actually, this is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier."
He later added, "I do miss my old life. This -- I like to work. But this is actually more work."
Trump also said he misses his pre-presidency freedom -- a sentiment often expressed by Oval Office occupants who find themselves in the security bubble of the White House.
"And, while I had very little privacy, in my old life because, you know, I've been famous for a long time. I really -- this is much less privacy than I've seen before. This is, you know, something that's really amazing. At the same time, you're really into your own cocoon because there's such massive protection, that you really can't go anywhere."

[gryphon]

Im seeing a disturbing amount of Holodomor denial lately.

[Natalka]

Defence minister Sajjan should be resigning - failing that, PM Trudeau should be demanding his resignation immediately. His first apology, followed by his second apology, are not enough.

It's a shame that he had this need to lie when he had a truly good record -

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/harjit-saj...172649879.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sajj...laim-1.4091609

[gryphon]

Trudeau is standing by him and said he made a mistake and apologised

[Lynn49]

You're so right, @Natalka ....it's a shame he had to lie to puff himself up or, as the military refers to it: "stolen valour", which is considered a disgrace in the military. Some TH on the news also said that there are those in the military that said it was just a matter of time before everyone saw his real stripes (character). I guess many aren't very surprised.I was on the fence about this earlier in the week, but now I feel he has to resign. If we can't trust him to be honest with his own record, how can we trust him with anyone else in the military, and with his position of power?

[Natalka]

(OMG, it wasn't a 'mistake', it was a lie - and not his first)

Standing in the Commons, Trudeau rebuffed Conservative calls for Sajjan’s resignation, saying Sajjan acknowledged his “mistake,” apologized, and “this minister continues and will continue to have my full confidence.”

Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose was adamant before Sajjan spoke to reporters. “He lied, and he should resign.”
In the Commons, Ambrose said Sajjan took false credit for something he didn’t do. She said no one is questioning Sajjan’s “bravery as a soldier” but said misleading Canadians twice on his service record is “beyond an apology.”
“People in the military have a name for what he did, it’s called stolen valour, when someone takes credit for the actions of another.”

“He hasn’t just embarrassed himself and the prime minister, he’s violated a code of honour and ethics with the men and women in uniform that he once served with. He has dishonoured himself and in doing so he has dishonoured them.”


NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair joined the Conservatives’ call for Sajjan’s resignation or firing. Mulcair slammed Sajjan for not making a ‘mistake’ but for telling ‘a whopper.’
“A whopper is not something you apologize for, it’s something you step down for.”

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...usa-claim.html

[Natalka]

(This would be a first, to expel a senator - hope it goes through)

Senate ethics committee recommends Don Meredith be expelled

The Senate's ethics committee is recommending Senator Don Meredith be expelled from the Red Chamber and his seat be declared vacant.
The five-member committee, composed of former judges and some of the country's top lawyers, has been reviewing an explosive report by Senate ethics watchdog Lyse Ricard for weeks. The report documents the Toronto-area senator's nearly two-year sexual relationship with a teenage girl known as "Ms. M."
After its thorough review, the committee is unanimously recommending the entire chamber administer the harshest of all punishments against one of its own members.
If carried through, it would be a first in Canadian history.

The committee said in its own report tabled Tuesday that it felt that nothing less than expulsion would suffice, because Meredith's behaviour has so badly damaged the "integrity and dignity of the institution."
"He has abused his privileged position of authority and trust by engaging in behaviour that is incompatible with his office," the report reads.
"He has brought disrepute to himself and to the institution. Your committee is of the opinion that Senator Meredith's misconduct has demonstrated that he is unfit to serve as a senator. His presence in the chamber would in itself discredit the institution. No lesser sanction than expulsion would repair the harm he has done to the Senate."

Senator Raynell Andreychuk, the chair of the committee, said Meredith never took responsibility for his actions. "In the eyes of the committee, Senator Meredith's is one of the most egregious breaches in the context of our role as senators."
"Senator Meredith is unfit," she said.

Now that the committee has made its recommendation, it will be up to the Senate as a whole to vote on expulsion.
There will be a minimum of five sitting days of debate on the committee's report before there can be a vote to adopt, or reject, sanctions against Meredith. The report must be "disposed of" no later than the 15th sitting day after it was first introduced.
Therefore, the Senate could spend up to a month debating before there is a final vote — a considerable amount of time given the amount of legislation on the agenda with only weeks left before the chamber is expected to rise for the summer break. The report could also be referred back to the committee for further consideration, a move that could punt a decision to a later date.
Meredith will be able to speak in the chamber if he so chooses, and will be given the right of "final reply" before any vote on a sanction against him.

more here

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mere...port-1.4095295

[gryphon]

https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2015 Canada fell from 8th spot to 22 on the world press freedom index since the liberals got into government