All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[Natalka]

Jordan King Abdullah II, left, shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, right, at the royal palace in Amman on Thursday. Harper pledged $105 million in development assistance for Jordan.

Canada will provide up to $105 million to Jordan over the next five years. Of that, $100 million will be earmarked for economic development and basic services such as delivering better education to Jordanians and Syrian refugees.


The remaining $5 million will be for critical equipment, infrastructure, technology and training to combat the threat of Syrian weapons.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/step...rdan-1.2507714

[Patty Smyth]

10 now confirmed dead in the seniors fire. 22 still missing

They are using steam to uncover the bodies.

[Natalka]

Prayers for the families affected by the tragedy in L'Isle-Verte.

I watched the news conference this afternoon held by Red Cross, officials and government.

This is from 2010, but shows info on provinces' nursing homes with sprinkler systems

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/blog/s...-nursing-homes

In SK even though not required to retrofit, they have done it.

[Darth Penguin]

10 dead, 22 missing

Crews recovered two more bodies on the third day of search efforts at a retirement home in Quebec that was destroyed by fire.
Ten people are confirmed dead after Thursday's blaze in L'Isle Verte, north-east of Canada's Quebec City. Twenty-two are missing.
Search teams brought in new equipment - designed mainly for de-icing ships - as temperatures hovered around -10C (14F).
Police are examining the theory the fire was started by a cigarette.
However, spokesman Lt Guy Lapointe told a news conference on Saturday that it was one possibility among many.
The ruins of the Residence du Havre have collapsed and are frozen over with a thick layer of ice from fire hoses.
"The conditions are very, very difficult," Lt Guy said on Saturday. "Our people are exhausted."
He said the ice was as thick as 60cm (2ft) in places.
About 20 elderly residents survived the fire, officials say.
The Red Cross said it had raised about 200,000 Canadian dollars ($US180,000, £110,000) to provide them with clothes, hearing aids, wheelchairs, and other urgent supplies.
Police said the process of clearing the ice would continue into Saturday night and the search efforts would resume on Sunday.

[Patty Smyth]

This is interesting.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/just...15273?cmp=fbtl

Justin Trudeau to remove senators from Liberal caucus


Trudeau plan will have consequences across Parliament and politics

[Natalka]

Wow, just a CYA move to distance himself... he must know there is more scandal to come from Liberal senators.

[TaraF]

To at-heart-Liberals this is an awesome move, it allows them to vote their conscience rather than out of party loyalty. To the "on the fence" Liberal supporter they must be scratching their head and trying to figure it out. To the Conservatives, it's party time! It allows them to speculate as to why he'd do such a thing and to throw out their favourite line, "In over his head". I like Justin's commitment to Senate reform and saying that only elected members to the Senate will represent the Liberal Party. Will this backfire on him? Only time will tell. Whether it does or not, however, his approach to politics is extremely refreshing.

[Patty Smyth]

Wow, just a CYA move to distance himself... he must know there is more scandal to come from Liberal senators.

Well if it's conservative senators then you can pretty much bet the house it's ALL of them(yes I am going to lump them in as one big corrupt bunch, evidence or not). However he did not appoint any of them while Harper cannot claim the same.

[Darth Penguin]

Staten Island congressman threatens" to break reporter in half"

Representative Michael G. Grimm of Staten Island, once considered a rising star in the Republican Party, touched off a political firestorm after delivering unusually vitriolic threats against a reporter inside the United States Capitol building on Tuesday night, just moments after the State of the Union speech.Mr. Grimm apologized to the reporter on Wednesday and also issued a statement expressing regret, but the damage to Mr. Grimm’s reputation appeared to already have been severe, as his threats became the subject of widespread denunciation and mockery.
Mr. Grimm, who was first elected with the help of Tea Party support, has been entangled in controversy involving a continuing federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising, including assertions by several contributors that Mr. Grimm or his chief fund-raiser told them that his campaign would find ways to get around the legal limit on donations.
And on Tuesday night, Mr. Grimm became enraged after the reporter, Michael Scotto of NY1, asked him about the investigation. His threats inside the United States Capitol were captured on video that quickly rocketed around the Internet.
Mr. Grimm became upset and stormed off when Mr. Scotto raised the subject of the investigation into his campaign finances, but he then charged back and laced into Mr. Scotto.
Although Mr. Scotto had finished the segment, the camera continued to roll and Mr. Grimm can be seen getting directly in the face of an obviously stunned Mr. Scotto.
“What?” Mr. Scotto said. Before he could explain that he was just trying to ask him a question, Mr. Grimm became unhinged.
“Let me be clear to you,” he said in a low voice, before using a profanity and warning that he would hurl Mr. Scotto from the balcony.
There is some cross talk between the two men which was not audible on the video before Mr. Grimm concluded with an insult and another threat.
“No, no, you’re not man enough, you’re not man enough,” he said. “I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”
Initially, Mr. Grimm sought to justify his behavior and did not apologize.
“I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests,” he wrote in a statement on Tuesday night. “The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic.”
“I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor,” he wrote. “I doubt that I am the first member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”

[DaveP]

Why are you in favor of a congressman acting in such an atrocious manner, Darth?

[Patty Smyth]

^^ I saw it on CNN , crazy. Did he not think to check of the camera and mike were off.

[Darth Penguin]

Justin Beiber surrenders on assault charge to Toronto Police

Justin Bieber has surrendered to Toronto police to face charges he assaulted a limousine driver in December. Mr Bieber, 19, was greeted at the station by a frenzy of television crews, news photographers - and screaming teenage fans.
He was booked less than a week after he was arrested in Florida and accused of drink-driving and other charges.
His management team have not responded to requests for comment.
On the evening of the alleged incident in Toronto, the Ontario-born pop star attended a Maple Leafs hockey game, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported.
Police officials say Mr Bieber will appear in court at a later date.
Also on Wednesday, a petition requesting Mr Bieber's expulsion from the US attained 100,000 signatures.
The petition was filed on a White House website by a member of the public.
The US president has no power to order an individual's deportation, and it is unclear whether the White House will respond to the petition.

bold mine..

While it's amusing that people think POTUS has unlimited powers, I'm sure the drink/driving and drug charges in California may possibly mean we get the "star" back..

Anyway...President Obama...where's my Death Star???? That one got enough signatures too...

[DaveP]

Justin Beiber surrenders on assault charge to Toronto Police



bold mine..

While it's amusing that people think POTUS has unlimited powers, I'm sure the drink/driving and drug charges in California may possibly mean we get the "star" back..

Anyway...President Obama...where's my Death Star???? That one got enough signatures too...

If you could kindly refrain from linking Bieber stories in the Politics and News thread, that would be great. We do have an entertainment forum here, maybe that would be more appropriate. It's sad enough that I have to avoid American 'news' now because it's all Bieber, all the time, I don't expect it here.

In case you don't know where the entertainment forum is.

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/entertainment-society/

There's a good Penguin.

[Darth Penguin]

^^ I saw it on CNN , crazy. Did he not think to check of the camera and mike were off.

The more I see of these off the cuff remarks caught on live feed , the more I feel the speaker is looking

a) didn't think about how thier words came across
b) doesn't care about how thier words come across
c)thinks it makes him/her look politically tough.


But instead it makes the speaker look like a bully or an idiot..And I've seen this across the whole spectrum of world politics, from radical African neo-communists to right wing in places like US and UK and into neo-Nazi European politics.

Some people just don't understand the saturation of the social media inspired by the internet..

[TaraF]

Well the minimum wage in Ontario will go up to $11/hr come June 1st. This is good as a wage increase is long overdue, however lets call it what it is: A Bribe from Wynne to the people of Ontario in order to make them all forget about Dalton.