July 27, 2024 - "British Columbia’s public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is officially over, following the province’s chief medical officer rescinding all remaining restrictions. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry declared any remaining restrictions first implemented in March 2020 to be over Friday, including the controversial vaccination requirements for healthcare workers.
“'Today is indeed a very special day,” said Henry during a press conference in Victoria, B.C. on Friday. “We have reached the point in this journey that we’ve been on where I am confident that we can now lift the requirements of a public health emergency. So effectively immediately, today July 26, we will be ending the public health emergency for COVID-19 and rescinding the few related orders that are still in place.' Henry confirmed that includes B.C.’s public health mandate that healthcare workers be vaccinated....
"According to Henry, the decision was made after 'careful review' of all data and epidemiological indicators, which revealed that the province no longer requires a public health emergency to deal with COVID-19'.... There are currently fewer than 200 people in hospital throughout the province as a result of contracting COVID-19.
"B.C. initially declared its public health emergency on March 17, 2020, marking the first Canadian province to do so. The emergency mandated mask wearing, prohibited gatherings and public events, and shut down businesses.
"Henry was joined by B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix, who announced that health workers fired under the previous orders can now apply to fill available positions. However, applicants must still provide their immune status for certain pathogens, including COVID-19....
June 17, 2024 - "In 2016 the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, received more votes than any of the party’s other candidates in history and the most of any third-party candidate since Ross Perot.... In 2022 the hard-line Mises Caucus took control of the Libertarian Party... But in a major surprise, the winner of the party’s [2024] presidential nominating process was not the Mises Caucus’s favorite but Chase Oliver, a 38-year-old gay antiwar activist who had left the Democratic Party. I spoke with Mr. Oliver about what libertarianism means to him today, [and] how he plans to fight for independent votes this year.... This interview has been edited for length and clarity...."
"Chase Oliver: Libertarianism to me has always meant the freedom for peaceful people to make their own decisions about their own lives without government interference. I’ve always said that 'if you’re living your life and not using force, fraud, coercion, theft or violence, your life’s your life, your body’s your body, your business is your business, and your property is your property; it’s not mine, and it’s not the government’s'.... [A]s somebody who has actually embraced truly classical liberal values, I’ve understood that there will be people who live more conservatively than I do. That’s fine, so long as they don’t seek to use the force of government upon me. Just as I’m happy to let anybody live their life as outside of the norm and outside of the box as they want to, so long as they don’t seek to use the force of government on me....
Chase Oliver. Claire Merchlinsky, NY Times.
"I think the pandemic certainly solidified many of the libertarians’ view that there isn’t a crisis that government won’t take advantage of to rob us of our liberty. This was certainly proven out during the Covid years. Whenever we see a crisis happening, the first thing we need to look to is, 'How is the state going to exploit this for their benefit, their power and their gain?' — many times at the expense of the average working person. We saw this with millions of small businesses disappearing. We saw this with the callous lockdowns that prevented people from even saying goodbye to their loved ones as they were passing away....
"I’m from Atlanta, where we have the Stop Cop City movement. So I believe the criminal justice and police accountability movement is still very much alive and well where I’m at. And I still see many people wanting to have a level playing field for individual citizens against government when it comes to all areas of criminal justice ... because overpolicing hasn’t ended. The abuses that we see from law enforcement that need to be held accountable have not stopped....
"Let’s expand past cannabis to the total end of the war on drugs, which creates much of the violence we see in our neighborhoods. But really, the next hill to climb is going to be therapies like psilocybin therapy, MDMA therapy, ketamine. These are therapies that have been shown in a medical setting to absolutely help people suffering from mental health issues, including PTSD for our veterans....
"I’m one for a less interventionist foreign policy, one that exports our values with free markets and free trade as opposed to bombs and bullets. But Donald Trump isn’t for that, either, because he’s a hard-core economic protectionist who doesn’t know what free trade is or how it’s beneficial to the marketplace.... The only true free-market and peace candidate is the Libertarian Party candidate. That’s me in this race, and I look forward to earning the votes of the antiwar movement....
"I think we need to understand that there’s a broad swath of the electorate that is, broadly speaking, quite libertarian. We just have to be able to communicate our values in a way that they can resonate with, that understands them.... We want to help the poor. We just don’t think the state’s the best to do that. We want to see more alternatives in the marketplace and more choice of innovation in the marketplace. And we certainly know the state’s not going to achieve that....
"What I’m stressing in my campaign and I think we need to stress more as a party is that we actually value the liberty of other people because that is what gives us our individual liberty. If we’re not fighting for the liberty of people who look differently or who live differently or who worship differently or who love differently, then we are not fighting for our liberty, because when one person is not free, we are not free. So I’m hoping that people can see the empathy and, frankly, the love that comes out of the message of liberty from my campaign. Because if we’re not fighting for other people, we’re not fighting for ourselves."
Canadians are mourning the destruction by fire of Jasper, Alberta. But we also need a serious reappraisal of Canadian forest management practices; otherwise it won't be a matter of whether more communities are lost to wildfires, but of when.
July 26, 2024 - "Millions of Albertans, and indeed Canadians, are mourning the destruction of a site where they have memories of recent and childhood trips. We can be thankful that no lives have been lost, but the loss for residents of Jasper is unimaginable.... When the Jasper fires have been extinguished and the rebuilding process begins, we must have a serious appraisal of our forest management practices and act as soon as possible. Otherwise, it won’t be a matter of if another community is lost to a wildfire, it will be a matter of when.
"To begin with, it must be accepted that fires in boreal forests are natural and inevitable. It has only been in the last couple of centuries that humans have entered the scene and meddled with the natural cycle of burning and rejuvenation of forests. What we are seeing today is the consequences of deferring the fires that would have naturally burned. The forests have become overgrown, unhealthy, and cluttered with layers of extremely flammable deadfall. Forests in that condition burn hot and fast, leading to fires that can’t be extinguished. Many communities in Canada are surrounded by forests like this and are but one spark away from a disaster.
"It’s not reasonable to just let fires burn naturally in populated areas. That means we must manage these forests and our communities to reduce the chances of wildfires and mitigate the damage they cause. This has been done to a degree in areas, but not adequately.
"Jasper is a prime example. A mountain pine beetle infestation had previously killed thousands of acres of pine trees around the "townsite. Standing dead pine trees are extremely flammable, and experts were warning of the risk they presented to Jasper in 2018. A plan was formulated between the Alberta Forest Service and Jasper National Park officials to manage the forests, but it was rejected by the federal government. It’s not that the federal government wanted to see the area burn. They didn’t want to deal with the optics of bulldozers and loggers taking down tracts of forest in a scenic national park along with the haze and smoke prescribed burns would bring. The consequences of that deferral are being seen today.
"Municipal governments are loath to create buffers between forests and their townsites because residents enjoy the cozy feel of living next to the wilderness. Developers pitch communities that share space with nature and property owners will complain if bush is cut back. Cutting buffers in forests, doing prescribed burns, and clearcut logging may not look pretty, but it is all preferable to the devastation a fire will bring. Politicians must make the tough choices and impose fire mitigation measures upon communities, even if it upsets some residents....
"I worked as a surveyor for over 20 years in Alberta, and what I saw building up on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains was concerning, to say the least. In some areas, it is almost impossible to walk due to the volume of deadfall. If we don’t clear those zones out soon, a fire will and it will be a big one.
"Government jurisdiction and long-term changes in the climate are subjects worthy of discussion, and we doubtless will be having those discussions for years. In the meantime, we must act and safeguard our communities. We don’t have years to wait, and we will see more heartbreaking losses as we have with Jasper if we keep putting off the forest management that must happen."
Last week MSNBC host Rachel Maddow tried to link Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, to the "far right" by revealing that he is a fan of fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings.
July 19, 2024 - "This week, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow welcomed J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings to the fellowship of things, such as patriotic flags and ... physical fitness, that are now bad because the 'far right' likes them. Maddow reacted to Donald Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate by noting Vance’s connections to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, and finding fault in their affinity for Tolkien’s work:
Mr. Thiel ... has named his companies after things in the Lord of the Rings series of J.R.R. Tolkien books. Lord of the Rings is a sort of favorite cosmos for naming things and cultural references for a lot of far-right and alt-right figures both in Europe and the United States. Peter Thiel names all of his things after Tolkien figures, like his company Palantir, for example. Like his mentor, like Peter Thiel, who had given him all his jobs in the world, Mr. Vance also when he founded his own venture-capital firm with help from Peter Thiel named it after a Lord of the Rings thing. He called it Narya, N-A-R-Y-A, which you can remember because it’s “Aryan” but you move the “N” to the front. Apparently that word has something to do with elves and rings from the Lord of the Rings series. I don’t know.
"Maddow’s snide rant towers to such absurd heights as to resist being taken seriously. But let’s try. It is true that Thiel, like some of his professional peers, enjoys naming things after The Lord of the Rings.... But do you know who else likes The Lord of the Rings? Basically everyone. Exact figures are hard to pin down, but at least 150 million copies of the work (divided into three entries) have been sold; it has been translated into more than 40 languages.... And Peter Jackson’s two trilogies of movies based on Tolkien’s work ... have made about $6 billion in box-office receipts worldwide. That level of success is difficult to achieve with a narrowly cast partisan appeal....
"Tolkien would also scoff at Maddow’s apparent contention that 'Narya,' the elvish ring of power after which Vance named a venture-capital firm, has some connection to Aryan racial mythology. In 1938, Tolkien entered discussions for The Hobbit to be published in German. The German publisher he was working with wondered whether he was 'Aryan.' Speaking to his English publisher, Tolkien wondered whether the country’s 'lunatic laws' required confirmation that he was, and, if so, preferred no German translation appear at all if it meant 'giving any colour to the notion' that he 'subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine'."
July 19, 2024 - "Argentina’s economy has surged for the first time since wildcard President Javier Milei took office. Economic activity in the country was up 1.3% from April, Bloomberg reported, well above analyst estimates. Recorded inflation was at 4.6% in June, down from 25.5% at the end of 2023.
"Argentina has the worst projected economic growth of any major economy this year, The International Monetary Fund noted, but the country is projected to rebound in 2025. Milei was elected on pledges to turn around Argentina’s economic woes, and has enacted harsh spending cuts in an attempt to rein in inflation.
"Milei, a self-described 'anarcho-capitalist,' had promised to adopt the US dollar as one measure to curb Argentina’s inflationary pressures — but that plan was quickly shelved. Since taking office, Milei has moved away from some of the more radical measures he suggested on the campaign trail, sources told the Financial Times....
"But analysts believe that voters could run out of patience if Milei doesn’t deliver on his economic promises: 'His support is very ephemeral and very volatile,' the head of a left-leaning think tank told the FT. 'Voters made a bet on him but that bet has an expiry date.'
"The country’s economic prospects may be turning around, but poverty in the nation is high, Reuters reported. Argentines are battling the rapid devaluation of their currency, and triple-digit inflation. Protest movements against Milei’s suggested spending cuts have grown in recent months, as locals who cannot afford to feed their families reject the pull back of government programs....
"Overspending on public services and money creation have fueled Argentina’s financial crisis for decades, the Economics Observatory noted. The country has defaulted on its debt on nine separate occasions, and its inflation rate averaged 190% between 1944 and 2023. Per capita income, meanwhile, has dropped more than 10% on average. 'Milei’s strategy so far has yielded several promising initial results,' the think tank noted. 'But while these measures have steered these indicators in the right direction, they have also imposed a substantial economic and social cost.'”
Raging Dissident podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie, founder of fictional meme country Diagolon, is taking his "Road Rage Terror Tour" across Canada this summer.
July 10, 2024 - "The leaders of a Canadian organization referred to by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism as a 'far-right extremist group' have scheduled two stops in Saskatchewan during a nationwide tour. Diagolon was founded by Jeremy MacKenzie, a podcaster.... The group’s name refers to a fictional country of provinces and states without COVID-19 mandates, with a diagonal line formed across North America.
"A website and social media postings list dates for 'Road Rage Terror Tour' stops across Canada, including in Calgary (July 13), Vancouver (July 19), Kamloops (July 20), Edmonton (July 24), Saskatoon (July 25), Hamilton (July 31) and Halifax (Aug. 4). Meet-and-greet events were also promoted for Thunder Bay (Tuesday), Regina (July 11), Lethbridge (July 12), Kelowna (July 15), Nanaimo (July 16), Winnipeg (July 26), Quebec City (Aug. 1) and Fredericton (Aug.2).
"According to social media posts promoting the Saskatoon and Regina events, the locations will be shared via email 24 hours in advance to ticket holders in Saskatoon or to those who have expressed interest in attending in Regina.... The Saskatoon event is a potluck and attendees are encouraged to bring food or snacks. Alcohol will not be served.... At the Regina event, which is set to run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., alcohol will be available for purchase. It is 'not child friendly,' according to the social media post.
"Organizers said anyone with weapons 'of any kind' at either stop will be removed. 'This is a private event. Phones and recording devices must be disabled and hidden during the venue, left inside your vehicle or at home,' the social media posts say about both Saskatchewan stops. Organizers also said security will 'keep an eye on vehicles and measures have been put in place to avoid Trantifa issues.' Trantifa — a combination of 'transgender' and 'antifa' — is a made-up pejorative term used by right-wing groups, organizers and supporters who perceive a threat from left-wing activists....
"An Ottawa meeting on Saturday was the first stop of the tour. The Ottawa Police Service said it was aware in advance that an event was happening somewhere in the city, but didn’t know exactly where until the day of the event. Officers monitored the event and 'maintained a visible presence,' OPS said in a statement....
"In November 2022, MacKenzie testified at the public inquiry into the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to break up the convoy protest in Ottawa. Speaking before the Public Order Emergency Commission, MacKenzie said of Diagolon: 'There’s an aspect of, you know, firearms, supporting recreational culture and stuff, especially in Western Canada, but there’s certainly not anything resembling a militia.'
"MacKenzie, who is from Nova Scotia, ... was charged in July 2022 with assault, pointing a firearm, using a restricted weapon in a careless manner and mischief after Saskatoon RCMP investigated a report of an assault in November 2021 in the RM of Viscount. The charges were later stayed."
July 16, 2024 - "Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1955 into law Monday. It prohibits school districts in California from having policies that require teachers or staff to disclose a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression to the student’s parents, without the student’s consent. That includes nonbinary and transgender students. LGBTQ advocates said the law is a good step forward in protecting students....
“'Young people should really be in control of their own destiny and what it is that they’re ready for, in being able to disclose what their identities are to teachers, their peers, to their parents, and so this really puts that kind of control and autonomy back with the students,' Sacramento LGBT Community Center CEO David Heitstuman said. 'It’s super important for young people to be the ones in control of when they disclose and how they disclose, that that’s so important'....
"Sabrina Naves is the president of PFLAG Sacramento, an organization that supports the parents and friends of LGBTQ people. Naves said she is thrilled Gov. Newsom signed AB 1955 into law.... Naves came out as transgender in 2018. While she is the head of an LGBTQ organization now, Naves said when she was younger she was not ready to be open about who she was.... 'I know that if I had been forcibly outed to my parents, that would have definitely been an issue of safety for me,' Naves said....
"However, opponents of the new law said that excluding parents from those conversations is unacceptable. California Family Council, a Christian public policy organization, said the law creates a divide between parents and their children. 'Basic common sense tells us that parents have the ultimate responsibility to protect and defend their children, and we believe that this law not only takes away those parental rights, but it actually will put children in danger,' California Family Council president Jonathan Keller said. 'Children need their parents. A teacher, a school administrator is not a substitute for a mother and a father.'
"'I think we’re going to be looking at all of our legal options,” Keller said. “We absolutely anticipate future legal challenges for this.'
"Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, who opposed the bill as it worked through the legislature, posted on X Monday, vowing to challenge the law in court. He said, in part, 'Governor Newsom signing #AB1955 is both immoral and unconstitutional and we will challenge it in court to stop the government from keeping secrets from parents'....
"Late Tuesday, the Liberty Justice Center announced it had filed a lawsuit challenging the law.
"In the wake of the governor signing AB 1955 into law, billionaire Elon Musk said he is moving the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X to Texas from California. 'I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children,' Musk wrote.
In 2024, for the first time ever, Canada has became a net importer of electricity, thanks to an energy strategy that puts decarbonization ahead of energy security.
July 5, 2024 - "In its monthly update on energy trends, Statistics Canada reported this week that this year, for the first time ever, Canada has become a net importer of electricity.... Traditionally, Canada has generated surplus electricity that it has exported to the U.S. But in April total electricity generation was down 6.9 per cent from a year ago, continuing a trend that began earlier this year.
"The decline is the result of droughts across much of the country that have curtailed hydroelectric generation as well as planned maintenance at nuclear stations. Hydro and nuclear account for just over two-thirds of all electricity generation in Canada. Hydro contributed 26.0 million megawatt-hours (MWh) and nuclear 5.2 MWh of the total electrical production of 45.7 MWh in April. With hydro and nuclear power generation falling at home, we had to import 2.6 million MWh from the United States in April, while our exports plunged a whopping 64.4 per cent to 1.7 million MWh.
"Canada’s plan to lower greenhouse gas emissions largely depends on hydro power supplying most of our rapidly growing energy needs. We remain ambivalent about nuclear power, with Ontario and New Brunswick the only two provinces producing it.... Critics of wind and solar power often emphasize their intermittent nature when the wind is not blowing or the sun not shining. Intermittent electricity sources like these require maintaining reliable backup energy sources, notably power plants that burn fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal. The recent reduction in hydro generation highlights how it, too, can sometimes be an unreliable source of power....
"Energy security means a reliable and affordable supply. Any prolonged interruption of supply would be catastrophic. In February 2022 Texas was within minutes of its electrical grid collapsing during an ice storm, a calamity that could not have been fully repaired until May. Here at home, Alberta’s grid was pushed almost beyond its limit during a severe cold snap this January. That would have been more consequential and life-threatening than a grid collapse in Texas given the extreme cold Alberta was experiencing.
"Electricity is fundamental to the lives and lifestyles of most Canadians. As former Ontario cabinet minister Dwight Duncan observed at a recent conference on energy policy, Ontario and Quebec have the highest energy demand in the world because of peak demand in both winter and summer. But there is a disconnect between Canada’s ambition to electrify our power grid and our reluctance to expand electricity capacity. Electrifying our homes and vehicles while using energy-hungry technology implies a massive increase in our electricity consumption.
"Only recently have governments begun to realize projected electricity demands far exceed supplies. That is why Ontario and Quebec recently announced ambitious and expensive plans to boost generation. Ontario is expanding and refurbishing its extensive network of nuclear plants. In Quebec, the Legault government recently installed Michael Sabia as head of Hydro Quebec to carry out a plan to substantially increase hydro and wind power to meet future demand, discarding plans that emphasized energy conservation and inevitably would have required unpopular price hikes. Alberta’s near-death experience has led it to restructure its grid to reduce the priority given to unpredictable renewable sources.
"Canada’s shift to being a net importer of electricity so far this year is a reminder that we have much work to do to increase production, especially since importing American electricity means relying on high-emission fossil fuels to generate power. Our plodding approach to building mega projects in recent decades raises serious questions about whether we will be successful.
"The European Union’s single-minded focus on decarbonizing its energy supply ended even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the cost to households, industry and governments mounted. Richard Norris of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute characterizes our own refusal to acknowledge the primordial importance of abundant and cheap energy as 'energy blindness.' That blindness needs to end."
A defense witness has testified that Coutts 4 defendant Anthony Olienick used homemade explosive devices, similar to the two "pipe bombs" police seized when they raided his Claresholm property, in his sandstone mining business.
July 17, 2024 - "Brian Lambert, a former business partner of Anthony Olienick's, testified on Monday, July 15 during Olienick's and Chris Carbert's trial in Lethbridge, AB, that he observed his former associate’s use of 'firecrackers' in the context of their joint operations mining sandstone. Lambert’s testimony relates to one charge against Olienick, that he unlawfully possessed an explosive device for a dangerous purpose.
"The Crown has alleged that two objects found on Olienick's property after his arrest on February 14, 2022, were 'pipe bombs'. Lambert described the 'firecrackers' he said he saw Olienick use years ago as explosives contained within tubes or pipes used for plumbing. He further described them as 'not a big deal' in the context of the world of explosives. He maintained that he would not choose to hold such an explosive in his hands.
"Carbert and Olienick are accused of conspiring to murder police officers during their time at the 2022 Coutts protest and blockade, a peaceful and civilly disobedient demonstration against the decrees, edicts, and orders issued by different levels of government and marketed as “public health” measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission. The two defendants are also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose. Both have pled not guilty to all charges against them.
"Lyndsay Butler, a country music singer, songwriter, and performer ... testified that she brought a guitar in a guitar case with her to the demonstration. The prosecution previously suggested that guitar cases were used to transport firearms for the purposes of executing a conspiracy to murder. Butler was also mentioned in certain text messages sent to and received by the defendants' phones during tbe Coutts protest that the Crown has alleged included coded language related to the alleged conspiracy....
"Corrie Turcott, an Albertan who spent 18 days at the Coutts demonstration, ... [testified] that she spent most of her 18 days in Smuggler's Saloon, a small restaurant in the border village that operated as a makeshift meeting center for protesters. She said she spent considerable time in the saloon’s basement, using it as a site to organize and store food and other donated consumables used by the demonstrators.
"The Crown has alleged that the saloon’s basement was used as a site to store a cache of firearms meant for use as part of a conspiracy to murder law enforcement personnel. Turcott testified that she did not observe any firearms in the saloon's basement."
The Ontario government is fast-tracking its plan to allow grocery stores to sell premixed alcoholic drinks, after government workers opposed to the plan shut down provincial liquor stores by walking out on strike.
July 16, 2024 - ""Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is rushing to get ready-to-drink cocktails on grocery store shelves amid a strike at the province’s main liquor retailer.... Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced Monday that grocery stores that are already licensed to sell beer and wine can start ordering the pre-mixed cocktails, as well as large packs of beer, to sell starting on Thursday [July 18] — sooner than the planned Aug. 1 launch....
"The sped-up move is part of an already fast-tracked plan to expand alcohol sales in the province. Ford’s previous plan was to get beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails in convenience stores and all grocery stores by 2026 [see video], but in May he announced that would instead happen this year.
"Leadership at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, whose approximately 10,000 workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario [LCBO] walked off the job July 5, has said ... the main issue in the labour dispute ... is the expanded sale of ready-to-drink cocktails. Previous rounds of alcohol market expansion in Ontario have kept spirits sales in the hands of the LCBO, and OPSEU worries undoing that will threaten the LCBO and union jobs. Getting ready-to-drink beverages in grocery stores even sooner is an attempt to undercut the LCBO and amounts to interfering in bargaining, said OPSEU president JP Hornick....
"Ford has denied he is trying to dismantle or privatize the LCBO, and government officials have noted that LCBO revenues have increased through previous rounds of alcohol sales expansions. Bethlenfalvy has directed the Crown corporation to showcase and promote Ontario beer, wine, spirits and ciders as part of the expansion, and he has said it will still have an important role as a wholesaler.
"Ford last week firmly ruled out a reversal on the ready-to-drink expansion, saying the ship had sailed 'halfway across Lake Ontario.' The 450 grocery stores across the province that are already licensed to sell beer, wine and ciders can begin placing orders for the coolers and seltzers on Thursday and can sell the beverages as soon as they receive them.
"They will also be able to sell larger packages of beer, such as cases of 24. An agreement the former Liberal government signed with The Beer Store in 2015 ... [which] gave the company exclusive rights to sell 12- and 24-packs of beer .... had been set to expire at the end of 2025, but Ford’s sped-up plan involves an 'early implementation agreement' with The Beer Store that involves the province paying the company up to $225 million to help it keep stores open and workers employed. The province is also giving brewers a rebate on an LCBO fee that normally brings in $45 million a year, and it is giving retailers a 10-per-cent wholesale discount."
With the passage of Bill C-59, which outlaws "greenwashing" claims, Corporate Canada has lost its climate bargain with the Trudeau government, writes Bruce Pardy.
July 5, 2024 - "After years of colluding with climate hysteria and betraying capitalism, Canadian companies have been dumped at the curb. On June 20, Bill C-59 received Royal Assent. It’s a hodgepodge bill of humdrum provisions, hundreds of pages long.... But buried in the stack are two sections that prohibit 'greenwashing.' Businesses cannot claim that their products or practices help to protect against climate change or provide other environmental benefits unless they can prove the claims are true. The provisions amend the Competition Act and make climate and other environmental claims subject to the same regulatory regime as false advertising.
"Companies and industry associations have taken down climate pledges and environmental commitments from their websites and social media. 'Ottawa’s ban on "greenwashing" has already put a chill on climate disclosure targets,' objected Deborah Yedlin, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, in a commentary for CTV. It will affect the entire economy, she wrote, add bureaucratic burden, halt investment, and weigh on Canada’s sagging productivity. Corporate Canada has lost its climate bargain.
"Over the course of decades, Western countries, but nowhere more than Canada, have undergone a cultural revolution. Accelerating climate activism, aggressive social justice ideology and managerial government have changed the landscape. Business elites, instead of defending capitalism, competition, open markets, the rule of law and other values of Western civilization, decided to switch rather than fight. To protect their own prosperity and influence, corporate leaders learned to speak the language and adopt the norms of progressive collectivism. They became cheerleaders for the new regime. Many came to believe in it themselves....
"The social responsibility of business became not merely to increase its profits, as Milton Friedman famously insisted, but to serve as social welfare agencies. They were not just to obey the law and deliver products and services that people wanted to buy, but to pursue social and environmental causes. They would serve the interests not just of their shareholders but their 'stakeholders,' as 'Environmental, Social and Governance' (ESG) models demanded. In their marketing and rhetoric, they embraced climate action, corporate social responsibility, social licence, 'equity, diversity and inclusion' (EDI) and social justice. They promoted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a blueprint for socialist managerialism. The Business Council of Canada endorsed carbon pricing and Canada’s climate plans. Major oil companies promoted net zero and repeated the kinds of claims that governments themselves made: that climate action in Canada helps to prevent the climate from changing.
"Such claims are patently false. Even if you believe in anthropogenic climate change, if your country doesn’t contribute much to the problem, cutting its contribution isn’t a solution. Bringing Canadian carbon emissions to zero would make no measurable difference to anything. Countries that together produce far and away most of the emissions on Earth have no intention of changing their paths....
"Canada excels at climate boondoggles. Carbon taxes are just more money for government coffers that do not necessarily reduce emissions, if that actually mattered. Wind and solar power, a lucrative source of government largesse that some businesses have adeptly saddled up to, don’t replace fossil fuels. Carbon capture and storage, perhaps the most pathetic pretend of them all, is a breathtakingly expensive symbolic gesture that cannot be applied at scale. The Paris accord and its net zero aspirations are climate fairy tales. Canadian business leaders would never say any of this. That was the deal: pay homage to the climate gods, and you can be on the team. But now they can’t.
"Progressive statism has never been about the climate, or transgenderism, or whatever the cause du jour. The target has always been Western values and principles. Free enterprise is anathema to its aspirations, and as it turns out, so is prosperity itself. Canadian companies have betrayed the economic principles of their own society.... The Canadian business community still does not understand the point of the revolution. There can be no survivors."
A U.S. Senate committee has begun hearings on Rand Paul's Risky Research Act, meant to oversee dangerous scientific experiments like the gain-of-function research in Wuhan that allegedly led to the Covid pandemic..
July 11, 2024 - "Lawmakers and scientists debated the best ways to regulate high-risk government-funded virus research during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Thursday. One prominent witness called for a moratorium on gain-of-function research, while another stressed the risks of not pursuing certain kinds of experiments. Meanwhile, some committee members leveraged their time at the dais to grill former public health leaders about the lab-leak theory of COVID-19's origins and to accuse them of complicity in a cover-up.
"'Today, thousands of skilled individuals can create infectious viruses using commercially available synthetic DNA that corresponds to publicly accessible viral genome sequences,' Kevin Esvelt, PhD, of the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, told the committee. He argued that the U.S. needs a 'systemic reappraisal' to define which types of DNA, pathogens, and experiments are safe and which are dangerous. He urged Congress to establish and fund an independent board to determine which laboratories should be granted access to which agents and sequences, to determine when the benefits of 'dual use research' -- that is, research that can lead to either benefits or harms -- exceed the risks, and to assess and determine when disclosing a genome sequence or an experimental outcome 'would cause irreparable harm to national security'....
"Former CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, testified -- not for the first time -- that the most likely theory of COVID-19's origins was biomedical research followed by an accidental lab leak. 'Unfortunately, the potential national security consequences of conducting the research did not receive full consideration prior to the funding decisions to conduct such high-risk research,' Redfield said. He argued that while some scientists believe gain-of-function research is vital to 'get ahead of viruses' and to develop vaccines and countermeasures, he believes it had the 'exact opposite effect' and blames such research for unleashing a new virus in the world without any means of stopping it. 'In my opinion, we should call for a moratorium on gain-of-function research until we have a broader debate and come to consensus as a community [about] the value of such research,' Redfield said.
"Ranking Member Rand Paul, MD (R-Ky.), who has publicly stated for months that he believes that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the result of a lab leak, levied the same allegations of a 'vast COVID cover-up' and of federal funding being used to support gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 'You don't need to be convinced that COVID-19 virus originated from a lab leak to recognize the imminent need for oversight mechanisms,' he said. 'The mere possibility that the virus could have emerged from such risky research should be more than enough to prompt decisive action.'
"On Wednesday, Paul introduced the "Risky Research Review Act, which calls for creating an independent oversight board to review high-risk life sciences research and issue 'binding determinations' related to federal funding. Redfield heartily supported the bill, as did Sen. Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kan.), who declared that it would 'save tens of millions of lives.' And Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he still needed to review the document but was likely to back it."
Libertarian Party POTUS nominee Chase Oliver is on the ballot in 36 states, and ballot access efforts are ongoing in the others. But the executives of a few state Libertarian parties don't want him on theirs.
July 11, 2024 - "In May, the Libertarian Party (L.P.) nominated Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat as its presidential and vice presidential candidates.... Before the end of June, two state affiliate parties vowed they would not submit Oliver and ter Maat's names to appear on their state ballots.
"One state, Colorado, announced in early July that it would instead nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This week the secretary of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), Caryn Ann Harlos, used her legal authority as national secretary to submit the Oliver/ter Maat ticket to Colorado's secretary of state office anyway. The LNC is the governing body of the national party. Harlos is herself a member of the Colorado L.P. but strongly objected to the Kennedy nomination. The Oliver campaign also this week submitted a necessary slate of electors to the state.... The Colorado L.P. still intends to file to get Kennedy on the ballot as a Libertarian, though it is likely his campaign will submit enough signatures by the deadline today to achieve that without the L.P.'s help. Colorado secretary of state spokesperson Jack Todd told The Denver Post that dueling filings from the same party is something the state has never had to deal with before.
"Montana's Libertarian Party also announced in early June that it would not put Oliver on its state's ballot and encouraged other states to follow suit. The Montana L.P. asked the national party to 'consider suspending and replacing him.' At publication time, Montana's party chair had not responded to an email asking if his party intended to submit a different name or leave Montanans no L.P. presidential ticket to vote for.
"Another state L.P., Idaho, saw its secretary, Matt Loesby, publish an open letter in mid-June calling on the LNC to rescind Oliver's nomination, mostly because of his position on transgender care for minors. Idaho's official state party account retweeted Loesby, though according to an email from Loesby last week, the party has made no formal decision to keep the Oliver ticket off its ballot. (New Hampshire's L.P. also rejects Oliver, but he can get himself on that state's ballot without its cooperation.)....
"Colorado takes issue with Oliver making the personal choice to wear a mask during COVID-19, insufficiently defending his opponent Donald Trump from accusations made against him, and being arguably more consistently libertarian than it is on minors' right to make choices about their medical care in alliance with parents and doctors. Trans issues are the flash point for many of Oliver's most vocal opponents.... Oliver sticks firmly to the libertarian idea that the state should not interfere with the decisions a parent, child, and doctor make about appropriate or desired care. (Oliver is asked about the 'transing kids' stuff far more than he brings it up on his own; when the issue is brought up, he routinely stresses the small number of children and families affected by this issue.)...
"Currently, the LNC is considering forming a joint fundraising committee with Kennedy. Harlos has been upbraided publicly on the LNC's business email list by [LNC Chairman Angela] McArdle for daring to place the L.P.'s nominee on her state's ballot rather than Kennedy. The LNC is currently voting on a motion to ensure it files all necessary nominating paperwork for Oliver with state election officials. So far at least six members of the LNC have voted against this.
"For his part, Oliver has been out on the road conducting an ordinary presidential campaign, including public appearances, media spots, and advertising. His X feed is full of hits on debt, gun control, bodily integrity, and presidential legal immunity. He stresses his youth — he's 38 — compared to his doddering major party opponents.... Dustin Nanna, chair of the LNC's ballot access committee, said in a phone interview in late June that they are locked in 36 states and have ongoing ballot access efforts, some funded by the party and some all-volunteer, in the others....
"This much opposition within the L.P. to its nominee is 'highly unusual,' said Oliver's campaign manager Steve Dasbach, himself a former LNC chair, in a phone interview in late June..... Dasbach thinks moves against Oliver's access are "not in the best interests of the Party as a whole, and not in the best interest of registered Libertarians in those states.' To Dasbach, Oliver's position on trans issues is 'straight out of the party platform' with its support for medical freedom for individuals and for parental rights against state interference. Dasbach also has found some Libertarians erroneously believe Oliver supported mask or vaccine mandates merely because he personally chose to wear a mask or socially distance in some circumstances. 'We are working with the LNC and we are confident we'll ultimately be able to work these issues out and Chase will appear on the ballot in all states where the L.P. is qualified,' Dasbach says."
Historica Canada, a primarily government-funded* charity, has taken down its Heritage Minute on Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, from its YouTube channel due to its failure to address "controversies regarding Macdonald's treatment of indigenous peoples."
July 8, 2024 - "A Conservative MP is taking aim at Historica Canada for deleting a Heritage Minute highlighting Sir John A Macdonald’s role in Confederation amid what it called 'controversies regarding Macdonald’s treatment of Indigenous peoples'.... Historica Canada, the charity that produces the long-running Heritage Minute series, quietly removed the episode in question, which was produced in 2015 in the leadup to Canada’s sesquicentennial, from its YouTube page.
Sir John A. Macdonald statue vandalized in Montreal,
"The Heritage Minute in question, which remains available on Facebook, encapsulates Macdonald’s vision of a nation stretching “from sea to sea,” a dream realized through the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway.
"In the video, the actor portraying Macdonald expresses his enthusiasm for Confederation: 'To the east, the Atlantic provinces, then Upper and Lower Canada, across the Prairies, to the Rockies and beyond. A new country made one by a railway from sea to sea'....
"A spokesperson for Historica Canada ... reiterated the organization’s commitment to 'educate Canadians on the history of this country, including both its achievements and failings.... In the case of Macdonald that means recognizing both his many accomplishments while in office – including his key role in Confederation – while also acknowledging those areas where his legacy is more complicated,' [the] spokesperson told True North. 'The Minute is on hiatus from distribution – not permanently withdrawn – while we discuss ways to address that'....
"Historica Canada told True North last week that when the Heritage Minute was produced, 'the more intense discussions and subsequent controversies regarding Macdonald’s treatment of Indigenous peoples had not yet taken place.' 'To present a Minute – particularly given their extensive use in schools – without mentioning these other aspects of his time in office is to provide an incomplete image lacking proper context,' the spokesperson said. 'This view was reflected in some feedback from educators.' [It] said it was putting the minute on 'hiatus while we assess what other accompanying content we can provide in order to offer a more complete treatment.'
"[Conservative heritage critic Rachael] Thomas linked the decision to a broader 'woke culture' she says a Conservative government would reject. 'Instead of Trudeau’s woke culture that is attempting to tear down our country, common sense Conservatives will restore the Canada we know and love and celebrate the proud country we call home,' she said.
"Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre similarly chided the Trudeau government for being governed by a 'weird, woke ideology' in his speech to supporters at the Calgary Stampede on the weekend. It 'destroys our education, dishonours our history, and divides our people,' Poilievre said."
* "Historica Canada received $2.3m in donations in F2022 and $3.5m in government funding. Government funding represents 60% of total revenue." Charity Intelligencer, "Historica Canada," June 15, 2023. Web, July 10, 2024.https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/796-historica-canada
A leaked memo from Canada's Department of Natural Resources says its 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program – set up to honor a 2019 Trudeau campaign promise to plant 2 billion new trees by 2031 – was given that name just to inspire commitment and participation, and is actually expected to have less than 400 million trees planted by then. In related news, the cost of the 2BT program has doubled.
Trudeau (2nd from right) and other politicians plant trees at G7 Summit in Japan, 2016. Pete Souza, Wikimedia Commons.
24 June 24, 2024 - "The Department of Natural Resources in an internal memo acknowledged the Trudeau Liberals' 2019 pledge to plant two billion trees within a decade was fake. 'Two billion trees' was picked as an inspirational slogan and should not be taken literally, said the February 15 briefing note, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. Federal officials 'sought a name that would inspire that commitment and participation. So far that has worked,' read the memo.
"The department said the 'two billion trees' program is currently running off-target and behind schedule. It now estimates only a fifth as many trees will be planted by 2031.... 'To date the Government of Canada has signed or is in the process of negotiating agreements that will result in 393 million trees planted by 2031.... The Government of Canada remains committed to planting two billion trees but tree planning at this scale takes time' The department did not set a deadline for achieving the promised two billion trees.
"While the Trudeau Liberals initially budgeted costs at $3.16 billion over ten years, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) in a 2021 report said actual expenses would nearly double to $5.94 billion.
"The Liberal Party in its 2019 election platform made the promise to plant two billion trees within a decade. 'We will plant two billion trees to clean our air and protect our communities,' the Liberals wrote in their campaign documents. 'This will help create 3,500 seasonal jobs in tree planting each year.'
"Department managers in May 21 testimony at the Senate National Finance Committee were vague on achievements to date. 'We had initial projections and we continue to calibrate those,' testified Glenn Hargrove, assistant deputy natural resources minister. 'Could you sort of anticipate any completion date?' asked Sen. Larry Smith. 'I can’t give an exact date on when the two billion trees will be planted exactly,' replied Hargrove.
July 2, 2024 - "The reasons for the Trudeau government’s poor political standing are many.... But a key reason is that the prime minister and his team promise big but underdeliver. A towering symbol of this is their promise to plant two billion trees by 2031 to reduce GHGs. The program is off to a bad start.
"Last year in an audit, Canada’s environment commissioner, called out the tree planting program for failing to get timely agreements with the provinces, failing to get commitments through to 2031, not giving nurseries the certainty and time they need to start growing 350 million trees a year, and generally poor planning. The program didn’t even have annual tree planting targets....
"The report also noted, and this is infuriating, that in 78 sites where 10,000 or more trees were planted, they planted all the same species of tree, a monoculture. The commissioner noted in the bloodless language of the public service, that monocultures 'do not support biodiversity and other benefits related to environmental and human well-being'.... Enhancing biodiversity is one of the key goals of the entire program. How could they get this so wrong?" Read more: https://thehub.ca/2024/07/02/monte-solberg-why-trudeaus-failure-to-follow-through-on-planting-2-billion-trees-matters/
The Canada Pension Plan has invested more than $7 billion in China, despite Canadian politicians calling out Chinese companies for unfair trade practices and human rights violations,
July 2, 2024 - "The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board disclosed it held $604 million in shares in the Chinese electric vehicle sector, per Blacklock's Reporter. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, meanwhile, blamed Chinese industry for job-killing schemes....
"On June 24, Freeland named the Chinese sector as predatory and announced a 30-day Customs Tariff review of trade practices in the electric auto market. 'Workers and the auto sector currently face unfair competition from China,' said Freeland.
"Stock bought with Canada Pension premiums included $287 million in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. of Fujian Province, the world’s largest electric auto battery manufacturer. Canadians also own $12 million worth of stock in Great Wall Motor Co., maker of Ora-brand electric cars.
"Other Pension Plan holdings include $116 million in automakers BYD Co., $69 million in Li Auto Inc., $26 million in Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.and $19 million Nio Inc. Millions more were put in battery manufacturers and suppliers including $13 million in Tianqi Lithium Corp., $7 million in Eve Energy Co. and $6 million in Ganfeng Lithium Group. Freeland, in announcing the tariff review to autoworkers in Vaughan, ON, made no mention of CPP investments in Chinese industry....
"The CPP board holds a total $7.5 billion worth of shares in Chinese companies of all types. A parliamentary committee in a report last December 13 had urged the board to pull investments from Chinese companies involved in unethical or illegal practices.
“'There is no legislative or regulatory provision that would prevent investments in the People’s Republic of China (PRC),' wrote the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. However the Board could 'compile and maintain an official list of companies deemed unsuitable,' said the report on the exposure of Canadian investment funds to human rights violations in the PRC."
Ontario liquor store workers have gone on strike to convince Ontarians to oppose the Ford government's limited privatization of alcohol sales. But shutting down their monopoly and threatening us with a "dry summer" may have the opposite effect.
July 6, 2024 - "In Ontario, LCBO {Liquor Control Board of Ontario] workers are on strike for the first time in the corporation's 97-year history, protesting against the government's plan to open up the alcohol market to private interests. The strike is seen as a fight to protect public services and jobs, with the LCBO generating $2.5 billion in profits annually, which are used to fund healthcare, education, and public services. Critics argue that the government's plan to privatize alcohol sales will lead to a loss of revenue for the province and negatively impact public services."
July 5, 2024 - “'Tonight, Ford’s dry summer begins,' Colleen MacLeod, chair of the union’s bargaining team, said on Thursday ahead of the strike. MacLeod said that if Ontario residents can’t get the alcohol they want this summer, it will be because of Premier Doug Ford. Actually, because of several moves Ford made over the last several years, residents of the province will still mostly be able to get the drinks they want despite the strike.
"Since the depths of the pandemic, any restaurant or bar that sells alcohol has been able to sell alcohol to go. That means every restaurant or bar in the province can act as a de facto liquor store. While in most instances these outlets charge more, there will likely be some enterprising operators who take advantage of the strike to sell booze at a reasonable price.... There are also craft distillers, craft brewers and wineries across the province that can sell their products from their own production facilities. The province will even be promoting locations where residents will be able to find alcohol to purchase from The Beer Store to local Wine Rack locations, local producers to pop-up bottle shops.... Oh, and starting in less than a month, the expansion of sales in grocery and convenience stores will begin.
"Does the union realize that they aren’t fighting a losing battle but a battle the province has already won? Do they not realize that their actions are proving why having a unionized government monopoly of alcohol sales is a bad idea?
"The union relied heavily on the idea that alcohol sales at the LCBO fund health care and education and without the sales coming through LCBO stores, the funding for those services would be lost.... LCBO turns over $2.5 billion to the province each year and that money does help fund services. Yet, if we look at other provinces, we can see that the government can still earn money from alcohol sales without controlling all aspects of the sale, warehousing and wholesaling of the product.
"Quebec has a hybrid model of alcohol sales with beer and wine widely available in private stores while also operating the SAQ, the government-run liquor store chain. Alberta has a fully private model for retail and has for more than 30 years. Both Quebec and Alberta earn significantly more per capita from alcohol via taxes and fees than Ontario does via the LCBO. And often, the prices in those provinces are lower than they are in Ontario.
"If having a government monopoly on booze doesn’t bring consumers lower prices and it doesn’t bring the government more revenue, then what is the point of having one?"
Canada's Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that staffing the bureaucracy needed to enforce the Trudeau government's Online Harms Act will cost $200 Million over 5 years, a number that can be expected to increase.
July 4, 2024 - "An 'opportunity cost.' That’s how Calgary Nose Hill MP Michelle Rempel Garner is describing the Trudeau government’s “Online Harms Act” — otherwise known as Bill C-63 — to regulate social media platforms. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) it will cost upwards of $200 million to impose what Rempel Garner is calling a 'censorship bureaucracy' to hire 330 people to enforce “yet-to-be defined” regulations regarding the use and management of social media platforms.
"The bill would establish three separate entities:
the Digital Safety Commission, which is mandated to enforce the act and has the power to issue monetary penalties and fines;
the Digital Safety Ombudsperson;
and the Digital Safety Office, which would manage the day-to-day operations of all three.
"Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre on Thursday vowed to kill all three on arrival.
"The bill was ostensibly passed to prevent online harassment, persecution and stalking of vulnerable people in society. But Rempel Garner worries it’s morphed into a law focussed on 'banning opinions that contradict Justin Trudeau’s radical ideology'.... Canadian author Margaret Atwood called the bill 'Orwellian.' Noted American progressive news outlet The Atlantic called it 'Canada’s Extremist Attack on Free Speech.'
In her substack page, Rempel Garner noted 'the mind-blowing cost of the bill could grow.' That’s because C-63 doesn’t directly set out any structure that would allow for the recoupment of administrative expenses.... Worse still, the figures included in the PBO report would be in addition to a still-to-be-costed increase to the workload of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), which, under the scope of bill, would be tasked with policing a flood of extra-judicial 'prosecutions' over individual user social media posts....
“'It's unconscionable that the Liberal government would consider dumping $200M and over 300 new staff into an ill-defined new bureaucracy that does little to materially protect Canadians from online harassment when Canada's existing law enforcement officials are begging for support to deal with the crime waves sweeping across our nation,' Rempel Garner said....
"The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is [also] criticizing the bill. 'Today’s PBO report shows the online harms bill will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions and further balloon an already bloated bureaucracy,' said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director.... For the cost of the online harms bill, the government could instead pay the salary of about 375 new police officers, according to the RCMP’s website. Instead of hiring hundreds of bureaucrats to snoop around social media, the government could hire hundreds of police officers to actually go after criminals,” Terrazzano said."
Three years after Congress authorized $42 billion for Joe Biden's plan to give every American access to high-speed broadband internet, not one American has been connected under the plan.
June 27, 2024 - "One of President Joe Biden's pledges upon entering office in 2021 was to expand Americans' access to high-speed broadband internet.... Contained within the 2021 infrastructure bill, the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program authorized more than $42 billion in grants, to 'connect everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed internet by the end of the decade'.... Brendan Carr, the senior Republican commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wrote in a post on X .. this month [that] 'Years later, it has not connected even 1 person with those funds'....
"BEAD is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the Department of Commerce. NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson told lawmakers in May, 'with BEAD, this is really a 2025, 2026, shovels in the ground project'....
"In an April 2023 letter to Davidson, 11 Republican U.S. senators warned that 'NTIA's bureaucratic red tape and far-left mandates undermine Congress' intent and would discourage participation from broadband providers while increasing the overall cost of building out broadband networks.' Among several examples, the senators noted that NTIA's BEAD proposal 'requires subgrantees to prioritize certain segments of the workforce, such as "individuals with past criminal records" and "justice-impacted […] participants."' The infrastructure law that authorized the program merely required contractors to be 'in compliance with Federal labor and employment laws.'
"The previous year, in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Republican senators warned that the NTIA's proposed BEAD rollout 'creates a complex, nine-step, "iterative" structure and review process that is likely to mire State broadband offices in excessive bureaucracy and delay connecting unserved and underserved Americans as quickly as possible.' In practice, this is exactly what's happening:
"Multiple representatives from the telecommunications industry told MinnPost this week that they had no interest in applying for a piece of Minnesota's $652 million in BEAD grants. Brent Christensen, president and CEO of Minnesota Telecom Alliance, which represents 70 Minnesota telecom companies, said, 'None of them would bid for the federal grants because of the regulations that would come with it — especially the requirement to provide low-cost services to low-income households in exchange for grants that would allow internet providers to build out their networks.'
"MinnPost noted that new state laws also 'requir[e] companies who receive state grants to pay workers a "prevailing wage," a basic hourly rate paid on public works projects to a majority of workers in a particular occupation'.... 'It's becoming clear that it might be too risky to participate in the program,' Melissa Wolf, executive director of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, told the outlet.
"Fortunately, the private sector is expanding access to broadband on its own: This year, the FCC raised the standard for which it considers 'broadband' to 100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds, up from its previous standard of 25Mbps download and three Mbps upload. 'Nearly 88 percent of households already live where at least two competitors offer 25/3 Mbps service, and 85 percent lived where at least one operator offers 100/20 Mbps service and a competitor offers 25/3 Mbps service,' Reason's Ronald Bailey wrote last year, citing an industry group report.... ' According to the OpenVault Broadband Insights report for the first quarter of 2024, 90 percent of all current broadband subscribers have download speeds of at least 100 Mbps already....
"These advances came from the private sector, without the added expense of $42 billion in taxpayer money. Satellite internet provider Starlink, which is part of SpaceX, claims that its users 'typically experience download speeds between 25 and 220 Mbps, with a majority of users experiencing speeds over 100 Mbps.' SpaceX CEO Elon Musk approvingly reposted an X user who claimed that "for $42 billion they could have bought Starlink dishes for 140 million people.'"
June 13, 2024 - "The federal carbon tax will have a negative economic impact on Canada’s real gross domestic product (GDP) of $25 billion, or approximately one per cent, in 2030 according to the government’s own internal data it released on Thursday. Those numbers, which were shared with the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) last month on the condition they remain confidential, were published as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was about to deliver a speech to call on the government to disclose them publicly. The government had previously said it could not release the data because it could contain sensitive information....
"Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) estimates that the real, or inflation-adjusted, GDP in a scenario without a carbon tax in 2030 would be $2,688 billion. With a carbon tax, that number drops to $2,663, which is a difference of $25 billion. That amounts to a 0.92 per cent reduction in real GDP in 2030."
June 13, 2024 - "The Trudeau Liberals after weeks of evasion finally released carbon tax data Thursday morning. The ever-increasing tax has made a $20 billion-a-year dent in the Canadian economy.It results in an additional annual cost of $1,200 per family every year, to continue increasing. By 2030 it will cost Canadians $30.5 billion annually. The Official Opposition is now calling for the resignation of Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
"'We just learned moments ago that this country has been keeping a $20 billion secret, said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) revealed that there was a report the government had been covering up, and had gagged him from releasing, about the actual cost to Canadians. Now, the pressure that is weighing heavily on Liberal MPs, the government has finally relented, and released part of the information. It had to be pulled out like a rotten tooth! And rotten it is, $20 billion per year, in lost GDP as a result of the carbon tax. That works out to $1,200 per family in extra annual costs for Canadians.
"Guilbeault 'must resign over (his) $30 Billion carbon tax coverup,' the Conservatives wrote in a statement Thursday after figures were released. He has 'been caught in a lie.
For years, he has told Canadians that the carbon tax was somehow making them richer, while hiding a secret internal report that proved that Trudeau’s carbon tax will cost Canadians $30.5 billion each year, nearly $2,000 per Canadian family, by 2030. As a direct consequence of Trudeau’s carbon tax, life has become unaffordable. Families will have to pay $700 more for groceries this year, while millions of Canadians are lining up outside of food banks. In Toronto, one in ten people are having to rely on food banks to survive.
Guilbeault and the Liberal Government have been lying to Canadians and hiding this inconvenient truth.... He must resign, and if he won’t then Justin Trudeau must fire him and start telling Canadians the truth.
"Franco Terrazzano, director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told the Western Standard the Trudeau Liberals’ carbon tax is costing Canadians an excessive amount of money and it needs to stop. ''The government’s own data confirms the carbon tax will cost Canada big time,' said Terrazzano.... 'The feds must scrap the carbon tax now.'”
The Libertarian Party of Colorado (LPCO) announced today that the LPCO Board of Directors has voted to give its ballot line to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
July 2, 2024 -"The Libertarian Party of Colorado Board of Directors passed a resolution voting in favor of a groundbreaking partnership with the independent presidential campaign of @RobertKennedyJr. This collaboration aims to disrupt the entrenched two-party system and provide Colorado voters with a viable alternative in the upcoming 2024 presidential election....
"As part of this partnership, the Libertarian Party of Colorado will place the Kennedy/Shanahan ticket on the Colorado state ballot for president and vice president. This move reflects our commitment to offering voters a choice that transcends the traditional partisan divide and promotes individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government.
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shares many of the Libertarian Party's core principles, including a commitment to civil liberties, free markets, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. His campaign's focus on ending corporate welfare, reducing government spending, and protecting the environment aligns with our values and resonates with Colorado voters.
"In addition, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a signatory of LPCO’s Presidential Liberty Pledge, affirming his alignment with many of the positions libertarians strongly hold, and its contents will be released at a later date.
"By joining forces with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign, the Libertarian Party of Colorado aims to build a broad coalition of voters who are tired of the status quo and seek a fresh, principled alternative. We believe that this partnership will help us reach new audiences, expand our support base, and make a significant impact on the 2024 presidential election in Colorado.
"We encourage all Colorado voters to learn more about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign and the Libertarian Party's platform. Together, we can break the stranglehold of the two-party system and create a more free, prosperous, and just society."
.svg.png)
