‘Referendum in Alberta could result in both good and bad’
uncertain
Referendum → result → good
Re: Albertans choose Canada.
asserted
Albertans → choose → Canada
Perhaps Canada could choose us back — Carson Jerema; Failure was inevitable for Alberta separatists — Colby Cosh; and The awakened separatist dragon will not easily go back to sleep — John Ivison, all Oct. 20
This week’s referendum in Alberta could result in both good and bad.
uncertain
referendum → choose → good
It is good, obviously, because a majority of Albertans voted to remain in Confederation, and it will be good if the fact that the province even contemplated separation convinces the federal Liberal government to pay attention to the issues confronting Western Canada, instead of ignoring the region because it doesn’t elect enough Liberals.
asserted
it → vote → Liberals
(Remember when then rural economic development minister Gudie Hutchings suggested during a 2023 televised interview that if westerners wanted more influence with the federal government, “Perhaps they need to elect more Liberals in the Prairies”?)
uncertain
they → remember → Prairies
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Build Canada Strong” (as if we would ever “Build Canada Weak”) should not depend on how many seats a region contributes to the government benches.
asserted
region → build → benches
On the other hand, Alberta’s referendum could encourage the separatist Parti Québécois government in Quebec to continue that province’s extortion of the Rest of Canada.
uncertain
referendum → encourage → Canada
Just as Mark Carney must pay more attention to the West, he must resist the Liberal Party of Canada’s constant urge to pander to Quebec for votes.
asserted
he → pay → votes
For instance, how does a high-speed rail line to Quebec City deserve to be a national priority?
asserted
line → deserve → City
The answer is, it doesn’t.
asserted
it → do → ?
It is simply the Liberals’ most recent concession to Quebec while the Rest of Canada gives.
asserted
Rest → give → Canada
Sit down, Ambassador Hoekstra
It’s richly absurd that U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has warned Canadian politicians “to keep your nose out of American politics,” when the American administration has put its entire face into Canadian politics, from calling Canada the 51st state and the prime minister its governor, to changing the name of one of the Great Lakes, to saying Canadians are nasty, to instigating a tariff war on their closest ally, to getting upset when Canada responds to their tariff war, which they actually started, and so on.
asserted
they → sit → which
The late Sir Peter Ustinov once said, “A diplomat these days is nothing but a head waiter who is allowed to sit down occasionally.”
asserted
who → say → waiter
It would be nice if the U.S. ambassador to Canada sat down and kept his mouth shut.
asserted
ambassador → sit → mouth
Douglas Cornish, Ottawa
Chrystia Freeland’s ‘kiss and tell’
So we have yet another “kiss and tell” exposé from another of our former “feminist ” PM’s cabinet ministers.
asserted
we → kiss → ministers
Unlike former ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, who had the moral courage to walk away from the cesspool of woke virtue signalling and grammatical pettiness, Chrystia Freeland’s desire for power (or blind loyalty to her boss) would not allow her the same until she was forced out of her job as minister of finance.
asserted
she → have → finance
It must have been some consolation that former Liberal PM Jean Chrétien praised her as “a very good finance minister.”
asserted
Chrétien → praise → minister
Might that have been one too many Chardonnays for Chrétien or was it that the criteria for such stellar performance are outlandish spending and taxing already over-burdened Canadians?
uncertain
criteria → tax → Canadians
If we dared to compare Freeland’s record to that of the late Jim Flaherty, finance minister in the Harper government from 2006-2014, we would be reminded that under his astute fiscal management, Canada emerged from the 2008 world financial debacle faster and with more stability than most other G7 countries.
asserted
Canada → dare → countries
The sordid details (and accompanying cringeworthy photo) of Freeland’s last days in the Trudeau-sphere are hardly worthy of front-page news in one of Canada’s esteemed newspapers.
asserted
details → accompany → newspapers
Susan Silverman, Toronto
Don’t blame senior homeowners for housing crisis
Re: Olivia Chow’s misguided plan to encourage seniors to stay put in the middle of a housing crisis — Scott Stinson, Oct. 15; and Brad Bradford has all the momentum in the Toronto mayoral election — Michael Taube, Oct. 14
I am not a resident of Toronto and I thank goodness it will definitely not be included in my retirement plans.
asserted
it → blame → plans
Regardless, while there is appeal to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s focus on making it easier for seniors to live in their homes for as long as possible, the alternate proposal being suggested by columnist Scott Stinson is downright discouraging from a humanitarian perspective.
uncertain
proposal → be → perspective
There is no justification for viewing seniors as an impediment to younger citizens achieving home ownership.
asserted
citizens → be → ownership
Many current senior homeowners live in houses they purchased decades ago to raise their families, having worked and invested to make those purchases possible.
asserted
purchases → live → families
This was achieved at a time when a home could be afforded and birth rates required sufficient space for larger families.
uncertain
rates → achieve → families
With the passage of time and rising demand — created by central planners bringing unjustifiable numbers of immigrants into the country, who clustered in large cities like Toronto — housing values increased exponentially without any causation from senior homeowners.
asserted
values → rise → homeowners
Now faced with the results of their own demographic mismanagement, the creators of the problem have focused on eliminating the rights of senior homeowners as their solution.
asserted
creators → face → solution
As it seems to be the standard Marxist solution to take from the rich to give to the poor, seniors are now the prey of activists who see opportunities to promote their own political objectives.
asserted
who → seem → objectives
Whether to subsidize or penalize seniors is irrelevant to the fact that seniors should not become the lightening rod of political exploitation.
asserted
seniors → subsidize → exploitation
It is true that taxes on seniors with fixed incomes are high and constantly rising, but that should not lead to an acceptance that yet another tax cut-out would solve their problems.
asserted
out → fix → problems
And moving seniors into 600-square-foot condos is not going to enhance anyone’s quality of life.
asserted
moving → move → life
Seniors and everyone else should have the opportunity to live wherever they want without legislative extortion.
asserted
they → have → extortion
While social engineering has become an obsession of our political classes, it is time for them to focus on the objectives of running our cities, and Toronto in particular, in a way that makes them liveable for everyone.
asserted
them → become → everyone
Raymond Foote, Ottawa
You’re out of order!
asserted
You → ’re → order
“You’re out of order!
asserted
You → ’re → order
But that was my reaction after reading Jamie Sarkonak’s column about a part-Mi’kmaq man in Nova Scotia who savagely beat his Mi’kmaq girlfriend by smashing her face into a sidewalk and brutally kicking her in the head and ribs.
asserted
who → read → head
Then, thanks to the intervention of an Indigenous sentencing circle, his five-year sentence was reduced to time served — three years — and house arrest.
asserted
sentence → reduce → time
The rational of the sentencing circle was that additional incarceration wouldn’t help the man become a better person.
asserted
man → help → circle
The question of the day is: Who speaks for the man’s savagely beaten victim?
asserted
Who → speak → victim
We learn that he was subsequently charged (in other cases) with attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and with stabbing two individuals.
asserted
he → learn → individuals
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
