[DrCaleb]

Edmonton mosque vandalized with swastika symbol

[DrCaleb]

Minister Jason Kenney Minister Jason Kenney:

That is why we have proposed Bill S-7, the zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act. I know the short title is provocative and it has elicited debate here. Frankly, that was the point. Mission accomplished.

We wanted to drive home the fact that these practices are unacceptable in our society.

That is why, when I was minister of citizenship and immigration a few years ago, I published the new study guide for citizenship applicants called Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.

Let us be clear: the Citizenship Act has long stipulated three obligations for permanent residents who want to become Canadian citizens. First, they must reside in Canada for a period of four years; second, they must demonstrate knowledge of one of Canada's two official languages; and third, they must demonstrate a knowledge of Canada, for example, its history, institutions and symbols.

Since the 1970s, an exam has been used to assess citizenship applicants' knowledge of Canada.

When I became the minister of citizenship and immigration in 2008, I discovered that the exam to assess this knowledge, as well as its accompanying learning and study guide provided a very superficial overview of Canada. They included virtually no Canadian history and almost no information on our cultural expectations.

That is why I wrote the following in the new guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.

Canada's tolerance and diversity do not include certain “barbaric cultural practices”, such as so-called honour crimes, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, violence against women, and other practices, which we condemn in Canada and which are severely punished under our law.

https://openparliament.ca/debates/2015/ ... -kenney-4/

Premier Jason Kenney Premier Jason Kenney:

“I’ve never supported a proposed ban. To the contrary, I’ve always said that Canada is a country that protects and respects religious freedom and pluralism, and the government has no business regulating what people wear,” he told reporters following a conference held by western Canadian provincial and territorial leaders.

Kenney declines to apologize for role in niqab ban, saying he never supported a proposed ban

[DrCaleb]

^^ The news is playing a clip of Kenney saying that people shouldn't have their faces covered when taking the oath of citizenship, contradicting his assertions that he didn't support it.

I'm trying to find video of that.

[DrCaleb]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Kenney issues cease & desist letter to online news outlet: ‘A fabrication from beginning to end’


Why does 'The Western Standard' ring a bell.

$1:

Fildebrandt, Western Standard retract, apologize for Kenney restaurant story: ‘Should not have been published’

A week after receiving a cease and desist letter from the lawyer for Premier Jason Kenney, Derek Fildebrandt has retracted a story that alleged the premier, ministers and senior staff dined at Bottega 104 in Edmonton when COVID-19 public health orders prohibited indoor dining.

Fildebrandt, the publisher, president and CEO of Western Standard Publishing, also issued an apology for the story.

The Western Standard cited anonymous government sources, and sought comment from the premier’s office shortly before publishing.

“While those sources are known to the Western Standard, we were unable to appropriately corroborate our sources’ claims,” the apology and retraction read. “What’s more, we did not provide the subjects of our story a proper opportunity to respond to serious allegations.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/7960375/fild ... ant-story/



Ahhh, OK. Derek Fildebrandt following in the footsteps of Ezra Levant. That makes more sense.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Alberta social studies curriculum adviser says Kamloops unmarked burial site no evidence of genocide


WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

A key government adviser for Alberta's new elementary social studies curriculum says people are overreacting to the discovery of what are believed to be the unmarked burial sites of children's remains adjacent to a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

"Almost the entire media and social media class in Canada, however, seized on Kamloops as evidence of 'Canada's Holocaust,' as if the children had been deliberately killed or that death was the norm rather than the very sad exception," Chris Champion wrote Thursday in the Dorchester Review, a history publication which he edits.

He says there is a "vast gulf" between the fate of children buried in Kamloops and the magnitude of other atrocities. He wrote that Indigenous people should not be "entitled to some unique aristocratic victim status."

Last year, the Alberta government paid Champion $15,400 for 38 days of work providing advice on the kindergarten to Grade 6 social studies curriculum. He previously worked for Premier Jason Kenney when Kenney was a federal Conservative cabinet minister.

Champion did not respond to a request for comment.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.6070407

[Thanos]

Charges stayed against Alberta parents who faced trial in death of toddler, says Crown

Terrible, terrible decision. This is only going to encourage the kooks and froot-loops out there who are already all frothed-up and engaging in a massive anti-medicine and anti-doctor wave of insanity thanks to Alberta's completely half-assed COVID strategy. Refusing to pursue the case just moves us in this province that much closer to Trumpist "alt-health" & conspiracist batshit territory.

These two disgusting parents belong in prison for what they did to their own child in order to promote their "holistic living" garbage. Even if they don't do any time they still absolutely need a guilty verdict on their permanent record in order to discourage the rest of the snake-oil peddlers from going too far with their fraudulent crap. Once again, why is it in this province that the freedoms of the most toxic and dangerous people to make things even worse than they already are seem to be the only freedoms that matter to our idiotic provincial government?

[DrCaleb]

I don't know how many it will embolden. It's still been a 9 year ordeal for them, and the Crown can still re-instate charges if it wants.

[DrCaleb]

New Edmonton public school to be named after Joey Moss

[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

Charges stayed against Alberta parents who faced trial in death of toddler, says Crown

Terrible, terrible decision. This is only going to encourage the kooks and froot-loops out there who are already all frothed-up and engaging in a massive anti-medicine and anti-doctor wave of insanity thanks to Alberta's completely half-assed COVID strategy. Refusing to pursue the case just moves us in this province that much closer to Trumpist "alt-health" & conspiracist batshit territory.

These two disgusting parents belong in prison for what they did to their own child in order to promote their "holistic living" garbage. Even if they don't do any time they still absolutely need a guilty verdict on their permanent record in order to discourage the rest of the snake-oil peddlers from going too far with their fraudulent crap. Once again, why is it in this province that the freedoms of the most toxic and dangerous people to make things even worse than they already are seem to be the only freedoms that matter to our idiotic provincial government?

I agree a guilty verdict is necessary, but until then, society needs to make sure this snake oil peddler can't profit off his bullshit 'natural medicine' garbage.

Like many here, I'm not a fan of cancel culture, but when this asshole tried to peddle his garbage at a wellness seminar, his participation got sponsorship funding pulled and eventually he was dropped from the event altogether.

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-ne ... lness-expo

It looks like it will be on all of us to stop him from profiting or hurting other people again.

[Thanos]

They'll be back at it soon enough though. After all he got exposed while still on trial and didn't care at all about that. It was only the local media embarrassing the event organizers that got him pulled from the show.

[Thanos]

Well, at least these rip-off artists got exposed BEFORE the AB government dumped a few billion into their scam:

Alberta to Alaska rail project files for creditor protection after lender goes into receivership

$1:

A2A Rail, the corporation pledging to build a $22-billion freight railway connecting Alaska and Alberta, has filed for creditor protection.

The Calgary-based company said the protection will allow it to pursue a court-supervised sale or refinancing of the development stage of the project, after its main lender, Bridging Finance, was placed in receivership in April.

"Earlier this month, the court appointed receiver of Bridging Finance, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, called a $149-million loan made to A2A by Bridging Finance. To protect against the company's assets being liquidated, A2A obtained creditor protection late Friday," the company said in a release Wednesday.

A2A Rail said the refinancing process will not involve company founder Sean McCoshen and instead will be driven by a third-party consultant.

An investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission found numerous financial irregularities surrounding McCoshen's dealings with Bridging. The founder's name has been removed from A2A Rail's website.

According to the commission's investigation, one of McCoshen's companies made $19.5 million in undisclosed payments to the personal chequing account of Bridging's CEO, David Sharpe, during the same period that Bridging loaned more than $100 million to McCoshen's other companies.

Millions of dollars pledged for A2A rail also went to McCoshen's personal bank account and to an apparently unrelated company controlled by him.

Sharpe closed his personal account just days after commission enforcement staff questioned him about his relationship with McCoshen.

The receiver also alleged that Sharpe asked an employee at Bridging to delete emails containing the search term "Sean McCoshen." Sharpe has since been removed from his position by the receiver.

A Globe and Mail investigation has also raised questions about McCoshen's dealings, describing the Winnipeg businessman as having a "vague and unverifiable resume" and as someone who is followed by controversy.

A2A Rail said despite its lender's receivership, the company continues to believe its plan is sound. It continues to work toward full financing.

CBC News has reached out to A2A Rail and McCoshen to request an interview but has yet to receive a response.

In September 2020, then U.S. president Donald Trump issued a permit granting approval for the 2,570-kilometre rail project. If built, it would connect Fort McMurray, through the Northwest Territories and Yukon, to Delta Junction in Alaska, where it would connect with existing rail and continue to ports near Anchorage.

The company had estimated the project could be moving cargo, or even passengers, by 2026.

Trump-endorsed, you say? Probably some Jacob Wohl-type without a penny to his name making huge MAGA-grade promises from the comfort of his parent's basement. Sounds like something the entirely-gullible UCP would have eventually gone along with if someone else in a different province hadn't done the hard work of checking out the actual credentials. Jaysus...

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Some Alberta post-secondary institutions left relatively unscathed while U of A funds slashed, new data shows

A handful of Alberta post-secondary institutions have been forced to absorb massive public funding cuts while others have been mostly spared, new government data show.

While the University of Alberta had its provincial base operating funding slashed by nearly 19 per cent during the past two years, five private religious universities, MacEwan University and Lakeland College absorbed more modest cuts of about two per cent, according to data CBC obtained by a freedom of information request.

"Obviously it's a matter of concern," said Bill Flanagan, University of Alberta president and vice-chancellor.

. . .

The figures confirm that the University of Alberta has been hit the hardest, with 44 per cent of the $257-million total cut coming out of its coffers. It's also anticipating another $53-million cut next year.

. . .

University of Alberta microbiologist and Confederation of Alberta Faculty Association President Kevin Kane says the budget slashes are not only unreasonably rapid, they are antithetical to the government's stated economic development goals.

Instead of building partnerships with other institutions and private industry, the cuts are prompting schools to withdraw from collaborations, damaging relationships, he says.

Says Kane: "You can't help but at least contemplate that there are political reasons for some of the cuts."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.6081029

[Thanos]

BREAKING - Alberta-based discussion forum participants lacking energy to contribute due to life-draining effect of super-duper mega heat-wave hovering over them.

Please, someone, make it stop.

[DrCaleb]

I actually thought of setting the AC in my truck to ARCTIC and sleeping there.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Alberta takes 50 per cent equity stake in Sturgeon Refinery
The Alberta government is buying a 50 per cent stake in the troubled Sturgeon Refinery and extending the current 30-year processing agreement by another decade.

The province will share ownership of the refinery, located 45 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, with Canadian Natural Resources Limited.

The government said in a news release Monday the partnership will save $2 billion over the life of the project. Debt refinancing will free up to $1 billion in cash flow over five years due to better interest rates.

Energy Minister Sonya Savage said the government made this deal to make the best of a bad agreement that had iron-clad provisions that were impossible to escape.

"Under the previous deal, we had all the risk, we took all the risk...and we had no ability to control or mitigate that risk to control costs or to have any say in how the refinery was operated," Savage said in an interview with CBC News.

"With this deal, we save $2 billion and we have a seat at the table."

Under the original agreement reached in 2012, North West Redwater Partnership, which was owned equally by North West Refining Inc. and a subsidiary of Canadian Natural Resources, owned and operated the refinery.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.6090845