PONDERABLES
Why do Evan Solomon and Joyce Napier feel compelled to make a speech before asking a question on CTV’s Power Play?
Isn’t not telling the whole truth the same as lying?
Is there really such a thing as a completely random sample?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
With friends like Joe Biden, Canada doesn’t need many enemies.
Blue Jays games will be a lot quieter now that pitcher Robbie Ray is in Seattle.
Tom Wilson is the dirtiest player in the NHL, but Brad Marchand is the most despicable.
The quality of refereeing in the NHL is at an all-time low.
Because it’s very hard to pick a side between greedy billionaire owners on one side and whining multi-millionaire players on the other, the most lasting effect of the current Major League Baseball lockout will be a loss of fans.
A WOEFULLY INADEQUATE APOLOGY
On Monday, Defense Minister Anita Anand, Deputy Defense Minister Jody Thomas, and Chief of Defense Staff General Wayne Ayre spent about forty minutes apologizing for years of unpunished sexual misconduct in the military. But this apology fell woefully short. Harjit Sajjan and Justin Trudeau, the two people who have the most to apologize for, were nowhere in sight. During Sajjan’s six years as minister of defense, when it came to sexual misconduct by senior military personnel, cover-ups and denials were the norm. (It’s been rumoured that on one occasion he told a senior colleague that he “didn’t want to hear about it” and actually fled from his own office). And Trudeau (who holds the record for most apologies by a world leader — but almost always on behalf of others), owes the whole country an apology for keeping the incompetent Sajjan in his defense post for those six years.
WHICH IS IT?
Justin Trudeau not only holds the world record for apologies, but also for virtue signalling. During the 2019 election campaign, and again in the 2020 throne speech, he pledged that his government would plant 2 billion trees by the year 2030. That works out to about 18 million a year, so at least 36 million should be in the ground by now. But the government has admitted that only 8.5 million have been planted. Of course this could be because of delays due to COVID-19. On the other hand, it could be just more Trudeau disingenuousness.
IT MAY NOT EVEN BE UP TO HIM
Even though Trudeau told CTV’s Evan Solomon during their year-end gabfest that he intends to run again, it may not be up to him. Cabinet members Chrystia Freeland, Francois-Philippe Champagne and Marc Miller all have their eyes on his job. There are also rumours that there’s considerable support building in vote-rich Toronto for Defense Minister Anita Anand to seek it. And former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s name keeps cropping up. Considering that the Liberals received less than one-third of the popular vote in the recent election, it’s not surprising that many party members (including a number of MPs — particularly backbenchers) are no longer enamoured with their disdainfully autocratic leader.
ABJECT COWARDICE
A popular Grade III teacher in Chelsea Quebec, Fatemeh Anvari, has lost her teaching job because she wears a hijab. That party leaders Justin Trudeau, Erin O’Toole, and Jagmeet Singh have not unequivocally condemned Quebec’s odious Bill C21 is abject cowardice. In the case of Singh, who proudly wears a turban, hypocrisy can be added. Speaking out against racism should trump pandering for Quebec votes..