PONDERABLES
Wouldn’t you love to know what hold Harjit Sajjan has over Justin Trudeau that prevents the prime minister from removing the lying, incompetent defense minister from cabinet? Can it really be just Sikh votes in Vancouver?
If Donald Trump got lost in the Florida swamps, would the search party consist of anybody other than his family members and the handful of cowardly Republicans in the U.S. Congress who are inexplicably afraid of him?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
The decision by the Victoria city council to cancel Canada Day celebrations because they might be misinterpreted by Indigenous people is beyond stupid.
NACI’s (The National Advisory Committee on Immunization) announcements are so confusing and inconsistent they do more harm than good.
JENICA ATWIN’S “PRINCIPLES”
Shortly after Green Party turncoat, Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin, crossed the floor to join the Liberals, she said on CTV’s Question Period it was because there were members of the Liberal caucus who shared her view on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. According to a statement she made in May, her view was that there were “no two sides to this conflict, only human rights abuses (by Israel).” When asked by host Evan Solomon who those Liberal caucus members were, she refused to answer. Now she’s done a complete turnaround and says she agrees with the Liberal Party’s views on the conflict, which are completely inconsistent with Atwin’s comments in May. We now know what her principles are: she has none.
THAT’S QUITE A GAP, JUSTIN
A week ago yesterday, at the G7 meeting in the UK, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would provide 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to low- and middle-income countries. However, Tonda MacCharles, writing in the Toronto Star said, “It turns out Canada’s pledge is actually to provide 13 million ‘surplus’ doses … comprised of AstraZeneca (which Canada is having difficulty bringing in), Novavax (which Canada hasn’t authorized for distribution here), and Johnson & Johnson (whose supply to Canada has been suspended for control issues).”
GREEN PARTY BLUES
No one should be surprised by the chaos engulfing the federal Green Party and the fury surrounding its leader, Annamie Paul, who is facing three high hurdles. The first is her stubborn insistence on running again in the riding of Toronto Centre, where she was soundly trounced by former finance minister Bill Morneau in the 2019 election, and easily beaten again by Liberal Marcie Ien in the 2020 by-election following Morneau’s forced resignation. As leader of a federal party, and as embarrassing as it may be, she should have followed her predecessor Elizabeth May’s example and carpet-bagged her way to a safe Green seat (assuming there is such a thing these days, even in BC). It may be acceptable for a party leader not to have a seat in Parliament, but it’s unforgivable for her not to try her best to win one; she has no chance of winning Toronto Centre. Her second big hurdle is that the aforementioned Elizabeth May is apparently still pulling all the important strings from behind the scenes. This week Paul survived an opportunity for the party’s federal council to dethrone her, but the odds are still stacked against her ultimate survival because of the third hurdle, which is that chronic paranoia is not an attractive leadership attribute in any field, let alone politics.
Paul is right about one thing, though. Justin Trudeau really is a phony feminist.
A WEIRD TRIPLE PLAY
The Yankees’ triple play in Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays was one of the weirdest in MLB history. The scorecard will show it as 1-3-6-2-5-6. For the casual baseball fan, that means the play was started by the pitcher and the ball was then handled, in turn, by the first baseman, the shortstop, the catcher, the third baseman, and finally, again by the shortstop.
The play, which took just fourteen seconds, began with Blue Jays Marcus Semien on third, Bo Bichette on second, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at bat. Guerrero chopped a slow roller which was fielded by Yankee pitcher Michael King, who tossed the ball to first baseman D.J. LeMahieu, making Guerrero the first out. LeMahieu spotted Semien caught in no-man’s-land between third and home, and threw the ball to shortstop Gleyber Torres. He relayed it to catcher Gary Sanchez who tagged out Semien. Sanchez then tossed the ball to third baseman Gio Urshela who relayed it to Torres, who tagged out Bichette. Yankee second baseman, Roughed Odor was the only Yankee infielder not involved in the play.