PONDERABLES
Why can’t Ontario Premier Doug Ford start a scheduled press conference on time?
Why does the International Olympic Committee have such a double standard when it comes to Russian doping?
Doesn’t Justin Trudeau realize the most important role of government is to make life better for us.
Is NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ever going to be anything other than Justin Trudeau’s lap dog?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
The farcical and intemperate grandstanding during parliament’s “Question Period” this week proved two things: The procedure should be renamed “Political Posturing Period,” and should never be taken seriously.
Divorce lawyers will have a lot of business coming their way when these illegal demonstrations are over.
Those Ottawa anarchists who are using their children as shields are beyond cowardly and deplorable.
John Charest would be a good choice to lead the Conservatives.
The answer to the question I raised in last week’s Musings about how much Justin Trudeau’s reputation has been damaged is “beyond repair.”
THE EMERGENCIES ACT
The wretched Ottawa situation developed not because there were inadequate laws on the books, but because there was woefully inadequate enforcement.
Although it took almost a week for a massive convoy of huge, slow-moving trucks to reach Ottawa (and the reason they were on their way was well-known) the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS), the RCMP, and Ottawa city police did nothing to prevent the vehicles from reaching Parliament Hill. Vehicle access could easily have been blocked and the “protesters” forced to walk the rest of the way. On two consecutive weekends the city of Toronto proved this was an eminently possible and effective tactic.
Trudeau’s imposition of a vaccination mandate on truck drivers, without revealing any scientific evidence it was warranted, was the genesis of the problem. The subsequent inaction of Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly is the main reason the situation got drastically out of hand. And Trudeau’s withering disdain for people who disagree with him about anything at all was another contributing factor. So this mess can be laid at the feet of two incompetents: Justin Trudeau and Peter Sloly.
Justin Trudeau is such a proven master at creating situations which tend to foster unintended consequences it may be years before we know the extent of the damage the passage of the Act wreaked. Trudeau’s actions can usually be characterized as too little too late, but this time he’s managed to do too much too late.
Finally, two ponderables:
When did violating Ottawa municipal by-laws become a national emergency?
Could it be possible that as an admitted admirer of the Communist Chinese dictatorship Justin Trudeau is actually enjoying the almost unfettered power he now has?
PROOF OF BETTMAN’S FOLLY
In a recent Musings I dealt with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s unrelenting stubbornness in refusing to admit he made a monumental blunder by moving the original Winnipeg Jets franchise to Phoenix in 1996. The context of the item was Bettman’s declaration that although he appreciated the Quebec provincial government’s willingness to support an NHL franchise in Quebec City he couldn’t see a way to accommodate their desire. I compared his attitude to the Hans Christian Andersen fable The Emperor’s New Clothes.
The Arizona Coyotes franchise has been a dismal failure, hitting an all-time low last week when it announced it had signed a contract with Arizona State University to play in its arena at Tempe for the next four years. Why is this an all-time low? Well, the arena seats 5,000. It’s impossible to even imagine the NHL granting a franchise to an organization whose arena held a maximum of 5,000 fans. Worse still, there’s no guarantee the Coyotes can even fill the arena for the next four years. Quebec City’s arena has a capacity of 15,176 and would likely sell out every game.
My regular readers know I enjoy referring to Bettman as the “the basketball guy.” It’s worth noting that one of the original owners of the Coyote franchise, Jerry Colangelo, was at the time one of the owners of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Hmmm?