A TORONTO BLUE JAY PONDERABLE
The Jays have three players (Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio) whose fathers (respectively, Vlad Sr., Dante, and Craig) had long and successful major league baseball careers. Has this ever happened before in major league baseball? (It’s worth noting that Vlad Sr. and Craig are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S QUESTIONABLE SYNTAX
Justin Trudeau has stated he has had no “intersections” with The Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation (named, of course, after his father). He must be the only person in the world who thinks “intersection” is a verb. On the other hand, in this instance his use of a word that isn’t a verb could be a form of cover-up.
Trudeau also loves using the words “transparent” and “transparency” in describing his and his government’s actions. Doesn’t he realize his and his government’s constant evasions and attempted cover-ups may cause people to wonder if he actually knows the meaning of these two words?
THE ENORMOUS VOLKSWAGEN BRIBE
The federal government giving Volkswagen, a vastly profitable multi-national company, $13 billion to build a battery factory in Ontario is a questionable move at best. (It’s rumoured the Ontario government may also kick in some bribe money, so it may get worse.) Industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s statement that the money given to Volkswagen will be recovered in five years is simply not credible; it will more likely take decades to recover this money from income tax on jobs that will undoubtedly be created. It would be much better to use this money for improved health care or debt reduction and let some U.S. state, say Kentucky or Tennessee, spring for the bribe. (It’s not relevant to the current issue but is indicative of Volkswagen’s corporate culture that in 2017 it was fined US $2.8 by the U.S. Justice Department for falsifying emission records.)
KATIE TELFORD’S PARLIAMENTARY TESTIMONY
Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief-of-staff, uttered not a single substantive word during her two-hour appearance before Parliament’s procedure & house affairs committee last week. Her hypocritical and cynical answers were a complete waste of everybody’s time. It causes one to ponder why the Liberals previously wasted so much time and effort filibustering at committee hearings in an all-out effort to prevent her appearance.
TORONTO’S MAYORALTY RACE
The last time I checked there were 47 people running to become mayor of Toronto, which is a marvellous example of monumental municipal madness.
Because there are no runoff provisions, depending on the voter turnout the next mayor could be elected with a single-digit percentage of eligible voter support.
The problem is it’s too easy to register as a candidate. All that’s required is to find 25 endorsers (who can be almost anyone) and to post a $200 registration fee. The rules should be changed to require at least 100 endorsers and a $50,000 registration fee, refundable to any candidate receiving at least 20% of the votes.