Tag Archives: Justin Trudeau

Teck Mining and their Northern Alberta Pullout.

Much to my relief I heard that The CEO of Teck Mining had come to his senses and decided not to invest any more money in a huge proposed mine in Northern Alberta.

Never mind the environmental impact of such a mine two questions I have to ask of Jason Kenney if he would listen, but he will not as he is too angry with the Federal Government to be coherent.

  1. How long would it take for this mine to make a profit when the current price for bitumen is less than $20 per barrel and that does not take into consideration the cost of shipping to the USA.

“Condensate, a type of light oil often used to dilute bitumen, was selling for about US$63 per barrel in Edmonton on Thursday, which means the bitumen part of a WCS barrel composed of 30 to 40 per cent diluent was actually fetching between negative 11 cents US and negative 28 cents US per barrel”  .Jason Franson/The Canadian Press2

2 How will Teck get that DILBIT to market if the current and future pipelines will be plugged with the existing production? 

The upshot to me is that bitumen is already overpriced because of the cost of transportation and refining into a product that could loosely be called oil, and thus any company investing in such production really must be desparate to find tax write-offs or for federal and provincial handouts in order to profit.

In today’s climate of concern about the environment one has to wonder what goes on in the mind of anyone seriously considering such a venture and more importantly the mind of a political leader who banks on that craziness for his own success. Kenney has clearly shown that the laws do not apply to him as open blackmail of BC is in his pocket ready to be used, and it is everyone else’s fault that Alberta finds itself in the current financial predicament. It was not the NDP as much as the conservative governments since Peter Lougheed that have failed the people of Alberta, and blustering as Kenney does will not solve the problem.  Look at the people of Alberta; a resilient bunch of people who have been conned into thinking that oil and bitumen is all they have. 

 Really?

Not the Alberta I lived and worked in in the 70s And 80s.

Scheer’s statements in the House of Commons on the radical activists shutting down investment in Canada is of course typical Conservative smoke screen to hide the fact that Harper hamstrung Alberta and probably Saskatchewan as well with his “all eggs in one basket” approach to the economy for Canada. The fall in real oil prices did not help bitumen either and now there is so much interchange in our media calling bitumen oil (such a fictitious an untrue thing to do)

 

Jeremy

The state of justice in the USA

And a little now in Canada

Well, Friday 31st January 2020 confirmed what most of us think about the state of justice in the USA.

If you are black person specially or for that matter any person of colour (other than orange that is) and you are lucky enough not to be shot by the police simply because you are black and they feel it their duty to gun you down, you cannot expect a fair trial.  Your colour will always be a prejudice against you and you will most likely go to jail whether or not you are guilty of even a simple perceived traffic violation.

If on the other hand you are what Bill Maher described as an angry orangutan you will not even receive a proper trial; because in your case there will be no witnesses called at your trial and your obedient republican members of the senate – minus one –  (in spite of their oaths, which clearly meant nothing, to conduct a fair trial) will render a partisan verdict of not guilty.  The interest and support of the US constitution has been abandoned in favour of a man of prejudice, bigotry and white supremist beliefs who delighted in ordering and boasted about the killing of a man on a peace mission bringing us to the very brink of WW3. Peace in the middle east is not in the interest of either the USA (money) or Israel (lust for power and land), and so any real peace maker had to be gunned down.

Justice demands a fair trial because no man/woman should be above the law, and a fair trial must include witnesses from both sides. Since this was refused then one has to assume that this president of the USA is above the law (so much for their vaunted constitution), or that a fair trial could not and would not be held in this case to prevent impeachment of someone whose desire for personal success is paramount and everyone else is just a utensil.

The not guilty verdict unleashed a barrage of ugly tweets from a somewhat deranged person, followed last week with the presidential pardon of some serious criminals just like him.  I think it is a fairly safe bet that Roger Stone will only serve a few days in jail if at all.

The home of “the brave and free” is now blessed by a devilish reality show host, not some form of mythical god and unless the good people of the USA do something about it they will suffer for many years of agony.

Albert Einstein:

“The world is a dangerous place not because of evil people, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

Now regretfully there is an unhealthy discussion here in Canada too, what else can you expect from Canada’s version of the republican party, concerning “whiteman’s law” and the original peoples’ law long preceding the Magna Carta.  Some how we are arrogant enough to think our modern version is better.

What will it take to get us all to accept that we are all human beings regardless of our skin colour, religious beliefs, orientation, or desire to just live in peace; just let our national pride out when we play games against each other.  Would that be too much to ask?

Jeremy

Alberta and Saskatchewan unhappy again

“Wexit”  !

 

Alberta and Saskatchewan are talking about leaving confederation because they do not agree with social governments, preferring instead austerity for the people and handouts for the corporations which are destroying our earth. Ok, that is their choice as it was the choice of Canadians outside those two provinces to reject that notion.  They seem to feel a sense of alienation when could it be that what they are mad about is that Canadians as a whole don’t think like them; that is to say Alberta and Saskatchewan are the breadbaskets and lubrication provinces that hold the country together financially and should be bowed down to and given everything they desire. Really? Would that have happened under a Scheer government? Yeah, right!  His American side would be clearly in lockstep with Trumpian non-values.

What on the face of it seems like a spoiled brat or two crying and stamping their feet in order to get mommy’s attention actually shows how little Alberta and Saskatchewan have really thought this through.  Alberta is mad because that province has squandered what it had that was created by Peter Lougheed many years ago which was a model for Norway’s fantastic financial situation; and now after years of terrible conservative manipulation in that province, they are in essence broke and landlocked. Instead of reaping the rewards of careful husbandry of their main resource they are now “sans” the Heritage Fund advantage and stuck with a one market product they call oil, which is in fact bitumen.  As long as they call it oil their heads are stuck in the sand from which the bitumen is taken.  One market you ask? Well yes according to the FTA and then NAFTA we can increase our percentage of production of any petroleum export to the USA to 100% but we cannot reduce it at all. Article 605 of NAFTA.

We hear from media and politicians that there are new markets waiting for the bitumen but never are they described.  Notley, Kenney, Freeland, Trudeau, Carr to mention just a few have not been able to give me the name of even one refinery in any new destination country that is wanting this Alberta goop.  So naturally, the question arises: why the TMX expansion if not just another way to ship to the USA?  Meanwhile, Jay Inslee, the Governor of Washington State, is as concerned about the possibility of an accident in Georgie or Juan da Fuca straights and the resulting toxic gases release into the local winds as are we on southern Vancouver Island.

Incidentally in this as yet un-ratified USMCA investment deal there is a segment ( Article 32.10) on other investment (trade deals) entered into by one country without including the other two will make USMCA null and void.   How does the US talking a new trade deal with China fit with this? Yet our weak-kneed corporate government will ratify it anyway.

Is the assumption that BC will automatically leave Canada with an arch-enemy? After all, we are under legislated threat of having Alberta cut us off from oil and gas supply.  They want to destroy our interior with clumps of bitumen and toxic gases when the TMX  pipe ruptures and of course the Stampeders always beat up on the Lions, so are we really expected to roll over and join them in their foolishness.   BC, on the other hand, could leave Canada and be completely self-sustaining.  Actually, though, the problem is more complex when you consider the First Nations treaties with Canada, and BC having signed on to the UNDRIP makes it even more complicated.  For some reason, Alberta and Canada have not so signed, presumably because such a signature would hamper the ability to trample on First Nations’ rights.

But what would leaving Canada actually achieve? Both provinces would still be landlocked, and while they could still export grain, wheat, beef, pork etc., it would be through foreign ports, probably charging more with maybe even import/export duties charged, and what would happen to the people of those two provinces about the OAS and CPP, not to mention healthcare? The rest of Canada being the generous people they are would graciously honour the current recipients, but for the rest of you?  The youth of both provinces would not be happy about that now would they?

So back to the discontent within Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Granny used to say “put all your eggs in one basket and if you fall you most likely will not have any eggs”. Well you two, it seems you have fallen and now have not one representative in the federal government between you.  IF this country was a democracy that would not really matter much as your representatives (MPs) would have a voice, but much to the chagrin of many, many Canadians we are not a democracy and there is virtually no representation on behalf of the people in our House of Commons anyway.

The Alberta in which I lived and worked for many years was a relatively happy, friendly and welcoming place. Now after years of conservative rule both provincially and federally the whole picture has changed to where redneck, bigoted, anti-immigration, and yellow-vested supremacists are well represented by the likes of Kenney whose intended austerity measures (anticipated by me anyway) were held back in a budget not delivered until after the federal election. Anyone really surprised by that?

What Canada sorely lacks is love and compassion for each other no matter who or what.  Yes, there are some who have an abundance of both but ……

 

Jeremy

Canadian Election of October 2019

The day before Voting Day

What a boring, nasty election full of innuendos, accusations and falsehoods, and very little in the way of substantive ideas.  This was not about MPs so much as about the leader of the country. CBC, instead of promoting democracy, furthered the concept of a leader being elected in all 338 ridings. Only in Canada eh? pity.

The spectre of a coalition government has not appeared in Canadian political history until now and has been blown out of all proportion.

Yes the Liberals, NDP and Bloq foolishly announced that they would vote together to defeat Harper’s minority government in a non-confidence vote and form an alliance, not a coalition, to run government which resulted in Harper proroguing government to avoid that situation. An alliance is not a coalition. Remember what he said in the house, prior to proroguing, about what any alliance with a separatist party would do for constitutionality? Typically, he raised the idea again that a party interested almost entirely in what was/is good for Quebec had to be separatist, and that is typical of all western blockheads’ thinking.

Now we have his minion Andrew Sheer (another western blockhead) raising the spectre of a Liberal- NDP coalition because the NDP have flatly ruled out any chance of working with a conservative minority and even though the Liberals have not agreed to the Scheer proposed coalition accusation.  The NDP raised the possibility of a coalition with the Liberals and of course, Scheer jumped all over that as fact in another form of smear tactic against Trudeau.   Typical.

What we have here are two young males still in political short pants (so to speak), one of whom has made some serious mistakes in the last 4 years, and the other who was perhaps the worst Speaker in our History.   One tries to tell us what he has done well, and how he wants to do more, and the other ignores the climate and our aboriginal people, but pours scorn and hate on his rival.  Between them there is obviously no love and perhaps no respect.  One warns of the other and the usual conservative tactics of less tax for the wealthy corporations and more for the people along with service cuts, while the other slams, curses and personally attacks the other.   Children! Grow up damn it!

I listened to one speech, how typical I don’t know as I try to avoid most of them lately, in which Scheer raised the spectacle of Diefenbaker and Mulroney as two shining examples of Conservative PMs.  Wow.   Yes, the Deief gave us the Bill of Rights, but he also cancelled the Avro Arrow once the impossible was accomplished and how much money did we spend on that wonderful plane?   Not sure what the symbolism was meant to be here, maybe that our success is not acceptable south of the border and their discontent must be appeased; so, is that a clue about Scheer?  With Mulroney everything is much clearer.  He gave what was left of our sovereignty to the USA through FTA and blew the national debt up from approx. $93 billion to approx. $440 billion before he gave over power to Campbell.  Another shining example of a true Canadian?   Harper raised it again to just nudging under $1 trillion from approx. $515 billion to give himself a balanced operating budget. Hah!  So, the references Scheer was suggesting in relation to himself was?  

Does it appear that I have no time for Scheer? Well, that is correct. His action as Speaker over the Brad Butt affair still rankles with me and act as a guide to the man he really is as opposed to what he projects.

Does that mean that I support Trudeau? Only if that was the only alternative. His election promise being broken may well have come back to haunt him, and his actions re the first peoples are still seriously lacking.

Neither of these men has any clue what democracy might have been and will not practice it given the chance with a majority. So, the best outcome and the one that seems most likely now is a minority government with the balance of power split between three parties – if the Greens reach party status and I hope they do – and that could actually lead to better governance; that is if the lust for power can lower its ugly head for a while and if our elected representatives can actually work for both Canada and us for a change.

Oh, to be free of the corporate chains Canada.

 

Jeremy

Silly Season 2019

What a crazy world we now inhabit, but for how long.

Summer gets hotter, winds get stronger, water falls, pulses, gushes and destroys, and fires rage and burn homes but not trees.  We are being given a message and the leaders are ignoring it.   The children and young adults are not and we still do nothing. The constant need for power combined with political and corporate greed control us and will until its too late as long as we continue to buy useless “stuff” pushed on us by non-stop advertising. Do you really need a 50 cycle washing machine? A cell phone which is going to make you sick and maybe even give you cancer? A car which thinks for you and is controlled by your cell phone? A veggie or vegan burger called plant-based or beyond meat? A drug which has side effects worse than the supposed condition and can include death?  On the other hand, you do need to know which communication companies are in a rush to alter your electrical makeup with 5G, but will you pay attention to the side effects which you cannot avoid whether you have a cell phone or not?

Here in Canada, we are into an election cycle or totally stupid season.  Promises are made that have no real chance of success and costings are well hidden making them more attractive simply to get your gullible votes.

Take taxes for instance:  Promises are made that the very wealthy will be taxed more which is overdue and fair, but only if overseas dummy corporation tax havens are outlawed. I have, and even promoted, the concept that all businesses operating in Canada must use a Canadian incorporated and based bank and pay taxes on any profits prior to any money being sent overseas.   Of course, if investments must be made overseas, and why not, then there must be employees operating that business not simply a dummy account somewhere numbered or not.   Then there are so-called tax credits. What a joke that is.   Tax credits are listed under the section which includes personal allowances etc. and are discounted down to 17%.    That is, of course, a sleight of hand by anyone’s measure and if one doesn’t have an income sufficient to have that credit take effect then of what use is the credit anyway, discounted or not?

Taxes, of course, are a huge part of the economy of any country, especially here in Canada, and are used to pay for services which we have been promised.  Naturally, we do not have enough income from taxes to pay for everything so costs are passed off to the provincial and municipal governments, which have even more financial responsibilities.   Classic “pass the buck” down the line instead of up the line.

Another factor to take into consideration here in Canada is the interest on the national debt which must be paid out of taxes and is, in fact, the largest single yearly cost to our federal government.

How many of our current crop of deceitful political parties even understand the economic reasons for using the Bank of Canada instead of international banks and investors?  The answer is all the small parties except the Libertarians, and yes that includes the Communists, Rhinoceros and the Marxist Leninists, which makes them more Canadian people-orientated that the big 4 (5 if you include the Bloq).  Of course, the big 4(5) are corporately funded and lobbied to the extent that their hands are tied, or so they claim.    However, since income to the federal government is so important, they conveniently forget that the Bank of Canada, designed and created to fulfil Canada’s financial needs, charges a minimum interest to cover their operating costs and any money left over is returned to the Minister of Finance to help with government expenses.  You would think that it is a no brainer and indeed it is.  Excuses given by Ministers is that the Basil 1,11 and 111 agreements do not allow us to do this.  But those Basil agreements are between privately owned central banks, to which our publicly-owned bank should not have been signed on without a referendum or plebiscite from the people of Canada.  Did we agree? Were we even asked?  The answers to those questions are no we were not.   It wasn’t even a government agreement.  So why is our publicly-owned bank or government bound by it?

The inhabitants of this land for thousands of years are treated like vermin by the descendants of immigrants in much the same way those early immigrants treated them.  Maybe there is some movement to treat them as humans but it is very slow, grudging and inefficient.  Plots of land to which they have been herded give them little or no access to hunting, clean water or even air.  Mines, drilling and other extraction on their unceded lands are carried out with the full permission of governments which do not have the right to allow it, and most often there is no benefit to the rightful owners of that land, and I do not mean the crown.   Actually, our aboriginal people think of it as land that was given to them by their creator to look after, and we are stopping them for doing so.

Which political  parties today are talking about the Mount Polley damn disaster, or the unholy mess in northern Alberta where Bitumen is being mined, or the erection of Cite C damn in Northern BC, not to mention the Unis’tot’en peoples’ burial grounds and trapping lines being assaulted for corporate profit for which they have been offered no share, and to which they do not agree?  One major party has absolutely no interest in anything to do with First Nation, Inuit or Metis rights and another promises top priority and neither they or the third party have any intention of crossing their extraction buddies and their offshoot corporations.

Where exactly do personal attacks tell the people of Canada anything except that it is OK to be prejudiced against an opponent because that opponent stands in the way of their power? Is that what we want our children to be taught?

The fact is that Canada is rife with hatred, prejudice and discrimination of all sorts. Is this being addressed even obliquely?  Hardly.  In fact, it is being promoted by some parties, the members of which seem to have forgotten that their ancestors, or even immediate parents were/are immigrants seeking a better life here in Canada.  I know that is why I came here, to raise a family of Canadians in a beautiful, welcoming country full of possibilities for those who are willing to work for it.   Boy, am I disillusioned now!

The young people today are interested in having futures for themselves and their children on this planet now being destroyed at a greater rate for a few dollars and are any of the parties really listening to them? or are they making empty promises they have no intention of keeping simply to get their votes?  

Once upon a time Canada meant something in the world, now we are just a pawn to corporate power game. We do not lead by example any more. We do not do something because it is right to do it, but simply do what we are told.  Our sovereignty like our diplomatic value are both at zero, because of political allegiances owed to states such as Israel or The US with their totally terroristic approach to the world.

But:

This time we just might have enough disillusioned people here in Canada to have a widely differing set of politicians and parties in our House of Commons, and a  minority government to be supported on good legislation for the people, and bad legislation either amended or thrown out, again for the benefit of the people of Canada rather than corporations whose bottom line and CEO bonuses far exceed the benefits to humanity.

It’s up to us, so let’s get out and vote for the real candidates who will represent you to Ottawa not Ottawa to you, who will swear an oath of allegiance to the people of Canada, not a foreign Queen…. And that excludes Liberal, Conservative and NDP….maybe even the Greens…if only they could adopt the Bank of Canada instead of international banks and investors and become real Canada supporters…Ah well.

We live in a world of internet information false or not; cell phone computers rule our lives and control our thoughts and actions and we allow consumer products designed to spy on us and to shorten our lives (smart meters, 5G networks etc.,) to change our electrical bodies and weaken our ability to think for ourselves, even to communicate with our fellow humans, and this is progress?

Rock on Greta Thunberg, Autumn Peltier, Malala Yousafzai and all you young people, take control please because you are showing more sense and courage than all our politicians combined.

 

HEALTH CANADA

29th December 2018

 

Has there ever been such a misnomer for a governmental body as this one?

 The name suggests that this body has been given the responsibility of looking out for the health of Canadians.   In reality Health Canada is a pawn for whichever corporation donates to them.

 There is only one country in the so called civilized western world that has approved the 5G cell phone network of microwave exposure to their people. Yes that is correct – Canada!

 Why?

 Corporate lobby and donations giving preferential treatment over Canadians’ safety.

Want more info:  https://magdahavas.com/international-experts-perspective-on-the-health-effects-of-electromagnetic-fields-emf-and-electromagnetic-radiation-emr/

Big Pharma are given an open door to sell drugs that are not fully tested on people and natural health food companies are harried, fined and put out of business for selling real food that can, has and will help people to recover their health after being made sick by not only big pharma’s’ drugs looking for a sickness or creating one, but also by GM products and their “roundup” pesticide along with toxic fast food and microwaves attacking our bodies and minds.

 Flu shots are causing damage and even death daily in Canada with Health Canada’s blessing.

Babies are being vaccinated or given shots – which big pharma CEOs will not take themselves -immediately after birth and the results are not even tabulated by HC. Immunization against common diseases like chicken pox, measles, mumps etc., do not give lifelong resistance but have to be repeated almost yearly. When I was a small boy and any neighbouring kid got one of those sicknesses we were sent to play with them, caught the sickness and now I have that lifelong immunity which is still protecting me even in my advanced age. Because my immune system is not threatened every day by such disease I tend not to even get the “pretend” flu when it comes around yearly in whatever form is promoted and probably spread by the Big Pharma companies that year.

                                                                  BUT

 I have no protection against microwaves which batter me every time I leave my home and venture into a world full of cell phones, smart meters, wifi zones on buses, taxis, in schools and shopping malls, even streets such as Goldstream Avenue in Langford BC; I have no immunity against the fallout from the chemtrails and their particles of aluminium and barium etc., which fall to the earth and are ingested by animals raised to feed me; I have no immunity against toxic water caused by the same chem trails and poisoned aquafers: I have no immunity against industrial smog – luckily I live on the Peninsular on South Vancouver Island but I do occasionally go to Vancouver; I have no immunity against the steroids fed to food animals; and I have no immunity against concrete or asphalt parking lots which have replaced trees, natural carbon sinks.

 Perhaps one could say that these are all part of living in an industrialist world, and I have, so far, still got the ability to buy natural products that can hep me. Problem is for how long now? That is up to Health Canada and big pharma.

 Health Canada is an expensive farce in that there is no protection for me – or any Canadian – from these or more toxins thrown our way with their blessing. I wish there was a way to boycott Health Canada but there isn’t so perhaps I should be promoting the idea that we would be better off both financially and in health matters without it.

 Come to think of it isn’t healthcare a provincial concern?

 Meanwhile, Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Brison, how about stopping payments to a body which caters to corporate lobbyists not to Canadians.   You will not hear me complaining.

 

Jeremy Arney

NAFTA Nonsense

It was with some pleasure that I learned on Friday 31st August Canada had not succumbed to the bombastic, belligerent President of the USA and agreed in haste to the bilateral agreement between Mexico and the US.  IT is not clear to me that a bilateral agreement between the USA and Mexico within the borders of NAFTA is entirely legal, not that that would worry President Trump at all.   The fact that he would play one country against another has a familiar ring of a reality show to it and really has no place in the real world where actual peoples’ lives and wellbeing are the stakes.  Typical of him I think.

 

The complaint is that Canada has not treated the US in a fair way due to softwood lumber and our supply management system.  From my reading and understanding of NAFTA there should be no tariffs between the three countries and of course, we already know that this has been broken not only in the case of the softwood lumber but also in the steel and aluminium trade.  Clearly, this man has no idea what an agreement is and perhaps that is why I hear so often that he has defaulted on more business contracts than he has fulfilled.

 

While the USA complains that our softwood lumber is subsidized by some form of stumpage, let us also remember that the agricultural sector of the USA is heavily subsidized by their Federal government. It seems that there is an equal amount of wrongdoing here and the pot is calling the kettle black.  Concerning the supply management system, this could be amended perhaps provided that the products coming into Canada meet with Health Canada and our agriculture standards.  Health Canada, of course, will bend over backwards to the US on most issues and really needs to grow a backbone and remember that the health of the Canadian people is their priority not the health of American corporations.   For the dairy sector, it still amazes me that we are the only species on earth to drink the milk of another species and expect after it has been treated and reduced in any beneficial way that it is good for us.   Cows eat grass – we do not.  Cows’ milk is basically a bovine growth hormone designed by the creator to make calves grow faster.  Some small wonder then that we have too much obesity in our population.   There are alternatives available such as hemp milk, coconut milk and for a while before it became GMO contaminated soy milk etc., and yet these are largely ignored because the dairy lobby is too powerful and like most corporate ventures is interested in protecting their toxic products and the profits derived from them.  Real milk is, of course, illegal and those who produce it are prosecuted, while those selling pasteurized and then artificially fortified again stuff are protected.   Makes no sense to me.   When I was young we were drinking real milk with cream still within it and my immune system is fine thanks.

 

As for the lumber, we should not be exporting any lumber which is hit by a tariff and indeed here we can and should be exporting to other markets.  We send a vast amount of raw logs overseas when we should be sending finished lumber instead.  A byproduct of this would be the return of sawmills and employment that go with them. If we stopped sending lumber to the states how long would it be before their construction business came to a huge slowdown?  The idea is not to hurt the ordinary American but to send the message that a product is sold at a certain price and if that is not agreed upon then it will not be sold.  The basic rule of commerce – there must be a market and a buyer who is willing to pay the price asked for that product.

 

There were many things built into the original FTA and then accepted into NAFTA that were not good for Canada, and yet Trump in his self-righteousness forgets that we cannot reduce the percentage of any petroleum products we produce and send to the US even if we run short ourselves, nor can we increase the price of electricity across the border without both our PM and the US president agreeing to such a price increase.  This means that BC is exporting hydropower to the seven western states at the same price which was in effect when WAC Bennet was premier of BC prior to the FTA came into being.  Now, who do those two alone benefit? Certainly not Canadians.

“NAFTA

Article 605: Other Export Measures

Subject to Annex 605, a Party may adopt or maintain a restriction otherwise justified under Articles XI:2(a) or XX(g), (i) or (j) of the GATT with respect to the export of an energy or basic petrochemical good to the territory of another Party, only if:

 

  1. a) the restriction does not reduce the proportion of the total export shipments of the specific energy or basic petrochemical good made available to that other Party relative to the total supply of that good of the Party maintaining the restriction as compared to the proportion prevailing in the most recent 36month period for which data are available prior to the imposition of the measure, or in such other representative period on which the Parties may agree;

 

The Americans want to do away with the dispute mechanism and so does any Canadian who is tired of paying huge sums of their tax dollars to America corporations which see perceived profits lost because of our environment or health standard laws. This also includes Canadian companies which incorporate in Delaware because it is cheaper and gives them access to the dispute review panel – Lone Pine Power of Calgary is a perfect example of that to the tune of $250 million.  There is never an amount allotted in any budget for these tribunal awards probably because all governments want to hide them.  This government wants to keep on paying them it appears.

 

It has been my contention that ALL corporations with Canadian subsidiaries doing business in Canada, such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi or MacDonald’s, should have accounts in Canadian banks in Canada and pay taxes on their gross income before their profits are sent to the US or the Cayman Islands. Also, Nestles should not be allowed to draw as much water as they can from Hope Lake without charge and bottle it and send it south of the border in plastic bottles for profit.  Arrowhead water for Walmart. How did that come about anyway?  Is it part of NAFTA that we should give away our water for free and have it sold for profit elsewhere?

 

America’s problems do not stem from NAFTA but from their inability to control their corporations allowing them to set up manufacturing in countries where the labour costs are cheap and bringing those cheaper products back to the homeland.  The constant demand for profit for their shareholders and the need to pay obscene bonuses to their CEOs etc. demand that they cheat as much as they can and they do.   That is not a NAFTA problem it is an American corporate greed problem.

 

Now I hear that that man is tweeting again that Canada is an enemy of the US and it would appear that we are a greater threat to the US than Mexico, China, Russia and Korea combined.  If this is the way you treat a friend then I do not want to be a friend to his administration and their twitter diplomacy.  It frankly stinks of the president’s bigotry, racial and religious hatred combined with the love of an apartheid State of Israel and a grandiose assumption that he can do no wrong and everyone else is at fault.   What a way to rule a country.

 

Do we really think that those Americans without a job, without a roof over their heads and no money for food for themselves or their family think he, a fat cat with no shortage of wealth, pomp and grandiosity is serving them well?

 

Bring on the peaceful revolution.

 

Cancel NAFTA too. 

 

Give him his wish and let’s charge what we need for our products.

 

Now I learn that this egotistical, racist, bigot is telling Canadians what is and is not of political importance to us.  Perhaps he should spend more time looking in the mirror instead of pouting at the cameras.  His efforts to create strife amongst his allies could just cause us to tell him where to go unless of course, the apartheid State of Israel tells us not to !!!!!

Foreign Affairs and a useless Pipeline

22nd April 2018

 

To the right honourable Chrystia Freeland,

Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada.

 A few simple questions for you:

1

As a result of two people being poisoned (?) in the UK which was promoted, without proof, as being done by the Russians, you expelled some Russians from Canada without any proof that they had any part in this event nor that they had done any harm to Canada.

Where was your mandate for this Minister, or was it simply that your instructions came from Israel, the UK and the USA and fitted with your obvious hatred of Russia?

Should your job not be to create goodwill between Canada and all the other countries of the world Minister, rather than follow the dictates of others?

 2

Concerning NAFTA.   Have you agreed to swap the elimination of Chapter 19 for the elimination of Article 605 of this investment agreement?

As long as they are both in force we are in double jeopardy.

Article 605 clearly states that we cannot ship any Bitumen anywhere in the world except the USA.    They have been given 100% of our production and if we try to ship any anywhere else we will be taken to a tribunal under NAFTA chapter 19 and all of Canada will have to pay for this.

Has the Minister of Finance agreed that he will be able to pay as there is nothing in his budget about it?

 3

Re Kinder Morgan and their pipeline to Burnaby:

We are told many misleading “facts” in the House as in the emergency debate which took place on 16th April.  We were told ad infinitum by two of the five parties in the House that the product of the “oil” sands are what is at stake here, and yet although I wrote to every MP asking for help to determine where these “oil” sands are located as yet I have not had a single reply. The job figures that are floated are almost identical to and as mythical as those promoted by Joe Oliver concerning the Northern Gateway pipeline.

We are also told that there will be two large tugboats travelling with these super bitumen tankers which indicates that even those in favour of the bitumen pipeline acknowledge that there is a risk of damage and spillage.  If that does happen where will this (these) supertanker(s) be towed still spewing dilbit enroute?  Where will these super tugs come from and who will pay for them?   Have you told the endangered pod of the Southern Orcas that they will have to hide from the noise of these three large ships twice a day?  Do you have the approval of the State of Washington concerning the potential damage to their part of the ocean and coast?

To which countries do you intend to send these giant bitumen tankers anyway even if it contravenes Article 605 of NAFTA?

 4

Where is the proof that the Syrian government used gas on civilians even though they were winning that part of the domestic, but foreign instigated and inspired, war and had no need for such use?   Where is the logic from their point of view?  Why did you not wait for the inspection by the UN to take place before you jumped in to condemn Syria?

 5

When are you going to reprimand Israel for their soldiers using playing Palestinian children for target practice?   Perhaps you personally and your government agree that this was alright, but the vast majority of Canadians do not agree with you.

 6

Will you take a year to answer this email as you did my previous request for information about CETA, and the then TPP, concerning some definitions in those investment agreements allowing“enterprises” (corporations)  of a foreign country to have equal rights as “persons” here in Canada?

What are the NATO Allies and their USA beholden friends trying to hide?

 

27th March 2018

An ex-Russian/British spy –  Sergei Skripal – has been living in the UK since his “retirement” and spy swap out of Russia.

He had become a part of the community of the delightful cathedral city of Salisbury in Wiltshire. Apparently well liked by his fellows there and a volunteer when needed to help others.  A regular fellow whose daughter came to visit from Russia whenever she could, and she too was known and liked.

Then on one such visit, they are both given a nerve gas and through quick action of the people of Salisbury are in hospital but not yet dead.

Immediately, or almost as quickly as Bush determined that America had been attacked by Bin Laden, the Russians were accused as the nerve gas was identified as one they were thought to have developed years ago. 

Simple right, Russian nerve gas from years ago so it must be them.

Why not the MI6 or even more likely the CIA?    But really the bigger question is why and why now?

The timing of this whole affair and the reaction to it came at a time of political elections in Russia and could have caused a lesser man than Putin some problems in his re-election.  Now, who do we know who has interfered with so many foreign elections, coups, installation of puppet dictators, destruction of countries, and the deaths of millions of civilians?  (In the case of Libya we could add the murder of their leader and the US Ambassador by out of control mercenaries). Who is so paranoid that maybe their elections are more than simply exchanges of money for the chance to be puppets in the government, but who could also be panicked by the thought that they could be affected in the same way they as do to other countries around the world?

So maybe that was one reason.

Why now?

Maybe that reason could be that the UK is trying to hide something from the world and what better way to do it than accuse the Russians of trying to kill someone in the UK causing deflection and getting international condemnation.   What have you done there in the UK that would merit such an action?

Just as in the case of the attacks on 9-11, and all the “false flags” since this one makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person.

Why would the Russians be soo stupid as to use a nerve gas that could perhaps be traced back to them?  Are they really that naïve?  Why would they want these two dead anyway? What did they have to gain?   Or wait, who did have something to gain?

Then there is the question of why all the allies are joining in the deportation of Russian diplomats they classify as spies. There is a sort of hysterical lemming like action here that bothers me.  Oh, I understand why Canada is doing it because our Foreign Minister hates Russia with a passion that comes from her Ukrainian heritage and she really is not the person for that job. But anyway here is an excuse for her to flex some muscle at a country (to which she has been made persona no grata) over an affair that has nothing to do with us at all, is completely unproven that Russia was responsible, and for which we as Canadians are being aligned with copycat, subordinate fruitcakes.

Shame on this “sunny days and sunny ways” government for jumping on an hysterical bandwagon.

What next Trudeau, will you challenge Putin to an arm wrestle?

Jeremy

 

 

Propaganda? Well yes

23rd March 2018

Just by chance today I happened to watch part of a panel session on CPAC called: INVESTING IN CANADIAN INNOVATION.

 One of the members of the panel (an American scientist) asked Justin Trudeau to explain the Kinder Morgan Pipe Line and what emerged was the usual total bullshit about carbon taxes and the meeting of mythical targets set in Paris.

 Once again there was the spectacle of our PM stating that we had to find new markets around the Pacific for our Alberta Bitumen.   In theory that may be fine but in practice that is simply not possible.

 As I have pointed out to Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources, Justice and the Environment as well as Trudeau himself, we are controlled by NAFTA in particular Article 605 which states:

“Article 605: Other Export Measures

Subject to Annex 605, a Party may adopt or maintain a restriction otherwise justified under Articles XI:2(a) or XX(g), (i) or (j) of the GATT with respect to the export of an energy or basic petrochemical good to the territory of another Party, only if:

  1. the restriction does not reduce the proportion of the total export shipments of the specific energy or basic petrochemical good made available to that other Party relative to the total supply of that good of the Party maintaining the restriction as compared to the proportion prevailing in the most recent 36month period for which data are available prior to the imposition of the measure, or in such other representative period on which the Parties may agree;

Clearly, we have no room to send any bitumen anywhere except to the USA.   Rachel Notley told the Economic Club of Canada in November of last year that the USA was a monopoly buyer of Alberta’s bitumen, and she should know.  This being the case how can we bypass the above article?   Even sending one thimble of bitumen anywhere except to our southern neighbour will trigger a NAFTA tribunal claim.  What this means is that we would construct a pipeline to Burnaby, ship that thimble, to say Malaysia, for the benefit of Alberta and then all of Canada will have to pay a NAFTA tribunal claim by the US based on Article 605.

 None of the above Ministers have offered any explanation of how they will avoid this issue, and I do not expect to hear from them until 2019, based on the timing of the occasional and eventual previous answers.

At the same time, Trudeau expounded again in vague terms about the money to be invested in ocean, fish and whale protection against a spill.   Once again, I am amazed and annoyed at his total ignorance of the fact that we are talking bitumen here, not oil, and any attempts at a cleanup in the event of a supertanker mishap such as recently happened in the south China Seas is doomed to failure.   Bitumen is heavier than water and will sink in clumps to the ocean floor, and the gases that make up the dilutant will escape into the atmosphere and depending on the site of the mishap will cause harm to all living things that breathe downwind.

I live on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and know that the winds in the Georgia Strait and the Strait of Juan da Fuca blow in all directions.  Thus, again depending on the site of the collision, Vancouver, Richmond, White Rock, Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, Port Angeles and Sequim not to mention Victoria and the San Juan Islands could all be devasted.  Whales, sea lions, seals, gulls, eagles and many more flying birds and bees etc., will all suffer or perish as well.

I was refused permission to attend and address the so-called public hearings on the basis that I would not be affected.  This was to be expected from the Harper regime, but we were promised sunny days and sunny ways and what it appears we are now being promised is the possibility of mass poisoning.  From one who came to Canada to raise a family and now have 4 generations established here on Vancouver Island I thank you for your complete indifference to our health and wellbeing Prime Minister.

Is it worth it?  Are we willing to sacrifice all this and those living creatures simply to donate some extra money to the USA through a NAFTA tribunal claim, and a couple of bucks to Alberta?

Today two MPs from the area were arrested at Burnaby doing what they believe is right and supporting their constituents and first nations of the area in their refusal to grant permission to have this pipeline do irreparable damage to this beautiful land and coast which we are here to protect for our children and grandchildren and generations to come.

There are many things Canada has done which shame us such as the residential schools and the complete destruction of Libya; our undying support of The State of Israel no matter who they kill and our incompetence in managing our own financial affairs since 1974 and now this wanton act of submission to corporate greed is another example of where we could have done soo much better.

Sunny days – my aunt fanny!

Jeremy