Alberta
Premier Danielle Smith (second from left) shared a picture with three
men she shared the stage with at events in Calgary and Edmonton on
Wednesday: author Jordan Peterson, U.S. broadcaster Tucker Carlson and
former newspaper magnate Conrad Black. (X/@abdaniellesmith)Premier Smith suggests Tucker Carlson put Steven Guilbeault in his 'crosshairs' | Power & Politics
RCMP Offer $75k Incentive for Police Sex Change.
Premier of Ontario | Premier ministre de l’Ontario<Premier@ontario.ca> | Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 3:57 PM |
| To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | |
Thank you for your email. Your thoughts, comments and input are greatly valued. You can be assured that all emails and letters are carefully read, reviewed and taken into consideration. There may be occasions when, given the issues you have raised and the need to address them effectively, we will forward a copy of your correspondence to the appropriate government official. Accordingly, a response may take several business days. Thanks again for your email. ______ Merci pour votre courriel. Nous vous sommes très reconnaissants de nous avoir fait part de vos idées, commentaires et observations. Nous tenons à vous assurer que nous lisons attentivement et prenons en considération tous les courriels et lettres que nous recevons. Dans certains cas, nous transmettrons votre message au ministère responsable afin que les questions soulevées puissent être traitées de la manière la plus efficace possible. En conséquence, plusieurs jours ouvrables pourraient s’écouler avant que nous puissions vous répondre. Merci encore pour votre courriel. | |
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Big victory for both CCF and Canadians at Federal Court
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jLeyvRNk7M&ab_channel=TrendingNow
Former justice minister stands by decision to trigger Emergencies Act
Trending Now After eight years, former Liberal Justice Minister David Lametti is leaving politics. He made the announcement with "mixed emotions." Lametti played a big part in the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act during the Ottawa protests... a decision he says he's still confident about. His departure comes just days after a federal judge ruled invoking the act was in fact "unconstitutional, unreasonable and unjustified." Now the groups that brought forward the case in the first place are preparing for the Liberals' promised appeal. We're joined by University of Ottawa Professor of Criminology Michael Kempa. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thank you for reaching out to The Counter Signal. We appreciate
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Thank you for supporting honest journalism. Power Play: David Lametti speaks on resignation 10,821 views
Liberal MP David Lametti says he’s leaving politics for a job at the Fasken Martineau DuMoulin law firm. Former justice minister David Lametti resigning as Liberal MP to join law firmLametti was one of seven ministers to be ousted in the last cabinet shuffle. Among them, five have already announced that they are leaving politics Author of the article: Published Jan 25, 2024  OTTAWA – Former justice minister David Lametti is resigning as a Montreal Liberal MP at the end of the month. In a statement, Lametti said it is “with some sadness” that he is leaving his “dream job” but said that his constituents “would benefit from a change of voice and style” after more than eight years in the job. A professor at McGill University’s Faculty of Law, Lametti was first elected as MP for LaSalle-Emard-Verdun in 2015 and served as parliamentary secretary to the ministers of international trade and innovation, science and economic development. He became Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in 2019, taking over from Jody Wilson-Raybould who went on to resign from the Liberal caucus in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin scandal. As minister, Lametti oversaw revised legislation of medical assistance in dying (MAID) so that it no longer required a person’s natural death to be reasonably foreseeable in response to the Superior Court of Quebec’s 2019 ruling. He eventually delayed the expansion of MAID to people suffering solely from a mental disorder one year beyond March 2023 amid growing concerns. The federal government is currently weighing options to delay that further once more. Lametti was also in the spotlight several times during his tenure when asked to comment on Quebec’s controversial laws on language and religious signs, and said that the federal government would not rule out taking part in a legal challenge against either of them. He argued the notwithstanding clause was never intended to be used in a pre-emptive manner to shield legislations like Bill 21 and Bill 96 from legal challenges. His comments drew criticism from Quebec premier Francois Legault at the time. More recently, Lametti was criticized for his department’s slow action on bail reform, which he said was limited due to constitutional constraints. He ended up tabling a bill last May to make it harder for some offenders charged with violent crime to get bail. It was also during his tenure that Supreme Court Justice Richard Wagner slammed the Prime Minister’s Office for the chronic shortage of judges across the country, which he said could undermine Canadians’ confidence in the justice system and democratic institutions. In a recent interview with La Presse to announce his departure, Lametti set the record straight by saying that his office was not responsible for the slow judicial appointments and that he could not control what was going on in the PMO. Lametti was ultimately dropped out of cabinet during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most recent shuffle back in July, which saw rookie minister Arif Virani take his spot. At the time, the recently ousted minister said it was a “surprise” to lose his cabinet position. Lametti will be joining Fasken Martineau Dumoulin law firm where he’ll be focusing on Indigenous law and technological law, two areas of expertise that he said were enhances by his time in government. “There is much important work to be done in both these areas, and I hope to be able to continue in my remaining working years to have a positive impact on the development of much needed policy in these areas,” he wrote in his statement. He also said that while he’ll be retiring from McGill University as a full-time professor, he will continue to be involved in the law faculty as a lecturer. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here. Former justice minister says he's still 'confident' in decision to trigger Emergencies ActDavid Lametti says PM never gave 'a substantive reason' for dropping him from cabinetFormer justice minister David Lametti says a Federal Court judge made a bad call when he ruled that the federal government was wrong to trigger the Emergencies Act to break up the 2022 convoy protests. Lametti announced Thursday that he would be leaving political life on Jan. 31 after eight years as an MP — more than half of them as minister of justice and attorney general. In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, he defended the government's use of the Emergencies Act, a moment that forever marked his tenure as the country's top legal official. "I disagree with the decision. I disagree with [Justice Richard Mosley's] analysis and I disagree with his framing of the issue and his treatment of the facts," Lametti told host Catherine Cullen. "I'm pretty confident this decision will be overturned on appeal." WATCH | Lametti discusses Emergencies Act decision:  David Lametti disagrees with a federal judge’s ruling that actions taken under the act infringed on Charter rights. Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley found the government's invocation of the Emergencies Act "does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility," and actions taken under the act infringed on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was quick to cite the decision and accuse Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of acting illegally. "He caused the crisis by dividing people," he posted on the social media platform X. "Then he violated Charter rights to illegally suppress citizens. As PM, I will unite our country for freedom." Lametti defended the government's actions, saying cabinet tried to balance the rights of Canadians with the need to end weeks-long protests that dominated Canadian politics as the COVID-19 pandemic wore on in early 2022. "I believe that we had minimal impairment of rights for a short period of time," he said. "And what about the rights of citizens of Windsor and Ottawa and autoworkers and people in other parts of the country, in Coutts [Alta.], whose rights were being trampled on by these illegal occupations?" WATCH | Federal government reacts to court ruling on Emergencies Act:  Deputy
Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says that she remains ‘convinced’ that
invoking the Emergencies Act in early 2022 was ‘the necessary thing to
do.’ A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the government’s use of the act
was unreasonable. Lametti also voiced his support for revamping the Emergencies Act to clarify the circumstances under which it can be used. "We need to have an act that's usable. We need to have a standard that reflects current reality," he said. Reason for dismissal still unknown, Lametti saysLametti, who has represented the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun since 2015, served in a variety of parliamentary secretary roles before being named minister of justice. He was dropped from cabinet when Trudeau overhauled his team last summer — a move that caught many observers by surprise. He said he still doesn't know why it happened. "I haven't been given a substantive reason other than I got caught in a numbers game ... there are a number of different balances that have to happen around the cabinet table," he said. Prime ministers traditionally weigh a number of factors when constructing a cabinet, including experience and regional diversity. Trudeau is also the first prime minister to insist on gender balance in his cabinets. Lametti said he understands the need for tradeoffs in constructing a cabinet and knows he shouldn't take such decisions personally.
"Look, it doesn't mean it's not difficult.... It doesn't mean that the decision doesn't hurt," he told Cullen. "It's up to the prime minister. It's his prerogative." He said he had intended to carry on in politics at first. "But in the end, I think my mental health and my sense of happiness is also important to being an effective MP," he said. "And I don't think I could carry on." Lametti says he's proud of his recordLametti also reflected on some of the biggest issues he sought to address during his time as minister of justice, including delays in the justice system long enough to cause some cases to be thrown out of court. "I appointed judges at a faster pace than anyone in Canadian history," he said. He leaves the department with a deadline looming on medical assistance in dying (MAID). The government has until March 17 to decide whether to allow a sunset clause to kick in, which would widen MAID eligibility to include people suffering solely from a mental illness. Lametti said MAID is a complex, difficult issue and Canadians need to be clear-eyed about the facts. "The sky hasn't fallen. There are a number of horror stories that have been put out there that just haven't materialized," he said. "It hasn't been open season on the disabled. We've been very careful with the balancing that we have done, and I think that if we take a step back and we actually look at the facts and we look at the evidence, we'll be able to move forward with confidence." Lametti said he's proud of his work in politics and hopes it endures. "I am going to look back at my record and say this is a great record," he said. "And right now, I think the most important thing to me, and the most important thing I hope to Canadians, is to maintain that record moving forward and to not put it in jeopardy with a change of government." Lametti will be joining the Fasken law firm, where he'll focus on Indigenous and technology law. Radio-Canada reported Thursday that Lametti was offered the position of ambassador to Spain but turned it down. Asked whether he's unhappy with his treatment by the prime minister, Lametti again pointed to a number of accomplishments under his tenure, such as criminal law reform and the creation of a commission on wrongful convictions. "I'm leaving with a smile on my face." ABOUT THE AUTHOR With files from Catherine Cullen, Kristen Everson and Catharine Tunney
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Justice Minister David Lametti makes an announcement on bail reform in Ottawa on May 16, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
David Amos<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 3:57 PM |
| To: Keean Bexte <contact@thecountersignal.com>, jason.markusoff@cbc.ca, premier <premier@gov.ab.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, "pierre.poilievre" <pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, "Michael.Duheme" <Michael.Duheme@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "Marco.Mendicino" <Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, "Bill.Blair" <Bill.Blair@parl.gc.ca>, "blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca> | |
| Cc: "rob.moore" <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, "Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, "Ross.Wetmore" <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca> | |
https://davidraymondamos3. Thursday 25 January 2024 Tucker Carlson brought controversy to Danielle Smith's Calgary — then took her somewhere dicier | |
Tucker Carlson brought controversy to Danielle Smith's Calgary — then took her somewhere dicier
U.S. commentator presses Alberta premier on convoy-related legal cases
Back at work in Alberta after two weeks of vacation, Premier Danielle Smith chose as her first public appearance in 2024 a conversation on stage with Tucker Carlson, the U.S. commentator whose views and remarks became too much for his Fox News bosses to tolerate.
On Tuesday night, they enjoyed a private dinner together in Calgary, these two former mainstream broadcasters, one now a government leader and one who's fielded speculation about becoming Donald Trump's vice-presidential running mate.
"And had the best time, thank you," Carlson told Smith at the start of their 17 minutes together at his sold-out speaking event. "Thank you for letting me, a rank foreigner, ask you questions."
There will always be those who say she's tacitly endorsing his comments or showing poor judgment doing an event with Carlson.
She'd had a ready response for those who question the appropriateness of Alberta's premier sharing a podium with the figure who cost his channel advertisers after saying immigrants make his United States "poorer and dirtier," and has steadily derided Ukraine's defence against Russian invasion. Smith states she doesn't agree with every word uttered by any interviewers, from CBC and beyond.
It's true that Smith has not said anything that remotely compares to Carlson's words on immigrants, or transgender people, and ceased offering any Carlson-like skeptical commentary on Ukraine after becoming premier in late 2022.
There was merit in speaking with the popular U.S. media figure, her spokesperson insisted when the Carlson-Smith event was first announced last fall. A way to "share Alberta's message," he said — and indeed, near the conversation's end, the premier delivered the long-standing Alberta line that the United States should accept more oil exports from "safe Canada" instead of non-democracies like Iran and Venezuela.
That rosy message about Canada might get lost to U.S. viewers among Carlson's various complaints Wednesday that Canada is led by a dangerous and undemocratic regime that murders thousands with medically-assisted suicide; and has a prime minister who is a fascist from whom Canada should be liberated, as the commentator said in a video earlier that day.
Alberta
Premier Danielle Smith (second from left) shared a picture with three
men she shared the stage with at events in Calgary and Edmonton on
Wednesday: author Jordan Peterson, U.S. broadcaster Tucker Carlson and
former newspaper magnate Conrad Black. (X/@abdaniellesmith)
Smith was opening herself up to criticism by associating with Carlson and that rhetoric, but most of that bombastic language is predictable fare for him. What would be unpredictable for Smith was those minutes of interaction directly with him. She had her own messages and agenda, and so did he.
One issue he wanted Smith's remarks on landed her in a dicey spot she hasn't much wanted to discuss: prosecutions of Albertans arrested during the pandemic.
He asked about the plight of four men arrested at the Coutts blockade in February 2022 and charged with conspiring to murder RCMP officers. Carlson called their legal detention as they await trial "a human rights violation" and argued their charges were dubious.
"Don't you think it would send a powerful message to go visit them in jail and find out what they've been accused of?" Carlson asked Smith.
There was a time, before she was premier, when she'd have been far more aligned with Carlson and many of the Albertans filling that convention centre hall that injustice was being done to those facing COVID- or convoy-related charges. She'd mused about amnesty for some Albertans facing prosecution for nonviolent offences while campaigning for the United Conservative leadership.
But weeks into her current job, she was told pardons and amnesty aren't possible with the stroke of a premier's pen. She's constrained in how she interacts with the police and court system, regardless of her beliefs. "This is part of the journey we've all gone on in the last year to realize just how much limitation there is," Smith told Carlson of her powers to intervene on cases.
And she expressed regret that she was now unable to push, after she praised civil-liberties groups for winning a court victory this week against the Trudeau government's declaration of the Emergencies Act.
"I truly wish I could do more, but I've had my wings clipped in the last year," Smith said.
The broadcaster and ex-broadcaster left it there, shifting to criticism of solar power and its limited ability to provide power in winter. (Fields of Alberta panels were providing 890 megawatts around the time of Smith's afternoon appearance, according to provincial system operator data.)
Premier
Danielle Smith wished to speak about energy issues with Tucker Carlson,
but he first brought up the legal plight of men in prison facing
conspiracy to murder charges following the 2022 blockade at Coutts,
Alta. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
This wasn't the first time Smith had expressed regret she didn't have greater powers to curtail prosecutions that Carlson and others may deplore, although maybe the first time she'd reiterated them in about a year.
She was clearest on that front in a leaked private conversation from last January with Artur Pawlowski, the pastor who was then facing his own blockade-related criminal charges. Alberta Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler wrote last spring Smith "breached this principle" of judicial independence by discussing cases with an accused individual, though the commissioner did not weigh in on the premier expressing her view that it was "frustrating" she couldn't end the court processes.
It's true that a premier has a right to speak freely with a broad range of individuals and journalists. There's freedom, too, in the NDP and other critics questioning Smith's choice to associate with controversial figures like Pawlowski and Carlson, particularly given how much more common it is for a premier to decline a meeting request than to grant one.
These individuals might, after all, place a politician in situations they'd rather not be in, or raise questions they'd rather not discuss. Smith had come to share one message about Alberta, but wound up revising an old one about herself that she until now had appeared to have relegated to the past.
Liberal ministers blast Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for hosting Tucker Carlson
'Do not summon the dogs of MAGA conservatism to try and scare us,' Liberal cabinet minister says
Four of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet ministers appeared before reporters Thursday to condemn Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's decision to meet with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.
They also took issue with some of the rhetoric Carlson used while speaking to a large crowd that gathered Wednesday to see the conservative commentator in conversation with Smith at Calgary's Telus Convention Centre.
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said he was disturbed by Smith's call for Carlson to put Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in his "crosshairs."
Smith and Guilbeault have been at odds over the federal government's climate policies, which the premier has said are far too restrictive and are punishing Albertans who rely on fossil fuels.
During a conversation about the pitfalls of solar panels, Smith said to Carlson, "I wish you would put Steven Guilbeault in your crosshairs."
"He's an environmental zealot. He happens to be our environmental minister federally. He believes he has the expertise and knowledge to tell us in Alberta how to run our power grid," Smith added.
Tucker replied that he didn't want to know Guilbeault based on Smith's description.
Smith's comment was interpreted by Boissonnault as a call for violence, an attempt to "summon evil forces from the United States to try and take on one of our colleagues."
"I can tell you it's completely unacceptable for the premier of any province to say she wants to put a target on the back of any Canadian politician and my friend and colleague ... simply for doing his job," he said.
"You can have respectful discourse in this country, you can raise the issue, you can bang fists on the table at a fed-prov meeting — that's all legit. But you do not summon the dogs of MAGA conservatism to try and scare us and try to incite violence against politicians of any stripe," Boissonnault added, referring to the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement started by former U.S. president Donald Trump.
Guilbeault said he felt "targeted" by Wednesday's Smith-Carlson fireside chat, which was focused on energy and recent power usage alerts in Alberta, when the electrical grid was severely strained by frigid temperatures.
"This increases political violence against everyone who runs for office in this country," he said.
Boissonnault also accused Carlson of "spewing hate speech about LGTBQ people'' — an apparent reference to Carlson's homophobic joke about Trudeau.
"I know that in Canada it is official policy that coming out of the closet is good — unless you're the prime minister," Carlson said Wednesday.
"For Danielle Smith to bring the mouthpiece of the MAGA conservative far-right to Edmonton Centre to spew hate about LGBTQ2 people is beyond the pale," Boissonault, who is gay, said of Carlson's second Alberta event in the provincial capital.
"It's deplorable and we won't stand for it."
Smith clearly anticipated criticism of her appearance with the controversial media figure.
"I know that there are representatives from mainstream media here, and they're going to ask me whether I agree with every single word you said," she said.
In a social media post, Smith said: "Free speech means you don't just have to talk to the mainstream media."
A
few thousand people listen as U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson speaks at
Telus Convention Centre in Calgary on Wednesday. Alberta Premier
Danielle Smith joined him onstage for an interview. (Jason Markusoff/CBC)
Speaking at an unrelated press conference Thursday, Smith defended her appearance with Carlson, saying she doesn't "do a screening test to make sure that every person that interviews me matches 100 per cent of what I believe."
"I take a wide range of interviews, from CBC all the way through to alternative media, because my job is to get our message out about Alberta. And I told everyone that I wanted to make sure somebody who has a very loud voice in America knew that we were a partner in being able to provide energy security and energy affordability, and I got that message out," she said.
Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez attempted to link Pierre Poilievre with the event, which the Conservative leader did not attend.
"I'm asking Pierre Poilievre to condemn those hateful and violent statements by Tucker Carlson," Rodriguez said.
"The extreme-right politics — don't ask the question if it's coming to Canada. It's already here."
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said it's "deplorable" for conservative Canadian politicians to rub shoulders with "the American extreme right."
Asked for a response to Liberal calls to condemn Smith and Tucker, a spokesperson for Poilievre said Trudeau and his ministers are "yet again twisting themselves in knots to distract from the hurt and suffering they are inflicting on Canadians after eight years in power."
"With millions of Canadians forced to rely on food banks and more and more middle-class people driven into homelessness, Trudeau's desperate Liberal ministers will say anything in an attempt to distract Canadians and hope they forget about the misery caused by Liberal policies," said Sebastian Skamski.
These Alberta stops were part of Carlson's so-called "liberation tour" of Canada.
He said Trudeau and "woke" politicians like him who have embraced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives threaten a certain segment of the Canadian population.
Tucker claimed "unrestrained immigration done for political reasons" will "eliminate your country from the map."
"You should recognize what is happening to you," he said. "This is a destruction of you and your culture and your beliefs and your children and your future."
Carlson is a highly controversial figure in American media and politics.
For years, he hosted one of the most-watched shows on U.S. television, rallying a deeply conservative audience to the Republican cause.
After a series of controversies, Carlson was dropped by the Fox network after a racist text message surfaced during litigation proceedings with Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine and tabulation company that was at the centre of conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
Since his ouster from Fox, Carlson has hosted a program on X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter, where he's ignited criticism with his anti-Ukraine messaging about Russia's invasion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RCMP Offer $75k Incentive for Police Sex Change
Keean Bexte<contact@thecountersignal.com> | Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 3:01 PM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To: David Amos <David.Raymond.Amos333@gmail.com> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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