It is time for another “Made in Canada, Eh?” This week the announcement edition, some of the items from across Canada that have caught my attention recently. So without much further ado, here is what is making news in the frozen north.
1. Still working on my final post for the Ally series, hope to have it ready for next Friday.
2. Klasie Kraalogies sent me this from his phone this week. Yup today is forcasted to reach a frigid 38 degrees. Oh, wait, that is in Celcius. Make that 100.4 degrees in American.
Speaking of Americans in Saskatoon, did you hear of the two American ladies who were travelling across Canada by train. As they pulled into one station, the one lady opened the carriage window and called out to a young man on the platform. “Excuse me young man, can you tell us where we are?”
“Saskatoon, Saskatchewan”, he replied.
“Where are we?”, her friend asked her, as the first lady, returned to her seat.
“I have no idea”, she said. “They don’t speak English here!”
3. Public service announcement. If you read the above joke, and pronounced an “a” as an “a” in “Saskatchewan”, you were reading it incorrectly. Phonetically it is pronounced in the province as /səˈskætʃ.ə.wən/. You are welcome.
4. I don’t know if y’all have a leader who tweets, but apparently there are consequences if, as Liberal Prime Minister of Canada, you respond to a leader who does with a tweet of your own: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.” The subsequent flood of responses has raised another question, who pays?
5. Not to be outdone, the Canadian Foreign Minister tweeted this week: “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists.”
The Saudi response to date has not been that muted. They have withdrawn their Ambassador; sent Canada’s Ambassador home; criticized Canada’s own domestic record, especially with indigenous people; suspended purchase of Canadian Barley and Wheat; recalled all Saudi patients, and students from Canada, especially focusing on the 1000 medical residents studying here; cancelled their airline flights to Canada; and are selling off their Canadian investments. Fun fact: two thirds of all Saudi doctors received their training in Canada.
6. But I don’t want to pick on just Liberals. The recently elected Conservative Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has had a whole slate of announcements. He has, in just a few weeks:
- Cancelled a guaranteed income project
- Rolled back a cap and trade program that Ontario was sharing with California and Quebec to help combat climate change
- Rolled back the provinces sex-ed curriculum to the 1998 version. I mean nothing has changed in the world that kids have to be warned about in the last 20 years, right? Smart phone, Google, texting, what’s that? Apparently parents were not consulted enough. No word yet on any plans to consult about the other measures he has brought forward.
- Cancelled a wind farm project
- Brought forward legislation to slash the number of Toronto City Councillors (legislators) from 47 to 25.
- Announced that he was bringing back buck-a-beer! 77 cents American at current exchange rates.
That is some of our highlights from the last little while. As always your thoughts and comments are welcome!
The Internet Monk Archives 
I slept in a tent once where outside the windchill hit -52. Our tent had a little stove in it and I had to refuel outside the tent in the middle of the night. That was not fun.
LikeLike
God be with you, Susan. I’m praying for you.
LikeLike
We’ve been helping the Saudis bomb Yemen for a few years now. Obama did it too. We sell them the bombs, and help them do the targeting. They are none too particular about avoiding killing civilians, children included. Blood has been our hands for a long time. It’s all about selling lots of weapons to the Saudis, and making them beholden to us; our current Occupant is particularly fond of stroking tyrants, and has no qualms about collateral damage from American weapons, wielded either by us or our allies.
LikeLike
Seriously, the temperature swings here are incredible. From the coldest (incl. wind chill) to the hottest I have experienced here is a 93 degree difference (Celsius- in Fahrenheit that is a 167 degree swing).
LikeLike
thanks to that idiot John Bolton
he’s a war monger for sure . . . . it doesn’t matter where . . . . just get on with it
crazy nut
LikeLike
Susan,
I keep thinking of and praying for you and NSW. A drought is a horrible thing, leaving people, animals, and vegetation completely helpless. until the rain comes. I hope there is some rain there in the next few days.
I also pray for swift passage through your Bureaucratic Pilgrimage.
LikeLike
Our local paper, that has treated them with much more grace then I have, report about 250 attendees but does not say where people are from. It has apparently moved from an internet phenomenon to this more mainstream platform. I struggle with the legitimizing of this as have a nephew who has linked up with the local leader.
LikeLike
Opps! Stupid of me.
LikeLike
I hear they have members from all over the globe
LikeLike
The ‘current’ US gov’t has sent out a lot of ‘messages’ to the whole world that have destabilized the international order. Will our nation EVER be trusted again as ‘responsible’? Oh, I hope so. Depends on the coming election(s) and how quickly we can reinforce ourselves as a nation of laws and also as a nation where the ‘checks and balances’ system of government is WORKING. Right now, it isn’t: (see Nunes’ own words as to what he thinks his ‘job’ is).
So far, DT is two for two:
first the babies into cages;
then the schoolchildren bombed
Why hurt children? How cowardly is that? And how VERY VERY UN-AMERICAN. (?)
Dear Lord, I hope this nightmare is over soon.
LikeLike
May the Lord pave your way through the bureaucracy, Susan.
And a small note of thanks to you and NSW for loaning us some of your firefighters to help with our current situation in northern California. I pray they will have an easy time of it in their own fire season back home, and that your drought will be relieved.
Dana
LikeLike
Buck a beer… That’s just the news a lot of 19 year olds in Buffalo and Detroit want to hear. Then they drive back over the bridge sloshed and kill people. But serving what would be underage (in the US) drunks is a money maker for Ontario bars.
LikeLike
The sound of Countries jumping to the defence of Canada – crickets.
LikeLike
Your spelling of Canada is missing an “a”, eh.
LikeLike
It does no good to give people more information if they don’t know how to properly evaluate and use it to begin with.
LikeLike
And in Edmonton, Alberta (Western Cnada) there is a convention for the “Flat Earth Society”. Seriously people seem to be getting stupider than smarter in this information rich world.
LikeLike
“I personally ask for prayers while I work my way through Govt. Mental Health procedures, yet again.”
Please know you’ve got my help, Susan. Let us know if the Gov’t. comes through for you.
LikeLike
Amen.
Thank you for your reply.
LikeLike
Sorry about dodgy formatting.
LikeLike
Susan, I thought of you and your comments here on iMonk when I heard that NSW was 100% in drought. I wish you could have some of our rain. We are sitting on average rainfall figures at the moment and could definitely spare you some.
O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ
hast promised to all those who seek thy kingdom and its
righteousness all things necessary to sustain their life: Send
us, we entreat thee, in this time of need, such moderate rain
and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth, to
our comfort and to thy honor; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
LikeLike
So watch out, Canada — you don’t want to piss off our friends and allies the Saudis, especially as long as we have a President who prefers them to you.
LikeLike
Ah, our friends and allies the Saudis — want to destroy Iran, and want us (the U.S.) to do the job for them. And it looks like we just might.
LikeLike
I am supportive our Canadian friends and their weather conditions. You are such amazing people to live in such difficult weather.
We are forecast snow on Saturday night. I will not drive to Church if there is snow on the roads out of town.
Please send us some real rain.
Our State, New South Wales, in Australia is declared fully in drought. No feed or rain for water for stock or rain for crops. It is tragic.
Pellicano Solitudinis send us some of your rain, please.
I will prune some of my 100 roses before the weather changes to cold tomorrow.
I talk with my Creator as I wander from bush to bush.
I personally ask for prayers while I work my way through Govt. Mental Health procedures, yet again.
I am ‘not crazy’, just need my Clinical Psychologist’s continuing support to keep me on track.
This can be partially supported financially by the Federal Govt.
Bureaucracy always puts its barriers into gaining financial support particularly for mental health.
Blessings to all.
Keep warm or cool depending on your preference.
Susan
LikeLike
Saudi Arabia also just bombed a school bus in Yemen killing at least 29 school children. This is on top of bombing hospitals etc there. Saudi Arabia does not like criticism and it thinks the current US government has given it carte blanche.
LikeLike