Let's get 'broken' Canada on the way to recovery

 Let's get 'broken' Canada on the way to recovery

"I hope that a renewed sense of the sacred will inspire personal humility."

Seven in ten Canadians say they feel the country is ‘broken’. The NDP-Liberal government in Ottawa is ultimately responsible for this. But when problems that reflect the mood are identified, the government says it is just sour Conservatives talking down their own country. In Liberal land, things are not that bad.

Over one-third of Canadians say they are less likely to feel proud to be Canadian compared to just a few years ago. The dark clouds are evident when about three in ten say they did not bother this year to attend a Canada Day event or even display a Canadian flag. Similar proportions say they are less likely to speak well about Canada to those not from Canada, and the general negative sentiment is on the rise.

General inflation (housing, food, and transportation), health care (accessibility and cost), and taxes (from all levels) are some of the top issues of concern.

Surveys reveal that most Canadians agree with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's statement that Canada is broken. He is reflecting the public mood, not inventing it, but reminding us of the obvious and who is mainly responsible.

Pessimism is highest among Canadians between 18 and 34, with 78% believing the country needs fixing. They feel that institutions are broken and we have lost a sense of togetherness.

I believe it is the worst we have seen. People do not feel like they’re succeeding as hoped or expected. The bottom line is that most Canadians feel there is something wrong with our nation, which is divided in many sectors. 

However, I hope that what will come is a renewed sense of purpose and the ideals on which our nation is founded, as a dominion from sea to sea (Psalm 72:8) -defending values that are rooted in the sacred. Each human life is unique, so each must be free to live and express their best for both the self and the community.

I hope that a renewed sense of the sacred will inspire personal humility. It comes from the appreciation that each of us is part of and has a duty for, our communities and nation that is greater than ourselves. The shared perspective can inspire respect, knowing that each one is created in the image of God.

We can end the blame game and ‘cancelling’ of the culture wars. We can inspire everyone to take personal responsibility for a better Canada.

Our sense of the sacred can extend to and include when life is conceived in the womb. We can also rise to more appropriately honour our ‘seniors’ generation’.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” (Abraham Lincoln)

Canada is not just a country; it’s a state of mind. It’s about being kind, polite, and having a sense of humour. Canada is not just a country; it's an idea, and that idea is liberty and personal responsibility.

The honour of carrying the Canadian flag can bring a sense of privilege and great pride. Remember that Canada is not just a place on the map; it is an idea, a vision, and a testament to the power of embracing difference but not preference. Canada is a country that fosters creativity, compassion, and a commitment to justice.

“There can be no dedication to Canada’s future without knowing its past. I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” (John G. Diefenbaker)

If the Liberals have a soul, they should be searching it now

If the Liberals have a soul, they should be searching it now

Given the stunning electoral turnaround in the Toronto St Paul's byelection on June 24, 2024, Trudeau doubled down on his assertion about political survival.  It sounds like Canada will get more of the same from the Liberals for now.  However, the byelection result has opened the door for the usual quieter voices in the Liberal Caucus to go loud.  They might ask about what policy changes they can make.  What can they do in magic policy tricks to change their electoral prospects?  How can the Parliamentary Caucus of Liberal MPs clarify that Trudeau has to go?  Those are the wrong questions, as they avoid the central issue.  Canadian governance in the NDP-Liberal style, has been repudiated.

It is often said that the only accurate poll is election day -well, now we have one.  There may be a few more byelections before the big day next year.  The Toronto contest was widely described as a referendum on Trudeau's leadership; the Liberals knew it and they fought hard.  Many Cabinet Minsters visited the riding to campaign and raise party profile.  Voters were having none of it. 

The Liberal Party's future is now in the hands of Liberal MPs in the Caucus.  Also, how long will the NDP hang in and prop up the losing Liberals?  The NDP vote went down in this byelection.  It is too late for them to pull the plug on their ‘supply agreement’ and escape blame. 

The whole situation reminds me of Matthew 23:25-28  New International Version  25.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  26  Blind Pharisee!  First, clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.  27  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  28  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

The stunning Liberal loss in Toronto-St. Paul's is a seismic shift that will reverberate for weeks.  There are both local and national perspectives.  In the local community, Jewish folk were not happy with the poor antisemitism response by the government arising from the Gaza war.  Additionally, voters from some better-off residential areas were negative about the recent budget change to increase the inclusion rate for capital gains.  The last-ditch change concerning terrorist policy by listing the IRGC as a terrorist group, although welcomed, turned cynical as just too little too late.

Nationally, the cost-of-living crisis has affected everyone, especially rents in the riding.  There is an overarching appetite for political change, and Trudeau fatigue is real. 

Although the winning candidate, Don Stewart, and his team worked hard and did not make mistakes, they were surprised at the win.  Nevertheless, they knew they were doing well in the Liberal stronghold, as on the doorstep, Pierre's Poilievre's message of "Axe the tax.  Build the homes.  Fix the budget.  Stop the crime." resonated.  Voters know the simple phrase represents a deeply considered approach to governance, democracy, and human rights.

After the political earthquake, what does it mean for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre?  There may be even more media trolling on Conservatives, and indeed the negative dirty tricks will increase.  The cadre of social-media anti-conservative subversives will now work overtime.  More "blocking" and "unfriending" may be needed as Facebook Conservatives defend themselves.  Twitter X has already gone insane and is nearly unreadable. 

The legacy media will manufacture more doubt and controversy about the "cold-cruel and small" Conservatives, as the Deputy Prime Minister said of Canadians.  In response, voters rejected the whole high-minded NDP-Liberal cabal.  

One can hope beyond hope that the Toronto Star would either go broke or clean out its editorial rooms.  Can the legacy media generate a healthful national conversation about what can be improved, changed, cleaned out, and built?  Can Conservatives more truly be described as bringing hope rather than fear, and administrative accountability rather than another scandal? 

Instead of the government having a million reasons and laws why one cannot do something or go somewhere, freedom and personal dignity need to flourish.  Recall that several truck convoys and other democratic displays of disgust that arose over the past years arose for real reasons. 

Will the surprise electoral win wake up the country?  Backroom conversations among Liberal MPs must now spill out.  The speculative polls about Liberals have been confirmed as accurate.  The Prime Minister and his insiders can no longer spin myth-making for their Caucus.

The Liberal Party was repudiated at the polls.  The policies they are driving are not resonating.  Yet we have heard from the prime minister and all the government defenders, that they must listen better and be more empathetic to what voters are saying.  The Prime Minister says that he shares the voter's pain and frustrations, but he does not apologize that he made their pain.

There was no admission from Cabinet Ministers that being Liberal 'Canadian style' is a rejected and dismissed ideology.  Their disgraced way of thinking has produced behaviours, policies, and administration that have been corrupt, immoral, mercenary, and narcissistic.  Underneath all the Liberal political word salad, what is being rejected in 2024 is the Canadian version of leftie ideology and the social and economic devastation that it has brought to Canada. 

Liberals have deceived themselves into thinking they need better communication and empathizing with voters' wishes.  They believe the problem is that their wonderfulness is not understood or appreciated.  They just need to feel the voter's pain and frustration to overcome the Liberal unlikability and trust gap of the Prime Minister's entourage. 

While Cabinet Ministers say that the byelection outcome was a wake-up call, does anyone expect that suddenly they will become truth-tellers?  Will the thousands of hidden documents and secret payoff deals be divulged?  In their smug pirouetting, they think it's the voter who needs to change, not the NDP-Liberals.  The issue is not a communication exercise gone wrong, as more reflecting and listening won’t do it. 

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed the inner dead soul of the Trudeau Liberals.  She said on national television, that those voting Conservative would be voting for a vision of Canada that is cold and cruel and small, and who are in favour of cuts and austerity, not believing in ourselves as a country, not believing in our communities and in our neighbours.  It was pugnacious but also revelatory.

The Liberal self-deception disease was on full display.  It is the notions of the self-anointed self-congratulatory justification for social policy. 

There is a blind and arrogant vision of Canadian Liberalism that views political opponents and contrarians as unworthy, who do not possess their Liberal gnosticism (special insider knowledge).

In Toronto-St. Paul's, when put to the test, which allowed voters to express themselves in a secret ballot, there were enough citizens who spoke up and said they had enough of Liberal arrogance.

After nine years of lurching from scandal to scandal, breaking the Bank, and undermining Parliament itself, many believe it’s time for a change at the ballot box.

When such a full tide is on the move, an incumbent Prime Minister and Party cannot reverse it. Trudeau's problem is that many Canadians have stopped listening and don't want to converse with him or the Party.

The bottom line is not about whether Trudeau will quit, but when.  Liberal policy credibility is in a shambles.  This is not just about an ‘unqualified actor’, as there are now dozens of Liberal MPs whose seats are destined to be lost.  It is obvious to reason that if a downtown Toronto riding stronghold can turn Conservative, then the entire metro region of Toronto could change. 

If Trudeau calls it quits, the Conservatives can muster the same reality criticism that put them over the top on Monday.  It is about both the self-deluded personalities and the myths they peddle.  Whoever takes over would have a monumental hill to climb.  The story of Kim Campbell is the lesson.

 

Moral Obligation to Remember.

 

Eighty years ago, on the morning of June 6, 1944, Allied forces staged an enormous assault on German positions on the beaches of Normandy, France.  The invasion (Operation Overlord) is known by the famous nickname "D-Day".  The letter "D" was a redundancy that meant "big day," but also decision, departure, disembarkation, and doomsday.  Canada commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy this year.

In the politics of remembrance, there is the belief that there is a moral obligation to remember.  The meaning of remembrance varies because each person's experience or connection to war differs.

For the post-veteran generations, remembrance involves learning about historical facts and trying to comprehend the what, how, and why so that remembering remains relevant.  Visiting sites of war memory, such as the Normandy region of France, can help historical facts come alive in the imagination.

Standing in the footsteps of soldiers can trigger reflections, including the horror of the bloody violence of war, the why, the courage, the camaraderie, and the sacrifice for liberty and freedom.  As part of the commemoration experience, people may think about what they would do if they had to do what our Canadian heroes did for us.

Commemorating with other nationalities is important in Normandy to recall the brave forces and those who were liberated.  It is also part of the necessary journey to reconcile the past with former enemies.

While nationalism and pride in a country may rise by remembering, there also are sites of war memory that are empty of meaning, leaving only the emotion of senseless loss, cruelty, and the call for humanity and peace.

I recall several places in Normandy that I visited where Canadian prisoners of war who had surrendered under the rules of war were systematically murdered while in detention.  These histories are profound and gut-wrenching.  The time spent there allowed me to break out of any detached myth of war.

On June 7, dozens of Canadians of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the 27th Canadian Armoured Regiment were taken prisoner following heavy fighting around the village of Authie.  The Germans transported their prisoners to the nearby Abbaye d'Ardenne, an ancient stone church where Colonel Kurt Meyer, one of the 12th SS commanders, had set up his headquarters after D-Day.  Later that night, 11 of the Canadian prisoners of war were taken into the Abbaye's garden and shot.  The following day, seven more POWs, all North Nova Scotia Highlanders, were taken outside the Abbaye and shot.

On June 8, 64 other Canadians, including several dozen members of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, were taken prisoner during fighting near the village of Putot-en-Bessin.  The prisoners were marched to the Château d'Audrieu, a Normandy estate confiscated by officers of the 12th SS.  Later that day, 45 of the Canadians were murdered on the grounds of the Château.

Precisely how many Canadian POWs were executed by the Germans during the Battle of Normandy has never been established.  The point of the atrocities is that these were executions that occurred long after the local battles were over.  Canada's Veterans Affairs says up to 156 or more Canadian soldiers were illegally murdered in scattered groups in various pockets of the Normandy countryside.

At the Abbaye d'Ardenne, a memorial in the garden where 18 executions took place is frequently covered in small maple leaf flags left by Canadian visitors to the site.

"They are gone but not forgotten," says the memorial inscription.

Remembrance can be an emotional experience and a force for healing, reconciling, and unifying, and it is also something that needs to be done at home.

Canada's free privilege to politically rant and call out the government for its mistakes without fear of arrest was paid for by our young of past generations.  If it is possible to travel to Europe, every Canadian should plan a particular time to visit the Vimy Memorial to remember WW1.  Then, one must experience the Canadian Juno Beach Centre on the beach in Normandy and the Memorial de Caen Museum.

The consequence of WW2 brought perhaps 60 million dead.  Nazi Germany behaved following their cultural, political, and economic ideas.  We must always examine Canadian ideas and values.  We must also remember the broader significance of D-day and keep June 6 forever in our memory.

Historical commemorations pay a debt of gratitude to those who have died fighting to protect our way of life and our values.

Remembrance helps bring our political communities closer together and strengthens the bonds of citizenship.

Commemoration can remind people of the follies of national emotions being whipped up into fervor or used to support unjust practices, such as Putin’s national speeches to bolster support for military aggression.

What are the moral reasons for remembering wars and their dead?

In a way of thinking, national borders and political communities are irrelevant regarding our rights and duties to the human race.  Remembrance is justified when it helps us realize the universal moral significance of all human life.  Commemorating events like the Holocaust or the two world wars can help.

Respect for remembrance can help us avoid conflict in the future by shining the light of history on the darker aspects of our human nature.   War often reflects the worst of what we are capable of doing to one another.  Reflection can serve as a reminder of the horrors of war and help us keep in view the moral requirement not to senselessly sacrifice life.

Historical study is used to discover the constant principles of human nature, keep the worst of human nature in check, and avoid war.  The history of war reveals how we get into conflicts, why we keep fighting them, and what we do to justify the cruelty and destruction.   So, good history helps humanize the past by telling individual personal stories and engaging our empathy so we may never forget the moral tragedy of war.

Humanity has become smarter but not wiser, understanding the evolution from the sword and spear to modern missiles and “the bomb.” Human nature has not changed despite our technology.

History can allow us to see clearly and tame some of the monsters inside us.  While we recognize the depravity of war, we must remember that there may be, at times, compelling moral reasons for fighting.

As long as justice and injustice have not ended the fight for ascendancy, human beings must be willing to battle for one against the other.  Some have said that war is always a matter of doing evil in the hope that good may come from it.

When we consider the past, such as the larger meaning of June 6, take a moment to reflect not only on those who have died fighting for us but also on those who died fighting against us — the horrors experienced by all and what we can do to avoid a future horror.

A broader understanding can teach us much about ourselves, lest we forget.

Canada In Peril

It seems each generation is called upon to defend hard-won freedoms and basic democracy.  The worst aspects of human nature keep rising, especially among those with bent ideas.  The adversaries are very right in their own eyes and will go to unusual lengths to impose their hurtful ideas on others.  We must educate ourselves about historic truth, and remember and celebrate the good while recognizing the enemy.

First, we must admit problems exist.  We don't like to admit it, but Canada has real enemies who mean us real harm.  Worse, most Canadians have no idea of the ideological dangers that threaten us, let alone the missiles already aimed at major Canadian centres.

Some recent immigrants understand this better than we do, having recently fled both ideology and physical threats.  But Canadians live as though we're innocent bystanders to the rest of the world's troubles.  We must prepare each new generation to defend itself against the next inevitable political-religious assault that will come.

Indeed, it has already begun.  The social disorder and conflict seen in our streets and universities are evidence of the active undermining of Canada's cultural and intellectual foundations.  History shows that past empires fall from internal decay, magnified by outside hostile influences.

Marxist extremes never go away as they just get rebranded.  The current DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) fad from corporate trainers is an example.  DEI teaching falsely claims to promote fair treatment and full participation for all people, as particular groups say they have been historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability.

Although DEI is best known as a form of corporate training, it has also found its way into academia, schools, and the medical system.  Millions have been spent on this insidious fad.  Yet, it has done nothing to improve our social world.  Instead, it has poisoned intellectual discourse and undermined free speech and academic freedom.  For good reason, it has been called cultural Marxism.

One could make a case study out of BC's adoption of the acid Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum, developed by the education ministry.  Introduced in 2016 by the then BC Liberals (now BC United) it is administered province-wide, although teachers could customize lesson plans as they saw fit.

The results were often age-inappropriate or just odious propaganda.  Naïve provincial politicians had no clue of the sexually deceptive agenda they had just accepted.  It was said to make schools feel safe for everyone, regardless of how one expressed their gender.  It declared itself against discrimination.

However, in the hands of those implementing it, nice-appearing surface jargon became a pipeline for social malevolence.  Many parents were horrified to learn it was an ideological Trojan horse.  In defense of their children, parents made it a big political issue in the hope that the next government would get rid of it.

It is often the young who are targeted, in an attempt to bend malleable minds using the power imbalance between student and teacher.  Those doing so, first use hard-won freedoms to make the case for every debilitating social vice under the guise of anti-discrimination.  Then the freedoms are gradually dispensed with and traditional goodness is replaced by a new order and a new age of totalitarian politically correct groupthink.

The remedy however, is not to overthrow our educational structures, but for the community to carefully monitor what is taught. 

Using an extreme case to illustrate the principle, National Socialism in Germany festered in the context of the Russian Revolution and the Marxist provocations in that society.  The activities of the radical left were no justification for the overreaction, but was an element responsible for the 'Mein Kampf response.'   Extremism and lies breed more of the same.

Public education is a delegated trust, and within a broad spectrum, there must be transparency and accountability.

Good government can become better, but poor government always descends from bad to worse.  In Canada, that is where we are today.

We are challenged by offshore ideas, agents, and countries that abhor the traditional Canadian version of human rights, freedom, and democracy.  To our peril, we don’t want to think about it, but we must.  There are real conflicts with real tactics at the local community, national, and international levels.

Going beyond describing problems, one has to know what our desired normal is.  Most Canadians have concluded that our present NDP-Liberal government is not the normal we should have for our cultural and economic health.  Conservatism in 2024 is the proper response, but we must remember what it is, and not what non-Conservatives malevolently misrepresent.

For example, in a speech to a gathering of law enforcement officers, Pierre Poilievre said he was prepared to consider a social defense of last resort to use the whole law which includes the "Notwithstanding Clause" if found necessary to defend the Criminal Code from a damaging court ruling.  In response, non-conservatives set their hair on fire, claiming the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was under threat and the Conservative Leader had shown himself to be an anti-human rights demagogue.

Conservatism seeks the truth that has emerged over time, drawing from the deep wellsprings of human experience and building on proven foundations.  It fosters order and the flourishing of human beings as they live in benevolent relationships with one another.  There is respect and a contract between ancestors, the living, and the yet-unborn.

Conservatives are not hard ideologues and blindly partisan advocates or impractical idealists and theorists.  In contrast, the conservative mindset does not mainly seek to oust but to include.  Anyone can destroy, but who can build?  It is a conservative social project to build, renew, sustain, and create through cooperation rather than coercion.

Conservatism is rooted in the acknowledgment that God is our Creator and that the human soul sojourns through this realm toward its eternal transcendent fulfillment.  We are flawed human beings in need of redemption, and capable of great evil as well as great good.  As humankind is fallible by nature, the conservative seeks to limit the damage done through the abuse of power by limiting its concentration.  The conservative fosters the fullness of human potential by protecting the freedom and dignity of each person, acknowledging that freedom comes with responsibilities, as rights and duties are linked.  Everyone is accountable.

For the conservative, each person is equal in dignity and before the law, but gloriously individual and unequal in talents, aptitudes, and outcomes.  The conservative celebrates the uniqueness of individuals and does not level to eliminate differences, yet intervenes against injustice.

The conservative honours the family as the essential building block of civilization.  Conservatives value the rich diversity of relationships, organizations, and private associations that make up civil society.

The conservative is more concerned with culture than politics because the political realm is a derivative.  Political problems arise from the root of moral and spiritual problems, which blend into the economic realm.  Conservatives believe that caring for our neighbor is so important that it should not be left to the government alone.  The bureaucracies of government cannot love.  That is why there is a preference for the private sector, with our own time, talent, and treasure.  The best way to resist the problems of big government is to do a better job with small government.

In the current Canadian dilemma, a partial answer is found in the principles of the Conservative Party of Canada Constitution.

It begins with a belief in a balance between fiscal responsibility, compassionate social policy that empowers the less fortunate by promoting self-reliance and equality of opportunity, and the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families, and free associations.  The doubters and cynics have never read the Conservative Party Constitution and also their instructive Policy Declaration document.

But a more complete answer would acknowledge that Conservatives believe there is truth and that truth is knowable.  They believe the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance should be practiced in both private and public life.  Virtues, not temporary values, define the human soul.

Love is the highest motivation of the human person, and the purpose of life itself is to know God, to love Him and serve Him, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Our ultimate fulfillment is in the transcendence of love, so well put by the Lord Jesus Himself, when he was asked what was the greatest commandment:

"37 Love the Eternal One your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.  38 This is the first and greatest commandment.  39 And the second is nearly as important, Love your neighbor as yourself.  40 The rest of the law, and all the teachings of the prophets, are but variations on these themes." (Matt. 22: 37-40, The Voice.)

Liberal budget overtaken by interest obligation

 

Liberal budget overtaken by interest obligation

The sad case of Canada’s finances continues.  The Trudeau Liberals need to borrow $8.9 billion more than already budgeted by March 31, with the biggest need of $3.2 billion extra over previous estimates, to pay rising interest on the federal debt.

The government had previously denied parliamentarians these numbers, but they now show in Treasury Board President Anita Anand's Supplementary Estimates.  Apart from the finance charges — the single largest item — the extra money goes to indigenous health care and some military expenses.

But the extra spending will push the government’s overall spending for the 2023/24 fiscal year to $496.6 billion, an increase of $13.5 billion, and almost 3% over the previous fiscal year.  The new spending requests, known formally as the Supplementary Estimates, 2023-2024 were tabled on February 15 in the House of Commons.

It is more than just numbers though, bad as they are.  It represents the Liberals' irresponsible beliefs and philosophy about Canada.  Canada’s economic plight is reviewed in a report by Jake Fuss and Grady Munro of the Fraser Institute.

They show how budget deficits and increasing debt have become serious fiscal challenges facing the federal and provincial governments.  Since 2007/08, combined federal and provincial net debt (inflation-adjusted) has nearly doubled from $1.18 trillion to a projected $2.18 trillion in 2023/24.

Between 2019/20 (the last year before COVID) and 2023/24, the combined federal-provincial debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to grow from 65.7% to 76.2%.  Moreover, the federal and provincial governments are on track to have collectively accumulated $425.8 billion (inflation-adjusted) in total net debt between 2019/20 and 2023/24, an increase of 24.3%.  The federal net debt-to-GDP ratio has grown from 32.7% to 46.5%.

Interest payments are a consequence of debt accumulation.  Governments must make interest payments on their debt similar to households that must pay interest on borrowing related to mortgages, vehicles or credit card spending.  Revenues directed towards interest payments mean that in the future there will be less money available for tax cuts or government programs such as health care, education and social services.  Economists call it “crowding out”.

Growing government debt is therefore a big problem.  Studies have found that there is a negative relationship between government debt and economic growth.  Government debt has a significant effect on private investment. Long-term interest rates rise in response when government debt expands, which increases the cost of borrowing in the private sector.

Higher borrowing costs reduce the incentive for private capital investment such as the housing sector.  Declining investment levels pose a challenge to Canada’s ability to enhance productivity.  It reduces future economic performance.  Growing debt causes governments to raise taxes to pay debt or borrow more (Supplementary Estimates) to meet their interest payments, which in turn impedes economic growth.

Interest payments (debt servicing costs) are a consequence of repeated annual deficit budgets.  Like households, governments are required to pay interest on their borrowed money.  Revenue directed towards interest payments leaves less money available for government programs such as health care, education, social services or tax relief.  It is known as “crowding out”.

The debt burden for families made by governments across Canada has been growing substantially for more than a decade.  Sadly, spending and debt accumulation have become the norm for the federal and many provincial governments.

Rising government debt has severe consequences for Canadians, as more and more resources are directed toward interest payments and away from programs that help families or improve Canada’s economic competitiveness.  Since we are now past the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal and provincial governments should have plans to meaningfully address the problem of government debt in Canada.

Since the Trudeau administration came to power in November 2015, they have never balanced a budget. Given the recent Supplementary Estimates, it is clear they never will.  There is no adult to be found anywhere in the Prime Minister's Office.

Canada is a big NATO 'fail'

 

Canada is a big NATO 'fail'

Julianne Smith, US Ambassador to NATO, calls out Canada's Trudeau government for not only not reaching its NATO spending commitment, but not even having a plan to do so.

Canada is the only NATO member without a timeline to reach the alliance's target of spending 2% of GDP on defense.  This, according to the US ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Julianne Smith calls out Trudeau and says Canada needs to step up and get serious about reaching the spending goal that we promised, of 2% of GDP for general military spending, to ensure that Canada is a fully-functioning partner in NATO.  All other 30 countries have either met the promise or have tabled clear plans to get there.  The outlier — the only one — is the Trudeau administration.

This prime minister's lack of a plan or even a plan to have a plan, reveals a profound and distressing lack of the commitment that our allies want to see.  “We very much want our friends in Canada to keep moving towards the 2% target, but most importantly, we want them to lay out a plan to get there.”  Smith added that it is important to recognize that collective security is not free and it requires everyone to “make tough choices.”  A clear timeline shows intent.

“Just saying in more broad terms that you're working towards it, lacks the commitment that we want to see on the part of our friends in Canada.”  She recognizes Canada's recent spending announcements — including increasing funding for NORAD, plans to purchase F-35 fighter jets and an increased presence in Latvia — “but inching just above 1.3% is a long way from 2%."

“Every single member of this alliance has its own domestic politics,” Smith said. “It has its own history.  It has its own complicated relationship between the finance minister and the defense minister.  We all face unique challenges in this area of defense spending."

Julianne Smith is an American foreign policy advisor and diplomat who serves as the United States Permanent Ambassador to NATO in the Biden administration.  She previously served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration.

NATO members signed on more than a decade ago to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense.  Last summer, at the alliance’s annual meeting, members increased that commitment to have the 2% become a minimum requirement.

And earlier this month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that of the alliance's 31 members, 18 will reach or exceed the defense spending target this year. By inference, Canada is the laggard.  The NATO secretary-general expects Canada to give a timeline to meet the defense spending target.

NATO, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance of 31 member states — 29 European and two North American.  Established in the aftermath of the Second World War, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, on April 4, 1949.

NATO is a collective security system: its independent member countries agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties.  During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union.  The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.  The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber (Latin for 'a mind unfettered in deliberation').

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty requires NATO members to come to the military aid of any member subject to an armed attack.  It was invoked for the first time after the September 11 twin-tower attacks, after which troops were deployed to Afghanistan under the NATO-led ISAF.  The organization has operated a range of additional roles since then, including sending trainers to Iraq, assisting in counter-piracy operations and in 2011, enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya by a UN Security Council Resolution.  There has been a reinvigoration of attention to NATO since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Despite nice-sounding reassurances from Canada that we will eventually get there, NATO membership is not an “A La Carte Menu.”  Canada has never met its promised target of 2% spending of our national Gross Domestic Product.  Such a measure is a partnership commitment based on the ability to pay.

Trudeau claims they are increasing help to Ukraine but the numbers don't reflect it.  Ukraine needs more outside help.  They are fighting for us, as every Western democracy is affronted by Putin's view of the world.

In most basic terms, it is a horrible bloody contest between the expansion of dictatorship against free independent democracy.  The lesson is that Canada needs to raise defense spending, as NATO members warn, “never take peace for granted.”  Putin must understand, that he is never going to eliminate Ukraine and the security of Europe is the theme.

We are being called out by our allies.  We have deep internal problems of things to fix.  Canada seems unprepared in a changing world.  For example, we should improve and enlarge our navy because of our vast coasts.  NORAD needs technology upgrades.  North American Aerospace Defense Command is a combined organization of the US and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty and protection for Canada and the continental United States.

Canada's problem is political leadership.  Our other social priorities are only viable if we are safe. Canada is a member of the G7.  Canada is the second largest landmass country in the world with a vast coastline, so it matters what Canada does.

During a press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Stoltenberg’s comments, saying Canada will “continue to put forward our budgets and our proposals at the appropriate time.”

“We will continue to be there to step up with our NATO partners," he said, without specifying whether the federal government has a timeline in mind to meet the spending promise.

Despite denials, Canada has stopped issuing export permits to companies looking to sell military equipment to Israel, according to John Ivison of the National Post. Apparently, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's office has issued instructions to the staff at Global Affairs Canada to delay issuing permits that are required for weapons, firearms and components that could have military use.

Concerning sending Canadian funds into a war zone, from documents and identity cards seized during the fighting, about 190 Hamas and PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) terrorist operatives served as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) employees. 

More than 10 UNRWA staffers took part in the attack on October 7.  The UNRWA is a UN agency that supports the relief of Palestinian refugees.  When the allegations were made, Canada suspended its funding, and then soon reinstated it.

Canada sent another $40 million in aid to organizations in the Gaza Strip after pausing funding to the UN's relief agency.  The funding top-up brings the total commitment to $100 million and condemns "inflammatory rhetoric" from the Israeli government about UNRWA people attacking Israel.

It appears more of saying one thing and doing another.  Trudeau says we support NATO and efforts in Ukraine, but the real numbers are not there.  We support Israel to defend itself, then work at cross-purpose behind the scenes.

Does this government have any sense of honour to fulfill our promises to our allies?

Somebody needs to resign

Somebody needs to resign

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc got the prime Ministerial hug when he was sworn in as House Leader.  That Minister or Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, must accept responsibility for the ArriveCAN debacle and resign their position.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was obvious that contracting rules were not followed for the ArriveCan online application.  His well-rehearsed lines about the scandal tried to explain and rationalize that in the early days of the government’s COVID-19 panic, everything was in question.

It's easy for him to say that now, but even in difficult times there is a need to follow rules.  He further talked about how there are ongoing investigations and that there will be consequences for public servants who did not abide by the rules.  He was not aggressively questioned on the matter.

Not so fast.  Highly skilled and well-paid public employees did just not all of a sudden lose their brains.  Had they become part of the Liberal culture, where accountability was not even considered?  Were existing professional rules and procedures ignored, and 'getting it done' on behalf of the Trudeau team was what mattered?  In short, had the political neutrality of public service professionalism evaporated?

In my parliamentary experience, I cannot recall any instance in which a run-of-the-mill $80,000 job escalated to a million dollars, let alone $60 million — and nobody up the ladder questioned it?  Something was going on.

Let's recap.  The federal government launched ArriveCan in April 2020 to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the pandemic, and to digitize customs and immigration declarations.  The app was then used to discriminate against people and rule by decree over the free movement of citizens.

Canada's Auditor General has now reported what she calls a glaring disregard for fundamental management and contracting practices, as ArriveCan was implemented. She also said the government's use of sole-sourced external contractors, which generally is against the rules, was partly responsible for the escalating costs.

Overall, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada repeatedly failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, development and implementation of the ArriveCAN application.

Use of ArriveCAN was discontinued in October 2022.  However, the government now has a lot of data on Canadians travelers' contact and health information.  Who is looking after that now?  Who is protecting the security and privacy of the defunct computer program?  It's a serious legitimate question.

Auditor General Karen Hogan found the CBSA's documentation, financial records and controls so poor that she was unable to determine ArriveCAN's precise cost, and in the June 2022 update it was revealed that around 10,000 travelers were wrongly instructed to quarantine.  And these people have our private information?

One last thing.  Who is really responsible?  At the onset of the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was the excuse that the government departments did not have the skills and resources needed to develop the application. Therefore, somebody — a Minister, presumably Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, under whose umbrella CBSA falls, and upon the advice of civil servants — decided to choose external contractors.

That decision, as well as continued reliance on these external resources without conventional oversight appears to be part of the inflated cost of ArriveCAN.  We may never know.  The evidence trail and the identities of the people responsible were quickly buried once it appeared that the scam was going public.  Appears like a cover up.

Civil servants may advise and undertake the work.  But they do so under the authority of an elected official — in this case the Minister.  Meanwhile, the job of the elected official — the Minister — is to ensure that the work is done and the public trust is not abused.  That's the system.  That's how it is supposed to work.  But manifestly, that's not what happened.

In a media scrum, Prime Minister Trudeau could not deny the obvious of the scandal, but demurred when it was suggested that he take responsibility for the mess. "We need to make sure that there is accountability and transparency around that," he said.  For once, I agree with him. And if a civil servant broke the law, there should be fitting consequences.  

Nevertheless, it was the Minister's responsibility to see that the law was not broken.  So which Minister is going to acknowledge the failure, accept responsibility and in the interests of 'accountability and responsibility' actually resign — in the manner that 'our system' is supposed to work?

Ministers are responsible to Parliament for the conduct of their Ministry.  The legal standing of Ministerial responsibility is based on the oath taken by each Minister upon becoming a member of the Privy Council Ministers, and historical rules.

This responsibility includes the Minister’s own conduct, but it also extends to the departments under their purview and all actions taken by civil servants.  In case of wrongdoing, the Minister can be called on to take action to correct the situation, to apologize, and even resign from Cabinet.  Ministers are politically responsible for their civil servants.  A Minister can’t just blame the bureaucracy and walk away.  The current debacle is clearly a case where the Minister is duty bound to resign.

 

Outlook 2024

 

Outlook 2024: The Culture Wars Will Go On

What does 2024 hold for Canadians?  There is the economy.  For most of us, that means, "Do I have a job?" and "Does it pay enough?".  Seniors on fixed incomes struggle with rising costs.

There is tax.  We pay a lot of it.  We despair as we know our government does not wisely and fairly manage our tax dollars.  There will be no tax cuts in 2024.

Young people at the stage of leaving home don't imagine owning a home or having a family, as did their parents' generation, because we have entered the new economy of 2024 and things don't seem to point that way anymore.

Economically, the New Year means understanding new, emerging financial trends. Since the Bank of Canada's interest rate acts like a thermostat for how hot the economy and inflation run, the current 5% central rate is going to stay around for quite a while to moderate the consequences of the Liberal’s bad spending habits.  Many Canadians will be required to renew their mortgages in 2024 at higher interest rates, forcing them to cut back on expenses elsewhere.  Some will be forced to sell.  There will be payment shock for many.

Meanwhile, average Canadians will continue to bear the cost while the government repeats the tired old political shibboleth, "We have your back."  Socially, our society seems to be at war with itself.  It's almost a contest to denounce one another for the latest invented social misdemeanor.  Everyone else must be politically correct, while those who shout the loudest and call down others have little accountability.

We hear “diversity is our strength”, a slippery phrase indeed that is used to open the door of permission for every excess imaginable.  The tried and true, “unity is our strength to face adversity,” has been replaced like unfashionable clothes, dumped in the bin.

And there's modern technology.  The Internet and social media have great benefits, hope, and promise. We all now carry a cell phone which is our personal computer, connecting us to the world of both opportunity and degradation.  But social media has unleashed the dark side of human nature, where every sin imaginable is advertised, where conspiracies are invented each week, and so-called news is distrusted and discounted as propaganda.

And here's the bad news: As the Canadian culture war continues, nothing will change in 2024.  Alas, humanity has been here before.  We recall the “society of lies” that was the daily existence in the old Soviet Union.  No one dared speak the truth for fear of social and economic consequences.  We are aware of the layered social discourse within a dictatorship, where everyone lies and special information is its currency, to be traded and manipulated for one’s survival.

Pravda (Truth) in the USSR was the most pervasive lying newspaper in history.  But in Canada during the year to come, we will see a continuation in that downward direction, where traditional news media organizations increasingly rely on government financial largesse and become even less trusted by citizens.

The cacophony of the newsy independents will mix truth with speculation and expand their private followers (subscribers) who regurgitate their bias, excluding most non-conforming opinions.  People will pay to hear what they want to hear.

Canada in 2024 will also struggle with national unity.  The deluge of information or social noise will cause some to withdraw and cocoon to a more comfortable social zone that seems comprehensible.  It could be observed as the modern style of tribalism, where an identifiable group becomes somewhat isolated and autonomous, where outsiders have little awareness of their neighbour’s social world.

Politicians will seek out every obscure group to establish an apparent special connection.  There will be more 'special days,' 'commemorative weeks,' and 'theme months' proclaimed by the political class, to the degree that few will pay any attention. This 'divide-then-claim' will increase in 2024.

At the international level, the World Economic Forum will continue to promote “The Great Reset Agenda” where the self-righteous will deride Canadian governance.

Additionally, COP (Conference of the Parties) is an international political climate meeting held each year by the United Nations, designed to cajole nations to prevent supposed human-caused interference with the climate.  COP29 climate talks in 2024 will be in a city where one of the world’s first oil fields developed 1,200 years ago: Baku, Azerbaijan.  The focus is to eliminate fossil fuels.  Protests and civil engagement will take center stage, in a nation with restrictions on free speech, and Canada will have to deal with the infuriation of this spectacle.

And so, 2024 will be a year of choice for Canadians.  Our personal hopes as well as our national character will be challenged.  In 2024, democracy will be under attack.  The system of government that allows people to choose their leaders and hold them accountable is facing pressures around the world.  Many countries are having elections, with four that could have a global impact.

The most watched will be the presidential race in the United States.  Another key election will be in India, the world's largest democracy.  The impact of these elections on geopolitics, and global business will be enormous, shaping the priorities of some of the world's largest and most influential economies.

Taiwan will continue to be a flashpoint for US-China relations with the its election challenging China.  The election in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country and a rising economic power will be a test of its democratic resilience and its role in Southeast Asia.  The impact of these elections on geopolitics and society will be enormous.

The slowdown in China, the world’s second-largest economy and the largest trading partner of many countries and regions will be a 2024 concern.  China is facing multiple problems such as an aging population, high unemployment among younger workers, declining productivity, and environmental and real estate crises.

In 2024, democracy will be under stress, as authoritarian leanings will seek to make a mark in upcoming elections in response to poor governance.  Populist movements will challenge the malaise of established institutions.  The global economy will face multiple uncertainties.

“Peace, order and good government” is our national guidepost.  It is our historical definition of how Canadians see ourselves, both personally and for our nation.  It is the Canadian counterpart to the American “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and the French “liberty, equality, fraternity.”

In 2024, we will likely have the opportunity to choose “good government” to replace the present dismal failure at the national level.  We must learn the good governance of self, while we choose our national destiny.  We must put our personal lives in order, to better face life’s adversity, as we demand order rather than hypocrisy from our leaders.

Peace in 2024 may seem elusive.  Some seek personal peace and satisfaction through self-indulgence or substance abuse.  We also observe those who have little inner peace, are the ones who disturb the public peace.  With wars and rumours of war, the world needs peace.  Blessed are the peacemakers.  We understand real peace is more than the absence of conflict or cultural noise.  It is a presence deep within.

Writing to his youthful follower Timothy nearly 2,000 years ago, the great Apostle Paul said, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)

So, we must put our personal lives in order and choose wisely, so that we may engage the challenges of 2024.

 

Christian spiritual viewpoint about war

 

At Christmas, a Christian spiritual viewpoint about war

Christmas is a season that may not have much joy or optimism for some.  There seems to be war everywhere.  But our angst and internal turmoil over present wars is a spiritual issue.  Let us consider the big picture.

God created the universe and then gradually began creating Earth as a special place for his ultimate creation, the human race.  Humanity was made to have some God-like qualities in His image, of free choice and morality, created right in front of God’s adversary.

The fallen Lucifer has always been against God’s beauty and His creation, especially living souls.

After the sinful choice made by humanity through disobedience, there came human awareness of good and evil — blessing and calamity.  Then God’s eventual plan of restoration was foretold in Genesis 3:15. “Her Seed; He shall fatally bruise your head and you shall only bruise His heel.”

This was the Christmas announcement, the prophecy about the Messiah Jesus, who through His birth, death, and resurrection would ultimately defeat Satan, the power behind the serpent, with a death blow.  Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given; And the government shall be upon His shoulder, And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The selection of Jews as God’s reconnection pathway with His human creation was an affront to Lucifer.  Consequently, the eternal spiritual battle and wars of retaliation arose from evil to smear and destroy the living souls of God’s creation, especially the Jews.  The story of the power of darkness and negativity, warring against the God of light, optimism, and grace, has existed from the very beginning as described in the Tora.

Along the way, Lucifer was against the eternal plan of redemption of the human race that his evil had temporarily wounded, by trying to kill Christ the Redeemer.  King Herod’s murder of children was one failed attempt.  The resurrection of Jesus was evil’s final spiritual defeat.

Consequently, the spiritual war was then to deceive as many as possible to keep them away from joining God’s family through Christ, by using imposters.  Lucifer has used many agent usurpers to keep souls spiritually blind and away from God, sometimes appearing as fake pretenders.  False religions were invented by Lucifer using willing human agents, to prevent souls from re-joining God’s family.  The spiritual war has been played out down through the centuries. The murderous evil of Islamic Hamas is just the latest. 

But persecution against God’s children is also being significantly perpetrated right now in India, China, Russia, as well as anywhere that Islam has political control.  Even in regions where God's own has some dominance — Canada being an example — evil is perpetuated by false agents to divide and divert away from the redemption of truth.  If organizations are not authentically Christian, and some falsely pretend that they are, they have nothing to do with God and are just mere social organizations, such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, United Church of Canada, New Age, Unification Church, Christian Science, Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, etc. 

Although Canada has seen dark Christmas days in the past — such as during the two world wars of the last century — Canada is now experiencing something different — an internal cultural war. 

Observe, for example, the complaints about the discriminatory meaning of Christmas and the varied and subtle ways that the Christ of Christmas will be maligned, diverted, and subverted.  The evil walking about in society is especially noticeable since the invention of social media.

A basic understanding comes when one retrospectively appreciates at a deeper level, that war, and especially the battle against Hitler and the USSR was a spiritual one.

One can have moral clarity.  Much of what happens has a spiritual force behind it, for both good and evil.  This is the Christian understanding of our existence.  It was the spiritual power of moral choice given at creation.  If one does not support God’s long-term direction for humankind, as well as personally and privately participate in God’s redemption plan through Christ, then one has already assigned and defined oneself as spiritually dwelling in the enemy camp.

Major battles and wars have at their core the motivations of evil against good.  Every person makes their choice on which side they are living, and in which camp they choose to dwell.  At the end of our life on earth, we will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well we handled what God entrusted within us.

The key is to choose to live the full meaning of Christmas which is “Immanuel God with us” Isaiah 7:14. (Christmas)  Ephesians 6:12:  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  As the Bible says, "We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone."  "No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places."  "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere."

We must understand that everything in our reality has a spiritual basis.  Our Universe and everything in it comes from God’s creative hand.  Such basic understanding was the reason for the explanation of beginnings in Genesis 1.  Genesis places existence in perspective, reminding us where all things come from  -God.  It is not a scientific detailed revelation, but rather a spiritual revelation that the mechanics of the existence of all matter and life itself come from God.

Interestingly, the book of John begins with a deliberate echo of the creation story in Genesis.  It takes the reader back to before time began to the moment when God interrupts silence and speaks the cosmos into existence.  Jesus is the Logos (Voice) as He existed long before time was measured.  

The significance of Christmas is that it is the most pivotal moment for humankind.  There are many essential junctions of time.  However, Jesus Christ humbly descended and took on the temporary form of humanness to provide a path of rescue for created human souls who were caught in the middle of the spiritual war between Satan against God.

Christmas and war are entwined together.  Jesus had to come to dwell for a while, to correct the consequences of war that had been fought in heaven.  War on earth has the same basis of evil rising against the good.  Christmas happened in order to end war, because the basic motivator of war is evil rising against the good.