CHP
Commentary

Today’s Federal Budget is not simply about dollars, in fact it is much more about the politics of re-election than economics. This is the last “budget” before the next election, and as such, it is the government’s last opportunity to make promises about spending — big spending — on projects and programs of many kinds (but, of course . . . they will need to be re-elected to implement them.)

​On January 22, New York state legislators passed a law allowing abortion throughout the full term of pregnancy, right up to the moment of birth. This shocking display of political correctness has disturbed multitudes of ordinary, common sense Americans and the attention it has gotten in the US has also generated additional comment in Canada.

After the testimony of former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould last week, the Leader of the Official Opposition, Andrew Scheer called on Prime Minister Trudeau to resign. It seemed like the logical and right thing to do. Respect for the rule of law is at stake, and no one should presume to be above that.

​Along with most Canadians who have been following the SNC-Lavalin story, we await the testimony of former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. We want to know whether she will testify that she felt pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to “go easy” on the Montreal-based engineering and construction giant for fraud and corruption charges connected with their business in Libya.

​The news has been full of people pondering whether The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould came under pressure by the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister’s Office to go easy on SNC-Lavalin.

The rule of law spoken of in the Charter Preamble indicates that all Canadian citizens—great or small—are to be treated equally by Canada’s justice system. Recent revelations about a possible kid-gloves treatment for SNC-Lavalin, and possible interference with the former Justice Minister’s work, indicate that the noble goals of the Charter are not being upheld by our Prime Minister, who should be using his position to protect the integrity of our justice system and the rule of law.

​The terms “gender” and “sex” have been and are sometimes used interchangeably, but currently many academics assert that gender is defined by feelings, and sex is defined by chromosomes—so the two are quite independent of each other, regardless of actual correlation in human experience.

As the world looks on, Venezuela teeters on the brink of collapse under the thumb of dictator Nicolás Maduro, now ostensibly backed by his military chiefs. The President of Venezuela’s elected National Assembly, Juan Guaidó—accusing Maduro of election fraud in his 2018 re-election—has asserted his own claim to the presidency but Maduro adamantly refuses to cede power.

​Have you ever heard of David Lametti? After some changes to cabinet last week, he is now Canada’s Justice Minister. He was first elected in 2015 and has not been in cabinet before, so we don’t have much of a track-record on him. What we do know, however, causes concern.

​“Money talks.” That well-worn saying points out the impact that money can have on political decisions. Although political bribes are forbidden, a person who bankrolls a candidate or a political party often expects some benefit—direct or indirect—from his or her contributions.

​With Parliament still in recess it behooves us to take a look at the hot potato that got dropped just before the Christmas season. We’ve enjoyed our break from the shenanigans of our Prime Minister and his team but let’s not forget what was on the table when we broke for Christmas.

​New friendships. New opportunities. New responsibilities. New goals. New recipes to try. New interests and hobbies to pursue. Newly-discovered books and authors. New trails to make through new-fallen snow.