Canadian Politics

Could be that, but I doubt they'd pull that on a case that got so much publicity. Then again, police departments do stupid shit just like any other organisation.

Yeah I kinda doubt it and it's not the first time this exact thing happens. She is too young to have done it to create resentment, she was probably influenced by someone.

Or it was a bad joke. Children sometimes do such things, it does not take much influencing or manipulation.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/metrolinx-says-it-was-targeted-by-cyberattack-that-originated-in-north-korea/article37712443/

Metrolinx was apparently targeted in a hacking attack from NK.

To those not familiar with it, Metrolix is a Crown Corporation.

Kellie "Trump's #1 Canadian Fangirl" Leitch will not be running in 2019.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kellie-leitch-not-running-1.4501151

Good riddance, here's hoping she takes that brand of populism with her. I don't think there's a particular risk of her moving into provincial politics, as the Ontario P Cs have no reason to accept her, and their leadership is pretty secure IIRC.

Within two days, two provincial Opposition leaders have been resigned due to allegations of sexual misconduct/harassment in the workplace.

Yesterday, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie (who was already planning to resign following the selection of a new leader) resigned after the party conducted a third party investigation that revealed at least one incident, of which the details are unknown. However the party released a statement affirming a zero tolerance stance towards sexual harassment. I'm surprised by this, while I didn't agree with him on everything (I did think he was a better choice than the incumbent last year though), I never expected this to happen.

Today, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown resigned after a woman came out and accused him of misconduct, and apparently two more stories about incidents while he was a federal MP are set to come out as well. This is far more significant than the previous case, as Ontario is having an election this June, the main Opposition and leading party is leaderless, and the Conservatives heavily featured Brown as the core of their campaign.

Brown denies the allegations, while Baillie hasn't commented.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/patrick-brown-resigns-ontario-pc-1.4503040

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/jamie-baillie-resigns-inappropriate-behaviour-1.4501742

And so #Me Too! heads north.

edited 25th Jan '18 1:52:50 PM by Rationalinsanity

Conservatives really need to dust out their houses. I hope this helps women (or men if they've been harassed) feel safer in coming forward.

And this just broke while I was eating, Minister for Sport and Disabilities Kent Hehr has resigned (from Cabinet and as an MP) following sexual misconduct allegations. He previously had a record of nasty/questionable statements while meeting with stakeholders, and apparently some of the allegations go back to when he was an Opposition MP.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-davos-wraps-1.4503098

Hey, if these allegations are true, let the house cleaning begin. Every party, and the entire country, will be better for it.

The movement was here since Octobre 2017. (Well, in Quebec at least ) There was a post by Ghilz over here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13226639100A88052200&page=162#4033

But it's great that it's still making wave, especially in our political sphere.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/embassy-worker-diplomatic-immunity-rent-1.4504001

Really a bad, bad use of diplomatic immunity with an American Embassy employee...

Wow, that's essentially peak Yankee.

As a fellow American I am deeply, deeply embarassed.

She probably doesn't even care that if she gets away with this bullshit, no one will want to rent out a place to any embassy worker ever again.

The "Relations Soured" section also points out that she was overall a terrible tenant.

Seriously, what a shitty human being.

edited 25th Jan '18 10:16:22 PM by M84

Same.

Yeah. It's too bad that her boss won't tell her to cut the shit and pay her damn rent without having to go through all this court mess.

Showing a little basic humanity can't hurt relations, can it?

edited 26th Jan '18 3:35:31 AM by Ramidel

The jerk in this case is a woman.

edited 26th Jan '18 3:32:38 AM by M84

Edited. Cannot parse sometimes.

I’m pretty sure that diplomatic immunity does not apply to breach of contract or things that were previously agreed to. It also has to be specifically granted. Ambassadors and foreign dignitaries tend to get it, but random office workers in the embassies usually do not.

And in this specific case...well it’ll probably set precedent. Which a foreign worker never wants to do, because it means they screwed up enough to end up influencing foreign law in a manner that hurts them and is almost entirely their fault.

And, yeah, best case scenario, foreign embassy workers will now get hit with huge deposits and very restrictive leases. Ottawa is in pretty high demand (especially from people who refuse to live in Hull, across the river in Quebec) so there’s no real reason to prioritize embassy workers.

edited 26th Jan '18 6:47:12 AM by Zendervai

If they are a US citizen employed by the US embassy than they will have diplomatic immunity, generally low level office workers are actually employed from the local population, everyone else has diplomatic immunity.

And sure while it can’t protect them from a civil judgment it can protect them from the Canadian government enforcing the civil judgment. The Canadian government can retaliate, it can ask the US to wave immunity (not going to happen), it can expel the person (possible) and if they are expelled and renter Canada as a private citizen than they’re subject to all judgments and such.

So, some of you may remember the Shermans, the elderly billionaire couple (he was the founder of a drug company) who were found strangled in their Toronto home. While it was initially, though not publicly, believed that this was a murder-suicide or a double suicide, now police are saying that it was a targeted double homicide, and that suspects are being looked for.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42840505

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sherman-deaths-toronto-police-update-1.4505259

Considering how the killers made it look like they weren't involved, and got in and out without leaving behind obvious evidence, this looks like a professional hit. Straight out of fiction.

edited 26th Jan '18 11:43:57 AM by Rationalinsanity

Yeah, the details of the crime are surreal. Took a second autopsy demanded by the family to spot ligature marks. The cops found no sign of restraints at the site, and no sign of forced entry, no drugs according to the blood test

In some actual good news, the US International Trade Commission has overturned the tariffs on Bombardier.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bombardier-boeing-tariffs-1.4505114

Man, I'd like to know what Boeing was smoking. How Bombardier of all companies is a threat to the likes of them, Lockheed, Northrop, etc, is beyond me.

Doubly so when the planes are built IN THE USA.

The biggest issue is that the C Series competes with none of Boeing's products, they were just out to kill a potential threat early on.

Another thing is that subsidization is standard practice in the aerospace industry, and Boeing gets significant assistance from DC, both because they employ a lot of people and because they are a key military and security supplier. The double standard was blatant.

How do people expect that the resignation of Patrick Brown will affect the Ontario election? In addition to the fact that he resigned over sexual misconduct, needing to fit a leadership race into the next four months before the election seems like it can't be good for the conservatives.

Combine that with Wynne's unpopularity, and it's looking like it could be a close three-party race - before the resignation the Liberals and NDP were very close to each other, with the conservatives having about 40% support. Voters in Ontario are generally progressive (for example, a strong majority support the increase in the minimum wage), so those who mainly wanted to vote against the Liberals may shift to the NDP.

edited 27th Jan '18 12:15:12 PM by Galadriel

Perhaps a minority government of sorts is in the wings?

I think the Tories made the wrong move, deciding to hold a leadership convention. They should have just kept the interim leader through the election, and focused on win.

Does the Ontario NDP actually have a real prayer of doing anything other than propping up a minority government? Because every Ontarian I've spoken to (most of whom are in the center, or to the left) says that people still have bad feelings over the Rae years.