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You seem to be operating under the misapprehension that this dispute relates to actual principles when in all probability it doesn't. JT's government fell into this little crisis as a result of an apparently indiscreet tweet. But assuming he can limit the damage and prevent the cancellation of a large military contract, he seems content to play politics with it by virtue-signalling to his base. In the meantime, serious sanctions, which could be warranted were the government actually serious about human rights abuses, probably won't be considered unless the Saudis up the ante. The Trudeau government has no intention of getting into a fight over Islam. Are you encouraging him and his government to go full-out Islamophobic? The progressive tribe in this country long ago made peace with the cultural hypocrisy it espouses.

I don't think Trudeau has the stamina, physically and emotionally, to get his ass over to Riyadh to repair the relationship. It requires more brains for face to face diplomacy than jogging shirtless and marching in pride parades.

Ok. At the same time they have no problem providing the Saudi's with military hardware, and it will possibly be used to commit human rights violations. Link

Again, what would be the right way? It's obvious that the Saudis will not tolerate any criticism of their human rights record. Saudi executions have doubled since bin Salman took power. So much for reform There are some on this forum who say that because we aren't a major power, we shouldn't stand up for anything. Some of those same people say that because we don't condemn every violation of human rights, we shouldn't condemn any. Pretty sad attitude IMO.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/trudeau-made-a-glaring-tactical-error-thats-getting-canada-hammered-by-saudi-arabia/ar-BBLIAUm?ocid=spartanntp

In the immortal words of John Oliver, "DO IT !!!!" C'mon Justin Trudeau, put Ontario's blood money where your mouth is....cancel the Saudi LAV contract. Be brave !! Show the world that your "Canadian values" cannot be bought....LOL !

I'm reminded of a picture of the debris spinning away from a sub-atomic particle collision. Some of its predictable but sometimes you never know what the hell you'll see.

Tyranny is in a possession of a new updated respectability these days - like racism. It's that economics virtue thingy - probably related to realpolitik or something.

I think as long as they don't want our grain, we should look elsewhere to replace their oil.

Eastern Canadians will still be able to enjoy Saudi Oil Guess they still like our money and the prospect of an Energy East has them worried. We wouldn't need their oil and we would be added competition in the European market. All the more reason to build it.

Now you're making stuff up.

Just because certain folks are against Islam doesn't mean they are going to behave like the radical left and ban, censor, de-platform, evict, deport, punch, etc those they do not agree with. As I say...YOU'RE FREE to deport and ban these people. Go-on...do it.

You still don't get the game here. Saudi action has little to do with what Freeland and Co. tweeted, which was not a new kind of messaging out of Canada. Canada was on point given the recent Saudi mistreatment of activists. This is about a newly emboldened Saudi Arabia (given the green light by the Trump anti-Iran shift) testing the waters to see what it can get away with. Trump is enjoying this public dressing down of Trudeau, which he started due to ideological differences and jealousy. The mention of a trade freeze supports Trump's harsh treatment of Canada in NAFTA negotiations. Russia likes it too because Canada took a firm stance against Russia's interference and invasion of Ukraine, under Harper, not to mention Canada's stance on its suppression of dissidents. These are sleezy dealings. Get out of bed with the Saudis and Russians. On Trump's end, it's sad that he and his cadre are willing to throw close allies under the bus for pride and pettiness, but there will be a price, because mistrust of Trump is growing fast and thick, inside and beyond U.S. borders.

Ask Justin why... Canada plans to seek help from the United Arab Emirates and Britain to defuse an escalating dispute with Saudi Arabia, sources said on Tuesday, but close ally the United States made clear it would not get involved. Canada to ask allies to help cool Saudi dispute; U.S. offers no aid

I dunno, maybe because Saudi's are carving up our economy like it's so much halal?

It's probably not because of Trump at all, but more like "Money talks". What we see now is a demonstration that money takes precedent over morality. Or something like that. There's an expression I'm looking for here that captures the sentiment, like "Money is more important than being good", or something...

The problem is that we haven't defined what poverty really means. It means not having a roof over your head,, no clothing or no food. No Canadian who seeks to avoid these things should ever have to endure them. Instead of working from the bottom up - looking after the most vulnerable in our country - we have allowed "welfare" to morph into a form of income normalization - at the expense of those same "most vulnerable". Not having a full cable package is not poverty. Not having a car is not poverty. Not having a second phone is not poverty. Having to work a second job is not poverty. Is it any wonder the term "poverty industry" is gaining acceptance?

Yet the West does not exactly appear to be "standing together" on this, do they. Perhaps their values are on a different paradigm. As in, there is no way that publicly embarrassing the Saudi's will accomplish anything useful. Perhaps they know something that inexperienced, naive Liberals do not know. IE when it's time to talk, and when to STFU. No reason to believe anyone's going to come to Canada's rescue, by putting their own foot in it.

Saudis order removal of John A. Macdonald statues in Canada. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/john-a-statue-victoria-helps-1.4777810

Canadians will have to accept the fact that they now come in second over foreigners. There will be plenty of Canadians who will be put back on the list for surgeries for all the many criminal foreigners that may need emergency surgery first that are being allowed to keep coming to Canada and entering Canada illegally. Canadians are losing their country to the rest of the world and to the millions of poor people that are out there and waiting for Canada to take them in thanks to our dear prime mistake of yours who could care less about Canada or Canadians. While Canada burns, our prime mistake revels it up with homosexuals in the gay pride parade in Vancouver. The way the Trudeau's keep getting elected in this country I would predict right now that when one of Trudeau's kids becomes of age and can get to vote one of them may just get voted in for PM of Canada one day by another bunch of dumb downed Canadian fools again. Our political leaders have gone bonkers on Canadians and all just seem to sit back and enjoy what they have and are still creating to keep Canada from ever becoming great. A bloody dam mess these fools have given us and all with our tax dollars. They should just all be ashamed for what they have done to Canada and Canadians for numerous decades now. They all need to be "FIRED".

http://www.wjhg.com/content/news/Child-remains-found-at-New-Mexico-compound-man-due-in-court-490352381.html He was training kids to shoot schools

Freeland, like Trudeau and many of the rest in the federal cabinet, is a naive ideologue who appears to believe that moralizing is a political parlor game of sorts. I tend to agree with the article in Macleans, 'It's time for Canada to take the next step against Saudi Arabia', which holds that if this government wants to be taken seriously on human rights it should stop nattering about abuses and take concrete action, including ceasing military sales to the Saudi regime. The article makes a good point about the extent to which other Western countries, including Trump's U.S., are compromised by having put profit ahead of principles for so long where the Saudi regime is concerned. I suspect Freeland believed her antics would have little negative impact while her her party could burnish its own windbag moralist credentials in the lead up to the next election. She's probably somewhat dumbfounded by the harsh response. The whole international human rights regime is really a big crock as the countries that generally conform with UN principles often take the brunt of international criticism while the abusers concoct their own alternative world views and usually avoid serious scrutiny. Maybe it's time to ditch the whole morass. In the meantime, if Trudeau's government really means what it says it does, it should demonstrate some courage and give a large middle finger to the Saudi regime and its enablers among both Arab and Western countries. I suspect it doesn't have the guts to do so. There's money on the line after all and we're not morally superior to anybody else, as it turns out. https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/its-time-for-canada-to-take-the-next-step-against-saudi-arabia/

Has enough time passed that we are no longer hot buttoning this Islamic terror attack and the poor PM can reemerge? #NoToughQuestionsPlease

There was a good column today in the Toronto Star ('An American questions Canada's democratic chops'), in which an American observer ponders the question of whether Canada is a functioning democracy at all. While the column doesn't specifically address official and media silence about the Danforth investigation, it does address the deferential and often docile approach implicit in the Canadian model, noting the stifling impact of party-enforced conformity in relation to controversial issues and the ability of courts (and it might have added, public authorities in general, if Danforth is an example) to limit public access to information about important matters. The column notes that Canadian political philosophy is restricted to a range covering from "just left of centre to just left of Stalin" and all other voices are shut out. Ouch! I couldn't help but think of the official silence about the Danforth investigation while reading the column. As I've mentioned in other posts in this string, the situation reinforces for me concerns about the vitality and viability of Canadian democracy itself. We are told what the political and media elites want us to hear. We are only permitted to publicly discuss what those elites want us to discuss. And all views not officially sanctioned are portrayed as fringe perspectives, or, worse, as reflecting impure or scurrilous motives. We vote without much actual choice where issues important to society are at stake and we defer to our betters because, well, that's so much more civil. As has often been noted, democracy is a messy business. We should both relish and enjoy the mess. Too many Canadians, however, appear to be satisfied with deference. Is this a democracy? https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2018/08/07/an-american-questions-canadas-democratic-chops.html

Time to classify ANTIFA as a domestic terrorist group. Headshots of arrestees

South Africa is simply reverting to being the same kind of country that is typical of almost ALL of sub-Saharan Africa. Tribalism, corruption and a flagrant disregard for property, life and liberty. Apartheid was one of the best things to ever happen to that place. The leftover whites are those whose families have been there for many generations and can't "go back" anywhere. They can seldom sell their land, and now may not be able to sell ANYTHING at all! https://qz.com/africa/1218309/south-africa-to-take-land-without-compensation-as-zimbabwe-backtracks-on-seizing-white-farms/ When the first whites got to Africa, they did not find any advanced culture with science, libraries, universities, representative government - just a bunch of savages killing each other off and taking each other's property. I am not being racist, I am being realist.

The situation in South-Africa is really deplorable and it is getting worse all the time. I don't think the whites who insist on staying there even if they had a choice to go somewhere else are brave, they are just foolhardy. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of whites who really have nowhere to go; no money, no overseas relatives, no nothing. They just have to bear the brunt of the immense hatred the whites are facing over there.

I don't think Freeland's tweet was particularly wise but it was factual and it hardly compares with the garbage Trump spews ten or twenty times a day.