blackbird

America cannot have assassins operating at political rallies and still have a democratic country. This is extremely serious. This is a serious threat to democracy.

Other reasons why Minister Joly's cozying up to China doesn't make sense is because China is aligned with Russia against Ukraine and now appears to be aligned with Palestinian terrorist organizations. A news item shows China is aligning itself with Hamas ( a designated terrorist organization) and Fatah. Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah sign ‘Beijing declaration’ of unity after China talks (msn.com) " The two largest rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, have signed a declaration to end their longstanding rift and instead fight for “Palestinian unity” in a deal brokered by Beijing, Chinese state media said. The deal came at the end of reconciliation talks in Beijing where a total of 14 Palestinian political factions met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi."

That is doubtful. One or two FNs don't own land like that stretching the length and route of the pipeline. If you can give an article proving it, post it. There are a couple FN bands that own a tiny bit of the land the pipeline crosses, maybe a few hundred acres or hectares. They are using that to try to become Saudi Arabia billionaires. The pipeline is over a 1000 km long and they have no rights to claim ownership of it. If they own a few km of land the pipeline crosses, they might be entitled to a small payment for rent. That's all. The fact is the FN groups that want ownership of the TMX are in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and B.C. They do not own the land. But they see a goldmine and believe the government wants to get rid of it. So they are asking for 51% share of the TMX pipeline. Trans Mountain pipeline: Why some First Nations want to stop it — and others want to own it | CBC News The TMX pipeline is worth over 30 billion dollars which is the property of the Canadian taxpayers. There is no reason on earth why we should just hand it over to FNs for nothing so that handfuls of FN leaders can become millionaires or billionaires. That is what they want it for. They know it is producing hundreds of millions of dollars and they want that money flowing to them. The Canadian government is crazy to think of giving it to them. The FN do not have that kind of money. Yet here they are begging to be given a pipeline worth billions of dollars. That is false. B.C. has not resolved land claims for most of the province. You are obviously just making things up as you go. There are a large number of FNs in B.C. that have claimed vast areas of the province as their traditional territory but this has never been accepted by governments as their land. It is only a bargaining ploy by FNs. The FNs are only a small percentage of the population who live throughout B.C., about 5% of the population. The claims overlap between some FNs and cover the whole province. Canada is country of 40 million people and only 5% are FN. They are not going to have ownership of all the land or large swaths of it. They are not going to have ownership of the pipelines either unless our governments have completely gone mad. The taxpayers paid for the TMX pipeline, which is costing over 30 billion dollars. There is some movement to give them a small percentage of resource revenue in some places. But they want to become billionaires like the kings and princes in Saudi Arabia who control the oil industry of the middle east. What a joke.

Could you please post some statements in the subject article which you believe are false and give explanations why?

I think we the settlers and colonizes have paid more than our share to the FNs and continue to pay billions to support these people and provide housing, social services, health care, etc. etc. Enough already. Go get a job.

No I don't think it crosses a lot of FNs lands. I don't know if it crosses any FN reserves. Don't forget there are small FN reserves where some of the bands live. Then there are what is called "traditional territory" which are vast areas of British Columbia that many of the first nations claim. There are many FN bands claiming this territory which covers the whole of B.C. If you examine certain historic rulings, FN do not have ownership or sovereignty over crown land. This belongs to Canada in right of His Majesty. This is part of B.C. and Canada. It is not reverting to FN. They never really "owned" or even occupied the vast areas that some of them now claim. They will continue to claim thousands of square kilometers which there is no evidence they ever lived on or occupied. But it is their bargaining chip to claim billions of dollars in compensation. But for what? The liberals and left have bought into this idea that we the settlers or colonizers owe everything to them. I don't agree. But this conflict will never end. We the colonizers have a perfect right to be here and inhabit this part of the earth without having to pay anyone endlessly.

Freedom of religion or freedom of thought is technically non-existent in China. One must adhere to and bow to the Communist system ideology and party. quote In the history of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), President Xi Jinping is the first paramount leader to give prominence to religion in word and deed. In a major speech in 2016, Xi called for the ‘sinicization of religion’. He noted that, given the rise of religion among the Chinese people, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must ‘guide the adaptation of religions to socialist society’. In its academic sense, ‘sinicization of religion’ refers to the indigenization of religious faith, practice, and ritual in Chinese culture and society. For Xi, however, ‘sinicization’ is profoundly political. It requires religious leaders and institutions demonstrably to embrace State Socialism and the leadership of the CCP. Ideological, legal, and bureaucratic, Xi’s ‘sinicization’ campaign is one part of a pervasive ideological re-education and remoulding campaign that recalls the campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s to anchor Chinese national identity firmly within the ideology and rule of the CCP. Among religious groups where the primacy of that identity is resisted, ‘sinicization’ has even entailed the imprisonment of vast numbers of Uighur, Kazakh, and Hui Muslims as well as intractable Christian leaders. Accordingly, ‘sinicization’ is no mere slogan, but a religious policy to enforce three key priorities of the CCP: to streamline the bureaucracy for efficient oversight and control of all non-Party spheres and institutions; to revive the sway of Party ideology over all aspects of life in China; and to remove any ‘contradiction’ that might challenge Party ideology and rule. In March 2018, the CPPCC put in place the necessary ideological, legal, and bureaucratic structure to enforce ‘sinicization’ of religion. Party control In March 2018, the National People’s Congress and the Chinese Peoples’ Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) put in place the necessary ideological, legal, and bureaucratic structure to enforce ‘sinicization’ of religion. It reduced the plethora of official departments that have multiplied with growth of religious followers and affiliated churches, mosques, and temples. For Protestants, the China Christian Council (CCC), the Three-Self Patriotic Association (TSPM), Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB), and the State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) have seen their oversight powers transferred to the Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). This has effectively swept clean the differing and overlapping bureaucracy that had diffused and diminished the state’s ability to control Christian growth and influence. Under the new religious policy, the old bureaucracies live on, but now in name only, as their powers over churches and church leaders are now firmly in the hands of the UFWD. With control of all non-party institutions under the UFWD, the state now has a direct conduit speedily to enforce policy and control—or even end any relationship with overseas individuals and organizations they deem a threat to official ideology, security, or state control. This has allowed the UFWD to enforce religious oversight locally so as to cut off national and international connections that had been encouraged through the auspices of the TSPM and CCC. This leaves registered churches controlled locally or at best regionally with little access to international Christian networks. Thus, even as the UFWD now enforces national religious policy, its control will be enforced directly in given localities. unquote The Sinicization of Religion in China - Lausanne Movement

China's human rights record is just one reason why Canada should not be trying to cozy up to China. I wonder if there may be a clique of elite business people in Canada who may have business dealings with China. Perhaps they are pressuring the Canadian government. Since there is billions of dollars worth of goods made in China and sold in Canada, that may be the driving force behind the government trying to smooth things with the Chinese government. The question is should business take precedence over human rights violations in China? Human Rights Watch's 2023 report on 2022 gives extensive information on what has been going on. Here are a couple items. For the full report go to this link: World Report 2023: China | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org) "The Chinese government tightened its Covid-19 restrictions, imposing repeated, unpredictable lockdowns on hundreds of millions of people. In some cases, officials used barbed wire, metal bars, and large barriers to prevent people from leaving their homes. In Sichuan province, residents were unable to leave buildings even during an earthquake. During these lockdowns—which lasted from days to weeks—people reported difficulties accessing food and medical care, in some cases leading to deaths. Others reported privacy violations, censorship, disruptions to their livelihoods, and government brutality as police and health officials kicked and shoved people who resisted Covid restrictions. In Tibet and Xinjiang, residents reported even more draconian Covid-19 controls imposed by local authorities already severely limiting rights." " Tibet Authorities in Tibetan areas continue to enforce severe restrictions on freedoms of religion, expression, movement, and assembly. Popular concerns over issues such as mass relocation, environmental degradation, or the phasing out of the Tibetan language in primary education were met with repression. Local officials are required to educate the public in “obeying the law,” and cash rewards are offered to citizens prepared to inform on others. Under intense censorship, Tibetans continue to be detained for online offenses, such as having banned content on their phones or “spreading rumors.” Authorities introduced a ban on posting religious teaching and other content online, intended to enforce tight official control over religious institutions and teachers. In a Tibetan area of Sichuan province, regional authorities ordered the demolition of outdoor statues and temples, the construction of which had initially been approved." " Freedom of Religion State control over religion has increased since 2016, when Xi called for “Sinicization” of religions. Going beyond controlling religion by dictating what constitutes “normal,” and therefore legal, religious activity, authorities now seek to comprehensively reshape religions such that they are consistent with the party’s ideology and that they help promote allegiance to the party and to Xi. Police continue to harass, arrest, and imprison leaders and members of “house churches,” congregations that refuse to join official Catholic and Protestant churches. Authorities also disrupt their peaceful activities and ban them outright. In September, dozens of members of a Shenzhen church fled to Thailand to seek refuge after having left China three years ago due to escalating police harassment and after they failed to secure refugee status in South Korea. The group reported being monitored by Chinese government agents in Thailand. The new Measures on the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services came into effect in March, prohibiting individuals or groups from teaching or otherwise propagating religion online without official approval. A widely used Catholic app, CathAssist, shut down in August because it was unable to obtain a license. The regulations have reportedly severely disrupted people’s religious life as many have increasingly relied on online religious gatherings and information especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. In October 2022, the Vatican and the Chinese government renewed an agreement signed in 2018. It was renewed despite the Chinese government’s arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen and the continued detentions of Bishops Zhang Weizhu and Cui Tai, among others."

EDITORIAL: Canada still ignoring foreign interference (msn.com)

Spoken like a good leftist/liberal who doesn't know what is going on in the world or likes authoritarian Communist countries. Too bad you don't understand how they are meddling with Canada's political system, interfering with elections, and spreading their tentacles through western democracies to undermine them. Dealing with the Devil has its consequences.

I am not holding my breath for Trudeau or the Liberals to change the immigrations laws or number of people coming in or to deport those that commit crimes or cause a lot of trouble. Liberals are only looking a possible votes. LILLEY: Trudeau fails to deal with out-of-control immigration (msn.com)

Not really. I don't agree with some things he may support. I oppose the proliferation of guns and assault weapons. But I agree with much and if I had a vote, I would vote for him instead of a Democrat. But, I being a Canadian, of course I have no vote on it.

Let's put it this way. I wouldn't vote for a Democrat.

Do you really believe any party or politician lies less than the others? That's the nature of politics. Welcome to the real world. Do you really think a party that supports killing unborn babies, sexual orientation gender identity ideology being pushed onto kids in schools, criminals running rampant on the streets, drug enablement policies, and uncontrolled illegal migration can be trusted?

Does anyone really believe either of the two major parties lie any less than the other?

The federal government seems bent on perpetuating and building a country along racial lines. We know this will be almost a give away. No FN group has the billions of dollars to purchase even 30% of the what this pipeline is worth. So it would be a huge gift at the expense of Canadian taxpayers who are paying tens of billions of dollars for the pipeline. Is this really fair for the taxpayers who rightly own it in the name of the federal government? news item on energynow website energynow.ca/2024/06/trans-mountain-looking-to-sell-30-stake-to-indigenous-groups-alberta-premier-says/#:~:text=Canada’s%20federal%20government%20is%20looking%20to%20sell%20a,pipeline%20system%20to%20indigenous%20owners%2C%20Alberta’s%20premier%20said.

NP news article: "Terry Glavin: Mélanie Joly can't wait to make up with China's dictators" "It’s a circle that can’t be easily squared. On the one hand, there’s the spectacle of Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly happily abasing herself at the feet of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Friday after being summoned to China to take instruction on how Canada should behave itself as Xi Jinping persists in flouting international trade rules, accelerates his encirclement of Taiwan and pours ever greater resources into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland begins consultations with business and labour groups this week to discuss how to deal with what she calls “unfair Chinese trade practices.” The measures are expected to include some degree of conformity with stiff American and imminent European tariffs on electric vehicles and other Chinese imports. In an interview about the consultations with Bloomberg News, Freeland offered a rare and candid admission of the calamitous error the Liberals are generally disinclined to mention out loud, namely that “China’s entry to the World Trade Organization more than two decades ago,” which former prime minister and lifelong China-trade enthusiast Jean Chrétien championed, “was a mistake.” That China’s admission to the WTO was a colossal error, a cross-partisan consensus that has emerged in recent years in the NATO capitals, has been coming to the fore quite a bit lately. “I think it’s high time for us to be clear-eyed about that,” Freeland said. The Americans are clear-eyed about it, across the board. Earlier this year, a report released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai noted that rather than bringing China into the norms of the international trading system, China is using its place within the WTO to undermine the system. “It has been 22 years since China acceded to the WTO, and China still embraces a state-directed, non-market approach to the economy and trade, which runs counter to the norms and principles embodied by the WTO.” That’s Freeland’s standpoint. But Joly is a Chrétien protegee, and her mission in Beijing is just another milestone in the Trudeau Liberals’ efforts to restore relations to the warmth and intimacy they’d been nurturing with the Chinese Communist Party leadership until public revulsion got in the way fairly decisively in December, 2018. That’s when the Chinese Ministry of State Security abducted on-leave diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor in retaliation for the detention in Vancouver of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. fraud and sanctions-evasion warrant. It was only a few months after Kovrig and Spavor were released following a plea deal Meng’s lawyers concluded with the U.S. justice department that a series of leaks from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service revealed that the Trudeau government had been sitting on explosive evidence that China had been deeply involved in monkeywrenching the 2019 and 2021 federal elections to the Liberals’ advantage. Right through these tumultuous disruptions to Canada-China relations, however, the Liberals have been intent on maintaining the advantage and status that Liberal-friendly Canadian corporations had secured in trade policy and foreign policy. After four years of Liberal promises to bring Canada’s approach to China into the 21st century, the November, 2022 federal Indo-Pacific Strategy contained the smidgen of an acknowledgement that Chinese strongman Xi Jinping’s state-capitalist kleptocracy had caused severe structural damage to the West’s liberal rules-based global order. But then Trudeau more or less detonated the Indo-Pacific Strategy by rising in the House of Commons last September to accuse the government of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi of being linked to the murder of a Canadian, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, at a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. Indo-Canadian relations went straight into the dumpster and there’s no “reset” in the works. In Beijing on Friday, Wang Yi left little to the imagination in what China will expect of Canada in the back-to-the-future relationship Joly is hoping to restore. We should shut up about Beijing’s evisceration of Hong Kong’s democracy and its trampling of civil liberties there. We should shut up about the brutal oppression of the Muslim-minority Uyghur people of Xinjiang, and we should mind our business about Beijing’s menacing manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. We’re turning the clock all the way back to 2016, when Wang famously berated, badgered, insulted and lectured the reporter Amanda Connolly in a long harangue in the lobby of Global Affairs headquarters in Ottawa. At a news conference, Connolly had put a question to Stéphane Dion, Canada’s foreign affairs minister at time, about how Canada intended to press its concerns about Beijing’s judicial abductions, the violations of solemn civil rights commitments Beijing had made, and so on. “Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance,” Wang blurted. “This is totally unacceptable. . . I would like to suggest to you that please don’t ask questions in such an irresponsible manner.” Dion, standing at Wang’s side, just stood there looking pathetic. Over the weekend, Joly was positively bubbly about her reception in Beijing. There was the usual boast about Canada’s alleged defence of its democracy “and the values it has always stood for, including human rights.” But the main point of the meeting was to reaffirm a policy of “pragmatic engagement” and “the development of sound and stable bilateral relations.” Joly’s visit came in the wake of NATO’s 32 member-state consensus statement two weeks ago, which fingered China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war on Ukraine through its “no limits” partnership and its “large-scale support for Russia’s defence-industrial base,” the NATO statement declared. “This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security.” Beijing should “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” including “the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defence sector. The PRC (People’s Republic of China) cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation.” Beijing “continues to pose systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security” by engaging in “sustained malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation,” the statement read. It’s all well and good to engage in Joly-style “pragmatic engagement,” but NATO’s members are “boosting our shared awareness, enhancing our resilience and preparedness, and protecting against the PRC’s coercive tactics and efforts to divide the Alliance.” Wang Yi’s invitation to Joly and her submission to his requirements for a renewed Canada-China relationship are consistent with that coercion and of a piece with Beijing’s efforts to divide NATO against itself. It is not clear that Joly understands this, or that she even particularly cares. National Post unquote Terry Glavin: Mélanie Joly can't wait to make up with China's dictators (msn.com)

" About 3,000 migrants were on their way to the US southern border by foot Sunday — as some made clear they wanted to reach the country before November’s election and a possible Donald Trump victory. The caravan of potential border-crossers from a dozen Latin American nations embarked on the trip from Mexico’s southern border in hopes of seeking asylum in the US before Trump could harden the border if he wins the White House for a second time. “We are running the risk that permits [to cross the border] might be blocked,” El Salvador migrant Miguel Salazar said." Caravan of 3K migrants hope to cross southern border into the US before possible Trump win (msn.com)

Reports indicate this took place in Israel near the border with Gaza. This needs to be fully investigated by Canada and Israel. Was this person a Palestinian immigrant who was given Canadian citizenship? What was this person's background? How were they screened for Canadian citizenship? Should the Canadian immigration department be reviewed to see how they are admitting immigrants and how they are granting citizenship?

Reportedly a Canadian tried to attack Israel security forces in Israel near the Gaza border with a knife and was shot dead. This raises a lot of questions as to who this guy was, how he became a Canadian, what he was doing there, was he a Hamas militant, and his connection with Gaza and Canada. It also raises questions about how people immigrating from Gaza to Canada are screened. Is it even possible to determine their beliefs, past history, and connections to terrorist organizations?

There should be a plan for them to clean it up properly themselves or face jail time.

News reported that the shooter was able to get on a rooftop with a clear shot to the ex President. How is that possible? Doesn't sound like they covered all bases. Who was responsible for what appears to be a major failure?

I assume you are referring a Roman Catholic seminary, but I could be wrong since you never explicitly said. If so, I can empathize with you. Since most of what the RCC teaches if unbiblical or false, that might be enough to cause one to reject all religion and become quite cynical about it. True biblical teachings are completely different and have energized millions of people down through time. It can give one a complete new perspective and life.

Biggest lie I've been told is man causes climate change.

The theory of evolution, which is unproven, is a good example of a massive failure of science and the unending consequences. This link gives a number of examples of where science has been wrong or faulty. "Piltdown Chicken The finding was initially trumpeted as the missing link that proved birds evolved from dinosaurs. In 1999 a fossil smuggled out of China allegedly showing a dinosaur with birdlike plumage was displayed triumphantly at the National Geographic Society and written up in the society's November magazine. Paleontologists were abuzz. Unfortunately, like the hominid skull with an ape jaw discovered in the Piltdown quarries of England in 1912, the whole thing turned out to be a hoax. The fossil apparently was the flight of fancy of a Chinese farmer who had rigged together bird bits and a meat-eater's tail." 20 of the Greatest Blunders in Science in the Last 20 Years | Discover Magazine