ValueSubtracted

It's one of those things that's simultaneously pretty important and not important at all. Their role in Parliament is ceremonial, but they're still something of a dignitary.

The judge's statements are appropriately scathing.

Justice Conlan said he commends the work of the defence and the Crown in this case.

He said it is not the defence's fault "the evidence of their clients has been found to be worthless."

All in all, he said, the Crown proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt on every count.

He said electronic evidence "points overwhelmingly to the guilt of the accused."

He wrote they "paint a picture of loathe and hate by both accused towards the boys, especially towards L."

The judge said a Dec. 28, 2020, audio recording played in court of the women berating L.L. was "so difficult to listen to," and "is just a terrible and shocking exhibit of abuse of L. by these accused."

He said a Sept. 24, 2021, video the court viewed of L.L. using a small portable toilet to relieve himself was "excruciating to watch."

"This court could go on and on, but for what purpose other than to, in a way, continue to victimize L. He should be remembered for more than this."

Since 2004, lower-end new home prices have risen by 265%, while young dual-earner incomes grew 76%

Hold up, Paul Wells has a YouTube channel? He's one of the great pundits.

I don't understand why seemingly no one in this country raises the possibility of day fines, both for individuals and organizations. Why have a maximum at all?

It would be a far more compelling argument if gas prices were only rising in Canada, where taxes been lifted. But that ain't the case.

I mean, it's still 10 cents per litre less than it would have been had the tax not been lifted...unless the implication is that the price wouldn't have gone up without the tax reduction (which is pretty obviously not true).

I don't like the tax being lifted - I think it's largely populist nonsense - but it's at least a little dishonest to say there's no difference at all.

The suggestion here is that the prices rose because the tax was lifted? That seems pretty easily refuted by looking at international news.

The RCMP is rife with structural problems. From the CBC's article on this agency:

Davis said it's hard not to see the Liberals' move to create this agency as a comment on the RCMP.

"This is very much a reaction to the RCMP's inability to do this job," she said.

Some of that comes down to the RCMP'S structure, Davis said. On top of its federal policing obligations, the RCMP is also responsible for boots-on-the-ground policing across the country, which has drained its resources over the last decades.

A 2023 report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians called on Ottawa to create a stand-alone federal policing organization. It found the RCMP's sprawling mandate is undermining its investigations into files such as national security and financial crime.

The article notes that the RCMP is kind of terrible at this sort of thing.

I'll offer up one, with the caveat that I don't actually know much about it, and I'd love to be proven wrong. It's even in the aviation industry.

In 1996, air navigation services were privatized, and Nav Canada was created. They're a private non-profit (that bit is probably very important).

As near as I can tell, it was a success by most measures. Employee salaries went up, and airline ticket prices went marginally down. I think there were layoffs as they cut layers of bureaucratic bloat, though.

And again, I'm very open to being proven wrong on this.

Global News has a non-paywalled article on this.

When asked if the government was considering privatizing airports and if so, how many, MacKinnon told reporters that the government was talking with airport authorities.

“We’re in the early stages of a process with airport authorities and other partners to determine the best way forward. The ultimate goal, of course, is to improve the passenger experience, to improve the efficiency of our air transport system,” MacKinnon said.

“Indeed, they are a public good and I don’t think that spirit or that philosophy will change,” he said.