In light of record gang-gun violence in Toronto today, recall that in 2005's Summer of the Gun, the city's only Black councillor said police should be able to stop & search young black men in crime-plagued parts of T.O. theglobeandmail.com/news/national/…#topoli#tocouncil#onpoli#cdnpoli
"We ought to be looking at supporting initiatives that would support police officers in stopping young black men in the problem areas where we have the guns and guns violence," said Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough-Centre).
"I want to think outside the box to get the police in to stop young men and ask questions like they do in the United States where police can pull over people and pat them down for weapons."
"We know in these communities that the overwhelming number of young black men being killed in these communities are being killed by other black men. Do we not want to find ways and means to affect the problems more than what is being done now?"
Thompson was denounced for expressing this view by the mayor, the police chief and other critics who were, ironically, overwhelmingly white. Thompson, who no longer supports this view, said at the time he was expressing his frustration over young blacks dying in gun violence.
They're dying in far greater numbers now, along with innocent bystanders ,while politicians advocate useless policies like 'banning guns' and putting more restrictions on legal gun owners --ineffective because 82% of handguns used in crime are illegally smuggled in from the US.
Then Toronto police chief Bill Blair, developed an effective strategy to combat gun violence combining a special squad to fight gang violence -- the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention strategy and street checks (aka carding).
For nine years, from 2006 to 2014 gun crime steadily dropped in Toronto until both TAVIS and street checks were banned due to allegations they were racist in disproportionately targeting Blacks. Since then, gun crime has skyrocketed to record levels, far worse than in 2005.
If TAVIS and street checks were racist then the politicians who scrapped them have an obligation to develop a real strategy to fight gun crime. They haven't. That's another form of racism, because it holds the lives of Blacks -- the vast majority of whom are law-abiding, cheap.
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@hollyanndoan:
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Cabinet aides yesterday confirmed New Democrats and Liberals held closed door meetings to rewrite the Elections Act. One revision guaranteed parliamentary pensions for dozens of MPs.
Allen Sutherland, assistant cabinet secretary, confirmed only New Democrat and Liberal MPs and staff attended secret meetings on drafts of Bill C-65 An Act To Amend The Canada Elections Act prior to its introduction last March 20.
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Clause 5.2 of the bill would change the statutory date of the next election currently fixed for Monday, October 20 to October 27, a measure that would benefit 28 Liberal and New Democrat MPs.
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Canada's annual Inflation rate crept upward to 3.3% in July, an increase from 2.8% in June, and once again outside the Bank of Canada's target rate of 2% with a range of 1% to 3%. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quoti…
'Acceleration in headline consumer inflation was mainly attributable to a base-year effect in gasoline prices, as a large monthly decline in July 2022 (-9.2%) is no longer impacting the 12-month movement. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 4.1%, edging up from 4.0% in June.'
'The mortgage interest cost index (+30.6%) posted another record year-over-year gain and remained the largest contributor to headline inflation. The all-items excluding mortgage interest cost index rose 2.4% in July.'
When @gmbutts attacks @RobertFife & the @globeandmail on social media for reporting on China's interference in our elections, does he believe people don't know he resigned from the PMO in the wake of Fife's accurate reporting on SNC-Lavalin, that @JustinTrudeau called 'false'?
Aug. 14, 2019
Trudeau violated ethics law by pressing Wilson-Raybould over SNC-Lavalin deal, Ethics Commissioner rules theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…
Um, June 17, 2022:
'Due to the inherent characteristics of substitutes, the reduction in plastic waste from the six categories of SUPs depicted in Table 6 will have an associated increase in waste from substitutes (e.g., substituting paper for plastic increases material weight).'
'The Regulations are expected to increase the tonnage of waste generated from substitutes by an estimated 275 943 tonnes in 1st year of full policy stringency (2024) or 2.9 million tonnes over the analytical period (2023/2032), almost all driven by paper substitutes.'
'In the case of SUP checkout bags, SUP foodservice ware made from, or containing problematic plastics, as well as SUP ring carriers, some of their substitutes are themselves made of plastics, though they are likely less harmful than their prohibited counterparts.'
The value of the controversy over Trudeau's
'Just Transition Plan' broken by @mindingottawa is that it ends the myth only oil, gas & coal workers will be impacted by his green energy plan: In fact, 7 major sectors of the economy could face “significant” disruptions in employment
They are: Oil & gas, transportation, buildings, heavy industry, agriculture, electricity, waste disposal & 'others'
See here: canada.ca/en/environment…
Also, carbon prices don't just impact gasoline & natural gas. They apply to 22 different fuels.
See here: canada.ca/en/revenue-age…
Finally carbon prices don't just apply to carbon dioxide emissions. They also apply to methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and nitrogen trifluoride emissions.
See here: canada.ca/en/environment…
Yeah, Trudeau's 'Just Transition Plan' is going great. Really.
April 26/22: Report of the Federal Environment Commissioner on the Just Transition Plan: 'Transition to a low-carbon economy shows insufficient government preparation to support affected workers and communities.' 1/4
'Natural Resources Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada and other partners acting on behalf of the federal government were not prepared to support workers and communities through a just transition to a low-carbon economy.' 2/4
'The audit found that there was no federal implementation plan, formal governance structure, or monitoring and reporting system in place to support a just transition and that supporting legislation has been delayed.' 3/4