Things have reached the point where I am almost certain the federal government is doing stupid things on purpose to distract from some of their more major screw ups. On Saturday, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna tweeted that she was the Minister responsible for weather. Some have said it was a joke, and I’m inclined to agree ordinarily, but the way she commented made it seem that her follow-up statement about being a hero or a zero was the joke. Furthermore, these self-entitled children running our country have not earned the benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, the feds have also announced a reintegration program for Canadians who leave to fight for ISIS or other terrorist organizations. I guess since our veterans and homeless are all looked after adequately and since we have more spare money kicking around, may as well give it to those who want to kill us. On a serious note, contrast this with the equally left-leaning U.K. government, who’s minister of international development said, “I am afraid we have to be serious about the fact these people are a serious danger to us, and unfortunately the only way of dealing with them will be, in almost every case, to kill them.” Meanwhile, at the end of 2015, Canada was aware of 180 individuals who had travelled overseas to join terrorist organizations and another 60 who had returned to Canada. What you need to know is that homegrown terrorists will be treated much the same way as a ‘normal’ criminal. Which is to say there is no such thing as a bad person, only people who are misguided for various reasons and what’s needed is our help to ensure they get back on the right path to life. I hope I’m not the only one this sounds ridiculous to, but I suppose when you have someone walking freely in this country who has cut the head off of another human, nothing should surprise us when it comes to Canada and how we treat criminals with touchy, feely kid gloves. Then, there’s always the chance an ISIS fighter returns and levies a $50-million lawsuit. I mean, why not? It’s worked for a handful of others.
In Windsor, Ontario a Syrian refugee has been spared jail for committing an indecent act at an aquatic centre. The man, who has permanent resident status, was caught pleasuring himself in the shower area and then giving a young person a ‘consensual’ massage. Keep in mind the Syrian offender is 24 years-old so when the mainstream media uses the word ‘young person’, I’m left to use my imagination as to how old the person was and ‘consensual’ really isn’t a word that should apply. The man is not to blame. He suffers from PTSD, has lost contact with his family in Syria, and is sorry. His lawyer also argued that he was doing in the shower was ‘cultural’ and not ‘sexual’. See. All good.
Just to prove I’m not some religious bigot and only go after extreme Muslims, I have great issue with a story this week concerning a Jehovah’s Witness. It’s about a woman who refused a blood transfusion after giving birth. Within a week, the woman died. Apparently, accepting a blood transfusion is a no-no for Jehovah’s Witness followers. To me, it’s ridiculous to refuse a life saving procedure all in the name of your religion. I can only speak for me, but I’m not willing to lay my life down for religion. Whether that be in the form of a suicide bomb, refusing a blood transfusion, or going to some violent country to be a missionary and save the world while I get killed. To me, there is a limit on practicing your faith. That’s not to say you can’t be a religious person and have a personal relationship with God. But, I can’t imagine refusing a blood transfusion, giving up a life with your child all in the name of a religion. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be true to your faith, but in a way that doesn’t put your life or lives of others at risk.
There has been some background noise in recent weeks concerning the team name of Edmonton’s CFL team. I think we can all agree that if a team was created in today’s world that the names Eskimos, Redskins, and Indians would be inappropriate. But, at the time, there was no racist intent and that’s not the meaning of these names. For some politician to take up this cause is empty virtue signalling as it does nothing to help the social and economic issues faced by those people. Making a sports team change their name should be way down the list of priorities when it comes to helping ethnic groups of people.
Please keep in your thoughts, former Junior ‘A’ General Manger Leonard Strandberg. The former Melfort, OCN, and Swan Valley GM was involved in a very serious accident last week and has had one of his legs amputated below the knee. He’s facing a very, very long road of recovery. I met Leonard in 2001 and he is one of my all-time favorite people in hockey.
Nice person mentions this week: Derek Serdachny, Larry Feszcyn, David Dungey, Jeff Sedor, and Aron Hershmiller.
