quote:

Good Friday morning to you.

For the first time in more than 13 months, journalist Mohamed Fahmy isn’t sleeping behind bars. After being granted bail yesterday, he was released early this morning from a Cairo prison, just after 4 a.m. local time. Word is he spent time talking with his family, had a shower and went to bed. Although he’s out of jail, he’s not out of the woods. His lawyer Amal Clooney issued a statement cautioning that the legal process was not over and called for more action from Canada. "There is no impediment to his immediate transfer to Canada and Prime Minister Harper should personally intervene to ensure that the promise that was made by the Egyptian government to his government, and to its citizen, is now honoured," she said.

Much to the dismay of farmers, it’s back. iPolitics has learned that a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been found in a beef cow in Alberta. This is the first Canadian case of what’s better known as “mad cow disease” to be reported since 2011 and is confirmed in an internal memo by Canada’s chief veterinarian Harpreet Kochar. CFIA officials are working to identify the age of the animal, its history and how it became infected. No part of the carcass is said to have entered the human or animal food chain. In an email statement, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz confirmed the finding and said the CFIA is following internationally recognized protocols and working with provincial and industry partners.

The media reports circulating last night said that after a bumpy four-year run, Sun News Network was going off the air early this morning. Although it appears no one bothered to say anything to staff, who were unsure if they should go to work today. Even middle managers were said to be bewildered. If the talk is true, the shuttering of the struggling network will put 200 people out of work.

If you’re a cabinet minister and you’re going to be on The Twitter, you best be chirping in both officials languages. That’s the word from Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser. In a preliminary report that followed an investigation, he’s concluded that former foreign affairs minister John Baird and Public Security Minister Steven Blaney violated language laws with unilingual tweets.

Although it’s been more than a year since then-finance minister Jim Flaherty questioned the wisdom of his government’s income-splitting plan, his comments still haunt the Conservatives. What’s more, they’ve turned into an election issue over the value of the Tory government’s multibillion-dollar tax-cut policy. The Ottawa Citizen’s Jason Fekete looks at why.

Perhaps this course of action needs a little more sober second thought. Despite the fact Patrick Brazeau owes the Senate more than $50,000, CBC News has learned the upper chamber has no plans to try and get it back. Until he was suspended without pay in November 2013, the Senate was able to garnish his wages. But now that that’s no longer an option, there are no plans to go after the ever-growing debt.

The federal government plans to appeal a Federal Court ruling that allows someone to take the oath of citizenship while their face is covered. Last week’s ruling said the part of the law that required face coverings to be removed was unlawful. However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is having none of that. “I believe, and I think most Canadians believe that it is offensive that someone would hide their identity at the very moment where they are committing to join the Canadian family,” he said yesterday. “This is a society that is transparent, open, and where people are equal.” Oh…now we’re family? And transparent?

In the wake of a strike notice by a second union, federal Labour Minister Kellie Leitch is still hoping that an agreement can be reached in time to avert a railway strike that would hamper freight service across the country. Yesterday the union representing safety and maintenance workers at Canadian Pacific Railway said if negotiations fail, their workers could be off the job by this weekend. The union representing locomotive engineers and other workers have served CP with the same midnight Saturday deadline. For now, negotiations are ongoing in Montreal with the help of federal mediators.

Here and there:

• MP Bernard Valcourt will make a funding announcement for New Brunswick's maple syrup industry.
• Senator Kelvin Ogilvie will make funding announcements for two projects in rural Nova Scotia.
• Statistics Canada releases the monthly survey of manufacturing for December.
• Gov. Gen. David Johnston presides over an Order of Canada investiture ceremony.
• Bob Dechert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and MP for Mississauga-Erindale, attends an infrastructure event regarding the federal Gas Tax Fund.
• Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford meets with local stakeholders and makes two FedNor announcements that will support jobs, growth and economic prosperity in Sioux Lookout and First Nation Communities across the region.
• Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and Ontario Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell welcome 100 new citizens at a special citizenship ceremony in Toronto.
• Minister of State (Social Development) Candice Bergen, federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver, Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP Bernard Trottier and mayor John Tory make an announcement relating to support for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Toronto.
• Justice Minister Peter MacKay and Heritage Minister Shelly Glover are scheduled to make a funding announcement in Winnipeg.
• National Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay and Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Dan Albas will attend an event to promote amendments to the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act.
• Federal Minister of State (Sport) Bal Gosal will hold a press conference prior to the 2015 Canada Winter Games opening ceremony in Prince George, B.C..
• Minister of State for Seniors Alice Wong will speak during the opening ceremony of the Peter Bakonyi World Cup 2015 in Richmond, B.C..
• Minister of Industry James Moore and Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification Michelle Rempel and Minister of International Trade Teresa Wat will make an announcement in Vancouver in support of business ties with Asia.

If Russia decides not to honour the deal to end the war in Ukraine or uphold the ceasefire, the EU will be ready to pounce with fresh sanctions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says EU leaders have asked officials to prepare further sanctions just in case. After a marathon session of talks that went into the wee hours in Minsk yesterday, leaders from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany put pen to paper and inked a deal. The ceasefire is set to start on Saturday, although there is scepticism on all sides.

When it comes to the Keystone XL pipeline, there have been no shortage of plot twists. On the latest episode of As The Pipeline Turns, there’s another snag in the very place where the opposition to it began. It seems the perennially postponed pipeline project will wind its way through the Nebraska court system. Again.

In Featured Opinion this morning:

• Michael Harris on Prime Minister Harper's ever-expanding menu of gaudy distractions — from Eve Adams to terrorism to bluster about Ukraine — diverting the attention of the public and the magpie media away from a moribund economy and the threat of a police state.
• Tasha Kheiriddin on Justin Trudeau's quest for celebrity candidates and the moral of the Adams train wreck: Sometimes, famous people are famous for all the worst reasons.
• Don't miss this troubling essay from former federal Interim Privacy Commissioner Chantal Bernier on the dire risks embedded in the Harper government's anti-terror bill — and the need for better options.
• Here's Ukraine-watcher Andrew P. Rasiulis of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute with cautious optimism on the cease-fire deal reached at the Minsk summit: It's no guarantee of peace, but it's the only credible alternative to a wider European war.

There’s sad news in the world of journalism for a second straight morning. David Carr, the well-known media columnist at the New York Times, collapsed in the newsroom last night and later died in hospital. It was just a day earlier that he tweeted about the loss of CBS journalist Bob Simon. Here are the 1,776 Times pieces he penned and a look at how fellow journalists will remember him.

Finally this morning, here’s a happy and determined little tale to get your day off on the right foot.

Have yourself a great weekend. We’ll talk to you Monday.

____________________

International

• Obama to encourage companies to share cyber threat data (Reuters)
• Keystone snagged again in Nebraska, could be months in court, opponents say (The Canadian Press)

National

• Sun News Network to shut down permanently: sources (CBC News)
• Harper says government will appeal ruling allowing veil during citizenship oath (iPolitics)
• Liberal MPs offer mixed reactions to Adams floor-crossing (Ottawa Citizen)
• Canadian special forces exchange fire with Islamic State for fourth time (The Canadian Press)
• Unifor serves strike notice on CP; could walk off the job Sunday (iPolitics)
• Patrick Brazeau's Senate bill climbing with no plans to recoup (CBC News)
• Ministers must tweet in both official languages says language czar (The Canadian Press)
• Harper encouraged by Ukraine peace agreement, but remains skeptical (The Canadian Press)
• Veterans angry at Blue Cross takeover of Veterans Affairs benefits claims (iPolitics)

Quebec

• Harper says legislation coming to prevent early release for repeat offenders (The Canadian Press)

Ontario

• Rob Ford: 'I didn't lose' to John Tory (CBC News)
• Ontario NDP house leader calls for Liberal’s removal from Sudbury police services board (The Canadian Press)

Prairies

• Ashton picks up support of another union (Winnipeg Sun)

Alberta

• CFIA confirms bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta beef cow (iPolitics)
• Prentice to find Albertans not okay with spending cuts: NDP (The Canadian Press)
• Wildrose: independent legislative committee breaks rules (CBC News)

British Columbia

• B.C. NDP favours switch to proportional representation system if elected in ’17 (The Canadian Press)

The North

• N.W.T. MLAs question effectiveness of budget consultations (CBC News)

OSI bean dip posted:

The whole Youtube channel has videos that need archiving I believe.

OSI bean dip posted:

Someone needs to make a montage of Sun News moments done to Enya.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow9ScVXomWo

The whole Youtube channel has videos that need archiving I believe.

OSI bean dip posted:

So I figured out a sane way to do this and I am archiving Sun News' Youtube channel before they start to yank those offline.

Kafka Esq. posted:

Ontario
Rob Ford: 'I didn't lose' to John Tory (CBC News)

OSI bean dip posted:

So I figured out a sane way to do this and I am archiving Sun News' Youtube channel before they start to yank those offline.

PT6A posted:

I still have no idea who Sun's market was supposed to be, or who Ezra Levant appeals to. Even in Calgary, I don't know of anyone who ever watched Sun News, and I don't know of anyone that doesn't think Ezra Levant is an empty-headed pillock, and I know people who have unironically called me a pinko.

PT6A posted:

I still have no idea who Sun's market was supposed to be, or who Ezra Levant appeals to. Even in Calgary, I don't know of anyone who ever watched Sun News, and I don't know of anyone that doesn't think Ezra Levant is an empty-headed pillock, and I know people who have unironically called me a pinko.

quote:

Don’t trust anyone over 65! A new study by a group called Generation Squeeze has uncovered a supposedly shocking statistic: Our governments spend $12,000 on every Canadian under 45, but $45,000 on every retiree. At first blush, this doesn’t seem that strange, due to the pension benefits and higher health-care costs paid for seniors. But apparently, this difference constitutes a terrible inequity which is ruining the lives of thousands of younger Canadians.

According to Gen Squeeze`s website, “This is NOT a “good deal… Still, our generation is doing all it can to adapt. To compete for better employment, we squeeze in YEARS more of education and tuition. To buy a place, we accept jobs or contracts that require us to work YEARS more to save a down payment. And for many, this means we wait YEARS longer to move out of our parents’ homes, or to establish our financial independence. WORK and POSTPONEMENT are our coping mechanisms.”

Coping mechanisms? Actually, no: They are choices. And it’s not because government is spending proportionately less money on younger people that they are making them. Ottawa and the provinces are not responsible for changes in the global economy that have transformed the workplace, nor for major alterations in family structure and procreation patterns that have changed how we meet, mate and split up. In fact, many of those changes have made life better for the under-45 generation than for that of their parents.

Related

• Matt Gurney: Hate millennials? Blame Boomers
• Barbara Kay: If this is war, the millennials don’t have a chance

When it comes to personal decisions — Cohabitation? Marriage? Kids? — under-45’s have more options than any generation in history. Today, if you shack up without a ring, you throw a housewarming — instead of being written out of the will. If you’re gay, you can get married — instead of being shunned. If you have a baby outside of marriage, it will be celebrated — instead of given up for adoption. If you don’t want babies, you’ll have a lot of company – instead of being termed a barren spinster. And if you wait into your late 30s to procreate, you can use IVF, egg freezing, or triple-parenting, God help us — instead of ending up with only cats for company.

When it comes to personal finance, it’s true that home prices today are at historical highs — but mortgage rates are at historical lows. In 1981, when today`s 65-year-olds were buying houses, mortgage rates hit 21%. Then there was inflation. Remember inflation? If you`re under 45, you probably don`t, because since 1991 the Bank of Canada has kept it to an average of 1.9%, peaking at 3.8% in 2002.

Compare that to the period between 1971 and 1990, when inflation averaged 7.1%, hitting highs of over 12% in 1974 and 1981 — continually eroding our parents’ savings while hiking their bills.

All these changes have been brought to you by those same people Gen Squeeze says are getting too much public money: the baby boomers

As for the pressures of career and family, the “traditional” long-term, full-time, 9-to-5 jobs 65-year-olds had are harder to get today. But under-45-year-olds, particularly the younger set, don’t even want them. According to a 2012 study by PWC, 64% of millennials would like to occasionally work from home — something unthinkable for their parents’ generation. A 2015 study by the group Elance found that 79% of millennials would consider quitting their regular job and working for themselves in the future, and that they prize the flexibility and control of freelancing — which barely existed in their parents’ day. Younger workers also change employers and careers for reasons of happiness and personal fulfilment — something that was long frowned upon. (Rent a copy of The Graduate if you`re under 45 and don’t believe me.)

And guess what? All these changes have been brought to you by those same people Gen Squeeze says are getting too much public money: the baby boomers. Under-45s can thank them for women’s rights, gay rights, minority rights, the pill, no-fault divorce, the concept of “personal happiness,” the CPP, Medicare, our university network, even today’s low interest rates (Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is 59 years young).

All of these changes had consequences, both positive and negative. Some national programs, such as health care and pensions, are today in need of major reform. Less family stability has meant more upheaval in the lives of children. And it’s true that under-45s pay far more taxes than their parents’ generation. Things aren’t perfect — but for a great number of under-45s, the pros outweigh the cons.

If millennials still want to fight for more generational equity, they should start with their voting habits. In the 2011 federal general election, fewer than half of under-45s, and only 39% of youth aged 18-24, bothered to cast a ballot. In contrast, 75% of Canadians aged 65-75 voted.

If you’re not participating, other people will make decisions for you — and parties will ignore your needs in favour of those of others. Millennials need to stop blaming baby boomers, and take responsibility for themselves.

PT6A posted:

I still have no idea who Sun's market was supposed to be, or who Ezra Levant appeals to. Even in Calgary, I don't know of anyone who ever watched Sun News, and I don't know of anyone that doesn't think Ezra Levant is an empty-headed pillock, and I know people who have unironically called me a pinko.

Whiskey Sours posted:

I have four Facebook friends who liked SNN's page. One is a racist old guy who worked with my dad. One is my dad's mentally disabled cousin who indiscriminately likes Facebook pages. One works for Enbridge in community relations, and the other is his younger brother who wrote an opinion piece in support of the Dalhousie dental students for UBC Law's student paper.

I'll let someone else figure out the punchline.

Whiskey Sours posted:

I'll let someone else figure out the punchline.

ARACHTION posted:

What are these Sun News supporters referring to when they're talking about unfair CRTC restrictions and whatnot?

PT6A posted:

I believe the CRTC didn't mandate that they be carried as part of basic cable or some such nonsense, and apparently that's why they failed.

It couldn't possibly be that they sucked poo poo so bad that even arch-conservatives in Calgary tended to hate and/or ignore them. Most of the conservative types I know just watch BNN all the time anyway.

ARACHTION posted:

What are these Sun News supporters referring to when they're talking about unfair CRTC restrictions and whatnot?

PT6A posted:

I believe the CRTC didn't mandate that they be carried as part of basic cable or some such nonsense, and apparently that's why they failed.

It couldn't possibly be that they sucked poo poo so bad that even arch-conservatives in Calgary tended to hate and/or ignore them. Most of the conservative types I know just watch BNN all the time anyway.

quote:

ACCENTS
Described Video Guide
Avis de recherche
Sun News Network
All Points Bulletin
FUSION
The Natural Resources Television Channel
Dolobox TV
EqualiTV
Canadian Punjabi Network
Maximum Television Canada
Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel
Vision TV

quote:

Currently, the following services have mandatory distribution on the basic service at the following per subscriber monthly wholesale rates:

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN): $0.25
Réseau de l’information (RDI) (solely in anglophone markets to provide services to French official language minority communities): $0.10
CBC News Network (solely in francophone markets to provide services to English official language minority communities): $0.15
TVA (outside of Quebec): offered without a wholesale rate
The Weather Network/Météomedia: $0.23
Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC): $0.11
AMI-audio, formerly VoicePrint (in anglophone markets): $0.04
AMI-tv, formerly The Accessible Channel: $0.20 in anglophone markets and $0.00 in francophone markets
Canal M, formerly La Magnétothèque (in francophone markets): $0.02
Avis de recherche (solely in Quebec): $0.06

Criteria for assessing applications for mandatory distribution on the digital basic service posted:

7. As noted above, there are a number of ways in which the Commission can require the distribution of a programming service, the most prescriptive being mandatory distribution on the digital basic television service of all BDUs. For this reason, in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2010-629 (the Policy), the Commission set out a new approach for evaluating applications for mandatory distribution on the digital basic service under section 9(1)(h) of the Act. This new approach is based on specific criteria established to allow the Commission to determine if a programming service:

makes an exceptional contribution to Canadian expression and reflects Canadian attitudes, opinions, ideas, values and artistic creativity;
contributes in an exceptional manner to achieving the overall objectives for the digital basic service and one or more objectives of the Act, such as:
Canadian identity and cultural sovereignty;
ethno-cultural diversity, including the special place of Aboriginal peoples in Canadian society;
service to and reflection and portrayal of persons with disabilities; or
linguistic duality, including improved service to official language minority communities (OLMCs); and
makes exceptional commitments to original, first-run Canadian programming in terms of exhibition and expenditures.

8. In the Policy, the Commission also determined that existing services that had been granted mandatory distribution on the basic service pursuant to distribution orders under section 9(1)(h) would be required to justify continued mandatory carriage with reference to the new criteria as part of their licence renewal.

quote:

Firstly, folks, I disagreed with those conservatives, too. Plenty. On sex ed, on CBC, on abortion, on niqabs, on social programs, on climate change, on Islam, on gay marriage, on Liberals and liberals, on just about anything you can imagine: I would regularly appear on Sun News Network to argue with those conservatives, face-to-face, on-camera. I would argue, aggressively, against the conservative point of view.

And, over almost four years, a funny thing happened: they kept inviting me back. They asked me to come on much more than my day job would permit, in fact. And they were professional and courteous and fair to me. Only once did they try and shut me down – here – but multiple Sun folks called me afterwards to apologize, and to say that it would never happen again. It didn’t.

That’s the first thing: if you disagree with someone’s opinion, debate them. Present evidence. Argue with facts. Be passionate. Because that’s what Sun News Network gave me an opportunity to do, over and over, for four years.

Here’s the second thing: in case you haven’t noticed, our traditional news media are dying.

There are all kinds of reasons for that: the Internet, Google and Facebook and Craigslist, bad business decisions, whatever. We can debate the causes ad nauseum. But the fact is that the media, as we knew it, is disappearing.

OSI bean dip posted:

Sun News was aimed at Sun readers which in itself are dwindling. That should say enough.

CBC posted:

Stephen Harper's chief spokesman is leaving the Prime Minister's Office seven months before the official start of the next federal election campaign, a source said Friday.

Jason MacDonald, the prime minister's director of communications, took on the job in September 2013, after the previous spokesman, Andrew MacDougall, left. MacDonald had been the director of communications to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt.

Rob Nicol, vice-president of corporate affairs at Canadian Tire, will take over from MacDonald. MacDonald will join the public relations and lobbying firm Hill & Knowlton.

The average lifespan of a chief spokesman for the prime minister is about 18 months. Rob Nicol will be Harper's ninth director of communications since Harper became prime minister. The others were:

Jason MacDonald
Andrew MacDougall
Angelo Persichilli
Dimitri Soudas
John Williamson
Kory Teneycke
Sandra Buckler
William Stairs

Leofish posted:

Finally, Warren Kinsella has some words: http://warrenkinsella.com/2015/02/dear-sun-news-network-folks/

colonel_korn posted:

I wonder if Kinsella has ever wondered why a network dedicated to discrediting liberal ideology is so eager to have him on their panels as The Voice of the Left.

colonel_korn posted:

These guys just keep dropping like flies. I wonder how big of an rear end in a top hat Harper is to work for.

Hand Knit posted:

Worth revisiting that according to Tom Flanagan, Harper's main means of communicating was screaming temper tantrum.

PK loving SUBBAN posted:

Count Canuckula posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLfCnGVeL4

PT6A posted:

I was thinking more of the sad Charlie Brown music, a la Arrested Development.

OSI bean dip posted:

PittTheElder posted:

Did you not watch season 4?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYrwTVsckmI

Violet_Sky posted:

What's so funny about this?