hira bokharee

[Isaac Callan @isaaccallan]

NEW: Ontario Premier Doug Ford billed taxpayers for a flight to Orlando last summer to attend the conference of a private-sector union that has repeatedly endorsed the Progressive Conservative Party and received millions in government funding. #onpoli
https://t.co/VvTL2xuWIQ

[Shaun King @shaunking]

I have to say this daily, but if Muslims did this to ONE Jewish temple, the world would be OUTRAGED.

Israel has now destroyed over 1,000 mosques in Gaza and the West Bank.

It’s the single biggest destruction of holy sites in the modern HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

[Ihab Hassan @IhabHassane]

The Israeli army demolished a 120-year-old Palestinian home in the village of Ni'lin in the West Bank, claiming it did not have a building permit.

How can Israel require a building permit for a house that was built decades before the State of Israel even existed?

[Ahmad Chamseddine @Achamsedine]

Cet automne, pour la première fois depuis 250 ans, ma famille ne récoltera pas d'olives au Liban.

Nos 600 oliviers ont été arrachés du sol par l'armée israélienne, racines comprises, et emportés. Les plus vieux avaient 500 ans !

Cette terre, mon grand-père la tenait de son arrière-grand-père. En deux siècles et demi, ma famille a acheté de la terre. Elle n'en a jamais vendu un mètre, pas un seul jour. Chez nous, on ne construit pas sur la terre. On y plante. Ces arbres ont survécu à plusieurs guerres. Ils ont survécu à tout.

Regardez les deux photos. À gauche, notre terre le 25 juin, la veille de la signature de l'accord entre le Liban et Israël. À droite, la même terre le 20 juillet.

Il ne reste rien. Et c’est justement ça, la preuve. Un incendie laisse des troncs noirs debout. Une frappe laisse des cratères. Ici, pas un tronc calciné, pas une souche, pas un débris. Une terre nue, raclée, griffée par les chenilles des engins. Déterrer un olivier de 500 ans sans le tuer demande des pelleteuses, un savoir-faire, des camions et une destination. Ce n’est pas un dégât de guerre. C’est une opération, sur une terre où il n’y avait ni armes, ni combattants, ni présence militaire. Ma famille n'a jamais été liée de près ou de loin au Hezbollah, et elle ne le sera jamais. Il n'y avait que des arbres, et des gens qui les taillent depuis huit générations.

D'après les témoignages qui nous parviennent, ces arbres auraient été emportés de l'autre côté de la frontière, vers Israël.

L'accord signé entre le Liban et Israël, censé préparer la paix, protège les biens des civils. Je demande simplement qu'il soit appliqué : que le sort des arbres déterrés soit établi, que ceux qui sont encore vivants soient rendus. Si nos arbres sont vivants quelque part, ils peuvent revenir. Je ne cherche pas une vengeance. Je cherche une adresse !

J'ai hésité à écrire ces lignes, pour ne pas provoquer des réactions d'un côté comme de l'autre. Mais je refuse de faire le deuil de ces oliviers. Dans ces arbres vit l'âme de mon grand-père, ancien général de la police libanaise, un homme qui a toujours cru dans la paix, dans les humains et dans la lumière. Il taillait ces arbres à mains nues. Il répétait : “on ne vend pas la terre, on la transmet”
Je lui dois de ne pas me taire.

[Dave 🇨🇦🎧⚛️ ☸️🇬🇧 @rellim_evad]

Ontario residents are finally waking up to the reality of who and what @fordnation is, and it won’t get better for him.
He’s on track to be know as the worst Ontario Premier, ever. https://t.co/CQD8hOaZt4

[InfoGram @_InfoGram_]

🇺🇸Marco Rubio: "Iran could be the richest country in the Middle East if they trust United States."

🇮🇷 Abbas Araghchi: "Look how prosperous Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq became after they trusted the United States."🔥🔥😂

No one exposes Marco Rubio better than Araghchi 👏

[Chris Glover @chrisglover]

Another Ford Minister on the gravy train:

In one year, Piccini expensed $50,000 for restaurants, hotels and a limo using donor and taxpayer dollars from his Riding Association.

Piccini is Ford's Minister of Labour who handed out $800 million taxpayer dollars to Conservative friends and donors—including $10 million to Ford's friend who owns a strip club for "staff training" in the Skills Development Fund scandal.

#onpoli

[hira bokharee @BokhareeHira]

And the hits just keep on comin

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

NEW: The Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus was given the green light to book hotel rooms in downtown Toronto at the taxpayer’s expense whenever night sittings were scheduled, Global News has learned, despite Premier Doug Ford’s repeated public assertion that the expenses were “unacceptable.”

https://t.co/88SPgxTo1a

#onpoli

[Jack Hauen @jackhauen]

New: Stan Cho, who resigned over the hotel expense controversy, said he billed taxpayers for stays when the legislature sat late into the night.

However, most of his claims came in months when there were no late sittings.

#onpoli

https://t.co/zz6UjCB0UP

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

NEW: In the summer of 2024, as PC MPPs began charging taxpayers for Toronto hotel stays, members of the Ford gov’t pushed to update expense rules for elected officials.

Specifically: to expand the “special circumstances” category to go beyond extreme weather events and include night sittings at Queen’s Park.

The very rules they’re now looking to eliminate.

https://t.co/ooiaoAp89Q

#onpoli

[Marit Stiles @MaritStiles]

This is a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars. Doug Ford’s Brampton East MPP billed taxpayers nearly $30K for downtown Toronto hotels. Brampton residents don't get free hotels to go to work, they commute, just like everyone else. But MPP Grewal thinks he should be living the suite life on your dime. Pay. It. Back.

https://t.co/Z1jCG1gKIG

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

After Global News broke this story, there has been a shifting narrative:

Tourism minister, Stan Cho first promised to only pay back anything that wasn’t in the “spirit” of the rules.

He later backtracked and said he would repay all $16,000.

Then the Premier’s Office said other MPPs who stayed in Toronto hotel rooms, instead of just going home, would pay back anything that didn’t align with the “intent“ of the policy.

The Premier’s Office also sent this:

“The Legislature is responsible for approving MPP expenses in accordance with the Legislative Guide to Members’ Expenses.”

Now, as the Ford government tries to clamp down on a scandal, it’s looking to eliminate the policy altogether.

A reminder that just one party has been taking advantage of the expense loophole.

[Jack Hauen @jackhauen]

NEW: It's not just Stan Cho.

Toronto-area PC MPPs have billed taxpayers over $100k for overnight stays in Toronto.

The premier's office says expenses that "did not meet the spirit of the rules will be reimbursed."

#onpoli

https://t.co/7McOd46Wf6

[Hassan Mafi ‏ @thatdayin1992]

In case you were wondering what terrorists look like

[Tina Yazdani @TinaYazdani]

No charges. No public updates. No end in sight.

The RCMP's Greenbelt investigation has reached the 1,000-day mark, and remains "ongoing."

Opposition is accusing the Ford government of "learning nothing" & continuing "backroom deals" as probe drags on.
https://t.co/13bN1k7Q3B

[Bobby Fun @RRohampton]

so Doug Ford gets his $30 million private jet after all. 🙄

[Steffan Watkins  @steffanwatkins]

🇨🇦 Doug Ford's $30M private jet, that he wasted $200k of Ontario tax revenue on, has been sold to Doug Ford's preferred private charter company, Chartright, who have previously provided planes for his luxurious travel tastes to Texas and Saskatchewan at ~$10k/hr. #GravyPlane

[hira bokharee @BokhareeHira]

@ColinDMello Lol... Mini trump

[Gail Vaz-Oxlade @GailVazOxlade]

No to speed cameras,yes to more speed. No to school funding, yes to booze. No to public health care, yes to funding stripper clubs. https://t.co/c1ofE5guqY

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

NEW: A secret report on the financial stability of the ROM suggested selling off artifacts to make up for a post pandemic drop in visitors.

The Ford government refuses to release the report and says no such sale was ever considered.

https://t.co/AixBglcoWC

#onpoli