E. Smout

🇨🇦

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

Welcome to Canada, Your Majesties.

Your historic visit is a reminder of the bond between Canada and the Crown — one forged over generations, shaped by shared histories, and grounded in common values.

[E. Smout @eas9999]

Master class in resignation letters.

[Chrystia Freeland @cafreeland]

See my letter to the Prime Minister below // Veuillez trouver ma lettre au Premier ministre ci-dessous

[Jody Wilson-Raybould (JWR), PC, OBC, KC 王州迪 @Puglaas]

When the general is losing his most loyal soldiers on the eve of a (tariff) war, the country desperately needs a new general.

@JustinTrudeau—#itstime, long past time to go.

[Mariah Carey @MariahCarey]

IT’S TIME!!!! 🎉🎄 #KAYPartner

[E. Smout @eas9999]

@tuxking2000 @Bell Agree! @Bell what are you doing about this? Do I have to bail to @rogers before you fix this?

[Empire State Building @EmpireStateBldg]

Rest in Peace Lord Vader

[Kashif Pirzada, MD @KashPrime]

Probably the most important article you'll read all year, by @omeraziz12 in the @globeandmail
Canada is in serious trouble, and Aziz hits the nail on the head on the causes:

- Deep incompetence by politicians, who resort to PR management over making decisions. Parliament is deeply dysfunctional, with Question Period a joke, and committee hearings a farce. Trudeau but also the provincial premiers have much to answer for. Many of our leaders come from legacy wealthy backgrounds and have absolutely no idea how difficult they've made life for Canadians.

"What I realized soon thereafter was that this country was witnessing a systemic political failure, a complete inability of politicians to get change done in ways that manifested at the dinner table. An extreme form of PR and image-management had begun to take over delivering on policy in concrete ways − and the entire country was noticing. Nor was this an accident, the unfortunate consequence of polarization or inequality, but the deliberate result of multiple policy failures − as well as failures of will."

"Normally, in a democracy, social ills can be addressed by public officials. But Canada’s own political institutions have been riven by corruption and personal ambition. And now also potentially by foreign influence. Each controversy and scandal leads people away from crucial time and policy attention that could have been spent on fixing the country’s major issues. At the parliamentary level, most members of Parliament are so frightened of speaking for themselves that they are rendered powerless. This defies the very essence of the British parliamentary system, upon which Canada’s system is based, which empowers MPs to speak on behalf of their constituents and represent their true voice in the people’s chamber."

- Inattention to rising crime, especially rampant car thefts, a revolving door criminal justice system, neglect of the opioid crisis. We have the laxest justice system in the Western world. Causing someone's death will get you a 6 month sentence in one prominent example. America had mass incarceration, we have mass leniency.

"At some point, one would think that the deaths of so many innocent and vulnerable people would elicit outrage − yet life goes on as normal. Each life is precious, and when violent criminals get off easy, or without punishment at all, they learn the terrible lesson that this country does not take its own laws seriously, so why should they? When the law loses its power to deter crime, either because of prosecutors not moving forward with cases, or because of a general laissez-faire attitude toward violent crime happening in other neighbourhoods, it is the marginalized who are harmed most."

- Rising housing costs that has made nearly everyone, including me, to paraphrase A Bittersweet Symphony, a slave to massive mortgages until they die, or they are perennial renters.

"For many Canadians, the cost of living has become unaffordable. The average price of a house in the GTA is $1.1-million, and Metro Vancouver is around the same. There are certainly cheaper places to live, but the average cost of a rental in Canada has reached record highs − more than $2,100 a month. According to one major study, Canada needs to build an additional 3.5 million homes by the end of the decade and is currently only building around 200,000 a year."

- Violation of the social contract on immigration.
"In Canada, the social contract for years allowed more immigration to grow the economy, but this came with stringent criteria for who should be admitted. Today, there are more than 900,000 international students in Canada, a 170-per-cent increase over the past decade. Some of these students have been scammed by for-profit colleges. Others have been affiliated with fake schools, using their student visas as loopholes in the immigration system. The social system was unprepared for such an influx, though certain institutions benefited: colleges and universities got more fees; politicians touted rising immigration numbers; the landlord class got an endless supply of perpetual renters. Without any housing available, this has left the country unprepared to deal with multiple, overlapping economic and social crises."

Aziz asks What is the Canadian dream?
"It was a promise − less individualistic and gun-friendly than the American version, but no less ambitious. To me, the dream promised that every person here could have a decent shot at life, one that was better than that of their parents. There was emphasis on community and a strong focus on order and good government. The compact included the payment of higher taxes, and in exchange, the existence of world-class social institutions delivering for ordinary people. The immigration system worked because the same contract existed with immigrants − that they would work hard, play by the rules, become part of Canadian society through legal means, and in return, would become citizens of a highly functioning democracy where a good life was, if not guaranteed, then within reach.

The dream was based on fairness, on merit, on policies that worked. It promised breathable air and the bountiful resources of the second-largest country on Earth. It promised the principle of equality of opportunity, promised safety and peace and responsibility. It promised leaders who put the national and long-term interests of the country above their own partisan needs. The dream now feels like it’s on life support."

Amen

[Richard Palmer @RoyalReporter]

This story is now making waves on rolling news channels, websites, and some of tomorrow’s front pages.

https://t.co/MkyQXRAeuj

[Shannon Watts @shannonrwatts]

Greta Gerwig: Made a critically acclaimed, culturally profound, feminist movie about Barbie and the patriarchy that made a billion dollars at the box office.

Oscar nomination goes to … Ken.

#Barbie  #Oscars2024 https://t.co/mQ8xlYPzc3

[Ann Stevens 🇨🇦 @LittleBeachLady]

Looks like the rain &winds have pushed Lake Erie and our Little Beach up higher 😳💨🌊@weathernetwork @MurphTWN @KMacTWN @LakeErieNorth @WxMelinda21 @StormhunterTWN @RachelSchoutsen @NicoleKarkic @AnwarKnight @martaczur @MattHamelTV #ShareYourWeather

[Charles Woodson @CharlesWoodson]

#Team144 #Hail

[Desmond Howard @DesmondHoward]

Priceless.

[Michigan Football @UMichFootball]

Rose Bowl champs! 〽️

#GoBlue

[Brad Galli @BradGalli]

JJ McCarthy experiencing a different moment this time.

Michigan won the Rose Bowl.

[CTV Windsor @CTVWindsor]

Applebee’s closes on Huron Church Road https://t.co/3tYICgZMCX

[LakeErie ♀ @LakeErieNorth]

It's almost tropical.

[Michigan Football @UMichFootball]

1, 2, you know what to do!

#GoBlue