man, you know it's bad when the ailing world hegemon has to rely on the consular services of the middle power neighbour it's threatening to annex in order to protect its own citizens from the war it started
every school should have a "fix-it lab" where students learn to repair their clothes, bikes and electronics. we should grow up knowing that not everything is disposable, that care and repair are part of living well on this planet.
@jodyvance@melindagates Undoubtedly a lot of sus behaviour etc. NDAs don’t cover illegal activities/crime though — which probably doesn’t matter at all in the US now. Even if they still had a rule of law, there’s always a pardon.
The main humiliation is obviously Greenland, where we alienated our allies and encouraged our enemies in order to get nothing that we hadn’t already had for 75 years. 7/
Conservatives in this country so often have no sense of the moment we are living through: all they have is snide remarks and petty grievance and a complete lack of understanding of the most consequential historical era in recent Canadian history
He didn't shoot her in the head at point blank range because he felt like he was in danger. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he was furious that she wasn't afraid of him. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he felt emasculated.
Canada still produces some of the world’s most important scientific advancements.
Including a very real chance we could win the race for commercial fusion.
Canadian researchers gave the world the modern AI. We remain leaders in Quantum Computing, Nuclear, and Advanced Materials.
And while we may not churn out startups like SF or NYC, Toronto’s sector outcompetes most of Europe’s outside London.
The Toronto-Waterloo corridor is arguably producing the highest concentration of world’s top technology talent. Our problem is not creating enough opportunities here to harness it.
With abundant resources, land, and talent, if governments finally get their act together, Canada could be the jewel of 21st century civilization.
We need to up our ambition, and not waste opportunities.
It’s old-fashioned to defend mainstream journalism these days but some of the most reliable reporting from people actually on the ground will be the AP and Reuters the next 24 hours. Your Substack journalist writing takes will be using frontline reporting from them.
The most telling fact from the 2018 sexual assault by players from the Canadian Junior Men’s hockey team is that NO PLAYER spoke up & tried to stop what was happening from the start.
The players involved weren’t wrongfully accused, they were entitled & sociopathic predators.
Beyond the scope of this verdict in London, I have some things to say about Hockey Canada. Not enough has been done. That organization MUST be renamed and rebranded, & I hope all parties involved (every single World Juniors player - not just the 5 charged - AND the accuser take part in a process that holds the organization & some of its departed leaders criminally accountable.
It's a FACT they used registration fees paid by Canadian families to build a secret (to everyone but their leaders) "slush fund" to quietly settle sexual abuse & assault cases.
It's a FACT they paid out millions to settle claims, & did so without fully disclosing those settlements to parents, players, the general public, or the ACCUSED PARTIES.
And in this 2018 case, it's a FACT they settled the alleged victim's case swiftly without making the identities of the players public, pressing for a full internal investigation, despite having the leverage, in 2018, to do exactly that. They paid the hush money, without even telling one player or one family member from that team the players who were named & accused, the players who weren't named or accused, & the players (of which there were several) who weren't even in London for this event.
By doing so, they didn't cooperate with London Police. By doing so, they obstructed justice.
By doing this enough times, they shielded their players not only from properly facing accusations, but they buried innocent players under the same dark cloud of suspicion & rumour. Utterly disgusting.
When this scandal broke, NONE of the leadership of Hockey Canada stepped down voluntarily. It took a grilling from federal Parliamentarians, the media (we did our best), & sponsors before heads properly rolled.
Finally, they did E.M. no justice whatsoever by paying out a settlement, not making players accountable or questioning them. Their goal? Get her to shut up, make her happy, bury the story, & protect reputations.
Regardless of your thoughts on the verdict, the ensuing media attention created a re-think from London Police regarding criminal charges, & put E.M., YEARS after attempting to recover from her experience (however you perceive it) through considerably more trauma than any of us could imagine - again, regardless, of what you may consider the legitimacy of her testimony & her account of the events.
It's a disgusting miscarriage of justice. It makes me puke to see the two words together - "Hockey Canada" & the logo. Burn it. Nuke it.
Many begged for this 3 years ago. New name, new logo, new sense of accountability.
Allegations must be listened to and investigated.
The accused must be given their right to defend their actions, reputations, & must be in the loop.
And it goes without saying, starting a slush fund to pay off accusers, shield players from scrutiny (without the players getting to know about it or defend themselves), all with the $ of families & taxpayers is one of the grossest things we've ever witnessed in Canadian sport.
I hope we won't forget this. I hope we do something about it. If not now, when? Institutions need to be trusted - these "leaders" led no one. They protected no one. They advocated for no one. Thus, they are deserving of no one's respect.