So, yeah, A BIT of America, but mostly Canadian stuff: a budget, technically. Alberta and CBC. Han Dong and Global. A stabbing in Vancouver. And some announcements.
Free subscribers, please chip in and subscribe. I disagree with Matt and Jen a lot, and hassle them about covid non stop, but they reply civilly and engage. They are real people, and you don't often find that in media.
Canadian state funded media (ie, basically all of it) is garbage, and The Line is part of the way forward. Pay the $5!
To the family of Paul Schmidt: I hope that you will, someday, adjust to the "new normal" that the callous murder of your beloved has pushed you into. I am very sorry that this should have happened to you.
To the person who filmed the murder and did nothing to help--I hope you become painfully aware of just how despicable your actions were.
To the social media companies who facilitate the prurient viewing of such stuff, I hope laws are changed to penalize you (in a meaningful--big $$$--way).
To the rest of us (and especially to the provincial premiers and the federal prime minister: What the hell are we doing? Surely we must know by now that Canada is in the teeth of a serious social crisis?
It seems to me that this incident (and the others we've been hearing about) suggests the need for big changes in how we handle those who are living with mental health issues. Oh, and by the way, based on what we've seen in the news during the past decade, the problem is not simply limited to big urban centres.
I would accept the premise that mental health problems among the most isolated and disenfranchised of our society are not the only reason why public security has become a growing problem in Canada. They are, nonetheless, a big deal and they ought to be prompting more urgent actions from society and our governments.
Hopefully someone, somewhere will have the courage to introduce laws and procedures that enable the proper treatment of the mentally ill on our streets (while still ensuring the protection of the affected individuals' rights and freedoms). I strongly suspect that this will entail taking many of them OFF our streets and putting them into closely supervised institutional settings.
That may sound harsh--and even a little frightening--but let's be honest here, does anyone believe that our present strategy, which relies heavily on "helping the homeless" by handing out care packages and trying to cram them into community-run homeless shelters, is working?
In the absence of an effective--and robust--mental health intervention strategy, all we have at the moment are reactive responses by the police--and temporary outbursts of public concern whenever news of another random killing is published.
Thanks, good coverage. By the way, “cold, apathetic, and indifferent” certainly fits with my view that Canadians are becoming more and more self-centred.
I enjoy the direction The Line has been taking and some great posts over the months. I get that the comments section has been more headache than not. But I do miss the odd time being able to comment on a midweek article. Maybe something that might work would be to allow one post per article by your subscribers and no followups ? Not sure if thats something available in the existing substack software or not.
The only time I called 911 to report what I thought was an emergency situation, I was scolded and told I should have just called the regular police line. It was 2:30 am; I was on my way home from work at 7-11 and came across a pick-up stopped halfway through an intersection with the driver lying across the front seat. I was alone, female and naive. It never occurred to me that he was just passed out but I didn't open the truck door to check him - I thought he might be dead. The position of the truck in an intersection just around a curve seemed like an acccident waiting to happen so I called 911. I am now one of those who just keeps walking when I see an altercation or dangerous situation.
WRT the libel suit filed by former Liberal Party MP Han Dong (in which Global News and Sam Cooper were named as defendants), I would agree that those in the Liberal Party who have been stumping for Han ought to be a little more circumspect about what might be achieved.
All in all, the Prime Minister and his political compadres have made asses of themselves (if we judge them by their response to the damaging revelations leaked by high-level insiders with regard to foreign interference in Canada's political system).
No, leaking highly classified (and extremely sensitive) documents is not to be celebrated. But JT and company are mistaken if they believe that their prerogatives and behaviour should never be challenged. In fact, this episode strongly suggests that our collective response to these leaks should include a thorough revamping of Canada's access to information laws (at present, the spirit of the legislation is regularly violated by bureaucrats and politicians--because the laws basically enable them to sandbag at will). A revised access to information law would, perhaps, enable us to get hold of information that would shed more light on allegations like those made about Han and other politicians.
This much is certain: Politicians in this country (and the political parties they belong to) should realize that it has never been "okay" for them to do whatever they can get away with. It seems as if terms like "moral compass" and "ethical standards" are alien to most of them.
We know that a foreign agents registry is coming down the pike (and hopefully Jagmeet Singh and the NDP understand that the Liberals should not be allowed to get away with any finagling or jiggery pokery to make the registry weak and ineffective).
Nonetheless, it seems credible to suggest that we also need laws prohibiting "low-level" abuses, like the bussing of people from one riding to another in order to secure nominations in a particular jurisdiction, or allowing non-citizens to vote in internal political party elections.
Both are particularly troubling, as they underscore just how little respect political operators have for the voters they purport to represent.
I should finish by observing that I don't, for one minute, believe that the various flavours of self-described Conservatives who operate in this country are any less capable of stonewalling when it comes to holding them to account. They are just as inclined to offering denials and indulging in deflection tactics when confronted with accusations like those now dogging the Liberals.
I was sparking myself up to write a comment on this precise subject (changing the Access to Info laws, but you’re nailing of JT & Co is bonus) -- thanks for doing so better than I might have, and adding that Any Other Party wouldn’t be any better (they weren’t).
A serious discussion on Toronto's mayoral candidates - who they are, what are their views, their backgrounds - would be quite timely. This mayoral election is happening at a very important time of rising crime. So I would like to get a nice Primer on all the candidates. Looking forward to a separate piece on this topic.
If we are a caring society, can’t we do better than becoming tourists at violent crimes, camera whipped out and light blinking? Uploading the crimes to the net for massive social media attention? Standing (or sitting) around while others perish at the hands of violence speaks of a society that is losing its moral compass.
If a person would sooner use a cellphone to video a crime in progress than use it to hit 911, a sense of civic duty and respect for others in a time of need has been lost in our progressive march to oblivion.
I'd love to hear some commentary on Horgan and Kenney's recent board placements, and how they're a perfect example of the pathologies eating away at our country. Whether they're reasonably successful premiers or utter failures, they all seem to succeed/fail upward into a board seat or legal firm sinecure where they can happily peddle influence to their heart's content. You could have predicted Kenney's seat in 2019, but Horgan's is especially greasy.
Free subscribers, please chip in and subscribe. I disagree with Matt and Jen a lot, and hassle them about covid non stop, but they reply civilly and engage. They are real people, and you don't often find that in media.
Canadian state funded media (ie, basically all of it) is garbage, and The Line is part of the way forward. Pay the $5!
To the family of Paul Schmidt: I hope that you will, someday, adjust to the "new normal" that the callous murder of your beloved has pushed you into. I am very sorry that this should have happened to you.
To the person who filmed the murder and did nothing to help--I hope you become painfully aware of just how despicable your actions were.
To the social media companies who facilitate the prurient viewing of such stuff, I hope laws are changed to penalize you (in a meaningful--big $$$--way).
To the rest of us (and especially to the provincial premiers and the federal prime minister: What the hell are we doing? Surely we must know by now that Canada is in the teeth of a serious social crisis?
It seems to me that this incident (and the others we've been hearing about) suggests the need for big changes in how we handle those who are living with mental health issues. Oh, and by the way, based on what we've seen in the news during the past decade, the problem is not simply limited to big urban centres.
I would accept the premise that mental health problems among the most isolated and disenfranchised of our society are not the only reason why public security has become a growing problem in Canada. They are, nonetheless, a big deal and they ought to be prompting more urgent actions from society and our governments.
Hopefully someone, somewhere will have the courage to introduce laws and procedures that enable the proper treatment of the mentally ill on our streets (while still ensuring the protection of the affected individuals' rights and freedoms). I strongly suspect that this will entail taking many of them OFF our streets and putting them into closely supervised institutional settings.
That may sound harsh--and even a little frightening--but let's be honest here, does anyone believe that our present strategy, which relies heavily on "helping the homeless" by handing out care packages and trying to cram them into community-run homeless shelters, is working?
In the absence of an effective--and robust--mental health intervention strategy, all we have at the moment are reactive responses by the police--and temporary outbursts of public concern whenever news of another random killing is published.
That simply isn't enough anymore.
Thanks, good coverage. By the way, “cold, apathetic, and indifferent” certainly fits with my view that Canadians are becoming more and more self-centred.
I enjoy the direction The Line has been taking and some great posts over the months. I get that the comments section has been more headache than not. But I do miss the odd time being able to comment on a midweek article. Maybe something that might work would be to allow one post per article by your subscribers and no followups ? Not sure if thats something available in the existing substack software or not.
The only time I called 911 to report what I thought was an emergency situation, I was scolded and told I should have just called the regular police line. It was 2:30 am; I was on my way home from work at 7-11 and came across a pick-up stopped halfway through an intersection with the driver lying across the front seat. I was alone, female and naive. It never occurred to me that he was just passed out but I didn't open the truck door to check him - I thought he might be dead. The position of the truck in an intersection just around a curve seemed like an acccident waiting to happen so I called 911. I am now one of those who just keeps walking when I see an altercation or dangerous situation.
WRT the libel suit filed by former Liberal Party MP Han Dong (in which Global News and Sam Cooper were named as defendants), I would agree that those in the Liberal Party who have been stumping for Han ought to be a little more circumspect about what might be achieved.
All in all, the Prime Minister and his political compadres have made asses of themselves (if we judge them by their response to the damaging revelations leaked by high-level insiders with regard to foreign interference in Canada's political system).
No, leaking highly classified (and extremely sensitive) documents is not to be celebrated. But JT and company are mistaken if they believe that their prerogatives and behaviour should never be challenged. In fact, this episode strongly suggests that our collective response to these leaks should include a thorough revamping of Canada's access to information laws (at present, the spirit of the legislation is regularly violated by bureaucrats and politicians--because the laws basically enable them to sandbag at will). A revised access to information law would, perhaps, enable us to get hold of information that would shed more light on allegations like those made about Han and other politicians.
This much is certain: Politicians in this country (and the political parties they belong to) should realize that it has never been "okay" for them to do whatever they can get away with. It seems as if terms like "moral compass" and "ethical standards" are alien to most of them.
We know that a foreign agents registry is coming down the pike (and hopefully Jagmeet Singh and the NDP understand that the Liberals should not be allowed to get away with any finagling or jiggery pokery to make the registry weak and ineffective).
Nonetheless, it seems credible to suggest that we also need laws prohibiting "low-level" abuses, like the bussing of people from one riding to another in order to secure nominations in a particular jurisdiction, or allowing non-citizens to vote in internal political party elections.
Both are particularly troubling, as they underscore just how little respect political operators have for the voters they purport to represent.
I should finish by observing that I don't, for one minute, believe that the various flavours of self-described Conservatives who operate in this country are any less capable of stonewalling when it comes to holding them to account. They are just as inclined to offering denials and indulging in deflection tactics when confronted with accusations like those now dogging the Liberals.
I was sparking myself up to write a comment on this precise subject (changing the Access to Info laws, but you’re nailing of JT & Co is bonus) -- thanks for doing so better than I might have, and adding that Any Other Party wouldn’t be any better (they weren’t).
Cheers.
It’s transgender not transgendered.
A serious discussion on Toronto's mayoral candidates - who they are, what are their views, their backgrounds - would be quite timely. This mayoral election is happening at a very important time of rising crime. So I would like to get a nice Primer on all the candidates. Looking forward to a separate piece on this topic.
If we are a caring society, can’t we do better than becoming tourists at violent crimes, camera whipped out and light blinking? Uploading the crimes to the net for massive social media attention? Standing (or sitting) around while others perish at the hands of violence speaks of a society that is losing its moral compass.
If a person would sooner use a cellphone to video a crime in progress than use it to hit 911, a sense of civic duty and respect for others in a time of need has been lost in our progressive march to oblivion.
I'd love to hear some commentary on Horgan and Kenney's recent board placements, and how they're a perfect example of the pathologies eating away at our country. Whether they're reasonably successful premiers or utter failures, they all seem to succeed/fail upward into a board seat or legal firm sinecure where they can happily peddle influence to their heart's content. You could have predicted Kenney's seat in 2019, but Horgan's is especially greasy.
Canadians more and more just want the state to take care of every rough edge of life.
This last budget, and the circumstances around the murder in Toronto and Vancouver over the weekend are just two small examples of that.