oftenreading said:

So what are people thinking about the offered payment to Khadr?

Two links here to articles in the G&M

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/odious-khadr-payout-is-the-penalty-for-being-lax-on-the-rule-of-law/article35551200/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-soldier-widow-to-seek-injunction-to-halt-ottawas-payout-to-omar-khadr/article35540496/

Personally, I agree that Canada was complicit in violating his rights, as the court has twice found, and thus he has ground for compensation. I am a strong believer that the legal system needs to operate absolutely cleanly and transparently at all times, given the enormous power it has. Similarly, that's why I also don't complain when accused individuals "get off on a technicality" because police or lawyers have broken the law in the course of prosecution - if your job is to uphold the law, then you'd damn well better be following the law to get there.

I totally agree. And honestly, I think that the vast majority of people who are upset about this just don't really know wtf they're talking about. They just read the headlines and got mad. What's really stupid is that so many of them blame the whole thing on the Trudeau government, when it's the Harper government they should be pissed at - they are the ones who fucked it all up and necessitated the settlement. To be angry with the current government in this case shows a pathetic lack of understanding about - or perhaps a pathetic lack of appreciation for - our laws and protections as citizens.

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

And the interior is burning up. The situation is getting serious. I'm hoping for rain with no rain in sight.

Terrible. I can't believe how fast it all started happening this time. I have been saying for at least a few years now that BC is doomed because pretty much the whole province will simply burn down, and we'll be fucked ... seems like a really obvious conclusion at this point. I sure am glad I live on the coast. That's the only safe region now.... for the time being, anyway.

DarthMaeglin said:

jeffbr said:

Rolling Stone Magazine just unveiled their newest cover shot today. Thought my neighbors to the north would get a smile from it:

Also, a flattering article about him:

Justin Trudeau: The North Star

I just threw up a little in my mouth, lol.

Why? You hate him that much?

DarthMaeglin said:

PJ_Soul said:

DarthMaeglin said:

jeffbr said:

Rolling Stone Magazine just unveiled their newest cover shot today. Thought my neighbors to the north would get a smile from it:

Also, a flattering article about him:

Justin Trudeau: The North Star

I just threw up a little in my mouth, lol.

Why? You hate him that much?

I'll put it this way, when I went to Parliament Hill for the WE Day concert, I applauded all the speakers but him.  Fucker's lucky news of the Khadr deal hadn't broken, because then I would have booed him (I consciously chose not to do so).  That said, I'll give him this bit of credit (that has zero to do with being a good PM):  he had no remarks put into the teleprompter, but ended his string of platitudes right when his timer ran down to zero. (And don't get me started on his mother's ramblings that day, lol.)  If other's were allowed to express their hatred of Harper, then I feel entitled to mine, sorry.

I'll start with the Khadr thing: How do you blame that on Trudeau?? It was the Harper government that fucked that entire thing up completely and necessitated that settlement.
Why exactly do you dislike him so much (other than blaming the Harper/Khadr fuck up on him)? What has he done as PM that negatively impacted you? I am not saying you shouldn't express your hatred of him. I certainly openly expressed my hatred of Harper.... But I had a lot of specific, well-researched, and long-proven reasons to hate Harper. What are your specific reasons to hate Trudeau? Just curious. I see plenty of Trudeau-hate on social media, but I never see anyone actually give any reason for it, except that they don't like how much the media loves him... I also get the impression that some people seem threatened by his good looks and charm, lol. And I suppose some people don't like how positive he is. Oh, and of course those who hate helping Muslim refugees don't like him one little bit. That is one definitive reason some hate him. For me, that's something I like about him.

"All" the Harper government did was refuse repatriation, standing on their principles? Gee. You kind of made my point there. But yes okay, the previous government is also at fault. I have no qualms with that perspective. The Harper government sure as shit didn't try and help the situation to say the least, and I think they violated the rights of a Canadian, which is the only issue here. I see the settlement as necessitated by all of the circumstances that led up to that though - I feel that it was purely out of respect for the rights of all Canadians, and has absolutely nothing to do with Khadr or any feelings about terrorism whatsoever.

I feel like you're overstating some things. His government hasn't been more secretive than the Harper government, not even close, so I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that. As for deficits, I think those are necessary for the same reasons he does. Again, that is just a difference in perspective/principles I guess. I VERY strongly disagree with you on the equal cabinet thing, and TBH I find that view offensive as a woman. I think that attitude about it dismisses the fact that those women ARE just as or more qualified than any of the other male options. Having equality in the cabinet does not mean the cabinet could otherwise be better at all, and at the same time it is very meaningful for the sake of improving equality in general - the message that sends is something I find 100% necessary, given that I truly believe it is sent without any kind of sacrifice whatsoever. On the contrary. I fully supported that move. As far as the Fort Mac thing goes.... well, the guy just can't win. I remember this very well, and conservatives first shit all over him for not going sooner (he held off for a while so as not to distract from the emergency still unfolding) and then shit on him again when he went (and yes, he did meet with victims).

I do agree about the environmental thing. While he is LIGHT YEARS better than the Harper government in this sense already, he does overstate his dedication to it. Some would argue that he's stuck between a rock and hard place (the oil economy vs environment), but I think if he really cared that much he'd just go for it - reject the pipelines and truly focus on the renewable energy sector. That said, I newer thought in a million years that ANY federal government was going to reject new pipelines at the end of the day. I am not that gullible, lol. So while I don't like it (as someone who lives literally a few blocks from where they want to terminate the Kinder Morgan pipeline and double the size of the storage facility - this pipeline could literally kill me or destroy my neighborhood), I am generally cynical when it comes to the oil industry and government, and this applies to Trudeau as much as anyone else. I guess the silver lining is that he did indeed block one of the pipelines from going through, which is better than nothing.

I think it's pretty unreasonable to criticize the leader of a nation for traveling though. There isn't anything he can do about that - he travels as much as any national leader should - he's not the leader of Greenpeace, you know? And he didn't act like he was when he campaigned. I feel like many criticisms aimed at him are pure bullshit, and that is an example of that. As for the "dear leader" thing... I sincerely don't get why people think it's a bad thing for a leader to exude confidence and charm and to be appealing to the international masses. I also don't see a problem with citizens really liking their leader for personality reasons. I can totally tell that it really bothers some people... but tough shit I guess? Maybe they are jealous that the guy who leads the party they don't support is just sooooo much more likeable and charming and better looking than that lego-haired, beady-eyed, cardigan-wearing, boring-as-shit, constipated, sinister, fundamentalist dickweed who preceded him? Haha, I am serious about that, but I also know that not only Harper-likers dislike Trudeau just because he is charming and likeable... I think it's a bit of a petty viewpoint.

I am glad you can acknowledge how great his push to legalize is though. Anyone against that is a fool IMO. Now we just have to wait and see how well or badly the provinces handle the roll out. I have faith that BC will do okay there, since we're already halfway there in Vancouver anyhow. Sounds like Ontario and Montreal need to pull their shit together a bit in this regard, but I'm sure it will all be fine in the end. Nobody said that legalizing weed would be easy.

The thing Trudeau did that upset me the most was how fucking wussy he ended up being with the doctor assisted suicide legislation, which is something very important to me. Yeah, sure, we got some half-hearted, semi-effective (at best) law passed, which is certainly better than nothing, but the restrictions on it still ensure real suffering for those who want to end it. I couldn't believe it when the Senate actually said they wanted to make changes and those changes were rejected outright. I don't know why Trudeau balked on that so much - it's not like he needed to reign it in so much unless death with dignity actually goes against his own personal morality, which I'd find hard to believe. So what was that really about? Who was he trying to please?