Sunday 3 March 2024

Liberal budget overtaken by interest obligation

 


Liberal budget overtaken by interest obligation

The sad case of Canada’s finances continues.  The Trudeau Liberals need to borrow $8.9 billion more than already budgeted by March 31, with the biggest need of $3.2 billion extra over previous estimates, to pay rising interest on the federal debt.

The government had previously denied parliamentarians these numbers, but they now show in Treasury Board President Anita Anand's Supplementary Estimates.  Apart from the finance charges — the single largest item — the extra money goes to indigenous health care and some military expenses.

But the extra spending will push the government’s overall spending for the 2023/24 fiscal year to $496.6 billion, an increase of $13.5 billion, and almost 3% over the previous fiscal year.  The new spending requests, known formally as the Supplementary Estimates, 2023-2024 were tabled on February 15 in the House of Commons.

It is more than just numbers though, bad as they are.  It represents the Liberals' irresponsible beliefs and philosophy about Canada.  Canada’s economic plight is reviewed in a report by Jake Fuss and Grady Munro of the Fraser Institute.

They show how budget deficits and increasing debt have become serious fiscal challenges facing the federal and provincial governments.  Since 2007/08, combined federal and provincial net debt (inflation-adjusted) has nearly doubled from $1.18 trillion to a projected $2.18 trillion in 2023/24.

Between 2019/20 (the last year before COVID) and 2023/24, the combined federal-provincial debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to grow from 65.7% to 76.2%.  Moreover, the federal and provincial governments are on track to have collectively accumulated $425.8 billion (inflation-adjusted) in total net debt between 2019/20 and 2023/24, an increase of 24.3%.  The federal net debt-to-GDP ratio has grown from 32.7% to 46.5%.

Interest payments are a consequence of debt accumulation.  Governments must make interest payments on their debt similar to households that must pay interest on borrowing related to mortgages, vehicles or credit card spending.  Revenues directed towards interest payments mean that in the future there will be less money available for tax cuts or government programs such as health care, education and social services.  Economists call it “crowding out”.

Growing government debt is therefore a big problem.  Studies have found that there is a negative relationship between government debt and economic growth.  Government debt has a significant effect on private investment. Long-term interest rates rise in response when government debt expands, which increases the cost of borrowing in the private sector.

Higher borrowing costs reduce the incentive for private capital investment such as the housing sector.  Declining investment levels pose a challenge to Canada’s ability to enhance productivity.  It reduces future economic performance.  Growing debt causes governments to raise taxes to pay debt or borrow more (Supplementary Estimates) to meet their interest payments, which in turn impedes economic growth.

Interest payments (debt servicing costs) are a consequence of repeated annual deficit budgets.  Like households, governments are required to pay interest on their borrowed money.  Revenue directed towards interest payments leaves less money available for government programs such as health care, education, social services or tax relief.  It is known as “crowding out”.

The debt burden for families made by governments across Canada has been growing substantially for more than a decade.  Sadly, spending and debt accumulation have become the norm for the federal and many provincial governments.

Rising government debt has severe consequences for Canadians, as more and more resources are directed toward interest payments and away from programs that help families or improve Canada’s economic competitiveness.  Since we are now past the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal and provincial governments should have plans to meaningfully address the problem of government debt in Canada.

Since the Trudeau administration came to power in November 2015, they have never balanced a budget. Given the recent Supplementary Estimates, it is clear they never will.  There is no adult to be found anywhere in the Prime Minister's Office.

Canada is a big NATO 'fail'

 


Canada is a big NATO 'fail'

Julianne Smith, US Ambassador to NATO, calls out Canada's Trudeau government for not only not reaching its NATO spending commitment, but not even having a plan to do so.

Canada is the only NATO member without a timeline to reach the alliance's target of spending 2% of GDP on defense.  This, according to the US ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Julianne Smith calls out Trudeau and says Canada needs to step up and get serious about reaching the spending goal that we promised, of 2% of GDP for general military spending, to ensure that Canada is a fully-functioning partner in NATO.  All other 30 countries have either met the promise or have tabled clear plans to get there.  The outlier — the only one — is the Trudeau administration.

This prime minister's lack of a plan or even a plan to have a plan, reveals a profound and distressing lack of the commitment that our allies want to see.  “We very much want our friends in Canada to keep moving towards the 2% target, but most importantly, we want them to lay out a plan to get there.”  Smith added that it is important to recognize that collective security is not free and it requires everyone to “make tough choices.”  A clear timeline shows intent.

“Just saying in more broad terms that you're working towards it, lacks the commitment that we want to see on the part of our friends in Canada.”  She recognizes Canada's recent spending announcements — including increasing funding for NORAD, plans to purchase F-35 fighter jets and an increased presence in Latvia — “but inching just above 1.3% is a long way from 2%."

“Every single member of this alliance has its own domestic politics,” Smith said. “It has its own history.  It has its own complicated relationship between the finance minister and the defense minister.  We all face unique challenges in this area of defense spending."

Julianne Smith is an American foreign policy advisor and diplomat who serves as the United States Permanent Ambassador to NATO in the Biden administration.  She previously served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration.

NATO members signed on more than a decade ago to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense.  Last summer, at the alliance’s annual meeting, members increased that commitment to have the 2% become a minimum requirement.

And earlier this month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that of the alliance's 31 members, 18 will reach or exceed the defense spending target this year. By inference, Canada is the laggard.  The NATO secretary-general expects Canada to give a timeline to meet the defense spending target.

NATO, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance of 31 member states — 29 European and two North American.  Established in the aftermath of the Second World War, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, on April 4, 1949.

NATO is a collective security system: its independent member countries agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties.  During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union.  The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.  The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber (Latin for 'a mind unfettered in deliberation').

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty requires NATO members to come to the military aid of any member subject to an armed attack.  It was invoked for the first time after the September 11 twin-tower attacks, after which troops were deployed to Afghanistan under the NATO-led ISAF.  The organization has operated a range of additional roles since then, including sending trainers to Iraq, assisting in counter-piracy operations and in 2011, enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya by a UN Security Council Resolution.  There has been a reinvigoration of attention to NATO since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Despite nice-sounding reassurances from Canada that we will eventually get there, NATO membership is not an “A La Carte Menu.”  Canada has never met its promised target of 2% spending of our national Gross Domestic Product.  Such a measure is a partnership commitment based on the ability to pay.

Trudeau claims they are increasing help to Ukraine but the numbers don't reflect it.  Ukraine needs more outside help.  They are fighting for us, as every Western democracy is affronted by Putin's view of the world.

In most basic terms, it is a horrible bloody contest between the expansion of dictatorship against free independent democracy.  The lesson is that Canada needs to raise defense spending, as NATO members warn, “never take peace for granted.”  Putin must understand, that he is never going to eliminate Ukraine and the security of Europe is the theme.

We are being called out by our allies.  We have deep internal problems of things to fix.  Canada seems unprepared in a changing world.  For example, we should improve and enlarge our navy because of our vast coasts.  NORAD needs technology upgrades.  North American Aerospace Defense Command is a combined organization of the US and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty and protection for Canada and the continental United States.

Canada's problem is political leadership.  Our other social priorities are only viable if we are safe. Canada is a member of the G7.  Canada is the second largest landmass country in the world with a vast coastline, so it matters what Canada does.

During a press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Stoltenberg’s comments, saying Canada will “continue to put forward our budgets and our proposals at the appropriate time.”

“We will continue to be there to step up with our NATO partners," he said, without specifying whether the federal government has a timeline in mind to meet the spending promise.

Despite denials, Canada has stopped issuing export permits to companies looking to sell military equipment to Israel, according to John Ivison of the National Post. Apparently, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's office has issued instructions to the staff at Global Affairs Canada to delay issuing permits that are required for weapons, firearms and components that could have military use.

Concerning sending Canadian funds into a war zone, from documents and identity cards seized during the fighting, about 190 Hamas and PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) terrorist operatives served as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) employees. 

More than 10 UNRWA staffers took part in the attack on October 7.  The UNRWA is a UN agency that supports the relief of Palestinian refugees.  When the allegations were made, Canada suspended its funding, and then soon reinstated it.

Canada sent another $40 million in aid to organizations in the Gaza Strip after pausing funding to the UN's relief agency.  The funding top-up brings the total commitment to $100 million and condemns "inflammatory rhetoric" from the Israeli government about UNRWA people attacking Israel.

It appears more of saying one thing and doing another.  Trudeau says we support NATO and efforts in Ukraine, but the real numbers are not there.  We support Israel to defend itself, then work at cross-purpose behind the scenes.

Does this government have any sense of honour to fulfill our promises to our allies?

Somebody needs to resign


Somebody needs to resign

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc got the prime Ministerial hug when he was sworn in as House Leader.  That Minister or Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, must accept responsibility for the ArriveCAN debacle and resign their position.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was obvious that contracting rules were not followed for the ArriveCan online application.  His well-rehearsed lines about the scandal tried to explain and rationalize that in the early days of the government’s COVID-19 panic, everything was in question.

It's easy for him to say that now, but even in difficult times there is a need to follow rules.  He further talked about how there are ongoing investigations and that there will be consequences for public servants who did not abide by the rules.  He was not aggressively questioned on the matter.

Not so fast.  Highly skilled and well-paid public employees did just not all of a sudden lose their brains.  Had they become part of the Liberal culture, where accountability was not even considered?  Were existing professional rules and procedures ignored, and 'getting it done' on behalf of the Trudeau team was what mattered?  In short, had the political neutrality of public service professionalism evaporated?

In my parliamentary experience, I cannot recall any instance in which a run-of-the-mill $80,000 job escalated to a million dollars, let alone $60 million — and nobody up the ladder questioned it?  Something was going on.

Let's recap.  The federal government launched ArriveCan in April 2020 to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the pandemic, and to digitize customs and immigration declarations.  The app was then used to discriminate against people and rule by decree over the free movement of citizens.

Canada's Auditor General has now reported what she calls a glaring disregard for fundamental management and contracting practices, as ArriveCan was implemented. She also said the government's use of sole-sourced external contractors, which generally is against the rules, was partly responsible for the escalating costs.

Overall, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada repeatedly failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, development and implementation of the ArriveCAN application.

Use of ArriveCAN was discontinued in October 2022.  However, the government now has a lot of data on Canadians travelers' contact and health information.  Who is looking after that now?  Who is protecting the security and privacy of the defunct computer program?  It's a serious legitimate question.

Auditor General Karen Hogan found the CBSA's documentation, financial records and controls so poor that she was unable to determine ArriveCAN's precise cost, and in the June 2022 update it was revealed that around 10,000 travelers were wrongly instructed to quarantine.  And these people have our private information?

One last thing.  Who is really responsible?  At the onset of the COVID19 pandemic, there was the excuse that the government departments did not have the skills and resources needed to develop the application. Therefore, somebody a Minister, presumably Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, under whose umbrella CBSA falls, and upon the advice of civil servants decided to choose external contractors.

That decision, as well as continued reliance on these external resources without conventional oversight appears to be part of the inflated cost of ArriveCAN.  We may never know.  The evidence trail and the identities of the people responsible were quickly buried once it appeared that the scam was going public.  Appears like a cover up.

Civil servants may advise and undertake the work.  But they do so under the authority of an elected official — in this case the Minister.  Meanwhile, the job of the elected official — the Minister — is to ensure that the work is done and the public trust is not abused.  That's the system.  That's how it is supposed to work.  But manifestly, that's not what happened.

In a media scrum, Prime Minister Trudeau could not deny the obvious of the scandal, but demurred when it was suggested that he take responsibility for the mess. "We need to make sure that there is accountability and transparency around that," he said.  For once, I agree with him. And if a civil servant broke the law, there should be fitting consequences.  

Nevertheless, it was the Minister's responsibility to see that the law was not broken.  So which Minister is going to acknowledge the failure, accept responsibility and in the interests of 'accountability and responsibility' actually resign — in the manner that 'our system' is supposed to work?

Ministers are responsible to Parliament for the conduct of their Ministry.  The legal standing of Ministerial responsibility is based on the oath taken by each Minister upon becoming a member of the Privy Council Ministers, and historical rules.

This responsibility includes the Minister’s own conduct, but it also extends to the departments under their purview and all actions taken by civil servants.  In case of wrongdoing, the Minister can be called on to take action to correct the situation, to apologize, and even resign from Cabinet.  Ministers are politically responsible for their civil servants.  A Minister can’t just blame the bureaucracy and walk away.  The current debacle is clearly a case where the Minister is duty bound to resign.

 

Monday 15 January 2024

Outlook 2024

 


Outlook 2024: The Culture Wars Will Go On

What does 2024 hold for Canadians?  There is the economy.  For most of us, that means, "Do I have a job?" and "Does it pay enough?".  Seniors on fixed incomes struggle with rising costs.

There is tax.  We pay a lot of it.  We despair as we know our government does not wisely and fairly manage our tax dollars.  There will be no tax cuts in 2024.

Young people at the stage of leaving home don't imagine owning a home or having a family, as did their parents' generation, because we have entered the new economy of 2024 and things don't seem to point that way anymore.

Economically, the New Year means understanding new, emerging financial trends. Since the Bank of Canada's interest rate acts like a thermostat for how hot the economy and inflation run, the current 5% central rate is going to stay around for quite a while to moderate the consequences of the Liberal’s bad spending habits.  Many Canadians will be required to renew their mortgages in 2024 at higher interest rates, forcing them to cut back on expenses elsewhere.  Some will be forced to sell.  There will be payment shock for many.

Meanwhile, average Canadians will continue to bear the cost while the government repeats the tired old political shibboleth, "We have your back."  Socially, our society seems to be at war with itself.  It's almost a contest to denounce one another for the latest invented social misdemeanor.  Everyone else must be politically correct, while those who shout the loudest and call down others have little accountability.

We hear “diversity is our strength”, a slippery phrase indeed that is used to open the door of permission for every excess imaginable.  The tried and true, “unity is our strength to face adversity,” has been replaced like unfashionable clothes, dumped in the bin.

And there's modern technology.  The Internet and social media have great benefits, hope, and promise. We all now carry a cell phone which is our personal computer, connecting us to the world of both opportunity and degradation.  But social media has unleashed the dark side of human nature, where every sin imaginable is advertised, where conspiracies are invented each week, and so-called news is distrusted and discounted as propaganda.

And here's the bad news: As the Canadian culture war continues, nothing will change in 2024.  Alas, humanity has been here before.  We recall the “society of lies” that was the daily existence in the old Soviet Union.  No one dared speak the truth for fear of social and economic consequences.  We are aware of the layered social discourse within a dictatorship, where everyone lies and special information is its currency, to be traded and manipulated for one’s survival.

Pravda (Truth) in the USSR was the most pervasive lying newspaper in history.  But in Canada during the year to come, we will see a continuation in that downward direction, where traditional news media organizations increasingly rely on government financial largesse and become even less trusted by citizens.

The cacophony of the newsy independents will mix truth with speculation and expand their private followers (subscribers) who regurgitate their bias, excluding most non-conforming opinions.  People will pay to hear what they want to hear.

Canada in 2024 will also struggle with national unity.  The deluge of information or social noise will cause some to withdraw and cocoon to a more comfortable social zone that seems comprehensible.  It could be observed as the modern style of tribalism, where an identifiable group becomes somewhat isolated and autonomous, where outsiders have little awareness of their neighbour’s social world.

Politicians will seek out every obscure group to establish an apparent special connection.  There will be more 'special days,' 'commemorative weeks,' and 'theme months' proclaimed by the political class, to the degree that few will pay any attention. This 'divide-then-claim' will increase in 2024.

At the international level, the World Economic Forum will continue to promote “The Great Reset Agenda” where the self-righteous will deride Canadian governance.

Additionally, COP (Conference of the Parties) is an international political climate meeting held each year by the United Nations, designed to cajole nations to prevent supposed human-caused interference with the climate.  COP29 climate talks in 2024 will be in a city where one of the world’s first oil fields developed 1,200 years ago: Baku, Azerbaijan.  The focus is to eliminate fossil fuels.  Protests and civil engagement will take center stage, in a nation with restrictions on free speech, and Canada will have to deal with the infuriation of this spectacle.

And so, 2024 will be a year of choice for Canadians.  Our personal hopes as well as our national character will be challenged.  In 2024, democracy will be under attack.  The system of government that allows people to choose their leaders and hold them accountable is facing pressures around the world.  Many countries are having elections, with four that could have a global impact.

The most watched will be the presidential race in the United States.  Another key election will be in India, the world's largest democracy.  The impact of these elections on geopolitics, and global business will be enormous, shaping the priorities of some of the world's largest and most influential economies.

Taiwan will continue to be a flashpoint for US-China relations with the its election challenging China.  The election in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country and a rising economic power will be a test of its democratic resilience and its role in Southeast Asia.  The impact of these elections on geopolitics and society will be enormous.

The slowdown in China, the world’s second-largest economy and the largest trading partner of many countries and regions will be a 2024 concern.  China is facing multiple problems such as an aging population, high unemployment among younger workers, declining productivity, and environmental and real estate crises.

In 2024, democracy will be under stress, as authoritarian leanings will seek to make a mark in upcoming elections in response to poor governance.  Populist movements will challenge the malaise of established institutions.  The global economy will face multiple uncertainties.

“Peace, order and good government” is our national guidepost.  It is our historical definition of how Canadians see ourselves, both personally and for our nation.  It is the Canadian counterpart to the American “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and the French “liberty, equality, fraternity.”

In 2024, we will likely have the opportunity to choose “good government” to replace the present dismal failure at the national level.  We must learn the good governance of self, while we choose our national destiny.  We must put our personal lives in order, to better face life’s adversity, as we demand order rather than hypocrisy from our leaders.

Peace in 2024 may seem elusive.  Some seek personal peace and satisfaction through self-indulgence or substance abuse.  We also observe those who have little inner peace, are the ones who disturb the public peace.  With wars and rumours of war, the world needs peace.  Blessed are the peacemakers.  We understand real peace is more than the absence of conflict or cultural noise.  It is a presence deep within.

Writing to his youthful follower Timothy nearly 2,000 years ago, the great Apostle Paul said, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)

So, we must put our personal lives in order and choose wisely, so that we may engage the challenges of 2024.

 

Wednesday 3 January 2024

Christian spiritual viewpoint about war

 


At Christmas, a Christian spiritual viewpoint about war

Christmas is a season that may not have much joy or optimism for some.  There seems to be war everywhere.  But our angst and internal turmoil over present wars is a spiritual issue.  Let us consider the big picture.

God created the universe and then gradually began creating Earth as a special place for his ultimate creation, the human race.  Humanity was made to have some God-like qualities in His image, of free choice and morality, created right in front of God’s adversary.

The fallen Lucifer has always been against God’s beauty and His creation, especially living souls.

After the sinful choice made by humanity through disobedience, there came human awareness of good and evil — blessing and calamity.  Then God’s eventual plan of restoration was foretold in Genesis 3:15. “Her Seed; He shall fatally bruise your head and you shall only bruise His heel.”

This was the Christmas announcement, the prophecy about the Messiah Jesus, who through His birth, death, and resurrection would ultimately defeat Satan, the power behind the serpent, with a death blow.  Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given; And the government shall be upon His shoulder, And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The selection of Jews as God’s reconnection pathway with His human creation was an affront to Lucifer.  Consequently, the eternal spiritual battle and wars of retaliation arose from evil to smear and destroy the living souls of God’s creation, especially the Jews.  The story of the power of darkness and negativity, warring against the God of light, optimism, and grace, has existed from the very beginning as described in the Tora.

Along the way, Lucifer was against the eternal plan of redemption of the human race that his evil had temporarily wounded, by trying to kill Christ the Redeemer.  King Herod’s murder of children was one failed attempt.  The resurrection of Jesus was evil’s final spiritual defeat.

Consequently, the spiritual war was then to deceive as many as possible to keep them away from joining God’s family through Christ, by using imposters.  Lucifer has used many agent usurpers to keep souls spiritually blind and away from God, sometimes appearing as fake pretenders.  False religions were invented by Lucifer using willing human agents, to prevent souls from re-joining God’s family.  The spiritual war has been played out down through the centuries. The murderous evil of Islamic Hamas is just the latest. 

But persecution against God’s children is also being significantly perpetrated right now in India, China, Russia, as well as anywhere that Islam has political control.  Even in regions where God's own has some dominance — Canada being an example — evil is perpetuated by false agents to divide and divert away from the redemption of truth.  If organizations are not authentically Christian, and some falsely pretend that they are, they have nothing to do with God and are just mere social organizations, such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, United Church of Canada, New Age, Unification Church, Christian Science, Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, etc. 

Although Canada has seen dark Christmas days in the past — such as during the two world wars of the last century — Canada is now experiencing something different — an internal cultural war. 

Observe, for example, the complaints about the discriminatory meaning of Christmas and the varied and subtle ways that the Christ of Christmas will be maligned, diverted, and subverted.  The evil walking about in society is especially noticeable since the invention of social media.

A basic understanding comes when one retrospectively appreciates at a deeper level, that war, and especially the battle against Hitler and the USSR was a spiritual one.

One can have moral clarity.  Much of what happens has a spiritual force behind it, for both good and evil.  This is the Christian understanding of our existence.  It was the spiritual power of moral choice given at creation.  If one does not support God’s long-term direction for humankind, as well as personally and privately participate in God’s redemption plan through Christ, then one has already assigned and defined oneself as spiritually dwelling in the enemy camp.

Major battles and wars have at their core the motivations of evil against good.  Every person makes their choice on which side they are living, and in which camp they choose to dwell.  At the end of our life on earth, we will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well we handled what God entrusted within us.

The key is to choose to live the full meaning of Christmas which is “Immanuel God with us” Isaiah 7:14. (Christmas)  Ephesians 6:12:  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  As the Bible says, "We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone."  "No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places."  "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere."

We must understand that everything in our reality has a spiritual basis.  Our Universe and everything in it comes from God’s creative hand.  Such basic understanding was the reason for the explanation of beginnings in Genesis 1.  Genesis places existence in perspective, reminding us where all things come from  -God.  It is not a scientific detailed revelation, but rather a spiritual revelation that the mechanics of the existence of all matter and life itself come from God.

Interestingly, the book of John begins with a deliberate echo of the creation story in Genesis.  It takes the reader back to before time began to the moment when God interrupts silence and speaks the cosmos into existence.  Jesus is the Logos (Voice) as He existed long before time was measured.  

The significance of Christmas is that it is the most pivotal moment for humankind.  There are many essential junctions of time.  However, Jesus Christ humbly descended and took on the temporary form of humanness to provide a path of rescue for created human souls who were caught in the middle of the spiritual war between Satan against God.

Christmas and war are entwined together.  Jesus had to come to dwell for a while, to correct the consequences of war that had been fought in heaven.  War on earth has the same basis of evil rising against the good.  Christmas happened in order to end war, because the basic motivator of war is evil rising against the good.

Tuesday 7 November 2023

A time for moral clarity


In the Middle East - A time for moral clarity

Gaza-Israel.  That tip of land called Gaza south of Israel has been controlled by many peoples.  In ancient times it was an Egyptian base, then a royal city for the Philistines, and also the place where the Bible story of Samson, betrayed by Delilah, met his death.

It was part of the Ottoman Empire for most of the period from the 16th Century up to the end of World War 1, when Britain took temporary control over Gaza and other territories of the region.

The coastal region is named for its historical centre: The word Gaza comes from the Hebrew Azzah, loosely meaning 'strong city.'

The modern Israel derives its name from the Biblical land of the Israelites.  Recorded in the Bible, they are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  In the book of Genesis, Jacob wrestled with an angel and having held off, Jacob was renamed Israel, a word generally interpreted as “one who prevails.”   Scripture records God giving land to the Jews.

The small region from the southern border of Lebanon, southward to Egypt was historical Israel.  During the Iron Age, the Israelites controlled most of the region, while the Philistines occupied its southern coast (Gaza).

The Assyrians conquered it in the 8th century BC, then the Babylonians in c. 601 BC, followed by the Persians who conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC.

Then the Greeks, then the Romans for several hundred years followed by the Byzantine Empire until 634 CE, when it was taken by invading Muslim armies from Arabia. The Ottomans ruled the region from at least 1566 CE.  The crusades in the Middle Ages tried to take the land back from the Muslim invaders.  But through it all, Jews continued to live there over the centuries. Despite occupation by others, there was always a Jewish remnant living in the land,

Now the area is at war again, provoked by the Hamas Islamic Jihadist massacre of October 7 2023; the greatest single loss of life since the Nazi Holocaust.  Indeed, the whole world is in play, as threats have been made against Jews in many countries. Even in Canada, Jews are feeling renewed waves of antisemitism.

There must be a desire for truth. With conflicting stories, there is the challenge to find the truth.  False narratives, repeated often enough, come to be believed. The quest for truth must be paramount.  Psalm 144:11 says, “Rescue me and deliver me out of the power of hostile alien tribes whose mouths speak deceit and whose right hands are right hands raised in taking fraudulent oaths.”

Can discernment and moral clarity be found? The war narrative has a combination of truth and propaganda.  The rational uninvolved person would think of three parts: end hostilities; resolve the issues of the conflict; and; perhaps restore a relationship.

However, the conflict between Israel and Gaza does not fit this template.  Politicians and diplomats who attempt to do so will not be successful.  The war is a phase of a very long conflict.  For everything there is a season.  To seek understanding and wisdom about the season concerning Israel and Gaza, we must recognize the secondary factors at play.

Hamas is not an isolated actor in the war.  There is a larger coordinated effort involving both Hezbollah and Iran, as well as a global network of antisemitic actors.  The current phase has been planned for at least two years. It was no spontaneous uprising.

What is meant by moral clarity? It means that one cannot reconcile with evil. It can only be exposed and defeated.  But how does one determine who is evil?  As the saying goes “one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter.”  However, from a faith-based perspective of the Abrahamic tradition, evil is clearly defined as a settled opposition to God’s plan and purposes.

Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, there is a consistent theme Israel is at the heart of God’s plan and purposes to reconcile the world with God and with one another. This is the meaning of being a light to the nations.  To stand against Israel is to stand in opposition to God’s purposes.

It does not mean romanticizing Israelis or agreeing with every intent of the Israeli government.  It doesn’t mean loving Jews and hating Palestinians. It means aligning oneself and one’s nation in a posture of blessing Israel rather than cursing Israel. 

Genesis 12:3 says, “And I will bless those who bless you, who confer prosperity or happiness upon you and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed and by you they will bless themselves.”

This means to set one’s heart and society on the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people would be to oppose God’s purposes which is the embodiment of evil.  Hamas in its founding charter made the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews its reason for being.  Its goal is not advocacy for the needs or rights of the Palestinian people. Its goal is not to seek a two-state solution. It is the eradication of Israel -- full stop.

In Canada, the supporters chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” which is calling for the extermination of the Jews.  The violence has exposed Hamas for who they truly are at the core of their belief system.

The war has shone a light to reveal an unholy alliance of antisemites from Islamists to Western progressives to Neo Nazis to radical black activists.  These groups are not concerned with the plight of Palestinians; they are motivated by hate for Israel.

In years of various “peace talks” and accords, it is clear that for the Palestinian leadership, two states side by side was never their goal, but rather the eradication of Israel.  One has to appreciate the full meaning of “the right of return” and its real implications.  Hamas is outspoken about what is unspoken by the Palestinian Authority, which is supposed to represent people in the West Bank east of Jerusalem.

Palestinian leaders are foremost in their embrace of political-religious myth-making.  Palestinian school textbooks in the West Bank show maps of the region in which Israel doesn’t exist.  The perpetuated myth is the whole region is Palestine with no mention of Israel.

This is a time for moral clarity, where the nations of the world are faced with a choice. The choice is between standing with Israel or standing with the enemies of Israel; there is no third option.  Many have tried to straddle the fence and play it safe by issuing innocuous statements that fail to grasp the moral imperatives.

The designation 'Radical Islam’ is meant to distinguish the global Islamist and Jihadi network as separate from the millions of Muslims.  The worldview of Radical Islam envisions Islamic supremacy, not coexistence. For them, Israel doesn’t exist. It is part of Dar-Al-Islam and must be subdued to Islamic religious rule. Therefore, what we observe is not an 'Arab-Israeli' conflict, but an 'Islamic-Jewish' struggle

Hamas cannot be managed or accommodated with a peace deal, it must be defeated and it must be seen to be defeated by the Arab and Muslim world. In the Muslim world, strength is respected and weakness is despised. 

At this moment, moral clarity is the key, to either stand with Israel and God’s long-term purposes or stand against them. It is the Valley of Decision.  We pray that truth would shine in the darkness, piercing the veils of lies and untruths that lead to deception and confusion.  We pray for leaders and all involved to see and be guided by truth. Expose any lies that seek to create deception and negative consequences.  Draw all people to truth.

Monday 18 September 2023

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion - the sleep of reason


Diversity, equity, inclusion and the sleep of reason

Our social community in Canada is deeply divided.  One can’t understand how intelligent, educated people swallow the NDP-Liberal political narratives, especially over the long term.  Sensible people know, given what they see around them, that those on the 'other side' are very wrong about the economy, environmental policy, community safety and social behaviour.

Many Canadians rightly complain about our federal government.  But, then they actually do little about it.  They may even let the horribilia roll right over them.  However, the ultimate solution is at the ballot box.

The chance for Canadians to save themselves from the NDP-Liberal cabal is coming, but for many, not soon enough.  The polls reveal voters are starting to wake up.  

How did Canada spiral downward to such social dysfunction?  There has been much discussion about the emerging role of technology and its ability through social media to magnify and multiply unacceptable excess, unlike any previous generation.

Similarly, down through the years, the entertainment industry has relentlessly pushed the boundaries of decency in pursuit of financial profit regardless of the social cost.

The news cycle has changed from daily newspaper reflection, into instant unthinking emotional reactions on the cellphone.  Our political speech sometimes becomes complete fiction, similar to the horror days of the old USSR.  Universities and sometimes even grade school curricula have developed excesses of identity politics, age-inappropriate sexual subjects and exclusion of parents and community for accountability.  Public cynicism about our democracy and institutions has never been higher.

An additional social pressure that has poisoned the political air, has been the employee training industry used by large corporations.  Training fads for company conventions, employee retreats and human resource development have subtly changed over the years, and now is nothing more than slick social Marxism.

It is the innocent-sounding 'DEI' (diversity-equity-inclusion) training ideology that has taken over and seduced administrators who strive to remain relevant — which they interpret as being woke.  In fact, DEI initiatives have taken over the country, reaching into every aspect of our work, school, and lives.

What is DEI? In truth, it is a contemporary and managerial repackaging of extreme socialism.  It is not possible to understand DEI initiatives without realizing the special meaning of ‘equity’ that drives its perpetrators.

Equity is the goal of all DEI programs, which is to say that programs exist to force captive audiences to achieve  'equitable'  redistribution of resources, status, and wealth according to neo-Marxist identity.

Equity is an administered political economy in which shares are adjusted so citizens are made equal, including shares of social and cultural capital.  In other words, it’s an expansion of socialist-enforced groupthink.  Once we understand what the unique version of ‘equity’ is about, the purposes of diversity and inclusion teachings become clear.

For example, a Canadian DEI training company puts itself forward in the following way.  Their website says "We take an intersectional approach in all of our work which includes an examination of a multitude of diverse identity factors including sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, language, disability (visible and invisible,) age, location, family status, marital status, income, education, religion, culture and much more!  Our approach considers these layers as well as various intersecting identities and how they overlap to compound privilege, discrimination or oppression.  We develop change management and communications plans for our clients to ensure project buy-in and success.  We integrate DEI into the values, strategies, and priorities of the organization to ensure sustainability and impact.”

When one reflects on that website statement, alarm bells should be sounding.  In other words, the DEI trainers are going to come into a company or organization to reform the personal private self-image of employees.  There is nothing about personnel skill development such as language competency, communications skills, choice theory, time management, computation efficiencies, computer literacy, customer relations, group leadership practices, etc.  It is all about one's personal deep feelings (religion), and the assertion that Canada is based upon white privilege, discrimination and oppression of minorities.

The methods used are sly stories to make employees feel guilty about who they really are, and that they must change their beliefs and life outlook.  After creating the false need, the 'training consultants' invite the company or organization to join their 'religious membership' through ongoing training contracts, as long as the company pays the business expense invoice.

DEI unconscious bias training rarely changes actual behaviours and has little impact on explicit biases.  A meta-analysis of hundreds of prejudice-reduction interventions found few, if any, achieved goals.  Many interventions caused a backlash and social division, and there was worker productivity loss, as the guilt-making human resource manager gurus, become increasingly coercive when employees instinctively do not swallow the dogma. 

'Diversity' initiatives strive to install ideologically consistent political officers within organizations to effect and enforce policies directed toward achieving equity.  These political officers, often called 'Diversity Officers,' are a rebranding of the older concept of commissars, who enforced socialism in the same way.

How did we get here in Canada?  The answer is complex and incremental.  Bad judicial interpretation of human rights law and motivated political shaming that centres disparate impact or hierarchy of outcomes, rather than intention, as evidence of discrimination.

Moreover, the diversity scam can never be satisfied, as ongoing social blackmail is used to sidestep numerical standards, measured achievement and performance competence evaluation in the workplace or educational establishment.  It is the discredited affirmative action philosophy gone mad.

'Inclusion' is an overarching value structure for the 'Diverse and Equitable' commissar system.  It's a justification, not for inclusion as most people understand it, but for censorship and purges against those who don’t swallow the dogma, just like in any Communist state.

Inclusion, and its extension in 'belonging,' are a manipulative strategy akin to Mao Zedong’s little red book formula for taking over institutions and the value structure of populations and bending them toward extreme socialism (equity).

Inclusion is exactly the opposite of what it sells itself to be.  It is all wrapped in a culture war of word manipulation and it creates social disasters wherever it takes hold.

There’s a whole industry designed to cater to companies looking for a quick way to check the box to appear to be the most enlightened workplace.  In the US in 2020 DEI was a $3.4 billion industry.  Every big company has become image-conscious because of the pervasiveness of the social and cultural accusers.  Companies think they have to do something to signal their righteousness.

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion religion is in vogue.  But from the promoters of DEI, it’s about a power and advantage grab for their believers.  Incredibly, businesses globally are looking for personnel to fill newly created, politically powerful, DEI positions in their Human Resources Departments.  Sadly, the ideological trap is that many companies believe DEI training can help develop 'best practices' to circumvent business disruptions (and inefficiencies) otherwise caused by emerging socio/cultural tensions and chaos.  Corporations also want to burnish their general public image.  Predictably, the recorded outcomes are a complete failure.

Remember how Justin Trudeau hammered away about how "diversity is our strength."  His scriptwriters were wrong.  No, it is unity that is our national strength.  Many Canadians have been socially and economically hurt by the flippant accusations of the DEI evangelists.  In response, people cower.  They self-censor and just go along to get along.

It is a social problem recognized by delegates from across the country who convened at the Conservative Party National Convention held in Quebec City.  For example, Submission #998 - Protecting Workers: Those in Unions, Public Sector, or in Self-Regulated Trades or Professions.  "The Conservative Party does not support forced political, cultural, or ideological training of any kind as a pre-condition of employment or practice. Those employed in the public sector, unions or self-regulated trades/professions should not be forced to make affirmations, or participate in ideological programs, as a condition of employment or practice.”  The Conservatives voted 81% to pass the motion to not force ideological training as a condition of employment or practice.

In conclusion, the DEI industry, if understood as woke Marxism, is easy to understand.  Equity is a rebranding of Socialism: an administered economy that makes outcomes more equal through devious means.  Diversity and Inclusion are tools used to install political officers (human resource and personnel managers) and to censor and remove dissidents. In other words, the Woke Marxist DEI industry is a racket designed to install commissars for its ideology.  We realize that DEI actually represents social Division, Intolerance, and Exclusion, as that is how it operates if one does not accept the absurd assumptions.  It is the new form of racism and social coercion.

There are a million private stories of a new kind of workplace discrimination, petty reprisals, and forced early retirements, all arising from the emergence of DEI.  Lower-level managers with personality disorders can too easily hide under the DEI cover to perpetrate unprofessional behaviours against individuals.

Many thousands of Canadians are at risk of being fired, suspended, or barred from earning their livelihood simply for not endorsing, not affirming, or not participating in an established or mandated political or ideological agenda.  The track record of unions defending workers' rights from this behaviour is dismal. The tragic workplace stories are adding up.

One has to use discernment to understand the deeper implications.  It is cultural Marxism in new deceptive forms.  Recognize it and be aware.  It may take the form of removing community statues, shaming to have city and school names changed, or hearing some of the more radical accusations from the First Nations sector.

Disparate outcomes become the false evidence of discrimination and prejudice, that must be ameliorated through special deals and exceptions to basic standards.  However, this social-political blackmail can never be fully satisfied.

Find your own small area to resist and speak up.  Pay attention to local school board behaviour and ensure the radicals are not elected.  Take stronger stands within unions and learn the internal systems to demand accountability.  Understand the underlying assumptions evident in political speech from the radical ideological left.

Understand the motives and belief systems of extreme environmentalists.  All of these, if given room, will drift towards increasing coerciveness to have their way.  The principle that capacity creates its own demand operates.  The ability to offend and get away with it, breeds more of the same.  Our society is reaping the consequences, for the excesses that are permitted will grow like a deadly infection.  The ability to offend without a swift comprehensive response, breeds its own tragedy.

We have inherited a social political system that requires individuals to be of character to make our great democracy work.  Convoluted DEI reasoning comes from a deep social corruption of the national conscience.  Good-thinking people of morals and character must fight back.  The tragic alternative, seen in nations in times past when their public mentality went dark, has to be actively resisted in debate and at the ballot box.

Remember, in the long run, the courts and government administration only have delegated authority given to them by the citizenry.  An active participatory democracy requires engagement.  Each new generation has its unique challenge to defend freedom and moral living.  The dark side will never go away.  There is no negotiation possible with it. 

The good must overcome.

Sunday 13 August 2023

Canada's housing crisis

 


Canada's housing crisis direct result of Trudeau policies

 

At an announcement in Hamilton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said housing is not a "primary federal responsibility," but something the federal government must help with.

Yet eight years ago, Trudeau began promising he was going to lower housing costs.  No wonder he wants to wash his hands of the horrendous housing crisis of his own making.

The federal government is responsible for housing policy, such as immigration levels which greatly affect demand, infrastructure such as transportation and tax policies such as the GST, programs from the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the financial stress test related to rising mortgage rates caused by poor government behaviour.

Then along comes a cabinet shuffle and Canada's new housing and infrastructure minister, Sean Fraser, who says closing the door to newcomers is not the solution to the country's housing woes.  However, Fraser was the previous immigration minister, so we see another Trudeau Cabinet problem. Since Trudeau came into office, they have politicized immigration and blown up the orderly point merit system.

Canada’s housing problem is now an immigration problem, which was the Liberal policy choice to maneuver for enduring ethnic newcomer votes.  Immigrant selection needs to be targeted to our internal economic requirements. Apparently, there are thousands of technically skilled people looking to leave Europe and Canada should go get them. We see the imbalance on our streets with the work of social helping agencies, as Canada has many arrivals who require enormous government help. 

The federal Liberals must restore a workable immigration department that doesn’t continue to hurt our housing crisis. They also have to protect foreign students and temporary workers from exploitative housing situations.  They should also prioritize arrivals who have trade skills and lead a national federal-provincial credential agreement deal to ensure newcomers can work in their chosen fields.

Approval delays are directly linked with problem housing affordability.  CMHC and Statistics Canada’s Municipal Land Use and Regulation Survey reveals that approval delays and land use regulations make housing unnecessarily more expensive. CMHC research says that an additional 3.5 million new units are needed by 2030 for affordability to be restored.  Canada needs to close the gap in housing supply to tackle the problem of housing affordability.  While restrictive regulation may have socio-economic goals, they limit in a hurtful way what developers can do.

CMHC and Statistics Canada worked together to develop the 2022 Municipal Land Use and Regulation Survey which looked at land use rules in diverse cities across Canada. They confirmed the housing supply is choked by restrictive zoning, fees, approval times, community consultations, density limits and environmental assessments.  Excessive residential land use regulation causes hurtful housing affordability.  The speed and complexity of approving new development is a crucial factor in understanding affordability.

While the affordability crisis began in our large cities, it has now spread to smaller towns and rural communities. Efforts to cool the housing market by financially disqualifying more buyers through mortgage lenders do not affect the community's needs and basic demand, as families are still there.  The rules must quickly change by allowing more housing density across the nation in every community.

We must end exclusionary municipal rules that block or delay new housing. The approval process must be depoliticized and also prevent abuse of the housing appeals system. Government spending announcements must be actually delivered for the huge investments needed to create thousands of fully serviced building lots.

Parents and grandparents are stressed their children will not be able to afford even a basic home when they start working or decide to start a family. Too many Canadians are unable to live in their preferred city or town because they cannot afford to buy or rent.

The balance has swung too far in favour of lengthy consultations, bureaucratic red tape and costly appeals. It is too easy for a few locals to oppose new housing. Canada is in a housing crisis and the urgent problem demands immediate and sweeping reform.

Canada has the lowest amount of housing per population of any G7 country given the recent immigration explosion. Immigration is driving up demand with no foreseeable supply relief in sight.  We have been repeatedly told the severe shortage of housing stems from a combination of a lack of available serviced land, opposition to redeveloping established neighbourhoods, slow municipal approvals, high development fees, and foreign buyers.

The simple issue is people are arriving faster than the housing industry can accommodate under the old developmental rules.  A recent Scotiabank economic report said Ontario needs an additional 650,000 dwelling units to bring the province up to the national average.  Similarly across Canada, the chronic housing shortage has built up over the years because population growth has exceeded home building capacity.

The gap started expanding in 2015 when Trudeau began a rapid increase in immigration numbers. Canada’s new immigration minister said he is open to “having a conversation” on concerns over rising immigration targets amid a housing shortage, but said he still has no plans to lower them.

The Liberals aim to invite 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025.  What are their motives for such an unwise policy at this time?

The Liberals are off the rails.  Canada had record population growth in 2022 with more than a million permanent and temporary residents. However, Canada’s current immigration rate will worsen the housing crisis and put excessive pressure on social services.

Ottawa’s decision to bring so many during a time when the Bank of Canada was imposing an aggressive monetary tightening cycle has created a record imbalance between housing supply and demand. The imbalance is hurting housing affordability in every province.

Canada has a housing gap that cannot be solved with current laws and traditional methods.  Recent efforts are a tiny drop in the bucket of the 3.5 million homes the CMHC says we need to achieve affordability by 2030. The corporation's latest monthly housing stats show much of the country falling behind on housing promises.

Bringing demand and supply back into balance requires both a great increase in housing sector construction capacity along with slowing of immigration, despite what Minister Sean Fraser says. 

The skilled labour shortage will limit the effectiveness of any rule change.  Provinces can try to expand worker supply by boosting trades training, but it would require a 50% increase in industry capacity to reach the CMHC targets.  Immigration-driven housing demand is completely within the control of the federal government. Under the Trudeau administration, immigration has increased significantly and provinces just can’t handle the demand.

NIMBYism (not in my backyard) is a major obstacle to building housing.  It drags out the approval process, pushes up costs, and keeps out new residents.  Similarly, municipalities that resist new housing and succumb to NIMBY pressure and close off their neighbourhoods, should see funding reductions.  Fixing the housing crisis is a societal responsibility, and our limited tax dollars should be directed to those municipalities making the necessary choices to grow the housing supply.

In frustration, many have called for limits on public consultations and more “as of right” zoning.  They cite the BANANAs – Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything, causing people to say NIMBYism has gone BANANAs. In a growing society, that attitude is not just bad policy, it is exclusionary and discriminatory.

Canada must create a more permissive land use, planning and approval system.  We could repeal or override municipal policies, zoning or plans that prioritize the preservation of the physical character of neighbourhoods.  Municipalities could exempt from site plan approval and public consultation all projects of 10 units or less that already conform to an official community plan and require only minor variances.

We need to establish province-wide zoning standards, or prohibitions for minimum lot sizes, maximum building setbacks, minimum heights, angular planes, shadow rules, front doors, building depth, landscaping, floor space index, heritage limits and moderate parking requirements.  Remove any floorplate restrictions to allow larger, more efficient high-density towers, and limit municipalities from requesting or hosting additional public meetings beyond those that are legally required.

There is now much political talk about needed change to address the grave housing shortage that our nation created.  Builders, housing advocates, elected officials, planners, and average Canadians understand the need to act.  Such unity of purpose can be powerful.  To leverage the commitment to change, some solutions are bold but workable, backed by evidence.  We must focus on ramping up the supply of housing.  Higher mortgage rates will temporarily cool demand, but that will not respond to the community need of the existing population.

Significant more supply is key.  Rapidly building more homes will reduce the competition for our scarce supply and will give families more housing choices.  It will improve housing affordability across the board. 

Everyone wants Canadians to have adequate housing and there is lots that can be done.  There is more than enough room for social housing alongside affordable market housing. There is a national coming together, as real change begins with the recognition that a problem exists.

We can change the federal government.