Monthly Archives: May 2025

Blood Money, Dark Money and Plutocrats

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October 2, 2018. US based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashogi, a critic of the Saudi government, was attacked in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as he went to finalize his marriage papers. It was later revealed that he had been murdered and dismembered. A team of fifteen Saudi agents, operating under the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, carried out the assassination. Shortly after the brutal murder, Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin has a meeting with the Crown Prince.

 

May 13, 2025, Crown Prince  Mohammed bin Salman greets President Donald Trump with an elaborate welcoming ceremony usually reserved for kings. Trump, in turn, signs off on the largest defense sales agreement in history worth $142 billion as part of a series of bilateral deals with the Saudis worth $600 billion in investments.

 

In 2012, Chrystia Freeland wrote the brilliant non-fiction novel Plutocrats: the Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else. In 2016, Jane Mayer wrote an insightful non-fiction novel called Dark Money: the Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.

On July 27,2024, Campaigning Donald Trump told a group of supporters in Florida that they wouldn’t have to vote again if they elected him President, “You won’t have to do it anymore, It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine; you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

Way back in 1986, Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn wrote “Call It Democracy”, a scathing indictment of international greed controlled by the high rollers. It starts off with the verse: “Padded with power here they come, International loan sharks backed by the guns, Of market hungry military profiteers, Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared, With the blood of the poor.” Give it a listen with 2025 in mind.

We can’t say we weren’t warned. The way I see it.

*****

  • cartoon by Chris Dywanski
  • Image from the news.com.pk

Lisa Post does NOT Need Strong Mayor Powers

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by Skid Crease and Patti Foley, originally published in Just Sayin’ Caledon, May 9/25

***

Lisa Post is the Mayor of Orangeville. Lisa Post believes in consensus building, the strengths of her team, and the integrity of responsible democracy. Lisa Post does NOT want to be a Strong Mayor, a title that was foisted upon her, without consultation, by the provincial government.

Mayor Post expressed her concerns in a letter to Premier Rob Ford and Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, describing what she feels are the negative impacts of Strong Mayor Powers (SMP) on both the democratic process and staff morale.

As confusing as it sounds, the way Bill 3: Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act is written, Mayor Post had to use SMP in order to not use them. She has signed five Mayoral Decisions to delegate certain authorities in order to effectively keep them in the hands of Council, staff, and committees, so that the democratic process is restored.

I asked the Mayor what was the tipping point that inspired such a bold move. She replied, “I pride myself on my ability to build consensus in those times when things are contentious. Our team works best when everyone’s voices and ideas can be represented in policy discussions and decisions.”

Mayor Post had observed other municipalities where the SMP had been abused, and Councils were afraid as they watched their positions of responsibility reduced and, in some cases, removed.

The SMP disempowered both Council and community. Town staff were also afraid, wondering who would be fired next as they watched experienced senior staff gracelessly swept out the door to be replaced by the Strong Mayor’s single source choices.

This simply went against everything in which she believed. Lisa had seen teamwork and consensus building in action back when she was a new councillor on a team of seven under the leadership of then Mayor Sandy Brown. When the pandemic hit, they quickly started online meetings and kept the process of governance going as smoothly as possible. Since the pandemic, in this current term of Council, there have been numerous examples of where consensus building has worked for the betterment of the community.

In 2022 Lisa Post ran for Mayor and won. She values and respects the responsibility that comes with that role. I asked if she felt she would ever regret giving up those Strong Mayor Powers and she responded immediately: “I don’t need Strong Mayor Powers. What I need is a strong community with a strong voice, and I need Council to feel like they are a part of our democracy and that their decisions are respected. Strong Mayor Powers won’t help us build a strong community – If the province wants to help us, the best way they can is with reliable and sustainable investments in infrastructure, homelessness prevention, and transit.”

Additionally, on Monday, May 12th, Mayor Post is bringing a motion to Council: item 14.1 on the agenda, to formally request that the Province of Ontario rescind the ‘Strong Mayors Legislation’ in its entirety and should the legislation not be repealed, that the Province immediately remove the Town of Orangeville from the list of municipalities designated under the Strong Mayor Powers framework. That motion, if approved by Council, will be sent to the Province as well as to all 444 municipalities as well as to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for their support and endorsement.

The letter to the Province has been sent, the Mayor’s Motion will be discussed, and Orangeville Council, together as a team, will decide their future.

As it should be.

The way I see it.

_______________

*image from You Tube

The Rise and Fall of a Political Animal

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The results of our federal election seem to be all accounted for at this point in time, and we can enjoy those May flowers knowing that a secure centre-left majority will work their best to provide the economic, environmental, health and housing security that all Canadians hope to achieve.

It is also calming to know that Pierre Poilievre will be out of Parliament for the rest of the year. Yes, he suffered a humiliating defeat in his long held riding in Ottawa, losing his seat and his Opposition leader status, and maybe even his residence in Stornoway. And yes, there will possibly be a leadership review that could send him into the barren lands. BUT, Pierre Poilievre is a consummate political animal. Now he is a desperate political animal backed into a corner. He will fight ruthlessly to win back a seat in Parliament and resume his former role as Leader of the Opposition by any means possible. Why? Because he doesn’t have any other skills – politics is the only thing he has ever done and ever wanted to do. The only other thing he has ever wanted to do was to drive a stake through the heart of the Liberal Party of Canada.

If his Party doesn’t reject him in a leadership review, they will seek a sacrificial lamb of a newly elected or re-elected MP to give up their seat for him. It can’t be anywhere near Ottawa, because the good citizens of Ottawa have kicked Pierre to the curb and don’t want him back. That’s what you get for waving support to a  convoy of anti-everything insurrectionists who blockaded and terrorized your hometown for weeks while you just smiled down on the chaos. That was really, really stupid.

How could anyone who wanted to be the leader of our country align themselves with a group of burly, bearded, bully truckers and bikers who desperately wanted to have sex with our Prime Minister? But I digress … back to slithering into the House.

Having been born and raised in Calgary, Pierre would be very safe moving to rural Alberta and trying for a seat there. He would be quite comfortable in the nest of discontent woven by past Reform,  Alliance, and Conservative mentors. He could easily settle under the warm wings of Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta’s far right United Conservative Party. There was a joke circulating when Trumpism began to rear its ugly head to our south: “What do you get when you cross a far right Floridian with a far right Texan? A UCP Albertan.” Pierre would fit right in with that crowd.

In the meantime, if needed ,the Conservative Reform Alliance Party will sit a place holder in the House of Commons and may even figure a way to let Poilievre and family stay in Stornoway until  the party’s leadership is decided. Heaven forbid that poor homeless Pierre would have to go house hunting for an affordable abode like so many hard working tax-paying Canadians do every year. And imagine, having to do new job skills training at the same time. Oh, the horror, the horror!

Until then the unemployed Pierre will be putting on his election defeat speech demeanor as he continues to seduce the media circuit with his newfound co-operative spirit to work positively for all Canadians. He cannot afford to let Canadians see his true colours – that provocative, petulant partisan personality that is hardwired into his reptilian brain stem.  He also cannot afford to lose the many angst filled Generation Z young adults who drank his kool aid during the election campaign. What happens if they discover that he lied to them (Canada is 1st in the G7 in per capita GDP share), and what if their needs get met, as promised, by the new minority/majority government in his absence?

Until then, if and when her returns, there will be entente in the family. Just remember that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

The way I see it.

UPDATE: As we predicted, the Conservatives found a sacrificial lamb –  on May 2,2025 Damien Kurek stepped aside from his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot, Alberta to allow Poilievre to run in a safe seat. Prime Minister Carney then threw Poilievre a lifeline by promising that he would call a by-election “as soon as possible … no games.” That means that Pierre Poilievre could be back in Parliament this as early as this September. Let’s hope he’s ready to work for Canada this time.