Opinion
Looking Behind the Smoke and Mirrors
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtains,” says the Wizard in the 1939 classic film adapted from the Frank L. Baum masterpiece of entertainment and satire.
While seen primarily as a film for young people it has inspired sequels by Baum, and then later has spawned spoofs, pastiches and alternate views of entire books and the cast of characters.
The scene is near the climax of the film and as Toto, who has escaped from Dorothy, runs towards a curtain and pulls it back to reveal the Wizard who is speaking into a tube and controlling a distorted image.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” he says to the group who is watching.
Caught in his lies, he tells the story of how he came to Oz and became the Great Wizard.
If you look into the history of the film and the subsequent books it is apparent that the Wizard, Dorothy, Toto, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion are archetypes and represent more than they seem to be. The entire film is an allegory about power and greed and a dire warning that not all is as it seems.
Our modern history, our pandesent is beleaguered with the same problem.
Not all is as it seems.
We could discuss US politics with Qanon and the Main Stream Media at odds over perceptions and reality, but it would conclude nor solve no problem. Is Donald Trump the worst president ever or are the Democrats demons behind every Bush? Hmmm.
In Canada, we have a similar problem without a national information source that permeates society at all levels. It is factual that our Main Stream Media (CBC, CTV, Black Press and others) have been encouraged to be gentle with the Liberals and they certainly have been. ‘Alternate’ news organizations such as True North and the Rebel have traditionally been treated as personae non grata by the Liberals and until this month, by the ruling party in Alberta as well.
Yet, funded or not Main Stream Media do not have all the news sources and reports that reveal a different picture than ‘sunny days’ Justin wants us all to see.
Most Canadians would be surprised to know that there are lawsuits and court cases pending against Prime (Crime) Minister Justin Trudeau (and his cronies) on a number of levels and a number of charges that include corruption and deception on Covid 19 responses. There is also a motion that includes private copyright on a national law!
Super Lawyer Rocco Galati is suing the Canadian government, Trudeau, Federal and Provincial Health Ministers, and others in the first of its kind supreme court lawsuit. His argument is fact and research based and he asserts that the extreme COVID Measures that have now been proven to cause 14 to 1 more deaths than the actual virus!
Rebel News reporter, Ezra Levant has covered this story in a hard-hitting report at:
A secondary site, globalresearch.ca has interviewed Galati at:
Just as many YouTube, Twitter and alternate news sources (NOT CONSPIRACY) have reported and documented, the Galati lawsuit has a long list of experts, data, and more to prove the case against the government.
Presently, a handful of countries including the United States and Germany have similar push back against extreme measures.
Secondly, Canadian Norman Traversy delivered a 192 page document to the US Embassy in Ottawa on July 1, 2020 alleging that Justin Trudeau is guilty of corruption in the S.N.C. Lavalin scandal at many levels, just as many of his cohorts in the Liberal Cabinet and sphere of influence. Previously, Donald Trump, the CIA and FBI were delivered copies and are now aware of the charges. According to the new USMCA agreement section 27.5, any leader charged with corruption can and will be investigated to the full extent of the law.
As of mid August, Traversy now has legal counsel for his legal action and as his website notes:
“We (Norman) has (have) served a letter to the Ethics Commissioner concerning Trudeau’s obstruction of justice. We are piggybacking on the WE investigation, the Trudeau III report. We have CC’d President Trump and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.”
As reported by Traversy, extensive preparations for the Private Prosecution in the Ontario Court of Justice are ongoing with support growing quickly from all sectors of Canadian society.
“We will be able to add further charges to the motion once we are heard, and we will be adding MC IMC elements (Picton Pig Farm),” noted Traversy in an interview.
https://thephaser.com/2019/10/justin-trudeau-arrest-update-pickton-pig-farm-c_a/
While there are many sources for information on such activities in the United States and worldwide, Canadian sources are few and I defer to Norman Traversy who states the case best in his letter to President Trump and Mexican President Obrador that explains three separate allegations:
https://justiceforcanada.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/letter-to-trump_obrador-with-brief.pdf
All things considered, with a Crime Minister who is allegedly complicit in corruption of various sorts and the promotion of global corporation sponsored policy in Canada should not have the mandate to lead our country considering his demonstrated moral compass. I am embarrassed and ashamed of the morals of our leadership in our country.
May God have mercy on our souls if we re-elect this evil man.
Internet
Gov’t memo admits Canadians are shifting to independent news due to distrust of media, not Russian ‘bots’
From LifeSiteNews
A memo from Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs admits that the rise of ‘alternative’ news sources is not due to Russian interference, as some members of the Trudeau Cabinet have claimed, but likely reflects ‘decrease in trust among traditional outlets.’
The explosive growth of Canadians shifting to alternative non-legacy media to obtain their news is not due to Russian “bots,” as some in the government and left-wing media claim, but reflects people’s distrust of entrenched media outlets, at least one government agency admitted.
A memo titled Foreign Interference And Right Wing Politics: The Canadian Context from Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said that the growth of so-called “alternative and far right ‘news sources’” is not due to Russian bots but is likely due to Canadians’ suspicion of “traditional outlets.”
Analysts put to rest claims made by some far-left media outlets that bots are somehow to blame for the rise of independent news media sites in Canada popular today, which include the Post Millennial, Rebel News, True North, LifeSiteNews, as well as a host of others.
According to foreign interference monitors at the Rapid Response Mechanism office, or RRM Canada, run by the department, “they tried and failed to corroborate allegations that conservative media in Canada were stoked by offshore agents,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“RRM Canada observed no indication of false amplification and assesses the increased popularity of these sources is very likely both organic and domestic in nature,” read the memo.
The memo stated that the while the nature of the content is “domestic, the move away from traditional news sources may indicate a decrease in trust among traditional outlets among right leaning Canadians.”
“No such increased popularity has been observed among alternative or far left media outlets,” noted the memo.
The memo noted that sites such as the Rebel News Network had a larger social media footprint than established outlets such as the National Post or the Globe & Mail.
When looking to find claims that foreign agents were behind the rise of alternative media, the RRM analysts found no evidence that this is the case.
“Articles in The National Observer and Press Progress have made claims that conservative political discussions on social media are driven by inauthentic automated accounts, i.e. bots,” read the memo.
“While these stories are not necessarily inaccurate, Rapid Response Mechanism Canada notes foreign interference and covert influence campaigns exploit narratives from across the political spectrum.”
The memo of note was filed with counsel for Canada’s ongoing Commission on Foreign Interference.
Overall, the memo contradicted claims made by the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Russian agents were the ones increasing messaging critical of the government.
In 2020, Canada’s then-Public Safety Minister and now-Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc quipped to reporters that “Trolls and bots are dispatched to stoke anxiety and in some cases inflame debate around sensitive issues,” saying, “Their main goal is chaos.”
“We have seen how hostile state and non-state actors use information technologies to manufacture reality,” he claimed, adding, “Fake news not only masquerades as the truth, it masquerades as legitimate political debate.”
Canadian figures who are critical of the Trudeau government have been accused of being bankrolled by Russia. As reported by LifeSiteNews, Dr. Jordan Peterson recently demanded an apology from Trudeau after the Canadian prime minister accused him of being funded by Russian state media.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Trudeau claimed U.S. media personality Tucker Carlson and Peterson are being funded by the state media outlet Russia Today. He also blamed Russia for “amplifying the chaos” surrounding the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests.
Trudeau made the claim last Wednesday under oath during testimony at the Foreign Interference Commission after he was asked about Russia’s alleged role in the Freedom Convoy.
The Foreign Interference Commission was convened to “examine and assess the interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states or non-state actors, including any potential impacts, to confirm the integrity of, and any impacts on, the 43rd and 44th general elections (2019 and 2021 elections) at the national and electoral district levels.”
Business
Canada’s chief actuary fails to estimate Alberta’s share of CPP assets
From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
Each Albertan would save up to $2,850 in 2027—the first year of the hypothetical Alberta plan—while retaining the same benefits as the CPP. Meanwhile, the basic CPP contribution rate for the rest of Canada would increase to 10.36 per cent.
Despite a new report from Canada’s chief actuary about Alberta’s potential plan to leave the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and start its own separate provincial pension plan, Albertans still don’t have an official estimate from Ottawa about Alberta’s share of CPP assets.
The actuary analyzed how the division of assets might be calculated, but did not provide specific numbers.
Yet according to a report commissioned by the Smith government and released last year, Alberta’s share of CPP assets totalled an estimated $334 billion—more than half the value of total CPP assets. Based on that number, if Alberta left the CPP, Albertans would pay a contribution rate of 5.91 per cent for a new CPP-like provincial program (a significant reduction from the current 9.9 per cent CPP rate deducted from their paycheques). As a result, each Albertan would save up to $2,850 in 2027—the first year of the hypothetical Alberta plan—while retaining the same benefits as the CPP. Meanwhile, the basic CPP contribution rate for the rest of Canada would increase to 10.36 per cent.
Why would Albertans pay less under a provincial plan?
Because Alberta has a comparatively younger population (i.e. more workers vs. retirees), higher average incomes and higher levels of employment (i.e. higher level of premiums paid into the fund). As such, Albertans collectively pay significantly more into the CPP than retirees in Alberta receive in benefits. Simply put, under a provincial plan, Albertans would pay less and receive the same benefits.
Some critics, however, dispute the estimated share of Alberta’s CPP assets (again, $334 billion—more than half the value of total CPP assets) in the Smith government’s report, and claim the estimate understates the report’s contribution rate for a new Alberta pension plan and overestimates the new CPP rate without Alberta.
Which takes us back to the new report from Canada’s chief actuary, which was supposed to provide its own estimate of Alberta’s share of the assets. Unfortunately, it did not.
But there are other rate estimates out there, based on various assumptions. According to a 2019 analysis published by the Fraser Institute, the contribution rate for a new separate CPP-like program in Alberta could be as low as 5.85 per cent, while AIMCo’s 2019 estimate was 7.21 per cent (and possibly as low as 6.85 per cent). And University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe has pegged Alberta’s hypothetical rate at 8.2 per cent.
While the actuary in Ottawa failed to provide any numbers, one thing’s for certain—according to the available estimates, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate in a separate provincial pension plan while CPP contributions for the rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) would likely increase.
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