getting the hook…?

The Great Dominion’s Minister of Finance William Francis Morneau spends his evening hours studying cartoon celebrities who have suffered the humiliation of getting the hook for their performances. For future reference, he is especially watchful how they exit…gracefully or combatively and acutely deciphers the Prime Ministers recent press conference for clues to his fate. “Learning is a life long process,” he was heard to whisper barely within earshot.

Breaking…advice ignored

Court Painter provided his guidance and advice on July 29th to Prime Minister Trudeau for todays appearance and testimony before the House of Commons Finance Committee .

Court Painter advised the PM “for goodness sake get a shave and a hair cut”.

This advice was ignored!

You’re on your own PM!

PM pictured after ignoring advice and appearing on the TV across the Great Dominion!
PM pictured as recommended by Court Painter for his appearance before the Finance Committee

Advice…

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in preparing to testify before the House of Commons Finance Committee as part of its ongoing study into the WE Charity student grant scandal, has sought counsel from the Great Dominion’s most skilled fortune tellers to provide advice that he hopes will outperform the advice he has received to date.

“We want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” said the unoriginal wordsmith Conservative MP and finance critic Pierre Poilievre, who was successful late Wednesday in passing a motion requesting Trudeau testify for three hours.

Full Public Inquiry

Court Painter celebrates that the strength of citizens voices was finally heard!

HALIFAX—After days of fierce criticism, the Nova Scotia and federal governments have reversed course and said they will move forward with a full public inquiry into the country’s worst mass killing.

A statement from Public Safety Minister Bill Blair confirmed the news Tuesday hours after Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey had put the ball squarely in the federal government’s court.

“We have heard calls from families, survivors, advocates and Nova Scotia members of Parliament for more transparency,” Blair said in a statement. “The government of Canada is now proceeding with a full public inquiry.”

The inquiry will be able to summon witnesses and require them to give evidence and produce documents.

Source Toronto Star,July 28,2020

the thin blue line…thickens?

Today, July 23,2020 

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey and federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair announced not an inquiry, but rather a three-member Independent Review  Panel to look into the largest mass murder in Canadian history.

The bulk of reporting since the murders has questioned the RCMP’s handling and management of the events ; personal action by RCMP members that endangered public safety and the absence of  timely public notice as the killer remained active .

“At this particularly delicate time in its history, when its very structure across the country is at stake, the RCMP will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.That means it will resist a public inquiry. Even its house union has taken that position, which should tell you something.” Paul Palango is a former senior editor at the Globe and Mail and author of three books on the RCMP.  from Halifax Examiner article of May 25,2020

It should be noted that Justice Minister Fuery prior to becoming an MLA was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 32 years and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair ,before federal politics served as the chief of the Toronto Police Service and had a three-decade-long career in the service. 

Note also that one of the review members is Leanne Fitch, a former chief of the Fredericton Police Force.

Unlike a public inquiry, the review panel will not have the power to compel testimony, nor will it have subpoena power.Should government institutions not cooperate with the review panel, the panel “may notify the public about the lack of cooperation.”example: RCMP

In the event that the panel needs information from non-government institutions (such as telephone companies, banks, etc), the panel does not have the power to ask the court for production orders. The review panel’s work is to be “guided by restorative principles in order to do no further harm, be trauma informed and be attentive to the needs and impacts upon those most directly affected and harmed.” Ithe testimony of those witnesses will not be public.

Documents and testimony from government institutions will not be public, although the panel has the ability to refer to such documents and testimony in its published reports.

The decision-making panel can only render decisions based on the information and evidence presented to them and thus the terms of reference outlining the restorative model will prejudice the panel by restricting the evidence and information being presented.

The common law legal tradition, that cross-examination is the most effective truth-finding mechanism available is denied to this process and excludes the full participation of the families under the guise of protecting them from further trauma. 

The families continue to demand a full and transparent public inquiry. 

With thanks: Independent Review Panel information gleaned from The Halifax Examiner July 23 and quote from May 25 article .Other commentary is Court Painter’s own take !

Auction Buzz…

Court Painter’s recent portraits were placed at the prestigious Christie’s & Sotheby’s auction houses.One unidentified buyer outbid everyone and left with his new acquisitions through a side door.

social distancing prototype…

Court Painter life sized decals and banners hope to have impact as social distance marker

Court Painter posed for his gentle but firm BACK OFF JACKASS !message to social distance! He forgot his mask but it’s too late now!

Calgary— It is a startling sight as you come across life-sized Court Painter decals & banners festooned on a pub in downtown Calgary.

Images of the award-winning painter & portraitist to the celebrity and political class can be seen on the sidewalk , tables, signage and fencing of the Ship & Anchor pub in the city’s downtown, using the imposing image of his six-foot frame (estimated) to make damn sure the customers maintain their proper physical distance at all times.

The prototype initiative was developed by Press Attache A Hardon MacKay, Court Painter’s marketing guru, with the aim of injecting some seriousness into physical distancing with a gentle but firm message and hopefully getting some free drinks from the fine establishment.He expects the prototype will catch fire and pave the way for demand by social establishments across the Great Dominion.

Court Painter is hopeful this public service effort will hasten the social behaviour necessary to flatten the curve of this preposterous pandemonious pandemic and return his former drinking hole to the ignore personal space clientele coziness (his words) ,he so cherished.

That’s all we can say right now!