Updated from July 30 /2020post

President Trump and first lady test positive for COVID-19

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.

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

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 !

Because of a slow news week in the Great Dominion ,Court Painter decided to return to a grand painterly subject he was known for in his early career…rough seas!

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.

A family who grifts together stays together!

Excrement (ekskrɪmənt  ) the solid waste that is passed out of a person or animal’s body through their bowels [formal] The cage smelled of excrement.Human excrement is usually considered toxic and untreated can lead to infectious diseases.

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

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!

Chrystia Freeland Should Act As PM While Trudeau Investigated For WE Charity Deal: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to temporarily step aside and let his deputy, Chrystia Freeland, take over while he remains at the centre of another ethics investigation, the Bloc Québécois said Thursday.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet made the suggestion shortly after it was first revealed by Canadaland that members of the Trudeau family were paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak at WE Charity events.

He added his party would offer “full collaboration” in Parliament with the Liberal minority government if Freeland temporarily takes over.

“Because for the time being, he cannot be considered as being qualified to keep doing the job,” he said of the prime minister, who is now being investigated by the federal ethics commissioner for the third time.

Blanchet’s endorsement for Freeland doesn’t come as a surprise. The Bloc leader spoke highly of the deputy prime minister , suggesting that it’s her time to shine.  

“I had the impression of speaking more with a leader than I was speaking with Mr. Trudeau many times.”

Excerpted from :
Zi-Ann Lum Politics Reporter, HuffPost Canada article 07/10/2020

THE GO TO MINISTER

ATLANTIC/NEWS

Relatives, legal experts say Nova Scotia should begin work on inquiry into mass killing

Published Monday, April 27, 2020

IT IS NOW JULY 8,2020

Where Is The Inquiry?

HALIFAX — A coalition of groups devoted to eliminating gender-based violence across Canada is urging Ottawa and Nova Scotia to refrain from using a restorative justice approach for a promised inquiry into the mass killing that claimed 22 lives in the Maritime province.