The Black Rod

It must have been as if Christmas came early. The liberal press was nearly orgasmic at the thought of witnessing their political messiah Justin Trudeau demonstrate his magnificence by casting out the conservative demons in Parliamentary byelections. Three times he had gone into the Temple of the Beast (well, Manitoba), preaching about scandal in Ottawa, and promising to cleanse the rot in a puff of (pot) smoke. Giddy with anticipation, they came  to anoint their saviour---he who would restore Liberals to their rightful place as the natural governing party once he demonstrated his miraculous powers to the voting public. They gathered to witness the rebirth of the Party--- these self-proclaimed shepherds of the ignorant masses, angels in their own minds, and a lot of asses. After all, hadn't the oracles predicted an easy and crushing victory?  'Liberals 29 points ahead in Brandon-Souris' declared the Forum Research sages. And it didn't...

Fundraising for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights has collapsed. The museum's fundraising arm, The Friends of the CMHR, has managed to gather barely two million dollars in pledges this year so far. Over the past 14 months, only 200 private donations have been received . Given that donations are usually spread out over 5-10 years, that means they could have raised as little as $400,000 cash in 2013.   In that case the CMHR has officially slid into the abyss, with costs, including millions in unpaid back taxes, escalating faster than they can raise money to pay for them. The only thing that's propped up this White Elephant appears to be a wink-wink nudge-nudge $10 million slipped to the CMHR under the table by the federal government. In 2011, after running out of money and while waiting for a government bailout, the CMHR stopped hiring and paying for the design of exhibits. In that way they underspent their $21 million annual operating funds by $10 million. They, a...

Every day is a remembrance day of sorts for former Winnipegger David Wolinsky. Wolinsky remembers making the perp walk to an airplane at Vancouver International Airport four years ago, hands cuffed, legs shackled and escorted through the airport's public area by two City of Winnipeg policemen. He remembers being charged with conspiracy to defraud the Astra Credit Union (before it was swallowed up by Assiniboine Credit Union).  He remembers seeing his name dragged through the mud. And he remembers what the judge said when he dropped all the charges in April. It's those memories that fuel the lawsuit Wolinsky has launched against what appears to be everyone associated with Astra-cum-Assiniboine Credit Union short of the cleaning lady and the night security guard. Joining Wolinsky in the suit are three co-plaintiffs--- a financial consultant to Wolinsky's holding company, the Protos Group; the chief financial officer of Maple Leaf Distillers, one...

This is what passes for professional journalism in Winnipeg? Of eveything written about the political persecution of former East St. Paul police chief Harry Bakema, the Saturday, Nov. 2, column by Winnipeg Free Press scribe Dan Lett stands as the most contemptible. Lett professes to be a "professional" journalist. He even gives lectures to budding journalists on how he does it. God help the profession. He hurls insults at bloggers who dare tell him how to do his job and where he fails miserably, because, of course, HE is the professional. Lett, you'll remember, was at the head of the media lynch mob in 2008 that howled for the head of every police officer and lawyer connected with the prosecution of Const. Derek Harvey-Zenk, who caused the death of Crystal Taman when he rear-ended her car which was stopped at a red light.  The occasion was a government-sponsored show trial, disguised as a public inquiry, into the fatal accident. The rabid ...

That chill down our collective spines had nothing to do with the coming winter. We were reading the 160-page, Manitoba Hydro-commissioned Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol, by a group you've never heard of, fronted by a Swedish "hydro-power expert", discussing Hydro's planned multi-billion-dollar Keeyask generating station.  It's really scary. We first heard of this report from a story in the Winnipeg Free Press: Expert applauds dam project Team spent months assessing Keeyask By: Bruce Owen   Last Modified: 10/26/2013 10:14 AM | Updates A Swedish hydro-power expert has given a thumbs-up to Manitoba Hydro's next big dam in northern Manitoba. Bernt Rydgren's report is far from the final say on the estimated $6.2-billion Keeyask generating station project, but Hydro maintains it goes a long way toward demonstrating the Crown utility has set a new globally recognized standard in how large hydroelectric projects a...