Here:

Warren Kinsella, a Toronto-based political consultant and commentator who is a staunch opponent of Fromm’s, disagrees.

“Public services are not supposed to be used to promote discrimination. The library in Etobicoke is doing that,” he said.

Warren Kinsella says “public services are not supposed to be used to promote discrimination,” and that the library is doing that. 

“They’re providing a platform for neo-Nazis and white supremacists and that’s outrageous.”

Kinsella is concerned this event may start a trend. He said if the library allows this group in, “there will be many more such groups,” which will “cause division and intimidate lots of people.”

Two things. One, I’m delighted we have John Tory on our side. (I’m irritated that an actual monkey was asked to write a legal opinion for the addled librarians, here. But that will be remedied in due course.)

Two, this is yet another reason my wife should run for city council. I know she would have worked with Tory, Pasternak and the others to stop this hate fest from happening. 

The fight continues.

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I spoke to the chief librarian of the whole system & she won't relent. Cites 'charter' & freedom of speech I said 'who cares' let them sue

— John F Campbell (@Campbell4Ward4) July 12, 2017

1. They won't sue. 2. Hate propaganda isn't "speech." 3. Library is breaking law – Ont Human Rights Code. 4. Thanks for trying. #topoli https://t.co/LwG96ocELg

— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) July 12, 2017

UPDATE: Solid story from Torontoist here.

UPDATED: Another story, here. I’ll be on CBC abut it tonight, apparently.

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As has been the case since I was eight years old and living in Texas, I will be cheering for the apes.

Also, I am cancelling a fun weekend trip to be at the first showing on the first day.

Yes, I have problems.

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Here.

Key quotage:

None of the Conservatives who leapt on Trudeau’s gaffe — Jason Kenney, Brian Jean, Michelle Rempel, et al. — were nearly as outraged as they claimed to be. They were, as politicians do, taking political advantage of a rival politicians’ slip. It was a mistake, to be sure. But not a career-ending one.

Albertans (where I grew up) are like Quebecers (where I was born). They see themselves as a distinct society: part of Canada, but arguably better than the rest of Canada. As such, when the offered the opportunity, they will never hesitate to moan that they have been harmed and humiliated and hurt. It’s in the genes.

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I’m being ironic, of course.

Enjoy your trip to the Ninth Circle, Barb. You won’t be missed.

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schadenfreude: noun \ scha·den·freu·de \ˈshä-dən-ˌfrȯi-də\ @realDonaldTrump politically destroyed by his team's emails. #USpolitics #POTUS

— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) July 11, 2017

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Not sure how Donald Trump Jr. thinks this assists him or his family in any way.  Maybe he wants to sink his hateful old man, for reasons that would be apparent to many of us.

Either way, he has just (i) provided documentary evidence that (ii) the Trump family was (iii) colluding with Russia, Your Honor.  Game, set, match.

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From the New York Times:

Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy, according to three people with knowledge of the email.

The email to the younger Mr. Trump was sent by Rob Goldstone, a publicist and former British tabloid reporter who helped broker the June 2016 meeting. In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he was interested in receiving damaging information about Mrs. Clinton, but gave no indication that he thought the lawyer might have been a Kremlin proxy.

Mr. Goldstone’s message, as described to The New York Times by the three people, indicates that the Russian government was the source of the potentially damaging information.

The corrupt Trump cabal, naturally, will say (a) they don’t know the information came from the Kremlin; (b) the information received was of no consequence; and (c) Donald Trump Jr. was not a Trump campaign official.

None of those will fly – and they certainly won’t be persuasive with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, because:

(a) There is already lots of evidence, sworn and otherwise, that the Kremlin was helping Trump, via various campaign officials (cf. Messrs. Manafort, Flynn, Kushner, Page, Gordon, Cohen, Sessions et al.). This new email is important, however, because it directly implicates Trump’s family.

(b) If the information received wasn’t important,  why did Trump’s own son, his son-in-law, and his top campaign official all drop everything, mid-campaign, to attend? And whether the information was important or not is actually irrelevant – Trump’s family and campaign believed it was from a foreign power bent on defeating Hillary Clinton, and that is enough.

(c) Trump’s inner circle throughout his quixotic campaign comprised less than ten people, half of whom were members of his family.  “Diaper” Don Jr. appeared in the media over and over, during that race, to defend his father.  He was a Trump campaign surrogate and spokesperson.

This all meets the legal definition of “collusion” under 18 U.S. Code, 953:

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

As of today, we know that Donald Trump’s most senior officials, and his immediate family, colluded with a hostile power and/or an enemy of the United States.

Nothing will happen about this until, one, Mueller reports and, two, the Democrats win sufficient seats in the mid-terms.

But they’ve got them now.

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Over there on the right.  I look rather edgy.

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So, the Alberta mistake.  Also, the braying and screeching.

Even the Washington Post has (amusingly) taken note.  The Washington Post!

The hullaballoo – the ceaseless braying and screeching – has prompted me to declare: I’m an Albertan.  Alberta’s home.  My family has lived there for decades. Hell, I’m heading back there to teach at the University of Calgary’s law school soon enough.

And, yes, I’m a liberal/Liberal (although I’ve always been more of a Democrat, but that’s a story for another day).  But, just because I’ve worked for a three-majority Liberal Prime Minister (that Chrétien guy) and a three-majority Liberal Premier (that McGuinty guy), doesn’t mean I’m ever afraid to criticize my own team. In the past few days, I’ve roughed them up pretty good over the appalling Khadr payment, for example.

So, believe me when I tell you: this Trudeau-forgetting-Alberta thing is a prairie-style butt truffle.  It’s stupid.  Ten reasons.

1. Come on. Do you seriously think, Conservatives, that he’d leave out Alberta on purpose?Like, seriously?  If you think that, you’re stupid.  Sorry, but you are.
2. He apologized! The second he realized his mistake, Trudeau walked back to the microphone and corrected it. “I’m a little embarrassed. I got excited somewhere over the Rockies,” he said. “Alberta, I love you. Happy Canada Day!”
3. Alberta matters. The guy doesn’t just love Alberta, he needs Alberta.  Since 2013, he’s invested considerable political capital and resources in winning Alberta seats, and it’s paid off, big time – even in my hometown of Calgary, a political earthquake last experienced a half-Century ago.
4. Watch him. The day after he announced his run for the Liberal Party leadership in his home riding – the day after!– Trudeau Jr. went straight to Calgary, and professed his undying fealty, as well as his disgust with his father’s signature energy policy, the NEP.  That did not go unnoticed, in Alberta.
5. He’s walked the talk. Trudeau’s spilled a lot of political blood, in B.C. and elsewhere, to fight for the pipelines Alberta needs to get its oil to market.  On his watch, Keystone approval happened.  On his watch, Trans Mountain approval happened. On his watch, Line 3 approval happened, too.  A Conservative Prime Minister didn’t get those things done – a Liberal Prime Minister did: a Trudeau, no less.
6. Um, who cares? Sensible Albertans shrugged about the sloppy speechifying.  Naheed Nenshi, for instance, called the resulting controversy “silly,” because it was.  “I screw up speeches all the time,” Nenshi said. So do the Conservative politicos who brayed and shrieked about Trudeau’s.
7. Alberta has clout. Trudeau put two ministers from Alberta in his rather-small cabinet.  That’s the same number as Manitoba, one more than Saskatchewan, and one less than B.C. Overall, Ontario has the most representation at the cabinet table, followed closely by the West. That matters.
8. R-e-s-p-e-c-t. My friend, Alberta Liberal legend Darryl Raymaker, has recently written an excellent book about Alberta and the Trudeaus, called Trudeau’s Tango. You should buy it.  In his compendious book, Raymaker reminds everyone that the Trudeau name has always been controversial in Alberta – but respected, too.  The Trudeau name gave “Alberta Liberals hope,” Raymaker writes.  The father, then – like the son, now – “was a man for his time – new, youthful, superbly confident, tough, and equally articulate in both official languages.”  What made Pierre Trudeau appealing in Alberta in his era makes the son just as appealing in his.  Conservatives dominate Alberta – but the Trudeaus (and Rachel Notley) remind us they don’t own
9. Check the numbers. Polls say Trudeau’s still competitive. CBC’s Eric Grenier – who most recently took an up-close look – says that, even with the Tories way ahead in Alberta, Trudeau is still doing well enough to win again. In fact, Grenier notes, at about 26 per cent support, Trudeau is still tracking a couple of points higher in Alberta than he did on Election Day 2015.  While the CPC, notably, remains where it was on that day.
10. It was an INNOCENT MISTAKE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. None of the conservatives who leapt on Trudeau’s gaffe – Jason Kenney, Brian Jean, Michelle Rempel, et al. – were nearly as outraged as they claimed to be.  They were, as politicians do, taking political advantage of a rival politicians’ slip.  It was a mistake, to be sure.  But not a career-ending one.

Albertans (where I grew up) are like Quebeckers (where I was born).  They see themselves as a distinct society: part of Canada, but arguably better than the rest of Canada.  As such, when the offered the opportunity, they will never hesitate to moan that they have been harmed and humiliated and hurt.  It’s in the genes.

So, will Albertans accordingly let Trudeau’s slip, slip by? Not on your life.

When even the Washington Post is taking note of the mistake, there’s braying and screeching to be done!

 

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