What You Need to Know about the Arrest of Pastor James Coates

What You Need to Know about the Arrest of Pastor James Coates

Comment: Similar: Trinity Bible Chapel elders fined $38K for contempt of court ruling, must pay $45K in court fees

"I just saved a bunch of money by switching genders."

By Navigator84 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Excerpt:

A man in Alberta, Canada, tells the CBC that he wanted to buy a new Chevy Cruze, but being a male and in his early 20s, and with a less-than-perfect driving record, he was shocked at the cost of insurance — he was quoted $4,500 a year.

So he became a woman.

OK, biologically he remains a man. There were no surgeries and he doesn't literally identify as female. But the man, named by the broadcaster only as David, says he changed his gender to female on his government-issued identification. Wait, how's that? "I have taken advantage of a loophole," he says. More on that in a moment.

He got the idea when, stunned by that $4,500 quote, he asked the insurance agent what coverage would cost if he were a woman. The answer: $3,400.

"I was pretty angry about that. And I didn't feel like getting screwed over any more," he said. "So I asked them to change my gender on my auto policy, and she's like, we can't do that."

So he found another way. Alberta is one of several Canadian provinces where residents can legally change the sex on their birth certificates by just checking a different box. You simply need a note from a doctor or psychologist saying you identify as a different gender.

"It was pretty simple. I just basically asked for it and told (the doctor) that I identify as a woman, or I'd like to identify as a woman, and he wrote me the letter I wanted," David told CBC. It was a lie, of course, but once you've gotten your birth certificate amended, it's a snap to get your driver's license changed, and then bring on those sweet savings in that sweet, sweet Chevy Cruze. Worth it, right?

David thinks so. "I am now a woman ... I now pay $1,100 less for auto insurance. I won. The end," he wrote on Reddit.

Comment: 2nd image is screen grab from article.

Canadian man legally lists gender as female to get cheaper car insurance: report https://t.co/oU4BKPUaYp #FoxNews

— James Peet (@jrpeet) July 30, 2018

"Zombie Safe Sex" organizer jailed - the state of free speech in Canada

Canadian court allows ‘hate crime’ charge against Christian activist
Excerpt:

Christian activist Bill Whatcott is out on bail and out of a job after turning himself in to Calgary police June 22 to face a criminal charge in Toronto of wilfully promoting hatred against “the gay community.”

Toronto Police Service issued a Canada-wide warrant for Whatcott in May for the indictable hate crime offence after a two-year investigation into complaints made against Whatcott in 2016.

Whatcott and several others marched in the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade dressed in skin-tight green bodysuits with face masks as members of the Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.

They distributed 3,000 pamphlets on “Zombie Safe Sex” that included a flyer warning of the physical and spiritual dangers of homosexual activity.

The pamphlet featured graphic images of anal warts, a corpse described as an “AIDS fatality,” and another image of “genital warts in the mouth” set next to a headshot of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

It excoriated the “homosexual activism” of Trudeau, former Liberal Defence Minister Bill Graham, and former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Whatcott’s criminal prosecution for promoting hatred is highly unusual, and required the authorization of Ontario’s former Liberal Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, according to Daily Xtra.

Naqvi’s deputy attorney general Paul Boniferro green-lighted the criminal charge in April, Crown counsel Jennifer Epstein told LifeSiteNews.

In 2013, the Supreme Court deemed two of Whatcott’s flyers hate literature when it ruled on his appeal of a Saskatchewan human rights tribunal judgment against him.

However, Whatcott’s criminal charge is significantly more serious.

“If I get convicted of this, it’s going to be a very low bar of what anyone can say,” he told LifeSiteNews. “Because they’re going to use it, they’re going to use it as a precedent for what the next Christian can say.”

Comment: Free speech is not protected in Canada

Yes Canada has restrictive Tariffs

Canada - Import Tariffs: Includes information on average tariff rates and types that U.S. firms should be aware of when exporting to the market.

Excerpt:

Technical Barriers to Trade

Restrictions on U.S. Seeds Exports

Canada’s Seeds Act generally prohibits the sale or advertising for sale in Canada or import into Canada of seeds of a variety that is not registered in the prescribed manner. The purpose of variety registration is to provide government oversight to ensure that seeds meet health and safety requirements and that information related to the identity of the variety is available to regulators to prevent fraud. There are concerns that the variety registration system is slow and cumbersome.

Import Policies

Agricultural Supply Management

Canada uses supply-management systems to regulate its dairy, chicken, turkey, and egg industries. The regime involves production quotas, producer marketing boards to regulate price and supply, and tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for imports. Canada’s supply-management regime severely limits the ability of U.S. producers to increase exports to Canada above TRQ levels. Under the current system, U.S. imports above quota levels are subject to high tariffs (e.g., 245 percent for cheese, 298 percent for butter).

The United States remains concerned about potential Canadian actions that would limit U.S. exports to the Canadian dairy market. For example, the United States monitors closely any tariff reclassifications of dairy products to for possible negative effects on U.S. market access. 

Special Milk Classes

Canada provides milk components at discounted prices to domestic processors under the Special Milk Class Permit Program (SMCPP). These prices are “discounted” in the sense that they are lower than Canadian support prices and reflect U.S. or world prices. The SMCPP is designed to help Canadian processed products compete against imports and in foreign markets.

Geographical Indications

Canada and the European Union (EU) announced on August 5, 2014, that they had concluded the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The agreement contains Canadian commitments regarding geographical indications (GIs) that raise serious concerns about whether implementation will reduce access for current and future U.S. agricultural and foodstuff producers that trade with Canada. The U.S. government engages with Canada on this issue to advance transparency and due process in Canada’s geographical indications system.

Restrictions on U.S. Grain Exports

Several grain sector policies limit the ability of U.S. wheat and barley exporters to receive a premium grade (a grade that indicates use for milling purposes as opposed to grain for feed use) in Canada, including the provisions of the Canada Grain Act and Seeds Act.

Under the Canada Grain Act, the inspection certificate for grain grown outside Canada, including U.S. grain, can only state the country of origin for that grain and not issue a grade. The Canada Grain Act directs the Canadian Grain Commission to “establish grades and grade names for any kind of western grain and eastern grain and establish the specifications for those grades” by regulation. The explicit division between “eastern grain” and “western grain” in the Canada Grain Act as “grain grown in the [Eastern or Western] Division,” defined geographically within Canada, further underscores that grading is only available to Canadian grains. Under the Canada Grain Act, only grain of varieties registered under Canada’s Seeds Act may receive a grade higher than the lowest grade allowable in each class. 

U.S. wheat and barley can be sold without a grade directly to interested Canadian purchasers at prices based on contract specifications. Canadian grain elevators offer economic efficiencies by collecting and storing grain from many small-volume growers, giving them the ability to fulfill larger contracts and to demand higher prices. xxx The barriers to assigning U.S. grain a premium grade encourage both a price discounting of high-quality U.S. grain appropriate for milling use and de facto segregation at the Canadian elevator.

Comment: Much more could be said about this but frankly our G7 friends are hypocrites on "free trade". It's a one way street in many cases. See WSJ G-7 Members Condemn U.S. Trade Actions - Ministers of developed nations express ‘unanimous concern and disappointment’ with U.S. tariffs

PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018

Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018

What a difference a second makes pic.twitter.com/DGqx7IJ7zR

— Matt Dawson (@SaintRPh) June 10, 2018

This Canadian writer says Trump is right about Canada’s huge dairy tariffs. It’s all about Quebec politics. https://t.co/A5OYVqZQ8s

— Brit Hume (@brithume) June 11, 2018

Defying a Bully or Exchanging Views? G-7 Photos Tell Different Stories https://t.co/lztRkToLSU

— James Peet (@jrpeet) June 12, 2018

A Trump Photo Goes Viral, and the World Enters a Caption Contest https://t.co/RAHyv4iHQG

— James Peet (@jrpeet) June 12, 2018

I have a great relationship with Angela Merkel of Germany, but the Fake News Media only shows the bad photos (implying anger) of negotiating an agreement - where I am asking for things that no other American President would ask for! pic.twitter.com/Ib97nN5HZt

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2018

"There's nothing a penny will buy any more, not a gum ball or small piece of candy"

Canada begins phasing out its penny; deems it a costly, cluttering nuisance
Excerpt:

Canada started phasing out its penny, the nuisance coins that clutter dressers and cost more than their one-cent value to produce.

The Royal Canadian Mint on Monday officially ended its distribution of pennies to financial institutions. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced last year they were a nuisance and have outlived their purpose.

While people may still use pennies, the government has issued guidelines urging store owners to start rounding prices to the nearest nickel for cash transactions. Electronic purchases will still be billed to the nearest cent.

The government has said the cost of the penny exceeds its monetary value. Production is $11 million a year. The coins, which feature two maple leaves and Queen Elizabeth II in profile, will remain legal tender until they eventually disappeared from circulation.

Opposition New Democrat Member of Parliament Pat Martin gave a poetic goodbye to the penny in Parliament on Monday.

"There's nothing a penny will buy any more, not a gum ball or small piece of candy," Martin said. "Note the penny is a nuisance. It costs too much to make. They clutter our change purse and they don't circulate. They build up in piles in old cookie jars under our beds and in our desk drawers. You can't give them away. They cost more than what they're worth. It's time to put them all out to pasture, put them out to the curb. No, the penny is useless, but there is one thing I'd say, I hope they don't start treating old MPs this way."

Comment: Smart move! Guess who's opposed to abolishing the US Penny?

The U.S. Treasury Department has said the Obama administration has looked at possibly using cheaper materials to make the penny, which is now made of zinc. Two bills calling for the end of the U.S. penny, introduced in 2002 and 2006 by Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe, failed to advance in the House of Representatives. The U.S. zinc lobby has been a major opponent to suggestions that the penny be eliminated

Another article on Canadian Penny: A penniless Canada: Mint begins years-long process of collecting and melting down 82-million kg in coins

Canada: OPEC of Maple Syrup

In $18 Million Theft, Victim Was a Canadian Maple Syrup Cartel
Excerpt:

Depending on the year, the province can produce more than three-quarters of the world’s supply. And its marketing organization appears to have taken some tips from the producers of another valuable liquid commodity when it comes to exploiting market dominance.

“It’s like OPEC,” said Simon Trépanier, acting general manager of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. “We’re not producing all the maple syrup in the world. But by producing 70 to 78 percent, we have the ability to adjust the quantity that is in the marketplace.”

Since 1999, Quebec’s maple syrup industry has used a marketing system found in other Canadian agricultural sectors, particularly dairy and poultry. Put simply, the supply management system sets strict quotas for producers and, in the case of maple syrup, requires them to sell their product through the federation.

Comment: Image capture from Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers
More on:

• Apparently There's A Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve, And Someone Stole It
• $30 Million Maple Syrup Theft Sheds Light On A Canadian Cartel

Final comment: We're spoiled. We only use real maple syrup on pancakes - a Saturday tradition.

Canadians put man in space

Teens send toy above the clouds

Excerpt:

It's very cool that two 17-year-old Canadians sent a flag-toting Lego figurine into the sky on a weather balloon, as part of a weekend project that cost less than $500. It's cooler still that they got back some fantastic video of the toy silhouetted against the backdrop of a curving Earth beneath a black sky. But let's not call it putting a "Lego man in space." Even though the balloon ascended to around 80,000 feet, that's only a quarter of the way to the boundary of outer space.

That distinction doesn't take anything away from the feat that Toronto teens Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad pulled off this month: The high-school students worked during four months' worth of free Saturdays to put together their balloon-borne experimental package, including four cameras, a cell phone with a GPS app, a home-sewn parachute and a Lego "minifig" holding a Canadian flag.

When the wind conditions were right, as determined by a website that calculates balloon trajectories, the teens headed out to a soccer field in Newmarket and sent their rig up on an $85 weather balloon. The data suggest that the balloon rose to somewhere around 80,000 feet over the course of 65 minutes, then blew apart. The Lego man and the cameras came back down to Earth, buoyed by the parachute and protected within a plastic-foam box during the half-hour descent. Eventually, the cell phone guided the kids to a field about 75 miles away from the launch point.

Comment: NASA is envious

Canada: Conservative Banking

Canadian Exceptionism

Excerpt:

Canada is one of the few countries without a major banking crisis. Weirdly, this was also true in 1930. I've seen this list of the success factors for Canadian banks in several places. I want to believe it, but . . .

..it doesn't seem to be as simple as "Canadian banks are more tightly-regulated".

1. We never had restrictions on interstate banking, so Canadian banks spread their assets and liabilities across Canada. (So it doesn't matter if a local housing market goes bust).
   
2. We don't have Glass-Steagal. The investment banks joined the retail banks some years ago.
   
3. We don't have mortgage interest deductibility from taxes. So paying down your mortgage is a tax-free investment. So most people want to pay down their mortgages.
   
4. (Except in Alberta), mortgages are fully recourse. You can't just walk away from a negative equity home and hand the keys to the bank; the bank will come after you for the difference.
   

I wouldn't describe those differences as "Canada is more regulated". But we do have higher capital requirements. And mortgages over 80% must be insured (mostly by the government-owned CMHC).

Comment: HT: Why are Canadian banks left unscathed?

We have stock in Bank of Montreal (BMO). Other major Canadian Banks:

• Canadian Imperial Bank (CM)
  
• Royal Bank of Canada (RY)
  
• Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)
  

Housing: What the US could learn from Canada

Why Canada's Housing Market Didn't Crash

Excerpt:

"In the U.S., the whole idea of owning a home, there is almost a national obsession," Atkinson says. He knows because he's an American citizen as well. But he also knows that the banking system in Canada does not allow for the type of irresponsible buying and borrowing that we saw in the U.S. at the height of the recent housing boom (2004-2006).

For one, there are just six big Canadian banks that own the bulk of the mortgage market, and they don't securitize and sell off loans at nearly the rate U.S. lenders do. They hold nearly three quarters of their loans on the books, and 80 percent of Canadian loans carry mortgage insurance.

Canadian banks also had and have no such thing as the Alt-A, or low-doc, no doc loans that fueled bad borrowing and consequent defaults. At the height of the Canadian housing boom barely 5 percent of loans were considered "subprime," while a full third of U.S. loans were either subprime or Alt-A.

"Nobody stopped a Canadian bank from lending in the subprime market, they chose not to," says CIBC's Benjamin Tal. "It was not the government, it was not monetary policy; there were no regulations whatsoever regarding how much you can lend in the subprime market. Canadian bankers decided not to do so, because it was too risky."

Finally, the biggest difference is that if a Canadian borrower goes into foreclosure, the bank can and will come after that borrower's assets until the balance is repaid.

There is no easy way to walk away.

These are full recourse loans.

Canada certainly sees ups and downs in its housing market, and all you need do is look at the downtown Toronto skyline to wonder if there isn't perhaps a Miami-like condo boom going on right now. But experts say the booms and busts are far more measured there. The condo buildings going up are all presold, and there is not nearly the speculative condo investment there that we saw in Miami.

"There is an element of conservatism that runs right through the Canadian housing industry, from the banking, financing element, to the homebuilders and even in the resale of homes," says Phil Soper, CEO of Brookfield Real Estate Services - Royal LePage. "The innovation has safety valves."

Comment: Summary:

• Banks don't (at least to the extent that US Banks do) sell off loans
  
• Little subprime lending - No "Alt-A, or low-doc, no doc loans"
  
• Canadian mortgages are "full recourse loans". Can't just walk away
  
• No condo building unless it is presold
  

And everyone is better off!