Canadian Stuff

Budley Doright said:

The city council close to me (Kingston) voted to dismantle the present small tiny home community (basically garden sheds) by March, but no plan to house the folks. I’m not sure of the details but it cost over 1 million for a year for 17 sheds. Is it just me, is there not a better use of a million that could house a tad more?

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It's f'n embarrassing that a country as rich as ours has such a huge homeless population. We blow billions all over the world helping those in need, (which is good), but how about cleaning up our own back yard too.

And shutting down homeless encampments without having somewhere else for them to go is 3rd world BS.

Oh joy. Turns out our premier is a Tucker Carlson groupie and he'll be here in January to enlighten us.

Been talking with friends about the lack of viewable police presence here for a while now. EG. Unmarked cars, etc...Kid sounds like she had good common/street sense. to me...

Racial profiling?

BTW, where this happened is very close my neighborhood, so I know the area very well. Hence the racial profiling question. Could also be simply mistaken identity, but I feel it may be a combination of the two issues. North Edmonton is/has been well known for a number of complex subculture issues related to race, gangs, and profiling. (Just extra info for people not privy to the "hood").

https://globalnews.ca/news/10097786/edmonton-police-service-mistaken-identity/

Dorian2 said:

Been talking with friends about the lack of viewable police presence here for a while now. EG. Unmarked cars, etc...Kid sounds like she had good common/street sense. to me...

Racial profiling?

BTW, where this happened is very close my neighborhood, so I know the area very well. Hence the racial profiling question. Could also be simply mistaken identity, but I feel it may be a combination of the two issues. North Edmonton is/has been well known for a number of complex subculture issues related to race, gangs, and profiling. (Just extra info for people not privy to the "hood").

https://globalnews.ca/news/10097786/edmonton-police-service-mistaken-identity/

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Could you explain why you think it could be racial profiling? My first thought did not go towards race at all, but without knowing more background info of the area I can't say that with any confidence.

You and that story bring up an important point about the issue with viewable police presence that seems to be getting worse. Back in 2016 the chief of police in Toronto tried changing the police vehicle colour scheme to dark grey but had to change course after backlash, too militarized and robocop-ish. Proper policing is to protect and serve and prevent crime, so the vast majority of police vehicles should stand out visibly, not have people questioning if they are actually police or not. Unfortunately we are trending away from that it seems, more towards a police state.

CANON_Grow said:

Could you explain why you think it could be racial profiling? My first thought did not go towards race at all, but without knowing more background info of the area I can't say that with any confidence.

You and that story bring up an important point about the issue with viewable police presence that seems to be getting worse. Back in 2016 the chief of police in Toronto tried changing the police vehicle colour scheme to dark grey but had to change course after backlash, too militarized and robocop-ish. Proper policing is to protect and serve and prevent crime, so the vast majority of police vehicles should stand out visibly, not have people questioning if they are actually police or not. Unfortunately we are trending away from that it seems, more towards a police state.

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The specific area that she was tackled has a history of issues with the native population crime, family violence, and native gang member association. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redd_Alert) It's totally an assumption made by myself because of past history. If this happened in the 118th Avenue area, I'd assume the same.

EDIT: I also totally agree with your take on viewable police presence. There used to be a cop shop right at the location of this incident, but because of cuts to enforcement here, athe shops are few and far between now. I had some paint taken off my car in a parking lot from another vehicle and went to the nearest shop. There was 1 officer there and he have me a card for where they do the inspection now on the West end of town. Told me to make sure to bring a coffee because it's going to be a long wait. Took hours of my time to get it done as they have one officer doing the work. Our centire system in general, including healthcare, protective services, including Military, infrastructure, and much more is in a huge state of disrepair. I'll assume it's much the same out East, but you can correct me if I'm mistaken.

And yes, I'm totally pissed about it all, and now we're all dealing with a national hate crime pandemic, for lack of a better phrase.

Wouldn't you want to bring in experts to build a new thing, since they did it before? I don't expect a lot of South Koreans other than specialists to take any jobs and will train people while they are here. Are we so arrogant that we think we can't learn from these people? It is their money too and they want to see it spent wisely, not on some politician's brother-in-law, or hiring locals who don't know their asses from a hole in the ground. Call me when there are South Korean construction workers on site wearing hardhats and doing trades work, not a few engineers who will be here temporarily.

Ottawa to commit billions toward building more housing

CBC News has learned the federal government intends to commit billions towards addressing the housing crisis during its fall economic statement Tuesday. The money will go toward loans and grants for building new housing units and changes to the tax code.

DIY-HP-LED said:

Wouldn't you want to bring in experts to build a new thing, since they did it before? I don't expect a lot of South Koreans other than specialists to take any jobs and will train people while they are here. Are we so arrogant that we think we can't learn from these people? It is their money too and they want to see it spent wisely, not on some politician's brother-in-law, or hiring locals who don't know their asses from a hole in the ground. Call me when there are South Korean construction workers on site wearing hardhats and doing trades work, not a few engineers who will be here temporarily.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1726706986731950214

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I’m going to have to call you out on this post. Seeing that the company has not provided what the government considers as reasonable justification to bring in 1600 TFW’s, I am hesitant to give another CEO the benefit of doubt that this is just required expertise.

This exact situation happened with Chinese companies bringing in Chinese labour out west not that long ago, and there were issues with differing standards of workmanship, language and signage barriers that led to safety concerns and incidents.

You really think the 1600 South Koreans the company is bringing over are all going to be engineers? The CBC article states they are being brought in to set up the equipment, which sounds like jobs that require licensed Millwrights, Electricians, and other Red Seal trades. I don’t know the standards and regulations that South Korea has so they could be higher or more strict than what is required in Ontario, but that is something the company should have to prove to the authorities having jurisdiction here. A Red Seal endorsed tradesperson is a requirement in many trades across Canada, so the same requirements should apply to TFW’s doing work in Canada as well. I am certain there is more than just “locals who don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground” and to suggest otherwise is poppycock.

It is also not just their money, there is 15 billion in subsidies provided by Canadian tax payers. I would expect every level of government to demand an appropriate justification on why TFW’s are required in any form of employment, but even more so on a project with that kind of subsidy.

I am completely okay with bringing in TFW’s when it’s justified, but it gets taken advantage of by too many corporations and industries. We should do what we can to prevent winning that race to the bottom, or get rid of the rules that everyone else has to follow.

CANON_Grow said:

This exact situation happened with Chinese companies bringing in Chinese labour out west not that long ago, and there were issues with differing standards of workmanship, language and signage barriers that led to safety concerns and incidents.

You really think the 1600 South Koreans the company is bringing over are all going to be engineers? The CBC article states they are being brought in to set up the equipment, which sounds like jobs that require licensed Millwrights, Electricians, and other Red Seal trades. I don’t know the standards and regulations that South Korea has so they could be higher or more strict than what is required in Ontario, but that is something the company should have to prove to the authorities having jurisdiction here. A Red Seal endorsed tradesperson is a requirement in many trades across Canada, so the same requirements should apply to TFW’s doing work in Canada as well. I am certain there is more than just “locals who don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground” and to suggest otherwise is poppycock.

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It happened here (Kingston) as well. Chinese formula plant, 4x the average accident rate, non- licensed trades and Environmental infractions.

CANON_Grow said:

I’m going to have to call you out on this post. Seeing that the company has not provided what the government considers as reasonable justification to bring in 1600 TFW’s, I am hesitant to give another CEO the benefit of doubt that this is just required expertise.

This exact situation happened with Chinese companies bringing in Chinese labour out west not that long ago, and there were issues with differing standards of workmanship, language and signage barriers that led to safety concerns and incidents.

You really think the 1600 South Koreans the company is bringing over are all going to be engineers? The CBC article states they are being brought in to set up the equipment, which sounds like jobs that require licensed Millwrights, Electricians, and other Red Seal trades. I don’t know the standards and regulations that South Korea has so they could be higher or more strict than what is required in Ontario, but that is something the company should have to prove to the authorities having jurisdiction here. A Red Seal endorsed tradesperson is a requirement in many trades across Canada, so the same requirements should apply to TFW’s doing work in Canada as well. I am certain there is more than just “locals who don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground” and to suggest otherwise is poppycock.

It is also not just their money, there is 15 billion in subsidies provided by Canadian tax payers. I would expect every level of government to demand an appropriate justification on why TFW’s are required in any form of employment, but even more so on a project with that kind of subsidy.

I am completely okay with bringing in TFW’s when it’s justified, but it gets taken advantage of by too many corporations and industries. We should do what we can to prevent winning that race to the bottom, or get rid of the rules that everyone else has to follow.

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I think a reasonable number of specialist engineers is ok, even desirable, but 1500 is a bit excessive IMO, maybe 150 max is in the ballpark for transferring expertise and getting the project off the ground. It wouldn't do if all the equipment manuals were in Korean. Some of this tech is just recently developed so I expect the startup to be full of bugs. They must justify bringing these people in and I doubt these days it's because of cheap labor in South Korea, not shipping them here. I can see concerns about the construction phase, and I don't think they will get away with it, but it is new technology, and I can see some experienced specialist being required.

Too often local politicians make noise for political reasons, but I can understand why the unions would be howling. Usually with such projects they bring in the managers and engineers then hire local contractors.

As a Grad of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, I have to vehemently oppose bringing in any type of techs from another nation for Canadian jobs. AS for any Engineers involved, same thing goes. This has nothing to do with expertise in the field. It's all about exploiting the Harper era free trade deal for big money.

DIY-HP-LED said:

I think a reasonable number of specialist engineers is ok, even desirable, but 1500 is a bit excessive IMO, maybe 150 max is in the ballpark for transferring expertise and getting the project off the ground. It wouldn't do if all the equipment manuals were in Korean. Some of this tech is just recently developed so I expect the startup to be full of bugs. They must justify bringing these people in and I doubt these days it's because of cheap labor in South Korea, not shipping them here. I can see concerns about the construction phase, and I don't think they will get away with it, but it is new technology, and I can see some experienced specialist being required.

Too often local politicians make noise for political reasons, but I can understand why the unions would be howling. Usually with such projects they bring in the managers and engineers then hire local contractors.

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I can see why a company would want to bring in TFW's, it doesn't take many to set expectations and 'convince' other employee's to follow company culture. I completely understand bringing a group over for initial training, and testing/commissioning before full production begins, which would align with your 150 number.

I read you railway folks worked some crazy hours so I don't want to make too big of a deal about it, I just don't want those expectations to become the norm:

In South Korea, work-life balance—or rather the lack of it—has been the subject of heated debate after the government recently proposed raising the maximum weekly working hours from 52 to 69.

CANON_Grow said:

I can see why a company would want to bring in TFW's, it doesn't take many to set expectations and 'convince' other employee's to follow company culture. I completely understand bringing a group over for initial training, and testing/commissioning before full production begins, which would align with your 150 number.

I read you railway folks worked some crazy hours so I don't want to make too big of a deal about it, I just don't want those expectations to become the norm:

In South Korea, work-life balance—or rather the lack of it—has been the subject of heated debate after the government recently proposed raising the maximum weekly working hours from 52 to 69.

Asia’s Most Overworked Country Wants to Improve Work-Life Balance—By Raising Work Hours

A proposal to increase the number of maximum weekly working hours was met with anger in South Korea, a country known for its grueling work ethic.

www.vice.com

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As far as I know labor stuff is a provincial responsibility, getting them into the country is federal. How can Dofo justify bringing in 1500, I know unemployment is low, but it's not that low. Any government that depended on union support would not do this, only an anti-labor corporatist government would permit it, the Tories. Are they certified trades people like electricians, how about the engineers, are they qualified to do this shit in Canada? If they came here as immigrants would their engineering degree count in Canada?

Shame I can not see the X post from HP, no I do not want to log into X.

"NextStar CEO Danis Lee in a statement that equipment installation at the facility required the workers.

"The equipment installation phase of the project requires additional temporary specialized global supplier staff who have proprietary knowledge and specialized expertise that is critical to the successful construction and launch of Canada's first large-scale battery manufacturing facility."

The company said it was "fully committed" to hiring more than 2,500 Canadians and 2,300 local tradespeople for the construction and equipment installation.

Given the money involved this still bothers me. And yes I have a red seal.

They can work in Canada, but are they provincially qualified tradesmen and do their engineering degrees count if they came as immigrants? How about the electricians? Standards and codes are different here and you need a red seal certification to work interprovincially as a tradesman. However global specialists who come temporarily and setup battery factories with specialized equipment then move on might be a different matter. Perhaps this company is setting up a string of factories in different countries and this "tiger team" moves in to install equipment and train staff, then moves to the next new factory. If that is the case the building should be built by local contractors with some millwright help from the Koreans. I can see them installing the equipment and getting the thing up and running while training Canadian staff, after the building is up and wired.

This will help to avoid a catastrophe! Or should the government allow the overheated housing market to readjust on its own, would the Tories? Maybe someone should ask a free market guy like Peepe if he believes in individual responsibility? Tossing all those people to the wolves before the election would not be popular.

Rainbow a problem?

Niagara border crossings closed after explosion on bridge connecting New York and Ontario
The Peace and Rainbow bridges connecting Canada and the U.S. are closed after an explosion on the American side on the Rainbow Bridge, an official says.

Ron Rienas, general manager of the Peace Bridge, told CBC Hamilton the bridges were shut down on Wednesday afternoon.

On social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the FBI Buffalo account said: "The FBI Buffalo Field Office is investigating a vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge, a border crossing between the U.S. and Canada in Niagara Falls. The FBI is coordinating with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in this investigation. As this situation is very fluid, that's all we can say at this time."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on X that she "has been briefed on the incident on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls and we are closely monitoring the situation. State agencies are on site and ready to assist."

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said "we have major issues happening right now at the U.S. borders in the Niagara Region. Right now we currently have the Rainbow Bridge closed in both directions in Niagara Falls. Niagara Regional Police, Niagara Parks Police as well as Canada Border Services are working on an incident in that area."

Schmidt said the Fort Erie Peace Bridge is also closed in both directions and the OPP is in the process of closing Highway 405 and the Queenston/Lewiston Bridge. He said to expect heavy delays in the Niagara area and encouraged people in the area to delay travel.

PMO in contact with U.S. officials

Justin Trudeau's press secretary, Jenna Ghassabeh, said in an email that the prime minister has been briefed "by the national security and intelligence adviser about the situation in Niagara Falls."

The email said the Prime Minister's Office is "in contact with the U.S officials. The minister of public safety, RCMP and CBSA are fully engaged and providing all necessary support."

The Canadian Border Services Agency said on X just after 2 p.m. ET Wednesday: "We are aware of an evolving situation at Rainbow Bridge. We are liaising with our U.S. counterparts on this matter. The FBI is leading on the ongoing investigation."

The Niagara Falls Canada fire department's spokesperson said they are not involved in the response and have not sent any crews out.

More to come

See. No longer only in Canada.

U.S. Warns India After Assassination Plot on American Soil Foiled: FT
A plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil was foiled by U.S. authorities, according to a report, with officials sending a warning to India’s government over its suspected involvement in the alleged conspiracy. Sources familiar with the case told the Financial Times that the target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S.-Canadian citizen who acts as the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice—an organization advocating for the creation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. The U.S. allegedly told its allies about the plot following the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June; India has dismissed claims of involvement in that killing as “absurd.” Pannun declined to confirm if he’d been warned of the alleged threat, saying he’d “let the U.S. government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives.”