Ottawa Observations: Tuesday-Wednesday, February 8 & 9, 2022

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Tuesday/Wednesday,  February 8 & 9, 2022

Convoy to Ottawa/Other convoy plans

Windsor police not yet removing Ambassador Bridge protesters, mayor cites concerns over violence  

Why the Ottawa trucker protest has turned to cryptocurrency for fundraising

Ottawa mayor says no end in sight for trucker convoy protests

The Canada bashers have got it wrong about this country

How truck convoy supporters like Pierre Poilievre have weaponized 'freedom' 

The Ottawa Occupation is the October Crisis revisited. Justin Trudeau must be bold

From Rob Ford to the Ottawa protests: The evolution of hoser-extremism

Ambassador Bridge blockade threatens trade with US as trucker protesters cut off key route

Anti-vaccine mandate protests spread across the country, crippling Canada-US Trade

Ottawa protest inspires talk of copycat convoys in US and beyond

Feds pushing Ontario to impose provincial regulatory fines on commercial vehicles involved in protests

'It has to stop': Trudeau accuses protesters of blockading democracy during Commons debate 

In 13th day of protest, police warn of arrests, charges for those blocking streets

Ontario Premier Ford calls for end to illegal  Ambassador Bridge protest tying up 'vital trade corridor'

RCMP enter area as Alberta protesters say they won't move to new site

Ambassador Bridge blockade could have 'enormous' impact on Canadian trade, experts say

Protesters blocking part of Highway 402 to Sarnia bridge to US say they'll stay 'as long as it takes'

New Zealand moves to end Canada-inspired convoy protest after 3 days

How organizers with police and military expertise may be helping Ottawa convoy protest dig in

Meet the 21 year old Ottawa woman behind the injunction that silenced the honking 

Doug Ford may scrap renewal fees for Ontario licence plates

Vaccine mandate 'not an issue at all' CEO of Canada's largest trucking company says

'Immediately' end protest or face arrest, Ottawa police warn truckers

'This is just gonna explode: How Bitcoin bigwigs' "Honk Honk' came to fundraise for Canada's 'Freedom Convoy"

Ottawa 'freedom fighters' think they know more than experts 

Trudeau Liberals brag about meetings but what Ottawa needs is a police action

Fearing more protests, cops block off Queen's Park from traffic

The Freedom Convoy's a farce

End the Convoy and call out Trudeau

As protest hits Ambassador Bridge, PM can't simply yell racist to fix this growing problem 

Windsor protests hit Ford Motor's supply chain, forcing it to idle engine plant

'Putting their foot on the throat of all Canadians': Federal ministers call for end of blockades 

Ottawa protesters employ gas can  subterfuge to frustrate police 

What's actually standing in the way of right-wing populism in Canada? 

'Snowball effect': Canada's trucker convoy sparks anti-mandate protests globally

Texas attorney general to probe Go Fund Me for removing Canada's trucker convoy fundraiser 

Convoy protesters could be 'arrested' for blocking streets, Ottawa police warn

Canada must investigate the Convoy money

Canada / China tensions                 

Ukraine/Russia tensions

Canadians in Ukraine should leave while they still can, federal government warns

As Russian forces keep building, Ukrainians resist the urge to panic

The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

BC expands health-care vaccine mandate to include doctors, dentists and other regulated professionals

New vaccine mandate applies to all regulated health professionals in BC by March 24

BC bringing in vaccine mandate for all remaining health-care workers 

British Columbia reports another 18 deaths in the past 24 hours

Her mom died of COVID after attending anti-vaccine rallies. Now this Toronto woman wants to warn others 

What's blocking Canada's exit from the pandemic? The unvaccinated 

Edmonton eyeing own COVID-19 measures after Alberta ends vaccine passport system 

2 BC Doctors went on a COVID-19 speaking tour. Colleagues say their misinformation put public at risk

'Not in the clear yet': Most provinces stick with gradual COVID-19 reopening plans

Ford government still won't budge on vaccine passport, mask rules

Did Christine Elliot dodge vaccine pass and end dates question?

BC Premier says province will follow public health guidelines over COVID restrictions ending 

Globe and Mail

The Liberals should listen to their backbencher's plea to unwind COVID-19 pandemic measures

Saskatchewan, Ottawa look to end historic tax exemption for CP Rail 

We'll lift our anti-COVID restrictions when elected governments decide, not street mobs

What the 2021 Census tells us about Canada's changing population 

Survey shows new immigrants in a rush to buy first home

Justin Trudeau needs to show he can lead during a crisis

Trudeau's a late show in Ottawa's long vacuum of leadership

Already, it looks like no Conservative will be able to challenge Pierre Poilievre 

Liberal MP Joël Lightound calls out party divisions, wants timeline for end of public-health restrictions 

Challenges from inside the Liberal Party cap Trudeau's month of living dangerously 

CBC                                             

Liberal MP Joël Lightbound says his party's COVID policy 'stigmatizes and divides people'

Personal info about military sex misconduct  claimants release in error

Despite pandemic, Canada's population grows at fastest rate in G7: census

Alberta premier apologizes for comparing plight of unvaccinated to stigma faced by 1980's AIDS patients

Governor General Mary Simon tests positive for COVID-19

Audit finds 'clear disparity' in Knowledge Network funding for filmmakers of colour 

Appeal to move forward in protest camp case despite Saskatchewan government's attempt to stop it

Toronto/Vancouver Star

Wildfire destroy's Lytton's governance records; BC gives OK to rewrite bylaws

Barge grounded at Vancouver's English Bay in November storms to be disassembled 

Census shows BC's population hit five million after 7.6 percent growth

Two decades and $30 million later, a BC mine proposal is officially dead

Lawyers for those arrested at BC old growth logging protest want stay of charges

Conservatives drop support for carbon pricing, bring an OToole foe back from exile

Jason Kenney apologizes for comparing unvaccinated people to AIDS patients 

Pierre Poilievre is too nasty not to win Conservative leadership

The post pandemic economy is here, and Justin Trudeau needs to meet its challenges 

I wish more MPs had Joël Ligthbound's courage

John Honderich understood the power of the press and used it to do good 

As several Tories weigh leadership run, Candice Bergen gathers MPs to chart a path forward 

The Canadian Flag as a national symbol has been critically injured

Doug Ford's billion-dollar election gimmick

Toronto Sun

Lightbound nailed Trudeau on weaponizing vaccine mandates 

The needed drama of a Pierre Poilievre 

Now is the time but who can beat Trudeau?

Ending Canada's COVID rules is now just common sense 

Trudeau is not up to the job of uniting Canadians

Trust in Canadian institutions is declining 

Liberal MP to PM 'stop dividing us'

National Post

On the Wisdom of clowns 

'Said exactly what a lot of us think': Liberal MP reacts to Joël Lightbound's accusation of divisive tactics 

Trudeau and Carney are only making this worse - everyone needs to calm down

Everybody (except Trudeau) is abandoning COVID restrictions  

How police have become more tolerant of civil disobedience in Canada - for good for bad

Senior Quebec Tory coy about his candidate: is it Charest, Kheiriddin, Brown or MacKay?

Macleans                           

The Joël Lighbound crisis in the Liberal Party 

Global 

Most extreme rogue wave ever was recorded off BC coast

Vancouver Island First Nation to begin work to locate unmarked graves at residential school site

Surrey daycare says anti-vaccine mandate protesters disrupting business 

Lytton to receive $8.3 million to help rebuild after catastrophic wildfire

Okangan gondola tourist attraction overlooking Kalamalka Lake proposed  

Kelowna the fastest growing CMA in Canada, StatCan shows

Squamish among fastest-growing communities in Canada

More people died from illicit toxic drugs in 2021 in BC than in any other year

Researchers in BC could help save one of the world's most complex Indigenous languages 

Canadian Forces publishing new ethos in wake of sexual misconduct crisis: "Trusted to serve'

Senator Denise Batters back in Conservative caucus after O'Toole ouster

Kenney apologizes after comparing those who don't have COVID-19 vaccine to AIDS victims

Miscellaneous            

Vancouver tops list of Canada's most densely populated downtowns

Tribunal denies realtor's claim against Mosaic Homes for extra bonus in sale of two Vancouver condos  

Toronto dethrones Vancouver as Canada's most expensive housing market: RBC Economics 

Protect our Province BC claims that health officials are misleading the public about five-day Isolation periods 

BC is in a 'Worse Place than Ever' for Toxic Drug Deaths 

Vancouver Council approves 10 tiny homes for unhoused people

We Didn't Grieve the Pandemic. Now We're stuck Fighting 

BC fails to slow rising deaths from toxic drugs 

Throne speech promises Action on Indigenous Rights, Pandemic recovery

Wet'suwet'en call on the UN to support Land Battle

Should BC bring back the Olympics 

Climate Skeptic Patrick Moore Axed from BC Conference

Masks work. Why were we slow to say it?