Ottawa Observations: Thursday-Friday December 22 -23, 2022

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Thursday-Friday,  December 22-23, 2022

Hell for the Holidays

Flight disruptions expected to extend as holiday weekend storm hits British Columbia Ontario and Quebec 

Stormy winter weather wreaks havoc on Canadians' holiday plans from coast to coast  

Bridges close, flights suspended across Southwest BC as winter storm slowly transitions to rain

'You don't want to be caught in this': OPP urges drivers to stay put amid spate of crashes

Power outages grip Quebec as snow, freezing rain and high winds hit province 

Major winter storm leaves slippery roads, causes power outages, prompts flight cancellations

Are the roads salted? Various factors can determine how salt is used when a storm hits 

BC drivers warned to stay off roads amid dire warnings about snow and freezing rain

A travel nightmare before Christmas in Vancouver as ice hits bridges, SkyTrain line

Toronto Winter Storm: More than a third of flights cancelled at Pearson airport, up to 100 vehicles involved in collision on 401

Wicked winter weather storm hampers holiday travel

OPP close Highway 401 between Tilbury and London due to 12 vehicle collision 

Lower Mainland bridges close due to winter conditions Friday

Ferry cancellations, highway headaches as snow and ice hit BC interior, Vancouver Island

Weather conditions causing problems for TransLink Friday

YVR putting hundreds of stranded passengers up in hotels amid storm delays 

BC warned of 'considerable' avalanche risk in midst of winter storm

BCAA expects up to 5,000 calls across BC, Yukon, Northwest Territories in extreme weather 

Southern Vancouver Island under flood watch, high streamflow advisory for South Coast

BC Transit suspends service in Central Fraser Valley due to freeing rain, driving conditions

WestJet cancelling flights across Canada amid storm: "Unlike anything we've ever experirenced'

BC Ferries cancels multiple Friday sailings as winter storm bears down on South Coast

Ukraine/Russia War

 

If the West betrays Ukraine, it betrays itself 

Globe and Mail

Nike Canada employee identified as man with world junior players before alleged group sexual assault 

Hockey Canada paid nearly $2.9 million in legal settlement in the past year, according to audited financial statements 

Danielle Smith promises broad review of the Alberta's pandemic response

Prime Minister Trudeau fa51mily heading to Jamaica after Christmas for weeklong holiday vacation

Federal government posts $1.9 billion deficit in October, pushing year to date finances into the red 

Here are the bills, big and small, that politicians will be looking at next year 

RCMP will probe forged government documents aimed at discrediting Muslim charity

Ottawa urged to pressure Pakistan to stop deporting Afghans, speed up refugee claims 

Trudeau signals shift away from humanitarian aid toward financing infrastructure

In getting mergers done, the infamous efficiencies defence is way overrated

There are scarcely any Indigenous directors on the boards of Canada's Big companies, That needs to change

Media, public outrage are all that kept junior hockey sex scandal from being quietly swept away

The only winners in a subsidy war are the battery manufacturers - on both sides of the border

CBC

Amid clashes with Kabul, Pakistan tells Ottawa it won't deport Canada bound paperless Afghan migrants

Former Haiti PM Laurent Lamothe seeks to contest Canadian sanctions in Federal Court 

Ottawa to spend $1.24 billion to extend life of search-and-rescue chopper fleet 

Human rights tribunal says Indigenous Services minister, AFN misled public on $20B child welfare deal

Former Cadets major faces sex assault charges after military police re-examined a closed case

Ottawa warned Hockey Canada about its approach to conflicts of interest, report says

Government has not plans to bring back federal mask mandate, Trudeau says

Canada's move to seize assets from Russian oligarch could test charter law: trade lawyer 

Prime Minister Trudeau, family headed to Jamaica for weekly holiday vacation 

Trudeau suggests shift away from humanitarian aid toward financing infrastructure 

The House of Commons had a loud, busy year. Was it effective?

Trudeau called to testify at trial for man in London gravel-tossing case

Indigenous woman recounts incident of racist threats on remote stretch of BC highway 

Toronto/Vancouver Star

In person Christmas feast returns for Vancouver's most needy after pandemic halt

If Canada wants citizens back from Syrian prison camps, it may just need to ask

Here's what I got wrong about Doug Ford

Teens who allegedly stabbed homeless man may have been involved in other violent incidents that night

Parent's threaten court battle over Halton teacher dress code controversy

Choosing a Chief Justice

Toronto Sun

Trudeau's list of banned guns becoming the Butt Master of jokes

Feds must fix flawed housing benefit

Doubling down on failed policies not the answer to crime problem

Doug Ford's resolutions for new year

Parents threaten lawsuit, call for Leece to act on Oakville trans teacher

National Post

Air travel in Canada won't ever be going completely back to normal - possibly ever

All politicians aren't demons, we only make them so

CRA probes 2,000 wage and rent subsidy claims linked to suspicious tax preparers

Belize to drop murder charge against former Canadian soldier arrested after nightclub shooting

Thanks to nepo baby Trudeau, Canada is now a nepo nation

'Rushed process': Experts clash on whether medically assisted dying system ready for expansion by March

Veterans Affairs Minister deceiving us about MAID< following the Liberal playbook

Crime surge is a narrative Torontonians aren't used to

Team Trudeau gaslighting Canadians on health transfers 

Canada's (Liberal fuelled) population boom

Why it's so hard to define what constitutes an assault weapon 

Liberals announce $1.2B sole sourced deal to upgrade search and rescue helicopter fleet 

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year

Health Canada monitoring massive COVID outbreak 'starting to rip through' China

Canada ignores Tik Tok alarm bells as US considers ban over China spying fears

Albertans are pessimistic and leaning toward voting Notley over Danielle Smith: poll

Global          

Port Hardy Hospital emergency department closed overnight for 18 day holiday stretch 

Early results show flu vaccine more than 50% effective: BCCDC

COVID-19 cases in BC Hospitals hit one-month low

New Ministry launching 18 month review of BC's emergency management strategy 

BC paramedics' union 'optimistic' amid movement at bargaining table

BC Hydro sees record demand for electricity during province-wide cold snap

Canadian doctors raise alarm as Iranian healthcare workers targeted by regime 

Penalty slashed but Trans Mountain pipeline fine for bird disturbances upheld

As COVID-19 lingers, the need for national pharmacare progress is clear: experts

'Boost your defences' ahead of winter viral spread, Ottawa urges in mail campaign

'Tug of war ': Health spending debate between feds, provinces still up in the air

Trudeau and family to travel to Jamaica for one week vacation after Christmas

RCMP tried to gain Soviet naval intelligence from defector during Cold War, records show

Return to office mandate leaves public servants scrambling for child care

Miscellaneous            

Holy Christmas, it's been a tough year

Is Santa real?

A promising new way to prevent HIV infections 

What should Premier Eby do to solve the Housing crisis?

The 'Top Employer' where workers kept dying

Why I stopped giving to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank

David Eby on what must change in BC