Hawaii, Canada

 In a previous blog Cale-mut carcasses- variety pack I rambled on about the 49th parallel, the Ambassador Bridge, the Treaty of Ghent,  while discussing the history of relations between the USA and Canada. Today, I stumbled across a story about thousands of Hawaiians settling in the British Columbia’s Gulf Islands in the mid 1800s.  In the late 1850s, when the border between the US and present-day Canada solidified, many Hawaiians moved north, where they were able to attain the rights of British citizenship. The Gulf Islands in Canada are scattered across the Salish Sea between Vancouver and Southern Vancouver Island.

Dec 3

 Vancouver Police Chief #AdamPalmer pushing back against budget cuts: "We're one of the few services the city provides that is an essential service. We're not a nice-to-have, we're a must-have." More police chiefs should be that frank.

dec 9

In other news, Canadian conservatives are debating 24-7 on Bill C-7 which is supposed to bring Canada's assisted-dying law into compliance with a Quebec Superior Court ruling last fall, which struck down a provision that allows assisted dying only for people whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable.

Jan 6, 2020

I started reading "Scoundrels of the Salish sea" to  get more acquainted with the Pacific Northwest, and found out a little more about the Battle of Puget Sound and the Battle of Seattle, including how the courts take their time. In  December 10, 2004 a historical court convened in Pierce County, Washington ruled “as a legal combatant of the Indian War… Leschi, a Nisqually Chief,  should not have been held accountable under law for the death of an enemy soldier in 1858 and exonerated him, but did not declare that Leschi did not kill territorial militia Col. A.B. Moses. Leschi was hung in 1858.

Jan 12, 2021

 Thankfully, Trudeau doesn't get to choose if there's a snap election in Canada in 2021, and he knows his Liberals could lose. “Our priority as a government is going to be helping people get through this pandemic … it’s not in our interests to have an election,”. Polling data suggests Liberals would fall short of winning a majority.

Jan 13, 2021

Trudeau blocked Chinese state-owned Shandong Gold Mining Co. from buying a gold mine in the Canadian Arctic . He got one right. Many opponents of the purchase have argued it would give China too much access to the Arctic .

Jan 28, 2021

While making my way through Scoundrels of the Salish Sea, I read a  story about the Billingsleys, a family of bootleggers from Oklahoma who used Seattle area pharmacies to circumvent the state of Washington's prohibition laws. One of those guys left a son  named Glenn behind in Oklahoma. An actress, Barbara Combes, married him. Say hi to June Cleaver of the Leave it Beaver TV show. #BarbaraBillingsley

Feb 22, 2021

On March 3 Niagara Falls will be illuminated in the Bulgarian flag colors, white, green and red, to mark  the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Canada. It can be seen during this time frame 22:00 and 22:15 Canadian time (05:00 - 05:15 in Bulgaria) from both the Canadian coast and the United States.

April 3, 2021

I finished "Scoundrels of the Salish Sea" and the last third of the book was thin on details and riveting stories about the 1930s and 40s in Washington. However, it did remind me that some things never change. For example,  a prosecutor can later become the defense attorney for someone he or she once prosecuted or vice-versa.

April 16, 2021

Oh Canada  who Can Keep Returning Asylum Seekers to the USA for now.

Sure looks like they're using the pandemic to be less friendly to asylum seekers. Many were entering the country at an unofficial border crossing between New York state and the Canadian province of Quebec where the Safe Third Country Agreement doesn’t apply. In 2020 the Canadian government tightened border restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

May 1, 2021

Part of Canada's consideration of lighter criminal sentences to combat racism includes proposed changes on some firearm convictions, such as unauthorized possession and use of certain weapons in situations not linked to organized crime. This would allow Judges to issue a sentence they deem appropriate under the circumstances.

While I think Canada's gun laws are nuts,  it's crazy that they want divide crime into organized  or individual , for lack of a better description.

May 11, 2021

Wild, wild west Canada: Man killed in gang-related violence at Vancouver airport in broad daylight. Police caught up with the getaway SUV, but the pursuing officer did not return fire from the escaping suspects in a busy area and stopped the pursuit.

May 28, 2021

Canada wants to force YouTube, TikTok, and other video- and audio-sharing sites to prominently feature it's nation's artists so here comes censorship and a less open marketplace.

aug 29, 2021

Polling shows Conservatives with a slim lead over Trudeau’s Liberal Party as Canada readies for the upcoming September 20 vote that Trudeau triggered in hopes of solidifying his power.

Sept 25, 2021

I don't know if the crossbow shooter in Vancouver was bored or mean or both when he shot a bolt from the fire escape of an apartment building and struck a man just below the knee cap. He left his crossbows, replica assault rifles, scopes, and lights and lasers and fled safely away.

Nov 11, 2021

This is going to be a nightmare: Canada Strips Military of Powers to Investigate Sexual Misconduct.

 All investigations and prosecutions of sexual offenses in the military will be handled by civilian law enforcement.

Feb 1, 2022

Trudeau calls trucker protest an 'insult to truth'. Congrats Trudy. you're now qualified to a be a fact checker for FBook.

Feb 10, 2022

Quebec MP Joël Lightbound, a fellow Liberal, criticized Trudy this week for demonizing groups that disagree with Covid mandates.

Feb 13, 2022

I missed this item from earlier this month. Quebec Premier Francois Legault dropped plans to tax unvaccinated residents amid backlash. How could he not foresee anger over this nonsense?

June 4. 2022

The Progressive Conservatives were on track to win at least 83 of the provincial legislature's 124 seats in the province of Ontario., They held 67 in the last legislature. Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives came to power in 2018 after 15 years of Liberal rule.

June 8, 2022

Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault sent a report to Canada's House of Commons suggesting it should be illegal to knowingly spread disinformation about the voting process. So he wants Canada to have a Ministry of Truth?

Sept 29, 2022

Thaw Nandar Aung, the Myanmar beauty queen, who had spoken out against military rule in her country and was left in limbo at Thailand's airport, found temporary sanctuary.  She will live in Prince Edward Island, a province off Canada's Atlantic coast, with the government's assistance, but her official status in Canada is unknown.

Nov 2, 2022

The Punjab referendum is asking people of Sikh origin in several countries whether they want the Sikh-majority Indian state to become an independent nation. It is unofficial and non-binding and is stirring up tensions in Canada which is one of the first to hold votes. There are folks waving flags of Khalistan, the independent state that some Sikhs want to see carved out of India, and the nationalists brandishing the Indian flag.  I'm not sure if the vote in Canada is being held on public or private property.

Nov 30, 2022

 Alberta's government has introduced a bill that would grant Premier Danielle Smith and her cabinet broad powers to rewrite provincial laws behind closed doors in an effort to push back against Trudy and the folks in Ottawa. This should be entertaining.

Jan 25, 2023

And I thought Trudy and Biden were buds. Canada is upset that the USA plans to maintain tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports which are the legacy of a decades-long trade dispute over the structure of Canada's timber sector that were not resolved when a quota agreement expired in 2015.

March 23, 2023

Han Dong will be sitting as an independent MP instead of as Trudy Liberal after being the subject of foreign interference allegations including that he suggested to a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that China should delay releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians who had been imprisoned in China from 2018 to 2021, in order to avoid benefitting the Conservative Party.

April 8, 2023

Canada will deploy Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora Aircraft to Japan to support implementation of United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea. Trudy is all over the map.

May 17, 2023

More "Chinese police stations" operating in Canada months after Public Safety Minister Mendincino claimed otherwise.

Feb 10, 2024

I missed this from 2022 land acknowledgement syllabus speech battles: Stuart Reges, a computer science professor at UW:

“I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.”