Section: National Post (Canada)
Human rights groups trying to reverse Stephen Harper’s plan to sell advanced weapons to Ukraine
OTTAWA — Two human rights groups have teamed up to oppose a plan by the outgoing Conservative government to allow the sale of so-called prohibited weapons to Ukraine, including automatic assault rifles and armoured vehicles. Amnesty International Canada and Project Ploughshares have written to the Department of Foreign Affairs expressing concern...
Could Chewbacca and Darth Vader actually be allies?
Earlier this week, a story out of Ukraine captured the attention of intergalactic politicos everywhere. Beloved Wookiee Chewbacca was arrested and dragged before a court in Odessa for being unable to produce identification documents when he was stopped by police while driving Darth Vader to a polling station to vote. He was fined 170 hryvnia...
Chewbacca arrested in Ukraine while driving Darth Vader to polling station to vote
In case you’ve been wondering what Chewbacca has been up to ahead of press junkets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you’ll be dismayed to learn he’s been loitering around Ukraine, of all places, buddying up with Darth Vader. In what was apparently not a publicity stunt, the Millennium Falcon co-pilot was arrested Sunday by...
The breath-taking arrogance of Liz Sandals, and other reasons to fear for humanity
1. Ontario shrugs off $2.5 million pizza bill THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Education Minister Liz Sandals Liz Sandals says she didn’t ask for receipts or any other proof of payment before agreeing to pay the teachers unions $2.5 million for their bargaining costs. The Ontario education minister just paid what they wanted. “We know what...
John Robson: The West is sending messages while Russia sends troops
The antique destroyer Canada is contributing to Exercise Trident Juncture, for the usual purpose of “sending a strong message” to Russia over Ukraine, set off with a bang. Unfortunately it came from the engine room, and HMCS Athabaskan promptly headed to a British port for repairs. Which certainly sent a strong message to Russia, but not the one...
Robert Fulford: How ‘failed states’ became a recipe for genocide
The slogan “Never Again” appeared often in the 20th century, as the world slowly came to grips with the greatest crime of the modern era, the killing by Nazi Germany of 6 million European Jews in the 1940s. It was said with confidence, as if the Holocaust had taught everyone about the profound evil that can spring from racial hatred. But the...
Double standards rule on the NDP campaign rail, and other reasons to fear for humanity
1. Shawn Dearn, the NDP and double standards Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian PressNDP Leader Thomas Mulcair’s director of communications Shawn Dearn (right) If Stephen Harper’s top communications aide had tweeted that the Pope should go Eff himself, there’d have been a mammoth outcry and demands he be fired within the hour. Can you...
Video shows aftermath of grenade explosion outside Ukraine’s parliament; one dead, 100 hurt
Warning: Graphic images KIEV, Ukraine — A grenade exploded outside Ukraine’s parliament during a nationalist protest against a vote to give greater powers to separatist regions in the east, killing one police officer and injuring more than 100, the interior ministry said. The clashes marked the worst outburst of violence in the capital...
Kelly McParland: Under Russia’s bizarre new import ban, Russians suffer so Putin can thumb his nose at the West
When he hasn’t been diving to the depths of the Black Sea in another demonstration of his he-man virility, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been busy overseeing an unusual import-substitution program. The plan – like his numerous manly-man stunts – is intended to demonstrate no one can push around a proud Mother Russia. In a steady...
‘Most efficient option’: Canada paid $1.6 million to ship $5 million worth of military goods to Ukraine
The Canadian government spent $1.6 million to ship $5 million worth of surplus tents, sleeping bags and other military goods last August to Ukraine, according to figures obtained by the Ottawa Citizen. The equipment, sent by Canadian Forces aircraft, included sleeping bags the military estimates are worth $437 each and four-man tents worth $420....
