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O’Toole calls on MPs to reject ‘performance politics’ in final House speech

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In his final speech in the House of Commons, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole called on MPs to focus on fostering respectful debate at a time when “performance politics is fuelling polarization.”

O’Toole took aim at social media in his Monday address, saying that the House has become a place where politicians are more focused on generating clips than on national debates.

“We are becoming elected officials who judge our self worth by how many likes we get on social media, but not how many lives we change in the real world,” he said. “We’re becoming followers of our followers when we should be leaders.

“Social media did not build this great country but it is starting to tear its democracy down.”

 

 

O’Toole delivers final address in House of Commons

 

Former leader of the Conservative Party Erin O’Toole announced he would be leaving federal politics in the spring and would not seek re-election. During his final address, he advised parliamentarians against letting ‘performance politics’ get in the way of the important work they do.

The Ontario MP said political debates have become so divisive that “Canadian families are in some cases finding it difficult to talk to each other about important issues.”

“If we ever want to change this and begin to have respectful and serious discussions again … that change needs to start right here in Canada’s House of Commons,” O’Toole said.

O’Toole led the Conservatives in the 2021 election and served as official Opposition leader from August 2020 until February 2022.

He said the electoral success of any one party or politician shouldn’t get in the way of national unity.

Erin O'Toole hugs his family after the 2021 election.
Then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole addresses supporters at an election night event in Oshawa, Ont., in the early hours of Sept. 21, 2021. O’Toole thanked his family during his final speech in the House of Commons on Monday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

During his speech, O’Toole thanked his family, staff, volunteers and constituents for supporting him for more than a decade in Parliament.

The military veteran-turned-lawyer was first elected in a 2012 byelection. He served as parliamentary secretary to the minister for international trade, then as veterans affairs minister during the final year of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government before it lost power in 2015.

O’Toole took a first crack at running for the party leadership in the crowded 2017 race to replace Harper. He finished third.

He ran successfully a second time in 2020, beating out his chief opponent, former cabinet minister Peter MacKay.

MPs thank O’Toole for years of service

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rose after O’Toole’s speech to thank his predecessor.

“Whatever [next] chapter he decides to write in his life, one thing is for sure. It will be consistent with the life of service that has personified everything we have done to date,” Poilievre said.

Government House leader Mark Holland stood to thank O’Toole for his time in Parliament and in the armed forces.

“[O’Toole] and I had very vigorous debates and disagreements,” Holland said. “But in one another’s eyes, we see a love for our community, a love for our country and a desire to serve.”

Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May all stood to thank O’Toole and wish him well.

O’Toole announced in March that he would be leaving his seat once the House rises for the summer break. The House of Commons is slated to sit until the end of next week.

 

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RFK Jr. says Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water. ‘It’s possible,’ Trump says

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PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.

“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S​. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.

Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”

The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”

Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”

The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.

In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.

Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.

In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.

A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.

In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.

Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.

But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.

“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.

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Danielle Smith receives overwhelming support at United Conservative Party convention

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Danielle Smith receives overwhelming support at United Conservative Party convention

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America’s Election: What it Means to Canadians

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Americans and Canadians are cousins that is true. Allies today but long ago people were at loggerheads mostly because of the British Empire and American ambitions.

Canadians appreciate our cousins down south enough to visit them many millions of times over the year. America is Canada’s largest and most important trading partner. As a manufacturer, I can attest to this personally. My American clients have allowed our firm to grow and prosper over the past few decades. There is a problem we have been seeing, a problem where nationalism, both political and economic has been creating a roadblock to our trade relationship.

Both Democrats and Republicans have shown a willingness to play the “buy only American Made product” card, a sounding board for all things isolationist, nationalistic and small-mindedness. We all live on this small planet, and purchase items made from all over the world. Preferences as to what to buy and where it is made are personal choices, never should they become a platform of national pride and thuggery. This has brought fear into the hearts of many Canadians who manufacture for and service the American Economy in some way. This fear will be apparent when the election is over next week.

Canadians are not enemies of America, but allies and friends with a long tradition of supporting our cousins back when bad sh*t happens. We have had enough of the American claim that they want free trade, only to realize that they do so long as it is to their benefit. Tariffs, and undue regulations applied to exporters into America are applied, yet American industry complains when other nations do the very same to them. Seriously! Democrats have said they would place a preference upon doing business with American firms before foreign ones, and Republicans wish to tariff many foreign nations into oblivion. Rhetoric perhaps, but we need to take these threats seriously. As to you the repercussions that will come should America close its doors to us.

Tit for tat neighbors. Tariff for tariff, true selfish competition with no fear of the American Giant. Do you want to build homes in America? Over 33% of all wood comes from Canada. Tit for tat. Canada’s mineral wealth can be sold to others and place preference upon the highest bidder always. You know who will win there don’t you America, the deep-pocketed Chinese.

Reshaping our alliances with others. If America responds as has been threatened, Canadians will find ways to entertain themselves elsewhere. Imagine no Canadian dollars flowing into the Northern States, Florida or California? The Big Apple without its friendly Maple Syrup dip. Canadians will realize just how significant their spending is to America and use it to our benefit, not theirs.

Clearly we will know if you prefer Canadian friendship to Donald Trumps Bravado.

China, Saudi Arabia & Russia are not your friends in America. Canada, Japan, Taiwan the EU and many other nations most definitely are. Stop playing politics, and carry out business in an unethical fashion. Treat allies as they should be treated.

Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca

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