Nota in Brevis January 13th: Of Bridges and Boondoggle
*Ah, the public boondoggle waste of our tax dollars continues by an incompetent Ontario government run by our disordered Premier: A main bridge on the Trans-Canada, built but a scarce two months ago to the tune of $106 million, collapsed on the weekend, forcing the closure of the only land route across Canada. Trucks and cars had to take a 12 hour, yes, 12 hour, detour through the United States. The bridge is now sort of fixed, but we may ask: Is this an act of God, or shoddy workmanship, or an act of God that reveals the shoddy workmanship? Should not bridges in the north be able to handle northern winters? But what do you expect from the Wynne and her sycophants? As John Robson asks, why trust a government that cannot build a bridge?
*And the annals of bloated public salaries continues, as our provincial debt spirals out of control: We first had the debacle of the ‘Pan Am Games’ last summer, itself a colossal waste of money, costing Toronto untold millions. After all, who watches these wanna-be, mini-me Olympics? You won a gold medal? Oh, at the Pan-Am Games…The stands were by and large empty, untold numbers of roads were needlessly closed to handle the anticipated ‘crowds’, and the event left Toronto swimming in an Olympic-sized debt. Anyway, the individual who oversaw this debacle, Saad Rafi, has now been offered the job of overseeing Ontario’s rapacious pension plan to the tune of $525,000, yes, half a million dollars. Mr. Rafi will manage Kathleen Wynne’s intention to garnish a certain portion of workers’ wages, to be invested by her wise government officials, who will then pay it back in dividends when we need it during our golden years. After all, Ontarians cannot be trusted to invest their own money. Good luck with that, Ms. Wynne. As things now stand, our public debt load may crush us far before then, the dollar may sink to unplumbed depths, the stock market may collapse and, anyway, even if things do not so south, who would trust this government to invest their money? Have you seen their bridges?
*The concerted sex attacks in Cologne (sadly, right in front of the historic Cathedral), and, it now turns out, in many other cities across Europe, the news of which was deliberately suppressed for fear of retaliation against the refugees, have now given an even worse proverbial black eye to the new Islamic arrivals. Even soft-hearted, or more properly soft-headed, liberal, post-Christian die-hard, open-the-door-to-all leaders like Angela Merkel are now realizing the gravity of what they have done. But the ‘black eye’ on the refugees pales besides the untold bruises to the sensitive parts of Germany’s young women. Over dinner, I listened to the beginning of a CBC interview with an official in Norway who actually has a job giving sex advice to incoming refugees. My mouth was agape at the irony. After this official claimed that the (predominantly young male) refugees ‘misinterpret’ the signals of what they perceive as the ‘come-hither’ advances of the scantily-clad frauleins, well, poor fellows, it is not really their fault, they do not understand our culture, they think such signals are an invitation for a wee bit of ‘intimacy’, blah, blah…I had to turn it off. I hope they soon realize that it is in the very nature of Islam to treat women differently than the Christian culture upon which Europe was built. Women in particular will soon wake up to the fact that their rights and freedoms, instantiated now in law, flow from a Christian worldview: that all people, regardless of sex, race, age or height, are made in God’s image, and are therefore equal in dignity. To return to barbarism, as Islam would have us do, will turn women once again into sex objects, to be used and discarded by men. The ISIS ‘caliphate’ has now decreed religious ‘rites’ surrounding the rape of female captives. And so it will go in Europe, unless something is done, and soon. But, as the German police demonstrated aptly on New Year’s Eve, the ‘men’ of this post-Christian, androgynous generation will do little to protect the women. What can a few thousand police, steeped in ‘sensitivity training’ and political correctness, do against a million randy, violent Islamic young men? As the (female) mayor of Cologne implied, let the women protect themselves, by staying an ‘arm’s length’ away from those of the male persuasion, especially, it is left unsaid, if they appear to be from certain regions of North Africa or the Middle East. And if that does not work, stay home.
*Or perhaps not. My non-politically correct advice to German women? Marry a real man who can protect you, and raise a passel of children whom you both can protect, and raise them up to protect Germany and its once-Christian culture, and live the faith of your forefathers (and, by that I mean, Saint Boniface, not Luther or Goethe). Standing disrobed to protest the ‘rape culture’ displayed by the new immigrants just puts you on display to them, makes you more vulnerable and sad.
*And, today, we should be happy, as we celebrate Saint Hilary of Poitiers (310-367), whose name means ‘joyful’ (as in, hilarious), one of the great foes of Arianism, an expositor of Trinitarian doctrine, and a great bishop and doctor of the Church. So may the truth win out, et ora pro nobis.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop
As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk
As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace
Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→
Payette’s Payout
I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→