How are ya, Regina? As I’m typing this it’s minus-12 and snowing in the Queen City with a high of minus-eight predicted later this afternoon. Barring a supernova or black holes or similar event, you can expect the sun to set at 6:49 p.m. Its day started at 7:31 so that’s a good 11 hours and 18 minutes of work. Tomorrow’s sunrise is at 7:28 but let’s get to the news because that’s what we do in this thing!
1. SASK PARTY THINGS Convicted impaired driver Don McMorris is back in the Sask Party caucus, which he shouldn’t be because he should’ve resigned, and Brad Wall has stopped taking top-up pay which is good because he’s Saskatchewan’s premier, not just the Sask Party leader.
2. CANADIAN WOMEN STILL DON’T EARN AS MUCH AS MEN Story in The Globe And Mail. TL; DR: “Canada’s gender pay disparity is larger than the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average. Canada has also tumbled down the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap rankings, to 35 th place, from 19th place two years earlier.”
3. “YOU’VE BEEN TRUMPED”: U.S. BORDER AGENT DENIES ENTRY TO BROWN-SKINNED CANADIAN, TELLS HER SHE NEEDS AN IMMIGRANT VISA Classy.
4. THE MAJORITY OF CONSERVATIVES DO NOT BELIEVE IN CLIMATE CHANGE Good read here. Saskatchewanians and Albertans are much more likely to reject facts than other Canadians.
5. “BLAH BLAH BLAH SHARIA LAW BLAH” There were rallies nation-wide Saturday against a parliamentary motion to condemn Islamophobia. The protests were met by counter-protests across Canada. In Regina, Paul Dechene, who was at this thing, tells me the small group of anti-Islamics had their Fox News-style talking points utterly squashed by a cheerful crowd of 50-plus people promoting a message of tolerance, diversity and peace. The L-P story is here. In Saskatoon, Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens protesters were opposed by anti-racism protesters. Here’s stories on rallies in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens ground zero, Montreal. Anti-racism demonstrators heavily outnumbered CCCC protesters at all the demonstrations I looked up. Here’s a column on what it all means.
6. SIKH MAN SHOT IN SEATTLE Some poor guy working on his car in his driveway was wounded by a masked gunman who told him to “go back to your own country.” This happens a week after a man of Indian descent was killed by a 50-something white man who allegedly told him to “get out of my country.”
7. TRUMP SIGNS NEW THINLY-VEILED BAN ON MUSLIMS The last one was blocked. Will the new ban stand?
8. U.S. SUPREME COURT PUNTS TRANSGENDER BATHROOM BAN BACK TO LOWER COURT Story here. Meanwhile in Canada: progress.
VIDEO: YODA IS REAL, HE’S ON EARTH AND HE’S SCREWING WITH HELICOPTERS It’s the only logical explanation for this video.
