Freedom Convoy: Will Trudeau be held to account?

You remember, eh, the Freedom Convoy, the peaceful -- not mostly peaceful, but totally peaceful, except for the actions of Trudeau's storm troopers -- protest which tied up Canuckistan's capital city in February, giving Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface what he thought was a good excuse to invoke the never-before-used Emergencies Act to crack down on Canadians' civil liberties.

If you've forgotten, or just weren't paying much attention at the time, check out these WWW reports. "True Facts about Canada's Freedom Convoy" (includes video with John-Henry Westen), 9/2/22

"Matt Taibbi on 'Justin Trudeau's Ceauşescu Moment'", 11/2/22

"'The Catastrophe of Canada': Jordan Peterson & Rex Murphy" (video) 21/2/22

"Kelly McParland: The world thinks Justin Trudeau blew it", 23/2/22.

The Emergencies Act includes a provision that requires a public inquiry, after the Act is used, to determine whether its use was justified. Sort of like: verdict first, trial later. Anyhoo, the inquiry finally got underway in Ennui-on-the-Rideau this week. It is to be known as the "Rouleau Commission" because the presiding judge, appointed by Mr Sock, is Paul Rouleau, a justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal for Ontario. 

Mr Justice Rouleau is a graduate of University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, and has previously served on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Supreme Court of Yukon, the Nunavut Court of Justice, and the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories in 2017. 

Before getting these nice jobs, Mr Rouleau worked for the Liberal Party of Canada. In 1983, he was part of John Turner's campaign to take over the Liberal leadership (and thus become prime minister) when Emperor Trudeau I announced his retirement. Later, he had a hand in helping pick Mr Turner's cabinet, and is described as either his executive assistant or appointments secretary in various media reports from that era. Can you say "whitewash", boys and girls? I knew you could.

Now that he's a judge, Mr Rouleau is supposed to be apolitical, non-partisan, and open-minded. He accepted without hesitation the terms of reference for the mission: not merely to look into the government's actions and whether they were justified, but to investigate the behaviour and financing of the protesters. (Junior claimed that they were directed and financed by foreign extremists.) In his opening statement, Mr Justice Rouleau said, "Uncovering the truth is an important goal."

What is the truth? Depends on whether you're on the side of the self-righteous, liberal police state... or of freedom. The Freedom Convoy was appropriately named, standing up for freedom from oppression by the nanny state. The invocation of the Emergencies Act severely restricted the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

In opening statements on Thursday, civil liberties groups, including the Canadian Constitution Foundation and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, noted the sweeping rights implications of the act.  The Emergency Economic Measures Order, made in pursuance of the act, chilled freedom of expression, by mandating banks to freeze bank accounts of those connected to the protests, without any warrant or notice to the account-holders.

Counsel for the Liberal government argued its view that Canada faced an "unprecedented and critical" situation in the face of ongoing protests and blockades, including threats of "ideologically motivated violence" and impact on Canada’s trade, international relationships, and reputation. Even as opening statements were being read, the Emperor [Prime Minister, shurely! Ed.], rather than saying that since the matter was before the court, or that he would be testifying later, was making his argument publicly in every "media availability".

"We knew from the very beginning," he told the CBC and the rest of the lickspittle media, "that invoking the Emergencies Act is a big step that had never been done before. But given these unprecedented illegal protests, we needed to take action. We took it in a way that was measured, that was responsible that was time limited."

Lawyers for the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, begged to differ, expressing disapproval of the federal government's failure to consult them before invoking the act. Yes, they were called, according to counsel for Saskatchewan, but "the call was not so much about consulting as it was about telling." Saskatchewan also opposed the financial measures, which required banks and other institutions to take significant steps with little guidance from the government.

Several provinces requested that the act's application be geographically limited, which it was not. Counsel for Alberta noted that the province was able to deal with the Coutts AB border blockades under existing laws, and that none of the powers under the Emergencies Act were necessary, or indeed invoked, in that province.

Counsel for the various police forces involved, and residents of Ottawa who say they were affected by the protest, backed up Mr Socks. The residents' lawyer called the protests "highly disruptive, even traumatizing", what with continual honk-honking throughout the night, loose jerry cans lying the streets, and "general disorder."

On Friday, the commission began hearing evidence from witnesses, starting with the Parade of the Snowflakes -- Ottawa residents whining about the supposed disruption of their lives. At the head of tyhe parade was a "legally blind" lady who entered the hall wearing sunglasses (and a mask, of course) and tapping her white cane. She said her condition had been worsened by the protest because she was afraid to go out, even to shop, for fear of being lost in the crowd.

A Chinese-Canadian lady said the noise of the air- and truck horns was so loud that she and her husband had to sleep in their car, in the basement of their condo. Even worse, she says she was bullied when she went into the street, and was told that she wasn't smiling under her mask!

Another Karen, a well-fed businesswoman, said she was afraid... very afraid. Why? "Because when I heard that the Ottawa police chief [Peter "Moves" Sloly] said he was afraid, I felt I should be afraid too." Seriously. 

Mr Sloly, a diversity hire, was a "victim" of the protest, losing his job a couple of weeks in, for failing to get tough with the freedom fighters. [Your bias is showing. Ed.] The new acting chief called in the Toronto Police "Service" mounted unit, who got the job done without trampling on more than one little old lady.

The Rouleau Commission is expected to hear fro as many of 65 potential witnesses, including Prime Minister McBlackface, as time will allow. Given that 20 different organizations have standing and will be allowed to cross-examine witnesses, the hearings could take more than a little while. 

However, the Commission's final report must, by law, be laid before Parliament by 20 February 2023. That wouldn't be a problem, though, for Mr Justice Rouleau if, as Walt suspects, his exoneration of Chief Walking Goose (Mr Trudeau's honorary Indian name) and all his minions has already been written by... ohhh... let's say Gerald Butts.

Agent 3 writes about mass murder in Saskatchewan

Ed. here. Agent 3, who worked for a short while in northeastern Saskatchewan, where, last Sunday, 11 people were stabbed to death (and another 19 wounded) by one man, shares a few thoughts.

In 2017, on the occasion of Canada's sesiquicentennial, the Liberal government declared that "First Nations" -- the people who used to be called "Indians" -- were the rightful owners of the land, and much better people than the white colonialists who built the country up from nothing to one of the top five in the United Nations Human Development Index.

The fact that many of the First Nations lived in poverty on "reserves" in rural areas, rife with unemployment and alcoholism was, the Liberals told us, the fault of us racist white supremacists. We were guilty, guilty, guilty, they told us, of taking Indian children away from their homes, putting them in prison-like residential schools, and trying to make them into white men and women.

So the First Nations became permanent "flavours of the month", forever victims, about whom nothing negative could ever be said, and whose entitlement to the land (and every sort of benefit) was to be proclaimed at the start of every public meeting or ceremony, including hockey games.

Just over 40 years ago I lived and worked for a short time -- it seemed much longer -- amongst the Indians (that word was OK then, so I'll just keep using it) in northeastern Saskatchewan, trying to reconcile their culture with white man's law -- a very difficult task. In those days, life on the "rez" (reserve) was nasty, brutish and short. Seems like it hasn't changed a lot since then.

I refer, in particular, to the James Smith Cree Nation, northeast of Prince Albert, where, last Sunday, a 30-year-old man named Myles Sanderson ran amok, repeatedly stabbing some 30 people, 11 of whom died. They were all Indians, except for one elderly white man who was killed in the village of Weldon, about 20 miles from the rez. 

One of those slain was Damien Sanderson, on the left in the pictures displayed by the Mounties. Damien was Myles' brother, and was initially believed to be his accomplice in a folie à deux.

Exactly what transpired between Myles and Damien Sanderson will never be known, because Myles  died of unknown causes while he was in police custody shortly after being arrested near Rosthern yesterday afternoon. The Mounties had rammed the stolen pickup truck which Myles was driving, pushing it into a ditch, but witnesses said Myles appeared to be alive when loaded onto a stretcher.

Police investigations continue but of course there will be no trial. Many people are saying, even now, that Myles Sanderson got what he deserved, even if the "justice" was administered by the cops rather than the courts. After all, he had already been "dealt with according to the law" many times before. 

He had been in prison -- the Saskatchwan pen is conveniently located at Prince Albert -- more than once. He was once sent to a "healing lodge", to get straightened out in the Indian way. And then back to prison. At the time when Myles went on the rampage, he was on statutory release, meaning he'd done his time and they had to let him go.

Yet the woke politicians and liberal media are already trying to portray Myles Sanderson as the victim! After all, he was an Indian, so whatever he did, whatever happened to him, had to be the fault of white society!

Like many of his peers, he was a hopeless alcoholic and drug addict. That's the white man's fault because drugs and booze were brought to the Indians by white men centuries ago. Although he was never sent to a residential school, just as American blacks are still suffering because their ancestors were slaves, everyone knows that the adverse effects on the psyche can be handed down through the generations.

The Liberal party line is that we white folks have a duty to make things right with the Indians. If they're going to heal, we have to heal them! How? By making life on the rez better -- building houses for them, paving the roads, and (of course) giving still more money for "community projects" and other types of welfare.

My question is: how do you help those who can't or won't help themselves? If getting educated, working hard, and striving to improve your lot in life are "white virtues", then I would suggest that the residential schools were not wrong to try to inculcate those virtues into the children placed in their care. I could go on, but political correctness forbids.... 

Strangely believe it Dept: What's wrong with this ad?

This public service advertisement was published by the government of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan to remind the public that AIDS is still a "thing" worthy of having its own Day.

"So?" I hear you ask, "What's wrong with that?" My dear, didn't you get the memo? The ad gives the impression that HIV/AIDS is a "gay disease", to which homosexuals are more susceptible than others, and that's a myth -- a myth -- according to the Dictionary of Political Correctness. [Isn't a myth a female moth? Ed.]

The ink was barely dry on the print version of the ad when the lamestream press and some social media users [Not us! Ed.] condemned the government's use of a same-sex couple to promote World AIDS Day.

In a display of wokeness stunning even by Canadian standards, the government withdrew the ad and issued this statement: "Yesterday in marking World AIDS Day, Government of Saskatchewan social media pages used a photo that stigmatized HIV/AIDS and those that live with the disease. The photo has been deleted, and we unreservedly apologize."

What's wrong with this picture? More Canuck political correctness

Scott Moe is the Premier (kind of like a US governor) of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the heart of flyover country. Mr Moe is a small-C conservative, opposed to carbon taxes and other forms of liberal insanity. He is, therefore, an easy target for the progressives, SJWs, snowflakes and the Canuck (((controlled media))). Knowing that, you'd think that he'd have more sense than to pose for a picture at the wheel of this beautiful car.

That's right, folks. It's the "General Lee", not the original 1969 Dodge Charger which starred (?) in The Dukes of Hazzard TV series, but a replica which is going to be auctioned off this weekend, with the proceeds going to the Saskatchewan division of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

When Premier Moe tweeted out this picture on Monday, it was received with shrieks of horror and clutching of pearls by liberals, "anti-racists", SJWS and other snowflakes. "Don't you know what that flag means?" they shouted, referring to the Confederate battle flag which adorns the General's roof. "It stands for racism and white supremacy!!!"

Mr Moe says he "doesn't endorse the flag or what it symbolizes" but does support the Parkside Community Club's hard work raising funds for local organizations. For its part, the Mental Health Association has wimped out with a typically Canadian apology. Phyllis O'Connor, executive director of the CMHA in Saskatchewan, said she only learned of the auction through the premier's tweet. "We rely very heavily on community support and that's a wonderful thing," she said. "The problem was they didn't come to us and tell us they were doing this and we certainly had no input into the theme. One of our core values is inclusion. There is no room for racism, discrimination, hatred, none of that."

And a spokesthingy for the charity auction says organizers merely sought an authentic replica of the General Lee and did not mean to offend. He said last year's auction featured a replica of Lightning McQueen from the Cars movies and the one before that had a car inspired by the Joker from Batman.

In Canada, everyone has a chance to be Irish

I could be wrong [It's happened before! Ed.] but I suppose many Canadians will remember Robert O'Billovich. Nicknamed "Bobby O" or "Obie", or more often just plain "Bob", Mr O'Billovich has been something of a fixture in the Canadian Football League [110-yard field and only three downs. Ed.] since 1963 in the roles of player, coach, general manager, scout, and several front-office positions. As a long-time coach in the CFL, he won 107 regular season games in the CFL, the eighth highest win total by a head coach in the league's history. When last heard from he was scouting for the BC Lions.

Bob O'Billovich is not Irish, nor Irish-Canadian, but American, having been born in Butt MT [Butte, shurely. Ed.] He is not even of Irish ancestry, but something southern Slavic -- Serbian or Croatian or some such. The way I heard the story, the family surname was pinned on his father when he immigrated to the US of A. The agent who met him at Ellis Island said the real name -- "Bilovic" of some such -- wasn't suitable for an American, and put the "O" in front of it to make it sound at least Irish-American. And "O'Billovich" it's been, ever since.

I remembered this story when skimming the mojo wire this morning. There's a story about an autistic boy -- a Muslim immigrant to Canada -- who drowned in a pond somewhere between his school and his home in Saskatchewan. Ahmedsadiq Hussein Elmmi was found in a pond near École Dundonald School in Saskatoon last September 11th and was pronounced dead in hospital. Not the kind of story that makes it into WWW, but wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more.

In Canada, any incident in which a "marginalized person" meets an unpleasant end is immediately followed by an enquiry, so that the blame can be pinned on white born-in-Canada Christians. The Saskatoon public school board was duly made to appear before a panel of SJWs to explain why, if they weren't racists, they had failed to provide the child with a personal support worker to prevent him from wandering off. The child was represented by the provincial Children's Advocate (seriously), whose name is... wait for it... Corey O'Soup.

I immediately asked Dr Google what part of the auld sod Mr O'Soup comes from, and was delighted to find that he is a native Canadian. Not "native-born" Canadian, but "native Canadian" as in "First Nations", which is the appellation preferred nowadays by the folks who used to be known as "Indians".

Mr O'Soup was a teacher, senior policy analyst for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), provincial superintendent for the Ministry of Education, senior manager for the Alberta Ministry of Education, executive director for Education/Post-Secondary Education and Training (FSIN); and is currently the First Nations and Metis Advisor at the Ministry of Education.

He told the Regina Leader-Post that his new role is "to advise, to criticize, to let [the government] know when they're doing good [sic] and when they're not doing good [sic] — particularly in the area of First Nation and Metis education." Sadly, he did not explain how he got his unusual moniker.

PC gone mad! Toronto public school board drops "Chief" from job titles

"If there were any doubt, there is no more: Canada is the stupidest country ever," writes Christie Blatchford in Canada's National Post, in an article headlined "Toronto school board declares war on 'chief' and all sense".

As we all know, Canada is kind of a nitwit nation. Particularly under the double-liberal government of Justin "Junior" Trudeau, the mania for political correctness and embracing diversity ("It's what makes Canada what it is!" says Junior) has reached dizzying new heights. The passion of the Canadian government for cultural sensitivity, inclusiveness and such-like BS is ridiculous, to the point of being mocked (quietly, of course) by ordinary "old stock" Canadians.

The Ontario government of proudly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne is worse. And now, Ms Blatchford reports, the Toronto District School Board, in its efforts to remain ahead of the Ontario government curve on all gender-cultural-political sensitivities, is not only contenting itself with following Education Minister Mitzie Hunter’s directive of early this year to review all potentially indigenous-offensive team names and mascots, but also has declared war on the word "chief".

"Chief"? What's wrong with that? TDSB spokesthingy Ryan Bird e-mailed Postmedia to "confirm that the title 'chief' is being phased out in various departments at the TDSB" as " part of the ongoing work that the school board does through the TDSB’s Aboriginal Education Centre with regards to Truth and Reconciliation (Commission, or the TRC, which produced its massive final report in 2015)."

Apparently the problem stems from the controversy south of the world's longest undefended border (subject to change without notice) over characters such as Cleveland Indians' beloved Chief Wahoo, pictured here.

Ms Blatchford continues: Attempts to find out precisely where in the TRC’s Calls to Action section there is any cry for the de-chiefing of the language in Canadian schools went unanswered. The board spokesman, Bird, tried hard on Postmedia’s behalf to get someone to respond but to no avail.

The best he could do, he said, was to suggest that the move didn’t necessarily come out of the TRC itself, but was "an aspect of a larger conversation staff have had" since the report was issued. Bird said he consulted with a TDSB elder who told him that probably "every Aboriginal person has been referred to as 'chief'" in a derogatory way at some point in his or her life.

But the fact of the matter is that the word is Latin in origin and comes from the Latin "caput", meaning head or leader, via the French, where chef is short for chef de cuisine, or boss of the kitchen.

If many people understand that caricatures such as Chief Wahoo...might be offensive to Indigenous ears and eyes, it’s a struggle to get the notion that a non-Indigenous word such as "chief" is equally insulting.

Anyhoo, there will be a lot of changes in nomenclature at the TDSB. While some key titles, such as "Chief Financial Officer" were changed a few years ago, recent casualties include the former Chief Caretaker at Glenview Public School, who arrived at work last week to find the word "Chief" on her office door blacked out. (Ooops. Could that term be offensive?) The Chair (Chairman? Chairperson?) of the TDSM will have to review and correct his résumé, where he is still described as "former Chief Student Achievement Officer" for the provincial education ministry. Presumably, Ms Blatchford concludes, the Board’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer and Chief Social Worker will all have to do the same. The entire C-suite could soon be history -- culturally sensitive history, to be sure.

Interesting factoid: One of Walt's agents, who must be numberless, worked for a time for the Saskatchewan Legal Services Commission, the public defender in that Godforsaken hinterland. 97% of the people he defended were Indians (or Indigenous People or First Nations, whatever is PC today). There were two main clans, he says, the Bears and Birds. He wonders if Ryan Bird, mentioned above, is one of those Birds. That would explain a lot.

Mounties get their goat -- a real Canadian story

Readers occasionally ask if Walt is a Canadian making fun of Americans, or an American making fun of Canadians. Let it be remembered that no-one needs to make fun of Canadians, because they quite enjoy making fun of themselves. One has only to watch SCTV's "Great White North" segments, featuring Bob and Doug McKenzie, the quintessential hosers, or watch for the Canadian jokes included in so many episodes of The Simpsons.

One of the big differences between Americans and their northern cousins is that Canucks refuse to take themselves seriously, whereas Americans take themselves much too seriously. That's a fact... a Canadian fact... brought to you by the Canadian Ministry of Facts.

Today we have the perfect example of the Canadian sense of humour in a true story from Warman SK, a crossroads remembered none too affectionately by one of Walt's agents, who passed this along.

Early Sunday morning, two Mounties from the Warman detachment were called to a Tim Hortons in nearby Martensville for an unusual disturbance -- a goat refusing to leave the store (or "coffee and bakeshop", as Tim's is called south of the border).

The RCMP issued a press release -- really -- which confirmed that "There was a stubborn goat refusing to leave the establishment. The employees would ask him to leave and walk him outside, but he would just turn around and come back in through the automatic doors."

RCMP believe the goat was simply cold and decided to sleep in the space. Store employees said the goat ambled through the parking lot, and took a nap in the drive-through at one point. Store owner Camille Barzeele said, "One of [our employees] stayed with him to make sure he didn't get run over, and the other one called the cops."

RCMP said the goat was "arrested" and taken into their cruiser. (No, the Mounties don't ride horses any more, not even in Saskatchewan.) But, they said, "He was very unhappy with this so the members decided to take him home instead of to holding cells at the detachment."


"We are happy to report that the goat is safe and sound back with his owners after his adventurous night out on the town," the press release concluded. "Employees at the Tim Hortons in Martensville see all sorts of customers overnight. This one wasn't kidding around."

How about that, eh?! But when you think about the differences between Canadians and Americans, consider how this story might have played out had it occurred a few hundred miles due south, say in the middle of Wyoming. The errant goat would surely have been shot.

In Canada, if it remained in the store another night, it would only have been taxed. That's right... a tax on real property abutting and abounding on public lands, taxed at the rate of X dollars per front foot. [Aaaaarrrggghhh! Ed.] 

Strangest place name we've seen this year

Walt has a fondness for strange place names. This he shares with, among others, Bill Bryson, who has recorded a lengthy list of US names in Made in America (1994). They include Eek AK, Zyzx Springs CA, and Rabbit Hash, Bug and OK, all in Kentucky.

I have a vague recollection of a similar list in Notes from a Small Island (1996) but can't put my finger on it right now. A Google search, however, turns up the "Ultimate List of Funny and Rude British Place Names" on a website called Anglotopia. Who but the Brits could come up with cringe-worthy names as Shittington, Lickers and Crapstone? Yet people must live there.

Although it's one of the four great English-speaking countries, has relatively few funny places names, once you leave aside those of aboriginal origin, like Wooloomaloo (site of the famous university) and Wagga Wagga.

The brings us to Canada, which has its fair share and more, since some of the French place names are humorous too. Two of Walt's French favourites are St-Louis-du-Ha-Ha and Mille Vaches, both in Québec. One of Walt's agents (who is not gay) lives near Fruitland ON. Some of the funniest, though are in Newfoundland and Labrador, where you can visit Blow Me Down, Come By Chance, Bumblebee Bight, and the ever-popular Dildo.

But staid old Ontario is not to be outdone, particularly in the United Empire Loyalist region in the southeast of that province. The following story, only slightly edited here for dramatic effect, appeared in Ottawa-area papers today.

Ontario Provincial Police today charged a woman with theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing police, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and failing to comply with conditions of an undertaking, after she allegedly fled in a stolen truck full of ice cream.

The OPP say the woman, 24, stole the refrigerated delivery truck from a Shell gas station in Perth ON, about 80 kilometres southwest of Ottawa, as the driver made deliveries on Thursday morning. After searching the area, police officers found the truck heading down Wilson Street West in Perth. It finally stopped at a quarry on Highway 7, east of Perth.

The woman was scheduled to appear for a bail hearing on Thursday. She is a resident of Bastard and South Burgess Township, located south of Perth.

Walt wonders if people who live in that township have extra-wide drivers licences to accommodate its full name. Or do they just call it "Bastard etc Twp" for short? Whatever they call it, it's bound to finish on the podium in our Funny Place Name of the Year contest. Readers are invited to submit their entries in the comment box below. Prizes TBA.

Further reading: "How about a better name for Biggar?" (WWW 24/12/13). And let's not overlook Tisdale SK, "Land of rape and honey ???" (WWW 21/4/15). Come to think of it, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan sounds pretty funny too, but those names are derived from aboriginal languages, so they don't count.

How about a better name for Biggar?

Yes, folks, there really is a place called Biggar in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Motto (in case the pic is too small): New York is big, but this is Biggar!

How (I hear you asking) did Biggar get its name? According to Agent 3, who lived in that neck of the woods for a while, there are two theories. The first is that it was named after a director the Canadian Pacific Railway. The top hat gang were travelling through western Canada on newly laid track and decreed that there should be a town every 15 miles or so. Having given no thought to names, they adopted the expedient of naming the proposed settlements after themselves.

The other theory is that the same directors stopped the train 15 miles after the last one, looked around, saw nothing, and said "B*gg*r this!" The company secretary supplied the missing vowels in the meeting minutes.

Whatever the truth of the matter may be, it must be said that "Biggar" is not much of a name. Walt thinks the town should be renamed, if not after a saint [they're all already taken by Québec. Ed.], then by a name out of history, or the name of someplace in "the old country".

But which old country? Walt is in the middle of Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War 1914, the weighty but interesting new work by Max Hastings (Collins 2013). In the chapter on the campaigns in Galicia -- the part of modern-day Poland and Ukraine around the Carpathian mountains -- there are some great place names. And there are loads of Ukrainian-Canadians in Saskatchewan. [And "Walt" is a common name amongst Ukrainians and people of that ilk, right? Ed.]

Yes... for all these reasons I am suggesting "Biggar" be changed to... wait for it... Przemysl! Or Перемишль -- aintcha impressed?!To make it easier to spell, we'll omit the accent mark from the Romanized version. [Wouldn't hurt to add a vowel or two as well. Ed.] To the citizens of Biggar... you're welcome!

Indian chief wins award for biggest snout in the trough

Pictured here with his good buddy "Call me Steve" Harper is a First Nation chief (formerly known as an Indian chief) who earns more Harpoon himself, thus winning the Canadian Taxpayers Federation 15th annual Teddy Award.

What's award-worthy about the chief's salary of $194,737? For one thing, the CTF calculates that sum would have the purchasing power of $317,583 if the chief were living off his Standing Buffalo reserve and had to pay taxes like other Canucks.

And checking the numbers, Harper is responsible (in theory) for the wellbeing of over 30 million other Canucks. The Standing Buffalo reserve -- it's in Saskatchewan, by the way -- is home to just 443 First Nations people (formerly known as Indians).

"While Robin Hood remains famous for his heroic efforts to steal from abusive tax collectors on behalf of local citizens, [the chief] collects from taxpayers and keeps the money for himself," the CTF said in a release.

Footnote: The CTF also says each of the Standing Buffalo band councillors earns more than the premier of Saskatchewan.

Further footnote: The chief's name is... wait for it... Roger Redman. No kidding.

Norwegian icebreaker to clear North Saskatchewan River

Agent 9 reports that it's cold on the Canadian prairie... mighty cold!

To quote the late Ed McMahon, "How cold was it?!" Well... it's been sooo cold that the government of Alberta has borrowed a Norwegian icebreaker to clear the North Saskatchewan River for freighter traffic.

The icebreaker is starting near Devon AB and working its way northward. Here is a picture as the hard work of icebreaking begins. Impressive!

As with  yesterday's report from Agent 6, Ed. has had difficulty verifying this one, but Walt can't believe that a man of the cloth would just make this up... would he?