Author: Bambi

First, Happy Palm Sunday to those of you, dear readers, who may be perhaps celebrating this day, which falls a week before Easter.

Second, thank you, Mr. Mario Dumont for your column in the Journal de Montréal, which sadly informs us that Canada’s Debates Commission seems to have turned its back to rigour once again (https://shorturl.at/qDDPP). Below is a quick English translation, with the assistance of Mr. Google Translate.

I surprised a few people by explaining in a previous column that Canada has a Debates Commission. For those who missed it, there is indeed a full-time organization in Canada whose mandate is… to organize two debates every four years. What they do with their days the rest of the time remains a mystery.

At the very least, to justify the use of your tax dollars, you can tell yourself that in this country, debates are organized to perfection. With civil servants working on them for four years, can we expect anything less?

Bad news: the Commission has been completely misled this year. One party has secured a platform in the debate by seriously putting the members of the infamous Debate Commission to sleep. Let’s be clear: the Green Party of Canada cannot and should not be invited to this debate under the stated rules.

Clear Rule

Here’s the rule: to be invited, a party must meet two of these three criteria: have at least one MP, obtain 4% of the vote in the major polls, and field candidates in 90% of constituencies (309 are required).

The Green Party does indeed have two members of Parliament in the House of Commons. Forget the 4% poll tally, they barely get half that.

To meet two of the three criteria, the party must field candidates in 309 ridings. However, according to Elections Canada, the Green Party is far from this number, as it is only represented in 232 ridings. And since Monday, the nomination period has closed.

The Green Party does indeed have two MPs in the House of Commons. Forget the 4% poll, they barely get half that. Logically, the Green Party should have been automatically disqualified. The Debates Commission’s explanation is ludicrous. Two weeks ago, when the decision to invite them was made, the Green Party declared that it “endorsed” a sufficient number of candidates. Unfortunately, about 80 of them ultimately never applied. Hello, rigor!

Unfairness

It’s obviously unfair to give the cheater a privilege: visibility and airtime. If we decide to be flexible with the rules, we should have invited Maxime Bernier of the People’s Party. He is fielding 247 candidates, 15 more than the Greens.

This is the second time in three elections that the Commission has been laughed at. In 2019, using different criteria, Maxime Bernier obtained an invitation by presenting a curious poll showing he had a “serious chance of winning” in four ridings. On election day, his party had obtained between 2% and 5% of the vote in these counties. Far from any hope of winning. The Commission had been duped.

Your taxes pay for a permanent organization to organize the debates, and it fails two out of three times.

Mark Carney must be laughing to himself. The more people there are on stage, the less debate there is“.

In a couple of days, it will be the fiftieth anniversary since the start of the cruel Lebanese civil war (April 13, 1975 to October 13, 1990).

This VERY sad April 13, of Bambi’s personal and collective memory, is mixed with happy feelings. How could it not be when it is also the birthday of her childhood friend Rita ❤️?

Bravo to those former fighters for coming together to promote peace in young people.

May reason win over endless wars, forgiveness over resentment, and love over hatred.

Life is too short to be wasted on armed conflicts… May peace finally know how to prevail.

May everyone heal from trauma, re-build destroyed homes or broken souls, find disappeared loved ones, celebrate shared humanity, and sanctify human dignity.

Bambi learned from L’Orient Today the following (https://shorturl.at/dQDnk):

“Jaafarite mufti Ahmad Kabalan warned Thursday judge Tarek Bitar, tasked with the investigation of the Beirut port explosions on Aug. 4, 2020, against any ‘politicization of justice” (https://shorturl.at/dQDnk).

Judge Tarek Bitar replied: “The law is an absolute guarantee and only the truth must prevail” (https://shorturl.at/dQDnk).

“Mufti Kabalan further warned the judge against “political calculations and international interferences” in his investigation of the August 4 tragedy” (https://shorturl.at/dQDnk).

The above warning is taking place on the evening of the scheduled hearing tomorrow of former security directors, Mr. Abbas Ibrahim in his role of General Security and Mr. Tony Saliba in his role of State Security (https://shorturl.at/dQDnk).

Of note, Mufti Kabalan is warning against “any malicious maneuver that would plunge Lebanon into a nightmare with catastrophic consequences.” He stressed the need for “impartial justice”, not for “a political settlement” (https://shorturl.at/dQDnk).

Whether it is the Hezbollah who is behind the criminal negligence that blew up Beirut on the 4th of August 2020 or not, the survivors deserve the truth.

Happy Passover! Yes, “Chag Pesach Sameach”!

Bambi is ahead of time, she knows, but isn’t it better to be too early than late :)?

Regardless, it is the least to think of loved ones, including you dear readers if you happen to be celebrating the start of the Passover holiday this coming Saturday.

May your hearts be filled with a sense of freedom, forgiveness, peace, hope, joy, and love.

The late yet eternal Jacques Brel was born in Brussels, Belgium on April 8, 1929 (https://tinyurl.com/59mrxru6). Of course, it is unthinkable to imagine the world of music and francophone culture without Mr. Brel’s INCREDIBLE legacy. Many thanks to him [and to his parents :)] for having existed. May his memory be eternal, today more than ever.

What was the most enjoyable part of you day?

What was your least favourite part of your day or evening?

She does not know about your day, but Bambi had a great time today (despite the challenges). She particularly enjoyed walking to and from work. Amazing how seven week-long car issue can make a lazy become a proud walker, re-connecting with nature and her feet.

Today she did not bump into colourful birds. Only sweet neighbours and fellow Sackvillians. However, last week, she saw two beautiful birds, one red and the other yellow. The former is most likely a red cardinal. As for the second, from a quick internet search, it might be called a Yellow Warbler. A fancy name for just a cute yellow bird : ).

To come back to you again, dear readers, may tomorrow be a nice day for you. If not, what follows it is surely a new day. May you be filled with inner peace, health, and hope for more rewarding or meaningful times throughout this new week.

Healthy Moms Market sells natural baby products, artistic wooden toys, plastic-free school lunch containers, nutritional supplements for the entire family, natural products such as skincare for mothers in addition to a baby gift registry (https://shorturl.at/zhWkW).

Just because the owner of this interesting and much needed business on Dundas Street (Toronto, Canada) happens to be Jewish, she was targeted with vandalism twice, not just once.

Why should Ms. Aviva Allen be made responsible for what is happening, miles away, in the doomed Middle East? Why should she be intimidated with anti-Israel stickers (https://shorturl.at/FcVm1)?

Of note, vandalism is included in provisions covering mischief in Section 430(1) of the Canadian Criminal Code (https://shorturl.at/54ymM). Practically, the act of vandalism is often considered as a minor crime (e.g., spray painting graffiti or breaking a window). Nevertheless, deliberately OR recklessly damaging someone’s property/business could result in a prison sentence for up to 10 years, depending on the severity of the damage (https://shorturl.at/jkEYI).

Criminal or not, pending the outcome of the Toronto Police Services (TPS) Hate Crimes Unit investigation, vandalism is socially, morally, and behaviourally unacceptable.

Ms. Allen stated the following to the Canadian Jewish News: “I haven’t posted anything about Israel since right after Oct. 7, with the exception of a few videos or ‘stories’ [brief posts or shares] about antisemitism… [and] something about the Bibas babies (https://shorturl.at/FcVm1). Same like Bambi who also paid tribute to the Bibas family members, as shown further below. May their memory be eternal.

Even if Ms. Allen had expressed a support to Israel, as a state, to its hostages in particular, or population in general, no one has the right to intimidate her and install fear in her staff and clientele. Enough of intolerance and of importation of the world’s ugliest problems to our beautiful Canada.

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Bambi is Bibas… and Lifshitz

Bambi can be behind with songs, singers, and surely movies. Thanks to an article recently published in L’Orient Le jour (https://shorturl.at/p1CsS), she came across Mr. Ghassan Yammine, a pianist, singer, and songwriter from Lebanon (https://shorturl.at/fkYZN). What a beautiful voice. What a moving song, which tells the story of an old man who looks back at his early life with much regret for wasted opportunities. Bravo to Mr. Yammine and thanks to Mr. Charles Aznavour for his inspiring talent. May his memory be eternal.

In a published statement, which followed their monthly sit-in held on the 4th of each month, families of the victims of the Beirut surreal port explosion of the 4th of August 2020 denounced the “attempts to bury the investigation“. Families also expressed the following: “Fifty-six months have passed since the tragic explosion (…). We will continue to pursue those responsible for the bloodshed of the victims and the destruction of the capital. You would do better to appear before the investigating judge, because the innocents do not fear justice” (https://shorturl.at/hzzn4).

Bambi has no secrets for the regular readers of her blog.

Yes, as they may have noticed over the past years, she adores French songs.

Mr. Leo Ferré’s sad love piece, composed following a breakup, is perhaps one of the most beautiful French songs ever. Québec’s Isabelle Boulay is singing it below. What a beautiful and warm voice. What a talented Canadian singer.

Thank you, Ms. Boulay for existing. Please keep singing!