Wednesday Night #1948

So far, all that is good is the news that Ursula von der Leyen of Germany is to lead the European Commission and the 32,000-member staff.
At the same time, the leaders of the EU are meeting with Justin Trudeau,  who will talk up the merits of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in a series of events in Montreal over the next two days. That should help traffic!

The feds have unveiled new protections for airline passengers, rules designed to make sure both airlines and the people who fly on them are up to date on what they are entitled to when things go wrong. Instantaneous reaction indicates that no groups are happy , which, as at least one Liberal insider suggests,  is probably a sign that the rules are just about right.

Nice pre-election timing for the announcement of the contracts for RCN frigate maintenance: $1.5B in frigate repair contracts split among yards in three provinces

If you have not been following the controversy over the addition to the Chateau Laurier, you should. The accompanying photo says it all. It would be funny, if it were not so awful.
Despite opposition, Ottawa city council approves Château Laurier addition
“A special council meeting was held last week for council to reconsider its 14-9 decision to refuse to revoke the heritage permit for the historic hotel expansion. With a 13-10 vote, council declined to reopen the debate and Larco Investments, the owners, had council-approved design for its modern addition, the Ottawa Citizen reports.The contemporary addition has already gone through five public design.
Denley: Château Laurier may be Ottawa Council’s greatest fumble in decades
Watching our local elected officials deal with this issue, one was struck by their widespread inability to think logically and their failure to grasp some basic facts changes since 2016. The editors of Canadian Architect are kinder, but one feels they are simply protecting their own in extension to the Chateau Laurier

The UK Conservative Leadership race is in the last stretch. The final deadline for party members to vote is this week with results expected on 23 July. Despite much wishful thinking, Boris seems to have a lock on it.

Trump has outdone himself with his attacks on “The squad”  and the result is:
“Support for President Donald Trump increased slightly among Republicans after he lashed out on Twitter over the weekend in a racially charged attack on four minority Democratic congresswomen, a Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll shows. The national survey, conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Trump told the lawmakers they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” showed his net approval among members of his Republican Party rose by 5 percentage points to 72%, compared with a similar poll that ran last week. Trump … has lost support, however, with Democrats and independents since the Sunday tweetstorm.”
This from CNN offers a credible and deeply disturbing analysis There’s a sobering truth to Trump’s racist tweets that we don’t like to admit

Reaction to this most recent ‘tweetstorm’ has almost wiped the ICE detention center story off the front pages – it must not be allowed to go away, especially the role of the pusillanimous Mike Pence.
#FakeChristian: Mike Pence under fire after visit to migrant centre
“I knew we’d see a system that is overcrowded,” he added. “It’s overwhelmed and that’s why Congress has to act.”
The caged migrants were being held in an area at the McAllen Border Patrol station. When detainees saw reporters arrive, many began shouting, saying they were hungry and wanted to brush their teeth.
The press pool covering the vice president was removed within 90 seconds 

We urge you to read our dear friend David Jones’ last column. Some Last Thoughts About Lost Crises and Continuing Relevance
David prefaces this thoughtful piece saying:   “It is my regret that because of serious health problems, I will no longer be able to contribute to The Epoch Times. This is my last column.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with David and his wife Terry as he enters palliative care.