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Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

Canada says it will look at increasing its defence spending and tacked on 10 more Russian names to an ever growing sanctions list.

By Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau
Mon., March 7, 2022

Riga, LATVIA—On the 13th day of the brutal Russian bid to claim Ukraine as its own, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing up at the Latvian battle group led by Canadian soldiers, waving the Maple Leaf and a vague hint at more money for the military.

Canada has been waving the NATO flag for nearly seven years in Latvia as a bulwark against Russia’s further incursions in Eastern Europe.

Canada stepped up to lead one of NATO’s four battle groups in 2015 — part of the defensive alliance’s display of strength and solidarity with weaker member states after Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Trudeau arrived in the Latvian capital late Monday after meetings in the U.K. with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Earlier Monday, faced with a seemingly unstoppable war in Ukraine, Trudeau said he will look at increasing Canada’s defence spending. Given world events, he said there are “certainly reflections to have.”

And Canada tacked on 10 more Russian names to an ever-growing sanctions list.

The latest round of sanctions includes names Trudeau said were identified by jailed Russian opposition leader and Putin nemesis Alexei Navalny.

However, on a day when Trudeau cited the new sanctions, and Johnson touted new measures meant to expose Russian property owners in his country, Rutte admitted sanctions are not working.

Yet they all called for more concerted international efforts over the long haul, including more economic measures and more humanitarian aid, with Johnson and Rutte divided over how quickly countries need to get off Russian oil and gas.

The 10 latest names on Canada’s target list do not include Roman Abramovich — a Russian billionaire Navalny has been flagging to Canada since at least 2017. Canada appears to have sanctioned about 20 of the 35 names on Navalny’s list.

The Conservative opposition says the Liberal government is not yet exerting maximum pressure on Putin, and should do more to bolster Canadian Forces, including by finally approving the purchase of fighter jets.

Foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said in an interview that Ottawa must still sanction “additional oligarchs close to President Putin who have significant assets in Canada.”

Abramovich owns more than a quarter of the public shares in steelmaking giant Evraz, which has operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan and has supplied most of the steel for the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline project.

Evraz’s board of directors also includes two more Russians the U.S. government identified as “oligarchs” in 2019 — Aleksandr Abramov and Aleksandr Frolov — and its Canadian operations have received significant support from the federal government.

That includes at least $27 million in emergency wage subsidies during the pandemic, as well as $7 million through a fund meant to help heavy-polluters reduce emissions that cause climate change, according to the company’s most recent annual report.

In addition to upping defence spending, the Conservatives want NORAD’s early warning system upgraded, naval shipbuilding ramped up and Arctic security bolstered.

In London, Johnson sat down with Trudeau and Rutte at the Northolt airbase. Their morning meetings had a rushed feel, with Johnson starting to usher press out before Trudeau spoke. His office said later that the British PM couldn’t squeeze the full meeting in at 10 Downing Street because Johnson’s “diary” was so busy that day. The three leaders held an afternoon news conference at 10 Downing.

But before that Trudeau met with the Queen, saying she was “insightful” and they had a “useful, for me anyway, conversation about global affairs.”

Trudeau meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday in Latvia.

The prime minister will also meet with three Baltic leaders, the prime ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, in the Latvian capital of Riga.

The Liberals announced they would increase the 500 Canadian Forces in Latvia by another 460 troops. The Canadians are leading a multinational battle group, one of four that are part of NATO’s deployments in the region.

Another 3,400 Canadians could be deployed to the region in the months to come, on standby for NATO orders.

But Canada’s shipments of lethal aid to Ukraine were slow to come in the view of the Conservatives, and the Ukrainian Canadian community.

And suddenly Western allies are eyeing each other’s defence commitments.

At the Downing Street news conference, Rutte noted the Netherlands will increase its defence budget to close to two per cent of GDP. Germany has led the G7, and doubled its defence budget in the face of Putin’s invasion and threats. Johnson said the U.K. defence spending is about 2.4 per cent and declined to comment on Canada’s defence spending which is 1.4 per cent of GDP.

But Johnson didn’t hold back.

“What we can’t do, post the invasion of Ukraine is assume that we go back to a kind of status quo ante, a kind of new normalization in the way that we did after the … seizure of Crimea and the Donbas area,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to recognize that things have changed and that we need a new focus on security and I think that that is kind of increasingly understood by everybody.”

Trudeau stood by his British and Dutch counterparts and pledged Canada would do more.

He defended his government’s record, saying Ottawa is gradually increasing spending over the next decade by 70 per cent. Then Trudeau admitted more might be necessary.

“We also recognize that context is changing rapidly around the world and we need to make sure that women and men have certainty and our forces have all the equipment necessary to be able to stand strongly as we always have. As members of NATO. We will continue to look at what more we can do.”

The three leaders — Johnson, a conservative and Trudeau and Rutte, progressive liberals — in a joint statement said they “will continue to impose severe costs on Russia.”

Arriving for the news conference from Windsor Castle, Trudeau had to detour to enter Downing Street as loud so-called Freedom Convoy protesters bellowed from outside the gate. They carried signs marked “Tuck Frudeau” and “Free Tamara” (Lich).

Protester Jeff Wyatt who said he has no Canadian ties told the Star he came to stand up for Lich and others who were leading a “peaceful protest” worldwide against government “lies” about COVID-19 and what he called Trudeau’s “tyranny.”

Elsewhere in London, outside the Russian embassy, other protesters and passersby reflected on what they said was real tyranny — the Russian attack on Ukraine. “I think we should be as tough as possible to get this stopped, as tough as possible,” said protester Clive Martinez.
 
Spending my first 10 years in Yorkshire, I made HP sandwiches with Hovis bread an early staple. I'd still crawl over broken glass for it, as would my son. The wife thinks we're nuts......

There's a scene in Tomorrow Never Dies were the badies sink an RN Type 23. As HMS Somethingshire heels over, the bottles of HP in the mess go flying. The wife nudges me and says, "ok I get it now....kinda".

Were you a sterilized milk or a pasteurized milk family? Sterilized was in a slim neck crown cap bottle, golden yellow in colour, nutty flavour. Pasteurized was the wider neck with a foil top (pecked by the birds) and white in colour. The Top of the Bottle was desired by all.
 
Were you a sterilized milk or a pasteurized milk family? Sterilized was in a slim neck crown cap bottle, golden yellow in colour, nutty flavour. Pasteurized was the wider neck with a foil top (pecked by the birds) and white in colour. The Top of the Bottle was desired by all.
The latter, but as a kid I hated milk. Having to drink it at school after it had sat in a warm room for hours didn't help. We emigrated here before Thatcher the Milk Snatcher showed up. Incidentally, my dad thought the sun shone out of her arse. Considering the face-painting shit show being lectured by Xi on the previous page, if only the West had a leader now of Maggie's stature.
 
The latter, but as a kid I hated milk. Having to drink it at school after it had sat in a warm room for hours didn't help. We emigrated here before Thatcher the Milk Snatcher showed up. Incidentally, my dad thought the sun shone out of her arse. Considering the face-painting shit show being lectured by Xi on the previous page, if only the West had a leader now of Maggie's stature.

Agree completely on school milk. My first school the teachers were old school and convinced that milk plugged up young children unless it was served at body temperature as God clearly intended it to be consumed. Consequently it was placed on radiators in the class room to warm until the mid morning break. My only saving grace was the Kit Kat my mum let me buy on the way to school.

I also learned to chug and not worry about the taste of whatever went in my mouth. Hence Brown Sauce.
 
Were you a sterilized milk or a pasteurized milk family? Sterilized was in a slim neck crown cap bottle, golden yellow in colour, nutty flavour. Pasteurized was the wider neck with a foil top (pecked by the birds) and white in colour. The Top of the Bottle was desired by all.
And then there were these delivered to our homes in the sixties.

6a00e54f0014bd88340120a5c2aae4970c.jpg


The bulb at the top is where the cream and butter fat collected. There was a little curved spoon that fit in the top and closed off the thin neck so that you could pour off the cream while keeping the milk trapped below.

🍻
 
HP 'Bold', I would hope ;)
The Canadian HP is different from UK HP...which is of course much better. I cannot eat fried eggs without HP. I have actually brought my own bottle to misguided so called breakfast places that do not have it on hand....but scrambled eggs must have Lea and Perrins, as must poached eggs. Boiled eggs need egg soldiers of course.....
 
The Canadian HP is different from UK HP...which is of course much better. I cannot eat fried eggs without HP. I have actually brought my own bottle to misguided so called breakfast places that do not have it on hand....but scrambled eggs must have Lea and Perrins, as must poached eggs. Boiled eggs need egg soldiers of course.....
And HP Fruity was just plain wrong.
 
The Canadian HP is different from UK HP...which is of course much better. I cannot eat fried eggs without HP. I have actually brought my own bottle to misguided so called breakfast places that do not have it on hand....but scrambled eggs must have Lea and Perrins, as must poached eggs. Boiled eggs need egg soldiers of course.....

Too much time among the Yanks. I will tolerate fried eggs with McIlhenny's when HP is not available.
 
The Canadian HP is different from UK HP...which is of course much better. I cannot eat fried eggs without HP. I have actually brought my own bottle to misguided so called breakfast places that do not have it on hand....but scrambled eggs must have Lea and Perrins, as must poached eggs. Boiled eggs need egg soldiers of course.....

Great idea!

I have been known to import my own Coleman's mustard to certain establishments who seem to think that the height of mustard cuisine is 'Dijon'.

It's like no one remembers who won the Battle of Waterloo, FFS.... ;)
 
OK Alice beckons down the rabbit hole.....

French Toast

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Or

1668655593320.png
 
I have been known to import my own Coleman's mustard to certain establishments who seem to think that the height of mustard cuisine is 'Dijon'.
First comes Löwensenf Sweet Bavarian

91rNlg09QPL._AC_UL210_SR210,210_.jpg


followed by Düsseldorfer Extra Sharf

22e8ae2b-0331-4f76-97ab-9401c98818f2.0f24121badd94fd49830dad9ae11df19.jpeg


of which Dijon is a pale imitation. I've had Coleman's and it'll do.

My guess is that it's a genetic thing. ;) 🍻

Edited to add:

In January 2018, it was announced that Colman's was to leave its base in Norwich where the condiment had been produced for 160 years and would move its production to Burton-on-Trent and Germany.[8]

In 2019 the Colman's factory in Norwich rolled its last jar of mustard off the production line and its "best before" date was changed for the occasion to: "Norwich's Last. By Its Finest. July 24th 2019".[9] Colman's continued making other condiments at the Carrow site until closing its doors in early 2020.

😖
 
Last edited:
First comes Löwensenf Sweet Bavarian

91rNlg09QPL._AC_UL210_SR210,210_.jpg


followed by Düsseldorfer Extra Sharf

22e8ae2b-0331-4f76-97ab-9401c98818f2.0f24121badd94fd49830dad9ae11df19.jpeg


of which Dijon is a pale imitation. I've had Coleman's and it'll do.

My guess is that it's a genetic thing. ;) 🍻

Edited to add:



😖
Where can I buy that?
 
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