Hodgepodge: Politics and more…

By Charlie Hodge.

Marc P and other readers will be thrilled to read I am now, officially, almost as fed up with our supposed leader as the folks south of our border are (or should be) with theirs.

Tragically it seems Trump is not the only liar whose name starts with a T and is in charge of running a large country. Apparently the latest poll regarding the rarely understood role of ethics within our federal governments show that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s flip flop style of dealing with the SNC-Lavalin affair has meant diddly squat to the voters.

Statistics from the recent Leger poll suggests the two parties remain locked in a dead heat each with the support of 33 per cent of voters, as they grope for position at the starting line of the Oct. 21 run of the fools. It seems despite all their bafflegab the Liberals’ chances of re-election this fall have not plummeted however the Conservatives have not jumped ahead either.

Regardless of last week’s nasty report card from federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion, who said Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by pressuring his former attorney general to halt a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, the young Premier remains standing.

Conservative popularity dropped three percent from last month.
Meanwhile the little guys got a little bigger as the poll put support for the Green party at 13 per cent, just ahead of the NDP at 11. The unknown rookie People’s Party of Canada stood at four per cent.

Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque says the latest results indicate voters have, “largely put the SNC-Lavalin affair behind them and moved on to issues that affect them more directly.”

The current results place the major parties back in a “neck-and-neck race,” precisely where things stood in February before the SNC controversy rocked the Liberal government. That bitter battle cost Trudeau two cabinet ministers, his most trusted aide and the country’s top public servant.

Meanwhile Bourque warns, “that doesn’t mean it won’t come back to haunt the prime minister” during the campaign, particularly should the RCMP decide to investigate. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer continues to insist the RCMP need to get involved more.

The Ledger poll shows the Liberals back in a strong lead in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia – much to the chagrin of local star Tracy Gray. Conservatives however enjoy a commanding lead in Alberta and Manitoba/Saskatchewan, with 55 per cent support in both regions.

Also according to Bourque the Liberals hold the advantage in the two most populous provinces, where more than half of the country’s 338 seats are up for grabs. In Ontario, home to more than one-third of the seats, the Conservatives are suffering a ‘spillover effect’ from the unpopularity of Doug Ford’s provincial Progressive Conservative government. The Liberals enjoy the support of 38 per cent of Ontarians, compared to the Conservatives’ 30 per cent, the Green’s 14 per cent, the NDP’s 13 per cent and the People’s party’s three per cent.

In Quebec, home to SNC-Lavalin, the Liberals stood at 34 per cent, compared to the Tories’ 27, the Bloc Quebecois’ 18, the Greens’ nine, the NDP’s eight and the People’s party’s four per cent.

Buckle in the race is on.

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Speaking of blowing smoke it seems a predictable health problem is already becoming the reality many suggested at the onset. Vaping, the new fad of particular interest to teens and young adults is no longer getting a full thumbs up of approval. Recent vaping studies by doctors and professors at UBC regarding respiratory are not looking positive for products such as E-cigarettes. A full report is expected in late September.

Gosh, why am I surprised?

Fascinated by 94 cases of lung disease directly attributed to vaping, respiratory experts are not only concerned with irritation and impact on the actual organs, but also in discovering a number of the sample tests showed suspect organisms growing within the vaporising devices used.

As a person struggling with the death throes of dying lungs and the daily terror that goes with such a situation I feel totally frustrated in knowing my concerns here will likely have little impact. I never listened to my Mom’s pleading, or that of others to ‘stop’, simply chalking them up to nagging old folks.

I, of course, was going to be different.

Ironically the study also concludes that ‘vaping may lead to smoking cigarettes. Gosh, ya think?