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It’s good news that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the desecration of a memorial to Edmonton Police Service Const. Ezio Faraone.

Ezio was just 33 years old when he was killed on June 25, 1990 when responding to an armed robbery.

I remember the day very well because I was working as a journalist at the Edmonton Sun covering this horrific event.

Our whole city came together to mourn Ezio. 

Ezio was a hero who lost his life serving and protecting our community.

That someone would deface his memorial is shocking and sickening.

The suspect, a 26-year-old man, has been charged with mischief and has 22 outstanding warrants for similar offences, police say. Police made the arrest after a man was nabbed for allegedly stealing from a liquor store. 

Blast from the past from Jagmeet

Hey, remember when?

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is propping up Justin Trudeau and his Liberals by supporting the current minority government.

This is a reminder why the vast majority of Canadians would never want to see Jagmeet and his NDP elected to govern this country.

This is the tweet he put out praising the brutal dictator of Cuba after Fidel Castro died on Nov. 25, 2016:

Senator wants 16 year olds to vote

Saskatoon / 650 CKOM
CKOM News

A senator says she’s pushing to lower Canada’s voting age to 16, and she’s working on a bill that would do just that.

Manitoba Senator Marilou McPhedren says the move to drop the voting age would get young people engaged in politics, improve voter turnout, and strengthen Canada’s democracy. Currently, Canadians cannot vote federally until after they turn 18.

(Read the full article by CKOM News at the link below)

Last week’s straw poll results 

Last week I asked folks if they will proudly wear a poppy on Remembrance Day. 

There was a big turnout and everyone unanimously said they would proudly wear a poppy. 

A big thanks to everyone who took part.

Have your say

Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16?

Have your say in my new unofficial poll. I’ll publish the results in next week’s e-newsletter.

Latest news on COVID-19 

You can find up-to-date information from Alberta Public Health or the Public Health Agency of Canada. 

Alberta Public Health can also be reached by phone at 811.

Benefits available for Canadians

There are programs available to help you and your family. 

In the news

• Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective, company says. Link
• Three pools, two arenas on the chopping block as City of Edmonton recommends 2021 tax freeze. Link
• Kenney on right track with focused protection, not lockdowns. Link
• Nenshi should go while Farkas calls out the mayor. Link
• Freedom of expression a founding principle of Canada. Link
• Guilbeault put 21,000 km on government vehicle despite opposition to cars. Link
• Environmental protesters interrupt British Remembrance Day ceremony. Link
• Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers resign en masse. Link
• High-risk ISIS terrorist granted parole leave to visit ski resort with girlfriend. Link
• Erin O’Toole: full-time PC Leader, part-time runner. Link
• ‘Political vetting’ of appointments threatens public faith in judiciary, says bar association. Link

Share this valuable e-newsletter with a friend 

You can share it here.

If you’re not subscribed to this regular e-newsletter, sign up below.

Members of Parliament get the most current, accurate and comprehensive updates regarding the COVID-19 crisis. Want regular highlights of these? Sign up for my e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here.

I want to hear from you 

I’m always eager to hear from you. Do you have beefs? Bouquets? Suggestions?

Drop me a note at my e-mail address.

Please note our local Edmonton constituency office is currently still open to serve you but it’s by appointment only. We simply ask that you call ahead to book an appointment.

Call or e-mail us and we’ll be happy to serve you.

Thanks so much. Stay healthy!

E-mail:
[email protected]

Phone:
(780) 495-3261

Mail (postage free): 
Kerry Diotte, MP 
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

We wear our poppy proudly

By KERRY DIOTTE
Member of Parliament
Edmonton Griesbach

Are you wearing a red poppy this year to honour and respect people who died for our freedoms and democracy?

I sincerely hope so.

Canadians were justifiably outraged and insulted when Amazon-owned Whole Foods outlawed the wearing of remembrance poppies for its staff.

The company’s apparent justification was grotesquely misguided. Poppies were essentially pooh-poohed because they weren’t in keep with the acceptable standard uniform, an official said. 

News media quoted a Whole Foods employee as saying a poppy somehow violated a policy against supporting a social cause.

Whole Foods officials were otherwise tight-lipped but it was obvious to most people why they’d banned poppies. Apparently, red poppies are not politically correct. 

Most people realize poppies are worn to honour the sacrifice of the men and women who fought and died for the democratic freedoms we hold dear. 

(Read my full column at the link below)

The story of Edmonton’s Wally Bunka, a true Canadian hero

By NICK LEES
Edmonton Journal

The seas were rough on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when Edmonton’s Wally Bunka, now 94, approached Normandy’s Juno Beach in a landing craft.

Ahead were Nazi defenders with powerful guns, mines, hidden machine-gun posts, fortified beach houses, concrete-and-steel pillboxes, and an elaborate trench system.

“One of our guys, Andy Mutch, was very seasick on the landing craft,” said Bunka. “He was leaning on the side of the boat and throwing up when he overbalanced and fell in.

“He went down carrying ammunition and gear and didn’t come up. We couldn’t stop or we could have been hit. I heard bullets hitting the water near us before we even tried to go ashore.”

Bunka is one of the few Canadian soldiers still with us who helped establish an eight-km beachhead to begin the liberation of western Europe.

(Read the full column by Nick Lees, Edmonton Journal at the link below)

Let’s remember the heroic Indigenous Canadians who have served our country

Alexander Decoteau was a hero. Decoteau was from Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and later moved to Edmonton. Joining the Edmonton police force in 1909, Decoteau was Canada’s first Indigenous Canadian police officer. He was also chosen to represent Canada in the 1912 Olympic games.

In 1916 Decoteau enlisted into the army and served in Edmonton’s own 49th Battalion. Decoteau was killed in action on October 30, 1917. He was one of the more than 4,000 Canadians killed in the battle of Passchendaele.

Lest we forget.

Last week’s straw poll results 

Last week I asked folks who they thought would win the US election.  

Joe Biden was the clear winner, in this straw poll. 

A big thanks to everyone who took part.

Have your say

Will you proudly wear a poppy on Remembrance Day?

Have your say in my new unofficial poll. I’ll publish the results in next week’s e-newsletter.

Latest news on COVID-19 

You can find up-to-date information from Alberta Public Health or the Public Health Agency of Canada. 

Alberta Public Health can also be reached by phone at 811.

Benefits available for Canadians

There are programs available to help you and your family. 

In the news

• Parliamentary budget officer rebukes Trudeau government over spending secrecy. Link
• Conservative MP calls for nationwide three-digit suicide hotline. Link
• Aerosol spread of coronavirus underscores importance of avoiding ‘three Cs’: Tam. Link
• Airlines lure Canadians to buy tickets for flights that will never take off. Link
• Whole Foods grocery chain bans employees from wearing poppies. Link
• Taxpayers billed half a million dollars for renovations to Rideau Hall. Link

Share this valuable e-newsletter with a friend 

You can share it here.

If you’re not subscribed to this regular e-newsletter, sign up below.

Members of Parliament get the most current, accurate and comprehensive updates regarding the COVID-19 crisis. Want regular highlights of these? Sign up for my e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here.

I want to hear from you 

I’m always eager to hear from you. Do you have beefs? Bouquets? Suggestions?

Drop me a note at my e-mail address.

Please note our local Edmonton constituency office is currently still open to serve you but it’s by appointment only. We simply ask that you call ahead to book an appointment.

Call or e-mail us and we’ll be happy to serve you.

Thanks so much. Stay healthy!

E-mail:
[email protected]

Phone:
(780) 495-3261

Mail (postage free): 
Kerry Diotte, MP 
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

By KERRY DIOTTE
Member of Parliament
Edmonton Griesbach

Are you wearing a red poppy this year to honour and respect people who died for our freedoms and democracy?

I sincerely hope so.

Canadians were justifiably outraged and insulted when Amazon-owned Whole Foods outlawed the wearing of remembrance poppies for its staff.

The company’s apparent justification was grotesquely misguided. Poppies were essentially pooh-poohed because they weren’t in keep with the acceptable standard uniform, an official said. 

News media quoted a Whole Foods employee as saying a poppy somehow violated a policy against supporting a social cause.

Whole Foods officials were otherwise tight-lipped but it was obvious to most people why they’d banned poppies. Apparently, red poppies are not politically correct. 

Most people realize poppies are worn to honour the sacrifice of the men and women who fought and died for the democratic freedoms we hold dear. 

But among the hard-core, left-leaning, so-called progressive, super-woke crowd, the red poppy is a symbol of oppression, imperialism and the glorification of war. The internet is full of these ludicrous claims regarding poppies.

But after the Whole Foods wholly stupid poppy ban was reported in the news media, the public rose up in anger. They took to social media en masse and bashed the chain for its brain-dead ban.

While it took longer than it should have, Whole Foods lifted the poppy ban.

This time of the year, we celebrate and remember the people who fought for our liberties. We should reflect upon the notion that, arguably, the most sacred aspect of democratic society is freedom of speech.

Alarmingly our free speech is perpetually under fire by ultra-woke warriors who attack anyone expressing contrary views.

Dare to say that there is no human life that DOESN’T matter, and you’ll almost certainly be dubbed a racist.

Wear a cap or T-shirt emblazoned with a patriotic slogan and you risk being tagged with the same accusation.

Show up at a university campus touting a reasonably held opinion contrary to the groupthink of woke warriors? You could be banned from speaking or physically attacked.

This is a dangerous crowd. This is a dangerous movement.

This is the misguided bunch that condemns large swaths of our population as racist (especially all police), abhors most all elements of our Canadian history, celebrates tearing down statues of those who built the nation and seemingly hates the very country in which they live.

Don’t agree with them? Refuse to take a knee when they command it? You won’t denounce Canadian nation-builders? Won’t denounce your own race or culture? Dare to say you support the efforts of law enforcement? You’re in trouble, my friend. Big trouble.

Any one of those things could cause you a heap of hurt from this malevolent mob and purveyor of cancel culture.

They swarm people on social media, hog the headlines in the mainstream press and know how to mobilize. Just ask any one of the scores of people who’ve lost jobs for offending these self-righteous, misguided self-proclaimed, self-serving social justice warriors.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has consistently shown he’s sympathetic to them. He’s a poster child of the ultra woke who believe more in groupthink than free speech.

The world was horrified recently about an attack in France by a terrorist that saw a professor killed and beheaded. The educator dared to show cartoon images of the prophet Mohammed in a class on free speech.

Trudeau, embarrassingly, put his wokeness on full display to the world.

When asked by media about the horrific attack in France he said, “We will always defend freedom of speech.”

But it came with a major caveat.

“Freedom of expression is not unlimited,” Trudeau said. “Everyone must act respectfully towards others and not try to needlessly or arbitrarily hurt someone we share this planet and society with.”

So are we to think then that a professor who was killed for teaching a lesson about free speech was partially to blame for his own death? That’s insane.

Trudeau’s less-than-wholehearted criticism of a terrorist attack and lack of support for free speech was said to have offended France, one of Canada’s most loyal allies.

After mounting criticism, including in the House of Commons from federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, Trudeau was forced to call French President Emmanuel Macron. Trudeau called, presumably to say he really, really condemns the terrorist attack and really, really believes in free speech — hurt feelings of others be damned.

It was too little, too late. Trudeau’s lack of character and his poor judgement had been embarrassingly exposed.

All of this is a wakeup call to beware of the woke crowd and those in society who would trample on our free speech.

The men and women we celebrate during this time of year fought and died for freedom, including freedom of speech.

They were the true social justice warriors — the real deal.

We have a duty to continue their fight by standing up against anyone anywhere who tries to undermine freedom and justice for all.

It’s the very least we can do.

Lest we forget.

Wear that poppy proudly.

(Your comments are welcome. Email [email protected])