“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas!
You need to be a member of Brock Shores Financial #ImprovingFutures to add comments!
Comments
This is excellent
https://www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/the-time-billionaire-a-concep...
Stay Safe when driving, sounds like between 3 and 5 in the morning is the sweet spot
When the sun is setting, I find that personally a dangerous time on a bright sunny day, it's hard to see, I invested in some amber shades to help with that time, and they are also good for night vision
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-the-most-dangerous-time-...
Year in Review:
What we accomplished together in 2023
Thanks to your donations, the Justice Centre reached hundreds of thousands of Canadians with a simple message: rights and freedoms matter.
This year, even as governments and government agencies violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in many ways and from coast to coast, the Justice Centre partnered with thousands of Canadians to defend and advance a free society. Together, we reminded governments in every province and federally that the preservation of Charter rights and freedoms matters more than any government ambition. We educated thousands of Canadians about the prominent role our Charter ought to play in the creation of laws and government policies. And, we established solid education and policy foundations for 2024.
As 2023 draws to a close, we invite you to reflect with us on our greatest achievements of the year.
Canadian voices will not be muzzled
Freedom of expression allows Canadians to participate in their democracy, search for and discover the truth through the open exchange of ideas, and realize their full potential.
In 2023, the Justice Centre defended the free expression of Canadians and organizations from British Columbia to Quebec. We supported Amy Hamm, a Vancouver nurse, who has been prosecuted by the BC College of Nurses and Midwives since 2020 for stating that there are two genders and that women deserve safe spaces. We defended Leah McInnes, a Saskatchewan nurse, who expressed her opposition to government vaccine mandates through social media posts and peaceful protests.
We supported Michael Brisco, a Constable of the Windsor Police Service, who was found guilty of “discreditable conduct” and punished with the loss of two weeks’ wages for privately donating $50 to the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. In Quebec, we defended the freedom of expression, association, and religion of Harvest Ministries International after the Quebec government prohibited them from renting government-owned facilities in a significant case of discrimination and interference.
Even if we win all four of these cases, the threats to freedom of expression will continue in 2024. Bills C-11 and C-18 threaten free speech on the internet, and federal officials have promised legislation to stop “misinformation” and “online harms.”
Challenging discrimination and barriers in healthcare
We advocated for thousands of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in British Columbia who were fired in 2021 for not taking the Covid vaccine and who are eager to return to work. Despite severe understaffing in BC’s healthcare system, these trained and qualified staff are still prevented from returning to work in 2023 by the BC government. We await the ruling of the BC Supreme Court in Tatlock v. BC and Dr. Bonnie Henry.
In another case, the Justice Centre helped a British Columbia woman be reunited with her elderly and infirm parents after a long-term care facility had prevented her from seeing them for 18 months due to mandatory vaccination policies.
Canadians should be free to make their own choices about what medical treatments (including injections) they wish to receive or not, without pressure or coercion. The Charter protects freedom of conscience, religion, and the right to bodily autonomy. No barriers should prevent adult children from providing care for their elderly parents.
Championing democratic accountability in Alberta
The Justice Centre secured a court ruling in Ingram v. Alberta that struck down lockdown measures that had violated citizens’ Charter freedoms of association, expression, conscience, religion, and peaceful assembly. In July 2023, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench invalidated Alberta’s health orders, after which the Crown ended its prosecutions against Pastors James Coates and Timothy Stephens, Ty Northcott of “No More Lockdowns” rodeo, and many other citizens.
After this Ingram ruling was rendered, the Justice Centre submitted a legislative proposal to the Alberta government to amend the Public Health Act to align with the constitutional principle of democratic accountability. In a significant victory for Charter rights and freedoms, Alberta’s Minister of Justice tabled a Bill that would, consistent with Justice Centre recommendations, put public health decision-making authority in the hands of elected officials rather than leaving unaccountable health officials with near-absolute power.
Protecting parents and children from ideological interference
In a court action that threatened the rights of parents to raise, educate and protect their own children, we secured standing in the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench for two interveners, the Gender Dysphoria Alliance and Parents for Choice in Education. We supported Saskatchewan’s Parental Consent Policy, which requires schools to receive parents’ consent before children under the age of 16 can embark on a transgender “social transition” by using opposite-sex names and pronouns.
We are also defending free expression for Lynda di Armani, a grandmother from Chilliwack BC with two grandchildren in the public school system, whose microphone was shut off at a school board meeting when she tried to express her views on school board policies and a potential conflict of interest.
Chilliwack school board chairman Willow Reichelt routinely shuts off the microphone when parents, grandparents, and other taxpaying citizens say things she disagrees with. The Justice Centre is holding Ms. Reichelt and other intolerant officials accountable when they fail to respect Charter-protected freedom of expression and other freedoms.
Challenging displays of power against protestors
Since early 2022, the Justice Centre has defended dozens of Canadians who have been unjustly accused of criminal behaviour because they participated in the peaceful 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. This protest, as everyone knows, featured no violence, vandalism, arson, assaults, threats or other criminal conduct. In response, the government granted itself extraordinary emergency powers, used violence to forcibly end the protest, and levelled serious criminal charges against dozens of Canadians, many of whom were jailed after being arrested.
Thanks to your donations, we provided lawyers to secure the acquittal of Evan Blackman, who was arrested while singing the national anthem on his knees. We secured the acquittal of Steven Vardy, who was charged with mischief simply for recording the historic protest. We secured the acquittal of Christine DeCaire, who was swept up in an indiscriminate wave of arrests, detained, and denied access to legal representation.
We continue to defend Chris Barber against unjustified criminal charges of mischief, counselling mischief, intimidation, obstructing a peace officer, and counselling obstruction in one of the most significant criminal trials in Canadian history.
We continue to defend Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, and other Canadians against a $290 million class-action lawsuit brought by federal bureaucrat Zexi Li and other Ottawa residents, who seek to punish protestors and donors for causing a nuisance and for funding the protest. No Canadian should be punished or held liable for donating money to non-profits. We await a ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on our application to have Zexi Li’s court action dismissed because it is designed only to silence expression through threats of damages or costs.
Governments today want Canadians to imagine democracies without protests–vital checks on government power and overreach.
Reaching thousands through our education efforts
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is supposed to protect every Canadian. Yet, only 33 percent of Canadians have read it, according to survey data from the Leger polling firm.
In 2023, we educated thousands of Canadians about the Charter through our research and policy analyses, columns, articles, videos, podcasts, and workshops. Our articles were published in the National Post, Epoch Times, Human Events, Western Standard, and others. We released two reports on digital ID, highlighting concerns about privacy, security, access, and equality, among other protected rights and freedoms. More than 20,000 Canadians signed our petition calling upon the Government of Canada to ban privacy-violating digital ID programs.
The Justice Centre reached the next generation of voters and scholars through our annual Brandon Langhjelm Memorial Essay Contest and our new high school curriculum on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Our first curriculum module, “Exploring Freedom of Expression,” is currently being taught in Alberta private schools and in homeschooling networks across the country. We are excited to launch and complete three new modules on the freedoms of religion, conscience, and assembly in 2024.
Recognizing outstanding contributions to freedom in Canada
Through the annual George Jonas Freedom Award, the Justice Centre continues to recognize and honour Canadians making significant contributions toward preserving and advancing freedom in Canada.
Our 2023 Award recipient was Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, the celebrated academic, educator, and public intellectual.
Prior recipients include Mark Steyn, Christie Blatchford, the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship, and Tamara Lich.
We were grateful to connect with so many supporters of rights and freedoms at our 2023 George Jonas Freedom Award dinners in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. These dinners were an amazing opportunity to network, dine, and celebrate with Canada’s most passionate and influential voices for a free Canada. We look forward to connecting with you again in 2024!
Reflecting upon 2023: Hope amidst challenges
From the desk of John Carpay, President and Founder of the Justice Centre
I am grateful for Canada’s heritage as a free society, and I am honoured to live among and work with Canadians who stand so courageously against government violations of our Charter.
In 2023, I saw professional associations and regulatory bodies censor the speech of nurses, doctors, psychologists, and police officers by launching disciplinary proceedings against them for their “politically incorrect” speech and by threatening their livelihoods. I saw politicians and senior bureaucrats in Ontario and BC complaining publicly about understaffed healthcare systems while they refuse to hire back thousands of nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers who declined to get injected with the Covid vaccine in 2021. I saw school board chairs turning off the microphones of parents and other taxpaying citizens who advocate for children being protected from exposure to transgender ideology in schools. I saw Crown prosecutors in Ontario trying to paint peaceful protestors as dangerous threats to civility, while the Crown fails to ensure that those accused of sexual assault and other violent crimes face trial within the time limits established by the Supreme Court of Canada in a sad misallocation of the Crown’s limited resources. In 2023, I saw attacks on the fundamental rights and freedoms of Canadians at every level of government.
We have much to hope for, however. In 2023, thousands of Canadians supported our efforts to defend Charter freedoms against government overreach. Brave clients risked their occupations and reputations to challenge unreasonable limitations on rights and freedoms. Every day, more and more Canadians are being reached with a simple but powerful message: justice matters, no matter what governments may say.
Protecting rights and freedoms may not be a priority of governments here or anywhere on earth, but it is a priority for millions of Canadians across this great country. Therefore, I am confident that 2024 can be a year marked by victories for justice and freedom.
Thank you for partnering with the Justice Centre in 2023. Thank you for donating toward our efforts to liberate Canadians from harmful laws, policies, and decisions.
Will you partner with us again in defence of rights and freedoms in Canada? The last chance to receive a tax receipt for a 2023 charitable donation is December 31.
Your gift to the Justice Centre sends a powerful message to federal and provincial governments that 2024 will be the year in which truth, justice, and freedom advance.
Yours Sincerely,
John Carpay, B.A., LL.B.
President and Founder
Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
https://youtu.be/Up_YHI6Us2M?si=osQMBCpaKifR4ZNP
Timothy,
On behalf of our family and all of us at the New Blue, we wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!
We are fortunate and blessed to be spending a peaceful Christmas this year.
It was only three short years ago in December of 2020, when our Christmas was spent processing and praying in response to challenging health news we received that month.
We pray that those facing difficult times this Christmas season will be able to find joy, regardless of their circumstances.
The angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:10 - 12
Merry Christmas!
Jim and Belinda Karahalios
on behalf of your New Blue
P.S. Please consider a contribution to the New Blue Party in your Christmas giving plans. A contribution before December 31st will maximize your 2023 political tax credit and help us keep fighting for truth and justice. Click here to chip in!
https://www.newblueontario.com/donate
Reflections on the Road Map to Freedom, came across this after reading the book "The People's Emergency Act" by Tom
https://fb.watch/pasjhESSm_/
Some traits that we should have a look at
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/24-universal-character-strengths-i...
A Closer Look at the 24 Strengths
The VIA’s research grouped 24 universal strengths into six main categories referred to as virtues.
Seligman found that these virtues were seen across cultures and history, and the spectrum of character strengths are a form of living out various virtues.
Interestingly, what they found was that each of these strengths of character can emerge through effort—instead of being fixed qualities found in a person.
Category Strengths
🦁 Courage Enthusiasm
Integrity
Bravery
🧠 Knowledge/Wisdom Curiosity
Creativity
Open-Mindedness
Love of Learning
Perspective
⚖️ Justice Teamwork
Fairness
Leadership
🙇♂️ Temperance Forgiveness
Humility
Prudence
Self-Control
🌌 Transcendence Purpose
Humor
Optimism
Gratitude
Appreciation of Beauty
🌍 Humanity Kindness
Social Intelligence
Love
The above strengths were also shown to be broadly stable in individuals over time. However, the most malleable strengths were humor, prudence, and spirituality.
Increasing hope, zest, love, and curiosity was found to have the strongest impact on boosting life-satisfaction, based on a study of almost 16,000 people.
Separately, studies showed that curiosity and perseverance are shown to be the most predictive for goal-attainment over time, while self-regulation in parents is associated with higher life satisfaction in their children—but not among themselves.
But some studies have noted flaws with the six-virtue model proposed for organizing character strengths, including some fitting into multiple virtues. Instead, there have been propositions for grouping strengths by five factors, four, and even just one factor such as a global character trait.
https://youtu.be/_LjokOLFoJU?si=rz6jkKS4EIRnc66J
I love ... Stay curious, stay wonderful.... so true. Merry Christmas
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reinc_as-we-wrap-up-another-year-we-...
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next