Move Away From Pre-Processed Foods ... Study

 

"There seems to be growing evidence that there is a cogent reason to think about limiting one's intake of ultra-processed food."

 "It gives us some clues into the potential role of diet in the development of early-onset colorectal cancer precursor lesions. And I think it is probably the best available data we have now."

"[The average colon polyp has a five percent risk of developing into cancer] but we think even the smallest, most benign polyps probably have some malignant potential if they're left in place without any treatment. That risk becomes much greater as the polyp gets bigger."

"We wanted to know if these things [growing cancer statistics among young people and diet] were related. Is it possible that some of the rising incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer could be explained by our increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods?"

Andrew T. Chan, gastroenterologist, Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute

 

"[The study findings add] to the growing body of evidence that following a balanced healthy diet is important for many chronic diseases."

Sarah Berry, professor of nutritional sciences, King's College London

 

 

There has been no end of research and studies on the effect of processed, pre-prepared food in our diets. The public has been cautioned countless times of the deleterious effects related to a diet scarce on whole foods and heavily dependent on pre-processed foodstuffs. That among the cautions is the fact that these foods are loaded with salt, sugar and fat in excess. Not to mention chemical additives. The battery of whole foods available for general consumption give us greater nutrients in forms the human body processes for health and good digestion, containing minerals and vitamins and roughage.

 

A diet heavy in pre-prepared foods most often leads to overweight and obesity, which in turn leads to the potential of developing Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease. This new study points a finger directly at colorectal cancer as a potential outcome from relying on convenience foods. Moderation is the key to the dilemma. A minimal level of processed food consumption alongside a wide range of whole foods is a much safer, healthier and reliable eating pattern for good health.

 

The observational study in which Drs. Chan and Berry were involved found women who reported nine to t en daily servings of ultra-processed foods, having a 45 percent greater likelihood of developing polyps before reaching age 50, than those women who consumed a minimum of ultra-processed foods (considered to average three servings daily). The study cautions that its conclusion point to an association, without claiming a cause-and-effect relationship.

 

This study published in JAMA Oncology, links eating more ultra-processed foods with developing early colorectal polyps, which could be one answer for the rising rates of colorectal cancer in younger adults. 

The 24-year study of some 30,000 female participants in the Harvard-led Nurses Health Study II saw

participants self-reporting responses on food questionnaires every four years, where the highest consumption group consumed roughly 10 servings per day, compared with three servings in the lowest-consumption group. 

 

On average the group that ate the most UPF servings a day had a 45% greater risk of having adenomas compared with the group that ate the least. Photograph: Andriy Popov/Alamy

 

In recent decades medical professionals have recognized a steady rise in the number of people under age 50 being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Risk factors of obesity, smoking or sedentary lifestyles do not fully account for this trend. In the North American diet, processed foods play an increasingly large part in people's daily food consumption. Scientists globally have delved into the phenomenon of obesity and the part that processed foods play in human health. This study's focus was on grappling why it is that more young people have been vulnerable to colon cancer.

 

A higher intake of  ultra-processed foods was found by the researchers to be associated with an increased risk of colon polyps appearing before women turned age 50. Why the research focused on women has not been discussed. Researchers adjusted for study participants' BMI, instances of Type 2 diabetes and other indexes surrounding diets, including the amount of fibre consumed.

 

To obtain "more simple, whole ingredients", Dalia Perelman, a Stanford University research dietitian commented that consumers would favour themselves by moving away from processed, packaged or pre-prepared meals. "It doesn't have to be complicated", she said. Select a handful of nuts rather than a bag of Cheetos, or plain oatmeal cereal rather than packaged, prepared cereals. Above all, focus more on fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.

 

A new U.S. study published in JAMA Oncology links eating more ultra-processed foods with developing early colorectal polyps, which could be one answer for the rising rates of colorectal cancer in younger adults.

 

"Try to limit ultra-processed foods — they’re often loaded with sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, but short on nutrients. These foods can raise your risk for obesity, diabetes and even cancer, and they’re designed to make you eat more. Whenever possible, choose fresh, whole foods instead."

"The consistency of [ultra-processed food] associations across heart, brain and gut diseases suggests a real concern. Food is something we control daily, so small shifts toward whole foods can make a big difference." 

Registered dietitian Russell de Souza, associate professor and researcher, McMaster University’s Population Health Research Institute 

"We're not trying to alarm people. And we're not telling people that eating any [ultra-processed food] is going to lead to colon cancer."

"We think it's one piece of the puzzle; that there's many things that contribute to colon cancer risk and this is something to be aware of."

Dr. Andrew T. Chan 

 

Toronto, Violating Jewish Residents' Trust and Security

"I don't think that three years ago, anybody would dream that such a thing would happen."

"The idea that a person that lives at Bathurst and Steeles [in the heart of the Jewish community in Toronto] would say, 'I don't know if I want you to put a menorah back because I'm afraid', is terrible, and obviously more has to be done." 

"They feel violated, that such a thing should happen literally at the door of their home." 

Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman 

 

"There is no excuse for targeting people because they are Jewish." 

"Toronto cannot look the other way while seniors are intimidated in their hallways."

"[The incident was] an act of hate directed at Jewish residents -- seniors who deserve safety, stability, and dignity." 

City Councillor James Pasternak 

 

"The permissive nature of the City's response to the rising levels of incitement and intimidation aimed at the Jewish community continues to embolden those who wish to target Jewish Torontonians."

"Now, it is a group of Jewish seniors who appear to be paying the price for the inaction of our municipal leaders."

"The inability to protect our elderly is a sign of the further decay of our society."

B'nai Brith Canada

 

"This is a public supportive housing building for seniors. They deserve to live in peace without fear of being targeted for being Jewish." 

"I will be reaching out to TSCH [Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation]leadership to investigate how this could happen."

Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto

Toronto police say they received reports Sunday that about 20 mezuzahs had been stolen over the weekend from a Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation building near Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue W. (Robert Krbavac/CBC)

 

Mayor Chow need not trouble herself with this kind of sanctimonious statement. There is no need for her to 'reach out' to the  housing corporation. If she were truly concerned over the incident where someone ripped mezuzahs from the doorways of senior citizens who happen to be Jewish, living in a supportive housing complex in her municipality, she need go no further than the nearest mirror. In that mirror she would see reflected the face of authority who has gone out of her way to leave Jewish Torontonians to their own protective devices.

 

While mouthing the usual tch-tchs about antisemitism, she has displayed it amply on her own account. As the highest elected authority in the municipality whose job it is to ensure equality of security of all residents, she had but to instruct the Toronto Police Force to act in accordance with the law in reacting to  'protest' gatherings clearly flouting civil law, that target Jews. As Mayor of all the people of Toronto she might have thought it a requirement to attend not only Muslim events but those of the Jewish community as well; certainly including a memorial for the 7 October tragedy.

 

Rabbi Zaltzman, the CEO of the Jewish-Russian Community Centre of Ontario explained that the seniors targeted at the  North York apartment building are for the most part members of the Russian Jewish community. Residents were shocked and dismayed and fearful when they realized that their mezuzahs, an icon of their faith, had been ripped off their doorways. They were left with the impression of having been violated; their trust in their security, in the acceptance of the larger community betrayed. 

 

Pro-Palestinian protestors wave flags and signs in Toronto, Ontario, on September 10, 2025. (illustrative)

(photo credit: VALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

 

Since the 2023 October 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel when Palestinian terror groups from Gaza led by Hamas rampaged through Israeli farm communities, shooting people at will, raping, torturing, destroying and looting, in a massacre that claimed over 1,200 lives of Israeli civilians; infants, the elderly, foreign farm workers, butchering young Jews attending a Nova music festival and taking 250 children, families, the elderly, soldiers captive into Gaza as hostages, Canadian cities, and in particular Toronto and Montreal burst into a celebration of 'Palestinian' rights.

 

Where crowds of Palestinian-inspired Canadian Muslims, leftist groups and pure unadulterated Jew-haters occupied the streets with loudspeakers vilifying Israel, calling for a global Intifada, shouting at Canadian Jews to 'go back to Poland', chanting 'Final Solution', and 'Palestine will be free from the river to the sea'; code for the destruction of Israel. Jewish students from elementary to high school to universities were harassed, Jewish shopkeepers had their buildings vandalized.

 

And Mayor Chow, at a speech to the National Council of Canadian Muslims at a fundraising gala, referenced "the genocide in Gaza". This, at a time when 40 percent of all hate crimes in Toronto, according to a police report, targeted Jews. Toronto is the site of 60 percent of antisemitic incidents in Ontario schools, according to a government report. The Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue was attacked for the  tenth time.  

 

Residents Shoshana Pellman (left), Miguel Camacho, whose mezuzahs were each stolen from the doors of their apartments on the weekend, commiserated with Rabbi Yirmi Cohen, who remembers when his father originally put up those mezuzahs years ago. (Ellin Bessner photo)

 

The religious/cultural symbolism of mezuzahs bring comfort to Jews who usually place them on an upright beam of a doorway, signifying that 'a Jew lives here'. Devout Jews may kiss the mezuzah entering and leaving a home. These are small metal hollow lozenges with Hebrew letters and design impressed on their surfaces, and within the hollow of each one is a sacred scroll with a prayer. Their theft strikes a blow to those elderly people whose doors and themselves were targeted.

 

Because mezuzahs were so commonly identifiable that many non-Jews during the first year of the pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas 'protests', left many Jewish families living in fear of violence potentially perpetrated against them as the protesters' threats implied, that they themselves removed their prized symbols, hoping to avoid threatening encounters. That fear had subsided to an extent, but the recent theft of the symbols of Judaism have reminded Canadian Jews of their vulnerability in a city which once meant security and inclusion.

 

Rabbi Yirmi Cohen inspects the post of one of the missing mezuzahs taken off the doors of at least 20 apartments inside the seniors' complex sometime before Sunday morning Dec. 7 in what police are calling a hate-motivated theft. (Credit: Ellin Bessner )

 

Tempering Canadian Justice

Laimiki's assault on Ovilu was unprovoked, and senseless. In a cowardly display, Laimiki and his brother Archie, two grown men under the influence of alcohol, attacked a sober Ovilu because she stood up for Archie's spouse after Archie became abusive towards her."

"The attack was lengthy and persistent and took place in the presence of Archie's spouse and their four young children."

"This is a significant criminal record [14 convictions between 2017-2921] for a man who was only 23 years old when he went into custody for the attack on Ovilu, and it spans his entire adult life up until that point."

"I further note that in 2023, a year-and-a-half after being incarcerated, he was released on bail, only to be arrested 12 days later on new, unrelated charges and remanded back into custody." 

Justice Christian Lyons, Iqaluit, Nunavut Court of Justice

The courthouse in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Photo by Emma Tranter/The Canadian Press/File

 

Laimiki Toonoo, an Inuit man, was convicted of the intention of choking a woman to death when she tried to protect his abused sister-in law. The judge, taking into account that conviction based on clear evidence decided to sentence the man to eight years and two months in prison for that attempted murder of Ovilu Saila. Citing Toonoo's Indigenous status, his mental state and that a shorter sentence would enable him to remain in Canada's northernmost territory to serve his time there, Justice Lyons took two years off the 10-12 year sentence he would otherwise have chosen commensurate with the crime. 

 

Sentencing by this judge took into account the man's 'chaotic childhood', of the trauma he experienced when his father died when he was eight years old, and Toonoo spoke of himself as an 'abandoned kid' reliant on times when his mother took him in or he stayed at the homes of friends. "Laimiki is an Indigenous man, and these life experiences are significant Gladue factors that are mitigating on sentence", the judge explained. 

 

The Gladue defense relates to Canada's Indigenous population where judges are expected to take into account criminal perpetrators' life experiences in sentencing. It is meant to address and ameliorate in law the over-representation in Canadian prisons of Indigenous people. Citing underprivileged backgrounds and social discrimination experienced by the Indigenous population, the Gladue defense minimizes sentencing for criminal acts ranging from theft to murder. 

 

Since the attempted murder, Laimiki has been in custody save for the 12 days he was released on bail in 2023, and therefore has credit for over four years in jail, explained Judge Lyons. While the man's defence asked for a 6-year sentence, effectively working out to time served with enhanced credit for pre-sentence custody, the Crown disagreed; "given the aggravating factors, and Laimiki's high risk of reoffending, a penitentiary term going forward is necessary". 

 

Kinngait, Cape Dorset   Photo: destinationnunavut.ca

 

The details of the crime committed by Laimiki and his brother Archie describe a vile and violent attack against a defenceless woman. Both brothers, one the husband of an abused wife who stood nearby with her children as the attack commenced, and his brother, initially attacked Ovilu Saila. Laimiki began choking the woman while Ovilu attempted to defend herself, until she fell unconscious and her assailant continued choking her, as Archie told his brother to desist. 

 

Because she was still breathing, Laimiki suggested to his brother they could hang the woman and say she had committed suicide, to which once again Archie expressed a need to stop the assault. Ignoring his brother, Laimiki tied a phone charger cord around the woman's neck, attaching a scarf to the cord to make it long enough to hang her from a bolt in a wooden beam. When the cord under pressure snapped, Ovilu regained consciousness while Laimiki continued the assault and Archie called police to report a woman hanging.

 

This event took place in 2021 in Kinngait, a hamlet on Dorset Island. Ovilu was left with significant swelling and bruising to her face, a cord indentation around her neck, and redness and scratches to her neck area, and leaving her with deep emotional trauma. When she escaped the home to report to the nearby RCMP detachment in the hamlet, the cord was still tied tightly around her neck. 

 

At the prison in Iqaluit where Laimiki was incarcerated, a month after his attack on Ovilu, he broke his hand when he punched another inmate. Since that inmate attack, noted the judge, "Laimiki has been stabilized in custody as he has been medicated and kept free from alcohol and illicit drug  use". Since the December 3 sentencing, two years less a day remain of his sentence, allowing him to serve that time out in Nunavut. His brother Archie was sentenced to two years of probation for his role in the attack. 

 

Sunset and Stars, Travel Nunavut

"The imposition of a territorial sentence allows me to put Mr. Toonoo on a lengthy probation order following his release, that requires him to meet with mental health workers, and psychiatrists, and to not drink alcohol or consume illicit drugs."

"This would not be an available option to me if I were to impose a further federal sentence of two years or more."

"He reported feeling more alive in custody [in an Iqaluit jail] and that he has learned to respect others. He is surrounded by other Inuit, and is much closer to home, and has access to programs."

Justice Christian Lyons, Nunavut Court of Justice 

 

That Elusive Peace Between Totalitarian Islam and Israel

"[International mediators, led by the U.S. are working] to force the way forward [to the second phase to cement the deal]. What we have just done is a pause. We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire."

"A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today."

"There is a root for this conflict. And this conflict is not only about Gaza."

"It's about Gaza. It's about the West Bank. It's about the rights of the Palestinians for their state."

"We are hoping that we can work together with the U.S. administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day." 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatari prime minister 

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani shakes hands with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, as they speak with President Donald Trump before a state dinner at Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

 

In actual fact, this conflict is about Israel refusing to depart from its resumed geographic seat on a mere portion of its ancestral homeland. It is about surrounding Arab/Muslim countries apoplectic at the presence of a Jewish state reborn on land that the Arab conquest consecrated to Islam. It is about over four millennia of historical existence of Jews being wiped off the slate of history to argue that 'Palestine' is a deserved homeland for Arabs who migrated from Syria, Lebanon and Egypt in the last century to claim it as their own, when 'Palestine' always denoted a Jewish presence.

 

It is about repetitive bouts of conflict forced on the Jewish state by hostile, aggressive neighbours in a sectarian-tribal-clan tradition of competition and conflict. And it is, above all, the collective Middle East Arab councils of those governments inciting Arab Palestinians to believe that the land in question is theirs and theirs alone. The Arab Palestinians in fact, serve as a device to convince the international community that a human rights violation of immense proportions took place when Arab Palestinians were displaced when Jews reclaimed their patrimony.

 

And while most of those surrounding states -- who forcefully exiled a greater number of Jews who had lived in Arab countries for millennia, greater in number than the Palestinians who fled 'Palestine' in 1948 -- have now softened their stance and are prepared to accept that the Jewish presence which predated their own is permanent and its presence can enhance future prospects for peace and prosperity, the Palestinians themselves see the imperative of denying Israel's presence as cast in stone. They have, of course, had great assistance from Aryan-Muslim-Shiite Iran and from Qatar and their satellite Shiite militias. Iran has provided the theological impetus and Qatar the funding for terrorist groups dedicated to Israel's annihilation.

 

The Hamas charter pledge of destroying Israel alongside that of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are the Palestinian instruments of terror that Iran and Qatar rely upon to produce the coveted goal of Jewish annihilation. Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and Shia militias loyal to Iran have collectively done their utmost in that direction. Despite all odds, Israel's military has met them all in combat and remains immovable. Even so, Qatar, aided by Turkey, has no intention of allowing Israel to defeat the combined forces of Islamist jihadists.

 

US President Donald Trump hosts a trilateral phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani of Qatar in the Oval Office, September 29, 2025. (The White House)

 

Qatar is alerting the United States, Israel's powerful backer, that the Trump peace plan is in a 'critical moment' with the first phase 'over', and the second soon to begin. Actually, it is not over until it is over; the first phase is incomplete, not only because the last of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza has not yet been returned, but critically, Hamas will not, as 'agreed upon' surrendered its arms. It has actually been busy in the interval between 'phases' of the peace plan, rearming, recruiting, reordering priorities and digging in as it resumes its control over that portion of Gaza it still occupies.

 

And this not-unexpected turn of events is being engineered and supported by Qatar, Iran and Turkey, for Gaza to remain in Hamas control, despite powerful rival clans in Gaza opposing Hamas's return to power and the conflict in that sector is ongoing. Gaza 'health officials' -- which is to say Hamas health sector operatives -- warn the international community of Palestinians still being targeted by the Israeli military, but further elaboration explains that these are Hamas operatives approaching Israeli troops in areas off limits to them as per the agreement.

 

The second phase relies upon the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a new technocratic government, disarmament of Hamas which would in theory lead to an eventual Israeli forces withdrawal. There are no expectations that such an international security force will deploy to Gaza; no foreign countries are anxious to have their military personnel placed in the kind of danger facing Hamas would entail. And since Hamas leaders have stated time and again they will not surrender their arms, Israeli troops will not withdraw.

 

People walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as the Cold Moon, the last supermoon of the year, rises over the Nuseirat camp for displaced Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip on December 4, 2025.   Eyad BABA / AFP

 

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Vaccine-Aversive

Members of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are seen during a meeting at CDC headquarters on December 4, 2025 in Atlanta, Ga  Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

"We will see hepatitis infections come back."

"The vaccine is so effective, it does not make sense in my mind to change the immunization schedule."

"This disease has become a victim of the vaccine. We’re seeing disease rates go down because of the effectiveness of the vaccine."

"It’s a mistake to say that because we’re not seeing much disease, we can alter the roots or the frequency or the schedule for administration. Because we will see hepatitis B infections come back." 

Dr. H. Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth 

 

"I want to reassure parents and clinicians that there is no new or concerning information about the hepatitis B vaccine that is prompting this change, nor has children’s risk of contracting hepatitis B changed."

"Instead, this is the result of a deliberate strategy to sow fear and distrust among families."

Dr. Susan J. Kressly, president American Academy of Pediatrics 

A slide appears on a screen during a meeting of the ACIP to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Thursday. (Alyssa Pointer/Reuters)

 

 In the United States, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approved a change in hepatitis vaccines normally given to newborns. The panel voted that the long-standing recommendation for all newborns to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, be discontinued. The most significant change yet to be authorized under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., infamously resistant to vaccines, who reacted to the recommendation as a successful public health initiative.

 

Fierce objections from medical groups who consider that the longstanding strategy had achieved its aims in almost eradicating the dangerous virus among American children, made no dent in the panel's majority decision. The vote was 8 to 3  to eliminate the recommendation which dated from 1991, regulating that all children receive a first dose of a hepatitis B vaccine soon after birth.

 

According to the panel's decision, that shot for babies born to mothers testing negative for the virus is no longer a requirement, suggesting that parents of newborns delay the first dose for up to two months in consultation with their doctors whether or when to begin administering the three-dose series. Those in support of the change claim the universal recommendation was overly broad, regardless of risk, and had the effect of undermining informed choice.

John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

An Advisory Committee panelist -- Retsef Levi -- who voted the language be changed, believes the intention is to alert parents toward personal choice, whether they would wish to expose their child to yet another vaccine. "It's actually suggesting a fundamental change in their approach to this vaccine and maybe more broadly", stated Dr. Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT. 

 

The die is cast, with the recommendation from the group -- comprised of outside government advisers -- sent to the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final approval. According to medical experts, it is vital to vaccinate all newborns for hepatitis B, irrespective of whether their mothers test negative, since babies are at risk of infection if their mothers receive false negatives or if they become infected following testing.

 

Some of the panel members in disagreement with the majority decision were vocal in opposition. The revised guidance on hepatitis B was an unconscionable decision, one of the panelists stated, as another stated the move was rooted in "baseless skepticism". Parents would still be able to have their newborns vaccinated for hepatitis B under the new recommendations, should they wish to, and insurance would still pay. 

 

Public health advocates on the other hand, feel the new approach would have the effect of creating unnecessary fears with respect to the vaccine. Child vaccines, including for hepatitis B, have long been a point of contention in Health Secretary Kennedy's mind. He undertook to appoint those he knew felt as he did, to the vaccine committee. Dr. Meissner, a dissenting member of the committee, emphasized the success of the 1991 protocol, and warned: "Do no harm is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording."

 

People protest outside the meeting to discuss childhood vaccine schedule changes in Atlanta Thursday. (Alyssa Pointer/Reuters)

 

 

 

Trading on Moral Imperatives

"India is a great power, not a British colony. And everyone will have to accept that."

"[Russia plans to cooperate with India in] the most important areas: cutting-edge technology, space exploration and nuclear energy."

"[Heavy sanctions on the Russian economy caused] certain difficulties [but there are solutions and those countries that hinder third-country trade will] ultimately suffer losses themselves."

"The United States itself still buys nuclear fuel from us for its own nuclear power plants. If the US has the right to buy our fuel, why shouldn't India have the same privilege?"

Russian President Vladimir Putin 

 

"[India is not neutral on the war in Ukraine and stands on] the side of peace [welcoming efforts to find a] lasting [solution to end the war]."

"[Increasing India's] connectivity between Russia and India remains a] major priority [for India]."

"Energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership."

"The India-Russia friendship has remained steady like a guiding star." 

"We have agreed on an economic cooperation program for the period up to 2030. This will make our trade and investment more diversified, balanced and sustainable."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is ready to provide "uninterrupted shipments" of fuel to India, as Delhi faces pressure from the US to stop buying Russian oil.   BBC

 

"[Indian energy companies decide on purchases based on] evolving market dynamics [and] commercial issues."

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri 

 

"Protecting the India-America relationship from the Trump problem is very important."

"The U.S. is a much bigger market for India than Russia can ever dream of becoming [despite longstanding India-Russia ties]." 

"We have to ensure that we do nothing with Russia that will give Trump another excuse to put blame on India."

"That has to be at the back of our mind." 

Dilip Sinha, retired Indian diplomat and commentator 

It is hugely unlikely that either Foreign Secretary Misri or retired Indian diplomat Mr. Sinha have all that much to be concerned with in relation to Mr. Putin's visit to India to discuss trade ties with Prime Minister Modi bothering the Trump White House. President Trump has made it obvious that he has a soft spot for Vladimir Putin that fits well with his predilection for finding favour with 'strongmen' whether they're from Russia, Turkey, Syria or Saudi Arabia. The ongoing war in Ukraine with the  agony of hanging on while the beleaguered nation is slowly suffocating under the weight of Moscow's larger army and military equipment is an inconvenience to President Donald Trump in President Zelenskyy's refusal to wave a white flag.

 

The prevailing issue seems more one of inconvenient events swamping a relationship sullied by the fact that one of the principals is a territorially grasping dictator deliberately oblivious to his revanchist passions' cost in human lives to achieve his goals of re-assembling the former Soviet Union's stranglehold on its neighbours. India itself has one such neighbour which has its own territorial ambitions grasping Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, challenging India, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea for territories it contests as its own.

 

Yet, in the interests of solidarity with the oppressed by the savagely territory-acquisitioning bullies of the world, India, the world's most populist country, energy-hungry in the bargain, dances with the devil with whom his country has had long remunerative relations in an attempt to balance its relations both with the United States and Russia from which its energy needs can be satiated for an economy growing in leaps and bounds. 

 

Narendra Modi, himself receiving Mr. Putin at a New Delhi airport, expressed his emotions with a bear hug, later hosting President Putin at a private dinner at his official residence. This is the occasion of the 23rd India-Russia Summit meant to discuss deep economic cooperation relating to defence, energy and skilled labour mobility. And Prime Minister Modi faced up to the unenviable diplomacy required to balance his nation's relationship with both Moscow and Washington which under the Trump administration is far less tricky than onlookers might suppose.  

 

The European Union, on the other hand, might very well take justifiable umbrage with New Delhi where trade talks there too could be a feature for consideration. It is Europe, after all, that quails at the prospect of Ukraine's complete defeat, knowing that the Kremlin might very well continue its depredation of Eastern European states. The hostile atmosphere in Europe toward Moscow in the face of Russia's bold assertions of power exacerbated by the airspace incursion of drones attributed to the Russian military and Mr. Putin poking at their defences tell the story of the attitude Europe can take to Mr. Modi's accommodation with Russia.

 

Putin, right, walks past guards of honour during a ceremonial reception prior to his meetings with Indian officials in New Delhi on Friday. (Konstantin Zavrazhin/Sputnik/Reuters)

 

 

 

The Justice Inherent in Public Office Greed

"No explanation is provided beyond the Government's bald statement that judicial salaries are 'adequate', reflecting the Government's unabashed and improper substitution of its own view for that of the independent commission."

"It was at the very least incumbent on the Government to explain its differential treatment of the judiciary, who are not a class of civil servant."

"None of the three reasons given by the Government are legitimate reasons based on a reasonable factual foundation." 

Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association (CSCJA) lawsuit 

The federal government has rejected recommendations from the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission to boost judicial salaries. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

 

"[Government: We disagree with the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission’s findings, and cannot justify the raises at this time]."

"This disagreement is not intended as criticism of the commissioners and their process."

"Rather, it reflects a significant deterioration in the Canadian financial outlook, and a carefully considered difference of perspective on the evidence presented to the commission and how it should be weighed."

"Judicial salaries are adequate and, in any event, cannot be the source of new fiscal expenditure at a time of comprehensive expenditure review, including possible public sector job losses." 

"Annual statutory indexing using IAI [Industrial Aggregate Index] provides for increases to judicial salaries that in most years exceed increases to the cost of living. In other words, in most years, IAI indexing provides for what can fairly be characterized as a raise."

Federal government response 

So there it is, Canada's judges are taking the federal government to court, suing the government over its  refusal to further fund salaries that are already creeping into the half-million annual compensation for many judges. The Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association representing the interests of 1,400 sitting and retired judges in Canada has taken umbrage over the government's decision not to oblige judges with a $28,000 raise in salary.

 

The Federal Court is to address the situation, and as far as the CSCJA is concerned, should respond to this unjust ruling by the government by ordering Justice Minister Sean Fraser to reverse the decision to deny a raise to judges whose salaries will remain a paltry $414,900 if government has its way. The Commission in question was established in 1999 and is an independent panel which every four years hears arguments from government and judges then issues non-binding recommendations the government must respond to.

 

The Supreme Court of Canada is pictured in October. The government rejected a recommendation that federal judges get a raise of at least $28,000, citing 'a significant deterioration in the Canadian financial outlook.' (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

 

The Commission recommended in July that the government increase "inadequate" salaries for judges by $28,000 for most federally appointed judges and for the chief justices of the Supreme Court, $36,000 would do, arguing that to ensure the bench remained attractive to "outstanding candidates", such a  raise is necessary. "Current compensation for judges already includes annual indexation and strong pensions", responded the minister's spokesperson while downplaying the notion that judicial vacancies suffer from a lack of top candidates.

 

On behalf of the compensation-aggrieved judges, the Association charged that the Justice Minister, having failed to impress the commission with its argument prior to the conclusion recommending an increase, simply repeated the same purported reasons, an argument that failed to make its point first time around and failed again on its reiteration. "Current compensation for judges' salary and benefits already includes annual indexation and pensions" repeated another Ministry spokesperson.

 

Magistrates, argued the judges' association require a $60,000 raise retroactive to April 2024 to ensure the appeal of a position increasingly struggling to attract "outstanding candidates". Without that monetary inducement, the risk is that there will result a vacancy crisis since the position would be viewed as unappealing to private sector lawyers. The government response was that judges' salary and benefits, inclusive of "one of the best retirement plans in Canada, along with generous indexing needed no $60,000 "bonus" for the job to be attractive".

 

Furthermore, it added, with government plans to cut the public service by 40,000 employees as a cost-saving measure, there was no justification in supporting a raise of such dimensions. Canadian police associations, victims of crime, taxpayers and members of the Parliamentary opposition all decry the current justice system in Canada, where decisions are increasingly made in favour of malefactors and victims given short shrift. It is the disaffected public facing steep increases in crime with criminals given bail and then repeating their offences, that ultimately fund justices' salaries.

 

The commission suggested the salary for the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada increase from $510,000 to $546,000, while the eight other justices would get a $33,000 raise. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

"Allowing such a response to stand would render the commission process meaningless and erode public confidence in the independence of Canada's courts. A strong, expert, and independent judiciary is essential to the fair and timely delivery of justice."

"The Supreme Court of Canada made clear that while the Government is not required to accept Commission recommendations, if it chooses to depart from them, it has a duty to provide legitimate reasons."

Meaningful engagement with the Commission's work is not optional, it is a constitutional obligation." 

CSCJA lawyer Jean-Michel Boudreau

 DONE. Flogging a dead horse.