James Alexander Michie | CBC News: Canadians head into fight that may be 'unwinnable' in Mali

'No clear good guys,' even among those welcoming foreign troops

Canadian soldiers move towards a Chinook transport helicopter in a training exercise. Before their deployment to Mali, they practised the rapid removal of injured troops. (David Common/CBC)

Canada's military has already learned the lesson that your supposed friends may actually be working against you. That those professing a willingness for peace have never put down their guns and that they are connected to narco-trafficking and need the chaos to continue so they can profit from it.

It happened in Afghanistan and it's happening now in Canada's newest mission: Mali.

"One of the biggest problems isn't that we have really tough rivals but that we have really bad allies," says Aisha Ahmad, a terrorism researcher at the University of Toronto who regularly travels to Mali. "Those groups are implicated in cocaine trafficking and illicit business and have become financially incentivized to maintain the status quo."

Read the full story here:
http://jamesalexandermichie.com/james-alexander-michie-cbc-news-canadians-mali/

James Alexander Michie | Vancouver Sun: Rob Shaw: NDP dig in for long and painful fight on speculation tax

VICTORIA — B.C.’s New Democrat government ended the spring session of the legislature thinking the worst was over when it came to the painful launch and scrambled retooling of its speculation tax.

But a new flare-up of anger has opened up battles on several fronts that will test the political mettle of Premier John Horgan’s government, and could even threaten its very survival.

West Kelowna continues its persistent fight to be exempted from the speculation tax, Green leader Andrew Weaver is contemplating ways to defeat the tax’s enabling legislation this fall and the future of the NDP’s minority government could hang in the balance of a byelection in Nanaimo — where MLAs have been getting an earful from unhappy constituents in a city that also wants out of the tax.

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Royal Military College of Canada: Taking It All In

No matter how many times I step on to the Royal Military College of Canada's campus, I am always stunned by its beauty and regalness.

The natural setting mixed with the historical architecture evokes nostalgia in me. I'm not sure where it comes from, but it shows up every time I'm there.

This time around, I captured several pictures.

You can see a sample of the photo set on my personal website: http://jamesalexandermichie.com/little-taste-royal-military-college-canada/