Liberal caucus chair
James Maloney said Liberal MPs voted on May 25 not to adopt the act, but
he declined to say anything more about the vote, insisting any
discussions that happen in caucus meetings should remain private.
The Reform Act, which was introduced by Conservative MP Michael Chong in December 2013
and became law in June 2015, requires each parliamentary caucus to vote
on the four key aspects of the legislation at their first meeting
following a general election.
The four provisions relate to whether the caucus will have the ability to trigger a leadership review,
appoint an interim leader, expel or readmit an MP, and elect or remove
the caucus chair. Each of those processes can only take place if at
least 20 percent of the caucus members vote in favour, according to the
act.
The Conservatives voted to adopt all four aspects of the act
at the start of the new Parliament in 2021 following the party’s loss in
the federal election—using it to expel MP Derek Sloan from caucus that same year, and later to oust leader Erin O’Toole in 2022. The Liberals voted not to adopt the act both in 2019 and in 2021. The NDP and Bloc Québécois also voted against adopting the Reform Act in 2021.
By
not adopting the act, the Liberals didn’t have the mechanism to eject
former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader when the party was down
in the polls in 2023 and 2024. Trudeau rejected calls from his caucus to step down before finally announcing his plan to resign in early January 2025, a few weeks after Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland quit in December 2024. Trudeau officially resigned in March after Carney was chosen by the party’s membership as Liberal leader.
Cleo Carney, daughter of Prime Minister Mark Carney, has just finished her first year at Harvard. She is an undergraduate in the resource efficiency program and focuses her academic energy on sustainability.
It
was the worst showing the federal party has had in a Canadian election.
The last time it lost official party status was in 1993, when the NDP
came away with only nine seats.
Besides
reeling from the political blow that voters dealt the party, which saw
Jagmeet Singh, its former leader, resign after placing third in his
riding, the fact that New Democrats are returning to Parliament with
only seven seats means it has lost many of the resources afforded to
parties based on the size of their caucus.
Losing
official party status means NDP MPs will be limited in how often they
can ask the governing Liberals a question in the House of Commons, and
will not automatically be reserved a place on parliamentary committees,
where legislation flows before it is passed in the House of Commons.
While
Davies said on Monday that it was “possible” for the governing Liberals
to relax some of the rules around what constitutes official party
status, as has been done at the provincial level across different
legislatures, House Leader Steven McKinnon appeared cold to the idea.
“The law requires 12 members,” he told reporters earlier on Monday.
Davies said the NDP is now looking to see what may be decided by the Board of Internal Economy, which has not yet been struck.
That leaves only the Liberals as the official party of brain-drain and taxation.
But
consumers are also paying off a smaller share of their monthly credit
card bills than they used to. The shift has been especially dramatic
among those under 35, who are now paying just under $59 of every $100 on
their credit card balance, down from nearly $63 a year ago.
The economic volatility of the past three years, which have seen inflation accelerate,interest
rates go up and, more recently, jobless numbers creep up, has been
particularly tough to navigate for younger consumers, who typically have
lower incomes and less savings, said Ms. Oakes.
The
unemployment rate among 15- to 24-year-olds was around 14 per cent in
April, around twice the overall jobless rate of 6.9 per cent, according
to Statistics Canada.
A
shaky labour market may also help to explain why Ontario has emerged as
what the report dubbed “a hotspot for financial stress in Canada.”
**
The “typical Canadian”—defined as the median income earner—is currently taxed
at an average of just over 17 percent (federal plus provincial). The
upcoming tax cut will decrease that by about half a percentage point,
bringing it to just under 17 percent.
But how much you pay in income taxes varies depending on where you
live and how much the “typical” person makes in each province. In Nova
Scotia, where income taxes are highest, someone earning the provincial median income
pays one-fifth of their income in tax. Those in British Columbia and
Ontario pay the least, at 15 percent. Meanwhile, median earners in half
of Canada’s provinces—including Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan—pay
somewhere in the middle at 18 percent.
All that said, are those numbers high? They are when you look across the border.
Median income earners in every U.S. state have a lighter tax burden
than Canadians do—usually by a lot. In California, often thought of as a
high-tax state, the median income earner’s combined tax bill is 10
percent—the U.S. average. That falls to just 7-8 percent for the nine
states with no state-level income tax, like Texas, Florida, and
Washington.
To put that into perspective, if Canada’s combined average income tax
rate were the same as in the U.S., the typical Canadian would save
almost $4,000 a year. But even seemingly small tax cuts can have an
impact, like the change coming on July 1st—it reduces the lowest federal
tax bracket by one percentage point, and will save the typical Canadian
around $400 a year.
**
So how great is the gulf between them?Statistics Canada shows
a 65-67% gap between average Millennial household wealth ($493,423) and
the equivalent figures for Boomers ($1,397,609) and Gen X ($1,485,654).
On top of this, there is said to be $1 trillion
in Boomer wealth set to be passed down soon, but even this is in doubt
given longer lifespans and this cohort’s tenacity in holding on to what
they have.
The reason for this disparity is real estate, which props up the economy. Young Canadians have either been excluded from homeownership
by high prices and interest rates, with big cities like Robertson’s
Vancouver and Toronto among the two most unaffordable cities in North
America; or they are new homeowners who managed to buy properties but
are now squeezed by rising mortgage payments. Older Canadians meanwhile
have seen the value of their properties soar over a much longer period.
While Yun Lu "Lucy" Li was waiting to go on trial for first-degree
murder, she breached her bail conditions to eat lunch at a restaurant
with a potential Crown witness, work out at the gym in her sister's
luxury Toronto condo and use her cellphone unsupervised.
The cost
for the breach: $1 million to her mom, Hong Wei Liao, as ordered by
Justice Andrew Goodman in a Hamilton courtroom May 16.
"She never
imagined for a moment that her daughter would ever do something as
thoughtless, selfish, irresponsible," said Liao's lawyer William Smart.
(Sidebar: really?)
Li
is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25
years for murdering Tyler Pratt and attempting to murder Jordyn Romano
after a jury found both her and her partner Oliver Karafa guilty a year
ago.
But before the trial, in December 2021, Liao had pledged $2
million when she signed as a surety for Li after what Goodman described
as a "hotly contested" bail hearing, which he presided over. Three of
Liao's friends, including Nam Sook Bae, also became sureties and
committed another nearly $1 million.
A surety is someone who agrees to ensure the person out on bail meets their court-ordered bail conditions.
Bae is now required to forfeit $50,000 of the $200,000 she pledged.
(Sidebar: the family name is Nam, not Bae. Typical CBC.)
Why worry about being absorbed into the US when we've already been bought by someone else?:
Advocate Gloria Fung, convenor of the Canadian Coalition
for a Foreign Influence Transparency Registry, said the registry isn't a
panacea but rather a starting point, especially for those in diaspora
communities who are the direct victims of harassment from foreign actors
in Canada.
"We cannot afford to wait further," she
said, pointing to substantiated reports of foreign interference
during both the Liberal leadership campaign and the recent federal
election. "I hope Prime Minister Carney can do better."
During an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton this week,
Joly downplayed the importance of our energy sector (or its potential),
listing it off alongside other sectors including artificial
intelligence and digital technology — and then said that she has other
ideas for growth.
“Meanwhile
I think that we can drive the economy through different sectors,” said
Joly. By poaching America’s disgraced Ivy League academics. “Because I’m
in charge of research, and what we’re seeing with President Trump going
after Harvard, and other universities, we can attract the best and the
brightest here in Canada. And that will be my goal,” she said.
What Joly is proposing is none other than the net zero version of brain drain. No brain power will be crossing north of the 49th
parallel under Joly’s scheme. The atrocious state of academia in
America, including at Ivy League schools such as Harvard, beggars
belief. And when Joly talks about Trump’s “attacks” on academia, she
makes it clear that any of the “best” or “brightest” she is referring to
will be the refugee zealots of the U.S.’s failing diversity, equity,
and inclusion (DEI) racket.
Has Diplomat Barbie done anything to keep Canadian talent?
Allowing a million foreign students into the country cost Canadian jobs and wages, Bank of Canada research shows. The latest study confirmed a
2022 employment department report that foreign labour had a
“significant” impact in some sectors: “They accounted for a larger share
of workers in low skilled occupations, replacing Canadian born
workers.”
**
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani has launched a petition to end the temporary foreign worker program.
The
petition says the temporary foreign worker program is a “large
contributor” to an unsustainable level of immigration and claims the
program is taking jobs away from Canadians and suppressing wages.
In a social media video
talking about the petition, Jivani links immigration to doctor
shortages, crowded hospitals, the housing crisis and a challenging job
market.
Jivani says there’s a “pretty clear consensus” across the political spectrum that immigration levels are “unsustainably high.”
The Ontario MP says it’s reached a point in Parliament where you “can’t have a sensible conversation” about the issue.
Last
year, the government announced plans to reduce the number of temporary
foreign workers being admitted to Canada by refusing to process
applications in metropolitan areas with more than six per cent
unemployment.
A new analysis of immigration data released by the federal government
reveals that while the number of new permanent residents dropped after
the federal government announced that it would cut immigration levels,
the number of temporary foreign workers actually increased, while other
temporary permits declined.
In other words, smoke and mirrors.
The Liberals did the bare minimum to make it appear that they were reining in unvetted migration into a country where there are no jobs nor homes just to fool the ever-gullible.
As
the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to
scientific research, thousands of scientists in the U.S. lost their jobs
or grants — and governments and universities around the world spotted
an opportunity.
The
“Canada Leads” program, launched in April, hopes to foster the next
generation of innovators by bringing early-career biomedical researchers
north of the border.
Dr. Mona Nemer, cabinet’s $393,000-a year science advisor, spent tens of
thousands on questionnaires asking Canadians if they’d ever seen a UFO.
Records indicate Nemer, a biochemist, expressed a personal interest in
the subject though her survey showed most Canadians considered it
pointless: “Unidentified aerial phenomenon is not an issue of high
concern.”
The Israeli National Security Council (NSC) has
raised the travel alert level for Canada from Level 1 to Level 2,
warning of a growing security threat to Israelis and Jews in the
country. The decision comes in light of a series of recent incidents
targeting Jewish institutions and individuals, as well as an
increasingly hostile public atmosphere.
According
to a statement released by the NSC on Sunday, the past 18 months have
seen several attacks against Jewish community centers and institutions
across Canada. These include shootings, Molotov cocktail attacks, and a
surge in direct threats against both Jewish and Israeli targets. In
response, the NSC is urging all Israelis either currently in Canada or
planning to travel there to heighten their awareness, avoid public
displays of Jewish or Israeli symbols, and exercise increased caution in
public spaces.
The advisory also addresses
concerns about planned protests taking place today, May 25, in Canadian
cities such as Toronto and Waterloo. These demonstrations, organized by
anti-Israel groups, are set to coincide with rallies in support of
Israel.
The NSC warned that the discourse
surrounding these events has become more extreme in recent days, with
certain statements possibly amounting to incitement to violence against
Israelis and Jews attending the rallies.
In
light of these developments, the NSC is calling on individuals
participating in pro-Israel events to adhere strictly to the guidance of
local police and security personnel. Attendees are urged to avoid
confrontations with counter-demonstrators and to remain vigilant
throughout.
And
while Canadian leaders are quick to offer platitudes, they have failed
to provide solutions. It’s only a matter of time before the calls for
violence turn into actual violence.
This
is not just a Jewish issue. It’s a Canadian one. Because when Jews are
no longer safe, no one is. Hatred that festers unchecked eventually
devours everything in its path. It corrodes the public square and breaks
civic trust. And it gives licence to people who believe they are
justified or obligated to act on their rage.
The Canada Pension Plan tripled wartime investments in Israel even as
dozens of MPs demanded an international boycott of Jewish industry.
Pension managers put more than a third of a billion in Israel from banks
to supermarkets: ‘We navigate these turbulent times.’
Oh but wait, it gets much more corrupt than that. The Liberal-compromised @RCMPgrcpolice had the gall to complain when Conservatives were putting pressure on the Liberals to release the dirty slush fund documents through Parliament. That's the stuff of Pol Pot dictatorships🤣 https://t.co/X46Rdxplng
The
budget, among other things, details how the government spent your
money, how much more of your money it will need in the future, the
profligate and useful ways in which your money was spent, and —
especially in the Liberals’ case — how much debt the government needs to
rack up to pay for its excessive spending.
One of the government’s primary roles — perhaps its most important — is to be stewards of the public purse.
(Sidebar: HA! You wrote that with a straight face!)
Not
to have a budget for two years is not only an abdication of that role,
it is a slap in the face of all Canadians. Give us your money, says the
Liberal government, but accountability? Why, there is no need for that.
The last budget
in April 2024 promised “fairness for every generation,” to build more
homes, to make life more affordable and to grow the economy.
Then it got blown up in December when Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned, charging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with “political gimmicks” and implying the Liberals were failing to keep their fiscal powder dry in the face of incoming U.S. tariffs.
The whole episode highlighted just how important it is for us all to keep an eye on the nation’s finances.
Shortly
thereafter, Parliament was dissolved, then prorogued, and then there
was an election. The supposed democracy of Canada hasn’t had a sitting
Parliament for five months.
And
now our newly minted finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne,
says we don’t need a budget this year. Instead, we will get a fall
economic statement which isn’t the same thing at all. Often called a
mini budget, it is less detailed and more an update on where things
stand. Champagne told
CTV’s Vassy Kapelos, “My objective is to provide (Canadians) with the
best possible picture of the finances of Canada. It is to be prudent.”
Champagne
said that after the summer parliamentary break and in the fall, there
would be a fiscal update “which is going to be substantive and, like I
said, there is going to be no surprises.”
Our
finance minister speaks in contradictions: on the one hand he wants to
give Canadians the best possible picture, and on the other hand, he will
only provide a mere update in the fall.
It
is also a wonder that the word prudent didn’t turn to ashes in his
mouth considering the Liberals abysmal ten-year economic record in
power. A new report
by the Fraser Institute reveals total government spending has soared.
In 2014, it was 38.4 per cent of the national economy, last year it was
44.7 per cent. Our debt burden now means we are the seventh highest out
of 40 advanced economies.
“Simply
put, over the last decade, Canada has experienced substantial growth in
both the size of government and the overall debt burden that has
outpaced virtually every other advanced country. This has translated to a
deterioration in the state of Canada’s finances relative to comparable
countries, and likely means lower economic growth and reduced living
standards for Canadians,” says the report.
"Canada’s food inflation problem isn’t just imported — it’s engineered. Tariffs, trade missteps, and performative politics have all played a role. It’s time for Ottawa to stop blaming global forces and start owning the domestic decisions driving up our grocery bills."
Canada’s new housing minister Gregor Robertson says that the prices of existing homes shouldn’t go down,
lest this negatively impact current homeowners, and that affordable
housing should be provided through massive government subsidies instead.
His position is economically illiterate and raises concerns about his
fitness to lead this portfolio.
Anyone
with a cursory understanding of economics knows that, in a regular
market, the price of any given commodity will be roughly the same for
both the buyer and seller. If you want people to have the option of
purchasing $3 coffee, for example, you need cafes that are willing to
sell coffee for $3 as well. While these dynamics are sometimes distorted
— i.e. through taxes and subsidies — this is, for the most part, how
transactions work.
So if you want the Canadian housing market to become more affordable for
buyers, it naturally follows that sellers will have to accept lower
prices, which, for existing homeowners, means that the value of their
properties must decline. This is an obvious point that is
well-understood throughout the political spectrum.
And all this time I thought that Carney was going to stand up to Trump:
(Please share: IMPORTANT)
The Carney/Trump Meeting Indicates the Possible Demise of Canada - If you understood it.
For those capable of reading the economic and political signals, the 06 May 2025 White House meeting between Carney/Trump was a clear signal of the extreme… pic.twitter.com/XqovQ5G2bA
Your worthless government and its continuation have destroyed industry in Canada and now you want to punish people who would rather keep their companies running in the US rather than face bankruptcy in Canada.
Parliament must “take a stand” against Canadian companies that move jobs
to the United States to bypass Trump tariffs, the nation’s largest
private sector union said yesterday. “This is the fight of our lives,”
Lana Payne, Unifor national president, told reporters. “We must take a
stand now.”
"The contribution standard applied to Canadian broadcasters is much
greater and reflects their existing obligations," the group said in its
opening remarks.
"This difference was intentional as Parliament
rejected calls to impose the same standard because 'it is just not
realistic' to expect foreign online undertakings operating in a global
market to contribute in the same way as Canadian broadcasters."
MPA-Canada
said the CRTC shouldn't impose "any mandatory positions, functions or
elements of a 'Canadian program"' on global streaming services.
While
the hearing is focused on the definition of Canadian content, the CRTC
has also heard debate about financial contributions.
Prime Minister Mark Carney reaffirmed Canada’s
“steadfast and unwavering support” for Ukraine in his first meeting with
the country’s president on Saturday in Rome.
His
meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy was one of several sitdowns with world
leaders taking place in the Italian capital, where Carney -- a devout
Catholic -- has travelled to attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV.
The Prime Minister is making a concerted effort to meet with other G7
leaders ahead of the global summit Canada is hosting in Kananaskis,
Alta., next month.
During his meeting with
Zelenskyy at Canada’s Official Residence to the Italian Republic, Carney
said Canadian support for Ukraine extends to the president’s
leadership.
“We admire your commitment to
peace, as you’ve demonstrated it again this week,” he said, referring to
peace talks between the two sides in Turkey earlier this week. “...
There can be no peace without the full support and participation of
Ukraine, and that you have our absolute support.”
Zelenskyy,
dressed in all black with a short-sleeve collared shirt, thanked Carney
for his words and immediately extended an invitation to visit Ukraine.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Quebec’s stance on pipelines may
be changing, noting that Quebec Premier François Legault is showing
greater willingness to pursue development projects in his province.
Smith discussed Legault’s shift in perspective during her weekend morning radio show,
“Your Province. Your Premier.,” noting that she has been lobbying the
Quebec premier to advance the development of natural gas resources in
his province.
“I’ve been very annoying for Premier Legault,
because I told him every time I saw him, I was going to lobby him on
developing their own substantial natural gas resources,” Smith said
during the May 17 show. “And every time I saw him, he said there’s no
social acceptability for it, until recently.”
Smith’s comments
follow a recent appearance made by Legault on the podcast Contact,
hosted by Stéphan Bureau. Legault said there is a growing openness among
Quebecers for pipeline projects because of the trade tensions with the
United States that intensified when President Donald Trump imposed
tariffs on Canadian goods.
“Quebecers are saying, ‘There’s no way
Trump is going to control the oil we produce in Alberta.’ So, can we
export it to Europe through Quebec instead of being stuck with Trump?”
the premier said. “There’s openness. I feel things are shifting.”
He
also referred to a prospective project that would extend through the
northern region of the province and end at the Port of Sept-Îles.
Since 2015, the federal government has significantly increased spending on Indigenous Peoples.
The
annual Indigenous budget has almost tripled from 2015 to 2025, growing
(in nominal dollars) from roughly $11 billion to more than $32 billion.
In
addition, class actions have been settled without litigation, with
estimated liabilities reaching $76 billion in 2023, while specific
claims have been settled at a rate four times higher than by the
previous government, leading to a significant transfer of land and money
to First Nations.
From 2016 to 2021, the gap in Statistics
Canada’s Community Well-Being index, which measures the socio-economic
well-being for communities across the county, between First Nations and
other Canadian communities was reduced from 19 to 16 points. This
reduction was due chiefly to an increase in reported income of First
Nations people living on Indian reserves.
Closer analysis shows
that this increase in income was due mainly to the Canada Child Benefit
(CCB), introduced in 2016. First Nations people benefit relatively more
from this new program because they have lower incomes and more children
than other Canadians.
First Nations’ Own Source Revenue derived
from business activities is increasing less rapidly than government
transfers, making First Nations more financially dependent on the
federal government.
Simply increasing money transfers to First Nations does not necessarily produce improvements in measured well-being.
Improvements in well-being
can come from general policies, like the CCB, that are not targeted at First Nations.
You handed them welfare. What did you think would happen?
They were kept compliant.
**
Rohini Arora is an immigrant of South Asian descent, not Native, but here she is identifying “white folks” as colonizers, and immigrants as liberators who will restore Canada to the indigenous people.
— Dr. Ricardo Duchesne (@dr_duchesne) May 17, 2025
**
It’s nonsense, from the fiction of pre-contact Eden to their exercising ongoing stewardship of our private property to the “All of Our Relations” nonsense about, presumably, Brother Beaver, Sister Sumac, and Mother-In-Law Mosquito. And the “Haudenosaunee,” a.k.a. Iroquois Confederacy, hated and feared by their neighbours at the time of European contact, sharing with the “Anishinabek” they repeatedly attacked and displaced.
If you think truth matters, and if not, God save us, British rule put an end to chronic low-scale warfare, complete with torture, enslavement, and cannibalism, and bestowed peace, order, and good government. It was highly imperfect, including bigoted denial of the right to vote. But to portray Sir John A. Macdonald as genocidal and the Mohawks as pacifists cannot lead us anywhere but into darkness. ...
As G.K. Chesterton wrote, “all feeble spirits naturally live in the future, because it is featureless; it is a soft job… It requires real courage to face the past… full of facts which cannot be got over; of men certainly wiser than we and of things done which we could not do.” But people who preen about unceded land aren’t just claiming if they’d been there in 1867, or 1667, they’d dramatically have outperformed the clods who did stumble onto the historical stage. They’re pretending they did, so brilliantly that aboriginals still own the land we’re sitting on, sneering at them.
Which brings me to the issue of hypocrisy. Every time I sit with clenched teeth through one of these land acknowledgements, and by the way, I have discovered that I am far from alone, I want to leap up and shout, “If you think your building belongs to someone else, what’s your plan for immediately giving it back?”
“As the police of jurisdiction in
Ottawa, Ottawa Police Service has the primary responsibility to manage
the police response to all demonstration activity. The RCMP can provide
support to Ottawa Police Service when assistance is requested. However,
the RCMP cannot assume command and control of the police response to
demonstration activity as some officials suggested during the convoy
event.”
The RCMP steps in to “assume a lead investigative role”
when there is a “suspected threat to national security,” states the
report.
“However, the criminal investigation remains separate from
the police response to manage the demonstration activity taking place
within a police jurisdiction's area of responsibility.”
The
report also acknowledges the shaking of public trust in institutions
after the invocation of the Act and the need to restore public trust
after the freezing of bank accounts of those involved in the protest.
The
RCMP maintains donors to the convoy did not have their accounts frozen.
The Mounties further distance themselves from the responsibility of
financial freezes, asserting the onus was on the financial institutions.
The
RCMP’s use of command structure was inconsistent and there were
intelligence sharing gaps where information was neither consistently
timely or effectively disseminated to frontline officers, states the
report.
Further, the report cited training deficiencies, where
only 65% of officers were prepared for public order tactics, and
critical weapons certifications outdated.
“There is little to no
public order and/or tactical training for general duty Regular Members
who are not a part of Tactical Support Groups or Public Order Units,”
states the report.
The report clarifies that demonstrations alone do not constitute national security threats warranting RCMP lead.
“Various
elected officials and senior Government of Canada officials were of the
view that it was the RCMP’s responsibility to resolve the blockades in
Ottawa,” discloses the review.
None of this makes the RCMP look good.
They are either too incompetent to control a crowd or were willing partners of the government in quelling an embarrassing display of rebellion.
The
deeper Zweig dug, the more his sense of astonishment—and then of
outrage—grew. As early as March 2020, it was clear that Covid, unlike
influenza, posed little threat to children. Nor were schools major
centers of virus transmission, studies showed. In other words, the
scientific evidence supporting long-term school shutdowns was weak, the
author discovered, while the policy’s negative impacts were potentially
devastating.
Zweig pitched his editors at the New York Times:
How about an article detailing the scientific case for reopening
schools? They weren’t interested. Nor were several other outlets he had
worked with. Eventually, the article ran in the tech magazine Wired.
The piece had little impact on the national debate over school
closures, not because it wasn’t persuasive but because there was no
national debate over school closures.
As
in other elite communities, Zweig’s neighbors posted “In this House We
Believe” signs in their yards stating, “Science Is Real.” Government
officials, including New York governor Andrew Cuomo, relentlessly
insisted that their policies were based on “data.” But when Zweig and a
handful of other researchers convincingly challenged the scientific case
for school closings, the blue-state voters and policymakers took little
notice. The media, which normally prides itself on curiosity and
skepticism, refused to question the overnight consensus. “The narrative
was set,” Zweig writes.
In
contrast, European policymakers took the research involving Covid and
children seriously. By May, most European countries were beginning to
reopen their schools. Liberal Americans usually think European nations
are more enlightened on issues of social policy. But U.S. media and
public health leaders mostly ignored the European example. When pressed,
they waved away the disparity, insisting that European countries had
“controlled” the virus prior to reopening schools, unlike the U.S. under
the erratic President Trump. It wasn’t true, but it fit the narrative.
American schools stayed closed.
Most
U.S. schoolchildren wouldn’t return to full-time, in-person school for
more than a year. That interregnum, we now know, seriously degraded
their social development, educational attainment, and mental and
physical health. All too predictably, disadvantaged children suffered
the worst declines.
You’d
think these facts would have put liberal America in an uproar. Yet,
even today, this policy disaster rarely comes up in those circles. When
it does, Zweig writes, “Many on the left argue that the prolonged school
closures were a fog-of-war decision made on the best available
information at the time.” That’s a comforting claim. But, again, it’s
simply not true, he argues. The best available information at the start
of the pandemic militated against
prolonged school closures. The evidence supporting that conclusion only
grew stronger as the months went by. So, Zweig wants to know, “What led
the U.S. to be if not uniquely, then certainly exceptionally
dysfunctional?”
A municipal councillor arrested for participating in the 2022 Freedom
Convoy yesterday was acquitted of all charges. Harold Jonker of St.
Ann’s, Ont. earlier told a public meeting he was proud to be among the
first truckers to join the protest on Parliament Hill: “I am humbled
that I was able to participate in a protest that brought immense joy and
hope to so many Canadians across the country.”
Imagine being dragged through the mud because you said no to the village idiot.
China's new interest in Canadian oil comes as U.S.
President Donald Trump's trade war has strained relations between
longtime allies Washington and Ottawa. It also reflects the impact of
U.S. sanctions on crude from countries like Russia and Venezuela.
No, China is protecting its North American interests.
Perhaps that is why Trump is insisting that Canada be include under the Golden Dome plan.
One cannot siphon anything from Canada if the Americans are watching.
**
Unlike in 2016, Chinese sellers no longer rely on U.S. retailers’
purchase orders. They ship container loads of goods directly to
consumers, systematically undervaluing them on customs declarations.
Chinese e-commerce companies exploit U.S. customs through
sophisticated tactics centered on non-resident importer (NRI) structures
and delivered duty paid (DDP) clearance. These methods, often
facilitated by logistics firms and customs brokers, shield sellers’ identities and minimize duties.
Here’s how it works: Brokers register NRI entities and post bonds for
Chinese sellers, clearing goods and delivering them to Amazon
fulfillment warehouses. They declare low container values to avoid
scrutiny and sometimes misclassify goods as other items to secure a
lower tariff rate. Many brokers are Amazon-affiliated (SPN,
Send, Ship Track). Platforms like AMZ123.com list hundreds of such
providers. Large sellers register multiple NRIs, splitting shipments
among them. If one NRI is flagged, only that bond is lost — a minor
business expense.
These tactics let Chinese sellers sidestep tariffs, keep prices low,
and dominate visibility. As tariffs rise, so does their competitive
edge.
Bukhari 7.62.88 says, “The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with
Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her
while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years.”
Muhammad was reportedly 54 at the time.
Hence, some Muslim
scholars and Sharia experts say there is no minimum age for a girl to be
married. And of course rape and concubinage are also allowed in Islam.
There’s no mystery as to why many European cities with large Muslim
migrant populations suddenly see an increase in sexual crimes.
Nearly half of Canadians say they’re more concerned than ever about car theft, while 36 percent report feeling unsafe due to the ongoing risk of having their vehicle stolen, a new survey from The Co-operators found.
Sixty-three percent of those polled identified lasting emotional distress and a sense of violation as key impacts of vehicle theft. But car theft doesn’t just take an emotional toll, it takes a financial one too, respondents said.
Nungu
was arrested close to the scene and was charged with assault. He was
detained until April 23, then transferred to a secure medical facility.
Vancouver
Police Department Sgt. Steve Addison said Nungu has now been released
from the facility and is living at an undisclosed location in the city.
While out on bail, Nungu must not possess any weapons or consume alcohol or non-prescriptions drugs.
Patterson, an outspoken Donald Trump
supporter, said he was warned from the get-go that Hillary Clinton was
the most daunting figure in the White House, not her president husband.
'When
I first arrived to work in the White House, my predecessor warned me:
'You can get away with pissing off Bill but if you make her mad, she’ll
rip your heart out,'' he wrote.
'I heeded those words. I did make him mad a few times, but I never really pissed her off. I knew the ramifications.'
In
a response to an X user asking what he did that 'pissed off' Clinton,
Patterson said he once didn't let him go to a restaurant when he was
hungry because the Secret Service hadn't swept it.
He said while these small issues could be brushed over by Bill, Patterson 'realized there were different rules for Hillary.'
'She
instructed the senior staff, including me, that she didn’t want to be
forced to encounter us,' he said, adding that staff were seen scrambling
to avoid her 'no matter their position in the building.'
'Many
a time, I’d see mature, professional adults, working in the most
important building in the world, scurrying into office doorways to
escape Hillary’s line of sight,' he wrote.
'She was the Nazi schoolmarm and the rest of us were expected to hide as though we were kids in trouble.'
Canadians were primarily finding relief at the gas pumps in April.
(Sidebar: where is this relief? I didn't see it.)
Statistics
Canada said gas prices fell 18.1 per cent year-over-year in April,
thanks mostly to the end of the carbon price, but also because global
oil prices fell amid declining demand and higher production from OPEC
countries. Natural gas prices also fell 14.1 per cent annually in the
month.
Excluding
energy from the consumer price index, StatCan said inflation would have
come in at 2.9 per cent for April — an increase from 2.5 per cent for
the same calculation in March.
The
only province that didn’t experience a slowdown in inflation last month
was Quebec, a province that has its own cap-and-trade system and
therefore didn’t benefit from the end of the federal carbon price
regime.
But while consumers found it cheaper to gas up in April, pressure was building at the grocery store.
Prices for food bought from the store rose 3.8 per cent last month, StatCan said, accelerating from 3.2 per cent in March.
On an annual basis, prices for fresh vegetables rose 3.7 per cent, the
cost of fresh and frozen beef was up 16.2 per cent, and prices of coffee
and tea rose 13.4 per cent, the agency said.
Grocery store inflation has now outpaced the overall consumer price index for three months in a row.
Canadian
travellers also felt the pinch as travel tour prices rose 3.7 per cent
monthly in April, reversing course after a decline of eight per cent in
March.
The
April inflation figures come a little more than two weeks before the
Bank of Canada is set to make its next interest rate decision on June 4.
The
central bank held its policy rate steady at 2.75 per cent at its
decision in April, saying then that it needed more time to see how
Canada’s trade war with the United States was impacting the economy.
So, as was predicted, the carbon tax - still in place - just made things more expensive for everyone.
Remember that THIS is what Canadians voted for and will do so again.
Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland will not comment on whether she
asked the cabinet-appointed chair of a Crown bank to work as financial
agent for her failed Liberal leadership campaign. The Business
Development Bank denied comment, saying political activity by its
directors was not public business: “It would be inappropriate to
comment.”
Neil Macdonald, former CBC pundit and husband of Canada’s Ambassador to
Vatican City, has deleted social media posts in which he mocked Pope
Francis’ funeral, attempted a Hitler joke and ridiculed Conservative
voters as bigots and losers. Removal of Macdonald’s Substack account
followed a new Treasury Board directive on misuse of social media: “It
can diminish the confidence.”
A federal agency that disregarded employees’ appeals for religious
exemptions from vaccine mandates breached the Charter Of Rights, a
labour board has ruled. The National Research Council was cited for
twice dismissing pleas from Christian staff who objected to the source
of cells used in production of Covid shots: “The state is in no position
to be, nor should it become, the arbiter of religious dogma.”
Taylor
Ashley Kennedy’s THC-blood concentration was 13.7 nanograms per
millilitre when she hit and killed nine-year-old Baeleigh Emily Maurice
in a Saskatoon crosswalk, according to lab reports recently obtained by
the Star Phoenix.
While
the legal driving limit (for a hybrid offence under the Criminal Code
of Canada) of THC is 5 ng/mL, the report outlined the challenge in
determining the relationship between THC blood concentration and the
drug’s effect.
“The
specific effects experienced by an individual will depend on the dose
of THC consumed, the route of administration, and the tolerance of the
individual to the drug,” Gillian Sayer, a forensic specialist with the
RCMP’s toxicology services, wrote in her report.
(Sidebar: yet alcohol use is dealt with more harshly. Hhmm ...)
She
wrote that recent THC use can increase the likelihood of a collision
because of its effect on things like reaction time, risk assessment,
information processing and short-term memory.
“A
concentration of 13.7 ng/mL of THC in blood has been associated with
the recent use of THC by any type of cannabis user (infrequent,
occasional or frequent), but has also been associated with residual
blood THC in some frequent heavy users,” the report states.
"On
Sept. 9, 2021, Kennedy struck Maurice — who was on her scooter — in a
crosswalk at the intersection of 33rd Street and Avenue G around 9 a.m.
(Sidebar: wait for it.)
Kennedy
remained at the scene, telling officers that she had used cannabis and
magic mushrooms the previous day. A sample of her blood was taken after
she tested positive for THC — the main psychoactive component of
cannabis — on an oral fluid test.
Monday’s joint statement called on
Israel to halt military action in Gaza and resume humanitarian aid,
condemning suggestions by Israel of a forced relocation of civilians
from Gaza.
“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions,” the statement read.
“If
Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its
restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions
in response.”
“Canada
can’t claim to support Israel’s right to fight terrorism while
threatening sanctions that would force it to stop,” Lantsman told the Toronto Sun.
“That
hands a win to Iran’s proxies. Hamas just thanked Canada — again. So
much for thinking Mark Carney would be any different — he’s not.”
**
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
on Monday criticized the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and
Canada after they warned of “concrete actions” unless Jerusalem halts
its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war
for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed,
and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa, and
Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on
Oct. 7, while inviting more such atrocities,” he said according to a
statement from his office.
The statement reiterated that the war
began when “Palestinian terrorists stormed our borders, murdered 1,200
innocent people and abducted over 250 more innocents to the dungeons of
Gaza.”
Netanyahu noted that Israel backs U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace vision and urged European leaders to do the same.
“The war can end tomorrow if the remaining
hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders
are exiled, and Gaza is demilitarized. No nation can be expected to
accept anything less, and Israel certainly won’t,” the statement
continued.
“This is a war of civilization over
barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until
total victory is achieved,” it concluded.
Earlier on Monday, the three countries issued a joint communiqué expressing strong opposition to expanded Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza and calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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