Your middle-of-the-week snow-pile ...
For as long as I can remember, Canadians (mostly leftist, in the education profession, and especially the obnoxious political class) laughed at being under the American military umbrella. It was argued by the staunchly arrogant that such a thing would allow Canada to have the social safety net that it did and still give the smugger among leave to criticise the nuclear power south of us.
Well, our healthcare scheme sucks and Trump is sick of your sh-- :
Prime Minister Mark Carney left the World Economic Forum in
Davos without meeting President Donald Trump Wednesday as the U.S. leader
warned Canada should be more “grateful” for its southern neighbour.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us by the way,” Trump
told a WEF audience, after mentioning the U.S. plan to build a missile defence
system called the Golden Dome. “They should be grateful also but they’re not.” …
Trump said he watched Carney’s address. “He wasn’t so
grateful,” said Trump. “They should be grateful to us, Canada — but they’re
not. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that Mark, the next
time you make your statements.”
Carney left Davos around 2 p.m. local time, almost exactly
when the U.S. president arrived to deliver an over hour-long speech at the
glitzy international summit. Carney’s office confirmed that the prime minister
did not meet or talk with Trump Wednesday.
(Sidebar: it’s called cowardice.)
Before Trump is reflexively attacked, how is he wrong? Has Canada not enjoyed the military protection of the US while claiming to craft a social safety net that works?
Do tell.
Also:
Enduring
countries have common interests and value systems, and feature strong
institutions. During the English debate in the 2025 federal election,
Yves Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc, said, “Canada is an artificial
country.” He may be right.
(Sidebar: Quebec is an artificial province but I digress ...)
Strong countries also have shared objectives.
The
United States Constitution talks about “life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness.” As has been the case over its soon-to-be 250-year
history, highly divisive periods — the Civil War, the 1930s Depression,
and the Vietnam War — come to mind — it will likely also survive its
current challenges. Notwithstanding the competing visions and ping-pong
presidencies reflecting differing values, the broader purpose prevails
(so far). ...
Although
Newfoundland came much later, Atlantic Canada joined Upper and Lower
Canada in 1867 to protect each other in the face of American
expansionist aggression, twice thwarted by Quebec City’s famous wall.
The rest of Canada joined for other reasons and with varying satisfaction.
It
is fair to say that despite many amazing entrepreneurial stories, the
Atlantic provinces have been and are comfortable with considerable
dependency on the federal government. This also accommodates the
centralized federal government’s desire for control and political
support. ...
The
politics of Quebec drive the leaders to ever more independence
regardless of the constitution. In the fullness of time, Quebec is
likely to gain country status — it is almost there except for the now
nearly $14 billion gift from the unfair equalization program.
The
other original province at the time of Confederation was Ontario, the
heartland with the largest population and Toronto, one of the largest
and most diverse cities in the world, and a demonstrated need for
control of the country.
Continued pressure from the US led to the
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway to Vancouver, an amazing
accomplishment (one wonders how this could be accomplished without
today’s regulators, especially Major Projects, yet another layer of
federal government control on top of current regulatory overload). ...
Manitoba's
history is also distinctive, and its significant hydroelectric resource
distinguishes it from the two provinces immediately to the West. Like
Minnesota, Manitoba is more of a Midwestern province with a history,
interests, and values that distinguish it from other provinces.
In
1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan joined Confederation. Originally to be
one entity named Buffalo, it was the wisdom of federal politicians that
they should be separate to avoid a competing concentrated power base.
Regardless, as polling indicates, on the big issues, including the
future of Canada, they are of the same mindset.
As pointed out in
the ‘Nine Nations of North America’, and everyone knows, the values,
industries, and culture of the Prairie provinces are also distinct.
For
much of the 120 years, the goal of the Prairies and most of Western
Canada has been to gain a voice in policy formation. Its control of
natural resources gained in the 1930s was compromised by the dramatic
intervention by Pierre Trudeau and his National Energy Program (NEP).
Exacerbated by broad economic circumstances and high interest rates, the
NEP devastated the two provinces.
The
fears of the colonies were again realized when Justin Trudeau cancelled
a fully approved Northern Gateway Pipeline as an early indication of
his global warming agenda — or climate change, or a climate crisis — so
confusing — what is threatening the planet is constantly changing.
Under
the guise of the never-approved mandate that Canada should be a global
leader in reducing CO2 emissions, the feds gained ever more control over
the uppity colonies, which were becoming more demanding of full
participation in the governance of Canada. Blessed by extensive
resources (oil and gas, potash, uranium, food production, and more), and
an entrepreneurial culture, even its significant financial strength has
no influence on the current power flow — Quebec is permitted to do
whatever and in turn supports the federal Liberal Party.
The
federal policy framework has severely limited the future of many of the
above industries, and by extension, of Canada. But, like Atlantic
Canada, the federal government is still more interested in power than
prosperity.
What the economic illiterate Trudeau eventually
learned, his policies also limited the economic strength of Canada and
eventually his tenure as our prime minister. He will wear the “Lost
Decade” legacy which over time will be more remembered than his nice
hair and flashy socks.
This review of history, superficial at
best, is only to further understand why Canada has no central purpose,
and how our values differ greatly based on our history, industries,
immigration, definitions of democracy, reasons for joining Canada, and
so forth.
(Sidebar: the same can be said of any formerly fragmented country that eventually unified.)
A
strong, wise, and long-term strategic thinking federal government would
acknowledge the obvious. Instead of characterizing those of us in the
West who want full participation in Canada's affairs as “whiners”,
prescient leadership would evolve our ineffective unitary form of
government into a functioning federal state, like the country south of
us, and attempt to seek more common purpose than winning the men’s and
women’s gold medals for Olympic hockey that generate such patriotism.
The
independence party leader from Quebec is more perceptive, or at least
more honest, than our government in Ottawa. Power drives policy and the
hell with the West, dividing a country that already lacks a common
purpose.
Cynical and simplistic.
An overview of the US, for example, would show that the original thirteen colonies repudiated British rule and the gradually amalgamated states focused on growing themselves.
Canada may have been formed piecemeal and is even fractured now but that is not to say that there is now common purpose, even if not articulated.
We need to stop being regions, fiefdoms, really.
Did she get free swag?:
I’m at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where I saw
Chrystia Freeland, the disgraced former MP and cabinet minister.
Actually, I think she saw me first and tried to hide from my sight.
So I decided to ask her some questions.
Now, if I had been in Canada, she would have had me arrested. That’s
what she did to our reporter, David Menzies. And of course, she had no
compunction about seizing bank accounts from hundreds of her political
enemies during the trucker protest.
In fact, that’s something I asked her about, because three judges on
the Federal Court of Appeal recently upheld a lower court ruling that
Freeland broke the law and violated the constitution by doing those bank
seizures.
It will not surprise you to learn she is absolutely unrepentant, even though four judges in a row have called her a lawbreaker.
I also asked her about her accepting a job working for the
Ukrainian government, while also working for the Canadian government.
Isn’t that an obvious conflict of interest?
Needless to say, she was absolutely vicious, saying that anyone who
would dare question her must be working for Vladimir Putin. I’m serious,
she said that!
You may know that a week ago, we sent a legal letter to the Ethics
and Conflict of Interest Commissioner, demanding that he look into her
misconduct. Well, I think we learned a lot more about her ethics today,
don’t you think?
It's just money:
A self-described ‘watchdog for homelessness’ billed taxpayers nearly $14,000 for a business class junket to Cairo, records show. Employees in
Access To Information emails questioned expenses charged by Marie-Josée
Houle, cabinet’s $213,000-a year Housing Advocate: “It’s my job to be a
watchdog for housing and homelessness in Canada.”
Did the homeless go with you?
You dangled a "free" carrot in front of the masses.
What did you think would happen?:
Costs to manage the Canada Dental Care Plan have jumped to nearly 9
percent or almost $860 million since the program was launched, records
show. Health Minister Marjorie Michel’s department disclosed the program
has already been audited but would not release the findings: “The
report is confidential.”
Imagine if people were allowed to keep their money.
Why, they could do anything they wanted with it, even use it for dental care.
But that would be nutty.
Let's not get carried away.
Also:
That is the story Statistics Canada’s December 2025 Consumer Price
Index quietly tells, even if Ottawa would prefer Canadians stop reading
after the headline number.
Officially, inflation rose 2.4 percent
year over year, up from 2.2 percent in November. Government-friendly
commentators will call this “stable.” That word does not survive contact
with the details. The increase had little to do with newfound price
discipline and everything to do with a temporary GST/HST tax break that
artificially lowered prices in December 2024 and has now vanished from
the annual comparison. Roughly 10 percent of the CPI basket was affected
by that tax holiday. When the distortion disappears, inflation
mechanically rises.
Strip out gasoline and inflation jumps to 3.0
percent, well above the Bank of Canada’s target. This matters because
gasoline prices fell 13.8 percent year over year, masking the real cost
pressures facing households. Energy prices declined because global oil
markets are oversupplied and crude prices are at their lowest level in
more than four years. This is not the result of domestic policy
brilliance. It is the result of forces entirely outside Ottawa’s
control.
Food prices continue to punish families. Grocery prices
rose 5.0 percent year over year. Coffee climbed an astonishing 30.8
percent. Beef increased 16.8 percent. Meat overall rose 8.5 percent.
Restaurant prices surged 8.5 percent, up sharply from 3.3 percent the
previous month. Statistics Canada itself identifies restaurant food as
the single largest contributor to the acceleration in inflation. That
means eating at home is expensive and eating out has become a luxury.
Shelter
costs remain elevated. Overall shelter inflation sits at 2.1 percent,
with rent up 4.9 percent, making it one of the largest upward
contributors to the CPI. Statistical offsets like homeowners’
replacement cost declining 1.6 percent soften the headline but do
nothing to reduce monthly rent cheques.
Services inflation tells
the deeper story. Services, which make up 55.5 percent of the CPI
basket, rose 3.3 percent year over year. Services inflation is
slow-moving and stubborn. It reflects wage pressure and embedded costs.
Regionally,
inflation accelerated in nine of ten provinces. Manitoba led at 3.7
percent. Quebec posted 3.2 percent. British Columbia recorded 1.7
percent, largely due to a one-time collapse in traveler accommodation
prices following last year’s Taylor Swift concert-driven spike.
Prime
Minister Mark Carney once told Canadians to judge his government by
their experience at the grocery store. The December report delivers that
judgment clearly, and it’s damning.
Canada’s headline inflation
numbers are being artificially held down by plunging energy prices and
the fading echo of a brief tax holiday. Meanwhile, food, rent, services,
and everyday family essentials continue to climb faster than incomes.
If energy prices turn upward again, the whole mirage collapses in an
instant.
For Canadians who feel their bank accounts shrinking
despite the comforting headlines, the explanation is staring them in the
face. Inflation hasn’t been defeated. It’s been cosmetically concealed.
Then why did you make a deal with China?:
Canada had no choice but to repeal a 100 percent tariff on Chinese
battery electric cars, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said yesterday.
Moe acknowledged his province was a winner in trade talks with Beijing
but denied it came at the expense of others: “To say this is favouring
one province or another, that is just simply not a true statement.”
Also - it will get worse:
Former national director of the RCMP’s proceeds-of-crime program
Garry Clement says Ottawa’s new agreement with Beijing on public safety
is concerning because it potentially opens the door for the Chinese
regime to “capitalize on intelligence.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney
made several agreements with Beijing during his visit to China last
week as part of a broader effort to establish closer ties with China and
boost non-U.S. exports.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said
on Jan. 16 that Canada and China will pursue “pragmatic and
constructive engagement” in public safety and security through
cooperation of law enforcement agencies.
The PMO said this
cooperation would “create safer communities” for people in both
countries by combating “narcotics trafficking, transnational and
cybercrime, synthetic drugs and money laundering” more effectively. The
government has not yet released details on what the agreement involves,
and in the absence of clarity, Clement is raising concerns about how it
could turn out.
Clement said in an interview that such an
agreement is worrying because the Chinese regime’s law enforcement is
“inseparable” from the state security apparatus acting on behalf of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“The reality of it is [the CCP]
does not respect human rights, and so what we’re doing is opening the
door for them to capitalize on intelligence,” he said.
A country that has pride in itself doesn't allow a communist dictatorship take over it:
The Navy yesterday said it will pay the Royal Canadian Geographic
Society $300,000 to develop “Navy-themed lesson plans” for
schoolchildren. It follows declining membership in youth programs like
the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets: “Being a cadet promotes pride in Canada.”
Moral posturing at its most impotent:
A Toronto city councillor says that antisemitic graffiti
calling for the death of Jews in the city’s west end has been cleaned up.
A spokesperson for the office of Amber Morley, the
councillor for Etobicoke-Lakeshore and deputy mayor for Etobicoke, where the
graffiti was located, told National Post that city staff went to the area and
painted over the hateful message.
“Our office does not tolerate antisemitism or any form of
hate,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that the office had also
been in touch with police.
City councillor for Beaches-East York Brad Bradford said he
was disgusted by the graffiti after he saw a post on X about it by Toronto
resident Christine Van Geyn. She posted a video on X on Monday that showed the
words “Kill Jews for peace” scrawled in black under a bridge at Royal York Rd.
and Dundas St. W.
Bradford said Toronto’s Jewish community has been “subjected
to a shocking increase in antisemitism,” in an emailed statement to National
Post.
“Jewish restaurants have been firebombed, Jewish girls
schools have been shot at, and Jewish neighbourhoods have been targeted by
hateful protests. Hateful graffiti litters our streets, parks and sidewalks.
It’s disgusting, it’s abhorrent, and it needs to stop,” he said.
Bradford shared the post on X and said that “we are far too
used to seeing disgusting antisemitic graffiti like this” in Toronto.
A country that prides itself in banning the execrable online screeds of some ill-bred and ill-educated ignoramus, silencing teachers and censoring school libraries (some books included books about the Holocaust, the world wars and The Diary of Anne Frank) has nothing to say about appeasing Hamas, crimes against its Jewish population and even morons who should be disbarred for defacing a Holocaust memorial.
How strange.
