Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Was It Something He Said and Did?

Often, it is:

 

Justin didn't stay the night?

How odd.

Whatever for?

Oh:

 **

Last Friday, Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago unannounced after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Specifically, Trump is threatening to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over their failures to curb the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs from those countries into the U.S.

Now, new details are beginning to emerge about the meeting between the two men, which Trump called "very productive." ...

(Sidebar: I'll bet they were.)

According to two people at the table who heard the discussion, Trump, while cordial and welcoming, was very direct when it came to what he wants from his counterpart to the North.

Paraphrasing the discussion, Trump told Trudeau that Canada has failed the U.S. border by allowing large amounts of drugs and people across the border, including illegal immigrants from over 70 different countries.

Sources say Trump became more animated when it came to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which he estimated to be more than $100 billion.

The president-elect told the prime minister if Canada cannot fix the border issues and trade deficit, he will levy a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods on day one when he returns to office.

Trudeau told Trump he cannot levy the tariff because it would kill the Canadian economy completely. Trump replied – asking, so your country can't survive unless it's ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion? 

Trump then suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously ...

 

Yes, nervous laughter is the best coping mechanism.

Just like laziness and dereliction of duty.


Trump doesn't joke.

Trolls? Perhaps, but not jokes.

It's not like the War of 1812 anymore. Trump doesn't have to station troops along the border. He simply has to impose tariffs. Even the hint of American obstruction has great effect.

Don't take my word for it:

In a Monday press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico “must be respected, especially by its trading partners.”

(Sidebar: this Mexico. And this Canada.)

She also noted that Canada has “a very serious problem with fentanyl consumption,” more than Mexico, and possibly as a result of some drug-decriminalization measures.

“We are not going to fall for a provocation of which country is better,” she said, chalking some criticism from Canada up to political pandering.

“Mexico should not be used as part of (Canadian) electoral campaigns,” she said.

Yet Sheinbaum also said Canada “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has,” saying her country has civilizations dating back thousands of years.

Asked to respond, Joly said she is reaching out to Mexican officials after speaking with the U.S., including about the “very important trade agreement” that includes all three countries.

“I know there has been many conversations in Canada about how we can work together and how we can, at the same time, protect our interests,” she said.

“We have a positive relationship with Mexico, and we need to work with the country; that’s definitely my goal.”


(Sidebar: sending Joly is asking to fail.)

**

They weren't willing to do that before:

The Canadian government has listed the Yemeni militant group Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, as a terrorist group in an effort to “fight terrorism globally.”

In a statement released on Monday, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada said that Ansarallah, a Yemeni militant group, has met the definition of a "terrorist group” under Canada's Criminal Code.


But, whatever one does, blame it all on the guy who points out the obvious:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from a closed-door meeting with opposition leaders on Tuesday to warn his Conservative rival against amplifying “erroneous narratives” that he says Americans are using about the Canada-U.S. border. ...

 

This border:

Canadian law enforcement has limited tools in pursuing networks smuggling people into the U.S.

On a late Saturday afternoon, two days before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Canadian goods over migrants and fentanyl, the RCMP alerted U.S. Border Patrol about a group of people crossing illegally from Quebec into an area near Chateaugay, N.Y.

**

Recent data from the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) pointed towards a staggering rise in illegal immigration by Indian nationals into the United States through its northern border. This year alone, 43,764 Indians – about 22 per cent of the total 1.98 lakh crossings – were arrested while trying to enter the US through Canada.

** 

On January 14, 2024, CBSA officers discovered and seized 406.2 kg of suspected methamphetamine, approximately 4 million illicit doses valued at over $50,780,000, following the examination of a commercial truck at the Boissevain port of entry in southern Manitoba. This is the largest seizure of illegal narcotics to occur in the Prairie Region. The driver was carrying a shipment destined for Winnipeg.


(Sidebar: hey, let's legalise hard drugs!)


Further:

During Tuesday’s question period, Poilievre told MPs that “Trudeau has lost control of everything.”

“He lost control of the borders, lost control of immigration, lost control of spending and the deficit,” said Poilievre.

“This has put Canada in an unbearably weak position.”

Trudeau responded by saying he believes Poilievre “needs to reflect carefully on whether he really wants to amplify the erroneous narratives,” which he says Americans are advancing when it comes to issues surrounding the border.

 

"Shut about how bad I am!" he explained.

It's not like it has been completely unnoticed, Justin:

Canada’s military is unprepared to defend the Arctic with few soldiers on deployment, few airfields fit for use by the Air Force and little winter training of combat forces, says a Department of National Defence audit. The largest beneficiaries of annual training exercises are private contractors, said auditors: “Russia does have military capabilities in the Arctic.”

** 

Here in Canada, with our mantra of “peace, order and good government,” we view our country as a peaceable kingdom marked by less crime than our American cousins, with their “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Much of our self-assurance on this point is because, as noted in a new study of mine published by the Fraser Institute, homicides rates have always been higher in the United States than in Canada.

That remains true. But in recent years the homicide rate has actually been growing slightly more quickly in this country. The rate declined in both countries from the 1990s until 2014. By 2022, however, the latest year for which comparable data are available, both countries had higher homicide rates than they did in 2000. Between 2014 and 2022, our homicides per 100,000 population rose from 1.5 to 2.3 — an increase of nearly 53 per cent. Over the same period, the U.S. rate rose from 3.9 to 5.8 — an increase of 49 per cent. Our homicide rate is still less than half of theirs but it has been growing slightly more quickly.

During the same period, the rate of violent crime (murder, robbery, assault with a weapon, etc.) rose by just five per cent in the U.S., compared with 44 per cent in Canada.

As for property crime, from the late 1980s to 2008 rates of property crime (burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, etc.) were generally higher here than in the U.S. Our rates did fall below U.S. rates between 2008 and 2015 but they now again exceed U.S. rates. While property crime has continued to rise here, in the U.S. it has actually been falling: from 2014 to 2022, property crime per 100,000 people fell 24 per cent in the U.S. while rising seven per cent here.

When it comes to crime, the current picture in Canada clearly is not pretty. In the past few years, we’ve seen larger increases in the rates of both violent and property crime than in the U.S., a country synonymous in popular culture with violence and crime.

There are always caveats to international data comparisons, of course. There are regional differences both within and across the two countries. There are also issues with the comparability of crime rate data between the two countries because of differing crime classifications and definitions of crimes (though the study tries to adjust for these differences). Even so, since 2014 Canadian crime rates have been increasing faster than American rates.

 **

The government is aiming to find and “refocus” $15.8 billion in savings by 2027–28 and $4.8 billion per year thereafter. While it first looked at reducing organizations’ spending on consulting and travel, departments and agencies are now being asked to find additional savings.

 

(Sidebar: try here.)

** 

Among the provinces, during the same four-year period, the number of government jobs in British Columbia grew by 22% (the highest percentage in the country) compared to just 0.5% in the private sector. In Ontario, the number of government jobs grew by 14.6% compared to 4.8% in the private sector. Eight out of the 10 provinces experienced a faster rate of job growth in the government sector than in the private sector over the four years. Alberta was the only large province where the private sector had a faster rate of job growth (7.2%) than the government sector (4.4%).

**

  **

Once presenting itself as one of the world’s most welcoming countries to refugees and immigrants, Canada is launching a global online ad campaign cautioning asylum-seekers that making a claim is hard.
The $250,000 in advertisements will run through March in 11 languages, including Spanish, Urdu, Ukrainian, Hindi and Tamil, the immigration department told Reuters.
They are part of a broader shift in tone by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unpopular government on immigration and an effort to clamp down on refugee claims.
Migrants have been blamed for high housing prices, although some experts argue this is a simplistic explanation, and polls show a growing number of Canadians think the country admits too many newcomers.
The four-month campaign is budgeted to cost a third of the total spend on similar advertisements over the previous seven years.

 **

According to Giroux, the Trudeau government’s failure to yet release this year’s federal public accounts — which will report the final numbers for the 2023-24 fiscal year — “goes against fiscal transparency and accountability” that Canadians should expect. While budgets outline the government’s plan for spending and revenue each year, the public accounts tell us whether or not the government actually stuck to this plan. Typically, the federal government releases the public accounts in October. Yet we’re entering December and last year’s federal finances remain in question.

Provinces also release public accounts, and though they have in the past displayed a similar tardiness, this year every provincial government has released their public accounts well before the federal government.

Why is this important?

Parliamentarians are expected to make important decisions that affect revenues and spending, yet many of them currently do not have the necessary information to make decisions on behalf of their constituents. Moreover, the federal government makes important commitments—referred to as “fiscal anchors” — to help ensure the sustainability of Canada’s finances. The public accounts are a critical tool for both elected officials and the public to hold government accountable to those commitments. Simply put, these fiscal documents are how we determine whether or not the government is actually staying true to its promises.

Some observers claim the Trudeau government may be intentionally delaying the release of this year’s public accounts to avoid this scrutiny.

In its 2023 fall update, and again in the 2024 budget, the government promised to hold the 2023-24 deficit to $40.0 billion.

Yet a recent report from the PBO suggests the deficit will instead be $46.8 billion. Since the government might be forced to deliver bad news, Giroux suggested it could be delaying the release “to find a more appropriate time where it gathers less attention.” Those are not the actions of a transparent and accountable government.

The issue of delayed fiscal releases is not limited to the public accounts. The Trudeau government has also released federal budgets later than usual. For example, this year it released the 2024 federal budget on April 16. The budget presents the fiscal plan for the upcoming fiscal year that begins April 1, meaning the federal government didn’t release its plan until more than two weeks after the fiscal year had started. In fact, three of the last four budgets from the Trudeau government have been released after the fiscal year started.

Similarly, the Trudeau government has also heretofore failed to release this year’s fall economic statement, which provides a mid-year update on the government’s budget plan. Again, the government has pushed this release later into the year compared to the past. From 2000 to 2014, no fiscal update was released later than November 22. Yet the Trudeau government has delayed the release of this update into December twice so far (in 2019 and 2021.)

Canadians should expect their federal government to release important fiscal information in a timely and transparent manner. Unfortunately, transparency and accountability don’t appear high on this government’s list of priorities.

 **

Trudeau suffered a political near-death experience last month when a small caucus revolt appeared to be beginning. In a closed-door meeting, Trudeau even turned on the tears as he convinced his caucus he has a plan to pull the Liberal party back from the brink of electoral obliteration within a year. With a month to work on it, Trudeau released a grand plan to selectively give Canadians a two-month break on GST payments, while issuing cheques for $250 to selected Canadians at a cost of billions of dollars in April.

Liberal caucus members surely cried themselves to sleep upon realizing just how bad the bill of goods Trudeau sold them is.

Trudeau’s plan reeks of shallow political opportunism as he attempts to buy the love of Canadians with their own money. He has been doggedly claiming the GST break will help Canadians struggling with the purchases of necessities but the break doesn’t apply to necessities. Trudeau’s GST holiday applies to beer, fast food, crossword puzzles, and Christmas trees. It won’t exactly help people struggling to pay the rent.

The ill-conceived policy also drops an accounting nightmare upon retailers. Now, businesses must change their accounting and billing systems to temporarily offer a break on certain items, while leaving the tax alone on others.

In provinces with a blended sales tax system, the problem becomes even more nightmarish.

This foolish stunt will cost untold, cumulative millions in extra bookkeeping and accounting costs for small businesses already struggling in Canada’s lagging economy while offering negligible benefits through increased sales. People won’t change their spending habits for small purchases due to a 5% break and those making large purchases will just defer them until the two-month holiday. No new sales were created and few real savings are being realized for people.

The Trudeau payout in April is even more crass and simplistic than the GST holiday. The government will sink Canada over $4 billion deeper into debt and pay certain Canadians $250 each. Many senior citizens, disabled Canadians, students and other Canadians reliant on social services will not get the payment. In other words, Trudeau omitted the very people who would need such a payment the most while giving a cheque to others making as much as $150,000 annually. The payments shouldn’t be going out at all but if they must, they should target them to the people most desperately in need of them. Trudeau did the opposite.

 

I'm finding it hard to see where Pierre is wrong.



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