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:
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%).
**
**
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.
