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Friday, July 18, 2025

NDP faces heat from Atlantica Party for promoting “rent-control government intervention cliché”

By
Caitlin Rose Morgante
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The Nova Scotia NDP will introduce permanent rent controls and build 1000 new affordable housing units in four years at an annual cost of $39.6 million.

The NDP received immediate pushback from Atlantica Party (AP) leader Jonathan Dean who told True North, “it is depressing but not surprising to see [the NDP] trot out the old-fashioned rent-control government intervention cliché.”

The announcement came in an August 3 media release in which the NDP criticized the Liberals for building “fewer than 200 new affordable housing units and…eliminating temporary rent controls leaving people vulnerable to skyrocketing rent increases.” 

The NDP’s housing promise is an integral part of their campaign for the upcoming August 17 provincial election. A recent poll conducted by Mainstreet research found that the NDP has 22% support, behind the Progressive Conservatives (30.3%) and Liberals (42.4%).

Nova Scotia NDP leader Gary Burrill claimed that “rent control is the best solution to ensure people can stay in their homes while supply increases.” Dean disagrees, saying that “Mr. Burrill’s statement is contradictory since rent control destroys supply, supply will not increase and upward pressure on rents will be greater. If you own a packet of land, why build affordable housing or rental units if rent control exists to limit your profits and create hassles with bad renters? Better to build condos or something else. Where is the supply increase?”

Halifax’s current vacancy rate of 1.9% is the second-lowest of all Canada’s major cities. Fraser Institute Economist Livio Di Matteo explained in 2019 that the two main reasons Canadian would-be renters are facing low vacancy rates is because of “rising demand and tight supply. And rent controls only exacerbate the situation.” 

Rent control “is good for politicians, good for current renters and bad for everyone else, especially people needing accommodation – it is a typical lazy political position that is bad for Nova Scotia overall – this is the type of bad political decision-making we want to eliminate,” said Dean.

AP worries that the artificial nature of affordable housing and rent control leads to problems such as saddling “landlords with unreasonable regulations.” AP instead advocates for a “common sense approach to affordable housing.”

“If there is a shortage of rental units and affordable housing, then AP will press cities to alter the municipal codes, so it is profitable to build them,” said Dean. He wants to “get the free market involved…simplify building codes, make rental codes more owner-friendly, encourage more private ownership, allow very low-cost mini-apartments, semi-dorm style living, pod sleepers, and very tiny homes, lower municipal charges and taxes.”

Election Readiness

By
Andrew Lawton
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After two years of criticizing Justin Trudeau’s government for being corrupt, fiscally irresponsible, and reckless, the Conservatives are now saying it’s too risky to have an election during a pandemic, and that Trudeau should focus his efforts on leading Canadians through the so-called “fourth wave.” True North’s Andrew Lawton says the Conservatives are either scared of losing or have bought into the COVID alarmism. Also, Andrew exposes a Trudeau-appointed senator’s history of pushing for online speech restrictions.

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CBC advertising revenue down 18% last year

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Canada’s state broadcaster lost 18% in ad revenue last year and is seeking to find “additional funding” to offset the loss.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the CBC Corporate Plan Summary 2021-2025 noted the network’s cash flow struggles. 

“Advertising revenue from conventional TV will continue to be under pressure,” wrote CBC management. 

The CBC also noted that “without additional funding, program spending in future years will have to be reduced to match available resources and some services will have to be reduced.”

CBC receives $1.2 billion a year in taxpayer dollars annually, which is its main source of income. Last year, the broadcaster reported a $204.8 million decline in advertising revenues when compared to the year prior. 

In their plan, the CBC bet on a surge in revenues from the Tokyo Olympics but it has yet to be seen whether the network’s dwindling viewership has matched its hopes. 

“The projections are based on a series of assumptions pertaining to key factors, e.g. the economy, media industry, rules and regulations, that are difficult to predict and are beyond our control,” the plan claimed. 

“Any changes to these factors may cause actual results to differ from the projections over the planning period.”

In recent years, CBC has struggled with dwindling viewership and retaining a sizable audience.  Last year, it was revealed that in 2019 CBC-TV viewership fell below 4% for the first time in history. 

Although the CBC’s popularity and financial viability continues to fall into the gutter, the Trudeau government has indicated that it may increase “funding support” for the ailing network. 

An April 20 briefing note titled Funding Support For The CBC, claimed that the government had concerns about the “immense pressure” on the broadcaster’s finances. 

Calgary doc who claims ‘no ties’ to Alberta NDP has donated nearly $20,000 to party

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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An outspoken Calgary doctor and frequent media go-to who has called on Albertans to topple the UCP government for lifting COVID-19 restrictions claims that he has no affiliation with the rival Alberta NDP despite donating nearly $20,000 to that party since 2014. 

In a tweet, Dr. Joe Vipond urged Albertans to “take to the streets” to take down Premier Jason Kenney’s government in response to the province’s decision to lift mandatory COVID-19 quarantines and other public health restrictions. Vipond also called for a “general strike.”

A “general strike” is a mass mobilization of workers in a community. Such a display would involve most public sectors and could deprive Albertans of health, education, care for children and seniors, social supports, and other government programs, just as the province begins to recover from a devastating year of lockdowns.

Vipond also demanded Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw resign for her role in lifting the restrictions. 

“It’s quite evident now that public health is not actually putting in policies to protect the health of the public. I think this is a travesty, and I think she should resign,” said Vipond during a protest earlier this week. 

Alberta elections finance data shows that a Joe and/or Joseph Vipond living in Calgary, Alberta has contributed $19,387.50 to the Alberta NDP in the last seven years. 

Vipond’s contributions include an $8,000 donation to a 2015 NDP campaign and another $4,000 campaign contribution in 2019. Vipond also made regular annual donations to the NDP ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 every year from 2014 to 2019.

When asked for comment, Vipond told True North that he had “no ties” to the NDP despite the tens of thousands in contributions. 

“I have no ties with the NDP other than past donations. As a strong supporter of climate action, I felt it was my duty as citizen (sic) to support a party that acknowledges and acts on the climate crisis,” Vipond told True North. 

Media outlets like CTV News, CBC and Global News have all quoted Vipond as a medical expert in response to the Alberta government’s changes without making any reference to his extensive political contributions to the NDP. 

True North reached out to UCP Executive Director of Communications and Planning Brock Harrison for comment on Vipond’s political contributions. 

“All Albertans are able to participate in the political process, and that includes donating to their party of choice. Nearly $20,000 in partisan political donations to the Alberta NDP speaks for itself. Readers can draw their own conclusions,” Harrison said in an emailed statement. 

“Membership in a political party is not publicly disclosed, so we can’t speculate on whether an individual is an NDP member. Only the NDP would be able to confirm that.”

On Twitter, Vipond has vehemently denied any claims that he is an NDP activist or has ties to the party. 

“Reference for me being a NDP activist doctor plz? Thanks for that. Otherwise this might be considered slander, if not true,” said Vipond in an Aug. 3 Twitter reply. 

“I am an independent practitioner with no ties to the NDP. If you have evidence to the contrary, feel free to produce it,” he also tweeted earlier that day. 

US senator slams Trudeau government’s silence on Cuba

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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US Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) chastised the Trudeau government for not speaking out enough about the ongoing human rights abuses and political upheaval in communist Cuba. 

While addressing a recent statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken which condemned the Cuban government’s actions with regard to democratic protesters, Menendez noted Canada’s “absence” on the international stage. 

“I am proud to see Secretary Blinken and the administration make that happen. I applaud those governments that joined Secretary Blinken, but I also note the absence of those, including Canada and Spain and the European Union,” said Menendez in the US Senate on July 28. 

“Does Canada place more priority on mining investments than it does on fundamental freedoms? I would hope not.  These universal principles should unite all of us.”

Since Cuban authorities began their brutal crackdown on pro-freedom protesters in recent months, critics have accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being wilfully blind to the communist regime’s human rights abuses. 

In response to a request to condemn the Cuban government, Trudeau didn’t have an unkind word to say about the communist regime saying that “Canada has always stood in friendship with the Cuban people.” 

While the United States placed sanctions on a number of Cuban government officials, Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister refused to say whether the Canadian government would be doing the same.

Trudeau’s tardiness with regard to condemning Cuba and other communist regimes is nothing new considering his past praise for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.  

Upon the death of Castro in 2016, Trudeau gave a glowing eulogy to the brutal dictator saying that he was a “legendary revolutionary and orator” who “made significant improvements” to his country. 

Others including NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have also had glowing words to say about Cuba’s communist regime and Castro in the past. 

Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole was the first to release an official statement condemning the Cuban government on July 15 following violent crackdowns by communist authorities. 

“While the Cuban people have taken to the streets to demand democratic freedoms, and basic necessities like food, water, and medicine, the leaders of Canada’s left-wing political parties have remained silent.” 

“The silence of these individuals, some of whom have praised the brutal dictators of the Cuban regime before, speaks volumes. Actions and words matter, especially when it is politically inconvenient to do so.”

Canadians divided on Trudeau’s performance, latest poll shows

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Fewer Canadians are satisfied with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s performance and the Conservatives are holding onto second place behind the Liberals, a new Leger web poll indicates.

The latest Leger poll revealed that Canadians remain divided over the performance of the Trudeau government. 46% of Canadians responded that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the Liberal government, while 49% indicated they were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

Voters were also asked: “If federal elections were held today, for which political party would you be most likely to vote?” 

36% of people polled indicated that they would cast their ballots for the Liberals, while 29% of respondents indicated that they would be voting for the Conservatives. This would give the Liberals at a 7 point advantage over the Conservatives. 

Although the Liberals have seen a 2% increase in their support since the last time Leger published a poll in mid-July, other pollsters have yet to corroborate such gains.

Additionally, the NDP also saw a small drop in support  with only 20% of those polled indicating that they would vote for the party. In comparison, the last Leger poll showed the NDP polling at 22%. 

The survey, which was conducted in partnership with the Association for Canadian Studies, surveyed 2,079 Canadians on their federal voting intentions. The poll was conducted using Leger’s online panel. A similarly sized random sample poll would have a margin of error of ±2.15%.

Leger is one of Canada’s largest polling firms and it regularly releases polls on Canadian federal politics as part of its North American Tracker series. 

Another poll published last week showed a smaller lead by the Liberals. According to the latest Angus Reid survey, the Liberals only have a 3% lead over the Conservatives.

Feds grant $1.2 billion in loans to 4,927 unidentified businesses

By
Caitlin Rose Morgante
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The federal Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) approved 100% loan guarantees of $1.2 billion to 4,972 unidentified businesses. The loans were disclosed in a recently released BDC report to the House of Commons finance committee.

The BDC is a crown corporation, is wholly owned by the federal government and is a major lender and investor in companies across Canada. Loans were approved through a Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program launched by cabinet in February 2021.

Companies that previously qualified for wage and rent subsidies and showed 50% revenue losses in three of the previous eight months before their application were eligible for 100% loan guarantees, as first reported by Blacklock’s reporter. 

Official estimates show that fifty-two banks and credit unions across Canada have enrolled in the program to date. Records show that loans reaching $6.25 million were made available to chain operators of hotels and restaurants. The program waives interest payments for a year, and the 4% loans have a decade-long repayment period.

Spokesperson for the United Here union representing hospitality workers Michelle Travis urged borrowers to be identified. On May 21, she told the finance committee “transparency is critical,” and that “the public should know because the government is absorbing the risk.” 

“Frankly there are a lot of programs that are out there at the federal level and we don’t know which companies are tapping them,” said Travis. “Which companies are getting low interest, fully-backed loans from the government? And how much are they getting?”

Finance minister Chrystia Freeland said that the loan guarantees were meant to help hard-hit employers “weather this storm and be ready for a robust recovery.” 

Freeland gave the impression that the loans were given due to hardships brought on by the pandemic, although evidence suggests that the BDC might be in no position to issue loans at all. 

In 2018, Ian Madsen of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy published a valuation of the BDC. Madsen raised concerns over the illiquidity of BDC’s assets. He concluded that “it is far better that private investors take on the risks that BDC is incurring.”  

Madsen told True North that the BDC pandemic loans “seem to be an instance of mission creep and political meddling, wherein the government has steered them into being a lender of last resort.”

FACT CHECK: Unifor attack ad full of misinformation about Erin O’Toole

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

In its latest hyper-partisan attack ad against the Conservatives, Unifor made several false and misleading claims about party leader Erin O’Toole. 

In “The 2021 O’Toole,” Unifor claimed that the CPC leader is planning on “cutting healthcare” and “cutting public service.” Additionally, Unifor stated that O’Toole’s policies were “engineered by big corporations.”  

Unifor provided little evidence to substantiate these claims. 

With regard to O’Toole’s position on healthcare, Unifor erroneously claimed that O’Toole supports cuts to healthcare. The sources provided on the Unifor website include one article from 2011 about the Stephen Harper government and another article that makes no mention of O’Toole’s position on healthcare. 

According to the Conservative party’s official recovery plan, O’Toole has actually made several pledges to fund healthcare initiatives including critical areas such as pandemic preparedness, strengthening Health Canada and ramping up domestic production of critical supplies and medicine. 

On the claim that the Conservative leader hopes to slash public services, Unifor pointed to his vote for the Harper government’s health spending plan in 2011. However, according to the CPC’s recovery program, O’Toole has a comprehensive approach to increasing public services for issues like mental health support. 

The plan includes a pledge to “boost funding to the provinces for mental health care” as well as creating a nationwide suicide prevention hotline. 

On the ad’s website, Unifor also claims that O’Toole wants to “rig the economy to benefit big corporations and the 1% over everyday Canadians.” 

According to Unifor, O’Toole’s opposition to the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was for the benefit of big businesses. As proof, the union cited an opinion piece by Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom. 

To date, O’Toole has never claimed to oppose pandemic support for Canadians but instead opposed CERB on the grounds that expensive government subsidies would harm small businesses and working-class Canadians.

On several occasions, O’Toole has criticized the “Ottawa knows best” approach of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as harmful for economic recovery. 

“The Prime Minister’s idea of leadership was to tell people to apply for the CERB instead of helping workers keep their jobs. He really must live in an ivory tower if he thinks that Canadians like that solution. People want to work, not wait around for government cheques,” said O’Toole in the House of Commons last November. 

In reality, CERB has been criticized for its high rate of fraudulent applications and its impact on the job market, which small businesses claim has had a negative impact on their ability to find and keep employees who would much rather receive government subsidies instead. 

True North reached out to Unifor for clarification and more evidence regarding these claims but did not receive a response.

Meet the left-wing lockdown authoritarians

By
Candice Malcolm
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Canada finally has a province willing to stand against the madness of endless lockdowns, media fear-mongering and irrational paranoia when it comes to COVID-19 but not everybody is happy.

While most Albertans are breathing a sigh of relief as the Kenney government lifts many COVID protocols, the left-wing lockdown authoritarians expressed anger at the government for daring to open and letting Albertans live their lives.

The global pandemic and ensuing lockdowns gave these busybodies a taste of unlimited power and control, and they liked it a little bit too much to simply let it go.

Candice Malcolm says it’s time to stop listening to the left-wing lockdown authoritarians and start living our lives again. Tune into The Candice Malcolm Show!

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Trudeau-appointed senator says Canada has “no democratic tradition” of free speech

By
Andrew Lawton
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One of Canada’s newest senators is on record supporting an online hate speech law like the one introduced by the Liberal government earlier this year, saying there is no such thing as unfettered free speech in Canada.

“Canada has no democratic tradition of unbridled free speech,” Senator David Arnot said in 2019. “Freedom of speech in Canada has always been freedom governed by limits recognized in law.”

Arnot’s comments were made before a hearing of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Far from being a neutral legal assessment of free speech rights in Canada, Arnot was actively calling on the government to introduce measures to restrict online speech.

Arnot, then serving as Saskatchewan’s human rights commissioner, said the repeal of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act by the previous Conservative government left Canadians with “little ability to protect themselves against online hate speech and discrimination since then.”

Section 13 allowed the Canadian Human Rights Commission to prosecute people for supposedly hateful comments made online. The section had a near-100% conviction rate before it was repealed under heavy scrutiny for limiting free speech.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals reintroduced section 13 earlier this year in Bill C-36, which prohibits online comments the government deems “likely to foment detestation or vilification of an individual or group of individuals on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.”

In Arnot’s testimony, he called for a revival of section 13, as well as independent prosecution rights for the Canadian Human Rights Commission to pursue cases without complainants.

In his testimony, Arnot said censoring online speech can, somehow, benefit free speech.

“Ironically, hate speech arises in public debates and can be very restrictive and exclusionary,” he said. “Legitimate debate in our democracy that is expressed in a civil manner encourages the exchange of opposing views. Hate speech is antithetical to that objective. It shuts down dialogue by making it difficult or impossible for members of a vulnerable group to respond, thereby stifling discourse. Hate speech that shuts down public debate cannot dodge prohibition on the basis that it promotes debate.”

Arnot did not provide a definition for hate speech or explain how it infringes on other people’s right to speak freely.

“Ideas are not the target; rather the mode of expression of the idea is the target,” he said. “A realistic view of modern society must inform free speech, discourse, and the limits thereon.”

Last week, government officials unveiled their plans to establish a digital safety commission to oversee social media companies and their compliance with the new online hate speech rules. Under the proposed regime, tech companies would have 24 hours to remove content flagged as illegal or face fines in the millions of dollars.

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