Government lockdowns to limit the spread of the coronavirus have led to a dramatic spike in the cost of food across Canada.
On Tuesday, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University’s Agri-food Analytics Lab told CTV that Canadian grocery bills have gotten much bigger due to the pandemic, increasing by as much as 4% this year.
“We actually are expecting the average household in Canada to spend not just 9.1% of their budget, but maybe 10.5%, perhaps even 11%,” he said.
The Agri-food Analytics Lab published a report suggesting food prices have increased 240% since 2000. The report determined that the cost of food has increased much faster than the rate of inflation of the past ten years.
Price increases can also be attributed to the increased cost for businesses to meet coronavirus restrictions.
Last week, Charlebois said that many products Canadians often buy have seen significant hikes.
“What’s more expensive since January are onions, oranges, carrots, produce — lots of vegetables are more expensive. Beef is up about — depending on the cuts — on average six to eight per cent, which is what we predicted.”
Throughout 2020, Canadians struggled to make ends meet as the government shut down the economy to limit the spread of coronavirus. In the spring, unemployment reached unprecedented highs.
A recent survey by Ipsos found that 43% of Canadians still reported being either unemployed or on a reduced income due to the pandemic.
While many Canadians are still struggling financially after the pandemic shut down the economy, some politicians and experts are already warning of another round of lockdowns as coronavirus cases rise in some parts of Canada.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens is urging the federal government for financial support to fund a $25,000 a day migrant worker isolation centre that has sat empty since the coronavirus pandemic subsided over the summer.
At the peak of the crisis, the centre held 191 people in isolation, however, that figure dwindled down to zero by September.
The centre was opened after a coronavirus outbreak was detected among agriculture workers near Kingsville and Leamington. It currently sits empty as Windsor has seen a limited amount of cases of the coronavirus in recent weeks. According to the latest weekly epidemiology report by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU), the region is “seeing low cases overall.”
“COVID-19 related hospitalizations and ICU occupancy is low,” writes WECHU.
“Day-over-day doubling time in Windsor-Essex is better compared to the province and nationally.”
According to the Windsor Star, Dilkens sent an appeal to Minister of Health Patty Hajdu and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair requesting the funds.
“Agricultural workers must have an avenue to isolate to prevent another COVID outbreak on farms that may threaten the progress made by the region,” wrote Dilkens.
“It is critical to protect this industry and the community in which it thrives. Given the unique and pressing needs in Windsor-Essex, we are seeking similar funding supports.”
The centre is being run out of a Windsor hotel and was originally operated by Ontario’s Emergency Medical Assistance Team. The province’s staff left town in August once the severity of the virus died down.
Since then, the Red Cross has managed the facility with funding from a federal grant which is destined to run out at the end of this month.
Only last week, Windsor city council signed off on taking over the centre’s operations but the municipality fears that they will run out of money soon without any intervention.
“If we get to the situation where the Red Cross leaves town or this entire thing runs out of money on the 30th without an alternative funding stream, then that’s going to be a problem,” said the mayor’s chief of staff Andrew Teliszewsky.
“We are now scrambling to sort out who’s going to pay for this going forward.”
The region employs approximately 8,000 to 12,000 temporary foreign workers. During prior outbreaks, two workers died as a result of the coronavirus.
Political correctness has a chilling impact on our culture and our society.
A silent majority may disagree with what they see and hear on the news, but they keep quiet because they fear losing their friends, their job and their livelihood over holding what a rabid mob considers the wrong opinion.
On today’s episode of the True North Speaker Series, Candice Malcolm sits down with Professor Gad Saad, who has been on the front lines battling this culture war for years and warns that if we don’t stand up for our core values like Truth and Freedom now, these values may soon be lost forever.
Dr. Saad says it’s time to treat this war as the serious threat that it is, start fighting back and to activate your inner Honey Badger.
Liberal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna has threatened social media companies with government regulation if they don’t act to combat hate and misinformation on their platforms.
On Monday night, McKenna tweeted out support for government intervention on social media in response to a story about measures the government of Quebec is taking to combat misinformation about Premier François Legault.
“I think there’s a lot that we can do, but the social media companies themselves need to step up. We don’t have to regulate everything but if you can’t regulate yourselves, governments will,” tweeted McKenna before tagging fellow Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault.
I think there’s a lot that we can do, but the social media companies themselves need to step up. We don’t have to regulate everything but if you can’t regulate yourselves, governments will. @s_guilbeaulthttps://t.co/O7PvYsWPH1
The Trudeau government has ramped up its rhetoric around regulating social media in recent weeks ahead of the speech from the throne which is scheduled for this Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Guilbeault said his government hopes to force social media companies to become licenced if they wish to continue to share Canadian news content on their websites.
“We’re going to put some fairness into the Canadian regulatory system, because right now there is no fairness. We have Canadian companies that have regulatory obligations and we have international web giants that have none. And that’s unsustainable,” Guilbeault said.
Guilbeault also praised a similar law floated by the Australian government, which would force platforms like Facebook and Google to pay royalties for news sourced in the country.
“We remain committed towards ensuring a comprehensive, more equitable digital regulatory framework here in Canada. That includes making sure that Canadian news organizations continue to inform and empower our communities,” tweeted Guilbeault.
“As for Facebook’s action, the Canadian government stands with our Australian partners and denounces any form of threats.”
In February, Guilbeault suggested that the Liberals would also require media companies to be licenced with the government. However, he later backtracked on the comments after public outrage.
“If you’re a distributor of content in Canada and obviously if you’re a very small media organization the requirement probably wouldn’t be the same if you’re Facebook, or Google. There would have to be some proportionality embedded into this,” Guilbeault said.
A newly-formed advocacy group has erected a billboard in the heart of Toronto with the hopes of raising awareness about Alberta’s economic contributions to Canada.
The billboard, located on Bay Street, uses Statistics Canada data to show that from 2007–2018, Alberta and Ontario have contributed $240 billion and $98 billion to Canada’s economy, respectively.
According to the group’s website, Fairness Alberta wants to deploy non-partisan advertising campaigns to inform more Canadians about why a strong Alberta would benefit the entire country.
The Toronto billboard notes that net federal spending to “the rest of Canada” (all provinces and territories other than Alberta and Ontario) amounted to $378 billion from 2007–2018.
“There’s a tremendous amount at stake as we navigate our way through the current crisis,” said Fairness Alberta Executive Director Dr. Bill Bewick.
“We want Canadians here on Bay Street and across the country thinking about how critical Alberta’s productivity has been to Canada’s economy and federal budgets.”
Fairness Alberta has also designed proposals to fix Canada’s equalization scheme, such as a reduction of annual net tax contributions that Alberta must make to the rest of the country.
“Equalization is extremely controversial and while it is only a part of Albertans’ $324 billion net federal contribution since 2000, we’ve presented reasonable reforms here that would significantly reduce that outflow while still providing support when provinces need it,” said Bewick.
According to a report by the Conference Board of Canada, Alberta is the province projected to endure the most financial consequences from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Alberta will be hardest hit this year as it contends with the combination of restrictions on activity to slow the spread of the virus and an unprecedented drop in the price and demand for oil,” claims a summary of the report.
The Globe and Mail published two pages of pro-China articles produced by a Chinese state-owned media outlet over the weekend.
On Saturday, the Globe and Mail’s print edition included a “China Watch” section, featuring rosy stories about China. Disclaimers at the bottom of each page announced that the content was “produced by the China Daily and distributed in the Globe & Mail.”
Globe and Mail runs two pages of upbeat stories on China; the content is produced by the China Daily pic.twitter.com/s2U6AhtlYG
Among the stories published include one about a Chinese festival dedicated to inclusiveness and about a foreign business that sees greater potential in China.
The China Daily is an English-language media outlet owned by the publicity department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Earlier this year the United States designated China Daily a “foreign mission” of the Chinese government, forcing disclosure of personnel and real estate holdings in the United States.
“For years, these so-called media outlets have been mouthpieces of the Chinese Communist Party and these Chinese outlets are becoming more aggressive,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in February.
It has been reported that the Chinese regime uses both its own media and media in other countries to influence public opinion abroad in their favour, a strategy one Chinese media executive called “borrowing a boat to go out to the ocean.”
In April, China Daily reporter Chen Weihua praised Health Minister Patty Hajdu after she defended China’s coronavirus data.
“Canadian Health Minister Hajdu is a role model,” he tweeted. “She is a disappointment to those paparazzi journalists and fearmongers.”
Chen’s remarks came after Hajdu claimed that there was no evidence China falsified its coronavirus statistics.
Chen would later say that Canada should trade Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou for Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor because Meng is a much more valuable prisoner.
The Globe & Mail did not respond to True North’s request for comment.
A February 2020 poll found that 78% of Alberta and Saskatchewan residents believe Ottawa “has lost touch with average people” from the two provinces.
And in a survey conducted by the Western Standard in May, 41% of Albertans stated they would either definitely or probably vote to secede.
While Laurentian elites ignore the West and the mainstream media deliberately paint this political movement in a negative light, increasing numbers of public figures – including prominent business leaders, top academics and popular politicians – are beginning to advocate for western independence.
You could be forgiven for thinking western separatism starts and ends with Justin Trudeau.
Although the election of Justin Trudeau and his failed environmental policies re-ignited the flames of separatism, the history between the West and Ottawa is much more complex. In fact, the history of disagreement and animosity between Ottawa and the West dates back as far as Confederation itself, when Sir John A. MacDonald’s National Policy created an artificial east-west trade corridor that was incredibly unpopular in Western Canada.
In 1905, the provinces we know today as Alberta and Saskatchewan were carved out of the Northwest Territories and officially joined Confederation. At the time, there was some debate over whether Alberta and Saskatchewan should join Canada separately, or together as one large province to be called Buffalo.
For largely partisan and political reasons, Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier did not want a large province that could one day compete and perhaps challenge the political clout of Quebec or Ontario, and so, he opted to carve out two separate and therefore weaker provinces.
Since then, for over one hundred years, there have been a series of concerns and grievances about unfair representation and policies that took advantage of Westerners for the benefit of Central Canada.
These concerns soared to new heights in the early 1980s, when Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau introduced the dreaded National Energy Program (NEP) – a sweeping attempt by the federal government to take control over the petroleum industry.
It was the most drastic and unilateral example of a government takeover of an industry in Canadian history.
The NEP had three main stated objections: to reduce Canada’s dependence on foreign oil by creating self-sufficiency in domestic oil supplies, to gain greater Canadian ownership in the oil industry, and, most controversially, to redistribute the wealth generated from the oil industry away from Alberta and towards the federal government in Ottawa and energy consumers in Central Canada. It accomplished this last objective through higher taxes, more resource royalties, and by taking a 25% stake in many privately owned oil and gas corporations.
Trudeau also imposed a set national price on a barrel of oil, which was markedly lower than the world price. This benefited manufacturers and consumers in Central Canada, while harming the ability of Alberta businesses to turn a profit.
This draconian shift in policy – aimed to take power and resources away from entrepreneurs, private companies and the local government in Alberta and hand it over to the federal government – caused anger and outrage.
Albertans overwhelmingly opposed this government takeover, and there was widespread outcry ranging from demands to cut off the eastern provinces and stop all shipments of oil, to calls for Alberta independence and western separatism.
By the time the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Trudeau’s tax-grabs were unconstitutional, it was too late. The industry had already been reduced to a shadow of its former self.
In the 1984 election, Conservative leader Brian Mulroney ran a campaign based on the simple promise of killing the NEP. He won a massive landslide victory, and then dismantled the final remnants of this disastrous program.
Mulroney won the most seats in every province in the country, every single riding in Alberta, and, to this date, is the last Prime Minister to win more than 50% of the total popular vote.
But the damage was done; the seeds of distrust and resentment towards the federal government had been fully sown in Alberta.
Since then, successive small-c conservative political parties with large constituencies in Western Canada made concerns around alienation and independence central to their platform and campaigns.
Preston Manning, leader of the newly created Reform Party famously ran on the slogan: “The West Wants In!” Rather than secede, the Reform Party wanted the West to be present and heard in Ottawa.
In 2001, Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day encountered disgruntled Westerners who were promoting separation. Day said in a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade, “it’s true there are small groups of people who are meeting in the West and they are talking about different options for the West.” “And yes, the ‘S’ word is being whispered,” he said.
Day, however, urged the separatists to work within the system, and asked them to “channel their energy of frustration to the hope of transformation.”
In 2006, after Canada’s two right-leaning parties merged and the Conservative Party of Canada won its first ever election, Prime Minister and Calgary MP Stephen Harper proudly declared “The West has wanted in and the West is in now.”
But under the very next government, led by Pierre Trudeau’s son Justin Trudeau, western separatism is back, and some argue the sentiment is stronger than ever.
As recently pointed out in a National Post column by Ted Morton (as part of a series promoting his new book co-authored by Tom Flanagan and Jack Mintz called Moment of Truth: How to Think About Alberta’s Future):
Since 1960, Ottawa has taken a net $630 billion out of Alberta. In just the last 10 years, the average annual net transfer out of Alberta has been $20 billion a year — years in which the Alberta government had multi-billion-dollar budget deficits.
Alberta’s jurisdiction over resource development has been eroded by federal policy encroachments such as Bill C-69 and the carbon tax.
Ottawa has vetoed, directly or indirectly, three new export pipelines: Northern Gateway, Energy East and Coastal GasLink. Others, such the Trans Mountain expansion, have been subject to costly delays — delays that could have been avoided if Ottawa had intervened.
The predictable result: a collapse of investor confidence and a $100-billion exodus of capital investment out of the Western Canadian energy sector. In Alberta, unemployment and bankruptcies have soared.
As the Trudeau government makes vague claims of “transitioning to a green economy” or “moving towards clean energy,” Albertans and Saskatchewanians are left wondering whether they will ever be treated fairly or have equal representation inside Canadian confederation.
So, what is the future of Confederation?
I hope you join me on Thursday September 24th when I’ll be moderating a debate between Dr. Barry Cooper and the Hon. Stockwell Day on the motion: Be it resolved: Alberta and Saskatchewan would be better off independent.
Arguing in favour of an independent Alberta and Saskatchewan is University of Calgary professor Dr. Barry Cooper.
Arguing in favour of Canadian federalism is former Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition the Hon. Stockwell Day.
Only True North Insiders will have the opportunity to watch this debate live and participate in an exclusive off-the-record Q&A with Barry Cooper, Stockwell Day and myself. Don’t miss this important conversation! Become a True North Insider today.
Toronto is ordering the city’s already-strained police force to focus on enforcing coronavirus gathering limits.
For the foreseeable future, police will be treating coronavirus measure enforcement as a “priority” and working in tandem with local public health officials.
“We will enforce provincial regulations in an effort to arrest the spread of COVID-19,”said General Manager of Toronto’s office of emergency management Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg during a press conference on Monday.
“Our coordinated enforcement teams are actively enforcing the amended gathering size restrictions. We are working together to achieve one overarching goal: Preventing the continued spread of COVID-19 in Toronto.”
In Ontario, the number of people who are allowed to be at outdoor and indoor gatherings have been reduced to 25 and 10 down from 100 and 50, respectively.
“We will enforce provincial regulations in an effort to arrest the spread of COVID-19,
“This is now a priority and we will prioritize resources collaboratively with the municipal licensing partners and public health,” said Toronto Interim Police Chief James Ramer.
Official police statistics show that gun-related incidents have gone up 16% when compared to the same period in 2019.
By the end of August, Toronto had seen upwards to 335 shootings in 2020.
Prior to the order to focus on enforcing coronavirus measures, Toronto Mayor John Tory signalled that he was moving forward with a plan to defund the city’s police force in response to recent protests over alleged systemic racism within law enforcement.
Part of Tory’s plan consists of implementing “alternative” methods to policing, finding ways to reduce the Toronto Police Service’s budget and addressing systemic racism within the police force.
“The financial implications arising out of the recommendations contained in this report are unknown at this time. If the recommendations are approved, financial implications – including for potential costs savings or re-allocations – will be assessed on an ongoing basis,” claimed the report by the Toronto Police Services Board.
China’s foreign ministry is thrilled that Canadian health minister Politburo Patty Hajdu is still parroting Chinese talking points. Also, the Globe and Mail published two pages of advertorial content straight out of China Daily, a newspaper run by the PR department of the Chinese communist party. China is ramping up its influence measures in Canadian politics, government and media, making it all the more important for Canadian institutions to push back against them, True North’s Andrew Lawton says.
Also, why Canadians need to care as much about our own Supreme Court as we do about America’s, and how the revolving door of the justice system claimed a couple of victims.
The Trudeau cabinet hopes to legally force Canadian companies abroad to follow a climate change code of conduct.
As reported on by Blacklock’s Reporter, the document titled Consulting Canadians On The Development of a Renewed Responsible Business Conduct Strategy hopes to make oil and resource companies to be “positive on the local environment.”
“The Government of Canada believes that wherever Canadian companies are operating, local communities including women, youth and Indigenous people must be meaningfully engaged and that the impact of the operations of a Canadian company abroad should be positive on the local environment,” claimed the notice.
If implemented the code would “enhance accountability” and “guide the government and Canadian companies that are active abroad in all industry sectors for the next five years.”
In 2019, the Liberals appointed Sheri Meyerhoffer to the role of Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise. Meyerhoffer is being paid $216,000-a year to review “claims of alleged human rights abuses arising from the operations of Canadian companies abroad in the mining, oil and gas and garment sectors.”
“You may have bad actors, but that is not every Canadian or every situation. I think broadly speaking, those are the norms that we follow. They’re the norms we promote,” said Meyerhoffer about her role.
The Liberal government is expected to introduce new green recovery measures this week when parliament returns.
According to Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, an “ambitious” plan is currently in the works.
“Part of my mandate is to develop an enhanced climate plan for Canada that will demonstrate clearly how we will exceed our 2030 targets. I have been working on that since the day that I was sworn in as environment minister. And some of that work has accelerated during this period,” Wilkinson told CBC News on Friday.
