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Saturday, June 28, 2025

Average federal employee cost taxpayers $115,000 in 2019

By
True North Wire
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The average federal employee received $115,000 in wages and benefits in 2019 according to the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Originally reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the PBO released a report detailing how much federal employees cost the taxpayer on Thursday.

“In 2019 the average federal compensation per full-time equivalent (employee) was about $115,000,” including salary, bonuses and benefits.

“The government’s largest operating cost is its staff. Personnel spending accounts for roughly sixty percent of the federal government’s operating costs.” 

The report revealed that between 2006 and 2019, federal labour costs increased by 3.5% annually on average, meanwhile the inflation rate during that same period was just 1.7%.

The total number of employees also increased from 335,000 to 369,000, an increase of around 10%.

“Over the past twelve years, growth in personnel spending was mainly due to higher spending per employee, not hiring growth,” said the report. 

“Salaries and wages contributed the most to cost increases, but were not the fastest growing category.”

In 2015, it was estimated that government employees make between 18-37% more than private employees in similar positions. It was also found that government employees get more time off for personal reasons than private sector employees.

While the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing recession put millions of Canadians out of work and threatened thousands of businesses, the public sector has seen increased wages and benefits.

Between March and May, a quarter of federal employees took paid leaves which cost taxpayers $439.3 million.

In July, it was announced that 94,000 federal employees would receive a 6.64% pay hike through a new collective bargaining agreement.

In September, it was revealed that the CRA’s 29,000 employees would receive a 10% pay hike next year.

Ontario couple thanked by Kenney for donating to Alberta

By
True North Wire
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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney wrote a letter to thank a Ontario couple after they donated to the Alberta government earlier this year.

Kanji and Susie Nakatsu, a retired couple from Kingston, say that they sent the Alberta premier’s office a cheque for $1,000 after hearing how hard Alberta was being affected by low gas prices in April.

“Yes, the Government of Alberta cashed our cheque but only after contacting us about what to do with the funds,” Kanji Nakatsu told the Whig-Standard. 

“We told them that they would know best about how to use the money and that they should decide. Eventually, they gave it to a charity that would help people affected by the downturn in their economy.”

Nakatsu said the Alberta government created a program for out-of-province donations, and that the province matched their donation to the Calgary Foundation.

“We just thought they would know best as to what should be done with it,” Kanji said. 

“It sounded like a good program to us.”

After the donation was sent, the Nakatsus received a hand-written letter thanking them for their donation.

“I’m truly moved that you would think to offer such a practical expression of solidarity during such a challenging time for our province,” Kenney wrote.

Kenney told the Nakatsus that he was very proud that his government donated excess personal protective equipment to Ontario while that province was struggling to manage the coronavirus pandemic.

The Alberta economy has struggled throughout 2020 as oil prices remain stubbornly low. In April global oil prices went negative, threatening the very existence of the Canadian energy sector.

At least one other Ontarian donated to Alberta around the same time.

Earlier this year, True North released an investigative documentary titled Calgary in Crisis to highlight the struggles Calgarians have had to deal with financially and socially. 

The documentary contains exclusive interviews by True North founder Candice Malcolm with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, and Dragon’s Den star Brett Wilson, among others. 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=938047766612338&extid=wti0pfzmbUf2rNhk

Liberal government spent $11.3 million in taxpayer funds on polling

By
True North Wire
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The Liberals have spent over $11.3 million in taxpayer funds for opinion polls while in government. 

An annual report by Public Services and Procurement Canada reveals that the federal government hired polling firms to conduct 121 different research projects. Part of the cost includes $1 million spent towards yearly subscriptions. 

“In total, the government awarded contracts for custom public opinion research services to 30 research firms. These firms delivered various research services, ranging from survey data collectionto full qualitative and/or quantitative research services (research design, data collection, analysis and reporting),” claims the report. 

“Thanks to these new insights, the government becomes better equipped to adapt its communications approach, policies or programs that consider the views and interests of Canadians from all regions of the country and from all segments of the population. These segments include women, Indigenous Peoples, members of visible and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ2 communities.”

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada recorded the highest amount of spending for opinion polls. The departments spent over $2.8 million on 24 different research projects. 

The highest paid polling supplier by the Liberals was The Earnscliffe Strategy Group Inc. which was awarded over $1.2 million for their services on 9 different projects. 

Since 2016, spending on polling has nearly tripled from $3.8 million to $12.5 million. 

In comparison, spending by the previous Conservative government showed a declining trend in money spent on opinion polls. 

Chinese ambassador says bringing manufacturing jobs back to Canada impossible

By
True North Wire
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According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Ambassador Cong Peiwu recently told viewers on a webinar that attempts to bring manufacturing jobs back to Canada from China would be futile.

Cong inferred that countries should accept the Chinese version of globalization.

“Some forces and even some countries, some governments, are taking advantage of the outbreak to try to stop the globalization,” he said.

“I don’t think it is the right choice, because globalization is in keeping with the trend of the times, you know.” 

“It’s moving forward. It’s like the ocean, for the economy of all the countries.”

Cong’s remarks appeared to be targeting those who have argued that Canada needs to be less dependent on Chinese products, particularly personal protective equipment.

In August, the Ontario government worked with 3M to start producing N95 masks in Brockville,  reducing Canada’s dependence on China and the United States for the vital product.

Over the weekend, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole announced his “Canada First” economic plan. O’Toole’s plan would ensure key pandemic supplies are produced in Canada. O’Toole has also promised to take a harder line on China on the world stage.

“We have to put Canadian working families first,” O’Toole told CBC. 

“I’m going to do that, from trade to our own domestic economic response post-COVID.”

In 2019, Canada had a $50 billion trade deficit with China. 

Ambassador Peiwu has enthusiastically supported China’s communist regime at public events since his appointment in 2019.

Earlier this year, he called Western media outlets “fake news” for reporting on China’s egregious  human rights abuses against its ethnic and religious minorities.

In March, Peiwu stated that any Canadian support for China during the coronavirus pandemic would not help repair relations between the two countries.

Western Canada lawmakers must stop Liberal “green recovery” plan, says advocacy group

By
True North
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A Western Canada advocacy group is pleading for Alberta and Saskatchewan politicians to protect the natural resources sector from radical Liberal environmental plans.

On Tuesday, the Buffalo Project wrote a letter to Western Canadian politicians warning that the Trudeau government’s plan for a “green recovery” risks destroying the economy in the West.

“The ‘Green Recovery’ plan promised by the West’s representative in cabinet, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, may be the undoing of our industries as we know it,” the letter reads.

“To date, strategic lip service has been paid to modern agriculture and natural resource development while the Liberal government in the House of Commons has slowly undermined our ability to attract investment and build sustainable businesses.”

It is widely expected that the Trudeau government will announce a “green recovery” plan as part of the September 23 throne speech, which stipulates economic recovery after the pandemic must meet federal environmental goals.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been secretive about his “ambitious green agenda,” one Liberal insider told the CBC that the cost of these new promises are “on a scale we haven’t seen before.”

The Buffalo Project claims that Trudeau may initiate a program as disastrous for Western Canada as the National Energy Program was, a program created by Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the ‘80s.

According to the Buffalo Project, Western politicians and senators have the potential to disrupt the green recovery plan, if they band together.

“The group of senators across Alberta and Saskatchewan could wield great power if acting as a united voice,” the letter states.

“Now, the promised remaking of the country’s socio-economic structure, we worry, will be the final nail driving our economy and way of life into the ground.”

Buffalo Project spokesman Derek Robinson said that given this unprecedented moment in Canadian history, Western premiers, MPs and senators need to act to protect their region’s interests.

“Everyone feels this is a crucial point in history,” he said.

“It’s time those MPs not focus on what’s best for the country, but what’s best for the West… to start acting like westerners, not Canadians.”

BC Supreme Court says restrictions on private healthcare are not unconstitutional

By
True North Wire
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British Columbia’s Supreme Court dismissed a decade-long legal challenge seeking to lift restrictions on private healthcare alternatives in the face of long wait times.

The case, Cambie Surgeries Corporation v. British Columbia, was first filed by Dr. Brain Day in 2009 alongside a number of his patients and it made it to trial in the BC Supreme Court in 2016. 

Dr. Day is a longtime orthopedic surgeon who runs Vancouver’s private Cambie Surgery Centre.

Dr. Day opened the centre in 1996 to allow surgeons to access operating room time when it wasn’t available in public hospitals.

Justice John Steeves released the 800-page long-ruling on Thursday afternoon, deciding against Dr. Day’s and the other plaintiff’s arguments.

The Cambie Surgery Centre filed a constitutional challenge against the British Columbia government in 2009, arguing a number of provisions of the Medicare Protection Act violate the Charter rights of patients.

In particular, the action sought to strike provisions of the act that ban BC doctors from working in both public and private systems, as well as the ban on obtaining health insurance for services covered by the provincial healthcare plan.

“I have found that the impugned provisions do not deprive the right to life or liberty of the patient plaintiffs or similarly situated individuals,” wrote Justice Steeves.

“Specifically, the impugned provisions are not arbitrary, overbroad or grossly disproportionate. There is a rational connection between the effects of the impugned provisions and the objectives of preserving and ensuring the sustainability of the universal public healthcare system and ensuring access to necessary medical services is based on need and not the ability to pay.”

The plaintiffs include British Columbians who say their lives have been negatively affected by BC’s ban on accessing private care.

Dr. Day has maintained that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees Canadians the right to access private healthcare if the public system is burdened by long wait times.

The four-year trial wrapped in February. Despite the significance of this decision, the case is almost certainly headed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The federal Supreme Court ruled in the 2005 Chaoulli case that Quebec residents were owed access to healthcare outside the government system, but this case was decided based on Quebec’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms rather than the federal constitution, so it was never implemented outside of Quebec.

Dr. Day’s challenge targeted certain portions of B.C’s Medicare Protection Act including prohibitions against patients using their own money to access private care. 

The ruling could have widespread implications for Canada’s public healthcare system.

Medicare proponents have opposed Cambie’s case as they believe increased choice for patients weakens the public healthcare system.

“This case threatens health care for everyone in Canada,” said a statement by the BC Health Coalition. 

Critics have accused Dr. Day of trying to create an opportunity for physicians to earn more money through a two-tier healthcare system which would privilege those who can afford more efficient medical attention. 

2020 BCSC 1310 Cambie Surge… by Andrew Lawton

Ep 11 | Rex Murphy | Refusing to be cancelled

By
Candice Malcolm
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

In the premiere episode of season two of the True North Speaker Series, Candice Malcolm sits down the legendary Rex Murphy. For decades, Rex has provided a much needed dose of common sense in a world where good sense is anything but common.

Rex is an icon of Canadian journalism and despite countless attempts by the mob to cancel Rex, the mob can’t seem to close the deal. Rex isn’t afraid to stand up to the mob and he refuses to be a victim of cancel culture.

In this exclusive interview, Candice and Rex discuss a wide range of issues including the Trudeau government and its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the media landscape over the past several decades and the totalitarian impulses on the left.

Majority of Canada’s restaurants could face permanent closure in November

By
True North Wire
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Government data shows that over 60% of all restaurants within Canada could close permanently in November. 

“The Canadian Survey on Business Conditions (CSBC), produced by Statistics Canada with support from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, found that 29% of accommodation and food service businesses cannot operate at all with social distancing measures in effect,” writes an Our Restaurants press release. 

Our Restaurants is a campaign organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in association with various food and beverage industry leaders.  

“A further 31% will only able to remain operational for up to 90 days with distancing measures in effect. In other words, up to 60% of the industry could fail within three months,” the statement goes on to say. 

In recent weeks, health officials have been warning Canadians that some form of a second coronavirus lockdown could be possible should cases continue to surge and prevention measures are not followed.

“Right now is manageable, we can detect our cases, but this virus, as I’ve said, is in our backyards. So we can’t let our guards down,” said Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam. 

Recently, British Columbia forced nightclubs and banquet halls to shut down due to a spike in cases within the province. 

“It is the time for all of us to cut back on our social interactions,” said BC’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

“Despite weeks of effort by public health teams, these venues are still the source of significant risk to everybody in British Columbia.”

Trudeau won’t say if he has a plan to reduce the deficit

By
True North Wire
-

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won’t speak to whether or not he has a plan to reduce Canada’s massive deficit.

At a press conference Wednesday, Trudeau did not answer directly when asked if Canadians can expect a fiscal anchor announced at the throne speech on September 23.

“I know people are eager to see what’s going to be in the throne speech and I’ve been very clear it’s going to be an ambitious, responsible plan for helping Canadians right now and building a stronger future for us all into the coming years,” Trudeau said.

“The values and principles that underpin it should be obvious to everyone because they are the things this government has remained focused on from the beginning.”

When asked again about fiscal policy, Trudeau didn’t divulge any more details.

“Our principle from the very, very beginning has been we will be there for Canadians,” Trudeau replied.

“Every step of the way we will continue to be there for Canadians.”

Over the weekend, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux warned that Canada’s deficit will become unsustainable within 1–2 years on the current financial path.

In 2020, the federal deficit went from a projected $28.1 billion to nearly $400 billion. 

While Trudeau has not said whether his government will reduce the deficit or not, he has previously stated his government is not considering tax hikes to make up the difference.

“As the crisis is evolving and we are in months three, four, five, six and seven of this crisis, I think it’s reasonable for Canadians to expect more from the government in terms of what’s the plan going forward,” said Giroux.

While Trudeau has remained quiet on what will be announced in the throne speech, he has hinted at ambitious plans to “reimagine Canada.”

WE Charity abandons Canadian operations

By
True North Wire
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WE Charity announced Wednesday it will be shutting down its Canadian operations in the wake of the federal student service grant scandal. 

“Through decisive action to preserve our savings, sell our assets and establish an endowment, we hope to sustain global projects for the long-term, like our hospital, college and agricultural learning centre that meet critical needs of children and families,” said WE co-founder Craig Kielburger in a statement. 

In July, it was revealed that the Trudeau government handpicked WE to administer the $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program.

Critics accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of cronyism in the decision to pick WE. Several members of Trudeau’s family, including his wife, mother and brother, have benefited financially from close ties to the charity.  

During their testimonies before the Standing Committee on Finance, Marc and Craig Kielburger revealed that Trudeau’s mother Margaret Trudeau was paid $479,944 for WE speaking engagements.

In his own testimony, the prime minister denied any wrongdoing in the affair, suggesting that the civil service was responsible for the choice. 

“There was never any direction by or attempt to influence from me or my staff that the public service recommend WE Charity,” said Trudeau.

However, a trove of documents disclosed by the federal government show that the prime minister’s office had a hand in directing the civil service to choose WE to administer the funds. 

“We are saddened by these developments. This year marks the 25th anniversary of WE Charity Canada. We planned to launch an endowment this year, but not in this way,” said co-founder Marc Kielburger on WE’s decision to abandon operations in Canada.

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s investigation into the prime minister’s actions in the WE Charity scandal is ongoing.

If found guilty, Trudeau will have a third ethics violation under his belt.

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