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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

ANALYSIS: Manitoba is regulating machetes, could national knife control be next?

By
True North Wire
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Chief Angela Levasseur of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in remote northern Manitoba has a big knife problem. Machetes — foot-long, bush knives popular with campers and farmers — have become the weapon of choice for young gang members terrorizing her 3,500-member reserve.

“Over the last two years we have seen a really high level of machete crimes committed by youth and on youth in our community,” she said from Nelson House, 850 km northwest of Winnipeg. “It’s just too easy for anyone to possess a machete.” That’s now changing.

Due in part to Levasseur’s lobbying, Manitoba recently passed Canada’s first machete law. The Long-Bladed Weapon Control Act regulates the sale of any knife longer than 30 cm. Since the beginning of the new year, sales are now restricted to people 18 years and older, purchasers must show photo ID and retailers must track sales.

Based on the demands of advocates such as Levasseur, this may only be the beginning of new knife control measures in Canada — all troublingly modeled on our long and fruitless attempt at controlling guns. 

The province claims its new law will keep big knives out of the hands of young criminals. That seems unlikely. Once the act takes effect, it will still be legal for an 18-year-old to buy an arm-full of machetes and hand them out to fellow gang members. Tougher measures require changes to the federal Criminal Code.   

Ottawa is now being pushed in that direction. Coincident with Manitoba’s new law and following a series of horrific knife attacks in Vancouver, B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma recently wrote to her federal counterpart asking that machetes be declared a “prohibited weapon,” which would amount to a permanent ban.

And in Manitoba, Levasseur is already lobbying for stricter rules, including a higher minimum age and a requirement that all machetes come with a serial number, allowing for a central knife registry. She also wants rules on safe storage. “Just like how gun owners have to safely store their rifles, I think people who buy machetes should have to lock them up as well,” Levasseur said.

To most Canadians the idea of comprehensive knife control likely sounds utterly impractical. A national knife registry? A requirement that you lock up your chef’s knife every night after chopping vegetables? Don’t be absurd.

Yet experience in Britain reveals what can happen when politicians lose their minds over knives.

Since the 1980s it has been illegal in the U.K. to be in public possession of a fixed-blade knife longer than three inches. Naked razor blades have been illegal since the 1990s. This year the new Labour government announced a full prohibition on large machetes described as “zombie-style” knives.

Despite decades of progressively stricter laws against knives, however, Britain is still plagued by stabbings. In August the lobby group Action On Armed Violence (AOAV) released a report titled “Knife crime on the rise in the UK”. It revealed a seven per cent rise in knife violence in 2023 over the previous year and 20 per cent growth in robberies involving knives since 2019. “I don’t think knife crime is going to go away anytime soon,” said Iain Overton, executive director of AOAV.

The reason, Overton observed, is that knife crime is largely the domain of “young men with a lot of time on their hands and a lot of pent-up rage.” In the 1980s, it was knife-wielding soccer hooligans, today it’s street gangs of young immigrants from Africa. “This presents some really thorny issues in dealing with why these young black men are drawn to violence,” Overton said. “Some problems are just so enormous that they seem insurmountable. So what does the government do? It says ‘let’s ban knives.’”

A similar sense of cynicism hangs over Manitoba’s new law. While it’s easy to have sympathy for Levasseur’s situation, her solutions make little sense. Indigenous youth confined to a remote northern reserve with nothing to do and plenty of extant anger will inevitably look for ways to cause public havoc. Knives are simply the easiest means to achieving that end, not the cause of the violence itself.

As for using gun control as our guide, keep in mind that homicides by shooting hit an all-time high in Canada in 2022. Trying in any comprehensive way to control knives — which are far more ubiquitous and useful than firearms — will simply make life more difficult for ordinary, law-abiding citizens without significantly impeding criminals. The real cause of our recent panic over knives is not blades that are suddenly sharper or longer but a lax legal system that fails to properly deter crime.

While large bush knives may be the weapon of choice for young gangs today, in their absence, smaller knives will do just as well. As will baseball bats, brass knuckles, vials of acid or sharpened crowbars. Criminality lies in the inclination of the criminal, not their methods or tools.

Peter Shawn Taylor is senior features editor of C2C Journal, where a longer version of this story first appeared.

The Candice Malcolm Show | Trump launches ECONOMIC WARFARE on Canada (With Keean Bexte)

By
Candice Malcolm
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Source: Facebook

True North’s Candice Malcolm and The Counter Signal’s Keean Bexte are LIVE to discuss President Trump’s 25% tariff and Canada’s response.

Canada hits back at U.S. with retaliatory tariffs

By
Noah Jarvis, True North Wire
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Source: PM.GC.CA

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian products, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would respond in-kind.

Canada will place retaliatory tariffs on $155 billion of American goods, including alcohol, clothing, appliances, and food products, Trudeau said. The first wave, $30 billion, will start Tuesday, with the remainder following in 21 days, which Trudeau said was for Canadian businesses to have time to find alternative suppliers.

Trump had been threatening the sweeping tariffs since before he was sworn in as president. They were originally expected the day of his inauguration. Trudeau said Saturday night he has been unable to reach Trump since the inauguration but hopes to be able to speak to him soon.

Trump also ordered a 25 per cent tariff on Mexican imports and 10 per cent on products from China.

“Access to the American market is a privilege,” the White House said in a statement Saturday.

Trump said the tariffs are in response to an inflow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants from Canada, as well as what he says is America’s substantial trade deficit with Canada.

In an address Saturday evening, Trudeau appealed to Americans to recognize the longstanding bond between Canada and the United States, referencing times Canadian and American soldiers have fought alongside each other. He also stressed the integrated trade relationship between the two countries, insisting the tariffs will hurt both Canadians and Americans.

Trump has indicated the tariffs on Canada will remain in place until Canada resolves its border security and problems with fentanyl trade.

“The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency,” the White House said, adding that the tariff will last “until the crisis is alleviated.”

The Canadian government has put $1.3 billion into border security measures since facing the threat of tariffs after Trump won the election in November.

Canadian officials have repeatedly stated that less than one per cent of illegal border crossings and fentanyl flowing into the United States come from Canada, but the message has fallen on deaf ears.

“There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada,” the White House said. “A recent study recognized Canada’s heightened domestic production of fentanyl, and its growing footprint within international narcotics distribution.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. Saturday to lay out Canada’s response to the tariffs. Trudeau also said he will meet with provincial premiers.

Trudeau has previously said he is prepared to respond with force, including retaliatory tariffs.

The Alberta Roundup | Alberta COVID report draws ire of “experts” and media

By
Isaac Lamoureux
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While the Trudeau government and most of Canada’s premiers continue to push for a tit-for-tat trade war with the U.S., Alberta Premier Smith continues to think of innovative ways to prevent U.S. tariffs. This week, she called on the federal government to appoint a Canadian border czar to work with the U.S. to secure our borders. Will the feds listen?

Plus, Alberta’s COVID Response Report was released this week and among its various recommendations, it urges the provincial government stop providing vaccines for healthy children and teenagers. The same “experts” who pushed for mandatory vaccines are dismissing the report, calling it “anti-science” and “anti-evidence.”

And as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to deport temporary residents carrying out violent or hate crimes in Canada, Alberta updated its antisemitism curriculum in response to the rise in anti-Jewish hatred worldwide following Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israeli citizens.

These stories and more on The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux!

Trudeau government delays capital gains tax hike after taxpayer backlash

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

Canadians concerned about the capital gains tax increase will be able to breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

The Liberals announced on Friday that the capital gains tax hike will be deferred until next year.  Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc said that the deferral will provide certainty to Canadians as the tax season approaches.

“Given the current context, our government felt that it was the responsible thing to do,” he said.

The postponement comes one week after the Canadian Taxpayers Federation began a legal challenge against the Canada Revenue Agency to stop them from enforcing a capital gains tax hike that had not gone through Parliament. 

Legal counsel for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Devin Drover, said the CRA pushing the tax hike violated the constitution and was “illegal and undemocratic.”

Federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, told True North that taxpayers nationwide forced the Liberals to back down.

“It’s Parliament’s job to approve tax increases. But the government failed to introduce the legislation, debate the legislation, pass the legislation or proclaim the legislation into law. And with an election right around the corner, it likely never will,” he said. 

Terrazzano said that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation taking the Liberals to court over the illegal tax hike was an important factor in the recent delay.

“We aren’t going to let unelected bureaucrats take more money from Canadians through an illegal tax grab. The government knew it was wrong, and we are right,” he said.

The capital gains tax change would raise the inclusion rate for capital gains tax from 50% to 66.7% on amounts exceeding $250,000. The Liberals estimated receiving an extra $19.4 billion in revenue from raising the tax.

A previous report highlighted that the capital gains tax hike could cost around $90 billion in lost GDP and the loss of 414,000 jobs — resulting in a 3% real per capita GDP decline.

The taxpayers’ advocacy group called the delay a huge win for Canadian taxpayers but said the fight isn’t over.

“Taxpayers across Canada forced the Trudeau government to back down from enforcing this illegal and undemocratic capital gains tax hike this year, but the fight will continue until the policy is scrapped completely,” said Terrazzano.

Terrazzano confirmed that the court fight isn’t over either. He said the federation will keep fighting back in the court of public opinion and the court of law.

“We will keep pushing to establish a firm precedent: no taxation without representation,” he said. 

Even Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland has turned against the capital gains tax. Despite implementing the tax herself, she began her campaign by backtracking on the capital gains tax and the carbon tax. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he would reverse the capital gains tax hike if he wins the next federal election.

Over half of small businesses warned they would be negatively affected, while almost a quarter of Canadians said the same.

Now that the hike is delayed until at least Jan. 1, 2026, the next federal election—expected before Oct. 2025—will occur before it can be implemented. 

Why different pollsters are showing drastically different support levels for the Liberals

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

Public opinion polling has consistently shown massive support for the Conservatives, with a double digit lead over the Liberals for months. But two pollsters in recent weeks have painted a rosier picture for the Liberals, even as their competitors continue to show a massive lead.

Mainstreet Research and Ekos are showing a surge in support for the Liberal Party of Canada following the resignation of Justin Trudeau and the launch of the Liberal leadership race.

An Ekos poll reported a dip in federal Conservative support to 38.5 per cent and a dramatic spike in support for the Liberal Party of Canada to 31.7 per cent – a significant narrowing of the Tory lead to 6.8 per cent.

Ekos conducted two surveys using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology to ask respondents over the phone and through text about their voting intentions if an election was held.

This is a dramatic shift from what polling aggregator 338 Canada has reported from other national polls around the same time period. The latest national polling aggregate, updated Sunday, shows the Conservatives winning 45% of the popular vote and forming a majority.

The polling aggregate shows Conservatives up 23 points ahead of the Liberals still. A recent Nanos poll measured a shift in support for the Liberals but still showed the Conservatives with a 17 point lead.

Ekos president Frank Graves told True North he is highly confident in Ekos’ results. He said the results were assembled with large nightly samples using random probability methods.

“Trend lines were vivid and clear and showed very high stability over the past two weeks,” he said.

Graves thinks the apparent discrepancy comes from other polls selecting earlier fielding dates, saying opinions could have changed based on Trump’s inauguration, threatened tariffs and a hopeful change in Liberal leadership.

“We, for example, had a CPC lead of 25 points only a month ago, which was pretty consistent with the moving average of other pollsters at that time,” Graves said.

Ekos reported that in Ontario, Conservatives are now only leading the Liberals by one point in the polls with 40% support. Graves pointed out that Mainstreet Research’s Ontario polling about the federal election reflects a similar trend.

According to the Mainstreet Research poll conducted over the phone from Jan. 25 to 26, the Liberals were ahead of the Conservatives in Ontario by two points. Among all voters, Conservatives had 34% support to the Liberals 36%. Mainstreet Research had a 3.2% margin of error 19 times out of 20.

Robert Martin, a senior data analyst at Mainstreet Research, told True North in an interview that its survey was not a national survey and, as such, was not included in the 338 Canada aggregate data. 

He echoed the point that apparent discrepancies could result from data from earlier dates, too. He said pollsters such as Nanos, which is behind a paywall, for example, merge data over several weeks and, as such, won’t catch a change in perception immediately.

“I think in the next few weeks, you’re going to start to see some real movement towards liberals and other polls that are released as well,” he said.

Martin said calling potential voters over the phone allows for the entire population of Canada to be surveyed as opposed to an online sample which relies on an opt-in survey panel. He said those who did a survey a week prior are less likely to report a change of mind.

Martin suspects the flip in Ontario support is indicative of a national trend.

“I don’t think Ontario would be alone in showing a surge towards the Liberals,” he said. “We’ve had massive conservative leads in Ontario to now functionally a tie in our most recent provincial pool, that’s a big deal, that’s a big movement.”

Before Trudeau’s resignation, Mainstreet Research would ask respondents if they would vote for the Liberal government “under Justin Trudeau” or Conservatives “under Pierre Poilievre,” but now simply ask about supporting the Liberals under “a new leader.”

One Persuasion pollster Hamish Marshall says IVR polling should be taken “with a grain of salt.”

“What IVR technology is often very good at, in my experience, is detecting the movement of the parties but it gets the amount of movement wrong. So if IVR shows a big 10-point swing for a party, it probably means they’re up two or three points,” Marshall said. “We’ve seen that time and time again with IVR as a methodology.”

Marshall also said the Ekos sample vastly overrepresented people with university education, which likely skewed the results.

Abacus poll data differs

David Coletto, the founder, chair and CEO of Abacus Data, told True North in an interview that his most recent polling data contradicts that of Ekos and Mainstreet Research.

He said his national polling data from January 22 to 26, after Trump’s inauguration and after the primary candidates for the Liberal leadership race were announced, show Conservatives maintaining  a 21-point lead over the Liberals, with 43% support. 

He also said in Ontario, the Conservatives are still ahead by 15 points; however, the complete survey data were not available at the time of publication.

Coletto said he thinks the discrepancy between the polls lies in the over-the-phone survey method employed at Ekos and Mainstreet Research, though the two vary slightly.

The over-the-phone method gets responses from the most motivated people in Canada, Coletto claimed. Both pollsters agree that the IVR method has a lower response rate than an online panel does. Coletto thinks the type of people who are more likely to take the calls are people passionately engaged in politics at that moment, which could skew results.

“I think (the IVR method) is capturing, not necessarily a widespread change in public opinion, but an increase in enthusiasm among Liberal-oriented Canadians, right now,” Coletto said. “I think for the first time in quite a while, if you’re somebody inclined to vote Liberal right now, you’re probably more engaged than in a long time.”

He said the Liberal leadership race and Trump in the White House “aggravates and energizes” Liberal-oriented Canadians, which is leading to more Liberal voter engagement over the phone.

Coletto said that despite Abacus polls not seeing a dramatic change like the over-the-phone method pollsters, there has still been a measurable shift in a similar direction. He noted Conservatives are down three points and Liberals are up two nationally.

He agreed that online survey pools have a higher chance of having respondents who have been asked multiple times, which could result in a slowed ability to pick up on changing trends. However, he thinks his company’s method most likely represents Canadian opinion.

He said during the 2021 election, online panel polls such as his were more correct in the long run and accurately predicted that the Conservatives under Erin O’Tool did not have any significant momentum. He said the IVR method using pollsters such as Mainstreet Research and Ekos overrepresented the People’s Party of Canada in the last election due to the methodology.

“Ekos was saying at some points in the campaign that the People’s Party were gonna get 12% of the vote, and then their final poll said they were going to get about nine or 10. They only got four and a half,” Coletto said. “PPC supporters, at that moment, were highly engaged and wanted their voices heard. They felt left out.”

Liberals tout 400K members amid leadership but still reviewing eligibility of sign-ups 

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook/X/Facebook

The Liberal Party of Canada is boasting of having  400,000 registered party members after offering free sign-ups for those hoping to have a say in the upcoming leadership race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

That’s four times as many members the Liberals had at the beginning of this year. However, the party may be celebrating prematurely as it is unclear how many of those members will be eligible to vote for a new leader on Mar. 9. Additionally, leadership campaigns can challenge the status of those who are registered to vote.

To register as a Liberal, interested individuals only had to submit a simple application with their personal information free of charge. Registration has since closed. 

According to the party’s constitution, registered Liberals must have been members for 41 days before the vote to qualify.

“Additionally, before any individual is able to vote, they will be asked to confirm their eligibility as a Registered Liberal. Misrepresentation of any certification in our voting process can result in a fine of up to $10,000,” reads the party’s release.

In comparison, the Conservative Party of Canada’s previous leadership election reported 675,000 voting members with a $15 registration fee to join. Pierre Poilievre won the Conservative leadership election in the first round with 68% of the vote.

Numerous Canadians previously revealed how easy it was to register as a Liberal party member ahead of the leadership race. At the time, the party’s rules did not include a necessity for voters to be Canadian citizens or permanent residents. 

The party has since updated its membership restrictions so that only Canadian citizens and permanent residents over the age of 14 were able to join the party and vote in the leadership election.

The party’s constitution also states that the registration procedures must be published at least 27 days before the vote, meaning those will be live by Feb. 10 or earlier. 

Contestants for the leadership race had to declare their participation by Jan. 23. To join, they needed to pay $350,000. 

Candidates were required to submit a refundable $50,000 payment by Jan. 23 to enter the race. A second $50,000 installment, due on Jan. 30, was non-refundable, followed by two additional non-refundable payments of $125,000 on Feb. 7 and Feb. 17. Leadership contenders are permitted to spend up to $5 million on their campaigns.

Seven Liberal leadership candidates submitted their nomination papers for the election. Among them was Liberal MP Chandra Arya, who was disqualified from the leadership race by the party for undeclared reasons.

“This decision raises significant questions about the legitimacy of the leadership race and, by extension, the legitimacy of the next Prime Minister of Canada,” said Arya.

According to the party, over 100 Canadians reached out to be a Liberal candidate in the next election. 

The confirmed candidates were: Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould, Jaime Battiste, Frank Baylis, and Ruby Dhalla.

Battiste dropped out of the race the same day the first $50,000 non-refundable payment was due. He has since endorsed Carney. 

Five candidates now remain. The winner of the leadership election on Mar. 9 will become the prime minister of Canada without requiring a federal election.

ANALYSIS: Does Indigenous reconciliation mean undeserved compensation?

By
Hymie Rubenstein
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Source: X

The Kamloops B.C. Indian Band (also known as the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation) that announced the earth-shattering discovery in 2021 of children’s graves next to its Indian Residential School has sought tens of millions of dollars in federal grants, including the cost of building a national shrine on its lands.

The long-shuttered Kamloops Indian Residential School

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the millions already allocated to the band to recover suspected children’s graves as part of the Liberal government’s reconciliation efforts were instead spent to pay publicists and consultants.

 The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations even tried to conceal the financial records under the Access To Information Act.

These funds began flowing soon after the May 27, 2021, announcement by band Chief Rosanne Casimir that “… with the help of a ground penetrating radar [GPR] specialist, the stark truth of … the confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School…. We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify.”

Not only has Chief Casimir refused to document the contents of this “knowing” or to release the GPR findings as she initially promised, she even failed to mention that GPR is only reliable when employed in known and named cemeteries.

The original assertion that 215 sets of remains were found was soon temporarily revised to 200 “potential burials” when it was discovered that previous archeological work had been done in the same area that easily could have been misinterpreted as burial remains.

This was accompanied by a statement from Casimir that the remains were not found in a “mass grave,” as initially reported by many media houses. But this correction was later retracted at an Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly by Casimir herself.

This retraction may help explain why no attempt has been made to recover any human remains.

Indeed, whether to dig has been one of the most fraught questions surrounding the issue of unmarked graves at residential schools. No consensus has emerged among former Kamloops boarding school students, with some seeing exhumation as a process that could help lay victims properly to rest, while others wanted them left undisturbed.

 The band’s leadership upheld avoiding excavation even though “14 major families within the community made it known to Casimir early on that an excavation of the orchard site should begin as soon as possible,” according to investigative journalist Terry Glavin.

 None of the many unknowns about the alleged burials, especially the absence of any human remains, prevented funds from flowing to the band based on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2021 pledge to “make amends” for past injustices with unspecified compensation.

“The department is ready to flow funds,” said a 2021 staff email at the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations. “Timelines are for Tk’emlups to determine. Needs can shift even if they haven’t figured everything out and the conversation is ongoing. There is no deadline.”

Funding is now in overdrive even though the band began officially referring to the 215 GPR hits as “anomalies” – soil disturbances of unknown origin – rather than confirmed graves. That started in May 2024, three years after the original announcement.

The Kamloops Indian Band has now received more than $12.1 million in funding for field work and recovery of burial remains. None of this money has been spent on physical recovery.

The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations questioned the Kamloops group on what “archaeological and forensic work” was underway.

 “We are not seeking to intervene in this matter but are trying to understand the approach,” wrote Mandy McCarthy, acting director general with the department, who asked whether the band had “all the information you need to advance exhumation protocols and DNA testing.”

 The department censored all details of what became of the $12.1 million. However, the First Nations Health Authority that transferred $2.3 million in federal funding to Kamloops Band organizers did itemize partial expenses for a nine-month period.

Costs included $37,500 for “marketing and communications,” $54,000 in travel, $100,000 as six month’s pay for two trauma counsellors, and $405,000 in “administrative costs,” including speaking fees and tent rentals. None involved fieldwork to identify graves.

In a censored bookkeeping entry titled Community Support Funding Envelope, the department said the band hired 25 unknown consultants to “provide advice and support to the Chief and Council” and paid publicists to develop “communications strategies.”

Some $532,000 was paid for security, while other funds were proposed for public works projects, construction and operation of a Healing Centre, a new museum, and funding for an Elder’s Lodge, a nursing home for Indigenous pensioners.

Access To Information records show proceeds from the graves fund were spent on publicists and consultants. The First Nation also budgeted $3,292,318 to build a monument at the residential school with Department of Canadian Heritage grants.

The community also requested funding to modernize Indian Residential School buildings for its use. The property was transferred to the band in 1978. The cost of renovations was $40 million, according to documents.

“Annual operating costs are $700,000 plus Tk’emlups spends an average $1 million annually over the last five years on basic upgrades: electric, plumbing, painting, etcetera,” said a staff memo. “A full retrofit to bring buildings up to current health and safety code standards is estimated at $40 million.”

“Tk’emlups has borne the cost of these colonial buildings,” said the memo. “The community has inherited them, and the costs should not be on the shoulders of the community.”

Records show the Kamloops Indian Residential School operated from 1890 to 1978, during which there were no verified accounts of students murdered at or missing from the school. According to a department memo, it grew to a campus of 15 buildings, including a swimming pool and sawmill, student dormitories, and facilities for sports and music programs including an all-girls troupe that went on an international tour in 1964.

Despite all the spending on non-burial issues, in May 2022 Chief Casimir described her band’s approach to the site as an ongoing “exhumation to memorialization process,” which would involve finding evidence of remains and linking them to the students’ home communities.

On June 26, 2024, Casimir repeated that the investigation is still ongoing, but the steps are being kept confidential to preserve the investigation’s integrity.

The Blacklock’s Reporter revelations suggest little or nothing except perhaps some archival work has been done on the excavation or forensic side of her band-led investigation.

Hymie Rubenstein, editor of REAL Indigenous Report, is a retired professor of anthropology, University of Manitoba, and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Off the Record | What exactly does Jagmeet Singh want?

By
Rachel Parker
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Is he going to prop up the government again in order to “support workers?” Or is he going to force an election in the spring? It’s becoming increasingly unclear what NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants. Could Singh’s theatrics have anything to do with his gold-plated pension?

Plus, after months of politicians telling Canadians of alleged traitors in Parliament, the foreign interference inquiry released its long-awaited final report, concluding there was no evidence that anybody “acted in bad faith.” What is happening?

And Ontario residents will head to the polls in February, but why did Doug Ford call an early election? Despite already having a majority, Ford claims he needs a “stronger mandate” to fight U.S. tariffs.

Tune into Off the Record with Rachel Parker, Isaac Lamoureux and Cosmin Dzsurdzsa!

White House denies reports of one-month extension for Trump tariffs, confirms they will be in place Feb. 1

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
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Source: The White HouseYT

President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has denied recent reports that the implementation of 25% tariffs on Canadian imports would be delayed until March 1., 2025.

Reuters reported that unnamed sources told them Trump was going to delay the implementation of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada by a month. But Leavitt confirmed in a press conference Friday they will be implemented Saturday.

Repeating past comments from Trump, she said the tariffs are being implemented to pressure Mexico and Canada into halting both illegal immigration and drug smuggling, namely Fentanyl, into the U.S.

“I was just with the President in the Oval Office, and I can confirm … the President will be implementing tomorrow 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” Leavitt said. “These are promises made and promises kept by the President.”

The now-dismissed Reuter’s article suggested a 28-day window would be offered before the implementation, which would allow time for a “process for exemptions”  on specific products, but the source said they would be “few and far between.”

However, Leavitt said there was no update on the possibility of exemptions but that if there are any, they would be included in the official announcement of the tariffs on Saturday.

When asked if the tariffs were meant to be permanent, she said she would leave it to Trump to announce if he intends to “roll back those tariffs.”

In response to Justin Trudeau’s comments that Canada will respond in kind to Trump’s tariffs and “will not relent” until they are removed, Leavitt said that she doesn’t expect a trade war with Canada.

“I think the President is going to implement those tariffs tomorrow, and he will respond to Mr. Trudeau’s comments in due time,” she said. “The President is intent on doing this, and I think Justin Trudeau would be wise to talk to President Trump directly before pushing outlandish comments like that to the media.”

The White House’s comments align now with Trump’s comments when he initially proposed a 25% tariff on Canada to pressure it to secure its border after winning the U.S. election.

Since then, however, and before his inauguration, Trump’s rhetoric escalated to include threats of using “economic force” in a bid to merge the two countries.

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