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Friday, July 11, 2025

OP-ED: Ford’s new education minister must control civil servants and school boards

By
Michael Zwaagstra
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Source: Facebook

If you’re old enough, you might remember the British political sitcom Yes Minister where hapless British cabinet minister Jim Hacker could never get anything done because of opposition from civil servants in his department.

The civil servants didn’t oppose Hacker to his face but rather made it look like they were following Hacker’s orders while ensuring they never got implemented. Their passive-aggressive approach foiled Hacker again and again.

While Yes Minister was satire, much of it is like real life. Nowhere is this plainer than in Ontario’s education department. When Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives took office in 2018, they had their work cut out for them., faced with civil servants and school boards that had grown accustomed to getting their way.

The first education minister was Lisa Thompson, but she lasted only one year. After promising to replace the previous government’s controversial sex-education curriculum, Thompson flip-flopped and kept the earlier curriculum in place. Many parents were not impressed.

Perhaps Thompson’s biggest mistake was her announcement that all high school students had to take at least four online courses to graduate. Thompson could never produce a shred of evidence to justify the supposed educational benefits of this proposal. At every step along the way, Thompson was left to flounder by officials in her own department. It’s almost like she was set up to fail.

Mercifully, Ford shuffled Thompson out of the education portfolio and appointed Stephen Lecce. Unfortunately, Lecce didn’t fare much better, and he was just as bad at explaining the supposed merits of online learning. It took months before Lecce agreed to make the online courses optional rather than mandatory.

To his credit, Lecce said he wanted schools to take a back-to-basics approach. But bureaucrats in his department had different ideas. When Lecce introduced a new math curriculum, he appeared as surprised as everyone else when its preamble contained several paragraphs claiming that traditional math was inherently racist. Lecce had the offending paragraphs removed, but the damage was already done.

Obviously, the education minister cannot be expected to be familiar with the details in every curriculum guide. But he certainly should have read through this one before releasing it, particularly since this curriculum was supposed to mark a significant change in direction.

Even worse was how school board officials openly defied Lecce’s directives. For example, the Halton District School Board allowed an Oakville high school teacher to wear giant prosthetic breasts to school. Even though Lecce said this was inappropriate work attire and ordered the school board to intervene, board officials ignored his wishes and defended the right of teachers to dress however they want.

In another incident, several large school boards cancelled classes on April 8 because of a solar eclipse. Once again, Lecce expressed disapproval, but the boards went ahead with their closures anyway. The Waterloo Region District School Board, for example, did so with only a few days’ notice, a decision Lecce called “indefensible.” But Lecce’s words fell on deaf ears.

At the beginning of June, Ford replaced Lecce with Todd Smith. However, on Aug. 16, after only 10 weeks on the job, Smith quit his cabinet position, which led Ford to appoint Jill Dunlop as his fourth education minister.

For Dunlop to do better than her predecessors, she must take charge of her department immediately. Given the ongoing increase in public-sector employment in Ontario (from 18.2 per cent of the total workforce in 2007 to 19.6 per cent in 2022), Dunlop should look for ways to streamline her department and ensure that her directives are being implemented.

On a similar note, Dunlop should insist that school boards focus on teaching facts rather than promoting woke ideology. Not only would the vast majority of parents support a back-to-basics approach, it would also be good for student learning.  

As the new school year draws near, if Premier Ford is serious about improving Ontario’s education system, his new education minister must take charge. The last thing Ontario needs is yet another Yes Minister embarrassment.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute.

Canada’s productivity crisis “getting worse” and lagging behind U.S.: report

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

Canada’s labour productivity crisis is worsening and has been growing at a much slower rate than its southern neighbours, resulting in Canadians being left with less money in their pockets, according to a recent intelligence memo published by members of the C.D. Howe Institute.

The note, authored by Martin Eichenbaum, Michelle Alexopoulos, and Jeremy M. Kronick, said that the United States’ labour productivity has grown around 100% since 1985. In contrast, Canada has only grown 40%, making Canadian workers 70% as productive as workers in the United States.

“We’re not just falling behind the US — the growth rate of our productivity is well below that of the UK, Germany, and France,” reads the note.

One of the most effective ways to measure labour productivity is through GDP per hour worked. The more GDP generated per hour, the higher a country’s productivity. 

According to the OECD’s most recent data, Canada’s GDP per hour worked in 2022 was 104.05, based on a 2015 baseline value of 100. The average OECD country was 106.76. Only ten countries had a worse GDP per hour worked growth between 2015 and 2022 than Canada. Ireland had the biggest GDP per hour worked growth, at 139.64, while 24 other countries were above Canada.

The three authors wrote that between 1994 and mid-2024, the growth of productivity and real wages in Canada rose an almost identical 35%. They argue that Canadian workers could be faring better and the situation is getting worse. 

“While 35% over the period may sound pretty good, a closer inspection highlights how much better we could be doing,” the authors write. 

“Canadian workers are getting less productive and poorer than their US counterparts. And the situation is getting worse. Last year, Canadian labour productivity fell and is now at its lowest point since the last quarter of 2018, where US labour productivity has risen by more than 9%,” reads the note.

Falling productivity in Canada has also resulted in wages decreasing.

In 2020, the median real weekly wage nationwide was $1,103. By the end of 2023, it had fallen to $1,078.

Economist Trevor Tombe highlighted that business sector labour productivity fell by 1.8% last year, marking the third consecutive annual decline in Canada. Since 2015, he said it has only increased by 1.6%, the same growth in almost ten years that was seen in each year for the past two decades.

The three authors with the C.D. Howe Institute identified the barriers to productivity growth as interprovincial trade barriers, over-regulation, project approval uncertainty, barriers to competition, and more.

Tombe joined Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner at a press conference earlier this year to announce Alberta’s fall productivity summit to address the country’s productivity crisis

Horner explained that productivity is about how efficiently and effectively a country can produce goods and services, which determines wages, costs, and other components that directly affect the standard of living.

“Canadian productivity has fallen behind competitor nations in recent decades and the trend is now worsening. Several prominent economists and policy makers have been sounding the alarm , including Carolyn Rogers, the Bank of Canada’s own senior deputy governor who first sounded the alarm, or ‘Broke the glass,’ as she puts it,” said Horner.The Bank of Canada previously warned that low productivity would lead to further inflation. 

“An economy with low productivity can grow only so quickly before inflation sets in. But an economy with strong productivity can have faster growth, more jobs and higher wages with less risk of inflation,” said Carolyn Rogers, senior deputy governor for the Bank of Canada. “You’ve seen those signs that say: In emergency, break glass — well, it’s time to break the glass.”

The C.D. Howe Institute emphasized that the views expressed in the notes are those of the three authors and that the organization does not take corporate positions on policy matters. 

Senior staffer blames $1M ad campaign to introduce Kevin Falcon for BC United’s financial woes 

By
Noah Jarvis, True North Wire
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Source: X

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly claimed that two BC United staffers went on to work for the BC Conservatives. Upon further verification, this was found not to be the case. This article has been updated to reflect the interview subject’s statements more accurately.

BC United was already struggling to find financial support from donors but a costly $1 million ad campaign to introduce British Columbians to party leader Kevin Falcon was the final nail in the coffin for the party, a source close to the campaign told True North. 

A senior staff member who worked on BC United’s election campaign spoke to True North on the condition of anonymity.

Last week, BC United leader Kevin Falcon announced that his party would be withdrawing from the coming fall election and endorsing the BC Conservatives in a bid to defeat Premier David Eby and his NDP. The decision was made as part of an agreement between the two parties, which involves a commitment from the BC Conservatives to review its candidate vetting process. 

The move comes as the party has been bleeding support for the past year and a half to the BC Conservatives after the expulsion of Conservative leader John Rustad the former BC Liberal party which rebranded as BC United. 

However, a senior BC United staff member says that the party’s eventual demise began when the party’s executive barred conservative activist Aaron Gunn from running to become leader.

In 2021, Gunn attempted to run for the leadership of the BC Liberal party, as the party has historically been a coalition between federal Liberals and Conservatives opposed to the NDP.

However, Gunn was disqualified from the race after the leadership election organizing committee determined that Gunn’s view that Canada had not committed genocide against Indigenous people was allegedly intolerant and not reflective of the party’s views.

“Not allowing Gunn to run started off the whole thing,” the BC United staffer told True North.

“From the moment that Aaron Gunn was disqualified, everything was set in motion.”

Once Gunn had been disqualified, the BC Conservatives elected a new board of directors and took the fringe party in a new direction. Gunn is now a candidate for the federal Conservatives in the North Island – Powell River riding on Vancouver Island.

The staffer says that Rustad’s ejection was also bad timing for BC United, as it paved the way for the BC Conservatives to have Rustad step in as the party’s leader and give the party representation in the legislature. 

Not only did the BC Liberals create a competitor for themselves on the centre-right, but the party’s rebrand to BC United in spring 2023 failed in its execution.

Despite this, the staffer says that keeping the BC Liberal brand would not have helped the party much, as the federal Liberal party is unpopular in the province. However, he says the branding was “awful” and the party’s efforts to notify the public of the rebranding were lacking.

He says that not only was the party’s new name bad, as it resembles the name of a soccer team, but the party’s logo and colours of charcoal, teal, and pink were also poor choices.

The staffer blamed two other BC United staffers who he claims went on to subsequently “start supporting” the BC Conservatives following the failed rebrand.

True North attempted to contact the BC United Caucus to give them an opportunity to respond to these claims but was unable to reach anybody at their office.

According to the staffer, the worst mistake was a $1 million ad campaign the party had launched in late January to introduce the province to Falcon and the rebranded party. 

He says that the party did not have $1 million to spare on an ad campaign, but drew the money from the party’s riding associations in the hope that an influx of donations after the ads rolled would compensate for the investment.

However, the campaign failed to familiarize British Columbians with BC United as the BC Liberals’ successor.

A combination of bad advertisements and public opinion polls showing BC United’s continual fall made donors hesitant to give their money to the party, leaving BC United with serious financial problems.

The staffer says that the ad campaign leaving the party broke was the final nail in BC United’s coffin, and that there was nothing anyone could do to prevent the party’s imminent collapse.

As Falcon and BC United have exited the race, they are encouraging their party’s supporters to vote for the BC Conservatives to defeat the NDP.

British Columbia’s election is scheduled for October 19, 2024. 

Alberta will need to borrow one-fourth of expected funds due to sevenfold increase in projected surplus

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

The Albertan government has updated its fiscal projections for fiscal year 2024-25, showing an almost sevenfold increase in the projected surplus, rising by over $2.5 billion. That means the province will need to borrow one-fourth of the expected amount of cash to achieve its goals.

The initially forecasted $367 million surplus for the fiscal year was overshadowed by big borrowing when the 2024 provincial budget was announced.

The original budget estimated that the Alberta government would have to borrow around $2.4 billion in taxpayer-supported debt to fund operations, which has now fallen by over $1.7 billion to $0.6 billion.

The province updated its projections on Thursday, now forecasting a surplus of $2.9 billion by the end of 2024-25, thanks partly to higher oil prices than initially expected.

“With a stronger surplus than projected at budget, the government continues to invest in the needs of Albertans while managing its debt and saving for the future,” reads the release.

The surplus explosion comes despite Alberta’s population being projected to increase by 4.6% in 2024. Alberta’s population has been increasing at rates not seen since the 1980s, as they continuously lead the country by a large margin in interprovincial migration.

While the population is projected to surge, so too is inflation, by 3%, and real GDP by 3.3%.

“People across the country see a bright future for Alberta, and they continue to come here in record numbers. While this population growth is creating challenges and putting pressure on our hospitals, schools, and other services, our prudence and discipline are helping to manage these challenges,” said Finance Minister Nate Horner. 

Alberta received credit rating upgrades from four different major credit rating agencies over the last year, most recently having its long-term credit rating bumped from AA- to AA by Fitch Ratings.

The province’s record $9.3 billion spending on its education system in 2024-25 saw an additional $215 million allocated in July to address the population boom.

The Albertan government also dolled out $573 million so far due to the Jasper wildfires. $550 million was invested to help fight the wildfires, $10 million to match donations from the Canadian Red Cross, and $13 million has been provided to evacuees in emergency evacuation payments. 

Despite the additions in funding, the expense forecast has only increased by $101 million since the budget was announced, now totalling $73.3 billion. Over $1.4 billion remains in the contingency fund.

Conversely, expected revenue has shot up $2.7 billion since the budget was announced. 

Population gains and a strong labour market have increased personal income tax revenue by $458 million. Higher oil prices have seen non-renewable resource revenue jump from $2.5 billion to $19.8 billion. Other tax revenues fell $38 million thanks to less tobacco revenue and the province capping insurance rates for “good drivers.”

The province will invest $2 billion of its surplus cash into the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, which recently grew to $23.4 billion after earning a 2.1% return of $509 million in the first quarter. The province aims to grow the fund to between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2050 to decrease its reliance on natural resource revenue. 

A spokesperson for Horner told True North that Alberta faces challenged due to its population growth.

“We are working on bringing in the personal income tax cut hopefully by the next budget so Albertans can keep more in their pockets each year,” said the spokesperson. “Right now, we are working hard on the budget to make that possible and will have more to say on that in the coming weeks.”

The province projects taxpayer-supported debt to fall $1.7 billion from the budget’s projections, reaching $86.1 billion as of Mar. 31, 2025. Debt servicing costs will be $3.2 billion, a decrease of $181 million from the budget thanks to the new surplus.

Half the $7.3 billion in surplus cash will be used to pay debt, with $1.8 billion paid in 2023-24 and $1.9 billion repaid in the following year. 

“While the province remains committed to paying down the debt and saving for the future, after adjustments to the operating surplus, Alberta forecasts it will be in a cash deficit at the end of 2024-25 and will need to borrow $0.6 billion,” concluded the release.

Listed Canadian non-profit org celebrates Hamas militants on social media

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
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Source: X

An organization with non-profit status in Canada made social media posts celebrating designated terrorist entities and glorifying the death of Hamas militants as martyrs fighting against the Jewish state of Israel.

The Samidoun Prisoners Solidarity Network is a self-described Palestinian prisoner advocacy group operating in Canada. It has a tax-exempt non-profit status with the Canadian Revenue Agency despite its reported ties with the Marxist-Leninist terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The group advocates for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, most of whom are from the PLFP. However, on social media and at protests, they also celebrate deadly attacks on Israel, such as the international coordinator for Samidoun in Canada calling the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 “heroic.”

This week, the international organization celebrated Abu Shujaa, the commander and co-founder of the Tulkarem Brigades, a branch of the Quds Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, calling him a hero and a Martyr ascending to paradise due to his militancy. The Israel Defence Forces claimed they killed Shujaa, also known as Mohammed Jaber, along with four other militants in a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

“Glory to the Martyr, Abu Shujaa, the resisting hero, leader of the Tulkarem Brigades, rising as a martyr in confrontation with the invading Zionist regime forces, battling the illegitimate occupier until his last moments. The martyrs are immortal; the revolution lives,” the group posted on X.

The group’s Toronto contingent shared a similar post showcasing Shujaa’s militancy. The Toronto branch also mourned the death of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa on the anniversary of his death, making sure to note to its audience that he was killed “using US-made and US-provided helicopter-fired missiles.”

Samidoun’s Ottawa chapter shared a photo celebrating black-bloc-clad Irish socialists holding a PFLP flag on the anniversary of the founding of the terrorist group.

There are numerous other instances of public support on social media for terrorist groups across the international group’s regional chapters, such as the New York, New Jersey chapter calling the king of Jordan a traitor for intercepting weapons that Hamas would use to kill Jews in Israel.

Friday morning, Samidoun Vancouver, the organization’s Canadian headquarters, called on the public to help engage in a blockade-style protest in Delta, B.C., blocking access to the headquarters of Maersk, a Danish shipping company the non-profit says supplies military equipment to the US. A representative from the Delta Police Department emailed True North to say that after police arrived on the protest scene, the demonstrators were not blocking roadways.

The RCMP and the CRA indicated that they would respond to True North’s request to comment at a later date regarding potential criminal code violations and the organization’s status as a non-profit, respectively.

The international coordinator of Samidoun’s Canadian branch, Charlotte Kates, recently travelled to Tehran, Iran, where the recently designated terrorist group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, granted her an Islamic Human Rights Award for her activism. In her acceptance speech, Kates, who was arrested for hate speech after glorifying the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, called one of the leaders of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, a martyr.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has been campaigning to have Samidoun designated as a terrorist entity, as it is in Israel, for around four years now. Samidoun has also been banned from operating in Germany.

“Samidoun is unabashedly out there, flaunting their ties to the PFLP, and they’re not even hiding it,” David Cooper, the Vice President of government relations at CIJA, told True North in an interview. “They feel they’re operating in a Canadian political environment right now. That gives them impunity.”

Cooper said he wasn’t surprised by the recent slew of terrorist glorification by the organization, saying they have been operating in such a way for years.

“There’s so much affiliation with different terrorist organizations, and they don’t seem to be trying to hide that. In fact, I would say they’re celebrating their affiliations,” Cooper said.“I think it’s really concerning that they can do that with impunity in Canada.”

CIJA argues that Samidoun should be listed under Section 83.05 (1) (b) of the Criminal Code of Canada, which states that an entity that knowingly acted on behalf of or at the direction of an associate terrorist entity can also be designated as a terrorist.

“They’re bragging about using PFLP material in their (Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine) seminars,” Cooper said. “We feel they’ve crossed the threshold, and they should be placed on the (terrorist) list.”

Off the Record | The collapse of BC United

By
Rachel Parker
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Source: Facebook

This week, BC United leader Kevin Falcon shocked the province by suspending the party’s campaign and endorsing the BC Conservatives. While the collapse of the party was likely caused by Falcon’s own actions, this move may stop the BC NDP from being re-elected in the next election.

“We’ll plant 2 billion trees over the next ten years. That’s it. That’s the tweet.” This is what Trudeau tweeted during the 2019 election. And surprise, surprise – the government isn’t anywhere close from fulfilling that promise.

Plus, does the Trudeau government want more people to smoke? It certainly seems that way after they banned nicotine pouches from convenience stores and gas stations across the country this week.

Tune into Off the Record with Rachel Parker, Isaac Lamoureux and Sue-Ann Levy!

NHL Star Johnny Gaudreau and brother killed by alleged drunk driver 

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Instagram

Former Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother were both killed by an alleged drunk driver on Thursday night.

The two brothers were in New Jersey to attend their sister’s wedding.

The Gaudreau brothers, Johnny and Matthew, were riding their bikes when the driver of a Jeep allegedly tried to pass two other vehicles and hit the brothers, who were both pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver told police he drank five or six beers before the crash, according to NJ.com. Sean M. Higgins was charged with two counts of second-degree death by auto. After failing a sobriety test, he was taken into custody and jailed on the charges. 

The brothers’ parents live on the same road as the crash and the family was planning to attend their sister’s wedding in New Jersey on Friday. Both brothers were set to be groomsmen at the wedding.

Johnny Gaudreau played nine seasons for the Calgary Flames and the last two seasons for the Columbus Blue Jackets, totalling 743 points in 763 games. He played 42 games in the playoffs for the Calgary Flames, during which he amassed 33 points. He participated in the NHL All-Star game seven times.

He won the Lady Byng trophy in 2017, which is given to the player who exhibits the best sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and a high standard of playing ability in the entire league. 

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league was saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Johnny and his brother Matthew.

“While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother, and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path,” said Bettman. 

Matthew Gaudreau played professional hockey with the ECHL and AHL until the end of 2021.

The two brothers were teammates at Boston College and Gloucester Catholic High School. Matthew was the head hockey coach at the high school following his five-year professional career.

The Columbus Blue Jackets released a statement, saying that Gaudreau embraced the community upon his arrival two years ago, and he was welcomed with open arms.

“Johnny played the game with great joy which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice. He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played, from Boston College to the Calgary Flames to Team USA to the Blue Jackets,” wrote the Columbus Blue Jackets. “He thrilled fans in a way only Johnny Hockey could.” 

The most recent traffic deaths of the Gaudreau brothers are the latest in a string of off-ice tragedies for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team previously mourned the loss of goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks, who died in 2021 after being struck in the chest with a firework while at his goalie coach’s house to celebrate his daughter’s wedding.

Elvis Merzlikins, a teammate of Kivlenieks, revealed that Kivlenieks died protecting his wife and son. 

PBO report warns EV costs must come down to hit gov targets

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: Unsplash

Ownership costs for electric vehicles will have to come down by at least 31% if the government wants to reach its sales target of 60% EVs by 2030, according to the latest report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

“Assuming that preferences, technology and policies remain unchanged from a baseline scenario without the standard, PBO estimates that the relative ownership cost of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) would need to decrease by 31% to meet the ZEV sales target of 60% in 2030,” reads the PBO report released on Thursday. 

“That is, the ownership cost of ZEVs relative to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in 2030 under the standard would need to be 31% lower compared to the baseline scenario without the standard in 2030.”

The Trudeau government announced its Electric Vehicle Availability Standard last December, which mandates zero-emission vehicle sales targets for the auto industry.

The targets require all new light-duty sales to be electric or plug-in hybrid in Canada by 2035, with interim targets of at least 20% of all sales being EVs by 2026 and 60% by 2030. 

Auto manufacturers who fail to meet the government’s targets will be forced to pay infrastructure charges, however, the targets have already been called unrealistic by industry leaders.

“We need to make sure that we’re revisiting targets to align targets with reality,” Frank Voss, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, told Bloomberg in June. “The government can only do so much to entice consumers to purchase vehicles that they would like to see implemented. Consumers will choose what they need.”

According to the latest statistics, EVs only accounted for 11% of registered vehicles in Canada last year and while some project that they may account for 70% by 2035, sales have dropped in recent years. 

That statistic is not surprising when the average consumer cost of an EV was $73,000 last year, according to the Canadian Black Book.

“In the absence of a government mandate and regulations forcing manufacturers to sell at least 60 per cent of zero-emission vehicles, that’s the price differential that one would need to meet these targets,” Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux told CTV News on Thursday.

The PBO said that consumers will save money in the long run by purchasing an EV in the form of operating costs.

“It means that the relative price has to go down for EVs. It can be done by bringing the cost of electric vehicles down, but it could also be by increasing the cost of all the other alternatives, which is the gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks,” said Giroux.

The report claimed that further subsidies or price adjustments by automakers could help see a drop in EV costs over time but that there remains the issue of EV charging stations, which are still far behind targets. 

“We estimate that by 2030 the market provision of public charging ports will be somewhat less than what is required according to a needs analysis commissioned by Natural Resources Canada,” reads the report. 

Canada currently has over 25.000 public EV charging stations but the government’s own research shows the country will need at least 40,000 new charging stations to be installed each year for the next decade to meet the new targets. 

Additionally, Canadian automakers have begun shifting away from manufacturing EVs themselves, due to increasing low demand. 

Ford has completely shifted away from EVs, announcing last month that it plans to build large super duty trucks at an Ontario production plant it had originally intended to use for electric vehicle production.

The automaker’s Oakville assembly complex was set to be converted into an all-electric vehicle plant but now Ford recently said it will be investing $2.3 billion into super duty truck production instead. 

Despite taxpayers committing $590 million to Ford in the form of a subsidy partnership between the federal and provincial governments to build EVs, the company has delayed all EV plans for at least the next three years and laid off employees in the sector.

The Daily Brief | Poilievre pushes Singh to trigger an election

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-
Source: Facebook

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the federal NDP, to resign or stop supporting the Liberal government and trigger an early fall election.

Plus, international students at Algoma University are protesting failed grades, demanding fairness after being accused of cheating, with study permits nearing expiration.

And Stacy Clarke, Toronto’s first black woman superintendent, has been demoted for two years after admitting to helping six black constables cheat on exams.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Noah Jarvis!

Poilievre wants to curb population growth rate and reform immigration 

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: X

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said that there is “no question” that Canada is in dire need of “smaller population growth” while speaking with reporters outside Parliament’s West Block on Thursday. 

While the opposition leader wouldn’t give a hard number on what his immigration targets would look like if elected, he did say that “we cannot grow that rate of the population at three times the housing stock.”

“We have to have a smaller population growth, there is no question about it,” Poilevre told reporters. “We cannot grow the population rate at three times the housing stock as Trudeau has been doing. We need to have a growth rate that is below the growth in housing, healthcare and employment.”

Canada’ population has been growing exponentially in recent years, with the country seeing a spike of 1.27 million additional people last year alone, the majority of which were immigrants.  

According to Statistics Canada, the country took in 471,771 permanent immigrants and 804,901 non-permanent residents in 2023.

Under the Trudeau government, Canada plans to accept 485,000 permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in both 2025 and 2026.

“If you want an idea of how I would run the immigration system overall, it’s the way it was run for the 30 years prior to Trudeau being prime minister,” said Poilievre. 

“We had a common sense consensus between Liberals and Conservatives for decades that screened people to make sure they were safe, only brought in the numbers that we could absorb into our housing, healthcare and job market”. 

The Liberals announced that they would be walking back the amount of temporary foreign workers it will admit into certain regions this week, however, Canada could still potentially break record numbers this year.  

Low-wage temporary foreign worker positions have skyrocketed in recent years, up 291% this year, compared to 2018, with the data currently available indicating that Canada is on track to wildly surpass last year’s record. 

According to the latest government data, Canada has already seen 28,730 low-wage temporary foreign worker positions in the first quarter of 2024 or 34% of last year’s total volume. 

In the first three months of this year, the country created more low-wage roles than all of 2018.

Poilievre added that he would like to return to the previous immigration system before Trudeau which “blocked temporary foreign workers where they were taking jobs from Canadians.”

“When I’m prime minister, the temporary foreign worker program will be used exclusively to fill jobs that Canadians cannot or do not fill, like in agriculture sectors, but never to replace Canadians or drive down wages,” he added.

“That was a common sense consensus that existed before Justin Trudeau and the radical and out-of-control NDP-Liberal government destroyed our system.”

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