True North

Four years after Justin Trudeau claimed that “the budget will balance itself,” a new report shows that his government increased debt at a higher per-person rate than any Prime Minister outside of wartime or recession.

The report, Examining Federal Debt in Canada by Prime Minister Since Confederation, breaks down the percentage at which the 23 Prime Ministers increased or decreased the federal debt.

Under Justin Trudeau, Canada’s per person debt has grown by 5.6%, bringing it to $32,589.

The last Prime Minister to increase the federal debt in a time without war or recession was Mackenzie Bowell in 1895.

Out of the eight Prime Ministers who did not have to deal with wars or recessions, five of them decreased the national debt. Only Trudeau, Bowell, and Abbott (1891) increased it.

Trudeau contrasts heavily with the last Liberal Prime Minister, Paul Martin, who decreased the federal debt 7.6% in similar economic conditions.

With ever increasing deficits and no balanced budget in sight, the Trudeau government’s behaviour indicates that the debt will only grow more.

The deficit for the current financial year is expected to be $18.1 billion, under current projections, the federal debt will increase by $100 billion in the next five years.

This report comes after another report in January revealed that Justin Trudeau will be among the highest spending Prime Ministers ever.

The report by the Fraser Institute detailed how Trudeau has been increasing spending by an average of 3.1% per year, the highest of any government since Trudeau senior over 35 years ago.

This makes 2019 the costliest year, second only to 2008 — during an economic crisis.

A Sikh-Indian politician and the Chief Minister of the Punjab region, Amarinder Singh has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of attempting to pander for votes after removing reference to “Sikh extremism” from the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada.

Sikh extremists includes Khalistani separatists who hope to establish an ethnic state in the Punjab region of India through violent means.

During his disastrous 2018 trip to India, Justin Trudeau was questioned by Minister Amarinder Singh on how his government would curb the threat of Sikh extremism.

During the trip, members of the Trudeau government were accused of sharing sympathies with Khalistani extremists, especially once their credibility was challenged after inviting an attempted Sikh assassin, Jaspal Atwal to a Canadian government dinner in the country.

“It is obvious that Trudeau had played safe in view of the upcoming elections in Canada, giving in to pressure within his country,” said Singh. “The world cannot afford to fan extremism in any form, which is what the Trudeau government was effectively doing with such ill-thought moves.”

The report originally listed Khalistani and Sikh extremism as a persisting and national-scale threat.

“Sikh (Khalistani) extremism also remain[s] of concern because while their attacks in Canada have been extremely limited, some Canadians continue to support these extremist groups, including through financing,” read the original document.

Currently, the updated report no longer includes any reference to the religions of the extremist groups but instead refer to them as “some individuals [who] continue to support violent means to establish an independent state within India.”

The document was changed after a review by the Minister of Public Safety, Ralph Goodale, despite the references to some of Canada’s biggest terror attacks inspired by Sikh terrorism, including the Air India 182 bombings which claimed the lives of 268 Canadians.

The federal Liberals faced pressure from the Sikh community and members of their own caucus to change the wording in the report. Members of the Canadian Sikh Association called for all MPs following the religion to step down after the report was released.

Surrey Centre Liberal MP Randeep Sarai, also criticized Prime Minister Trudeau for the decision and called for him to remove it, despite being the individual responsible for the invitation of Atwal, as reported by True North’s Candice Malcolm.

Although references to the ideology have been removed from the report, several groups beholden to the Sikh extremism are still listed as terrorist entities on the Public Safety Canada website, including: Babbar Khalsa and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF).

The Trudeau government has announced another delay in the long-awaited decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline extension.

Purchased by the federal government last year from Kinder Morgan, Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the further delay is for more consultation with indigenous groups.

“Our obligation is to ensure that we are engaging in a meaningful two-way dialogue,” he said.

“That we are listening to concerns, that we are offering accommodations.”

The National Energy Board, after endorsing the project, gave the federal government 90 days to decide whether the pipeline extension can be approved for not.

The new delay, now June 18, well exceeds that 90 days period.

Conservative Natural resources critic Shannon Stubbs blasted the latest announcement.

“Today’s announcement, two days after the Alberta election and the day before the Easter long weekend, confirms that the Liberals have no plan to get the Trans Mountain expansion built,” she said.

“The Liberals never had a plan to meet the 90-day deadline to make a decision.”

The delay until June 18 will ensure that the House of Commons will have wrapped up for the summer by the time the final decision is made.

Trans Mountain was purchased last year by the federal government for $4.5 billion, paying over $1 billion more than it was worth.

Despite claiming to require more consultation with indigenous people, many first nations are upset with the government’s handling of the project.

Stephen Buffalo, CEO of the Indian Resource Council, a group of 134 First Nations with oil and gas resources on their land, expressed his concerns in an interview with CTV.

“The Indian Resource Council has reached out to Minister Sohi and has been ignored,” Buffalo said.

“The Minister of Finance laughed at me when I said ‘we should talk about this pipeline’. He said ‘there’s no pipeline to talk about’,” Buffalo continued.

Unless the federal government can sufficiently placate first nations and environmental groups, Canadians may never see this pipeline built.

The Trudeau government removed references to the Khalistan movement from a 2018 report of terrorist threats to Canada after activists and multiple MPs claimed the report targeted the community.

Organizations like World Sikh Organization, the Ontario Sikh and Gurdwaras Council and the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee lobbied Members of Parliament, claiming that the report of terrorist threats unfairly maligns them.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Liberal MP Randeep Sarai have both written letters to the Prime Minister asking to remove the references Sikh “Khalistani” terrorism prior to the censor.

“This report unfairly stigmatizes Muslim and Sikh communities, while failing to consider dangerous and unintended consequences. These consequences include the potential to place vulnerable communities and all Canadians at greater risk, by emboldening the harmful stereotypes that fuelled terrorist attacks in Christchurch, Quebec City and Oak Creek” Singh wrote.

Although Singh infers that the report somehow puts these communities in physical harm, the report was actually fair in addressing terror concerns, particularly from Sikh extremists.

“Sikh (Khalistani) extremism also remain[s] of concern because while their attacks in Canada have been extremely limited, some Canadians continue to support these extremist groups, including through financing,” the report originally read.

The government has changed the wording of the report. It now reads that there is a threat from “extremists who support violent means to establish an independent state within India.”

Khalistani extremists are a small group of Sikhs that wish to create an independent nation for the Sikh people in the Punjab region India.

Although small, Khalistani extremists have been responsible for terrorist attacks around the world going back decades — most infamous being the 1985 bombing by Canadian Khalistanis of an Air India flight, which killed 329 people, including 268 Canadians.

India has expressed concerns about Canada’s soft approach to Khalistanis, including the now infamous connection between Justin Trudeau and former extremist Jaspal Atwal.

Former British Columbia Premier and Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, who is a Sikh, has been very critical of the Liberals soft stance on Khalistanis and those who have criticized the report.

“There is rot in Parliament. This is Trump-like. Questioning your own intelligence community,” he said in a tweet.

“Until recently, the leaders of most Canadian political parties, including Liberals, have been participating in religious processions, including the Baisakhi parade, where floats glorifying Khalistani terrorists are put up. Trudeau’s trip highlighted the tensions and it generated a debate in Canada” he said in an interview on the subject.

Babar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation are examples of Khalistani extremist organizations that are currently active in Canada. Canada’s intelligence community recognizes the risks these groups pose, but it appears the governing Liberals do not.