(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent the Christmas break in the lap of luxury, on a private island in the Bahamas.

A small entourage, including the Trudeau family and Liberal Party insiders, were hosted by the Aga Khan, the billionaire religious leader of Ismaili Muslims.

The retreat seems to have been a gift, and yet, it is unknown if it was declared to Canada’s ethics commissioner.

In fact, Trudeau’s office initially didn’t disclose any details of the secret holiday to the Canadian public.

That is, until the information was uncovered by Postmedia’s David Akin.

The Liberals insist this was a private retreat, that no government business was discussed.

But the vacation has an apparent conflict of interest written all over it.

Aside from being a billionaire spiritual leader, the Aga Khan is also a philanthropist and the chairman of an organization registered to lobby the federal government.

The Aga Khan Foundation received $55 million from the Trudeau government for a foreign aid project in Afghanistan. It has received $310 million from Canadian taxpayers since 2004.

Perhaps that is why the prime minister wanted to keep his extravagant getaway a secret.

Conservative MP and leadership candidate Andrew Scheer has rightly filed a complaint with the government’s ethics commissioner alleging Trudeau’s Bahamas vacation broke federal conflict-of-interest laws.

This would be the second investigation into Trudeau’s private meetings.

Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson is already looking into Trudeau’s cash-for-access fundraising dinners with wealthy businessmen and members of China’s communist government.

Trudeau eventually acknowledged he was lobbied at those private dinners, which raised money for the Liberal Party of Canada.

As for his secret soirée in the Caribbean, Trudeau tried to change the channel by announcing new cabinet appointments on Tuesday. Despite his best efforts, however, he can’t shake this embarrassing revelation that easily.

On Wednesday, Postmedia’s Akin again broke news about the trip — that the Trudeau family was joined by Liberal Party President Anna Gainey and Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan, casting further doubt this was merely a private vacation for the Trudeau clan.

Do you usually vacation with your boss?

Do politicians typically bring along the head of their partisan, political fundraising organizations on family getaways?

Regardless of any political…(READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

After months of searching for an issue to differentiate themselves from the Trudeau Liberals, Conservative leadership hopefuls may have finally found the right ammunition – thanks to a scoop from the Toronto Sun.

On Wednesday, my colleague Anthony Furey and I broke news of an economic report quietly released by the Trudeau government. It was quietly released for good reason. Canada’s long-term fiscal projections paint a dire picture, particularly for young Canadians and future taxpayers.

Far from Trudeau’s campaign pledge to run “modest deficits,” Canada’s debt-fueled spending spree shows no end in sight. The feds will still be running deficits and borrowing tens of billions annually well into the foreseeable future.

By 2045, Canada will have racked up $1.5 trillion in debt. Yes, trillion. With 12 zeros.

That’s because Trudeau’s big spending and big government policies will create structural deficits and unsustainable debt long after he leaves office. We’re racking up record debt, not just to fund infrastructure, but to cover day-to-day costs of government.

Trudeau’s reckless spending has sparked a flame in those who wish to oppose Trudeau in the 2019 federal campaign.

“These proposed deficits are madness for a country of 36 million,” said businessman and investor Kevin O’Leary. “This will guarantee that the next generation of Canadians will have a lower standard of living and services than their parents.”

“This is very scary confirmation of what I have been saying all along,” O’Leary continued. “This kind of mismanagement of the economy is irresponsible and incompetent. Canada cannot function like this.”

O’Leary was not alone in his condemnation of Trudeau’s out-of-control spending plan.

“Mr. Trudeau famously claimed that he could spend more on the economy and the deficit would take care of itself,” said former federal cabinet minister and libertarian frontrunner Maxime Bernier.

“Obviously, finance department economists don’t believe that’s the case, and it’s very disturbing to see the long-term effects of losing control of our country’s finances,” said Bernier.

Canada has been here before. (READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

When Canadians elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it was a $2 trillion mistake.

And, no, that’s not just an opinion.

The $2 trillion figure comes from the Government of Canada’s Department of Finance, in its annual update on long-term fiscal projections.

The economic forecast was released this week, and the figures are stunning.

The last long-term economic report, released under the Stephen Harper government in 2014, predicted Canada would eliminate its national debt within 25 years.

Despite the large economic drain of baby boomers retiring from the workforce and utilizing expensive social services like health care and Old Age Security, the Harper government had a plan to deliver balanced budgets.

It also planned to pay off the federal debt and, much like Ralph Klein’s Alberta in the 2000s, become debt free after 2035.

By 2040, Canada was projected to have no federal debt and a $158 billion surplus. This surplus would continue to grow, and presumably be returned to Canadians through lower taxes and increased spending on social programs.

The Harper government’s long-term economic plan included some tough but fair measures, like reducing the growth in federal spending and moving the retirement age up to 67.

Given the reality of Canada’s changing demographics, these measures are inevitable.

For instance, there are now more Canadians over the age of 65 than under the age of 15.

The ratio of working aged Canadians to retired Canadians has fallen below 4.2, and is projected to drop to 2.5 by 2035.

Canada can no longer make projections based on the booming growth we experienced after the Second World War.

Harper’s fiscal update (building on the fiscal success of the Jean Chrétien Liberals) made leaps and bounds towards correcting a broken, outdated system.

But things look drastically different under Trudeau.

Today’s long-term economic forecast paints a dire picture for the country’s finances.

It’s particularly punishing for young Canadians and future taxpayers.

Instead of surpluses, Canada will run deficits. Year after year.

Far from being debt-free within 25 years, Canada is now projected to run catastrophic deficits every year.

Our annual shortfall is forecasted to be $40 billion in 2035 alone.

By 2045, the government now projects $1.5 trillion in federal debt.

Just two years ago, Canada was projected to have a $760 billion surplus that same year.

While I was a director with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in Ontario, I wrote a book about my generation, and the…(READ MORE)

On New Year’s Eve, an Islamist terrorist gunned down 39 innocent people in a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey. A Canadian has been confirmed to be among those who were killed in the shooting. 12 Canadians have been victims of terrorist attacks in 2016 – the most killed in such attacks in 15 years. It’s clear that there’s a global Islamic terrorism problem and Canadians are directly affected. But Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government insists on maintaining a “non-combative” role in the fight against ISIS.  

Last week, a shameful and one-sided anti-Israel resolution was passed by the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli settlement construction, and the US abstained the vote; allowing it to pass. Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry accused Israel of “thwarting peace in the Middle East”. Israel is the only like-minded ally and capitalist liberal democracy in the Middle East. In March, Justin Trudeau said the Liberal government was a friend and an ally to Israel, but the Prime Minister has been silent on this matter, refusing to stand up for Israel. What is Justin Trudeau waiting for? Time and time again, it’s clear that this government is more concerned about photo ops and selfies than doing what’s right.

Is it really a surprise that many Canadians are starting to sour on Trudeau? 

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Many are calling 2016 the worst year in recent memory.

Aside from the death of several celebrities and cultural icons, 2016 was also a year plagued with escalating global conflicts and deadly Islamist terrorist attacks.

While Islamists boasted about infiltrating the flow of refugee coming into Europe, Western leaders naively insisted that the violent attacks had nothing to do with the refugees and nothing to do with Islam.

Wars across the Middle East expanded and Syria became a proxy war for Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia to flex their might as would-be global superpowers.

Lots went wrong in 2016. But the year wasn’t all bad. 2016 was also the year that average people sent an undeniable message to elites.

It started with Brexit. Everyday people in the UK rejected the Eurocrat elites in Brussels, despite the best wishes of the elites in London.

The people of Great Britain had never been given a say about the growing EU bureaucracy, and were never consulted in the decision to throw open their borders to mass, unchecked migration from war zones and hotbeds of Islamist terrorism.

Following this trend, the American electorate surprised the world by electing Donald Trump. Americans rejected the corrupt, establishment candidate, despite her having the endorsement of elites from Washington, New York, Hollywood and the Silicon Valley.

Hillary Clinton was so stunned by the results that she couldn’t compose herself enough to deliver a concession speech on election night.

Americans instead opted for a man so profoundly hated by establishment elites that many still refuse to accept that Donald J. Trump was actually elected President.

Trump himself embodies a repudiation of corrupt US politics and a biased mainstream media; his victory highlighted the increasing hostile divide between coastal elites and hardworking Americans.

Electing Trump was the ultimate act of rebellion. It was a moral victory for the American public, despite all of Trump’s flaws.

No matter how Trump or Brexit work out…(READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

This week marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the collapse of the USSR.

On December 25, 1991, then Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, and the hammer and sickle flag was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time.

It was a peaceful, subdued end to a terrifying chapter in human history.

Communism was doomed to fail. Every iteration of it has ended in cruel and blatant failure.

Communism, and its more fashionable younger brother, socialism, inevitably collapse because they are economically unviable.

As Margaret Thatcher once said, the problem with socialism is, eventually you run out of other people’s money.

Every experiment with communism — from Russia to Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Cambodia and North Korea — has suffered a similar economic and political fate.

When the government takes over private businesses, there is no incentive to work hard, to produce more, or to grow the economy.

Instead, as the government takes more, there is less to go around, resulting in shortages, queues and starvation. That’s economics 101.

But communism gets worse.

When governments have the power to take and redistribute the wealth in society, they also gain the power to punish those who disagree with them.

The twentieth century featured some of the darkest moments of human history.

Communist regimes and authoritarian governments killed more people than the crusades, black plague and Genghis Khan, combined.

Communism produces misery. Every time.

But communism is often disguised and dressed up to appeal to new demographics.

Bernie Sanders is not a would-be dictator.

But his self-styled “democratic socialism”, much like communism and socialism, is based on Marxist philosophy.

It shares the same fundamental goals and relies on the same structure of government.

Bizarrely, many of the ideas that collapsed along with the USSR are now are making a comeback, especially for the young.

A 2014 Reason-Rupe survey found Americans aged 18 to 24 have a more favourable view of socialism than of capitalism.

Of those surveyed, 58% had a favourable view of socialism, compared to 37% who viewed socialism unfavourably.

Young Americans were more comfortable than any other generation in supporting a socialist political candidate.

That’s troubling, especially since the same study found most Millennials cannot correctly define socialism.

When Millennials were asked the question again, this time given the definition of socialism — the government taking over and running private businesses — their attitudes changed significantly.

The survey then found 64%…(READ MORE)

Last week, the world witnessed a series of Islamic terrorist attacks, killing dozens of innocent people:

• An ISIS attack in Jordan led to the death of a retired Newfoundland teacher, Linda Vatcher. Ms. Vacher was the 11^th Canadian victim of terrorist attacks in 2016 – the most killed in such attacks in 15 years.
• The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, by an off-duty police officer with ties to Islamic terror organizations.
• Hours later, 12 people were killed and 56 were injured as a truck rammed into a Berlin Christmas market, in which ISIS claimed responsibility for this heinous crime.
• In addition, perhaps it was a Christmas miracle, but thankfully Australian police were able to prevent another terrorist attack on Christmas Day.

As True North’s Candice Malcolm asked in her recent column, are we heading towards another World War? Given the series of violent terrorist attacks and as tensions rise around the globe, it does seem like history is repeating itself.

As Canadians, we have to wonder if our current government will step up in its efforts against Islamic terrorism at home and abroad. However, given the fact that our Prime Minister won’t even acknowledge the Berlin Christmas Market terrorist attack, we’re not holding our breath here at True North.  

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Christians are under attack around the world. While Christians in Canada are peacefully observing and celebrating Christmas, many others around the world aren’t granted this basic freedom.

Earlier this week, a militant Islamist deliberately rammed a transport truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin. His rampage left 12 people dead and another 48 injured. German police have confirmed that this was a jihadist terrorist attack, which they believe was carried out by Tunisian migrant Anis Amri. The suspect was killed by police in Milan four days after the attack.

The terrorist purposely targeted Christians. And because of his attack, Christmas markets across Europe and North America have had to ramp up security and live in fear of another attack.

This wasn’t the only time Christians were killed while celebrating a religious holiday in 2016.

On Easter Sunday, an Islamist terrorist organization attacked Christians at a park in Lahore, Pakistan. A suicide bomber struck with a powerful blast that killed 75 people and injured 340 more.

These are not isolated incidents. Sadly, there is a larger trend of Christians being targeted around the world.

According to a recent Pew research study, Christians in 52% of the world’s countries are not free to practice their religion. Instead, they are harassed, persecuted, imprisoned and even killed just because they are Christian.

Christians are now the most persecuted religious group in the world.

Just look at the plight of Christians in their biblical homeland, the Middle East. Over the past hundred years, between half and two-thirds of Christians in Middle East have been killed or driven away by dictators, mobs and terrorist organizations.

Syria was once home to a vibrant Christian community, and Christians once comprised about 30% of the population. Thanks to decades of persecution, however, Syria’s Christian population has fallen to a fraction of its former size.

Christians now make up less than 10% of the population in Syria. And their numbers continue to fall, thanks to the Islamic State and their genocidal campaign against Assyrian Christians and other minority religious groups.

In neighbouring Iraq, Christianity’s roots date back to the first century. But according to a 2016 report by the Knights of Columbus, Iraq’s Christian population has dropped by a staggering 80% in just over a decade.

In 2003, 1.4 million Christians lived in Iraq. Today, only about a quarter of a million remain.

The troubling purge against Iraqi Christians is, by definition, a genocide.

Even Lebanon – a country created as a safe haven for Christians in the Middle East – is quietly experiencing its own exodus of Christians.

Following the First World War, Lebanon was a majority Christian country. Nearly 85% of the…(READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Are we heading toward another World War?

As tensions rise around the globe, from Europe to Syria to China, it’s starting to feel like we are on the cusp of an unstoppable catastrophe.

In particular, there is reason to be concerned about the escalating tensions between Turkey and Russia.

The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was assassinated Monday.

He was shot and killed before a live audience, by a special ops member of the Turkish police force.

The assassin was standing behind the ambassador — he looked like a member of the secret service.

It could have easily been a scene from a James Bond film.

After he murdered the ambassador, the assassin stood in front of the crowd and shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “we die in Aleppo, you die here.”

Russia and Turkey are both involved in the Syrian civil war, backing different factions and occasionally colliding.

This isn’t the first sign of escalating tensions between these two regional powers.

A little over a year ago, in late November, 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian military jet for supposedly violating Turkish airspace and crossing into Turkish territory.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin called it “an ambush” and a “stab in the back by terrorist accomplices.”

But ultimately, and thankfully, Putin decided not to retaliate with force.

This time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has joined Putin in condemning the assassination.

But one can never really know what’s going on behind the scenes in Turkey.

The country has devolved into an Islamist dictatorship, where opposition political figures are jailed, media outlets are shut down and political dissidents face the death penalty.

Following a failed military coup earlier this year, we’ve seen more and more power concentrate into the hands of Erdogan and his inner circle.

Turkey also appears to be deliberately provoking former allies.

The problem with this internal chaos is that Turkey is a member of NATO — the political and military coalition of Western nations, which includes Canada.

NATO’s founding principle is that of “collective self-defence”’ as defined by Article 5 of NATO’s 1949 Washington Treaty.

Article 5 states that, “an armed attack on one or more [members] shall be considered an attack on all.”

It calls for members to assist the victim of any such attack.

Hence the talk of a possible World War III.

If this feud worsens…(READ MORE)