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Saturday, July 5, 2025

Trudeau’s new housing policy is what Poilievre is already proposing 

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
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Source: X

Justin Trudeau’s new housing policy—to incentivize Canadian cities to build more homes near transit hubs—sounds awfully familiar.

His plan involves giving federal funding to cities, but only if they change their laws to permit more homes to be built near transit areas. This plan nearly mirrors a proposal from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre last year.

“We’ve put money on the table to help cities build more public transit, with a catch. To get that funding, cities have to change their by-laws to unlock more apartments and homes near that transit,” Trudeau announced on X.

The plan is similar to Poilievre’s proposed Building Homes, not Bureaucracy Act and his general message of getting rid of the “government gatekeepers.”

Last year, Poilievre posted a 15-minute video on the housing crisis.

“What if we incentivized good behaviour instead of reinforcing the bad?” Poilievre said in the video. “The federal government spends about $4.5 billion on direct and continuous municipal infrastructure transfers. Big city politicians care about getting that money more than anything else. They’ll only permit more homebuilding faster if their federal money depends on it.”

Poilievre also recorded a video outside an apartment he lived at when he was in university, located near a Calgary transit station, to drive home the point further.

Deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman said the Liberals could have supported Poilievre’s bill in the House of Commons if they wanted to see his policies implemented.

“When Common Sense Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre proposed sensible legislation to build the homes by pressuring the gatekeepers into speeding up permits, among other measures, the Liberals voted unanimously to stop it,” she said. 

“It is only now that their desperate and flailing government (is) closer to facing Canadians in an election that Trudeau’s Liberal government (is) taking conservative policies and representing them as their ideas.”

The difference between Trudeau’s and Poilievre’s proposals lies in the latter’s emphasis on results rather than only zoning law changes required to access the funds in Trudeau’s plan.

“Require federally funded transit stations to be permitted for high-density apartments all around it and withhold federal transit grants until the apartments are built and occupied,” Poilievre said in his list of ways to combat the housing shortage.

He also proposed that big cities complete 15% more homebuilding annually to get federal infrastructure money and that cities exceeding the 15% target receive building bonuses.

“Dollars should be based on housing completions, not promises,” Poilievre said. 

He also proposed the government sell off 15% of federal buildings and 1000s of acres of “surplus federal land” that is suited for housing. 

“Instead of funding promises, the federal government should find results,” he said.

Lantsman thinks people will see through what Trudeau is doing.

“Canadians won’t be fooled, and they know Trudeau is to blame for nine years of failed policies and the hurt and misery he has caused,” she said.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to True North’s request to comment.

Man arrested for filming police in public files lawsuit after charges withdrawn

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

A man who was arrested and charged for filming police outside a Toronto police station has had his charges withdrawn and is now seeking damages from the department. 

James Hearn was charged with criminal harassment after police approached him while he was filming a Toronto police station from a city sidewalk. 

He was arrested after an officer claimed to feel “harassed and intimidated” by his conduct. 

The officer demanded to know why he was filming but Hearn refused to answer, which led to him being arrested, charged and held for bail. 

“Mr. Hearn was charged with criminal harassment and intimidation for filming the outside of 52 Division in Toronto after a police officer who was pulling into the underground parking garage complained about feeling harassed and intimidated by Hearn’s conduct,” Hearn’s defence lawyer, Alan Honner, told True North.   

Following his arrest, Hearn was searched and had his recording equipment, including the smartphone he’d used to capture the interaction between him and the complainant police officer, seized.

Hearn operates a YouTube channel called “Ontario Audit” which he uses to share experiences he’s had with law enforcement and government officials. 

While Hearn’s channel seeks to expose both the good and bad side of his exchanges with people in positions of authority, the channel was launched after he’d had “bad interactions with law enforcement.”

His videos have accumulated over a million views. 

According to the Democracy Fund, who funded Hearn’s defence, charges were withdrawn last month after the prosecution cited no reasonable prospect of conviction. 

However, police have yet to return Hearn’s recording equipment, despite multiple requests.

Democracy Fund lawyers said that even though Hearn beat the charges, the “process is the punishment,” as their client was subjected to the “indignity of his arrest and the loss of liberty associated with his temporary detention and restrictive bail conditions.”

Honner is now representing Hearn in a lawsuit against the police officer who made the arrest on what he says were “spurious grounds.” 

“The assistant crown attorney did the right thing by withdrawing the charges, but that does not change the fact that Hearn was arrested without legal cause and put on restrictive bail conditions for months until the charges were finally withdrawn,” Honner told True North. 

The civil allegations have not been proven in court.

According to Honner, police charged his client because he “refused to comply with the demands of an errant police officer.”

In a letter to members of the Toronto Police Services Board, Honner said it was Hearn’s right not to respond to the officer and that he was only charged because police disliked his activity. 

The lawsuit will be seeking damages, including punitive damages, for false imprisonment, assault, negligent investigation, and various bad faith breaches of his Charter rights.

“It stretches the imagination to believe that the complainant police officer felt harassed and intimidated by Hearn’s conduct. Either he made it up as an excuse to arrest Hearn, or he’s so timid that he’s unworthy of his rank. Whatever the case, Canadians should be concerned,” said Hearn.  

The Toronto Police Service did not respond to a request for comment from True North. 

Premiers criticize federal overreach, lack of collaboration at Halifax meeting

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: YT: Council of the Federation-Conseil de la fédération

Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers want more collaboration and less unilateral decision making when it comes to the federal government. 

Provincial and territorial leaders recently concluded their biannual meeting at the 2024 Council of the Federation in Halifax. 

During the closing press conference of the meeting, various premiers urged the federal government to work with them instead of ignoring jurisdiction.

“We talked a lot about the current lack of cooperation from the federal government to the provinces and territories, which has resulted in missed opportunities, as we see federal programs that create duplicate processes that risk pitting provinces and territories, and really Canadians, against one another,” said Tim Houston, the council’s chair.

“There’s a lot we can do to collaborate because the current situation we have is not in the best interests of the federation as a whole,” he added. 

Houston said the premiers have asked the federal government to work with the provinces as active partners when developing and executing federal programs.

The premier of New Brunswick, Blaine Higgs, said it’s more important now than ever that premiers and the federal government align on national issues.

“As we were talking amongst ourselves, it certainly seems that we are kind of replacing the federal government in many ways on some of the issues that are really important to our country,” he said.

While premiers didn’t explicitly blame the federal government for Canada’s immigration issues, many of them raised concerns about the rate at which their provinces were growing. 

British Columbia Premier David Eby said that his province added 180,000 people to the province last year and urged the Bank of Canada to lower interest rates to help control inflation.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said that her province increased housing construction by 60% year-over-year, allowing Alberta to accommodate 100,000 people, half of the 200,000 that came to the province last year. She added that despite unprecedented spending on students, there are still 22,500 new students that remain unfunded. 

The Liberals have implemented various policies already existing in provinces, only for them to be more expensive and serve fewer people. 

“I think every Canadian would expect that all of their levels of government should try to pitch in and do everything they can to make their lives a little bit easier, but it gets a little bit frustrating with the duplication and the overstepping, so to speak, of the federal government,” said Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island.

He said that his province already has a school food lunch program and a dental care program, which the Liberals have implemented nationwide at a much higher cost. 

“We’re not asking the federal government to butt out. We’re asking them to say, let’s get to the table together. Let’s understand from your jurisdiction the same way Tim or I would do with our municipalities to say, ‘What do you need? How can we work together to achieve it? And how can we deliver the best results for Islanders and Canadians?’”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford raised similar concerns. 

He said the Liberals introduced a $1 billion School Food Program to feed 400,000 kids over five years. However, Ontario’s program delivers almost 90 million meals and snacks to more than 600,000 school-aged children with an annual budget of $38 million. 

“Something’s broken. They’re wasting taxpayers’ money. Go through the provinces, and you know what happens? Premiers get pissed. Simple as that. They jump in there and they think they know better than what we know. And we deal with it on a daily basis,” said Ford.

Most premiers commented on the carbon tax, applauding Manitoba and Saskatchewan for removing taxes and subsequently seeing lower inflation. 

Smith said that when she removed her province’s fuel tax, Alberta had the lowest inflation too. However, it cost her province’s treasury $2 billion, money she said her province needs to build roads in the absence of adequate transportation funding in the last federal budget.

“We can’t keep cutting our own sources of revenue because the federal government refuses to cut theirs,” she said. 

“So we want the federal government to restrict its, kind of, meddling, I guess, to federal government issues and leave provincial jurisdiction issues to the provinces. That’s what we want. And we want them to be our partner and support us,” said Houston. 

Blaine Higgs pledges to cut New Brunswick HST by 2% if re-elected  

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: X

New Brunsick’s provincial government has pledged to cut the Harmonized Sales Tax by two percent if re-elected.

While the next provincial election hasn’t officially been called yet, Premier Blaine Higgs wants to get the message out before his party begins campaigning. 

Higgs made the announcement during a press conference in Moncton on Thursday. 

“New Brunswickers know better than government how to spend their own money,” said Higgs. “With the cut to the HST, they’ll have more money to work with.”

The premier said his government could make the cut possible as a result of “strong, smart policies and disciplined fiscal management have resulted in six consecutive balanced budgets.”

Once implemented, New Brunswick will have the lowest HST of all the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.

“We’re able to do this because we can and because we’ve been fiscally responsible since we started, since the very beginning,” said Higgs. “All the while, we’ll maintain our balanced budget.”

According to Higgs’ plan, HST will be reduced to 14% as part of the 2025 budget, then again to 13% in 2026.

The federal-provincial tax was created in the late 1990s and was originally implemented at 15%, with a federal rate of 7% and a provincial rate of 8%.

Reducing New Brunswick’s HST down to 13% would bring it on par with Ontario. 

“This announcement is tremendous news for hardworking families all across New Brunswick,” federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told True North. 

“This HST cut will save families big time nearly everywhere they shop and save the average family nearly $1,000 a year once this tax cut is fully phased in.”

Higgs’ Minister of Public Safety Kris Austin made the same announcement while speaking with reporters in Fredericton, saying that the cuts will save New Brunswickers around $1,000 annually. 

“Whether families are struggling to afford a summer vacation, replace that old appliance or looking to buy a new car, this HST cut will have a huge impact on the lives of New Brunswickers,” said Terrazzano. 

Former prime minister Stephen Harper reduced the federal portion of HST down to 5% in 2006.

However, New Brunswick’s former Liberal premier Brian Gallant increased the provincial portion to 10% in 2016, bringing the province’s total rate back up to 15%.

Higgs said that for the first time in a generation, the province’s youth and young adults were “not only staying in our province, but returning home for the opportunities we have right here.” 

“New Brunswickers can’t afford more expensive Liberal policies and debt-fueled spending,” said Higgs. 

Voters will be headed to the polls no later than Oct. 21. 

BC Conservatives propose new “patients first” healthcare model

By
Noah Jarvis, True North Wire
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Source: Flickr

The Conservative Party of British Columbia unveiled its“patients first” healthcare policy which includes further partnerships with private clinics. 

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad says that the province’s healthcare system is broken, and that throwing more money into the current state of affais will not result in lower waiting times and better patient outcomes. 

“Our system is collapsing,” said Rustad. “Throwing more money at this problem won’t solve it. We need to start putting patients first through a new healthcare model.”

The healthcare platform contains five policy proposals that the BC Conservatives say will fix the province’s healthcare system and support frontline workers.

The first proposal would see the BC government partner with private healthcare facilities to deliver healthcare services through the single-payer system while expanding access to care for British Columbians.

The Conservatives compare the BC healthcare system with OECD countries that can spend less of their GDP on healthcare while delivering more acute care beds, more MRI scanners, and more nurses and doctors. 

In a comment to True North, BC Conservative spokesperson Anthony Koch said that private facilities can operate alongside public facilities to increase capacity, encourage competition, and provide patients with more healthcare options.

The second proposal would reform BC’s funding model so that government funds are tied to the delivery of services, rather than block grants. They say this will help a Conservative government to cut red tape and allow the province to hire more healthcare professionals.

Thirdly, the BC Conservatives pledged to hire back the thousands of healthcare workers who were laid off for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine. As it stands, the province has refused to reinstate the dismissed workers.

To protect and support healthcare professionals, the BC Conservatives say they’ll implement a zero-tolerance policy by criminalizing illicit drug use in emergency rooms and hospitals. 

They would also repeal the controversial Bill 36 which saw the province consolidate the number of health colleges from 15 to 6 and introduced government-appointed board members. 

Finally, the BC Conservatives propose to make reporting on healthcare data and outcomes more transparent and seek to modernize the healthcare system through new technologies like telehealth and digital diagnostic tools.

When asked how the BC Conservatives plan on paying for new healthcare professionals and new technology, Koch said that they’ll improve efficiency in the system by reducing administrative overhead, collaborating with the private sector, and seeking grants and funds from the federal government.

Koch also said that the activity-based funding model will cut down on unnecessary expenditures and allow the government to allocate funds towards investing in technology and healthcare professionals.

In a comment to True North, BC United said that the BC Conservatives plagiarized much of their platform from their own.

“BC United was the first party to propose to publicly funding treatments at existing private clinics to immediately clear waitlists, hire back healthcare workers who were fired due to the vaccine mandate, ban illicit drug use in hospitals, create transparent measurable targets for our healthcare system performance, and repeal Bill 36,” reads BC United’s statement.

BC United candidate Dr. Claudine Storness-Bliss said that BC United is leading on the healthcare issue, despite her party’s unfavourable polling numbers.

“The Rustad Party copying our healthcare platform, which was created with the input of our strong team of physicians running for BC United in the upcoming election, simply shows that BC United is leading the charge to fix the NDP’s healthcare crisis,” said Storness-Bliss.

In response, the BC Conservatives say their healthcare platform is far more ambitious than BC United’s.

“Our proposal entails a whole of system transformation and is overwhelmingly more comprehensive,” said Koch.

“The only similarity is expanding and partnering with non-government facilities.”

True North reached out to the BC NDP for comment but did not receive a response.

Electricity Canada warns of “profound concerns” with Liberals’ electricity regulations

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
-
Source: Unsplash

A group representing Canada-wide electricity providers told Environment Canada that it has failed to hold up its end of the bargain by jeopardizing the affordability and reliability of the country’s electrical grid. 

The president and CEO of Electricity Canada, Francis Bradley, wrote a letter to Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and various other ministers about “profound concerns” regarding the proposed Clean Electricity Regulations.

“Our goal with this letter is to inform you about the failure of this process, highlight its potential impacts on the sector and on the Canadian economy, and propose solutions to move forward. We do not make these statements lightly,” reads the letter obtained by True North.

Electricity Canada has consulted with Environment Canada about Canada’s proposed electricity regulations under a non-disclosure agreement since Feb. 2024. 

The non-disclosure agreement was intended to allow Environment Canada to share modelling and assumptions to enable industry feedback on carbon reductions, reliability, and cost.

Electricity Canada said that Environment Canada agreed to an aggressive schedule of meetings and workshops when signing the non-disclosure agreement.

“However, the department has repeatedly delayed sharing the information for which the NDA process was intended. Despite repeated attempts over the last four months, as of this writing, ECCC has not yet provided their modelling and the assumptions contained material factual errors, making it impossible for industry to provide meaningful feedback,” reads the letter.

Electricity Canada relayed its concerns to Environment Canada on May 28. The agency has informed Electricity Canada that the formal consultation period will end within a few weeks.

“There is now insufficient time to analyze and provide feedback that could meaningfully impact the regulatory design,” reads the letter. “The department has not provided meaningful modelling information, therefore this engagement process has failed to achieve its purpose.”

Electricity Canada warned any suggestion that the sector endorses the Clean Electricity Regulations was a “mischaracterization.” 

“Unfortunately, there is more than simply a failed process. We remain deeply concerned that what has been shared with us during this engagement still reveals what is, in our expert opinion, an unequivocally flawed regulatory design that risks significant impairments to the reliability of the electricity system and severe affordability impacts in many parts of the country,” reads the letter.

The national forum and voice of the electricity business in Canada warned that this impact would be worse in provinces most reliant on fossil fuels.

The Alberta government previously slammed the federal government after the Canada Electricity Advisory released its final report, concluding that the Liberals’ 2035 deadline for a net-zero grid was “unrealistic and unattainable.”

“This letter validates what Alberta, other provinces, and industry has been saying all along — Ottawa’s so-called Clean Electricity Regulations are unrealistic, unconstitutional, and dangerous for our provinces and our country,” Schulz told True North.

Saskatchewan’s electricity regulator previously said that achieving the 2035 net-zero goals was impossible. 

“The CERs design articulated by ECCC is both overly optimistic and inflexible, to the extent that our members believe it will put the reliability of electricity service in jeopardy in many parts of the country,” said Electricity Canada in its letter.

Since 2005, Electricity Canada said that the electricity sector has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by over 60%, far exceeding reductions from other sectors and amounting to tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 annually.

Electricity Canada urged Environment Canada to engage in a more meaningful process. The forum consisting of 42 members said that this process should include providing access to the modelling and assumptions that form the basis of the regulation. It should allow sufficient time for the sector to analyze this information and offer actionable feedback that addresses reliability and affordability concerns before the consultation closes.

To maintain affordability and reliability, Electricity Canada said that the regulation must include sufficient flexibility by using commercially available technologies. The regulation must include a periodic regulatory review, and a systems operator must validate it to ensure it’s achievable in each jurisdiction.

Electricity Canada said it is disappointed with Environment Canada so far but remains ready to collaborate meaningfully. 

“We are optimistic that a solution can be reached with proper time and engagement. But, should ECCC be unwilling or unable to work with the electricity sector to find a solution that addresses the affordability and reliability concerns we have repeatedly raised, Electricity Canada will not be able to support the regulations,” reads the letter.

Schulz told True North that Guilbeault needs to scrap the ideology and stick to common sense.

“There are no tweaks or changes that can fix this dangerous regulation… it must be scrapped entirely,” she said. “No one wants to freeze in the dark. What Canadians want is safe, affordable, reliable energy and electricity, 24/7, 365 days a year.”

Ratio’d | Immigration minister tells students to GO BACK HOME

By
Harrison Faulkner
-
Source: CPAC

After letting in over one million international students into Canada, Justin Trudeau’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller is now telling international students that many of them have to go home now. A stunning change in tune after overseeing the largest expansion of international students in Canadian history just a year prior.

Miller also conceded in a press conference this week that some international students are actually foreign gang members and criminals with long criminal histories who have managed to sneak past Canada’s weak immigration security system and qualify for student visas. Not only has this system crippled Canada’s housing affordability and jobs crisis, but now it has put Canadian lives at risk.

Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner!

Trudeau, Chow use Toronto flood to fearmonger about climate change but adaptation is key says expert

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
-
Source: X

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow blame flooding in Ontario’s capital city on climate change but one expert says some places are better equipped to deal with heavy rain than others. 

Neither leader gave specific evidence on how climate change affected the flooding but confidently assured that more would be expected as a result. 

Kenneth Green, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and Frontier Centre for Public Policy has written extensively on public policy and he told True North that Chow was discussing adaptation more than additional greenhouse gas reduction measures, such as a further increase to the carbon tax. 

A market-based “adaptation” measure would include creating incentives for people to keep more of their land permeable to water penetration, rather than paved over with impermeable materials, Green explained. 

 “An adaptationist response to climate risk is, I think, far more rational than the idea of reducing GHG emissions, so the more the government focuses on things like this, the better,” he said

Green has warned that “Canadians will pay dearly for Ottawa’s carbon tax,” estimating that it will cause a 1.8% drop in GDP and a loss of 185,000 jobs by 2030.

Chow said that she expects the number of severe rainstorm days to double in the next 15 years, due to climate change and that the only way to fight this inevitability was government measures. 

Toronto’s mayor said that she’s considering providing such incentives to homeowners and for people with large parking spaces where stormwater is not properly running off, which causes more flooding. 

Chow previously considered implementing a rain tax that the vast majority of residents opposed. The proposal has been postponed until 2027.

Trudeau echoed Chow’s concerns that climate change would increase the frequency of extreme weather events and said that his government has made a dozen investments in flood-resilient infrastructure in the city of Toronto.

“We’re going to continue to be there to make sure that people are safe and that infrastructure needs are met long into the future in this great and growing city,” he said. 

A Fraser Institute study suggested that there was no evidence to suggest that extreme climate events are on the rise, despite assertions from environmental activists and the Liberals.

Green said studies on creating permeability utilities have existed for years. In Austin, Texas, where he used to live, the government implemented business incentives for keeping a certain percentage of parking areas permeable to the downward flow of rainwater.

He said that some governments have managed flood control better than others, but the biggest failure comes from the insurance area.

“Governments don’t require people building in flood-prone areas to carry sufficient insurance, and thus, when floods happen, the taxpayers smart enough not to live in flood zones have to pay for their damages via government bailouts,” said Green. “Then, government’s often let people rebuild right where they were, and when they build back even grander, it only ensures higher cost losses for the next flood. It’s a vicious circle of encouraging people to put higher and higher value homes and businesses in higher risk areas, because they face no disincentives not to do so.” 

Green authored a book titled, The Plague of Models: How Computer Modelling Corrupted Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulations. 

In his book, he dedicates an entire chapter to arguing against climate models and predictions.

“I do not place any credence in predictive climate models, at all,” said Green, who holds a doctoral degree in environmental science and engineering.  

Immigration recently passed climate change as a key priority for Canadian voters. Also eclipsing climate change were the rising cost of living, housing affordability, healthcare, and the general economy. 

Despite Canada having one of the most expensive carbon taxes in the world, it previously fell to 62nd place out of 67 on the Climate Change Performance Index. 

“Justin Trudeau’s failed environmental policies are not only costing Canadians — but they’re also not working,” said Conservative MP Dan Mazier. 

Marco Mendicino demands “protective zones” to shield MPs from harassment 

By
Élie Cantin-Nantel, True North Wire
-
Source: Facebook

A Liberal MP wants to put jail time on the table for people who harass members of Parliament and their staff.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Marco Mendicino is calling on the government to implement “protective zones” to shield MPs from harassment.

The request comes as harassment against parliamentarians rose by almost 800% in five years.

Mendicino made the comments in an interview with the Canadian Press.

“We have to take parliamentary security more seriously,” said Mendicino. “We need as Canadians to open our eyes and recognize that political violence is not something that just occurs somewhere else, but that it is happening here in our own communities.”

Mendicino says that while he believes people have the right to express their disagreement to their elected officials, there are limits. 

“We’re seeing more threats, more intimidation, more harassment, which can lead to harm both online and in the community,” he noted.

Mendicino is asking for anti harassment buffer zones of 50 to 100 meters around the constituency offices of MPs to protect them and their staff. 

He noted that such zones should come with strict penalties for violators, like harsher criminal penalties and jail time.

Mendicino, who previously served as public safety minister, said he “always found that the RCMP were prepared to step up.”

Similar “anti-harassment” bubble zones have already been implemented around abortion clinics, schools, drag queen story hours and places of worship.

In recent years, there have been several cases of MPs and their staff being targeted and harassed. 

The Montreal constituency office of Immigration Minister Marc Miller was severely vandalized Monday night.  

Windows were smashed and paint was spread all over the facade. Red Hamas triangles along with the phrase “Marc Miller, child killer,” were also spray-painted on a door, leading Montreal police to believe pro-Palestinian activists were behind the vandalism.

Other MPs have also recently had their offices vandalized, including Davenport MP Julie Dzerowicz, Parkdale—High Park MP Arif Virani, London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos and Courtenay—Alberni MP Gord Johns.

Several of the constituency office vandalism incidents were linked to pro-Palestinian protests.

MP offices have also been the subject of disruptive and aggressive “sit in” protests.

Several MPs and ministers have also been harassed in public in recent years, including Mendicino.

Last month, he was confronted by a man in Ottawa who spat on him. He has said he’s also received “a barrage of death threats.”

Other federal politicians who have been subject to harassment while in public include NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Ford abandons EV plans and invests $3 billion into Super Duty trucks

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: ford.com

Ford plans to build large Super Duty trucks at an Ontario production plant it had originally intended to use for electric vehicles.

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

The remaining money will be distributed to other Canadian plants. 

“I’m thrilled by @FordCanada’s decision to expand production of its F-Series Super Duty pickups to Ontario with a $2.3 billion investment that will create and secure nearly 2,000 jobs in Oakville and Windsor!” wrote Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a post to X. 

Ford currently produces its Super Duty trucks, which are primarily used by commercial and business customers, at plants in Ohio and Kentucky. Its newly announced Canadian plant is expected to be up and running by 2026 and is projected to produce 100,000 units per year.  

“Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant running flat out, we can’t meet the demand,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley in a release. “This move benefits our customers and supercharges our Ford Pro commercial business.”

Ford had previously said it was going to invest $1.3 billion into the Oakville plant for EV production but those plans have now been delayed until 2027. 

News of the delay comes after taxpayers committed $590 million to Ford in the form of a subsidy partnership between the federal and provincial governments.

Despite the mass subsidies, consumers aren’t biting, with more Canadians abandoning the idea of ever owning an electric vehicle. 

A recent study found that over half of Canadians said that they were “very unlikely” to consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase.

On the other hand, only 28.5% of potential buyers said they were willing to go electric, down from 34% two years ago. 

Farley said in an interview last week that full “big, huge, enormous” vehicles like Ford’s Super Duty trucks were “never going to make money” as EVs because of the manufacturing costs involved. 

“They’re never going to make money. The battery is $50,000,” said Farley. “The batteries will never be affordable.”

“Boosting Super Duty assembly will initially secure approximately 1,800 Canadian jobs at Oakville Assembly Complex, 400 more than would initially have been needed to produce the three-row electric vehicle. Unifor-represented employees at Oakville Assembly Complex will return to work in 2026, a full year earlier than previously planned,” said Ford in a press release. 

“The increased production also adds approximately 150 jobs at Windsor Engine Complex, which will manufacture more V8 engines for Super Duty.”

Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development Victor Fedeli said that the “Ontario government was thrilled” with the “great news.”

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