Earlier this week, Justin Trudeau attended the NATO summit in Washington, D. C., where he received harsh criticism from American counterparts for Canada’s insufficient defence spending commitments, which failed to meet the target of 2% of GDP. Retired vice-admiral Mark Norman joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to explain why Canada’s failure to meet NATO’s defence spending commitment continues to plague Canadian foreign affairs.
Ratio’d | Justin Trudeau embarrasses Canada AGAIN at a NATO summit
Another international trip for Justin Trudeau and another international embarrassment.
Since landing in Washington for the 75th anniversary of the NATO alliance, Justin Trudeau and his Liberal cabinet has been dogged by questions from journalists about Canada’s failure to adequately fund our national defence. And the attacks aren’t just coming from the media, even US representatives are calling on Canada to pull its weight.
In truth, it isn’t just Trudeau’s fault. Under Stephen Harper, Canada’s military spending was less than 1% of our GDP, today that number is around 1.3%. Military spending has increased but it is well short of where it needs to be.
Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.
Conrad Black removed from the U.K. House of Lords
Former media baron Conrad Black has been removed from the House of Lords due to non-attendance.
Lord Black, formally styled as the Baron Black of Crossharbour, has held a seat in the House of Lords since his appointment as a British peer by then-prime minister Tony Blair in 2001. The House of Lords is the upper chamber of the British Parliament, akin to the Canadian Senate.
Members are not elected, but are instead generally appointed by the monarch on recommendation from the British prime minister. Some members are hereditary peers, who inherit their positions.
While Lord Black has lost his seat, he retains his peerage and title.
True North reached out to Lord Black to request a comment.
“I hadn’t set foot there for 21 years and don’t find British politics interesting now. They’re entitled to have active peers and I’m happy to keep the title,” Lord Black told True North
Born in Montreal, Lord Black is a businessman, historian, and columnist.
Former prime minister Tony Blair offered Lord Black, a dual Canadian-British citizen, the title in 2001, granting him a seat in the United Kingdom’s upper chamber as Lord Black of Crossharbour.
However, House of Lords Speaker Lord McFall announced his removal on Wednesday, effective July 9.
The announcement also included several other lords who “by virtue of non-attendance,” have ceased to be members of the House of Lords.
Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien tried to block Lord Black’s appointment, arguing that as a Canadian citizen he was ineligible to hold a peerage. Lord Black then accused Chrétien of counselling the Queen not to grant the peerage, arguing the prime minister was acting vindictively in response to the National Post’s negative coverage of him and the Liberal party.
Following two court rejections of his lawsuit, Lord Black renounced his citizenship in 2001 and accepted the peerage. He regained his Canadian citizenship two decades later and said he regretted giving it up..
“I was just so enraged at Jean Chrétien’s malice that the only way that I could frustrate him in his success … to oppose my becoming a peer while remaining a Canadian citizen was to do what I did,” Lord Black told the National Post in an interview last year.
Lord Black was convicted on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice in the U.S. in 2007. He was pardoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.
Upon his pardon, Lord Black said that he planned on returning to his seat in the House of Lords.
“I have been an inactive member, but I have been invited to return as an active Conservative peer and I do intend to do that. I just haven’t gotten around to it, but I will. I will be relaunching my career as a legislator,” said Lord Black during the same interview.
However, the newly elected prime minister of the U.K. Keir Starmer has pledged to reform the House of Lords, claiming that “too many peers do not play a proper role in our democracy.”
Jagmeet Singh accuses Conservative candidate of being “residential school denier”
The Conservatives are accusing the NDP of making up stories after Jagmeet Singh accused one of their candidates of being a “very well-known residential school denier.”
Singh made the accusation against filmmaker Aaron Gunn, the Conservative candidate for North Island—Powell River in British Columbia, in his remarks before the Assembly of First Nations’ annual general meeting in Montreal Thursday.
A Conservative spokesperson told True North that Singh was making things up.
“Once again, Jagmeet Singh is fabricating stories and trying to distract Canadians from his own track record of abandoning hard-working Canadians and propping up a Liberal government that has continued to leave First Nations on the sidelines,” the spokesperson said. “Aaron Gunn has been clear in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false.”
True North reached out to the NDP to ask for support for Singh’s claim but received no reply.
Prior to becoming a federal Conservative candidate, Gunn was disqualified from running for the B.C. Liberal Party, after the party cited numerous tweets where he argued that Canada had not committed genocide against Indigenous peoples.
The B.C. Liberals said that his candidacy “would be inconsistent with the B.C. Liberal Party’s commitment to reconciliation, diversity, and acceptance of all British Columbians.”
Before being disqualified, the B.C. Liberal’s lone Indigenous candidate urged the party to accept Gunn’s candidacy. Gunn said he felt “blindsided” by his disqualification.
The Conservatives have pointed to several pro-Indigenous commitments made by both Gunn and leader Pierre Poilievre.
Singh’s accusation of Gunn came in a tirade against Poilievre, whom Singh said wants to take freedom away from Indigenous people and give it to himself.
“What he really wants is for his rich developer buddies to get richer off your resources. And he doesn’t want you to make the decisions. And I think that’s wrong,” said Singh.
Poilievre delivered his own speech to the Assembly of First Nations Thursday.
During the speech, Poilievre mentioned eliminating bureaucracy, and reducing the amount of funds split with the federal government, leaving more in the hands of the First Nations people that develop resources on their land.
“What does the bureaucracy in Ottawa have to teach you about good management? The amount of money that’s being wasted in our nation’s capital?” asked Poilievre. “If the resources are developed on your land, you should get the money. The workers and the businesses that invest should get the money. We don’t need the money to go to Ottawa where it will be squandered on bureaucracy.”
The Conservative party’s spokesperson said Gunn shares these goals.
“Gunn is looking to join Pierre Poilievre in repealing Trudeau’s radical anti-resource laws to quickly green-light good projects so First Nations and all Canadians bring home more powerful paycheques.”
Trudeau promises NATO he will meet defence target but not until 2032
It will take Canada over seven years to meet NATO’s 2% of GDP defence spending target.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday that Canada wouldn’t meet the target until 2032 while speaking at the defence treaty’s summit in Washington D.C., amid a whirlwind of scrutiny from NATO members.
“We will continue to explore opportunities that will further increase defence spending and advance Canada’s strategic interests,” said Trudeau, without providing details on how his government would accomplish the goal.
Canada’s failure to meet its 2% GDP contribution to NATO has been scrutinized by several politicians, including U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who called the situation “shameful.”
“Shamefully, Canada announced in the last couple days that they won’t be ponying up, they’re not going to do their 2%, why?” Talk about riding on America’s coattails,” said Johnson. “They have the safety and security of being on our border and not having to worry about that. I think it’s shameful.”
According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Canada will only be spending 1.42% of its GDP towards NATO by 2030.
“The majority leader and I and some others met with the Canadian prime minister and with all due respect to our Canadian friends, they’re a long way from meeting the 2% mark, but a whole lot of the rest of NATO members have,” said Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.
True North’s Andrew Lawton spoke with former vice chief of the defence staff and vice admiral Mark Norman to discuss what the impacts of Canada’s budget shortfall will have on the world stage.
“The farther you are from the sound of the bullets, the less this stuff matters,” said Norman, quoting an old military expression about having a false sense of security.
Norman explained how the 2% GDP metric was agreed upon for defence contributions to create a “fair and even playing field” among the many NATO nations of disproportionate strength that was relative to their wealth and “capacity to pay.”
“Quite frankly there are very few countries in NATO that are doing less in terms of their GDP than Canada,” said Republican Senator Kevin Kramer.
NATO contributions don’t have specific requirements, leaving some skeptics to say that the taxpayer money may just be squandered as long as it falls under the category of defence, however, Noman said: “There is a legitimate shopping list of things that are required that are not currently funded.”
“One of the concerns I have is that our internal mechanisms and processes are so dysfunctional for a variety of reasons that it would really be difficult to spend that money efficiently and responsibly in the period of time that our allies are looking for us to spend,” warned Norman, who called it a problem that has been decades in the making.
According to Norman, the Canadian Armed Forces is up against a “perfect storm” of chronic underfunding and dated equipment in need of replacement, which in turn harms military morale.
“If people are inclined to join,” said Norman, “then they don’t want to operate equipment that’s older than them. And the people who are in and who have been for decades are increasingly frustrated with the fact that they can’t do what they know they need to do on behalf of Canadians because they don’t have the support.”
According to Norman, it’s not just the material support of the funding either, but also the moral support.
“There is a significant lack of what I would call moral support, particularly with this government, although they are saying the right things, I’m not convinced they actually believe that this is important.”
Norman thinks this is why the 2% contribution has been such an issue for the Trudeau government.
“I really don’t think they believe in the need for strong defence. They play along, they say the right things, they’ve got all the right slogans but deep down in their core I don’t think they genuinely think it’s that important,” said Norman, who is also a fellow at the Global Affairs Institute.
Norman said that all the things that Canadians have ultimately come to enjoy from their economy to their lifestyle, including the things that they are currently struggling with are all predicated on a secure environment that “goes beyond our borders.”
The Ukraine issue isn’t just a clash of political ideologies but a clash of geopolitical systems, said Norman.
In response to criticism from other nations about failing to meet NATO targets, Norman thinks that the level of respect for Canada between peers is still there but that Canada’s lack of presence around the world in recent years has “caused a number of allies to start questioning our commitment.”
“Not the competency of the individual, but our commitment,” said Norman. “There have also been some issues with respect to some of the recent experiments around dress and appearance which has caused some of our allies to shake their heads and ask what the hell we’re thinking.”
He said that societal factors like our reliance on the U.S. for defence and a prosperous economy have allowed us to “invest in ourselves” rather than “thinking more continentally first.”
Norman warned that if Canadians’ only understanding of a global threat becomes clear once it shows up at their own border, then the country won’t be able to have “the kind of conversation we have to have.”
“This is about our way of life. This is about how our economies function internationally. This is about trade. This is about all the things we hold near and dear. This is about freedoms and the rule of law,” said Norman.
He said it’s time for Canada to step up and adhere to Article Four of NATO, which ultimately answers the question of how to spend the 2% GDP contribution.
“Everybody talks about article five,” said Norman. “You know the ‘all for one and one for all’ kind of philosophy, but everybody forgets about article four, which basically says ‘you will do everything you can to defend yourself.’”
“And, if something happens and you can’t, then we will come to your aid under article five. So where is Canada on article four?”
Norman thinks that it’s not too late to amend our territorial integrity and rekindle the respect of our NATO allies.
“Traditionally throughout my career, there was a heartfelt genuine acknowledgement of the calibre of Canadians, be they at sea in the air or on the battlefield,” said Norman.
“It was enormous respect. It was one of those things, where you know, ‘we love you Canadians, we just wish there were more of you.’”
The Andrew Lawton Show | Is Freeland getting thrown under the bus?
As Liberal poll numbers continue to drag, a new Globe and Mail story cites sources in Justin Trudeau’s office putting the blame on Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland for “not being effective in delivering an upbeat economic message.” The story also reports that the PMO has considered recruiting Mark Carney as finance minister. It was just a few years ago that Freeland’s predecessor, Bill Morneau, was similarly knifed through PMO leaks, True North’s Andrew Lawton asks if we are about to see one of Trudeau’s most loyal foot soldiers thrown under the bus.
Also, universities have become “exasperating” with hateful rhetoric getting a pass while discussions about free speech, EDI, and gender are censored. A new essay in The Hub from Concordia professor Zachary Patterson says there’s still hope to purge universities of their “extreme leftist ideology.” He joins the show to explain how.
Plus, fossil fuel consumption has increased since the Kyoto Protocol and greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise following the Paris climate accord. So why are we inflicting economic harm on our country in support of net-zero measures that clearly aren’t working? Fraser Institute senior fellow Dr. Kenneth Green joins the show to weigh in.
25 year-old Indian man arrested after groping spree at New Brunswick water park
An alleged groping spree at a water park in New Brunswick led to a 25-year-old Indian man’s arrest last weekend.
New Brunswick RCMP officers arrested the man, who they said was “originally from India,” after someone allegedly groped at least 12 people at Magic Mountain SplashZone in Moncton, N.B. on Sunday. Police say some of the alleged victims were under the age of 16.
Police have not released the name of the accused.
In a media release, the RCMP said officers responded to a report of sexual interference and sexual assault at a public water park on Mountain Road in Moncton at around 2 p.m.
“When police arrived at the scene, they learned that a man had been walking around the premises and was groping people,” the release said.
Police told True North in an email that more victims have come forward since the original 12, but police could not provide an exact number as the investigation is still ongoing.
“He is from India; however, he currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia,” Sgt. Sylvette Hébert, the officer in charge, told True North.
When asked if the man was a Canadian citizen, she said the police “were not in a position to provide that answer.”
The unnamed man was arrested “without incident” but later released from custody.
A woman at the park who witnessed the incident took to Facebook to warn the community.
“Watch out at Magic Mountain. There’s a guy swimming around and touching everyone. Me and this other woman just looked at each other at the same time and asked each other and told the guy working, and he told him to stop,” she posted. “About 30 or more people and kids were assaulted by this man, mine included.”
She predicted the man would likely be released, so she felt compelled to warn the community about him.
“The sad thing is he probably will get a slap on the wrist, so share this post and make his face known.. if he was so eager and willing to do this in front of a bunch of alerted people in the open, imagine what he’s done or will do on the streets .. beware of surroundings because it can and will happen to you and your children.”
One man, who said he was from India, commented on the woman’s Facebook post.
“Unfortunately, back home in the convict’s home country, which is also mine, such behaviour is tolerated, so these men see nothing wrong with it. This guy should be caught and deported,” he said.
The accused is scheduled to appear in Moncton Provincial Court Oct. 24.
“This is still an active investigation, and we are working diligently to understand if there were other victims,” Hébert said in the report. “We are asking parents to speak to their children if they attended this location on July 7. We also want people to know that a sexual assault complaint can be made at any time. If you are a victim of sexual misconduct, please contact us. You will be listened to, and you will be believed.”
Police are asking anyone with information that could assist the investigation and would like to remain anonymous to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or download the secure P3 Mobile App or by Secure Web Tips at crimenb.ca.
Alternatively, people can contact Codiac Regional RCMP at 506-857-2400.
Feds propose tighter regulations on international student program
The federal government says it won’t process international student visas for schools that aren’t keeping active enrolment records.
The government is calling the move a response to “integrity challenges” facing the international student program, which has come under greater scrutiny as Canada faces a housing and cost of living crisis that has posed significant challenges to communities with large numbers of international students.
The federal government is also facing backlash around the program’s loose rule enforcement and a probe that led to the discovery of thousands of fraudulent student visas.
“The regulatory amendments would allow IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) to effectively respond to integrity challenges and address common occurrences of unethical behaviours that undermine the integrity of the program,” reads the government release.
Under the proposed rules, institutions would be required to report whether a student is attending school and adhering to all study permit rules to the Immigration Department.
According to the Canada Gazette, students would also have to apply for a new study permit if they want to switch schools and before entering a new study program.
The proposed changes will cost an estimated $87 million over the next 10 years, including costs to universities and colleges, government implementation and study permit holders who want to change schools.
Another proposed change is boosting foreign student’s maximum weekly off-campus work hours from 20 to 24 hours, to better allow them to cope financially.
While the Immigration Department is responsible for foreign student’s entry and permit approval, the federal government’s proposed amendments will also have to contend with jurisdiction issues, as the education system is governed provincially.
Once granted a study permit by Ottawa, it’s the provinces who then decide if a college or university is authorized to admit the international student.
Federal officials said they struggle to monitor what goes on with students after they enter the country.
They don’t know whether a student is enrolled in the school named in their study permit or if they plan to continue their studies until they can apply for a postgraduate work permit.
Under the proposed rules, schools would be given 10 days to respond to requests from the Immigration Department confirming a student’s acceptance within a program.
Colleges and universities would also have 60 days to file a compliance report about the enrolment status of each individual student and confirm if they were actively completing their course.
Officers would be permitted to conduct random checks and make requests upon suspicion of an acceptance letter or if a school had previously failed to comply with its conditions.
Non-compliance would lead to an institution being placed on a suspension list with penalty periods being determined upon the severity and frequency of non-compliance.
The final decision regarding placement on the suspension list would be left up to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, with a maximum duration of up to 12 months.
Ottawa’s provincial counterparts have responded to the proposal with “mixed reactions,” citing fears that “greater federal authorities may encroach on their education mandate.”
Much of the public’s pushback to Canada’s international student program is the number of foreign students accepted annually, which has exploded over the past decade.
Canada took in over one million study permit holders last year, compared to 352,205 in 2015, when the Trudeau government first took office.
The Daily Brief | Trudeau’s “intersectional feminist” approach in Middle East
Although Lebanon’s Sharia-based penal code criminalizes sodomy and same-sex relations, the Middle Eastern country supposedly benefits from the Canadian mission’s “intersectional feminist” approach to foreign policy.
Plus, the Quebec RCMP are asking the public to help investigate foreign interference by China.
And Canadians overwhelmingly think that government funding for the media does little to restore trust in the news.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and William McBeath!
RCMP charges government consultant accused of overbilling by $250,000
A federal consultant for the Liberal government has been arrested after allegedly ripping off Canadian taxpayers for $250,000.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that its Sensitive and International Investigations unit had charged Clara Elaine Visser, a 63-year-old federal consultant, with fraud on Tuesday.
Visser faces charges of fraud of over $5000 in violation of the Criminal Code.
According to a news release from the RCMP, Public Services Procurement Canada, the government’s central treasurer and accountant, launched an investigation against Visser in the summer of 2021 after the organization discovered “evidence” that she had submitted fraudulent timesheets.
The PSPC found that she had consulted for eight separate government of Canada departments and crown corporations, and it estimated that she had overbilled $250,000 to the government between Jan. 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. That’s when PSPC handed the case to the RCMP.
“The RCMP obtained statements from prime contractors while examining timesheets to confirm that the consultant had overbilled the Government of Canada on separate contracts,” it said.
Visser will be in court at the Ottawa courthouse on Elgin St. on Sept. 6, 2024.
“This investigation is a great example of collaboration between the RCMP and PSPC,” Supt. Jeremie Landy, the officer in charge of the RCMP unit, said. “It demonstrates that we are committed to keeping our nation safe by protecting the integrity of the federal government and preventing the abuse of taxpayers’ dollars.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond in time for comment.
Catherine Poulin, the assistant deputy minister at PSPC, said the investigation demonstrates the government’s commitment to protecting the taxpayer.
“The Government of Canada is committed to taking action against improper, unethical and illegal business practices. We hold individuals and companies accountable for their misconduct while protecting federal expenditures,” she said. “PSPC has safeguards in place to detect wrongdoing and protect the integrity of the federal procurement system. We thank the RCMP for their thorough investigation.”
Conservative MP Michael Barrett sounded off about the arrest, raising concerns that other government contractors could be swindling the Canadian taxpayer.
“Trudeau’s broken contracting system allowed this crook to take taxpayers for $250,000,” he said on X. “Trudeau spent over $20 billion on consultants last year. How much has gone to fraudsters?”
The government committed to spending $500 million on consultants in 2023 and over $15 billion over the next five years. It also committed to spending $4.8 billion in the years following 2027.
The arrest comes amid ongoing investigations of the government’s potential misallocation of funds over the controversial ArriveCan app.
