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Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Big government continues to get bigger across the country: study

By
Noah Jarvis, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

The size of government is on the rise in nearly every province across the country, according to a recently released study.

A Fraser Institute report on the size of government shows that consolidated government spending – the combined spending between the federal government and a given provincial government – as a share of GDP increased from 37.7% in 2007 to 40.5% in 2022. 

The province that saw the greatest increase in consolidated government spending over that 15 year period was Nova Scotia, with government spending as a share of GDP rising from 56.9% to 63.0%, becoming the province with the biggest government in Canada.

The other seven provinces that saw the size of government increase were Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. 

Prince Edward Island saw a reduction in its size of government from the already high 61.6% to 58.3%. Saskatchewan saw government spending drop from 37.7% to 32.8%.

While it increased over the time span studied, Alberta’s government is still the smallest at 26.8%, followed by Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and then Ontario. 

In an interview on The Andrew Lawton Show, Fraser Institute fiscal studies director Jake Fuss said the growth in government’s size spells bad news for economic growth.

“There’s been a pretty substantial increase in government spending as a share of the economy over the last fifteen years or so and it’s been a pretty much across the board change in all provinces across Canada except for P.E.I and Saskatchewan,” said Fuss.  

“Generally the optimal size of government is generally between 26% and 30% of the size of the economy, and this is when you get historically maximizing your economic growth rates.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health response, government spending as a share of GDP exploded, jumping from 40.3% nationwide in 2019 to 51.9% in 2020. Notably, government spending comprised 71% of Nova Scotia’s GDP and 70% of P.E.I.’s GDP in 2020.

The report also found that every single provincial government is employing more employees as a percentage of total employment since 2007. 

Nationwide, public sector employment as a percentage of total employment rose from 19.2% to 21.2%, with the largest increases coming in P.E.I. and Newfoundland.

The public sector makes up the largest share of employment in Newfoundland and Labrador with the government employing 30.3% of workers, followed by P.E.I at 29.1% and Saskatchewan at 27.0%. Alberta had the smallest public sector relative to total employment at 18.5%.

Ontario’s budget met with criticism over $9.6 billion deficit

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

Ontario’s 2024 budget has laid bare a daunting fiscal challenge, with the province’s deficit projected to balloon to $9.8 billion. 

The figure not only shatters last year’s modest $200 million projected surplus but also triples the current fiscal year’s anticipated $3 billion shortfall. 

In a few of the 221 pages of the budget document, Ontario’s Ministry of Finance provided two growth scenarios to cover the broad range of potential outcomes, however the budget claims that neither should be seen as the best or worse case.

Under the Faster Growth scenario, the deficit could improve to $6.1 billion by 2024-25, followed by surpluses of $2 billion and $9.7 billion in successive years. However, the Slower Growth scenario would result in a deficit of $10.3 billion in 2024-25, followed by $10.4 billion and $7.5 billion deficits in the years thereafter.

While the two scenarios cover the extremities of projections, the actual projections for Ontario are a $3 billion deficit for 2023-24, a $9.8 billion deficit in 2024-25, a $4.6 billion deficit in 2025-26, and a balanced budget in 2026-27 with a surplus of $500 million.

Despite the potential for even larger deficits, the budget is termed “Building a Better Ontario.”

Ontario’s Finance Minister Peter Behlenfalvy delivered the provincial budget in the legislature on Tuesday. While primarily optimistic about all the spending Ontario would undertake, he was weary about the global economy’s slowing and the cost of living crisis, placing some blame on the Bank of Canada and the federal government.

“The pace and frequency of the Bank of Canada rate hikes has been punishing, perhaps most of all, on homeowners whose mortgages have in some cases increased by thousands of dollars a month,” said Bethlenfalvy. 

“Making matters worse, the federal government’s carbon tax is making everything more expensive, from groceries to gas. The hard-working people of Ontario can’t escape paying the high cost of the federal carbon tax,” he added.

Bethlenfalvy said he struggled to believe that the federal government planned to raise the carbon tax again on April 1. 

“It’s astonishing. The people of Ontario, the people of Canada cannot afford it,” he said.

However, despite the many challenges, Bethlenfalvy said that Ontario plans to build by investing and attracting better jobs. The province plans to build highways and improve public transit while reducing costs for families and businesses.

The finance minister explained that there are choices. One would be to raise taxes, tolls, tuition, and fees, which he said Ontario will not do. Another would be for the province to tighten its belt by cutting investment in housing, roads, and public services. 

“In short, to retreat and do less. We are not doing that either,” he said.

A third option, explained by the minister, would be to “throw our hands up, retreat, and expect municipalities to fill in the gaps. We are not doing that.” 

Ontario will go with the fourth option: invest with time-limited higher deficits so that “the return on investment will be felt for decades and generations to come.”

However, not everyone shares Bethlenfalvy’s optimism with the increased spending.

The Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada’s president, Catherine Swift, raised her concerns in light of the budget.

“Considering the boasting this government has done regarding the positive outlook for the Ontario economy, the need for such a big increase in the deficit, largely attributed to a slowing economy, doesn’t make sense,” she said.

The coalition said in a press release that it was disappointed to see no movement on tax reductions, with the exception of the gas tax reduction. The Ontario budget proposed extending the gas and fuel tax cuts until December 31, 2024. The government claims it has saved households in the province $320 since July 2022. 

“Income taxes in Ontario remain high, with some Ontarians paying over half their income in tax. This is hardly an incentive to the entrepreneurial sector to establish and grow businesses in the province,” said Swift.

However, the coalition said that the large amount of spending can be justified given the state of infrastructure in Ontario. Spending on electricity rate subsidies is expected to increase to $7 billion a year, whereas the CCMBC said a complete restructuring of electricity system costs would be more warranted.

While the budget does not substantially increase spending, it does increase the deficit remarkably.

“I see nothing in this budget that will stop the current trend of manufacturers and other businesses leaving the province for more economically competitive jurisdictions,” concluded Swift.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Liberal MP compares Poilievre to Nazis – again

By
Andrew Lawton
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Source: Facebook

Liberal member of Parliament Ken Hardie has once again apologized for comparing Pierre Poilievre to Nazis, after previously apologizing for comparing Poilievre to Nazis. The apology rings hollow when it’s clear Hardie actually views the Conservatives this way, True North’s Andrew Lawton says.

Also, the federal government continues to defend its carbon tax – which is set to increase once again on Monday. Economics professor Ross McKitrick says Canada needs a leader who will be honest about climate policy.

Plus, a new poll shows Canadians want “major changes” to the healthcare system, yet reform is always treated like a third rail in Canadian politics. Lawyer Josh Dehaas from the Canadian Constitution Foundation joins to discuss.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

The Daily Brief | A national carbon tax protest on April 1

By
Harrison Faulkner
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Source: Facebook

Canadians across the country are planning on protesting the federal carbon tax in a push to pressure the Liberals to abandon the unpopular climate policy.

Plus, Greece’s Prime Minister said he wants to purchase Canadian liquefied natural gas as several projects are nearing completion while on a historic visit to Ottawa. Does Justin Trudeau believe there’s a business case?

And Tucker Carlson isn’t only adept at drawing crowds in Alberta – he’s also good for business, according to one Alberta credit union.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Harrison Faulkner and Noah Jarvis!

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Trudeau’s gun buyback reaches $42 million spent, without a single firearm purchased

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: Pexels

The federal government has now spent nearly $42 million in taxpayer funds on its “firearms buyback program,” first introduced in 2020 to confiscate guns deemed illegal by the Liberals.

However, despite the costly spending, not a single firearm has been purchased from Canadians.  

Conservative Sen. Don Plett filed an order paper question in September, asking Public Safety Canada to reveal how much money had been spent over the past four years on the program, which assigned 60 department employees to work on the project. 

The response revealed that $41,094,556 had already been spent since 2020.  

“This is a boondoggle, and it hasn’t even begun,” said Plett during the Senate question period on Friday. 

“How can your government have spent $42 million on this, when not a single firearm has been bought back?” Plett asked government representative Sen. Marc Gold. 

Documents also revealed that a contract of $2.27 million was awarded to IBM to develop, design and implement the program. However, Public Safety Canada initially said that it would only cost half that figure during its 2020 announcement of the program. 

According to the documents, the RCMP has 15 full-time employees devoted to the program and Service Canada also assigned two employees, while Public Services and Procurement Canada said that it has devoted “the equivalent of 5.825 full-time employees” as well.

“This government has spent $42M on a confiscation program that doesn’t exist and has no idea how to get the job done. Forget about individual owners, (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) got the eager participation of retailers who’ve been paying storage and insurance on unsellable inventory and the full support of the industry lobby,” Tracey Wilson, vice-president of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights told True North. 

“He could easily have those guns liquidated but can’t get that done either.” 

Wilson was referring to a $700,000 agreement the government reached with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association to confiscate “assault rifles” from retailers. However, the program itself isn’t expected to start until later this year.

The second phase of the program involves confiscating legally owned firearms from licensed owners.

The Trudeau government’s 2020 order-in-council saw over 1,500 gun models banned and earlier this year, an invitation was sent out to vendors interested in qualifying for the buyback program. 

The government estimates anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 newly prohibited firearms are currently owned by Canadian businesses, with an additional 125,000 to 200,000 owned by licensed individuals. 

However, amnesty for licensed owners was extended until 2025, two years past the initial date of Oct. 23, 2023.   

Critics of the buyback program argue that since the vast majority of gun crimes are committed with prohibited firearms smuggled into the country via the US,  law abiding citizens are being unduly punished. 

“Four years after Trudeau telling Canadians that the guns he banned by OIC were simply too dangerous to own by the people who’ve owned them safely and without issue for decades, they are all exactly where they were back then. Safely tucked away in the gun safes of responsible, licensed Canadians who own them,” said Wilson.

“$42M spent, 83 people employed full time in Ottawa … for what?”

The Liberals’ initial buyback program didn’t involve confiscation, according to the National Post, but after the Quebec anti-gun group PolySeSouvient expressed their outrage with Trudeau, confiscation was later added. 

While exact estimates are not available, confiscation will ultimately cost taxpayers a fortune. 

“This wasted time and resources would have been better spent fighting smuggling at the border and organized crime, if we had a government who was serious about public safety,” said Wilson.

Four premiers want to make case for axing carbon tax hike before a federal committee

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Unsplash

At least four Canadian premiers are requesting an audience with the House of Commons finance committee to urge the federal government to axe the carbon tax increase coming into effect Monday.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wrote a letter to the Standing Committee on Finance, requesting to testify in opposition to the upcoming tax hike Apr. 1. 

“The federal government must take immediate action by cancelling this planned increase for the sake of all Albertans and all Canadians,” wrote Smith, who asked to testify virtually.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Smith in Calgary earlier this month. She told Trudeau that scrapping the upcoming increase would be a “political win” with the Liberals headed for a crushing defeat, according to recent polling.

Smith’s letter was dated Mar. 26, a day after New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs sent a letter requesting the same as Alberta’s premier.

“The upcoming planned 23% increase to the federal government’s carbon tax will have a disastrous impact on New Brunswickers, and all Canadians,” wrote Higgs.

New Brunswick’s premier also requested to appear virtually. He pleaded to make his case for “why the federal government must — at a minimum — cancel the planned increase.”

 On the same day Smith made her request, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also joined the call.

He requested to appear virtually no later than Mar. 28, “to make the case as to why the federal government must cancel the planned increase in the federal carbon tax, or better yet, eliminate the federal carbon tax entirely, on everything, for everyone.”

Only hours after Moe’s letter, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston joined the fray.

“The carbon tax increase will mean Nova Scotians are paying more at the pump, and more for the cost of all goods they buy. This is something Nova Scotia cannot afford,” wrote Houston.

While a formal response has yet to arrive, one of the committee’s members replied to Smith on X.

“I would be most glad to hear from Premier Smith on the carbon tax. Alberta pays more carbon tax than any other province, her perspective would be welcome at committee. I hope our chair will give her the opportunity to testify on this subject,” said Conservative MP Phillip Lawrence.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had called for protests outside of Liberal and NDP MPs’ offices to cancel the carbon tax earlier this month.

Protests are being planned across Canada on major highways and interprovincial borders for April 1. The Facebook group organizing the protest has over 151,000 members, with just under a week left until the planned countrywide protests.

Seven in ten Canadians are opposed to the upcoming carbon tax increase, mirroring the seven out of ten provincial premiers that have called for relief.

Canada’s finance critic, Jasraj Singh Hallan, said in a post to X that the Liberal Chair of the committee must allow the two premiers to testify about the upcoming increase. This was prior to the list of premiers requesting to testify quadrupling from the start of the day.

“The Liberal Finance Committee Chair has a choice, cover for Trudeau or call a meeting to hear the concerns of premiers Smith, Moe, Higgs, and Houston and the Canadians they represent,” wrote Hallan.

Poilievre introduced a non-confidence motion in response to Trudeau’s refusal to spike his upcoming carbon tax hike a week prior, but the motion ultimately failed. Members of Parliament voted 204 to 116 against the non-confidence vote, with all Liberal, NDP, Green, and Bloc Québecois MPs voting against it.

While four premiers have formally submitted letters requesting to testify before the finance committee, only five days remain before the scheduled increase. 

Taxpayers billed $115 million for Niagara Falls refugee hotels

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, True North Wire
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Source: Unsplash

Taxpayers have paid over $115 million to accommodate asylum seekers in hotels throughout Niagara Falls last year. 

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada disclosed the figure following a query raised by Niagara Falls Conservative MP Tony Baldinelli in the House of Commons last month.

From Feb. 2023 to Feb. 2024, nearly 5,000 individuals seeking asylum were accommodated in the tourist city. 

The majority of these asylum seekers originated from Nigeria, Venezuela, Kenya, Turkey, and Colombia.

Each refugee claimant was provided housing for 113 days, with the daily expenditure per individual amounting to $208. 

This led to an approximate annual cost of $115 million.

The reported expenses encompassed charges for meals, lodging, services, and security measures. 

However, the immigration department has indicated that these figures are a conservative estimate of the total costs as there was a lack of comprehensive monitoring of such expenses early in 2023. 

Additionally, expenses accrued since Jan. 1, 2024, are yet to be fully accounted for due to pending invoices.

A previous report by Niagara Region said that the sudden surge in asylum seekers was putting significant strain on the local social support systems, which were already under pressure.

The immigration department has clarified that the provision of hotel accommodations for asylum claimants is a temporary measure, but the government has not announced an end date to the program. 

Conservative immigration critic Tom Kmiec told True North that these figures reinforce that Canada’s “immigration and refugee systems are broken” under Justin Trudeau.

“Our system was once the envy of the world but is now filled with fraud, chaos, backlogs, and delays, disadvantaging genuine immigrants,” Kmiec said. “On top of that, Trudeau’s housing crisis has forced refugees to live under bridges or in hotels indefinitely, all at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of the taxpayer.”

Kmiec said Conservatives would stop “fraud and abuse” in the system and ensure that immigration is tied to availability of healthcare, housing, and jobs.

The Niagara Falls hotel arrangement was initially implemented in July 2022 to alleviate service pressures in Quebec, with migrants arriving there redirected to Niagara Falls. 

However, this has led to increased scrutiny over federal immigration policies as both Ontario and Quebec have cited these housing provisions as contributing factors to their ongoing housing crises.

Conservative motion to launch parliamentary inquiry into Winnipeg lab breach passes

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: wsp.com

The Conservatives successfully passed a motion for a parliamentary inquiry into the security breach at a top virology lab in Winnipeg, where two Chinese scientists employed there were covertly working for China’s communist government. 

Conservative MP Michael Chong had attempted to launch an inquiry to probe the national security breach at the National Microbiology Lab last month, following the release of documents the Conservatives sought access to for three years.

The initial motion was shut down by the Liberals earlier this month, with the support of the NDP, on the basis of protecting national security.

An ad hoc committee formed in 2022 determined that the documents had been kept sealed to protect the Public Health Agency of Canada from “embarrassment” as opposed to protecting national security. 

“The information appears to be mostly about protecting the organization from embarrassment for failures in policy and implementation, not legitimate national security concerns, and its release is essential to hold the Government to account,” the committee said.

The Conservative motion called for several witnesses, including Public Health Agency of Canada officials, Health Minister Mark Holland, and Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc, to testify before the committee.

“After years of secrecy and cover-ups, Common Sense Conservatives have forced the Trudeau Government to be transparent with Canadians over the national security breaches that occurred at the Winnipeg Microbiology Lab,” the Conservative party said in a statement issued Tuesday.

“Earlier this month, Canadians discovered that the government and military of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were able to penetrate our nation’s maximum-security laboratory which handles the world’s most dangerous viruses and pathogens. Not only was sensitive information and materials transferred to labs run by the regime in Beijing, but government scientists were also secretly collaborating with the PRC’s top military officials in the field of biotechnology, bioweapons and bioterrorism.”

Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi tried to diminish the examination by introducing a motion to reduce its priority and limit the number of meetings on the matter. 

Naqvi claimed that the calls for an inquiry were “all about political posturing” which attempted to “score political points,” instead of trying to shed light on how the breach occurred. 

His motion was voted down by the Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Quebecois, who agreed that the committee should have the power to summon witnesses who refuse to testify.

“It is a grave and serious matter because the government scientists clandestinely collaborated with the government and the military of the People’s Republic of China and were paid clandestinely by the government and the military of the People’s Republic of China, without the government of Canada knowing anything,” Chong told the committee Tuesday.

Unredacted documents released to MPs earlier this month revealed that the two Chinese infectious-disease scientists gave confidential scientific data to China which presented “a realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security.”

“It took 3 years to get the Winnipeg lab docs. We finally got them 3 weeks ago,” posted Chong to X on Friday.  “Since then, we’ve not been able to get dedicated hearings on the docs at a committee.”

“Conservatives are determined to ensure that a breach of this magnitude will never happen again. For this reason, Conservatives have launched a full parliamentary investigation into this security breach, despite Liberal attempts at committee to limit and delay this study,” the Conservatives said.

“I didn’t leave the party. The party left me”: MLA Selina Robinson on life in the political “wilderness”

By
Lindsay Shepherd
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Source: Lindsay Shepherd

After weeks of headlines following her comments about Israel being founded on a “crappy piece of land,” Coquitlam MLA Selina Robinson spoke about her past, present, and future in politics at an event in Vancouver on Monday. 

“There’s no perfect party. It doesn’t exist. There’s a party of best fit,” said Robinson, who was elected with the B.C. NDP in 2013 but now sits as an independent. “The New Democrats fit me…. But… the party changed. I didn’t leave the party, the party left me. And so I am a little bit in the wilderness right now.”

Robinson has already announced she will not be running in this year’s provincial election.

When asked at Monday night’s event if she would run for mayor of Coquitlam, she wouldn’t rule it out.

“I never say never,” she said.

At the live podcast recording event hosted by the National Council of Jewish Women Canada, Robinson recounted how she was removed as a cabinet minister, asked to resign from caucus, and accused by Premier David Eby of causing “harm” because of comments she made during an online panel earlier this year with the Jewish organization B’nai Brith.

“We have a whole generation of 18- to 34-year-olds that have no idea about the Holocaust, they don’t even think it happened. They don’t understand that Israel was offered to the Jews who were displaced. They have no connection to how it started,” Robinson said Jan. 30.

“They don’t understand that it was a crappy piece of land with nothing on it. There were several hundred thousand people but other than that it didn’t produce an economy. It couldn’t grow things.”

After video footage of her remarks circulated online, Muslim leaders wrote a letter to Eby saying that no B.C. NDP MLA or candidate would be allowed to set foot in a B.C. mosque unless he fired Robinson, which he subsequently did.

Robinson, who is Jewish, also spoke of how she was targeted online and in-person.

“I already offered two apologies – that wasn’t good enough for these anti-Israel protesters. Then I resigned. And it still wasn’t good enough because it was after I resigned that they defaced my community office,” Robinson said Monday night.

“So what is it that they were fighting for? They were looking to silence the Jewish minister. And my colleagues caved to that.”

“My sense is that some of my colleagues, I don’t think, really understood the impact that Oct. 7 had on the Jewish community,” Robinson added, referring to Hamas’ attack on Israel that claimed nearly 1,200 casualties.

Robinson was asked whether the B.C. Conservatives or B.C. United have invited her to cross the floor.

“Of course,” she said. “They want me to sit with them.”

“Are you going to?” interviewer Rachael Segal asked her.

“No,” Robinson said decisively. “Party of best fit, remember?”

True North asked Robinson whether she believes conservatives have a better track record on understanding Israel and antisemitism than progressives.

“They seem to have more clarity on the issue,” Robinson admitted.

“Progressives have a lot of work to do to help make sure that folks in our world understand what antisemitism is, what it looks like… it’s a blind spot,” she said in her remarks.

Robinson also noted, “I think part of what we are seeing is the disintegration of good journalism. Because people don’t know the history of Israel. They don’t understand antisemitism. And professional communicators aren’t able to deliver that information.”

Because of death threats she’s received from anti-Israel protesters, Robinson said she and her husband now sleep with an axe and a bat in their bedroom. 

“My words were inelegant… I would do it differently again. But I also think that these anti-Israel folks were looking for a way to get me,” she said.

With the next planned election date for B.C. being Oct. 19, Segal asked Robinson what happens for her next.

“I’m going to go to Disneyland,” Robinson laughed. “I did promise my husband that I wouldn’t commit to anything until January 2025… and then I’ll see.”

Calgary judge sides with woman’s assisted suicide request over objections from father

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, True North Wire
-
Source: Unsplash

A Calgary court has backed a 27-year-old woman’s right to pursue assisted suicide despite strong resistance from her father. 

The legal dispute stemmed from the father’s attempt to prevent his daughter, who lives with him, from going ahead with the practice on the grounds that it would cause extreme grief.

Due to a publication ban, the identities of those involved remain confidential, but they are referred to in court documents as M.V. for the daughter and W.V. for the father.

In his decision, Justice Colin Feasby recognized the deep sorrow that W.V. would experience from his daughter’s passing but stressed the importance of M.V.’s right to make decisions about her own health. 

“M.V.’s dignity and right to self-determination outweigh the important matters raised by W.V. and the harm that he will suffer in losing M.V.,” wrote Feasby.

“Though I find that W.V. has raised serious issues, I conclude that M.V.’s autonomy and dignity interests outweigh competing considerations.”

This judgment overturned a temporary injunction that had previously stopped M.V.’s planned assisted suicide.

Feasby instituted a 30-day delay in enforcing his decision, giving W.V. time to file an appeal.

During this time, the temporary injunction will stay in place. 

M.V. received approval for assisted suicide in December, though the court records do not detail her eligibility criteria. M.V. has autism and ADHD, but additional medical information was not detailed in the decision.

Lawyer Austin Paladeau, representing M.V., highlighted the essential nature of the right to medical self-determination. 

He argued that while W.V.’s fatherly affection is undeniable, it does not confer the right to control his daughter’s choices regarding her life’s end. 

W.V. argued that his daughter’s vulnerability and alleged lack of capacity to make such a significant decision need to be considered. 

“(Her father) says that she is generally healthy and believes that her physical symptoms, to the extent that she has any, result from undiagnosed psychological conditions,” wrote Feasby.

For assisted suicide to be granted, a patient needs consent from two healthcare practitioners. M.V. initially consulted two professionals; one agreed to the procedure, while the other did not. 

Consequently, a third healthcare professional was consulted to resolve the impasse. The third ultimately supported M.V.’s request although W.V. argued this practitioner was biased.

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