Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s approach to politics has gained attention for resonating with younger Canadians, even reaching unexpected audiences. Notably, popular Twitch streamer Asmongold recently expressed support for the “based” Canadian politician to millions of his followers.
Asmongold released a YouTube video dedicated to reacting to various clips featuring Poilievre’s characteristic interactions and speeches, like the viral apple-eating incident.
The video, “Canada’s New Prime Minister is kinda based…” released on Wednesday, had amassed over 1.6 million views as of Friday afternoon.
Asmongold, whose content is mostly dedicated to video games and US culture, spent much of his reaction video in disbelief at the state of affairs in Canada, including crime rates, cost of living and safety.
Asmongold’s two channels on Twitch.tv, which is the world’s biggest livestreaming service, have a combined 5.6 million followers. Combined, Asmongold’s YouTube channels have over 5.5 billion total views.
Poilievre’s infamous interaction with a hostile legacy media journalist when he was eating an apple earned Asmongold’s applause. The streamer called the journalist’s tactics “extremely annoying” and added that the same kind of factual manipulation occurs on social media.
“This guy’s amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever heard him speak or say anything. I like this guy,” Asmongold said of Poilievre.
Asmongold also touched on immigration, specifically immigrants who don’t have values and morals that align with Western standards.
“What is this? Who decided this is going to happen? This isn’t culture. This is crazy,” said Asmongold.
The livestreamer then said that “everybody’s obviously happy” about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recently announced resignation.
Poilievre often referred to “Carbon Tax Carney” in the monologues watched by Asmongold. He confirmed with his chat whether this was equivalent to “Lyin Ted” or “Crooked Hillary.”
In one of the videos that Asmongold reacted to, Poilievre highlighted that the Liberals’ catch-and-release bail policy has contributed to violent crime increasing by 50%, gun crimes by 116%, and hate crime by 250%.
“Catch and release? That’s for fish. You don’t have catch-and-release for people. That’s for fish. Damn. What is going on?” asked Asmongold.
The livestreamer and YouTuber concluded his video with a simple statement and question.
“So this guy’s gonna win. I wonder how things are going to change.”
After years of litigation, two men who filed a lawsuit against the federal government challenging the vaccine mandate for travel will get the chance to argue their case before a federal court.
Shawn Rickard, a Canadian permanent resident from Britain for over 30 years and Karl Harrison, a Canadian citizen, will have their lawsuit heard by a federal court after a motion to dismiss their case was shot down.
Rickard and Harrison had previously filed a legal challenge against the Trudeau government’s vaccine travel mandates that was subsumed under another court case filed by People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier and former Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford.
The mandates were imposed by the Trudeau government in October 2021, barring unvaccinated Canadians from boarding places, trains, and marine vessels travelling within or outside of Canada.
The travel vaccine mandate prevented an estimated 5.2 million unvaccinated Canadians from freely travelling by air, rail, or boat.
However, the Trudeau government dropped its travel restrictions for unvaccinated Canadians on June 20, 2022 before the group’s case against the government could be heard.
Later that year, a federal court would dismiss the case, arguing that the grievances of unvaccinated Canadians concerning the government’s mandates became moot and were therefore not worth the court’s time. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada which decided against hearing the case.
Despite this, in November 2023, Rickard and Harrison decided to file a civil case against the government to argue their case and seek $1 million in damages.
The duo make the claim that the federal government’s vaccine mandate violated several of their Charter rights including section 6’s protection of mobility rights, section 7’s protection of life, liberty, and security of the person, section 12’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, and section 15’s protection of minority rights.
However, crown attorneys sought to dismiss the case and filed a motion to strike the suit in July 2024.
Justice Trent Horne partially granted the government’s motion to dismiss, striking the claim that the duo’s section 7 and section 12 rights have been validated. Horne also dismissed Harrison’s claim that his mobility rights had been violated because of his status as a permanent resident, not a citizen.
Horne did rule that Rickard can continue to argue that his section 6 rights had been violated while both Rickard and Harrison will be granted the opportunity to argue their section 15 rights had been violated in a trial.
While Rickard and Harrison claim victory that their claims are heading to trial, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Sam Presvelos has filed an appeal to argue that section 7 and section 12 rights have been violated by the mandate.
The pair are also taking into consideration that if the 2025 election sees the Trudeau government fall, a new Conservative government could take a different view of their case.
“There are also political issues to consider. A federal election will take place in 2025 and a new
government may likely take a different view of these legal proceedings,” reads their statement.
Canadians may be ashamed to discover that a global passport index placed Canada on the “Top 5 losers list.”
The rankings by Henley & Partners were released on Wednesday, highlighting the most and least powerful passports in 2025.
The index evaluates the strength of passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a visa.
Canada’s ranking peaked at second place in 2014, the year before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office. In 2025, Canada ranked in 7th place. However, the overall rankings are skewed, considering Canada ranked worse than 22 countries, many of which are tied for their placing.
The countries in seventh place, Canada, Malta, and Poland, each had access to 188 destinations.
Despite the many ties, first and second place stood alone. The country in first place, Singapore, had visa-free access to 195 out of 227 destinations worldwide, followed by Japan at 193 visa-free destinations.
European countries largely dominated the top rankings and their ties.
Last place was also anchored by a lone wolf, Afghanistan, which had visa-free access to a mere 26 destinations.
A press release from the company that issues the index revealed that Afghanistan lost access to two destinations since last year.
“This 169-destination gap between Afghanistan and Singapore represents the largest mobility disparity in the index’s 19-year history,” reads the release.
Only 22 of 199 passports have fallen in the index’s ranking over the last decade. The worst among them is Venezuela, followed by the United States, Vanuatu, and Britain, with Canada coming in as fifth worst.
Conversely, China saw one of the biggest rises, climbing from 94th place in 2015 to 60th in 2025. It gained access to an additional 29 countries over the past year.
While not a relevant variable for the index, Canadians have had their fair share of issues with passports.
For example, despite some offices experiencing nearly seven-hour delays, Service Canada previously suspended hundreds of employees under the vaccine mandate.
Additionally, a Canadian passport was issued by the Liberals to a convicted human smuggler despite him being linked to the deaths of nine people, having his travel documents revoked, and being banned from applying for a new passport.
The federal Liberal government has announced that its incentives for electric vehicle subsidies will “pause” on Mar. 31, or earlier if the program’s funding is fully exhausted.
With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s prorogation of Parliament, the federal government only has until the end of March before Ottawa runs out of money and has to vote on a supply bill.
The Zero-Emission Vehicles Program offered financial incentives to Canadians purchasing electric vehicles since 2019 and was touted by Transport Canada as a success in a press release.
However, the looming suspension raises questions about the government’s ability to sustain momentum in its push for widespread EV adoption.
Transport Minister Anita Anand touted the iZEV program’s record, noting that over 546,000 zero-emission vehicles have received taxpayer subsidies, contributing to a record zero-emission vehicle market share of 16.5% in the third quarter of 2024.
Despite these figures, Canadians’ overall interest in EVs appears to be waning. A recent AutoTrader survey revealed that fewer than half of Canadians plan to make their next car electric, marking the second consecutive year of declining interest.
The program’s pause coincides with the Trudeau government’s targets for mandatory EV sales and phasing out of new gas-powered cars: 20% of new vehicle sales must be electric by 2026, 60% by 2030, and 100% by 2035.
Achieving these benchmarks could prove difficult without continued incentives, particularly as Canadians express concerns over high EV prices, limited charging infrastructure, and the practicality of owning an EV in rural and remote areas.
While the iZEV program winds down, the government’s Incentives for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles Program will remain active until March 31, 2026, subject to funding availability. However, this program targets businesses rather than individual consumers.
A popular sports betting website is leaning into the recent rollercoaster ride of Canadian politics in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that he would be stepping down as the Liberal party’s leader.
CanadaSportsBetting revealed its latest election winner odds on Wednesday, which showed that the Conservatives are favoured to win by the vast majority of those looking to gamble on the political contest.
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are heavily favoured to win the next federal election, leading the odds by 79 points.
“With fractional odds of 1/10, the betting markets believe that the election later this year will be extremely likely to favour the Conservative party, following years of Liberal party’s declining popularity,” writes CanadaSportsBetting.
The gambling website aggregates data from “diverse odds providers, ensuring a comprehensive and balanced perspective on the election forecasts.”
Their data collection involves using “Python and advanced data transformation techniques” to collect standardized data that can be processed into a usable format.
Source: canadasportsbetting.ca
Trudeau announced his resignation as party leader on Monday, vowing to step down once the Liberals complete a leadership race.
“I intend to resign as party leader (and) as prime minister after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nation-wide, competitive process,” Trudeau told reporters from his Rideau Cottage on Monday. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal party to begin that process.”
Additionally, he asked for and was granted by the Governor General a prorogation of Parliament until March 24.
Trudeau’s decision to prorogue Parliament was met with a legal challenge filed by two Canadians represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms the following day.
According to the plaintiffs’ court application, they contend that Trudeau’s decision to prorogue “was not made in furtherance of Parliamentary business or the business of government, but in service of the interests of the LPC [Liberal Party of Canada].”’
Canada’s premiers are set to meet in Washington, D.C. nearly a month after President-elect Trump takes office to discuss the impact of his tariffs on Canadians.
According to a social media post from B.C. Premier David Eby, Canada’s premiers will meet with American politicians on Feb. 12 to discuss the harmful impacts of Trump’s threatened 25% tariffs on all imported Canadian goods.
Trump originally said he would implement the tariffs with an executive order on day one of his administration unless Canada secured its border against illegal immigration and drug smugglers. He’s set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025.
“Canada’s Premiers will travel to Washington, D.C. on February 12 to meet with Republicans and Democrats about the harm tariffs will cause both sides of the border,” he said in a post on X.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Trump threatened to use “economic force” against Canada in a bid to annex it, a comment many Canadians, including Eby, have taken seriously.
“I am a proud Canadian and British Columbian. We will never sacrifice our identity or independence to any other country,” Eby said in the post. “We will always stand strong against any threat to our people.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told True North that Canada’s premiers had a meeting Thursday to discuss the economic pressures from the incoming U.S. administration.
“As Premiers, we are united and steadfast in our opposition to tariffs and recognize they would impact each province differently,” she told True North in an email. “Each Premier has been and will continue meeting with our U.S. counterparts including Governors, members of Congress, and Senators to promote Canada’s interests.”
When asked what contributions Smith will make to the discussions in February, she said the U.S. is Canada’s greatest trading partner and ally, and she will continue to stress the urgency for both Americans and Albertans to maintain and support a mutually beneficial trade relationship.
“Alberta’s government believes that the pathway to strengthening this relationship is to double our oil production and increase exports of crude oil to the U.S. enabling them to export even more light oil to the rest of the world,” she said.
She said Alberta’s partnership with Enbridge to double oil production and expand the province pipeline capacity, which she announced earlier this week, was the first step in pursuing a strengthened U.S.-Canada partnership.
Smith told True North she will attend the meeting virtually and that she will also attend Trump’s inauguration, on Jan. 20, and other associated events and meetings while in Washington, D.C.
“I intend to advocate for Canada’s interests and against these tariffs in favour of a strong economic partnership between Canada and the U.S,” she said. “It has never been more important to demonstrate stability.”
She said that sometime next week her team will be meeting with the Prime Minister to express urgency to him in coordinating a “strong and united” response to Trump’s threats and economic pressure.
True North reached out to each of the other premiers but did not receive a response. The office of the Premier of Nunavut did respond but didn’t provide a statement before the time of publishing.
Despite not responding, Doug Ford has been making strides towards securing the border to meet Trump’s ultimatum and has been going on a U.S. media tour to represent Canada and advocate for a strong partnership with the U.S. rather than division.
I’ll be on @MeetThePress on @NBCNews with @kwelkernbc at 4:50 p.m. to talk directly to Americans about how we’re so much stronger together. I was also able to share details about how Ontario is at the ready to send water bombers, firefighters and equipment to help our friends and…
On various networks, Ford continues to promote “Fortress Am-Can,” an era of strengthened partnership, “unprecedented growth, job creation and prosperity” to counter Trump’s vision of an annexed Canada as the U.S.’ 51st state.
I’ve got a better deal for President Trump: let’s work together to build Fortress Am-Can and take on the world. When Canada and the U.S. work together as two proud independent countries, we’re unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/DYc809Afvi
Though Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe did not respond to True North’s requests to comment either, in December, he called for a federal election in the face of the economic threats and also committed to partner with the rest of Canada to secure the U.S.-Canada border.
Since the COVID lockdowns started in March 2020, the public sector has ballooned by nearly 20%, while non-government jobs only saw a 5% increase in the same period.
According to a Statistics Canada report on the Canadian job market released on Friday, employment rose by 91,000 or 0.4% in December, and unemployment declined by 0.1% to 6.7%
Among those new jobs, the number of government jobs rose by 40,000 in December and 156,000 since the same time last year. It said the change in jobs was largely due to an increase in educational services, health care and social assistance.
According to the report, employment rose by 17,000 in the educational sector, the second consecutive monthly increase, and by 16,000 in health care and social assistance.
“Over the 12 months of 2024, growth in health care and social assistance, +130,000; +4.8% and educational services, +71,000; +4.7%, have together accounted for nearly half of employment growth across all industries,” the report said.
The same report stated that private sector jobs rose by 27,000 in December and 191,000 more Canadian jobs from the previous year.
Compared to February 2020, however, this marks a 19% increase in government jobs since the start of the pandemic and a 5% increase for the private sector.
“The growth in government bureaucracy is unsustainable, unaffordable and unfair for taxpayers,” Franco Terrazzano, the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told True North.
“All these extra government bureaucrats mean higher taxes for struggling taxpayers. We need politicians who are willing to stand up for taxpayers, shrink the bureaucracy and cut taxes,”
According to a Parliamentary Budget Officer report in November, the cost of the growing public sector has reached $69.5 billion annually for federal personnel in 2023-24. In 2016-17, just after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office, taxpayers paid $40.2 billion for the federal payroll.
Since Trudeau first took office taxpayers have funded a 72.9% increase to the government workforce.
“The cost of the federal bureaucracy increased by 73% since 2016, but it’s a good bet most Canadians aren’t seeing anywhere close to 73% better services from the government,” he said.
According to data released by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in July last year, the number of federal employees ballooned by 42% since 2016 under Trudeau.
A separate report from the CTF in June 2024 found that the Trudeau government approved 1,121,110 pay raises for federal workers since 2020. In 2023 alone, the feds granted 319,067 federal workers pay raises, though the amount given to each individual was not disclosed. “The federal government added tens of thousands of extra bureaucrats, rubberstamped hundreds of millions in bonuses and awarded more than one million pay raises and all taxpayers seem to get out of it is higher taxes and more debt,” Terrazzano said. “Canadians particularly need politicians in Ottawa to take air out of the ballooning bureaucracy.”
The official reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris last month, over five-and-a-half years after the devastating Easter 2019 fire, was both a lavish and profoundly moving affair. Its famous bells rang, its organ’s great pipes sang, and the results of its $1 billion restoration were unveiled to the world. Leaders and dignitaries from more than 100 countries gathered in its soaring interior of cream-coloured stone columns as Archbishop Laurent Ulrich performed the first formal rituals.
Notre-Dame’s revival marks more than the restoration of a 12th-13th century architectural masterpiece. It stands as a profound testament to Christianity’s role in shaping Western civilization. Its monumental Gothic towers, intricate stonework, famous flying buttresses, and mesmerizing stained-glass windows reflect humanity’s enduring quest for the divine. The restoration transcends physical reconstruction, reclaiming a vital symbol of Christian heritage that shaped the moral and intellectual frameworks underpinning modern democracies.
Perhaps most importantly, Notre-Dame’s rebirth offers an invitation to reflect on Christianity’s pivotal role in establishing human dignity, equality, and the universal rights we often take for granted. Rooted in the Christian doctrine of imago Dei – the belief that all human beings are created in the image of God – the idea of the intrinsic worth of every individual laid the foundation for human rights. St. Paul’s declaration in Galatians 3:28 (“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”) radically challenged entrenched social hierarchies, providing the moral impetus for equality.
Key to this evolution was Gratian, a 12th-century monk and jurist whose Decretum Gratiani harmonized centuries of ecclesiastical rules into a coherent legal framework. Gratian emphasized that every individual – king or commoner, noble or peasant – possessed intrinsic dignity and moral worth, challenging the feudal hierarchies of the time. His doctrine of the Great Chain of Being asserted that rights are inherent, deriving directly from God’s eternal principles rather than human authority. This moral foundation laid the groundwork for constitutionalism and the rule of law, ensuring protections for the marginalized and safeguarding the weak.
Yet, as the Enlightenment unfolded, efforts to reframe these principles within a secular, rationalist worldview gained momentum. While thinkers like John Locke and Immanuel Kant sought to anchor human rights in reason rather than faith, their ideas remained deeply indebted to Christian ethics. Locke’s conception of natural rights – life, liberty, and property – and Kant’s moral philosophy — centred on the famous “categorical imperative” that a person behave only in ways they would consider acceptable in any other person — reveal an unmistakable continuity with Christian teachings.
Despite this heritage, contemporary society often dismisses Christianity’s contributions. Many Western nations now act as if they can dispense with Christianity altogether, forgetting that the principles of justice and equality they cherish are deeply rooted in its doctrines.
Christianity’s transformative vision inspired social movements through the centuries, and the abolition of slavery, campaigns for women’s suffrage, and labour rights were often spearheaded by individuals motivated by Christian convictions. Figures like William Wilberforce and Frederick Douglass drew upon Biblical teachings to combat systemic injustices, demonstrating the enduring capacity of Christian principles to promote human flourishing.
Notre-Dame’s restoration is thus more than a celebration of craftsmanship; it is a vivid metaphor for reconnecting with the values that shaped Western civilization. The cathedral’s intricate beauty and spiritual resonance remind us of humanity’s dual nature: finite yet transcendent, capable of great achievements yet reliant on divine grace. It symbolizes a worldview that recognizes the inherent worth of every individual, rooted in the belief that all are created in God’s image.
Historian Tom Holland’s Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World underscores this legacy, tracing how Christian values of compassion, equality, and human dignity became the moral bedrock of Western civilization. As Holland writes, “To live in a Western country is to live in a society still utterly saturated by Christian concepts and assumptions. The ambitions of universal human rights, the expectation that the wealthy should look after the poor, the notion that society should protect the vulnerable – all of these are deeply and distinctively Christian.”
Yet, as secularization intensifies, the moral depth of human rights risks being eroded. Yale professor Samuel Moyn’s The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History warns that framing rights as timeless obscures their historical and theological origins, reducing them to hollow abstractions. In such a state, rights become instruments of power rather than enduring moral principles. Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar cautions that a purely secular understanding of rights lacks the moral depth necessary to justify their universality. When this happens, rights risk degenerating into tools of political expediency – a devolution that is all-but complete, with seismic implications for the trajectory of Western societies.
Notre-Dame’s grandeur and resilience offer a counterpoint to this drift. The cathedral calls us to look beyond the immediate and material, to rediscover the transcendent values that sustain human dignity. By safeguarding this iconic structure, we reaffirm the Christian teachings that inspired its creation and continue to underpin our shared moral commitments.
A British Columbian man who allegedly falsified prepaid mailing labels is being sued by Canada Post for nearly half a million dollars in lost revenue.
“Canada Post is entitled to the return of the evaded postage, or items and proceeds traceable to it which were acquired through business transactions using the manipulated return labels,” reads the Crown corporation’s notice of civil claim.
Jackson Lam has been accused of manipulating more than 11,000 prepaid return labels provided by online companies to mail out his energy drinks to customers, according to Canada Post’s filing.
Filed in B.C.’s Supreme Court, the lawsuit claims that Lam “operated an energy drink business under the moniker Prime Hydration Co.” via a now-defunct website called primehydrationco.ca.
The address for Prime Hydration Co. was located at a UPS Store in Burnaby, B.C.
According to Canada Post, Lam’s illicit scheme involved him requesting return labels from companies like Bell Canada, Shaw Communications, Cogeco, Eastlink and others online which he would then alter for his own purposes.
Once manipulated, parcels containing his energy drink product could be mailed out to customers without cost to his business using the addresses they had provided to him via his website, instead of unwanted merchandise being returned to those companies.
According to the claim, Lam obtained 11,328 of these labels between August 2022 and April 2023.
It wasn’t until after Canada Post began receiving complaints from Bell Canada last year regarding labels issued in its name for purported returns that did not arrive.
Generally, the Crown corporation is paid for shipping costs following any return label being scanned for delivery.
However, Canada Post is still not aware of the exact details of how Lam was able to carry out his scheme.
“Full particulars of the means used by the defendant to manipulate the return labels are within the exclusive knowledge of the defendant,” reads the lawsuit.
Canada Post claims that it intercepted 13 parcels last April that all bore return labels which appeared to belong to Shaw Communications when scanned, however, they were ultimately bound for Prime Hydration Co. customers.
The case is also currently under investigation by the RCMP, which calculated, using data provided by Canada Post, that Lam’s scam totalled $449,439.71 in allegedly stolen or diverted shipping costs.
Canada Post is seeking the lost revenue, investigation costs and any other losses or expenses incurred in its lawsuit, as well as punitive and aggravated damages.
The lawsuit claims that he “knowingly and falsely represented himself as a legitimate customer of the merchants,” using the falsified labels to deceive Canada Post into delivering his parcels.
True North was unable to contact Lam for comment and none of the allegations have been proven in court.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had some of the strongest words yet for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following his resignation, calling the move one of “the most irresponsible and selfish acts of a government in Canadian history.”
She’s also been sparring with President-elect Donald Trump amid his pending tariff and annexation threats.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi finally announced his bid for the legislature, hoping to take over Rachel Notley’s vacated safe seat.
Alberta has also set a target of doubling its oil production and increasing energy exports to the United States.
Tune into The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux!
