Federal spending has gotten so out of hand that Ottawa posted a $15 billion budget deficit between April and October of this year, with $7 billion of those funds being spent in October alone.
To put that into context, the budgetary deficit over the same period in 2022 was $0.2 billion from April to October, reported the finance department.
Spending for all government programs increased in 2023, up overall by 5.4%, when compared to the same time last year as well.
Excluding net actuarial losses, program spending rose to $11.8 billion.
However, government revenues went up by 1.2%, or $3 billion, due to higher interest revenues and other non-tax revenues.
Public debt charges increased as well, up by 38.1%, or $7.5 billion, as a result of sky-high interest rates, although they were partially offset, due to lower consumer price index adjustments on return bonds, according to Bloomberg News.
When compared to April to October 2022, net actuarial losses have gone down by 23.2%, or $1.3 billion.
The Liberal government’s budget deficit for 2023-24 is expected to reach a whopping $46.5 billion, according to the latest report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
This is $6.4 billion higher than the projection made by Ottawa when it presented this year’s budget in April.
The PBO attributes the increase to new spending measures announced by the federal government since then, which amount to $28.6 billion over six years. The measures include a $13 billion investment for a Volkswagen EV plant, $16 billion for a Stellantis EV battery plant and the GST rental rebate.
Ottawa school trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth, who was sanctioned Tuesday following a second code of conduct complaint, is asking Ontario’s education minister to ban the board from being able to take further disciplinary actions against her.
The controversial trustee is also demanding a “leave of absence” from the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, and says she has no regrets in regards to her behaviour.
As reported by CTV News, Kaplan-Myrth sent a letter to board chair Lynn Scott, school board director Pino Buffone and Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce requesting a leave Wednesday, amid her saying that she has been the victim of “persistent” antisemitism as well as “reprisals.”
Kaplan-Myrth wants Lecce to temporarily prohibit the board from being able to take disciplinary actions against her, and wants him to launch an investigation into the “weaponization” of the code of conduct complaint process.
“I ask that the Hon. Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, intervene to put a moratorium on any further reprisals of me by the OCDSB for speaking out against antisemitism, and I ask that the Ministry of Education undertake an audit of the OCDSB’s weaponization of the Code of Conduct process to silence equity-seeking groups.”
It is unclear if Kaplan-Myrth can obtain a leave of absence.
According to the Ontario Education Act, trustees cannot miss more than three consecutive meetings without special permission. If a trustee fails to adhere to this requirement, the seat is vacated, the act says.
In a statement, the Ottawa school board acknowledged the limited provisions in the act.
“We will explore the provisions with the Board of Trustees to determine the feasibility of this request. An important part of this consideration will be ensuring that the needs of students and families continue to be served,” the statement said.
“At this time, we would like to reassure the community that all trustees are available to provide support to students and families, regardless of electoral zone.”
Lecce said he expects trustees to uphold professional conduct while also remaining focused on serving students and parents.
“Too often this is not the experience of parents, which is why Ontario recently imposed enhanced accountability and transparency measures on school boards,” he said. “Our government is taking action to ensure trustees are focused on what actually matters most — the academic success and well-being of students.”
As previously reported by True North’s Sue-Ann Levy, Kaplan-Myrth was sanctioned Tuesday evening at a special meeting after the board unanimously declared that she breached the trustee code of conduct.
BREAKING: Ottawa Carleton District School Board votes to find that controversial trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth has violated the code of conduct. pic.twitter.com/vWvdmfIJ8Z
The behaviour behind the code of conduct breach stemmed from a special Sept. 11 meeting called to discuss another code of conduct complaint levelled against Kaplan-Myrth. That first complaint was launched after she told fellow trustee Donna Dickson, who is black, that she would be siding with white supremacists if she were to vote against her infamous mask mandate motion.
At the Sept. 11 special meeting, Kaplan-Myrth interrupted her colleague Donna Blackburn after she said that Dickson, a black woman, had been attacked by Kaplan-Myrth, whom Blackburn called a white woman.
“Sorry I’m going to object, I’m a Jewish woman,” shouted Kaplan-Myrth, who then told Blackburn, “You have been out to get me from day one.”
"You have been out to get me from day one!" Nili Kaplan-Myrth angrily interrupts trustee Donna Blackburn, resulting in the chair having to call a recess. pic.twitter.com/n39aohmWeh
The interruption was one of multiple beaches highlighted in a 188 page integrity report.
The report also said that Kaplan-Myrth’s interactions with the media following the Sept. 11 meeting also violated the code of conduct.
In an interview with CTV News, Kaplan-Myrth said had no regrets in regards to her behaviour.
“I do not regret that I stood up, as a physician, for the health and safety of the population. I have absolutely no regrets about the work that I have done,” she said.
“What I regret is that I trusted my colleagues. I regret that I stepped forward into this position. I accepted that the public wanted me to do this and I stepped forward to do it, not realizing that I would then be the subject of so much hate, so much vitriol and targeted attacks.”
She has filed a human rights complaint against the school board, seeking $50,000 in compensation.
It has been a tough year for the militant pro-mask doctor-turned-trustee.
In addition to facing two code of conduct complaints, Kaplan-Myrth has made headlines for shutting down a father concerned about gender ideology, and subsequently successfully lobbying petition website change.org to take down two community petitions requesting her resignation.
Ottawa progressive public school trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan Myrth shut down a concerned parent speaking at a yesterday’s board meeting “on the grounds that (his speech created) an unsafe environment for people who identify as gender diverse.” Source: Robin Larocque, YouTube pic.twitter.com/2vXM3yJrbS
She has also counter protested Muslim and Christian parents opposed to gender ideology alongside Antifa, and has called for a ban on anti-gender ideology protests near schools, to the demise of several Ottawa parents.
Kaplan-Myrth did not return a request for comment in time for publication.
Do conservatives really believe in conspiracy theories? Did Pierre Poilievre lie about terrorism at the Rainbow bridge in Niagara? Did Israel really level a hospital in Gaza?
The Liberal-funded legacy media told you so, so it must be true – right?
It’s Fake News Friday on the Candice Malcolm Show, and hosts Candice Malcolm and Harrison Faulkner walk us through a few of their favourite (or least favourite?) fake news stories and hoaxes of 2023.
After nearly two years of social media silence, Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich has reemerged online. Lich reactivated her account on X 22 months after she was barred from social media as part of a host of bail conditions.
Plus, as the City of Toronto scrubs Henry Dundas from subway stations and a major square, a descendent of the influential politician is slamming the legacy media for “inaccurate” reporting.
And a new poll reveals the majority of Canadians don’t think a national pharmacare plan should be a priority for the government.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Isaac Lamoureux!
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem gave a speech to the Canadian Club where he suggested that Canadian rents would probably have started to decrease if not for the Liberal government’s record-high immigration targets.
“Canada’s housing supply has not kept up with growth in our population, and higher rates of immigration are widening the gap,” said Macklem while speaking at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel on Dec. 15.
Macklem’s talk was a routine economic update, speaking before Canadian business leaders, and warning them that next year will be “difficult for many.”
“Consumers will continue to hold back spending, businesses will see weak demand (and) the unemployment rate will likely increase further,” said Macklem.
While on the one hand, a slowing economy helps ease inflation, Macklem also noted that the exponential spike in “shelter costs” was out of step with other living costs, which are expected to ease in time.
“Why is shelter price inflation rising even as the economy slows?” he said.
Last month, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released a report explaining that it would take an additional 4.4 million homes to get the real estate market back to some semblance of affordability.
According to Statistics Canada, the country’s population has grown by 430,635 people over the last three months.
The highest on record since 1956 after Canada took in thousands of refugees following the Hungarian Revolution amidst the post-war baby boom.
Canada only built 219,942 new homes in 2022 and the construction industry slowed down even further in 2023, making it unlikely that it will surpass last year’s numbers.
The Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes have directly contributed to rising mortgage costs, however, Macklem said that rent and even maintenance costs are on a meteoric incline with no predicted end in the short term.
“Rent was up 8.2 per cent in October,” said Macklem, making it the highest rent increase in over four decades, according to the National Post.
The average rent in Canada is already over $2,000 per month, meaning in October rent increased an extra $160 in a single month.
Canada’s overall inflation rate has already pulled back significantly from its immediate highs following the pandemic, coming in most recently at 3.1%, down from 8.1% in June 2022.
But inflation remains at generational highs for food and “nondurable goods” which includes consumable items like clothing and soap.
Food price inflation is at 5.4% and as high as 8.3% for things categorized as sugar and confectionery.
“It’s no wonder that people are still feeling the pressure of higher prices,” said Macklem, who assured the audience that food and non-durable prices would begin to decline soon.
But when it comes to shelter costs, Macklem said they are likely to continue rising for the foreseeable future and it’s all tied to a “structural lack of supply in housing.”
“We do expect shelter price inflation to moderate overtime, but I’ll admit; predicting the timing is difficult,” said Macklem.
Canada already had the most severe housing shortage in the G7 when the pandemic ended and the housing gap has only widened since, due to the unprecedented spike in Canada’s immigration numbers.
The Alberta government’s reintroduction of the provincial fuel tax has prompted an uncommon alliance to emerge.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) and the New Democratic Party (NDP) are both criticizing the Alberta government’s decision to reinstate the provincial fuel tax.
Kris Sims, Alberta director of the CTF, in an address to Albertans, highlighted the impact of this decision.
“Breaking news for taxpayers in Alberta. Your fuel tax is going to jump up on January 1. Yes. Finance Minister Nate Horner just announced that he’s going to be increasing your fuel tax by $0.09 per litre for gasoline and diesel,” she said.
Sims explained that Premier Smith suspended the fuel tax a year ago because she evaluated everything as being very expensive and inflation as a major problem, along with Ottawa increasing the carbon taxes.
She said that Albertans saved around $10 every time they filled up their minivans, $15 every time they filled up a big truck, and truck drivers driving big rigs saved around $130 to $140 every time they filled up.
“This is the wrong thing to do. Nothing’s changed as far as affordability goes. In fact, it’s often worse for a lot of people. They’re still struggling to avoid the basics. And to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he’s just got a few more weeks left before he jacks up his carbon tax on us again,” said Sims.
The province increasing the fuel tax is a bad idea, said Sims. She noted that this decision comes even though the province has amassed a $5.5 billion surplus, achieved without collecting the fuel tax for an entire year.
Sims pleaded for Albertans to pick up the phone or send an email.
“Let Finance Minister Nate Horner know that you can’t afford his fuel tax hike. Send a note to Premier Daniel Smith. Tell her she did the right thing when she fully suspended that fuel tax a year ago. And tell her to listen to the hardworking, everyday taxpayers of Alberta and fully suspend her fuel tax again and to stop listening to the bad advice coming from the bureaucrats in downtown Edmonton,” said Sims.
Her position was also explained in a press release she wrote and issued with the CTF.
“Alberta’s fuel tax is a predictable source of provincial revenue, helping to offset the volatility of other revenue sources. As a stable component of Alberta’s revenue mix, the fuel tax helps fund programs and services Albertans rely on while maintaining our significant tax advantage,” he wrote in the letter.
Horner said that another update will be provided before the next quarter ends on March 31, 2024.
Kathleen Ganley, MLA for Calgary-Mountain View and the NDP energy critic for oil and gas, natural gas, critical minerals, and hydrogen, shared her and her party’s displeasure with the announcement at a press conference on December 14.
“In a province grappling with escalating rents, a housing affordability crisis, high grocery bills, and rising power prices, the UCP is focused not on how to help Alberta families, but on how to help themselves,” she said.
Ganley referenced a recent survey that showed nearly half of Albertans are planning to cut their holiday spending, with 49% of those respondents using the money on groceries instead. In contrast, half say they don’t have any additional money to spend.
Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF, took a similar position to Kris Sims.
“Premier Danielle Smith needs to do the right thing and keep Alberta’s fuel tax suspended,” he said in a post to X.
“She’s right to take Trudeau to task on the carbon tax. But she’s about to get outflanked by the New Democrats.”
The Toronto Sun has apologized for an editorial cartoon published on Thursday that critics have called antisemitic for its depiction of Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.
The cartoon was drawn by a U.S.-based artist and depicts Zelensky, who is Jewish, picking the pocket of U.S. President Joe Biden while the two walk down a hallway together.
The drawing also exaggerates the facial features of Zelensky in a manner akin to tropes commonly used in other antisemitic drawings.
The cartoon could be seen on the Sun’s website on Thursday morning, but was removed hours later, with the Sun’s editor-in-chief Adrienne Batra, issuing an apology.
“Earlier this week, we ran a cartoon depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy picking the pocket of U.S. President Joe Biden. The cartoon did not meet our editorial standards, we were wrong to run it and we apologize. It falsely implied American aid to Ukraine involves theft,” reads Batra’s apology.
“It was hurtful to Canadians of Ukrainian origin, and to all Ukrainians, fighting an existential struggle against Russian aggression. It also used anti-Semitic stereotypes in its depiction of Zelenskiy. It was hurtful to Canadians of Jewish origin, and to the Jewish people, currently under assault from a global wave of antisemitism. We failed them and we failed all of you, our readers. The syndicated cartoonist behind the cartoon will no longer run in our newspaper. We promise to do better in the future.”
Additionally, the cartoon has been criticized for propping up Russian propaganda and aiding the growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment, regarding financial support for them to help against the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress said they were “disgusted by the disgraceful cartoon,” likening it to hateful Kremlin-inspired propaganda.
The cartoon was a reference to the recent trip that Zelensky made to Washington D.C. to secure more funding and aid in their fight against Russia.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the Sun for publishing such a cartoon, especially during a time of growing antisemitism in Canada, saying it’s up to all Canadians to make sure that they are there for one another.
“But I also need to make sure we are calling out incidents of antisemitism wherever they rear their heads. And on that, specifically, the Toronto Sun editorial cartoon — which promoted, which published the worst kind of antisemitic content — was absolutely unacceptable,” said Trudeau, following a housing announcement in Toronto on Thursday.
One reader wrote a letter to Batra, saying that the paper was sounding “just like Russian ‘Trumped-up’ stooges,” according to the Toronto Star.
The Sun responded by saying that “editorial cartoons are meant to exaggerate sentiment and like it or not, many Americans feel this way.”
Over the past several weeks, the Sun has also run numerous editorials condemning the rise of antisemitism in Canada, demanding more politicians at every level of government address the issue and publicly denounce these sentiments.
There have been 56 reports of antisemitic hate crimes since Oct. 7, when the Israel-Hamas war first began, according to Toronto police.
That number represents 53% of all reported hate crimes since Oct. 7.
You have likely seen videos on Youtube of Canadians who are planning to leave this country. These videos go viral and the comment sections are filled with Canadians who also are planning to leave this country. So why is this happening and is this normal? The data shows that we’re seeing a spike in emigration at the same time as Canada’s population is growing at a record pace due to mass immigration.
On the latest episode of Ratio’d, Harrison Faulkner crunches the numbers on emigration data to see if these videos are just for clicks or if they’re speaking to a real and growing trend.
Also, YouTuber Adam Nucci who made a video about why he is planning to leave Canada joins the show to talk more about the issues facing Canada and why so many have becomed disillusioned with the state of our country.
Toronto’s city council vote to change the name of Young-Dundas Square has resulted in the resignation of Mike Fenton, chair of the square’s board of management. Fenton felt the process was too rushed to offer the public an opportunity to weigh in on what the new name would be.
Fenton wrote a letter Wednesday to the head of council’s civic appointments committee saying that while he supports the city’s effort to rename the facility, he felt the Dec. 12 naming to “Sankofa Square” didn’t give the public enough of an opportunity have their say “on this critical decision for city residents.”
“While I support the selection of a new name for (Yonge-Dundas Square) — the lack of a consistent, public review to evaluate this decision has been disjointed and lacking good governance,” wrote Fenton.
“As a lifetime Toronto resident and civic-appointed (Yonge-Dundas Square) board member, this is not the process I would expect to see for a legacy decision, impacting a landmark Toronto public square.”
Fenton, who has been a board member since 2015 and the chair since 2019, said his resignation was effective immediately.
Coun. Chris Moise, who proposed the name Sankofa at council last Thursday in a motion without notice, called Fenton’s resignation “a surprise.”
However, his office defended the last-minute timing of Moise’s motion, citing rescheduling issues for the lack of time to present the proposal.
The word Sankofa, “refers to the act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past which enables us to move forward together,” a concept originating in Ghana, according to Moise’s motion. Moise told council that the name change could help Black residents feel that “the city sees them.”
However, critics of the renaming say that the word originates from a tribe in Ghana which had ties to the slave trade themselves.
One member of the renaming advisory committee, Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, said she feels that Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow interfered in the process by demanding a single choice from council, instead of offering a consultation with the public.
“I expect they will tell me to resign,” Ramkhalawansingh told the Toronto Star. “I have no faith in the process given the interference by the mayor.”
Ramkhalawansingh is a former City of Toronto director of diversity management and civic engagement.
Initially, a review committee of Black and Indigenous leaders and other residents were supposed to create a shortlist of potential new names for Dundas Street to be presented to the public this fall, before it would go to city council for final approval in 2024.
However, some councillors who were once in support of the idea began to change their mind after factoring in the billions of dollars it would cost to rename the entire 23-kilometre Dundas Street, at a time when the city was already dealing with severe budget problems.
There were also a large number of supporters of Dundas, who disputed his role in delaying abolition, saying his legacy has been perversely misconstrued.
The motion to rename the square to Sankofa was a compromise, heavily supported by Chow, which proposed shelving the idea of renaming the entire Dundas street in lieu of renaming the square.
The compromise was unanimously supported by the review committee one day before the proposal.
Additionally, council has requested that two subway stations on the TTC, Dundas and Dundas West be renamed, asking that the Jane-Dundas Library board choose the new names.
The new plan is estimated to cost the city about $700,000 and Moise’s motion passed with a vote of 19-to-2.
“I think it actually was handled very poorly. It was not an example of good governance,” said Coun. Josh Matlow (Toronto—St. Paul’s), who sits on the TTC board, despite voting in favour of the renaming himself.
Both Chow and council have been accused of not adhering to due process but have not yet commented publicly on the backlash.
After nearly two years of social media silence, Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich has reemerged online.
Lich reactivated her account on X, formerly Twitter, 22 months after she was barred from social media as part of a host of bail conditions.
“It has been 22 long months since I have been allowed to log in to my Twitter account,” Lich wrote Thursday. “@elonmusk did anything interesting happen while I’ve been away???!!?!”
It has been 22 long months since I have been allowed to log in to my Twitter account. @elonmusk did anything interesting happen while I’ve been away???!!?!
Lich’s post obliquely referenced tech CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022 – after Lich suspended her activities on the platform. This year, he renamed and rebranded the company X.
Lich was arrested in Ottawa February 17, 2022 and charged with counselling to commit mischief. While fellow organizer Chris Barber, who faced similar charges, was released on bail, Lich was denied bail and held in custody in Ottawa for 18 days before she was granted bail with conditions including a ban on social media and expressing any support for the Freedom Convoy, as well as a requirement to not communicate with several other protest participants unless supervised by a lawyer.
Lich was later rearrested after a photo of her emerged at an awards dinner alongside Freedom Convoy organizer Tom Marazzo, though the Crown eventually withdrew the bail violation charge against her.
Several of Lich’s bail conditions have been eased since her arrest. She released a book about her experience with the Freedom Convoy in April of this year.
In a statement to True North, Lich said she and her lawyers thought it was an appropriate time for the court to revisit the social media ban.
“I have been hoping for quite some time to have my conditions varied and with the lack of evidence we have seen so far (and) the unexpected length of time the trial is taking, we felt it was a good time to have this specific condition reviewed,” Lich said.
Lich and Barber have been on trial in Ottawa since September. It was supposed to conclude Oct. 13, but has stretched on for weeks and is set to resume in January 2024.
Lich is being represented by lawyer Lawrence Greenspon and the Democracy Fund. Barber is being represented by Diane Magas and the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
