The RCMP have arrested an 18-year-old man from Newmarket, Ont. after suspecting he had plans to leave Canada and join ISIS.
Police officials say that the suspect was a minor when the RCMP investigation was initially launched, making the publicly available details of the case limited, including the suspect’s identity.
However, court records revealed that the RCMP applied for a terrorism peace bond last month on the basis that he may be planning to leave Canada “to participate in the activities” of the listed terrorist group, ISIS.
The RCMP received consent for proceedings related to terrorism-related offences from the Attorney General on Dec. 19, however, no further information has been made public.
“Although the defendant is an adult now, much of the allegations occurred while he was a young person,” Nathalie Houle, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada told CBC News, which first reported on the case.
The suspect was released on bail last month and is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 15.
According to the RCMP, he will face “strict court conditions” if the peace bond application is granted, which CSIS has also been involved with.
The federal prosecution service has issued terrorism peace bonds to 26 people since 2015. Terrorism peace bonds are a controversial legal tool that allows Canadian courts to impose conditions such as electronic monitoring and passport confiscation on those who they believe may commit a terrorism offence.
There has been a heightened interest in ISIS following a terrorist attack carried out by the U.S.-born ISIS supporter Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans on Wednesday, which killed at least 15 people and injured 30 more.
The Newmarket suspect marks the third high-profile RCMP investigation of terrorism involving Ontario-based men accused of being connected to ISIS-inspired attacks.
A Toronto-area man was arrested by multiple officers in tactical gear in Quebec near the U.S. border in September with plans to kill as many Jews in New York.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was charged for his alleged involvement in an ISIS terrorism plot after being apprehended in Ormstown, Que. while attempting to cross the border into the U.S. via Roxham Road.
Only a month before Khan’s failed terrorist plot, a father and son accused of having connections to ISIS were arrested in Toronto for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on the city’s citizens.
The duo were charged with several terrorism-related charges after the RCMP received consent from the Attorney General to commence proceedings. Other charges include conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated assault, with the latter only against the father.
Ahmed Eldidi, age 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, age 26, share a host of other charges. The two were allegedly in possession of an axe and machete when they were arrested.
The latest public sector strike that halted Canada’s economy was the Canadian Postal Workers strike in the lead-up to Christmas but this issue has been a persistent issue for many years. Powerful unions in critical industries have been forcing workers to down tools when they’re needed the most.
Most Canadians agree that unions should be able to strike and bargain for better wages and rights, but should that include critical industry workers as well who routinely use strikes to shut down the economy?
Gwyn Morgan, one of Canada’s most senior executives in the natural resources industry, breaks down the problem and provides some solutions to this issue that might work for everyone involved.
An extreme Islamist organization banned in Germany and the United Kingdom is hosting a conference in Mississauga to discuss obstacles to re-establishing an Islamic caliphate.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Canada is promoting its Khilafah Conference – translating to caliphate – which is set to take place at noon on January 18 in Mississauga, Ont.
Several speakers at the Khilafah Conference are scheduled to talk about the group’s ideological goals, grievances and obstacles to reconstituting an Islamic caliphate. They also plan to discuss their support for Palestinians in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In a promotional video for the conference, a Hizb ut-Tahrir follower romanticizes the glory of former caliphates, promising that the Muslim world will rise up again to reestablish the caliphate.
“Since losing the Khilafah, which was our shield, the Ummah has witnessed nothing short of bloodshed, foreign occupation, invasions, and oppression over these last 100 years. Despite this, the colonialist powers are still afraid of the Ummah’s latent strength,” is claimed in the video.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global, pan-Islamic organization that seeks to overthrow the modern global order and unite the world’s Muslims under an Islamic caliphate that would enshrine Sharia law as the sole legitimate system of rules.
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s ideology has been likened to ISIS or Al-Qaeda in its pursuit of a modern Islamic caliphate and their embrace of violence means to achieve this end, though they do not recognize ISIS’ caliphate.
While the group has not gained a following of armed combatants like other Islamic terrorist organizations, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s virulent anti-Western and antisemitic message has been described as a “conveyor belt for terrorists.”
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in several western, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries including Germany, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, China, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
The United Kingdom is the most recent country to take action against Hizb ut-Tahrir, with the former Conservative government issuing a banning order in 2024 after Hizb ut-Tahrir applauded the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and its supporters chanted for “jihad” at a pro-Palestine rally.
Last year’s Khilafah Conference 2024 was cancelled one day after the U.K. listed Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist entity.
Canada has not joined the group of countries who have banned Hizb ut-Tahrir despite the organization operating a Canadian branch.
Hizb ut-Tahrir and Public Safety Canada did not respond to True North’s requests for comment by deadline.
National security is the bedrock upon which a country’s sovereignty and stability rest, yet Canada finds itself alarmingly ill-prepared to address escalating global threats or safeguard its borders. Decades of neglect and underfunding have left the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in disarray, compromising our national security and diminishing Canada’s global standing. I spent much of my career serving in the CAF, and its current state is simply unacceptable. Canada must urgently reassess its priorities to rebuild a robust military capable of meeting modern challenges.
National security encompasses much more than a country simply possessing armed forces. National security refers to a nation’s ability to preserve its physical integrity and territory; to maintain its economic relations with its neighbours and trading partners on reasonable terms; to preserve its nature, institutions and governance from disruption; and to control its borders. And it means fulfilling international obligations.
Historically, the Canadian Armed Forces played a critical role in asserting Canada’s presence on the world stage, from triumphs in the World Wars to peacekeeping missions that showed national resolve. Over the decades, our relationship with other Western democracies matured from a junior status of “former British colony” into a trusted ally and partner.
But in the past nine years Canada’s position has seriously eroded. Our counterparts have watched Canada increasingly fail to meet the requirements of various formal and informal security agreements, if not ignore them altogether. Our critical ally, largest trading partner and neighbour, the United States, has watched with growing and vocal concern.
The Government of Canada’s near-complete inaction, for example, in response to damaging foreign interference provocations by foreign entities, most obviously the Communist Party of China (CPC), has not gone unnoticed. The unrest in our streets from Hamas supporters, pro-Khalistan and other ethnic, sectarian and/or factional agitators has demonstrated that Canada either does not take domestic security seriously or is powerless to stop worsening instability.
The informal but importantAmerica, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (ABCA) arrangement, which focuses on inter-operability of equipment and systems among the allied English-speaking countries, has taken to simply ignoring Canada, while our counterparts in the critical “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing community regard us with diminishing respect and trust. A full “rethink” of national security should commence immediately, with a review of national defence policy and a focus on rebuilding capabilities.
The current state of the CAF can be traced back to decisions made in the 1990s. Canada had been a defence laggard for years before then, but the 1994 White Paper on Defence, introduced by Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government, prioritized cost-cutting over capability. The CAF’s personnel numbers were slashed, historical regiments disbanded, and investments in modern equipment deferred.
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government made a number of significant equipment purchases – such as strategic airlift and heavy-lift helicopters – but did not initiate a new, comprehensive defence policy and was soon more focussed on balancing the budget that rebuilding the CAF. More recently,the Trudeau government’s 2017 defence strategy, “Strong, Secure, Engaged,” made ambitious promises—including an increase in defence spending to 1.4 percent of GDP by 2024—but these commitments have largely gone unmet. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Canada’s defence expenditure remains at a mere 1.29 percent of GDP, far below the alliance’s 2-percent benchmark.
The impact of this prolonged neglect is stark. The CAF’s personnel levels have plummeted. Defence Minister Bill Blair recently admitted that the CAF is short 16,500 members, leaving fewer than 32,000 combat-ready troops across all branches—a number smaller than the New York Police Department’s uniformed officers. Blair’s outrageous proposal to address what he calls a recruitment “death spiral”? Lower standards. This shows a government that fails even to understand the purpose of the CAF, let alone how to rebuild Canada’s military.
Current CAF equipment is almost entirely outdated. Hangers and runways are filled with unserviceable aircraft, ports with broken ships and submarines, and army bases with broken vehicles unserviceable weapons, without spare parts or technicians to do the repairs.
Canada is ill-equipped to meet both domestic and international challenges at a time when the geopolitical environment has grown increasingly dangerous. The resurgence of great power competition, threats from authoritarian regimes, and the rise of cyberwarfare demand a capable and responsive military.
The country needs a comprehensive new national security strategy and a new White Paper on Defence. Rebuilding the CAF must become a national priority. Part II of this three-part series will examine what the CAF needs as part of that process.
Political leaders must recognize that national security is not a discretionary expense but a fundamental obligation. Citizens, too, must understand the critical role of a strong military in preserving their rights and freedoms. It is only through collective resolve that Canada can restore its military to a state befitting its history and aspirations – and the needs of our current, precarious moment.
Theoriginal, full-length version of this article was recently published inC2C Journal. Part II of this three-part op-ed series will examine what the CAF needs to rebuild.
David Redman was an officer in the Canadian Army for 27 years, during which he was deployed on operations in Germany, Egypt, the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, the United States and across Canada, before retiring in 2001 to become the head of Crisis Management-Counterterrorism in Alberta and later the head of Emergency Management Alberta.
Another prominent Liberal MP has withdrawn from seeking re-election, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struggles to maintain the cohesion of his caucus.
Toronto MP and former immigration and public safety minister Marco Mendicino announced on Thursday that he will not seek re-election, marking the end of his three-term tenure as the Liberal representative for Eglinton–Lawrence.
In a letter shared to X, Mendicino said he would serve the remainder of his term.
“However, as much as I love the job, this is the right decision, at the right time, for me and my family,” he wrote.
While Mendicino made no mention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his letter, he did cite not seeing eye to eye with the Liberal Party’s current direction.
“It is no secret that I have disagreed with the current direction of the federal government on our foreign policy vis-à-vis our deteriorated relations with the State of Israel, our inadequate handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and our enfeebled role in the Middle East,” said Mendicino. “In political parties, there must be room for different views. As a matter of principle, I have been consistently outspoken in my condemnation of the unjust targeting of the Jewish community, which is facing a tidal wave of antisemitism. In the fight against hate, I will always show up.”
He added that during the remainder of his tenure, he hopes to focus on good public policy that addresses national security and the border.
Mendicino thanked community leaders who approached him and offered their support. He said they told him he should continue to be a leader for the city of Toronto – a city he said has been “paralyzed by gridlock, in need of more support for law enforcement, and stalled for progress.”
Mendicino’s announcement follows former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation.
The resignation served as the catalyst for a growing list of Liberal MPs calling for Trudeau’s resignation.
Quebec’s Liberal caucus hinted that they may join the Ontario and Atlantic Liberal caucuses in publicly calling for the prime minister to resign.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said that the “vast majority” of Liberal MPs want to see Trudeau’s immediate resignation.
Mendicino took office the same year as Trudeau in 2015. He was re-elected in 2019 and named Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship.
He was again re-elected in the 2021 federal election and was subsequently appointed Minister of Public Safety.
Mendicino oversaw the invocation of the Emergencies Act in 2022 in response to the Freedom Convoy. After facing public backlash for invoking the Emergencies Act and transferring serial rapist and serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security facility, Mendicino was removed from cabinet and replaced as Public Safety Minister by Dominic LeBlanc.
The City of Pickering released a taxpayer-funded video labelling its critics “alt-right” and cancelling public in-person city council meetings.
In a video posted Monday, Mayor Kevin Ashe announced the decision to only have online meetings at the start of the new year.
“Over the past two years, the City of Pickering has witnessed a growing infiltration of alt-right individuals, ideologies and influences that have created an atmosphere of uncertainty, fear and intimidation over our council, our staff, our residents, and indeed the broader community,” Ashe said in the video.
Warning: this video contains profanity, which has been bleeped out, and images, clips, and audio that some may find disturbing and offensive – viewer discretion is advised.
Due to growing threats of violence, harassment, and intimidation, the City will be undertaking measures to… pic.twitter.com/e6qtMrSELj
The video shows several comments from critics of the city council, including harsh language and, in some cases, jokes about councillors being harmed. The city mentioned the term “alt-right” eight times in the video, although it does not define it.
“The alt-right Freedom Movement has moved from online videos and commentary on Rumble, Twitter and Facebook; they are here, and they’re trying to control, sow dissent and intimidate our community,” a city staffer claimed in the video.
Neither Ashe nor the City of Pickering responded to True North’s requests to comment or to define the term, though the term “alt-right” has historically been used to describe white nationalists.
Much of the video was directed at Councilor Lisa Robinson, accusing her of laughing at alleged threats against the council on podcasts and celebrating “far-right” Member of European Parliament Christine Anderson and tying her to comments made by her supporters. Robinson has apologized for both instances.
Robinson called the move to ban public in-person participation at the city council meetings “cowardly” and “an affront to democracy” in a video response released on X.
The Mayor’s remarks are a laughable attempt at fear-mongering—a mix of many lies, name-calling, and outright nonsense. They cry “danger” while bringing their wives, daughters, and 8-year-old granddaughters to meetings and showing up at photo ops without a single police officer.… pic.twitter.com/NDSyZqI7C5
She said the mayor and council were “manufacturing a sense of danger” by using American headlines about “alt-right” groups infiltrating municipal politics.
The city claimed a post from Robinson where she recited the “Fifth of November” poem, accompanied by a clip from the movie “V for Vendetta,” which was a call to violence.
“Remember, remember, the 5th of November, Gunpowder, treason, and plot, I see no reason why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot”.
Guy Fawkes and his companions Did the scheme contrive, To blow the King and Parliament All up alive.
Robinson said the city was “grasping at straws,” and it was a poem from one of her favourite movies about resisting tyranny. The movie involves all the citizens of a dystopian London, England, peacefully standing up to an authoritarian government.
“Council and staff see this post as a veiled threat, or at the very least a menacing call for violent dissent,” the video continued. “While councillor Robinson has publicly said that she does not condone violence towards Pickering Council and staff, some of her more unhinged supporters feel differently.”
One allegedly threatening email said, “Your day of reckoning will come. You can’t treat citizens like this. Your dictatorship will come to an end.”
“It’s honestly laughable to any reasonable person who might watch it. It reveals how the mayor and the city are resorting to bullying tactics, labelling their own residents as alt-right and dismissing voices from outside the city,” Robinson said. “Instead of providing real evidence, they fabricate and exaggerate a false narrative of threats appealing to fear over a few voicemails.”
Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault recently amended his edict that Canada’s electricity generation and distribution system achieve “net-zero” CO2 emissions by 2035, likely because Alberta Premier Danielle Smith finally made Guilbeault’s Liberal government colleagues realize this goal was impossible (as well as politically toxic). The question now is: does Guilbeault shoving the net-zero goalposts out to 2050 make the impossible possible?
Guilbeault claims—and appears to believe—that a net-zero grid is critical to stopping climate change. But just because Guilbeault thinks things does not make them true.
Canada’s electrical grid currently emits an estimated 47 megatonnes (Mt) of CO2 annually. To eliminate these emissions, “all” we need to do is replace the electricity currently generated using fossil fuels with one or more of the other significant available sources—hydro, nuclear, wind or solar.
Last year Canada produced 127 terrawatt-hours (equal to 127 million megawatt-hours) of electricity using fossil fuels, about 20% of Canada’s overall power output. That much electricity could theoretically be replaced by a source with the capacity to produce 14,500 megawatts of electricity continuously, 100% of the time, all year.
That’s not how electrical generation works, of course; all power sources produce some fraction of their rated output (the “capacity factor”). Maintenance has to be done, hydro reservoirs needs to be refilled, the wind only blows part of the time, etc. Based on actual performance in 2016-2023, capacity factors were: hydro 53.2%, nuclear 73.2%, wind 28.9% and solar 14.1%. This let’s us determine the new capacity required for each source to replace the 127 terrawatt-hours generated from fossil fuels.
For hydro, it would require 28 projects comparable to B.C.’s new Site C dam or Newfoundland’s recent Muskrat Falls facility. That’s a vast undertaking costing around $400 billion and taking at least 45 years even if Canada could muster the capacity and will to work on nearly 10 dams at a time.
For nuclear, it would require three facilities the size of Ontario’s enormous Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, totalling 24 individual rectors, costing perhaps $60 billion, and taking at least 35 years if, again, Canada could somehow build batches of eight large reactors at a time.
For wind, it would require 167 projects the size of Alberta’s Blackspring Ridge Wind Farm, totalling a mind-boggling 26,500 turbines, costing $127 billion and requiring 85 years based on Canada’s recent average increase in installed capacity.
And for solar, it would require 220 projects the size of Alberta’s Travers Solar project, the country’s largest, entailing 290 million solar panels covering an area of 3,000 km2. This would cost $150 billion and could not come close to being finished by 2050. (Wind and solar power being severely intermittent and unpredictable, vast amounts of expensive battery storage would also need to be built.)
What we have, in short, is a costly and virtually unachievable boondoggle—regardless of whether the target year is 2035, 2050 or even 2075.
And this is before we consider that Guilbeault has also mandated that by 2035 only electric vehicles (EVs) will be sold andby 2050 Canada as a country must be net-zero, so that among other things the approximately 8 million homes currently heated with fossil fuels will have to be converted to electric heat.
Space prevents me from going over my data and calculations here, but getting Canada to 100% EV sales by 2035 would require another 15%-53% of the electricity currently generated by fossil fuels, while heating those 8 million homes would demand 85% of the power now generated by fossil fuels (and this does not account for the heating needs of new homes built during this time).
Together, EVs and heat pumps will demand additional electricity at least equal to that currently supplied by fossil fuels in Canada. Meaning, you can double all of the above numbers. (And I’m still leaving out increases in electricity demand due to growth in Canada’s population or power-hungry industries like AI data centres.)
All of this shifts my previous assessment of “costly and virtually unachievable boondoggle” to “ruinous and utterly unachievable madness.”
But don’t take my word for it: let’s look at Guilbeault’s own figures. As Blacklock’s Reporter first reported, a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement quietly issued by Guilbeault’s office just before Christmas concluded that, “The required costs to build and maintain Canada’s electricity system to meet expected growth in demand is estimated to be approximately $690 billion between 2024 and 2050 in present value terms.”
Much of this demand growth, the government document notes, will come from meeting climate-change mandates like switching to all-EVs. Note also the term “present value”, which indicates the cost estimate has been discounted to today’s dollars. The nominal amounts that will be spent over this time thus probably total $1 trillion or even more. That’s “real money” – even to a Liberal!
Still, let’s say that by some miracle Guilbeault’s fever dreams could be made a reality. Would a net-zero Canadian electricity grid that eliminated the aforementioned 47 Mt of annual CO2 emissions have any effect on climate change?
By 2035 China (if its emissions continue growing as they have since 1990) will have increased its annual emissions by 4,215 Mt – 90 times the amount by which Canada will have reduced its emissions. Between now and 2035 China will have emitted enough total CO2 all by itself—over 181,500 Mt—to raise the atmospheric concentration of CO2 by over 23 parts per million. This enormous gap between Canada’s puny and China’s vast emissions will more than double by 2050.
The likelihood of achieving even Guilbeault’s revised 2050 edict is sufficiently small as to be (as they say in engineering) for all practical purposes zero. Moreover, it is a fool’s errand under any likely variation of the scheme, since it will have no discernible impact on climate change. Guilbeault—or his bosses—should scrap the net-zero power grid edict entirely and, while they’re at it, the EV mandate and the national net-zero plan.
Jim Mason holds a BSc in engineering physics and a PhD in experimental nuclear physics, specializing through much of his career in analyzing complex data. He is retired and lives near Lakefield, Ontario.
Quebec Liberal caucus chair Stephane Lauzon and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Facebook)
Quebec’s Liberal MPs want to join their peers in Ontario and Atlantic in calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down before the next federal election.
Sources within the Liberal party’s Quebec caucus told the media that MPs have been discussing the issue since mid-December when the House of Commons went on holiday break.
Media reports indicate Quebec Liberal caucus chair Stephane Lauzon was tasked with relaying their message to national caucus leadership, according to sources.
However, Lauzon released a statement on Tuesday saying that no conclusion has been made regarding whether the Quebec caucus will officially call for Trudeau’s resignation.
He went on to say that the upcoming official caucus meeting won’t be until next Thursday.
Should they decide to publicly call for the prime minister to step down, they will be the third caucus to do so, following both Ontario and Atlantic Liberal caucuses.
If so, that would mean that the overwhelming majority of Liberal MPs will be united in publicly calling for Trudeau to resign.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told Global News in an interview last month that “Canadians have clearly lost confidence in him, and Canadians want him to go.”
“It’s clear they’ve tuned him out, and he is not the best person to deliver the message of our party in the next election,” said Housefather.
In the wake of former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland stepping down from cabinet last month, a growing number of MPs began calling for Trudeau to resign.
However, the prime minister has been vacationing in B.C. and has thus far vowed to stay on as Liberal leader in the next federal election.
Trudeau also cancelled all of his scheduled year-end interviews with legacy media outlets.
Normally, the prime minister and other political leaders sit down with journalists one-on-one to review the year’s events and to provide predictions for what Canadians can expect after the holidays.
The next federal election is scheduled for October 25 with the House of Commons returning from its winter break on Jan. 27.
The Conservatives and the NDP have stated their intentions to introduce non-confidence motions to topple the government upon returning at the end of the month.
However, some political pundits have suggested Trudeau may prorogue Parliament to buy himself time.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enters the New Year facing record-low approval ratings, with the party polling worse than at any point in its 157-year history.
According to an Angus Reid Institute poll published Monday, voting intention for the Liberals has fallen to 16%, half of the voter share the party had in Dec. 2014. Conversely, federal voting intent for the Conservatives has reached 45%, marking an all-time high over the last decade.
“It represents the lowest level of support for the party in Angus Reid Institute tracking dating back to 2014. It is also quite possibly the lowest vote intention the Liberals have ever received in the modern era,” reads the poll. “Even in the worst electoral performance in the party’s 157-year history, the 2011 election under then leader Michael Ignatieff, the Liberals received 18.9% of votes from Canadians, and at minimum 17% in polling leading up to that election.”
Voting intent for the NDP has seen ebbs and flows but has remained largely unchanged compared to a decade ago at 21%.
Respondents were provided with three options: Trudeau remaining prime minister as long as possible, resigning immediately, or calling a general election.
Almost half the respondents, 46%, called for Trudeau’s immediate resignation.
The growing list of Liberal MPs calling for Trudeau’s resignation has led to an internal caucus revolt. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said the “vast majority” of Liberal MPs want Trudeau to resign right away.
Over one-third, 38%, of respondents want to see a general election called right away. This sentiment was strongest among those who intend to vote Conservative – at 66%.
Conversely, only 16% of respondents want Trudeau to remain prime minister as long as he can maintain power. Less than three in ten Liberal voters hope for this, with 59% hoping Trudeau resigns immediately.
Trudeau’s approval rating was just over 60% when he took office in 2015. It has been in freefall ever since, reaching 22% by Dec. 2024. His disapproval rating has seen a sharp rise during that time frame, climbing from around 30% to 74%.
The disapproval rating was met with strong feelings. Over half, 52%, of respondents strongly disapprove of Trudeau. Conversely, only 3% strongly approve of him.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has seen both his favourability and unfavourability rise, as undecided Canadians become fewer in number.
Poilievre has tried to fast-track Canadians’ wishes, urging the Governor General to persuade Trudeau to dissolve Parliament and call an election or reconvene immediately for a confidence vote.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has seen his unfavourability skyrocket as well, rising from just under 40% in Dec. 2017 to 58% by Dec. 2024.
Overall, the Liberal party has retained less than half of those who voted for them in the 2021 election, while the Conservatives have retained almost nine in ten.
“Most of those who supported the party in 2021 now say they would not repeat their vote, with 12% of 2021 Liberal voters either undecided or not planning to vote, and 16% and 20% currently supporting the CPC and NDP, respectively,” reads the poll. “Meanwhile, nearly all (89%) 2021 Conservative voters plan to support the party again, while seven-in-ten (68%) of those who voted NDP and 83% of those who voted Bloc continue to support the party they voted for in the most recent federal election.”
Following former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation, the Liberal party’s support has fallen 5%, with the largest decrease coming among women aged 35 to 54, who saw a near 10% drop.
The Liberal party’s falling support is also in part due to the Liberal implementing policies that have seemingly pushed Canadians further away.
For example, the recently proposed GST/HST tax exemption and $250 one-time cheque saw only 2% of a different poll’s respondents say it would make it “much more likely” that they would vote Liberal in the future. Only 3% said it would make it “more likely.”
Conversely, 28% of respondents said the policies would make it “much less likely” that they would vote Liberal in the future, followed by 8% who said it would make it “less likely.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal friend and former principal secretary Gerald Butts posted on social media calling the aftermath of a Tesla Cybertruck blast outside of a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas that claimed the life of the occupant the “photo of the year.”
The FBI has announced it is investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day as a suspicious incident. The explosion killed only the driver, who is the suspected car bomber, and injured seven others.
In an Instagram post, Butts celebrated the incident saying that although the year had just begun, the cyber truck explosion photo might be the “photo of the year.”
WOW 😮 Gerald Butts also posted this image of the CyberTruck Infront of the Trump Hotel exploding, on LinkedIn 🤯 Unbelievable 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/xYNbXl3DUC
Butts served as Trudeau’s principal secretary from 2015 up until his resignation on Feb. 18, 2019, during the Liberal government’s “SNC Lavalin scandal.”
Butts did not respond to True North’s requests for comment.
Law enforcement and images shown at a press conference about the incident confirmed that the explosion was from gas canisters, propane tanks and mortar-style fireworks in the trunk of the vehicle.
Police said the suspect parked in front of the Trump Hotel, and within 15 to 20 seconds, the vehicle exploded. Police said they are investigating if the explosion was an act of terrorism.
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, said on X that senior leadership at Tesla have investigated the situation and determined the explosion was not caused by the vehicle. He also announced that police believe the incident to be “most likely intentional.”
“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards,” Musk said in a separate post. “Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
Law enforcement said at the conference it’s investigating any connections between the alleged cyber truck bombing and a massacre which killed 15 people on New Year’s Eve in New Orleans.
The suspect has since been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, a US special forces veteran.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect who rammed a rental truck with an ISIS flag hoisted to the back into New Year’s celebrants, and Livelsberger were both reportedly military veterans.
US media reported that Jabbar and Livelsberger served at the same military base, Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), and were deployed in Afghanistan during the same period. Police also confirmed that the vehicles used in both incidents were rented from a car-sharing app, Turo.
