Despite claims by left-wing politicians and the legacy media that provinces have spent less money on public education, a study by the Fraser Institute has found that education spending has actually increased in eight out of ten provinces.
According to the report Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2023 Edition if you adjust for inflation a vast majority of provinces have actually increased spending on education.
“Contrary to what we often hear, spending is on the rise in public schools across Canada, and in most cases, it’s outpacing inflation and enrolment changes,” said Fraser Institute senior fellow Michael Swaagstra in a press release.
Annual spending on education across Canada has increased by a whopping $7.8 billion if taking into account inflation and enrollment changes between 2012 and 2021.
Analysts also found that when adjusting for inflation, spending per student increased by 8.3%, with Quebec seeing the highest increase (32.9%), followed by Nova Scotia (26.9%) and Prince Edward Island (19%).
The only two provinces to see a decline in per student spending were Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“It is clear from the data presented that from 2012/13 to 2020/21 inflation-adjusted per-student education spending in public schools has increased nationally and in eight of the ten provinces,” wrote the Fraser Institute.
“Nationally, education spending has increased by more than necessary to offset the effects of growth in enrolment and inflation; this means billions of dollars in additional spending.”
Additionally, teachers were getting paid more over the time period specified.
The Fraser Institute found that compensation for education workers contributed the most in total growth in spending with a spike of 25.6%.
Salaries and wages alone grew by 24.7% while fringe benefits grew from $5.5 billion to $7.7 billion over the same time period.
“It is clear from the data presented that from 2012/13 to 2020/21 inflation-adjusted per-student education spending in public schools has increased nationally and in eight of the ten prov-
Inces,” concluded the report.
“Nationally, education spending has increased by more than necessary to offset the effects of growth in enrolment and inflation; this means billions of dollars in additional spending.”
The recent decision by Meta to block news links in Canada in response to the Online News Act has not deterred Canadians from using Facebook, according to a recent data analysis.
Facebook’s daily usage by Canadians has remained roughly the same since the platform’s parent company Meta made the decision to remove news links at the beginning of August.
Data provided to Reuters by Similarweb, a data analytics company that tracks traffic on various apps and websites found that there was no major drop in the amount of time spent on Meta’s platforms by Canadians.
In June, the Trudeau government implemented the Online News Act, which forces Meta and Google parent Alphabet to compensate Canadian news publishers for their content if users post it on their platforms.
Meta and Alphabet have said that the new regulations are not sustainable for their business models . As a result, Facebook and Instagram have decided to ban news sharing on their platforms altogether.
Facebook claims that news accounts for less than 3% of content shared on their platform and provides no economic value for them.
As Meta faces regulatory pressure from other key markets around the world, the company is aiming to have less news and other civic content on its platforms. The company says it plans to promote lighter subjects in feeds like entertainment and sports.
Facebook’s referrals to Canadian news links had already been in decline prior to the Online News Act. In July, the social media platform saw a decline of around 35% year-over-year and a drop of 74% since 2020, according to Similarweb.
As for users in the United States, news does remain among the most popular content on the platform according to Facebook’s transparency reports.
Their latest report revealed that news websites accounted for 13 of the top 20 domains viewed on Facebook in the United States and 18 of the top 20 individual links were to news articles.
Instagram, Meta’s second largest platform, has less of a news presence, as the platform does not offer the option to enable links in posts from individual users.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently accused Meta of brinkmanship for not allowing news on their platforms during a time when Canada was dealing with numerous wildfires across the country.
“It is so inconceivable that a company like Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of ensuring that local news organizations can get up-to-date information to Canadians and reach them,” said Trudeau to reporters in Prince Edward Island last week.
A spokesperson for Meta responded by saying that they had rolled out a “Safety Check” feature for people that would “allow people to let their friends and family know they were safe” in Yellowknife and other areas dealing with wildfires. The spokesperson also noted that the platform still provides users with access to content from government agencies and emergency services.
The specific details of how the platforms would be expected to compensate Canadian news publishers have yet to be ironed out; however the regulator responsible for implementing the online news law said that a framework would be ready by this fall with the goal to have mandatory bargaining between the tech giants and news organizations by 2025.
Disgruntled members of the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party have failed to trigger a leadership review of Premier Blaine Higgs.
As reported by The Canadian Press, PC Party executive director Andrea Johnson said members failed to submit 50 valid letters requesting a review – including at least from 20 PC riding associations presidents.
Higgs will remain Premier without internal challenges to his leadership.
The push to oust the Higgs came amid him taking a strong but controversial stance on parental rights.
In June, the New Brunswick government announced changes to education policy 713, which, among other things, require that children under the age of 16 receive parental consent before they can officially change their name or pronouns at school.
The policy change outraged trans activists, supporters of gender ideology and Liberal politicians.
It was also met with opposition from some Progressive Conservatives. Two PC cabinet ministers resigned over the ordeal, while some party members began organizing to have a leadership review.
Dissidents claimed their opposition to Higgs was also based on “a pattern of autocratic leadership over the past three years.”
In July, disgruntled members said that they had submitted what they believed were the required letters to trigger a review. However, PC Party president Erika Hachey determined “that the requirements have not been satisfied.”
Hachey gave disgruntled members until Aug. 19 to submit the remaining letters, a deadline which was later extended to Aug. 26.
As previously reported by True North, several PC Party executives believed the “silent majority” stood with Premier Higgs, amid strong support in the province for his stance on gender identity.
The Higgs government has doubled down on its support of parental rights, and clarified that the name change policy applies to name use by teachers in the classroom.
“Formal use of preferred first name refers to the preferred first name and/or pronoun(s) that has been identified by a transgender or non-binary student to be used for record-keeping purposes, daily management (school software applications, report cards, class lists, etc.), classroom interactions and extracurricular and co-curricular activities (by staff, teachers and coaches),” reads the clarified policy.
New Brunswick Education Minister Bill Hogan said, “We stand by the changes we’ve made to Policy 713 and we believe that parents should be involved in every aspect of a young child’s education.”
“I think having parental involvement in education is a national issue,” he added. “It’s clearly more than just that – it’s an international issue. I mean, most people believe that parents have an active role to play in their child’s education.”
Other Conservative premiers have since joined New Brunswick in supporting parental rights and consent around the gender identity of children at school.
Saskatchewan announced last week that they too would be mandating parental consent for pronoun and name changes of children under the age of 16.
Meanwhile, Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce said, “parents must be fully involved” if their child wants to use a different pronoun at school. Manitoba Progressive Conservative Premier Heather Stefanson also said parents should be informed if their child is wanting to identify as a different gender at school. She is pledging to enhance parental rights if re-elected this fall.
Federally, Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre has said schools should leave conversations about gender issues to parents and that parents should decide what is taught to their kids. “Parental rights come before the government’s rights,” said Poilievre.
A poll released by the Angus Reid Institute found that 78% of Canadians believe parents should be informed if their kid wants to change names or pronouns at school. Just 14% believe schools should hide the latter from parents.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that the federal government will not be pausing their incoming clean fuel regulations despite Liberal Premier Andrew Furey requesting a suspension on Tuesday.
On August 15, Newfounland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking the federal government put a pause on the recently announced clean fuel regulations and scale back their increase of the carbon tax.
On Tuesday, Freeland visited the province to tour Pattern Energy’s hydrogen production and exportation facility and spoke with reporters.
When asked if there was a chance that pause could happen, she replied by saying that she takes the Premier’s concerns “very seriously” but that the “climate transition is an opportunity for our country that is something that, if we embrace, and we are, is a tremendous source for jobs for today and for the future.”
Newfoundland & Labrador is pleading with the Trudeau Liberals to pause so-called "clean fuel regulations" as the cost of living rises in Canada. Too bad, says Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland. "The climate transition is an opportunity for our country."https://t.co/jrd0m93q7Epic.twitter.com/ikctFPI3Ds
Furey said that while he shares the goal of addressing climate change he remains concerned that these regulations would have a “detrimental and disproportionate impact” on people living in Newfoundland in Labrador.
The fuel regulations in combination with the carbon tax are increasing not only the cost of gas and diesel but also the price of everyday goods at a time when the country is already facing record high inflation.
Furey has asked the federal government to consider how the inflation spike and new climate policies are affecting people’s welfare, saying that an orderly energy transition “depends on it.”
Freeland said that while the cost of living is a real concern for the people in the province, she believes climate action incentive payments will make a difference.
“Trudeau’s net-zero electricity regulations are unaffordable, unrealistic and unconstitutional. They will drive electricity rates through the roof and leave Saskatchewan with an unreliable power supply. Our government will not let the federal government do that to the Saskatchewan people,” wrote Saskatchewan Priemere Scott Moe on X earlier this month.
Alberta Premier Danille Smith concurred with Moe, writing, “I couldn’t agree more with Premier Scott Moe. Ottawa’s unrealistic net-zero targets and recent escalation is completely unnecessary. It’s time for the feds to face reality and work with us on pragmatic solutions,” tweeted Smith.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted that Canada was the “best country in the world.” While this might not be a shocking comment from Canada’s prime minister, it’s a departure from past comments Trudeau has made. Five years ago, he explicitly said Canada wasn’t the best country in the world – but could be. He’s also said that Canada is a perpetrator of genocide against Indigenous women and girls. True North’s Andrew Lawton wonders how now of all times Trudeau can say things are great.
Also, Pierre Poilievre is not only riding high in polls, but even among young people, which has always been the toughest demographic for the Conservatives to crack. National Post columnist Sabrina Maddeaux joins to discuss.
The Trudeau government updated its travel advice and advisories for the United States on Tuesday, telling LGBTQ travellers that some states have enacted laws that might affect their visit.
Although the Global Affairs Canada United States travel advice page continues to tell travellers to “take normal security precautions,” a new section has been added specifically addressing the LGBTQ community.
“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws,” the advisory reads.
Such advisories are usually reserved for authoritarian states in which homosexuality is criminalized, raising concerns that this could further strain relations between Canada and the United States.
The Canadian government has the following warning for LGBTQ travellers travelling to Saudi Arabia, a country known for its negative treatment of LGBTQ individuals.
“The laws of Saudi Arabia prohibit sexual acts between individuals of the same sex. Further, it is illegal to be transgender. Those convicted may face the death penalty,” Global Affairs Canada writes.
“2SLGBTQI+ travellers should carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia.”
Although the Canadian government did not specify which states it is warning travellers about, some states like Florida have made headlines for pushing back against gender ideology. Floria recently passed legislation which put limits on the teaching of gender ideology in public schools and allow parents to opt-out of said lessons if they choose to do so.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly recently said in a media interview that she was considering a “game plan” for Canada should the US government take a “far-right shift in the next election, in reference to if former US President Donald Trump gets into office again.
“In general, there is our game plan, precisely to be able to manage what could be a rather difficult situation,” said Joly.
“I will work with my colleagues and with the mayors, the provincial premiers, with the business community, with the unions, with everyone in the country, so that we are ready regardless of the election outcome.”
There are 300 active arrest warrants out for foreign criminals across Canada, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). These criminals include sex offenders and people convicted of violent crimes, all of whom are deemed a danger to public safety and will face deportation.
The border agency is currently tracking over 37,000 foreigners that post a flight risk or a danger to the public. The agency also worries that many may not agree to be questioned or voluntarily attend immigration hearings.
Canada’s auditor general initially raised concerns about the possibility that a large number of foreign nationals facing deportation have evaded the border agency, a fear confirmed by figures released to the Globe and Mail.
The CBSA confirmed that there were 37,326 active immigration arrest warrants as of last month, 33,032 of which are for deportation.
“Removing individuals who are inadmissible for criminality is of paramount importance,” said Guillaume Bérubé, a spokesperson for the CBSA in a statement. He also said that the agency considers all factors involved in “the individual’s danger to the public or flight risk,” in relation to immigration regulations when making an arrest and detention.
“These may include some of the following: association with a criminal organization, engagement in trafficking or smuggling of persons, convictions for sexual offences or offences involving weapons or violence, trafficking in narcotics, etc.,” he said.
The pandemic burdened the operations of the CBSA and slowed the pace of arrests warrants however this year the agency has already issued 4,600 and 3,345 last year, an increase from both 2020 and 2021.
The CBSA said it’s beginning to phase out its Wanted by the CBSA webpage that sought help from the public when searching for criminals as it hasn’t updated the page since 2018. There are still three wanted individuals with their mugshots and descriptions remaining on the page.
One of which is Abdirahman Moumin Okie, a convicted sex offender originally from Ethiopia. He goes by several aliases and is subject to a nationwide arrest. Okie’s last known address was in Montreal.
The CBSA Wanted page described Okie as being, “inadmissible to Canada for serious criminality for being convicted of forcible confinement, committing a sexual assault along with another person and conspiracy to commit sexual assault.”
Conservative immigration critic Tom Kmiec has expressed disappointment in the Liberal government jeopardizing the “safety of Canadians.”
“I’m very concerned that the government is allowing known criminals to remain in Canada despite having issued papers to deport them,” said Kmiec on Monday.
Foreign nationals convicted of a crime in Canada that face deportation are obligated to complete their sentence prior to being deported. They remain in custody after their prison sentence or may live in public on parole and certain offenders may be put on “immigration bail” for an intermittent time until they are deported.
Some offenders appeal the decision to be deported and have them expelled in the courts, sometimes done through judicial review.
A report by the auditor-general discovered that the CBSA has lost track of “a large number of foreign nationals” who were facing deportation, in some cases for years.
“It issued immigration warrants for their arrest but seldom completed the annual investigations to locate those with criminality,” said the report, released in 2020.
Some case files had delays in processing data and others were missing entirely, including high-priority cases. Offenders without passports and other travel documents meant that they could not be deported however, “little was done to obtain these documents.”
There are many enforceable cases piling up that have yet to be processed due to the CBSA not knowing the whereabouts of the offender. “Most of the accumulated cases had been enforceable for several years,” said the report.
Deportations and deportations order declined during the pandemic although they have since increased, they have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite Canada’s ongoing housing crisis, the Trudeau government plans to admit 900,000 international students this year.
Plus, while Canadians struggle to make ends meet, a Liberal Minister is under fire for showing off her extravagant seafood meal on social media. How out of touch are the Trudeau Liberals?
And Statistics Canada dedicated an entire podcast episode obsessing over drag queen story times.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Andrew Lawton!
Western University’s “anti-racism” task force is seeking to “dismantle whiteness” in academia.
Western University's Faculty of Health Sciences “anti-racism” task force is seeking to “dismantle whiteness” in academia. #CampusWatchpic.twitter.com/YfaoTksgey
The University says its Faculty of Health Sciences’ Anti-Racism Task Force is “designed to address and actively work to prevent racism and other forms of systematic oppression.”
The task force, which is supportive of Critical Race Theory (CRT), was founded in 2020 amid Black Lives Matter riots caused by the death of George Floyd in the United States.
The task force is seeking to “dismantle whiteness and centre anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism strategies, as well as build intellectual empathy as a collective.”
It claims that “historical settler colonialism provided the foundations for academic institutions that centred whiteness and white normativity.”
“Foundational to these was enslavement and the violent genocide of Indigenous people that created systems of oppression which are still evident today in police brutality toward Black people and violent attacks on Treaty lands.”
The task force says its work is informed by “principles inherent to intersectionality, critical race, and post-colonial theory.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term “whiteness” as “the fact or state of being white.”
CRT adherents have, however, said that whiteness is a “constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges” that is “enforced by power and violence.” Activists have also claimed that whiteness causes “everyday microaggressions toward people of colour.”
Last week, Western came under fire over a “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) presentation it gave warning against supporting merit-based hiring and racial colour blindness, claiming the latter cause “microaggressions.”
Slides from a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Decolonization (DEID) workshop held at @WesternU yesterday. Mandatory training for all housing staff (eg. residence dons, front desk staff, student advisors). Microaggression: "I believe the most qualified person should get the job." pic.twitter.com/PiGgH2bhHY
The presentation also warned that “white silence, white privilege and white shame leads to a lot of white complicity in white supremacy.”
A True North investigation into the salaries of University DEI officials also revealed that Western University paid its Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity And Inclusion a whopping $257,830 in 2022.
Western University did not return True North’s request for comment in time for publication.
In an age where university campuses are dominated by the forces of woke, some young Canadians are choosing to identify as “conservative” in face of the left-wing political status quo.
According to a recent Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology report, 73 per cent of academics from Canadian universities identify as “left-wing.” Further to this, 80 per cent of conservative Canadian scholars feel “hostility” towards their beliefs on campus.
For many of them, this leads to self-censorship.
A self-identified conservative since high school, Amanda is uncomfortable sharing her political beliefs on campus.
“There’s a prevailing liberal mindset among my peers and some professors, and my views are often in the minority,” said Amanda, 19, a second year York University student and self-identified conservative. “I find myself putting on a facade whenever I am on campus because I feel as though my opinions will be rejected, and it will be more difficult to make positive connections with my peers. I don’t make my views and opinions known in the classroom, out of fear of them being dismissed.”
Amanda confessed that concealing her views can be good for marks.
“I find completing assignments for left-leaning professors easy as it is easy for me to virtue signal liberal ideas for grades,” she said.
Others, like recent University of Toronto computer science graduate Nick Ruiz, rejected this approach.
“I strongly disbelieve with hiding your conservatism,” Ruiz said. “That is not to say you spill out all your beliefs to your coworkers and permanently turn them off to the idea, but I just think the cognitive dissonance with trying to change your personality to conform to what others say is a futile and useless effort unless you are willing to seriously compromise your beliefs. At work, I am fully expecting to hear things I may have to fight back against.”
Despite the prevailing Liberal mindset on university campuses, recent polling suggests that Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives are appealing to young voters between the ages of 18 and 34, leading with 46.5 per cent of the vote. The momentum is credited to an ideological pendulum swing.
Some of these Conservative-supporting students end up participating in the Conservative Party of Canada’s long-running summer internship program. One of these is Joel, an outspoken “fiscal and social conservative” going into his final year of law school.
Joel is particularly passionate about pushing back against Canada’s “pro-death culture,” specifically the expansion of assisted suicide.
“In the near future, I suspect that offering Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) to babies and mature minors will become normalized,” he said. “This murderous practice is a gross violation of the right to life and sadly feels inevitable…. I do not think there is one solution that will fix it. It requires many solutions, such as educating the Canadian public about MAID, encouraging political and religious organizations to speak up, writing letters to MPs, peaceful protests, and so on.”
Joel said his political identification stems from his family’s origins.
“My parents grew up in a corrupt socialist country that kept many of its citizens poor and without freedom,” said Joel. “When my parents moved to Canada, they made sure that I did not buy into the socialist agenda that is often pushed by the media and by our universities.”
Amanda is hopeful that conservatism will ultimately win.
“I choose to remain a conservative despite the liberal cultural and political landscape because I believe that there is value in truth and tradition,” she said. “Far-left liberalism has gone too far, and I will always turn to truth and tradition to lead our society down the right path.”
This appeal to tradition was familiar to Isaac Leclerc, an 18-year old parliamentary assistant to Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer. Leclerc credits his political beliefs to his upbringing on his grandparents’ farm in rural Casselman – a francophone village just east of Ottawa.
“Something I particularly appreciate about conservatism is the preservation of heritage and cultural values,” said Leclerc, who will be studying economics at the University of Ottawa in the fall. “Growing up as a francophone in Ontario, the atmosphere around the French language was almost militaristic, and it had to be. With English dominating the media and an anglophone province, French would soon be relegated to Quebec without a concerted effort to preserve our language and culture. This fits right in with the conservative idea that the traditions and values of our past are worth preserving.”
Ruiz, the computer science graduate, said authenticity is key no matter what.
“The upside of not compromising your beliefs is worth the extra effort it takes to slowly and thoughtfully engage with others in a meaningful way that doesn’t turn them off to what I believe to be ultimately true about our human experience.”
