Energy analysts are predicting that Canada will reach record growth when it comes to the production of Canadian crude oil over the next two years.
Largely driven by oil sands production, Canada is expected to add 8% to total oil output by 2025.
That amounts to an increase of 375,000 barrels per day which is more than the sector has been able to grow over the past five years combined.
Canada Energy Regulator data shows that last year Canada produced an average of 4.86 million barrels per day, with predicted growth that figure should reach 5 million by 2025.
“Companies can finally say things have recovered enough in the industry that we can maintain returns to shareholders and put some money into production growth,” said RBN Energy analyst Martin King.
According to King, output will grow by 175,000 barrels per day this year and 200,000 barrels per day next year.
A recent study by the Canadian Energy Centre (CEC) found that a vast majority of Canadian oil and gas firms were small businesses that had fewer than 99 employees.
According to the CEC, 96% of employers in the sector qualified as small businesses.
“In Canada, the oil and gas sector has a higher proportion of small businesses than other major industries, with the exception of construction,” wrote the CEC.
“As of 2022, 96.0 per cent of all oil and gas energy firms had between 1 and 99 employees compared with 93.2 per cent in manufacturing, 89.6 per cent in utilities, and 99 per cent in the construction sector.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has once again demonized the oil and gas industry. In July, Liberal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released Ottawa’s framework to end public funding for the oil and gas sector.
The government plans on ending what it calls “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” in line with its pledge at the 2009 G20 leaders summit.
A “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) presentation given at London, Ontario’s Western University warned against supporting merit-based hiring and racial colour blindness, claiming the latter cause “microaggressions.”
Pictures of the presentation’s slides were posted to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday.
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 DEI presentation touched on several woke concepts, including “microaggressions,” white privilege, intersectionality and allyship.
The presentation described “microaggressions” as “a comment or action, whether intentional or unintentional, that expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group.”
According to the presentation, examples of “microaggressions” include telling someone, “I believe the most qualified person should get the job [and] when I look at you, I don’t see colour.”
The presentation also gave participants an intersectional case study about a woman named Susan.
“Susan is a wheelchair user who uses ASL. She is cisgender and a lesbian. She is out at school and, as she says, ‘proud of it’. Her family is upper middle class, and have always been highly supportive. She is actively involved in political events around Disability rights and awareness. She and her partner plan to marry soon.”
The presentation asked participants to identify “locations of oppression,” where Susan “experience(s) privilege” and how they think “these social locations might combine in Susan’s experience.”
"This white silence, white priviledge and white shame leads to a lot of white complicity in white supremacy."
"Have difficult conversations with those closest to you."
Because, singling someone out by skin color and amping up the tension always ends well. pic.twitter.com/Mwxi1a7Jgi
The presentation also discussed allyship, describing allies as “people who recognize the unearned privilege they receive from society’s patterns of injustice, and take responsibility for changing these patterns.”
“Allies include men who work to end sexism, white people who work to end racism, heterosexual people who work to end heterosexism, able-bodied people who work to end ableism, and so on.”
Participants were asked to “continuously reflect on your own identity, and the power and privilege that you have,” and warned that “white silence, white privilege and white shame leads to a lot of white complicity in white supremacy.”
Western’s presentation was criticized by users on X.
My alma mater – where saying "the most qualified person should get the job" is somehow "prejudiced." It's literally the opposite of prejudice. https://t.co/olxC30FuFu
And there's always a slide where they tell you to go out and proselytize this cult to everybody else in your neighborhood, and to become the local snitch pic.twitter.com/zhZJ0SI4iY
DEI ideology has become rampant in Canadian universities, as revealed by True North’s Campus Watch reporting.
Western University is a signatory of the BLM-inspired “Scarborough National Charter on anti-Black racism and Black Inclusion,” which scholars have warned will have “terrible consequences” on academia amid it subverting academic principles in favour of DEI.
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.
Renowned psychologist and bestselling author Jordan Peterson lost his court challenge against Ontario’s college of psychologists today. The college sought to force Peterson into training on how to conduct himself on social media as a condition of remaining a licensed psychologist. Peterson took the matter to an Ontario court, which ruled today that the condition doesn’t actually hinder his right to freedom of expression. Canadian Constitution Foundation lawyer Josh Dehaas joins the Andrew Lawton Show to discuss.
Also, Catherine McKenna thinks Conservative politicians need their own mandatory education on climate change. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in.
Plus, is artificial intelligence leading to the end of thought? Christopher Snook tackles that question in an essay for C2C Journal titled “AI, the Destruction of Thought and the End of the Humanities.” He joins the show to explain.
Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller is monitoring the government’s immigration levels as the feds face a wave of criticism over its record-level targets while Canada faces a housing crisis.
Miller said that while his office will be examining the immigration flow, there are currently no plans to revise the 500,000 per year target. Additionally, Canada took in over 800,000 international students last year – a number not included in the immigration target.
“I don’t see a world in which (changing the target) happens, but again, I’m going to be looking at the facts and I’m not a dogmatic person,” said Miller while attending the Liberal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown.
“We have to look at what that impact is, and what the impact of immigrants actually is on the housing supply.”
Miller claimed that it was undeniable that a higher volume of people would increase demand but the exact details of how immigration impacts housing are unclear.
“You’ll find a wide divergence of views of what that impact is, of immigration on housing,” said Miller.
“Volume is volume, and it does have an impact. There’s no denying that. But the specific role that immigration plays in certain areas is something we have to kind of break down a little more.”
His comments come shortly after Minister of Housing Sean Fraser said that a possible cap on foreign student visas could help alleviate some pressures on Canada’s housing market.
“I think that’s one of the options that we ought to consider,” Fraser said on Monday.
“But I think we should start by trying to partner with institutions to understand what role they may play to reduce the pressure on the communities that they’re operating within.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said on Wednesday that it was due to Fraser’s “total incompetence” while he held the immigration file prior to Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle that the program is in its current state.
“There’s no question that Sean Fraser has ruined the program but I find it incredible that these puff pieces are being written about Trudeau’s housing minister,” said Poilievre.
“(There’s) disasters unfolding right now in that program because of Fraser’s total incompetence.”
A 37-year-old woman who visited a Vancouver hospital for psychiatric help was instead offered assisted suicide, according to a report from a UK faith-based think tank.
According to the Christian Institute, Kathrin Mentler went to Vancouver General Hospital seeking psychiatric help in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Mentler says that she lives with chronic suicidal thoughts and sought out the hospital’s help to put herself in a position where it would be a lot harder for her to attempt an drug overdose or other self-harming behaviours.
“I didn’t want to get into a situation where I would think about taking an overdose of medication,” said Mentler.
“That day my goal was to keep myself safe. I was thinking of maybe trying to get myself admitted to hospital because I was in crisis.”
Mentler says that she arrived at Vancouver General’s Access and Assessment Centre and was told there weren’t any beds available for her, and that she should expect a long wait before she could see a psychiatrist.
At this point, Mentler says that she was asked if she had ever considered MAID, with the clinician telling Mentler about the “relief” she felt after patients with mental illness had committed suicide through MAID.
Mentler says that the clinician suggesting MAID to her made her feel like her life was “worthless,” and that she was a problem that could be solved with MAID.
The Christian Institute reached out to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) who operate the hospital at which Mentler was offered MAID. VCH had apologized for any distress the incident caused, but claimed that suggesting MAID to patients was a matter of procedure to assess the patient’s risk of self-harm.
Currently, it is illegal to deliver MAID to Canadians who are not suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition and whose only medical condition is mental illness.
However, cases like Mentler’s have become more of a common occurrence, with several stories of medical staff offering MAID to otherwise healthy Canadians.
Last year, Global News published a report of a Canadian Armed Forces veteran who was inappropriately offered MAID by a Veteran Affairs Canada employee while seeking treatment for a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Despite outrage from Canadians concerned with the ethics of allowing the mentally ill to kill themselves, the Trudeau government has pushed forward with making MAID easier to access for those suffering with mental illness, as on March 17th, 2024, those seeking MAID can be accepted if their only condition is mental illness.
In 2021, a total of 10,064 Canadians died through MAID, representing 3.3% of all Canadian deaths that year.
The Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) is at odds with the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) after they allowed a transgender competitor win the 2023 Women’s Western Canadian Championship in Winnipeg by a landslide.
Anne Andres, a transgender female powerlifter, won the competition by lifting over 200 kilos more than the biological woman who came in second place. Andres’ total score was 597.5 kilos with Suhan Gill, finishing in second place with a score of 387.5 kilos, breaking the unofficial world record for women’s powerlifting.
Andres is a biological man who identifies as a woman.
The IPF has told the CPU that they must adhere to the international rules on transgender athletes. The IPF requires competitors to provide their testosterone levels as well as state their gender identity as it is on their government-issued identification. The IPF’s rules align with other international sports governing bodies.
Andres claims that all IPF requirements have been met and have been followed since transitioning 20 years ago.
April Hutchinson, a powerlifter who has competed against Andres, is an outspoken critic of transgender individuals competing against biological women in powerlifting under the CPU. Hutchinson has also criticized Andres professional conduct towards her fellow competitors.
At the recent Western Canadian Championship, Andres placed a toy T-Rex onto the podium as an insult to another opponent who Andres had previously said had, “tiny little T-Rex arms.” Andres had also previously mocked opponents for being weak on social media.
“It’s bodies that are playing sports, not identities. I don’t care about everything else but when it comes down to sports, it’s about bodies and biology and science, and strength, especially with powerlifting,” said Hutchinson in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“There was no policy. Anyone could walk up. A man could walk in tomorrow, identify ‘as a girl,’ and then just powerlift and then go back to being a man. No testosterone monitoring.”
Andres future ability to compete in the female powerlifting category in Canada remains up to the CPU.
Liberal Housing Minister Sean Fraser said that Ottawa isn’t ruling out capping foreign student visas as the country struggles to contain an affordability and housing crisis while also letting in a record number of international students.
Plus, the Saskatchewan government is requiring children under the age of 16 to obtain parental consent before they change their name or pronouns at school. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is the third premier to stand up for parental rights in the face of rampant gender ideology in public schools.
And a new report reveals taxes have grown by 2,778% since 1961 for Canadians, surpassing the rising cost of housing.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Lindsay Shepherd!
A request for financial reimbursement from Prince Edwards Island’s electricity supplier has been denied by the federal government in the aftermath of tropical storm Fiona.
Maritime Electric, the province’s electricity supplier, spent around $36 million in post-storm cleanup and restoration costs after hurricane Fiona. The money spent covered materials to repair lines, labour and accommodations and food for those who came in to help from outside the province.
Premier Dennis King said that Ottawa had previously agreed to cover Maritime Electric’s spending in relation to storm cleanup last November.
The costs were supposed to be covered under the Disaster Financial Assistance Program (DFAA), however on Tuesday, Ottawa confirmed that they would not be reimbursing those costs. It will likely be consumers in P.E.I. who will now be responsible for dealing with the expenses.
“Unless we find a way to deal with this, it’s going to be tough news for Islanders to hear, and it’s very tough news for me to hear,” said King. “I was quite disappointed that that’s the case.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had initially promised to cover the expenses under the DFAA program in October 2022. The program is designed to have disaster costs paid out at 90% from the federal government and the remaining 10% to be covered by provincial governments.
Almost 90% of P.E.I. was left without power in the aftermath of Fiona and Trudeau responded by saying that under DFAA, money would go towards, “projects to repair and rebuild storm-damaged critical infrastructure.”
“As of today, I don’t think I feel much more confidence in that the [$36]-million bill from Maritime Electric for pole reconstruction and vegetation is going to be dealt with under the disaster program,” said King.
“We felt that would be covered, and now learning that it isn’t over the last few days is to say disappointing.”
King provided CBC News with a letter from Bill Blair, former minister of emergency preparedness which stated that because Maritime Electric is a private company it does not meet standards set in place to be a small business under DFAA guidelines, therefore the Fiona-related spending is not eligible.
“I am conscious that eligibility guidelines are limiting for some sectors given the current definition for small businesses,” wrote Blair.
“Providing support to public utility companies to respond to impacts of Hurricane Fiona would create a precedent for future extreme weather events whereby the responsibility for costs associated for storm preparedness and/or response shifts from public utility companies to the Federal Government.”
According to Blair’s letter, Public Safety Canada will be reviewing other disaster assistance programs because, “it is clear that disasters are growing in frequency and severity in Canada.”
The Trudeau government set aside $1 billion dollars for disaster relief in their 2023 budget as a result of hurricane Fiona, according to an email released by the federal office for Emergency Preparedness but it is unlikely that any of that money will go to P.E.I.
“We recognize that there are ways this program can be improved to better serve Canadians and reduce the risks they experience by building greater resiliency,” stated the email.
“Last year, we announced an advisory panel of experts from the public sector, academia, non-profit, Indigenous communities, and the private sector that provided recommendations around how to improve the sustainability and long-term viability of disaster financing in Canada and improve DFAA program administration.”
King said that if there is no financial aid from the federal government to Maritime Electric then it will likely be the people of P.E.I. who foot the bill through increased electricity rates of 2-3%. It’s a sizable increase considering those who live in P.E.I. are already paying among the highest electricity rates in Canada.
King said he still hopes he will be able to change the federal government’s stance on the issue.
Elections Canada is receiving criticism for raising the Pride Progress flag outside its Gatineau, Quebec head office.
Elections Canada announced the flag-raising X (formerly Twitter), which it said was to commemorate “Public Service Pride Week.”
“For the first time, Elections Canada will be flying the #Pride flag at our National Capital Region Headquarters to mark Public Service #PrideWeek!,” said Elections Canada on X.
For the first time, Elections Canada will be flying the #Pride flag at our National Capital Region Headquarters to mark Public Service #PrideWeek! 🏳️🌈 We’re proud to support the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in all that we do. pic.twitter.com/sSFHEMDNEN
The raising of the Pride Progress flag was done in celebration of the fifth annual Public Service Pride Week, celebrating the public service’s LGBTQ employees with awards and events being held throughout the week of August 21.
However, the post received significant backlash from Canadians who found the flag-raising “inappropriate,” concerned with a non-partisan organization supporting controversial social causes.
A self-proclaimed “gay conservative” quote tweeted the post, slamming Elections Canada for failing to remain politically neutral and restricting the comments section under their post.
“Elections Canada has not only failed at remaining politically neutral by flying the ‘progress flag’ they have just screwed up even more by disabling comments.”
Elections Canada has not only failed at remaining politically neutral by flying the “progress flag” they have just screwed up even more by disabling comments.
Another user remarked how the Pride Progress flag is more associated with some political parties than others, and that raising said flag identifies Elections Canada with objectionable beliefs about gender and race.
“This seems totally inappropriate. The ‘progress’ flag symbolizes ideas about race and gender that are highly contested and associated primarily with certain political parties. How are we supposed to trust Elections Canada if it’s taking sides in major political debates?”
This seems totally inappropriate. The “progress” flag symbolizes ideas about race and gender that are highly contested and associated primarily with certain political parties. How are we supposed to trust Elections Canada if it’s taking sides in major political debates? https://t.co/ffa0ii4dkS
Despite Elections Canada limiting replies under their post, several Canadians expressed their disappointment in the raising of the Pride Progress flag.
One user commented, “How many Pride weeks do we need?”
How many Pride weeks do we need?
— Comrade Common Sense™ 🇵🇱🇨🇦 (@komradeperogie) August 22, 2023
Another user replied with a picture of the Canadian flag and proclaimed that the Canadian flag was the only appropriate flag to fly.
The Saskatchewan government is requiring children under the age of 16 to obtain parental consent before they change their name or pronouns at school.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is the third premier to stand up for parental rights in the face of rampant gender ideology in public schools. The two others who have taken a pro-parent position on the issue are New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson.
“Parents must be included in all important decisions involving their children,” said Moe.
Parents must be included in all important decisions involving their children.
Education Minister Dustin Duncan today announced that all Saskatchewan schools will have a consistent policy on parental inclusion and consent. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/sls0ANZoFq
“Our government has heard the concerns raised by Saskatchewan parents about needing to be notified and included in their children’s education,” said Education Minister Dustin Duncan in a news release.
“We also determined that while all of Saskatchewan’s school divisions had policies dealing with these matters, those policies varied from one division to another, so it was important to standardize these policies and ensure consistency of parental inclusion, no matter where your child goes to school.”
The Saskatchewan government is also mandating that schools disclose information about sex-ed teachings to parents and provide them with the option to opt-out.
The government is also suspending third-party sex-ed providers, including the ARC Foundation and its controversial SOGI 1 2 3 program, from the province’s schools. Only teachers will be able to teach sex-ed to their classes.
In addition to mandating parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school, Saskatchewan is pausing the controversial SOGI 123 sex-ed program. Parents across Western Canada have been protesting it for years. pic.twitter.com/DjL7D4V7Km
Earlier this summer, Saskatchewan suspended Planned Parenthood from the province’s schools after the group made sexually explicit “Sex from A-Z” cards available to grade 9 students.
As previously reported by True North, the cards developed by the AIDS Committee of Toronto with the assistance from the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE) featured explicit language about sex, sexual acts and certain fetishes.
Duncan said that with his government’s new parental rights policies, “schools will continue to ensure safe learning environments where all students feel included, protected and respected.”
Back in June, Premier Higgs became the first premier to support a parental rights policy requiring that children under the age of 16 obtain consent from their parents before they can change their gender at school. New Brunswick’s modified education policy 713 came into effect in July.
Last week, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson pledged to enhance parental rights if re-elected in the fall, and said parents should be informed if their child wants to identify as a different gender at school.
Speaking to True North, Don’t Delete Parents founder Faytene Grasseschi said it’s “becoming very clear across Canada that parents are voicing common-sense concerns” and “thankfully, leaders are starting to listen.”
“What is happening in New Brunswick, Manitoba and now Saskatchewan is waking up the nation, and I expect it will have an impact in other provinces as well.” added Grasseschi. “Parents are just now waking up to the fact that some schools have been keeping things from them, and they frankly aren’t ok with it.”
Not everyone in Saskatchewan is, however, on board with the government’s new parental rights policies.
Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck accused Moe and Duncan of “outing vulnerable kids” while NDP MLA Aleana Young accused them of being “f***king cowards.”
Recent polling has shown that there is high support for parental rights policies around gender identity across Canada, especially among parents.
A Leger poll commissioned by SecondStreet.org found that 54% of people living in the Prairie provinces agree that schools should make parents aware that their kids are wishing to change genders or pronouns. Just 20% disagree.
The poll also found that most people believe schools should be making teaching materials on race and gender available to review for parents ahead of time before they are taught in the classroom.
