fbpx
Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Government workers make more, retire earlier and get more time off than private sector

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A new study by the Fraser Institute shows that on average, government employees make nearly 10% more than their private sector counterparts and enjoy a slate of other advantages.

The report titled Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Canada, 2023 Edition comes as the largest union representing public sector workers prepares to go on strike. 

“After controlling for factors like sex, age, marital status, education, tenure, size of firm, job permanence, immigrant status, industry, occupation, province, and city, the authors found that Canada’s government-sector workers (from federal, provincial, and local governments) enjoyed an 8.5% wage premium, on average, over their private-sector counterparts in 2021,” wrote the report’s authors. 

“When the wage difference between unionized and non-unionized workers is taken into account, the wage premium for the government sector declines to 5.5%.”

Other advantages enjoyed by public sector employees was higher contributions to their pension plan, more job security and taking more personal time off. 

“Available data on non-wage benefits suggest that the government sector enjoys an advantage over the private sector. For example, 86.6% of government workers are covered by a registered pension plan compared to 22.9% of private-sector workers,” the report explained.

“Of those covered by a registered pension plan, 90.6% of government workers enjoyed a defined-benefit pension compared 39.9% of private-sector workers.”

Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Ben Eisen says governments need to immediately bring public sector wages in line with private sector ones at a time of uncertain economic conditions. 

“All levels of government in Canada—municipal, provincial and federal—must find ways to reduce costs following the unprecedented spending and borrowing we’ve seen recently,” Eisen said in a press release.

“Closing the compensation gap between the government and private sectors would reduce costs and help governments move towards balancing their budgets.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has threatened a strike beginning on Tuesday night should its list of hefty demands not be met in time. 

“Vote for Alberta,” Harper says while endorsing UCP

By
Rachel Parker
-

Alberta’s United Conservative Party has secured an endorsement from former Prime Minister Stephen Harper weeks ahead of a provincial election in which the party is seeking to attract moderate voters. 

The message could help persuade the progressive conservative faction of the party who supported Jason Kenney, but are still unsure of new premier Danielle Smith. 

Harper tells voters that Alberta’s economy is finally hitting its stride again and employment is booming. He argues that this “could all be derailed if the Notley NDP wins the election in May.”

“It took years to recover from the last NDP government. We can’t risk going backwards again.” Harper said in the message. “Vote for Alberta; vote Conservative.”

Harper emphasized that the NDP’s “job-killing, tax-hiking, and anti-energy policies” would lead to mass layoffs, business closures, and a recession.

The UCP says the video message is being sent to Albertans via text. The UCP and Alberta NDP are neck-in-neck in recent polls. 

Smith was the leader of the Opposition Wildrose Party from 2009-2014, until she crossed the floor to Premier Jim Prentice’s Progressive Conservatives. The move was widely condemned, and the PC’s lost the election to the NDP the following year, while Smith lost her riding nomination. 

Alberta Conservatives eventually reunited under the UCP banner, with Kenney winning the new party’s first leadership contest and going on to form government in 2019. 

Smith, meanwhile, left politics to host a radio show until she put her name forward to run for the UCP leadership in 2019. Since being elected in October, she’s apologized to the unvaccinated for the discrimination they faced from vaccines and pledged to seek pardons for those charged for breaching pandemic rules — a promise she’s since walked back. 

To form government, Smith must attract moderate voters in swing ridings in Calgary and outside Edmonton — including those who would have agreed with Kenney’s approach to pandemic policy. 

In a statement on Tuesday, Smith said she welcomed Harper’s support.

“Stephen Harper is an exceptional leader with an unwavering commitment to economic growth, job creation, and Canadian energy,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to working with all Albertans to keep Alberta moving forward.”

Albertans will head to the polls on May 29. 

LEVY: The hateful Al Quds protest shows the double standard of the left

By
Sue-Ann Levy
-

I saw the hateful slurs lobbed at the Jewish state during the Al Quds protest last Saturday in downtown Toronto and immediately thought that it could have been stopped years ago if there had been the political will from the mayor, the police chief and council.

My despair turned to sheer disgust when in the aftermath some of the mayoralty candidates jumped on the virtue signaling bandwagon, posting comments about the hateful diatribe spewed on Toronto’s University Ave. 

This is after they did absolutely nothing while they sat on council.

Fact is, this hateful action went on for years in plain sight of Mayor John Tory, the Toronto police and all of the NDPers on council – who as of late have made a tremendous to-do about those who protest the inappropriateness of Drag Queen Story hour at various Canadian libraries.

The left has labeled the protesters transphobic and hateful as they regularly do when someone with common sense expresses concern that drag queens dressed in outrageous, sexualized outfits are not appropriate for young audiences.

The legacy media have been adept at perpetuating the notion that any protesters are transphobic.

But of course, the hateful anti-Israel diatribe openly spewed by Al Quds protesters in full public view in downtown Toronto is not an issue to either the legacy media or the majority of politicians, in particular those aligning with the NDP.

No surprise there. Anti-Semitism appears to be regularly sanctioned by socialist politicians and their union backers. 

All you have to do is look at the recent election of Sara Jama, an NDP MPP in Hamilton, who has regularly engaged in anti-Israel activism.

I covered many Al Quds protests during my time at the Toronto Sun.

At the last Al Quds protest I attended in 2019, Toronto police officers actually accompanied the hateful group up Toronto’s University Ave. while they marched without permission to occupy this main thoroughfare.

I watched young ladies wearing niqabs holding professionally made signs calling for the destruction of Israel – bussed in from points north of Toronto to spread their hate.

The crowd was there without a permit occupying public property and blocking public streets.

It was, sadly, the predictable culmination of months of debate at City Hall when a series of motions were passed at a heated meeting of the mayor’s executive committee.

The motions directed city staff and Toronto police to enforce bylaw contraventions, issue trespass warnings and seek reimbursement for policing if protesters occupied city property without a permit.

The police were instructed to take “swift and immediate action” against any group advocating anti-Semitism or other forms of hate on city property – including on placards and through speech.

The evidence was all there for the police to see – the horrible signs and the slurs and lies about the Jewish state.

But they did nothing. It was all a ruse.

Months after the June 1 protest, the police opted not to lay any charges. No hate charges, no trespassing charges, nothing.

There was no political will to do anything. Our weak politicians and police chief merely emboldened the haters.

In fact, Montreal lawyer Dimitri Lascaris, a nasty Israel hater who once ran for Green Party leader and acted for the Al Quds organizers, bragged the day after the protest about how the hatefest continued despite all the threats from various and sundry politicians.

Lascaris was right about one thing: Talk is cheap and if politicians make threats, they need to follow through on them.

But they didn’t and after a brief respite during Covid (the equally hateful Al Quds event being held virtually) the anti-Semites returned to University Ave. in full hateful Technicolour last Saturday.

It is clear that protesting drag queen story hour is a non-starter, or at least according to the woke crowd.

But spewing anti-Semitism at a hateful protest is just fine.

Yet again, this is an example of the shameless double standard in Canada.

The Daily Brief | Trudeau comes to the defence of CBC

By
Rachel Parker
-

The official Twitter account of the CBC said it will be “pausing” its activity on Twitter after the platform labeled it a “government-funded media” outlet – and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has come to the defence of the state broadcaster, accusing Pierre Poilievre of attacking “independent media organizations.”

Plus, days after criticizing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for limiting reporters to one question per media availability, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley had security kick out at least two reporters from her Monday afternoon press conference.

And over 150,000 federal workers will call a strike on Wednesday morning if no deal is reached with the federal government by 9 pm today.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Rachel Emmanuel and Lindsay Shepherd!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY BRIEF

Inflation rate falls to 4.3% while mortgage interest costs rise

By
Andrew Kozak
-

Canada’s inflation rate has fallen to 4.3% down from 5.2% measured in February, marking the lowest inflation rate since August 2021 according to Statistics Canada.

The inflation rate for consumers is expected to fall to 3% by the middle of 2023, eventually reaching the Bank of Canada’s 2% target by the end of 2024. 

However, food prices continue to plague Canadians as prices went up 9.7% in the year leading up to March, slowing down slightly after a 10.6% rate seen in the previous month.

While inflation has fallen, many Canadians are seeing their mortgage interest costs rise by more than 26% in the year up to March in comparison to 23.9% seen in February. This was the largest yearly increase on record.

“Getting inflation down to three percent this summer will be a welcome relief for Canadians,” Governor Tiff Macklem said at a press conference last week. “But let me assure Canadians that we know our job is not done until we restore price stability.”

The Bank of Canada anticipates near-term inflation to decline with services price inflation and wage growth to moderate, according to its recent report. Economic growth is expected to be “subdued through the remainder of the year with the economy moving into excess supply in the second half.”

Last year, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said more than 22 million housing units are needed by 2030 to help most Canadians reach a price point they can afford.

In February, CIBC CEO Victor Dodig said Canada needed to take action to address housing supply to prevent a crisis shortage.

Equipping the next generation of conservative leaders (ft. Jamil Jivani)

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Political advocacy group The Canada Strong and Free Network (CSFN) has launched multiple initiatives in the past year to help equip the next generation of Canadian conservative leaders.

True North’s Elie Cantin-Nantel sat down with CSFN president Jamil Jivani at the network’s national conference in Ottawa to discuss these initiatives; including the Conservative Values Tomorrow mentorship program.

Jivani also hopes to provide young conservatives with the tools they need to advance right of centre ideas on colleges and universities. He believes more Gen Z Canadians are seeing that wokeness is failing them, making him confident that “we’re gonna beat wokeness.”

Freedom Convoy protester acquitted of all charges

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A court case related to the Ottawa police’s investigation into a child’s wagon carrying jerry cans to help fuel Freedom Convoy protestors last year has resulted in the accused, Allen Remley, being acquitted of all charges of mischief and obstruction of police. 

Lawyer Jim Karahalios did not have to call any evidence to the case before Ontario Court Justice Perkins-McVey ruled that Crown prosecutors failed to justify their charges against Remley. 

In her ruling, it was observed by the judge that the investigating officer had taken insufficient notes, and that the accused was not granted his lawful right to seek legal representation.

Police described how Remley used a wagon to provide a “mobile gas station” despite restrictions on the Freedom Convoy demonstrations that took up much of Ottawa’s downtown core last February. 

During court proceedings, Const. Jonathan Kenney claimed to have spotted jerry cans on a child’s wagon located in the vicinity of Remley’s truck but was uncertain of their exact location. Then he said that the red wagon was situated approximately ten feet away from his car. 

According to Kenney, a hostile crowd of protesters prevented him from being able to investigate further and he also stated that he did not see Remley actually fill up a car with fuel. 

“The investigation was not worth it,” said Kenney. 

When he was asked whether he had asked for Remley’s license, he said he wasn’t sure if he had the authority to do so. 

“Hmmm, now I’m not sure I had authority. … At the time, I thought I had authority under the Highway Traffic Act, but now I think I didn’t. I asked for the identification to continue my investigation. It was an error on my part,” said Kenney. 

According to Kenney, he asked Remley to leave but did not give him the right to counsel, admitting his notes from the time were “not great.” 

“Based on the evidence before me, the best we have is jerry cans in a wagon 10 feet away with dozens of people milling about,” said Justice Perkins-McVey. 

Unlike Canada, America’s DOJ lays charges on agents accused of operating China’s secret police stations

By
Rachel Parker
-
Source: PIxaby

The US Department of Justice announced Monday that the FBI have arrested two people on charges of operating a secret police station in New York City on behalf of China’s regime — not unlike the Chinese police stations that have operated across Canada, and still are in some cases. 

According to The Epoch Times, US prosecutors say Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, conspired to work as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and took orders from the regime in order to track down and silence Chinese dissidents living in America. 

The police station is believed to be one of more than 100 overseas stations operated by the Chinese regime in 53 countries, according to Spain-based nonprofit Safeguard Defenders.

On Tuesday, The Globe and Mail reported that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said that one of the men facing charges had a photo on his phone outlining similar plans to open such a station in Canada.

A document filed in a Brooklyn federal court this month said Lu’s smartphone contained a photograph of ceremonies to commemorate the opening of Chinese overseas police stations in five countries, including Canada. 

In November, the RCMP announced it was formally probing the issue of the CCP police stations on Canadian soil, which included at least three in the Greater Toronto Area.

Speaking at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on March 2, RCMP’s deputy commissioner of federal policing, Michael Duheme, said four overseas stations functioning across Canada have “ceased” operations.

The RCMP chose to disrupt operations of the stations rather than lay charges, The Epoch Times reports. They are now investigating two more alleged Chinese police stations in Montreal and its suburb of Brossard.

“We are carrying out police actions aimed at detecting and disrupting these foreign state-backed criminal activities, which may threaten the safety of persons living in Canada,” the RCMP said in a March 9 statement to The Epoch Times. 

City councillor Xixi Li oversaw the two suspected organizations, Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud (CSQRS) and the Service à la famille chinoise du Grand Montréal (SFCGM), which provide multifaceted services to Chinese and Asian communities.

Amid the ongoing RCMP investigation, Brossard Mayor Doreen Assaad has asked Li to recuse herself from her role.

Research conducted by Rapid Response Mechanism Canada (RRMC) obtained by CTV News in June found that the Chinese government allegedly intervened in the 2021 Canadian federal election to influence Canadians not to vote for the Conservatives. 

Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, appeared before members of parliament to answer questions about what the Liberal government knew about China’s interference in Canadian elections on Friday. She revealed very little, repeatedly citing cabinet confidence. 

OP-ED: Parents should be able to opt out of ‘woke’ schools

By
Michael Zwaagstra
-

When it comes to academic achievement, Canada is losing ground. That’s what results on the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) tests over the last 20 years show us.

While students in other G7 countries have stable or improving scores in math, science and reading, Canada’s scores are steadily declining. The steepest declines occurred in math, and this should concern all parents. Clearly, something must be done to reverse this trend.

One might think that this would lead to school boards doubling down on the academic basics. Sadly, many school administrators have something else in mind. They think students actually need more diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training.

For example, at a recent public budget meeting, the superintendent of a large Winnipeg school division emphasized that he would not reduce the nearly $1 million that his division spends on DEI programs every year. “We want our children to be anti-racist because you’re either a racist, or you’re an anti-racist,” he said. “I repeat: ‘You’re either a racist, or you’re an anti-racist, there is no other option,’ and that’s at the heart of the DEI initiative.”

In other words, this superintendent believes that DEI is at the heart of what schools are supposed to do. He’s far from the only one. Woke ideology has become dominant in school boards across the country. Students are now subjected to ongoing lessons about the perils of white privilege, systemic racism and heterosexism. They also learn to see everything through the lens of race, gender and sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, students continue to fall further behind academically. When even objective subjects such as math are co-opted by woke ideologues, the academic achievement of students is not going to improve anytime soon.

This is why school choice is more important than ever. If public schools are going to subject students to woke ideology, parents should be able to send their children elsewhere. Allowing money to follow students to the school of their choice would be an effective way of putting power back in the hands of parents.

Of course, if some parents truly agree that DEI programming is the most important thing that schools do, then they’re welcome to keep their kids in these schools. However, there’s mounting evidence that many parents are dissatisfied with what public schools are doing.

It would also be nice if all provinces allowed for the creation of charter schools, which are public schools that operate independently from school boards. Currently, Alberta is the only province with charter schools. With lengthy wait lists at many of these schools, charter schools are clearly filling an important need.

If public school boards wish to avoid a mass exodus of students, they must take parental concerns more seriously than they do now. Instead of turning public schools into indoctrination centres, teachers should be politically neutral. Teachers have no business using their position of influence to try to change their students’ beliefs. Rather, they should provide an excellent academic education to all students.

In reality, parents send their children to school to get educated—not to be indoctrinated. One of the fastest ways to lose the trust of a community is to push teachers to turn students into political activists. If students decide on their own that they wish to get involved in politics or attend protest rallies, they should be free to do so. But it should not be because they felt pressured by teachers or school administrators.

Unfortunately, many school board offices have become echo chambers for woke ideology. Genuine diversity isn’t about putting up pride flags, promoting critical race theory or reciting land acknowledgements. Rather, it’s about respecting the fact that students come from all walks of life and acknowledging that not everyone thinks the same way.

It’s time school boards start focusing on their core mandate—academic instruction. If they won’t do this, then at least make it easier for parents to enroll their children elsewhere. The last thing we need in Canada is another 20 years of academic decline.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.

Canada reels after weekend of stabbings

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A slew of stabbings were reported by police across Canada this weekend.

In Toronto, a man was hospitalized after being stabbed in the city’s downtown area. Police first learned of the attack at around 3:20 a.m. on Saturday. 

Upon arrival at the Dundas Street West and Chestnut Street corner, officers discovered a male victim with a stab wound and transported to the hospital. 

A day later, another stabbing took place at a residence near Galloway Road. 

One victim was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. 

In Calgary, two separate attacks resulted in two victims being transported to the hospital with life-threatening wounds. 

Early Monday morning, at around 4:30 a.m. a woman was stabbed in Monterey Park. 

Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon police responded to a fight in front of Sunridge Mall which resulted in one male being stabbed. 

No arrests have been made in either case. 

A stabbing in Halifax’s Dartmouth hotel also sent a 43-year-old man to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Earlier this month, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) demanded a meeting with Canada’s premiers to find a solution to the growing random violence in major cities. 

“In the last six months, we have lost nine officers — eight of them to random violence,” wrote CACP president Chief Danny Smith.

“There is no question that the degradation of discourse around policing and police funding, the lack of accountability in our justice system, and the significant increase in drug, gang, and gun violence have all played a part in escalating the danger for our profession.”

1...584585586...1,460Page 585 of 1,460

Related stories

© 2025 True North | Privacy Policy