Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s government unveiled a plan on Tuesday to permit private entrepreneurs to construct two “mini-hospitals” as promised in his last election campaign.
The Ministry of Health issued two calls for interest concerning two facilities – a pediatric centre in Quebec City and a geriatric hospital in Montreal.
Among the advocates praising the decision is the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), which called the move a sober approach to the province’s healthcare issues.
“With these calls for interest, the government is showing that it has understood the health system’s problems, and the fact that it will take more inventiveness, rather than just more money, to solve them,” said MEI economist Emmanuelle B. Faubert.
“By going ahead with the mini-hospital project, the government will grow the treatment capacity, which should reduce wait times.”
In announcing the decision to greenlight the project, Legault is following through on his 2022 election campaign promises.
“This is a first step and a first milestone that has been crossed to make this project a reality,” said the Minister of Health’s parliamentary assistant, Youri Chassin.
Private operators have yet to be decided but they will be charged with building and maintaining the hospitals.
Care at the clinics will be specifically for non-emergency treatment and will be free of charge as it is covered by the provincial healthcare plan.
“Access to health care in a timely manner is more important to Quebecers than the administrative structure of the care facility,” said Faubert.
“International examples show us that mixed solutions work, and the Legault government is right to emulate them.”
An Ipsos poll recently commissioned by the MEI found that 75% of Quebec residents want the healthcare system decentralized and 67% want options to access independent healthcare services.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre joined True North’s Andrew Lawton for a wide-ranging discussion on foreign election interference, the cost of living, and inflation. Also, Poilievre explains why he stands by his decision to denounce German MEP Christine Anderson as “hateful” and “racist.”
The majority of Canadians say they don’t have more than two-months worth of savings, according to a new poll.
In the Maru poll released on Tuesday, 62% of Canadians reported they lacked more than two months of savings to cover unexpected costs in the following 60 days.
Those who lacked savings were most likely to be from Alberta (48%), and the most common age demographic was between 18 and 34 (47%).
While Canadians were more confident they would keep their jobs compared to Maru’s previous monthly poll, the majority still had concerns about the financial state of Canada.
Two-thirds said Canada’s economy was on the wrong track – similar to an Abacus Data poll from February.
The Abacus Data poll found 55% of Canadians thought their country was on the wrong track, and seven-in-ten worried the government was ignoring the rising costs of living.
Maru on Tuesday wrote the Canadian public had a “negative/pessimistic” outlook on the economy, a multi-year low in confidence dating back to at least April 2021.
Maru conducted its online poll of 1,531 Canadians between February 24th and 27th.
Earlier in February, Statistics Canada reported a 37-year-record rise in the price of chicken, growing by 9% in one month.
Canadians have recently reported they think the average family is paying too much in taxes, and a food bank recently sounded the alarm about a 41% increase in users year-over-year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new steps to investigate claims that the Beijing Communist regime influenced Canada’s elections unfairly – but stopped short of committing to a public inquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, the RCMP has launched an investigation into violations of national security information law in connection to media leaks from CSIS employees concerning the foreign interference allegations.
Also, Canadian public health officials are no longer advising most adults to get COVID booster doses.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Lindsay Shepherd!
Asylum seekers crossing the US-Canada border illegally via Roxham Road are straining resources in Quebec and Ontario, but the governments of BC and Alberta say they currently have no plans to take in any of these border crossers.
The mayor of Niagara Falls, ON has stated his city is overwhelmed after accepting nearly 3,000 relocated asylum seekers, who are living in hotel rooms paid for by the federal government.
In addition, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 702 asylum seekers have been bussed from Quebec into Ottawa, 618 to Windsor, Ontario, and 1,396 to Cornwall, Ontario. Furthermore, transfers to the Maritimes have just begun – 63 asylum seekers are now in Halifax, Nova Scotia and 30 are in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
These asylum seekers were transported to Ontario and Atlantic Canada after Quebec premier François Legault told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that his province cannot support any more border crossers.
Quebec is spending $20 million per month on asylum seekers’ social benefits, the province says. In the year 2022, nearly 38,000 asylum seekers were receiving welfare cheques from the province of Quebec, most residing in Montreal.
Communities hosting Roxham Road border crossers are seeing their food banks, schools, shelters, and other social services overextended.
Garrett Koehler, Alberta’s Press Secretary in Trade and Multiculturalism, said, “Decisions around accepting asylum claims lie solely with the federal government and Alberta does not currently have any arrangement or agreement in place with the Federal Government that would facilitate individuals who crossed the border at unofficial border crossings being transported to Alberta.”
As for British Columbia, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs stated, “The Province is not aware of any asylum seekers from Roxham Road being transferred to B.C.”
The federal government, and the governments of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, would not confirm if any asylum seekers would be relocated to Saskatchewan or Manitoba.
In the month of January 2023, the RCMP intercepted 4,875 illegal border crossings in Quebec – most, if not all, at Roxham Road.
The US-Mexico border has thousands of Latin Americans crossing per day, some of whom make their way up to the New York-Quebec border and cross at Roxham Road to take advantage of a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement. These individuals are arrested upon entering Canada at an illegal point of entry but quickly released once they state they are claiming asylum, at which point they are transported to a temporary accommodation and assisted with their living expenses and paperwork.
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has given free bus tickets to migrants so that they can make their way to upstate New York and cross into Canada via Roxham Road.
A Calgary man who protested a drag show geared towards kids was denied bail after refusing to distance himself from future shows and drag performers.
Calgary man Derek Reimer faces criminal charges for shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs during a drag storytime-for-children show – last week, he refused bail conditions in provincial court, and the standoff continued on Monday, CBC News reported.
On Monday, Reimer’s lawyer deferred the case a week, saying Reimer still feels he cannot satisfy the bail conditions. Reimer will reportedly stay in custody until March 14, when another court hearing takes place.
The drag storytime-for-children event took place at the Seton branch of Calgary Public Library. In similar events, youth under the age of 9 are invited to watch attired drag queens read children’s stories.
The news comes after politicians spent months criticizing Canada’s bail system, saying it is far-too lenient in letting repeat, violent offenders walk.
The criticism peaked late last year when a violent offender, out on bail, is alleged to have murdered a rookie police officer. The offender was awaiting court for allegedly stabbing another man, and smashing a car windshield while children were inside.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievere in February tabled a bill to reform Canada’s bail policy.
“We know that a tiny minority of violent, repeat offenders are doing almost all of this crime,” Poilievre said. “Police tell us that often they have to arrest the same people multiple times in the very same day because they are released again and again on bail.”
Reimer remains in custody as he continues to refuse the conditions of not contacting LGBTQ2S+ community members, and not being within 200 meters of any of their events, CBC reported. Reimer’s charges originate from an event on February 25.
Drag storytime shows have sparked controversy over the past year, including a January confrontation between supporters and protesters in Coquitlam, B.C., and a November confrontation in Hamilton, Ontario.
The RCMP, its legend being always getting its man, is today on a “shoot the messenger” mission — as in who leaked classified information alleging foreign election interference by China.
“The RCMP has initiated an investigation into violations of the Security of Information Act (SOIA) associated with recent media reports,” said a spokesperson for the federal police force in a Monday statement.
“This investigation is not focused on any one security agency. As the RCMP is investigating these incidents, there will be no further comment on this matter at this time,” said the RCMP’s Robin Percival.
Formerly known as Canada’s Official Secrets Act, the SOIA legislation outlines both the expectations around federal government employees’ legal obligations for protecting classified operational information, and the punishment for committing offences such as unauthorized disclosure of such intelligence.
So, the RCMP is on the hunt for the federal government employee or employees who leaked the sensitive information on China’s purported interference with the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Last week, during House of Commons committee testimony on the issue, CSIS Director David Vigneault told MPs that an investigation into the leaks was underway by CSIS and its “partners” regarding the sources of the leaks, noting there are internal mechanisms for spy agency employees to express their concerns over how information is handled.
Vigneault’s testimony came as part of an ongoing study into foreign interference, sparked by months of media reports, including those citing unnamed CSIS sources, alleging Chinese attempts to meddle in the cited elections by targeting certain MPs.
The RCMP has said it is not investigating the allegations raised through the reporting of the leaks by journalists, citing a lack of “actionable intelligence” that would prompt a criminal investigation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas, however, called the leaks “very concerning” and said people leaking information are jeopardizing Canada’s national security and putting employees and those subject to investigations “at unnecessary risk.”
“Following any alleged unauthorized disclosure of classified information, CSIS takes appropriate action. Currently, CSIS is working with other Government of Canada departments and organizations to investigate these recent allegations, and the Government will take appropriate actions in response to any identified unauthorized releases of information,” said CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam.
With this news, the Trudeau Liberals have the interference issue pretty well surrounded, although the PM is defiant there will be no independent public inquiry into the allegations against the Chinese communist regime.
Not that the public would learn much. It saves the day of scouring copious copies of redacted documents to protect Canada’s intelligence information.
Redacted volumes do not lend themselves to interesting reads.
Morris Rosenberg, however, a former public servant who authored the report on attempts to interfere in the 2021 federal election, says the option of a public inquiry should be “on the table.”
Rosenberg told CTV News his report is not the final word on foreign election interference, but rather a piece of the puzzle in studying the issue.
While Rosenberg’s report last week concluded there were interference attempts in the 2021 election, it also stated a panel designed to flag interference “did not detect foreign interference that threatened Canada’s ability to have free and fair elections.”
But amid all the allegations of foreign election interference by China in recent media reports, Opposition MPs on a parliamentary committee still voted on a motion to call on the federal government to hold a national public inquiry.
But, as stated, Trudeau has repeatedly nixed that idea.
The leading political parties of Alberta are tied in popularity as an election approaches, according to a new poll.
The Abacus Data poll released on Monday shows the governing United Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party, the current lead opposition party, would both receive a vote from 35% of respondents.
One-in-five said they are undecided, a category which has grown considerably from detracted UCP voters.
Most who said they voted NDP in 2019 plan to do the same in 2023 (85%). When it comes to the UCP, many more past supporters are undecided (20%), or have switched to the NDP (12%) or other parties (2%).
“Those reluctant UCPers will decide the outcome of the provincial election,” wrote Abacus Data CEO David Coletto.
In an earlier Abacus Data poll from February, the UCP held a lead of 2 points.
The March poll of 700 Albertan adults was conducted between March 2nd and 4th.
The Alberta provincial election is scheduled for May 29th and would be the first election held since Danielle Smith became Premier last year following a leadership vote to replace Jason Kenney.
Canada’s window of opportunity to supply Europe with liquified natural gas (LNG) is quickly closing, warns one expert as the continent reports record levels of imports.
European LNG imports skyrocketed by 63% last year as the continent moved to alleviate its dependence on Russian energy and Canada is missing out big time.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2022, the global LNG market doubled, reaching $450 billion – in part driven by Europe’s scramble to find alternative sources of LNG.
The big winner has been the United States which accounted for two-thirds of the growth in imports, supplying Europe with 43 billion cubic metres of LNG.
Other countries cashing in include Qatar, Egypt, Norway, Angola and Trinidad and Tobago. Meanwhile, Russian imports declined to 2 billion cubic metres.
Senior Fellow and Director of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, Heather Exner-Pirot told True North that Europe needs energy and it needs it now.
“The political environment is a deterrent. There is no confidence from the investment community that projects in Canada could be approved, or if approved could be developed in a timely manner,” said Exner-Pirot.
“Europe needs gas now, and Canada is demonstrably slow in developing these kinds of major projects, with regulatory hurdles and social acceptance being major hurdles. Also with high interest rates capital is very expensive right now, and long development times add a lot of cost. There is a window of opportunity and it is being closed.”
So far Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has quashed any hopes that Canada could become a major LNG supplier across the Atlantic.
During a diplomatic visit to Canada by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in December, Trudeau told the media that there lacked a “worthwhile business case” to export gas to our European allies.
“There are a number of potential projects, including one in Saint John, and some others that are on the books for which there has never been a strong business case because of the distance from the gas fields,” said Trudeau.
“We are looking right now — and companies are looking — at whether or not, in the new context, it makes it a worthwhile business case, to make those investments. … It needs to make sense for Germany to be receiving LNG directly from the east coast.”
According to Exner-Pirot, analysis shows that European LNG requirements could double by 2030 and global LNG demand could reach 7000 million tonnes by 2040.
“A generous interpretation would say that there were no long term contracts on the table – Germany was trying to insist on a 15 year contract which meant most traditional contracts have too high an investment risk,” Exner-Pirot told True North.
“But other countries have signed LNG deals with Germany since that visit, notably the United States and Qatar. A bigger problem was the lack of government support for east coast LNG projects. Energie Saguenay, for example, was rejected in February 2022. This makes it very difficult to attract investors for future projects.”
About a month later, Germany signed a multi-year LNG deal with Qatar which will see two million tonnes of liquid gas shipped up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal beginning in 2026.
Canada should shift its focus to develop our Western LNG potential as “fast as possible” suggests Exner-Pirot.
“That likely won’t go to Europe, but it will add meaningfully to global supply and take some of the pressure off Europe and Asia having to compete with each other for deliveries,” she said.
Projects such as Ensure CGL, LNG Canada, Cedar LNG and Woodfibre show promise.
LNG is pouring into Europe at such a rate that the IEA reports that by the end of the year, “more than 30 tankers full of LNG” were on standby to “hook up to gasification facilities in Europe rather than sell their cargo cheaper elsewhere.”
In total, global gas tanker orders have spiked 130% when compared to 2021.
These trends have left some observers dismayed at Canada’s unwillingness and inability to develop its own resource potential.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says that Liberals have “deep ties” to China and that a public inquiry is needed to find out what exactly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knew about Beijing’s election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Watch Poilievre’s exclusive sit down interview with True North’s Andrew Lawton.
Plus, from two doses to three, to one every few months, the Canadian government has been fairly unrelenting in its quest to get everyone in the country vaccinated and boosted. On Friday, the Public Health Agency of Canada quietly amended its guidance to no longer recommend boosters for healthy Canadians under 65, at least for now. Is this a real course correction? Yes and no, as True North’s Andrew Lawton explains.
Tune into a live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show.
