Alberta Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault finally got booted from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet after a series of scandals involving his false Indigenous identity and past sketchy business dealings, which the Edmonton Police is investigating. Despite getting booted, Randy still gets a six figure salary as a backbench MP. Will he be held accountable for his wrongdoings?
Plus, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been officially been appointed as the chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation.
And Alberta is driving the country in job creation and growth. Can other provinces learn a thing or two from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith?
These stories and more on The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux! Tune in now.
Every year, the United Nations convenes a Conferences of Parties to set the world’s agenda to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It’s the biggest event of the year for the climate industry. This year’s conference (COP29), which ends on Sunday, drew an army of government officials, NGOs, celebrities and journalists (many flying on GHG-emitting jet aircraft) to Baku, Azerbaijan.
The COP follows a similar narrative every year. It opens with a set of ambitious goals for climate policies, followed by days of negotiating as countries jockey to carve out agreements that most favour their goals. In the last two days, they invariably reach a sticking point when it appears the countries might fail to reach agreement. But they burn some midnight oil, some charismatic actors intervene (in the past, this included people such as Al Gore), and with great drama, an agreement is struck in time for the most important event of the year, flying off to their protracted winter holidays.
This year’s COP wants to fast-track the world’s transition to “clean” energy, help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change, work on “mobilizing inclusivity” (whatever that means) and “delivering on climate finance,” which is shorthand for having wealthier developed countries such as Canada transfer massive amounts of wealth to developing countries.
Some of these agenda items are actually improvements over previous COPs. For example, they’re actually talking about “climate adaptation”—the unwanted stepchild of climate policies—more this year. But as usual, money remains a number one priority. As reported in the Associated Press, “negotiators are working on a new amount of cash for developing nations to transition to clean energy, adapt to climate change and deal with weather disasters. It’ll replace the current goal of $100 billion (USD) annually—a goal set in 2009.” Moreover, “experts” claim the world needs between $1 trillion and $1.3 trillion (yes, trillion) in “climate finance” annually. Not to be outdone, according to an article in the Euro News, other experts want $9 trillion per year by 2030. Clearly, the global edifice that is climate change activism is all about the money.
Reportedly, COP29 is in its final section of the meta-narrative, with much shouting over getting to a final agreement. One headline inVoice of America reads “Slow progress on climate finance fuels anger as COP29 winds down.” AndArgus News says “climate finance talks to halt, parties fail to cut options.” We only await the flying in of this year’s crop of climate megafauna to seal the deal.
This year’s conference in Baku shows more clearly than ever before that the real goal of the global climate cognoscenti is a giant wealth transfer from developed to developing countries. Previous climate conferences, whatever their faults, focused more on setting emission reduction targets and timelines and less about how the UN can extract more money from developed countries. The final conflict of COP29 isn’t about advancing clean energy targets or helping vulnerable countries adapt to climate change technologically, it’s all about show me the money.
Kenneth Green is a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.
The Royal Canadian Navy will do away with its official marching song after many years over concerns of its lyrics which refer to colonialism and lack examples of diversity.
The British song Heart of Oak dates back to 1759, more than a century before Canada’s confederation.
It has since been inherited as the official march of the country’s navy for many years, routinely sung at parades and mess dinners.
However, the song has come under fire in recent years over its lyrics which Navy spokesperson Captain Matthew Rowe told the Globe and Mail contain “language that does not align with values and ethos of today’s Royal Canadian Navy or the broader Canadian Armed Forces.”
“Specifically, it includes references to colonialism and slavery, and language that is not representative of all those who serve in today’s Navy,” said Rowe on Thursday.
According to a Dec. 2020 internal briefing note, attempts to revamp the song first began after someone took issue with the lyric “to add something new to this wonderful year,” which refers to various British victories in 1759 “as part of colonial conquests including over the French colony of Canada.”
It also referred to the line “free men not slaves,” as it was written while “Britain and the Royal Navy were actively engaged in enslaving and selling people, until Britain officially prohibited the practice in 1807.”
According to the Navy briefing note, not acting on these lyrics would create “micro-aggressions of exclusion at each mess dinner, parade and concert.”
A separate internal briefing note dated nearly two months later addressed the issue of the song making five references to men or males, including “my lads,” “sons of the waves” and “steady boys, steady.”
The Navy initially proposed to either rewrite the lyrics to be “more inclusive,” march without singing the lyrics or select a new song altogether.
“The lyrics reflect the demographic of the Navy at that time (i.e., no women in the Royal Navy), but are now outdated and do not reflect the Royal Canadian Navy or its evolving values,” reads the second note.
Rowe said that as of last month, women account for 20.7% of Navy personnel.
After more than a year of consultations, the military decided that the song’s lyrics “are not reflective of a military which strives to be inclusive and respectful of all persons,” and began the selection process for a new one.
Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is reviewing potential options, and noted that Heart of Oak has also been removed from Australia’s Navy March as well.
Heart of Oak “reflects the perspective of the British, and it doesn’t reflect the fact that the founding nations of Canada include the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the French, alongside the British,” said Topshee.
He went on to say that the “wonderful year” it references was “not a glorious year if you were a francophone or many of the Indigenous peoples of Canada.”
However, Conservative defence critic James Bezan expressed his dismay with the Navy’s decision to replace the song, arguing that this should not be a priority for a military facing personnel and equipment shortages.
“It is baffling that the government is seemingly spending years debating changing the navy’s cherished song, which has been proudly sung throughout the proud and storied history of the Royal Canadian Navy,” said Bezan.
“Adding a new song is one thing, but our history and tradition should not be erased and traded for woke agendas.”
Tosphee agrees that the song’s replacement should not be a top priority at the moment.
“When I’m talking about a personnel crisis where I’m 20% short and I got resource commitments around the world, and I need to tackle a whole list of things, this is a song. This is not the most urgent thing in the world,” he said.
“And so why is it taking so long? Because we’re doing it at the pace we can afford to do it.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to add proper attribution to Calibre Magazine as the source for the story.
Administering the Trudeau government’s gun ban is projected to cost taxpayers over $100 million and the government hasn’t even purchased one gun since they first announced the plan.
Conservative MP Larry Brock tabled a Question on the Order Paper showing that Public Safety Canada spent $51.6 million in taxpayer funds between 2021 to 2023.
That means the bill is estimated to reach $88.5 million by the end of the fiscal year in March 2025.
The documents were first reported on by Calibre Magazine journalist Daniel Fritter.
However, the report shows it’s likely to surpass even that figure as the department has expressed that they want to further fund the initiative past that timeline.
Additionally, the $88.5 million doesn’t cover Public Safety Canada’s spending between May 2020 and April 2021. However, reports have estimated spending of around $12.5 million and $12 million for 2021 and 2022.
According to Public Safety Canada’s latest report, these combined expenses bring the total cost allocated for the Liberals’ long gun ban closer to $100 million this fiscal year.
The program was initially granted $30.4 million over two years under Budget 2024 “for the buyback of assault-style firearms.”
However, the department’s latest Quarterly Financial Report for the period ending June 30th indicates $36.9 million is being earmarked for the program this fiscal year.
Of that allotment, $23.2 million will go toward operating expenses for the Assault Style Firearms Compensation Program and the remaining $13.7 million to new funding distributed through grants and contributions “to complete the collection and destruction of business owned assault style firearms and to establish a compensation program.”
While the 2024 federal budget claimed that the additional funding would be “sourced from existing departmental resources,” the department’s latest financial report identifies the $23.2 million in operating expenses as being incurred by the ASFCP.
Furthermore, the ASFCP is responsible for the Public Safety department’s 21.9% increase in operating costs year-over-year and 9.6% of the department’s overall budget.
The report also explicitly refers to the $13.7 million that is slated for grants and contributions to initiate Phase 1 of the buyback program as “new funding.”
The Order Paper question tabled by Brock also revealed that the RCMP spent $13.4 million on the ban to date, further increasing that overall projection to hit $101.9 million by next March.
According to Public Safety’s 2024/25 Departmental Plan, the ministry intends to “continue work towards the launch of the Firearms Compensation Program for businesses,” with plans to begin confiscation from businesses this fall.
The Trudeau government granted Canada Post the ability to transport and store prohibited firearms to have the Crown corporation assist the Liberals in their gun buyback program last month.
According to an Order in Council dated Oct. 16, Canada Post will be permitted to remove prohibited assault-style firearms from safes at firearms retailers for their transportation and ultimately their disposal.
Under Ottawa’s so-called buyback program, over 1,500 models of firearms were banned by Order in Council, with the government initially granting amnesty to gun owners until May 1, 2022, a date which has since been extended to October 2025.
The mass ban resulted in weapons retailers being left on the hook with excess inventory and having to store the firearms securely until collection.
However, the confiscation of firearms from individuals is omitted entirely from the plan, as that task is likely to be far more complicated and certainly more costly.
Organized crime is profiting from a growing contraband tobacco market in Canada, which now exceeds legal cigarette sales in certain provinces.
The report commissioned by the Convenience Industry Council of Canada is the third in a series of reports tracking the growing spread of contraband tobacco since 2019 in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Contraband Tobacco in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia reveals that in 2023, contraband cigarettes accounted for 52% of the market in New Brunswick, 45% in Manitoba, 38.4% in Nova Scotia, and 29.4% in Alberta.
In contrast, contraband tobacco only accounts for 11.9% of sales in Quebec, which the Convenience Industry Council of Canada attributes to it being the only province taking serious action to crack down on the illegal market.
A previous report in the series highlighted that contraband tobacco was eight times more profitable to traffic than cocaine.
Between 2019 and 2023, the legal sale of tax-paid cigarettes fell by 44.8% in Alberta. Following that was New Brunswick, with a 37.4% decrease, and Manitoba, which saw a 33.3% decline. Legal cigarette sales fell 28.4% and even 25.5% in Quebec.
“And the penalties, if caught, amount to a drop in the bucket for organized crime groups. It is not surprising that the Canadian contraband tobacco market is growing at a pace that it is eclipsing the legal tobacco market in nearly every corner of the country,” reads the report.
The report revealed that a carton of 200 contraband cigarettes could cost as little as $30-$40 if purchased on a First Nations reserve and $40-$50 if bought elsewhere.
Over the past three years, the report estimates that the five provinces have lost over $760 million in tax revenues without accounting for PST, HST, and GST revenues or federal excise duty.
A separate report from Ernst and Young estimated that British Columbia alone lost up to $591 million in tax revenue between 2019 and 2022 to illegal cigarette sales.
“Gross sales revenue realized by the sellers of contraband cigarettes in these five provinces for the same three-year period, 2021— 2023, is estimated at over $1.3 billion. These revenues generate profits for organized crime groups that help fuel their other illegal activities,” reads the report.
The $1.3 billion estimation is based on a $45/carton price of 200 cigarettes. Therefore, between 2021 and 2023, 5.78 billion illegal cigarettes were sold in the five provinces.
The rise in illegal cigarette sales follows continuous tax increases on tobacco, vaping, and the Liberals banning flavoured vaping products nationally.
“In an effort to reduce smoking rates, federal and provincial governments have increased taxes on legal tobacco products,” said a previous report. “The result? Many smokers have sought cheaper tobacco on the illicit market instead.”
The most recent report had similar sentiments on tax increases.
“This also means that the effectiveness of higher tax rates on cigarettes in reducing overall consumption has likely been overestimated. Although tax increases have depressed legal sales, they have certainly also expanded contraband sales The evidence presented here strongly suggests that the latter impact may be greater than the former,” reads the report.
The Convenience Industry Council of Canada said that addressing contraband tobacco is necessary for public safety. The council added that the surge in contraband tobacco is not helping with corner store closures, 1.5 of which are closing in the country daily.
“The illegal tobacco industry isn’t a victimless crime,” said President and CEO of the Convenience Industry Council of Canada Anne Kothawala. “Contraband costs us all and is taking money out of the pockets of law-abiding Canadians.”
The council offered four recommendations, including increasing enforcement and penalties for anyone caught with illegal tobacco.
The Albertan government and its residents do not seem to be seeing eye to eye when it comes to the newest insurance reforms proposed by the province.
The province announced a new auto insurance system that it argued would provide better and faster auto insurance services to Albertans while reducing premiums. The new care-focused system is intended to replace the current court-based system.
“Under the new system, if someone is injured in a collision, they’ll get the necessary care and benefits, whether they’re at fault or not, without the need to litigate. No more costly legal battles, no more drawn-out waits for care,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “Instead, Albertans who suffer serious injuries will be able to rely on treatment until they are recovered. Albertans who suffer catastrophic, life-changing injuries would be able to rely on treatment and care for the rest of their lives.”
The provincial government said it heard from 16,000 Albertans in online surveys, which drove the changes to the insurance policies. The Albertan government said residents will see savings of up to $400 annually.
According to the survey’s responses, 95% of Albertans agreed that bad drivers should pay more for their insurance. Eight in ten said that they want to pay the lowest possible cost for their insurance, while 73% believed it was important to be able to sue at-fault drivers. However, more than six in ten said they would not need the right to sue if their insurance company supported their needs.
“Albertans have been clear they need an auto insurance system that provides better, faster care and is more affordable,” said Smith. “When it’s implemented, our new privately delivered, care-centred insurance system will put the focus on Albertans’ recovery, providing more effective support and will deliver lower rates.”
Smith posted the entire press conference to X. While the post only had half as many comments as likes, a large portion of them were negative.
One of the most liked comments highlighted that Albertans pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the country. Based on the numbers provided, a $400 yearly saving would not change the province’s rank.
“Not acceptable. We have the highest rates in the country, and yet you give the go-ahead to raise premiums another 7.5% per year over two years with the hopes that these companies will suddenly become cheaper because of no-fault insurance? Your math is adding up like Trudeaus; the debt will pay itself off,” said one user in a separate post.
Alberta’s Finance Minister Nate Horner said that classifying the new insurance as no-fault is misleading.
“Some will categorize this care-first system as no fault. I really think that’s a misleading label and just not right,” said Finance Minister Nate Horner. “Under this model, fault still matters. Bad drivers will continue to pay more in premiums. Drivers will be held accountable for their actions.”
Despite the negative reaction online, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told True North that asserting people were reacting negatively was “premature.”
“There are parties with a vested interest in ensuring litigation costs and the status-quo of poor benefits for expensive costs remain in place, and they are spreading misinformation on the changes. These changes will provide better, faster, and cheaper auto insurance to Albertans when implemented in January 2027, and we look forward to ensuring the 3.4 million drivers in the province save money,” said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that for every dollar taken by insurance companies, they pay $1.17 in settlements, with some paying as much as $1.40.
“Most will continue to lose money under the increased cap, leading to more leaving the province between now and January 2027. We are taking action to protect Albertans from rampant premium increases until they can see savings under the care-first system,” added the spokesperson.
The new system is not set to be fully implemented until Jan. 2027. The new system will require legislation to be introduced in the spring of 2025.
In the interim, starting Jan. 2025, the good driver rate cap will be increased to 7.5%. It is currently 3.7%.
“We know an increase in the rate cap is not ideal for Albertans. This wasn’t something we wanted to do. It’s clear that auto insurance companies are not blameless in this situation either. But the current situation is not about profitability. It’s about viability,” said Horner. “Many companies are losing millions under the current Cap system, and we have chosen to limit the cap as much as possible in the face of escalating costs. Two insurers have already decided to leave our market, and others could potentially follow without some adjustment to the cap.”
The Liberals have unveiled a two-month GST/HST tax break and a $250 working Canadians payment. Is Justin Trudeau trying to bribe Canadians amid his lagging poll numbers? Wouldn’t it just have been easier to scrap the carbon tax instead?
Plus, while at another international junket, Trudeau lectured Canadians about prioritizing paying the carbon tax over feeding your kids. How out of touch is this guy?
And the re-elected NDP government in BC unveiled its cabinet earlier this week, showing BC residents that they can expect more of the same radical leftist ideas that have plagued the province for the last few years.
These stories and more on Off the Record with guest host Kris Sims, Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Noah Jarvis!
While US President Biden takes a hard stance against the International Criminal Court decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Secretary Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will “abide” the decision and allow the officials to be arrested if they visited Canada.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for the democratically elected Israeli prime minister and his former defence secretary. The court claims to have found “reasonable grounds to believe” the two played a part in allegedly restricting aid, starving Gazans and deliberately targeting civilians in the Israel-Hamas war.
Trudeau said he would respect and abide by the international court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against Israel. According to a press conference on Thursday, Israel is not a part of the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“As Canada has always said, it’s really important that everyone abide by international law. We are one of the founding members of the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice,” he said. “We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts. This is just who we are as Canadians.”
In an official statement, Biden said the arrest warrants were “outrageous.”
“Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” the statement said. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, echoed Trudeau’s statements in a press conference Thursday and added that the civilian death toll in Gaza is “absolutely catastrophic” and reaffirmed calls for Hamas to release its hostages.
“I’ll let the US take its own decisions,” Joly said. “International law needs to apply to all parties at all times. And at the same time, in order to do so, we need accountability in our world, and so based on that, Canada will abide by its obligation under the ICC treaty.”
US Senator Lindsay Graham vowed to pass a bill which would impose sanctions on any country that “aids or abets” the ICC against Israel. He said on X that any nation that supports the ICC decision is a partner to the “reckless act that tramples the rule of law.” The US also is not a member of the ICC.
Notably, Graham supported the ICC, which he recently called “a dangerous joke” when it issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Netanyahu denied the allegations, saying the Israeli Defence Force does everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties, such as sending warnings to civilians of imminent attacks and sending aid into Gaza, including “700,000 tons of food,” that is often looted by Hamas. He added that in recent weeks, Israel has facilitated the vaccination of 87% of Gazans against polio, citing this isn’t the action of a state intent on killing a population.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said if he were Prime Minister, he would not abide by the ICC’s “ridiculous’ arrest warrants. In an interview with City News Friday, he said Trudeau should be calling for the arrest of the Ayatollah of Iran, who funds terrorist groups and has called for the annihilation of both Israel and the US.
“The prime minister of Israel is a democratically elected leader whose country is responding to an unprovoked invasion by thousands of well-armed Iranian funded terrorists who put babies, living babies in ovens, carried out mass rape and other atrocities deliberately targeted at civilians,” Poilievre said. “(Trudeau’s) calling for the arrest of the country that has been the victim of all of these attacks.”
In another interview on Friday with AM640 radio, he echoed the point, saying the Islamic regime in Iran has carried out “a real genocide against Sunni Muslims.” He said that Trudeau’s decision to support arrest warrants for Netanyahu and not the Ayatollah is “another example” of how Trudeau’s “extreme woke agenda” permeates everything he does.
Canadian-Jewish advocacy groups, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B’nai Brith Canada, both released statements condemning the Liberal government for supporting the ICC’s decision. However, the National Council of Canadian Muslims applauded Trudeau for his support.
“(The decision) confirms that the ICC has become an instrument of a very cynical abuse of the ICC and its politicization to advance an anti-Israel posture,” Shimon Koffler Fogel, the Chief Executive of CIJA, told True North in an interview.
“By endorsing and respecting the ruling, Canada effectively is undermining the legitimacy and the credibility of the institution, and to be very frank, is becoming complicit in its abuse…it renders those institutions as irrelevant to the pursuit of justice.”
The NCCM and the ICC did not respond to True North’s requests to comment.
The majority of Canadians are now worried that those who struggle socially or financially may end up seeking assisted suicide instead of adequate healthcare, according to a recent study.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted a study along with Cardus, a Christian think tank based in Hamilton, Ont. to better understand Canadians’ relationship with the government’s controversial Medical Assistance in Dying program.
First introduced in 2016, the program has since assisted in the suicides of over 40,000 Canadians.
The study found that three-in-five Canadians, (62%) say “they worry about socially and financially vulnerable Canadians looking to MAID in lieu of adequate and quality health care.”
That’s a startling figure when one considers how many Canadians currently live with moderate or severe physical or mental health disabilities in addition to grappling with economic strains.
Furthermore, the majority of respondents who identified as suffering from some such condition also reported having faced discrimination during a health care experience, citing poor quality and access.
Previous research from Angus Reid found that 29% of Canadians, or nine million, had chronic difficulty accessing health care.
“Canadians working in health care either currently or formerly are also concerned about the access challenges people living with disability (PWD) face in Canada. Two-in-five (37%) health care say health care for PWD is good (34%) or excellent (3%), while a larger group say it is poor (33%) or terrible (12%),” reads the report.
“Meanwhile, two-in-five (40%) of these workers say they lacked the knowledge and tools needed to address the needs of PWD.”
Additionally, the cohort of respondents living with a severe disability were more than twice as likely to “strongly” worry about the fallout from Canada’s decaying healthcare infrastructure as those living without a disability.
“Federal and provincial health ministers need to prioritize improved access to quality health care for Canadians with disabilities, along with improved palliative care and mental health care generally,” Cardus’ health program director Rebecca Vachon told True North.
However, despite 62% of Canadians expressing concerns, a growing number of people are accessing Canada’s assisted suicide program in tandem with the program’s criteria threshold expanding.
The loosening of its barriers has led a coalition of disability rights organizations to launch a Charter challenge against the federal government in Ontario’s Superior Court.
An Ontario man recently had his assisted suicide request approved after experiencing a physical decline from what was labelled as post-COVID-19 “vaccination syndrome.”
The case is an anomaly and the term remains up for debate.
“Canadians have a clear preference for the procedure to be available in order to give patients greater control over end-of-life decisions, with approximately three-times as many supporting (63%) versus opposing (22%) MAID under the 2021 criteria, which removed reasonably foreseeable death as a qualifier for eligibility,” reads the study.
Yet the number of MAID deaths in Canada per year has increased tenfold since its implementation with Quebec leading the charge as 6.6% of all provincial deaths can be attributed to the program.
The jump in deaths could be tied to the program’s increasing exposure, as 6% of Canadians say they “know a friend or family member who was offered MAID without requesting it” noted the study.
“Among those who say someone close to them received this offer, one-in-three (37%) say that this offer was accepted while two-in-three (63%) say it was rejected.”
Exposure to assisted suicide was higher among those older than 54 (24%) and those in Quebec (26%).
“It’s clear that Canadians are worried that those who are vulnerable and marginalized because of disabilities, poverty, or other factors, often feel they’re left with no choice except MAiD,” said Vachon.
She noted that the study’s findings revealed that “Canadians with disabilities are facing real barriers to living well and flourishing – a situation that is simply unacceptable in a truly compassionate society.”
The Liberals have unveiled a two-month GST/HST tax break and a $250 working Canadians payment but some critics are saying the measures fail to address the affordability crisis.
Plus, a True North exclusive reveals the organization in charge of classifying library books across the world slapped a “transphobic works” label onto any books critical of child gender transitions.
And BC NDP Premier David Eby has appointed a former top aide and close advisor to former Alberta premier Rachel Notley as his Chief of Staff.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and William McBeath!
