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Sunday, July 13, 2025

Billions of dollars lost in tourism industry due to ArriveCAN

By
Andrew Kozak
-

The controversy-plagued ArriveCAN app caused billions worth of lost revenue for the Canadian tourism industry, parliamentarians heard on Tuesday.

As first reported by The Epoch Times, Mayor of Niagara Falls, Jim Diodati, gave a scathing testimony on the impact that ArriveCAN had on the tourism industry in the House of Commons Standing Committee on International trade.

“It’s been hugely impactful and devastating,” said Diodati.

According to Diodati, 20 million visitors come to the Niagara region each year, but due in part to ArriveCAN, tourism has fallen to half of pre-pandemic levels causing billions of dollars in losses.

“Typically 50% of the revenue that comes into Niagara Falls comes from U.S. visitors,” he said. “Americans typically stay longer and spend more. So the long-term effect of this requirement at the border has been devastating.”

Diodati said that most complaints he received about ArriveCAN came from seniors who felt they were being discriminated against.

“They were proud to show their passports, happy to show their vaccination status and boosters, but offended that they were being forced to do something they couldn’t do,” said Diodati. “They’re not as tech-savvy as younger kids, and a lot of them could not do the app because they didn’t have smartphones, they didn’t have computers.” 

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has acknowledged that agents often had to help people use the app in order to cross the border into Canada.

“Then our CBSA border guards, instead of worrying about drugs and guns and criminals, become administrators, helping them to download the app,” Diodati said.

“The ArriveCAN app and the requirements of the ArriveCAN app had a massive effect, and we were seeing a drop of 50 percent and more of Americans coming into the country,” said Beth Potter, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC).

“That’s $12 billion that didn’t come into the country because of travel requirements,” she added.

Even with the decreased number of visitors, mayor Diodati said land crossings were four times slower than usual.

“The app forces you to lie,” said Diodati. “It wants to know your quarantine address and day trippers that come to Niagara Falls don’t have an address because they’re going home the same day—so they have to lie and some of them were putting in the Peace Bridge address and you know these are law-abiding citizens—people that don’t want to lie, but they had no choice or not to come here, “ he said.

Two weeks ago, the Liberals announced that they would be dropping the Covid vaccine mandate at the border and that ArriveCAN would become optional. This came after months of calls from the Conservatives to scrap it due to major delays at airports and border crossings. ArriveCAN also delayed American rescue teams from entering Canada to provide aid to Nova Scotians after Hurricane Fiona.  

Last month, officials with the Customs and Immigration Union told the House of Commons trade committee that things got so bad for some travellers that they defecated themselves while waiting to cross the border. 
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Reforms (JCCF)  announced in September that it would continue legal action on behalf of 11 people against ArriveCan – with the hope of having a court rule that the requirement to use the app was unconstitutional.

Mendicino admits Liberals’ gun grab relies on provincial help

By
Rachel Parker
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Source: Parlvu

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has admitted he has no other option if provinces won’t enforce the Trudeau Liberals’ gun grab scheme. 

The minister made the revelation in Tuesday’s hearing of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Safety and National Security, which came after three provinces said they don’t want their provincial policing resources used for Ottawa’s confiscation program. 

In response to a question from Conservative MP Tako van Popta about whether Mendicino has a “plan B” for provinces that won’t participate in the program, the minister acknowledged he has no other options and said he’s still focused on “plan A.”

“Advancing a fair buyback program that will compensate law-abiding gun owners for the assault-style rifles that they originally purchased lawfully is consistent with keeping our community safe, and we will always be collaborative with our provincial and territorial partners,” he said.

“My door will always be open to working with them in a wide variety of priorities to achieve that goal.”

The minister did not address the strong opposition already voiced from three of his provincial “partners.”

Last week, the governments of Alberta and Saskawtchewan announced that Mendicino wrote to them asking for their provincial RCMP to act as confiscation agents, which they refused. 

In May 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was banning more than 1,500 models of firearms, including AR-15s. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said the program will cost $750 million. Those costs could balloon to $1 billion once administrative fees are taken into account.

Yet, taxpayers have already been billed more than $3 million to run the program and not a single gun has been purchased, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed Thursday.

Alberta Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro said last week he would obstruct the gun grab by any means necessary. He said he wrote to the RCMP saying the confiscation scheme is not a provincial priority, and as such, it is an inappropriate use of RCMP resources.

“Alberta is not legally obligated and will not offer any provincial resources to the Federal Government as it seeks to confiscate lawfully acquired firearms,” Shandro said.

Two days later, Saskatchewan Chief Firearms Officer Bob Freberg revealed the province wrote to the RCMP saying “no provincially funded resources of any type,” including the RCMP, will be used for Medicino’s buybacks.

Following these announcements, Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said he told Mendicino the program cannot erode finite police resources which are needed to investigate violent crime.

“We will be bringing these concerns, along with the shared concern of Saskatchewan and Alberta, directly to the federal government next month in meetings of Ministers of Justice and Ministers of Public Safety,” Goertzen said in a statement on Facebook.

Mendicino has already accused the Alberta government of acting in a “reckless” manner for opposing his costly program.

Conservative MPs on Tuesday’s committee grilled the minister over the Trudeau government’s plan to target law-abiding gun owners with Bill C-21, which includes the gun buyback program, as well as other firearm control measures.

Raquel Dancho asked Mendicino why the government intended to “redirect police resources to the confiscation regime” while resources were already stretched. MP Dane Lloyd wondered why the government was not implementing a program to buy back illegal firearms used by criminals.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Holding the government accountable for the Emergencies Act

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to crack down on Freedom Convoy protesters has been widely condemned by civil liberties groups on the left and the right.

This month, hearings into the commission investigating the federal government’s “public order emergency” declaration begin, meaning Canadians will hear testimony from government officials, members of law enforcement, and key figures in the convoy, among others.

Convoy lawyer Keith Wilson joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to discuss the commission’s investigation and whether it can bring about justice for Canadians who rallied against vaccine mandates.

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Manitoba calls on Ottawa to axe harmful fertilizer reduction targets

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A new motion in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly calls on the federal government to scrap its fertilizer reduction targets for farmers citing the irreparable harm they could do to the agriculture industry and food security. 

MLAs Ian Wishart and Brad Michaeleski introduced Resolution 21 “Federal Fertilizer Reduction” on Tuesday calling on the Legislative Assembly to urge Ottawa to scrap the 30% emissions reduction target. 

“(We call on) the federal government to abandon their fertilizer reduction strategy that will hurt Manitoba farmers, producers and families, and additionally ensure that there are no penalties or exclusions from federal programs for farmers who do not meet these arbitrary targets,” the resolution read. 

The motion blamed the “money printing fiscal policy of the federal Liberal-NDP coalition” for putting pressure on struggling families. 

“(Ottawa) has failed to engage Manitoba’s farmers, failed to consult with Indigenous farmers and has failed to consider the impacts this will have on farmers and producers,” the motion explains. 

“This bad public policy will impact anyone who purchases or consumes food in this country, and like most federal policies, those struggling the most will be the ones who are disproportionately impacted.” 

This comes at a time when the Trudeau Liberals attempt to brush off farmers’ concerns over fertilizer emission reduction measures as “disinformation.” 

“Justin Trudeau and the NDP-Liberal coalition’s plan to impose fertilizer reduction targets is totally irresponsible during a time of food insecurity and high inflation,” said Wishart. “This harmful policy will drive up the price of groceries.”

As exclusively reported by True North in April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government branded Canadian grain producers as being among the world’s worst emissions offenders. 

The attack on Canada’s agriculture sector has caused some farmers groups to warn that any reduction to fertilizer use could impact yields. A poll conducted in August found that 72% of farmers agreed that crop yields would plummet if the emissions scheme was adopted. 

During a Sept. 23 meeting of the House of Commons International Trade Committee, the Chairman of Grain Farmers of Ontario Brendan Byrne told parliament that farmers are already struggling to deal with the ballooning costs of fertilizer.

“The cost to produce this year’s crop was higher than we’ve ever experienced. Fertilizer is one part of that price: Shortages were real, right up to the time of planting. Retailers were rationing fertilizer because shipments were blocked by sanctions put in place in Canada,” explained Byrne. “This year, Ontario farmers paid 238% more than they did in the spring of 2020.”

Liberals have spent $3.7M on gun buyback without purchasing one firearm

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The Liberal government has spent millions on its federal gun buyback scheme despite not yet buying a single firearm from law-abiding gun owners. 

According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), there are looming signs that the cost of the program will continue to balloon without producing any results. 

“This is more evidence that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s gun ban and buyback is going to be another taxpayer boondoggle,” said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano. 

“The feds are spending millions of dollars before reimbursing a single gun owner, so it’s a good bet that this bill will keep ballooning.”

The $3.7 million bill for the program currently only includes $2.1 million for salaries of 10 officials at the Firearms Buyback Secretariat and another $1.6 million to operate the office. 

According to the CTF, the Secretariat refused to provide a further breakdown of costs associated with the program. 

Estimates by the Parliamentary Budget Officer place the cost of the final buyback scheme at $756 million but the true cost will likely be much higher as this figure doesn’t take into account bureaucratic costs like paying staff. 

“Trudeau needs to cut his losses and put an end to this ineffective and expensive policy,” explained Terrazzano. 

“The people protecting us say the gun ban and buyback won’t make Canadians safer, and taxpayers don’t need another government program that wastes our money.”

The program has led to friction between federal and provincial governments as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have indicated that they will not comply with the government’s plans to confiscate firearms from law-abiding gun owners. 

Alberta was the latest to say that they will be intervening in a challenge to Trudeau’s buyback program saying that it will prevent Alberta RCMP officers from doing Ottawa’s bidding. 

“As intervenors, we would be able to offer the Court arguments based on the specific challenges that the federal legislation has created for Alberta’s law abiding firearms community and advanced legal arguments that the federal government has overreached with its plan to ban 1500 models of firearms,” said Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro.

Trudeau defends “need to engage” with Taliban

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Federal officials have met with the Taliban at least 13 times since the mass withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan last year. 

According to CBC News, documents show that Global Affairs Canada representatives as well as David Sproule, a senior Canadian official for Afghanistan, engaged the Taliban government on various issues including education for women and allowing Afghans to leave the country. 

The meetings took place in Qatar.

Despite the meetings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that his government doesn’t intend on officially recognizing the Taliban’s rule over the country. 

“The reality is, along with international partners, we have to continue to press on them to respect womens’ rights, to make sure the girls can go to school, to help the safe passage of people who want to leave Afghanistan,” Trudeau told reporters. 

“There is a need to engage even though we will not be recognizing them.” 

According to Global Affairs, the meetings have been informal and involved other allies. 

Internal documents show that in turn the Taliban have made demands from Canada and have rejected the claim that Afghans were not allowed to leave. 

“(The Taliban claim that) people are using security as an excuse to leave the country, but are really leaving to seek economic opportunities,” wrote Sproule in a memo. 

One note says the Taliban requested that those “interested in helping women … should start by paying the salaries of 200,000 female teachers, including 28,000 in Kabul.”

In the communications, Sproule brought up the breach of a Canadian embassy building on Sept. 10, 2021. 

He expressed “concern about Taliban individuals entering our diplomatic property in Kabul in violation of Afghanistan’s treaty obligation to protect diplomatic property.”

In a statement to CBC News, Global Affairs Canada denied some of Taliban’s characterizations that they were respecting women’s rights and those seeking to flee the country. 

“The human rights situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate severely, especially with regard to secondary education for girls,” wrote Global Affairs in the statement. 

“(Canada is) deeply concerned about reports of extrajudicial punishments… such as reprisals and summary executions, disappearances and detentions.”

Public Safety Minister grilled in committee for targeting law-abiding gun owners

By
Andrew Kozak
-

Conservative MPs challenged Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino over the Trudeau government’s plan to target law-abiding gun owners with Bill C-21. 

In Tuesday’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, Mendicino dodged questions from Conservative MPs Raquel Dancho and Dane Lloyd.

Dancho asked Mendicino why the government intended to “redirect police resources to the confiscation regime” while resources were already stretched.

According to the 2019 Liberal platform, the gun buyback program was estimated to cost anywhere from $400 million to $600 million whereas more recent estimates put the figure at nearly $5 billion.

Dancho asked why the government is looking to spend this money on the buyback program instead of using it to improve border services to prevent guns being smuggled in from the United States.

“We plan to be very transparent about the costing of the buyback program,” replied Mendicino. “There is no way to put a price on a life lost and all you have to do is look into the eyes of any of the families who have lost somebody to an assault-style rifle.”

Dancho stated her concern that there is a rise of gun violence in Canadian cities, saying that the Minister wanted to “invest less money into border enforcement and considerably less in community protection.” Mendicino acknowledged that illegal guns from across the border are the primary source of gun violence in Canada.

“As a firearms owner, we undergo rigorous licensing processes, we’re trained, tested, and vetted, would you agree?” asked Dancho. Mendicino replied that he has respect for law-abiding gun owners and that “they place safety as a premium value.”

MP Dane Lloyd asked Mendicino for more details on the gun buyback program.

“Since you believe that a gun buyback for law-abiding firearms owners will enhance public safety, why are you also not launching a gun buyback for illegal firearms possessed by criminals?” asked Lloyd.

Mendicino dodged the question by explaining how the government has initiated a ban on handguns entering the country. Lloyd accused Mendicino of “dancing around the question.”

“We’ve taken a concrete and tangible step forward to addressing handgun violence through the introduction of a national handgun freeze.” said Mendicino.

“Would you agree that it would be more beneficial to buy back an illegal firearm off the street, rather than buying back a firearm from a sport shooter in Barrie, Ontario?” asked Lloyd.

“Well, you and I disagree about that.” replied Mendicino. 

Alberta announced in September that it would not aid the Trudeau Liberals in confiscating the roughly 30,000 firearms currently registered in the province that are affected by the ban. The province told the Alberta RCMP that the so-called buyback program is not a provincial priority and is therefore an inappropriate use of police resources. 

The Trudeau Liberals are attempting to pass legislation to further restrict the Canadian firearms market with the tabled Bill C-21.

C-21 seeks to allow the police to seize a person’s firearms at the behest of someone asking a judge to issue an emergency order (red flag laws), effectively ban the sale of handguns and more.

Edmonton city councillors vote in favour of $170 million bike lane proposal

By
Rachel Parker
-

Edmonton city councillors voted in favour of building 100 kms of bike lanes that will cost Alberta’s capital city $170 million — plus another $11 million annually to maintain.

City administrators presented four options with costing at $25 million, $90 million, $130 million or $170 million. Councillors chose the most expensive option with the highest annual operating costs.

The proposal will increase Edmonton’s 15 kms of bike lanes by another 100 kms, largely in the city centre.

“We have to get serious about building out our active transportation network,” Coun. Ashley Salvador said during an Urban Planning Committee hearing last week.

The two most expensive options would complete the “district connector” by 2026, while the two cheaper options wouldn’t be completed until 2030.

“Costs beyond 2026 for options A and C will be dependent on future priorities after completion of 2026 milestones,” the proposal says.

Final approval must come during budget talks this fall, according to CTV News.

Councillors voted 4-0 to move forward with the lanes. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi voted for the proposal, as did councillors Salvador, Karen Principe and Aaron Paquette. 

In response to criticism about the proposal on Facebook, Principe denied voting for the costly proposal.

“The Urban Planning committee made a recommendation on bike lanes, my vote was not in favour of spending any money on bike lanes,” she wrote. “The Committee made a recommendation to Council and the motion was to have the final approval debated during budget deliberations in November.”

Coun. Andrew Knack said a lot of the costs for bike grids flow to traffic light upgrades, while Coun. Michael Janz said voters want more bike lanes.

“We had one of the most animated, anti-bike lane characters and a slate of folks who were spreading misinformation about cycling, about active transportation and many of them lost not just in Edmonton, but across the world,” he said.

Coun. Anne Stevenson said bikers need a physical, separated, “safe space” to choose cycling. A 2019 research paper from Melbourne’s Monash University found that motorists give cyclists an average of 27 cm less space on roads with a painted bike lane, compared to roads without a bike lane.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Another pro-lockdown premier has been re-elected

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Quebecers re-elected Francois Legault and the CAQ with a decisive majority last night, with the Conservatives getting a sizeable chunk of the vote but no seats. Legault’s government imposed lockdowns, vaccine passports, a curfew, and threatened the unvaccinated with fines – and he still won.

The same was true of Ontario Premier Doug Ford a few months ago, and Justin Trudeau won the 2021 election while threatening major restrictions on the unvaccinated.

True North’s Andrew Lawton questions whether people like restrictions, or whether there are just other issues at play. Also, University of Manitoba professor emeritus Rodney Clifton discusses his life at two former residential schools.

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4,500 Canadian Armed Forces members on military housing waitlist

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Thousands of Canadian soldiers and their families are on a waitlist for military housing, even sometimes resorting to shelter with their superior commanders. 

According to the Department of National Defence, approximately 4,500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces were awaiting a decision from the Canadian Forces Housing Agency as of July. 

Military housing has been identified as a chief concern given the army’s struggle to enlist new members. 

At CFB Esquimalt on Vancouver Island, 700 people are stuck without housing with some sailors living in their training quarters well beyond the duration of their training.

“Something that I have done out of empathy and concern for the position that our junior sailors find themselves in is to absorb those sailors into what are meant to be training and operational accommodations,” Navy Capt. Jeffrey Hutchinson told the Canadian Press.

Bases in Halifax, Ottawa, Kingston and elsewhere are facing similar scenarios. 

Soldiers have even been told to contact aid organizations like Habitat for Humanity due to a lack of military housing. 

“The challenge for the navy is that we recruit people from across Canada, and then we move them to two places in Canada that have among the highest housing cost rises and lowest vacancy rates,” Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee told the Canadian Press.

“Victoria has always been more expensive than Halifax. But over the past couple years, we have seen vacancy rates plummet in Halifax and prices go through the roof.”

“This is something where we’re hoping that the provinces and the federal government and municipalities get together and figure out: how do we create enough housing for all Canadians.”

Soldiers struggling to find housing comes at a time of an increasingly hot housing market throughout Canada with home prices reaching record levels in high-density places like the Greater Toronto Area or Metro Vancouver. 
The housing situation has led to 108,000 Ontarians abandoning their home province to find more affordable housing elsewhere according to recent Statistics Canada data.

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