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Sunday, July 13, 2025

Firm with Pfizer, WEF ties played key role in Quebec’s Covid response: report

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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A global management consulting firm with ties to Pfizer played a key role in Quebec’s Covid response, according to a report by Radio-Canada, CBC’s French-language arm.

Documents obtained by Radio-Canada showed that McKinsey & Company, a firm with 30,000 consultants across 35 countries, contributed to several major pandemic decisions taken by François Legault’s government.

These include decisions around communication strategies, equipment purchases, masks, PCR testing and long-term care. The firm also helped the province with its reopening plan and economic relaunch strategy, as well as Quebec’s vaccination campaign.

The story was published just days before Quebec’s provincial election.

During the pandemic, other clients of McKinsey included the Ontario government, European governments, the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as large pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the two major Covid vaccines distributed in Quebec.

Liste de clients de McKinsey obtenue par une commission d'enquête du Sénat, en France.
A List of McKinsey clients obtained by a French Senate inquiry commission. SOURCE: SENATE OF FRANCE (photo displayed in Radio-Canada’s investigation)

McKinsey’s website also boasts about a strategic partnership with the World Economic Forum – in addition to stating the firm “supports the (WEF’s) mission of improving the state of the world.”

According to the investigation, McKinsey advised the Quebec government on its dealings with Pfizer, including on Quebec’s vaccine distribution agreement with the pharmaceutical giant. 

The firm also recommended that Quebec discuss with Pfizer vaccine storage and second doses.

In an end-of-term memorandum, McKinsey says it helped the Quebec government “improve its vaccination strategy and plan in light of best practices in the field.”

Radio-Canada’s report also noted that on the first day of the vaccine rollout, a McKinsey associate emailed Quebec’s vaccine campaign director, writing “congratulations on this first day that is going well. Here are my notes on follow-ups (action, responsibilities, deadlines). Feel free to make changes.”

According to the report, McKinsey could not disclose its other clients to the Quebec government.

An Apr. 6 2020 amendment to the contract between Quebec and McKinsey stated that “McKinsey may not inform or consult with the Client about McKinsey’s performing engagements for the Client’s competitors or other parties.” 

The firm also says it aims to avoid all situations that could result in conflicts of interest.

However, the Canadian Press noted the Senate of France warned that contracts with consulting firms made way for possible conflicts of interests. McKinsey had also been under a conflict of interest investigation by the US Congress after it advised both health regulators and big pharmaceutical companies.

When asked about the findings of the investigation, Legault defended the hiring of the global firm to help with managing the pandemic.

“It’s expensive, McKinsey, but, obviously, that’s in line with the service they provide,” said Legault, who claimed the province’s bureaucrats decided to give the firm sole-sourced contracts amid a public health emergency.

Legault also said that “ultimately, it was up to me and my team to make decisions, but I think the recommendations that we received from McKinsey helped us save lives.” 

The province’s opposition leaders reacted to the news with a critical tone – with a strong reaction coming from Conservative Party of Quebec leader Eric Duhaime.

“A firm with clients whose interests potentially conflict, a firm whose client is Pfizer itself! There is certainly the appearance of a conflict of interest and it is essential to get to the bottom of this,” said Duhaime in a press release.

“Who really managed the pandemic in Quebec? Were Mr. Legault and Mr. Dube the puppets of McKinsey?” 

Duhaime is calling for a public and independent inquiry into the province’s contracts with McKinsey.

According to Radio-Canada, McKinsey advisors cost the Quebec government $6.6 million, or $35,000 per day. The cost of McKinsey’s services for the reopening plan was $1.7 million, while their help with the economic relaunch cost $4.9 million.

When asked for comment by Radio-Canada regarding its investigation, McKinsey senior advisor Eric Gaudet said, “we have to respect our confidentiality agreements.”

It should be noted that the Legault government was criticized for its overall management of the pandemic. 

The province imposed some of the strictest restrictions in the western world, including lockdowns and curfews, as well as some of the harshest vaccine mandates in North America which covered previously deemed “essential” businesses like liquor and cannabis stores, as well as big box stores like Walmart and Costco.

However, despite these harsh and punitive measures, Government of Canada data shows Quebec has the highest Covid death rate in the country. 

LEVY: Toronto’s very own “Big Dig”

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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It seems accountability in Canada from all levels of government is at an all-time low.

In fact, the prevailing laissez-faire attitude in the country’s public sector has resulted in financial rewards for a job not done and a culture that shirks any and all responsibility for the notion of on-time delivery.

The best example of this has run through my own Toronto neighbourhood for the past 11-plus years.

The $9.1 billion Eglinton-Crosstown LRT build is fast earning the distinction of being another white elephant like the Boston “Big Dig.” 

The Boston tunnel project, labelled the most expensive in North America, went 190% over budget and finished nine years behind its target completion date of 1998.

The 19-kilometre Eglinton-Crosstown, already two years behind, was supposed to be completed this fall.

But I was not the least bit surprised to learn this past week that it is delayed yet again, for the third time, by as much as a year.

The project is allegedly being managed by Metrolinx and built by a consortium headed by Crosslinx Transit Solutions.

I say allegedly because there appears to be no oversight by this grossly overstaffed, bureaucratic government agency.

In 2020, when CEO Phil Verster’s contract was renewed, the Doug Ford government gave him a 46% increase (certainly not for a job well done.) Last year, according to the Ontario Sunshine list, he made a scandalous $838,960.

I’m sure that’s a great comfort to the number of businesses who’ve gone under due to Metrolinx’s mismanagement.

Crosslinx is an even bigger joke. At a heated town meeting four years ago, its president Bill Henry told an exasperated crowd they could expect to see Eglinton Ave. cleared of all construction paraphernalia by the end of 2019.

Too bad his salary doesn’t depend on deliverables like that.

Metrolinx officials have repeatedly indicated that the project is still on budget. I’ve come to realize that only means the consortium built in all kinds of cost contingencies for delays and the lack of work imperative.

The excuses given for the delays have ranged from Covid and legal issues to the latest – Crosslinx is having trouble digging under key stations with an existing subway, most especially Yonge and Eglinton.

In early July, Metrolinx spokesman James Wattie told me that “by the end of the summer” road restoration and landscaping will be finished and “there will be new wider sidewalks, street furniture and bike lanes.”

Really? Perhaps he was referring to a project in another city. 

Living close to the construction has afforded me a window into the sheer inefficiency of the build. We have endured road closures, continuous detours, unsafe road configurations and huge trucks rumbling down our street together with speeding cars for 11-plus years. 

We continually see employees of various subcontractors standing on the job site looking at their phones or drinking coffee. Some even sit in their cars taking up precious parking spots on our street watching videos on their phones.

In September alone, I had three flat tires as a result of the terrible condition of the roads – two on my car and one on my bike.

The station job site – which has made a complete mess of our neighbourhood – is never manned beyond 4 p.m. each day and certainly not on weekends or holidays.

The station is one of 25 being built along the line. The endless construction has completely changed the fabric of the neighbourhood as I’ve watched store after store go out of business and others completely hidden by construction hoarding and barely passable sidewalks.

As is regularly the case, our municipal and provincial politicians have been virtually silent about the boondoggle, only piping up to try to score political Brownie points when another delay is announced.

For his part, Mayor John Tory issued a recent statement indicating he’d be reaching out to Metrolinx to convey his “frustration” with the length of the project – as if that will do any good whatsoever.

It’s as if this lack of work ethic and accountability is perfectly acceptable and that those responsible could care less.

In a September 23 statement on the Metrolinx website, Verster claimed they’re doing everything they can to hold Crosslinx accountable and get the work done quickly.

As if.

A flyer delivered to our home this week from Metrolinx claims they’ll be closing the major north-south intersection near our street (yet again) to conduct “permanent utility installations and road and sidewalk restoration.”

The flyer says it may be a month. 

Or maybe not.

The construction will end at 5 p.m. each day, the flyer says and the closure “may be longer or shorter than expected.”

“Construction may not take place each day of the closure period,” the flyer adds.

So much for Verster’s (ridiculous) claims of accountability and getting the job done quickly.

Still why should he care?

He gets an outrageous salary no matter what.

Air Canada blasts Trudeau government, says restrictions “were not justified by science”

By
Andrew Kozak
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Source: Wikimedia

Air Canada released a scathing statement following the government’s decision to lift remaining Covid-19 travel restrictions, claiming the “measures were not justified by science.”

“Air Canada welcomes the removal of these restrictions, acknowledging that air travel is safe and that the measures were not justified by science,” wrote Air Canada Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President Craig Landry. 

“We believe it will greatly facilitate travel, help to continue stabilizing the country’s air transport sector and support Canada’s economy.” 

Landry urged the government to continue its forward momentum to improve security and customs at airports. 

“Lessons learned during the pandemic should now be applied to streamlining the air transport system in Canada and to enact further reforms,” wrote Landry. “This includes improving processes whose weaknesses were exposed by Covid.”

Landry emphasized that the relaxed measures are expected to advance Air Canada services back to pre-pandemic levels. He noted, “significant improvements in on-time performance as compared to earlier in the summer.”

“Daily flight completion is now over 98%, as well as baggage handling performance that has fully restabilized.”

The Trudeau government was heavily criticized during the summer due to massive delays that hindered service at Canada’s busiest airports. Canada’s airports have some of the worst delay and cancellation rates in the world.

At the height of the summer, former Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Duncan Dee claimed in an interview with Andrew Lawton that it took four times longer to process travellers when compared to pre-pandemic levels because of the government’s travel restrictions. 

In August, it was revealed that Transport Minister Omar Alghabra knew that federal security was short-staffed by 25% last spring and that serious delays were expected. At the time, Alghabra made no public mention of short staffing being responsible for delays experienced by air travellers, even blaming travellers themselves. 

“We are seeing an increased demand and appetite for people who want to travel,” Alghabra said June 6. “The supply is trying to catch up.”

Taiwan calls on Canada to deepen economic and militaristic ties

By
Noah Jarvis
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Taiwan is calling on the Trudeau government to deepen Canada-Taiwan relations with militaristic and economic contributions so that the island nation can head off growing aggression from Communist China. 

Taiwan’s foreign affairs minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu praised last week’s joint mission between Canada and the United States, in which a Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan strait to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korea.

Minister Wu made clear that Canada’s armed support directly contributes to Indo-pacific security, saying that the Canadian mission “shows Canadian interests in maintaining peace and stability in this area.”

“We hope the Canadian government can continue to do that, to show it is taking actions to make sure the emphasis on peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is backed up by action.”

One of the top ways Taiwan says Canada can help them defend their autonomy against the Chinese regime is to establish a Canada-Taiwan trade deal. 

Since 1970, Canada has adopted a policy of strategic ambiguity concerning diplomatic relations with Taiwan in order to please China, as they view Taiwan as a rebellious breakaway province whose rightful ruler is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

In recent months, the CCP has amped up their hostility towards Taiwan as U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited the Taiwanese president, followed by a U.S. delegation of Congressmen weeks later.

The trips to Taiwan prompted the People’s Liberation Army to launch live-fire military exercises – firing Dongfeng missiles into the Taiwan strait, flying warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace and deploying warships around the island.

Despite this, Canada and Taiwan have been in talks to pursue a foreign investment protection agreement (FIPA) to ensure legal protection for Canadians and Taiwanese looking to invest in one another’s country, encouraging more trade. 

Minister Wu says that Canada agreeing to a FIPA would be a “big item” for the Taiwanese, as FIPAs are usually the precursor to a free-trade agreement between countries. 

Such an agreement would hamper China’s concerted effort to exclude Taiwan from the international community, as only a handful of countries formally recognize Taiwan and are excluded from international venues like the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Countries that do not formally recognize Taiwan and instead abide by the One China Policy have been coming to the island nation’s defence amid mounting aggression from the CCP.

The G7 countries collectively issued a statement condemning China’s hostility towards China, asking the CCP to refrain from destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region. 

In an interview on 60 minutes, U.S. President Joe Biden said that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, shattering decades of geostrategic ambiguity. 

Emission cap on energy sector will impact quality of life for First Nations: Indigenous group

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The head of a major First Nations natural resources group is blasting the Liberal government’s 42% emissions cap on the oil and gas sector as a “political statement” that will inevitably hurt the quality of life of Indigenous people. 

Executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network Robert Merasty said that the cap doesn’t take into account how much the energy industry has contributed to bringing Indigenous communities out of poverty. 

“Nobody supports the protection, the stewardship of our Mother Earth more than our Indigenous communities…that’s paramount. But we also have to address the dilemma of how we address the poverty,” said Merasty. 

“It’s really (been) an issue of government dictating what must be done instead of sitting and discussing and asking what should be done. That’s the fundamental approach here.”

According to Merasty, the federal government has not consulted with the wide range of views present in the Indigenous community with regard to what role the oil and gas sector can play in their societies. 

“That’s what I disagree with: Political people making their own statements without consulting with … rights holders… In our Indigenous communities, we are rights holders. We have, absolutely, certain rights that are identified within the Constitution of Canada. You need to have meaningful talks,” said Merasty. 

“So let’s sit down and talk about what’s digestible in terms of addressing our climate change. Let’s sit down and talk about how do we do it together. Because in the midst of an energy crisis that Canada is having, we can’t simply shut off our energy productions and (be) purchasing our energy from other countries. That does not make economic sense.” 

Liberal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault disputed Merasty’s assertions saying that the government has consulted Indigenous groups enough. 

“We did consult in preparing this plan. It’s not something that we did on our own in Ottawa. There was a lot of consultation. I’m hearing from some Indigenous representatives that there are too much consultations that we’re doing right now on environmental issues or climate change,” said Guilbeault. 

Others including the First Nations Financial Management Board have also spoken out over the federal carbon cap. 

“GHG reporting will likely have a negative effect directly and indirectly on the Indigenous economy, but, at the same time, it will not include reporting on the value of Indigenous stewardship of traditional territories or “natural capital.” The value of this stewardship is far in excess of GHG emission reporting penalties and additional costs that Indigenous businesses, individuals and governments may face,” wrote the group in February. 

BONOKOSKI: CBC says its reporters are objective. Really?

By
Mark Bonokoski
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Critics of the CBC have long complained of the public broadcaster’s liberal bias — both involving its seeming love affair with the federal Liberal party, as well as its progressive ideals in general.

It’s one of the reasons Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s threat to defund the CBC — which presently receives an annual $1.3 billion stipend from the government—received such overwhelming applause on the campaign trail for the Tory leadership.

The state broadcaster was reportedly considering removing the supposedly age-old requirement for its journalists to be objective.

The trouble is that the story, published in the National Post, was a load of malarkey, and embarrassment at its publication could have been avoided simply by reaching out to the CBC for comment.

But, alas, no. It’s almost hilarious, but a case in point?

In an interview between the CBC’s Vassy Kapelos and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly last week, it became evident that Joly didn’t know what she was talking about.

The subject was the ongoing wave of violent street demonstrations in Iran against the country’s Islamic religious police, a force notorious for its heavy-handed enforcement of mandatory headscarves on Iranian women.

Although Joly promised sanctions against Iran, she hesitated on who specifically would be sanctioned and appeared not to know that Canada already lists Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

But Joly was not called out on it, whereas she most likely would have been so if she had appeared on a private broadcasting network like CTV or Global.

Under CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices, the network’s reporters are forbidden from expressing personal opinions or partisan leanings.

“Our value of impartiality precludes our news and current affairs staff from expressing their personal opinions on matters of controversy on all our platforms,” it reads.

The sentiment is mentioned again in a section governing the use of social media for CBC employees. (Emphasis mine)

“The expression of personal opinions on controversial subjects, including politics, can undermine the credibility of CBC journalism and erode the trust of our audience,” it reads. “Therefore, we refrain from expressing such opinions in profiles or posts for any account which identifies or associates us with CBC/Radio-Canada.”

The policy has also taken the form of corporation-wide memoranda.

After the re-election of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper in 2011, for example, employees were reminded not to publicly express any disappointment at the outcome.

Removing objectivity requirements for CBC staff — especially for its visible minorities — has been a demand of the corporation’s primary union for more than two years now.

In 2020, at the height of Black Lives Matter demonstrations stemming from the police killing of George Floyd in the United States, the Canadian Media Guild issued a letter to CBC’s senior management urging the broadcaster to “dismantle structural racism” and diminish the power of “white editors.”

The letter said that objectivity requirements effectively forbade CBC employees from speaking “freely about their identities and lived experiences” and called on managers to stop disciplining reporters who defend “their humanity or that of others.”

“Just as an LGBTQ employee should never be told they can’t attend Pride, a Black employee should never be told they can’t publicly support Black Lives Matter, and an Indigenous employee should never be told they can’t attend a MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) rally,” it read.

The problem with all this, of course, will be even more obvious.

Liberal and liberal bias, if only because both are so deeply seated in the corporation’s DNA.

The CBC must therefore be careful of what it wishes for.

Because it will likely come back to bite it in its financial assets.

Young trustee candidates hope to improve education in Ontario

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Ontario school board trustee candidates Cameron Bonesso and Robert Kolosowski are running in this year’s municipal election with the hope of improving the quality of education.

The province’s education system is currently facing several challenges, including staff shortages and students who are behind following two years of pandemic disruptions.

True North spoke with Bonesso and Kolosowski to discuss their visions – and to get their thoughts on activists wanting to make masks mandatory again as well as dress code policies for educators amid a controversy involving an Oakville transgender teacher wearing massive prosthetic breasts in class.

Cameron Bonesso

Bonesso, who heads a political consultancy firm, is running for the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) in Zone 10. 

His platform includes advocating for an increase to mental health funding, improving special education, lobbying the government for smaller class sizes and ensuring education equality.

“My top priority is… an increased funding focus for mental health programs not only for students, but staff as well,” Bonesso told True North.

He added that children returning to the classroom in a safe environment, both mentally and physically, is very important.

On masks, Bonesso said he does not think it is the role of trustees to politicize public health. He added that he personally does not wear a mask and believes students and parents should be free to make their own decisions when it comes to masking. 

As for dress codes for educators, Bonesso told True North that “teachers definitely need to have professional standards and those standards should definitely be applied universally across the board.”

He added that he believes the OCSB’s current professional standards regarding dress codes are adequate.

Robert Kolosowski

Kolosowski, who has a background in business management and economics, is running for the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) in the zone covering Richmond Hill Wards 1, 2 and 4.

In his platform, Kolosowski talks about teaching students mental health strategies as well as having a greater emphasis on the teaching of personal finance, computer skills and critical thinking. Additionally, he wants to see teachers hired based on merit and qualifications rather than seniority.

Kolosowski also wants to see the board’s ban on police officer liaisons reversed, and opposes calls to end the playing of O Canada in classrooms. Furthermore, he is against political agendas being imposed on students.

“I believe our schools need to be a place where students learn to think critically and are able to discuss various perspectives on issues,” Kolosowski told True North. “Schools should not impose political views on students or teachers.” 

“I will focus on what unites us, not on what divides us. I will have zero tolerance (for) racism, identity politics and discrimination, and I will reject the divisive calls to remove O Canada from schools.”

When asked about those wanting to reimpose mask mandates, Kolosowski said, “the public health science is clear: Covid-19 is not going to disappear, no matter how many times we close or restrict schools.”

As for dress codes, Kolosowski says that both teaching staff and students should be subject to one – adding that children deserve positive role models as well as classroom environments that are free of sexual harassment and public nudity.

Ontario’s students have been hit badly by the pandemic, with a Leger poll taken last year seeing that one in five Ontario parents felt their children fell behind during the public health crisis while lacking faith that their school had a plan for them to catch up.

In response to the delays in learning caused in part by long school closures, the Ford government put forward a “plan to catch up” which includes tutoring support and mental health funding.

Ontario school board elections will take place on Oct. 24, in conjunction with municipal elections. Voters are eligible to vote for trustees running for the board they choose to divert the school portions of their property taxes to.

More information about voting for school board trustees can be found here.

The Alberta Roundup | Provinces push back against Trudeau’s gun grab

By
Rachel Parker
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This week, the Alberta government announced that it will intervene in ongoing challenges of the Trudeau government’s firearms bans and take action to prevent Ottawa from conscripting Alberta RCMP officers to collect those firearms. It looks like the Saskatchewan and Manitoba government may also follow suit.

Unsurprisingly, a CBC reporter rushed to the defence of Prime Minister Trudeau by posting a disingenuous tweet about legal guns. As a result, the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights clapped back at the state broadcaster for trying to “instill fear” about law-abiding gun owners.

Plus, the UCP leadership race will come to an end next week as members will elect a new leader and new premier.

These stories and more on The Alberta Roundup with Rachel Emmanuel!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALBERTA ROUNDUP

GUEST OP-ED: The government’s defence of their carbon tax is indefensible

By
Gregory Tobin
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Greg Tobin is the Digital Strategy Director for the Canada Strong & Proud Network.

We’ve had a lot of dingers come out of the halls of Parliament since Justin Trudeau became prime minister in 2015.

“The budget will balance itself.”

“I don’t think about monetary policy.”

“The government took on debt so Canadians wouldn’t have to.”

Maybe you can chalk them up to speaking off the cuff, or being caught at a bad moment. Sure. We all have our bad days.

But sometimes the Trudeau Liberals really have no excuse.

And that is the case with the latest statement coming from our CN-tower-climbing Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, on the carbon tax. He managed to reach a whole new level of government new-speak which would have George Orwell turning over so fast in his grave you could generate electricity off of it.

For some background: the Conservative opposition is advocating for the government to pause any further increases to the harmful carbon tax which has been costing Canadians severely at the pump and on most other bills for a long time now. 

The Conservatives are joined in this effort by advocacy groups, as well as provincial governments across Canada, including Newfoundland & Labrador Liberal Premier Andrew Furey.

The government’s response to Canadians begging for help was swift: “No.”

Among the many “no’s” given to Canadians from various members of the government, the most interesting and mind-boggling came in the form of a video response posted to Twitter by the aforementioned Steven Guilbeault. He said the following:

“By trying to cancel the price on pollution today, Pierre Poilievre has made his priorities clear; he would make it free to pollute again, while taking away hundreds of dollars from Canadian families.”

It is really one of the most out-of-touch statements I’ve ever seen from a government minister.

Guilbeault is trying to argue that by cutting the carbon tax, it will somehow result in Canadians having less money.

This isn’t an off-the-cuff statement. He wrote this out, recorded this video, and hit send on the tweet. It went through too many possible moments of sober second thought to be an accident.

His logic, of course, is that you will no longer get the carbon tax rebate money if the tax is clawed back.

Yes, Minister. That’s the whole point. Canadians would get to keep more of their own money.

The Parliamentary Budget Office confirmed earlier this year that most Canadians owe more than they ever get back in carbon taxes. So instead of putting cash into the carbon tax machine, hearing it buzz, churn, strain, and then spit out a cheque back at me – here’s an idea – you could just make gas more affordable at the pump.

And we know that method works.

It was because provinces like Ontario and Alberta cutting their taxes that gas prices dropped, and because of that – Canada’s inflation rate has gone down for two months in a row now.

But anyone with any idea of how the economy works wasn’t surprised. The carbon tax drives up the price of gas and heating liquids – that’s its singular purpose. As a result, it then drives up the price of everything that requires oil and gas to make, refine, store, or transport goods across our great big country.

It is the epitome of the elitist and outdated ideology coming from the eco-radical wing of the government. The golden calf of “ban, block, tax and shut down” hasn’t worked. Global emissions are only going up. And the demand for energy is going up with it.

What Canada should be doing is promoting and supporting our energy industry by getting liquified natural gas to world markets that that are begging us for it, getting countries off burning coal and wood and dung, and helping our allies who are now going bankrupt paying for the energy produced by windmills.

Add to that Canada investing in carbon technologies to make it as low emissions as possible and you’ve got a world-class solution that fixes a lot of problems.

Instead, we’re stuck with carbon taxes, which do nothing but punish people for living their lives, and a government sitting on its hands, handcuffed to a divisive eco-radical agenda.

But for Guilbeault and Trudeau, it seems they don’t care. They get to pretend to be climate heroes while clutching their pearls at anyone who dissents from their view.

They know how much money they’re taking in from the carbon tax, and don’t want to give it up.

With the ongoing and worsening cost-of-living crisis crushing low and middle-income Canadians – something is going to have to give. Let’s just hope it’s the divisive and archaic ideology of Trudeau and Guilbeault – and not Canadian families. 

LNG pipeline brought thousands of workers to BC community

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Thousands of workers have flocked to the northern British Columbia community of Kitimat where LNG Canada ramps up its construction with the eventual goal of exporting natural gas by the middle of the decade.

LNG Canada Chief Executive Jason Klein called the period an “exciting time” for workers and residents. 

“It’s an exciting time to be here,” said Klein. 

About 70% of the project has been completed since it began construction in 2018. At its height, the pipeline will require up to 7,500 rotating workers – nearly matching Kitimat’s population of 8,500. 

Workers are being accommodated at Cedar Valley Lodge where room for 4,500 people has been set up.

“We’re having really in-depth conversations about Phase 2. I’m confident the world needs more Canadian LNG,” said Klein.

According to BC Liberal MLA Ellis Ross the economic activity of the pipeline’s construction has helped the Haisla Nation residents. 

“The Haisla Nation has its own money, and we’ve built a youth centre,” said Ross. 

Ross also noted how the world needs Canadian energy more than ever referencing the ongoing crisis in Europe as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“Europe is in an energy crisis. But the rest of the world – those that understand energy – is laughing at Canada,” said Ross. 

In LNG Canada’s latest mid-year update, the company noted that over $3.7 billion in procurement and contracts have been awarded to BC companites with $3 billion of the funds going towards local and Indigenous ones. 

“Our pace of progress has increased. Right now, approximately 5,000 Canadians are employed at our site in Kitimat. That number will continue to grow as we reach peak construction this year and next,” wrote Klein in July. 

“And as we prepare for the next 40 years of safe, reliable operations, we’re offering hundreds of long-term roles to local British Columbians. We’re now recruiting the people who will run and maintain our facility, for decades to come.”

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