For the past two years, Canadian travellers have eagerly waited for the return of normalcy to our travel/tourism sector. While the world begins to reopen and vacationers take to the skies, there is one Canadian airport still woefully lagging behind. Pearson airport has become a source of frustration, and international embarrassment, for Canada and Canadians alike. Conservative transportation critic Melissa Lantsman joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the situation at Pearson, why the government is letting it happen, and how she plans to stop it.
“Is Jean Charest a member of WEF?” a top Google search read – to which Charest said, “the answer is no.”
He then said he’d been to the WEF summit and claimed every other Quebec premier has as well.
Charest explained that he was at the WEF to “sit in a room from nine o’clock in the morning until seven o’clock at night,” and met “business leaders on a 45-minute rotation for three days.”
“I don’t go out skiing. It’s not about dinners. It’s all about business, business, business,” Charest added.
Charest then said, “if any of my ministers go to the WEF, fine,” adding “they have good judgment, they have a brain. They know what’s good or right.”
Charest also said that Canadians should not worry about the WEF, but rather the state of their country. “That’s where the real issue is, it’s not the WEF, it’s about Canada.”
Some Canadians have expressed worries about the WEF’s agenda and influence, as well as the group’s founder Klaus Schwab – who once boasted about having penetrated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet and promoted a “Great Reset,” which argues in favour of a new form of capitalism following the pandemic.
Despite accusations of “conspiracy theories” whenever concerns about the WEF or “Great Reset” are raised by Canadians, the WEF proudly discusses its initiatives and objectives online.
This is not the first time that Charest has dismissed concerns about the WEF. He previously said he refuses to “give credence to conspiracy theories about the WEF or otherwise.”
We refuse to give credence to conspiracy theories about the WEF or otherwise.
True North reached out to the Charest campaign for additional comments, but they did not respond in time for publication.
Poilievre promotes the conspiracy that the WEF controls our country. He's announced that he would fire officials who have attended, incl members of his campaign team.
This is nonsense. We need a serious leader, not a conspiracy theorist.
The Federal Court is proactively making documents submitted during a trial on the vaccine mandate for air travel publicly available after journalist Rupa Subramanya’s exclusive report on how the government body in charge of crafting mandates had no members with a medical background.
In a rare move, the official Twitter account for the Federal Court cited “interest in the matter” on Friday before sharing a link to the proceedings.
“Documents filed in Federal Court are public, unless there is a confidentiality Order. Due to the interest in the matter of Karl Harrison et al. v Attorney General, all documents have been posted to the Court’s website,” tweeted the Federal Court.
Documents filed in Federal Court are public, unless there is a confidentiality Order. Due to the interest in the matter of Karl Harrison et al. v Attorney General, all documents have been posted to the Court’s website: https://t.co/mJiOBqvIZg.
Court documents are public, but normally people have to request documents through a court’s registrar.
The Federal Court has traditionally only broadcast trial decisions in the past and not ongoing case documents. The most recent decision to be published was on May 30 concerning the collection of data by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
For the first time, the Federal Court has issued judicial authorizations for CSIS to retain Canadian datasets pursuant to section 11.13 of the CSIS Act. https://t.co/rLxy91zKx8pic.twitter.com/DS8AzDTjrx
In her report, Subramanya laid out how the shadowy Covid Recovery government panel was composed of political appointees and not actual scientists.
Among them was director-general Jennifer Little whose educational background included a bachelor’s degree in literature. Only one individual, Monique St.-Laurent had any semblance of training in public health.
While St-Laurent worked as a government employee at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), she is not a scientist.
The report sheds light on the lack of justification the Trudeau government used to impose some of the harshest mandates in the world including travel restrictions on the unvaccinated.
During testimony, Little also revealed that her unit was ordered by “very senior” officials in the Trudeau cabinet to implement the travel mandates and not PHAC. The panel also struggled to find data to back up the decision to impose the strict restrictions.
“To the extent that updated data exist or that there is clearer evidence of the users of other stakeholders of the transportation system, it would be helpful to assist Transport Canada [in] supporting its measures,” said one email acquired by Subramanya.
Even days prior to the travel mandates being imposed the panel was saying it required “something soon” to help justify the mandates.
During Little’s cross-examination Little stated that she didn’t “recall a direct recommendation” from PHAC or Health Canada to implement a travel mandate.
“Certainly, we worked very closely with (PHAC and Health Canada) in preparing the policy, which was supported by the government. So in terms of a written recommendation, for example, no. But as part of the policy-making process and the decision-making supporting process, certainly we would have been working – we were working very closely with our health colleagues,” said Little.
Alberta’s gas prices are falling after Premier Jason Kenney asked Canada’s competition bureau to investigate whether gas prices were being fixed.
The Alberta government removed its provincial fuel tax from gas earlier this year, but those savings appeared not to flow to consumers with costs remaining higher in Alberta than in provinces with traditionally steeper gas costs.
According to GasBuddy, the average price for regular gas in Edmonton was 151.4 cents per litre on Monday, while the lowest was 129.9.
That’s a significant drop from last month.
On July 19, the pump price for regular in Edmonton averaged 181.6 cents per litre.
The Premier is encouraged to see gasoline prices come down after his push for an investigation into gas price issues in Alberta, said the Premier’s executive director of communications Brock Harrison.
“Albertans currently pay no provincial taxes on gasoline and Premier Kenney is committed to making sure all Albertans benefit from this significant inflation fighting measure,” Harrison said in a statement to True North.
On July 22, Kenney released a statement saying the gas price advantage Albertans enjoyed compared to other provinces had disappeared “and it now appears Albertans are no longer benefiting from the tax cut.”
He announced that he asked the Competition Bureau of Canada to investigate potential price fixing between competitors — an illegal practice under the Competition Act. He also met with the Canadian Fuels Association to share his concerns.
The day of his announcement, regular gas in Toronto averaged about 168.9 cents per litre, but rose to 176.9 in Calgary and Edmonton. Albertans have traditionally paid less for gas than Ontarians due to lower taxes and proximity to refineries.
“With Alberta no longer collecting fuel taxes at the pump, Albertans deserve to know why they are suddenly paying as much for gasoline as motorists in Toronto when as recently as two weeks ago they were paying far less,” the Premier said at the time.
The drop in gas prices coincided with a drop in world oil prices. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped just below $90 USD per barrel in trading last week for the first time since February. In early June, WTI averaged $120 USD per barrel. On Thursday, WTI was $88.54.
The fuel tax break is tied to the cost of oil staying above $90 USD. If oil dips below that benchmark, the province would reinstate a portion of the tax.
The relief plan is slated to last until the end of September.
Travis Toews is running to become the next leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) and the Premier of Alberta. Toews served as Alberta’s Minister of Finance for three years prior to running for the leadership. Toews represents the riding of Grande Prairie-Wapiti.
When I served as Alberta’s Finance Minister, I thought a lot about our competitive advantages. Our competitive advantages aren’t just numbers. They matter because it means more families have jobs and livelihoods for future generations. But I always knew that our biggest advantages were not economic – they were cultural.
Alberta is a place of freedom, pluralism, vibrant democracy, and unity. These things matter more than any tax rate.
From the beginning, Alberta has been built on a substantive commitment to freedom and pluralism. Unlike other regions of the country that were more exclusively “English Protestant” or “French Catholic,” Alberta has always had a broader mix. We were one of the first regions in Canada to welcome large numbers of immigrants from all over the world, and we have built policies in education and other areas that substantively reflect our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Alberta’s success in this area wasn’t just about opening the door. Rather, it was about building substantive policies that have allowed people of all backgrounds and faiths to live freely and to pass their values onto their children without interference from government or from an overbearing majority.
It is far from certain that other provinces will adopt this approach or that this approach will continue to be dominant here at home. We see increasing attacks on freedom of conscience and pluralism taking many different forms.
One example of a policy that attacks freedom and pluralism is Bill 21 in Quebec. This bill has led to people being removed from teaching and other positions because they visibly practise their faith. Bill 21 is at odds with the values of this country and a provincial government that I lead would seek to intervene in the case against it.
Respectfully, Alberta’s approach is better.
Not only do we not fire teachers for their faith, but here we have faith-based alternative programs directly within public schools and we are adding information about Alberta’s diverse faith communities to the provincial curriculum. These reflect our substantive commitment to pluralism, diversity, and freedom.
Alberta’s commitment to pluralism as well as our economic vitality is what draws newcomers to this province and helps us to continue to grow and prosper.
Alberta’s share of the national population is growing while Quebec’s is declining, and it stands to reason that our different approach to pluralism is a contributing factor. Even for many francophone immigrants, choosing a place where they can freely practise their religion and benefit from greater choice in education is more important than predominance of language. When jurisdictions come to be seen as unwelcome to newcomers, they are headed for demographic decline.
There are some people in this leadership race who offer perpetual confrontation with the rest of Canada. My approach is for our province to lead within Canada, based on our values and our success. That means building coalitions and using the law to our advantage, instead of breaking coalitions and ignoring the law.
For Alberta, leading starts from understanding who we are and what has led to our success. A low tax environment, natural resources that we are actually prepared to use, a predictable regulatory environment, and an entrepreneurial well-educated population have helped Alberta’s economy to flourish. But we are more than just an economy.
As Premier, I will work to maintain and enhance our economic advantages but also our advantages in terms of freedom, pluralism and quality of life. There are politicians here at home who talk the talk about diversity and inclusion, but do not support choice and diversity in our education system.
I will always defend and will work to enhance our rich tapestry of educational choice, and work to make Alberta the destination of choice for high-performing newcomers of any creed, culture, ethnicity, or language. This has been and will continue to be a key source of our province’s strength.
Six months ago, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland froze the bank accounts and suspended the licenses of truckers protesting her government’s vaccine mandates. Now, she’s bragging about all the work she and Trudeau have done to “keep our trucking industry strong.” True North’s Andrew Lawton debunks the myth of Liberal support for essential workers.
Also, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra will have to appear before a parliamentary committee to field questions about Canada’s airport crisis. Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman joins the show to discuss.
Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest has pledged to implement a “low carbon fuel standard” – a policy that would tax the excess carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
In Charest’s environmental plan, Charest opposes the Trudeau government’s consumer carbon tax but pledges to “replace it with an industrial carbon price to slash emissions while giving provinces the flexibility to choose their path to emission reductions.”
Charest says his environmental plan will have “a heavier focus on industrial emissions while using other measures like the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.”
The “low carbon fuel standard,” a policy initially brought in by the BC government over a decade ago, would incentivize producers of fossil fuels to reduce the carbon intensity of their fuels by forcing companies to buy a government credit if the carbon intensity of their fuels is above the government standard.
The Trudeau government has already passed similar legislation to implement regulations called the “Clean Fuel Regulations,” which many critics have referred to as a “second carbon tax.” The regulations are set to come into effect in December 2023.
The Charest campaign told True North that the leadership candidate “(i)s offering a credible alternative which takes a diversified approach to clean energy technology, such as nuclear, hydrogen, and carbon capture including enhanced oil recovery.”
The campaign distanced themselves from the Trudeau government’s carbon taxes, claiming “Trudeau’s Clean Fuel Regulation has become a slush fund of taxpayer dollars for companies looking to subsidize clean fuel projects. This plus Trudeau’s Consumer Carbon Tax, which punishes hard-working families and farmers and does little to benefit the environment, proves we can’t tax and spend our way to net zero.”
Critics say that climate schemes to tax corporations for producing carbon will lead to the cost of production being passed down to consumers.
The president of Canadians for Affordable Energy Dan McTeague says BC’s “low carbon fuel standard” acts like another tax and drives up the province’s fuel prices by 16 cents per litre. The Trudeau government’s carbon tax adds an additional 11 cents per litre to Canadian fuel.
Franco Terrazzano of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says that Conservative leadership candidates must come out against Trudeau’s carbon tax, as well as the government’s second carbon tax. He says Charest is on the wrong side of this issue.
“Charest said he would bring in a ‘low carbon fuel standard’ that is ‘based on British Columbia’s policy.’ Make no mistake about it, that’s Charest supporting a second carbon tax,” wrote Terrazzano in the Toronto Sun.
Terrazzano points out that during the time the “low carbon fuel standard” has been law, B.C.’s emissions still increased while pointing out that the province is one of the most unaffordable places to live in the country.
“That’s another reason the province is one of the least affordable places on the planet. With sky-high gas prices, does the Conservative Party really want to align itself with the highest gas-tax jurisdiction in Canada?” says Terrazzano.
“Despite having the highest carbon tax in Canada for years and a second carbon tax to boot, emissions in B.C. have continued to increase.”
Buffalo immigration lawyer Matthew Kolken has filed asylum applications for at least half a dozen Canadians who hope to flee the country permanently due to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pandemic policies.
In an exclusive interview with True North, Kolken, who is a former director of the Board of Governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, explained that his clients fear being persecuted for being unvaccinated should they return to Canada.
“If you just don’t want to go back to Canada, you actually need to fear that you will be the victim of targeted persecution by the Government of Canada or by groups within the country that the government either can’t or won’t protect you from,” said Kolken.
“(The application) says they’ve either expressed some sort of political speech or a member of a particular social group like unvaccinated individuals that have faced persecution before either through seizing of bank accounts, or loss of employment, or forced quarantines, things of that nature.”
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, those seeking asylum must apply within one year of arriving in the country. Grounds for seeking asylum include suffering persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.
An application filed by Kolken in January for one client cited the Liberal government’s crackdown on the Freedom Convoy in February. To deal with the situation, Trudeau took the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act which enabled the government to freeze the bank accounts of protesters.
Kolken stated that his clients were also “scared to death” of being singled out by the Trudeau government for speaking out against vaccine mandates or have their employment opportunities limited.
“They’re scared to death that if they go back to Canada they will be singled out and isolated by the Government of Canada, they will be unable to travel,” said Kolken.
“They’re afraid they wouldn’t get onto a plane in Canada and they will be trapped within their own country and that their abilities to obtain employment are limited there.”
Although the Liberals lifted travel mandates which prohibited unvaccinated Canadians from boarding a plane and train domestically or abroad, public health officials have not ruled out re-introducing restrictions in the future.
“[If] COVID-19 takes a turn for the worst and we need to readjust and go back to a different regime, maybe similar to what we might have had before, we’re ready to do that,” said Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo in June.
Although Kolken has informed his clients that the likelihood for success is low the entire litigation process could take the better part of a decade.
“All of my applications have occurred within the last six months and it can take years for them to adjudicate the applications,” said Kolken.
“We have no idea what the long term success rate is but I counsel my clients over the phone, the applications that clearly are justifiable under the law and regulations. They set forth a bonafide non-frivolous case.”
He also warned those seeking asylum that the Safe Third Country Agreement which dictates asylum applications between Canada and the US could be used against them.
“The Safe Third Country Agreement cannot differentiate either country’s treaty obligations to accept asylees from one of the two contracting countries. You can’t say that because of the Safe Third Country Agreement that nobody who is a Canadian citizen can’t apply for asylum in the United States.”
United Conservative Party (UCP) MLA Angela Pitt has resigned as leadership candidate Rajan Sawhney’s campaign chair, citing a need to realign with her values and constituents.
Sawhney has dubbed herself as the antidote to frontrunner Danielle Smith, but her campaign has so far struggled to gain momentum.
It’s time to “step back into alignment with my constituents and my values,” Pitt wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
“I believe in a strong Alberta that will both stand up to Ottawa and respect individual freedoms.”
Sawhney has relentlessly attacked Smith in public statements and during leadership debates.
She’s been especially critical of Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Act, a proposal to present legislation to bar federal laws deemed harmful to Alberta. The plan is risky, hot-headed and it won’t be successful, Sawhney said.
The Calgary-North East MLA said the party needs more than a “talk show host,” a dig at Smith’s six years on the radio. She also said a Smith government would be “disunifying” for the party’s caucus.
A recent Leger poll found that Sawhney was polling at 0% among UCP supporters, while Smith was leading the seven candidates with 22% support.
The Sawhney campaign did not respond to a request for comment by publication deadline. Contacted by True North on Monday, Pitt declined to comment further.
Sawhney is a wonderful, smart and compassionate person, Pitt wrote in her resignation announcement.
“She loves Alberta, her community and works tirelessly for her constituents.”
Pitt also cited a need to refocus her efforts to serve her constituents on issues like Airdrie’s “inadequate urgent care facility and the EMS crisis” which “must be resolved and I am working hard to do that.”
“We must remember why we are here and what needs to be done. I will do my part to ensure the conservative movement in Alberta remains united as we rebuild a free and prosperous future for our province.”
Sawhney named Pitt as her campaign chair when she launched her campaign on June 13, saying Pitt has been a strong voice opposing government decisions in the last two years.
She also praised Pitt’s work reaching out to grassroots conservatives.
Sawhney has promised the electorate a public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic response, if elected. She’s also said issues with Alberta Health Services might be better resolved with a move back to regional boards.
UCP members will select a new leader on October 6.
Greg Tobin is the Digital Strategy Director for the Canada Strong & Proud Network.
What if I told you that the Liberal Party of Canada was becoming pro-oil and gas?
You’d probably think I’m pulling your leg. But based on recent statements and policy announcements from major players both inside and out of the government, a growing faction within the Liberal Party is changing its tune on resource development.
On August 3rd, speaking to a crowd in St John New Brunswick, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said this:
“Canada’s really lucky. We have a lot of energy. I think it is a political responsibility for us as a country to support our allies with energy security,”
This might read like a quote from Stephen Harper, but I assure you it is a bona fide, genuine article from the finance minister herself.
And she’s not the first Liberal Minister to make positive remarks about Canada’s best in the world energy sector, or how it can be the solution to the European energy crisis and the global emissions problem.
Natural Resource Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said back in May that the continued operation of the Line 5 pipeline was:“non-negotiable”. Line 5 goes from Alberta, through the states, and into Ontario and Quebec, supplying half of those provinces’ energy needs.
This same Minister oversaw the approval of the Bay-du-Nord offshore oil project in Newfoundland in July, and declared the need for Carbon Capture and Storage initiatives, an encouraging shift towards innovation and technology rather than just taxing and banning things.
Wilkinson even went on record to say, “At the end of the day, the cause of climate change is not fossil fuels themselves. It is the carbon emissions.”
It’s all part of a seemingly growing movement within the Liberal caucus to reverse course on the government’s war against Canada’s energy sector – one of the world’s best weapons to fight climate change.
And they’re not the only liberals who appear to be sounding alarm bells over the direction of this government.
Former Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said this back in June:
“So much time and energy was spent on finding ways to redistribute Canada’s wealth that there was little attention given to the importance of increasing our collective prosperity” he said.
And at a symposium in April of this year, former Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told a climate change conference that Greta Thunburg was a moral bully, and that Canadian oil and gas is the key to balancing democracy with environmental concerns.
Quite the thing to say. I’d even forgive you if you thought it came from someone like Jason Kenney or Scott Moe.
It seems a common-sense revolution, albeit a quiet one, is taking place behind some closed doors in the Liberal Party. But it makes us wonder if there isn’t some existential liberal angst brewing behind them. The faction in favour of Canadian oil and gas is butting heads with the faction still loyal to Prime Minister Trudeau’s “phase out” oil and gas agenda.
Despite his promises to Germany and other European leaders about energy security, the prime minister and his right-hand man Steven Guilbeault – the former radical stunt-maker charged with mischief turned Minister of the Environment – are still executing on their radical eco-agenda. Creating yet another set of unfair and arbitrary emissions targets on the energy sector.
Plus they still plan to impose a second carbon tax, that would make our existing gasoline crisis even worse. They even admit it will affect middle and lower income Canadians the hardest, as they struggle to balance being able to afford to drive to work or visit their parents in long term care homes, with paying the bills.
On top of that, they are moving forward on a plan to force farmers to reduce fertilizer use, as they desperately attempt to find ways to cut emissions in any sector they can. This latest hair-brained idea will of course end up meaning a lot less food being produced in Canada at a time when supply issues and inflation are affecting Canadians’ ability to feed their families.
No fuel, no food, and no money in the bank account for Canadians. Not exactly a winning message. This may explain the change in tone from some in the Liberal government who may still want a seat in the House of Commons after the next election.
Whether it is fears about re-electibility, the stark reality that set in in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, or the fact that most voters are gettingsick and tired of the economic crunch bearing down on them created by out-dated ideas coming out of the prime minister’s office – that some semblance of sanity is setting in for the Liberal Government is a welcome change.
It’s well past time for Canada to become a world leader in energy production and supply. We can displace not only dictator oil with our conflict-free energy, we can displace coal burning in places like China and India.
Let’s hope the faction in the Liberal party that wants to choose innovation, prosperity, and reliable energy for the future of the planet continues to grow.
