To the surprise of no one, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won another majority government in yesterday’s Ontario election. Ford’s victory, which triggered the resignations of both the Liberal and NDP leaders, came after a largely uneventful campaign, but one that followed two years of controversial vaccine passports and lockdowns in Ontario. Despite the upstart Ontario Party and New Blue Party amassing a combined 4.5% of the vote, Ford increased his majority.
What do you think this means for the future of conservatism and conservative campaigning?
True North’s Andrew Lawton, a former (losing) PC candidate, shares his thoughts and chats about it with fellow former candidate Sue-Ann Levy.
Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promising to cap oil and gas sector emissions to reach net zero by 2050, his federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan is now saying that Canada has a major shortage of workers in the oil and gas industry.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, O’Regan made the remarks during a House of Commons natural resources committee meeting in response to a report warning that the Trudeau government’s emissions plan would cost the country 170,000 jobs.
“We are not transitioning jobs out of the sector,” O’Regan said. “To be honest with you, and this certainly has been my focus since I’ve taken on this new role as labour minister, our biggest problem is we don’t have enough workers.”
O’Regan singled out the oil and gas sector for being particularly plagued by a labour shortage.
“We don’t have enough workers in just about any industry in this country but most particularly and poignantly we don’t have enough workers in the energy industry and in the oil and gas industry,” said O’Regan.
Since Trudeau was first elected in 2015, his government pledged to provide a “just transition” for oil and gas sector workers into more sustainable jobs.
O’Regan addressed the pledge, saying, “(I know of) the deep-seated anxiety amongst oil and gas workers whenever the words ‘just’ and ‘transition’ are mentioned.”
During the committee meeting, NDP MP Charlie Angus challenged O’Regan for his contradictory positions.
“Why are we wasting time with the public telling them that you’re going to have this big just transition plan?” said Angus.
O’Regan replied that having enough oil and gas workers and lowering emissions were not mutually exclusive goals.
“My biggest concern is making sure workers of this country are in place to make sure they do the work that we need them to do which is to lower emissions.”
Despite O’Regan’s position, the Trudeau government has been mulling legislation aimed at transitioning workers out of the oil and gas industry. In November of last year, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that the legislation would be ready “in the next couple of months.”
Liberal environment minister Steven Guilbeault also stated in an interview earlier this year that he wanted to phase out fossil fuels in Canada entirely within two years.
“My timeline is two years,” Guilbeault said. “So in the next two years, more stringent methane regulations, zero-emission vehicle standards, net-zero grid by 2035, cap on oil and gas and obviously phasing out fossil fuels – all of these things must be in place in the coming eighteen months.”
The public inquiry into the Trudeau government’s implementation of the never-before-used Emergencies Act is asking for access to information protected by “cabinet confidence.”
The Public Order Emergency Commission said Wednesday that they have requested the government disclose all information that led to the decision – including all material covered by cabinet confidence and other rules of secrecy.
The Trudeau government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 gave police and financial institutions unprecedented powers to crack down on Freedom Convoy protests surrounding Parliament Hill. These powers included compelling banks to freeze accounts, bringing in aid from RCMP and surrounding police services, declaring the protests “unlawful” and creating no-go zones in downtown Ottawa and around key infrastructure.
Judge Paul Rouleau, who was appointed in April to lead the public inquiry, said they are starting by asking Trudeau’s cabinet to explain why it declared a public emergency and to outline the decisions that led up to it.
“It is the government that must explain its decision,” the commission’s documents state. “In light of this, the commission has asked the government to disclose to the commissioner the information, including the advice and information that may be protected by cabinet confidence or any applicable privilege, that led to the cabinet’s decision to declare an emergency.”
Despite having used cabinet confidence to hide certain information about his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was looking forward to cooperating with the commission.
“We’re going to continue to work to provide the information necessary to the commission,” Trudeau said when asked by the Star about the inquiry’s request Wednesday. “We’ll make decisions based on the questions and the conditions being asked.”
Opposition parties have urged the government to waive cabinet confidence to make public all information it used to invoke the act.
Speaking on a recent Star podcast, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said, “there needs to be transparency and we’re going to do what we can to co-operate.”
The mandatory deadline to submit a final report – whose requirement is embedded in the Emergencies Act – is one year after the act was invoked. The legislation requires a joint parliamentary committee and a public inquiry to review what happened whenever it is used.
The inquiry has said that meeting this deadline will be difficult, however.
“The commission is not aware of any Canadian precedent for a public inquiry of this breadth being conducted over this short a time,” the inquiry said in a statement. “It is important and in the public interest that the commission fulfill its mandate in a comprehensive, fair and transparent manner.”
Conservative MP Dane Lloyd said, “Canadians need to be reassured that the Trudeau government won’t cover up the truth and that Canadians will get the answers they deserve from this inquiry.”
According to the inquiry’s documents, the commission will attempt to “eliminate unnecessary steps” and take “creative procedural approaches to streamline the investigation process.”
Public hearings from the Public Order Emergency Commissions are set to begin in September.
Quebec premier Francois Legault is being accused of trying to buy votes after promising to send a second round of payments to Quebecers if he is re-elected this fall.
“By the end of the year 2022, we will send a new cheque — if we’re elected, obviously,” Legault said this week.
Earlier this year, the Legault government gave a $500 cheque to every adult Quebecer earning less than $100,000 annually. The purpose of the cheques – according to the government – was to help offset inflation, and came as part of the 2022 provincial budget.
With the Quebec election coming in October, Legault’s cheques have been seen by some as an attempt to buy votes – accusations that have now grown with the premier’s promise to send out another round of payments if he is re-elected.
Conservative Party of Quebec leader Eric Duhaime responded to Legault’s promise, stating that his own vote is not for sale.
“If François Legault really wanted to help Quebecers cope with inflation, he would suspend the gas tax and lower our taxes,” said Duhaime, adding that Legault “prefers the paternalistic approach of promising you a $500 cheque if you vote for him.”
“It is simply indecent and unworthy of a premier.”
Quebec Liberal MNA Marc Tanguay said that “François Legault thinks that he can buy votes,” adding that he thinks most Quebecers do not want that type of vision for their province.
Québec Solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois also criticized Legault’s promise to send cheques, and asked why he isn’t instead doing more to tackle the causes of higher prices.
“Legault is dealing with the cost-of-living crisis like we’re dealing with potholes. He’s just patching holes,” said Nadeau-Dubois.
Meanwhile, Parti Québécois MNA Pascal Bérubé said that he had never seen such a thing in his entire political career.
“Vote CAQ, receive later. It’s appalling,” he said. “Are we trying to buy Quebecers?”
“We cannot say to Quebecers who are suffering: ‘We know that you are suffering, but you have to elect us to have access to money.’ That is not right.”
Legault’s treasury board president Sonia LeBel defended the promise and denied that the premier’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government is trying to buy votes.
“We’re not doing that. We are responsible and we have a strategy to address a situation that’s real for Quebec,” said Lebel.
Lebel reiterated the claim that the cheques are a way to help people with the rising cost of living caused by inflation, saying people can spend the money as they best see fit.
Despite the government’s claims, experts have warned payouts would instead have a reverse effect and make problems with inflation worse.
“If the whole purpose is to counter inflation, this isn’t gonna solve it,” Concordia University senior economics lecturer Moshe Lander told CBC News.
According to Lander, Legault’s cheque scheme is “an election approach.” He added that “it clearly indicates that something is coming up where they want to buy our votes.”
“If the government comes in and hands us a cheque, it’s very unlikely that we’re gonna save that cheque. We are gonna race to the local mall and spend it as fast as we can.” said Lauder.
“That’s putting even more spending into an economy that’s already overheating, that’s already having a difficult time getting goods on the shelves and keeping them there, so this is just gonna make that all the more difficult.”
It’s not just in Quebec where blanket government cheques have been seen as a contributing factor to inflation. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the United States’ stimulus packages may have led to a 3% rise in inflation in 2021.
Inflation in the United States was at 8.26% in Apr. 2022. In Canada, inflation currently sits at 6.8% – a 31-year high.
The Quebec provincial election is set to take place on Oct. 3. Voters will pass judgment on Legault’s record as premier, which has included the imposition of some of the toughest Covid restrictions in the Western world – measures that also failed to prevent Quebec from having the highest Covid death rate in Canada.
The legacy media has a double standard when it comes to covering protests in Canada. According to the media, protesters on the political right are “angry and racist” but protesters on the left are righteous and worthy of interviews. Plus, a recent protest in Brampton debunks the media’s fake and dishonest narrative of “angry and racist” protests targeting leftist politicians.
Plus, a Liberal MP delivers a speech in the House of Commons celebrating “vaginas and vulvas,” but doesn’t say “woman” once in her entire grotesque speech. But this isn’t the first time the Trudeau government has failed to define what a woman is.
And amid alarming stats that Canada’s fertility rate is declining, the legacy media celebrates and claims “it’s better for the society and the planet.”
It’s Fake News Friday on The Candice Malcolm Show! Candice and True North producer Harrison Faulkner discuss this week’s worst examples of fake news in the legacy media.
Conservative MP and leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre has tabled a private members bill to end vaccine mandates imposed by the Trudeau government and to ban them from coming back in the future.
ThePrevention of Government-imposed Vaccination Mandates Act(Bill C-278) would make a number of changes to Canadian law.
I just introduced my Private Member's Bill: Scrap all vaccine mandates & ban any and all future vaccine mandates.
Give people back their medical freedom & control of their lives.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) June 2, 2022
The bill comes as millions of Canadians who have not gotten Covid shots continue to be prevented from boarding domestic flights and trains, with many also barred from leaving the country.
Unvaccinated federal public servants also continue to be placed on unpaid leave, even if they were working from home.
Poilievre’s bill would amend the Financial Administration Act to take away the power to make Covid shots a term or condition of employment for federal government positions. A similar change would be made to the Canada Labour Code.
The amendment to the Financial Administration Act would also prevent the government from terminating a civil servant – as well as suspending or reducing their pay – solely for being unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Furthermore, Bill C-278 would amend the Aeronautics Act to forbid regulations, notices, orders, security measures or emergency directions that deny people the right to board solely based on their vaccination status.
Similar amendments would be made to the Railway Safety Act and the Canada Shipping Act.
“Trudeau’s unscientific restrictions and mandates must be repealed,” said Poilievre in a news release on Thursday. “He is dividing Canadians, violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and using divide–and-conquer politics to marginalize people while countries around the world move on from the pandemic.”
The Trudeau government’s air and rail vaccine mandates are some only domestic vaccine mandates remaining in Canada, with British Columbia the last province to end its vaccine passports on Apr. 8. Many countries have also completely removed vaccination or testing requirements for domestic and international travel.
“This baseless discrimination continues despite Trudeau’s own Public Health Officer having said ‘we need to get back to normalcy’,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leadership frontrunner also said that he has heard multiple stories on the campaign trail about how vaccine mandates have negatively affected Canadians.
“I hear tragic stories from working people, suffering because of these cruel mandates. Whether it is the son who cannot visit his dying mother two provinces over, or the federal employee who has been out of a job for months, people have lost control of their lives.”
Poilievre and other Conservative MPs and senators have been openly critical of government-imposed vaccine mandates, especially after the end of Erin O’Toole’s leadership that came amid the historic Freedom Convoy demonstrations in Ottawa.
The Conservatives have tried on several occasions in the House of Commons to put an end to federal travel mandates and restrictions. These efforts have failed, however, with the NDP giving the Trudeau Liberals enough votes to strike them down.
Ontario voters have given Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives (PCs) a second term, with another majority government of 83 seats and 40% of the popular vote.
Ford’s historic victory saw the PCs picking up seats in non-traditional PC ridings, such as Windsor, Essex, Timmins and Brampton.
While it was a night to remember for Ford, the same can’t be said for the Ontario NDP and Liberals as both Andrea Horwath and Steven Del Duca stepped down from their leadership posts on Thursday evening.
During Horwath’s concession speech, the NDP leader told supporters that she has decided to step down from her leadership role.
“It’s time for me to pass the baton; to pass the torch,” said Horwath. “It makes me sad, but it makes me happy because our team is so strong right now.”
The Ontario Liberals were decimated for the second election in a row, with Del Duca losing his own riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge. The Liberals also failed to obtain official party status. 12 seats are needed to have official party status; the Liberals only have 8 after Thursday’s election.
New Blue Party leader Jim Karahalios and his wife Belinda Karahalios, as well as Ontario Party leader Derek Sloan and his MPP Rick Nicholls have all lost their races. #OntarioVotes
Del Duca announced during his concession speech that he will also be stepping down as leader.
“To be clear, this isn’t the outcome we had hoped for and worked hard for,” Mr. Del Duca told supporters.
“I am again so very proud of the work that we did.”
The NDP and Liberals are expected to hold leadership races in the coming months.
The Ontario election saw a record-low voter turnout of only 43%, with many observers noting the campaign lacked drama and serious competition for the PCs.
Ford’s victory comes after receiving a number of union endorsements during the election. These endorsements ultimately led to the PCs picking up seats in traditional NDP ridings in Windsor and Timmins.
During his victory speech, Ford said his proudest accomplishment as PC leader has been building a new coalition, expanding the base and building a more inclusive party, that even welcomes people who voted for Trudeau’s Liberals.
“Together we have done the impossible. We have made history. I am just so grateful,” said Ford to his supporters.
“Whether you work on the assembly line and voted NDP your entire life or cast your last ballot for the federal Liberals, I want you to know that as long as I am here, there’s room for you in this party.”
Doug Ford just said there is room in the Ontario PC Party for those who voted for Trudeau's Liberals. #onpoli
Ford’s victory may come as a surprise to some, as the premier became very unpopular during the Covid pandemic.
Ford was responsible for some of the longest lockdowns and school closures in North America. Ontarians were forced to stay at home, small businesses were forced to shutter their doors and gyms and personal care services were ordered to close.
According to Oxford University researchers, Ontario led Canada’s provinces and territories in the severity of its lockdowns and public health measures.
Ford’s strict lockdowns caused him very low polling numbers and many PC MPPs were booted out of caucus for opposing the premier’s strict public health measures – including Conservative leadership candidate Roman Baber and former MPP for Cambridge Belina Karahalios.
Ford’s key themes in the 2022 election were “Get It Done” and “Saying Yes.” For his second term, he said he plans on building 1.5 million new homes, increasing healthcare capacity and building the 413 highway in the GTA, among other pledges.
True North reporter Harrison Faulkner was in Etobicoke last night to cover PC Leader Doug Ford’s final rally of the Ontario election.
Every poll is predicting another landslide victory for Doug Ford’s PC Party so True North wanted to ask PC supporters what the Ford government can improve on in the next 4 years.
True North was also able to speak with three senior members of the PC caucus, Caroline Mulroney, Prabmeet Sarkaria and Paul Calandra.
Former Ottawa Police Services (OPS) chief Peter Sloly has told parliamentarians that neither he nor anybody else at the department requested Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoke the Emergencies Act to deal with the Freedom Convoy protesters this February.
The former police chief made the comments during a Commons house affairs committee meeting on Thursday.
“Did yourself or anyone else request the invocation of the Emergencies Act?” asked Conservative MP Kelly McCauley.
“I did not make that request, and I’m not aware of anybody else in the Ottawa Police Service who did,” replied Sloly.
BREAKING: Former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly testifies that he never requested invocation of the Emergencies Act to deal with the Freedom Convoy and isn't aware of anyone at Ottawa Police Service who did. pic.twitter.com/545uESFon9
Sloly headed operations in Ottawa at the height of the convoy demonstrations but stepped down on Feb. 15, reportedly over conflicts with senior personnel. He was replaced by interim police chief Steve Bell, who took the helm of the OPS during the crackdown on protests.
Bell too has recently shut down claims by the Trudeau government that the feds acted on the request of law enforcement when granting themselves unprecedented emergency powers on Feb. 14.
During separate testimony to the committee this May, Bell stated that his department made “no direct request” for such powers.
“Did the Ottawa police make a request to the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Measures Act? Yes or no?” asked Conservative MP Andrew Scheer.
“So, we were involved in conversations with our partners and the political ministries,” Bell said. “We didn’t make a direct request for the Emergencies Act.”
Commissioner of the RCMP Brenda Lucki had the same thing to say about the Trudeau government’s claims that police recommended invocation of the act – namely, that no such thing ever happened.
“No, there was never a question of requesting the Emergencies Act,” said Lucki.
Both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino have repeatedly maintained that adopting the emergency powers was a decision reached after advice from law enforcement.
“When illegal blockades hurt workers and endangered public safety, police were clear that they needed tools not held by any federal, provincial or territorial law,” Trudeau said on Apr. 27.
“It was only after we got advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act.”
The Canadian Armed Forces has reported that Chinese fighter jets are coming into dangerously close range of Canadian aircraft over the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Global News, the Chinese planes are buzzing Canadian pilots taking part in a United Nations mission to monitor North Korea.
Reports have emerged of Chinese jets flying as close as 20 feet from Canadian military aircraft. According to some accounts, the Chinese planes have come so close that pilots have made eye contact. Canadian pilots also report having seen Chinese operators raise their middle fingers in defiance.
Canada has sent the CP-140 Aurora plane to take part in drills as part of Operation Neon.
The Department of National Defence (DND) has confirmed there have been at least 60 such incidents.
“In some instances, the (Canadian) air crew felt sufficiently at risk that they had to quickly modify their own flight path in order to increase separation and avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft,” said a DND spokesperson.
Sources within the army have called the conduct of China “unsafe and unprofessional” and a risk for Canadian pilots within the region.
According to Macdonald-Laurier Institute senior fellow Charles Burton, there is a likelihood that repeated attempts could lead to a crash or other disaster.
“(That distance is) scary close at those high speeds, and it could lead to disaster in a crash,” said Burton. “You do it too much, and eventually, sometime, it’s going to go wrong.”
“I’m completely puzzled as to why China would take the risk of fomenting an international incident that could lead to extremely heightened tensions if the Chinese aircraft leads to loss of Canadian life,” he continued.
“And the fact the Chinese government is not responding to Canadian concerns, (not) seeking to rein in this kind of adventurism, is also very concerning.”
Beijing has been cited before for the increasingly aggressive stance it has taken against other Pacific powers.
Chinese jets also buzzed Taiwan’s defence zone last year a record number of times, with the Taiwanese government revealing that military jets entered its defence zone on 38 different occasions.
