Conservative Party members had their last chance to watch the leadership candidates debate each other, as they gathered on Wednesday night in Laval, Quebec. Unfortunately, many Canadians didn’t bother tuning in because it was in French.
Despite the fact that half the candidates aren’t fluent in French and that Quebeckers traditionally don’t vote for Conservatives, the party went forward with this spectacle and continues to give equal weight to French and English languages.
On this episode of The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice goes over the highlights of the French debate, debunks the idea that a Conservative leader has to be bilingual and argues that the idea of a separate French debate is a huge disservice to Canadians.
The tug-of-war continued in Hamilton on Wednesday between councillors who want to scrap the city’s vaccine mandate for workers and those who want the unvaccinated to be fired.
Council voted 11-3 to carry a motion by councillor Esther Pauls to extend the existing deadline to Sep. 30. The city had originally required all city workers to show proof of two Covid shots – or an approved exemption – by May 31 or face termination.
Hamilton city hall has said that nearly 94% of workers – or 7,149 people – are considered fully vaccinated, with 505 who have not disclosed their status. Of those, 441 are undergoing rapid testing, while 64 have been forced off the job without pay for noncompliance.
The extension of Hamilton’s vaccination deadline marks the latest development in a tumultuous back-and-forth between members of city council who want the unvaccinated gone and those who support a more rational position.
Hamilton originally announced its policy on Jan. 12, which allowed those who did not show proof of vaccination to continue rapid testing only until May 31.
On Apr. 20, however, the general issues committee voted 6-4 to scrap the policy – a decision that required ratification by full council the following week. The committee’s vote came via a recommendation by head of human resources Lora Fontana that the policy, while preferable in terms of safety, carried risks in terms of both staffing and legalities.
“The requirement to have all of our employees fully vaccinated isn’t one that will be supported from a legal perspective,” she said.
“But we can mandate it for new hires. We do have that flexibility and authority to do so. We can control our destiny in that respect and that’s what we’re intending to do.”
When the vote came on Apr. 27 to ratify scrapping the policy, however, a tie-vote of 6-6 meant the motion was defeated. Four councillors were absent from the meeting, but the policy and its May 31 deadline stayed in place.
Councillor John-Paul Danko, one of the hardliners in support of the mandate, called refusal of the vaccination “selfish,” adding that he supported never having unvaccinated workers back.
“I think we do have to acknowledge that the people that are choosing not to be vaccinated, not because of the health reason, simply because they don’t want a vaccine,” said Danko, “I think we have to acknowledge the selfish entitlement that is involved there.”
“I am perfectly okay with putting the staff that are choosing not to be vaccinated on permanent unpaid leave indefinitely.”
Wednesday’s extension of the deadline does not revoke Hamilton’s policy, nor does it remove the requirement for new municipal hires to show proof of at least two Covid shots. What it does, however, is kick the can another four months and allow noncompliant workers – a vocal crowd of whom attended the extension vote – a ray of hope.
“We chose the most punitive [option] for our employees instead of considering maybe we should do what Burlington did if we really believe that the unvaccinated are the ones that are causing the problem,” said Pauls, who has opposed firings from the beginning. “So, let’s give them some time … then find out how much our taxpayers are going to pay.”
“I know that we all care for each other and we cannot choose the most punitive action.”
The City of Burlington amended its vaccine mandate for city workers on Mar. 23 to establish testing as an alternative. This replaced a May 1 deadline for proof of vaccination, which nevertheless still applied to Burlington firefighters.
Despite all the provinces having lifted their vaccine passports, municipalities across Canada remain all over the map in terms of their vaccination policies for workers. Even in British Columbia, which was the last to lift its passports, Vancouver maintains its vaccine mandate, while Victoria has rescinded.
In a rare victory of arbitration, the city of Richmond invited unvaccinated workers back to work last month with back pay.
Canada Soccer announced on Thursday that it had cancelled a planned exhibition game in Vancouver between Canada’s Men’s National Team and Iran after receiving public pushback.
The game, originally scheduled for June 5, would have been in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Critics blasted the event, however, citing the Iranian government’s responsibility in shooting down Flight PS752 in 2020, which killed all 176 crew and passengers, including 85 Canadians and permanent residents.
Canada Soccer has cancelled the international match that was scheduled for 5 June 2022 against Iran as part of the Men’s National Team preparations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Additional details will be provided to all ticket purchasers. pic.twitter.com/7GhKT5toa7
An association representing families of the victims called the match an insult to those who have yet to see justice for the downed flight. Spokesperson Hamed Esmaeilion called the cancellation of the game the right decision.
“We are happy. This is the right thing to do,” she said.
Earlier this week, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh accused the Canadian government of politicizing the game. Khatibzadeh also threatened that Iran would hold Canada Soccer responsible for violating a contract with the national team.
Reports revealed that Canada Soccer – which received more than $3 million in taxpayer funding this year – was paying the Iranian national team $400,000 to hold the game. The federal government says, however, that no public money went toward the exhibition match.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those who chided Canada Soccer for planning the game.
“This was a choice by Soccer Canada. I think it wasn’t a very good idea to invite the Iranian soccer team here to Canada. But that’s something that the organizers are going to have to explain,” said Trudeau.
Prior to the match’s cancellation, Trudeau also stated that it would be up to the Canadian Border Services Agency whether the Iranian team would be allowed to enter the country to play.
“I’ve expressed my concern that I think this game was a bad idea. I can assure you that Sport Canada has not delivered any funding for this game,” said Trudeau. “And in terms of the ability of those players to come to Canada and the teams to come to Canada, the border services agencies make professional and independent decisions on eligibility for people to come to Canada.”
Trudeau himself has been criticized in the past for associating with the Iranian government following the downing of Flight 752.
Only a month after the plane was shot down, Trudeau was pictured bowing before Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and shaking hands with him.
Canada Soccer has said it will be providing additional details of the cancellation to all those who purchased tickets.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is often criticized for how out of touch it is with the people affected by its policies, and how its members don’t take into consideration the regional differences around the world.
This is particularly true when it comes to the importance of oil and gas sector, and the Trudeau government’s plans for a “just transition” away from oil and gas.
A class action lawsuit is being brought before a Quebec court alleging that the battery performance of the Chevrolet Bolt – 2017’s “Green Car of the Year” – isn’t as advertised.
As reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, General Motors boasted that the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt was able to drive up to 383 kilometers before needing to be charged. However, plaintiffs in the lawsuit are alleging that the vehicle’s range during winter before requiring a charge is a lot lower than advertised.
“The range of the Bolt electric vehicle does not even reach 300 kilometres,” they claim.
They also say that colder weather drastically increases the battery’s charging time and that General Motors was “(a)ware of this situation as early as 2017 but knowingly omitted to mention it to the plaintiff and other members of the class.”
The plaintiffs are suing for a $38,000 refund, plus punitive damages.
A decrease in range and charging ability is a common complaint with electric vehicles in Canada, as the chemical process that makes lithium-ion batteries work slows down in cold temperatures.
AAA has found that the range of an electric vehicle can plummet by as much as 41% in cold temperatures – a particular concern for Canadians looking to buy a reliable vehicle for the winter.
The Trudeau government is pushing for a transition from gasoline-powered vehicles towards electric vehicle purchases by providing a $5,000 taxpayer-funded rebate for purchases of electric vehicles where the base model is less than $55,000 for cars and $60,000 for SUV’s, pickup trucks and minivans.
In the 2022 budget, the Trudeau government dedicated $1.7 billion to the program until 2025, with millions more taxpayer dollars going to the Ford Motor Company.
Since the program’s implementation, electric vehicle sales have reached 5.2% of all vehicle sales, though it remains unclear whether there has been any environmental impact for the better or worse due to the increase in electric vehicle purchases.
In addition to poor winter performance, electric vehicles have also been criticized for the rare earth metals required to manufacture the car’s batteries, which are mined in countries like China with poor environmental regulations and human rights records.
Environment minister Steven Guilbeault has said he will mandate that electric vehicle sales make up a quarter of all vehicle sales by 2026 and half of all sales by 2030, with a goal of making all vehicles sold in Canada being electric by 2035.
At the current pace, around 15% of all vehicle sales will be electric vehicles by 2026 – well below the targets set by the federal government.
The Trudeau government’s infamous climate delegations were the big winners at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF)’s 24th annual Teddy Waste Awards in Calgary on Wednesday, taking home the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award for wasting taxpayers’ money.
CTF Alberta director Kris Sims and federal director Franco Terrazzano announced the nominees and winners at a gala-themed presentation that was live streamed by the Western Standard, honouring “the best of the worst of government waste.”
Also called the Teddies, the Teddy Waste Awards – represented by golden pig trophies – are named after former federal appointee Ted Weatherill, who has gone down in history for bloated expense claims, including $150,000 in food bills over eight years.
The Trudeau government made headlines for its 276-member delegation to the United Nation’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow – the largest in the G7 – which cost taxpayers an estimated $1 million.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also made headlines of her own when she stayed in Edinburgh instead of Glasgow and charged taxpayers $3,000 to take a private, chauffeured car back and forth instead of the $50-a-day train.
Other records revealed that taxpayers paid a total of $42,000 for Freeland’s three-day stay in Scotland. Her flight alone cost $11,573, followed by a stay at a $740-a-night hotel. Canadians were also billed for the flights and lodging of her staff members.
In 2019, Canada sent the second-largest G20 delegation to COP25 in Madrid, Spain, costing taxpayers $683,278.
In addition to the lifetime award, the CTF also gave out trophies for the worst federal, provincial and municipal offenders.
The federal award went to the National Capital Commission (NCC) for its $11-million-dollar reno of Trudeau’s Harrington Lake retreat.
Documents obtained by the CTF show that it cost taxpayers $735,000 to renovate the kitchen and $200,000 to install new sprinklers. The NCC is also spending $2.5 million on a backup cottage as “temporary accommodations” for Trudeau while work is completed on the 16-room primary residence.
The provincial award went to Quebec, which gave $380 million to the Airbus A220 project, formerly known as the Bombardier C-Series.
“So, Quebec finally figured out giving Bombardier more cash wasn’t a good idea,” said Sims. “So now Quebec is giving the Airbus A220 project a $380 million subsidy instead. Only problem here – taxpayers didn’t get to see the fine print. See, the Airbus A220 is just a name change. It’s the plane formerly known as the Bombardier C-Series. Rumour has it that they were going to go for another branding change, but the next dodgy scheme’s name – Enron – was already taken.”
The municipal award went to Sukh Gill, a Kamloops, B.C. bureaucrat who expensed half a million dollars over five years on fancy meals, jewelry for staff and a champagne room.
“A champagne room and bling are usually the realm of rockstars, but a bureaucrat at the Thompson-Nicola Regional District treated himself to a baller lifestyle with the taxpayer credit card,” said Terrazzano.
Other nominees included the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for its $450,000 study of a home equity tax, Rideau Hall for allowing governors general to expense claims after death and Winnipeg City Hall for spending $260,000 on Christmas tree “enhancements” – including a 22-foot extension to make it taller.
The expenditure saw Winnipeg city councillor Shawn Nason question whether City Hall was suffering from “tree envy.”
A Quebec MP has demanded to know why the Trudeau government ordered a quarter of the RCMP officers stationed in Quebec to chaperone illegal border crossers at Roxham Road rather than focus on gun trafficking.
Bloc Quebecois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe put the question to Immigration and Refugee Minister Sean Fraser during a May 12 Commons immigration committee hearing.
“We have been told that a quarter of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, officers deployed in Quebec are managing the Roxham Road instead of dealing with gun trafficking at the border,” said Brunelle-Duceppe. “Minister, when will you ensure that the safe third country agreement is suspended?”
“It’s essential, when we look at our domestic and international legal obligations, that we don’t ignore the responsibility we have to enforce those laws. I expect what you’re getting to is the engagement of the RCMP who may be involved with processing people who have crossed the border and claimed asylum.”
The Safe Third Country Agreement governs how both Canada and the US deal with cross-border asylum applications.
Technically, asylum seekers from the US are supposed to be turned away at the Canadian border because the US is deemed a “safe country.” Nonetheless, migrants have taken advantage of a loophole in the agreement that allows them to cross illegally in Canada via unauthorized crossings like Roxham Road and claim asylum at a Canadian immigration office.
According to Brunelle-Duceppe, talks between the US and Canada to modernize the Safe Third Country Agreement have stalled.
“Yesterday, the prime minister told us that the government was in discussions with representatives of the United States to modernize the agreement,” she said. “According to the information I have obtained, these negotiations have stalled, and they are not a priority for your government.
“What is happening right now is very serious. The situation at Roxham Road has led to an increase in gun trafficking, and the Quebec market is flooded with illegal firearms. As we speak, people are dying. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the situation, since the RCMP cannot do its job properly.”
“Can you tell us how soon you hope to sign this agreement and how long you think it will take? People are waiting for it,” Brunelle-Duceppe later continued.
“I can reassure people that we’re going to continue to work with our provincial counterparts on things like housing, healthcare and improving our asylum system while we continue to work towards modernizing the safe third country agreement,” said Fraser.
“So this is not a priority for your government. Thank you,” replied Brunelle-Duceppe.
“That’s not true,” said Fraser.
To date Canada has taken in over 60,500 illegal border crossers who went on to claim asylum or refugee status.
Earlier this month, the Quebec government called on Ottawa to close Roxham Road, with the province struggling to deal with an influx of migrants as illegal crossings into Canada return to pre-pandemic levels.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded that closing the crossing would not curb the arrival of asylum claimants despite the fact that a vast majority of illegal entries take place at Roxham Road.
“If we close Roxham Road, people will cross elsewhere. We have an enormous border, and we’re not going to start arming or putting fences on it,” Trudeau told the media.
As reported by True North, immigration officials revealed in March that taxpayers were footing the bills for the hotel stays of illegal border crossers who did not meet federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements or who didn’t have a quarantine plan upon arrival.
The expenses were revealed by Conservative MP Garnett Genuis in the House of Commons.
“To clarify, because I’m also out of time, the Government of Canada is paying for hotel rooms for pending asylum claimants who are unvaccinated?” asked Genuis.
“You are correct,” responded Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Catrina Tapley.
A lot of ink is being spilled trying to analyze why Premier Kenney failed to maintain the confidence of the United Conservative Party and was forced to resign.
Can we really just blame it on the conservative base being angry and reactionary?
On today’s episode of the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by former Alberta Finance Minister and longtime conservative scholar Dr. Ted Morton.
Candice and Ted discuss the political culture in Alberta, the many missteps made by Premier Kenney, the bad cards he drew and they discuss the future of the party.
They also touch on the future of oil and gas in Canada, the many failings of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and why Ted is supporting Pierre Poilievre for leader of the Conservative party of Canada.
An executive with the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba revealed at the World Economic Forum (WEF) that the company was developing an “individual carbon footprint tracker” that would track people’s travel habits, food consumption and more.
Alibaba Group president J. Michael Evans boasts at the World Economic Forum about the development of an "individual carbon footprint tracker" to monitor what you buy, what you eat, and where/how you travel. pic.twitter.com/sisSrUngDI
True North journalist Andrew Lawton, who is currently on the ground in Davos to cover WEF’s annual convention, was the first to report on the announcement.
“We’re developing through technology an ability for consumers to measure their own carbon footprint,” said Alibaba Group president J. Michael Evans, who was born in Toronto. “What does that mean? Where are they traveling? How are they traveling? What are they eating? What are they consuming on the platform?”
Evans told the audience to “stay tuned.”
“We don’t have it operational yet but this is something that we’re working on.”
Conservative MP and leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis responded to the announcement, saying that she had warned about such a practice in an op-ed she wrote early on in the COVID-19 pandemic on a “socialist coup” in Canada.
“Many Canadians rightly fear the repercussions of Trudeau transforming Canada into a cashless society,” wrote Lewis. “They have told me that they are afraid the Liberals will impose a social credit score, similar to the one that exists in China.”
“But, the truth is maybe more insidious. There is no need for an official social credit score when the government is already picking and choosing which businesses can be open and which ones can’t, and which jobs are essential.”
Carbon tracking technology is already in circulation. Alphabet Inc., which owns Google, has backed the startup Normative, which released a free carbon emissions tracker for businesses.
A May 24 news release on Co2Zero explains that the platform “leveraged Alibaba Cloud’s technology to promote individual low-carbon actions through science and technology.”
“In the concept of encouraging individuals to participate in carbon neutrality, Co2Zero obtains different equity incentives through low-carbon behavior in daily life and new energy vehicle consumption scenarios through equity incentives,” the press release claims.
Co2Zero technology has already been implemented by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to voluntarily track and compensate passengers for carbon reductions.
“CO2ZERO is a voluntary CO2 compensation service which enables the passenger to contribute to reducing their flight-related carbon emissions,” KLM Royal Dutch writes.
As government Covid policies continue to take their toll on Canadian lives, a B.C. nurse is speaking up about how vaccine mandates have upended her young family, taken away her career and even prevented her from deploying again to disaster zones overseas.
Before the mandates, Angel St. Denis was a registered psychiatric nurse at a long-term care (LTC) facility in Salmon Arm who also did critical response deployments overseas. Her husband was a municipal firefighter – what St. Denis called his “dream career.”
Now, St. Denis makes half her former salary doing physical labour at a tree farm, and her husband has taken a job in residential construction. She said they have had to sell things they otherwise wouldn’t have and that they look to their faith, family and friends to support them.
St. Denis was also one of three fired healthcare workers who added her voice to a recent video by BC Healthcare Workers United that is urging the provincial government to “Hire Back our Heroes.”
As a nurse in an LTC facility, St. Denis was hit by one of the first of provincial health officer Bonnie Henry’s vaccine mandates last fall.
“In 2021, my workplace awarded me with the employee that fulfilled their ‘Good Samaritan’ values and missions award,” she said. “Not long after that, I was fired by the same company due to not getting the covid vaccine. There was no consideration for religious exemptions or any other exemptions.”
St. Denis was also one of three fired healthcare workers who added her voice to a recent video by BC Healthcare Workers United that is urging the provincial government to “Hire Back our Heroes.”
Meanwhile, St. Denis’s husband was one of 30 firefighters affected by a municipal vaccine mandate that came into effect in January.
“Mentally and emotionally, there was a grieving stage that both myself and my husband went through as it was a loss of careers,” St. Denis told True North. “We do have family and friends that support us and we get together with them often to share our stories, support one another and pray together. There is power in unity and love and this has really helped us through these times.”
St. Denis said she is grateful for the job she has but that she knows her skills aren’t being put to proper use, especially with the province now looking to foreign-trained nurses to address a staffing crisis worsened by the pandemic.
“It is low-stress, I’m getting muscles I’ve never had before and everyone is super nice,” St. Denis told True North. “However, the first week I worked there, I would come home and cry as it felt so unjust and wrong.”
“My friend who is a (Registered Nurse) and is currently working at a cannabis factory and I have other healthcare professional friends working in mills. We all get together once a week to debrief, share, and support one another.”
St. Denis said she has tried to work in other capacities – even remotely – within her field but that the health orders have made it impossible.
“Due to the mandates, I am not able to work in healthcare. I even applied for Tele-Nurse, and Virtual Mental Health Nurse jobs (which are remote-work from home) and they will not allow you to work without being double jabbed.”
To add insult to injury, St. Denis said that she works with an American disaster relief organization but that Canada’s vaccine mandate for travel means that she hasn’t been able to deploy again.
St. Denis was deployed with Crisis Response International to Grand Bahamas Island just after hurricane Dorian hit in 2019.
“In Sept 2019, I deployed with Crisis Response International to Grand Bahamas Island just after hurricane Dorian hit,” she said. “We made a make-shift medical clinic in a local church and were able to do assessments, give medical care and trauma support to the survivors in the area. We also did food distribution to those in need.”
“While being a nurse does not define me, it is an avenue that I can use my gift of compassion to help those in need and I find it incredibly rewarding.”
While the B.C. government appears to have backed off of its latest vaccine mandate – which would have seen regulated private-sector healthcare professionals stripped of their licences unless they’d shown proof of two Covid shots – thousands of workers including St. Denis remain subject to earlier health orders.
St. Denis said the policies don’t make sense, in terms of both staffing and science.
“My previous workplace (Hillside Village LTC/Complex Care Facility) has continued to have covid outbreaks when all the staff, residents and visitors are all double vaccinated. So how does it make sense that we can no longer work?”
“The mandates should be dropped. There is no evidence and no science behind it. Quality of patient-care is going down the drain with the current staffing crisis. In BC there are thousands of educated, healthy and skilled Healthcare Professionals that are currently just working random jobs and should be allowed to come back to the field they are passionate about.”
When asked about why she wanted to speak up despite the stigma and consequences of being unvaccinated that have silenced so many people, St. Denis was adamant.
“I am not ashamed to stand up for what I believe in,” she said. “If we don’t advocate for our freedoms now, how will the future be for our children? There is no question…we need to do this for our kids! We cannot be silent. We need to be brave and be a voice for them for such a time as this.”
“Canada, we need to stand together in unity and love. We need to support one another and stay strong.”
