The Canadian Armed Forces is in shambles. Recruitment and retention continue to decline, morale is low, and our troops don’t have the necessary equipment. Canada is not ready for war.
Ret. Lt.-Gen Michel Maisonneuve recently published a new book, In Defence of Canada: Reflections of a Patriot. In the book, the General lays out his vision for how the Armed Forces can get back on track and how Canada can return to greatness as a nation.
Tune into the latest episode of The Faulkner Show with Harrison Faulkner.
Get a copy In Defence of Canada: Reflections of a Patriot here.
Several have been arrested following a weekend of protests led by Khalistani activists outside of Hindu temples across Canada.
Law enforcement services in Surrey, B.C. and Brampton, Ont. announced charges against several suspects accused of involvement in alleged political and sectarian violence.
Peel police arrested three individuals in connection to a turbulent pro-Khalistan protest outside of a Hindu temple in Brampton, Ont. that was caught on video and shared widely on social media.
Sikhs for Justice, which has been banned as an “unlawful association” by the Indian government since 2019, organized the protest outside of the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, which ended in violence. Videos from the protest show men wielding Khalistan flags chasing members of the temple onto the temple’s outdoor property and opposing groups exchanging blows.
Khalistan protesters break into a Hindu temple in Brampton and start attacking people with sticks.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the SFJ’s General Counsel, emailed True North to say that the protest was organized against Indian diplomats who he said were running a “life certificate” camp for Indian expats seeking pension documentation services at the Hindu Sabha Mandir. In his comments, Pannun insisted that it was “in no way directed against the temple.”
The Indian government designated Pannun a terrorist in 2020 because of his Sikh separatist activities and he is currently facing charges related to sedition in India.
The protests were prompted by Sikh activist groups, which have criticized India’s conduct of diplomatic business outside of official embassies and consular offices.
“Pro Khalistan Canadians were raising slogans to counter diplomats’ presence in Temple,” Pannun told True North. Some of the signs seen in footage from another Khalistan protest in Surrey referenced the assassination of a former Indian Prime Minister by a Sikh terrorist and signs that said “Kill Modi,” a reference to the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
According to a Peel Regional Police news release, the protest outside the temple, which turned violent, was the first of three Khalistan protests on Sunday. Police reported “several incidents between protesters and worshipers.” Police said that a Peel Regional Police officer was treated at a hospital with minor injuries, though no other injuries were reported.
Dilpreet Singh Bouns, 43, from Mississauga, was charged with allegedly causing a disturbance and assaulting a peace officer; Vikas, 23, from Brampton, was charged with alleged assault with a weapon; and Amritpal Singh, a 31-year-old from Mississauga, was charged with mischief over $5000. Police said a fourth suspect was arrested for an unrelated outstanding warrant but was subsequently released.
Surrey RCMP emailed True North to say that three individuals were arrested for “causing a disturbance,” at another pro-Khalistan protest in Surrey, B.C., after “violence broke out between groups with opposing views about India.” The three were released without charges pending a further investigation.
Footage captured by independent journalist Mocha Bezirgan also shows Khalistani protesters assembled outside the Vancouver Hindu Temple to protest the presence of an Indian diplomat.
Pannun insisted to True North that the demonstrations in Brampton were peaceful and only turned violent after a group of “Indo-Canadian nationalists,” who he alleges were “incited by Indian consulate officials,” attacked Sikh demonstrators outside the temple.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs released a statement urging Canada to protect places of worship and hold those responsible for the violence accountable while saying the work of its embassies to provide services to Indian Canadians would not be “deterred by intimidation, harassment and violence.”
When asked if he condemned the violence at the Hindu temple, Pannun sent True North a video which he alleges proves that “Indo-Canadian Hindus” pushed the SFJ’s Canadian Coordinator for the Khalistan Referendum, Inderjeet Singh Gosal.
The video appears to show Gosal being shoved after approaching the Hindu counter-protesters. However, the camera angle of the video makes it difficult to ascertain what happened.
Despite several of the names of those arrested indicating Sikh and not Hindu backgrounds, Pannun maintained that the other side was at fault. The charges pressed by the Peel Regional Police have yet to be proven in a court of law.
Police told True North they were investigating the circumstances in “totality” depicted in the video but could not provide further comment until the investigation had concluded.
PRP has also confirmed with True North that it has also suspended one of its officers, Sgt. Harinder Sohi, who was identified on social media while off duty, engaging in the demonstration on the Khalistani side.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on premiers across Canada to eliminate provincial sales taxes on new homes under $1 million.
Poilievre’s plea follows his recent commitment to axe the federal sales tax on new home purchases under $1 million if elected Prime Minister, arguing that these tax cuts would alleviate Canada’s severe housing affordability crisis.
“Canadians are living through a housing hell after home costs doubled during the nine years of Justin Trudeau’s government,” wrote Poilievre in his letter to premiers.
In the caption for his post, Poilievre claimed that taking federal and provincial taxes off homes would result in savings up to $150,000 on a new house.
Poilievre’s original plea to cut the federal sales tax would save homebuyers $40,000 on the purchase of an $800,000 home, equivalent to $2,200 annually in mortgage payments. He said that removing the GST on these new homes would spur the building of an additional 30,000 homes annually.
“This is a significant step in fixing what has been broken and making homeownership more than just a dream for young Canadians again. But there’s more that can be done, and you can help,” Poilievre told the premiers.
The Conservative leader added that since 2015, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office, rental costs, mortgage payments, and down payments required have all doubled.
Poilievre previously stated that taxes account for a very sizeable portion of the cost of new homes, citing that they make up around 30% of the cost of a new home in British Columbia and Ontario, the country’s two most expensive provinces for housing. He said about 39% of this cost goes to the federal government.
“But across the country, provincial sales taxes also significantly increase the cost of homes,” he said.
When Trudeau took office, Poilievre said it took 39% of median pre-tax household income to cover homeownership costs. Now, he said it takes nearly 60%.
An RBC report revealed that housing affordability in Canada reached an all-time low in April. In Vancouver, the average household would have to spend 106.3% of its income to cover homeownership costs.
A recent poll revealed that 80% of Canadians believe that owning a home in Canada is “only for the rich.”
True North reached out to every provincial premier and asked whether they would support Poilievre’s call.
Alberta does not have a provincial sales tax. Between Jan. and Sep. 2024, Alberta’s housing starts far exceeded other provinces with over 33,500, one of the busiest times for homebuilding in the province’s history.
Nova Scotia said they are currently in an election period and cannot comment at this time.
Nearly half of all human trafficking cases reported in Canada over the last decade have occurred within five major cities, according to Statistics Canada.
The government agency released its latest data on human trafficking last week, which revealed a slight decrease in cases last year, with 570 in 2023, compared to 597 in 2022.
However, over four-fifths of all recorded cases took place in large urban areas, accounting for 45% of all human trafficking cases.
The cities with the highest human trafficking rate are Toronto (20%), Ottawa (9%), Halifax (6%), Montreal (6%) and London (4%).
While there was a dip in cases last year, the overall trend of human trafficking in Canada has been on the rise for the last ten years.
“Just over 4,500 incidents of human trafficking were reported by police services in Canada from 2013 to 2023. These incidents accounted for 0.02% of all police-reported crime during this period and represented an average annual rate of 1.1 incidents per 100,000 population,” reads the report.
“Overall, there has been a general year-over-year increase in the number of police-reported incidents of human trafficking from 2013 to 2023, with the biggest jump occurring from 2018 to 2019.”
Executive director of the Centre to End Human Trafficking Julia Drydyk noted that all five of those cities are located along two of the top human trafficking corridors in Canada; Highway 401 and the Trans-Canada Highway.
“We know that these corridors are being systematically used by traffickers for a few reasons,” Drydyk told the London Free Press on Friday.
“One is to isolate the victims and keep them dependent on their trafficker, to keep them removed from their family, friends and support networks. It’s also to avoid law enforcement detection and to capitalize on those various commercial sex industry markets in those major urban centres.”
Human trafficking is generally categorized as either being for sex or labour involving the exploitation of people through force, fraud and coercion.
According to Statistics Canada, women account for 93% of the 3,558 human trafficking victims over the last 10 years, while men make up 83% of the 2,697 alleged perpetrators.
“About one-quarter (23%) were children and youth younger than 18 years. A small number of victims (7%) were men and boys,” reads the report.
“During this time, the largest proportion of victims were aged 18 to 24 years (42%), while over one in five victims (23%) were aged 25 to 34 years. Of the 3,223 women and girl victims of human trafficking, two-thirds (68%) were aged 24 years and younger. Almost 9 in 10 men and boy victims (88%) were 18 years and older.”
The overwhelming majority of victims, (91%), knew their traffickers beforehand, whereas the remaining proportion of victims (9%), didn’t know their accused trafficker.
“Victims were most often trafficked by an intimate partner (34%) or a casual acquaintance (22%). A tactic employed by some traffickers involves drawing a potential victim into a romantic relationship with promises of love and affection, with the end goal of exploitation,” it said.
Drydyk noted that human trafficking isn’t just a big-city problem.
“We get calls from basically every community across Canada, from the largest urban centres to the smallest rural hamlets,” she said.
Dryduk encourages anyone who has suffered from human trafficking or may have information on a missing person to contact her organization’s 24-hour hotline at 1-833-900-1010, which connects victims and survivors with services.
Nearly half of Canadians are choosing to forgo medical care because they don’t want to face overwhelming wait times.
According to data released by SecondStreet, 47% of Canadians have avoided visiting a healthcare provider for this reason.
“This data shows Canada’s health care system is in crisis, and Canadian patients know it,” said Harrison Fleming, Legislative and Policy Director at SecondStreet. “With nearly half of all Canadians staying home, instead of going to the doctor or hospital when they need help, even with record-high health care spending by provinces, it’s clear something isn’t working. It’s time to consider meaningful health reforms to rebuild confidence for Canadian patients.”
Although British Columbia increased its healthcare and education spending more than any other province, performance in both of these sectors has decreased.
The Atlantic provinces reported the worst figures when it comes to Canadians avoiding healthcare due to wait times, where 65% of the province’s residents fall into that category. The province with the lowest percentage of people avoiding healthcare due to wait times is Alberta, which is still at a staggering 41%.
Previous research from the Fraser Institute highlighted that Canada was facing the longest healthcare wait times ever recorded. Ontario had the shortest average wait time of 21.6 weeks. Nova Scotia had the longest wait time of 56.7 weeks.
Almost three-quarters, 73%, of SecondStreet’s survey respondents said that they support their province implementing an EU-style system which would reimburse them for surgical costs from care sought abroad in partner nations.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously said she was considering implementing a surgical wait time guarantee with a reimbursement from the province for services sought abroad if the service could not be delivered within the recommended period in the province.
As for seeking care abroad, 11% of Canadians reported travelling to other provinces or countries to avoid long wait times that were sometimes life-threatening.
“While Canadian patients are staying home or choosing to access health services somewhere else, governments can rebuild confidence by looking at proven solutions that work,” said Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet. “There are many better-performing universal systems in Europe that put patients first and give them more choices. Provincial governments should be looking at their best practices.”
Over half, 61%, of respondents said that Canada should keep its government-run system but also allow patients to pay at local private clinics if the public service cannot deliver timely care.
Between 2010 and 2014, private clinics in Saskatchewan reduced wait times by 47%.
The majority of Canadians believe that private enterprise could deliver faster healthcare services than their provincial healthcare systems.
A Quebec doctor with experience in both the public and private healthcare systems said that private clinics were the clear winner regarding patient care.
Canada’s healthcare system will need $2 trillion to meet the ageing population’s needs, according to a report published by the C.D. Howe Institute.
According to SecondStreet’s Died on a Waiting List annual report, nearly 60,000 Canadians have died while waiting for healthcare since 2018. An estimated 5.2 million Canadians are currently on healthcare wait lists.
“While there is no way of knowing how many Canadians have died because they chose not to seek healthcare due to the challenges of accessing government-provided treatment, the fact it is happening at all is unconscionable,” reads the report.
SecondStreet’s poll was conducted by Leger between Oct. 25-27 among 1,520 online respondents.
United Conservative Party leader and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will remain at the helm of the party after she secured 91.5% support in a leadership review at the party’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday.
Plus, the Ontario city of Mississauga has declared December Christian Heritage Month and is urging Premier Ford to follow.
And the Trudeau government spent $1.7 million on podcasts with barely any listeners.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Lindsay Shepherd and Isaac Lamoureux!
They’ve edited Kamala Harris’s comments to remove the “word salad” responses and to make her sound succinct and articulate.
CBS did this following her 60 MInutes interview.
We know that because the teaser for the interview on her proposed handling of the Middle East conflict was full of bafflegab compared to what actually aired.
Even so, she came across as highly scripted and lacking empathy.
They’ve cried on camera sounding unhinged about a United States under Donald Trump as president. They’ve spewed scenarios so ridiculous and far-fetched you are left wondering whether they need professional help, or just suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
This is the largely Democratically aligned legacy media and their talk show acolytes in 2024.
They no longer pretend to beobjective, insightful or fairly present the many issues America faces — or especially remind their viewers that Harris was in the White House during the past four years when she repeatedly says she wants to “turn the page.”
Harris can’t run on her record and the media knows that.
So they’ve done what they think needs to be done to win at all costs — misleading or quoting out of context statements made by Trump and manipulating weak, low-info voters.
The media had already shown their lack of integrity by pretending for months and months that Joe Biden was fit to run again for President.
When it became obvious he has Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia — I know because my dad suffered from it — the Democrats quickly parachuted in the candidate they’d previously considered a terrible pick.
Suddenly the narrative shifted to one of “joy” and the media quickly changed gears to prop up Harris.
In my 35 years as a journalist, I’ve never seen anything like this from the legacy media in the U.S. — the hyperbole, the drama, the temper tantrums, the cooked up controversies, the sophomoric and inane behaviour.
I particularly enjoyed watching Washington Post columnists quit after owner Jeff Bezos refused to endorse a candidate.
Their tone deafness exemplified how much the legacy media is dying one leftist tirade at a time. As if they’ll ever get another job with a huge salary in a shrinking industry.
They have made our own Canadian media seem tame — for now.
Just wait for federal election fever to heat up here when the Liberal media — propped up with bailouts from the Trudeau government— will likely start peddling their own misleading coverage of Pierre Polievre.
They’ve already repeatedly compared him to Trump and have claimed that only the Liberals will protect abortions in Canada.
I can only hope that they don’t get as whacky as pundits and talk show hosts south of the border.
Whoopi Goldberg recently lost it on The View, claiming Trump will break up interracial marriages.
Mika Brezezinski, wife to Morning Joe on MSNBC, has been absolutely over-the-top, telling viewers in a tragic voice the end is nigh if Trump wins.
Here she is alleging that under Trump, women will no longer be free to get health care or abortions.
"I hope young women everywhere take a look at what they are doing right now, in this moment where what is needed is strength — to stand up, speak out, and not cower."
Fact-checking during debates has been consistently one-sided in favour of the Democrats. It was only near the end of the campaign that CNN’s Anderson Cooper actually challenged Harris’s vague answers full of “word salads.”
When Bret Baier of Fox News actually asked Harris some tough follow-up questions — as a journalist should — MSNBC chastised him for doing his job!
"The host's constant rude interruptions were designed to distract from the issues and facts that Trump and his acolytes try and twist and distort every day." –@morningmika reacts to Fox anchor's contentious interview with VP Harris pic.twitter.com/ItnS0IxE1S
That’s why I was so thrilled when vice-presidential hopeful J.D. Vance interrupted Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan in his Oct. 1 debate to fact check them on border security. They responded by cutting off his mic.
So many conspiracy theories have been expounded. I’ve lost count.
MSNBC has been the worst in a close race, running a ticker on their newscast the Sunday of Trump’s Madison Square Gardens Rally reminding viewers that a Nazi rally was held in another MSG building in 1939.
Trump was criticized as being a hater of Puerto Ricans after a comic, who appeared at the rally hours before Trump spoke, made fun of the Puerto Rican garbage crisis.
Billionaire Mark Cuban made it all over the airwaves when he called women who support Trump, “stupid.” He was forced to walk back that comment.
Proving he has a sense of humour, Trump took to a garbage truck this past week after president Joe Biden called him “garbage”
But that made MSNBC fume even more:
NEW: MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough starts talking like Elmo on live TV as he fumed about Trump’s garbage truck stunt.
I haven’t seen them this mad since Trump worked at McDonald’s.
Scarborough: “The hypocrisy Mika over a misstatement by Joe Biden, which he quickly corrected is, is… pic.twitter.com/ZCvaqObdMJ
Prissy CBS talking head Norah McDonnell was not amused either:
Look at how CBS News covered Trump in a garbage truck. This bias is insane. Imagine you were just a normal person who trusted this newscast to be fair and impartial: pic.twitter.com/Bjy95h65Us
Respected pundit Hugh Hewitt actually walked off the job mid-podcast after he tried to correct the record about Trump and was met with predictable disdain by his arrogant Washington Post colleagues:
I’d never heard of @CapehartJ until now. Seems he deserves to be completely unknown. What an absolute tool.
I suppose we’ll see on Tuesday but I suspect that the average U.S. citizen is not fooled by these tactics — except for the entitled Liberal women who actually believe Trump will take away their abortion rights.
Through this election the legacy media has sunk to a new low— one from which they will never recover.
It’s becoming more and more apparent that politicians who call themselves “pro-choice” are, in truth, staunchly “pro-abortion.” They refuse to tolerate any perspective that doesn’t support abortion-on-demand, unconditionally. Take our own “pro-choice” Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, as a prime example. The Trudeau government recently announced a policy that requires pregnancy counseling charities to disclose whether they offer abortion services or referrals. (Is it really any surprise that, in most cases, they don’t?)
By forcing policies that could threaten the charitable status of these organizations, Trudeau and his pro-abortion advocates are putting at risk essential services for women—services that may be the lifeline for those feeling pressured into an abortion they don’t truly want.
Here’s a hard truth that doesn’t get enough attention: abortion is, all too often, a service for males. All too frequently, a man coerces a woman into an abortion she may not want in order to escape the responsibilities of child-rearing and support. In fact, a lack of support from an unborn baby’s father is one of the most common reasons women feel pressured into aborting their offspring, unaware of the alternatives offered by the pregnancy care centers that Trudeau is so intent on attacking.
To put it in “progressive” terms, abortion is thus “a tool of the patriarchy.” How would our self-described “feminist” Prime Minister feel about that?
Surely women in Alberta deserve alternatives to abortion. And yet,our current UCP government continues to enforce NDP-era bubble zones, restricting life-affirming options outside abortion facilities. These zones ban compassionate individuals from offering support, advice, and alternatives to abortion-minded women. Now, Trudeau wants to take things a step further by revoking the charitable status of groups that dare to support women and their babies, wherever they may be.
By raising the issue of abortion in high-stakes political moments (like turmoil in leadership,) Trudeau is seeking to shift the focus away from his own challenges and create internal conflict within the Conservative Party, where pro-life, ambivalent, and even pro-choice factions coexist uneasily.
It is noteworthy that Trudeau’s only tool for attacking pro-life efforts is to strip pro-life charities of their tax status—a move that highlights just how effective pro-abortion forces have been in eliminating any alternatives to abortion. With no laws regulating abortion in Canada, there are no remaining legal restrictions to challenge. Virtually every restraint has been removed, leaving policy encroachments on charitable organizations as one of the few remaining ways Trudeau can still weaponize abortion.
Being reduced to this strategy underscores the extent to which pro-abortion forces—through the complicity of politicians, mostly on the Conservative side of the aisle—have gained ground, while simultaneously exposing his desire to silence the voices that advocate for life and offer alternatives to abortion, wherever they may be found.
Whilepro-abortion forces receive substantial government funding and support, pregnancy counseling charities face increasing government-imposed restrictions. It’s a clear case of the government picking “winners” and “losers.” These policies aim not only to restrict resources but also to silence the voices that offer support and alternatives to the women—and their babies—who need it most. Is this really about ”choice”? And if so, whose?
Richard Dur is an award-winning political consultant with extensive experience working on campaigns across Canada. In addition to his professional work, he serves as the volunteer Executive Director of Prolife Alberta, an organization dedicated to advancing pro-life public policy in the province.
Mississauga, Ont.’s City Council has declared December Christian Heritage Month and urges Premier Doug Ford to do the same for the rest of the province.
City Councilors unanimously passed a motion forwarded by City Councilor Brad Butt, Thursday to “recognize” the month of December as “Christian Heritage Month” As part of the motion, a copy of the resolution was sent to Ford and all of Mississauga’s MPPs to follow suit.
“Christianity is among the diverse faiths followed by Mississauga residents and one of the most followed religions in Canada and Mississauga,” the motion reads. “Christians have made valuable contributions to the cultural, social, religious, and humanitarian fabric of our City and have played an important role in shaping our diverse community.”
It says December is already among the holiest months for Christians, “commencing with the observance of Advent and culminating in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas.”
The motion said the month is marked by several celebrations in the Christian calendar and celebrations that various Christian groups in Mississauga hold open to the public.
“Recognizing the month of December, which is a significant month in the Christian calendar, as ‘Christian Heritage Month’ provides an opportunity for all residents to celebrate the history, traditions, and teachings of the Christian faith, promoting understanding and appreciation of the diverse religious and cultural heritage of our City,” the motion said.
Butt, the city councillor who put forward the motion, told True North in an interview that he thought it was about time to add Christian heritage to the city’s extensive list of recognized cultural and religious celebrations.
“We did in Mississauga because we believe it’s important to recognize the Christian faith as being one that is important to many,” he said. “The people who live in our city, and equally as important to people who live in the province of Ontario and throughout Canada as well.”
He said Mississauga is one of Canada’s most diverse cities, with a large population of people from various denominations who practice the Christian faith.
According to 2021 census data, nearly half, 355,735, of the city’s 712,825 residents identified as Christian.
“I recognized through speaking to a number of different people in Mississauga and beyond, that this was one of the religious groups that we had not previously recognized in our city,” Butt said. “I thought it was time that we bring something forward to recognize December as Christian Heritage Month in the city of Mississauga.”
He said there are “dozens and dozens” of celebrations and flag raisings at the civic centre to recognize many different faith and cultural groups that call Mississauga their home.
“We light our clock tower different colours on a regular basis to recognize many different things that we should be celebrating as a municipality, depending on the day or the month,” he said. “We do a very good job in Mississauga, celebrating and embracing diversity. The motion passed unanimously. The mayor and all members of the council believe it’s appropriate that we also recognize Christian Heritage Month.”
Butt said he’s asking both the federal and provincial governments to now step up to the plate and do the same for Canadian Christians.
He said many other municipalities in Ontario, including Brampton, Mississauga’s northern neighbour, have already declared December Christian Heritage Month.
“There’s lots of good precedent for this. The provincial legislature has probably declared more heritage months than any legislature in the entire country,” he said.
He noted that the federal and provincial governments have already declared November Hindu Heritage Month and Lebanese Heritage Month.
A look at the extensive list of various heritage and culture-related celebrations recognized by the Ontario government’s Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism shows that the Ontario government recognizes no celebrations for December, while 23 various months are dedicated to heritage celebrations throughout the other eleven months.
“I think that’s great. Let’s celebrate that. Let’s have those months declared,” Butt said. “So certainly, I would encourage my colleagues in the provincial and federal governments to follow the lead of the city of Mississauga and give very serious consideration to declaring the month of December as Christian Heritage Month provincially and federally.”
Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism responded to True North’s request to comment but did not provide a statement, while Ford did not respond before the deadline provided.
October 1st marked implementation of the Justin Trudeau government’s 100 percent surtax on imported Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). China has responded with an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian exports of canola – a critical cash crop for Canada’s farmers that is certainly not being sold in international markets for less than its domestic price.
China’s move resembles its past economic reprisals. Following Canada’s 2019 detention of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, China retaliated by imprisoning two Canadian citizens and blocking canola imports from major Canadian exporters, costing Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba farmers an estimated $1.5 to $2.4 billion. As Canada’s second-most grown crop,canola contributed $13.6 billion to farm revenue last year, with China purchasing nearly 4.5 million tonnes worth almost $4 billion in 2022 alone.
The Liberal government rationalizes the EV surtax by labelling Chinese imports an “extraordinary threat” to Canadian auto workers. But Canadian auto workers are making almost no EVs. The real threat to them is the Trudeau government’s mandate that the auto industry phase out internal combustion engines by 2035.
Globally, such mandates have spurred panic among manufacturers. Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni recentlycondemned the EU’s similar mandate as “self-destructive,” with one of her ministers calling for a reassessment of the EU’s gasoline and diesel engine ban. Donald Trump recently promised that, if re-elected U.S. President, he will end his country’s EV mandate on his first or second day in office.
The Trudeau government, however, remains stubbornly stuck to the 2035 timeline. It is leaning heavily on subsidies to force Canada’s transition to EVs, committing $52.5 billion to attract Honda, Ford, Stellantis, Volkswagen, and General Motors, along with Swedish battery maker Northvolt – a company that’s in deep financial trouble – to Ontario and Quebec for EV production.
These gargantuan subsidies actually exceed the amount of private capital put up by the manufacturers themselves, suggesting their facilities will “create” some of the highest-cost jobs ever seen in Canada. They are highly unlikely ever to generate enough revenue to recover their expenses, never mind providing a return on the taxpayer’s investment.
Adding to EV manufacturing uncertainty, global demand for EVs is slowing. AsForbes recently reported, fully-electric passenger car demand is weakening, with unsold inventory piling up. Even prominent manufacturers are cutting back on production and investment. Apple has exited the EV market entirely,and in China, fields of unsold EVsclog ports and shipping hubs.
The primary problem, then, isn’t the Chinese EVs themselves. And Canada’s main response – imposing an unprecedented 100 percent surtax that surpasses even the tariffs that Trump levied on China when he was President – carries grave risk. Canada lacks the broad economic leverage for a tariff war, making canola, an essential Canadian export andthe number-one item our country sells to China, an easy target for Chinese “tit-for-tat” retaliation.
And it will be Western Canadian farmers who are handed much of the bill for this trade war. Farmers who are already unjustifiably burdened by the federal carbon tax. According to calculations by the Agriculture Carbon Alliance, the carbon tax now costs the average livestock farmer $726 per month, crop farmers $2,024 and greenhouse operators $17,173. A sampling of 50 farms surveyed by the organization paid $329,644 in carbon taxes in one month, a figure that the ever-rising tax could drive to nearly $900,000 per month within a few years. The carbon tax effectively redistributes hard-earned wealth from Western Canadian farmers to subsidy-dependent industries in Ontario and Quebec.
Meanwhile, Canada’s agricultural sector faces a looming labor shortage. A recent Royal Bank of Canada study warns that 40 percent of Canadian farm operators are expected to retire by 2033, potentially leaving 24,000 job vacancies across the farming, nursery and greenhouse sectors. “These gaps loom at a time when Canada’s agricultural workforce needs to evolve to include skills like data analytics,” the study states. “To meet our medium and long-term goals, we’ll need to build a new pipeline of domestic operators and workers.”
The future of Canadian EV manufacturing is entirely reliant on taxpayer-funded subsidies, while Canada’s agricultural industry – despite facing inherent risks from fickle markets and weather – has historically been on balance profitable and generally self-sustaining. What agriculture needs is relief from burdensome policies like the carbon tax – not added financial strain to support an industry in which Canada has no inherent economic advantage.
So rather than doubling-down on artificial industries, we should prioritize drawing young people into farming and equipping them with the skills necessary to meet future challenges. A country that cannot fuel or feed itself is vulnerable, both in times of stability and crisis.
Canada’s abundant natural resources – oil, natural gas, coal, forests, fisheries, and fertile soils – have long been integral to its economic success. Government policy should respect this by prioritizing self-sustaining industries. Subsidizing EV manufacturing while imposing punitive taxes on agriculture jeopardizes both rural livelihoods and Canada’s food security. At a time when natural advantages should be leveraged, the Trudeau administration’s focus on an economically untenable EV sector risks eroding Canada’s self-sufficiency and stability.
