Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have reached a new agreement, which would see the NDP prop up the Liberals to ensure Trudeau remains Prime Minister until 2025.
The agreement will see the NDP support the government during confidence votes and budgetary matters in exchange for Liberal support of some key NDP initiatives.
True North’s Candice Malcolm reacts to this unprecedented power grab. Tune into this live edition of the Candice Malcolm Show.
The NDP will ensure Justin Trudeau’s Liberals stay in power until 2025, according to a deal reached by the two parties Monday.
Trudeau announced a “supply and confidence agreement” with the New Democratic Party Tuesday morning. The agreement will see the NDP support the government during confidence votes and budgetary matters in exchange for Liberal support of some key NDP initiatives.
Shared priorities under the arrangement include a new dental care program, expediting the elimination of public subsidies for fossil fuels and tax changes on financial institutions.
BREAKING: Justin Trudeau announces an agreement with the NDP, which would see the NDP prop up the government until 2025. pic.twitter.com/SvzWD0D5ZA
There will be no NDP members of parliament appointed to Trudeau’s cabinet.
“Canadians need stability,” Trudeau said of the deal. “We cannot allow our differences stand in the way of delivering what Canadians deserve.”
According to a government press release, officials from the two parties will convene on a regular basis, with Trudeau and Singh meeting once every three months.
Conservative Leader Candice Bergen responded on Tuesday, claiming this unprecedented agreement is an “NDP-Liberal majority government.”
“This is nothing more than a Justin Trudeau power grab. He is desperately clinging to power.” Bergen said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh defended the deal he made with Trudeau, claiming the new NDP-Liberal pact will “get help to people.”
During a Tuesday morning press conference, Singh compared himself to previous NDP leaders Jack Layton and Tommy Douglas, and said the new pact will provide “stability” and “accountability.”
The NDP leader assured Canadians that his party will still keep the Trudeau government accountable.
“I want to go into it with a spirit of hopeful optimism, but I will remain critical and we’re going to remain an opposition party. We are going to remain forceful in getting help to people,” he said.
“We’re going into this eyes wide open. If they fall short … the deal doesn’t continue.”
Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh have reached a tentative agreement that would see the NDP support the Liberal government until 2025 in exchange for addressing their key priorities, according to CBC News.
Anonymous sources confirmed to the state broadcaster that the deal – called a “confidence and supply agreement” – needs support from NDP MPs who met on Monday night.
Sources also confirmed that the Liberal cabinet and caucus met late on Monday, though Liberal MPs were not told the reason for the last-minute caucus meeting.
The agreement would reportedly see the NDP support the Liberals during confidence votes that would otherwise trigger a federal election. In return, the Liberals have agreed to support national pharmacare and dental care programs long championed by the NDP.
The deal does not establish a coalition government between the two parties. A coalition differs from a “confidence and supply agreement” by establishing a two-party cabinet that sees both govern in tandem.
Formal discussions between the Liberals and NDP reportedly began soon after the 2021 election, which saw Trudeau returned to power with his second minority government.
In February, support from Singh and the NDP gave Trudeau the necessary votes to endorse his implementation of the Emergencies Act to crush the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois opposed the measure.
If the vote had failed, the emergency declaration would have been revoked. As a confidence vote, it likely would have triggered a federal election.
Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen denounced the rumoured agreement between Singh and Trudeau, calling it “little more than backdoor socialism.”
“Trudeau is truly polarizing politics, which is what he likes,” she said.
Bergen added that with rising inflation and national unity at stake, Trudeau knows he is losing the confidence of Canadians.
She said that if a Liberal-NDP coalition forms, “Canada is in for a very rough ride.”
Former US president Donald Trump told a massive crowd at Panthers arena on Saturday that the country desperately needs saving from weak, ineffectual leadership and the Liberal ideology being forced onto its citizens.
“Biden has unleashed a chain of unmitigated disasters… we have to stop the madness,” Trump told the 12,000 attendees.
The same could be said for Canada under Trudeau.
We too are in crisis due to weak, ineffectual leadership, the perpetuation of radical ideologies and a mainstream media that is embarrassingly beholden to our prime minister. Considering how Trudeau abused his power during the recent peaceful Freedom Convoy protest, it is in some ways even worse – especially in how his media lapdogs allowed it.
Trump’s speech at FLA Live Arena was part of his latest in a series of Freedom tours across mostly southern states. Although most of the crowd had waited all day to hear him speak, they roared and applauded with enthusiasm at seeing the man they hoped would return to the White House in 2024.
The Biden administration provided plenty of material, and Trump took advantage of every bit of it. He targeted the oil crisis, the southern border disaster, the economy and leftist ideology that has forced critical race theory and gender fluidity concepts into elementary school classrooms.
The crowd cheered when he suggested that if he were president, Russian president Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine.
“Putin saw weakness (in Joe Biden),” Trump said. “When I was in the White House, there was peace through strength…they didn’t f— around with us.”
Trump’s eldest son – Donald Trump Jr. – also spoke at the event. Articulate and funny, the former First Son slammed the major American news networks for suddenly waking up to a two-year-old story that tied President Biden’s son Hunter to a laptop containing emails proving his nefarious ties to a Ukrainian energy firm.
“If it had been Donald Trump Jr., you’d hear about it,” he said.
Like him or hate him Trump can sure draw a crowd. Some 12K people —disgusted with how Biden is ruining America —gave up a beautiful day in south Fla to hear the Trump team speak. A lesson is in this for Canada. Same issues. Same out of touch politicians. Same compromised MSM. pic.twitter.com/LvvS2qWYpg
Trump Jr. then asked the crowd whether anyone could say with a “straight face” that America is better off under Biden.
“Maybe (this country) needs the incompetence of this administration to show people what they had under Trump,” he said.
Security was tight at Panthers arena, and The Donald proudly boasted more than once that he’d kept out the “Fake News.”
The attendees I met and interviewed appeared anything but the “basket of deplorables” depicted by 2016 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. In fact, most I spoke with seemed to know about Canadian politics, the recent dictatorial actions of our prime minister towards the peaceful Freedom Convoy and the impact of Biden’s arbitrary cancellation of the Keystone pipeline.
Kathleen O’Brien, originally from western New York, called Trudeau a “tyrant” who gets a minus-0 on her list.
Floridian Gary Morris said Trudeau was a “communist” who betrayed the country, imprisoned its people and “stole their money.”
Janett Coppola, who came all the way from New Jersey to the rally, said she loves Trump because he tells it the way it is. She said she felt 100% that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine under a Trump regime.
Dan Bongino speaking to thousands of people at the Trump rally in Sunrise Florida. Talking about Bidens ties to Ukraine and Hunter Bidens laptop. pic.twitter.com/xdqZCoVjoP
John Parker, another Floridian, said he came to the rally because the “world is going to hell in a handbasket,” and he doesn’t want to join it. He added that Biden was a “failure” from Day One.
Earlier in the day, a visibly pregnant Candace Owens sent quite a murmur through the crowd when she asked how many people in the room had been accused of being racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-vaxxers.
In a rousing speech, she contended that we are in the midst of WW3 – an “ideological war in which the left is fighting for our minds every single day.
“It’s not going to stop until we demand that it does,” she said to a chorus of applause. “I don’t recognize this country anymore.”
There were many lessons for Canadians from Saturday’s rally. The most important one is for typically passive Canadians to recognize that our country is also under siege.
Love him or hate him, Trump knows that to be true.
The Ford government is set to introduce a bill that would allow people’s driver’s licences and vehicle registration to be revoked for participating in blockades the province deems illegal.
“Ontario is a strong, reliable trading partner, and we are signalling to the world that we continue to be open for business,” said Ontario premier Doug Ford in a press release on Monday. “We will do everything in our power to protect our workers, job creators and international trade relationships from any future attempts to block our borders.”
This bill, called the Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, would “provide police officers with additional enforcement tools to impose roadside suspension of drivers’ licenses and vehicle permits, seize license plates when a vehicle is used in an illegal blockade and remove and store objects making up an illegal blockade.”
The province also said it would be investing about $96 million in new measures to prevent future blockades. The funding would include enhanced training about public order policing through the Ontario Police College, establishing a permanent emergency response team for the Ontario Provincial Police and purchasing equipment such as heavy tow trucks.
Protesters occupied an area near the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor for about one week in February, blockading the busiest international trade route between Canada and the US.
The blockades were part of the convoy protests taking place across Canada, demonstrating against the requirement that cross-border truckers be vaccinated and other COVID-19 restrictions.
Other blockades were held in Emerson, Manitoba, Coutts, Alberta. and Surrey, British Columbia.
The Ambassador Bridge blockade was cleared and reopened on Feb. 13, two days after an Ontario Superior Court judge issued an injunction.
“The activities that are the subject of this injunction, the freedom that those want directly results in the denial of freedom to others in society, the direct denial of their freedom to work, the direct denial of their freedom to cross and to move goods and services across the bridge,” said Ontario Superior Court chief justice Geoffrey Morawetz on Feb 11.
The decision gave protesters until 7 p.m. to move their trucks. A joint force of local, provincial and federal police forces then descended on the demonstration, towing vehicles, ordering the protesters to leave and arresting anyone who refused.
Despite the Ambassador Bridge having been reopened, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named blockades as one of his reasons for invoking the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 to manage the trucker protests.
Trudeau said that the never-before-used measure was necessary to give the Canadian government and police forces more power to break up the trucker protests.
“There’s a high level of frustration that this situation has gone on as long as it has,” he said. “Those people have gone from protesting and disagreeing with those (COVID-19) measures, to limiting and blocking the freedoms of their fellow citizens.”
Multiple premiers spoke out against Trudeau’s decision, saying it was unnecessary and that there were adequate laws and police resources to manage the trucker protests.
Ford, however, openly applauded Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act.
“I will support the federal government in any proposals they have to bring law and order back to our province,” he said.
The Ottawa Police Service has cleared the Freedom Convoy of involvement in a highly-publicized arson attempt in an apartment building while protests were still ongoing throughout the city.
According to a Mar. 21 press release, one 21-year-old man named Connor Russell McDonald was charged for his involvement.
“A man has been charged in relation to a deliberately set fire in an apartment building on Lisgar Street on February 6, 2022. A second man is still wanted by police,” Ottawa Police wrote. “There is no information indicating MCDONALD was involved in any way with the Convoy protest which was going on when this arson took place.”
McDonald was charged with one count each of arson disregard for human life, arson causing property damage, mischief to property endangering life, mischief to property and possessing incendiary material.
Police are still looking to identify the second suspect, and anyone with information is being asked to contact the Ottawa Police Service Arson Unit at 613-236-1222, extension 3771 or 4587.
Ottawa police confirm apartment arson had nothing to do with Freedom Convoy. Will those who said otherwise apologize?
"…no information indicating MCDONALD was involved in any way with the Convoy protest which was going on when this arson took place."https://t.co/cXXC2Ri47W
Various media outlets and politicians had spread the claim that the arson was perpetrated by convoy protesters, part of a concerted effort by opponents of the truckers to smear them as extremists and domestic terrorists.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was chief among those who blamed the convoy for the incident.
During a Feb. 7 city council meeting, Watson declared that the arson “clearly demonstrates the malicious intent” of the truckers.
“Yesterday we learned of a horrific story that clearly demonstrates the malicious intent of the protesters occupying our city,” said Watson. “On Sunday morning, two young men entered the lobby of the building on Lisgar St. where they proceeded to light fire starter bricks near the elevators before taping up the door handles so residents would struggle to get out during a fire.”
A number of federal politicians have also tried to pin the arson on protestors including Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull who said that he saw “thefts and attempted arson.”
The Liberals also used the attempted arson to justify Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Actto quash the peaceful protests.
“(Protesters) have harassed employees of local businesses, so much so that businesses have had to close for three weeks. There was an attempted arson and the doors were handcuffed shut so that if a fire started, people would be burned alive inside the building,” said Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell on Feb. 19.
As recently as last week, at least one MP was still openly blaming the arson on convoy protesters.
Speaking to Global News on Mar. 14 about an anticipated Victoria convoy, NDP MP and former Victoria city councillor Laurel Collins continued to attribute the crime to Freedom Convoy demonstrators.
“You know, there was attempted arson,” she said. “Citizens in Ottawa were subjected to noise at all hours of the night. People were harassed on the streets. This was not a peaceful demonstration. It was an occupation. And, you know, the organizers, many who had connections to far right extremism, were very clear in the lead-up that they actually wanted to overthrow the government.”
Journalists like Justin Ling and CTV’s Glen McGregor also implied that there was a connection between the arson attempt and the protest.
On top of their property taxes, Victoria residents and business owners could soon have the opportunity to pay a voluntary “reconciliation contribution” that will go towards local First Nations.
The move comes according to a council member motion before the City of Victoria’s Committee of the Whole, titled Opportunity for Victoria Property Owners to Make Reconciliation Contribution.
“In consultation with the City’s Chief Financial Officer, we have determined that it is administratively simple for the City to create an opportunity for residents and businesses, if they so wish, to contribute an additional voluntary amount based on their property taxes to be provided alongside the City’s Reconciliation Grant to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations,” councillors wrote.
“Property owners will have the option of contributing amounts equal to 5% or 10% of their property taxes, or another amount of their choosing.”
The motion was proposed by Victoria mayor Lisa Helps and councillors Marianne Alto, Sarah Potts and Jeremy Loveday.
“This same process will be followed each year, giving property owners an opportunity to opt in each year. Just because a property owner makes a contribution one year does not mean they are obligated to do so in any following year. The City is not able to issue charitable tax receipts for the contributions,” the motion continues.
In its 2022 budget, the City of Victoria implemented a five-year reconciliation grant worth $200,000 that would go to both the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
“Council made this decision as a small gesture to recognize that the wealth generated by the City in the form of property taxes comes from Lekwungen lands, and that reconciliation and decolonization must involve more than words. Reconciliation must also include actions,” wrote councillors.
Councillors also cited the so-called discovery of “215 children’s bodies” buried at a gravesite near the former Kamloops Residential School to justify the optional tax.
As commentators have pointed out, the claims around children being buried at the Kamloops site have not been substantiated, and First Nations Chief Rosanne Casimir has stated that the discovery was “not a mass grave” as the media had earlier described.
One of the great paradoxes of our time is that the leaders who recklessly plunged us into a two-year covid-induced mania and who tore apart our economy and our social fabric, are now the same very people empowered to bring us back.
Canada needs to come up with a serious and credible plan to move past covid, end all covid era mandates and restrictions, to get our economy back on track but also, to begin to address the considerable harm done to our social fabric by the unprecedented government overreach of the past two years.
Today on The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by one of the leading international policy thinkers in Canada – Irvin Studin. Candice and Irvin discuss how Canada can recover from the effects of the pandemic, the escalating crisis in Ukraine and what it means for Canadians, and much more. Tune into the Candice Malcolm Show.
A Trudeau-appointed senator who complained about the noise of freedom demonstrations this weekend in Toronto appeared to consider protests opposing Chinese communism just as unacceptable as protests demanding freedom and opposing Trudeau.
Senator Donna Dasko tweeted on Mar. 19 as freedom convoy protests against the erosion of freedoms under COVID-19 mandates were taking place in the city’s downtown.
“These loud marchers today in downtown Toronto remind me of the occupiers of Ottawa that I saw last month. Against vaccine mandates, against Chinese communists, against the World Economic Forum, anti-Trudeau, demanding freedom, and more!” tweeted Dasko.
These loud marchers today in downtown Toronto remind me of the occupiers of Ottawa that I saw last month. Against vaccine mandates, against Chinese communists, against the World Economic Forum, anti-Trudeau, demanding freedom, and more! pic.twitter.com/79ZdREYgTD
Canadians were quick to call out Dasko for seemingly taking issue with a pro-freedom movement.
“Perhaps you could look into getting their bank accounts frozen without a court order. I hear that’s a totally legit tool in the toolbox these days,” tweeted Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Director of Domestic Policy Aaron Wudrick.
“I’m sorry Senator, but is there a problem with supporting freedom and opposing the Chinese Communist Party?” asked True North fellow Andrew Lawton.
I'm sorry Senator, but is there a problem with supporting freedom and opposing the Chinese Communist Party? https://t.co/deCEhpZrXS
True North reached out to Dasko to give her an opportunity to comment but did not receive a response by publication.
According to her biography, Trudeau appointed Dasko to the Senate on June 6, 2018. Prior to becoming a senator, Dasko was a pollster and media commentator.
Several cities including Calgary and Vancouver saw freedom protests on Saturday. In Toronto, protestors gathered at Nathan Phillips Square and marched through other parts of the city’s downtown.
In February, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to crush protests in Ottawa calling for an end to vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions. Trucker protests have nonetheless continued across the country, and smaller demonstrations have returned to Parliament Hill.
Despite his claims about the movement being funded by foreign extremists, several key testimonies have since poked holes in the Liberal government’s narrative.
A huge majority of Canadians are looking for ways to reduce spending as their worries about inflation increase, according to a new poll.
The results of a survey published by Leger last week suggest that 81% of Canadians believe inflation is a very or somewhat serious problem for their household. The survey goes on to say that the rising cost of groceries and gas is being felt the most.
According to the poll, the majority of Canadians think the cost of living will continue to go up. It also showed that 86% of respondents say they believe inflation will increase, while 84% expect gas prices to rise.
Furthermore, 86% of Canadians report they have reduced food waste to make their money go further, while 83% say they are buying less expensive items at the grocery store to cope with the rising cost of living.
The poll also suggests that 76% of Canadians are spending less on household items due to inflation and that 75% say they were eating less often at restaurants or limiting take out.
Canada’s inflation rate for February was at 5.7%, representing the highest the country has seen since Aug. 1991. Gas prices rose more than 32.3% compared to the previous year’s figures. Food prices across Canada are up more than 7.4%.
“If it feels like everything is getting more expensive, it’s because it is,” economist Royce Mendes with Montreal-based financial services firm Desjardins said.
Real estate costs are not counted in the federal government’s consumer price index, although the Canadian Real Estate Association reported the cost of owning a home in 2021 was 26% more expensive compared to 2020.
The poll was conducted from March 11 to 13, with 1,515 Canadians 18 years old or older recruited for an online panel. The margin of error is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
An Ipsos poll from November indicated that inflation and the rising cost of living were a top priority for 78% of Canadians, who worried about being unable to provide for their families.
When it came to Canadian parents, 60% of those polled with children under 18 years old said they were concerned about not having enough money to feed their families.
