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Thursday, August 14, 2025

Alberta government cuts taxes on fuel 

By
Jonathan Bradley
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With fuel prices breaking records at the pumps across Canada, Alberta premier Jason Kenney has announced his province will stop collecting the provincial fuel tax to offer some relief from skyrocketing costs. 

“We’ve heard Albertans’ concerns about the rising cost of living loud and clear,” said Kenney in a press release on Monday. “While the federal government is set to increase the carbon tax April 1, Alberta’s government is taking the opposite approach and stepping up to offer relief.”

Kenney said that stopping the provincial fuel tax “puts money back in the pockets of Albertans when they need it most.”

Alberta finance minister Travis Toews said that many people expressed concerns about increasing prices when he consulted with them for this year’s budget. 

“The best thing government can do during inflationary times is to spend less, borrow less and tax less,” said Toews. “That’s why today we are introducing new measures to help with the cost of fuel by reducing the provincial fuel tax, providing much-needed relief to everyday Albertans.”

The press release said that collection of the fuel tax would be paused for gasoline and diesel, which costs 13 cents per litre. Because the GST applies to provincial fuel taxes, the press release said that the 13-cent reduction will reduce the sales tax by 65 cents per litre, for a total savings of about 13.6 cents per litre of gasoline or diesel. 

The Kenney government also said that it would review the collection of the fuel tax on a quarterly basis and consider reinstating it in stages rather than all at once, adding this would not begin sooner than July 1. 

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) applauded Alberta’s fuel tax relief and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap the federal carbon tax. 

“Albertans need relief, so it’s great to see the Kenney government step up and cut the big tax bill drivers face at the pumps,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano. “Trudeau needs to ditch his tax hikes and scrap the federal carbon tax.”

The federal carbon tax is set to increase to 11 cents per litre of gasoline on April 1, the third time it has gone up during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Trudeau has said that he would increase the federal carbon tax to nearly 40 cents per litre of gasoline by 2030.

Poilievre urges Trudeau, “give people back control of their lives” 

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to drop all federal vaccine mandates and push the provinces to do the same.

In a letter to Trudeau obtained by True North, Poilievre writes that Trudeau’s pandemic “power trip” needs to end.

“Do not allow your spite towards the trucker protest to stand in the way of doing the right thing,” Poilievre writes. “This is not about saving face. Your pride and ego come after the public interest. Prime Minister, the power trip is over.”

In his letter, Poilievre accuses Trudeau of not listening to the science or the voters.

“Give people back control of their lives,” Poilievre writes. “You are their servant and not their master.”

Poilievre is also looking for a guarantee the federal government will not impose a tax on the unvaccinated, as Quebec proposed in January before scrapping the controversial plan last month.

Poilievre’s letter points out that Trudeau is increasingly out of step with his own experts, pointing to a remark Feb. 4 from Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, asserting that “we need to get back to some normalcy.”

At the same press conference, deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo said that mask-wearing should be a “a personal choice under one’s individual risk assessment.”

Despite the softening tone from Canada’s top doctors, Trudeau has been unrelenting on federal mandates.

Poilievre says in his letter Trudeau must “allow unvaccinated public servants their jobs back and compensate them for the earnings lost.” Federal public sector workers who haven’t received the second dose of a Covid vaccine are indefinitely on unpaid leave.

Trudeau has not given a timeline for allowing a return to work or lifting any other federal restrictions, which include the public sector and travel vaccine mandates, border and quarantine restrictions for the unvaccinated, as well as the Transport Canada mask mandate.

As recently as last week, the federal government was considering a vaccine mandate for interprovincial travel, though this plan was shelved.

“Public health changes, science changes. Lots of things are changing. It’s very much in flux,” Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said of the walkback.

Poilievre is the only candidate to have officially announced a campaign to replace Erin O’Toole as Conservative leader. The party will elect its new leader Sept. 10.

Anti-Russian sentiments on the rise in Canada

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Anti-Russian attacks and sentiments are on the rise as Canadians react to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces. 

On Friday night, a Russian community theatre in Vancouver was splattered with blue and yellow paint, signifying the colours of the Ukrainian flag. 

According to a local business improvement association spokesperson, the attack was unfortunate but not unexpected. 

“I slightly anticipated something might happen,” said Jane McFadden, who called the vandalism “a shame” on Twitter. 

The attack against the property occurred even though the theatre’s operators have claimed to support Ukraine against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions. 

In another incident last week, a Russian-born teenage OHL North Bay Battalion player was the victim of anti-Russian slurs during a game against the Sudbury Wolves. 

The general manager of the Battalions Adam Dennis confirmed the incident to TSN. 

“The investigation is in the hands of the league,” said Dennis. 

An NHL Gold Star agent also confirmed the original report by journalist Rick Westhead.

“Disturbing news… I confirm Rick Westhead’s report that my teenage Russian born client on OHL North Bay Battalion team was targeted with Anti-Russian slur at yesterday’s game,” tweeted Dan Milstein. 

In response, the OHL has committed to “monitoring the well-being of all players and especially those European players originating” from the countries involved in the conflict. 

“The OHL has a strict discrimination, harassment and bullying policy, this includes discrimination based on country of origin. There is zero tolerance for violations of these policies,” noted OHL director of communications Josh Sweetland. 

“It is the League’s intention to enforce this policy for any discrimination or harassment against Russian and Belarusian players.” 

These actions come as the Trudeau government ramps up sanctions against Russia, including banning Russian crude oil and targeting Russian banking. 

Last week, the Liberal government grounded a plane in Yellowknife that was carrying two Russian nationals. The plane’s pilots and those on board have since been charged for breaking recently implemented airspace restrictions. 

Convoy organizer Tamara Lich released on bail after review

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Ottawa Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich was granted bail on Monday after a Superior Court of Ontario justice overturned a prior judge’s decision to keep her in jail.

Lich was arrested by Ottawa Police on Feb. 17 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act and a joint police force brought the convoy demonstrations to an end.

According to Justice John Johnston, the prior judge overseeing the case made a legal error when ruling to keep Lich behind bars. On Feb. 22, Justice Julie Bourgeois denied Lich bail, citing the possibility that she would reoffend and that her release would harm the integrity of the justice system. 

In his new ruling, Johnston stated that Bourgeois had made errors in her original decision to detain Lich. These errors included Bourgeois’s claim that Lich’s release would hurt the reputation of the justice system, but Johnston also argued that the prior judge had not considered Lich’s charges “objectively.” 

“When considering the gravity of the offence, the bail justice used subjective considerations, not an objective comparison,” said Johnston. “This is an error in law (and it’s) not minor.”

Johnston also stated “that it’s not likely that (Lich) would face potential lengthy imprisonment” upon the completion of her trial. 

“I find that this accused ought to be released,” ruled Johnston. 

During her bail review last week, Lich accused Bourgeois of bias, citing the fact that the judge had once run as a federal Liberal candidate who was praised by Trudeau himself. 

“Her vision, her authenticity, her strength is going to be an amazing asset,” Trudeau said of Bourgeois in a 2011 video. 

Johnston dismissed Lich’s accusation, however, saying that no evidence of bias was provided. 

“The accused in this case has provided no evidence on which a reasonably informed person could find bias or reasonable apprehension of bias,” said Johnston. 

In his ruling, Johnston nevertheless said that he was satisfied with Lich’s ability to meet a number of conditions and would be required to have a surety to ensure that the conditions are met. 

“Given my findings of the proposed surety, I’m satisfied with appropriate conditions. Risk can be managed and Ms. Lich can be released,” said Johnston. “Ms. Lich is seen on video saying “hold the line.” But use of tertiary grounds to detain usually involve violence or terrorism offences, home invasions or serious drug trafficking cases. None of these issues are present here.”

“It’s not alleged that this accused committed violence or counselled violence. There’s no use of firearms or weapons alleged, at least no allegation against Ms. Lich herself,” Johnston said in his decision. 

Johnston ordered that a surety would be required to watch over Lich and provide a $20,000 bond. Meanwhile, Lich would be required to post a $5,000 bond and leave Ottawa within 24 hours. 

Upon release, Lich must regularly report to the police, have no contact with other convoy organizers and will not be allowed to post on social media or protest COVID-19 measures. 

The fellow organizers Lich can not communicate with include Benjamin Dichter, Chris Barber, James Bauder, Daniel Bulford and several others. 

UK freedom protesters chant “F*ck Trudeau” outside Downing Street

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was dogged by protesters outside of 10 Downing Street in London, England on Monday, heckled for his continuing support of COVID-19 restrictions and his use of the Emergencies Act to quash peaceful demonstrations in Ottawa.

Trudeau is currently on a diplomatic trip to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine with world leaders. 

Protesters outside of 10 Downing Street’s gates chanted “F*ck Trudeau” and waved Canada flags. Elsewhere in London, others held “puppet Trudeau” and “free Tamara” signs, the latter referring to Ottawa Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich, who was arrested as part of the police crackdown. 

Instead of going in through the front entrance of UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s official residence, Trudeau arrived via an alternate route to avoid being confronted by the protesters. 

In February, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history in reaction to nation-wide demonstrations opposing ongoing pandemic restrictions. 

Soon after invoking the act, federal and provincial police established a militarized presence in Ottawa where protesters were arrested at gunpoint, beaten with batons and even trampled on by riot horses. 

As a result of the Act, the federal government also froze and seized the accounts of those associated with the convoy by altering terrorist financing laws.

Trudeau’s decision to use the act was not only criticized in Canada but also received wide condemnation abroad.

Protests against Trudeau have also erupted outside the Canadian embassy in New York City, with a number of international politicians accusing the prime minister of behaving like a dictator. 

Among those who spoke out against Trudeau was UK MP Marcus Fysh, who called Trudeau’s actions “authoritarian measures.” 

“I am writing today to the Foreign Secretary to ask her what the UK is doing to discourage Canada from arbitrary & authoritarian measures against Canadian residents & their rights. We should do what we can to help our good friends there find a better way,” tweeted Fysh. 

Government arts council cuts off projects with Russian artists and organizations

By
Jonathan Bradley
-

The Canada Council for the Arts has said it will no longer be providing public funding to activities involving Russian or Belarusian artists or arts organizations due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“Any current or anticipated applications that support artistic activities created by or in collaboration with Russian arts organizations will not be accepted by the Canada Council, until Russia withdraws its military forces from Ukraine,” said Canada Council for the Arts director and CEO Simon Brault in a blog post on Friday.

Brault said that this measure includes partnerships, direct and indirect funding of tours, co-productions, festivals and other events held in Russia. 

Brault encouraged the arts council’s major clients to support the initiative by reviewing their current programming with Russian artists and arts organizations. 

The burden of the unprecedented sanctions, Brault said, would “have unfortunate consequences for certain Canadian artists and artistic organizations (but) that the citizens of Russia and Belarus will also be penalized.” 

“The attack on Ukraine is an attack on international law, as well as on democracy, freedom, and human rights,” he said. “The Council’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people is one of peace and recognition for all refugees from Ukraine, including those from racialized groups, all of whom are entitled and deserving of human rights protection.”

The announcement by the Canada Council for the Arts is the latest in a series of economic sanctions against Russia. These include everything from bans on Russian banking, closure of Canadian airspace to Russian aircraft and even the removal of Russian alcohol from the shelves of government-run liquor stores.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced a ban on crude oil imports from Russia on Feb. 28. 

“This industry accounts for more than a third of Russia’s federal budget revenues,” said Trudeau. “And while Canada has imported very little amounts in recent years, this measure sends a powerful message.”

Preston Manning: Trucker Convoy was a legitimate expression of concern

By
Candice Malcolm
-

On today’s episode of the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by Former Leader of the Opposition Preston Manning, to discuss the trucker convoy, populism and his advice for all Canadians in the post-Covid era.

Manning says the Trucker Convoy was a “legitimate, bottom-up political protest” and that the Trudeau government’s handling of it was “an extreme overreaction and a deliberate misinterpretation of what they were trying to do.”

“There is rumbling in the federal Liberals already that Trudeau has to go,” said Manning in regards to his overall handling of Covid and unwillingness to adapt to the rapidly changing political environment.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Trudeau-appointed librarian ordered purge of online historical archives

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Canada’s top librarian personally directed her staff to wipe federal websites of content she deemed offensive. 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, chief archivist Leslie Weir told employees at Library and Archives Canada to purge thousands of pages, including a biography of Canada’s first prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald. 

“We need to discuss having a disclaimer on the website about having content that may offend people. I feel very strongly about that,” Weir said in an email on June 9, 2021.  

“Much of the content on the Library and Archives Canada website reflects the time at which it was written. We understand much of this outdated historical content no longer reflects today’s context and may be offensive to many. This is an enormous undertaking with over 7,000 web pages.” 

Weir, who was appointed by the Liberal government receives a salary of $243,000 a year and once took an all-expenses-paid trip to China in 2019.

Employees at the department voiced their concerns that Weir’s criteria for what was offensive were too vague.

“The only direction we received from Leslie was ‘offensive content,’” said a manager. 

Acting manager of public services Rebecca Giesbrecht also stated that the department was scrambling as a result of the order. 

“Leslie has asked for us to remove all ‘offensive’ content from the website. We are scrambling today to identify what that might be with a rough set of criteria to work with,” wrote Giesbrecht.

Weir’s criteria for offensive history included any page that erased Indigenous people, had “outdated terminology,” and anything that “lacked Indigenous perspectives and/or that ignores or dismisses the impact of colonialism.” 

“The result will be that a lot of stuff from our website disappears rather quickly and nothing substantial will be up to replace it immediately,” wrote Giebrecht in a June 8, 2021 email. 

Canadians first became aware of the historical purge after a Macdonald biography disappeared from the federal government’s website. Soon after, the biographies of five other prime ministers were also scrubbed. 

Why is Tamara Lich still in jail?

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Freedom Convoy fundraiser and organizer Tamara Lich is in jail until at least Monday, when a judge will decide whether she should be released on bail. True North’s Andrew Lawton spoke to criminal defense lawyer David Anber about the case.

Watch the full episode of The Andrew Lawton Show.

Military intelligence worried about possible attack on Taiwan by China

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Canadian military intelligence suspected that China would use Russia’s attack on Ukraine as a smokescreen to launch an offensive on Taiwan, the House of Commons defence committee heard on Wednesday. 

Head of Canada’s military intelligence Maj.-Gen. Mike Wright told the committee that his unit was on high alert over possible action by China. 

“Prior to a week ago, we were very concerned about China and in fact wondering if China would take the opportunity to accelerate their own plans for greater control of their abroad, specifically Taiwan,” Wright told parliamentarians. 

“I would hope with the reaction of the international community, and specifically NATO and the West, that China would have pause for any of their authoritarian plans in the future.” 

China has maintained its claim that the island nation of Taiwan belongs to the mainland government and has recently ramped up military efforts near its airspace. 

Recently, 141 nations at the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn Putin’s offensive against Ukraine. China was among the 35 states that abstained from casting a ballot on the matter. 

Canada along with other western nations have amassed sanctions targeting the regime of Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

This week, Ottawa also announced that it would prohibit Russian aircraft from entering Canadian airspace. 

“All of Canada is united in its outrage of President Putin’s aggression against Ukraine. In response, we have closed Canadian airspace to Russian-owned or operated aircraft. The Government of Canada condemns Russia’s aggressive actions and we will continue to take action to stand with Ukraine,” said transport minister Omar Alghabra. 

Russian forces have been besieging several key cities in Ukraine including the nation’s capital Kyiv for seven days now. Russian and Ukrainian officials met at the Belarusian border on Thursday to resume peace talks. 

According to reports, the talks ended with an agreement to create a safe corridor to evacuate civilians and for humanitarian efforts. 

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