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Thursday, August 14, 2025

GUEST OP-ED: Strangling Canadian oil and gas is a bad idea, especially now

By
Gregory Tobin
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Gregory Tobin is the National Content Manager for the Canada Strong & Proud network of pages.

“Phasing out oil and gas.” 

That phrase has been ringing real hollow the last couple of days.

But it’s on the to-do list for Prime Minister Trudeau and his new, hand-picked environment minister Steven Guilbeault.

They want to transition Canada away from a country that produces a best-in-the-world oil and gas product and instead stick Canadians with unreliable wind turbines and solar panels.

Sounds really darn stupid right about now, doesn’t it?

We care about ethical coffee, we like that our shampoo isn’t tested on animals and we want to make sure that our food is sourced as humanely as possible. So why don’t we have the same standards about our and the world’s energy? It’s a conversation many in Canada have been trying to start for years.

One nice little statistic that’s percolated to the top of the discourse since Putin invaded Ukraine is the fact that Canada has imported over $9,000,000,000 worth of oil from Putin since 1988. That’s $9 billion – with a ‘B.’

So while Trudeau and Guilbeault have been stifling pipelines, the oilsands, carbon tech, and so on at home, Putin has become one of the main energy suppliers of Europe and the world.

In fact, Russia exported $55.5 billion worth of natural gas in 2021.

Canada, on the other hand, really only sells our energy to ourselves and the United States, and that’s on the decline too since the Keystone XL pipeline was nixed by Biden, with no fight from Mr. Trudeau.

We produce the best energy, to the best standards, and with the best technology in the entire world. We have the third largest oil reserves in the world, and we have plenty of coastline from which to export it.

So, I think I speak for a lot of Canadians when I say, “what the hell!?”

There are several answers, and the first one is bad leadership.

As I mentioned, Prime Minister Trudeau and our new environment minister Steven Guilbeault are committed to a bad, anti-energy ideology. They want to phase out our oil and gas sector, stick Canadians with unreliable wind turbines and solar panels and leave us totally dependent on foreign sources of energy.  

But their worn out ideology only allows for them to ban, block, and shut down.

And did I mention – they are going through with this plan at a time when world demand for energy is only going up?

Foreign special interest groups, funded with foreign dollars, have engaged in an active campaign to shut down our energy – and they’ve done it all with the prime minister’s approval.

If you want to talk about foreign funding, the billion raked in by environmental NGO’s over the last two decades makes the Freedom Convoy protest fund look like a meagre Sunday collection plate at a dying church.

So why the push by foreign actors to cancel our energy? The simple answer is because the people who help fund many of the activists know we produce the best energy and don’t want their products to be displaced by Canada’s.

And with every barrel of oil stifled in Canada, it means global emissions are going to go up as bad actors like Putin and Xi Jinping are the ones to supply the world with their energy.

The EU is moving to label natural gas as green, and Norway wants to try and displace Russia as a major supplier of this green natural gas to Europe.

Canada should be a major player in this. The revenues generated could build hospitals, roads and schools. It could pay for doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers – you name it.

The energy industry in Canada supplies hundreds of thousands of well paying jobs to Canadians. Nearly 14,000 Indigenous Canadians are employed in the oil and gas sector.

We should be damn proud of this legacy, and we should be eager and excited to share it with the world. We could reduce global emissions, displace despot oil, and bolster our economy in amazing ways.

Yet our Prime Minister and his allies, including Guilbeault, want to phase it out.

This needs to change. And if it wasn’t obvious before the bombs fell on Kiev, it should sure as hell be obvious now.

More than 50,000 signatures on petition to defund CBC

By
Andrew Lawton
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A petition to defund CBC has had quicker uptake than any previous Canadian Taxpayers Federation petitions, according to CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano. He joined The Andrew Lawton Show to explain why Canadian taxpayers should be off the hook for the $1.4 billion the state broadcaster receives each year.

Watch the full episode of The Andrew Lawton Show.

High fertilizer prices now far worse after Russian invasion of Ukraine

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The cost of fertilizer was already at crisis levels before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but industry leaders say it’s now about to get much worse. 

The stock price of the world’s largest fertilizer producer, Saskatoon-based Nutrien Ltd., saw a 24% increase over the last month, reaching a high of $113 CAD on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, the cost of grain reached a 14-year record after it jumped to $10 per bushel. 

While shareholders and investors might be happy with the market, farmers are increasingly expressing concerns about the high costs and how it will impact their yields. 

High fertilizer costs were already a critical issue for the farming industry before the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

During a Feb. 17 Commons agriculture committee meeting, industry leaders urged the federal government to intervene on what they called an unfair market that advantaged big corporations while small and medium farm owners were being shortchanged. 

“We’re currently facing a fertilizer crisis as one of our big supply chain issues. Farmers need to find low-cost alternatives that are more environmentally friendly and that will still fit their needs,” president of the National Farmers Union Katie Ward told parliamentarians.

“Farmers are scrambling to figure out how they’re going to implement their production for this year. We really do need to find ways for farmers to be less dependent on these inputs, because when something breaks at a factory overseas, all of a sudden we’re scrambling and anticipating yields going down and costs going up again.”

Ward asked the federal government to investigate fertilizer pricing, casting doubt on fertilizer companies’ claims that exorbitant prices were related to supply chain issues. 

“The recent publication of 4th quarter and year end results show that fertilizer company margins, profits, and earnings are extraordinary. The companies themselves highlight huge net returns. Nutrien, Canada’s largest fertilizer producer, notes “record financial results” and reports fourth quarter net earnings nearly four times higher than a year ago,” read a recent NFU press release. 

The president of Quebec Produce Growers Association Catherine Lefebvre also highlighted how countries like Russia were already beginning to favour selling to domestic markets due to rising world energy prices. 

“Soaring energy prices have led several countries to cut back on the production of various fertilizers and reduce exports. That’s the case for China and several European countries, including Russia. It goes without saying that producing countries will favour the domestic market over exports. Canada is therefore at the mercy of international markets,” said Lefebvre. 

Russia is the world’s second-largest producer of fertilizer after Canada. Although Canadian companies will likely benefit from the export controls and sanctions placed on its competitor as a result of governmental response to the invasion, lower farm yields are also likely to lead to higher grocery costs for Canadians. 

When slapping sanctions onto top Russian officials and organizations on Tuesday, deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland told Canadians that they should be prepared to feel some financial pain.

“If we are truly determined to stand with Ukraine, if the stakes in this fight are as high as I believe them to be, we have to be honest with ourselves,” said Freeland. “I have to be honest with Canadians that there could be some collateral damage in Canada.”

Fuel prices in Canada reached record highs at the pumps on Wednesday, with $2.00 cents-per-litre gasoline now expected in Metro Vancouver over the coming days and weeks.

Budget watchdog admits government spending tough to track

By
Jonathan Bradley
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Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux has said that federal budgeting leaves taxpayers with minimal ability to “follow each and every dollar,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“There are mechanisms to prevent inappropriate expenditures but there is no guarantee all these mechanisms are followed,” said Giroux at the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance on Wednesday. “Once the money is approved it is much more difficult to follow each and every dollar.”

Senator David Richards of the Canadian Senators Group replied that Giroux’s testimony confirmed a suspected lack of oversight. 

“I have been asking for four years, is there any definitive way where the audits and oversight can come into the committee so we can know where this money is actually going?” said Richards. “It’s been told to us, where it’s going in a general way and why we need it, but there’s no specificity that I have seen since I’ve been in this job on this committee, not really.”

Giroux said that the Canadian government is telling people to “trust us and trust the officials and we will use that money efficiently and to the best purpose that we are saying we’ll use it for.” 

“That makes it very difficult to ensure that the money is effectively used efficiently and for the purpose for which it is supposed to be used,” he said. “Once the money is approved it is much more difficult to follow.”

The 2022 Canadian budget contains $45 billion in spending on Indigenous people, $26 billion on national defence, $6 billion for veterans, $4.2 billion for the RCMP, $3 billion for federal prisons and $1.3 billion for the CBC. Ten departments will each spend more than $5 billion, according to the budget. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised cabinet in 2020 that he would cut spending once the COVID-19 pandemic ended. 

“Absolutely, once we are through this pandemic, it is going to be extremely important to be fiscally responsible and sustainable,” said Trudeau. 

The Canadian government’s fall economic statement in 2020 said that Canada’s national deficit would reach $381.6 billion by the end of the year, while the federal debt would reach $1.4 trillion by March 2021. 

“This is the most severe challenge our country has faced since the Second World War,” said finance minister Chrystia Freeland in a speech to the House of Commons. “Canadians should know that their federal government will be there to help them get through it, come what may.”

The economic statement showed that the government would be between 3-4% of Canada’s GDP between 2021 to 2024 to try to help the Canadian economy. 

Carbon tax going up on April 1 despite record gas prices

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Canadians can expect even higher prices at the pumps once the Trudeau government moves ahead with its planned carbon tax hike on April 1. 

The hike comes even as gas prices hit record highs across Canada, with parts of downtown Vancouver now paying over $2.00 per litre. 

The 25% increase to the tax will raise the cost of greenhouse gas emissions from $40 per tonne to $50 per tonne. The Liberals have stated that they will continue to increase that cost by $15 per year until 2030, when it’s expected to reach $170 per tonne. The increase will also impact the price of any goods transported using fossil fuels. 

Some politicians including Brampton, Ontario mayor Patrick Brown are urging the federal government to put a halt on the tax hike, citing the unprecedented gas prices now plaguing Canadians. 

“The supply concerns caused by Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and other inflationary pressures have made energy unaffordable for many. Canceling the increase on the carbon tax right now is the right call,” Brown wrote to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. 

“No new burdens should be on the backs of taxpayers during a period of economic upheaval.”

“My policy has been consistent throughout this pandemic. I want no new taxes and no new burdens on the backs of our families and our small businesses,” said Brown. 

Yesterday, Conservative MP and leadership contender Pierre Poilievre said that if elected prime minister his government would scrap the federal carbon tax and take a technology-centric approach to fighting climate change. 

“Scrapping the carbon tax will reduce the cost of living, it will mean small businesses will have more money to hire workers and provide affordable goods for their people, and it will allow us to recentre the focus of environmental policy onto real results, not revenue and onto technology rather than taxes,” said Poilievre.

In October, Ontario Premier Doug Ford also warned that the gas prices were “just the beginning” of Canadians’ woes when it came to the downstream effects of the carbon tax. 

“The carbon tax is the single worst tax on the backs of Canadians that’s ever existed. It’s driving up the cost of groceries, it’s driving up the cost of us getting from point A to point B, driving your kids to work, I have fought this day in and day out,” said Ford. 

To date, the Trudeau government has not made any indication that it will halt planned increases of the carbon tax. 

GoFundMe and GiveSendGo execs confirm convoy not foreign-funded

By
Jonathan Bradley
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Darrin Calcutt

Members of Parliament heard on Thursday that the Trudeau cabinet’s claims that the Freedom Convoy was funded by foreign powers were false, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“Our records show 88% of donated funds originated in Canada and 86% of donors were from Canada,” said GoFundMe president Juan Benitez to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in the House of Commons on Thursday. 

Donors contributed $10.1 million to the Freedom Convoy by the time GoFundMe suspended the crowdfunding page on Feb. 4. 

Benitez said that foreign funding was insignificant and that he could make that determination through credit card information. He said there was no evidence that any neo-Nazi or criminal organizations contributed to the Freedom Convoy. 

He added that GoFundMe conducted a review of donors and could not find anyone involved with organized crime. The crowdfunding page, he said, would have been shut down if they had found people involved with organized crime donating to it. 

GoFundMe’s suspension led to donors then contributing $10.6 million to a crowdfunding page on GiveSendGo before it too was frozen. GiveSendGo executives testified that about 63% of those contributions were from Canada. 

“Most of the donations were under a hundred dollars,” said GiveSendGo co-founder Jacob Wells. “It’s pretty consistent across the board.”

Conservative MP Dane Lloyd pointed out that this testimony contradicts cabinet claims of foreign interference. 

“There has been a lot of rhetoric that we’ve heard in Parliament about foreign financing, that this was a foreign-funded campaign to undermine Canada’s national security, but we see numbers that 88% of donors were Canadians,” said Lloyd. 

Multiple cabinet ministers had claimed in February that foreign extremists were using the Freedom Convoy to threaten Canadian democracy. 

Foreign funding was also one of the reasons Trudeau had cited for invoking the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, which saw the government grant itself sweeping financial powers to track convoy contributions and freeze bank accounts. 

“It is important that we follow the money because for a number of weeks there have been alarm bells going off about the rate at which the leaders have been able to raise significant funds, much of which has been raised from abroad,” said public safety minister Marco Mendicino. 

Emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair had said that foreign powers were hoping to use the Freedom Convoy to harm Canadians. 

“We cannot leave anyone with the impression our democracy is negotiable or subject to efforts of appeasement,” said Blair. “We will not let any foreign entities that seek to harm Canada or Canadians or erode trust in our democratic institutions or question the legitimacy of our democracy.”

True North ranks the legacy media’s coverage of the Freeland neo-Nazi scarf controversy

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

After True North first published a news report about Liberal deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland holding a neo-Nazi scarf, legacy media outlets have rushed to defend the Trudeau cabinet minister.

These outlets have published several articles attempting to whitewash the incident despite Freeland’s own office deleting the tweet showing her holding the red and black banner.

Although the colours and its slogan are well known to be associated with the Nazi-sympathizer Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists movement begun by Stepan Bandera, a trove of cherry-picked experts and commentators are running defence for the minister. 

True North has graded the legacy media’s coverage of the controversy. Rankings were based on how much the outlets spun their coverage in favour of the Liberal minister.

National Post – F 

By far, the National Post’s coverage has been the most bizarre, if not one-sided. All of the sources and experts cited in the article – which attempts to brush off the incident as “Russian disinformation” – are completely in Freeland’s favour. 

The piece begins by saying outright that the symbol “may not be as far-right” as critics claim, and leads with a baseless quote from Freeland’s own office calling it “disinformation.” 

At one point, the article even cites an expert who defends the “blood and soil” colouration of the scarf, even though black and red is heavily used by neo-Nazis including those who attended the white nationalist Charlottesville rally. 

In fact, all four sources cited by the piece support Freeland’s claim that the story was disinformation, without a single expert disputing or arguing against it. 

Based on these facts, True North gives the National Post an “F” for extreme Liberal spin.

CBC – D

As expected, the CBC’s reporting on the Freeland controversy is skewed in favour of the Liberal minister. 

The piece begins by pointing out how the red and black neo-Nazi colours at the rally in Toronto were vastly outnumbered by Ukrainian flags, “by a ratio of about 20 to one.” Unsurprisingly, the CBC did not make similar allowances when covering the Ottawa freedom convoy. Instead, their coverage continuously emphasized reports of Confederate and swastika flags even though protesters overwhelmingly carried Canada flags. 

The article also only relies on a single source, and without providing varying opinions. Unlike other academics who have admitted that the red and black symbolism means “blood and soil,” the expert handpicked by the CBC claims it represents “love and sorrow.” 

Because there is no contrary expert opinion, and because the CBC attempted to downplay the controversy, True North gives the CBC a “D” grade for heavy Liberal spin. 

iPolitics – C

The outlet iPolitics was one of the first to directly credit True North for reporting Freeland’s scarf controversy. Overall, the article is generally balanced.

On the positive side of things, it specifically makes reference to Freeland’s double standard, which saw her generalize Ottawa convoy protesters as Nazis because of one swastika flag. 

However – and to iPolitics’s discredit – the outlet’s editors quickly swooped in to whitewash the story soon after its publication, and apparently without the knowledge of the article’s writer. The article now no longer includes the term “neo-Nazis,” and admits the revision. 

The journalist who wrote that piece has since left the outlet. 

Due to the editor’s decision to tweak the article to cast Freeland in a more positive light, True North gives iPolitics a “C” for moderate Liberal spin. 

Toronto Star – B

In a lengthy piece citing numerous experts, the Toronto Star covered the Freeland controversy in what we would call a neutral light. 

To the outlet’s credit, the article reached out to academics with varying opinions on the matter to give a nuanced take. Two experts cited in the piece thoroughly explain how the scarf’s symbolism is tied to the radical far-right, while another two experts dismiss the idea as Russian disinformation.

The Toronto Star piece also delves into some of unsavoury details of Freeland’s past, including the fact that her grandfather worked for a pro-Nazi newspaper during the Second World War, as well as the historical connotations associated with the scarf’s slogan and its colours. 

The main thing detracting from the piece’s quality is that it makes no mention of Freeland accusing her opponents – including most recently the Ottawa freedom convoy – of being extremists or far-right. 

Because the Toronto Star appears more or less objective and provides varying opinions, True North gives the article a “B” for having very little spin. 

Canadian Press – A

The Canadian Press wrote a highly detailed and informative piece on the scarf’s symbolism and historical associations.

Throughout the article, the author cites multiple sources and provides context from Freeland’s family past.

After citing True North for breaking the story, the piece also mentions how Freeland hypocritically accused the trucker convoy protesters of being far-right extremists over one neo-Nazi flag. 

Due to the article’s lengthy explanation and context, True North gives the Canadian Press an “A” for having no spin.

University hosts media panel on convoy called “Journalism Under Siege”

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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Carleton University’s School of Journalism will host a panel discussion with members of Canada’s legacy media on Tuesday to discuss their role in covering what the school calls “the siege of Ottawa.”

The Ottawa university describes its event – titled “Journalism Under Siege” – as “one of the first public events to reflect on the role of the media during the unprecedented occupation of downtown Ottawa.”

The panel’s members are expected to discuss the challenges journalists faced while covering the Freedom Convoy. Members of the public will also have the opportunity to contribute to the discussion.

The panel will feature legacy-media figures including CTV News’s Glen McGregor and left-wing investigative journalist Justin Ling.

Other panellists include CBC’s Judy Trinh and Jorge Barrera, the Toronto Star’s Raisa Patel and photographer Justin Tang. 

Journalism associate professor and CBC News anchor Adrian Harewood will be moderating the panel.

The Carleton University event has received criticism for its apparent exclusion of right-of-centre and independent journalists, who played a crucial role in covering the Freedom Convoy. 

True North’s Sue Ann Levy called out Carleton University on Twitter, saying the school – her own alma mater – had taught her “how to get both sides of the story.”

Levy added that the panel is “just one giant echo chamber that will reinforce their narcissistic view of their own importance and the very pack mentality that led to ‘mean words’ being hurled at them during the Freedom protests.”

True North has, however, learned that one right-of-centre journalist received an invitation to the panel, but only after the initial event information was put out.

Columnist Rupa Subramanya, who contributes to the National Post, The Wall Street Journal as well as other outlets, told True North she received a late invitation to join.

Subramanya said she asked organizers why she was given a late invitation, for which she was told that the event had been organized quickly. She was also told that other panellists had recommended her participation to the organizers.

Subramanya told True North that she had been offered an apology for the late invitation but that she has not yet agreed to attend due to scheduling issues.

The Freedom Convoy changed the way Canadians perceive the legacy media, due to coverage many deemed to be one-sided.

Legacy-media journalists often repeated talking points similar to those of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who claimed the movement had racist elements and that the peaceful protests were violent and illegal.

This disinformation led Freedom Convoy organizers to ban outlets such as CBC and the Toronto Star from some of their press conferences.

Carleton’s media event is scheduled to take place at Ottawa’s Dominion-Chalmers Centre, which was formerly owned and operated by the progressivist United Church of Canada, which still hosts a congregation in the building.

Despite Ontario lifting most of its COVID-19 restrictions, including the vaccine passport, those who wish to attend the event will still have to show proof of double vaccination. Face masks will also be mandatory.

Leslyn Lewis set to announce Conservative leadership bid next week

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Sources close to Leslyn Lewis say that she is preparing to enter the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership race as early as next week.

According to the Toronto Star, Lewis is biding her time until more details are revealed by the Conservative brass regarding the race’s rules.

“We’re in it to win,” an anonymous source told the outlet.

This week the CPC revealed that a new leader would be elected by the party on Sept. 10 and that candidates would have until April 19 to enter the contest. Those running would have to pay a $200,000 entry fee as well as a $100,000 deposit.

Lewis broke ground as a candidate during the 2020 CPC leadership contest where she placed third behind runner-up Peter Mackay and former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole.

She then proceeded to run for the party as a candidate for Haldimand-Norfolk where she now currently sits as MP.

As exclusively reported by True North, Lewis’s historic candidacy as the first black woman to run for the leadership of a federal party was largely overlooked by the legacy media.

As the race was unfolding, the CBC wrote 500% as many headlines mentioning US vice-president Kamala Harris than they did reporting on Lewis despite the fact that the state broadcaster’s mandate requires it to be “predominantly and distinctly Canadian.”

While an MP, Lewis has been outspoken against COVID-19 measures and the Trudeau government’s erosion of freedoms.

As of Friday, the only candidate to have officially announced a bid for the party’s top spot is CPC MP Pierre Poilievre.

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest has also said that he is considering running to become leader.

On Wednesday, Charest met with 40 MPs and senators to discuss a potential run.

Everyone who disagrees with me is a KGB propagandist

By
Candice Malcolm
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It’s Fake News Friday on the Candice Malcolm Show, and Candice and True North journalist Harrison Faulkner break down the worst of the worst of biased media and pro-war propaganda.

While the legacy media insist the situation is black and white, and that anyone saying anything skeptical of the news coverage or about any Ukrainian is a Putin-shill or pushing Russian KGB disinformation.

We reject that idea. Two things can be true at the same time. Putin is an aggressor, a tyrant and a war criminal. Also. Ukraine has sketchy elements that shouldn’t be ignored and that Canada’s Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland shouldn’t support.

The legacy media continues to show Canadians that they cannot be trusted to report the truth.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

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