Inflation in Canada is at an 18-year-high, according to the latest Statistics Canada data.
Year over year the Commodity Price Index (CPI) is up 4.4% which is the highest it has been since February 2003.
According to Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Franco Terrazzano, it’s time for the federal government to start curbing back spending.
“Since the pandemic began (beginning of March 2020) the Bank of Canada has printed more than $380 billion,” Terrazzano told True North, referencing official Bank of Canada data.
“The stats are showing what everyone is feeling: pain from sky-high cost of living. It’s time for the feds to take the printing press out of overdrive, rein in the overspending and provide tax relief.”
The spike has been largely driven by rising gas, housing and food prices across the country.
According to the data, the price of chicken is up 10.3% and beef is up 13%. All combined food prices have shot up 3.9%.
Meanwhile, the cost of shelter is up by 4.8% while the cost of goods has increased by 6.1%.
Transportation costs have taken the heaviest hit being up by 9.1%, while the cost of gasoline has risen a shocking 32.8%.
Recently, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that the high gas prices were “just the beginning” and costs will continue to increase due to the federal 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,” Doug Ford told reporters last week.
Canadians don’t need to be told that inflation is becoming a growing problem – we see it in the price of goods and services and it’s taking a toll on our wallets.
After months of unprecedented spending by all levels of government and various attempts by the government to enforce “green” initiatives, Canadian politicians are partially to blame for the cost of living increasing.
Canadian politics has become so robotic – politicians all sound the same, follow talking points and agree on almost every issue.
However, there’s one politician in Canada who’s trying to change that. Aaron Gunn is an independent journalist, a common sense pundit and is running to become the next leader of the BC Liberals and eventually the next Premier of British Columbia.
Aaron joins The Candice Malcolm Show to discuss his campaign and his vision for British Columbia.
The Department of Public Works wants to build relaxation cafés and lounges where government employees can “zone out or stretch” in federal buildings, according to Access To Information documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“Every day Canadians spend more than half of their waking hours at work. Yet when we think about our health, we don’t consider the workplace as a setting for health promotion. But shouldn’t we?” claimed a March 25, 2020 report Healthy Workplace And Inclusive GC Workplace.
“We are not all one size so our spaces should not be a ‘one size fits all’ solution. Government of Canada workplace standards include seating and furniture settings that will accommodate a full range of body types and sizes.”
Part of the plan includes taxpayer-funded spaces for “social gatherings” and places where employees can find “quiet refuge to support mental health and overall well-being.”
“A Government of Canada workplace provides a variety of quiet spaces to recharge and reflect away from devices, encourage mental breaks from focused work, encourage relaxation and promote health and well-being in the office,” wrote the report.
“These spaces include cafés and casual seating, phone booths and private offices, reflection areas near windows and recharge rooms to zone out, relax or stretch.”
Months after the plan was written up, the department released another internal report indicating that public sector employees were complaining about all of the “uninspiring” work they had to do.
As the pandemic waged on, federal government employees have been lavished with raises, funding for office equipment for those working from home and paid leave.
In December 2020, taxpayers had to foot $1.1 billion in paid leave for employees who were neither sick nor working from home.
Recently, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has indicated that hundreds of thousands of federal workers received pay raises as Canadians struggled to get by. Between February 2020 and July 2021, 5,918 civil servants were boosted to the list of employees earning over $100,000 a year.
In comparison, the private sector saw some take pay cuts and a loss of 395,900 jobs over the same period.
This story has been updated to include comment from the Globe and Mail.
The Toronto Star and Globe and Mail did not disclose a University of Toronto professor’s funding from AstraZeneca when publishing op-eds from him promoting COVID-19 vaccination.
In op-eds to both legacy media outlets, Prof. Mark Lautens was identified by his position as the J.B. Jones Professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Lautens also holds the title of “AstraZeneca Professor of Organic Chemistry,” however, a position funded by COVID vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca.
Lautens’ has not hidden his funding and research support from AstraZeneca: it appears on his publicly available CV and elsewhere. In fact, Lautens openly thanked AstraZeneca for support in a tweet featuring a money bag emoji dated Aug. 14, 2020.
Thanks Alejandro. @NSERC_CRSNG has supported me continuously since a University Research Fellowship (URF) & Discovery Grant in 1987. Through ups and downs at NSERC, they have stuck by me.
The Toronto Star’s ethics principles specifically call for disclosure of anything that could create even the “perception of a conflict of interest.”
AstraZeneca partnered with Oxford University to produce a COVID-19 vaccine that was widely used in Canada before the country suspended its use due to risks of blood clots.
Lautens did not respond to a request for comment about his lack of disclosure in the op-eds.
The Globe and Mail has published six op-eds by Lautens since 2020. The most recent opinion article, published Aug. 10, 2021, describes mandatory vaccination for post-secondary students in residence as an “awfully low bar.”
“For my part, I would feel most comfortable in my classroom if every single person who could be vaccinated received their jab before coming to campus,” Lautens wrote. “Getting vaccinated has likely protected the vast majority of us from ending up in an intensive-care unit or dying. Now that is worth celebrating.”
In a Globe op-ed discouraging “vaccine shopping,” Lautens specifically references AstraZeneca, but similarly does not disclose his financial ties to the company.
“The return to vaccine shopping, linked to the arrival of millions of doses of Moderna and ever-changing advice from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on AstraZeneca, sheds light on what happens when confused citizens start treating vaccines like shopping for your favourite luxury brand at Holt Renfrew,” Lautens wrote in the June 2021 column.
“I would encourage shopping to help support businesses, not for vaccines. Please. For your sake. For the sake of others.”
Similarly, the Toronto Star published an op-ed titled “Turning on the ‘science tap’ to fight COVID-19” in which Lautens discussed vaccine development and advocates for further scientific research funding.
“Since no one can predict what technology is going to be needed, we should maximize diversity in our research funding, in all its incarnations,” Lautens wrote on March 23, 2020.
“Investing proactively in research is just one of the cornerstones to improve human health. No one believes we have the resources to fund all topics to the level they deserve, but wise and broad investment provides the best hope for better outcomes.”
The Toronto Star did not respond to a request for comment from True North. Shortly after this story was published, the Globe and Mail added a disclosure about Lautens’ AstraZeneca funding to all of his op-eds.
“Yes, the AstraZeneca information should have been included in his credentials on columns about vaccines and that has now been updated,” Globe and Mail opinion editor Natasha Hassan told True North.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has announced that they have filed a constitutional challenge against Ontario’s vaccine passport mandate in the province’s Superior Court of Justice.
The JCCF believes the province’s vaccine passport violates Canada’s Charter Rights and Freedoms.
“The Supreme Court of Canada has found that the Charter protects the right to bodily autonomy and informed consent, this is the law, and it is indisputable. The vaccine passport is a brazen attempt to subvert the Charter and to render its protections meaningless,” said Staff Lawyer at the JCCF Jorge Pineda.
“The Ontario vaccine passport itself is an instrument of coercion that pressures individuals to submit to a medical intervention, contrary to their will and their own best judgment.”
The legal challenge comes after the JCCF sent a warning letter to the Ontario Government on September 22nd with their intentions of filing a lawsuit.
The JCCF has implemented the legal challenge on behalf of eight Ontario residents who are choosing not to receive one or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
One of the eight applicants in the legal challenge is Sarah Lamb from Kitchener. Lamb alleges she had experienced serious side effects after her first dose of the vaccine and has now decided against a second dose.
The Ontario Government has allowed there to be exemptions from receiving the vaccine in very rare circumstances. However, Lamb has not been able to receive an exemption as she does not meet the criteria set by the government.
“Not only is this ethically wrong, it is also illegal. When we get before the Court, we will be urging that they see these vaccine mandates for what they really do – which is take away the long-standing rights of citizens to make informed decisions about their own medical care,” said Pineda.
Premier Ford had originally ruled out the vaccine passports, believing the controversial government document would create a “split society.” However, Ford changed his mind and announced the implementation of a vaccine passport system on September 1st with an implementation day of September 22nd.
At the time, Ford stated vaccine passports are necessary to keep non-essential businesses and facilities open with the rise of the Delta variant. Ford also claimed that the decision was based on evidence from their medical experts.
The JCCF aren’t the only ones speaking out against the province’s vaccine passport. The Ontario Government’s Advocate for Community Opportunities Jamil Jivani voiced his opposition to the government’s plan.
“Today’s announcement does not change my views,” said Jivani when Ford originally made the announcement. “I continue to oppose vaccine passports & other measures that create a two-tiered society.”
Jivani says like many Canadians who oppose vaccine passports, he isn’t “anti-vaxx.” He believes vaccine passports will marginalize people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
As first reported by True North, Statistics provided by Health Canada confirm that black and Indigenous Canadians experience the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy in Canada.
Human rights activists are pleading with countries to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s human rights abuses.
On Monday, activists unfurled a Tibetan flag and a banner that said “No genocide games” at a flame-lighting ceremony for the 2022 Olympics at Ancient Olympia in Athens.
International Tibet Network executive director Mandie McKeown said at a press conference that it is disappointing the 2022 Olympics are being held in Beijing.
“We have yet again borne witness to the hypocrisy,” said McKeown. “They’re (The International Olympics Committee) handing over the Olympic torch to a host government that is so far removed from holding any of (the Olympic) ideals that it seems we’re living in a kind of warped reality.”
There has been an outcry against the Chinese regime in recent years for the ongoing genocide against the Uyghur Muslims, the mistreatment of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors and the escalating tensions with Taiwan. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has insisted the Olympics will continue regardless.
IOC president Thomas Bach said in a speech that the Olympics have to be politically neutral.
World Uyghur Congress program and advocacy manager Zumretay Arkin said at the press conference that the IOC is being unreasonable.
“If this press conference was to take place in China, I, as a Uyghur, would end up in a camp and maybe be subjected to sexual abuse and torture, as millions of my fellow Uyghurs are,” said Arkin. “The Olympic Games are being handed over to a country actively committing a genocide.”
U.S. President Joe Biden convinced fellow G7 leaders at a summit in June to include language criticizing China’s use of forced labour and other human rights violations in their joint statement.
Arkin said the G7 governments should follow up this statement by boycotting the 2022 Olympics.
“We believe that we have a better chance today ahead of the Games that governments commit to a boycott … than we had previously in 2008,” she said.
The Olympics will run from Feb. 4 to 20, with only spectators from mainland China being permitted to attend.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said in August that Canada should consider boycotting the 2022 Olympics.
O’Toole’s announcement came one day after a Chinese court upheld the death penalty for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian citizen convicted in China on drug smuggling charges.
“I know how hard our athletes are training for Beijing, but we are approaching a point where it won’t be safe for Canadians, including Olympic athletes, to travel to China,” said O’Toole.
It would appear that many Canadians agree with the Conservative leader. As revealed in a recent Nanos poll released on Oct. 11, the majority of Canadians hold a negative opinion of China and believe the federal government should be tougher on the country.
In an August Nanos poll, 45% of Canadians indicated they would support a boycott of the Beijing Games and 19% said they would somewhat support it.
Brian Peckford is the last living premier involved in the construction and adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Now, the former Newfoundland and Labrador premier says the Charter and parliamentary democracy are being “violated and abused” by governments whose pandemic policies have taken aim at freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and other Charter-guaranteed rights as well. As the Charter’s 40th anniversary nears, Peckford joined True North’s The Andrew Lawton Show to speak out about the “collective psychosis” he says is afflicting Canada.
A top Taiwanese diplomatic official wants the federal government to increase its support for the island nation’s inclusion in international organizations.
According to the Georgia Straight, Taipei Economic Cultural Office (TECO) Director General Lihsin Angel Liu hopes to curry support from Canada for “meaningful participation” globally.
“We hope that Canada can continue to give us more support regarding our meaningful participation in the [world] public health agency,” said Liu.
Taiwan has been barred from entering the World Health Organization due to efforts by Communist China, despite the fact that the island nation acted quickly and effectively in curbing the early COVID-19 pandemic within its own borders.
Liu also said Taiwan is seeking more participation in other international organizations like Interpol and the United Nations Framework on Climate Change.
“We are not asking for formal membership yet because we know that is impossible,” Liu told the Georgia Straight.
TECO is a diplomatic office for the Taiwanese government and a de facto embassy.
In recent weeks, China has increased aggression towards the island nation, which it considers to be territorially beholden to the mainland. Early in October, Chinese fighter jets, including those capable of carrying nuclear warheads buzzed Taiwan’s air defence zone.
Following the escalation, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen said that her government will not “bow to pressure” from China.
Although the move encountered condemnation from Canada’s international partners like the US, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government have been largely silent on the matter.
Critics have accused the Liberals of kowtowing to Chinese interests after repeatedly failing to stand up for Taiwan.
As exclusively reported by True North, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis stated that the prime minister was “missing in action” when it came to countering threats posed by China both internationally and domestically.
“The Liberal government has been promising a new framework for relations with China for years,” said Genuis in an emailed statement.
“It is clear that the Liberal government is missing in action when it comes to responding to the domestic and international challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
It started off as an attempt by an NBC reporter to cover up a profane chant at the Talladega Superspeedway, but the “Let’s go Brandon” meme is making its rounds across the United States. “Let’s Go Brandon” (or more accurately –“F**k Joe Biden”) is now regularly chanted during sporting events and music concerts and has even become a top song on the US charts.
Has the meme come to Canada or is it just fake news?
Candice Malcolm discusses the origin and meaning of the meme, and explains why it’s become so popular.