Lester B. Pearson — Canada’s 14th prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Liberal icon — is most likely spinning in his grave this week.
For a number of reasons.
You probably know him as the venerated, even celebrated, architect of peacekeeping, that cherished instrument of Canadian political and foreign policy, which in the current global context seems quaint and uncomplicated.
So Pearson infected NATO with the period’s version of WOKE. I always said he was a communist.
The Ottawa-based charity Mriya Aid has faced allegations of mismanagement, including providing Ukrainian troops with inadequate equipment.
Canadian Forces officers used federal government resources without permission to help establish a charity that set up private side deals with defence firms and that has faced allegations of mismanagement, including providing Ukrainian troops with inadequate equipment.
Defence Minister Anita Anand and Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, as well as senior military leaders, were unaware the officers were directly dealing with military equipment suppliers or engaged in behind-the-scenes discussions with Ukraine’s government.
Last week’s column considered the diverting possibility that the Liberals could “lose” the next election but remain in power. That is, they could finish with fewer seats than their Conservative rivals and yet govern with the support of the NDP, as they do now.
The idea is both constitutionally proper – the government is whoever has the confidence of a majority of the House of Commons, not the party with the most seats – and plausible: The Liberals have been stuck at 30 per cent or less in the polls for most of this year and show no signs of breaking out.
The Bank of Canada has once again increased its benchmark interest rate, this time by .25 basis points to five percent, amid growing apprehension from a number of financial experts regarding its potential impact on consumers. And their concerns are not unfounded.
Let us examine the evidence.
It means the poor will suffer and adding insult to injury Trudeau will let them know that he feels their pain.
Reports of possible meddling by Chinese government in Canada’s elections are pressuring Trudeau government
RICHMOND, British Columbia—A series of public revelations about alleged Chinese government meddling in Canadian politics has roiled the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, prompting calls from opposition politicians and China analysts for tighter monitoring of foreign-interference threats within Canada’s borders and a full probe of the alleged activities.
The latest concerns flared when Erin O’Toole, the former Conservative Party leader, said he was told recently by Canadian security officials that Beijing had tried to thwart his path to replace Trudeau as prime minister in the 2021 elections.
OTTAWA – NATO allies are twisting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s arm to step up and invest more in defence. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday slammed Canada as a “military free-rider in NATO” in a scathing editorial, calling its contribution to the alliance, currently estimated at 1.29 per cent of its GDP, “pathetic.”
They all might be surprised to learn that the man who hopes to replace him, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, hasn’t committed to achieving NATO’s spending targets of two per cent of GDP if he replaces Trudeau as prime minister.
I see that a typical Twitter monsoon has developed over photographs of Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith, seen in separate pictures from the Calgary Stampede, with a gentleman wearing a T-shirt with “Straight Pride” on the front.
Both quickly dissociated themselves from the sentiment of shirt’s slogan, though I do not know why, except perhaps because of a very unfortunate — to use a kind term — determination on both their parts to avoid at all costs what most of the media and all the advocates select as hot “cultural” issues.
If Poilievre wore this T-shirt all would be well with the LPC mob & their media lackeys. Aside from pimping for child sexual mutilation fetishists how many times has Justin been photo'd with sex pigs, child molesters & terrorists? #Blackface #Poilievre #Stampede #StraightPride pic.twitter.com/EjN4tJIXV2
— Fancypants Maloney (@fancypants_s) July 11, 2023
Christian conservative groups recruiting thousands to back Higgs
Christian conservative groups rallying support for New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs now have enough signatures to be a decisive factor in any leadership review vote.
Two groups rallying support for the embattled Progressive Conservative leader have flexed their muscles in the last month, gathering enough names to swing the vote in his favour.
“A lot of times it’s hundreds or even dozens of people that can make a difference in some of these elections,” said Faytene Grasseschi, who runs the group 4 My Canada from Quispamsis, outside Saint John.
Around one-in-five Canadians are hesitant to get a future COVID-19 booster shot, with nearly 60 percent of those reluctant saying they had concerns with the vaccine’s safety, according to in-house research by the Department of Health.
Respondents who were reluctant to get a COVID-19 booster dose cited concerns about the safety or potential side effects as their main reason for hesitancy (59 percent), according to the pollsters’ report titled “COVID-19 Tracking Survey And Focus Groups On Canadians’ Views 2022-23” dated March 2023.
TORONTO – A new report says the average asking price for a rental unit in Canada reached a record $2,042 last month amid continued interest rate hikes, population expansion and low unemployment.
Rentals.ca’s latest data release shows year-over-year rent inflation for June was 7.5 per cent, below the double-digit growth seen for most of 2022 and early 2023.
That’s insane.
BROSSARD—Beijing made an unsolicited donation of Chinese language books to a municipal library in Quebec, which included a piece praising the accomplishments of the Communist Party.
The Chinese consulate in Montreal donated 300 books to a city on the south shore of Montreal in 2017, and attempted another donation in 2019, as first reported by the Journal de Montréal.
One-third of Canadians say they cannot cover their bills and debt payments, while more than half state they are $200 or less away from being unable to cover their financial obligations, according to a new survey.
The latest results from the MNP Consumer Debt Index—gauging Canadians’ attitudes toward consumer debt and their ability to pay bills, cope with unexpected expenses, and adapt to interest rate fluctuations—were released on July 10 and indicate that Canadians’ concerns about debt and their ability to pay bills have reached unprecedented levels of concern.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the Bank of Canada’s decision to raise interest rates again Wednesday, saying government spending has fuelled inflation.
The central bank hiked its overnight rate by 25 basis points to five per cent — a move meant to tamp down persistent inflation in an economy that’s still performing relatively well despite a series of disruptive global events.
The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, marking the first time since April 2001 that the figure hit five per cent.
The move was expected by economists after Statistics Canada released its June labour force survey last week, which showed that Canada added 60,000 jobs last month — further contributing to an overheated economy.
Wednesday’s rate hike marks the 10th by the central bank since March 2022. It hit pause on those hikes in January for a few months to determine whether the economy had sufficiently cooled, then resumed its campaign in June.
