Conservative Party gaining ground in Quebec: poll

The Conservatives haven't traditionally done well with Quebec voters, but new polling is showing the official Opposition is gaining support among the electorate.

The Conservative Party of Canada (25 per cent) is trailing right behind the Liberals, who now have 28 per cent support of Quebec voters, according to a recent Pallas Data poll.

The two parties are in a statistical tie with the Bloc Québécois, which is leading at 29 per cent in Quebec.

The polling falls in line with a Léger survey last month that put the Conservatives at 25 per cent in Quebec.

#Quebec

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YouTubers criticized for encouraging international students to use food banks

A growing genre of videos on YouTube and TikTok is angering some Canadians who say international students are being encouraged to abuse food banks in order to get “free groceries.”

A number of recent videos, with noscripts like “How to get free food in Canada” and “Free food in Canada for students,” have been shared on social media and elicited a mixed response at a time of soaring costs and high inflation. The videos instruct students on how to access food banks.

Food banks saw record-breaking numbers in 2022 and that trend appears to have continued in 2023.

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Developers bought Hamilton Greenbelt property a month before Ontario revealed plans to open it up for housing

A prominent developer and key figure in the Ford government's controversial Greenbelt land swap purchased a Hamilton property a month before Ontario announced its plans to open the protected farmland up for residential development.

According to property records, the purchase closed on Oct. 6, 2022 — three weeks after an unnamed developer requested that the province remove the land and other parcels from the Greenbelt.

Greater Toronto Area developer Silvio De Gasperis, head of Tacc Developments, along with Paradise Developments' Steven Weisz and Jack Eisenberger of Fieldgate Homes, purchased over 4.8 hectares at 411 Book Rd. W. for $2.8 million through their corporation, Book Shaver Developments Limited.

When they purchased the 411 Book Rd. W. property in Hamilton, it was in the middle of over 728 hectares of protected Greenbelt land, known as the Book Road land.

Less than a month later, on Nov. 3, the province informed property owners and developers that it was proposing to remove the Book Road land and 14 other sites from the Greenbelt, significantly increasing the land value. The province informed the public a day later.

#Ontario #housing

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🛢Canada steps up pace of oil production growth, seen rising 8% in two years

Canadian oil companies are ramping up growth over the next two years and will add nearly 8% to Canada's total output, analysts estimate.

The roughly 375,000 barrel per day (bpd) increase in two years would be more than Canada has managed to add over the last five years combined. According to Canada Energy Regulator data, Canadian oil production averaged 4.86 million bpd in 2022, up from 4.61 million bpd in 2018.

Much of the growth will come from oil sands producers like Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd tweaking operations to boost efficiency.

Companies are also moving forward on so-called "step-out" or "tie-back" oil sands thermal projects, where instead of building an entirely new facility to steam bitumen deposits, they are linking new areas with existing plants to speed up development and lower costs.

Meanwhile, the fight with the Canadian government, which has set a goal to cut carbon emissions by 40-45% by 2023, continues, especially in Alberta.

#Alberta

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🏦 Mortgages are becoming less affordable, according to data

Mortgage data from Canada’s two biggest banks are painting a picture of homeowners straining under high borrowing costs.

🔹Royal Bank of Canada disclosed that 43 per cent of its Canadian residential mortgages had an amortization period of longer than 25 years, as of July. That’s up from 40 per cent a year earlier, and just 26 per cent in January 2022.

Canadian banks have allowed customers to stretch payments for longer periods to help them bring down their monthly payments after a rapid rise in rates. RBC’s posted rate on variable mortgages is now above 7 per cent, from around 2.5 per cent before the central bank began tightening.

The situation has also brought about the return of mortgages that are amortized for more than 35 years. At the start of last year, those didn’t exist in RBC’s Canadian mortgage book; now, such loans represent 23 per cent of the portfolio.

🔹Toronto-Dominion Bank said 48 per cent of its Canadian mortgages had an amortization period of more than 25 years as of July, up from 35 per cent the year prior. Like RBC, it has experience a surge of loans being extended to more than 35 years.

#housing

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Unifor autoworkers overwhelmingly vote to authorize strikes at GM, Ford, Stellantis

Workers at a trio of major automakers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing their union to call a strike if bargaining committees can't secure new collective agreements in the coming months.

Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, says its members at Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis all voted between 98 and 99 per cent in favour of the strike mandate.

Unifor National President Lana Payne issued a release saying the union's bargaining teams are set to resume talks with support from members across the auto sector and are prepared to take any necessary action to achieve their goals.

She says their bargaining committees are focused on improving pensions, increasing wages and securing good union jobs in a future set to be dominated by electric vehicles.

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CRA still missing targets for call wait times, despite $400-million boost in funding

As of the end of July, the CRA's call centres were hitting their target of getting to a caller within 15 minutes or less only 31 per cent of the time. This is compared to a service standard goal of 65 per cent of calls.

In fact, the average wait time to reach an agent on the phone so far this year is 24 minutes, although Canadians routinely complain of waiting for more than an hour to sort out their taxation and benefit problems over the phone.

The issue has been going on for at least seven years now. A federal audit conducted for the year between March 2016 and March 2017 found that call centre agents answered the phone only about one-third of the time.

❗️This is despite the fact that the federal government allocated $400 million in the 2022 fall economic statement for fiscal years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 in order to “support the service standard of answering 65 per cent of calls within 15 minutes or less of a caller opting to speak with an agent.”

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Poilievre says parents should have final say about what is taught to children

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre said parents should have the final say over what is taught to their kids in schools.

Poilievre’s comments come amid growing opposition to gender ideology teachings and Canadian premiers implementing new parental rights policies requiring that parents consent before children can change their name or pronoun at school.

In an interview, Poilievre was asked what he thought of the “Million Person March.” The event is a planned nationwide multi-faith and multi-ethnic protest against gender ideology teachings that will take place on Sept. 20.

“My view is that parents should be the final authority on the values and the lessons that are taught to children. I believe in parental rights, and parental rights come before the government’s rights,” Poilievre responded.

#Poilievre

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A fight broke out at a Vancouver protest demanding the return of Covid masking

Why are masks still a thing?

#BritishColumbia

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🏠 Ottawa looking to drop 24 Sussex and build new home for PM elsewhere

The federal government is looking at dropping the dilapidated mansion at 24 Sussex in Ottawa as the prime minister's official residence and is considering several other sites in the city for a replacement, sources say.

The various federal agencies in charge of the PM's official residence have identified other plots of land where they could build an official residence that is larger, safer and more accessible than the one that served prime ministers from 1951 to 2015.

In the midst of a housing and cost-of-living crisis, the construction of a new official residence costing tens of millions of dollars would be a political headache for the federal government, which has been dithering over 24 Sussex's fate for years.

Plans to renovate 24 Sussex were made during Trudeau's first mandate but the government decided the price tag was too high and the potential for political controversy too great.

#Trudeau

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Conservative convention to join culture wars with debates on trans issues, vaccines and diversity training

Preventing children from having permanent gender-transitioning medical procedures and keeping people born male from participating in female sports are some of the sensitive cultural issues that Conservative party members have decided to debate and potentially vote on at their convention next month in Quebec City.

Other topics include affirming rights for those who refuse vaccines, pushing back against diversity training in workplaces, and requiring treatment for drug addicts.

Poilievre said he had not yet had a chance to study all the proposals his party’s delegates have brought forward. The leader decides official party policy and Poilievre can choose to accept or ignore resolutions that pass.

The convention kicks off on Sept. 7.

#Quebec

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A million more non-permanent residents live in Canada than official figures

Benjamin Tal, a leading economist, warned federal ministers at their cabinet retreat in Charlottetown last week that there are around one million more non-permanent residents living in Canada, including foreign students, than government estimates suggest.

He told the Liberal government that the undercounting in the official statistics means Canada is underestimating the number of new homes required to meet the country’s increasing housing needs.

Mr. Tal said in an interview that the government estimate of the number of non-permanent residents in the country in 2021 was around one million. But his analysis found there were closer to two million. The main reason for the discrepancy, he said, is that the government is not counting people who remain in the country after their visas expire.

Statistics Canada assumes that temporary resident visa holders, including international students, leave the country 30 days after their visas expire. He said a majority of temporary residents don’t leave in this timeframe, and many apply to extend their stays in Canada.

#housing

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Canada has changed its permanent residence selection process

The Canadian government has changed its immigration selection program as of June 28 for skilled workers, moving from a points-based system to prioritizing workers with experience in specific fields.

The federal government uses what they call the Express Entry system, where candidates are assigned a score based on factors such as age, language ability and education. The government then selected those with the highest scores to apply for permanent resident status. In the past, Ottawa would select a few thousand people with the highest scores every two weeks to apply for permanent residency.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is changing tack and applying a category-based approach to PR invitations, targeting candidates who they hope can fill specific jobs.

The federal government will be prioritizing candidates who can speak French and people with recent work experience in five fields: STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), health care, skilled trades, agriculture and transportation.

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🏠 Canada's landlords now asking a record-breaking average of $2,078 per month

The Canadian rental market has reached a new record, with the average asking rent surging to $2,078 in July.

This marks an 8.9 per cent annual increase, the most rapid growth seen in three months. This coincides with a 1.8 per cent rise in average asking rents in Canada from June, representing the most substantial month-over-month growth observed in the past eight months.

Several factors contributed to the recent surge in rental prices. These include post-secondary students rushing to secure leases before the fall term, a notable increase in the population, and a slowdown in home-buying activities, largely attributed to the Bank of Canada's decision to raise interest rates.

#housing

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🗳Liberals a distant third among younger voters

The federal Liberals are seeing a dive in popularity among younger voters, once the core of their base, falling 23 points behind the Conservatives by the end of August, according to new polling from Nanos Research.

🔹The data shows the Liberals in a distant third place for 18-29 year olds with 15.97 per cent, compared to the Conservatives and the NDP with 39.21 per cent and 30.92 per cent respectively.

It’s a dip for the Liberals, who were at 26.8 per cent at the beginning of August for the same age group. And it’s a boost for the Conservatives, who are up from 29.3 per cent at the beginning of the month.

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📈Food insecurity among Canadian school-age children jumps by nearly 30%

As kids across the country get ready to return to school next week, a stark report released on Tuesday shows an alarming number are in crisis.

The annual report by Children First Canada looks at the emotional, physical and mental well-being of kids across the country and comes as Canada dropped from 48th place in 2022 to 81st among 193 countries on the global KidsRight Index.

Based on research from the University of Calgary, the University of Toronto and McGill University, as well as existing data and interviews with youth, parents and other subject matter experts, the study shows a 29 per cent increase in food insecurity among school-age children. Poverty rates, racism, depression and violence have increased substantially as well.

Findings from the latest release from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey, indicate that one in four children in this country were in homes without sufficient access to food due to financial challenges last year.

So, about 1.8 million children under the age of 18 were impacted by food insecurity, a noticeable jump from the 1.4 million total the year prior.

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Calgary Police dismantle large homeless encampment

Crews continued to clean up a large homeless encampment hidden in a forested stretch of Crown land in the city’s southeast on Wednesday, a process that police say could reach into the weekend.

At least a dozen people lived in the area, located in a tree-filled area a short walk off of Deerfoot Trail near the Glenmore Trail turnoff. Folks have been living in the camp for about a year, but over the past couple of days, officers issued trespass notices — and a handful of tickets to those who wouldn’t leave — and everyone had vacated by Wednesday morning.

Ennoscriptd “Operation Encampment,” the process of disestablishing the entrenched camp began Monday. CPS worked alongside city bylaw officers, conservation officers and medical personnel, and outreach teams with Alpha House were on site to provide supports to people living in the camp.

Calgary has been previously named one of the most expensive cities in Canada.

#Alberta

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Life expectancy for men in B.C. drops to lowest in a decade

For the second year in a row, life expectancy for Canadians fell in 2021 from 81.7 years to 81.6 years, Statistics Canada reports.

The increase in mortality across Canada is entirely attributable to deaths among males, according to new data about life expectancy and deaths.

In B.C., the picture is a little more nuanced. Life expectancy at birth for males has been fluctuating in recent years. But in 2021, it was at the lowest it has been in a decade.

From 2009 to 2011, the life expectancy for males in B.C. was 80.07 years. A decade later, that figure dropped to 79.55. The change appears slight, but it takes a significant number of men dying earlier in order to shift an average. Meanwhile, the life expectancy for females in B.C. has increased from 84.2 to 84.7 years in the same decade.

#BritishColumbia

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Ontario housing minister broke ethics rules in Greenbelt land swap: integrity commissioner

Ontario’s integrity commissioner has found that Housing Minister Steve Clark broke ethics rules for his role in the Ford government’s Greenbelt land swap.

In a blistering 166-page report, J. David Wake said the way the province went about removing 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt was “marked by misinterpretation, unnecessary hastiness and deception.”

The integrity commissioner’s report suggests Ryan Amato, Clark’s recently resigned chief of staff, spearheaded the process. The responsibility for that, the integrity commissioner suggested, landed at the minister’s door.

Wake found Amato had been “operating largely alone and undirected.” Wake also said during the inquiry, his staff received evidence from 61 witnesses and Minister Clark.

It was determined that Minister Clark breached sections 2 and 3(2) of the Member’s Integrity Act.

#Ontario #housing

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🏠 Canadians buying homes with family, friends to break into market

In the report released Thursday, Royal LePage says an online survey by Leger of more than 500 respondents in August showed six per cent of homeowners currently co-own their property with someone other than their spouse or significant other.

🔹Of that group, 89 per cent said they co-own with family while seven per cent co-own with friends. More than half of co-owners do so with a parent or parent-in-law.

Only 44 per cent of respondents from this group said they live with all other co-owners named in the deed.

Royal LePage says 76 per cent of survey respondents cited affordability concerns as the major motivating factor for those purchasing property with another party.

#housing

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No human remains found in excavation of Manitoba church basement

After two years of speculations about the alleged mass graves of Indigenous children at residential schools across Canada, a series of recent excavations at suspected sites has turned up no human remains.

Minegoziibe Anishinabe, a group of indigenous people also known as Pine Creek First Nation, excavated 14 sites in the basement of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church near the Pine Creek Residential School in Manitoba during four weeks this summer.

The anomalies were first detected using ground-penetrating radar, but on Aug. 18, Chief Derek Nepinak of remote Pine Creek Indian Reserve said no remains were found.

In May 2021, the leaders of the British Columbia First Nation Band Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc announced the discovery of a mass grave of more than 200 Indigenous children detected via ground-penetrating radar at a residential school in British Columbia. The radar found anomalies in the soil but no proof of actual human remains.

#Manitoba

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