Poilievre riding high in polls as Conservatives meet for policy convention

Conservative Party members are assembling in Quebec City for a three-day policy convention.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has seen his fortunes improve over the summer months and the party is registering higher support in public opinion polls — numbers that suggest Conservatives could form a majority government if the next election were held soon.

🔹The list of policy proposals before delegates this weekend includes some ideas to address the crippling increase in the cost of living, including providing different mortgage terms so homebuyers can lock in at lower rates for longer, and changes to the RRSP withdrawal rules for seniors.

🔹There are also pitches on upending transgender-related policies, limiting euthanasia, doing away with forced diversity training, scrapping vaccine mandates for good and dismantling the Emergencies Act, the legislation used to dismantle the 2022 COVID-19 convoy protest.

The policies are designed to inform the party's next election platform but Poilievre isn't required to campaign on what delegates endorse.

#Poilievre

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CBC stands to get largest share of cash from Online News Act

The CBC stands to receive the largest share of the $172-million the federal Online News Act is forecast to pump into Canada’s news sector, experts say, raising fears that the new legislation will make it harder for smaller news outlets to compete with the state-funded broadcaster.

The Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, received royal assent in June and is scheduled to go into effect in December. It is designed to force the biggest online tech giants to compensate Canadian news organizations for posting or linking to their work.

The federal government published draft regulations last week that detail how the bill would apply to Google and Facebook. The regulations say the amount of compensation news outlets receive under the Online News Act should be relative to the number of full-time journalists they employ.

The CBC, as the biggest employer of journalists in Canada, would likely receive the largest amount of money from the bill.

In the 2021-22 fiscal year, the CBC received $1.2-billion in government funding. In 2020-21, it received $1.39-billion.

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More post-secondary students rely on parents, stay home to finish school

Inflation is driving more post-secondary students to stay home with their parents as they complete their studies — marking a shift from a decade ago, a poll shows.

Almost half of respondents aged 18-29, or 47 per cent, said they plan to live with their parents this school year, compared with 36 per cent of students in 2013, the online survey reported.

The survey found 43 per cent of respondents assumed their parents would be taking care of their financial needs, compared to 29 per cent in 2013.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s approval dips to historic low in wake of Greenbelt controversy

🔹According to a survey by Angus Reid, fewer than three in 10 Ontarians, or about 28 per cent, approve of the premier.

This marks a five-point drop from Ford’s approval ratings in June, and represents the lowest rating he has ever received since being elected in 2018.

🔹More than half of respondents also said they believe the premier should resign in the wake of the Greenbelt controversy. This included about a quarter of respondents who identified as Progressive Conservative voters.

Ford’s support among PC voters has also dropped, from 80 per cent approval in June to 63 per cent approval in September.

#Ontario

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Canada job gains double expectations, wages accelerate

Canada added 40,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 per cent following three straight monthly increases, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa. The figures beat expectations for a gain of 20,000 positions and a jobless rate of 5.6 per cent, according to the median estimate.

Rising workers’ compensation reflects some remaining tightness in the labour market, with wages accelerating to 5.2 per cent, beating expectations for a 4.7 per cent gain and up from 5 per cent a month earlier.

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Ford government’s appointee to Greenbelt Foundation had family ties to developer

The former vice-chair of a foundation set up to safeguard the Greenbelt, who was appointed to its board by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government, has close family ties to one of the select group of developers whose land was opened up for housing construction in the environmentally protected region.

The government appointed Susan McGovern in 2019 to the board of the Greenbelt Foundation, which describes itself on its website as “the only organization solely dedicated to ensuring the Greenbelt remains permanent, protected and prosperous.” Her three-year term ended on Nov. 20.

Ms. McGovern’s brother and husband operate The Rice Group, one of the handful of developers whose land Mr. Ford’s government removed from the Greenbelt last year, making the property no longer subject to the protected zone’s restrictions on building.

She is the sister of Michael Rice, the chief executive officer of The Rice Group, who during Ms. McGovern’s term as vice-chair lobbied the Ontario government to allow development on the company’s Greenbelt land. That lobbying was detailed in a report released last week by Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner. Ms. McGovern’s husband, John McGovern, is the company’s senior vice-president of policy and planning.

#Ontario

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🚙 Quebec government to invest $514M in electric vehicle charging stations

The Quebec government is trying to get more people to make the switch to electric vehicles by adding more than 116,000 additional charging stations to the province — an investment of more than $514 million over the next five years.

This is the second major electric vehicle announcement the government has made this week alone, following Tuesday’s news of a new copper foil factory in Granby to help produce car batteries.

#Quebec

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N.B. pursuing legislation that could see drug users subject to involuntary treatment

The New Brunswick government is pursuing a new approach to addressing drug addiction that could result in people being forced into treatment.

That approach would be carried out through legislation giving police officers the power to order someone to undergo drug rehabilitation in the "most extreme cases," where they pose a danger to themselves or others, said Public Safety Minister Kris Austin, in an interview.

"The objective always is to get people the help that they want but some people are so deep into their addictions that they simply can't make that decision," Austin said.

That's where government needs to step in to "save their lives and and make the community safer at the same time," he said.

Austin's proposal is one of a handful of strategic objectives he said his department is pursuing as part of a wider goal of reducing crime in the province.

#NewBrunswick

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Conservatives approve policies to limit transgender health care for minors, end race-based hiring

Conservative delegates voted Saturday to add some new social conservative policies to their policy playbook.

🔹A strong majority of the delegates (69 per cent) on hand voted for a motion that stated sex reassignment surgery and similar interventions should be banned for children. Michelle Badalich, an Edmonton delegate, said dysphoria is a "mental health disorder" and it should be addressed with treatment not irreversible procedures.

🔹Delegates voted by an overwhelming 87 per cent to support a plan to demand single-sex spaces that are only open to bilogical women. The policy is intended to keep transgender people out of women's prisons, shelters, locker rooms and washrooms.

🔹Another motion states Canadians should have "bodily autonomy" when it comes to vaccines and other health treatments.

🔹On the issue of preferential hiring for minorities by research institutions, delegates passed a policy that said federally funded jobs should go to a person who's best qualified, "irrespective of the personal immutable characteristics," stated the motion.

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Trudeau says he will testify with 'enthusiasm' if called as a witness at foreign interference inquiry

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he will "willingly" testify before the public inquiry into foreign election interference if he's asked.

"Willingly and with very much enthusiasm," Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Singapore.

Following a series of media reports, Trudeau's government has faced sharp criticism over how it handled and responded to intelligence about China's alleged meddling in the past two federal elections.

While the prime minister and his senior advisers have denied some of the allegations, in May the government did confirm that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had in 2021 detected a plot by China to intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong. The federal government later expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei in response.

#Trudeau

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🛬🇮🇳Justin Trudeau stuck in India after plane breaks down

Prime minister Justin Trudeau and his entire delegation have been forced to extend their stay in New Delhi for the G20 summit by an extra day after his aircraft broke down.

Trudeau arrived in India for the meeting of the leaders of 20 leading economies on Friday.

He was due to return home on Sunday after laying a wreath at a memorial to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, but a mechanical fault kept him in India overnight.

Maybe he should stay altogether.

#Trudeau #India

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🇨🇦🇮🇳 Modi scolds Trudeau over Sikh protests in Canada against India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed strong concerns about protests in Canada against India to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi.

In June, India criticized Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists.

Relations between India and Canada remain tense, and Ottawa this month paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, just three months after the two nations said they aimed to seal an initial agreement this year. Modi, who held bilateral meetings with many world leaders during the G20 summit, did not hold one with Trudeau.

Canada will always defend "freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and peaceful protest," Trudeau said at a press conference in New Delhi.

"At the same time as we are always there to prevent violence, to push back against hatred," he said, adding that the actions of the few "do not represent the entire community or Canada."

#Trudeau #India

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Evidence from B.C. and elsewhere shows drug policy not working

Right now, according to the latest figures from the British Columbia Coroners Service, the province is on track for their worst year ever for drug overdose deaths — even after bringing in their decriminalization of possession on Jan. 31.

From Jan. 1 until July 31, B.C. has experienced 1,455 overdose deaths, compared to 1,362 in the same time period in 2022 and 1,279 in 2021. On a per capita basis, the province is on track for 46.2 deaths per 100,000 population, the highest ever recorded.

This despite the fact that B.C. has implemented every harm-reduction program that has been proposed, from safe-injection sites to safe supply and effectively making all drugs legal.

As each new measure has been introduced, drug overdose deaths have increased, except for a brief drop in 2019.

#BritishColumbia

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Canadian government won't rule out changing immigration targets to address housing challenges

Canada’s housing minister says the federal government isn’t ruling out changes to its ambitious immigration targets, but maintains the country should also focus on what it can do to increase housing supply when it comes to addressing current housing challenges.

“When we look to the future of immigration levels planning, we want to maintain ambition and immigration, but we want to better align our immigration policies with the absorptive capacity of communities that includes housing, that includes health care, that includes infrastructure," Sean Fraser said in an interview.

Fraser said he believes the federal government has “some work to do” with its temporary immigration programs, which currently operate on the basis of demand in an “uncapped way.“

#housing #immigration

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🎓Canadian universities don’t want a cap on international students

There has been some discussion about possibly limiting the number of international students due to the housing crisis.

Canada currently has 800,000 student permit holders and several federal ministers have hinted that the number be capped in the future to ease housing demand.

At the same time, universities and colleges are pushing back as experts say the fees they can charge international students “fill the gap” in funding for their operations.

Universities' reliance on international students has increased over the past few decades, with the number of international students quadrupling since 2000.

According to Statistics Canada, the gulf between domestic and international fees is significant. In the 2022/2023 academic year, the average domestic student in Canada paid $6,834 in tuition. By contrast, the average international student paid nearly six times that amount at $36,123.

A Global Affairs Canada report said international students in Canada spend $22.3 billion on tuition, accommodation, and discretionary spending every year. This is in addition to international students being a major source of labour for Canada, which has faced a severe worker shortage in recent years.

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BC begins construction of 50-kilometer Woodfibre LNG pipeline

Construction crews have begun working on a 50-kilometer liquified natural gas project that is expected to provide 2.1 million tonnes of LNG per year to Asia and other parts of the world.

The Woodfibre LNG pipeline is being built near Squamish and construction modules are being fabricated in Qingdao City, China which will then be transported to Canada upon completion.

According to Woodfibre LNG president Christine Kennedy, the pipeline will play a critical role in the world’s energy future.

Fortis BC already began constructing the 50-kilometer long pipeline in August which will be used to deliver the fuel to the Squamish Compressor Station.

#BritishColumbia

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Poll finds more than half of Canadians want fewer immigrants than Ottawa’s target

🔹More than half of Canadians want the federal government to accept fewer immigrants than it is planning for in 2023, a new poll shows – a rise from one in three in March.

The poll also found that 55 per cent of Canadians want Canada to accept fewer international students than the 900,000 expected by the government this year.

A Nanos poll found a rise of almost 20 percentage points in the past six months in the number of Canadians who think this country should accept fewer immigrants than Ottawa’s 2023 target.

🔹In its 2023-2025 plan for immigration levels, Ottawa set its target for this year at 465,000 new permanent residents, with a target of 485,000 in 2024 and another 500,000 in 2025.

#immigration

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🏠 B.C. sets maximum allowable rent increase for 2024 below inflation rate

The provincial government has set the maximum allowable rent increase for 2024 at 3.5 per cent, which is below the inflation rate.

In a statement, the B.C. government said the rent cap is “well below” the 12-month average inflation rate of 5.6 per cent and applies to rent increases with an effective date on or after Jan. 1, 2024.

Any landlords wanting to increase rent must provide three month’s notice to tenants and rent can only be increased once every 12 months.

The government said as inflation returns to normal levels, it intends to return to an annual rent increase that is tied to B.C.’s Consumer Price Index.

#BritishColumbia #housing

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Canadian actors' union blames 'corporate greed' for long-running labour disputes

Two unions representing actors and media professionals held a rally on Saturday outside the Toronto headquarters of Amazon and Apple, to highlight the plight of their members in long-running labour disputes.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists is seeking higher pay, protections and benefits for its members. Members of the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have been striking for better pay and protection from the use of artificial intelligence, among other things.

ACTRA president Eleanor Noble said her union has been locked out of its commercial jurisdiction by Canadian advertisers for "an unconscionable 501 days," while SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 58 days.

#Ontario

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Trans Mountain oil pipeline faces nine-month delay over route dispute

The expansion of a government-owned oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Coast could be delayed by nine months if regulators don’t approve a route alteration, the project’s builder said in a regulatory filing.

The expanded Trans Mountain might not be completed before December 2024 in a “worst-case” scenario where regulators force the company to stick with a plan to tunnel under land that’s important to a local indigenous community, according to a filing with the Canada Energy Regulator. The earliest the tunneling could be completed is by April, the company said.

The Trans Mountain expansion has already faced repeated delays since it began more than a decade ago, causing the price tag to more than quadruple to $30.9 billion (US$22.8 billion). The project — which would more than triple the volume of crude Alberta’s producers can pipe to the West Coast to 890,000 barrels a day — was due to start operations by the end of the first quarter.

#Alberta #BritishColumbia

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No new money for asylum seekers in Toronto after Chow meets with federal Immigration Minister

Mayor Olivia Chow is urging the federal government to pick up the tab needed to cover costs incurred by several Toronto churches while caring for asylum seekers.

In a closed-door meeting today, Chow made a pitch to federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller, asking for assistance with the costs associated with the crisis.

Last week, council voted on a motion to ask the federal government to reimburse churches and community organizations who have provided funding for refugees to the tune of up to $750,000.

The city has also asked Ottawa to reimburse $200 million in 2023 shelter system costs, inclusive of the $97 million the feds already committed in July, totalling $103 million.

Chow said she will need to know by next Monday if the feds will pay the $750,000 – otherwise, the city will be forced to cover the sum in full. “Toronto has time and time again begged for some crumbs,” Chow said. “I met with the minister, I pled my case about refugees and they’re thinking about it.”

Miller pointed out Tuesday the absence of the Ford government at the meeting, adding that the province has a role to play as well.

#Ontario

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