Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader, dead at 87

Longtime New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent, who moved the party further to the left and up in the polls, has died at 87.

The Broadbent Institute, which he founded, announced his death in a statement Thursday afternoon.

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💸📈Interest costs for federal debt soar 37% to new highs

Interest payments on the national debt soared more than 37 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 over the previous year, new data published by Statistics Canada show, as rising interest rates collided with Ottawa’s record borrowing to drive the cost of maintaining public debt to new highs.

General government debt, including subnational governments, increased a combined 20.7 per cent, as provinces and territories experienced a more modest 10.7-per-cent average growth in interest costs.

The federal government spent $11.3 billion in interest payments during 2023’s third quarter, compared to $8.3 billion for the same quarter in 2022.

General government surpluses decreased by $3.4 billion due to lower revenue growth and higher expenses, driven mainly by rising interest charges and wage increases for government workers.

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Quebec rejects proposal to have armed security guards in Montreal Jewish schools, places of worship

The Quebec government is rejecting a proposal from multiple local politicians who called for special permission to allow Jewish schools and houses of worship to hire armed security guards.

The idea comes from a growing sense of unease following recent attacks in the Jewish community, however, the province says security is best left up to the police.

Officials representing Côte Saint-Luc, Hampstead, the Town of Mount Royal, and Côte-des-Neiges are preparing an action plan to address the Jewish community's concerns over safety.

Among the measures in a draft version of the plan is to grant Jewish schools and houses of worship temporary permission to hire off-duty police officers as armed security.

#Quebec
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🇨🇦🇾🇪 Yemen strikes are ‘consequences’ of Houthi Red Sea attacks, Canada says

Canada joined Australia, Bahrain and the Netherlands in providing support for the strikes against Houthi targets by the US and the UK in Yemen.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Defence Minister Bill Blair said in a statement Friday that Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed with U.S. Central Command supported the operation.

Canada condemns the reckless Houthi attacks against commercial ships and crew operating in the Red Sea. They directly impact the flow of food, fuel, humanitarian assistance and other essential commodities to populations around the world, which can affect the global economy.

the ministers said.

The CAF’s contributions consists of two planners and one intelligence analyst who specializes in the region. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Guelph, Ont., Friday that Canada did not have “operational assets” involved in the strike.

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🚙 Toronto ranked worst city in North America for traffic, new index finds

Toronto has topped the list of the most congested cities in North America, beating out both New York and Mexico City, according to new traffic data released by navigation and location technology company TomTom.

The company, which released its annual traffic index on Thursday, ranked Toronto third on a list of the most congested cities in the world, falling behind only London and Dublin.

According to the index, it takes Toronto commuters an average of 29 minutes to complete a 10-kilometre trip, 50 seconds longer than it took just last year. Toronto’s drivers have only a slightly better commute compared to Dublin (29 minutes and 30 seconds) and London (37 minutes and 20 seconds).

Torontonians lost an average 98 hours in 2023 due to rush-hour traffic, according to the report.

#Ontario
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Taxpayer-funded org makes lube and oral sex dams available to minors

A Nova Scotia sexual health organisation that has received federal and provincial funding offers free-of-charge lubricant, flavoured oral sex dams and other adult products to “all-ages.”

South Shore Sexual Health is an education and resource centre based in Bridgewater, N.S. that describes itself as “free, non-judgemental, and confidential for all ages and genders.”

The “all-ages” centre has a variety of programs including a free “transformation closet” for transgender individuals who want to receive chest-binders, prosthetic penises and other products used for what proponents of gender ideology call “gender-affirming care.”

One of the chief programs run by South Shore Sexual Health is a “safer sex supplies” service to people including minors.

#NovaScotia
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Public servants warned Trudeau government about effects of high immigration targets

The records, obtained by the Canadian Press, revealed that the federal immigration department analyzed the negative effects high immigration would have on the economy, housing and services, before the Trudeau government prepared its newcomer targets for 2023 to 2025.

The analysis cautioned that housing construction had long since fallen behind the pace of population growth in 2022.

In Canada, population growth has exceeded the growth in available housing units. As the federal authority charged with managing immigration, IRCC policy-makers must understand the misalignment between population growth and housing supply, and how permanent and temporary immigration shapes population growth.

reads the documents.

The Bank of Canada conducted its own analysis and came to a similar conclusion in December.

The Trudeau government decided to raise the number of annual permanent residents in Canada to 500,000 per year, nearly doubling the targets set in 2015.

#housing #immigration
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Civilian staff for Canadian military bases in Ontario and Quebec on strike over wages

Nearly 500 civilian workers on Canadian military bases in Ontario and Quebec began a strike today over wages and job security.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Union of National Defence Employees say members hit the picket lines as of 6:30 a.m. Eastern time this morning.

The strike will affect Canadian Forces bases in Kingston, Ont., Montreal, Ottawa, and other cities.

PSAC national president Chris Aylward says members are taking job action to get the collective agreement that they deserve.

The union says employees in the Non-Public Funds agency are paid significantly less than workers doing similar jobs in the core federal public service, and they have been without a contract since 2022.

#Ontario #Quebec #strike
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🇨🇦🇨🇳China ‘opposed’ to Canada congratulating Taiwan on its elections

The Chinese embassy in Canada said it was “strongly dissatisfied” and “firmly opposed” to the Canadian foreign ministry congratulating Taiwan on the conclusion of their presidential and parliamentary elections.

The embassy also urged Canada to “recognise the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan issue ... and immediately stop its ’wrong’ words.”

#China
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Ethics committee to meet this week to discuss probe on Justin Trudeau's latest trip to Jamaica

MPs will meet Wednesday to discuss Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s holiday vacation to Jamaica that was a $84,000 gift from family friends.

Michael Barrett, a Conservative MP and ethics critic, said in a video posted on X that the parliamentary committee on ethics is being recalled this week because “it’s extremely important” that MPs find out if Trudeau has misled Canadians or the ethics commissioner.

If he’s got nothing to hide, there is no reason he cannot release the correspondence he had with the ethics commissioner. There’s no reason why he can’t give Canadians and parliamentarians the truth about this.

said Barrett.

#Trudeau
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Quebec man pleads guilty to setting 14 forest fires

A Quebec man who posted theories online that forest fires were being deliberately set by the government has pleaded guilty to starting a series of fires himself that forced hundreds of people from their homes.

Brian Paré, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life at the courthouse in Chibougamau, Que.

Prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron told the court that two of the 14 fires set by Paré forced the evacuation of around 500 homes in Chapais, Que., a small community located around 425 kilometres northwest of Quebec City.

#Quebec #wildfires
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💰📈Canada's annual inflation rate rose 3.4% in December

Canada's annual inflation rate rose to 3.4 per cent in December.

Statistics Canada released its consumer price index report Tuesday, showing inflation ticked up from 3.1 per cent in November, largely because of a sharper decline in gasoline prices a year ago compared with last month.

Economists were widely expecting this rise due to a base year effect, which refers to how price movement from a year ago affects the calculation of overall inflation.

Grocery prices in December were up 4.7 per cent from a year ago, matching the pace of increase in November.

The Bank of Canada is broadly expected to continue holding its key interest rate at five per cent as most economists are convinced interest rates are high enough to quash inflation.

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🛢Alberta’s record high oil output edges out China’s total production in 2022

Oil production in Alberta rose above four million barrels a day for the first time last November. According to the Alberta Energy Regulator’s website, total oil production shot up by 336,822 barrels per day, bringing it to a total daily of 4.16 million, the highest on record since 2010.

The province even outpaced China’s average output in 2022. Including the other provinces, Canada is now the world’s fourth-largest oil producer.

The expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs from Alberta out to B.C.’s Pacific coast is scheduled to begin this year. This has led to a surge in production, as companies prepare for what will now allow them to export an additional 590,000 barrels daily.

#Alberta #energy #China
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🏠📈 Home prices in Greater Montreal have soared 30.6% since 2019: report

Housing affordability in Montreal has deteriorated since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report shows.

Residential real-estate prices in the Greater Montreal area soared 30.6 per cent between the fourth quarters of 2019 and 2023.

Although the median price of a single-family detached Montreal-area home dropped 2.5 per cent in the last three months of the year, it nevertheless rose 4.7 per cent from 2022’s final quarter to reach $629,700. Fourth-quarter condominium prices rose 1.1 per cent year-over-year to $450,200.

Despite the higher interest rates, home prices in Montreal have largely held up because of two key factors: a dearth of available homes and a continuing inflow of immigrants.

#Quebec #housing
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⚛️ Alberta’s Capital Power partners with Ontario Power Generation to build province’s first nuclear power reactor

An Alberta power producer aims to build the province’s first nuclear power reactor by 2035.

Capital Power Corp. announced Monday a new partnership with Ontario Power Generation (OPG), operator of a large reactor fleet.

Over the next two years, the companies will jointly assess the viability of building small modular reactors in the Western province. If actually constructed, those SMRs might be jointly owned and operated, OPG says.

The government of Premier Danielle Smith has consistently expressed interest in SMRs, and the province has collaborated with Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick on a plan to deploy them nationally.

#Alberta #Ontario #energy
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🇨🇦🇺🇸Another Trump presidency will not be easy for Canada - PM Trudeau

If Republican frontrunner Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November, it will be "a step back" that makes life tough for Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.

Trudeau had rocky relations with Trump during his first four-year White House term. In 2018, Trump accused Trudeau of being weak and dishonest.

It wasn't easy the first time and if there is a second time, it won't be easy either. But we can't imagine a day when it will ever be easy with the Americans. The main responsibility for any prime minister is to represent and defend Canada's interests ... we've been able to do this very well these past few years.

Trudeau said in French during a discussion hosted by the Montreal chamber of commerce.

#US #Trudeau
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💰Tension between Toronto and Trudeau government inflamed by 2024 tax hike

As Toronto continues to gaze inward at its own tax proposals, a local Liberal MP has shared their outrage at the city’s decision to separate a portion of its proposed tax increase to blame the federal government for.

🔹The city’s budget chief warned that if the federal government didn’t commit to addressing the growing issue of shelter costs for refugees and asylum seekers, Toronto would have no choice but to increase taxes by an additional six per cent.

Calling it “the Federal Impacts Levy,” the tax is by design intended to elicit a federal response.

On Tuesday, Etobicoke Centre Liberal MP Yvan Baker responded to the threat angrily, taking a swing at Mayor Olivia Chow and accusing her of failing to find savings elsewhere. Baker said the city has received record funding from the Trudeau Liberals, including funding last summer to help cover the refugee crisis.

🔹Budget chief Shelley Carroll said the issue has been growing since the city first began engaging with the Trudeau government last spring. Hundreds of people continue to arrive at Pearson airport, and Carroll pointed out that Toronto doesn’t have the jurisdiction to manage the influx.

#Ontario #Trudeau
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Jordan Peterson says he's willing to risk licence over social media training after losing court battle

Jordan Peterson says “the war has barely started” after losing his bid to have the courts bar the College of Psychologists of Ontario from ordering him to undergo remedial social media training.

On Tuesday, a panel of three judges with the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Peterson’s motion for leave to appeal an earlier decision by the Ontario Divisional Court.

A higher court in Canada has ruled that the Ontario College of Psychologists indeed has the right to sentence me to re-education camp. There are no other legal avenues open to me now. It’s capitulate to the petty bureaucrats and the addle-pated woke mob or lose my professional licence.

Peterson wrote on X.

Peterson said that the college had “won this round,” but the war is not over.

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