Trudeau cabinet to meet Friday as speculation around a shuffle swirls

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet is expected to meet on Friday. The agenda sets aside 30 minutes for ministers to meet virtually Friday morning, to talk about "appointments."

The meeting comes amid speculation around the prime minister shaking up his inner circle.

#Trudeau
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💸Toronto’s ‘after’ math: Total damage from flash flood could surpass $1 billion

The total cost of Tuesday’s flash flood in Toronto could easily surpass $1 billion — and the government and homeowners will be paying for most of it.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Tuesday’s storm is comparable to the historic 2013 flood in Toronto, which resulted in $1 billion in insured residential and commercial damage (adjusted for inflation in 2021) and was among the 10 most expensive natural disasters in Canada.

#Ontatio
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🚙Auto theft decreased by 14% in Ontario while Quebec dropped 36%

An insurance fraud prevention group says auto thefts were down 17 per cent during the first six months of 2024, compared to the same period last year.
In Ontario, auto theft decreased by 14 per cent while Quebec saw a 36 per cent decline in stolen vehicles.

Équité Association says the drop can be attributed to multiple factors, including increased border patrol and police collaboration, government action and better public awareness.

Hot take: no more cars to steal?

#Ontario #Quebec
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💉Edmonton leading Alberta in opioid deaths despite recent improvements

Edmonton remains Alberta’s municipality with the most opioid-related deaths, according to recently released provincial data.

While Edmonton tops the list, both the city and the province as a whole have seen a decrease in opioid-related deaths when compared to the same period last year.

Opioid-related deaths in Alberta fell from 436 between Oct. and Dec. 2023 to 355 between Jan. and Mar. 2024, an 18.6% decrease. During the same three-month period in 2023, Alberta saw 442 opioid-related deaths, decreasing 19.7%.

#Alberta
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Should these people be allowed “safe” access to drugs?

#BritishColumbia
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High-profile Liberal minister quitting cabinet, not running in next election

Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan has announced he will not run in the next federal election, and will be quitting his cabinet position Friday.

O’Regan made the announcement in a social media post Thursday.

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🇨🇦🇨🇳Mélanie Joly's surprise visit to China is first by Canadian foreign minister in 7 years

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is making a surprise visit to China in an effort to thaw relations between the two countries — the first face-to-face talks in Beijing involving a Canadian foreign minister in nearly seven years.

Love–hate relationship.

#China
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🇨🇦🇨🇳🇷🇺Chief of Defence Staff says Canada, U.S., have five years to prepare for new threats from Russia and China

General Jennie Carignan said she estimates Canada has about five years to prepare to meet new long-range threats to the continent from Russia and China.

Carignan says both countries are developing new hypersonic missiles that can fly five times the speed of sound and change course mid-flight. This means, unlike with ballistic missiles, a targeted country cannot quickly predict where such missiles will land. Other threats include advanced cruise missiles and advanced ballistic missiles.

#China #Russia
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Immigration Minister Marc Miller's Montreal office vandalized by protesters

The Montreal offices of Liberal MP and federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller suffered what appeared to be thousands of dollars of damage after being vandalized on Thursday.

The St-Jacques St. office’s windows were smashed and covered with pink paint and vandals wrote: “Marc Miller Child Killer” in spray paint across the office’s facade.

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Poilievre vows to fire envoy as Canada buys a $9M condo for diplomat in NYC

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to fire Canada’s consul general in New York City if the Tories wins the next federal election.

In a post on social media, Poilievre called the former journalist, Tom Clark, a Liberal media hack in response to the government’s decision to buy a $9-million condominium in Manhattan.

#US
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Supreme Court confirms state is liable when Parliament enacts unconstitutional laws

The Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed the federal government does not have absolute immunity from liability when Parliament enacts laws that are later overturned as unconstitutional.

The decision upholds a 2002 ruling — Mackin v. New Brunswick (Minister of Finance) — that says the state does have limited liability when it enacts unconstitutional laws, but only when those laws are "clearly wrong, in bad faith or an abuse of power."

The hearing was unusual because all ten provinces intervened in the case.

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💵Population growth ‘masked’ Canada’s ‘recession-like economic backdrop’

Nathan Janzen, RBC assistant chief economist, and RBC economist Carrie Freestone said in a report Wednesday that as per-person output is declining in Canada’s economy, population growth prevented outright declines in Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). The report notes that this is occurring alongside unemployment rate increases that would be expected in a typical recession.

Higher interest rates alongside decades-high inflation in 2022-23 ate away at household purchasing power. Weaker demand spurred a rise in the unemployment rate of a size that historically only happens in recessions.

But decades-high population growth has masked this recession-like economic backdrop. Canada has added 2.1 million additional consumers since mid-2022.

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💸Canadian government giving “refugees” over $5000 per month to pay for food, hotel rooms

The federal government is preparing to spend over $550 million on temporary accommodations and food for asylum seekers in 2024.

According to the funding breakdown, hotel rooms, which are noted as being double occupancy, are priced at $153 per day, with an additional $134.37 per day for food being allocated per hotel room. As of February of this year, IRCC was leasing 4,050 rooms at 34 hotels in six provinces.

The total listed figure of $366.24 per refugee-allocated hotel room, or approximately $183.12 per day, per refugee.

#immigration
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🇨🇦🇺🇸Does Trudeau sweat nervously when he sees what's happening to his dear friend Joe Biden?

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Trudeau taps MacKinnon to be new labour minister

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named Steven MacKinnon as Canada's new minister of labour and seniors, filling a fresh vacancy on his front bench, left by outgoing minister Seamus O'Regan.

MacKinnon arrived at Rideau Hall on Friday morning, and was sworn in to his new role, shifting from his current spot as government House leader.

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🚙 Police seize over 30 stolen vehicles, thousands of dollars in Montreal area

Quebec provincial police have announced the seizure of more than 28 vehicles and thousands of dollars in the Montreal area this week as part of their fight against organized vehicle theft in the province.

Police spokesperson Nicolas Scholtus says that following an investigation that began in March investigators searched buildings and vehicles in the Montreal area on Thursday targeting a criminal gang exporting stolen vehicles.

In addition to the vehicles, police also found over $17,000 in Canadian currency, over $35,000 US and a half dozen cellphones.

#Quebec
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🇨🇦🇺🇸Justin Trudeau reacts to Joe Biden announcing he won't run for re-election

I’ve known President Biden for years. He’s a great man, and everything he does is guided by his love for his country. As President, he is a partner to Canadians — and a true friend.

Trudeau is next.

#Trudeau #US
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🇨🇦🇮🇱 Canadian killed by Israeli soldiers after attempted stabbing attack

A Canadian citizen reportedly has been killed by Israeli troops in southern Israel after brandishing a knife at them.

Security camera footage showed the man rushing at three armed Israeli security officers before he was shot dead.

Israeli Army Radio reported that the man – identified as a “Canadian Muslim citizen” – arrived in the country as a tourist on Sunday.

#Israel
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💰After MPs' salaries increased on April 1, Trudeau will now earn $406,200, Poilievre $299,900 and Singh, Blanchet $271,700 each year.

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🩺 Quebec doctors are abandoning the public system in record numbers

A record number of physicians opted out of the public medicare system in Quebec last year, with private medical specialists charging patients for a wide range of procedures, from orthopedic surgery and radiological exams to colonoscopies and dermatology consultations.

A total of 780 general practitioners and specialists are “non-participants” in the public system and no longer bill the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec for their services, up by nearly 22 per cent from 641 the year before, according to a list compiled by RAMQ as of July 12. That represents the biggest single-year increase on record.

#Quebec #healthcare
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🎓Foreign student permits are already outpacing 2023's record numbers

🔹By the end of 2023, 682,420 study permits had been granted to foreign students.

Canada has been granting the vast majority of permits to India, with 278,335 going to students from that country in 2023, a number nearly five times more than to students from China, the second-highest country of origin, who were granted 58,230 permits in 2023.

Canada’s third-most popular source of international students in 2023 was Nigeria, with 37,575 permits handed out in 2023, followed by the Philippines with 33,830, and Nepal at 15,920.

🔹During the first five months of 2024, Indian students were granted 91,510 permits, more than the 85,805 granted over the same period last year.

Chinese students received 21,240 permits in the first five months of this year, compared to 15,565 granted between January and May 2023.

Nigerians received 12,450 study permits by May 2024, up from 8,150 by May 2023.

For the Philippines, 10,140 permits were granted so far in 2024, up from 9,300 over the same period of time last year.

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