🇨🇦🇻🇪Canada urges Venezuela to detail election results, Freeland cites 'serious concerns'

Canada is calling on Venezuelan authorities to release detailed polling results of its presidential election, after autocratic President Nicolas Maduro and his opposition rival both emerged from the contest claiming victory.

Global Affairs Canada called on Venezuelan authorities to "respect the will of the people" and to publish detailed results for all polling stations.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Ottawa was partnering with like-minded countries on the issue, without specifying what that involves.

#Venezuela
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📘Canada’s living standards are falling behind the rest of the developed world

As noted in a new study published by the Fraser Institute, from 2002 to 2014, Canada’s GDP per-person growth roughly kept pace with the rest of the OECD.

But from 2014 to 2022, the latest year of available comparable data, Canada’s average annual growth rate declined sharply, ranking third-lowest among 30 countries over the period.

Consequently, in dollar terms, Canada’s GDP per person increased only $1,325 during this time period, compared to the OECD average increase of $5,070 (all values in 2015 U.S. dollars).

What a coincidence!

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Liberal MP James Maloney says the LPC caucus has complete confidence in Freeland as Finance Minister.

Unequivocally, we are united behind this person beside me. Freeland has done a great job and there isn’t a single person in my caucus who'd say anything to the contrary.

#Freeland
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👑Ashley Callingbull is the 1st Indigenous woman to win Miss Universe Canada

Alberta’s Ashley Callingbull has become the first Indigenous woman to win Miss Universe Canada.

The 34-year-old model, actress and television host from Enoch Cree Nation was crowned in Windsor, Ont., on Saturday.

She will compete for the noscript of Miss Universe in Mexico in November.

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🇨🇦🇿🇦South African firefighters landed in Edmonton to assist in the fight against the raging wildfires.

#Alberta #wildfires
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Convoy leader Pat King to be re-arrested over alleged bail breach

Pat King's trial may have ended last week, but the prominent figure in the 2022 convoy protests is expected to be taken into custody as early as Tuesday after allegedly breaching his bail conditions.

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💉Over 1,150 toxic-drug deaths in B.C. in 1st half of 2024: coroner

At least 1,158 British Columbians died of toxic, unregulated drugs in the first half of 2024, the B.C. Coroners Service says — a rate of about six people per day.

Drug toxicity continues to be the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 10-59, according to the B.C. Coroners Service.

Decriminalization was never the answer.

#BritishColumbia
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💩Debate ensues over photo of someone pooping in Ontario parking lot

It's been a strangely poop-fuelled few days as far as Ontario news goes, with the latest incident involving an image of what looks to be a man about to openly defecate in a gas station Tim Hortons parking lot, which some suggest are photoshopped.

So folks, photoshop or Trudeau's Canada?

#Ontario
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❗️Cabinet minister Harjit Sajjan requested 100 soldiers to perform with Punjabi pop star Diljit Dosanjh

The former defense minister Harjit Sajjan who made headlines for directing the Canadian military to prioritize rescuing Afghan Sikhs from Afghanistan in 2021, is back in the news.

It turns out that in April, Sajjan asked the current defense minister to send 100 soldiers to act as backdrops at a Vancouver concert by Punjabi pop star Diljit Dosanjh. The Canadian Armed Forces Command rejected the idea.

Can you imagine the disgrace that would be?

Sikhs are living freely in Canada as if it were Khalistan.

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🪖While the Armed Forces are sorting out whether to send soldiers as backdrops to a Punjabi singer and how to meet NATO's 2% spending target, retiring military personnel are facing delays in receiving severance, back pay and accumulated vacation payouts.

Who wouldn't want to serve in an Army like that?

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Justin Trudeau calls two byelections in Manitoba and Quebec for Sept. 16

After the Liberal party’s devastating loss in the Toronto—St.Paul’s byelection, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling for another round of byelection to be held on Sept. 16.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced Sunday byelections for two of the three seat vacancies in the House of Commons for the ridings of Elmwood—Transcona in Manitoba and LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in Quebec.

Trudeau did not yet announce a byelection in the British Columbia riding of Cloverdale–Langley City, which polling suggests the Conservatives would likely reclaim from the Liberals were an election held today.

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🏃‍♂Canadian triathlete of Ukrainian origin Tyler Mislavchuk vomited at the finish of the Olympic distance in Paris after a swim held in the Seine.

He came in ninth place. And he later revealed he had actually vomited 10 times.

Up until June, E.coli levels in the river were 10 times higher than the level deemed acceptable by sports federations.

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❌🏳️‍⚧️Ontario transgender woman loses fight to have province pay for facial feminization surgery

No, the government shouldn't have to pay for your delusions.

#Ontario
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💰Conservatives on pace for another record fundraising year as Liberals, NDP trail by wide margin

Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party is on track for another record-setting fundraising year, amassing more than $20-million from donors in the first half of 2024 and far outpacing the results of the Liberals and NDP.

According to the latest quarterly fundraising numbers, released by Elections Canada on Wednesday, the Conservatives raised $9.8-million between April and June, bringing their total this year to $20.5-million.

In comparison, the Liberals raised $3.8-million in the second quarter, bringing their total in 2024 to $6.9-million. The NDP meantime raised $1.3-million in the second quarter, bringing their total to $2.6-million.

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🇨🇦🇨🇳 Canadian military encounters Chinese research vessel in Arctic, warns competitors are 'probing' infrastructure

A Canadian warship on its first-ever Arctic patrol encountered a Chinese polar research vessel in the Bering Strait off Alaska earlier this month, as the Department of National Defence says global competitors are increasingly probing Canadian infrastructure and gathering intelligence in a warming Arctic.

A National Defence spokesperson said HMCS Regina and its CH-148 Cyclone helicopter "interacted safely and professionally" with the Chinese research vessel Xue Long 2 as it transited the strait, but did not have any encounters with the four-warship task group, which she said "remained in international waters at all times."

#China
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🇨🇦 Forest Fires in Alberta Threaten 400,000 Barrels Per Day of Crude Oil Production

Ongoing wildfires in Alberta could affect crude oil production of about 400,000 barrels per day, primarily in the northeastern part of the province, with many producers on high alert as 176 fires are currently raging in the province, industry officials said.

The western Canadian province of Alberta produces about 4 million barrels of heavy and light crude oil and about 16.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.

Goldman Sachs noted that Suncor has been cutting production at its more than 200,000-barrel-per-day Firebag field for over two weeks, and other producers have begun evacuating non-essential workers from the hardest-hit fields.

The fire has already reached the town of Jasper and a national park through which the 890,000-barrel-per-day Trans Mountain pipeline runs, as well as Canadian National Railway tracks that carry crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas by tanker from Alberta to Canada's west coast.

#Canada #oil
@songofoil

👊Conservatives launch attack ads on NDP, calling leader ‘Sellout Singh’

The Conservative party released two new ads this week attacking NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as a “sellout,” blaming him for rising crime, housing prices, and the high cost of living.

Sellout Singh. He gets his pension, you pay the price.

In 2022, the New Democrats agreed to support the Liberals on key votes in the House of Commons. Conservatives suggest Singh is maintaining the deal to secure his MP pension, which he will qualify for in October 2025.

To be honest, Conservatives shouldn't get too comfortable. Every politician is a sellout in one way or another, and they are not immune to it.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🏠💸Lenders can offer more 30-year mortgages starting Thursday – but they won’t be cheap

Extending a mortgage by five years will lower Canadians’ monthly housing costs by a few hundred dollars but cost them six figures in the long run.

For a 30-year mortgage, the monthly cost of the average home in Canada would fall to $3,477 per month, compared to $3,789 for the same home with a 25-year mortgage. However, the total cost would rise from $1,136,853 to $1,251,835, an increase of almost $115,000.

The promise made by the Liberals in the 2024 federal budget to offer Canadians 30-year mortgage amortizations will come into effect for first-time homebuyers on Thursday.

#housing
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Canadian-born Paul Whelan, U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich released in Russia prisoner swap

Canadian-U.S. citizen Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich have been released from a Russian prison in an international swap deal, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday.

Turkey, which co-ordinated the exchange, said 10 people, including two children, had been moved to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States. Also involved in the swap were Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus.

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📈Data shows violent crime up since 2015

The volume and severity of police-reported crime has been on “an upward trend that began in 2015,” Statistics Canada said in a report released last week.

The violent crime severity index “remained virtually unchanged” last year, the statistics agency said, because there was a decline in more serious crimes such as homicide. However, there was nearly a seven per cent increase in violent crimes such as assault, robbery and extortion, Statistics Canada said.

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