💰Replacing Canada's crumbling water, road infrastructure would cost more than $300B: Statistics Canada

On Monday, the national statistics agency released the results of a 2022 survey of government agencies responsible for public infrastructure. Statistics Canada estimates that it would take $356.7 billion to replace road or water systems the survey says are in "poor" or "very poor" condition.

That cost estimate has jumped by more than $100 billion since 2020, the first year the survey was conducted.

The agency defines "very poor" items of infrastructure as those posing a public health or safety hazard and needing immediate replacement of "most or all of the asset."

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🇮🇳🇺🇸Federal officials provided intelligence about India to Washington Post, sources say

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser and the deputy minister of foreign affairs provided sensitive intelligence about India to The Washington Post days before the RCMP publicly alleged that Indian government agents have been linked to homicides, extortions and other violent criminal activities in Canada, two sources say.

#India #US
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💅Parents pull students from Nova Scotia school after nonbinary drag queen gives compulsory gender identity presentation: report

Parents at a Halifax-area, Nova Scotia school are furious that Oyster Pond Academy allowed a drag queen to deliver a presentation on gender identity to kids aged 12 to 15. Some parents pulled their children from class on Friday to protest the school’s decision.

Teo Ferguson, who calls himself nonbinary and works as a drag queen, shared some of his social media pages – replete with sexualized material – with the children. Ferguson also works at The Youth Project, a non-profit that influences young people to transition to another gender identity or experiment with their sexual orientation.

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Canada is potentially heading for a labour supply decline as immigration policy abruptly changes

A series of rapid policy changes aimed at reducing the temporary resident population in Canada could lead to an overall shrinking of the labour force and a potential economic slowdown, economists predict.

A new report from Bank of Nova Scotia says that Ottawa could be “over-correcting” in its attempt to rein in the number of temporary residents in the country, which topped three million people for the first time this July, or 7.3 per cent of the total population.

The bank’s economists predict that the cumulative effect of Ottawa’s shift in immigration policy could lead to a 1-per-cent contraction in Canada’s labour force over the next two years and weakening economic growth if businesses do not boost productivity accordingly.

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🚶‍♂️Immigration minister calls efforts to oust Trudeau 'garbage'

Immigration Minister Marc Miller today called efforts by disaffected Liberal MPs to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "garbage" and said it would be better for the team to pull together to take on their main opponent: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Any minute spent on this garbage is a minute that's not spent on Pierre Poilievre and what he wants to do to this country, and I think that is very dangerous.

Miller, who is a close personal friend of Trudeau, also said the MPs planning a caucus revolt should come out of the shadows and tell the prime minister in person that they want him gone.

There are plenty of people willing to "come out of the shadows" and tell Trudeau he has to go. But he won't listen.

#Trudeau
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💉Nova Scotia woman was asked if she knew about assisted dying before mastectomy surgery for breast cancer

The Nova Scotia woman was steeling herself for major surgery, a mastectomy for breast cancer, when an unfamiliar doctor ran through a series of pre-operative questions: What was her medical history? What medications does she regularly take? Any allergies? Was she aware of medical assistance in dying?

Fifteen months later, before a second mastectomy, “it happened again,” the woman said. Different doctor, same inquiry. “In the list of questions about your life and your past and how are you treating these things was, ‘Hey, (MAID) is a thing that exists,'” she said.

Her experience is drawing fresh concerns about doctors in Canada raising euthanasia before their patients do, a practice that is prohibited or strongly discouraged in most jurisdictions in the world with legalized assisted death.

#MAID
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💰Auditor general to investigate all government payments to ArriveCan contractor GC Strategies

Canada's auditor general will conduct a full audit of all government contracts awarded to GC Strategies, the company at the centre of the ArriveCan controversy.

In a letter sent to the House of Commons on Monday, Karen Hogan confirmed that her office will look at all government contracts awarded to GC Strategies, its predecessor Coredal and other companies incorporated by the two co-founders. She will also examine related subcontracts.

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🇺🇸🇮🇳Indian migrants drive surge in northern U.S. border crossings

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the northern border. That’s a 95% increase from last year.

Nearly 60% of those encounters were with Indian nationals.

One of the migrants interviewed crossed into the U.S. illegally a few weeks ago, through the thick woods connecting Canada to upstate New York. He’s now awaiting a hearing in front of an immigration judge after claiming asylum in the U.S. But he admits, he came here mostly for work, and because “I get more opportunities in the U.S. compared to Canada.”

#US #India
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📉Trudeau government to slash immigration levels

The Trudeau government will announce a dramatic immigration cut Thursday, reducing new permanent resident numbers by almost 100,000 in 2025 after years of consecutive increases to the country’s immigration targets.

The federal government is planning to decrease permanent resident intake from 485,000 this year to 395,000 in 2025. The government is planning to further cut intake to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.

#immigration
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2 men plead guilty in murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, then fight one another in B.C. court

A shocking scene unfolded in a B.C. courtroom on Monday, as a fistfight broke out after two men pleaded guilty to murdering a man acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombing.

Ripudaman Singh Malik was fatally shot in Surrey in July 2022. In 2005, Malik was acquitted in the Air India bombing that killed more than 300 people. He had consistently denied any involvement.

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Alberta announces $112M to build 250 modular homes for displaced Jasper residents

The Alberta government is investing $112 million for the construction of interim housing for Albertans who lost their homes when the community of Jasper was decimated by wildfire three months ago.

The bulk of the funding announced Monday will be used to construct 250 modular homes within the Jasper townsite.

#Alberta #housing #wildfires
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Trudeau says he will lead Liberals in next election following caucus meeting on his future

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will lead the Liberal Party into the next federal election campaign, speaking one day after some Liberal MPs criticized his leadership during an extended closed door caucus meeting.

Mr. Trudeau answered questions about the meeting for the first time Thursday, stating clearly that he has no intention of stepping down.

During Wednesday’s caucus meeting B.C. MP Patrick Weiler read a letter to the room expressing concern with the party’s direction and asking the Prime Minister to step down. Mr. Trudeau was told that 24 people had put their names to it, but those names were not disclosed even in the private meeting.

#Trudeau
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Bloc Québécois leader has received security clearance, party confirms

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has received the necessary security clearance to review classified national security files, his party has told Radio-Canada.

That makes Conservative Pierre Poilievre the only party leader in the House of Commons who doesn't have the proper clearance to review top-secret documents.

#Poilievre
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🗳B.C. Election: Crucial recounts won’t start until Sunday as number of uncounted ballots rises to 65,000

Seems shady.

#BritishColumbia
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💉Ontario man granted euthanasia for controversial 'post COVID-19 vaccination syndrome'

An Ontario man in his late 40s with a history of mental illness died by euthanasia after his assisted death assessors decided that the most reasonable explanation for his physical decline was a post COVID-19 “vaccination syndrome.”

#MAID
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I think he phrased it wrong. He meant: “This is temporary — to help me win the election.”

#Trudeau
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🎒Quebec suspends teachers accused of forcing “Islamist” practices in public school

Following an investigation into Bedford Elementary School in Montreal, Quebec, 11 teachers have been suspended for “introducing Islamist religious concepts” into school contrary to the province’s secular requirements, which resulted in reports of neglect and abuse.

If only they did that for those who force their LGBT religion on children.

#Quebec
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Ottawa's pledge to reduce immigration is not enough, PQ says

Ottawa’s plan to lower the number of new permanent residents is “not enough,” Parti Québécois MNA Pascal Bérubé told reporters Thursday at the National Assembly.

Premier François Legault also criticized the federal plan. “It’s not a big drop,” he said Thursday. The premier has been calling on Ottawa for months to reduce temporary immigration by 50 per cent.

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has already signalled his party’s plan will call for a “drastic” and “substantial” reductions in all categories of new arrivals.

#immigration
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🗳B.C. election results: Mail-in ballots heavily favour NDP, only absentee ballots left to count

Of the approximately 43,500 mail-in and assisted telephone ballots counted Saturday and Sunday, 55 per cent went to David Eby’s incumbent B.C. NDP, while just 32 per cent went to John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives.

The B.C. Greens took 10 per cent of the votes, and the rest went to a mix of Independent and third-party candidates.

Elections B.C. will not be updating the final count again until Monday, when roughly 21,500 additional absentee ballots will be tallied.

#BritishColumbia
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🎓Seneca Polytechnic to temporarily close Markham campus over international student cap

Seneca Polytechnic says it is temporarily closing one of its campuses north of Toronto because of the federal government’s recent cuts to the number of international student permits.

The college says it expects the cuts to result in declining enrollment, requiring the closure of its Markham campus.

#Ontario
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💸Tens of thousands of taxpayer accounts hacked as CRA repeatedly paid out millions in bogus refunds

At the height of this year's tax season, the Canada Revenue Agency discovered that hackers had obtained confidential data used by one of the country's largest tax preparation firms, H&R Block Canada.

Imposters used the company's confidential credentials to get unauthorized access into hundreds of Canadians' personal CRA accounts, change direct deposit information, submit false returns and pocket more than $6 million in bogus refunds from the public purse.

🍁 Maple Chronicles