Most Canadians don't know how much the prime minister earns, survey finds

A survey conducted by Research Co. among 1,000 Canadians shows that:

🔹18 % correctly said that the prime minister makes between $301,000 and $400,000 annually. Trudeau’s salary this year is $379,000.

🔹42 % of people thought the prime minister’s annual salary was less than $301,000.

🔹24 per cent believed Trudeau made more than $400,000 each year.

🔹Once respondents were informed about the annual compensation of the prime minister, 41 % of them said they believed it is “too much,” while 47 % stated that it is “about right.”

#Trudeau

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🇬🇧Canadians uninterested in King Charles’ coronation, British monarchy, survey suggests

New polling results suggest Canadians are largely indifferent to King Charles, and more than half believe his May 6 coronation is the right time for the country to reconsider its ties with the monarchy.

The web survey of 1,544 adults was conducted by market research firm Leger.

▪️Only 12 per cent of respondents said it was good news that Charles is now King, compared to 14 per cent who said it was bad news and 67 per cent who were indifferent.

▪️Only 13 per cent of those surveyed said they felt a personal attachment to the monarchy, compared with 81 per cent who didn’t.

▪️The survey found the level of attachment to the monarchy has dropped since the days immediately following Queen Elizabeth’s death last September, when 19 per cent said they felt an attachment and 77 per cent said they didn’t. Indifference to Charles has also risen in the same period.

▪️A majority of respondents said it’s the right time for Canada to reconsider its ties with the monarchy, with 56 per cent in favour and 44 against.

Anti-monarchy sentiment was strongest in Quebec, where 71 per cent said it was time to reconsider ties.

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📉François Legault approval rating drops to 55%

▪️According to a new study by the Angus Reid Institute, the approval rating of Quebec Premier François Legault has decreased to 55%, 2 points lower than in December when he was the premier with the highest approval rating.

▪️Legault currently sits in fourth place, behind Andrew Furey of Newfoundland and Labrador (62%), Scott Moe of Saskatchewan (60%) and Dennis King of Prince Edward Island (58%).

▪️The approval rating of François Legault hit an all-time high of 77% in June 2020; his lowest approval rating was 43%, in September 2022.

#Quebec

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University president on paid leave after Indigenous identity claim

Memorial University President Vianne Timmons decided to go on voluntary paid leave after she became engulfed in a scandal surrounding her claimed Indigenous heritage.

Timmons apologized for any pain her disputed claims to Indigenous ancestry have caused. The controversy stems from Timmons claiming she has never benefited from her Indigenous ancestry, which she maintains is different from Indigenous identity.

#Newfoundland #Labrador

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17 wild horses shot, killed west of Kamloops, B.C.; police investigating

Seventeen wild horses were shot and killed in B.C.’s Interior, say the RCMP, and the incident is now under investigation.

Tk’emlups Rural RCMP received a report of several horses killed on Crown land around an hour west of Kamloops, near the community of Walhachin.

RCMP say its forensic identification section carefully examined the scene, along with a veterinarian and an RCMP livestock investigator.

“The motive behind this disheartening act cannot be confirmed at this point,” said police.

#BritishColumbia

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💊Conservative government would launch $44B lawsuit against big pharma: Poilievre

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says if he were to be elected prime minister he would launch a $44-billion lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies to account for what he calls their role in the opioid epidemic.

He said Tuesday that a Poilievre government would join, as a plaintiff, an existing class-action lawsuit filed by British Columbia, seeking an additional $4 billion in damages to the federal health-care system, and launch “a separate federal lawsuit to go after non-health costs, like border security, prisons, Indigenous programming, etc.”

“A total of roughly $44-45 billion is that what big pharma owes federal taxpayers and we're going to put that money towards recovery and treatment,” Poilievre said.

B.C. filed its class action lawsuit in 2018 on behalf of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments to recover costs that “resulted from wrongful conduct of opioid manufacturers, distributors, and their consultants,” according to the province.

#BritishColumbia

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🏥Newfoundland and Labrador offers $200,000 bonus to recruit rural doctors

Two days in a row, protesters stood outside the Confederation Building pleading for a stop to rural emergency room closures.

On Tuesday, March 14, people travelled to St. John’s from Whitbourne to voice their concerns. On Wednesday, they came from Bonavista.

Health Minister Tom Osborne said the provincial health authority is now offering another incentive for doctors to practice in some rural, hard-to-staff hospitals: a $200,000 bonus for a two-year return of service agreement.

He said it’s already rolled out for Bonavista, and in the next couple of days it will be offered to any doctor who will practice in New-Wes-Valley, and then offered to doctors who will go to Baie Verte.

$200,000 is stackable on top of the Come Home incentive that offers $100,000 to any Newfoundland and Labrador doctor currently working outside the province to return home to work.

#Newfoundland #Labrador

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Trudeau picks former governor general David Johnston to probe election meddling claims

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tapped former governor general David Johnston to investigate claims that China meddled in Canada's last two elections.

Trudeau said last week that he would name an "eminent" and independent person as a special rapporteur on election interference. He said the special rapporteur "will have a wide mandate and make expert recommendations on combating interference and strengthening our democracy."

Johnston is currently the head of the independent Leaders' Debates Commission an independent body that oversees leaders' debates during federal election campaigns. He will step down from that role to act as the new rapporteur, according to a news release from the Prime Minister's Office.

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Alberta poised to become first province to require body cameras for all police

The Alberta government is planning to require all police services in the province to use body cameras.

Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said Tuesday that officers often respond to complex calls and make split-second decisions. That can raise concerns from the public about officers’ actions and whether appropriate force was used.

Ellis said the provincial government will be working with the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police on funding, logistics and when the cameras will roll out. He said the association is to develop a mandate over the next few months to “swiftly get body cameras onto the streets as soon as possible.”

#Alberta

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Quebec bill aims to regulate police stops, combat racial profiling

▪️Quebec Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel says he wants the province to better regulate police stops to combat racial profiling and give the police ethics commissioner more teeth.

▪️Bonnardel presented a vast bill on Wednesday, which aims mainly at modernizing certain practices of the police forces.

▪️The bill addresses the issue of police stops, including interceptions in relation to section 636 of the Highway Safety Code, which many see as a source of racial profiling by police.

▪️Following the adoption of Bill 14, Bonnardel committed to establishing guidelines to ensure that police stops based on discriminatory grounds are prohibited. If the guidelines are not followed, police officers could face disciplinary action.

#Quebec

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🇨🇦🇬🇧Canada will hold special ceremony to mark May 6 coronation of King Charles

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will hold a special ceremony marking the coronation of King Charles on May 6.

The ceremony in Ottawa will be one of several events held over two days as Canada marks the investiture of its new monarch.

The coronation will take place May 6 at Westminster Abbey and will be marked by a procession, a concert at Windsor Castle and other events.

A poll published this week by market research firm Leger suggests Canadians are largely indifferent to King Charles, with more than half believing his coronation is the right time for the country to reconsider its ties with the monarchy.

#Ontario

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🇨🇦🇺🇸75% of all exports are destined to the United States

The U.S. is by far the largest destination for Canadian products (75 per cent of total exports, followed by China (4.5 percent) and the United Kingdom (2.6 percent).

#facts

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Federal Liberals gives funds for new non-binary sports league

The Government of Canada invested into an exclusive LGBTQ+ sports league in Ontario.

The Government invested $90,000 into a 2SLGBTQI+ Sports in Waterloo Region project, which hosts a multi-sport league for non-binary players.

The league is hosted by a Kitchener advocacy group called SPECTRUM, which currently has a league running for the sports of basketball, volleyball, badminton, floor hockey and dodgeball.

The investment comes as a survey of Canadian female athletes found the majority (91.7%) think women should have the right to a dedicated female league, and 88% believe transwomen have a competitive advantage over women.

#Ontario

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Vancouver mayor says foreign meddling 'insinuations' around municipal election are because he's not Caucasian

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said his race is behind “insinuations” in a newspaper report connecting him to election meddling by Chinese diplomats.

Sim said at a news conference Thursday he was not aware of any foreign interference in the 2022 municipal election that saw him defeat incumbent Kennedy Stewart.

Meanwhile, Canadian intelligence officials are concerned the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver interfered in the election by using diaspora community groups and grooming certain candidates.

#BritishColumbia

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🇨🇦🇮🇳Canada to deport over 700 Indian students for fake admission offer letters

More than 700 Indian students are facing deportation from Canada after authorities in the country found that the admission offer letters to the educational institutions they were studying in were fake, reported The Indian Express.

The students had gone to Canada in 2018-19 on a study visa. After completing their studies the students had also received work permits in the country. The admission offer letters were found to be fake only after they applied for permanent residency in Canada, reported PTI.

The Canadian Border Security Agency scrutinised their documents which revealed that their offer letters were not authentic.

#India

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Trudeau lashes out at Tories for questioning personal ties with special rapporteur

Justin Trudeau accused his Conservative rival of trying to score political points at the expense of Canadian democracy on Friday by questioning his personal relationship with former governor general David Johnston.

The question came during an event in Guelph, Ont., two days after Trudeau tapped Johnston as special rapporteur responsible for investigating claims of Chinese meddling in the last two federal elections.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused Trudeau and Johnston of being too close, noting the prime minister has previously called them family friends. Johnston is also involved in the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

Asked by reporters about their relationship, Trudeau defended the former governor general. Trudeau also said he hoped Johnston's appointment would "bring down the temperature on this issue."

#Trudeau

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Most Canadians support death penalty for murderers, poll shows

According to a new survey, 54 per cent of Canadians support relying on capital punishment on murder conviction, up three points since a similar survey conducted by the group in February 2022.

Research Co.’s data shows that Albertans are more likely in favor of the death penalty with the highest percentage of 62 per cent.

Support for capital punishment in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are also high at 60 per cent while 58 per cent of Ontario and B.C. residents feel the same way. Over half (55 per cent) of Atlantic Canada and 43 per cent of Quebec residents said they welcome the return of the death penalty.

When it comes to the type of punishment, 53 per cent (up one point) said they prefer murderers should be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole while 37 per cent would prefer the death penalty.

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Sask. Party president steps down after nine years

The Saskatchewan Party’s president, James Thorsteinson, is officially stepping down from his position.

Thorsteinson, who has been party President since November 2014, made the announcement on Saturday.

“After nearly nine years as Saskatchewan Party President, I will no longer be able to dedicate the time the position deserves,” Thorsteinson said.

Derek Tallon will serve as the interim president until a new president is chosen at the Saskatchewan Party convention, which is scheduled for the fall of 2023.

#Saskatchewan

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📈Ontario to see higher numbers of economic immigrants under federal agreement

Ontario is set to double the number of economic immigrants it welcomes to the province under an agreement with the federal government to boost the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

The federal and provincial immigration ministers are announcing that the province will have more than 18,000 spots under the program in 2025.

Ontario Labour and Immigration Minister Monte McNaughton says the number of health-care workers in particular will change drastically.

Ontario has already put measures in place to prepare for a hoped influx under this program, including removing Canadian work experience requirements, giving newcomers more access to training programs and working to approve applications on average within 90 days.

#Ontario

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❄️Winter heating bills climb for 72% of Canadians

Nearly three-quarters of Canadians who pay home heating costs directly felt the pinch of bigger bills this winter.

▪️Among 1,212 bill payers surveyed between Feb. 23 and 24, 72 per cent reported higher energy consumption costs between mid-November 2022 and mid-February 2023. Among that group, 24 per cent say their bill "increased very much."

▪️According to Statistics Canada, most Canadians use traditionally gas-powered systems to heat their homes, mainly forced-air furnaces. The majority, 84 per cent, of gas users who participated in the survey reported paying a bigger bill.

▪️However, homes that rely on oil as their primary energy source for heat appear to have seen the steepest increases. Eighty-three per cent in this category reported an increase, with 42 per cent of this group saying their bill was "very much" higher.

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🏥 More than 6.5 million adults in Canada lack access to primary care

▪️A national survey shows that more than one in five Canadian adults – 6.5 million people – do not have a family physician or nurse practitioner they can see regularly for care, a situation that has become worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

▪️The survey was conducted between September and October last year and includes more than 9,000 responses from across the country.

▪️The situation is particularly bleak in some parts of the country. In British Columbia, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, approximately 30 per cent – almost one in three adults – reported not having a family doctor or nurse practitioner, compared to only 13 per cent in Ontario.

#healthcare

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