Internal docs suggest Trudeau wants China blocked from Pacific Rim trade deal

An internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out of a Pacific Rim trade bloc, despite the Liberals publicly insisting it would welcome anyone who meets the trade deal’s standards.

China has been trying since 2019 to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade bloc that includes Canada and multiple countries in Asia and Latin America.

Trade Minister Mary Ng reiterated Canada’s stance on China joining the group last week, saying Ottawa would be open to the idea if Beijing meets labour and environmental standards.

But a document obtained through an access-to-information request attributes Trudeau as saying that high standards are helpful as they make it too hard for China to join the group.

#Trudeau #China

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🏠 Saving up for a home takes 31 months in Edmonton but 400+ in Vancouver

The National Bank of Canada’s newest Housing Affordability Monitor has been released, revealing that the first quarter of 2023 saw Canadian housing affordability post the largest improvement in 15 quarters.

The prices in Edmonton stack up extremely well when compared to other major cities across the country, especially Vancouver, Toronto, and Victoria.

▪️In Edmonton, it takes 31 months of saving required for the down payment on a home (with a saving rate of 10%), compared to a staggering 454 months in Vancouver, 304 months in Toronto, and 336 months in Victoria.

▪️Edmonton is now the least expensive Canadian city to buy a house, surpassing Quebec City for the first time, according to the report.

#Alberta #BritishColumbia #housing

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Trudeau is betting $12 billion on a plan to clean up the oilsands

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has so far pledged $12.4 billion in tax credits for building carbon capture systems. That includes a massive project that aims to suck up an annual 10 million metric tons of carbon emissions produced by the massive equipment at oilsands sites by 2030.

Critics are unsure of the initiative's success. Though carbon capture and storage technologies have been around for decades, efforts to scale them up have faced problems ranging from geological limitations to debilitating technical faults to prohibitive costs, leaving a trail of expensive, underperforming and sometimes failed projects in their wake.

If the initiative turns out to be successful, it will not help the Prime Minister gain political points in conservative Alberta, the capital of the oilsands industry. But if it fails, it will raise dissatisfaction with the useless waste of the budget.

#Trudeau #Alberta

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promises to protect "LGDP-LGT-LBG-LGBTQ2+" kids' rights

This is what happens when you forget to practice pronouncing the LGBTQ+ alphabet soup.

He knows he sounds ridiculous 🤡

#Trudeau

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NEW! Canada: Parts of Northern B.C. saw some extreme fire activity yesterday.

A new start on the Donnie Creek complex took off as well.

@police_frequency

📈 Bank of Canada hikes interest rate to 4.75%

The Bank of Canada decided to raise its benchmark interest rate to 4.75 per cent on Wednesday, taking it to its highest level since 2001.

While investors and economists thought there was a slight chance the bank would raise the rate now, the move nonetheless came as a surprise to the consensus view that the bank would probably do so later this year.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Over 20 municipalities take Quebec to court over French-language law

Almost two dozen municipalities with bilingual status in Quebec are taking the provincial government to court to challenge parts of the French-language law - Bill 96.

The coalition of 23 municipalities led by Cote-Saint-Luc is challenging five areas: contracts and communication, the obligation to adopt resolution to maintain bilingual status, alleged illegal searches and seizures, government grants and the alleged obligation to discipline employees.

The municipalities' legal case asks how valid and applicable the modifications to the French Language Charter are and how they might affect the rights and powers of municipalities with bilingual status.

#Quebec

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Quebec allows sick patients to request assisted death in advance

Quebec is expanding its program of assisted medical death (MAID) and will become the first Canadian province to allow sick people to put in an advance request for MAID before they become incapacitated.

The measure will permit people suffering from Alzheimer's and other serious diseases to apply for assistance in ending their lives while they are still deemed to be in control of their faculties.

The move could set up a clash with the federal government, which drew up the law on medical assistance in dying. Quebec Health Minister Sonia Belanger said she planned to have talks with Ottawa, given the law as it currently stands does not allow advance requests of the kind Quebec has approved.

Quebec was able to expand the program because while the federal government drafted the legislation, provinces are largely in control of healthcare.

#Quebec #MAID

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Poor air quality from fires expected to continue for at least a couple days

Smoke and flames continue to engulf much of Canada, with Alberta imposing new evacuation orders.

Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta.

Forecasters expect moderately bad air quality on Friday and Saturday throughout most of Ontario. Moderately bad air quality is forecast for Edmonton and Calgary on Friday.

In British Columbia, air quality was expected to improve almost everywhere in the province except for Fort St. John.

#Alberta #Ontario #BritishColumbia #wildfire

🍁 Maple Chronicles

LGBT propaganda in Catholic press

The LGBT agenda has become so intrusive that it is now infiltrating even the most sacred aspects of our lives.

We got a photo from our subscriber of a magazine given out to Catholic teachers in Toronto. The May edition of Catholic Teacher features LGBT flags.

We've written before about how Ontario parents fight against school Pride events and even suсceed is some regions. But apparently, these efforts are not enough.

Footage from a Pride event at St. Matthew's School, and now this blatant LGBT propaganda among Catholic teachers — it's all part of an alarming trend.

If you have something to share, you can always reach us through @maplechronicles_bot

#Ontario

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇦 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes unannounced visit to Ukraine

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Kyiv on Saturday for a surprise one-day visit to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland joined him on the trip.

This is the second time that Trudeau has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine since February 2022.

#Trudeau #Ukraine

🍁 Maple Chronicles

❌ David Johnston resigns as special rapporteur into foreign interference

Former governor general David Johnston has said he will resign by the end of June as the Liberal government’s special rapporteur into foreign interference.

After months of controversy over his appointment, due to perceived conflicts of interest, Johnston released a letter late Friday afternoon announcing he would be quitting his role, saying his goal of strengthening democratic institutions was not being met.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced opposition pressure since early this year to call a public inquiry into serious allegations of foreign interference in Canada’s elections that could have benefitted the Liberal party.

Trudeau hired Johnston in March to look into the matter and determine whether a public inquiry was advisable.

In his first report, delivered May 23, Johnston recommended against a public inquiry and said he would instead personally chair a series of public meetings, involving the public and government officials, to discuss foreign interference.

#Trudeau

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇦 Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland are sending another $400 million to Ukraine

Meanwhile, the country is battling wildfires, a housing crisis, and high inflation. And it was Freeland who announced in March that the country would spend at least the next five years in deficit, and that Canada's total debt would grow by more than $50 billion. 

Someone needs to sort out their priorities.

#Trudeau #Ukraine

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Federal executives took in $1.3 billion in bonuses in 2015-2022, documents show

▪️It is reported that federal public servants — both executives and rank-and-file employees — received around $200 million in bonuses throughout the 2022-2023 fiscal year, despite criticism over failures to meet performance goals.

Most of those bonuses — $147 million worth — went to executive-level employees, while the balance went to those in lower position grades.

▪️The new documents, obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, list average annual bonuses for executives from 2015 to 2022 ranging between $15,550 to $18,252.

The federation says the annual cost to taxpayers to pay for these bonuses increased by 46 per cent: from $138 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year to nearly $202 million in 2022-23.

▪️Released in March, a report tabled by Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer said examinations of departmental results from across the public service show, over the past four years, that nearly a quarter of annual performance targets aren’t met.

🍁 Maple Chronicles