Ontario First Nations sue over carbon tax

Ontario First Nations leaders are asking the Federal Court to exempt their communities from Canada's federal carbon tax.

First Nations sue over 'discriminatory' carbon tax — will Guilbeault resign? | National Post | Tasha Kheiriddin

December 1, 2023 - "A month after the federal government exempted home heating oil from its punitive carbon tax, another group is demanding a carve-out — and putting the government in a thorny position. The Chiefs of Ontario and Attawapiskat First Nation have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over what they allege is 'discriminatory and anti-reconciliatory application of the Greenhouse Gas and Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA)' to First Nations. 

"Their main arguments resemble those advanced by rural communities, notably a lack of options when it comes to fuel for things like transportation or industry. The twist is that while non-indigenous taxpayers get 90 per cent of charges refunded through tax rebates, this is not the case for First Nations members, because property and income on reserve are tax exempt, and most Indigenous people do not use the income tax system. Faced with this discrepancy, Ottawa promised to return 0.7 per cent of the total charges collected in Ontario to that province’s First Nations, but the chiefs say this number is arbitrary and inadequate.... 

"The chiefs are now demanding a judicial review of this policy — something they say would have been unnecessary if federal officials had bothered to engage with them.The chiefs’ claim is accompanied by an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in which they characterize the fuel charge cost to First Nations citizens as .'another cash grab for Canada, removing several million dollars a year from those least responsible for the climate crisis'....

"Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault  is now in the embarrassing position of defending a tax that hurts Indigenous people, while having given non-indigenous Canadians a break on their heating oil — all for political reasons. It also puts the minister in a no-win situation because of his pledge that, 'As long as I’m the environment minister, there will be no more exemptions to carbon pricing.' In other words: If the government doesn’t give First Nations a break, it’s breaking its promise on reconciliation. But if it does give them an exemption, the minister is breaking his promise not to allow additional carve-outs and should resign."

The chiefs’ lawsuit is just the latest assault on the government’s green energy policies. Last week, the government of Saskatchewan brought in Bill 151, which exempts SaskEnergy officials from federal punishment for defying federal law and gives the energy minister the power not to pay carbon tax. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has vowed that on Jan. 1, 2024 the Crown corporation will not remit carbon tax on home heating fuel to Ottawa.... 

And then there’s Alberta. On Monday, Premier Danielle Smith’s government introduced a resolution that instructs governments and provincial utilities entities to ignore the federal government’s proposed Clean Electricity Regulations when they come into force “to the extent legally permissible.” The regulations would require Canada’s electricity grid to generate net zero emissions by 2035 — something Smith says is both impossible and undesirable in her oil-producing jurisdiction.

"With the carbon tax bleeding from a thousand cuts, and Canadians increasingly opposed to it, you would think the government would do the sensible thing, and put it on the scrapheap where it belongs. Then again, voters might just do that for them."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/tasha-kheiriddin-first-nations-sue-over-discriminatory-carbon-tax-will-guilbeault-resign

Chiefs of Ontario launch judicial review of Carbon Tax | APTN News | December 5,2023:

CCP interfered at all levels of Canadian elections

A report from Canada's intelligence agency, CSIS, describes Chinese Communist interference in Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal elections,

CSIS HQ, Ottawa.

CSIS report says China infiltrated Provincial and Federal Party leadership races in 2022 | The Bureau | Sam Gooper:

November 24, 2023 - "A senior Canadian politician running to lead a provincial political party clandestinely met officials inside a Chinese Consulate in 2022, subsequently becoming China’s preferred candidate, and winning campaign support from Consulate proxies....  Details of the Consulate meeting are contained in a sweeping CSIS 'Intelligence Assessment' dated October 31, 2022.....  But ramifications of the CSIS Intelligence Assessment are much broader.... 

"The document strongly suggests that People’s Republic proxies financially infiltrated the federal Conservative’s 2022 leadership contest, shortly after leader Erin O’Toole was attacked with Chinese disinformation, during the fall 2021 federal election. The Intelligence Assessment says proxies attempted to elect a federal party’s new leader, purchasing party memberships to support an unidentified candidate, with the objective of tempering the federal party’s perceived 'anti-China' stance.

"This document also refers to a 'CA1' — believed to mean Candidate 1 — and points to a 'meeting and the Consulate’s endorsement.' 'CA1 said they were unconcerned, as CA1 knows "how the underground works" and that "they" (the PRC Consulate) had supported CA1 in various past elections,' the CSIS document reviewed by The Bureau says. It doesn’t explain who Candidate 1 is.

"The October 2022 CSIS document also ,,, cites successive elections in a particular Canadian city, where a Chinese Consulate mobilized three 'co-opted' community groups to clandestinely channel funds and 'material support' to an unidentified mayoral candidate in 2018 and 2022.... Details appear to align with allegations in another Top Secret CSIS report reviewed by The Bureau. 

"This previous, January 2022 document, says China’s Consul General in Vancouver 'stated that they needed' to rally Chinese diaspora voters in Vancouver’s 2022 mayoral election 'to come out and elect a specific Chinese-Canadian candidate because 'the candidate will rely on those votes.'  The Globe and Mail previously reported some of the details from this January 2022 document, which names Vancouver’s Consul General, Tong Xiaoling. What The Globe didn’t report, is the CSIS record’s summary conclusion, which says: 'This report demonstrates CG Tong’s continued interest in involving herself in Canadian electoral processes to benefit the PRC'....

"The Bureau’s investigation of these new CSIS allegations, illuminates deeper concerns in the Chinese interference story that shocked Canadians over the past year, exposing gaps in Ottawa’s current foreign interference inquiry, which only mandates Justice Marie-Josée Hogue to examine [only] the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. This is shortsighted, according to political experts and the October 2022 Intelligence Assessment, which says 'interference actors and activities can span various levels of government'.... '[I]t's like they are examining their front doors, but they don’t realize the whole back wall of the house is missing,” said former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart. 

"Stewart — a political scientist and former NDP Parliamentarian — defeated [Ken] Sim by 957 votes in Vancouver’s 2018 election, and lost to Sim by over 36,000 votes in 2022. 'I don’t know if this interference, which I am now almost certain occurred, was enough to tip the balance in 2022,' Stewart said. 'But it looks like it almost worked in 2018 too, which is shocking'.... Sim’s office has not responded to questions from The Bureau for this story. In March 2023 Sim reacted furiously to The Globe’s controversial report, saying 'insinuations' that his campaign benefited from Chinese Consulate interference wouldn’t occur 'if I was a Caucasian.'

"In a lengthy interview, commenting on cases from the October 2022 Intelligence Assessment, Kennedy Stewart added: 'I can’t help but think, in any other G7 country, this would be a red-alert that your systems are being compromised, and there would be an immediate cross-party effort to get to the bottom of it. But here,' he said, 'in fact, there’s been cross-party collusion to limit this inquiry, to just the federal level.'”

Read more: https://www.thebureau.news/p/exclusive-csis-report-says-china

Mystery pneumonia epidemic reported in China

Deja vu all over again: the Chinese government is accused of trying to cover up an epidemic of unknown pneumonia that is reportedly overwhelming hospitals and closing schools. 

CCP Deploys Cover-Up for Mysterious Pneumonia Outbreak in Children | Epoch Times | Eva Fu:

December 5, 2023 - "The sense of helplessness that has gripped the Chinese people on and off since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago is again returning as the country grapples with an unidentified pneumonia outbreak that's infecting children and overwhelming hospitals.... [S]ick children have been filling hospital waiting rooms and hallways and spilling outside the main gates..... From north to south, the spike in children’s respiratory hospitalizations is shutting classrooms and pushing health authorities to issue a flurry of announcements telling teachers and students who feel unwell to stay home.... 

"Just like three years ago, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appears dismissive of the disease’s risk, telling a concerned World Health Organization that there are no 'unusual or new pathogens' or clinical symptoms. The regime partially attributed the uptick to a mid-October upgrade in a respiratory surveillance mechanism.... Beijing’s explanation, which the international health agency as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have quoted verbatim, has convinced few in China or abroad.... 

"Sean Lin, microbiologist and former lab director at the viral diseases branch of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, expressed frustration over the WHO’s reliance on China’s regime for information.... After whistleblower doctors sounded the alarm on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan during the final days of 2019, it took nearly three weeks before the Chinese regime acknowledged that the virus can spread from human to human. During that time and afterward, authorities reprimanded the medics who spoke out, arrested citizen journalists, and muzzled reporters while orchestrating an internet cleanup on any mention of the outbreak deemed undesirable to its image. Many lawmakers in Washington, especially Republicans, see the same thing happening in China now....

"Even by the numbers from Chinese authorities, who have a persistent record of playing down unflattering data, the image is dire: Beijing alone reported more than 72,000 infections in the week that ended on Nov. 26.... The statistics released by the Beijing Municipal Health Commission are so far the only data point to gauge the severity of the current outbreak.... Chinese state media have spent the past month attempting to reassure the public that the outbreak is just a routine winter spike of common respiratory pathogens and that there’s little need to panic. The Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, People’s Daily, carried an article saying that mycoplasma pneumonia is 'preventable and controllable,' phrases that the regime used in January 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak in China began to draw international anxiety. 

"But the focus on mycoplasma might be a deliberate step to mislead and detract, according to Mr. Lin.... Unlike COVID-19, mycoplasma doesn’t lead to the 'white lung syndrome' — characterized by lung areas' showing up white on chest X-rays because of fluid buildup — that has been plaguing Chinese children recently, according to Dong Yuhong, an infectious disease analyst with 12 years of experience at Swiss multinational pharmaceutical Novartis. Nor has any past respiratory disease season reached the scale China is now grappling with.... Conventional treatment methods for mycoplasma pneumonia haven’t worked either.... 

"COVID-19 is probably still the driving force behind the current wave, according to Mr. Lin, the microbiologist.... '[Most likely,] some of the other respiratory pathogens destroyed their upper respiratory defense mechanism, so now COVID just goes straight in,' he said. Children may be the first group to take the hit, Mr. Lin said, but infections have also spread to adults.... As Xi Jinping prepared for his recent visit to San Francisco to sell China as a friendly market for foreign investors, he personally ordered officials to gloss over the gravity of the outbreak and make the case that a COVID-19 mutation isn’t the cause so that international visitors wouldn’t be scared away, a whistleblower close to the central Party leadership in Beijing’s Zhongnanhai and the Chinese military told The Epoch Times....

"In the northeastern province of Jilin, a woman whose son displayed white lung symptoms and was diagnosed with mycoplasma pneumonia said a doctor she was acquainted with told her that COVID-19 was the main cause..... Ms. Jin, of central China’s Xi’an City, heard the same from her hospitalized nephew: The doctor told him that he had COVID-19. 'They just called it by a different name,' she told The Epoch Times, relaying the doctor’s words. It’s the same playbook that the regime followed a year ago at the height of the devastating COVID-19 wave in December 2022. Beijing tweaked the criteria for classifying COVID-19 deaths, ... excluding anyone with underlying conditions. People involved in issuing death certificates, including multiple doctors, told The Epoch Times that they were ordered to not mention COVID-19. 

"In some areas, even a public mention of sickness is taboo. At least two parents from Beijing and Tianjin told The Epoch Times that teachers have instructed parents to not mention their children’s sickness in the school chat groups for fear of 'negatively impacting others.' 'Everything is a national secret,' Mr. Wei, from Beijing, told The Epoch Times.

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/ccp-tries-to-cover-up-mysterious-child-pneumonia-outbreak-5539948?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=top-news-editors-picks-medium-1

China Pneumonia Outbreak: Amid Surge, Classrooms in Hebei Disinfected | Vantage with Palki Sharma | Firstpost | December 1, 2023:

Five gov'ts pushing back on WHO pandemic treaty

Five governments are declining to enter into a global pandemic accord with the World Health Organization. 

Five countries have now pushed back on WHO Pandemic Treaty | Western Standard | Jen Hodgson:

December 4, 2023 - "The World Health Organization (WHO) is not getting the cooperation it was looking for when it first pushed global regulation measures for a hypothetical pandemic. There have now been five countries to deny the WHO's efforts. 

"The 'pandemic prevention, preparedness and response accord' is a 'legal' and "binding" agreement between countries in case there is another global pandemic, according to the WHO website. New Zealand, Mexico, Estonia, Slovakia and the Philippines have all declined to enter into a global treaty with the WHO.

"Dr. Meryl Nass, of Maine, told the European Parliament the proposed treaty would allow the WHO to 'take over jurisdiction of everything in the world by saying that climate change, animals, plants, water systems [and] ecosystems are all central to health.' 

"In addition, 'the idea is to create a whole new set of laws and ignore the existing human rights laws and others laws under the pretense of pandemic preparedness and the biosecurity agenda,' said Nass. The WHO will 'remove human rights protections,' 'enforce surveillance censorship,' 'get rid of freedom of speech,' and 'require governments to only push a single narrative.'

"Member states will officially vote on the Pandemic Treaty May 24, 2024."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/five-countries-have-now-pushed-back-on-who-pandemic-treaty/50729

WHO Pandemic treaty danger | Dr. John Campbell | October 12, 2023:

Quebec author questions climate alarmism

Quebec author Joanne Marcotte has written a book questioning the "climate apocalypse" consensus – and introducing the reader to a host of thinkers who do likewise.

Quebec author challenges climate change alarmism in new book | Western Standard } Lee Harding:

December 2, 2023 - "A Quebec author is calling for realism and pragmatism in the climate change debate, saying “apocalyptic alarmism” is uncalled for. In her book Inconvenient Doubts – Climate Change Apocalypse: Really? Joanne Marcotte introduces readers to scientists, humanists and economists who defy the past thirty-plus years of 'climate change catastrophism'....

Courtesy Amazon.ca

"The book takes a fresh look at questions alarmist doctrines insist is settled: What exactly is the consensus shared by the scientific community and the state of climate science? Is it warming or not? Are man-made CO2 emissions really the sole responsible of climate change? Are extreme meteorological events really more frequent and intense? How about the IPCC's climate models and scenarios? Are they that reliable? And is Net Zero even realistic? Marcotte says a healthy democracy would allow debate on such questions.... 

"In an email ... the author said the book was the culmination of two years of reading and podcasts from those who provided a 'counterweight' to the 'apocalyptic narrative of climate change.' This included authors such as Steven E. Koonin[] (Unsettled), Michael Shellenberger (Apocalypse Never), Bjorn Lomborg (False Alarm), Judith Curry (Uncertainty and Risk) as well as Roger Pielke. 

"'I also got to know some economists such as Ross McKitrick and a whole lot of other very interesting people and sources. The more I read and listened, the more I was convinced their work must be shared in all sorts of ways,' Marcotte said....

“'I found that it was absolutely necessary to find a way to inform French-speaking people of today’s state of the climate science since, as you would guess, the coverage here is not at all balanced, [to] say the least,” she said. 'During the week of the French version launch, I am happy to have received quite a lot of interviews from Quebec City’s radio stations but still, the subject is taboo in the Montreal media outlets'.... 

"At a time when the United Nations, the IPCC and governments worldwide demand trillions of dollars for their Net Zero project, Marcotte argues that it is perfectly legitimate to press scientists and governments to provide more explanations on uncertainties and risks. She also believes the media should offer more balanced coverage surrounding the United Nations, the IPCC and COP events.

"Marcotte holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Université Laval and worked for several years in the field of computer systems architecture. She also has been commenting and analyzing political news on her personal blog and in selected media since 2009. Marcotte, who lives near Quebec City, is ... known in her province for the 2006 political documentary L’Illusion tranquille (The Quiet Illusion). Five years later, her noted essay Pour en finir avec le Gouvernemaman called for an end to the province’s nanny state."

"Inconvenient Doubts is self-published and available in English and French on Amazon.ca in paperback and ebook." 

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/quebec-author-challenges-climate-change-alarmism-in-new-book/50636

Developed nations will pay UN climate reparations

Developed countries including the U.S., the UK, Germany, and Japan have agreed to pay millions in climate reparations to the United Nations, for a fund intended to compensate vulnerable nations for 'climate-induced disasters.'

Cameron Pledges £60 Million in UN Climate 'Reparations' | Epoch Times | Owen Evans: 

December 1, 2023 - "The UK government has agreed to pay tens of millions in climate 'reparation Loss and Damage funds at this year's U.N. COP28 summit. On Friday, the UK government pledged a £60 million contribution to the world’s poorest countries affected by climate change at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai. The Loss and Damage fund is a plan to get wealthy nations that benefited from fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution to compensate developing states....

"UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote on X, (formerly known as Twitter), that it is 'vital we build on our support to the developing countries most impacted by climate change.' 'That's why the UK has pledged up to £60m at COP28 to help repair the loss and damage caused by events such as floods and crop failure,' he added.

"Last year, countries reached an agreement on establishing a fund to compensate vulnerable nations for "loss and damage" from "climate-induced disasters." The Guardian reported that this year's funding is close to $429 million, with pledges from host country UAE as well as Germany, the United States and Japan. 

"According to the government, loss and damage funds are 'often framed as an act of compensation or reparation from more developed countries' though it said that 'these terms are not used in the COP agreement.... However, some small island states are exploring avenues of legal redress on the liability of historically high emitters,' it added. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said 'reparations' for climate change were 'not on the table' at COP27 last year.

"A study published in 2019, quoted by Parliament, calculated that loss and damage for developing countries could rise from between $290 billion and $580 billion in 2030 and reach over $1 trillion by 2050.... Labour MP Afzal Khan shared a statement on Friday saying that 'a serious commitment to climate finance for loss and damage at this year's COP28 conference is absolutely essential to support individuals who are made refugees in their own country as a result of extreme weather events'.... 'It is thought there will be 1.2 billion climate refugees in the next 25 years, with the impacts of climate change worsening, acting now is the only viable option," added Mr Khan.'

"Net Zero Watch's Head of Policy Harry Wilkinson told The Epoch Times by email that 'countries suffering from the effects of extreme weather should be supported, particularly poorer countries.... However, it would be a mistake to view this in transactional terms,' he said. 'Industrialisation has clearly had huge benefits and it’s important to remember that the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] concludes that there is low confidence in any global trends for most forms of extreme weather. Ultimately, it will be economic growth, which means that extreme weather events have a smaller and smaller impact on our wellbeing,' added Mr. Wilkinson....

"Climate researcher and creator of Climate Debate, Ben Pile, told The Epoch Times that on the face of it, the £60 million contribution gesture 'is in fact peanuts'.... 'India's GDP is likely to rise by 1,000 percent over the coming decades. So neither the UK's contribution, nor the entire fund itself makes any difference to Indians, and would be a bad deal for them, if they were to take it as a bribe on a per-capita basis, versus their continued economic and industrial development,' he added. He maintained that India and other countries would "all be better off burning coal, oil and gas.' 'And so they would be if, rather than destroying our own economies, we kept the supply of affordable and abundant energy, too. It would mean we would be able to better trade with developing economies,' he said.

"Mr. Pile was deeply sceptical about aid, which he has previously called 'an instrument intended to secure the establishment's/government's agenda.... 'The point of these budgets, however, is not to deliver any good to people in need in the world. It is to keep afloat the parasitic fake civil society organisations and politically-motivated fake "research" organisations that depend on government largesse and eco-billionaire handouts,' he said."

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/cameron-pledges-60-million-in-un-climate-reparations-5539441

Climate Reparations - What Is Owed? (COP 27) | Climate Emergency Forum | November 27, 2022:

SK gov't won't collect carbon tax on home heating

Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe says that, if the Trudeau government does not exempt all home heating bills from its its carbon tax by January 1, provincial utilities will stop collecting it. 

Moe to stop collecting carbon tax on home heating Jan. 1 if Trudeau doesn't give Sask break | Western Standard | Christopher Oldcorn:| Christopher Oldcorn:

October 30, 2023 - "Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province will stop collecting the carbon tax on home heating starting January 1 unless the Trudeau government gives a carbon tax break similar to what Atlantic Canada was given last week.... Moe published a video with his tweet explaining his reasons.... 

“'Prime Minister Trudeau announced a three-year exemption on the carbon tax for home heating. This exemption is primarily for families in Atlantic Canada, where heating oil is used in 40% of their homes,” said Moe. 'And making this announcement, the prime minister effectively destroyed two of the myths that he has created about the carbon tax. 

First is that the carbon tax is affordable because most Canadians receive more back in rebates than they pay in carbon tax. If that were true, why would he need to remove it as an affordability measure? On home heating oil for families in Atlantic Canada?

And the second myth is that it's a tax being applied fairly in all parts of the country based on a set rate per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. Home heating oil is used primarily in one part of the country, and it has higher greenhouse gas emissions than other heat sources like natural gas, that is used in most Saskatchewan homes.... 

"Moe attacked how Trudeau runs the country after the Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings said over the weekend that if the rest of Canada wants a carbon tax rebate, they should elect more Liberals. 'And now, a federal minister has said if people a West want a carbon tax exemption, we should elect more liberals,' said Moe. 'This is no way to run a country.... 

"'I am calling on the federal government to offer the same carbon tax exemption to Saskatchewan families by extending it to all forms of home heating, not just heating oil. It's only fair to other Saskatchewan and Canadian families,” said Moe. 'Hopefully, that exemption will be provided soon. But if not effective January the first, Sask Energy will stop collecting and submitting the carbon tax on natural gas, effectively providing Saskatchewan residents with the very same exemption that the federal government is giving heating oil in Atlantic Canada.'”
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/breaking-moe-to-stop-collecting-carbon-tax-on-home-heating-jan-1-if-trudeau-doesnt-give-sask-break/49808

Sask gov’t to stop collecting carbon tax on home electric heating | Western Standard | Scott Moe:

November 30, 2023 - "Premier Scott Moe said the Saskatchewan government is making the carbon tax exemption on home heating broader to include electrical heating as well. Moe had previously announced the government instructed SaskEnergy to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas bills starting January 1 unless the federal government extends the carbon tax exemption to cover all forms of home heating. The provincial government has also introduced legislation intending to remove the carbon tax from SaskPower bills for homes heated with electricity.... 

"Thursday, Moe announced his government plans to eliminate the carbon tax on electric home heating in the upcoming year if the federal government does not extend the exemption. 'Our government was able to make the decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas because you, the Saskatchewan people, own the natural gas utility, SaskEnergy,' Moe said in the video. 'Well, we also own the electrical utility and that’s why our government has decided that SaskPower will also stop collecting the carbon tax on electric heat effective January 1'.... Moe explained the government will need to determine who relies on electric heating and estimate the portion of their power bills that goes towards heating."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/sask-govt-to-stop-collecting-carbon-tax-on-home-electric-heating/50656

Saskatchewan's Response to Atlantic Canada's Carbon Tax Exemption | Premier Scott Moe | October 30, 2023: