November 5, 2023 - "Canadian business insolvencies shot up by 41.8% in 2023 when compared to the third quarter of last year.
"According to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, a total of 1,120 businesses filed for bankruptcy, up 3.6% from the second quarter.
"Those numbers far surpass the amount of bankruptcies filed before the pandemic. In the third quarter of 2019, for example, only 827 businesses filed for bankruptcy.
"The Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) believes businesses are struggling to stay afloat due to a combination of economic challenges. Businesses no longer have support from government Covid-19 benefits, [while] record high interest rates, and a dip in consumer spending are all contributing factors.
“'Many companies emerged out of the pandemic already over-leveraged and now they have the added pressures of higher borrowing costs, less access to capital, and high inflation leading to increased costs. It is inevitable that some will be significantly challenged, especially those in consumer-facing sectors,' said CAIRP chair André Bolduc in a press release.
"Bolduc warns that the current insolvency estimates are conservative at best as many businesses will choose to close up shop and walk away without going through the insolvency process. 'The official statistics don’t reveal the full scale of serious indebtedness because many wait years before they consider legal debt-relief options,”'said Bolduc....
"In September, the Bank of Canada announced that it would retain its key interest rate at 5% until it sees the full effect of a stricter monetary policy permeate through the economy."
November 6, 2023 - "The Liberals and the Bloc Québécois voted Monday to strike down a motion calling on the federal government to extend a carbon tax exemption to all forms of home heating, not just heating oil. The non-binding motion was sponsored by Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said the exemption is divisive and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is engaging in regional favouritism.
"Speaking outside the House of Commons after the vote, Poilievre said Trudeau has a "carbon tax coalition" with the Bloc Québécois, whom he referred to as 'separatists.' 'He's now signed on with the separatists to divide Canadians into two separate classes: those who will have to pay carbon tax on their home heat, and a small minority who will get a pause from the pain,' he said....
"The New Democrats voted in favour of Poilievre's motion. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he is 'always reluctant to vote alongside the Conservatives in any way" but he also rejects 'the divisive approach of the Liberals.'
"At a meeting in Halifax on Monday, Canada's premiers said they want fair treatment under the carbon tax. Some went even further; Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said the tax should be eliminated altogether." Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-carbon-tax-heating-1.7019822
MPs debate defeated Conservative motion on carbon tax | cpac | November 6, 2023:
November 7, 2023 - "The Liberals have won three consecutive elections posturing on climate change while finger-pointing at the scary Conservatives who were, in their telling, climate change deniers. Problem is, the Liberals have never gotten it done under Trudeau (Paris Accord) any more than they did under Jean Chretien or Paul Martin (Kyoto Protocol). In short, they didn’t have to, they only had to appear to care more than the Conservatives, and the trick was done. People who cared about future generations saw the Liberals as the better option....
"What Trudeau didn’t realize, as he rolled out the most recent increase to his carbon tax last summer, was the depth of the organized resistance among certain Atlantic premiers, the formidable Tim Houston of Nova Scotia, first among them. Average folks were in full revolt. Liberal MPs in the Atlantic region were in panic mode. Trudeau reacted precipitously and with very little thought about possible consequences of his reversal.
"First, he only announced a pause of three years of the carbon tax on home heating oil. That was like putting a sandwich sign on his poor MPs saying: whatever you do, don’t vote for me because we’re still planning to hit you with our carbon tax if we come back. Second, the millions of Canadians who consider the fight against climate change to be a priority were crestfallen. Trudeau had abandoned his key promise to them and they weren’t amused. Third, and this was the easiest part to predict, Canadians who heat with fuels other than furnace oil (like natural gas in Ontario) were furious. Natural gas, much less polluting than furnace oil, was going to be taxed but furnace oil wasn’t? Where was the fairness in that?...
"This has been such a spectacular crash and burn for Trudeau that it’s hard to see how he can ever regain any credibility with Canadians who care about the fight against climate change."
A study published by Matthew Lau of Canada's Macdonald-Laurier Institute looks at claims of systemic racism in the country, and finds no evidence for them.
November 3, 2023 - "The narrative perpetuated by the Canadian federal government and various institutions that Canada is systemically racist simply isn’t true, a study finds. The study, published by Matthew Lau of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute Oct. 30, directly counters past comments from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there are 'profound systemic inequities and disparities' ingrained in the nation’s core institutions.
"Lau’s research, titled 'Systemic racism claims in Canada: A fact-based analysis,' aimed to answer two questions: Is there evidence to back up claims such as these that Canada today is systemically racist? Are government programs and strategies likely to reduce the incidence or mitigate the effects of racism in society? 'The answer to both is a resounding "no",' said the report.
"Income disparities analyzed in the study demonstrate that many visible minority groups outearn the white population, contradicting the narrative of widespread disadvantage. After accounting for employment and sociodemographic factors, only four out of twenty minority groups exhibited lower earnings than their white counterparts, while five minority groups had statistically higher earnings....
"In terms of education, Lau’s research reveals that many visible minority groups achieve higher levels than the white population, with many Asian populations obtaining bachelor’s degrees or higher well above the national average.... This finding is 'not what one would expect if Canadian institutions put visible minorities at a disadvantage,' Lau said....
"Lau’s analysis of occupational disparities shows that many visible minority populations are overrepresented in professional occupations such as medicine and engineering. For example, while South Asians in Canada comprise 7.3% of the working-age population, they make up 12.4% of engineers, 19% of computing professionals, and 12.5% of doctors. The Chinese population had a similar overrepresentation in these professions....
"Public school test scores also debunk the notion of systemic racism in education. 'Our system has been built upon colonial structures meant to uphold white supremacy,' said a booklet published by the Peel District School Board. However, grade six students from East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern backgrounds all outperform white students on average on the EQAO mathematics tests at the Peel District School Board....
"When examining income disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians, Lau points out that factors like location and education are the main drivers of this disparity rather than systemic discrimination. Controlling for education and work status, Indigenous Canadians earn close to the same incomes as non-Indigenous Canadians, further dispelling the myth of systemic discrimination....
"'More capitalism and freer markets is the antidote to unfair discrimination — not government regulation and control,' wrote Lau. Gary Becker, ... winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economics, ... presented evidence that discrimination is more pervasive in more-regulated, and therefore less-competitive industries, noted the study. 'The solution prescribed by those who make claims of widespread systemic racism — increasing top-down government interventions — is the wrong one and if implemented would do more harm than good,. concluded Lau."
A newly published peer-reviewed paper, relying on standard epidemiological models, indicates that locking down a vulnerable population, (as done with the elderly with in care homes during the Covid pandemic, significantly increases their risk of infection.
November 5, 2023 - "A new Canadian scientific paper asserts isolating a vulnerable population together, such as the elderly in care homes, has bad results according to standard epidemiology. Governments purported to apply standard epidemiological models to create infectious disease policies during the COVID period by 'protecting' vulnerable elderly individuals by isolating them from the general population in care homes....
"[The] paper published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS One, scientists at CORRELATION demonstrate isolating vulnerable people from the healthier majority of the population actually produces the worst possible outcomes for them, according to these same standard epidemiological models of spread and transmission. The article, entitled Predictions from standard epidemiological models of consequences of segregating and isolating vulnerable people into care facilities, was authored by Joseph Hickey, PhD and Denis G. Rancourt, PhD, of the non-profit CORRELATION Research in the Public Interest based in Ottawa, Canada.
"The paper shows the standard epidemic models, which have existed in the scientific literature for decades prior to the WHO’s COVID-19 pandemic declaration of March 11 2020, unambiguously predict a significant increase in the infectious disease attack rate for the vulnerable population when it is isolated and segregated from the general population.
[T]he vulnerable population is harmed by isolation from the robust population and benefits from mixing with or dilution within the robust population, in terms of risk of infection during the course of the epidemic or pandemic.... Whereas governments used theoretical epidemic models to justify most public health policies during the COVID era, within a tunnel vision of reducing risk of infection with a particular virus, they appear not to have considered what those same models predict about infection rates under conditions of care home segregation; and they appear to have disregarded the exponential increase of infection fatality rate with age.
"The paper further asserts 'Care home segregation policies may have been responsible for many deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Western countries.' Confining vulnerable people together makes it more likely that if one person contracts a contagious disease, so too will the others stuck together with them.
“'Increasing the share of a vulnerable person’s interactions that are with other vulnerable people, by confining them together in the same facility, increases the likelihood of infection of the vulnerable person during the course of the epidemic or pandemic, because infected vulnerable people remain infectious for a long time, relative to robust people,” the paper explains. 'The only exception to this general rule occurs if the contact frequency for vulnerable individuals is so small that no epidemic would occur in the vulnerable group if it were completely segregated from the robust majority of society....
"CORRELATION is a registered not-for-profit organization conducting independent scientific research on topics of public interest, and is entirely funded by individual public donations."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's attempt to shore up his plummeting support in Atlantic Canada, by offering selective exemptions to his signature carbon tax, appears to have backfired.
October 26, 2023 - "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there will be changes to the carbon tax to help people in rural areas and those who use heating oil to heat their homes.... Trudeau made the announcement after the Liberals support in the Atlantic provinces plummeted in recent polls, a traditional stronghold for the Liberals. On Thursday afternoon, Trudeau said people living in rural areas will get a bigger carbon tax rebate. There will be no carbon tax on home heating oil for three years. Also, people who change their heating to use heat pumps will become part of a lucrative rebate program.
"Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of 'flipping and flopping on the carbon tax' because the Liberals support plummeted in the polls.... The Liberals have taken a major hit in support in Atlantic Canada since the carbon tax started in July for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick because the provincial programs did not meet the federal carbon tax requirements....
November 3, 2023 - "Opposition motions in the House of Commons are usually little more than political theatre.... The motion being considered in Parliament next week is different.... The motion put forth by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ... calls for pausing the application of the carbon tax for all forms of home heating in Canada. From a tactical perspective, the motion is a political masterstroke. No matter which way the motion goes, Trudeau loses.
"The irony of this hopeless political trap is that Trudeau set it himself when he carved out a carbon tax exemption for homes using heating oil. Rather than bolstering his flagging support in Atlantic Canada with the move, Trudeau has created a political catastrophe for himself and his party.
"Since becoming prime minister in 2015, Trudeau has made fighting climate change his top focus. He has framed climate change as an existential threat to the world and created an ever-increasing carbon tax as his tool to reduce Canadian emissions. He has stood firm through political opposition and court battles against the tax, and the tax has become his signature policy.... If indeed the carbon tax is essential in saving the world from climate change, how on earth could Trudeau selectively apply it in good conscience? In suspending the tax for a region where he needs to garner political support, he is saying political expediency is more important than fighting climate change.
"The regionally targeted suspension of the carbon tax did manage to unify some regions and political figures that usually don’t agree on many things. Calls for the suspension of the carbon tax on all forms of home heating have erupted across the country, from B.C.’s NDP government to Alberta’s UCP government to Ontario’s PC government. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and former premier Rachel Notley are typically mortal political enemies but they are united in calling for the suspension of the carbon tax on natural gas heat.... Trudeau must be very concerned with the commitment of federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to support Poilievre’s motion to suspend the carbon tax....
"The rumblings within the Liberal Party are getting louder. Potential Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney recently sounded as if he was going into campaign mode as he questioned the Liberal path on the carbon tax. Liberal-appointed senator and elder statesman Percy Downe was more blunt as he called for Trudeau’s resignation before the next election. There are many Liberal MPs from regions where natural gas heating is common, and their constituents will not be impressed as their heating costs rise due to the carbon tax while other regions get a pass."
Canadian Liberal MP Joel Lightbound, who previously disagreed with his own party on Covid mandates and the Freedom Convoy, has does so again with praise for Bitcoin.
November 1, 2023 - "Liberal MP Joel Lightbound made an unexpected endorsement of Bitcoin during Tuesday’s session in the House of Commons, contrary to past denouncements of the cryptocurrency by the Liberal government. The Quebec MP highlighted how Bitcoin can help people in tough financial situations and those living under oppressive regimes. He encouraged everyone, especially progressives, to study Bitcoin, stating that it represents a progressive idea.
“'Over the last decade, we have seen Bitcoin empower the underbanked, as well as those living in oppressive regimes,' Lightbound explained. 'Women, for instance, use Bitcoin all over the world to evade unjust restrictions on their financial freedoms. It has also helped thousands of families avoid the tragedy of currency debasement....
''I do own Bitcoin, I am not advocating for anyone to buy it, but I do advocate for everyone to study it, progressives in particular, because, after all, Bitcoin was born in the midst of the great financial crisis as an alternative to big banks, greed, and the system that never failed to bail them out. It stands for a truly progressive ideal,' Lightbound stated.
"This endorsement of Bitcoin stands in contrast to the criticism the Liberals have directed at Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who has previously praised the digital currency. Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Poilievre’s suggestion that Bitcoin could be used as a hedge against inflation....
"Poilievre has been an outspoken supporter of Bitcoin, even pledging to make Canada a blockchain hub while he ran for the party’s leadership. 'Government policies are harming the Canadian dollar, so Canadians should have the option to use other currencies, like Bitcoin,' Poilievre stated during a rally last year.
July 31, 2023 - "A Milton, Ont. man formerly accused of killing a home intruder earlier this year no longer faces a charge of second-degree murder. On Monday, the Crown withdrew the charge against Ali Mian, 21, in a Milton courtroom, Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General confirmed to CBC Toronto.
"Mian was originally charged in connection with a shooting in the early morning hours of Feb. 19 at his home in the area of Ontario Street South and Louis St. Laurent Avenue. Halton Regional Police previously said a man was found dead at the scene. Another man, a 20-year-old from Oshawa, was arrested at the home and charged with breaking and entering and unauthorized possession of a firearm. Three other suspects fled the scene.
"Jag Virk, Mian's criminal defence lawyer, said on Monday that Mian is relieved at the charge being dropped and that he is now a free man.... 'He's very happy, of course. Finally, he has his life back, freedom back. A heavy burden was lifted off of his shoulders as he was facing murder charges, knowing that if he's found guilty, he would be going to jail for a very long time,' Virk said. Mian was in custody for about nine days before his bail hearing, he added....
"Virk said the Crown agreed Mian's actions were in self-defence. 'The Crown agreed with me that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction, given the defence of self-defence,' he said. He added that the case weighed heavily on his client, both financially and emotionally, and that Mian is currently overwhelmed....
"Virk had said previously that the shooting was not targeted and that his client was a registered firearm owner, who 'used his gun legally against an armed intruder'.... On Monday, Virk said Mian no longer lives at the home and is still a registered firearm owner."
