What happens when a provincial government defies a federal law? We’re about to find out

When Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault suggested it was “immoral” for the government of Saskatchewan to deliberately defy the federal carbon pricing law, the allegations of hypocrisy followed quickly.

Had Guilbeault himself not been arrested for breaking the law? Hadn’t he proudly climbed the CN Tower in 2001 to protest Canadian climate policy?

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a picture of Guilbeault being taken into custody by police in 2011 and later asserted that what was really “immoral” was the Liberal government increasing the carbon tax while also flying to international summits.

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‘This is a red alert’: Byelection result has Trudeau Liberals looking nervously toward the next campaign

OTTAWA — The terrible showing by the federal Liberals in the Durham byelection won by the Conservatives demonstrates how much work lies ahead for the Trudeau-led party to motivate its flagging base, if it even can.

Byelections are often sloughed off as no reflection of anything other than voter disinterest in byelections. Unless a political party manages a surprise win.

Still, the loss in Durham stung not because the Liberals expected to win. They didn’t.

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Michael Higgins: Trudeau escapes accountability by pathologically giving non-answers

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a news conference Thursday to respond to questions, but he didn’t provide any answers.

Trudeau deflected a series of questions concerning everything from the appalling $100 million fiasco that is the ArriveCan app, to Canada’s funding for the troubled and possibly terrorist-infiltrated United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, to the lack of support and cash for the armed forces.

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Excited by Justin Trudeau’s pharmacare plan? Don’t get your hopes up

The NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh describes it as “historic.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks about “moving forward with national, single-payer pharmacare.”

But for those who view the Liberals’ new legislation as the baby steps toward a plan that covers all — regardless of income or status — with life-saving medicines, the bill should come with a warning label: “Don’t get your hopes up.”

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Trudeau government brags about hiring more bureaucrats

Public sector hiring is driving the labour market in Canada

Employment gains in the public sector more than offset losses among Canadian businesses last month, highlighting a labour market that has been propped up by government hiring.

In February, public-sector roles rose by 18,800 positions, while the private sector lost 16,400 jobs, Statistics Canada data showed. Over the past year, employment in the public sector has grown 4.7 per cent, versus 1.2 per cent in private industry.

“If you look at how the private sector’s trending, it’s sharply decelerating,” Beata Caranci, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said in a phone interview. “That’s tied to the interest rate cycle, not the government hiring that’s tied to specific funds and social policy.”

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Pierre Poilievre accuses corporate Canada of ‘sucking up’ to Trudeau’s government

OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is accusing corporate Canada — including natural resources companies and housing developers — of “sucking up” to the Liberals and is urging them to actively campaign against the government.

The audience for his latest salvo at the corporate sector was the sector itself, a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade breakfast, which Poilievre acknowledged isn’t the kind of crowd he talks to that often.

He told a room of business leaders and numerous Conservatives that his affection for the business world lies with the entrepreneurs who risk it all to make a living — not the lobbyists or CEOs who only focus on what’s best for themselves.

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SHOCKA! Islamist Vote Whore Trudeau will resume funding Hamas via UNRWA

The Canadian government has confirmed it will restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen confirmed the move at a press conference Friday in Mississauga, Ont.

Canada suspended funding to UNRWA in January after Israel alleged 12 employees of the aid agency were involved in some capacity in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

What a sleazebag.

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Email reveals that Ottawa told Canada’s top soldier not to call budget changes ‘cuts’

OTTAWA — Canada’s top soldier was told he couldn’t use the word “cut” in a memo to soldiers about the federal government’s budget plans for the military, newly disclosed documents reveal.

The emails late last summer between Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre’s office and the Department of National Defence (DND), obtained by the Star under the Access to Information Act, highlight the bewildering semantics — and the tension — between Canada’s soldiers and its politicians when it comes to defence spending.

DND is expected to have almost $2.6 billion in its budget “reallocated” over the next three years as a part of the Liberals’ broader exercise to redirect $14.1 billion in spending over the next five years, according to plans tabled last week.

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Will anyone ever be held to account for China’s infiltration of the Winnipeg microbiology lab? Don’t make me laugh

One begins to see what the Trudeau government was so scared of – why it went to such lengths to conceal documents related to the firing of two scientists from the top-security National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, stonewalling a parliamentary committee and even calling an early election rather than hand them over.

Because as the documents make clear, this was no ordinary national security breach. This was a national security disaster. How it happened, how it went undiscovered for so long, with how serious consequences, must await further investigation. But what we know already – what the government has known for at least three years, and did its best to suppress – is staggering.

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Judge Will Hear Conspiracy Argument in Trial of Freedom Convoy Organizers

An Ontario court judge will entertain arguments that Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber acted as co-conspirators as part of their criminal trial, she announced in a decision on Mar 7.

The Crown intends to prove the two conspired together in lockstep to organize an illegal protest, and that evidence against one of them should apply to both.

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Perfidious Trudeau non-committal about restoring funding to Hamas front UNRWA

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday his government isn’t ready to announce it’s restoring federal funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the UN agency that has been delivering aid to the people of Gaza.

“We’re not making any announcements today but we will continue to make sure Canada does the right thing in this situation and puts the protection of civilian life at the forefront,” Trudeau said at a media event in Toronto about his government’s pharmacare plan.

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Most Canadians think Canada is broken and are angry with Trudeau government: poll

Most Canadians believe “everything is broken in the country right now,” and more people agree with that statement than just one year ago, according to a new national survey.

Canadians across political lines were on the same page when it came to the perception that Canada is broken, with 70 per cent agreeing with the statement. Most Conservative voters (85 per cent) backed the idea. Notably, two-thirds of NDP voters (66 per cent) agreed, in addition to 58 per cent of Bloc Québécois voters and a fair number of Liberal ones.

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Companies at heart of ArriveCan scandal received more than $100M in government contracts

OTTAWA — Companies run by two consultants at the heart of the ArriveCan scandal received over $100 million in government contracts since 2011, according to a new government tally.

Speaking to the House public accounts committee Wednesday, federal Comptroller General Roch Huppé said he ordered a tally of all contracts given to GC Strategies and its predecessor Coredal — both owned by Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony — following conflicting reports by the government and media in recent weeks.

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Montreal Chinese community centres serve RCMP with $5M defamation suit over ‘police station’ allegations

Two Chinese community organizations are suing the RCMP for defamation after the national police force alleged they were operating as “police stations” for the Chinese government.

The Chinese Family Services of Greater Montreal and Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive Sud, as well as the two centres’ executive director, Xixi Li, are seeking more than $4.9 million in damages, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Superior Court.

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