The Truckers Convoy that parked for three exuberant weeks in Ottawa protesting the draconian mandate policies of the government has been cleared away and nothing much had changed at the federal level. Most of the provinces have relaxed their COVID-19 restrictions, but the federal authorities have not budged an inch. The mandatory regime remains in place, and travel is still restricted for the unvaccinated, in flagrant violation of Section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A Conservative MP has accused a media outlet and a Liberal cabinet minister of spreading “misinformation” about loaded firearms being found among protestors when police dispersed the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa in February.
Conservative MP Dane Lloyd made the claim while questioning Ottawa Police Service (OPS) interim chief Steve Bell at a meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety on March 24. Lloyd made his statement in reference to an article published in the Toronto Star on March 19.
The article said: “Fears that there were weapons inside some of the trucks proved prescient: A police source said loaded shotguns were found.”
Brigitte Belton was never in any of the headlines, and when the “Freedom Convoy” press conferences were given, she flanked the speakers instead of taking the mic herself.
But, in what may come as just one little-known fact of many in the story of the convoy’s origins, there’s no doubt the 52-year-old from Wallaceburg, Ont., was among the first to get the headline-grabbing protest rolling — and that she helped keep it going.
She says it amazes her how the movement she started talking about to the selfie camera in the cab of her truck eventually spread to a surge of sentiment that has seemingly come to define populism in Canada today.
“I have never in my life protested ever,” Belton told the Star. “I never thought there was something so serious that I needed to risk my job. Risk my criminal record.”
As the pricing increases, lower income households should continue to receive rebates, but middle- and upper-class households should be expecting to pay hundreds, if not thousands.
This is two leaders of political parties cobbling together an arrangement for their shared comfort and ease
The big news of the week was the NDP and the Liberals going from cohabitation to official marriage. I call it big news, but in one sense it isn’t. It’s not about inflation, or how Canada is responding to the Ukraine crisis. It’s not about some serious inquiry into the invokation of the Emergencies Act and the wide and dangerous powers the government wielded, unjustifiably in my view, for over a week.
Canada could face trouble buying specialized steel for new $7-billion icebreakers
Canada could face problems buying the specialized steel needed for its new $7-billion polar icebreakers, further driving up costs for taxpayers.
The polar-class icebreaker project was originally supposed to cost $1.3 billion for the construction of one vessel. Two icebreakers will now be built, but the cost has skyrocketed to an estimated $7.25 billion.
The federal government has to develop more target-oriented policies to convince those who still haven’t received a COVID-19 vaccine to get their shots, while engaging in name-calling, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did, is “uniquely unhelpful” to that end, a medical expert told parliamentarians.
Trudeau used derogatory terms to describe unvaccinated Canadians, saying they are often racists, science-deniers, and misogynists during an interview on the French-language program “La semaine des 4 Julie” on Sept. 16, 2021. At a press conference days earlier, he called protesters demonstrating against federal vaccine policies “anti-vaxxer mobs.”
GOLDSTEIN: Most of us pay more in carbon taxes than we get in rebates
Ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced his federal carbon tax, the Liberals have been dining out on their claim that 80% of Canadian households where it applies receive more in carbon tax rebates than they pay in carbon taxes.
“Our plan will … leave 8 out of 10 families better off …,” then environment minister Catherine McKenna tweeted on April 1, 2019 when Trudeau’s carbon tax came into effect.
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are now jointly charged with mischief, counselling mischief, intimidation, counselling intimidation, counselling obstruction of police and obstructing police.
Prominent organizers of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ occupation of downtown Ottawa are facing new criminal charges.
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are now jointly charged with mischief, counselling mischief, intimidation, counselling intimidation, counselling obstruction of police and obstructing police.
Both were arrested on Feb. 17, a day before police began moving in to clear demonstrators from downtown Ottawa streets.
More… Ottawa police were not ready for number, behaviour of ‘Freedom Convoy’ participants occupying streets: Interim police chief
‘The hate, the disruptive behaviour, the intimidating behaviour, the noise pollution…’ was unexpected, said Interim Police Chief Steve Bell
BRUSSELS — Canada faces fresh pressure to increase its defence spending as the head of the NATO military alliance says leaders have agreed to present plans by June on investing billions of additional dollars into their respective militaries.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed the new pledge at the end of an extraordinary meeting in Brussels, where leaders from across the alliance had gathered for the second time in a month to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
While all NATO members pledged in 2014 to spend two per cent of their national gross domestic product in the next decade, Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting that allies have now agreed to “redouble” those efforts.
If history is any guide, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got the better of the deal he made with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, ensuring the survival of his Liberal government until June 2025.
It’s not surprising since Trudeau, as PM and the senior partner in the negotiations, was playing from a position of strength.
Singh’s hand was much weaker — as the junior partner — and it showed in the final agreement.
Surging inflation has a growing number of Canadians concerned they won’t be able to stretch their dollars far enough to keep food on the table, according to the latest polling from Ipsos.
In a survey conducted exclusively for Global News from March 11-16, Ipsos found that six in 10 Canadians say they are concerned they might not have enough money to feed their families.
The new Liberal-NDP deal may be the best thing to happen to Conservatives in years –– just, perhaps, not certain Conservatives.
Leadership hopefuls eager to take over the country’s top job sooner rather than later got a rude wakeup call when news of a confidence and supply deal broke Monday night. The pact will, barring any surprises from either side, see the Liberals retain power until 2025 in exchange for passage of some NDP priorities.
After crowds cheered them on from overpasses and at truck stops from one end of the country to the other, the Freedom Convoy arrived at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29 to protest COVID vaccine mandates. Thousands of supporters joined them to wave Canadian flags, dance in the snow, play street hockey, and cheer speeches delivered from a flatbed truck. Kids played in a bouncy castle and on hay bales.
