Poilievre to Return to House of Commons

Poilievre is projected to handily win the Alberta riding tonight

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will be back in the House of Commons keeping Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in check.

In today's byelection held in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, in Alberta, Poilievre is leading with 80.1 percent of the vote, by far the most ballots compared to Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley (9.9 percent), and Liberal candidate Darcy Spady (4.4 percent).

Kurek gave up his seat for Poilievre to run

Poilievre was expected to win, as Battle River-Crowfoot is considered the most conservative riding in the country. MP Damien Kurek who had handily won the riding for the Conservatives during the general election in April, resigned so that Poilievre could run.

He had lost his seat of Carleton, in Ontario, that he had held for 20 years, which called into question Poilievre's leadership credibility.

But with this predicted decisive win, it signals there is no doubt the voters in Battle River-Crowfoot want him to be the official Leader of the Opposition.

The byelection was not without its controversies, the biggest being the ballot had a whopping 214 candidates on it. Elections Canada made the unprecedented move of getting voters to write down the name of the candidate they wanted to vote for instead of printing such long ballots.

Some critics were concerned that Poilievre was parachuting himself into the riding without even living there, while others were pleased to have the Conservative leader, as he could give the area more attention in the House of Commons.

The ballot with 214 candidates' names on it

"They're the kind of what you see is what you get, give you the shirt off their back, tell it like it is, common sense people," Poilievre said of the voters in Battle River-Crowfoot on Monday night.

"And they reinforced a lot of lessons that all of us in politics have to learn and relearn and relearn again. Humility and hard work. Loyalty and love."

The riding of Carleton bid Poilievre good riddance, while Battle River-Crowfoot has welcomed him with open arms.

Poilievre Frustrated by Long Ballot in By-Election

Poilievre is running in a by-election next month to win a seat

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is gearing up for the upcoming by-election in Battle River-Crowfoot Alberta on August 18, hoping to win the seat to get back into the House of Commons after losing his seat in Carleton, Ontario in the April federal election.

Even though the riding is expected to be a solidly Conservative one, Poilievre may not have it so easy.

An electoral reform advocacy group called the Longest Ballot Committee, has plans to run a whopping 200 candidates in Battle River-Crowfoot -- more than double the 91 who ran in Carleton. It's known as a long ballot protest that causes delays in voting and confounds voters.

There might be some 200 names on the ballot

Poilievre doesn't want these long ballots in the upcoming by-election.

"We have to take action because this is a scam. It is unfair, it is unjust and it must stop," he said recently at a town hall in the riding where he is running.

He suggested that nominees require 1,000 signatures to run to prevent such protests. 

"That would make it impossible for 200 people to go out and have their names piled onto the [candidate] list," Poilievre told the town hall.

"There are a number of other things that you could do that would make it so that only real candidates who are truly running to put their name forward in our democracy that are on that list."

Currently candidates only need 100 signatures to secure a nomination and electors are not prevented from signing multiple forms.

Race for Battle River-Crowfoot got interesting!

The Longest Ballot Committee rejected Poilievre's suggestions, saying needing such a large number of signatures would have a "negative impact on Canadian democracy."

"This ill-conceived and self-serving electoral reform proposal by [Poilievre] is downright dangerous, and reinforces our conviction that politicians are not well-suited to decide the rules of their own elections," the group said in a statement.

It added it would continue to use the long ballot as a form of protest as "long as we are legally permitted to do so."

So the by-election on August 18 has become much more interesting! We can't wait to see the names of the candidates on the ballot!

Carney Gets Down to Business

Carney to visit Trump next week, and King Charles is coming

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the media this morning, his first press conference following the federal election.

He made several announcements, including that he will make a trip to Washington on Tuesday to see US President Donald Trump to reset Canada-US relations, which have soured significantly since Trump took office in January.

"Our old relationship, based on steadily increasing integration, is over," Carney said. "The questions now are how our nations will cooperate in the future and where we, in Canada, will move on."

King to read throne speech

Apparently Carney's team is trying to prepare for every possibility during talks with Trump, as he can be unpredictable. But it seems Carney is intent on setting the ground rules when it comes to dealing with Canada as a sovereign nation -- not the 51st state.

"It will be a complex negotiation," Carney said. "I'm not pretending those discussions will be easy. They won't proceed in a straight line. There will be zigs and zags, ups and downs."

Also on Carney's to-do list is to choose his cabinet ministers and write the throne speech -- that King Charles III will read on May 27, when parliament opens a new session. Queen Camilla will also come for the occasion.

"This is a historic honour which matches the weight of our times," Carney said. The last time a monarch gave the address was back in 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile Elections Canada has done a recount and the Liberals are back to 169 seats, as the party's candidate in the riding of Milton East-Halton Hills South beat the Conservatives by just 29 seats.

Earlier the Liberals had lost a seat to the Bloc Quebecois in another recount.

As for Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat in the Ottawa riding of Carleton, one MP has offered to give up his seat in Alberta. Damien Kurek had handily won the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot easily with 82 percent of the vote.

Poilievre to run for seat in Alberta by-election

Carney was gracious enough to say that he will call a by-election as soon as possible so that Poilievre can return to the House as leader.

"I've already indicated to Mr Poilievre that... I will ensure that it happens as soon as possible. No games, nothing," Carney said in the press conference.

As prime minister, Carney could have made his opponent wait a maximum of six months before calling a by-election. But he is extending a peace branch, perhaps in a bid to get things done in parliament. 

Meanwhile Poilievre posted a statement on X saying: "It is with humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek's offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament."

We will be watching this by-election closely...!

Poilievre Wants to Stop Scams on Seniors... But Can He?

Poilievre wants to protect Canadian seniors from scammers

Less than two weeks to go before the federal election on April 28 and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has pitched the idea of preventing seniors from being scammed by passing the "Stop scamming seniors act", forcing banks and telecom companies to use state of the art technology to detect scams.

Not only that, there will also be automatic blocking of seniors' accounts when there are suspicious transactions, and a 24-hour hold on high-risk transactions for seniors. There would also be active reporting to the public of how many scams have been stopped, while those who are convicted of these scams would be sentenced to at least one year, and up to five years in jail.

While these proposals are well-meaning, how would it all work?

Poilievre doesn't seem to understand that many scams don't originate from Canada but abroad and the nefarious ways they can "mistakenly" text someone and strike up a conversation and soon becomes a trusted friend. 

It's after months of daily contact that the scammer eventually begins the extraction of money for "investment", and by that point the victim is so driven by the dreams of becoming wealthy that they will do whatever it takes to transfer the funds to the scammer.

Some of these conversations aren't even in English or French. How to stop these scams in other languages?

And what if a senior is legitimately trying to purchase a big ticket item? They need to wait 24 hours before they can make the transaction? It makes them feel like children.

In addition, it would be so hard for banks and telecom companies to detect scams -- while there are some bank tellers who are alert and flag customers who come in asking to transfer large amounts of money with strange requests, a lot of funds are transferred through setting up crypto accounts or online transfers. 

We could do with fewer spam calls and texts, but it's harder to crack down on scammers than Poilievre thinks and to educate seniors to be on alert...

Liberal Candidate Stands Down after Controversy

Chiang has stepped down running for the Liberals

The Canadian federal election has put Hong Kong on the spotlight after Liberal candidate Paul Chiang made controversial comments suggesting people turn in Conservative candidate Joe Tay because the Hong Kong government has a HK$1 million (US$128,500) bounty on his head.

Chiang made the suggestion during a Chinese-language press conference, saying: "To everyone here, you can claim the one-million-dollar bounty if you bring him to Toronto's Chinese consulate," he said, according to the Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC).

The activist group later released the translated comments to English media which quickly led to the embattled Chiang to apologise to Tay, who did not accept it, and then resulted in Chiang stepping down as a candidate despite Liberal leader Mark Carney's support for him.

HK government has HK$1M bounty on Tay

"As the prime minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President [Donald] Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions in this critical moment," Chiang wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter just before 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

"That's why I'm standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville."

It's quite bizarre for Chiang to suggest turning in Tay because the Liberals have denounced the bounties.

At the time, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said. in a statement in December: "This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad, including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada, will not be tolerated." 

As a result, Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the TADC called Chiang's comments "shocking."

"Mr Chiang openly encouraged people to assist in China interference and transnational repression," Kwan said in a statement. "Rather than protecting Canadians, he betrayed them and jeopardised their safety."

Kwan raised the alarm of Chiang to English media

Chiang regrets what he said, calling it "deplorable", but this just shows how desperate he was to play up to the local Chinese media outlets, all of them practically pro-China. It's outrageous of him to even suggest something like this, even though he is a former police officer. 

Needless to say it is extremely disappointing to have this coming from a Liberal candidate. Every vote counts and now there is no Liberal running in a big Chinese riding... did no one warn Chiang about the consequences of what he said?

In the meantime Tay, who is a former TVB actor, was originally running in Chiang's riding but is now hoping to represent Don Valley North. 

Tay probably caught the Hong Kong government's attention for his YouTube channel that promotes democracy and free speech. He is also the co-founder of Canada-based NGO HongKonger Station.

Conservative leader Pierre Polieve has totally taken advantage of the fiasco, and rightly added Tay is "afraid for his life."

Tay has also said online that he has not accepted Chiang's apology and has been in contact with the RCMP about personal protection.

In any event this raises the attention of Hong Kong's transnational repression of activists abroad yet again, and with Trump threatening to take over Canada to be the 51st state, Canadians need to be aware of how precious our democracy and rights are in these dangerous times. 

Trump and his Idea to Usurp Canada

Trump continues to argue the case to annexe Canada

A day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation, US President-elect Donald Trump ratcheted up the calls for America to absorb its northern neighbour. 

Today at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump was asked about how he would annexe Canada, if he would do it militarily. 

"No. Economic force, because Canada and the United States, that would really be something," he said. "You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like... it would also be much better for national security."

He also complained about what he perceives as a trade imbalance with Canada.

"In trade deficits, we're losing massive -- we don't need their cars. You know, they make 20 percent of our cars. We don't need that. I'd rather make them in Detroit. We don't need the cars. we don't need their lumber."

But does he understand the two nations are so intertwined when it comes to manufacturing cars that they depend on each other to make them?

And lumber... he may claim the US has lots of lumber, but they still need more from Canada...

Trump also went on to say the US spends "hundreds of billions" of dollars to "protect" and "take care of Canada", saying Canada should become an American state if it receives so much support from the US.

The responses came fast and furious.

Trudeau said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States," he wrote. "Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other's biggest trading and security partner."

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre wrote: "Canada will never be the 51st state. Period."

And the New Democrats' Jagmeet Singh told Trump to "cut the crap". "Your attacks will hurt jobs on both sides of the border. You come for Canadians' jobs, Americans will pay a price."

Tonight Canadian media had a slew of experts on, asking if Trump should be taken seriously or not.

Who would know what's going on in Trump's head except that he sees Canada in a weak position and wants to exploit it. As for his threats being a reality, we can only wait and see...

Trudeau Finally Resigns

Trudeau giving his speech to reporters this morning in Ottawa

Finally this morning Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down. 

There was a flurry of excitement on CBC Radio, where a network special would start at 7am Pacific -- no -- at 7.30am Pacific. 

They cut into the morning show to bring Trudeau live from outside his Rideau Cottage, still decked in holiday decorations.

He looked hurt (and maybe cold?) when he explained "internal battles" had made it impossible for him to lead the Liberals in the next election, while also blaming the polarisation in the legislature for not being able to get bills passed.

Just having turned 53 on Christmas Day, Trudeau probably wanted a better celebration, but there was too much pressure mounting on all sides. Inside the Liberal Party there were already calls for Trudeau to resign, but he seemed to ignore the writing on the wall until his deputy and finance minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly quit last month, citing she did not agree with the direction he was taking the country.

Trudeau has also been facing a lot of heat from Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who constantly chided him with snarky soundbites, and then New Democrat Jagmeet Singh finally said his party was no longer propping up the Liberals anymore -- the Liberals were on their own.

There was also pressure from across the border from US President-elect Donald Trump, calling Trudeau the "governor" of the "51st state", despite the Canadian leader paying at least two visits to Mar-a-Lago to see if there was any chance of talking down Trump from the 25 percent tariffs.

So yes, Trudeau was dealing with a lot of heat on all sides.

"Removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarisation that we're seeing right now in the House and in Canadian politics," he said, "and allow people to actually focus on serving Canadians in this House and with their work, the way Canadians deserve," he said at one point in his speech.

Trudeau's announcement garnered a lot of interest from friends and relatives from San Francisco to Singapore, wondering what my take was on him resigning.

In 2015 we visited Halifax and we bumped into someone was campaigning for him. They hoped he would beat then Prime Minister Stephen Harper and I said, "I sure hope so!"

And he did, but then his majority kept shrinking with each election.

I knew Trudeau would be a lightweight, but he managed to hold his own for almost 10 years. However, he wasn't able to handle curveballs well, like the Meng Wanzhou case that was intertwined with the two Michaels. Trudeau later tried to stand up to Xi Jinping but instead was ridiculed in Chinese state media. 

There were later revelations of Chinese interference in the Canadian elections, and the strange case of Chinese police stations in the country that raised a lot of eyebrows. Not much has happened since the revelations, while other countries have kicked out these police stations.

Hopefully the next leader will take the opportunity to really clean house and get rid of any potential interference by Chinese and Indian state actors. Canada does not need these influences in politics or society.

Another misstep was immigration; the Trudeau government had announced there would be up to 500,000 immigrants let into the country annually which left Canadians flabbergasted -- how could so many be invited to come when they themselves didn't have jobs or places to live. 

The government later backtracked on its numbers, but it was too late -- anti-immigrant sentiment had already set in, not just by native-born Canadians, but also first and second generation immigrants who had benefited from Trudeau's father's immigration policies.

Despite Freeland's ambitions to become the next Liberal leader, her chances are slim because of her long association with Trudeau. While no one has officially thrown their hat into the ring, former Bank fo Canada governor Mark Carney has expressed interest, and same with former BC Premier Christy Clark.

Whoever is chosen by March 24 will have a tough road ahead dealing with not only Trump, but also the possibility of Canadian opposition parties calling a non-confidence vote in the House that could precipitate into an election.

The best case scenario would be a Conservative minority government to keep Poilievre in check. We don't want the CBC defunded, but we do want the budget managed... Trudeau's frivolous spending days are over.

 

AG Finds ArriveCan App a Waste of Money

Hogan could not find out the true cost of the ArriveCan app

Remember during the Covid-19 pandemic when some governments developed apps for displaying your vaccination status and for travel?

It turns out the ArriveCan app was not only full of holes in terms of being easily hacked into, but also its true cost is not clear because of the Canadian government's poor record keeping.

In a scathing report out today, Auditor General Karen Hogan found the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and Public Services and Procurement Canada "repeatedly failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, development and implementation of the ArriveCan application."

All travellers to Canada had to use the app

"This is probably the first example that I've seen such a glaring disregard for some of the most basic and fundamental policies and rules," Hogan told the House public accounts committee today.

She said there were many omissions in record keeping and said she was "deeply concerned".

"We didn't find records to accurately show how much was spent on what, who did the work, or how and why contracting decisions were made -- and that paper trail should have existed," Hogan said.

While CBSA said developing the app cost around C$54 million, the auditor general estimates it was possibly higher at C$59.5 million -- based on the information she was given.

"We found that financial records were not well-maintained by the Canadian Border Services Agency. We were unable to determine a precise cost for the ArriveCan application because of [the agency's] poor documentation and weak controls," the report said.

In addition, C$12.2 million of the estimated C$54 million could have been spent on something other than the app, so the actual cost of developing the app could be lower.

Poilievre blasted the Trudeau government

Part of the reason for the ballooned costs is that CBSA relied on third-party contractors, and the auditor general's report says if there was less reliance on them then the app would have cost much less. 

However, the agency defended its move, saying the app needed to be rolled out as soon as possible during the pandemic.

"The CBSA was working as quickly as possible to replace a paper process that was not meeting public health needs and was also impacting the border with significant wait times that disrupted the essential flow of people and goods," the statement said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticised the government over the app's cost and blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of "wasting [taxpayers'] money." He promised to cut back on third-party outsourcing if his party formed the next government after the next election.

"Public servants do the work more accountably and they do it more affordably," Poilievre told the media outside the House of Commons on Monday.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said ArriveCan's "contracting process was unacceptable" and said the government had already taken corrective measures.

"The Trudeau government accepts that taxpayers' money needs to be treated with the utmost respect. in no way are we going to defend this particular contracting process," he said. 

Another white elephant that was a waste of money that the government won't get back... I used the app when I moved back in April 2022 and then it was unnecessary to use it again the next time I traveled the month after!