Canada's top admiral says navy staff, resource needs in 'critical state'

Canada's understaffed and resource-stretched navy is in "a critical state" and might not be able to carry out its basic duties next year, the top admiral said in a YouTube video released this week.

In the video, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee said the Royal Canadian Navy had not hit its recruitment targets for more than a decade.

"Colleagues and shipmates - the RCN faces some very serious challenges right now that could mean we fail to meet our force posture and readiness commitments in 2024 and beyond. The situation is serious but our problems are not unique and I know that the air force and army are facing similar challenges"

Topshee said.

The West Coast fleet is "beset with a shortage of qualified techs" which means ships cannot meet operation and maintenance targets, he added.

The navy relies on its 12 Halifax class frigates, which are approaching the end of their 30-year operational life but must stay in service for another 15 years because their replacements are behind schedule and over budget.

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Winnipeg police seize $1.3M in meth, fentanyl during drug investigation

A woman and man from Mexico are charged with multiple offences after Winnipeg police say they seized more than $1.3-million worth of methamphetamine and fentanyl, a loaded handgun and counterfeit cash from a home.

The pair was arrested after police searched a residence on James Avenue between Lily Street and Waterfront Drive on Oct. 19. According to police, both suspects had six-month visitation visas in Canada.

#Manitoba

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🌐Federal government reaches deal with Google on Online News Act

Google and the federal government have reached an agreement in their dispute over the Online News Act that would see Google continue to share Canadian news online in return for the company making annual payments to news companies in the range of $100 million. Agreement comes 3 weeks before Online News Act rules come into force.

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge confirmed the news Wednesday afternoon.

Many doubted that we would be successful, but I was confident we would find a way to address Google's concerns

The company said it would not have a mandatory negotiation model imposed on it for talks with Canadian media organizations, preferring to deal with a single point of contact. The new regulations will allow Google to negotiate with a single group that would represent all media.

Bill C-18 applies to digital platforms with 20 million unique monthly users and annual revenues of $1 billion. Only Meta and Google meet those criteria. Meta's talks with the government have not resumed.

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🇨🇦🇺🇸🇮🇳Who is the alleged target of a murder plot disclosed by U.S. prosecutors?

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, now a New york-based lawyer, holds dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship. He originally came to the U.S. in 1992, but spent most of his time practicing law in Ontario between 2004 and 2018.

Pannun was a friend of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, assassinated in June in British Columbia. They both had been visiting Sikh temples across Canada for years to gather support for the creation of an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.

It was he who in early November warned Sikhs not to travel on Air India flights, mentioning life-threatening consequences if they did.

#US #India

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Quebec National Assembly unanimously votes to defend Christmas

The National Assembly on Wednesday adopted a motion to defend Christmas after the Canadian Human Rights Commission cited celebration of the holiday as proof of Canada’s “colonialist” religious intolerance.

Honestly, we will continue to celebrate Christmas, and then we will not apologize for celebrating Christmas in Quebec

Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said.

In its Discussion Paper on Religious Intolerance, dated Oct. 23, the commission argues that "discrimination against religious minorities in Canada is rooted in the history of colonialism in Canada. This history manifests itself today in systemic religious discrimination. An obvious example is that of public holidays in Canada."

All 109 Members of the National Assembly present in the legislature voted to adopt the motion, which denounces “any polarization around unifying events that have been part of Quebec’s heritage for several generations.”

Members applauded the motion when it passed. The government’s deputy house leader, Mathieu Lévesque, then asked that a copy of the motion be sent to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the federal government, the House of Commons and also “to Santa Claus, at the North Pole.”

#Quebec

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🇨🇦🇺🇸🇮🇳Canada is seeking more cooperation from India in light of US allegations

Canada on Wednesday pressed India to cooperate in an investigation of the murder of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia after the U.S. revealed it had foiled an assassination attempt against a Sikh separatist on its soil.

The U.S. charges come about two months after Canada claimed there were "credible" allegations linking Indian agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb, in June. India has rejected that allegation.

The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we've been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly urged India to be more forthcoming in the ongoing murder investigation.

#US #India

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Poll says three in four want Trudeau to go

🔹New polling by Ipsos shows that nearly three in four (72%) Canadians believe Trudeau should step down now. Among those who identify as Liberal Party supporters, one in three (33%) think it’s time for a new party leader.

🔹Ipsos found that, if an election were held today, 40 per cent would vote Conservative, 24 per cent would vote Liberal and 21 per cent would vote NDP.

🔹The Liberals are not only in danger of slipping into third spot nationally, but they have also dropped to second spot in Quebec where the Bloc Quebecois is the choice of 32 per cent of those Ipsos surveyed in that province. The Liberals there are the pick of 28 per cent and the Conservatives the choice of 22 per cent.

#Trudeau #Quebec

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📉Canada's economy shrank by 0.3% in third quarter, StatsCan says

Canada's economy shrank in the three months up to September, as household spending was flat and exports declined.

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that the country's gross domestic product shrank by 0.3 per cent. Exports fell by 1.3 per cent and imports declined by 0.2 per cent.

The data agency previously reported that the three-month period up to June also saw a slight decline, so Thursday's numbers would have been the second consecutive quarterly contraction in a row, and meet the bar that some experts say is the requirement for a recession.

But the data agency revised its April-to-June numbers higher than initially reported, and now says the economy grew by 0.3 per cent that quarter.

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🏦 Big banks announce layoffs and more bad loans as TD, Royal and CIBC post quarterly results

Four of Canada's six big banks have posted quarterly results so far this week, and all four of them are setting aside a lot more money to cover bad loans.

🔹At Royal Bank, Canada's biggest lender set aside $720 million to cover loans that either aren't currently being paid back as planned, or the bank is worried might soon be. That figure is up by 89 per cent from $381 million a year ago.

At TD, the bank set aside $878 million in provisions, an increase of 42 per cent from $617 million this time last year.

At CIBC, the bank set aside $541 million. That's an increase of 24 per cent from last year's level.

🔹TD said it plans to cut its current full-time work force by about three per cent. In TD's case, that works out to just over 3,000 people.

CIBC said it has cut as much of five per cent of its full-time employees in its past fiscal year. That's almost 2,400 people.

RBC and Scotia have previously announced similarly sized layoffs.

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Sask. premier decides to stop collecting carbon tax on electric heat

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he’s not expecting “any consequences whatsoever” for the province’s decision to stop collecting the carbon levy on electric heat.

We made the very same decision that the federal government made. They decided to not collect the carbon tax on heating oil – largely in Atlantic Canada. We decided not to collect the carbon tax on natural gas and now electricity for Saskatchewan families. So what’s fair is fair. I’m not expecting any consequences whatsoever.

Moe explained at a news conference on Thursday.

The change will mostly affect those living in Saskatchewan’s north – where electric heat is more widely used.

According to the province, around 85 per cent of Saskatchewan homes are heated by natural gas – with the remaining 15 per cent using electric heat among other sources.

#Saskatchewan

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Ontario First Nations file judicial review over federal carbon pricing

First Nations across Ontario are seeking a judicial review of the federal government’s carbon-pricing regime, arguing that Ottawa’s pollution policy unjustly and disproportionately burdens their communities that already face increased hardships because of climate change and poverty.

Chiefs of Ontario, an advocacy organization representing 133 Indigenous communities in the province, and the Attawapiskat First Nation, outlined their opposition to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in a court document filed Thursday.

National debate over carbon pricing has dramatically increased after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau carved out an exemption in October for home heating oil, which primarily applies to citizens in Atlantic Canada. The decision sparked accusations of regional favouritism and critics said it undermined the rationale for the levy.

#Ontario

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🇨🇦🇺🇸Canada to acquire up to 16 Poseidon aircraft

The government announced the conclusion of an agreement with the US for the procurement of up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The P-8A will replace Canada’s current maritime patrol aircraft, the CP-140 Aurora, which has been in service for more than 40 years.

As it ages, the CP-140 aircraft is becoming increasingly difficult to support, expensive to sustain, and less operationally relevant in comparison to the threats against which it must defend.

The first P-8A should be delivered in 2026, and with an average of one aircraft delivered per month, all of the aircraft could be delivered as early as fall 2027.

#US

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🎓Twenty-five per cent of Canadians believe a degree is necessary for economic success

A new survey suggests one in four Canadians believe a university degree is essential to succeed economically.

🔹Of those between 18 and 24, 43 per cent believed in the necessity of a university degree. But respondents past university age were less likely to value a degree when it comes to financial success.

🔹Respondents who were immigrants to Canada were more likely to believe a degree is essential. Of the respondents born outside of Canada, 35.8 per cent said a degree was key to economic success, compared to 23.9 per cent of those born in Canada.

🔹Residents of Quebec were least likely to believe a university degree was necessary, with only 16.2 per cent saying it's crucial for economic success, compared to more than 30 per cent in the regions on either side of it: Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Those in Alberta were most likely to see a degree as an economic necessity - 31.1 per cent.

#Alberta #Quebec

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🇨🇦🇮🇷Dozens of Iranian regime officials denied entry to Canada, says border agency

The Canada Border Services Agency has denied entry to dozens of senior Iranian regime officials and is investigating about 100 people with status in Canada for potential ties to Tehran.

The agency also has referred the cases of nine individuals with status in Canada to the Immigration and Refugee Board to determine their admissibility to Canada.

In November 2022, then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino designated the Islamic Republic of Iran a "regime that has engaged in terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations" under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

That designation made tens of thousands of Iranian regime officials — including many members of the IRGC — inadmissible to Canada.

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📉 François Legault is Canada's least popular premier, national poll suggests

The latest edition of a quarterly poll gauging the popularity of Canada’s premiers and dominated for years by François Legault now has the Coalition Avenir Québec leader finishing last among his provincial colleagues.

The Angus-Reid survey has seen Legault regularly poll above 50 per cent since he was first elected premier in 2018 and reach a high-water mark of 77 per cent in March 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

🔹It now places him at just 31 per cent, a tumble of 16 points since the last quarter, three points behind Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

🔹The most popular premiers, according to the survey, are Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

#Quebec

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CBC/Radio-Canada to cut 10 per cent of workforce as it faces $125M budget shortfall

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada announced Monday that it plans to cut about 10 per cent of its workforce and axe some programming to cope with a potential $125 million budget shortfall.

In a news release, the public broadcaster said it plans on cutting 600 union and non-union positions across the entire organization. The corporation said about 200 vacant positions will be eliminated on top of that.

CBC and Radio-Canada, the French-language arm, will each be cutting in the range of 250 jobs, while the rest of the cuts will come from the technology and infrastructure department and other corporate divisions.

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🩺 Canada is falling behind other rich countries in health care, new report warns

A new report says Canada is lagging behind its peers on primary health-care spending and access to family doctors.

It concludes that Canada should emulate other countries with higher rates of patient-doctor placement to improve its health-care system.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday, compared Canada with nine other countries with similar health systems and where most people have reported having a regular health-care clinician or place to seek care, including the United Kingdom, Norway and Germany.

It found that countries with high rates of primary care attachment have stronger contracts and better accountability for doctors, and doctors are paid by capitation (where doctors are paid per unit of time per patient) or are salaried.

It also found that fewer doctors in those countries work in walk-in clinics or specialized areas.

Canada, however, spends less on health care than other rich countries, has fewer people training as family doctors and more graduating doctors are not practising in generalist, office-based care.

#healthcare

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🏦 Bank of Canada holds interest rate steady at 5%

The Bank of Canada decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at five per cent.

The bank raised the rate to its current level in July, but has stood still ever since, as the Canadian economy shows signs of cooling.

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Alberta government rejects amendments to Canada Pension Plan exit legislation

Premier Danielle Smith’s government has rejected a proposal that would have compelled it to respect the results of a referendum on whether Alberta should quit the Canada Pension Plan.

The United Conservative government used its majority in the house Wednesday to vote down an Opposition NDP amendment to Bill 2 — the Alberta Pension Protection Act — that would have forced the government to abide by the results of such a plebiscite.

#Alberta

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⚛️ Canada vows to triple nuclear power production by 2050

Canada joins an international movement to dramatically increase the amount of nuclear energy produced across the country.

This is very significant. Canada is joining 22 countries in signing a pledge to triple its nuclear capacity by 2050

said Chris Keefer, co-founder of Canadians for Nuclear Energy.

The announcement was made at COP28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates

#energy

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🎓Federal government hikes income requirement for foreign students, targets 'puppy mill' schools

Ottawa will require foreigners applying to study in Canada to have double the amount of funds currently required, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Thursday.

He also threatened to cap visas in provinces that don't help house students or who won't shut down educational institutions that he argues shouldn't be operating.

Starting next year, prospective students will need to show they have access to $20,635 instead of the $10,000 requirement that has been in place for two decades, in addition to paying travel and tuition. The amount will be adjusted yearly based on a Statistics Canada benchmark for living costs.

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