🩺🦷New dental care plan leaves out 4.4 million uninsured Canadians

As the federal government's national dental coverage program continues to roll out, a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues that the plan leaves too many Canadians without coverage and need an additional $1.45 billion in funding.

In order to qualify for the Canadian Dental Care Plan applicants must have a household income of less than $90,000 and have no existing dental insurance. But in its "Missing Teeth" report released Tuesday, the CCPA says the income criteria is too restrictive.

According to calculations from the CCPA, the new program will provide dental coverage for 8.5 million Canadians, while an additional 1.4 million already benefit from some provincial dental programs but may be improved coverage through the federal dental care plan. However, the $90,000 income cap leaves out 4.4 million.

#healthcare
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🎓Ottawa planning to reduce volume of international students in certain provinces

The federal government is planning to reduce the volume of international students in certain provinces, according to a senior government source.

Ottawa shares jurisdiction over Canada's international student program with the provinces. The federal government issues visas for students while provincial governments are responsible for regulating colleges and universities.

The government is looking at provinces that accept more international students than their housing stock can accommodate. The source specifically pointed to Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia as possible examples.

According to the source, the government has had discussions with some provinces about limiting the number of students in more dense areas and tightening regulations around which institutions can accept international students, but that those discussions have gone nowhere.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Canada needs immigration reform to escape ‘population trap,’ economists say

In the report published Monday, economists Stéfane Marion and Alexandra Ducharme argue that Canada does not have the infrastructure or “capital stock” to both bring in the amount of people currently planned, while also improving our standard of living.

For the first time in Canadian history in 2023, our capital labour ratio declined. That’s a population trap. Historically, it’s normally associated with emerging markets. We’re the only country that’s ever experienced this. So this is why we have this urgency to deal with this immigration policy, because it is absorption capability that is undermining living standards.

Marion, who is National Bank’s chief economist, said.

A “population trap,” according to Oxford Reference, is defined as a situation where no increase in living standards is possible, because the population is growing so fast that all available savings are needed to maintain the existing capital-labour ratio.

In Monday’s report, Marion and Ducharme, said Canada’s annual total population growth should not exceed 300,000 to 500,000 in order to avoid that “trap.”

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇦Delays in equipment deliveries to Ukraine caused by negotiations with the U.S.

According to Canadian officials, the NASAMS air defence system, which was supposed to be delivered to Ukraine a year ago, was paid for last March and that delivery has been held up by the requirement of a foreign military sales agreement between the United States and Ukrainian governments, which is still under negotiation.

Defence Minister Bill Blair reportedly met with the U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, last week to request that the process be expedited.

#Ukraine
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Legault asks Trudeau to slow influx of asylum seekers

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to slow the influx of asylum seekers entering his province, which he said is nearing a "breaking point."

Legault made his request in an official letter to Trudeau sent Wednesday afternoon.

We are very close to the breaking point due to the excessive number of asylum seekers arriving in Quebec month after month. The situation has become unsustainable.

Legault wrote.

He said that in 2022, Quebec took in more asylum seekers than the rest of the country combined.

Legault is formally asking the prime minister to tighten its policies around granting visas. He's also seeking the "equitable" distribution of asylum seekers across Canada, possibly by busing them to other provinces. He wants Ottawa to reimburse Quebec the $470 million it spent on taking in asylum seekers in 2021 and 2022, and to do the same for subsequent years.

#Trudeau #Legault #immigration #Quebec
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇨🇳 Canada names 100 Chinese, Russian, Iranian research institutions it says pose a threat to national security

Canadian universities and researchers studying advanced and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, will soon be ineligible for federal grants if they're affiliated with foreign institutions the government says pose a threat to national security.

On Tuesday the federal government named more than 100 institutions in China, Russia and Iran which it says represent the "highest risk to Canada's national security." The government says the listed institutions are connected to those countries' militaries and state security agencies.

The federal government also released what it called a list of "sensitive" research areas — including advanced weapons, quantum technologies, robotics, aerospace, space and satellite technology and medical and health-care technology.

#China #Iran #Russia
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇵🇭🇨🇦 Philippines, Canada sign agreement on defense cooperation

The Philippines and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation, a move which Manila's defense minister said could later lead to a troop pact between the two countries.

"I'm glad to hear that there is a strong intention on both sides to deepen and strengthen the relationships by forging new milestones in our defense relations to culminate, perhaps, with the Visiting Forces Agreement," Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a statement.

Teodoro didn't say what form or shape a possible VFA with Canada will take, but an existing VFA that the Philippines has with the United States allows the rotation of thousands of American troops in and out of the Philippines for war drills and exercises.

#ThePhilippines #Canada

@asianomics

"Fuck Trudeau" chants break out amongst the crowd at the UFC 297 event in Toronto

#Trudeau
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇲🇽 Canada weighing extra border measures for asylum seekers from Mexico, says public safety minister

Canada is weighing a number of measures to prevent Mexican nationals from flying into the country to request asylum, a top official said on Sunday, after Quebec’s premier said earlier this week the lack of visa requirements for Mexican travellers meant more refugees were arriving by plane.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he and the Immigration Minister Marc Miller were considering visas and other measures.

The two ministers are looking for “the appropriate way to ensure that people who arrived from Mexico arrived for the appropriate reasons and that this doesn’t become sort of a side door to get access to Canada,” Mr. LeBlanc said.

In a letter last week, Quebec Premier François Legault urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stem the flow of refugees into the province and to compensate it for costs, claiming Quebec’s services were close to a “breaking point” owing to the rising number.

#Mexico #Trudeau #Quebec
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Trudeau government likely to miss Canada's fiscal goal, business group warns

One of Canada’s largest business groups says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is unlikely to follow through on its latest pledge to control its budget shortfalls.

In November, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland added new fiscal objectives during the government’s update of the country’s finances, including a goal of keeping deficits below one per cent of gross domestic product, starting in the 2026-27 fiscal year.

But the government has systematically disregarded its past fiscal goals, raising doubts about its latest promise. In 2022, the government said its fiscal policy decisions would be guided by the medium-term goal of having a declining debt-to-GDP ratio, but it rose between 2022 and 2023.

To meet their proposed deficit target they’ll either need much stronger-than-expected economic growth or they have make substantial program cuts ahead of an election.

said report author Robert Asselin, the council’s senior vice president of policy and a former adviser to Freeland’s predecessor, Bill Morneau.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🚙Trudeau calls national summit as Canada auto thefts spike

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is holding a summit next month to coordinate a national response to a massive spike in auto thefts across Canada in recent years.

The Toronto region saw 9,600 vehicles stolen in 2022, a 300% increase in annual thefts compared to 2015. Carjackings doubled in 2022 compared to 2021, police statistics show.

Overall, the year-over-year rate of vehicle theft spiked in 2022 by 50% in the province of Quebec, 48.3% in Ontario and 34.5% in Atlantic Canada, a government news release said.

A team in Trudeau’s office has been working on a federal policy response to the rise in auto thefts, but is still deciding whether criminal law reforms are needed.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

As Canada’s health systems strain, more private care would mark ‘deterioration’: minister

Health Minister Mark Holland says while some provinces are using private health care as a stop-gap to try to address system strains, health-care delivery must stay publicly funded.

His comments come after two doctors last week warned that the crisis in Canada’s emergency rooms has become “horrific and inhumane,” and after the Ontario Hospital Association warned last week that a “huge spike” in population and aging residents is a major challenge for provincial health-care providers.

We’re not going to allow that to happen. Let me be very clear, Canada and Canadians are deeply proud of having a public health-care system.

Holland said in an interview.

Provinces like Ontario are looking to allow more private clinics to ease wait times for surgeries and medical imaging.

While the health minister is steadfast on upholding the Canada Health Act as written, he did acknowledge there will have to be more discussion around virtual health care that is primarily delivered privately.

#healthcare
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Cabinet retreat begins in Montreal as Trudeau stakes hopes on a comeback

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gathered with his cabinet in Montreal on Sunday for the start of a three-day meeting. The Liberals are looking to regroup after a rocky 2023 in which the party and the Prime Minister saw their polling numbers slide dramatically against the Conservatives.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Jan. 21 that three days of cabinet meetings in Montreal will focus on issues like the cost of living and housing.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he intends to make 2024 all about stabilizing grocery prices and attracting new international grocery companies. Cabinet will also begin preparing for the U.S. election and the impact of a potential second Donald Trump presidency.

Immediately after his meeting with his senior team, the Prime Minister will head to Ottawa for a Liberal caucus retreat before the House of Commons returns for the winter sitting a week from Monday.

#Trudeau
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🎓Federal government announces 2-year cap on student permits

Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Monday that the federal government will cap the number of student permits over the next two years.

The government says it will approve approximately 360,000 undergraduate study permits for 2024 — a 35 per cent reduction from 2023.

Each province and territory will be allotted a portion of the total, distributed according to population. In some provinces, Miller said, the total reduction in permits will be approximately 50 per cent.

Provinces and territories will be left to decide how permits are distributed among universities and colleges in their jurisdictions. The cap will be in place for two years.

#immigration
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Alberta pension plan continues to poll low, support falling among UCP supporters

More than half of Albertans oppose the idea of the province withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan to create a provincial plan, and support is waning among UCP supporters, suggests a new Leger poll.

The poll showed support for the UCP government’s proposed Alberta pension plan at just 22 per cent provincewide, with 52 per cent opposed and 26 per cent undecided — a drop in approval since Leger’s last poll in October, but still roughly in line with numbers previously stated by Jim Dinning, chairman of the province’s pension engagement panel.

However, support among UCP voters has fallen, and is a key factor in declining approval of the plan. According to the poll, just 40 per cent of UCP supporters are in favour of the creation of a provincial pension plan — a fall from 54 per cent in October — while 26 per cent are opposed to the idea, a seven per cent increase.

#Alberta
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Federal government's decision to invoke Emergencies Act against convoy protests was unreasonable, court rules

A federal judge says the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act in early 2022 to clear convoy protesters was unreasonable and infringed on protesters' Charter rights.

I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires.

Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote in a Tuesday decision.

"Ultra vires" is a Latin term used by courts to refer to actions beyond the scope of the law.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters at a cabinet retreat in Montreal that the government plans to appeal the decision.

The Federal Court case was brought by two national groups, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and two people whose bank accounts were frozen. They argued Ottawa did not meet the legal threshold when it invoked the legislation, which had never been used before.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🏦💰Bank of Canada keeps key rate at 5%

The Bank of Canada held its policy interest rate steady for the fourth consecutive time, and said that monetary policy discussions have shifted from whether to raise borrowing costs further to how long the bank should wait before lowering them as the Canadian economy has shifted into a state of “excess supply.”

The widely-anticipated decision keeps the bank’s policy rate at 5 per cent, a two-decade high reached last July.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh kicks off caucus retreat with pitch for next election

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh kicked off his party’s three-day caucus retreat in Edmonton.

Speaking to media, Singh said his party has spent years building a track record in order to show Canadians that government is supposed to work for the people. He took digs at his political opponents, calling the governing Liberals “out of touch” and saying “corporate-controlled Conservatives” will cut services.

We want to show Canadians there is an option. There is an alternative. We’ll be there for you like we have in the past. We’ll continue to fight for you. You can trust us.

Singh said on Tuesday.

His pitch to Canadians came as his caucus was set to strategize over the next few days about how they can squeeze more out of the nearly two-year-old confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇲🇽Poilievre calls on Trudeau to reimpose visa requirements on Mexico as asylum claims soar

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is demanding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bring back a visa requirement for Mexican nationals as asylum claims from that country continue to multiply.

In 2016, the Liberal government lifted the visa requirement, which was imposed by the previous Conservative government. Instead, the government cleared Mexican nationals to visit Canada by simply acquiring a $7 electronic travel authorization.

Trudeau announced the termination of the visa requirement as part of a suite of new measures meant to reset Canada's relationship with Mexico.

Annual data published by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada now shows that asylum claims by Mexicans began climbing almost immediately after the visa requirement was lifted. In 2016, 250 such claims were referred to the IRBC. That number hit 17,490 in 2023.

#Trudeau #Poilievre #Mexico
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Why is it that in Trudeau's Canada, a farmer who just wants to grow food and raise his children according to traditional values has to move to another country to achieve that?

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Ottawa estimates 25% of small businesses missed CEBA deadline

More than a quarter of businesses missed the deadline to repay their Canada Emergency Business Account loans by Jan. 18, the federal government estimated on Monday.

CEBA was the most widely used pandemic support program for businesses, sending out loans of $40,000 or $60,000 to nearly 900,000 companies in 2020 and 2021. More than $49-billion was extended.

Businesses that paid back their loans by last Thursday would have either $10,000 or $20,000 forgiven, and would not be charged interest. Starting last Friday, outstanding loans accrue interest at a 5-per-cent annual rate. The loans are due in full on Dec. 31, 2026.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that only an estimated 75 per cent of CEBA recipients had closed their accounts with the government by Thursday.

#Freeland
🍁 Maple Chronicles