The News Rundown

Alberta overhauling prosecution practices in effort to address rise in violent crime

In a press conference this week where the Alberta government, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, and Edmonton Police Chief were in attendance a series of measures to reduce violent crime were announced.
The UCP government will be unveiling targeted prosecution units in Calgary and Edmonton.
The bail practice used by prosecutors will also be changed.
And tweaks will be made to the triage protocol that has been in place since 2017 that directed prosecutors to not try cases that were deemed to be less significant.
The changes come at a point where all parties are willing to do whatever is necessary to curb the violence, blatant drug use, and crime plaguing our downtown cores.
As a reminder this includes a fatal stabbing at Belvedere LRT station and the violent deaths of a mother and her 11-year-old child outside a southeast school.
The prosecution teams will work with law enforcement to focus on specific issues like drug houses and social supports.
It has also been a consistent story that people out on bail are committing crimes. The changes will prioritize public safety and take a tough stance on repeat offenders.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, Mike Ellis, said, “In the absence of needed bail reform from the federal government, Alberta is taking a zero-tolerance approach to ensure citizens are safe and secure in their communities. Violence, social disorder and open-air drug use are unacceptable, and we will do everything in our power to take back our streets and ensure they’re safe for Albertans.”
These problems started with Bill C-75 passed by the Trudeau administration in 2018. The Bill outright highlights “challenges facing the criminal justice system” looking at the “remand and the overrepresentation of Indigenous persons and accused from vulnerable groups who are traditionally disadvantaged in obtaining bail.”
Bill C-75 made it easier for bail to be granted causing a portion of our current problems.
Trudeau even earlier this year again said that bail reform to tackle crime would be difficult because of the "challenges around impacts, particularly on Indigenous or minority groups.”
The other change being made to triage protocol which was introduced in 2017 to deal with cases being thrown out since Alberta was facing a prosecutor shortage under the former NDP government.
The current government does not see this as an issue since more prosecutors have been hired but the Alberta prosecutors’ association feels there’s still a risk of cases being thrown out.
If this is indeed the case, more needs to be done to ensure the justice system has the capacity to operate smoothly.
Edmonton Crown Prosecutor Dallas Sopko said, “Our concern is if there's an increase in demand, with more trials being set, that we don't have the resources to deal with it. Without more judges and more sheriffs, without more clerks and without more Crowns, it's not going to be feasible to take on additional workload.”
Recent statistics show that 22% of active criminal cases have exceeded the maximum waiting period.
Typically one might think that this is the Alberta UCP being tough on crime and the police are happy to have the support but Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi is also supporting the move.
He said, “Everyone agrees that the status quo is not working and things must change”.
Going forward immediately, officers will no longer walk by when witnessing open air drug use.
There will also be a focus on the criminality and disorder that this causes and a crackdown on socially unacceptable behaviours in parks, pedways, and LRT stations.
At the end of this story we hope that you see that through a combination of societal issues including increasing despair and strife over the last few years combined with federal policies, our cities have taken a turn for the worst.
Going forward it is imperative that this is a first step and the province, police, and cities execute and adapt otherwise this will be just seen as lip service and the violence and disorder will continue.
Supplementals:

The B.C. government says it has received approval from Ottawa to ban the possession of illegal drugs near playgrounds and other areas used by children for the duration of the province's decriminalization experiment.
The province announced Thursday that the new restrictions will be in effect starting Sept. 18 and will prohibit anyone from possessing illicit drugs within 15 metres of playgrounds, spray pools, wading pools and skate parks.
B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside said: "We requested this amendment from Health Canada to ensure that families feel safe in their community while continuing to use every tool available to fight the toxic-drug crisis and save lives."
The province currently has an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that allows people to possess very small amounts of certain illegal drugs. The pilot project, which is scheduled to last until Jan. 31, 2026, was launched in an attempt to stem the tide of toxic drug deaths across B.C.
The new amendment to the exemption will allow police to resume enforcement of possession laws in certain areas.
Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya'ara Saks said: "Everyone, especially children, should feel safe in their communities. This cannot be forgotten as we continue to work relentlessly to reduce substance use related harms."
The move comes after a number of B.C. municipalities asked for greater power to restrict drug use in public spaces. Just this week, Kamloops city council voted in favour of a sweeping bylaw banning the consumption of illicit substances near parks and along sidewalks. The mayors of Vancouver, Victoria and Courtenay have all applauded the new restrictions, along with the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police.
B.C.'s decriminalization pilot, which began in January, protects drug users from arrest and prosecution if they are found with up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamines or MDMA. The pilot was intended to reduce the stigma around drug use and discourage people from using drugs alone, when they are much more likely to die.
Critics of the decriminalization experiment have been sharp to criticize the move, claiming that if drug users followed the law, they wouldn't be drug users in the first place. BC United leader Kevin Falcon promised to dismantle the project if elected.
Falcon has unveiled his party’s “Safer B.C.” plan, saying if elected, his party will “restore public safety.” As part of this plan, BC United, formerly known as the BC Liberal Party, is taking aim at the province’s current exemption to decriminalize possession of some illegal drugs for personal use.
Falcon says his party would “end the NDP’s failed and reckless decriminalization” and implement a “complete ban on open drug use in parks, playgrounds, beaches and public spaces.”
BC United’s “Safer B.C.” plan also includes other steps it says will “close David Eby’s revolving door of justice, and put the interests of law-abiding British Columbians first.”
Falcon said: “After six years on the job, the NDP has continuously failed in fulfilling one of its fundamental duties — keeping people safe. The endless cycle of chronic repeat offenders, arrested and released without consequences, has emboldened criminals and left British Columbians living in fear. Our streets and public places belong to the public, not criminals. BC United will get back to putting British Columbians’ rights to safety ahead of the rights of violent criminals to re-offend.”
One of the steps, he says, is to “let the police get back to policing” and end what he says is a 75 per-cent increase in non-charge assessments — where those caught committing crimes are released with no charges — under the current government.
“In Vancouver alone, (the increase in non-charge assessments) has led to the same 40 people being responsible for 6,385 negative police interactions in just one year, and an average of four people a day being subjected to random stranger attacks,” Falcon said. “The NDP’s catch-and-release program is compounded by a lack of adequate supports and treatment and rehabilitation programs for offenders with mental health and complex behavioural issues, increasing their entanglement with the justice system.”
BC United has gone all in on this issue, mostly to deflect from inner party turmoil. Bruce Banman, the B.C. United MLA for Abbotsford South, announced Wednesday he had crossed the floor to join John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives.
The defection is a boon for Rustad who has promised to revive the B.C. Conservatives after being booted from the caucus of B.C. United, then called the B.C. Liberals, in August 2022 over his climate change skepticism. Since becoming B.C. Tory leader in March, Rustad has pursued a populist agenda, declaring himself “proudly pro-freedom and pro-trucker.” Banman's floor crossing gives the BC Conservatives official party status in the legislature.
Also worrying for the BC United may be a recent poll from Mainstreet, which shows the BC NDP with a comfortable lead with around 35%, with the BC Conservatives in a surprising 2nd place at 26.6% and the BC United in third with 21.5%.
The BC United stands on a precarious edge right now, and their hope is that going all in on public safety will bring back older voters that may be looking at the BC Conservatives as an option. The next election will show if the old coalition of anti-NDP interests will remain or fall apart.
Supplementals:

Ottawa to remove GST on new rental housing, calls on cities to end exclusionary zoning

Real Change is on the way to Canada as promised in 2015. With poll numbers sagging the Liberal government is now in “do something” mode.
This week in London Ontario, Trudeau & company announced a measure to remove the GST off new rental builds.
The issue though is that this was a promise in the 2015 election that wasn’t acted on until now.
The announcement came after a caucus retreat where the group likely formulated strategy for the upcoming fall session where they will need to go on the attack if sagging poll numbers are to be believed.
For their part the Conservatives have also said they would do this and the goal is to lower the cost of labour and materials for home builders and to remove the GST from building new rental apartments.
Alongside this, London, Ontario is the first to receive money from a federal housing accelerator program which requires houses to be zoned in such a way to receive money.
The fund was first announced in the 2022 budget and applications opened in July, according to Trudeau, it was the mayor’s fault for the delay.
Calgary has their eyes open for a similar injection of cash but so far no promises have been made.
Instead Housing Minister Sean Fraser suggested that Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and City Council make it easier for home owners to rent out their basements by decreasing red tape.
He said, "We will never solve the housing crisis in Calgary if it is not legal to build the homes required to meet the moment.”
It’s beyond the scope of this episode but zoning plays a huge role in determining the future of our cities, whether they sprawl or become more dense. This is something that should be examined and requires smart planning.
The press conference held in London also veered into the question of what to do about rising grocery prices and what the government may or may not do on that file.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said he will ask Canada's five largest grocery companies to come up with a plan by Thanksgiving to stabilize prices, and that he is not ruling out forcing them to do so through tax measures.
Reading between the lines, this suggests a windfall tax for successful grocery chains and that brings forward its own collection of problems.
Being propped up by the NDP and Jagmeet Singh, the Liberals may feel emboldened to take this play out of Jagmeet Singh’s book and doing so would be very dangerous. We’ll be following this and watching to see what comes of this threat.
Housing was the main purpose of the press conference and announcement and just like the suggested grocery plan, economists don’t actually know if it’ll work.
Matti Siemiatycki, the director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto, said, “[Cutting the GST] will increase supply, but there’s no guarantee that this is going to bring down prices and it certainly won’t do that any time soon.”
He also said that other factors such as increased demand from immigration, inflation, and interest rates should be taken into account too.
RBC economist Rachel Battaglia cautioned that removing the GST won’t be a silver bullet because of the deficit of housing we face and the time it takes to build new supply.
They also said that the removal of GST on rentals will improve their financial viability but it is unlikely to lower rents.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said that Canada still needs 3.5 million units of housing by 2030 on top of what’s already going to be built and a frank question came from CTV’s Power Play where CMHC deputy chief economist Aled Ab Iorwerth was asked if it was even possible and the answer was: “No, but it’s the right question to ask.”
Mike Moffat, senior director of policy and innovation at the Smart Prosperity Institute think tank told CTV that fixing the housing supply gap would take a “wartime-like effort.”
The consensus is that removing the GST off of rental builds is a good first step but it doesn’t even scratch the surface in terms of fixing the problem.
And in the initial rollout of course mayors are blamed and Western Canada is left behind yet again by the government in Ottawa.
The media this week will have focused on the announcement and the shock grocery announcement but lost in the shuffle is the details of just how exactly our housing crisis will be fixed - because the details don’t exist.
Supplementals:

Firing Line

Trudeau Liberals handing out millions to help put crickets on menu

A piece from the Toronto Sun's Brian Lilley this week has raised eyebrows on social media about a certain form of food consumption getting grants from the federal government. The reason why this story is so interesting is that it's actually quite hard to corroborate the article with mainstream sources, as all you're hearing from them is crickets on the matter.
Ironic, given the story is about cricket farming. Yes, in Canada we have a local Canadian company called Aspire Food Group Ltd. that built a facility in London, Ontario to 'produce crickets for pet, human, biomedicine and agrochemical markets' according to the company.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation looked at where grants and contributions were going and found the Trudeau government has offered up $9.27 million to several companies to help them develop products. The largest contribution was $8.5 million to Aspire Food Group Ltd. through the federal government’s Agri-Innovate Program.
Crickets are high in protein and, according to some, a more environmentally friendly way to get that vital component into our diets. According to Aspire, most of their cricket protein goes into pet foods, but they are looking at human consumption as well.
Some of the other companies that have received money from the federal government are already making products for human consumption using crickets. NAAK, based in Montreal, already makes cricket protein energy bars, but according to their agreement, uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, they will be branching out into more products.
There was a lot of talk on social media last year that governments around the world, in conjunction with the World Economic Forum, were pushing a diet of insects. CBC dismissed the idea as a conspiracy theory of the far right, Bloomberg did the same, as did National Public Radio in the United States.
But it does seem that the so-called conspiracy theory about this matter does have some base in reality. Prairie Cricket Farms of Manitoba has received $78,000 from the feds. They promote roast cricket snacks or cricket protein sprinkled on your cereal. Other contracts went to firms in Bromont, Que., and Scarborough, while Gaia Protein of Calgary received $160,000 “to achieve commercialization of insect protein production.”
So why were the mainstream media so quick to denounce the connection as a conspiracy theory when basic research would show that it was actually happening? And what other conspiracy theories could be proven true with a little bit of basic journalism?
The WEF has been pushing insect consumption for years. They have published several papers calling for more insect farming and consumption, calling it a solution to a growing population and a possible remedy for climate change.
Crickets have long been approved for human consumption in Canada and that is spreading to other countries. Companies are offering up products to those who want to eat crickets for protein, adding the ingredient to a number of items.
Aspire's massive cricket production facility came online in the summer of last year, and several Liberal MPs were on hand at the announcement of the opening.
London West MP Arielle Kayabaga was quoted as saying: “I grew up eating crickets in my porridge as a kid because they bring so much protein.”
Kayabaga’s fellow Liberal MP Franics Drouin, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, said: “Aspire is re-imagining what it means to sustainably produce food, and how smart technology can turn that vision into a reality.”
Drouin said that the facility “will help further establish London’s reputation as a hub for cutting-edge technology, strongly contributing to Ontario and Canada’s position as an innovator in agriculture and agri-food.”
These articles were freely found months before the post was shared on Twitter and picked up by people claiming that the federal government and WEF were behind it, prompting CBC to call them 'far-right conspiracy theorists'.
At the end of the day, if Canadians wanted to eat crickets, there would be a place for such a company in the free market. However, needing so much money to get off the ground from the federal government raises a lot of questions. Unfortunately, all we will hear from the government and media on the matter is crickets.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

“I grew up eating crickets in my porridge as a kid because they bring so much protein.” - Liberal MP for London West Arielle Kayabaga on the feasibility of cricket farming in Canada

Word of the Week

Housing - the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter.

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Show Data

Episode Title: Jiminy Crickets

Teaser: Alberta and BC show differing approaches to the drug crisis and public safety, and the federal government removes GST on rental starts and considers a grocery tax. Also, the Trudeau government gives subsidies to cricket farmers.

Recorded Date: September 16, 2023

Release Date: September 17, 2023

Duration: 46:12

Edit Notes: None

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX